In the Cage – 11.15.12

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

Once again the Bellator fighters tipped the scales, this time in Rhode Island as Bellator 81 takes place on Friday night at the University of Rhode Island.  The main and co-main event on the evening will be the quarterfinals of the season seven lightweight tournament, as UFC veteran Rich Clementi takes on Marcin Held, and Dave Jansen battles Ricardo Tirloni.

All of the fighters on the evening successfully made weight.

MAIN CARD (MTV2)

• Rich Clementi (156) vs. Marcin Held (156) – lightweight-tourney semifinal
• Dave Jansen (156) vs. Ricardo Tirloni (156) – lightweight-tourney semifinal
• Dustin Neace (146) vs. Marlon Sandro (145.5)
• Jonas Billstein (185) vs. Perry Filkins (185)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com)

• Robbie LeRoux (135) vs. Ruben Rey (136)
• Paul Barrow (155) vs. Matt Bessette (150)
• Sam McCoy (185) vs. Brennan Ward (184.5)
• Matt Uhde (209.5) vs. Mike Mucitelli (209.5) – 210-pound catchweight
• Dan Cramer (185.5) vs. Joe Lamoureux (185)
• Andrew Calandrelli (156) vs. Eric Brown (155)
• Murad Machaev (165) vs. Lorawnt-T Nelson (165) – 165-pound catchweight

Bellator 81 takes place at the Ryan Center in Rhode Island tomorrow night.

While it had been known for quite some time, the UFC has officially announced that UFC on Fox 6 will indeed take place at the United Center in Chicago.

Headlining the action will be a flyweight championship fight as Demetrious Johnson defends his title against The Ultimate Fighter winner John Dodson.  Also on the card will be Quinton Jackson against Glover Teixeira and Anthony Pettis versus Donald Cerrone.

Fights also announced so far include:

• Featherweight: Ricardo Lamas vs. Erik Koch
• Featherweight: Clay Guida vs. Hatsu Hioki
• Heavyweight: Mike Russow vs. Shawn Jordan
• Lightweight: T.J Grant vs. Matt Wiman

UFC on Fox 6 will take place on Jan. 26.  The main card will air live and free on Fox starting at 8 p.m. ET.

[box_dark]Mitrione to replace Carwin[/divider]

With Shane Carwin suffering another injury, it was announced yesterday that he had to withdraw from his TUF 16 finale fight with opposing coach Roy Nelson.

Today, it has been announced that a replacement for Carwin has been found as Matt Mitrione will fill in and take on “Big Country.”

Both fighters know one another well due to the fact that they were both on Rashad Evans team during their season of The Ultimate Fighter.  Nelson went on to win the show, while Mitrione ended up losing in the quarterfinals.  All of “Meathead’s” professional fights have taken place inside the Octagon, where he has amassed a record of 5-1.

The TUF 16 finale takes place on Dec. 15 in Las Vegas.

While it has not officially been confirmed by Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, it appears as though Bellator’s eighth season may open up on Thursday, Jan. 10.

Sources have confirmed the date and a reservation with Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall with the New Jersey State Control Board.

With January right around the corner, all signs are pointing to the promotions first season with Spike TV to take place on Jan. 10 in New Jersey.

Last Saturday, the UFC made its first ever trip to China for UFC on Fuel TV 6.  With the promotion overseas and the lack of an official commission in China, the UFC again oversaw the event.  At its conclusion, it released the medical suspensions to the Association of Boxing Commissions.

The suspensions are:

• Cung Le: suspended for 180 days unless cleared by doctor after x-ray of right elbow; also suspended for 30 days, including 21 days without contact
• Rich Franklin: suspended for 180 days unless cleared by doctor for left thumb injury; also suspended for 45 days, including 30 days without contact
• Thiago Silva: suspended for 180 days unless cleared by doctor after x-ray of right hand; also suspended for 30 days, including 21 days without contact
• Stanislav Nedkov: suspended for 30 days, including 21 days without contact
• Paulo Thiago: suspended for 30 days, including 21 days without contact
• Takanori Gomi: suspended for 30 days, including 21 days without contact
• Mac Danzig: suspended for 180 days unless cleared by doctor after x-ray of left thumb and left elbow; also suspended for 30 days, including 21 days without contact
• Tiequan Zhang: suspended indefinitely unless cleared by ENT for nasal fracture; also suspended 180 days unless cleared by doctor for left thumb injury
• Jon Tuck: suspended indefinitely unless cleared by doctor following MRI of right shoulder; also suspended 180 days unless cleared with a negative urinalysis and normal renal ultrasound; also suspended for 30 days, including 21 days without contact
• Jeff Hougland: suspended for 60 days, including 45 days without contact
• Motonobu Tezuka: suspended for 30 days, including 21 days without contact
• Yasuhiro Urushitani: suspended for 45 days, including 30 days without contact
• Tom DeBlass: suspended for 30 days, including 21 days without contact

GLORY has officially released the eight fighters that will fight in their eight man tournament that will take place on New Years Eve in Japan.  The fighters have been seeded as the following:

1. Semmy Schilt
2. Gokhan Saki
3. Daniel Ghita
4. Remy Bonjasky
5. Peter Aerts
6. Errol Zimmerman
7. Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva
8. Sergei Kharitonov

While each fighter received a seeding, they do not know who they will be fighting just yet.  A draw to determine their opponent will take place on Tuesday and can be streamed for free on their website.

GLORY and Dream will co-promote a kickboxing and mixed martial arts show to take place on New Years Eve at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.