The MMA signings/releases thread

[OD50]

So, just what the title says. Easier to post it all in one place instead of posting seven different signings in seven different threads.

-Josh ''The Baby Faced Assassin'' Barnett has signed with Strikeforce, says he will fight there in 2010.

-Antonio ''El Negro/Mandingo'' McKee has signed four fight deal with the UFC. In his last fight McKee stopped Luciano Azavedo by horrific elbow induced cut. Azavedo is the only man to have beaten Jose Aldo by the way. McKee has 18 decision wins of 25 total victories.

-Paul ''Semtex'' Daley has signed to fight in the Strikeforce WW division. Daley is 2-0 since being fired by Dana White following UFC 113.

-Jorge ''Gamebred'' Masvidal has signed a two year and (I think) six fight deal with Strikeforce. He will fight in the SF LW division. Masvidal is a Sengoku, Strikeforce, BodogFight and uh, Youtube vetaran.

Feel free to fill in.

-Bellator has signed undefeated LW Mike Chandler (3-0).

[Dubya]

That's crazy that they snagged Chandler.. he was on a Strikeforce show like 3-4 months ago.. I think May.. and he won. Can't believe that Strikeforce would just let him go like that. Must be too focused on NOT finding a fight for Fedor and/or Overeem.

[UncannyIowan]

Or they didn't go berzerker cuz someone was only 3 fights into their pro career.....There are a lot of fighters out there with 2-0, 3-0 records that you can't just keep every single one of them.

I did laugh about the Fedor comment.

McKee.....Yay, from what I heard dude is extremely boring. 18 out 24 wins by decision, wtf, gotta give him props he's got cardio lol. Can't wait though to see him, he's been around for awhile.

[Dubya]

Yeah, but you'd think that if they were interested enough in him to put him on the show, that they'd be more interested after he won.. ?? I dunno, seems silly to me. Cut the guy he beat loose and keep him.

[UncannyIowan]

Yeah, but you'd think that if they were interested enough in him to put him on the show, that they'd be more interested after he won.. ?? I dunno, seems silly to me. Cut the guy he beat loose and keep him.

Like I said, they can't keep their finger on every single fighter that fights for them. Most of those prelim fighters for Strikeforce aren't even signed for more than one or two fights, and again, there are so many guys with 2,3,4 fights on their record ....

What more than likely happened was that he was a prelim fighter who was free to sign with whoever

[Dubya]

Efrain Escudero has been released from the UFC.
http://mmajunkie.com/news/20725/afte...e-bellator.mma
Talking to Strikeforce and Bellator apparently ..

[Torn]

Very surprised by that, especially considering the amount of slack other TUF winners have got (Danzig). Guess that's what happens if you are on a losing streak and show up 4 lbs overweight.

[Dubya]

True that. He should do good in either Bellator or Strikeforce. He really is pretty good and still fairly young.

[PMBR]

I think Efrains release is definitely more about his coming in overweight than his record/performances.

[Dubya]

Yeah, I'm sure it has a lot to do with it. Not looking great lately and losing that night certainly doesn't help either though.

[UncannyIowan]

Is this his first time coming in overweight?

And really, his only losses were to undefeated Evan Dunham and had a good showing I thought in his last fight.

He wasn't even on a losing streak and most of his UFC bouts were him kicking ass....Definitely a big loss and has to be in the running for most surprising release of the year considering like Torn said, the slack TUF winners are shown doesn't make sense. What about James Wilkes? Is he still in the UFC?

[Dubya]

There could be more to it. Ya never know.. Wilks is still in the UFC, but he's only lost once I believe.. to Matt Brown.

[OD50]

John Gunderson (23-8) has been released by the UFC. Pretty standard deal, he went 1-2 on a three fight contract. Guys that doesn't show anything extraordinary in the losses usually gets canned.

[UncannyIowan]

There could be more to it. Ya never know.. Wilks is still in the UFC, but he's only lost once I believe.. to Matt Brown.

Idk why, but for some reason I thought he lost his last fight....

[Dubya]

Nah he beat Peter Sobatta in his last fight.. lost to Matt Brown before that and was on a 4-fight win streak prior to the Brown fight. He's fighting someone on the UFC 120 card I believe.

[Dubya]

UFC released Tomasz Drwal. Won 3 in a row, including one over Drew McFedries.. but recently lost to Palhares and then Dave Branch.
http://mmajunkie.com/news/20739/ufc-...masz-drwal.mma

[UncannyIowan]

Dubya, I love ya for making it out like a win over Drew-Mac was important. Need more fans of Drew-Mac than myself. Ames bitch!

I think we're going to see more releases of guys who have been fighting in the UFC for a little bit. Thousands of fighters in every region in the US and across the world looking for that spot on a list of what, 200 fighters? Guys with 3-4 fights in the UFC not looking real good are going to get released, but I mean shit, the UFC is good about bringing back people who improve. They brought back Paul Buentello for Christ's sake.

[OD50]

Rodney Wallace has been cut from the UFC.
http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2010/09/...odney-wallace/

[Dubya]

Lol remember when someone made a thread about him cuz they thought he was gonna beat Phil Davis or something?

[Dubya]

Stefan Struve signed a new 4-fight deal. Good for him. 4-1 in his last 5. Lots of potential. So young for as many fights as he's had.

[Mark Hammer]

Rodney who? Was that the guy who went by "Don't Play" or something like that? Only reason I even know who the hell he is is because of that retarded thread a month or two back.

[thetony]

I didn't like how at the last press conference Dana shut down the idea of a 235lb cruiser-weight division, saying there would only be about 4 guys fighting in the weight class. But that's not necessarily true.

Not sure how accurate the UFC site is, but there's at least 10 guys that weight between 225-240lbs in heavyweight alone. Plus it would only lead to growth with having to sign new fighters to bulk up both divisions.

[Torn]

I don't know about that being true yeah, but there arn't many guys who would fight in the 235-265 range.

[Dubya]

I think over time it could be a division. It will just take a lot more talented pure heavyweights like Carwin and Lesnar coming in and running over people. It's a good idea in theory, but the more ya think about it .. he's right .. there aren't that many guys that would still be heavyweights if they did that. There would be plenty of guys that would fill the cruiserweight division, but the heavyweight division would be depleted again.

[OD50]

The UFC HW division would be something like Lesnar, Carwin, Big Country and Sean McCorkle if they added a 235 CW division.

[Mark Hammer]

Ya, I'm very strongly against this whole idea. The HW division would take a big hit.

[Dubya]

Plus you'd have to imagine that a lot of 205ers would move up. Jon Jones, Ryan Bader, Forrest Griffin, Rampage Jackson .. all really big for 205.

[Mark Hammer]

That too. Good job Dana for shitting on the proposal.

[thetony]

I don't think the HW division would be cut down to just the four guys you mentioned above, but I see what you're saying. I mentioned growth.

[Seanny One Ball]

So you don't think the heavyweight division would be cut down to just the four guys he mentioned above then, thetony?

Interesting stuff.

[Dubya]

Torn BROKE THE NEWS to me first .. but ..

Jay Hieron is officially a free agent ..
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/...2868&zoneid=13

[Dubya]

Patrick Cote officially got his release today. Not surprised by that. I imagine he'll pop up in Strikeforce or Bellator. Don't know what the deal is, but ever since he came back from his knee surgery.. he just hasn't looked the same as he did before. I imagine he might pick up an indy win first, but I can't see him just being done. He has a name and he is a good fighter. I'd love to see him go to Bellator and be one of their special feature fights and fight Hector Lombard.

[UncannyIowan]

Let's be honest, Patrick Cote never looked that good for too long. After TUF 4 he had a little streak goin, but before that he never won a single fight in the UFC and reallly since the Almeida fight he's looked like the old Patrick. I could see him doing good against some greener fighters or journeyman who have a decent record but no one that good. Strikeforce could use him because he does have good striking and heart, they need depth BADLY!! Cote v. Frank Shamrock.

[PMBR]

Frank Shamrock is retired. Patrick Cote vs Scott Smith!

[Dubya]

Add Gabriel Gonzaga to the list .. this one kinda surprises me. I think he's at least still a name and would've tried to get one more fight out of him. Gonzaga/Madsen perhaps.

[UncannyIowan]

Add Gabriel Gonzaga to the list .. this one kinda surprises me. I think he's at least still a name and would've tried to get one more fight out of him. Gonzaga/Madsen perhaps.

I think the reality was that he got extremely lucky against Cro Cop, just like guys like Jardine, they're not really good at all, they just have a few wins that disguise their true shitty value to the company. "Name" or not, he's never been that good, his only shining moment since beating Cro Cop was that punch he wobbled Carwin with.

Idk, he doesn't suck he just seems to be on a downhill slide.

[Pete Cash]

Gonzaga is solid and I am surprised because even if the HW division is a lot better its still not heaps deep. He is a very dumb fighter though. Utterly cretinous at times and he has been out of form

[Reveille]

For as much as the UFC hyped him as a black belt in BJJ, I can't ever remember a time in which he tried to use that as an advantage...

I felt bad for him when he got stopped by Randy for a broken nose that he got while face planting on a take down, but ever since then, he has done nothing in the UFC...

[Seanny One Ball]

He's not as bad as you're making out. He just isn't as interesting as other Heavyweights at this point in time and he'd only have reached the prelim card on any PPV anyway.

Fuck it, no big loss.

[Pete Cash]

He isn't THAT bad at all but he is out of form and down on confidence. He is the type of fighter the UFC will pick back up again if he gets it together.

[UncannyIowan]

I just could never shake that fight with Kevin Jordan from my memory, I've always felt like his win against Cro Cop wasn't anything more than Cro Cop believing his own hype and not properly training and getting caught with a headkick no one saw coming. Gabe's biggest contribution to MMA is giving us one of the best KO's of all time, especially the way Cro Cop landed, his leg all twisted.

[Mark Hammer]

I think the reality was that he got extremely lucky against Cro Cop, just like guys like Jardine, they're not really good at all, they just have a few wins that disguise their true shitty value to the company. "Name" or not, he's never been that good, his only shining moment since beating Cro Cop was that punch he wobbled Carwin with.

Idk, he doesn't suck he just seems to be on a downhill slide.

I've always seen Gabe as the HW version of Jardine. Kind of shitty with a couple (well in Gabe's case one) shock wins.

[Pete Cash]

He is better than Jardine and in a vastly shallower division.

[UncannyIowan]

He is better than Jardine and in a vastly shallower division.

Naw, he's Jardine. If the LHW was as depth-lacking as the HW division, Jardine would be what Gabe is.

[Dubya]

Gonzaga is nowhere near as bad as Jardine .. he's never lost more than 2 fights in a row .. Jardine has lost 5 in a row.. and considering Gonzaga's only losses are to Randy Couture, Fabricio Werdum, Junior Dos Santos, Shane Carwin, and Brendan Scaub. 3 of whom are all currently TOP 5 heavyweights and 1 is a legend in the sport. .. comparing him to Jardine, who's lost to Matt Hamill, Trevor Prangley, Houston Alexander, Travis Wiuff, and Stephan Bonnar .. and thats not even all his losses. .. kinda shit comparison.

Call him a gatekeeper, sure .. but don't call him a Jardine. Lol.

[Dubya]

SOOOOOOOO...

..the UFC has released Gerald Harris

WHAT.THE.FUCK???

3-1 in the UFC ...

[Torn]

Complete bullshit. Fucking hell, what a shit decision.

[Dubya]

It's really pretty ridiculous .. he's 17-3 (3-1 UFC) and 14 of those wins are by stoppage.. he has 2 KO of the Night awards.. one that got serious ESPN coverage .. that's the kinda guy you should want to keep around. Espescially consdiering that 185 isn't their most stacked division..

that's like hand-delivering Strikeforce/Bellator a new middleweight prospect.

[Vice]

Something to do with that early round stoppage, maybe? Smells like FISH.

[Dubya]

Yeah, but Harris didn't have anything to do with that early round stoppage. If anything, he got screwed by the guy not letting go at the bell cuz he was defending the choke until the bell sounded from what he said ..

[UncannyIowan]

Ya know, let the UFC build up fighters and release them to other promotions because it will build the entire MMA world. Probably the worst release of the year, I mean what the fuck? I barely know the guy and I'm thinking, he's lost 1 fight in the UFC (sans TUF) and his holiday weekend is met with a release. Good thing is, he's good enough to make money elsewhere so more power to him.

[PMBR]

I don't blame the UFC for that release. Not even a little bit.

Gerald Harris openly campaigned for a main card fight and the UFC gave him his wish. In that fight, he got paired against a dangerous guy that brought it to him in the first and Harris put on an enormous stinker of a "staring contest". This guy who talks about putting on exciting fights did...NOTHING! Falcao is lucky to have not been released with him.

[Mik]

How the fuck is Falcao lucky not to have been released with him? He won, he almost got a submission, was probably close to a stoppage a couple of times and took his foot off the pedal when it was clear that he'd won two rounds and Harris was making NO attempt to push the third. Falcao was coasting out a victory against a good fighter on his FIRST UFC fight where he was a considerable underdog. He looked powerful and explosive with great striking, good takedown defense and a strong ground game. If you think that he's lucky not to have been released for not going hell for leather for a finish in the fight, then GSP, Fitch, Anderson Silva and Maynard can all consider themselves lucky to have not been released.

[PMBR]

That was a Chute Box fighter. Neither guy made any attempt to do anything in the third round and as soon as the bell rang in the 3rd, Falcao started acting like he just won the world series. That is not the mentality of Chute Box and Wanderlei must have been ashamed of that last round.

Falcao looked great in the 1st and 2nd, but not letting go/having to be pryed off of the choke on top of doing absolutely nothing for the last 5 minutes are both great ways to find yourself on the Dana White shit list.

He was the betting underdog, but anybody who took the time to check out his record, his other fights and his training academy should have known what to expect from him. I definitely didn't have him as a big underdog like most people.

[Dubya]

Harris was choked out (illegally) at the end of the 1st round .. if being choked out isn't a good enough reason to be a little gassed, then I don't know what is ..

either way, the kid is 3-1 in the UFC, 17-3 overall with 2 fight bonuses and nearly all stoppage wins .. releasing him cuz of one fight like that is just silly and always will be just silly.

..and for the record, Dana White actually did say that Falcao was lucky to still have his job .. to put it on Harris though, is ridiculous to me.. he got choked out at the end of the round .. I don't care who you are, its gonna be a little hard to just get right back up and go full steam

[Mik]

Ridiculous scenes here, from Dana White AND you two.

[Dubya]

Well, any time that the entire crowd boos for an entire round.. I'd say the boss is gonna be pretty damn pissed.

So you're in favor of a guy dancing around in the 3rd round and doing literally nothing because he won the first 2? C'mon .. nobody wants to watch that.

Harris got choked out and then took a beating in the 2nd.. I can see why he wasn't doing much in the 3rd.. Falcao, I don't understand what the deal is because he should've been able to come out and finish Harris in that round .. but he decided to jog in place for 5 minutes instead ..

[PMBR]

Exactly. Dana said he wanted to fire Anderson Silva after Abu Dhabi. If he said that about his champion, I'm fairly certain he's willing to do the same to Gerald Harris or Maiquel Falcao.

I did notice watching live that the bell rang early. I don't think Harris would have survived. Still, Falcao got to have his debut in the UFC on the main card, something that most fighters dream of. He made it to the main card when veterans like Dennis Hallman and Karo Parisyan didn't, and THAT is how he pays them back? Sorry, but with the company picking up so much new talent that a performance like that is deserving of a cut.

[Dubya]

Nah, see thats the misconception .. Harris did an interview Monday, talking about how he had his head turned and had a finger on his throat the whole time so he could breathe .. but he let go when the bell rang .. Falcao didn't .. so he was good til the bell rang.

[Seanny One Ball]

How the fuck is Falcao lucky not to have been released with him? He won, he almost got a submission, was probably close to a stoppage a couple of times and took his foot off the pedal when it was clear that he'd won two rounds and Harris was making NO attempt to push the third. Falcao was coasting out a victory against a good fighter on his FIRST UFC fight where he was a considerable underdog. He looked powerful and explosive with great striking, good takedown defense and a strong ground game. If you think that he's lucky not to have been released for not going hell for leather for a finish in the fight, then GSP, Fitch, Anderson Silva and Maynard can all consider themselves lucky to have not been released.

Ridiculous scenes here, from Dana White AND you two.

He's right as well, Falcao (for my money) was amazing.
I enjoyed seeing him dominate where he could and sure he stepped off a little in the third, but Gerry Harris was the only reason that fight wasn't as good as it could have been.
The so called "fans" that booed during that fight were clearly watching for the wrong reasons.

Re Gerry Harris: He got rocked, he got hurt and he couldn't see past it.

I'd love to see another Falcao fight in the UFC, to say he's lucky not to be cut off the back of being a chute box fighter is ridiculous.

[Seanny One Ball]

Harris got choked out and then took a beating in the 2nd.. I can see why he wasn't doing much in the 3rd.. Falcao, I don't understand what the deal is because he should've been able to come out and finish Harris in that round .. but he decided to jog in place for 5 minutes instead ..

That isn't the fight I watched, you're painting this like it's Silva/Maia which it clearly wasn't.

[PMBR]

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said on Monday's episode of The MMA Hour that the organization isn't interested in signing Gerald "Hurricane" Harris.

"I talked to my guys about it, actually, they talked to me about it," Coker said of signing Harris. "I watched the fight [against Falcao], I didn't know how to judge it. Then they told me about his background and his past and things you are telling me now, that this guy is a tremendous athlete (who) has a ton of potential and just had bad showing or fought very cautious to try and win the fight.

"The only thing right now is we are really committed to the fighters we have under contract now and I want to make sure these guys get in the mix two or three next year. That doesn't mean we can't revisit with him, but for right now, I would say that I want to take care of the roster we currently have."

I'll paraphrase:

"We don't want to sign him because we have enough fighters that we already don't provide fights for!"

Scott Smith had to drop a weight class to get a good fight. Mayhem Miller hasn't been in the cage since Diaz keeps ducking him and Strikeforce won't give him an opponent. Their rumored tournament for a contender fell through. Frank Shamrock retired. Dan Henderson left the division. Cung Le will only fight top names.

This clearly means that signing Harris is a mistake because then they'd have a credible opponent for their fighters who don't have opponents...

...

wait

...

That's not right

...

[UncannyIowan]

The only thing I can think of is that he's basically not wanting to snatch up every single fighter who leaves the UFC. There have been a lot of good guys who have been released that Strikeforce either hasn't shown interest in, wasn't able to secure due to $$$, or the fighters don't show interest in them. Gerald Harris getting released by the UFC was fuckin dumb, just like Saunders getting released.

[Dubya]

That isn't the fight I watched, you're painting this like it's Silva/Maia which it clearly wasn't.

The 3rd round was exactly like Silva/Maia, that's the only round im talking about like that, the 3rd .. neither guy was doing anything in the 3rd round. All I'm saying is that I can understand why Harris wasn't doing anything .. he got choked out at the end of the 1st round and then took a beating in the 2nd .. yeah, that's gonna make you pretty tired.. espescially the getting choked out part. Falcao, on the other hand, I just don't understand why he wasn't doing anything in the 3rd round.. he probably could've finished Harris if he really tried, but he literally did nothing for the whole 3rd round .. I don't know how you can argue that when the fans were booing for pratically the entire 3rd round .. cuz I mean, they sure as hell weren't booing cuz he was going after Harris and trying to finish him. They were booing cuz he wasn't doing anything in the 3rd, just kinda hopped around the whole round. Stitch Duran said on Junkie Radio the next day that it was the loudest boos he's ever heard in an arena too.

[PMBR]

Gerald Harris isn't expensive. At UFC 116, he had a $10,000 show/$10,000 win contract. I can't imagine Strikeforce needing to offer him anything more than what he was making already.

[OD50]

Joe 'Diesel' Riggs and Smokin' Joey Vilasenor has both been released by Strikeforce.

[PMBR]

WHAT? Joe Riggs recently fought a #1 contenders bout (supposedly) with Jay Hieron and he lost by decision. He has 2 wins since then.

Bring him back to the UFC. He can fight in multiple divisions and I love him.

[Fanny Batter]

Won 6 of his last 7 and has a win over the champion . I'm guessing he can't make 170 anymore.

[Dubya]

Strikeforce is retarded .. just throw away name fighters that are doing good for no reason .. Hieron, Riggs, .. even Joey is pretty good. He just lost a couple in a row to Villefort and Souza .. neither of which are really bad losses.. he had won 5 of his last 6 before that beating Santos, Baroni, Loiseau and Ryan Jensen ..

I bet Bellator swoops all of them up.. well, they already got Hieron .. but I bet they grab Riggs and Joey too.

[UncannyIowan]

Strikeforce, oh how dumb they keep proving themselves to be. Honestly I wouldn't mind seeing Joe Riggs coming back to the UFC and throwing down against the tougher guys there. It sucks for Strikeforce, these are guys who they could've used to beef up their weak divisions and not have to resort to giving title shots to guys coming off losses.

[Dubya]

Hell, if they gave Phil Baroni, Frank Trigg, and Karo another chance .. why the hell not? If anything, one of the UFC's younger guys can pick up a name for their resumes.

[UncannyIowan]

Yeah but is it a credible name? Riggs could be winning 5, 6 fights in a row, but is it against the same level of competition that was beating him in the UFC? Probably not. Is he even a name worth giving to a young guy to fight? That's like how I felt about McCorkle and Hunt, Hunt years ago was credible as fuck but he lost like every single fight he was ever in for 4-5 years so all that credibility went out the window. Just like if you said Ken Shamrock was coming in to fight Lesnar, yeah it'd be probably the biggest ppv draw up to that point but no one would honestly believe Shamrock was a credible victory for Lesnar.

[Dubya]

For McCorkle though, Hunt was an important fight .. considering he'd never fought outside of Indianapolis at the time .. well.. and still technically hasn't. I mean, shit .. if he lost, he sure as hell wouldn't be the co-headliner on this PPV coming up .. thats for damn sure.

Shamrock vs. Lesnar. Lol. Book it.

[OD50]

KID Yamamoto seems to have been signed by the UFC.

Not good for DREAM, he's one of their biggest draws.



He probably just waited for WEC to merge with the UFC so he could fight at 135/145 and still get a decent paycheck.

[Dubya]

Yeah, they've booked his first fight for UFC 126 against Demetrious Johnson. A definite gamer from WEC. More of a flyweight, but fights at bantamweight. doesn't stop him though .. he's beaten: Damacio Page and Nick Pace in the WEC, only losing once to Brad Pickett.

[thetony]

With six of seven victories coming via stoppage as well. Need to watch a highlight on Yamamoto though..

[UncannyIowan]

Peace out El Dirte. That's what he gets for trying to immitate Bas Rutten by being a bald pasty fighter with a nickname in spanish.

I never really liked this guy, but I can't hate his credentials. Weird that he was cut for like the 30th time though, this guy has more 1-fight contracts and releases attached to his name than anyone.

[PMBR]

I saw activity in this thread and just KNEW it was going to be the release of Dustin Hazelett and Pat Audinwood.

Boo

[UncannyIowan]

I think it's time for Dustin to see what he can do elsewhere. He can go make cock molds with his brother Screech.

[Mark Hammer]

Haha I've always thought his nickname should be Screech instead of McLovin. Looks just like Screech and nothing at all like McLovin.

[UncannyIowan]

I figured his nickname was given to him because it rhymes with his first, or at least rolls off the tongue. Still, if he came out simply as "Screech" Hazelett he'd be the man!

[PMBR]

How has Eliot Marshall not been signed back yet? He has only one loss in the company, is 11-2 overall and 3-1 in the UFC, with his only loss being a split decision. Since his release, he has put together a 3 fight win streak, including a stoppage win over TUF 3 finalist Josh Haynes.

[OD50]

DREAM, DEEP and EliteXC veteran Riki Fukuda has been signed by Zuffa.

[UncannyIowan]

Poor Screech, but dude wasn't shit anyway.

How has Eliot Marshall not been signed back yet? He has only one loss in the company, is 11-2 overall and 3-1 in the UFC, with his only loss being a split decision. Since his release, he has put together a 3 fight win streak, including a stoppage win over TUF 3 finalist Josh Haynes.

Ya know, I have no clue why he was released. He's a case like Jake Rosholt, where you scratch your head wondering why? But there's obviously a reason bigger than just losing one fight, there usually is. Rosholt probably bitched that all of his fights need to be on t.v. and DW was like, naw dude you look ugly as fuck.

[PMBR]

Yeah but Eliot was 3-1 when he got released. Rosholt was 1-2. His release actually made sense. Also, Eliot is 3-0 since his release. Big Jake is only 1-1.

Marshall could be compared to Harris... minus the fight night bonuses.

[Dubya]

Jamie Varner and Chris Horodecki have both been released by Zuffa .. not too surprised about either.

Nick Diaz has also signed a new multi-fight deal with Strikeforce.

Ron Sparks has signed a long-term deal with Bellator and will compete in their next HW tourney.

[UncannyIowan]

2 more guys Strikeforce can pick up to deepen their 155 division. Both are very good fighters, just need to work on their submission defense more. Both are very young still, so I expect them to both improve.

[PMBR]

To release a former 155 champion when Strikeforce has NOBODY to offer Gilbert Melendez... interesting decision.

Then again, it shows that the UFC isn't worried about Strikeforce and that they know the 2nd company can't compete even after signing MAJOR players like Dan Henderson, Andrei Arlovski, Josh Barnett and Fedor Emelianenko... someone as small potatoes as Jamie Varner will certainly not make a difference.

[UncannyIowan]

I think the UFC sees that they have a lot of fighters now with the WEC merge and even guys we know will get cut. The thing is, like I said, they are young lions who haven't even came close to hitting their prime...or maybe they have and they'll just get worse idk. But the thing is, the UFC is going to cut people and not even care about Strikeforce because the UFC is still light years ahead of them.

[Dubya]

..and Jamie Varner is 0-3-1 in his last 4 fights so.. yeah, no real reason to keep him around.

Kamal Shalorus has signed a new 4-fight contract with the UFC.

Bart Palaszewski has said that his job is safe for now.

[Dubya]

Brandon 'the truth' Vera has been released by the UFC, following his 3rd straight loss this past weekend against Thiago Silva. Vera lost to Jon Jones and Randy Couture before that and was 7-6 overall in the UFC. He currently owns an 11-6 overall record.

I don't think anyone's really surprised by this one. With Bellator about to do their first LHW tournament, I wouldn't be shocked to see them try to grab him. I'm sure he either lands there or Strikeforce though.

[PMBR]

Vera in Bellator would be great. I'd make the argument that he shouldn't have 3 consecutive losses based on getting robbed in the Couture fight, BUT his performance against Thiago was so lackluster that it doesn't even matter what his recent record was.

Granted, I think his record in the UFC should be 8-4-1.
The changes to his record I would make are a win over Couture instead of a loss and a draw against Jardine instead of a loss. He's just been the victim of bad scoring, injuries and ridiculously tough competition.

I don't like to talk about "what if", but I also think he would have beaten Tim Sylvia had he not broken his hand in the 1st round. Had that happened, he'd be 9-3-1.

[UncannyIowan]

Had he not been involved in that contract dispute bullshit he would've gone on to fight Tim Sylvia after knocking out Mir and then would have IMO beat Sylvia for the title. He would not have sat out for a year and we would've had a totally different HW title picture, to the point where I honestly think Vera would be champion for a couple years. I don't think Couture would have came out of retirement-IMO-to fight Vera because he said himself he came out of retirement and asked for the fight against Big Tim due to Tim's shitty defenses.

Sucks, I'd honestly rather see him in Strikeforce. They're more well known than Bellator, I think that they have the ability to bring in tougher opponents than Bellator offers. BUT, if he does go to Bellator I don't see a LHW being able to fuck with him.

[Dubya]

Marcus Davis has also been released by the UFC. Was hoping to see him get one more shot at 155. He looked good til he got KO'd against Stephens.

I dunno, though .. with Bellator being on MTV2 this year .. and being on at the time they're supposed to .. they could gain some momentum. People like Alvarez, Ben Askren, Hector Lombard, Joe Warren .. making names for themselves. I'm excited to see their next set our tournaments.

Speaking of .. Rick Hawn and Dan Hornbuckle have both committed to this season's Bellator Welterweight Tournament.

[PMBR]

Davis would be an AWESOME signing for Strikeforce. He looked fantastic at 155. Give him one fight and put him up for the title. Marcus' striking is outstanding and I'd love to see him vs Gil.

[UncannyIowan]

One fight against who though to warrant a guy who's on a 3 fight losing streak a title? Especially against Gil, who's considered the #2 LW in the world right now. Marcus looked good against a top 20 LW until he was knocked out cold in the 3rd round.

[PMBR]

Marcus looked GREAT against a Top 20 lightweight. He had more energy than we've seen in a long time. He was light on his feet. He was coming in at incredible angles. His combos were landing and he was being extremely frustrating to his opponent. Marcus very well could be entering the best division for himself.

After JZ Cavalcante "losing" to Josh Thomson, and Thomson losing on New Years Eve, there are no quality challengers in that division. If Marcus were to debut against either JZ or Josh and beat them, then he would certainly be worthy of a title shot in a division where there are no challengers.

That being said, Marcus Davis vs KJ Noons could be the best boxing in any MMA fight ever!

[Dubya]

Top 20 in the UFC or Top 20 cuz I don't really think Stephens is like Top 20 Lightweights in the World. He just lost to Melvin Guillard, BS-decision or not .. and is 7-5 overall in the UFC and I think he stole the decision in the Sam Stout fight while we're on it. I think Stout should've got the nod there. Stephens is good, no doubt .. but he still hasn't really beaten any top-level guys yet and Gomi hasn't really proved to be one yet, at least in the UFC .. however, its a fuckin' great match-up and I can't wait to see it. He beats Gomi and he might sneak his way into the lower part of the Top 20. If he gets past Gomi, I'd love to see him get a contendor .. someone like the Miller/Kamal winner maybe ..

[UncannyIowan]

Yeah I'm saying top 20 in the UFC, in the world he's probably like 45, which isn't bad considering how many LW's there are. Marcus' age is catching up with him. He lost big fights to Dan Hardy-which probably would've put Davis in line for a shot @ GSP (maybe?) and he lost to Saunders, Diaz, and now Stephens. He's basically going down the road the Iceman and others have had to face for fighting the way he has all these years.

P.S. The most boring fighter you never heard of Antonio McKee was released after one fight. That fight must've really sucked too.

[PMBR]

Oh no... he's not Top 20 in the world. Let me do a quick rundown of my UFC top 20 and see where you think he fits.

1. Frankie Edgar
2. Gray Maynard
3. George Sotiropoulos
4. Anthony Pettis
5. Jim Miller
6. Evan Dunham
7. Sean Sherk
8. Ben Henderson
9. Kenny Florian
10. Charles Oliveira
11. Joe Lauzon
12. Donald Cerrone
13. Cole Miller
14. Melvin Guillard
15. Sam Stout
16. Kurt Pellegrino
17. Jeremy Stephens
18. Denis Siver
19. Shane Roller
20. Gleison Tibau

Just a quick rundown. Not a lot of time for analysis and I might have left out a name or two... but I think #17 in the UFC sounds about right. In the world, Melendez, Aoki, Thomson and Cavalcante would push him out of the Top 20 immediately.