From UFC.com:

Phillipe Nover vs. Efrain Escudero

Ryan Bader vs. Vinicius Magalhaes

Finally a word from Chuck Liddell regarding the rumors that he and Randy Couture will fight for a fourth time.

From MMAMania.com:

“The rumor that me and Randy are fighting in June … no one said a word to me. And I don’t want to wait until June to fight. So we’ll see what happens. We’ll have to talk to Dana [White] about that and see what the plans are. But I haven’t heard anything about it. I don’t know where it came from or who was talking about it. To me at this point it doesn’t make sense.”

Liddell is right. It seems that no one wants this fight to happen. It's like this past summer's movie Tropic Thunder, where in the beginning Ben Stiller's character made six Scorcher movies. There is no point to it, other than making a bunch of money.

Both of these fighters are at the end of their fighting careers, with Randy already retiring and/or resigning two times. I can hear Dana White now, "This is the biggest match-up ever, again. These two fighters will lay it all on the line....again!" Throw in a few expletives and Dana will continue, "You thought this was over, wait until you see the same two fighters going at it...again!!!"

Thank goodness the managers of both Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell also don't want this fight happening. Again.

From Diego Sanchez's MySpace page:

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

So my account got hacked and it took a while to get it fixed, but I'm back. I'm training hard and will be dropping down to fight at 155. I will keep you all posted on the info of the fight! But I promise you all that I will do my best to win.

I thought Sanchez looked outstanding against Fiorovanti and showed much improved stand-up. His cardio has always been awesome, he has great subs and his motor runs at full speed at all times. But, when he fought Fitch, Diego was clearly the smaller fighter and guys like Alves & GSP would make him look like a midget.

First fight at 155 I would like to see is a rematch with Florian. There are endless other possibilites for him at 155 such as match-ups against Stevenson, Edgar, Maynard, BJ Penn and Tyson Griffin.

Nobody feels sorry for Junie.....nor should they.

Junie's performance can only be described, at best, as pathetic. I think it was clear long before he sat down in the cage that he wasn't into the fight.

Would Efrain have still beaten Junie if Junie had been into it? Maybe, maybe not. That question won't be definitively answered unless they fight again, which I don't see happening any time soon.

By Bryan Levick, FightTicker.com blogger

Over the weekend I interviewed UFC welterweight and The Ultimate Fighter season one alum Mike "Quick" Swick. Swick next faces Jonathan Goulet on UFC's Dec. 10 Fight For The Troops card. Here are highlights of our interview.

From MMANews.com:

From an interview with Thales Leites on TATAME.com in which he is asked about the possibility of fighting undefeated Demian Maia:

“I’d accept a fight, I’m a professional. Demian is a great fighter and has been doing a great job in UFC. It’s possible that they put this fight, because the belt is with a Brazilian guy and we’re growing, so they can put this fight to take one of the Brazilians from the tops. I believe it’d be a good fight, we almost have the same game and it’s kind of different from the American guys, who goes from striking and work on the ground n’ pound. We know each other’s game and it’d be a huge fight. Demian has been doing a good job, but I’d accept this fight.”

I just don't think Leites is all that special. He barely got by Marquardt and that was with Marquardt getting penalized two points. Maia is in a class by himself when it comes to BJJ and he seems to have transitioned well to MMA. If Maia keeps winning I could see him getting a title shot sometime in 2009. As far as Leites is concerned I think he needs to beat someone better than Drew McFedries before he starts calling people out.

By Josh Stein, FightTicker.com blogger

I got to talk to UFC heavyweight Justin McCully on Monday about his upcoming fight against Eddie Sanchez on UFC Fight for the Troops, who else he'd like to fight in the UFC, and his health.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission has informed FightTicker.com that none of the tested UFC 91 fighters failed their drug tests. The ten fighters tested were: Randy Couture, Brock Lesnar, Kenny Florian, Dustin Hazelett, Gabriel Gonzaga, Demian Maia Jeremy Stephens, Aaron Riley, Mark Bocek, and Matt Brown.

In other words, Brock Lesnar can continue to melodramatically state that he's never failed a drug test in his life while storming out of interviews.

The UFC has announced a new three-part series titled ‘Primetime’ which will air in the weeks leading up to UFC 94. The broadcast will feature an in-depth look at the mega-showdown between current welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and current lightweight champion BJ Penn.

The debut episode will air on January 14 at 10:30 pm ET on SpikeTV and episodes two and three will air on January 21 and 28, respectively.

After all the hype surrounding UFC 91 and the blockbuster main event between Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture, it looks like the UFC is pulling out all the stops and then some for the colossal main event on Super Bowl weekend. Hopefully, just like with all of the other UFC productions (whether the countdown shows or the Web site promos), this show will also be done spectacularly and will be a mainstay for future UFC pay-per-view events. The more UFC news/analytical shows out there the better.

It's good to see that Jackson is training hard and doing his best to be his best. He clearly is the more improved of the two fighters coming into this third fight and in my opinion, each of the previous two times he fought Wanderlei, extenuating circumstances prevented him from emerging victorious. Whether it be going the equivalent of three rounds with Chuck Liddell on the same night or questionable ref'ing, Rampage was at a disadvantage.

Four years later, Jackson's much more experienced, much more well-rounded and smarter as a fighter. Not only is he better mentally, but he's better physically because of his improved training regimen.

There's no doubt in my mind that 'Page will exact his much-desired and long-awaited revenge upon Silva come December 27th.