After their epic fight at UFC 104 and the following controversial decision that caused a lot of fans, fighters and the UFC brass itself to shout themselves hoarse on the final result, the UFC decided to right a wrong and cast both the fighters into a rematch immediately. This brings us to UFC 113: Machida vs Shogun for the UFC light heavyweight title.

Machida, I am sure has tried to close the holes in his game that Shogun exploited really well in their first match and come out better prepared for the rematch. For his part, Shogun knows that the match winning game plan will have to be modified now since Machida has time to work on the things that Shogun brought out.

This is a very intriguing match-up for any MMA fan since all our intrigue is built up around how the game plans for this match will be drawn out and what both fighters will bring to the rematch having seen what the other brings the first time they fought. Although the first match was a close one, for Shogun, the path seems to be clear: use what works from the previous match and find a way to finish Machida – whether on the ground or standing up. No mean task.

For Shogun, the main question to answer will be if he can take the beating from Shogun’s leg kicks or will he be able to get Shogun within striking distance and be able to capitalize …

Probably the best rematch in the near past and certainly the most eagerly awaited bout this year. To top all the history off, here’s the amazing promo video that makes me want to watch this one even more!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dan Miller, UFC middleweight up and comer and brother of Jim Miller who recently beat Duane Ludwig at UFN 20, was awarded his black belt after training for just 4 years by his instructor Jamie Cruz. Cruz, himself a Renzo Gracie black belt, awarded the black belt to Miller at the AMA Fight Club in New Jersey.

Dan Miller has won 7 out of 11 career victories by submission and will go up against possibly his stiffest competition when he takes on Jiu Jitsu wizard and UFC middleweight contender Damien Maia on the main card of UFC 109 at the Mandalay Bay Event Center in Las Vegas.

This will be Miller’s first fight after a loss to Chael Sonnen at UFC 98 and will get him back at the top of the division really quick, should he be able to best Maia, which is no mean task.

While speaking to tatame.com.br, Ricardo Arona said that he is really close to a deal with the UFC to return sometime near the end of the year.

Arona, who was considered near the top of the light heavyweight division in PRIDE, has been out in the wild ever since the promotion shut shop. Arona, who holds notable wins over fighters such as Alistair Overeem, Wanderlei Silva, Sakuraba, Dan Henderson and others last fought in Brazil in the Bitetti Combat league winning an Unanimous Decision over Marvin Eastman.

Whether this news is on the heels of a “win some more and you’re in” directive from the UFC or something more concrete is something we’ll have to wait and watch.

I fought like garbage and I’m sorry to my fans for my performance. I was hesitant about throwing hard punches because I kept thinking he was going to go for a takedown. It looked like I was knocked down in the second but actually he stepped on my foot and when I tried to back out I slipped. I really don’t think I’m going to stay at 155lbs. I don’t make enough money to have to drop this much weight so I’d like to fight at 170 and only go to 55’s every once in awhile. You know if you look at his face compared to mine right now you’d think there was no way he beat me in a fight but I’ve never been too popular with the judges.

Nate Diaz’s main problems even at lightweight are his lack of power and size and his lack of hesitancy to be taken to the ground. While the latter comes to use once in a while, at welterweight, going up against beasts like Thiago Alves and Josh Koscheck, Nate is going to have a ton of problems with the frame and size that he has presently. It would be interesting though, to see if he can put on some real muscle and improve his skills. Else, he will be doomed to remain in the lower end of whichever division.

Picture Copyright: MMAWeekly.com

From the Rumour Buster department:

This is a second hand quote thanks to CindyO from the UG. Cindy, who is in the know for most things UFC, spoke to Joe Silva and quoted him on the forum as follows:

“I just touched base with Joe Silva and he explained this is basically what happened regarding Mousasi:”

“Mousasi called him Saturday because he suspected he had been lied to by his manager, Appy Echteld, regarding an offer of $40,000/$40,000 from the UFC and then encouraged to accept an offer from Strikeforce. According to what Mousasi shared, that amount was less than half of the purse agreement he had with Affliction but he trusted his manager and signed with Strikeforce. The UFC would have honored the Affliction deal of $125,000 purse plus win bonus had Mousasi signed with them.”

“Contrary to the claim made today by M-1 that Mousasi was on the phone during negotiations with Joe Silva for his services, Joe adamantly denies that is true. Had that been the case, there would have been no reason for Mousasi to call Joe to question Echteld’s claim of a $40,000/$40,000 offer from the UFC.”

Looks like Mousasi got played by his own management since they were trying to make sure that UFC doesn’t get any of the M-1 talent unless they give them what they want – co-promotion …. Will Mousasi leave M-1? I would if this was true …

Former Affliction fighters and where they are going to be now -

UFC

• Vitor Belfort
• Paul Daley
• Chase Gormley
• Ben Rothwell
• Dan Lauzon
• Oliviera

WEC

• Javier Vasquez
• LC Davis
• Mark Hominick

STRIKEFORCE

• Gegard Mousasi
• Jay Hieron

With all the rumours of the announcement of Fedor signing to the UFC floating around, the collapse of Affliction’s promotion business might turn out to be a good thing for a lot of the fighters. Of course, this does not include fighters who have since signed with STRIKEFORCE such as Gegard Mousasi, Jay Hieron et al.

This makes UFC’s Friday conference call an even more anticipated one with all the major announcements that can come through at the call.

Back to the UFC?

The rumours are strong and the rumours are good! The latest rumour coming out of the demise of Affliction is that Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort is finally making his return to the UFC.

Belfort was scheduled to fight Jorge Santiago on Affliction’s now defunct MMA event on August 1st. With Dana White’s previous comments about wanting Belfort back in the UFC, the recent happenings made it easier to get the deal done apparently.

The question is, of course, who gets to fight Vitor first as he gets back in the octagon. The possibilities are amazing!

Well, I guess its wait and watch again as far as Fedor’s future holds but a contract with Strikeforce only means that Fedor will have an option of fighting against Overeem, Brett Rogers and Fabricio Werdum as big names …

With the UFC of course, you get the entire gamut of big names coming in. The only problem is that M-1 and the UFC have not always met eye to eye to say the least. Keep tuned in to MMARumours to hear the latest on this development.