In the Cage – Overeem vs. Mir Moved, Bellator 102 and MFC 38 Weigh-In Results

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

A heavyweight matchup between Alistair Overeem and Frank Mir had been originally scheduled and planned to take place on Nov. 16 at UFC 167, however to give Mir an extra amount of time to recover from his recent defeat at UFC 164, the promotion thought it was best to let him recover a bit longer and to be sure that he is fully cleared to compete in time.

The promotion said that there is no indication for Mir to not have been cleared in time, however as a precaution, they pushed the fight back.

UFC 169 takes place on Feb. 1 in Newark, N.J.

There will be five tournament fights from three separate tournaments when Bellator 102’s main card gets under way.  The promotions season 9 heavyweight semifinals, season 9 middleweight semifinals, and the recent summer series bantamweight final.  All five tournament fights air live and free on the main card on Spike TV

MAIN CARD:
Bellator Heavyweight Semifinal: Mark Godbeer (239.6) vs. Cheick Kongo (235.9)
Bellator Heavyweight Semifinal: Vinicius Spartan (236.2) vs. Lavar Johnson (253.3)
Bellator Bantamweight Tournament Final: Rafael Silva (136) vs. Anthony Leone (135.7)
Bellator Middleweight Semifinal: Joe Pacheco (186) vs. Brennan Ward (185.2)
Bellator Middleweight Semifinal: Mikkel Parlo (185) vs. Jason Butcher (185.6)

PRELIMINARY CARD:
Heavyweight Feature Fight: William Richey (243.3) vs. Brandon Cash (256.3)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Cain Carrizosa (155) vs. Juan Quesada (155.8)
Catchweight Feature Fight (165lbs): Stephen Martinez (164.2) vs. Bryan Travers (164.5)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Brandon Girtz (155.9) vs. Poppies Martinez (155)
Heavyweight Feature Fight: Thiago Santos (264.8) vs. Javy Ayala (264.6)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Scott Cleve (145.1) vs. Isaac De Jesus (145.3)

Bellator 102 takes place tomorrow night in Visalia, Calif.

Canadian MMA promotion Maximum Fighting Championship will hold event number 38 tomorrow night, and the card will feature three championship title fights.  The bantamweight, middleweight, and heavyweight titles will all be on the line.  A total of 20 fighters tipped the scales, and all but one successfully made weight.  Aaron Gallant missed the non-championship lightweight limit of 156-pounds by 1.4, forfeiting 20% of his purse as a penalty.

MFC Bantamweight Title – Tito Jones (134.6) vs. Anthony Birchak (134.8)
MFC Middleweight Title  – Jason South (184.2) vs. Sam Alvey (184.0)
MFC Heavyweight Title – Anthony Hamilton (264.6) vs. Smealinho Rama (250.6)
Lightweight  – Jonatas Novaes (155.6) vs. Kurt Southern (155.8)
Middleweight – Teddy Ash (185.4) vs. Jared McComb (184.6)
Lightweight – Aaron Gallant (157.4*) vs. Matt Jelly (155.2)
Bantamweight – Daniel Mark (135.4) vs. Corey Gower (135.2)
Lightweight – Adam Wayne (155.6) vs. Garret Nybakken (156.0)
Middleweight – Nick Campbell (185.4) vs. Cody Krahn (184.4)
Light Heavyweight – Paul Gerbinski (205.2) vs. Sheldon Adamson (203.8)

*Gallant missed weight and forfeits 20% of his purse

MFC 38 takes place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada tomorrow night.  The evenings main card airs live on AXS TV.

Undefeated fighter Robert Drysdale has hit a few bumps in the road in trying to make his UFC debut, but as of today he has a bout scheduled with Cody Donovan at UFC 167.  Drysdale holds a record of 6-0, and is considered one of the best jiu-jitsu practitioners to have ever come out of the United States.  Donovan lost in his last bout, getting knocked out by Ovince St. Preux at UFC Fight Night 28.

UFC 167 takes place at on Nov. 16 in Las Vegas.

After his fight at UFC 164, Ben Rothwell tested positive for high levels of testosterone and has been suspended for nine months as a result.

In an interesting turn, the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services caught the positive test, they chose to not formally suspend the fighter.  It was the promotion who took the information and chose to suspend the fighter, in an effort to hold their athletes to the highest standard.

As of the statement from the promotion, it is not known whether the victory against Brandon Vera at the event will be overturned to a no-contest, or kept as a win.

Welterweight Matt Riddle was originally set to debut in Bellator last month, however he entered retirement after an injury to his rib forced him out of the season 9 welterweight tournament.

The retirement came as a result of Riddle saying on Twitter that the promotion wouldn’t be giving him another fight this year, and with the lack of funds, he would need to retire and find other financial opportunities.

The promotion and fighter managed to get on the same page, as Riddle’s retirement has ended and will receive a fight for Bellator 108.  It is not currently known who he will take on.

The year end card for the UFC is starting to fill up, and two fights have been added today.

A lightweight contest between Jim Miller and Fabricio Camoes has been added, while a bout between Bobby Voelker and William Macario at welterweight is also on the dockett.

UFC 168 takes place on Dec. 28 in Las Vegas.

After a two-fight stint at featherweight, Alaskan Cody McKenzie will return back to lightweight and take on Sam Stout at UFC on Fox 9.  McKenzie went 1-1 at featherweight, defeating Leonard Garcia and losing to Chad Mendes.  Stout dropped his last fight against James Krause.

UFC on Fox 9 takes place on Dec. 14 in Sacramento, Calif.  This bout will air on the preliminary portion of the card.