A middleweight match-up that has been on again and off again for the better part of a year will finally be taking place...or so we hope. Alessio Sakara, at one time a budding contender to the middleweight title, will be pitted to meet with another derailed contender Jorge Rivera. The two men were scheduled to meet two times before, but third time might be the charm. Now, the two strikers will square off opposite one another at UFC 133, which takes place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

By John Moody MMA fans are in hog heaven over the next three weeks with two UFC events and another major Strikforce show. There are numerous fights across all the cards which should dazzle, but I have targeted three, in particular, which will impact the sport at large to a greater scale.  They may not be what you expect ... give a look! ...

Rafael Natal has been forced out of a middleweight fight against budding contender Alessio Sakara this March. The Renzo Gracie fighter has gone 0-1-1 in his first two outings within the organization and hoped to secure a win over Alessio, however it looks his time will have to wait. Rafael has reported suffered a knee injury in preparation for the March event, which is scheduled to be taking place at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. In his place, New Yorker Chris Weidman, a talented and lauded prospect in the middleweight division, will instead make his promotional debut against Sakara. ...

Maiquel Falcao made waves in his UFC debut this past Novemeber, though he gained little fan fare for his efforts. The highly-touted Brazilian squared off against then budding contender Gerald Harris at "UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida" in Detroit, Michigan where he earned a half-assed decision victory over Harris. The two middleweights engaged in a staring contest for the third and final round which only put an exclamation on a sluggish all around fight, though it appeared Maiquel was in control of the majority. Hoping to make better on his second trip to the cage, Falcao will now have to wait since has been removed from the middleweight affair which has sidetracked his career in hopes to climb up the ranks. ...

UFC 122: “Okami vs. Marquardt” went off without a hitch yesterday despite a negative German media presence that forced the event off of television and onto the internet. While the preliminary card was loaded with finishes, the main televised card saw an abundance of decision victories. Nevertheless, I hesitate to call UFC 122 a “bad” event. Recently the UFC handed out their traditional post-fight bonuses, so here’s what everyone walked away with. Also included is a quick mini-review on the event itself. ...

The UFC’s return to Germany is now in the history books, and UFC 122: “Marquardt vs. Okami” gave us several interesting bouts before completing its run. In the main event, top Middleweight stars Nate Marquardt and Yushin Okami battled it out to determine the next UFC Middleweight Championship  contender, with Okami winning what some consider to be a title shot that is long, long overdue. As is customary for the day after a big event, here are my predictions on what’s next for the big winners and losers of UFC 122: “Marquardt vs. Okami”. ...

Middleweight contender Alessio Sakara has bowed out of his co-main event slot with fellow striker Jorge Rivera this evening. Sakara had rode a three-fight win streak into the middleweight contest, which began with a head kick knockout of prospect Joe Vedepo, then with a pivotal split-decision victory over former title challenger Thales Leites and has culminated with a TKO win over James Irvin, all inside the octagon. A potential win over Rivera would have potentially vaulted the Italian into the cream of the crop of the 185-pound division, however it looks like now he'll have to wait to take that next big step. ...

While the tape-delayed broadcast on Spike TV isn’t set to air for another several hours, the UFC recently wrapped up UFC 122: “Marquardt vs. Okami” in Germany. It was a night that had an even number of finishes as well as fights that went the distance, with the main event perhaps not quite living up to expectations. For those who don’t want to wait, here are the full and complete results to UFC 122: “Marquardt vs. Okami”. ...

Later today the UFC will present its second event in Germany, UFC  122: “Marquardt vs. Okami”. Despite a hostile media and government presence that saw the UFC get banned from German television, the world’s biggest and most important MMA promotion continues to move forward with its international expansion. In tonight’s main event, former title challenger Nate Marquardt faces the last man to have ever beaten Anderson Silva (even if it was via DQ) in a fight that will more than likely determine the next UFC Middleweight Championship contender. As is customary for a big night of fights, here are my picks and predictions for UFC 122: “Marquardt vs. Okami”. ...

It has become clear for serious followers of the UFC what kind of fighter president Dana White likes.  He likes Chris Leben.  He likes Sam Stout.  He likes Stefan Struve.  He likes Carlos Condit.  He likes Stephan Bonnar.  Do you see the trend?  He likes guys that come forward … guys that will eat two shots to give one.  Guys that thrive when the fight becomes a brawl.  Guys that understand this is a business and fans need to be entertained at the peril of their won/loss record.  For these reasons, Dana White must love Jorge Rivera.  Rivera fights Alessio Sakara this weekend at UFC 122 in Germany and not only is the type of brawler White admires, but he says all the right things about why he loves MMA and the UFC. ...

A bout originally expected to take place last August in Boston, Mass. for UFC 118, will now come to fruition--but this time, in Germany. Budding middleweight contenders Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara will now face one another at UFC 122, in the UFC's second venture to Germany (the first came at UFC 99 last year). The organization made the bout official today, for the main card of the Spike TV televised card, which will now be headlined by fellow middleweights Yushin Oami versus Nate Marquardt in a number one contenders' match up. ...

It seems that Vitor Belfort’s path to the ufc Middleweight Championship is taking yet another detour. The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion was tentatively penned as the next challenger to Middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva all the way back in September 2009, when he made his return to the promotion by scoring a huge knockout over former Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin in a catchweight bout. Since then, injuries (both Belfort’s and Silva’s) have ping-ponged this fight back and forth from one event to another. Now it may not even happen. MMAJunkie.com recently reported that Vitor Belfort is moving forward with plans to return in November…but against Yushin Okami. Everything is still pure speculation at this point, since nothing has been officially announced, but here’s what’s known so far. ...

A bout originally scheduled for UFC 118 this Saturday, has been pushed off till November, for the UFC's second trip to Germany, and it's first since it's inception last year for UFC 99, which was headlined by former champions Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin. Said bout, a middleweight affair against Jorge Rivera against fellow banger Alessio Sakara has stayed alive. The bout will mark a true push for each competitor, as one another will look for contenders' status in a crowded 185-pound division, dominated by Anderson Silva--though Chael Sonnen might argue the point. ...

This is the first column of this sort for Fighters.com. I am going to be doing these once a week where we get a look at some of the smaller stories, one liners, much more all pertaining to mixed martial arts. ...

The undercard of UFC 101 in Philadelphia Saturday saw two split decision upsets, one in the middleweight division and one at 170.

"Legionarius" Alessio Sakara (14 -7) upset recent UFC middleweight title challenger Thales Leites (14-3) in a three-round split decision, rendering Leites with consecutive disappointing losses.

And, "Doomsday" John Howard (12-3) won a three-round split decision over "Barn Cat" Tamdan McCrory (11-3), Howard's second SD in the Octagon with no losses.
...

Fighters.com will post real-time results after each UFC 101 Declaration fight Saturday night. Post your predictions here before the fights. Logon often tonight and chat about the fights immediately after they end. The fight card from Philadelphia includes: "Prodigy" B.J. Penn (13-5-1) v "KenFlo" Kenny Florian (11-3) for the UFC lightweight strap Fighters.com's third-ranked light heavyweight Forrest Griffin (16-5) v UFC middleweight champ "“Spider” Anderson Silva (24-4) in 205-pound matchup ...

UFC middleweight Rob Yundt (6-1) of Alaska announced in a MySpace bulletin Wednesday that he's signed to fight Roman "Legionarius" Alessio Sakara (12-7) at 21 June's TUF finale. Yundt said, "I'm gonna be the reason the UFC sends his ass packing after I whoop his ass!" Yundt lost his Octagon premier in February to "Cachorrao" Ricardo Almeida (9-2) by first-round guillotine choke submission. Despite ups and downs, Sakara has been a UFC fixture the passed three years. "Legionarius" dropped to 185-pounds in March, but was TKO'd by "Crippler" Chris Leben (18-4) in his division debut. Yundt was originally told he would fight a TUF 7 cast member. "That's not the case anymore," Yundt said. The Alaskan told Fighters.com on 5 May that he had been training with ninth-ranked light heavyweight "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Tito Ortiz (15-5-1) at Big Bear. "I'm training hard and feel great.  I've been in Big Bear with Tito for four of the last six weeks and am heading back Sunday for another two weeks.  I'll be ready for sure." ...

Former UFC Heavyweight Champion, "Pitbull" Andrei Arlovski pocketed the biggest purse Saturday night in Columbus, $105,000 to show plus a $65,000 win bonus.  His victory over "Irish" Jake O'Brien completed his UFC contract. However, it was UFC Middleweight Champion "Spider" Anderson Silva who left Nationwide Arena big pimpin' with a total disclosed payday of $260,000 for his second round submission of "Hollywood" Dan Henderson. Silva received $70,000 to show, a $70,000 win bonus, a $60,000 Submission of the Night bonus, and a $60,000 Fight of the Night bonus.  Mo' money, mo' money, mo' money! Henderson received a $60,000 bonus for participating in Fight of the Night.  "The Crippler" Chris Leben received $60,000 for Knockout of the Night in his victory over "Legionarius" Alessio Sakara. Despite making the PPV broadcast in an non-stop stand-up war, Josh Koscheck and Dustin Hazelett lost out to Silva v Henderson for Fight of the Night. The entire run-down below: Andrei Arlovski: $170,000 Anderson Silva: $140,000 Heath Herring: $140,000 Dan Henderson: $100,000 Diego Sanchez: $60,000 Chris Leben: $50,000 Cheick Kongo: $30,000 Yushin Okami: $28,000 Evan Tanner: $25,000 Josh Koscheck: $20,000 Alessio Sakara: $17,000 Luigi Fioravanti: $16,000 Luke Cummo: $16,000 Jorge Gurgel: $14,000 Dustin Hazelett: $12,000 Jake O’Brien: $11,000 David Bielkheden: $8,000 John Halverson: $3,000 ...

On a night in Columbus when the original UFC Heavyweight Champion and tactician behind the ground'n'pound "The Hammer" Mark Coleman became a legend joining the UFC Hall of Fame, UFC Middleweight Champion "Spider" Anderson Silva knocked on that same hallowed door. The kickboxer from Curitiba vanquished former PRIDE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Champion "Hollywood" Dan Henderson in a rear naked choke at 4:52 of the second round. The first round illustrated why Henderson, 22-7, was pegged as Silva's last great challenge at 185-pounds. The wrestler from California nixed the champion's world class stand-up with lateral movement that prevented Silva from setting and delivering his laser-like strikes. Henderson grabbed hold of the "Spider" and dumped him to the mat in an awkward half guard that allowed "Hollywood" to smother Silva while peppering him with hammer fists. The frustrated champion endured to the second frame. In a sloppy Thai clinch, Silva slammed a knee to Henderson's chiseled chin, causing the the top contender to crumble. Silva pounced!  A barrage of strikes convinced Henderson to give up his back, the fatal flaw leading to a rear naked choke submission with just eight seconds to spare in the round. While UFC broadcasters Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan wondered allowed who could challenge the champion, Silva seemed to indicate a third tussle with former UFC Middleweight Champion "Ace" Rich Franklin was due. In the broadcasted card's only heavyweight rumble, "The Texas Crazy Horse" Heath Herring tumbled into a split decision "W" over Cheick Kongo of France. The Parisian kickboxer insisted on wrestling, to the surprise of everyone including Herring.  Kongo dumped the Texan by force of will, but never capitalized on his advantageous ground positions as Herring consistently swept and reversed into safer territory. In the end, Herring's pitter-patter of pounding and Kongo's cluelessness on the mat served Herring the "W" and a possible rematch with current interim UFC belt holder Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, whom Herring came within a hair of beating last year. In untelevised heavyweight action, former UFC titlist "The Pitbull" Andrei Arlovski wrapped-up his current UFC contract and possibly his Octagon career with second round TKO of Jake O'Brien. Arlovski has openly entertained the idea of quitting the UFC for greener opportunities. Another pair of middleweights made the PPV broadcast when former UFC Middleweight Champion Evan Tanner was knocked silly...er with a knee from the Thai clinch by Yushin Okami. The fight was Tanner's first since April 2006 and the vet seemed to gas late into the first round before eating the death blow at 3:00 of the second. 18-4 Chris Leben TKO'd 185-pound newbie "Legionarius" Alessio Sakara of Italy at 3:16 of round one. "The Crippler" Leben knocked Sakara to his back with a left hook behind the ear, then pounced on the Roman with six unanswered punches before referee Herb Dean waved the affair closed. Welterweights Josh Koscheck and Dustin Hazelett lit each other up for a round before a Koscheck kick found the button behind Hazelett's ear a minute into round two.  Koschek pummeled the fallen fighter until the referee called it a TKO for Koscheck. The PPV opened with the longest three rounds of my life between welterweight contender Jon Fitch and UFC-debuting Chris Wilson of Team Quest. Wilson spent most of his Octagon initiation on his bicycle while Fitch tried to chase him down.  The judges awarded Fitch a unanimous decision for aggression and superior wrestling positioning. The rest of the untelevised portion of the card included a unanimous decision  "W" for 12-3 welterweight Luigi Fioravanti over Luke Cummo, who falls to 6-5. "Nightmare" Diego Sanchez was tossed a bit of red meat in Sweden's David Bielkheden after dropping two consecutive fights.  Sanchez devoured Bielkheden in a first round strikes submission. Lightweight Jorge Gurgel took a unanimous decision over John Halverson to improve to 12-3, 3-2 in the Octagon.  UFC 82 sold out Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. ...