Lookin' for a Fight - Episode 1

Silva vs.Bisping On UFC Fight Pass

UFC President Dana White has announced that former UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson "the Spider "Silva, will be making his UFC return against Michael "the Count" Bisping in London.  The fight will take place on February 27 and air exclusively on UFC Fight Pass.  This fight will be the first fight for Silva since his five round clash with Nick Diaz at UFC 183 in January.  This should be an excited fight that is years in the making.

Who wins in the Anderson Silva vs. Michael Bisping bout?

Anderson Silva

Michael Bisping

Poll Maker

Is the Bisping/Silva fight a big enough draw to get you to subscribe to UFC Fight Pass?

Yes

No

I already have Fight Pass and will be watching it.

I have Fight Pass already, but will not be watching it.

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TRT No Longer Allowed in the UFC

It has been announced today that the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) will no longer allow the use of testosterone replacement therapy,  commonly known as TRT, to be used in mixed martial arts competitions.  The UFC, who promotes many fights in Las Vegas, stands behind the NSAC's decisions and will make TRT banned from all UFC events, even those outside of the state of Nevada.

New Partnership Announcement!

Tough Spar MMA is proud to announce that we have a new partner in the world as we have teamed up with Richards MMA from all the way across the pond!  Be sure to visit Richards MMA for all of your up-to-the-minute news, fight previews and reviews.  We would also like to welcome Jack Richards to our team of content creators.  We are excited to have him and the talent that he brings on board.  Be sure to look out for insightful articles from Jack and Richards MMA on the Tough Spar MMA site.

UFC Introduces Performance of the Night Award

The UFC has announced that they will be putting a new post-fight bonus into play for all future UFC events.  To those of you who are new in the MMA/UFC community, the at the end of each UFC event fighters from that are night who compete are eligible for three separate post-fight bonuses of $50,000.  The three categories are Fight of the Night, Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night.

Fight of the Night goes to the participants of the most entertaining fight from that particular event.  The two fighters that put on the most exciting contest both receive the post-fight bonus.  The Knockout of the Night bonus goes to the individual who delivers the best KO/TKO of the night.  Like the Knockout of the Night award, Submission of the Night will go to the person who locks in the best submission of the night.

The UFC has decided to do away with the Knockout and Submission of the Night bonuses and replace them with the Performance of the Night award which will go to the individual who had the best individual performance of the night.

I think that this is certainly a great move on the UFC's part in awarding the best performance of the night.  I like all fight fans like a knockout every so often, but sometimes a fighter may not score a KO or submission, but simply outclasses their opponent in such a dominant fashion that deserves recognition. 

5 Female UFC Stars Make Maxim Hot 100 List

Maxim has began compiling their annual Hot 100 List and 5 UFC stars need your votes for the list.  Ring Girls: Arrianny Celeste and Brittany Palmer, fighters: Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate and UFC program host Kenda Perez all made the list.  You can vote at http://www.maxim.com/hot100/2014 to make sure they all make it high on the list.

Who gets your top vote on Maxim's Top 100 list

Ronda Rousey

Miesha Tate

Arriany Celeste

Brittany Palmer

Kenda Perez

Poll Maker

TUF 20 Announcement--Plus Carla Esparza!

The UFC has announced its plans for the Ultimate Fighter 20th season.  An all women's cast will be competing in the UFC's newly acquired Women's Strawweight Division.  So far the coaches have not been decided, but the UFC is open to male or female coaches.  Amongst the cast will be Invicta superstars such as Bec Hyatt, Felice Herrig, Alex Chambers, Emily Kagan, Claudia Gadelha, Juilianna Lima, Tecia Torres, Paige Van Zant, Rose Namajunas, Joanne Caldwerood and most importantly the Invicta FC Strawweight Champion, Carla Esparza.

The show will begin taping in May of 2014 and air in September of 2014.  Dana White stated that the move to bring in the Strawweight Division is not a move to try to buy out Invicta FC.  White believes that Invicta FC and the UFC can exist side-by-side and be beneficial to each other.

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Sonnen Interview

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Mark Coleman to Aid Team Penn on TUF

Former UFC Heavyweight Champion and Pride Grand Prix Champion, Mark Coleman, retired from MMA competition earlier this year at the age of 48.  Though he has retired from fighting himself, he still will be involved in the the future of MMA as we have received word that Mark Coleman will be aiding longtime friend BJ Penn in the upcoming season of the UFC's the Ultimate Fighter reality show.

Mark Coleman will be working alongside former UFC Lightweight and Welterweight Champion, BJ Penn, as the wrestling coach for Team Penn on TUF 19.  Coleman stated that it would be an honor to work with a man who has been his friend since the early days of the UFC.  BJ Penn will be coaching opposite of the man who has beaten him on two different occasions and taken his title, Frankie Edgar.  The two men will square off at the end of the season in a featherweight bout.

Askren Wants GSP

Current Bellator Welterweight Champion, Ben Askren has went to twitter to state that he is very interested in fighting (and beating) current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre.  There had been rumors of Ben Askren possibly retiring in his current free agent status, but Askren has stated that he still wants to face St. Pierre before he retires.  He feels that he could out-wrestle and control the UFC champion.  He feels that years ago St. Pierre would've been able to beat Askren, but St. Pierre is now to cautious and fights too scared.

Askren is an excellent grappler who used his grappling to maintain his Bellator Welterweight belt through four current title defenses and a 12-0 undefeated professional MMA record.  Askren does have the better documented wrestling career, but GSP uses his wrestling to decide where the fight goes.  St. Pierre I feel does have the striking advantage coming into the fight.  It would be an awesome fight to put together if Askren is able to come to a deal with the UFC. I think Askren would present a nice challenge for GSP but would not be successful on the feet with the UFC Champ.

Possible Cut to 205 for Nelson?

Roy Nelson posted the above image on his Facebook page on Monday of this week.  This was a photo taken for his interview with MMA site Sherdog.  He is noticeably fitter than the last time he was in action in the UFC.  Nelson has expressed interest in possibly moving down to 205 lbs and believes he could make the cut easier than his UFC 166 opponent Daniel Cormier.  It will be interesting to see how much both men weigh in come their bout this month.

I believe that the move to 205 would be a good move for Nelson.  Aside from extra weight that Nelson has been carrying for years in his belly, he is not built like the other guys who fight in the heavyweight division of MMA. At Light heavyweight, Nelson would be fighting guys who are naturally closer to his size than the behemoths that fight at 265 lbs.  Nelson who has been fighting guys much larger than himself would have a significant advantage in receiving punishment from guys that are slightly smaller than the men that he is used to facing.  Only time will tell if Nelson will proceed with this transition to 205 or stay as a trimmer in-shape heavyweight.

UFC Suspends Rothwell

After his bout in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this August against Brandon Vera, Ben Rothwell was suspended for testing positive for a high level of testosterone.  Rothwell states that he was granted permission to undergo TRT prior to his bout at UFC 164 but tested above acceptable testosterone limits after his bout.

The Wisconsin Athletic Commission did not choose to suspend Rothwell but gave him a warning instead.  The UFC decided to proceed with a nine month suspension from action in the UFC.  Rothwell has decided not to appeal the decision.

Condit vs. Brown Booked for UFC on FOX 9

After a victory over Marting "The Hitman" Kampmann, Carlos Condit expressed an interest in facing rising welterweight contender, Matt Brown.  Now Condit will get his wish as he and Matt Brown have been scheduled to compete against each other at UFC on Fox 9.

In my opinion both men are a win or two away from facing Georges St. Pierre and what better way to help decide a next challenger than to put two of the best against each other to prove that they are ready.  Though I'd like to see how well Matt Brown's notion that he could out-wrestle St. Pierre would actually work out, I feel that the Condit-St. Pierre rematch would be more entertaining than Brown colliding with the titan known as St. Pierre.

Johnson-Benavidez II Set for November

The UFC has announced today that they are going to be putting Demetrius Johnson and Joseph Benavidez back in the cage to face each other again.  The two will be the main event for the TUF Finale on November 30.  This will be an interesting rematch to watch.  Both men have gotten increasingly better with every fight.  Both men have truly outclassed their opponents since their last fight against each other.  Demetrius Johnson has successfully defended the UFC Flyweight title twice now since they first met last year.  Benavidez has fought three times since their last meeting and beaten all three men.

This is an exiting fight that makes complete since right now considering the state of the UFC Flyweight Division right now.  With Ian McCall still needing a few more decisive victories before he is even in the same conversation as Benavidez or Johnson, this will truly be a battle of the top two guys in the division.  In their last fight "Mighty Mouse" Johnson seemed to be the quicker more technical fighter of the two and it was very noticible even with Benavidez keeping the fight competitive; it just wasn't enough.  The fight was very close and led to a split decision in which Johnson had his hand raised at the end of the bell.

UFC on Fox 9 Set for December 14

The UFC has announced that Anthony Pettis will be defending his newly acquired UFC Lightweight Championship against Strikeforce vet Josh Thomson on December 14 for UFC on Fox 9.

This fight will also feature more fights from the lighter divisions as former WEC Featherweight Champion, Urijah Faber, is scheduled to meet with Michael MacDonald. Also on the card is a bout between Ian McCall and Scott Jorgenson, who will be making his Flyweight debut.

UFC 167 Keeps Getting Better

UFC 167 is already one the most stacked cards in UFC history, but has been announced that two of the UFC's most entertaining middleweights will will be squaring off in the octogon.

Rafael Natal and Ed Herman will be going to war on the UFC 167 card in Las Vegas for the UFC's 20th anniversary card. Rafael Natal is coming off a spectacular Fight of the Night performance against Tor Troeng at UFC Fight Night 28. Rafael Natal won his hard-fought battle with the Swedish TUF 18 alumni via decision.

Ed Herman is also coming off of a Fight of Night victory in his last bout against Trvor Smith back in July at UFC on FOX.

This will be an excellent fight bewtween two entertainers. I give the edge to Rafael Natal in this bout.

New TUF Coaches are Rivals BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar

Just when you thought that BJ Penn was becoming irrelevant in the UFC, the you find out that he has resigned with the UFC.  Former UFC Welterweight and Lightweight Champion, B.J. Penn's first challenge will be to coach opposite of the man who stopped his title reign at lightweight in April 2010, Frankie Edgar.  The UFC is expecting to begin airing the new season of the Ultimate Fighter in April 2014.

The two of them first met in April 2010 at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi for the UFC Lightweight title.  This was a fight in which Frankie Edgar won the title by a close decision that some of the experts could argue could've went either way.  In the second fight Frankie Edgar won undoubtedly to retain his title.

The original plot for the show was to have Frankie Edgar coach against Uriah Faber, but it was impossible to get the two men to move out of their current weight class and agree on one class. Concurrently B.J. Penn had stated that he had wanted a fight with Benson Henderson in hopes of getting a rematch with Edgar with a victory over Henderson.  Instead of fighting Henderson, White and Penn are able to get him on the show and a featherweight to follow.

UFC Fight Night Hunt vs. Bigfoot Dec. 7

The UFC has announced that Mark Hunt and Antonio "Big Foot" Silva will be headlining an event in Brisbane, Austrailia on December 7.