Nate Marquardt vs. Jake Ellenberger Poster

Fighter Profiles
Nate Marquardt (32-11-2)
Jake Ellenberger (28-6)

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UFC 158: St-Pierre vs Diaz

Overview
With Rory MacDonald suffering a neck injury during training, he withdrew from his fight against Carlos Condit. Johny Hendricks, who was supposed to fight Jake Ellenberger at UFC 158, stepped over to take on Condit. This left Jake Ellenberger without an opponent, but no longer, Nate “The Great” to the rescue.

Nate Marquardt returns to the UFC two years after failing to receive medical clearance to fight Rick Story as the headliner for UFC on VERSUS 4, which prompted the UFC to release him. It was later revealed that his regimen of testosterone-replacement therapy caused the scratch from the event.

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Carlos Condit vs. Johny Hendricks

Fighter Profiles
Carlos Condit (28-6)
Johny Hendricks (14-1)

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UFC 158: St-Pierre vs Diaz

Overview
With Rory MacDonald suffering a neck injury during training, it opened up a slot against Carlos Condit that Johny “Bigg Rigg” Hendricks was happy to fill. He apparently called and asked for the fight as well. No offense to Jake Ellenberger, Hendricks’ former opponent on the card, but this is a more fitting match-up for Hendricks. Ellenberger is a beast and can beat any one of these guys on a given night, but Condit is imho ranked higher and is a bigger name. A win for Hendricks should surely get him the title shot he’s been so patiently waiting for. Unless of course, GSP beats Diaz and they then pair GSP up with Silva in a superfight. I don’t see that happening though. No reason to since there are now legit contenders backed-up in both weight classes.

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Rory MacDonald

Rory MacDonald (14-1) has suffered a neck injury while training for his upcoming UFC 158 bout with Carlos Condit (28-6). The injury has forced him to withdraw from the fight and has created a new matchup between Condit and Johny Hendricks (14-1).

Hendricks was already on the card and ready to take on Jake Ellenberger (28-6), but wisely chose to face Condit instead. No offense to Jake, but a win over Condit would surely get Hendricks the title shot he’s so longed for.

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Renan Barao's vicory dance after retaining his interim featherweight belt

You can almost tell how great a card was by the amount of “Holy $%$^^!!!!” tweets from Dana White during the event. There was only one unfortunatley for this particular event, when Jimmo connected on Te Huna with a high left leg kick to the head.

Overall, 9 of 12 fights ended in a decision, one ended in a TKO (injury), one legit TKO by Tom “Kong” Watson, and then Renan Barao saved the night with a beautiful arm-triangle choke submission to retain his interim belt.

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[UPDATE: Chris Camozzi replaces injured Constantinos Philippou against Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, new match added to UFC on FX 8 in Brazil, May 18]

Fighter Profiles
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (17-3-0-1)
Constantinos Philippou (12-2-0-1)

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UFC on FX 8: Belfort vs. Rockhold

Overview
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza makes his UFC debut after fighting his last 8 fights for Strikeforce. Souza compiled a record of 7-1 while with the promotion and was the Strikeforce middleweight champion in 2010 and 2011. He defeated Tim Kennedy by unanimous decision to win that belt, and then lost the belt in 2011 to Luke Rockhold by unanimous decision. Souza recently got to taste some UFC middleweight competition during his last fight. He faced UFC vet Ed Herman and submitted him in the first round by kimura.

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Renan Barao and Michael McDonald, all smiles, for now anyway

Weigh-ins for ‘UFC on FUEL TV 7: Barao vs McDonald’ took place today at Wembley Arena in London, England. All 24 fighters made weight.

A pretty high energy weigh-in today. The British fighters naturally got the loudest roars. Matt Riddle naturally got the loudest boos. He threw up two peace signs though, so maybe this whole Riddle vs The U.K. feud will die down. I sincerely hope not though and that he calls out another Brit if he was to beat Mills. Best stare-down of the night goes to Cub and Dustin, intense. Best weigh-in outfit of the night goes to new Octagon girl Carly Baker, of course.

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Vitor Belfort vs. Luke Rockhold Poster

Fighter Profiles
Vitor Belfort (22-10)
Luke Rockhold (10-1)

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UFC on FX 8: Belfort vs. Rockhold

Overview
Vitor Belfort will once again headline a UFC event in Brazil. This time it will take place at the Arena Jaragua, which is located in Jaragua do Sul, Santa Catarinain.

Vitor is coming off a “Knockout of the Night” performance against Michael Bisping at UFC on FX 7 in Sao Paulo. It was a huge win for “The Phenom”, who continues to win big fights and remain in contention for title shots. Following the Bisping fight, Vitor basically called Chael Sonnen a boob and then indicated that he should get another shot at Jon Jones. A win over Rockhold might just get him one.

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Diego Brandao vs. Pablo Garza Poster

Fighter Profiles
Diego Brandao (15-8)
Pablo Garza (12-3)

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UFC on FUEL TV 9: Gustafsson vs. Mousasi

Overview
Man, do I really love this matchup. Two of the most dynamic and powerful featherweights in the business. It should make for a very fast-paced and exciting fight.

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[UPDATE: Nah-Shon Burrell replaces injured Amir Sadollah against Stephen Thompson, new match added to UFC 160 in Las Vegas, May 25]

Fighter Profiles
Amir Sadollah (6-4)
Stephen Thompson (6-1)

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UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Silva 2

Overview
Amir Sadollah tries to get back on the winning track after a loss to Dan Hardy at UFC Nottingham by unanimous decision. It was a tough loss for Sadollah who’s now dropped two of his last three. Amir has been with the UFC for his whole 10-fight career. He won TUF 7 back in 2008 and it’s been and up and down ride since then. He’s a very tough opponent with an aggressive style so we should see a good fight between these two.

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Luke Rockhold

The UFC announced today that Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort (22-10) and final Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold (10-1) will headline a major UFC event in Brazil, with the second quarter of 2013 being the target timeframe.

UFC President Dana White today confirmed the plans while in London and also added that a date and venue have not been determined yet for the fight.

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