UFC 149: Thiago Alves now faces Siyar Bahadurzada

News broke today that Thiago Alves will find himself with a new opponent at UFC 149 from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally scheduled to face Yoshihiro Akiyama on the card, he will now fight surging prospect Siyar Bahadurzada. This announcement adds some fireworks yo the card, as both fighters love to throw leather with bad intentions. The bout holds different but important implications for both fighters.
Alves is looking to get a win streak going,having once been a title challenger against Georges St.

Ronda Rousey to defend Strikeforce belt against Sarah Kaufman in August

A report has surfaced today that Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight champion Ronda “Rowdy” Rousey will make her first title defense later this summer against former champ Sarah Kaufman. Tentatively set for August, there is not a confirmed date nor location as of yet.
Rousey is of course the most talked-about topic in WMMA currently, utilizing world-class Judo skills to slam her opponents and submit them seemingly at will. The first American woman ever to win an Olympic medal in Judo, Rousey

Low ratings for UFC on FOX 3: 2.4 million viewers

UFC on Fox 3 was one of the best cards of the year and the best event hosted on Fox thus far. Despite this, the Cinco de Mayo Event had poor ratings. According to my colleague, Mike Drahota on Lowkick.com:10,788 fans witnessed the event in person for a live gate of $1.1 million.
However, television viewership painted quite a different picture.  According to tvsportsratings.com

UFC on FOX 3: 1.6 Men 18-34 (-50% vs. UFC on FOX 2) and 2.4 mil viewers (-48%)
— TVsportsratings (@tvsportsratings)May

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

UFC on Fox 3: Attendance, gate, and bonuses from New Jersey

The attendance, gate, and post-fight bonuses have been announced for tonight’s UFC on Fox 3 from the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The event produced an exciting night of fights, and 10,788 fans witnessed the event in person for a live gate of $1.1 million. With two fights containing clear title-shot implications for the future, UFC on Fox 3 was a great success as a non pay-per-view event. The $65,000 bonuses were issued as following:
Submission of the Night:
Nate Diaz earned this award by

UFC on FOX 3 Recap and Results: Johny Hendricks edges Josh Koscheck in a close contest

Tonight’s UFC on Fox 3 from East Rutherford, New Jersey delivered an action-packed main card. Overall it was an exciting night of fights and an excellent event to continue the UFC’s run on Fox. First off, the main event did not fail to live up to the hype.
With a Lightweight title shot at stake for Nate Diaz this evening, many had considered his opponent Jim Miller the favorite. Diaz brought his trademark boxing to the cage to keep the talented grappler Miller at bay, who could never seem to find his