Two more fights have been announced for UFC 136 in Houston, Texas. The event, which is targeted for October 8th, will feature a heavyweight clash between Dave “Pee-Wee” Herman and Mike Russow. Featherweights Josh “The Fluke” Grispi and Matt “The Real One” Grice will also square off.

The UFC announced verbal agreements for both fights late tonight. Herman won his Octagon debut at UFC 131 by stopping John Olav Einemo in the second round of an all-out war. Russow defeated Jon Madsen in March and sports a 3-0 record in the UFC since his promotional debut two years ago.

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Injuries have claimed another victim on the UFC 133 card, as Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko has been forced out of his light heavyweight bout with Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson due to an undisclosed injury. Matt “The Hammer” Hamill has stepped in to face Gustafsson on the August 6th card.

The UFC announced the latest change to the embattled event today. Hamill most recently dropped an uninspiring decision to former champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, but had won five straight before the loss. Gustafsson has won two fights in a row since suffering his lone career defeat last April.

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Unbeaten heavyweight prospect Matt Mitrone will face his toughest test to date when he battles fellow striker Cheick Kongo at UFC 137 on October 29th. The targeted matchup was first reported by ESPN.com today. Both fighters are coming off of knockout victories at UFC Live 4 in June.

Mitrione stopped Christian Morecraft in the second round of their June bout and has won five times inside the Octagon. Kongo, meanwhile, rallied back from the brink of defeat to knock out Pat “HD” Barry in the main event of the UFC Live 4 card and is unbeaten in his last three UFC appearances.

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A leg injury has forced Japanese veteran Hayato “Mach” Sakurai out of his rematch against DREAM Welterweight Champion Marius “The Whitemare” Zaromskis on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. Sakurai has been replaced on the card by Eiji Ishikawa. News of the change was made official today.

Sakurai had looked to avenge his stoppage loss to Zaromskis from just over two years ago, but will now be forced to watch from the sidelines due to the untimely injury. Ishikawa now enters the bout on just two days’ notice as a significant underdog, but he has won seven of his last nine fights.

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A bout between 2006 PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix Champion Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović and former IFL champion Roy “Big Country” Nelson is in the works for UFC 137 on October 29th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Croatian sports site Gol.hr first reported on the heavyweight matchup earlier today.

Both fighters are currently in the midst of two-fight losing streaks and a third straight defeat could send the loser packing from the UFC. Filipović has struggled inside the Octagon, winning just four of his nine UFC fights, while Nelson is coming off of a lopsided loss to Frank Mir at UFC 130 in May.

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One day after Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis was forced to withdraw from his upcoming main event bout with “Suga” Rashad Evans at UFC 133, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz has stepped in to face Evans for a second time. UFC President Dana White announced the news today.

Initial reports and comments from White suggested that another former UFC champion, Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, would be rematching Evans on the card. However, Machida opted against taking on the short-notice fight and Ortiz will now enter the bout with less than four weeks to prepare.

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A PRIDE rules bout between Kaitlin Young and Elaina “Beef” Maxwell has been added to the newly-rescheduled Colosseo Championship Fighting 6: “Bushido” card on September 3rd in Sangudo, Alberta, Canada. A source close to the negotiations confirmed the fight with MMARising.com today.

CCF 6 was set to take place on July 23rd, but as noted by MMAjunkie.com, the event was postponed after necessary paperwork was not filed with the commission in time. All bouts on the card will use rules and weight classes in line with that of the former Pride Fighting Championships promotion.

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The recent string of MMA injuries has claimed another main event, as Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis has been forced out of his UFC 133 headliner against “Suga” Rashad Evans after suffering a knee injury. MMAFighting.com first reported on Davis’s withdrawal from the August card this evening.

According to a subsequent report from Tatame, the UFC has now contacted former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and offered him a rematch with Evans on the card, but no decisions have been made as of yet. Machida knocked out Evans for the title at UFC 98.

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