While Matt Serra won’t officially commit and use the ‘R word’, it appears as though the former UFC welterweight champion has officially hung up the four-ounce gloves once and for all.

During a Ring of Combat fight in April in which he was cornering a fighter, Serra felt a pain which eventually landed him in the emergency room for four days after he needed to have one of his ribs removed after tests had revealed he had blood clots in his arm and in his lungs.

“The Terror” defeated Georges St-Pierre for the UFC welterweight championship at UFC 69, handing “Rush” the first and only knockout defeat of his professional career.  The title shot was earned by Serra after he won the fourth season of The Ultimate Fighter.  The New York based fighter held a professional record of 11-7, with a record of 7-7 with the UFC.

While at a UFC 160 media event, UFC president Dana White revealed that a possible middleweight tilt between Yushin Okami and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is in the works, despite the fight not officially being signed, nor having a potential event to take place at.

Both fighters are currently riding three-fight winning streaks, with the Japanese fighter recently disposing of Hector Lombard, and the Brazilian taking down Chris Camozzi.

When Jon Jones successfully defended his UFC light heavyweight championship against Chael Sonnen at UFC 159, the champion injured his toe which left questions as to when he would be able to return to fighting.  UFC president Dana White confirmed today that “Bones” return could be as short as six weeks, but as long as six months.

According to White, it all depends on how the ligament heals.  The champion’s ligament in the toe was torn, and a steady blood flow helps heal a torn ligament.  Unfortunately for Jones, the human toe does not receive a major amount of blood flow.

When former World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski returns to fight next month, it will be against UFC veteran Sean McCorkle.

“Big Sexy” is coming off of a three fight losing streak after winning six straight after his time with the UFC.  “Pudzian” has been victorious in his last two fights.

KSW 23 takes place on June 8 in Gdansk, Poland.

Photo: Matt Serra (Dave Mandel/Sherdog)

Only four weeks ago, at Sparta Combat League: Army vs. Marines IV, Edwards stunned opponent Vinny Vigil with a high head kick right off the bat, sending him to the mat. After a quick, lopsided scramble, Edwards slapped on a tight guillotine and put Vigil to sleep before he had a chance to tap. Even though that fight only lasted 41 seconds, the 24-year-old phenom still had a chance to take something away from it.

“I learned to just be confident and be myself,” said Edwards in an exclusive interview with The MMA Corner. “Some of the things I do are unorthodox and I don’t have the best of technique, but I am who I am, and I make it work. I just need to fight the way I fight and be myself.”

Edwards (R) (Phil Lambert/The MMA Corner)

Edwards hit the nail on the head. He’s a very unorthodox fighter. He’s not like Keith Jardine with that bouncy-arm monkey thing or like some of the BJJ-heavy guys that will go to ridiculous lengths to pull guard, but he comes out like a calculating savage that will do anything to win and win quickly. And so has been Edwards’s dynamic, yet short, history in the sport.

In his combined 15-fight pro and amateur career, he has earned 11 first-round finishes. Early in his career, most of his wins came by way of submission, but in his last few fights, he has showcased his crisp striking game with two full-blown knockouts and a submission that was set up with a nasty strike.

However, as fantastic as his young career has been, there’s always room for more firsts. This weekend, at Disorderly Conduct 19: The Tribute in Omaha, Neb., Edwards will have his first pro fight outside of Colorado and his first fight against an opponent who’s gotten a taste of the UFC. The one major variable is that Edwards took this one with little time to get ready.

“I took the fight on two-week notice,” stated Edwards.

The fight he took on short notice is against 14-3, three-and-a-half-year pro Dakota Cochrane, who trains at the prominent Omaha MMA gym, Premier Combat Center. This guy is no joke and will pose Edwards’ toughest challenge yet.

Cochrane got a shot to make it onto The Ultimate Fighter: Live in early 2012. Due to the odd format of the show, which basically turned out to be a failure for parent company Zuffa, Cochrane only got one round to get into the house and he lost by split decision, making him the only fighter that suffered such a fate.

Ironically, Edwards’ training partner, Chase Hackett, also had a chance to get into the house that season and lost by a one-round decision, only his was unanimous. Needless to say, Cochrane is at a much higher level than Edwards has yet to face, especially on short notice. Fortunately for the young fighter, he is not rattled one bit.

“I love it,” said Edwards. “I’ve been training my butt off for the last three years. In the last three years, I’ve probably taken a total of two weeks to a month off per year. I’ve been working my butt off for fights like this, and I was given the opportunity, so I jumped on it.”

Clearly, Edwards would have jumped in the cage with the Tasmanian Devil or the Incredible Hulk on short notice, assuming the big man could make weight, but he’s not going into this with complete reckless abandon.

Edwards (L) (Phil Lambert/The MMA Corner)

“I feel good,” said Edwards. “This is actually the best I’ve felt in a long time, and this fight just fell right in place with me feeling good. My mind is 100 percent strong and my body is 100 percent strong. I believe that everything happens for a reason and I was blessed with this opportunity. I’m going to take this opportunity to get out there, pull the trigger, and walk away with a victory.”

He’ll need each and every bit of that 100 percent. For any of his opponents, it’s a difficult match-up, because he’s so aggressive and unpredictable. But Cochrane is not like any opponent he has ever faced. The native Nebraskan, who is also powerlifter, has finished most of his pro fights by submission, but he is also a very powerful striker and wrestler. Cochrane has a few really nice knockouts of his own.

“I feel I match up to him very well,” explained Edwards. “I’m a little unorthodox, and I don’t mind taking the fight wherever it goes. He’s not really a threat anywhere. He’s just a grinder, and he’s very athletic and can push the pace. He likes to throw a lot of push kicks and heavy right hands. Stylistically, I think I match up perfect. I think my style beats his style.”

For all intents and purposes, Edwards is correct. Cochrane is a big-time grinder that wills his way to victory. Edwards, on the other hand, is more of a quick, dazzling fighter that comes out in a ball of fire, and nobody really knows what to expect. In fact, Edwards isn’t even sure what’s going to happen. He just visualizes another win.

“I can see multiple things happening,” Edwards admitted. “I can see him coming out and trying to throw something and I catch him right off the bat. I can see him trying to take me down and I get a submission. Or I can see me winning by decision if it goes the distance, which I don’t think it will. I think the fight will be over within the first round. He’s been training hard for another very tough opponent, so I’m expecting him to come out in the best shape he’s ever been in. I think he’s going to underestimate me with my record and me being a new guy on the circuit.”

Edwards has every reason to be confident going into this fight. After his very successful amateur run, he switched up camps to start his pro career. His new home, as of the last year, is Factory X Muay Thai in Englewood, Colo., home to UFC fighter Chris Camozzi.

The head coach and owner of Factory X is Kru Marc Montoya, a former high-level Muay Thai competitor. He coaches a lot of great up-and-coming fighters, Edwards being a big one.

Last Saturday, Montoya was in Brazil to corner Camozzi’s ninth UFC appearance, but that didn’t slow down Edwards’ training one bit.

“We have such a strong team that when Marc’s gone, there’s always someone there to fill the void,” Edwards said. “We’re a team and we have multiple guys that can take the leadership role. When he’s there, it’s always a positive and a blessing, but when he’s gone, we have other guys that step up to the plate and keep pushing. Game plan-wise, Marc drew the game plan up and he gave it to a couple guys. We’ve just been working it.”

Edwards (Phil Lambert/The MMA Corner)

Should that game plan work, Edwards is open to the next challenge, but he’s not clear about any future with the Disorderly Conduct promotion. He may have bigger fish to fry after this one.

“They gave me the call to do this fight,” Edwards said. “For now, I’m just going to do this one fight with them, and we’ve got some things in the making I can’t really talk about until contracts are in force. But, hopefully, I get in a promotion that’s televised in the near future.”

Well, all disclosures aside, if Edwards takes out Cochrane, there’s no doubt he will be in line for a quality televised promotion. He may even be in line for the biggest promotion out there, but there’s no point in putting the jinx on him.

Edwards knows that he is on a meteoric rise, and he’s preparing accordingly. The guy almost never takes breaks, and when he does, they are few and far between.

“I kind of had a feeling that I was going to get another fight soon, so I took Saturday and Sunday as rest days, and I just came back on Monday and started training again,” he explained. “I’ve been trying to take it easy, but the last two weeks have been pretty tough. I stay in the gym and don’t do much outside.”

At only 24, Edwards knows that the less time he smells the roses, the better. He doesn’t have time for breaks, and, as far as he’s concerned, won’t for a long time. He really wants people to know that he is here for one reason: to win in exciting fashion.

“I come in and I fight from bell to bell. I’m always there to give the crowd a show, and no matter where I fight, no matter who I fight, you can always expect something great.”

Top Photo: Marcus Edwards (Phil Lambert/The MMA Corner)

So, when interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao had to pull out of his title fight against Eddie Wineland, scheduled for UFC 161, White had to be feeling at least a little frustrated. This fight would have been the second time that the interim champ has put his strap on the line since winning the title against Urijah Faber back at UFC 149. But now his next defense is on hold while he recovers.

With the loss of this particular main event, speculation arises as to how the pay-per-view buys for the event will be affected.

Including the interim title, the bantamweight championship has been fought for in the main event of only two pay-per-view events. Although the pool of data is small, there is still a bit of consistency in the numbers. According to the MMAPayout.com Blue Book, the buy rates for the events were 320,000 for UFC 132 (Dominick Cruz vs. Faber) and 230,000 for UFC 149 (Barao vs. Faber). If we also consider the two pay-per-view events that were headlined by a championship bout between featherweights, the other former exclusive WEC division, then we’re looking at UFC 142 (Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes) and UFC 156 (Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar), which pulled 215,000 and 330,000 buys, respectively.

Whether it is a case of fans saving their money for what they may deem as bigger pay-per-view events, or perhaps they simply are not as interested in the lighter weight classes as they are in the bigger ones, the proof stands in the sense that cards with the featherweight and bantamweight championships as main event are only producing an average of 273,750 buys.

Fortunately for the promotion, the UFC 161 card is by no means a wash. The promotion may have learned from the fiasco that took place back at UFC 151. It had a strong card built around the championship contest. The new main event features two light heavyweight fighters—Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson—who have each had a frustrating performance in their last outing and are looking to wash the bad taste out of their mouths and the mouths of the fans.

The new co-main event fight between two former Pride legends in Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira provides a rematch eight years in the making. Rua was able to edge “Little Nog” back at Pride Critical Countdown 2005 by unanimous decision, but Nogueira is coming off a decision win over Evans in what is arguably the biggest victory of his career. A victory for “Little Nog” could put him in the upper echelon of the busy 205-pound division.

And speaking of contenders, heavyweight Roy Nelson has been added to the card in a bout against Stipe Miocic. A victory for “Big Country” would mark his third in a row and put him right on the fringe of getting a title shot.

And we cannot forget about the fact that the pay-per-view card also features a fight with the always exciting Pat Barry. “HD” doesn’t bring the most impressive resume or record into the cage with him, but he rarely puts on a dull performance.

Having a championship title fight headlining a pay-per-view card is never a bad idea. If anything, it will only enhance the fights around it. When fighters reach the top of the mountain and get to fight for what is the holy grail of the sport, you will usually see two warriors trying their hardest to capture what they feel is rightfully theirs.

Regardless of how you feel about the lighter weight classes, the fights that would have led up to this title fight result in a card that should still excite fans. Losing the title fight has to sting a little bit for the promoters, but the card will go on and still be worth watching.

In other words, the fight between Barao and Wineland would have been the whip cream and cherry on the sundae. The ice cream will still be good, but the additional toppings just make everything a little bit better. It will still be a great night of fights, just minus the cherry on top.

Photo: Dan Henderson (Dave Mandel/Sherdog)

Ladies and gentleman, it appears that times may be changing.

In the last two weeks or so, the UFC has started to rebuild the division with new talent. It is a sign that the UFC is committed to giving one of its most featured divisions the depth and excitement that it has deserved for so long.

There are three men that have been signed by the UFC in the past two weeks: Poland’s Daniel Omielanczuk, Ukraine’s Nikita Krylov and the legendary Josh Barnett, who was reportedly signed last night. Just the addition of these three men is enough of an indication that the UFC is looking to build the division. Furthermore, we have three men that are yet to debut (or re-debut) for the UFC. First, Geronimo dos Santos of Brazil is waiting for medical clearance to make his debut—he was previously ruled out from fighting when pre-fight medical screenings revealed that he had a form of hepatitis. There’s also one-time UFC competitor Soa Palelei, who makes a return after nearly six years away from the eight-sided cage. Finally, Strikeforce import Nandor Guelmino, whose only appearance in that company was a loss to Barnett, will get a shot with the UFC.

With all of these men set to enter the Octagon, the UFC heavyweight is now as exciting as ever. New faces are always a great thing, especially that of a guy like Krylov, who is 20 years old and could be a staple of the division for years to come.

Barnett and Palelei have cult followings, which will bring even more business to the UFC. Barnett is a legend of the sport with an attitude and personality more typical to the world of professional wrestling, and he also happens to have a dominating style. Palelei is a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, is constantly looking for the quick finish and also has a personality that wins over fans. These two will be stars with the UFC.

The biggest thing that some of these signings does is that it prevents Bellator from snagging these fighters for its own roster. Bellator is notorious for going after European prospects, and Omielanczuk, Krylov and Guelmino were all top European heavyweight prospects that hwere likely on Bellator’s radar. Now, the UFC has a chance to expose fans to them, for better or worse.

The UFC needs to continue snagging up the big boys for the continued building of one of the most exciting divisions in MMA. With all the talent out there, such as Damian Grabowski (Poland), Sergei Kharitonov (Russia), Maro Perak (Croatia) and Smealinho Rama (Canada), the division could be the most stacked—and internationally diverse—division in the history of the sport.

Photo: Josh Barnett celebrates victory (Esther Lin/MMA Fighting)

Sam “The Sledgehammer” Bastin finds himself in that situation as he prepares for his next fight. Bastin heads into his BRACE 20 bout on May 25 on the back of two successive wins, and he admittedly has a tough task in front of him as he faces a seasoned fighter in Rob Hill.

“This is different to every fight I’ve ever had,” he revealed in an exclusive interview with The MMA Corner. “Rob has done a lot and he has been on the scene for a while. He’s had fights overseas, he has a lot of experience, and it’s the big step up that I need.”

Sporting a professional record of 4-5, Bastin goes into the fight with Hill as the heavy underdog. As we have heard many times before, anybody in the sport of MMA stands a chance and an aspect of the sport that we have all come to know and love is that inside that cage anything can happen. It’s that thought that Bastin keeps in the back of his mind going into this fight and he is more than willing to surprise anybody that doubts him.

“I don’t think that my record reflects my ability at all,” he said. “In the end, it’s just a number. I know that I am the underdog against Rob. All that anybody needs to know is that I am going in there to win, and that is exactly what is going to happen.”

From Port Macquarie, where Bastin is based, to Brisbane is a five-hour trek. Whilst some would possibly prefer to cut down their travel time with a flight, Bastin sees it as more of an opportunity to prepare for his fight.

“It’s kind of like a road trip,” he said. “We had the option to fly, but thought it’d be better for the team to drive up. There are two of us fighting on the card, so making a road trip of it made sense. It’s always good having a road trip somewhere [laughs]. It always makes it a little less stressful—more relaxing—before the fight and kind of puts your mind at ease.”

Having a little over a year between MMA bouts, Bastin has still been able to keep himself active. He certainly knows the importance of keeping his skills sharp, especially leading into such an important fight.

“I fought in an amateur boxing fight, and it ended up being for a state title,” he said. “I didn’t even know it was a title fight [laughs]. The guy had a record of 27-2 and I took it on short notice just so I could stay active. I won the fight, and it’s always good to stay competitive and have that slight edge over your opponents.”

Often you find that a fighter will predict highlight reel finishes, or a fight to remember. Bastin, however, is a little more modest with how he believes the fight with Hill will play out.

“Don’t expect a scrap,” he admitted. “I think that it’s going to be a good technical fight, and I think that we will both be taking our time and picking our shots. I know that he can fight—that’s why I chose to fight him. I want to go out there and beat him as the underdog.”

Aspirations are big in this sport. If you ask any fighter, they will certainly tell you that they want to fight in the UFC at some point in their career. With so many years left ahead of him, Bastin certainly has the same aspirations, but he is also conscious of what is required to realize them.

“Being only 21, I have plenty of time to learn and I am more than willing to do whatever it takes to get there.” Bastin explained. “I have time on my side and I will work hard to get there. If I could train all day every day, I would. But I have a full-time job too. Luckily it’s based around fitness, so I still get to be active while I work.”

BRACE 20 is set to be the biggest test of Sam Bastin’s two-and-a-half-year career. Win, lose or draw, one thing will be certain: the experience itself will be one that helps Bastin develop into the fighter that he knows he can be. With so many years ahead of him in his career, there is no doubt that if he can overcome his own underdog story this weekend, the role of the underdog just may be reversed in his next fight.

Photo: Brace 20 Logo (BRACE)

In a lot of ways, UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt is writing his own script for the next feel-good/redemption story with his current run to becoming a No. 1 contender. But, to be honest, the odds are definitely not in his favor to be the leading man that hoists the newly won championship belt over his head before the credits roll. As we know, movies are just a brief reprieve from reality. It gives us a reason to get out of the house and have something hopeful and interesting to talk about. But eventually that lingering cynicism will creep back into our lives, because we’ve been around long enough to know life doesn’t always produce happy endings.

Even if you’re on the side of Hunt and his epic run through the UFC ranks, it’s still not cynical to say that he doesn’t have the greatest chance to beat the top contenders. He has buzz-sawed his way through increasingly better competition, but now that he’s set to face one of the sport’s elite in Junior dos Santos, a healthy amount of apprehension towards his chances of success is warranted.

In this way, Hunt is eerily similar to fellow heavyweight Roy Nelson. They’re both knocking off any opponent that flirts with being in the mix, but they can’t quite seem to break into the next level themselves.

Now, it might be a tad bit premature to say that is the case for Hunt, since he’s yet to face the best of the best in the UFC on his current run. He’s gone 4-1 since joining the Zuffa ranks, with his only failure being a forgivable submission loss to Sean McCorkle in his promotional debut. However, before entering the UFC, Hunt was on a five-fight skid against the likes of Josh Barnett, Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem and Gegard Mousasi.

Like Nelson, we can reasonably hold Hunt to the same level of skepticism when it comes to being a truly elite fighter. But we also have to give him the same credit of approval for winning in imposing fashion to earn himself bigger fights. Hunt is beating guys impressively on his current streak, and coupled with his background of coming into the UFC with a losing record, the fans are mostly on his side. And that counts for something, at least in a promotional sense.

Hunt is ready to take a step forward, but against dos Santos, it’s more like a steep climb. We only have to look back to his most recent fight against Stefan Struve at UFC on Fuel TV 8 to point to our apprehensions of why Hunt might not do as well against the strongest competition.

The first two rounds of his fight against the lanky Dutchman saw each fighter battle from their opponent’s guard. Hunt showed solid scrambles and avoided major damage while on his back (and from being mounted), which points to the New Zealander as having developed a competent defense. It will be important for Hunt to remain off of his back against the Yuri Carlton-trained black belt. It might come down to a battle of strength if dos Santos is content to try to out-grapple his opponent. With both Hunt and dos Santos preferring the stand-up aspect of the sport, perhaps doing enough to simply get back to his feet if the fight hits the floor will be sufficient for Hunt.

Even then, dos Santos is regarded as one of the best boxers in the heavyweight division. Just look at dos Santos’ entire UFC resume and you will see how his hands have helped him to keep each of his opponents at bay or was able finish them off—with the exception of the second fight with Cain Velasquez. Hunt has only had one knockout loss in his 16-fight MMA career, which was to the renowned striker Melvin Manhoef, so we know he can take a punch. But that’s not exactly the issue here.

What will be important is which fighter can wade through the punishment of heavy leather in order to deal a crippling blow. The way that Hunt faded by the third round against Struve doesn’t bode well for him if a fight against dos Santos goes longer than two rounds. Dos Santos was able to batter Shane Carwin and Roy Nelson by keeping them at bay with punches for three rounds. It’s a pattern that Hunt could easily fall victim to, especially once fatigue sets in.

We know that Hunt can pack a wallop with his punches—he proved as much by breaking Struve’s jaw with a monster punch in their fight—and that really is his best bet against any fighter, however limited it might speak to his overall offensive arsenal. In forming his strategy, Hunt will likely study tape of how two-time champion Velasquez knocked the fight out of dos Santos in their rematch. In that fight, Velasquez landed devastating punches against dos Santos, but the former champion did not go down. However, his presence in the fight wilted considerably after eating such big shots. Hunt had better come with severe pressure early on in order to throw the Brazilian off of his game and take the fighting spirit out of him the way Velasquez was able to do.

With all that said, the best hope for Hunt is to keep it standing and land hard shots before the battle sails into deep waters. He’s not a highly conditioned athlete, but more of an extremely hard-hitting striker. At this level of competition against a former champion who is well-rounded and has the experience of preparation for championship fights, Hunt can’t have gaps in his game plan, because they will be exploited by a prime fighter like dos Santos.

This is likely where the hopes of Hunt adding another head to his collection end. Dos Santos is an intimidating challenger for anyone, and for a guy like Hunt who doesn’t have an advantage in age, physique or overall skill level, it would be thoughtless to steam ahead on the “Super Samoan’s” hype train.

Not to say that one punch can’t end it all—this is the heavyweight division we’re talking about. But dos Santos is coming off his first loss in 11 fights at the hands of the best heavyweight in the world. He’ll likely come into this bout with a head full of stream to reclaim his spot as the top guy. We have to take into perspective that Hunt is riding a streak over guys such as Ben Rothwell, Cheick Kongo and Stefan Struve—a less distinguished run when compared to dos Santos’ before his recent loss.

In a lot of ways, Hunt’s redeeming story up to this point has allowed us to expel the doubts that he’s not going to make it all the way to the top. But it just seems more likely that he’ll be joining the ranks of guys like Nelson, who is a very good fighter but one that can’t defeat the great fighters.

A loss to dos Santos might not make the best ending for a film based on Hunt’s story, but his time in the UFC has certainly struck a chord with audiences. He’s an improbable protagonist whose story has given us hope, even if it’s unlikely to have a fairy-tale ending.

Photo: Mark Hunt celebrates victory (Esther Lin/MMA Fighting)

The night’s main event will feature a rematch in the heavyweight division as Cain Velasquez battles Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva for a second time. Velasquez stopped the Brazilian by first-round TKO at UFC 146 last May, but this time the division’s championship belt is on the line. Following the win over Silva, Velasquez battered Junior dos Santos for five rounds to recapture the title, while Silva has dispatched of Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem to earn his shot at the champion.

In the co-main event, dos Santos will take on a resurgent Mark Hunt for the No. 1 contender’s spot in the division. Another No. 1 contender spot is up for grabs in the 155-pound division as Gray Maynard takes on T.J. Grant. Rounding out the pay-per-view main card will be a light heavyweight clash between Glover Teixeira and James Te Huna, as well as a lightweight war between Donald Cerrone and K.J. Noons.

The 12-fight event will kick off at 6:35 p.m. ET with three bouts streaming on the promotion’s YouTube and Facebook pages. Four additional bouts will follow on FX at 8 p.m. ET, with the five-fight pay-per-view main card starting at 10 p.m. ET.

Below is a video interview with the former champion, Dos Santos (via the UFC).

Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva – for heavyweight title
Junior dos Santos vs. Mark Hunt
Glover Teixeira vs. James Te Huna
Gray Maynard vs. T.J. Grant
Donald Cerrone vs. K.J. Noons

Mike Pyle vs. Rick Story
Dennis Bermudez vs. Max Holloway
Colton Smith vs. Robert Whittaker
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Abel Trujillo

Stephen Thompson vs. Nah-Shon Burrell
Brian Bowles vs. George Roop
Jeremy Stephens vs. Estevan Payan

Photo: Junior dos Santos (James Law/Heavy MMA)

Let’s discover those prospects that fight in the obscurity of the regional and international circuits, waiting for their shot at the bright lights and big stage of the UFC, and those veterans looking for one more chance at stardom. It all begins here, in the small convention centers and high school gymnasiums. It all begins with promotions such as these…

Spotlight Fight:
Alexis Vila (11-3) vs. Czar Sklavos (7-2)

Though the Championship Fighting Alliance certainly snagged a televised slot on AXS TV for its 11th event due to the inclusion of transgender fighter Fallon Fox, the promotion was deserving of the attention long before Fox entered the lexicon of the MMA community. The promotion has a knack for constructing cards with at least a few compelling names in the lineup. This event may have a heightened sense of importance since it hosts Fox’s national television debut, but the heart of the card comes in the form of match-ups such as the interim featherweight title fight pitting undefeated champion Sean Soriano against Elvin Leon Brito, the competitive heavyweight tilt between Mike Kyle and late replacement Travis Wiuff that headlines the show, and the intriguing flyweight encounter between former Bellator bantamweight tournament participant Alexis Vila and up-and-coming prospect Czar Sklavos.

Vila is an Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time gold medalist at the World championships and a one-time gold medalist at the Pan American Games. After a 9-0 start to his MMA career while fighting as a flyweight, Vila was signed by Bellator as a participant in its season-five bantamweight tourney. He stunned the promotion’s featherweight champion, Joe Warren, with a 64-second knockout in the quarterfinals. Vila then edged Marcus Galvao in the semifinals before losing to future champion Eduardo Dantas in the finals. In his season-six tourney bid, Vila dropped a unanimous decision to Luis Nogueira. The Cuban wrestler shifted his focus back to the 125-pound division and met Joshua Sampo for the inaugural flyweight title in his CFA debut. Vila came up short and was submitted by Sampo in the fifth round. He’ll look to bounce back from his three-fight skid when he meets Sklavos.

Fighting is in Sklavos’ blood. His father was a world champion kickboxer and serves as Czar’s coach. The most interesting aspect of Sklavos’ development as a mixed martial artist is that his father recognized that striking wasn’t everything and encouraged his son to train in jiu-jitsu at an early age. The training has paid off, with Czar notching six of his wins via submission. The 31-year-old lost his pro debut to UFC fighter T.J. Dillashaw, though that fight took place at bantamweight, and came out on the wrong side of a unanimous decision versus Sampo in 2012.

Age is certainly the biggest factor in this fight. Vila is 42, and he has not won a fight since 2011. The American Top Team fighter may have a trophy case full of medals, but the most recent of those wrestling honors came at the 1996 Olympics. Does he still have what it takes?

Sklavos is looking to capitalize on the spotlight that Fallon Fox has brought to this card. She may be the focus of everyone’s attention, but the prospects on this card are getting national exposure and have to take full advantage of the opportunity. To say Vila is a step up in competition for Sklavos is not completely true. The Idaho native has fought Dillashaw and Sampo in the past. The step up would come in the form of Sklavos defeating such an opponent where he has failed in the past.

Vila’s window for success in MMA is shrinking by the day. He needs a win here, but it’s not a given that he’ll get one. Sklavos presents a tough adversary for the Cuban no matter where the fight takes place. If Vila opts to shoot for takedowns, he takes the risk of getting submitted by the submission specialist. Yet, on the feet, Vila is tasked with an opponent that has trained with a world-class kickboxer for practically his entire life.

With a three-fight losing streak weighing on him, Vila will be conservative in this fight. Sklavos is a significant threat on the mat, so Vila will use his wrestling to keep the fight standing. Despite Sklavos’ kickboxing heritage, he hasn’t proven to be a lethal threat on his feet thus far in his career. However, Dillashaw and Sampo couldn’t stop him, so don’t expect Vila to do so either. Instead, Vila will rock Sklavos with powerful strikes on occasion en route to earning a unanimous decision victory over the prospect.

Other key bouts: Mike Kyle (19-9-1) vs. Travis Wiuff (68-17), Fallon Fox (2-0) vs. Allanna Jones (2-1) in the featherweight tournament semifinals, Luis Palomino (20-8) vs. Robert Washington (15-7), Sean Soriano (7-0) vs. Elvin Leon Brito (6-1) for the interim featherweight title

Spotlight Fight:
Naho Sugiyama (8-2) vs. Seo Hee Ham (10-5)

Invicta FC gets all of the attention when it comes to the women’s side of the sport, but on Japanese shores, Jewels is the top of the mountain for female mixed martial artists. After venturing to Invicta (the two promotions have a talent-sharing arrangement) in 2012, Naho Sugiyama has spent 2013 back in the familiar territory of the Jewels organization, where she holds the atomweight crown. She’ll put the belt on the line this weekend against challenger Seo Hee Ham.

When Sugiyama made the journey to Invicta for a title showdown with Jessica Penne, the Japanese star was undefeated through eight professional bouts and was less than a year removed from the Jewels Featherweight Queen tournament run that brought her the promotion’s gold. “Sugirock” was dominated by Penne in the Invicta bout and ultimately succumbed to a triangle choke in the second round. In her return to Japan, Sugiyama again suffered defeat, this time at the hands of Celine Haga in a non-title 108-pound catchweight bout. The 35-year-old is now on a two-fight skid and needs to rebound with a win to get her career back on track and to retain her belt.

Standing in Sugiyama’s way is Ham, who previously competed as a strawweight. The Korean kickboxer has earned the nickname of “Hamderlei Silva” for the resemblance between her fighting style and that of Pride and UFC legend Wanderlei Silva. Ham captured the CMA KPW lightweight championship and is 6-1 with three knockouts as a kickboxer, but in her 15-fight MMA career she has never scored a knockout win. Eleven of her 15 fights have gone the distance, with Ham picking up wins on nine of those occasions. The 26-year-old’s only stoppage victory came in her most recent outing when she utilized an armbar to submit Ryu Mizunami. Ham has twice lost to Ayaka Hamasaki, including once via a corner-stoppage TKO. She has also lost by way of submission versus Miku Matsumoto and Megumi Fujii.

Ham’s list of wins includes such notable names as Saori Ishioka (twice), Mika Nagano and Mei Yamaguchi. Combine that with losses to Fujii, Hamasaki (twice) and Yuka Tsuji, and that makes for a ton of experience. Sugiyama has some significant names on her own resume, but the list isn’t as long as Ham’s list.

Where Sugiyama has failed thus far is against larger opponents. Penne was a former strawweight dropping to atomweight, and the size advantage played in the American’s favor. Despite a 3-11 mark entering the bout, Haga, who normally fights as a strawweight, bested Sugiyama as well. That doesn’t bode well for the champ as she heads into this fight with another former 115-pounder. As long as the weight cut doesn’t adversely impact Ham’s game, she should benefit from the size advantage.

Against a fighter like Yamaguchi, Ham was able to stuff or reverse takedowns. That allows the kickboxer to keep the fight in her world, where she can utilize combinations and low kicks to pick apart opponents en route to decision victories. With her combination of skills and what could be a small size advantage, Ham should be able to extend “Sugirock’s” streak of misfortunes. The Korean kickboxer will claim the Jewels crown with a win on the scorecards.

Other key bouts: Mika Nagano (12-8) vs Takumi Umehara (1-0), Mei Yamaguchi (10-5-1) vs. Seo Ye Jung (0-1)

Spotlight Fight:
Pedro Rizzo (19-10) vs. Satoshi Ishii (7-2-1)

The Inoki Genome Federation may not be the most active or well-known promotion on Japanese soil, but from time to time, it does host a significant event. The promotion returns this weekend with a card that features a significant heavyweight showdown. The IGF’s 26th event will be headlined by a heavyweight clash between UFC and Pride veteran Pedro Rizzo and Olympic judoka Satoshi Ishii.

Rizzo fought for the UFC heavyweight strap on three occasions, but never captured the belt. The 39-year-old has been fighting professionally for almost 17 years and will be entering his 30th professional contest. Rizzo has been away from action for nearly a year after suffering a knockout against Fedor Emelianenko in Fedor’s retirement bout, and had been inactive for nearly two years prior to the Emelianenko fight. The knockout loss snapped a three-fight winning streak that saw Rizzo claims victories over fellow grizzled veterans Jeff Monson, Gary Goodridge and Ken Shamrock. After winning his first nine pro bouts, Rizzo has failed to string together more than three consecutive victories. The Black House fighter is a Muay Thai practitioner and holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. With 11 wins and seven losses by some form of knockout, Rizzo tends to live or die on his feet.

Ishii is an Olympic gold medalist judoka who holds a fifth dan black belt in judo and a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Ishii was a highly touted prospect when he first entered the sport of MMA, but the hype surrounding him quieted when he lost his pro debut to Hidehiko Yoshida. Ishii has also lost to Emelianenko, lasting two and a half minutes (compared to Rizzo’s 84 seconds) before getting knocked out by the Russian. Ishii has had his ups and downs, but he has righted the ship for the most part. Since the loss to Emelianenko, Ishii has rebounded with a unanimous decision victory over Tim Sylvia and submissions of Kerry Schall and Sean McCorkle. Ishii tends to get the job done via submission or go the distance.

Much like with Alexis Vila in the CFA bout, Rizzo has to struggle with age as a factor in this fight. Ishii is 26 and in the prime of his career, whereas Rizzo is a battle-tested 39-year-old. In his own prime, Rizzo would have likely demolished Ishii in the same dominant fashion that Fedor did. Now, however, the question becomes whether he can still strike with the same power and efficiency as he had even just three years ago. Ring rust—Rizzo has only fought once in the last three years—won’t help his cause either.

Ishii may not be fighting stellar competition, but he has fought on a regular basis and with a large amount of success. His recent streak features UFC veterans, including a former champ. Rizzo seems like the next logical step up in competition for the judoka. Ishii will likely struggle with Rizzo’s striking and jiu-jitsu skills, but he should do enough with takedowns and ground-and-pound to edge the UFC veteran on the scorecards.

Photo: Alexis Vila (L) connects with a left hand (Dave Mandel/Sherdog)

The night’s main event will feature a rematch in the heavyweight division as Cain Velasquez battles Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva for a second time. Velasquez stopped the Brazilian by first-round TKO at UFC 146 last May, but this time the division’s championship belt is on the line. Following the win over Silva, Velasquez battered Junior dos Santos for five rounds to recapture the title, while Silva has dispatched of Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem to earn his shot at the champion.

In the co-main event, dos Santos will take on a resurgent Mark Hunt for the No. 1 contender’s spot in the division. Another No. 1 contender spot is up for grabs in the 155-pound division as Gray Maynard takes on T.J. Grant. Rounding out the pay-per-view main card will be a light heavyweight clash between Glover Teixeira and James Te Huna, as well as a lightweight war between Donald Cerrone and K.J. Noons.

The 12-fight event will kick off at 6:35 p.m. ET with three bouts streaming on the promotion’s YouTube and Facebook pages. Four additional bouts will follow on FX at 8 p.m. ET, with the five-fight pay-per-view main card starting at 10 p.m. ET.

Below are highlights from Thursday’s press conference:

Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva – for heavyweight title
Junior dos Santos vs. Mark Hunt
Glover Teixeira vs. James Te Huna
Gray Maynard vs. T.J. Grant
Donald Cerrone vs. K.J. Noons

Mike Pyle vs. Rick Story
Dennis Bermudez vs. Max Holloway
Colton Smith vs. Robert Whittaker
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Abel Trujillo

Stephen Thompson vs. Nah-Shon Burrell
Brian Bowles vs. George Roop
Jeremy Stephens vs. Estevan Payan

Photo: Cain Velasquez (Dave Mandel/Sherdog)

Heavyweight Alistair Overeem returns to the octagon at the UFC’s inaugural Fox Sports 1 event; returning from a knock out loss to UFC 160 headliner Antontio Silva. He will meet fellow Silva TKO victim Travis Browne in a non-headliner fight.

Fox Sports 1 1 takes place Aug. 17 at TD Garden in Boston.

Bellator continues to develop its presence in the English market with the signing of three fighters from the United Kingdom to “long term” contracts. The promotion plans to have cards televised weekly in the U.K.

Joining Bellator’s ranks will be the submission savvy Paul Sass, former BAMMA lightweight champion Rob Sinclair, and Martin Stapleton. All three entering into Bellator’s lightweight roster.

Veteran heavyweight and former UFC champion Josh Barnett is set to return to fight for the promotion with a multi-fight contract.

Heavyweights Roy Nelson and Stipe Miocic will meet at the UFC’s first trip to Winnipeg at UFC 161.

The bout was recently added due to the loss of its main event when interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao was forced out due to injury. Dan Henderson vs. Rashad Evans will take its place as headliner.

UFC 161 takes place June 15 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Photo: Alistair Overeem (Esther Lin/MMA Fighting)