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Danny Castillo vs Rafael Dias WEC 36 fight booked with Ed Ratcliffe scratched Posted: 03 Nov 2008 08:22 AM CST A lightweight match up between American Top Team member Rafael Dias (11-4-1) and Danny Castillo (5-1) has been added to the WEC 36 fight card set for this Wednesday (November 5) at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Castillo was originally scheduled to fight Ed Ratcliff; however, “9MM” was scratched from the 155-pound tilt for undisclosed reasons. Dias is a natural 145 pounder, which would put him in the featherweight class, but he has agreed to fight at lightweight for this bout. This will be his debut fight in the WEC. He signed a three-fight deal with the promotion and he’ll compete as a featherweight after this match. This will be Castillo’s second fight under the WEC banner. He fought and lost to Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at WEC 34 in Sacramento in June. The loss was the first of his career. He had previously finished all five of his opponents — four by submission and one by technical knockout. He is still a solid prospect for the WEC and remains confident despite the first round loss in his last fight. This should be another solid fight on what is shaping up to be one of the better cards of 2008. This one will probably be relegated to under card status, but both of these fighters are worth keeping an eye on in the future. For more on WEC 36, which will air live on the Versus network beginning at 9 p.m. ET, click here.

Matt Brown vs Ryan Thomas UFC 91 fight in the works with Matt Riddle injured Posted: 03 Nov 2008 08:10 AM CST Matt Brown will step up on short notice and replace the injured Matt Riddle against Ryan Thomas at UFC 91: "Couture vs. Lesnar" at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 15, according to WrestlingObserver.com. Riddle — The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 cast clown — reportedly suffered a serious knee injury while training for the welterweight bout and there is no timetable for his return to action at this time. Brown also competed on TUF 7 before being eliminated from the show by eventual tournament winner Amir Sadollah via triangle choke in the semifinals. He bounced back to defeat Matt Arroyo via technical knockout at the TUF 7 Finale in June. The taste of victory inside the Octagon, however, did not last long — Brown dropped a close split decision to undefeated Korean import, Dong Hyun "Stun Gun" Kim at UFC 88: "Breakthrough" in Atlanta, Ga., on September 6, It marked his fourth loss in his six most recent fights. Thomas is no stranger to last minute opponent switches — he stepped up on short notice (12 days) to replace an injured Jared Rollins at UFC 87: "Seek and Destroy" in August to fight Ben Saunders. He lost that fight via second round submission (armbar), spoiling his debut for the promotion. Thomas is a 23-year-old part-time student at Eastern Illinois University who, prior to taking the Saunders fight, fought 14 times in 20 months. To check out the latest UFC 91 fight card and rumors click here. And to purchase tickets for "Couture vs. Lesnar" click here.

Kim Couture vs Lina Kvokov Strikeforce fight planned for Nov. 21 Posted: 03 Nov 2008 06:22 AM CST Strikeforce recently announced that Kim Couture — wife of UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture — will compete at its upcoming “Destruction” event against Lina Kvokov (0-1) in a 130-pound bout at the HP Pavillion in San Jose, Calif., on November 21. This will mark the second professional fight for Couture (0-1) who lost her debut to Kim Rose by unanimous decision at a Banner Promotions event in June. The 32-year-old Vice President of Xtreme Couture took the loss in stride and claims it’ll only help her become a better fighter: “Losing that fight was the best thing that ever happened to me. It's completely changed me as a fighter. I've started doing things a lot different. It made me realize that I have to be the aggressor or I'm going to get hurt.” Couture gets her training from some of the best teachers in the world of mixed martial arts, including her husband Randy, who is her wrestling coach, Robert Drysdale, who teaches her jiu jitsu, and Gil Martinez and Ray "Sugarfoot" Sefo, who train her on stand up. The world class training has Couture feeling very confident heading into her Strikeforce debut. Here’s another snip: “I plan to show how well-rounded I am in this fight. I'm going to be more aggressive and more explosive. There's not anywhere the fight can go that I won't be prepared because I feel like I've got the toughest camp and the best coaches.” Her opponent is also making her second professional start in mixed martial arts. Her debut was spoiled by Tamara Parks with a first round armbar at Fatale Femmes Fighting 4: “Call of the Wild” back in April. Kvokov has only been training MMA for less than a year, but apparently she feels right at home as a prize fighter: “I just think that it's such a great thing, being able to beat someone up and get paid for it. I can't think of a better way to earn a living.” Strikeforce: “Destruction” will air live on HDNet beginning at 10 p.m. ET on November 21. For more on the event click here. Check out a WEC 36 preview with main event fighter Urijah Faber after the jump. (Thanks as always to Tracy Lee of CombatLifestyle.com for the pics. See more right here.)

Brock Lesnar vs Randy Couture video fight talk UFC 91 Posted: 02 Nov 2008 07:22 PM CST Check out a video of Lesnar after the jump.

Cung Le on Black Belt magazine cover Posted: 02 Nov 2008 05:02 PM CST Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le (6-0) graces the cover of the December issue for Black Belt magazine. The talented Vietnamese striker and Tae Kwon Do black belt has not competed since capturing his title from Frank Shamrock back in March. He recently stated that he’ll stay on the sidelines and continue to be out of action until early 2009 because of other commitments, including his role as Marshall Law in the big screen Hollywood adaptation of the popular video game Tekken. The December issue of Black Belt is now on sale right here.

Seth Petruzelli costume as Kimbo Slice for Halloween Posted: 02 Nov 2008 04:47 PM CST Props: TheGarv.com

Fighting Faber: WEC reality show in 2009? Posted: 02 Nov 2008 12:34 PM CST Props: MMAWeekly Quoteworthy: “From the beginning it (a reality show) was something always in our plans. Versus, we’re in discussions with Versus. We’re looking right now at trying to figure out what we’re going to do exactly. We’ve got a lot of ideas. We want to find ways similar to the UFC to showcase our fighters on a more consistent basis. I don’t know if we’ll do exactly what the UFC did with The Ultimate Fighter, but we do have plans for a reality show of some nature, possibly soon and launching in 2009.” -WEC Vice President Peter Dropick on replicating the success of The Ultimate Fighter - which gave its parent company Zuffa unprecedented success. Is the promotion trying to offset the upcoming elimination of its light heavyweight and middleweight divisions in 2009? With WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho, WEC Light Heavyweight Champion Steve Cantwell, Chael Sonnen, Brian Stann and several others being folded into the UFC talent pool, the WEC is going to have to do something special - and in a hurry - to make up for the superstar exodus. (Thanks as always to Tracy Lee of CombatLifestyle.com for the pics. See more right here.)

Sengoku 6: Muhammad ‘King Mo’ Lawal vs. Fabio Silva (video) Posted: 02 Nov 2008 12:34 PM CST Muhammed Lawal vs Fabio Silva Sengoku 6 Uploaded by louloute23

Sengoku 6: Antonio Rogerio ‘Minotoro’ Nogueira vs. Moise Rimbon (video) Posted: 02 Nov 2008 12:30 PM CST Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Moise Rimbon Sengoku 6 Uploaded by louloute23

UFC Quick Quote: The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 9 format is ‘Dumb’ Posted: 02 Nov 2008 12:02 PM CST “It’s dumb, I don’t like it — it’s not USA vs the UK, we’re looking for the best fighter in the world. We put on a card one time, the USA v Canada, it was f***ing retarded. I don’t care if you’re from the UK, Croatia or Brazil because at the end of the day, when Michael Bisping comes to America — Americans don’t boo him. When GSP comes down and fights in the US more people cheer for him than the guy who’s from America! When Tim Sylvia from the United States fought Antonio Nogueira from Brazil, everybody booed Sylvia on the way in and cheered for Nogueira. The reason is because in this sport it’s not country versus country. You either like the guy’s fighting style or personality — nationality has nothing to do with it. We’re looking for the best fighters in the world — this country versus that country is irrelevant.” -UFC President Dana White reacts to The Sun about the gimmicky “US vs UK” theme for the upcoming ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). While I agree that anything encouraging drunk Americans to boo at live events is a bad thing, it sounds like an unusual complaint considering Dana must have given this project the green light at some point. Conspiracy theorists - sound off!

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