Author: MMA Fighting Newswire

UFC middleweight Chris Weidman will answer questions from fans, just days before his UFC 168 clash with Anderson Silva,during a live chat this afternoon. The video will begin above at 3 p.m. ET.

UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson discusses his win over Joseph Benavidez at UFC on FOX 9, how their previous fight helped him for this fight, getting booed in Sacramento, when he wants to return, and much more on this past Monday’s The MMA Hour.

A bantamweight contest between Iuri Alcantara and Wilson Reis has been slated for UFC Fight Night 36 on Feb. 15, 2014, in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil.

Alcanta is 2-2 (with one no-contest) in his past five fights. He lost via unanimous decision to Urijah Faber at UFC Fight Night 26 this past August.

Reis has won five straight fights, including his UFC debut at UFC 165. Reis defeated Ivan Menjivar via unanimous decision this past September.

In the main event, Lyoto Machida will face Gegard Mousasi.

Shane del Rosario died of natural causes, according to the Orange County coroner’s office. A copy of the UFC heavyweight’s death certificate was obtained by MMA Junkie, which stated that the official cause of the 30-year old fighter’s death was anoxic encephalopathy, ventricular fibrillation and Long QT syndrome.

Del Rosario suffered from brain damage due to lack of oxygen and an abnormal heart rhythm. He was found unconscious by his roommate and fellow UFC fighter Ian McCall on Nov. 26, and transported to Hoag Memorial Presbyterian Hospital in Newport Beach, where it was determined he had suffered sudden cardiac arrest. Though it was widely believed that he officially passed away on Dec. 9, the death certificate recorded Del Rosario as having passed on Dec. 3, 2013.

Though Del Rosario’s death was due to natural causes, medical examiners discovered several illegal substances in his body. Residual traces of cocaine, opiates and THC were found during a postmortem urine screen, but were not considered contributors to Del Rosario’s death. No autopsy was performed.

Del Rosario, a kickboxer at root, trained with Team Oyama in Irvine, California, alongside McCall and his jiu-jitsu instructor, Giva Santana. He had missed extended action because of back issues after a drunk driver had struck his vehicle in 2011. He was able to come back from that injury and fought twice in the UFC, against Stipe Miocic and Pat Barry respectively.

He had been slated to fight on UFC 168 before a rib injury sidelined him.

Del Rosario’s family will uphold his wishes to be an organ donor. His family has also expressed interest in starting a charitable foundation to research Long QT syndrome in his name.

Nothing like fast turnarounds. Fresh off of their respective victories at UFC on FOX 9 on Dec. 14, Bobby Green and Abel Trujillo will face off in a battle on Feb. 1. The UFC announced the two explosive lightweights will meet at UFC 169, set to take place in Newark on Super Bowl weekend.

Trujillo (11-5-1) is coming off of an impressive TKO victory over Roger Bowling, in what was a rematch to their August fight that ended in a “no contest.” In the first fight, Trujillo hit Bowling with an illegal knee while Bowling was still grounded, rendering him unable to continue. Trujillo didn’t make the same mistake twice in the rematch, landing a big knee — this time to Bowling’s body — which set up the flurry to end it.

The Blackzilians fighter is now 2-1-1 in the UFC, his only loss a decision at the hands of Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 160.

As for Green, the Inland Empire fighter who has emerged as “one to watch” in the 155-pound division, he was able to defeat the stalwart Pat Healy in Sacramento via a unanimous decision. Green (22-5), who came over in the Strikeforce merging, is riding a seven-fight winning streak, and is now 3-0 in the UFC. And his path hasn’t been easy, either. He was an underdog in his UFC debut against Jacob Volkmann, but choked out the wrestler at UFC 156. He then dropped Duke Roufus’s James Krauss at UFC 160 with a wicked body shot that set up his fight with Healy.

UFC 169 takes place Feb. 1 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Here is the fight card as it stands.

Main Card

Renan Barao vs. Dominick Cruz (for bantamweight title)

Ricardo Lamas vs. Jose Aldo (for featherweight title)

Frank Mir vs. Alistair Overeem

John Makdessi vs. Alan Patrick

Chris Cariaso vs. Kyoji Horiguchi

Prelims

Nick Catone vs. Tom Watson

Al Iaquinta vs. Kevin Lee

Abel Trujillo vs. Bobby Green

Tony Martin vs. Rashid Magomedov

Neil Magny vs. Gasan Umalatov

John Lineker vs. Ali Bagautinov

Nothing like fast turnarounds. Fresh off of their respective victories at UFC on FOX 9 on Dec. 14, Bobby Green and Abel Trujillo will face off in a battle on Feb. 1. The UFC announced the two explosive lightweights will meet at UFC 169, set to take place in Newark on Super Bowl weekend.

Trujillo (11-5-1) is coming off of an impressive TKO victory over Roger Bowling, in what was a rematch to their August fight that ended in a “no contest.” In the first fight, Trujillo hit Bowling with an illegal knee while Bowling was still grounded, rendering him unable to continue. Trujillo didn’t make the same mistake twice in the rematch, landing a big knee — this time to Bowling’s body — which set up the flurry to end it.

The Blackzilians fighter is now 2-1-1 in the UFC, his only loss a decision at the hands of Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 160.

As for Green, the Inland Empire fighter who has emerged as “one to watch” in the 155-pound division, he was able to defeat the stalwart Pat Healy in Sacramento via a unanimous decision. Green (22-5), who came over in the Strikeforce merging, is riding a seven-fight winning streak, and is now 3-0 in the UFC. And his path hasn’t been easy, either. He was an underdog in his UFC debut against Jacob Volkmann, but choked out the wrestler at UFC 156. He then dropped Duke Roufus’s James Krauss at UFC 160 with a wicked body shot that set up his fight with Healy.

UFC 169 takes place Feb. 1 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Here is the fight card as it stands.

Main Card

Renan Barao vs. Dominick Cruz (for bantamweight title)

Ricardo Lamas vs. Jose Aldo (for featherweight title)

Frank Mir vs. Alistair Overeem

John Makdessi vs. Alan Patrick

Chris Cariaso vs. Kyoji Horiguchi

Prelims

Nick Catone vs. Tom Watson

Al Iaquinta vs. Kevin Lee

Abel Trujillo vs. Bobby Green

Tony Martin vs. Rashid Magomedov

Neil Magny vs. Gasan Umalatov

John Lineker vs. Ali Bagautinov