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 With all of the speculation surrounding Randy Couture’s potential return to the UFC, lost in the shuffle is current Interm Champion Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Noguiera.

Couture is rumoured to be making a return in November against Brock Lesnar, as the main event at UFC 91 scheduled for Portland, Oregon. The questions surrounding the situation are coming from all angles.

With the UFC still pronouncing that Couture is their champion and never stripping him of the title, would a potential fight vs Lesnar actually be a title fight? Does Lesnar already deserve a title fight in the UFC? Would this be a non-title fight and if so why? So many questions and with a variety of angles that the UFC could steer the ship, my fingers point to Nogueira, the man who should be next for Couture if he returns to the UFC.

I had the chance to speak with Noguiera`s manager, Ed Soares, who seemed genuinely excited to here of Couture`s potential return. “The UFC has not mentioned anything to us, but Randy coming back to the UFC would be great. It`s definitely great for everyone involved.”

But what does this mean for Nogueira, the man who has waited in the background, quietly and patiently for the Couture situation (with the UFC) to be resolved), in hopes to unify the UFC title. Does all this talk of Lesnar strike a sour chord with the Brazilian and his camp?

Soares was definetly not bitter that Couture`s rumoured opponent is Brock Lesnar but what about the heavyweight championship? If Randy is the champion, then surely this would be for a title fight. But Lesnar getting a title shot in just is fourth professional MMA fight does not seem fair, especially considering Noguiera is the Interm Champion and in essence, fought for the right to fight Couture when he defeated Tim Sylvia in a brutal three round fight. Seems like it was all for not, or does it?

“I fully expect the UFC to do the right thing”, said Soares. “From day one they have always been 100% honest with us and I am confident they will be in this scenario. Many people say bad things about the organization but we’ve never experienced anything negative at all.”

But what is the ‘right thing’ to do?

“In a perfect world, I guess Randy lives by his original statement and position that he has resigned as the heavyweight champion, and that UFC agrees with it”, thus making this a non-issue. “This ends up being a tune up fight for Couture” and if he beats Lesnar, a title shot for Couture in 2009, vs the winner of Noguiera and Frank Mir, scheduled for December 27th, in the UFC’s annual New Year’s Eve show.

This story continues to heat up and with Xtreme Couture publicly stating that Couture is in training and flying in ‘large opponents’ to get him ready for a potential bout with Lesnar, once again, it is Noguiera who must sit in the background and wait for a chance to take on Couture.

Yesterday’s surprise story that Randy Couture is in negotiations with the UFC to make a return to the Octagon has seriously picked up. There is a report that  Randy Couture is Negotiating a Return to the UFC in November to Fight Brock Lesnar with a contract that will cancel out his old one, pay him more money and set up a three big future fights. If all goes to plan and Couture defeats Lesnar, the next three opponents will be Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (for a heavyweight championship unification bout), Fedor Emelianenko (if the UFC can get Fedor out of his American non-compete clause with Affliction) and finally Chuck Liddell (in what looks to be a retirement match for both fighters).

Lots of interesting MMA news out there today.

First off UFC’s Quinton Jackson pleads not guilty to charges but the real question is what happens next for Quinton Jackson? This past week, Rampage parted ways with his long time trainer, Juanito Ibarra and relocated to England and joined the Wolfslair crew (home of Michael Bisping). Not sure if this is a smart move for Rampage’s fighting career and skills improvement, but at least he can get away from the North American media, who will surely hound him due to his ongoing legal issues. Then again, there is the British media that can potentially destroy him, but I digress.

We’ve all heard about the various fighters who are having contract issues with the UFC, but word has come out that Randy Couture is willing to fight in the UFC once more just to put an end to the ongoing legal battle. There is also the story of Why Dana White is Not Slamming the Door on Tito Ortiz, perhaps to sign him back to the organization or simply to keep him away from the competition. I’ll go with the latter.

Looks like there will also be an Ultimate Fighter ‘Reunion’ show coming soon to Spike TV. Not sure if there will be any octagon fights on the show, but with so many hot headed personalities making a return to talk about their experience, I can already smell the UFC using these clips to promote some fights in the future.

More MMA News below…

UFC News

Liddell and Evans Gear Up for Sept. 6 Showdown

Liddell ‘100 Percent’ Healthy, Eyes on Evans

Dan Henderson UFC 88 video highlights

Saving Private Bisping

Glover Teixeira says next fight will be in the UFC

Pellegrino fighting for his life at UFC 88

EliteXC News

Kimbo Slice: I Am A Fighter (video)

Team Kimbo issues response to Brett Rogers

Ken Shamrock Interview: “Kimbo Slice is basically gift wrapped for me”

Shamrock’s Redemption: Talks Kimbo and Rogers

KJ Noons Tells His Side of the Story: “I Am Tired of Being Bent Over by EliteXC With No Vaseline”

“Bigfoot” confident of his cleanness

WEC News

Urijah Faber training for Mike Brown WEC 36 title defense (pics)

With guaranteed title shot on line, Rob McCullough finalizing game plan

Garcia, Pulver Promise Shootout

WEC To Make Possible Mexico Debut

WEC To PPV in 2009

Dropping weight classes a gamble for WEC

Japanese MMA News

Schultz vs Masvidal Top New Sengoku 5 Bouts

WVR Sponsor Buys Stake in Pancrase; Sengoku Announces Tourney Bouts

Misc. MMA News

ESPN’s “MMA Live” Episode 16

Ask the Doc: Dr. Benjamin on fighter safety, weight cutting and drug tests

How Katrina changed the game

M-1 Global’s Challenge Series Heats To HDNet

Kimbo Slice’s next opponent, has been announced, and it is none other than ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’, Ken Shamrock. Shamrock is coming off a poor performance in March, where he lost to Robert Berry in London, England. Slice is also coming off a sub-par showing when he was dominanted by ‘The Collusus’, James Thompson eventually earning a questionable TKO victory during EliteXC’s show in May of this year. Shamrock isn’t exactly a high calibre opponent for Kimbo, but he has a big enough name that should draw major attention for EliteXC.

As the UFC begins cementing the rest of it’s lineup for 2008, many fingers are pointing to a possible trilogy between Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and ‘The Axe Murderer’, Vanderlai Silva. Both fighters are in agreement that this fight needs to happen but there are two roadblocks that need to be addressed: Rampage’s legal issues and the proposed date of the fight.

Georges St-Pierre’s dominant performance on Saturday night, earned him an additional $60,000, as the UFC awarded both GSP and opponent Jon Fitch the ‘Fight Of The Night’ honours. While St-Pierre retained his welterweight title at UFC 87, his next battle will be outside of the Octagon, and it’s called ‘contract negotiations’.

Over 2,000 fans attended the free weigh-ins Friday for UFC 87: Seek And Destroy, in preparation for Saturday night’s bouts.

As Jason (The Athlete) MacDonald says on Connected Friday night, the experience of cutting weight for a professional MMA bout can be a grueling experience. But every fighter on the card did so successfully.

None of them showed any sign of fatigue or struggled to undress or make their way to the scale. It may sound funny, but I cannot tell you how many fighters I’ve seen have a painful time just taking off their clothes; it generally foreshadows a short night as these fighters have completely depleted whatever cardio reserve they built during their training camps.

MacDonald heard some of the loudest cheers at the weigh-in, triggering the Red Deer, Alta., native to smile from ear to ear. The Athlete stepped onto the scale and used the momentum to rile the crowd up as his opponent Demian Maia looked on.

UFC commentator Joe Rogan had the crowd in stitches when he referred to the match-up between Luke Cummo and Tamdan McCrory as “The Battle Of The Nerds.”

Even Cummo smiled at Rogan after his staredown with McCrory.

Roger Huerta also got one of the loudest ovations from the “hometown” crowd — he’s from L.A. but fights out of Minneapolis — as he made his way through the curtain and to the stage. Huerta will be taking on Kenny Florian in what I have pegged as “Fight of the Year” after speaking with both of these gentlemen at UFC 84 in Vegas.

Both fighters made weight with ease and during the staredown, you could sense the media and crowd surrounding me were in agreement that on Saturday night, this lightweight fight will be one for the ages.

Minnesota native Brock Lesnar was treated to a resounding ovation as he made his way up the stairs onto the stage and began to bounce around, reminiscent of his days in the WWE.

Lesnar stepped onto the scale and weighed in at a whopping 265 pounds, the heavyweight limit. He tilted his head, gave a smirk to the crowd and launched into a bicep pose showcasing the massive muscular girth he has, awaiting Rogan’s announcement of his official weight.

Lesnar will be taking on Heath (The Texas Crazyhorse) Herring, who was treated to a mix of cheers and boos by the Minneapolis faithful. Herring, an experienced heavyweight who may prove to be too much for Lesnar, smiled as the mixed emotions from the crowd rained down from the rafters while he stepped onto the scale.

Herring made weight and walked to his left to assume the staredown position with Lesnar. The crowd cheered as both heavyweights stood in front of UFC president Dana White, raised their arms and triggered a multitude of camera flashes from the crowd. Herring was all smiles as Lesnar shook his head, as if to warn Herring that he has no chance in this bout.

When Jon Fitch, one half of the main event, sprinted up the stairs to the scale, he received a loud cheer.

“I feel better than ever,” said Fitch. “This has been my best training camp and I’ve made lots of strides in my game. All that matters is the belt.”

The belt Fitch is referring to is the one worn by Canadian Georges St. Pierre, who received the loudest cheer during the weigh-in. Camera flashes did not stop while GSP was on the stage and when he stepped off the scale to meet Fitch for the staredown, he was all business.

Fitch looked into GSP’s eyes and showcased a facial expression which was half a smile and half a smirk. GSP showed no reaction, eerily similar to his demeanor during his third fight with Matt Hughes.

There is a reason for his serious demeanour. “I’m fighting the toughest guy ever in my career. I don’t fight for fame, I fight for myself and the fans,” he said, prompting another pop from the crowd.

“This has been my best training camp ever, so I’m looking forward to the fight.”

We are about 24 hours away from UFC 87 and while I believe GSP, Herring and MacDonald will be victorious, I am torn between Florian and Huerta.

Florian is a finisher while Huerta cannot be finished. On Saturday night, something’s gotta give.

UFC 87 Official Fighter Weights:

Ryan Thomas - 170
Ben Saunders - 170

Chris “The Professor” Wilson - 170
Steve “Hollywood” Bruno - 170

Jon Bones Jones - 205
Andre Gusmao - 205

Dan Evensen - 244
Cheik Kongo - 235

Luke “The Silent Assassin” Cummo - 167
Tamdan Barncat McCrory - 170

Rob Emerson - 155
Manvel Gamburyan - 155

Demian Maia - 185
Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald - 185

Roger “El Matador” Huerta - 155
Kenny “KenFlo” Florian - 155

Heath “The Texas Crazyhorse” Herring - 250
Brock Lesnar - 265

Jon Fitch - 170
Georges “Rush” St. Pierre - 170

Thursday afternoon at the UFC press conference at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, UFC president Dana White laid out the company’s plans for future fight sights.

One such location is Canada.

“We have two more states that we need to get done, New York and Massachusetts,” said White. “Canada is very important to us, very important to us. After we get New York and Massachusetts done, we’re moving up into Canada and opening up places in Canada, probably Toronto first.”

Accompanying White to the podium was Quinton (Rampage) Jackson, who appeared his old, jovial self, despite the fact he is currently embroiled in a variety of legal problems. Jackson was more than happy to step up to the microphone and thank White for all of his support.

“Dana is all over my back, all of the time,” said Jackson. “Did you eat? Did you sleep? (Are) you drinking water? Like I’m two years old. “I love Dana. He was the first one there to take care of me, to show me his love. That’s all I needed was for someone to show me love,” added the former UFC light-heavyweight champion.

White attempted to explain the circumstances that led Jackson to his recent arrest, while hinting at when he may make a return to the Octagon.

“Rampage lost the fight to Forrest (Griffin),” White explained. “He hung out in Vegas for a week. He was hanging out by the pool and he was fasting. He wasn’t drinking (alcohol) and he wasn’t eating. He was drinking energy drinks and you saw what happened on TV and the problems that he had.”

Jackson was arrested in California after his pickup truck was involved in a number of collisions with other vehicles along a highway and he was seen driving along a median. His arrest was caught on video after police were forced to pursue his vehicle before he eventually pulled over and gave himself in.

He was charged with felony evading, reckless driving and hit-and-run and released on $25,000 bail, which was posted by White. After making bail, Jackson was later picked up and admitted for mental observation after he appeared to be acting erratically.

“They took him in for psychiatric evaluation for 72 hours, and what they came back with, was that there was nothing wrong with him mentally, it was physically,” White said. “He was exhausted. Severe dehydration and that caused something called delirium.”

Jackson, standing behind White while mimicking the president’s hand motions on the podium, caused him to smile and chuckle.

“Apparantly they tell us he is healthy”, said a smiling White. “He is healthy, mentally and physically and will back in the UFC soon.”

This weekend’s UFC main event will see Canadian Georges St. Pierre defend his welterweight title against Jon Fitch. Although White knows Fitch is the current opponent at GSP’s doorstep, he mentioned that B.J. Penn, the UFC’s lightweight champion, lurks on the horizon for the Montreal native.

“He wants to fight GSP,” said White. “If GSP wins (holds on to) the title. GSP has a win over him. He wants to try and beat GSP. I don’t think he’d move up if Fitch won.”

While St. Pierre’s focus remains on Fitch, he knows full well that he has a rematch with Penn.

“I’m not thinking about BJ Penn right now,” said St. Pierre. “I’m thinking about Jon Fitch. He’s my main concern. We’ll see after the fight, depending on the outcome.”

This Saturday night, the UFC heads down to Minny, for UFC 87: Boiling Point, featuring two of the top welterweights in the world, itching to get into the Octagon to settle their differences.Canadian Georges St.Pierre will defend his newly acquired welterweight title for the first time as he takes on #1 contender Jon Fitch.