A star has been born, and now she has the largest talent agency in the world backing her up. The Hollywood Reporter (www.hollywoodreporter.com) broke the news today that UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion, Ronda Rousey, has signed with William Morris Endeavor.

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[UPDATE: Rick Story replaces injured Gunnar Nelson against Mike Pyle, new match added to UFC 160 in Las Vegas, May 25]

Fighter Profiles
Gunnar Nelson (11-0-1)
Mike Pyle (24-8-1)

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UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Silva 2

Overview
Gunnar Nelson looks to keep his unbeaten streak in the UFC (2-0) and career (11-0-1) going. The stoic Icelander made his UFC debut in front of the Nottingham crowd at UFC on FUEL TV 5 and submitted DaMarques Johnson by rear-naked choke in the first round. He then followed up that impressive performance with a unanimous decision win over Jorge Santiago at UFC on FUEL TV 7 in London. He once again impressed against Santiago with crisp and clean striking, an excellent ground game, a good chin, and superb cardio. Santiago is tough, Nelson is for real folks.

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John Lineker vs. Azamat Gashimov Poster

Fighter Profiles
John Lineker (20-6)
Azamat Gashimov (7-2)

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UFC on FX 8: Belfort vs. Rockhold

Overview
John Lineker was one of the bright spots on the UFC Macau card this past November. I was lucky enough to be there live and Lineker impressed the heck out of me. To me, he’s the prototype of what a featherweight should be. He’s fast, strong, and has a granite chin. He didn’t finish Yasuhiro Urushitani in Macau, but they went at it pretty good with Lineker definitely getting the better of him. He fought an even better fight at his UFC debut prior to Macau. He was submitted by Louis Gaudinot in the second, but it was one heck of a wild fight that took home “Fight of the Night” honors. At 23, the future is looking pretty bright for the Brazilian.

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Dan Henderson

Salary information for UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche was made available today by the California State Athletic Commission. The total payroll for the event was $1,173,050.

Dan Henderson was top earner at $250,000, which is $242,000 more than Matt Grice. Why is that so hard for me to digest? Wait, let me watch the last two minutes of the Henderson-Machida fight to see what a guy making $250k fights like. Now, let me watch the Grice-Bermudez fight and see what a guy making $8,000, with a $10,000 bonus if he wins, fights like. Crap, I just threw up all over my keyboard.

I will say though that Henderson usually leaves everything he has in the Octagon. His fight against Shogun Rua, for instance, was one of the best MMA fights ever. So, not sure what happened this time, but a point of it had to be made.

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Estevan Payan vs. Jeremy Stephens Poster

Fighter Profiles
Estevan Payan (14-3-0-1)
Jeremy Stephens (20-9)

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UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Silva 2

Overview
Estevan Payan comes over from Strikeforce where he went 2-0 for the promotion including a knockout his last time out of Mike Bravo this past January. Payan hasn’t lost in his last eight fights, and of those eight fights, four have been knockouts. It’s a great matchup with Stephens as both guys love to bang.

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Wanderlei Silva vs. Brian Stann

The pre-event press conference for ‘UFC on FUEL TV 8: Silva vs Stann’ took place today in Saitama, Japan. Participants included UFC Executive Vice President & Managing Director, UFC Asia Mark Fischer and fighters Wanderlei Silva, Brian Stann, Stefan Struve, Mark Hunt, Takanori Gomi, Diego Sanchez, Yushin Okami, and Hector Lombard.

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Urijah Faber vs. Scott Jorgensen Poster

Fighter Profiles
Urijah Faber (27-6)
Scott Jorgensen (14-6)

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The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale

Overview
Just prior to UFC 157, there were stories about how it may be Urijah Faber‘s turn to hang up the gloves. Well, he addressed those opinions with a brilliant first round submission win over Ivan Menjivar, followed by a pretty firm statement post-event that rumors of his retirement were ridiculous and that he feels stronger and better than ever. This certainly does seem to be the case as he just signed on to fight in the main event of the TUF 17 Finale. A move that will keep him active and relevant while the whole Barao and Cruz situation works itself out. Urijah has lost 2 of his last 4, but they’ve both been title bout losses to Dominick Cruz and Renan Barao.

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Sam Sicilia vs. Maximo Blanco Poster

Fighter Profiles
Sam Sicilia (11-2)
Maximo Blanco (8-4-1-1)

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The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale

Overview
If you like rock-em sock-em robot style fighting, this could be the fight for you. Both of these guys are wrestlers that love to bang, especially Sicilia. If you’ve seen him fight and it doesn’t thoroughly entertain you, then you might as well be watching Golf.

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Matt Riddle

The always charismatic Matt Riddle has been released by the UFC after failing his post-fight drug test for marijuana following his UFC on FUEL TV 7 split decision win over Che Mills. The UFC acted as the governing body in London since there isn’t an athletic commission in place there.

This marks the second time in less than a year that Riddle tested positive for marijuana. His UFC 149 win over Chris Clements this past July was changed to a no contest after he failed his post-fight drug test following that fight.

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Rafael dos Anjos vs. Evan Dunham Poster

Fighter Profiles
Rafael dos Anjos (18-6)
Evan Dunham (14-3)

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UFC on FX 8: Belfort vs. Rockhold

Overview
Two lightweight veterans are set to battle it out at UFC on FX 8 in Brazil as Brazilian Rafael dos Anjos takes on Oregon-native Evan Dunham.

Rafael dos Anjos has been red hot lately. Following a 1-2 skid ending in 2011, dos Anjos rebounded strong in 2012 with three fights and three victories. He first submitted Kamal Shalorus by first round submission (rear-naked-choke), and then recorded two unanimous decision victories over Anthony Njokuani and Mark Bocek. He’s in the prime of his career and has really developed a very dangerous and well-rounded attack.

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