Shane del Rosario leaves Strikeforce, signs with UFC

The Strikeforce Heavyweight division shrank by one more fighter today as Shane del Rosario signed with the UFC. The signing was initially reported via Iridium Sports Agency’s twitter account.
Del Rosario enters the UFC with a record of 11-0, with eight wins coming via knockout and three by way of submission. The deepest Del Rosario has ever gone in a fight was 1:07 into the second round.
The last time Del Rosario competed was back in February of this year when he earned a submission victory over Lavar

Dana White: Miguel Torres handled his business like a man, Torres rejoins UFC

Earlier this month former WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres posted the following on his twitter account:
“If a rape van was called a surprise van more women wouldn’t mind going for rides in them. Everyone likes surprises.”
The tweet, a line from Comedy Central program, “Workaholics” earned him an abrupt release from the UFC.  Today it was announced that Torres had been reinstated to the UFC.
Somewhat fittingly the news of Torres rejoining the promotion came via

Brock Lesnar: I don’t think there’s a Heavyweight that has done what I’ve done in the UFC

Brock Lesnar is set to return to the Octagon on Friday when he welcomes Alistair Overeem to the UFC in the main event at UFC 141.  The fight will be Lesnar’s first since losing the UFC Heavyweight crown to Cain Velasquez back in October 2010. 
Since losing the title, Lesnar underwent a tough stretch; being forced to withdraw from a scheduled fight against Junior dos Santos after suffering a second bout of diverticulitis. Now fully recovered from the surgery that removed a section of his

UFC on FOX 2: Injury bug costs Paul Sass and Eddie Wineland their fights

During 2011, UFC matchmaker Joe Silva was a busy man. In addition to his duties of putting together the fights for every card, he had to deal with a huge number of injuries, which caused him to have to go back and fight replacement fighters for the bouts impacted by injury.
As of now, it looks like that trend is going to continue for Silva heading into 2012. UFC 142 was beset with several injuries and now the upcoming UFC on FOX card, booked for January 28 in Chicago has been hit with the injury bug.
Paul

Gabriel Gonzaga looking to reclaim his spot in the UFC with win over Edinaldo Oliveira

Between November 2005 and October 2010, Gabriel Gonzaga compiled a UFC record of seven wins and five losses. Where Gonzaga ran into a problem was his last four fights with the promotion. After losing three of those bouts he found himself released.
After he was released, Gonzaga competed for Reality Fighting, defeating Parker Porter via third round submission.  After that win, fate smiled on Gonzaga, as an injury to Rob Broughton has found him rejoining the UFC. Gonzaga will replace Broughton at UFC

Books in Review: Kettlebell RX, Marcelo Garcia’s Advanced BJJ, Grappler’s Manifesto

Victory Belt Publishing recently released three instructional sports books; Marcelo Garcia’s Advanced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Grapplers Manifesto, and Kettlebell RX. I had an opportunity to review the mentioned above trio. The first that comes to mind when holding a Victory Belt book is the print quality. It feels like a book and looks like a book. The covers are very creative, and will add some color to every bookshelf. Things get serious when you open the book and proceed to its content. The first book

Johny Hendricks: I understand you have to put on a show for the fans

Johny Hendricks will step into the Octagon on Friday December 30 in what will be the biggest fight of his 11-1 career. Hendricks, who last fought at UFC 133, defeating Mike Pierce via split decision; will face Jon Fitch on the pay per view card of UFC 141.
The one thing that many fans seem to be concerned about in this bout is the potential for it to be a “boring” wrestling match.  That concern is based around the fact that both Fitch and Hendricks were accomplished amateur wrestlers

Chael Sonnen returns to TSN’s OTR, says Anderson Silva is yesterday’s news

For the past year it seemed as if every time UFC Middleweight Chael Sonnen opened his mouth, out would come the name Anderson Silva. If a microphone or camera was anywhere near Sonnen he would use it as an opportunity to disparage the Middleweight Champion and many of his training partners. The goal, according to Sonnen, was to pick a fight with Silva.
Having failed to get that fight it seems as if Sonnen has turned his attention elsewhere, “I’m done with the guy. He and I have no business. This guy is

Frank Mir: The sky’s the limit for a healthy Brock Lesnar

Frank Mir knows a little bit about Brock Lesnar, having faced him twice since Lesnar joined the UFC in 2008. In their first meeting, a very green Lesnar was caught in a Mir kneebar and forced to submit.  In the rematch, Lesnar got the best of Mir, earning a second round TKO. 
Mir, coming off an impressive submission win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, offered his take on the upcoming bout between Lesnar and Alistair Overeem. The heavyweight scrap between Lesnar and Overeem will be the main event