Proponents contend the legislation would protect intellectual property markets. Currently, there are undisputed flaws in copyright law that allows individuals to pirate protected work, and realize a profit. For example, an individual can purchase a pay-per-view fight and then stream the fight from their television onto their computer, then across the world vis-à-vis a particular URL. Located on the associated webpage, the individual committing piracy can then sell ad space to gain a profit on a product that is not rightfully their own.

Opponents, on the other hand, claim SOPA threatens free speech and innovation by censoring or shutting down websites upon the occurrence of uncontrolled infringement. For example, if a search engine provides a link to a webpage and, unknown to the search engine providers, such a webpage contains infringing content, the search engine could then face punishment similar to the actual site carrying the infringing content. Alternative bills have been introduced in an effort to combat the possibility of SOPA being enacted, but for now, SOPA has been garnering all of the attention.

As SOPA came to the forefront of our daily newspapers and became a hot topic in mainstream media, companies started publicly asserting their support for SOPA, while seemingly an equal amount have stated their opposition.  How companies have been lining up on either side of the battle field has been quite interesting. In the wake of the uproar surrounding SOPA, and the subsequent loss of Congressional backing, the House Judiciary Committee responsible for the “mark-up” of the bill “postponed” SOPA and the similarly related Protect IP Act (PIPA) also was tabled until the dust settles at a later date.

Not surprisingly, the UFC has offered its public support of SOPA. The UFC has a long history of perceiving a situation and acting accordingly with its financial accounts in mind. And who is to blame the organization? The UFC is in the business of making money, and pay-per-view, television broadcasts, internet broadcast, etc., all contribute to the gaudy bottom line of the UFC.

The UFC has grown at an incredible rate in the last ten years and much of its success has been attributed to the selling of pay-per-view and the promotion’s endeavor into the reality TV market with The Ultimate Fighter series.  When the UFC was in the infant stages of its resurgence to the mainstream, the technology, or at least the awareness thereof, did not threaten the UFC’s profits realized by way of pay-per-view and television broadcasts.

Now, however, the rapid development of technology has created a conundrum for copyright law that is rearing its ugly head in all professional sports. Sport leagues and promoters alike are having their revenues purged by fans that take a broadcast and disseminate it across the world to countless end-users. This dynamic has created a plethora of issues that cannot be contained within the four corners of this article. However, staying myopically focused allows us to examine and validate the UFC’s position while at the same time giving credence to the opponents of SOPA and PIPA, because of the significant changes that would occur if the bill were to be passed.

In the United States, the dissemination of copyrighted materials can be considered a civil or criminal act, punishable by fine or imprisonment.  One may think that copyright infringement is a harmless act, but the piracy of copyrighted materials has grown to an international phenomenon and is a billion-dollar industry. In 1998, the United States passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which provides an avenue for Intellectual Property owners to remedy acts of infringement. Unfortunately, the extent of the law does not go beyond our domestic borders.

Much of the infringement that is taking place is located on servers in countries abroad. For example, The Pirate Bay, a website that makes available music, movies and television shows, has servers located in Sweden, which creates convoluted issues of legal recourse and ultimately provides a veil of protection for the website operators. Thus, the DMCA with respect to the streaming of online content such as an UFC event seems to be a lion with no teeth.

Currently, with SOPA and PIPA being placed on procedural hold, in part due to the public uproar, there have been alternative approaches that are gaining traction. Most notably, Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN), which seeks to stop transfers of money to foreign websites whose primary purpose is piracy or counterfeiting.

At the end of the day, it seems inevitable that some form of an online piracy bill, complete with a catchy acronym, will be heard in the United States Congress and eventually passed.  As it currently stands, there are proposals in the form of SOPA, PIPA, OPEN and The Free Information Act.

Next week, we will discuss the overall objective of each proposal and provide a compare and contrast on how each bill would affect MMA, and specifically the UFC and the rabid fans eagerly awaiting the events.

Photo: SOPA protester (AFP)

Today Paradigm MMA Management, a subsidiary of Paradigm Sports Management, announced that they have signed free agent fighter Michael Bisping.  Bisping recently split from his longtime training team and had been in search of new management.  Paradigm had helped Bisping with his last fight and ultimately impressed him enough to earn his business.

After a failed first attempt due to issues with his visa, the UFC has recently signed top heavyweight prospect Glover Teixeira.  Teixeira is currently riding a 15-fight win streak and has not lost a fight in over six years.

After days of speculation, K.J. Noons has been officially cleared to compete at next week’s “Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey” event. After his victory over Billy Evangilista, Noons was suspended indefinitely and had not gone through the proper steps to be reinstated. Noons is set to face Josh Thomson on the main card of the event.

On Tuesday Derek Brunson received news that he did not pass his medical exam and will be removed from his scheduled bout at “Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey.”  Brunson found out that due to his vision he will not be allowed to compete on the upcoming card.  Brunson will look to laser corrective surgery so that he can get back to action.

Today the Nebraska State Athletic Commission released the medical suspensions from UFC on Fuel TV 1: Ellenberger vs. Sanchez and the list was rather short.  Only four fighters received medical suspensions.  Ronny Markes was suspended indefinitely while Dave Herman, Phil De Fries and Vagner Rocha were given the standard 30 day suspension for being knocked out.

On Tuesday Zuffa officials announced an additional fight for “Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey.”  Ohio natives Roger Bowling and Brandon Saling will face each other in a welterweight match-up.  Officials did not announce whether or not this addition would be a part of the main card.

UFC officials today confirmed a lightweight bout between top British prospect Paul Sass and veteran Jacob Volkmann.  At the moment it is unclear where this fight will land on the card but it is anticipated that this fight will be on the preliminary portion of the card.

Former Strikeforce champion Marloes Coenen is set to face Romy Ruyssen in the main event of Invicta 1 card.  Invicta is a new promotion that was founded by former UFC, and Strikeforce talent executive Shannon Knapp.  Invicta 1 will take place on April 28 from Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan.

Photo: Michael Bisping (Cagepotato.com)

First though, on a personal note, although I was lined up to compete in the event this weekend, I am unfortunately going to have to pull out due to a few injuries suffered in my last tournament. As much as I regret missing the opportunity, my full focus is on the Pans and Worlds now, and also I can now give you a completely unbiased prediction on who should win the Ultimate Absolute.

So now, back to business…

Even though the tournament has had names come and go, the event is still sure to hold some of the most recognizable faces in jiu-jitsu today. If you are a fan and fretting that Cobrinha, JT and Samuel Braga are not going to be a part of the event, then you should be happy to know there are still studs such as Ryan Hall, Justin Rader, Celso Vinicius, Bruno Malfacine and Mike Fowler ready to put on a show. The tournament will consist of sixteen 155-pound competitors all looking for the $10,000 grand prize in the end, including submission bonuses ($1,000 per submission).

Going in, the clear favorite would have to be former lightweight World champion Celso Vinicius, based on his credentials and also the size advantage he is expected to have on the rest of the field (remember weigh-in is the day before). But at the same time, Celso’s NoGi game has not been tested in a long time, since he is known mainly as a Gi jiu-jitsu competitor.

Another favorite is Bruno Malfacine, but the question is, can the four-time roosterweight World champion stand tall with opponents that have a good-sized weight advantage on him?

Even though, to many, Ryan Hall may not be the clear-cut favorite, he mustn’t go overlooked because his credentials show that some of his best results come in NoGi events, such as ADCC and the NoGi Worlds. The 2009 ADCC bronze medalist is coming in with confidence after finishing up his training with Marcelo Garcia for the event and is looking to make a statement.

Another participant that people tend to overlook too much is Lovato Jr.’s black belt NoGi World champion Justin Rader. Rader comes in with a difficult game to handle, as his wrestling looks to be the best in the tournament, so don’t count him out. He could steal the show.

Another high profile name that should be interesting to check out is Mike Fowler. Although Fowler has not been in the competition scene in the past few years, he cannot be taken lightly. Do not forget that Fowler is an ADCC veteran and holds wins over Renzo Gracie and Saulo Ribeiro (both of whom he defeated in consecutive matches at ADCC 2007).

Although I’ve only mentioned a few of the competitors, that doesn’t mean that someone else couldn’t surprise everyone and make a run for the $10,000 “light at the end of the tunnel.” Mark Ramos is an ADCC veteran and a multiple-time NoGi World champion, while Reily Bodycomb has some of the best leglocks in the game and is sure to give someone a scare with his heel hook attacks, so who knows? Anyone can take this event!

In the end though (and if the brackets are released as expected), Celsinho Vinicius and Ryan Hall are my picks to make the finals, with Hall taking the cash prize home. When it’s all said and done, I believe it will come down to Ryan’s flexible guard and diverse leglocks against Celso’s passing pressure and endurance.

So there is my take on the event. Who do you think will reach the finals, and who do you think will come away with the $10,000 in cash? Comment below and let yourself be heard! Osss!

Photo: Celsinho Vinicius (via Facebook)

It will be a battle between two lightweights in Las Vegas as Evan Dunham and Edson Barboza will square off.

Barboza is coming off of a spectacular wheel kick knockout of Terry Etim at UFC 142 which claimed knockout of the night and fight of the night honors.  The Brazilian is an impressive 10-0 in his MMA career with four victories coming inside the Octagon.  In three of his four fights with the promotion, he has taken home fight of the night bonus checks.

Dunham entered the UFC with an undefeated record and went on to win his first four promotional fights until back-to-back losses to Sean Sherk and Melvin Guillard sent him back to the drawing board.  “3-D” has bounced back nicely however and has returned to his winning ways.  A victory in this fight would give him three straight.

UFC 146 is scheduled to take place on May 26 in Las Vegas.

There had been speculation that coach Greg Jackson may not corner UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones when he defends his title against Rashad Evans at UFC 145.  The champion has been a student of Jackson and his camp for a long time now but due to the fact that Evans had previously been a member of the same camp, it was thought that the coach would sit this one out due to nature of the situation.

Even though “Suga” was the UFC light heavyweight champion under Greg Jackson and his camp, Jones announced over the weekend on his Twitter account that Jackson would indeed be in his corner for this fight.

UFC 145 is set to take place on April 21 in Atlanta.

Even though Jorge Patino currently holds the Legacy Fighting Championship title belt in the welterweight division, he will cut the additional 15 pounds to fight Jesus Rivera for the vacant lightweight title at Legacy FC 11.

Patino won his welterweight title by taking a decision victory over Pete Spratt and has successfully defended the title since.  The victory would not only give him two titles in two divisions, but it would give him his fourth consecutive victory.

At 2-0 with Legacy FC, Rivera will be looking to capture the title and improve his career record to 7-2 overall.

Also announced for the fight card will be a featherweight fight between Chad Robichaux and Joseph Sandoval along with a middleweight bout between Robert Drysdale and Isaac Villanueva.

Legacy Fighting Championship 11 will take place on May 11 in Houston.

Photo: Evan Dunham (Dave Mandel/Sherdog)

In a fight that made Sherdog’s 10 February Tussles Worth Watching, No. 2-ranked 115-pound female fighter and Bellator veteran Jessica Aguilar (13-4) took the unanimous nod over Patricia Vidonic (5-2).

Leo Kuntz (13-1-1) eked out a split decision victory against Indalecio Tat Romero (18-5)…Jeremy Stetz (11-3) scored a first-round knockout of William Jochum (11-6).

Bobby Brents (12-2) secured an arm-triangle choke in the first round to submit Bellator veteran Rogent Lloret (11-3-1)…Conor McGregor (10-2) knocked out Steve O’Keefe (6-2) in the first round.

Kazunori Yokota (15-5-3) retained his Deep featherweight strap with a unanimous decision over fellow Sengoku veteran Hideki Kadowaki (14-12-3)…Pride and WEC veteran Yoshiro Maeda (29-11-2) captured the Deep bantamweight title with a second-round rear-naked choke submission of the defending champion, Dream vet Takafumi Otsuka (12-10-1)…Sengoku veteran Mizuto Hirota (14-4-1) successfully defended his Deep lightweight crown with a unanimous decision victory over Pride and Dream vet Seichi Ikemoto (20-18-5)…Amanda Lucas (4-1), daughter of Star Wars creator George Lucas, became Deep’s first-ever women’s open-weight champion with a third-round keylock submission of Yumiko Hotta (5-4)…Strikeforce and Pride veteran Daisuke Nakamura (25-13) earned a unanimous nod over UFC and Pride vet Akihiro Gono (32-17-7)…Hirohide Fujinuma (11-4-2) needed just 80 seconds to knock out Seigo Mizuguchi (9-11)…Hiromitsu Kanehara (19-24-4) fought to a draw with fellow Pride veteran Daijiro Matsui (12-24-6).

The bout between Strikeforce and EliteXC veteran Brett Rogers (11-4) and Todd Allee (2-1) ended in a no-contest after just 78 seconds. Rogers took Allee down, but connected with an illegal blow to the back of Allee’s head, leaving Allee unable to continue…Amir Khillah (10-4), who lost to Cody McKenzie in the qualifying round of TUF 12, earned a unanimous nod over Dom O’Grady (13-5-1).

No. 9-ranked 125-pound female fighter and Bellator veteran Jessica Eye (6-1) earned a unanimous decision over Kelly Warren (3-2).

Roy Docyogen (10-0) maintained his spotless record with a kimura submission of Rodel Orais (2-1).

Photo: Jay Silva locks in the arm-triangle choke against Kendall Grove at Superior Cage Combat 4 (Dave Mandel/Sherdog)

Lawal did acknowledge the serious nature of his injury, which was a reccurence of the ACL injury the fighter suffered in 2010. Speculation surrounded the fact that the injury was to the same knee as before, which may have prevented insurance from covering the surgery.

“That debt stuff isn’t true,” said the light heavyweight while speaking to The MMA Corner. However, the fighter did not go into the specifics of his monetary situation.

Due to the infection, Lawal has been forced to receive treatment through a PICC line straight to his heart. And while the fighter recognizes the situation is less than ideal, it is certainly better than losing his leg or even worse, death.

“I could’ve died!” Lawal proclaimed. “But I’m a fighter physically, mentally, and spiritually.”

The surgery and staph infection are just the latest difficulties in the career of the wrestling stalwart. Following his most recent victory, a dominant performance over Lorenz Larkin on Jan. 7, the Nevada State Athletic Commission revealed that Lawal had tested positive for a steroid and would be suspended. The fighter maintained his innocence, but the fight was overturned to a no-contest.

Even with the current adversity, Lawal remains upbeat and is hopeful to resume training again in the near future.

Photo: Muhammed Lawal (Rob Tatum/The MMA Corner)

Even after a tough outing in his last fight, the UFC has decided to give Jason “Mayhem” Miller a second chance.

Mayhem will return at UFC 146, which takes place on May 26 in Las Vegas. His opponent will be The Ultimate Fighter 7 alum C.B. “The Doberman” Dollaway.

The announcement was first made on Miller’s Twitter account.

“Fighting @UFC 146. Be there. MGM Grand Garden Arena. May 26th. Gonna show the naysayers and more importantly, us monkeys what I’m capable of.”

In the UFC’s return to Japan, fans will have three ways to watch some MMA action: pay-per-view, FX and Facebook.

UFC officials announced the broadcast schedule recently for next weekend’s event.

Headlining the pay-per-view card will be Frankie Edgar defending his lightweight championship against Ben Henderson. The main card will also feature six other action packed bouts.

Rounding out the card, FX will feature four bouts, while Facebook will broadcast the last remaining fight.

The complete UFC 144 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)

• Champ Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson (for lightweight title)
• Ryan Bader vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
• Cheick Kongo vs. Mark Hunt
• Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields
• Tim Boetsch vs. Yushin Okami
• Hatsu Hioki and Bart Palaszewski
• Joe Lauzon vs. Anthony Pettis

PRELIMINARY CARD (FX)

• Takanori Gomi vs. Eiji Mitsuoka
• Vaughan Lee vs. Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto
• Steve Cantwell vs. Riki Fukuda
• Chris Cariaso vs. Takeya Mizugaki

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)

• Issei Tamura vs. Tiequan Zhang

The UFC’s next stop on FX is confirmed with four bouts.

UFC on FX 2 will take place on March 3 from the Allphones Arena in Sydney, but airs in the U.S. on March 2. FX will broadcast the main card, with Fuel TV covering the preliminary fights.

Headlining the event is Thiago Alves taking on Martin Kampmann in a perennial welterweight match-up.

Also on tap is the first ever UFC flyweight tournament, which will feature Joseph Benavidez vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani and Demetrious Johnson squaring off with Ian McCall.

Lastly, Court McGee will go toe-to-toe with Constantinos Philippou in a middleweight bout.

The Fuel TV preliminary bouts have not been named official thus far.

A rematch three-and-a-half years in the making will go down on April 20.

Today, Shinya Aoki and Eddie Alvarez have verbally committed to fight each other at Bellator 66.

The two originally met in December 2008, where Aoki defeated Alvarez by submission in the opening round. Since then Aoki has gone 11-2, and Alvarez 8-1.

Bellator 66 takes place on April 20, but no venue or location has been named thus far.

Bobby Brents made a statement at Cage Warriors Fighting Championships 45 on Saturday by submitting Rogent Lloret. In another spotlight bout, Chris Fields earned a spot in the the final four of the middleweight tournament with a 50 second knockout over Jack Mason.

Cage Warriors Fighting Championships 45 full results:

Main Card

• Bobby Brents def. Rogent Lloret by (submission) arm-triangle choke. Round 1, 4:41
• James “J.P.” Reese def. Brad Wheeler by unanimous decision
• Chris Fields def. Jack Mason by TKO (kick and punches). Round 1, 0:50 – middleweight-tourney opening round
• Conor McGregor def. Steve O’Keeffe by knockout (elbows). Round 1, 1:33
• Dave Keeley def. Eddy Bengtsson by TKO (elbows). Round 1, 4:40
• Brett Sizeland def. Brett Bassett by TKO (cut). Round 2, 1:47

Preliminary Card

• Jacek Toczydlowski def. Shah Hussain by unanimous decision
• Charlie Watts def. Chad Brown by submission (punches). Round 2, 2:12
• Ben Hajir def. Michael Jones by submission (armbar). Round 3, 3:06

Deep lightweight champion Mizuto Hirota put his belt on the line at Deep Impact 57 on Saturday and defended it successfully by defeating Seichi Ikemoto.

In the bantamweight division, Yoshiro Maeda took the belt from Takafumi Otsuka by way of submission.

Also, featherweight champion Kazunori Yokota defended his title against Hideki Kadowaki.

A couple of changes have been made for Worldwide MMA on March 31.

Instead of Parisyan taking on Dave Menne, it will be Thomas “Wildman” Denney.

Also, former WEC champion Jamie Varner was expected to face Beerbohm, but Varner has been forced off the card. Beerbohm will now fight Derrick Noble.

Worldwide MMA takes place in El Paso, Tex. on March 31.

Maurice Smith (12-13), a former UFC heavyweight champion, will return to MMA at the age of 50.

Smith is expected to fight Kyle Keeney at Resurrection Fighting Alliance 2 on March 30 in Kearney, Neb.

Headlining the event will be Houston Alexander vs. Gilbert Yvel.

A once beaten Russian Magomed Saadulaev will be added to the Bellator roster.

While once competing at welterweight, Saadulaev will drop down to 155 to compete in the lightweight division.

He is expected to fight in the upcoming season of Bellator, but no opponent has been named yet.

Photo: Jason “Mayhem” Miller (MMAJunkie)

The UFC today announced two fights for the upcoming UFC on Fox 3 event.

The Ultimate Fighter 14 semi-finalist Johnny Bedford is set to face fellow bantamweight Nick Denis at the May 5 show.  Also slated for the event will be a featherweight showdown between TUF 14 finalist Dennis Bermudez and Pablo Garza.

UFC on Fox 3 takes place in East Rutherford, N.J., with the main card airing on Fox and the prelims broadcast on Fuel TV.

Multiple-time world champion Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Robert Drysdale has signed a multi-fight deal with Legacy Fighting Championships, according to Legacy promoter Mick Maynard. Drysdale, who is 3-0 as a mixed martial artist, is expected to compete at the promotion’s May 11 show, Legacy Fighting Championships 11. An opponent has yet to be finalized for Drysdale, however.

Legacy Fighting Championships 11 takes place in Houston and will air live on HDNet.

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship today hell weigh-ins for Saturday’s Cage Warriors 45 event, which takes place in London and streams live on the MMA Junkie website. All fighters on the broadcast portion of the event successfully made weight for their scheduled bouts.

However, one participant in the event’s lone untelevised fight tipped the scales a bit heavy for his 130-pound catchweight affair.  Michael Jones will surrender 25 percent of his purse after coming in at 135.2 pounds for his scheduled fight with Ben Hajir.

Full Weigh-in Results

Main Card (MMA Junkie)

• Bobby Brents (236.5) vs. Rogent Lloret (247.2)
• James Reese (155.9) vs. Brad Wheeler (154.6)
• Chris Fields (185.9) vs. Jack Mason (185)
• Steve O’Keefe (144.9) vs. Conor McGregor (145.8)
• Eddy Bengtsson (262.4) vs. Dave Keeley (258.8)

Preliminary Card (Facebook)

• Brett Bassett (183.8) vs. Brett Sizeland (185.6)
• Shah Hussain (169.7) vs. Jacek Toczydlowski (169.8)
• Chad Brown (185) vs. Charlie Watts (183.8)

Preliminary Card (untelevised)

• Ben Hajir (129.3) vs. Michael Jones (135.2)

The UFC’s first main-card venture onto Fuel TV, Wednesday evening’s UFC on Fuel TV 1, averaged 217,000 viewers over the course of its three-hour broadcast. The ratings peaked with 315,000 viewers during the main event bout between Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez.

Invicta Fighting Championships, an all-female MMA promotion led by former Strikeforce executive Shannon Knapp, is set to holds its first event on April 28 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan. The card will be headlined by a clash between former Strikeforce 135-pound women’s champion Marloes Coenen.  Coenen will fight top-10 ranked 145-pound fighter Romy Ruyssen in a rematch of a 2008 bout in which Coenen handed Ruyssen the only loss of her career. The fight will be contested in the 145-pound division.

Knapp, the co-owner and vice president of the promotion, also revealed that Invicta Fighting Championships plans to stage at least three events in 2012, with fights spanning five weight classes.

Top Photo: Johnny Bedford (Paul Thatcher/Fight! Magazine)

More often than not, the more true to real life a game is, the less fun it generally is when it is being played on a console.  The inverse of that is true as well, as video games such as NFL Blitz, featuring many differences to the real game of football, is typically a blast to play.  The UFC’s third chance at a game in its Undisputed series is definitely one of those games where the designers found the appropriate balance and got it right.

The first UFC Undisputed was a ton of fun, however the game had its limitations.  The styles of fighting were severely limited and did not have certain aspects of the game such as Greco-Roman wrestling and very limited standing clinch capabilities.  Meanwhile, in UFC Undisputed 2010, Sambo, Karate and Greco-Roman wrestling were added to the game, making the standing clinch became a major focus of things. However, at times it felt like all you did while playing was stand with your opponent and try to achieve double underhooks.  While more realism was added to the second installment, it provided a lot of gameplay that ultimately was not nearly as much fun.

The virtual version of Jose Aldo throws a kick (Heavy MMA)

Even though the latest version game has only been released to the public for a short period of time, it appears as though the creators have found the balance between the fun that was had during the first game and the more realistic experience  featured the second time around.  While fights still have a tendency from time to time to end up in the standing clinch, it is not nearly as much as was found to occur in the previous installment of the game.

For the most part, the fighters look like their human counterparts, and also act like themselves inside the cage.  A fighter like Chael Sonnen does not try to stand in the pocket and pick his opponent apart, but rather he takes his opponent down and works the ground game.  While it is nearly impossible to put what bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz does into a video game, the people at THQ made him very fast and very quick, which translated well into the game.  Touches like this give the title a true-to-life feeling that will make any fan happy.

One of the more popular features that the game has to offer comes from the career mode, where you can create a fighter and ride him up the ranks all the way from the former World Fighting Alliance promotion, fighting fictional characters, and into the UFC, where you will not only see yourself squaring off with virtual equivalents of real UFC fighters, but some of those fictional characters that have climbed the ladder alongside your own created fighter.

In career mode, the team at THQ has added a bunch of new mini-games to improve your fighter’s statistics, as well as other ways to improve your fighter, along with new features such as being able to take a fight outside of your fighter’s normal weight class.  These new features have definitely improved the enjoyment of the game mode.

But probably the biggest and most talked about new addition to this year’s game has to be “Pride Mode.”  Just as it sounds, it features Pride Fighting Championship and puts the fighters inside the Pride ring with a rule set that follows that of the former promotion.  Feel like soccer kicking your opponent?  No problem.  Want to foot stomp the head of a fighter you recently put on his back?  Go nuts!  It truly is a fun experience to take to the Pride ring rather than the UFC cage, and it is probably the best way that the game has improved from the previous rendition.

But unfortunately, it isn’t all peaches and cream.  Typically, with the good comes the bad, and while UFC Undisputed 3 doesn’t have very bad things that come along with it, there are some things that could have been implemented.

For example, the only promotion that you fight in leading into your UFC career is the aforementioned WFA, which is an organization that Zuffa purchased long ago.  Why not also include World Extreme Cagefighting?  Why not make up a couple of fictitious promotions that feature combat in circular cages or ones shaped like a pentagon? It would have been cool to have more options for the fighter as they lead into their career with the UFC, such as a Japanese promotion which happens to have a rule set similar to that of Pride.

The virtual showdown between Dominick Cruz (R) and Urijah Faber (Heavy MMA)

And to me, the biggest thing that they missed out on here was the opportunity to bring The Ultimate Fighter into the game.  Perhaps if you performed well early in your career, it would be great to then be invited to the show and have a chance to become the next TUF champion, and maybe even coach the show later in your career in the game.

There are also several little things that pop up in the game which left me scratching my head.

I understand that this is a video game after all, but for some reason one of the venues that you can fight in is Madison Square Garden in New York City, yet the sport of Mixed Martial Arts is currently illegal in the state of New York.

Fighters like heavyweight Sean McCorkle and middleweight Nate Marquardt are featured in the game despite being cut from the promotion in March and June of last year, respectively.

When fighting in Pride mode, it is possible to execute a wall walk up while your back is up against the ropes, which isn’t exactly possible to do.  While these things that are in the game ultimately don’t take anything away from the game itself, it makes for some unrealistic moments.

But in the long run, the game is great.  It runs smooth and maintains the same level of fun when taken online to battle against fellow players across the globe.  UFC Undisputed 3 has definitely hit its stride as far as keeping things true to real life, but at the same time maintaining a level of fun which gamers across the board will be able to enjoy.

Top photo: The virtual version of Jon Jones (R) throws an elbow strike against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in “UFC Undisputed 3″ (THQ)

Omaha’s own Jake Ellenberger returned home on Wednesday and put on a solid performance against Diego Sanchez, earning a unanimous decision.

“The Juggernaut” was able to use his wrestling game to his advantage and controlled most of the stand-up exchanges to out-point Sanchez on the scorecards.

Carlos Condit (L) battles Nick Diaz (Paul Thatcher/Fight! Magazine)

Ellenberger has always been underrated as a fighter, but now with six straight wins under his belt, there’s no doubt that this 26-year-old is capable of fighting for the title in the near future. His one loss in the UFC came in his Octagon debut, against none other than Carlos Condit, by split decision. Remember the name Condit, because Condit-Ellenberger will more than likely go toe-to-toe again.

Right now, the welterweight division is a mess. With what has happened to Nick Diaz and injuries to champion Georges St-Pierre, the division is wide open for anyone to earn a title shot. Condit earned the right with his recent win over Diaz at UFC, and now with Ellenberger on a roll, his name is in the discussion.

With St-Pierre out until late 2012, the interim champion Condit is not going to wait that long to get his shot at the belt. However, with Ellenberger making his name known, a rematch between Ellenberger and Condit is the logical match to make at this point. Whoever wins that fight will be the man likely step up against GSP when the champ returns to action.

One heavyweight on the main card that was successful in his fight was Stefan “Skyscraper” Struve.

Struve took on Dave Herman in the co-main event of the evening. After a tough start in round one, “Skyscraper” came back in the second to win the fight by TKO.

With the win on Wednesday and one against Pat Barry in October, Struve has won two straight and is continuing to compete at a high level even at 24-years-old. The native of the Neatherlands still have a lot to improve upon, like the way he starts off early on in fights, but he has a bright future ahead of him if he stays healthy.

Stefan Struve (Heavy MMA)

Another rising heavyweight in the UFC is Mike Russow. Ever since signing with the UFC in August 2009, Russow has gone 4-0, with his last win coming in January against John-Olav Einemo.

Some may not think this would be a pivotal match-up, but actually this would be a big fight for both men. Both Struve and Russow are trying to work their way into the top 10 and this fight would propel them to where they wanna be.

Struve hasn’t faced many wrestlers in his career, but Russow prefers to go to the mat. But all of Russow’s wins have come by knockout, so it will be interesting to see how Russow would handle the length of Struve.

In a middleweight tilt, Brazilian Ronny Markes was able to grind out a victory over Aaron Simpson by winning two of the three rounds. This is without question the biggest win of the 23-year-old’s career, but he has a lot of progressing left to do to before taking on the top-of-the-line middleweights.

An opponent to consider for Markes next is Chris Camozzi. Camozzi is a young guy at 25 years old and is at a similar point as Markes. “Kamikaze” has had an up-and-down career with many setbacks, but now has a win over Dustin Jacoby under his belt that should launch him into many more wins in his young career.

Camozzi is one of the better well-rounded fighters in the middleweight division, with skills to either knock out or submit his opponents. With Markes being a Brazilian and training with a solid jiu-jitsu camp, Camozzi will have to use his purple belt in BJJ to be able to win this match-up, if made.

On the feet, I’d give a slight edge to Camozzi due to his length, but Markes has a solid chin, as he was able to withstand the uppercuts Simpson threw at him. Expect this to be a close bout in the middleweight division.

In another heavyweight battle, Stipe Miocic landed a heavy shot to the head of Phil De Fries, earning the Croatian a knockout victory in just 43 seconds.

Miocic now has two wins in the UFC and seems to be a force to be reckoned with in the division.

One fighter that I have in mind to fight Miocic next is The Ultimate Fighter season 10 alum Matt Mitrione.

Mitrione has been out of action ever since UFC 137 in October and fans would love to see Miocic-Mitrione, I believe. Both men are heavy-handed and are strong wrestlers. What could be a better stylistic match-up than that?

Miocic hasn’t showed off his Division I wrestling much in his time with the UFC yet, but against “Meathead” he will more than likely have to use it. But for Mitrione, he will have to figure out a way to avoid the heavy shots from Miocic. All in all, this would be a great fight to make.

T.J. Dillashaw (Dave Mandel/Sherdog)

Fans had been waiting patiently for T.J. Dillashaw to return to the Octagon following his December loss to John Dodson in the bantamweight finals of The Ultimate Fighter 14, and they finally got to see him compete on Wednesday. Dillashaw dismantled Walel Watson in a lopsided fight that went to the judges’ scorecards.

A lot of hype has been surrounding Dillashaw ever since he competed on The Ultimate Fighter 14. But even with the hype, the Team Alpha Male bantamweight knows just how to back up the talk.

At only 26-years-old, there’s no need in putting him in the cage against a highly-talented fighter, but “The Viper” will get his shot to be put into the spotlight eventually.

For now, I could see him fighting a guy like Edwin Figueroa.

Also 26, Figueroa has won his last two bouts since dropping a decision loss to Michael McDonald in his UFC debut. Figueroa may not have as much talk surrounding him as Dillashaw does, but he has just as much potential.

This fight will dictate who will be the next big thing in the bantamweight division. The victor will take a huge step forward towards the crown, while the other will have to fight to keep a spot on the roster. The key to the fight will be whether or not Figueroa will be able to stop the takedowns of Dillashaw. If not, this may be a repeat of Dillashaw’s performance against Watson.

Another bantamweight took home a win on Wednesday night, as Ivan Menjivar used his experience advantage to defeat John Albert in the first round, earning himself Submission of the Night honors.

Menjivar is often overlooked in the bantamweight division, but has fought some of the toughest guys in the sport. Now with his career on track with three straight wins, “The Pride of El Salvador” is focused on making his way to the top.

But first, he’ll have to keep taking out tough competition midway through the ranks. Two men that are competing soon at UFC 144 are Chris Cariaso and Takeya Mizugaki.

Cariaso has fought two of the top up-and-comers in the sport in Renan Barao and Michael McDonald, but he hasn’t been able to win against competition at that level.

Mizugaki is a veteran who has fought in Shooto, WEC and now the UFC. Even though he hasn’t remained consistent, Mizugaki has faced off with many top 135-pound fighters in the world.

Whoever wins that fight between Cariaso and Mizugaki will give Menjivar a test. But Menjivar is a veteran and will be able to handle whatever is thrown his way.

Top Photo: Jake Ellenberger (via Facebook)