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UFC Booking Alert: Big Nog Returns vs. Cheick Kongo at UFC 149, Munoz vs. Weidman to Headline UFC on FUEL 4

(Fun fact: Nogueira’s body is composed mainly of replacement parts from grave-robbed corpses.)

UFC 149 (July 21st, Calgary) is picking up some heavyweight muscle in the form of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cheick Kongo. The Calgary Sun first reported the matchup, adding that the event will likely be headlined by the Jon Jones vs. Dan Henderson light-heavyweight title fight.

Big Nog is coming off his gruesome kimura loss to Frank Mir at UFC 140 in December, a defeat that had many fans and pundits pleading for the legend’s retirement. Following that fight, Nogueira said he expected to return within nine months. Just seven months later, he’ll be taking one more kick at the cat against a tough striker in Kongo, who ate a first-round TKO loss against Mark Hunt in his last outing. Still, you can’t count either of these guys out (see: Nog vs. Schaub, Kongo vs. Barry). Are you happy to see Nogueira back in the Octagon? And who do you think will be left standing?

In other booking news…

(Fun fact: Nogueira’s body is composed mainly of replacement parts from grave-robbed corpses.)

In other booking news…

During last night’s episode of UFC Tonight on FUEL, reporter Ariel Helwani revealed that a middleweight meeting between Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman will headline UFC on FUEL 4 (July 11th, location TBA).

Weidman increased his perfect MMA record to 8-0 at UFC on FOX 2 in January with a unanimous decision win over Demian Maia. Munoz was scheduled to compete against Micchael Bisping at the same event, but had to withdraw due to elbow problems. Munoz is currently riding a four-fight win streak, most recently stopping Chris Leben at UFC 138.

As of now, the only other match reported for the 7/11 UFC on FUEL event is Brandon Vera vs. James Te-Huna.

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Pedro Rizzo Confirmed for June 21st M-1 Global Show

(In Brazilian culture, the “Easter Bunny” is two men, one small and one large, covered in body hair and scars. / Photo via SporTV)

It’s not Rolles Gracie, it’s not Bobby Lashley, and it’s not Todd Duffee. According to a tweet sent out today by M-1 Global Director of Operations Evgeni Kogan, Fedor Emelianenko‘s opponent at the June 21st M-1 event at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg will instead be three-time UFC heavyweight title contender Pedro Rizzo. Please, try to control your excitement.

A free-agent who’s been out of the elite circuit of MMA competition for years, Rizzo didn’t compete at all last year, partly due to an arm injury. Still, he’s riding a three-fight win streak dating back to September 2009, with victories over Jeff Monson, Gary Goodridge, and Ken Shamrock. Meanwhile, Fedor picked-up back-to-back wins over Monson and Satoshi Ishii late last year, which followed his disastrous 1-3 run in Strikeforce.

On one hand, Rizzo feels like a hand-picked opponent for Fedor. On the other hand, there aren’t many better options outside of the Zuffa umbrella. Anybody looking forward to this one?

(In Brazilian culture, the “Easter Bunny” is two men, one small and one large, covered in body hair and scars. / Photo via SporTV)

On one hand, Rizzo feels like a hand-picked opponent for Fedor. On the other hand, there aren’t many better options outside of the Zuffa umbrella. Anybody looking forward to this one?

Report: Jon Fitch to Welcome Aaron Simpson to the Welterweight Division; Fight Possible for UFC 149

(Jon Fitch is proudly sponsored by Dr. Remus’s Old-Timey Follicular Fertilizer and Invigorator for Males. / Photo courtesy of @jonfitchdotnet)

As first reported by MMAWeekly, UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch will make his next Octagon appearance against ex-middleweight Aaron Simpson, who will be dropping to 170 for the first time in his career. The fight, which hasn’t been officially announced yet, is rumored to take place at UFC 149, July 21st in Calgary.

The formerly rock-solid Fitch has seen victory elude him in his last two fights. Most recently he was on the wrong end of a 12-second knockout against Johny Hendricks at UFC 141 in December, which followed a disappointing draw against BJ Penn. As for Simpson, the former ASU wrestling star lost a split-decision to Ronny Markes in February — which snapped a three-fight winning streak — and is now looking to relaunch his career in a division where he might enjoy a size advantage over his opponents.

So what you do think: Is this a rebound fight for Fitch, or the best decision that Simpson could have made? And are you psyched to see this matchup?

(Jon Fitch is proudly sponsored by Dr. Remus’s Old-Timey Follicular Fertilizer and Invigorator for Males. / Photo courtesy of @jonfitchdotnet)

So what you do think: Is this a rebound fight for Fitch, or the best decision that Simpson could have made? And are you psyched to see this matchup?

Despite Four-Fight Losing Streak, Yoshihiro Akiyama to Return Against Thiago Alves at UFC 149

(Sure, he may look strange to us, but that sort of thing is totally normal where he’s from.)

Somebody up there must like Yoshihiro Akiyama. Though the master judoka/crooner has been defeated in his last four outings — most recently dropping a decision to Jake Shields at UFC 144 — he’ll be getting another chance against Thiago Alves at UFC 149 (July 21st, Calgary). Bizarrely, UFC.com describes the welterweight bout as “a matchup between ground specialists who love to stand and trade.” That’s certainly an apt description of Sexyama, but Alves is more of “a standup specialist who should really stop diving into guillotine chokes.”

Alves’s loss to Martin Kampmann last month dropped his record over the last three years to a disappointing 2-4, with his only wins coming against Papy Abedi and John Howard, so he needs this win almost as much as his opponent does. If Akiyama loses, he’ll become just the second fighter in UFC history (after Steve Cantwell) to suffer five consecutive losses within the promotion. Anybody think he has a chance of breaking his streak?

Check out the current lineup of UFC 149 after the jump…

(Sure, he may look strange to us, but that sort of thing is totally normal where he’s from.)

Check out the current lineup of UFC 149 after the jump…

Jose Aldo vs. TBA (for featherweight title)
Thiago Alves vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (WW)
George Roop vs. Antonio Carvalho (FW)
Nick Ring vs. Court McGee (MW)
Bryan Caraway vs. Mitch Gagnon (BW)
Mitch Clarke vs. Anton Kuivanen (LW)

UFC Calgary Press Conference: Silva vs. Sonnen Rematch Slated for Soccer Stadium in Rio, Aldo Defends Belt in July + More

(Full press conference video, via YouTube.com/UFC. Man, Nick Ring is like a *god* in that town.)

Today’s UFC press conference in Calgary resulted in a tidal wave of major announcements, highlighted by two title-fight bookings and confirmations of three Canadian events in 2012. Here’s what we’re looking at…

– The middleweight championship rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen will take place at an 80,000-seat soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, not Sao Paulo as originally reported. [Ed. note: R.I.P., Chael.] The exact venue hasn’t been confirmed yet, and the event is expected to take place at UFC 147 on either June 16th or June 23rd. It will be the third time in 10 months that Rio will host a UFC event. We’ll be keeping our eyes out for this guy.

– For the third year in a row, the UFC will hold three events in Canada this year: UFC 149 in Calgary (7/21), UFC 152 in Toronto (9/22), and UFC 154 in Montreal (11/17). No matchups have been scheduled for the Toronto and Montreal shows, although welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre said he’d like to compete at UFC 154 if his knee-surgery recovery allows it.

(Full press conference video, via YouTube.com/UFC. Man, Nick Ring is like a *god* in that town.)

– The Calgary event will be headlined by Jose Aldo defending his title against a challenger to be named later. It will be the UFC’s first official visit to Alberta, although the WEC previously held their “Varner vs. Shalorus” event in Alberta in June 2010. Aldo is coming off his first-round knockout of Chad Mendes at UFC 142; his next opponent is rumored to be Hatsu Hioki.

– Jason MacDonald is already scheduled to face Tom Lawlor at UFC on FUEL 3 (May 15th; Fairfax, VA), but the Calgary native hopes to have his UFC retirement fight at UFC 149.

Report: Tito Ortiz’s Retirement Fight Will Be Against Forrest Griffin at UFC 148

(“How ’bout this, bro: If neither one of us are married in ten years, *we* get married.”)

According to a tweet sent out last night by Tito Ortiz, the Huntington Beach Bad Boy will return to the Octagon at UFC 148 (July 7th, Las Vegas), where he’ll face Forrest Griffin for the third time. Ortiz and Griffin’s first two fights both ended in split-decisions, with Ortiz winning their first meeting at UFC 59 in 2006, and Griffin taking the rematch at UFC 106 in 2009.

Ortiz has suffered through a 1-5 record over the last four years, with his only win coming via freakish first-round guillotine choke of Ryan Bader last July. Since then, he’s been TKO’d in back-to-back outings against Rashad Evans and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Griffin’s last fight was a rematch with Mauricio Rua at UFC 134 in Rio, in which FoGriff got KO’d in under two minutes. By some accounts, his head just wasn’t in it.

(“How ’bout this, bro: If neither one of us are married in ten years, *we* get married.”)

Though multiple sources are referring to this fight as Ortiz’s swan song, we just don’t see Tito quietly walking away from the sport if he manages to pull off an impressive victory here. So what do you think: Who’s getting their hand raised, and does the Ortiz/Griffin trilogy fight interest you to begin with?