Author: Matt Erickson [matt-erickson]

Thiago Santos believes his heavyweight tournament semifinal fight against Richard Hale boils down to one simple thing.

“I’m just a bad look for him,” he told MMAjunkie.com. Santos on Friday meets Hale in the main event of Bellator 79 for the right to advance to the tourney’s finals.

Bellator 79 takes place at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario, Canada, with a main card on MTV2 following prelims on Spike.com. You can also watch a live stream of the entire event on MMAjunkie.com.

The card hasn’t yet been announced by the UFC, but its return to Brazil continues to fill up.

The latest fight to be headed for the January show is a heavyweight tussle between Gabriel Gonzaga and Ben Rothwell. Sources close to the fight on Friday confirmed the matchup to MMAjunkie.com. Tatame first reported the news.

The UFC’s return to Brazil is expected to take place Jan. 19 in a host city still to be determined. The main card is likely to air on either FX or FUEL TV.

MMAjunkie.com Radio today welcomes to the studio WSOF 1 headliners Andrei Arlovski and Devin Cole, plus coach Greg Jackson.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney calls in before Bellator 79. The Gun Store’s Chris Irwin and 559 Fights promoter Jeremy Luchau co-host in studio. And Sammy “The Squid” gives his weekend football picks.

MMAjunkie.com Radio airs today from noon to 3 p.m. ET (9 a.m.-noon PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Listen to and watch a video stream of the three-hour show at www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

A recently reported bantamweight bout targeted for the UFC’s return to Brazil has had a change.

According to a report from Sportv.com, Johnny Eduardo is out of a planned fight against Yuri Alcantara. In Eduardo’s place steps George Roop, who will return to 135 pounds after a stint at featherweight.

The fight will take place Jan. 19 at the currently unannounced UFC event in Brazil, which is likely to air on either FX or FUEL TV. A host city has yet to be determined.

A pair of recent featherweight winners will look to put together much-needed win streaks in January.

Diego Nunes and Nik Lentz are set to meet when the UFC returns to Brazil.

As MMAjunkie.com first reported, the UFC will return to Brazil for the Jan. 19 event, though a host city hasn’t been determined. The event is expected to be a UFC on FUEL TV or UFC on FX offering, not a pay-per-view card.

There are downsides to training far from home. Ryan Ford knows this, and his family does, too.

But the upside for him is that if you’re going to be away from your comfort zone, you might as well do it with some of the best in the world.

And that’s just what Ford believes he’s doing now that he has taken up with the team at Tristar Gym in Montreal.