In the Cage – 5.10.12

Each day, The MMA Corner will provide a recap of results, event announcements, fight matchups, and injuries/cancellations from throughout the world of MMA.

Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed Lawal has signed a contract with Bellator Fighting Championship and TNA Wrestling.  Lawal will be competing on Spike TV for the near future as it is currently the home of the wrestling organization and will be the official home of Bellator starting in 2013.

Currently, “King Mo” is serving a suspension from MMA which was handed to him by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after he tested positive for performance enhancing drugs after his Jan. 7 fight against Lorenz Larkin.

While it is expected that Lawal will wrestle while he is serving his suspension, there is no official word as to whether or not he will bounce back and forth from Bellator to TNA after his suspension is up.

After a lot of speculation, the UFC has announced another international version of The Ultimate Fighter as fighters from Australia will go head-to-head with those from the United Kingdom.  The series is being called The Smashes, which is a reference to the 130-year cricket rivalry.

Live tryouts in June in both the UK and Australia are calling for fighters ranging to 61 kg and 77 kg, which translates to fighters from bantamweight to welterweight, however there has been no official word as to which weight class or weight classes will be featured on the show.

The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes will be the second international edition of the series, as the Brazilian edition of the show is currently airing.

With a featherweight tournament final and bantamweight tournament semifinal scheduled for the card, all but two fighters arrived in New Jersey on weight today. In the featherweight tournament final, Marlon Sandro will take on Daniel Straus for not only $100,000, but for a title shot against champion Pat Curran.  The winner of the bantamweight semifinal fight between Marcos Galvao and Travis Marx will take on the winner of the upcoming fight between Hiroshi Nakamura and Luis Nogueira.

MAIN CARD:

• Featherweight Tournament Final: Daniel Straus (146lbs) vs. Marlon Sandro (145.8lbs)
• Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal: Marcos Galvao (136lbs) vs. Travis Marx (135.4lbs)
• 230-pound catchweight: Seth Petruzelli (225.5lbs) vs. Carmelo Marrero (230lbs)
• 172-pound catchweight: Marius Zaromskis (169.8lbs) vs. Waachiim Spiritwolf (172.4lbs)*

UNDERCARD:

• 175-pound catchweight: Aung La Nsang (175.2lbs) vs. Jesus Martinez (175.5lbs)
• Bantamweight: Anthony Leone (136lbs) vs. Claudio Ledesma (134.5lbs)
• Lightweight: Marcin Held (155.5lbs) vs. Derrick Kennington (154.5lbs)
• Lightweight: Don Carlo-Clauss (156.5lbs)* vs. Jacob Kirwan (156lbs)
• Middleweight: Francois Ambang (183.5lbs) vs. Gregory Milliard (186lbs)

*Spiritwolf was fined by the NJSAC and his fight with Zaromskis will be a 172-pound catchweight. Carlo-Clauss made weight on his second attempt.

Bellator 68 will take place tomorrow night in Atlantic City, N.J.  The undercard will air live and free on Spike.com at 6:30 pm E.T. and will switch over to MTV2 and Epix starting at 8 pm E.T.

The UFC announced today that the light heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and challenger Dan Henderson will take place at UFC 151.

Jones has recently taken down four former UFC light heavyweight champions in “Shogun” Rua, “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans.

Henderson earned his No. 1 contender status after he returned to the UFC and took a unanimous decision victory from Rua.  Before that, “Hendo” defeated Fedor Emelianenko at heavyweight and won the Strikeforce light heavyweight title after he knocked out Rafael Cavalcante.

Jones vs. Henderson will be the main event at UFC 151 which is scheduled to take place on Sept. 1 in Las Vegas.

Current Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold has a suitor for his belt as it was announced today that he would defend his title against Tim Kennedy in July.

After losing to “Jacare” Souza for the vacant middleweight title back in 2010, Kennedy has won two straight fights which has put him in the position to fight for the strap again.  Rockhold did what Kennedy could not do when he defeated and took the title from Souza, only to follow the performance up with a first round TKO victory over Keith Jardine.

Also on the card will be middleweights Roger Gracie and Jardine, along with Lorenz Larkin making his middleweight debut against Robbie Lawler.

The Strikeforce middleweight championship will be held in Portland, Ore. on July 14.

Photo: “King Mo” Lawal (Sherdog)