With several major match-ups all tentatively scheduled, both ufc 136 and UFC 137 have quickly become two of the biggest attractions for the remainder of the year. Both events have serious “Event of the Year” potential, and recently, both events have seen a slew of match-ups announced. It’s now being reported that two more interesting match-ups have been announced, featuring the second UFC fight of Anthony Pettis and the return fight of Brandon Vera. Here are all the details. ...

From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, Anthony Pettis left the WEC as the final WEC Lightweight Champion and entered the UFC only to promptly lose his debut. But “Showtime” is still a very entertaining fighter and a very interesting addition to an increasingly-crowded Lightweight division. There’s a lot of good opponents for Anthony Pettis in the UFC, and to prove that, here are my personal picks for the five fighters Anthony Pettis should face next. ...

After a rather long “Spring Slump” that saw only a handful of MMA events, the UFC came roaring into June with several high-profile fights, free shows, and Pay-Per-View events. But the UFC’s first major event of the super-cramped month of June, “The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale”, failed to live up to most expectations, although I’d hesitate to call it a bad event. And which stars shined brightest, and what moments will fans be talking about in the following weeks? Here’s my take on the matter: my top 5 best moments of “The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale”. ...

“The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale” was certainly an interesting event… although not for the best of reasons. It was a night filled to the brim with decision wins, some of which were either average at best or very uneventful. And now once again it’s time to ask: what’s next? What does the future hold now that Tony Ferguson has stepped up to the main stage while Clay Guida has now been branded “Lay” Guida? Here’s my answer to just that: a new edition of my “What’s Next for the Winners and Losers” series of articles, now featuring “The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale”. ...

We’re now only a few days away from “The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale”. In the main event, perennial UFC Lightweight contender Clay Guida faces the last man to hold the WEC Lightweight Championship, Anthony Pettis. The co-main event will also be an interesting match-up, as Ramsey Nijem takes on Tony Ferguson to crown the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 13. As is customary, here is my official “picks and predictions” post (covering who I think will win and why), now featuring “The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale”. ...

On June 4, 2011, the UFC will hold its highly-anticipated “The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale” event, featuring Anthony Pettis vs. Clay Guida and Tony Ferguson vs. Ramsey Nijem. Still, some fans may be asking themselves: what are the best reasons to check out this card? Here’s my answer to just that: 5 reasons to watch “The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale”. ...

Hello once more fans and friends and welcome to the latest edition of “Crash Course”. “Crash Course” is a series of articles designed to give readers a quick rundown on all the relevant information they need to know heading into an upcoming major MMA event. Everything from why you should watch, what you should expect in the co-main and main event, and even where and when you can find it on TV is all covered in detail. So let’s get right to it with today’s edition, featuring “The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale”. ...

And now, fans and friends, it’s time for the second half of my traditional two-part “start of month” posts. After previewing the major cards set to go down this month, it’s now time for me to give my thoughts on what my favorite fights will be. June is a huge month for MMA: at one point, there’s going to be three different events from three different companies in three days. It doesn’t get much more crazier than that. So with all the can’t-miss events heading our way, what are the absolutely-can’t-miss fights? Here’s what I think. ...

Ever since Frank Edgar dethroned BJ Penn to claim the ufc Lightweight Championship, the UFC’s 155-pound division has been blown wide open. Currently, Edgar is set to meet Gray Maynard for the third and most likely final time, in a rematch to their epic UFC 125 encounter that ended in a draw. Meanwhile, the final WEC Lightweight Champion, Anthony Pettis, is set to fight Clay Guida. And despite all the notable fighters that have been blasting their way up the Lightweight rankings, it’s recently been confirmed that Anthony Pettis is still next in line for a shot at the title so long as he beats Clay Guida. Here are all the details. ...

By John Moody We all know how fun it can be to watch Anderson Silva dump an upkick to the grill of Vitor Belfort or Jon Jones drop sledgehammer elbows to Brandon Vera's skull.  But hey, we kind of expect this, these are some of the best pound for pound fighters walking the planet.  So what about the fighters not always front and center of every MMA chit chat.  Well here are some guys, that rarely, if ever, fail to excite and entertain in the cage. ...

Everyone has been talking about it: Strikeforce is now a Zuffa-owned company. It’s become apparent that the upstart promotion will continue to operate as its own entity for at least the next two years or so, but after that it’s anyone’s guess. So of course, many are hoping that there comes a day where the UFC’s best meets Strikeforce’s best. I too can’t wait for that day, so here’s a little something we’ve all been discussing lately: my top 5 Strikeforce vs. UFC matches. Let’s get to it. ...

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! ...

A previously announced lightweight fight will now have a home as WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis will meet with surging contender Clay Guida in June. The two men are tentatively rumored to be headlining "The Ultimate Fighter" season 14 finale, which is scheduled for the The Pearl at the Palms Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on June 4. Pettis was promised his shot at the UFC lightweight title upon his arrival from the organization's sister promotion, World Extreme Cagefighting--which has since been merged with the UFC in order to incorporate the lighter weight classes into the juggernaut organization. ...

Ever since it was announced, a lot of people have been buzzing about the impending encounter between top UFC Lightweight Clay Guida and the last man to ever hold the WEC Lightweight Championship, Anthony Pettis. A certain section of the fanbase, however, has called into question whether or not Pettis made the right decision by opting to not wait for his Championship Unification bout and take this fight with Guida. I definitely think Pettis made the right call, and to prove my point, here's a “Top Five” listed devoted to the five reasons why Anthony Pettis made the right decision. ...

I’m honestly a bit conflicted when it comes to the proposed match-up between Anthony Pettis and Clay Guida. First and foremost, I’m one of the ones that think that Pettis isn’t being treated fairly by being shoved to the side in order for Frank Edgar and Gray Maynard to fight a third time. Secondly, Guida didn’t even register in my recent “Top 5 Opponents For Anthony Pettis” list. But this is the fight that’s supposedly going to happen, and as a perennial optimist (despite what some of my readers may think), I’m definitely looking forward to Clay Guida vs. Anthony Pettis. Here’s how I think the fight will go down. ...

Anthony Pettis says he won't wait, and UFC President Dana White was listening. The World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight champion will now be making his UFC debut either by May or June, and it looks like Clay Guida will be part of his welcoming party. Pettis originally earned the UFC number one contenders' position when he earned the WEC lightweight title last December, when he bested former titleholder Ben Henderson during a rousing five-round affair. Cementing the win in the fifth-round with a flashy jumping-push-kick-off-the-cage that floored Henderson, Pettis returned cage side at UFC 125 on Jan. 1 to see who he would be fighting next in order to unify the WEC-UFC titles, however champ Frankie Edgar drew with Gray Maynard and now the two studs will fight again. Rather then wait for the fight to play out and be sidelined for the better part of 2011, Pettis will risk his chance at the title when he meets with the Greg Jackson fighter. ...

Current number one contender and World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight champion Anthony Pettis is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Risk your status as the next man to challenge for the worlds most prestigious title by taking a fight to bide the time, or wait on the wings for close to a year for a trilogy to play out before you see the goods? For the 23-year-old, Pettis doesn't think it's in his best interest to wait while a grudge is settled. Instead, the Milwaukee native could be returning to the cage as early as May, serving under a main event pitting his two possible future opponents in title challenger Gray Maynard and current UFC champ Frankei Edgar. ...

Duke Roufus, leader of Team-RoufusSport, received a monster shot of adrenaline last month when his then rising star, Anthony Pettis, exploded into orbit with his Matrix wall climb head kick in his win over Ben Henderson.  Now, Roufus looks to transfer that mojo to his number two prospect, Pat Barry, taking center stage on January 22 at UFC Fight Night 23 against the dangerous Joey Beltran.  Roufus and Barry were in the corner for Pettis and now "Showtime" and Roufus will be backing the New Orleans native as he looks to rebound after his loss to Mirko Filopovic.  Roufus is excited to see a vastly improved Pat Barry, who he says has been working hard to diversify his tool box of skills. ...

It’s mostly been confirmed that the last WEC Lightweight Champion will have to wait for his unification bout against the UFC Lightweight Champion. But Anthony Pettis isn’t the kind of man that sits on the sidelines. While Frank Edgar and Gray Maynard fight for a third time in order to finally find out which one of them is the better fighter, Pettis will look to prove himself in the UFC with or without a title being on the line. But who should “Showtime” face in his first Octagon bout? Here are my personal Top 5 opponents for Anthony Pettis. ...

How soon the MMA world changes. Many fans were lukewarm and even outright cynical of a proposed rematch between Frank Edgar and Gray Maynard, and now fans are clamoring for a rematch to the rematch now that both men recently gave us an early Fight of the Year contender in the main event of ufc 125. Early post-fight reports saw UFC President Dana White remain adamant that Anthony Pettis, the final WEC Lightweight Champion, would be the next man to get a shot at Edgar. Now it appears that White has succumbed to the peer pressure of the situation after all, and we will indeed be getting an immediate rematch. Here are all the details. ...

When it was announced that the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion would cease operations in 2010 and that all the best WEC fighters would be making their way into the UFC in 2011, one fighter in particular was on everyone’s mind and remains that way to this day: the WEC’s Featherweight engine of destruction, Jose Aldo. Now the UFC Featherweight Champion, Aldo recently had to pull out of a fight with Josh Grispi due to an injury. However, that hasn’t deterred Aldo in the slightest, and looking forward, Aldo recently stated that not only does he want to keep his championship firmly around his waist, he also wants to add the UFC Lightweight Championship to his trophy case. ...

Anthony Pettis’ groundbreaking, MMA earthshaking, scale the cage head kick on Thursday night has sent the sport and its followers into a frenzy.  Justifiably.  Do you remember the first time you saw Tony Hawk complete the original 900 at the 1996 X-Games?  It was simply revolutionary!  Vert skate boarding was never the same after that day. Likewise, never before, on a national stage, have we seen a fighter incorporate the cage as a tool to invent a new way of attacking the opponent.  Pettis’ - run up the side of the cage to gain height and leverage to launch a kick - will have lasting ramifications.  It is just too early to figure out how soon other fighters will start to use the cage as an offensive tool. One thing is clear … Pettis’ kick has already changed how fighters and trainers will now THINK about what is possible.  We cannot undue what Pettis did.  How we think about what is possible has changed.  Oh … and for the record, most top skaters now attempt the 900 in their showcase vert runs. ...

Anthony Pettis is many things. He’s a relative newcomer to MMA, having only competed for about three years. He’s also a very young, at only 23 years of age. But most importantly, Anthony “Showtime” Pettis is an incredibly dynamic, vastly entertaining fighter that fully deserves his status as the current and final WEC Lightweight Champion. Anthony Pettis recently clutched an excellent five-round war against then-champion Ben Henderson at WEC 53: “Henderson vs. Pettis” with one of the craziest strikes that’s ever landed in the history of Mixed Martial Arts. And as hard as it is to believe, given his brilliant performances in the WEC’s blue cage, “Showtime” swears that the best is still to come. ...

After it was all said and done, nearly 10 years in the game, and I think it's safe to say that the WEC left the world of mixed martial arts with a bang, and a proper farewell casted off by all of their combatants just last night. In the main event of the evening, Anthony Pettis shocked the world when he displayed devastating arsenal of striking techniques which culminated in a highlight reel head kick knockdown executed by "Showtime" launching himself from the cage and landing the maneuver mid-air on former champion Ben Henderson, before a ruckus crowd in Glendale, Ariz. While Pettis' star shined the brightest in his lightweight title clash with the hometown favorite in Henderson, several others displayed a varied array of skills that netted them an additional ten thousand dollars for their efforts. ...

Hello once more fans and friends and welcome to the first entry in a brand-new series of articles: “Top 5 Best Moments”. This series of articles is designed to give fans who may have missed an event five big reasons to go ahead and check it out. These are the moments that will stand the test of time, the kind that fans can point to and say “this is what made that card so great”. And what better show to start out with than the final WEC show? So let’s get right to it with my Top 5 Best Moments of WEC 53: “Henderson vs. Pettis”. ...

It’s been a long time coming, but we’re finally here, fans and friends: the WEC is no more, WEC 53: “Henderson vs. Pettis” now exists only in the hearts and minds of the countless legions of fans it entertained. In the main event, Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis fought a five-round war that gave birth to one of the craziest strikes ever landed. But now that the WEC has officially ceased operations and will be folded into the UFC, what’s next for the big winners and losers of WEC 53? Let’s examine just that with the latest edition of my “What’s Next” series of articles. ...

It’s all over, fans and friends. WEC 53: “Henderson vs. Pettis” is now a thing of the past, and with the close of this show, the “WEC Era” is no more. After this event the WEC will be folded into the UFC, and what an event it was. I think few WEC fans could have asked for a better way to end the WEC than with what I have no trouble calling one of the greatest fights I’ve ever seen. Here are the full results to WEC 53: “Henderson vs. Pettis. ...

Here is your homework ahead of WEC 53 tonight: Anthony Pettis research. Why can Anthony Pettis win tonight over WEC lightweight champ Benson Henderson?  Well, as his trainer Duke Roufus told us in his audio interview on Fighters.com yesterday, Pettis has the heart of a lion and a left head kick for the ages.  In this WEC 53 video prep segment, Pettis was only 5 weeks out of shoulder surgery, back in March 2008, when he fought Mike Lambrecht.  At the end of this video you can see Pettis' hanging shoulder in pain.  But first, watch the amazing end to this bout.  If you want to jump to the finish go to the 4:35 mark in the video.  Stunning! Click through to watch the video. ...

Anthony Pettis has shot to stardom under the tutelage of Duke Roufus as part of Team RoufusSport in Milwaukee. Pettis has the fight of his life on Thursday night, against Ben Henderson, for the WEC lightweight belt and a shot at the UFC lightweight title.  Pettis' trainer, Duke Roufus, recently spoke with Fighters.com and shares how Pettis may approach Henderson and why he is so difficult to fight.  In this jam packed interview, Roufus also sheds light on the other stars in his camp including, how Alan Belcher is recovering from his eye injury, what went down when Pat Barry fought Cro Cop, and what lies ahead for Matt Mitrione. Click through for the audio interview. ...

wec 53: “Henderson vs. Pettis” will be the WEC's final stand. After this event, the promotion as we know it will no longer exist, and all we’ll be left with is fond memories of a ridiculously underrated MMA organization. WEC 53 in particular should give us an ample amount of things to remember, as it features two great title fights and (as usual) a stacked undercard. And it just wouldn’t be a major MMA card without another edition of “Picks and Predictions”, so here’s my thoughts on who I think will win, and why, at WEC 53: “Henderson vs. Pettis”. ...