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Marquardt vs. Palhares Taken Off UFC 118, Will Now Serve as UFN 22’s Main Event

(Rousimar Palhares finishes Lucio Linhares at UFC 107 last December. Five of Palhares’s last seven wins have come via heel-hook submission. Photo courtesy of MMAWeekly)
With Alan Belcher’s main event fight against Demian Maia at UFC Fight Night 22 (S…

Rousimar Palhares Lucio Linhares
(Rousimar Palhares finishes Lucio Linhares at UFC 107 last December. Five of Palhares’s last seven wins have come via heel-hook submission. Photo courtesy of MMAWeekly)

With Alan Belcher‘s main event fight against Demian Maia at UFC Fight Night 22 (September 15, Austin) nixed due to an eye injury, it’s now being reported that the Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares feature scheduled for UFC 118 (August 28, Boston) will be pushed back two and a half weeks to serve as the Austin card’s headliner. Maia hasn’t been officially dropped from the UFN 22 lineup yet, though it seems likely that he’ll get a replacement opponent on a future event.

As for UFC 118, some shifting will need to be done to fill the empty main card slot, and potentially fill the hole that the replacement could create in the Spike TV Prelim broadcast. The lineup currently looks like this…

Junior Dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson: Head to Head

(Yeesh, poor kid…)
Kicking off the UFC 117 pay-per-view card this Saturday in Oakland will be Junior Dos Santos (11-1) vs. Roy Nelson (15-4), a guaranteed banger that could decide the next title contender in the heavyweight division. Nelson is nea…

(Yeesh, poor kid…)

Kicking off the UFC 117 pay-per-view card this Saturday in Oakland will be Junior Dos Santos (11-1) vs. Roy Nelson (15-4), a guaranteed banger that could decide the next title contender in the heavyweight division. Nelson is nearly a 3-1 underdog against the Brazilian phenom, but let’s take a closer look at the matchup and see who really holds the advantages…

AGE
Dos Santos: 25
Nelson: 34
Advantage: Dos Santos

SIZE
Dos Santos: 6’4, 238 pounds, 77" reach
Nelson: 6’0, 263 pounds, 74" reach; the mass of Nelson’s stomach has been compared to the moon.
Advantage: even

NICKNAME
Dos Santos: Cigano ("Gypsy")
Nelson: Big Country
Advantage: Nelson. Dos Santos is named after a soap opera character, which isn’t very hardcore at all.

KNOCKED OUT STEFAN STRUVE IN…
Dos Santos: 54 seconds (at UFC 95)
Nelson: 39 seconds (at UFC Fight Night 21)
Advantage: Nelson

Exclusive: Nate Marquardt Talks UFC 118 Fight Against Rousimar Palhares, Breaks Down Silva vs. Sonnen

Sal Mora Video Interview for CagePotato.com with Nate Marquardt – Watch more Sports Videos
Coming back from his upset decision loss against Chael Sonnen at UFC 109, Nate Marquardt will look to regain his fire at UFC 118 (August 28th, Boston) agains…

Sal Mora Video Interview for CagePotato.com with Nate Marquardt – Watch more Sports Videos

Coming back from his upset decision loss against Chael Sonnen at UFC 109, Nate Marquardt will look to regain his fire at UFC 118 (August 28th, Boston) against Rousimar Palhares, the longtime asshole who most recently caught a 90-day suspension for not letting go of Tomasz Drwal’s ankle at UFC 111. Our buddy Sal Mora caught up to Nate this weekend to get his thoughts on the matchup, UFC 117‘s Sonnen vs. Silva headliner, and more. Some highlights:

On his loss to Sonnen: "I didn’t follow my gameplan, and I paid for it. I put on a good show, but mentally I wasn’t there…I fought a wrestler exactly how you’re not supposed to fight a wrestler — just stepping straight forward, trying to knock him out with every punch. So, I learned my lesson. I put on a good fight so I think that’s important as well, but I definitely plan on being a lot stronger mentally this next fight."

Alan Belcher Out of ‘UFC Fight Night 22’ Main Event Due to Detached Retina

("That’s it, go to sleeeeeeep." Alan Belcher and his little friend Johnny gang up on Patrick Cote at UFC 113. Photo courtesy of ESPN.)
UFC middleweight contender (and unapologetic baby-choker) Alan Belcher confirmed yesterday that he won’t …

("That’s it, go to sleeeeeeep." Alan Belcher and his little friend Johnny gang up on Patrick Cote at UFC 113. Photo courtesy of ESPN.)

UFC middleweight contender (and unapologetic baby-choker) Alan Belcher confirmed yesterday that he won’t be able to headline UFC Fight Night 22 against Demian Maia, due to a detached retina. As he wrote:

While I was in brazil I started losing my vision in my right eye. I saw a dr that told me to go back to u.s. immediately. My friend/surgeon from biloxi got me an emergency surgery scheduled in alabama now just trying to recover. No contact for 6 weeks. Sorry to my trainers. Sorry to ufc & demian Maia, I know he has been training specifically for me. Sorry to my fans as well. As long as I get released from dr I will try to make ufn 22 to see my fans and watch the fights

In response, Demian Maia tweeted: "I dont know who will be my oponent. I think I still in the UFN 22 main event, but Im not sure. Ill let you guys know…"

In other words, Chris Leben should probably start warming up. The current lineup of UFN 22 (September 15th, Austin) is after the jump.

‘Jones vs. Matyushenko’ Aftermath — End of Night Bonuses, ‘Fighting American’, and the Bones vs. Toney Dream Fight

(That reminds us, if you’re ever sitting next to Jon Jones on an airplane and his elbow is crowding your armrest, you’d better just let him have it. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com.)
— $40,000 performance bonuses were handed out to some very …

(That reminds us, if you’re ever sitting next to Jon Jones on an airplane and his elbow is crowding your armrest, you’d better just let him have it. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com.)

— $40,000 performance bonuses were handed out to some very worthy recipients after last night’s UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko event. Scoring the Knockout of the Night bonus was Takanori Gomi, who starched Tyson Griffin 64 seconds into their fight with a sledgehammer right hook. The Submission of the Night went to Charles Oliveira, who owned Darren Elkins with a masterful triangle-armbar in another dramatic quick finish during the prelims. Fight of the Night bonuses went to Brian Stann and Mike Massenzio for their unaired preliminary bout. Stann battled back from an early deficit to finish Massenzio via third-round triangle choke. It was the first submission win of Stann’s career.

— Despite his through ass-kicking of Vladimir Matyushenko, Jon Jones is doing his best to stay humble and not let his ever-growing hype influence him. As he said during the post-event press conference:

UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko — Live Updates and Commentary

(Above: Jon Jones works the pads with Phil Nurse in front of onlookers in Las Vegas. Below: Vladimir Matyushenko does nothing with nobody in front of no one somewhere. Photos courtesy of Sherdog.)
Jones and Matyushenko. Rogan and Goldie. Munoz and Okam…

(Above: Jon Jones works the pads with Phil Nurse in front of onlookers in Las Vegas. Below: Vladimir Matyushenko does nothing with nobody in front of no one somewhere. Photos courtesy of Sherdog.)

Jones and Matyushenko. Rogan and Goldie. Munoz and Okami. Arianny and the other girl. Gomi and Griffin. Big John McCarthy (!), assuming he hasn’t been completely relegated to the dark card. It’s been far too long since the UFC has graced us with their presence — particularly on free TV — and it feels good to be hanging with the old gang again. Live round-by-round results from the Versus broadcast will be piling up after the jump starting at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. Refresh your browser every few minutes for all the latest, and leave us your insightful feedback in the comments section. And please, no unrelated comments about how boring Jake Shields is. At least for one night. Come on, guys, let’s be adults here.