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Hallman vs. Makdessi Penciled in for UFC 140 in Toronto

Well it looks like Dennis Hallman’s wardrobe malfunction at UFC 133 won’t cost him his job with the UFC.

“Superman” Tweeted last night that he will be dropping back down to lightweight for the first time in 10 years to take on undefeated Canadian prospect John Makdessi at UFC 140 in December in Toronto.

A true moneyweight fighter, Hallman who is 50-12-1 (1 NC) in 64 professional fights as a light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight and lightweight, defeated Matt Hughes at 155 at UFC 23, earning him a shot at then-lightweight champ Jens Pulver at UFC 33, but fell short, losing to “Lil’ Evil” by unanimous decision. That was his last fight at 155.

Well it looks like Dennis Hallman’s wardrobe malfunction at UFC 133 won’t cost him his job with the UFC.

In spite of a 2-1 record in the Octagon this time around, including wins over Karo Parisyan and Ben Saunders, Hallman found himself on thin ice with the promotion’s president Dana White after facing Brian Ebersole at UFC 133 wearing a Speedo. Ebersole, who made quick work of his veteran opponent, was awarded an unprecedented $70,000 bonus from White for saving the TV audience any further disgust by having them subjected to Hallman’s banana hammock any longer than necessary. White later remarked during the post-fight press conference that he wasn’t sure whether or not Hallman would fight again after “Speedogate.”

In spite of his experience, Makdessi (9-0) will be a tough test for Hallman. The former kickboxing standout who was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and raised for most of his childhood in his parent’s homeland of Lebanon before returning to Canada where his family settled in Montreal, has not only never lost in MMA, he went a perfect 22-0 in kickboxing prior to making the jump to the cage. After controlling Pat Audinwood en route to a unanimous decision win in his UFC debut at UFC 124 last December, “The Bull” was the odds-on favorite of everyone, (including White who tweeted that Makdessi would likely get the bonus check) to win “Knockout of the Night” honors for his spinning-back-fist KO of Kyle Watson at UFC 129 this past April until Lyoto Machida crane-kicked Randy Couture into retirement later in the night.

The card’s headliner has yet to be determined, but a handful of match-ups have been reported for the event including Frank Mir versus Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Rory MacDonald versus Brian Ebersole, Rich Attonito versus Claude Patrick and John Cholish versus Mitch Clarke. Mark Hominick is also penciled in for the event, possibly against “The Korean Zombie” Jung Chan-Sung.

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UFC 140
December 10, 2011
Air Canada Centre
Toronto, Ontario

Frank Mir vs. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
Mark Hominick vs. Jung Chan-Sung
Rory MacDonald vs. Brian Ebersole
John Makdessi vs. Dennis Hallman
Rich Attonito vs. Claude Patrick
John Cholish vs. Mitch Clarke

Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Rematch Booked for UFC 140 in Toronto

(Like two little Fonzies. Photo via CombatLifestyle)

Coming off his redemptive knockout of Brendan Schaub at UFC 134, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira‘s next fight will give him a chance to settle an old score. The UFC announced yesterday that Big Nog will rematch Frank Mir at UFC 140, December 10th in Toronto.

The two heavyweights first met at UFC 92 in December 2008 following a shared stint on TUF 8. Despite coming in as a 3-1 underdog, Mir shocked fans by outstriking Nogueira en route to a second-route TKO. Then, Nogueira pee-peed on Mir’s parade by revealing that he was fighting with a staph infection and injured knee, which didn’t exactly sit well with Mir. Nogueira has wanted a rematch ever since, and re-called-out Mir following his big win last month.

(Like two little Fonzies. Photo via CombatLifestyle)

Mir, who tried to lobby for Alistair Overeem as his next opponent, is riding a two-fight win streak, with somewhat unimpressive victories over Mirko Cro Cop and Roy Nelson. The rematch feels like a lose-lose situation for him, but as an Odd Man Out, he’ll need to score another decisive win before he gets a step up the ladder. Your predictions?

Hump Day Headlines with Stephanie Ann Cook

Everyone in the world has learned (save for maybe Nick Diaz) that Dana White has replaced Diaz with Carlos Condit as the title-shot contender against Georges St. Pierre for UFC 137 due to Diaz’s no.

Everyone in the world has learned (save for maybe Nick Diaz) that Dana White has replaced Diaz with Carlos Condit as the title-shot contender against Georges St. Pierre for UFC 137 due to Diaz’s no call no show to the Las Vegas press conference and after failing to make it to the Toronto press conference yesterday.

Also and most disconcerting… No one has heard from Nick Diaz.

Greg Jackson will not train Georges St. Pierre nor Carlos Condit for their UFC 137 Main Event title bout.

Antonio Rodgrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir II booked for UFC 140 on December 10th.

M-1 Global sets up Fedor Emelianenko vs. Jeff Monson in Moscow.

UFC 140: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Set To Face Frank Mir in December

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, fresh from a win against Brendan Schaub at UFC 134, now knows who he will have to beat in order to work his way back up to contention: Frank Mir.Nogueira recently revived his career with a stunning TKO win over top contender B…

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, fresh from a win against Brendan Schaub at UFC 134, now knows who he will have to beat in order to work his way back up to contention: Frank Mir.

Nogueira recently revived his career with a stunning TKO win over top contender Brendan Schaub at UFC 134 and is now looking to make a run at the title.

Mir is coming off a win against Roy Nelson, the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights”, in a fight in which Mir was heavily criticized for his performance.

It was announced on the UFC website that the fight between “Minotauro” and Mir has been set for UFC 140, set to take place at the Air Canana Center in Toronto, Ontario Canada.

UFC President Dana White had this to say about the exciting heavyweight matchup: “Both men are known as two of the premier submission specialists in the division but have shown dangerous striking skills as well.”

This year looks like it is going to be a big year for heavyweight fights: Alisatair Overeem will take on Brock Lesnar in December and Cain Velasquez fighting Junior dos Santos in November.

Now, the two best submission fighters in the division face off in order to establish their place in the title picture.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Rory MacDonald to Meet Brian Ebersole at UFC 140

Filed under: UFC, NewsVerbal agreements are in place for a UFC 140 encounter between Rory MacDonald and Brian Ebersole on the Dec. 10 Toronto card, UFC president Dana White recently revealed.

Having fought on the UFC’s first card in Ontario at UFC 129…

Filed under: UFC, News

Verbal agreements are in place for a UFC 140 encounter between Rory MacDonald and Brian Ebersole on the Dec. 10 Toronto card, UFC president Dana White recently revealed.

Having fought on the UFC’s first card in Ontario at UFC 129 this past April, British Columbia’s MacDonald (12-1) will compete in his home country while shooting for his third consecutive win. The 22-year-old standout bounced back from a tough loss to Carlos Condit last year by putting in dominant efforts this year against Nick Diaz and Mike Pyle.

It took nearly 11 years for Ebersole (48-14-1) to finally receive the chance to step inside the UFC cage, but he’s made the most of every moment with wins over Chris Lytle and Dennis Hallman at UFC 127 and UFC 133, respectively. He’s also taken the spotlight in these fights for his up-arrow chest hair and most recently, a $70,000 bonus for as White put it, “getting [Hallman’s] horrifying shots off TV” award.

With UFC 140 still three months away and plenty of cards in between, the only bouts leaked so far for the card are Rich Attonito vs. Claude Patrick and John Cholish vs. Mitch Clarke. No main event has been announced.

UFC 140, happening a week after the TUF 14 Finale and three weeks before the Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem showdown, will take place at the Air Canada Centre.

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Rory MacDonald vs. Brian Ebersole and Claude Patrick vs. Rich Attonito Added to UFC 140 in Toronto

(The UFC’s second Toronto card is coming together nicely.)

Keeping with it’s latest trend of beating reporters to the punch when it comes to breaking news of fight bookings, the UFC announced that a pair of welterweight bouts have been added to UFC 140 on December 10 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto today, via UFC.com.

British Columbia-born wunderkind Rory “Ares” MacDonald (12-1) will take on “Hairrow” stylist and cartwheel-kick aficionado Brian “The White Anderson Silva” Ebersole (48-14-1, 1 NC) on the card, while former CagePotato TUF 11 guest blogger Rich “The Raging Bull” Attonito (10-4) will see action against durable Toronto-based fighter Claude “The Prince” Patrick (14-1).

(The UFC’s second Toronto card is coming together nicely.)

3-1 in four UFC bouts, MacDonald continued to impress in his last outing, defeating seasoned veteran Mike Pyle by TKO at 3:54 of the opening frame at UFC 133 in August. He also holds Octagon wins over Nate Diaz at UFC 129 and Mike Guymon at UFN 20 and a heartbreaking loss to current welterweight contender Carlos Condit in the final seconds of their UFC 115 bout.

A veteran of 64 professional bouts, Ebersole will be a tough test for MacDonald, but he may have already made a slight error in judgment that may work in the favor of his opponent, who was formerly known as “The Waterboy” for his penchant for using anger to propel him to perform better in the cage. In an interview he did with MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani following his UFC win over Dennis Hallman, “TWAS” was asked if he was interested in fighting MacDonald who had dispatched of Pyle earlier in the night, to which Ebersole replied that the fight “didn’t interest him.”

“After UFC 127 I kind of asked for Dennis Hallman or Matt Serra because they’re veterans [who have] big records — kind of like Chris Lytle — they bring out that samurai spirit in me and I know it would be a good battle of not just athleticism, but kind of like a chess match. I saw Matt Serra here tonight; he’s looking a bit out of shape. I don’t know if he’s retired or what his story is, but if he’s still competing I guess he’s kind of the one guy before he retires I would like to compete against him,” Ebersole explained. “There’s a couple of older guys — I know Renzo [Gracie] just got a contract. I don’t know if the UFC would give me Renzo, but right now I know I’m not in line for a title shot and I’m not looking at the top guys so I would like to fight guys that really interest me and those are the veterans. Those are the guys that have stories that I’ve watched as a fan in this sport. I don’t want to fight the Rory MacDonald who’s 21 years old and [has] two or three fights. I don’t know anything about the kid. That doesn’t excite me.”

Patrick and Attonito, meanwhile, have unanimous decision wins over a common opponent, Daniel Roberts in their last respective bouts and will both be looking to climb the ladder with a win over the other.

Although it hasn’t been announced yet, a featherweight bout between former number one contender Mark “The Machine” Hominick and “The Korean Zombie” Jung Chan-Sung is also rumored to be in the works for the card, as is a lightweight bout between John Cholish and Canadian UFC newcomer Mitch Clarke.