Author: MMAjunkie.com Staff [mmajunkie-staff]

After more than a half-year blackout, the Versus channel is returning to DirecTV.

DirecTV and Comcast, owner of the all-sports Versus channel, today made the announcement stating, “Versus will return to the same DirecTV programming packages it was in at the end of August 2009.”

Versus, home to World Extreme Cagefighting and now the Ultimate Fighting Championship, was dropped from the satellite-cable company’s lineup on Sept. 1, 2009, after a dispute over carrier fees. The new deal means DirecTV customers will have access to Sunday’s UFC on Versus 1 broadcast.

Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion B.J. Penn is featured in a new “UFC 2010 Undisputed” videogame trailer released by gamemaker THQ.

The 80-second spot explores Penn’s background while near-seamlessly alternating between real footage of the fighter and game play.

“UFC 2010 Undisputed,” a follow-up to the hit debut version that hit stores in 2009, is set for a May 25 release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable platforms.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight Roger Huerta officially has joined Bellator Fighting Championships.

MMAjunkie.com first reported the expected signing over the weekend, and during a press conference that today streamed live on bellator.com, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney made the official announcement.

Huerta (21-3-1), one of Bellator’s highest-profile signings to date, joins the season-two eight-man lightweight tournament field.
His first fight takes place at Bellator 13 on April 8 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.

Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le suffered the first loss of his MMA career this past December but could be back in the cage at a Strikeforce event planned for June.

Le has already begun a campaign to rematch the man who handed him his first loss, Scott Smith, who scored a come-from-behind TKO victory when they met at “Strikeforce: Evolution.”

But Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker recently told MMAjunkie.com that Le, who vacated the middleweight prior to the December fight due to a blossoming film career, could face former champion Frank Shamrock instead.

The long-expected non-title fight between Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and UFC veteran/recent signee Josh Neer now has a date.

While a guest on today’s edition of MMAjunkie.com Radio, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said the fight takes place May 6 at Bellator 17.

Bellator announced last month that the fight was being targeted for a May card, though an exact date wasn’t mentioned. It’s now set for the Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre in Boston, which is a half day’s drive from Alvarez’s Philadelphia home.

Verbal agreements are in place and bout agreements should be signed shortly for a WEC 48 featherweight matchup between Anthony Morrison (15-8 MMA, 0-1 WEC) and Mackens Semerzier (5-1 MMA, 1-1 WEC).

Sources close to the event alerted MMAjunkie.com of the matchup and said it’ll be part of the night’s un-aired preliminary card.

WEC 48 marks the organization’s pay-per-view debut and takes place April 24 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif.