Strikeforce announces July 14 show in Portland, OR; two title fights scheduled

Yesterday it was announced that former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal had signed with Bellator. Shortly thereafter, Strikeforce came out with news of their own, announcing a July 14 show to take place in Portland, OR. There are a number of good match-ups on the card, with the main event set to feature Middleweight champion Luke Rockhold defending his belt against top contender Tim Kennedy. Luke Rockhold’s win streak stands at 8 in a row after his stoppage of

Return of the King? Muhammed Lawal signs with Bellator

It appears that Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal has found a new home. It was announced today that the suspended fighter has signed with Bellator. The promotion is making a move to Spike TV for its television broadcasts, and with the switch, Lawal will also be appearing on the network’s TNA Wrestling. In a rarely-seen signing of an athlete for both real and unreal fighting, this news comes as a bit of a surprise. Lawal had the following to say via a report from 5thround.com:
“ This is a dream

Josh Koscheck believes he beat Johny Hendricks, requests five-round rematch

Josh Koscheck not surprisingly came out with some comments regarding his close split decision loss to Johny Hendricks at UFC on Fox 3 last Saturday. He felt that he did enough to win both rounds 1 & 3, rounds that Hendricks thought he won with as well. Either way, the bout was slightly controversial and Koscheck wants a rematch, saying the following via Twitter.com:

Just watched the fight again.1&3rd; round where mine. Maybe a rematch 5 round fight this time? What U say Hindricks?
— Josh

TUF: LIVE fighters discuss fighting, Cruz’s injury and competition

The UFC and FX hosted a media conference call with four of this season’s The Ultimate Fighter® Live quarterfinalists on Tuesday, May 8, 2012: James Vick (Team Cruz) vs. Joe Proctor (Team Faber) and Justin Lawrence (Team Cruz) vs. Michael Chiesa (Team Faber).
The panel of fighters were asked who they thought would come out on top.  Justin Lawrence said that all the fighters were great and that every one of them has an opportunity to make it.
Michael Chiesa agreed that they were all there to

Gilbert Melendez, who will be left to fight him?

Gilbert Melendez (20-2) is scheduled to fight Josh Thomson (19-4-1) for a third time on May 19, 2012 in San Jose, California at Strikeforce 40: Barnett vs. Cormier.
The odds are favoring Melendez, and even though Thomson is coming off a recent victory, his last loss was to Tatsuya Kawajiri (31-7-2), whom Melendez had defeated in 2011.
The question becomes: What happens next for Melendez?
Dana White has gone on record saying that he wanted to bring Melendez over to UFC. White went so far as to attempt to

Urijah Faber responds to Dominick Cruz’s injury, wants Renan Barao as a replacement

Earlier today, news broke that Dominick Cruz tore his ACL training for his UFC 148 title bout versus arch-nemesis Urijah Faber. Instantly, the status of UFC 148 as potentially the biggest card ever was in jeopardy. While no longer possessing two title fights, it appears that Urijah Faber does still want to fight on the card, revealing the following via Twitter.com:

Sucks about @thedomin8r hope recovers fast! Sounds like 9 months aftr surgery @renanbaraoufc seems like the best replacement!

Johny Hendricks willing to wait for a title shot; details how he beat Josh Koscheck

An excited Johny Hendricks expresses his feelings about his close split-decision win over Josh Koscheck at UFC on Fox 3, saying that he most likely won rounds 1 and 3 or 2 and 3. He was thankful for the outcome obviously, and expressed his desire to take sme time off from MMA to be with his family, as he was quite sick during is most recent training camp.
It will be very interesting to see how the Welterweight title scenario will play out, with returning champ Georges St. Pieree to face Interim champ

Cruz blows ACL, Faber fight postponed

UFC Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (19-1-0) has been withdrawn from the UFC 148 card after suffering a knee injury during training.  This will postpone his highly anticipated match with Uriah Faber (26-5-0), indefinitely.  This upcoming fight was being built up each week on The Ultimate Fighter: Live and now may be out more than a year in the future.The news was first reported through the blogsphere and ultimately confirmed by UFC President Dana White on his Twitter feed.The injury occurred

Frank Mir: I hit a lot harder than Junior dos Santos

With UFC on Fox 3 in the books, focus will now shift to the possibly epic clash of Heavyweights at UFC 146. The issue of Alistair Overeem’s failed press conference drug test and subsequent suspension by the NSAC had dominated much of the MMA news conference in April, now the focus will shift to current title contender Frank Mir. This time last year, Mir was ranked lower than he currently is, scheduled to face Roy Nelson at UFC 130. After having been knocked by Shane Carwin and then beating Mirko

Bellator 67 Recap and Results: Michael Chandler knocks out Akihiro Gono

This Friday night Bellator 67 took place in Rama, Ontario, Canada. The fight card featured surging Bellator Lightweight champion Michael Chandler, but his belt was not on the line. He faced longtime Japanese veteran Akihiro Gono in a catchweight bout. From the beginning, Chandler employed his treademark aggression to push the pace, overcoming Gono’s standup to land two hard ounches. A massive straight right hand found its home, and Gono hit the cage floor. The fight was over soon wih some ground-and-pound,