Heavy-hitting former light heavyweight James “The Sandman” Irvin will make his middleweight debut against fellow striking standout Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara at the newly-renamed “UFC On Versus 1: Vera vs Jones” on March 21st. MMAWeekly.com first reported on the bout for the event previously known as UFC Fight Night 21.

Irvin has been sidelined for 18 months due to knee injuries that kept him off of UFC 99 and UFC 102. Sakara most recently decisioned former title challenger Thales Leites at UFC 101 in August.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship has confirmed another impressive fight for its debut card on the Versus network. Rising heavyweight star Junior “Cigano” dos Santos will clash with former title challenger Gabriel “Napão” Gonzaga at UFC Fight Night 21 on March 21st.

The two were originally set to square off at UFC 108, but Gonzaga withdrew due to a staph infection. MMAjunkie.com is reporting that the bout will serve as the night’s co-main event and a win for dos Santos could potentially place him in line for a future title shot.

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Sidelined for well over a year due to a pair of knee injuries, hard-hitting Canadian striker Patrick “The Predator” Côté will return to the Octagon against Alan “The Talent” Belcher at UFC 113 in Montreal, Québec on May 1st. Côté confirmed the fight earlier today.

Côté has not competed since suffering a meniscus tear in his UFC Middleweight Championship bout with Anderson “The Spider” Silva at UFC 90. A second knee injury kept him out of action throughout 2009 and he will face a tough test in Belcher, who has won three of his last four fights.

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One day after the announcement of a Lightweight title fight for UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, the event has received a second title bout. UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva will defend his belt against former 205-pound champ Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort on the stacked card.

Belfort’s manager confirmed the fight with MMAjunkie.com, which comes on the heels of an announcement that the UFC has sold a 10% stake in its parent company, Zuffa, LLC, to the Abu Dhabi-owned Flash Entertainment corporation and Sheik Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

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The UFC Lightweight Championship will be on the line when the Ultimate Fighting Championship travels to Abu Dhabi at UFC 112. Reigning champion “The Prodigy” BJ Penn will defend his title against top contender Frankie “The Answer” Edgar on the promotion’s debut card in the Middle East.

The announcement, first reported on by MMAjunkie.com, comes just one day after Gray “The Bully” Maynard eked out a lacklustre decision win over Nate Diaz. The fight did not endear Maynard to the fans and the UFC has opted to award the title fight to Edgar instead.

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In the latest addition to a stacked UFC 111 card, exciting welterweight contenders Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann and Ben “Killa B” Saunders will square off in a pivotal showdown. MMAWeekly.com first reported on the fight, which will be part of the event’s pay-per-view main card.

With both fighters coming off of impressive stoppage victories, a win for either could put the victor one step closer to a potential title shot against UFC Welterweight Champion Georges “Rush” St. Pierre, who will defend his crown against Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy in the night’s main event.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s debut card on the Versus network is set to be an explosive one. MMAWeekly.com is reporting that UFC Fight Night 21 will feature a lightweight bout between hard-hitting veteran strikers Duane “Bang” Ludwig and Spencer “The King” Fisher. Ludwig will compete in front of his hometown Colorado fans at the March 21st event.

Ludwig returned to the UFC on short notice against Jim Miller at UFC 108, but succumbed to a first-round armbar. Fisher also dropped his most recent fight and both will be hungry for a much-needed win.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship comes to Fairfax, Virginia tonight for UFC Fight Night 20, which was headlined by a lightweight rematch between top contender Gray “The Bully” Maynard and submission specialist Nate Diaz. The co-main event saw TUF 8 Winner Efrain Escudero suffer his first career defeat at the hands of Evan Dunham.

Elsewhere on the card, the always colourful “Filthy” Tom Lawlor dropped a razor-thin decision in a middleweight bout with still undefeated Aaron “A-Train” Simpson. MMARising.com has live play-by-play of the event.

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