Former UFC fighter Rory Markham, following his release from the UFC and recovering from amounting injuries, was recently signed to budding promotion, Bellator Fighting Championships. Bellator has done an excellent job in bringing in relevant talent to their fold, while giving their home-grown fighters some credibility, should they prove successful in defeating some of the imported, former UFC standouts. Markham will forever be remembered in infamy, when he knocked out Brodie Farber in his UFC debut in 2009, with a vicious head kick. After the initial UFC outing, he struggled in performances against contender Dan Hardy and "The Ultimate Fighter" season five winner, Nate Diaz. ...

UFC welterweight Rory Markham (16-5) has been fined $1000 by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board for weighing 177-pounds Friday for his contracted 171-pound fight versus Nate Diaz (11-5) at UFC 111 in Newark tonight. ...

“Spider” Anderson Silva (22-4) def. “Sandman” James Irvin (14-5) via KO (punches), 1:01 of round one. “The Truth” Brandon Vera (9-2) def. Reese Andy (7-3) via unanimous decision (30-27; 30-27; 29-28). “The Answer” Frank Edgar (9-1) def. Hermes Franca (18-7) via unanimous decision (30-27; 30-27; 30-27). Cain Velasquez (4-0) def.  Jake O’Brien (10-2) via TKO, 2:02 of round one. “The Fire” Kevin Burns (7-2) def. “Rumble” Anthony Johnson (5-2) via TKO, 3:35 of round three. “Doberman” CB Dollaway (7-1) def. Jesse Taylor (6-3) via submission (Peruvian necktie), 3:58 of round one. Timothy Credeur (10-2) def. Cale Yarbrough (0-1) via TKO (punches), 1:54 of round one. Rory Markham (16-4) def. Brodie Farber (13-4) via KO (head kick), 1:37 of round one. Nate Loughran (9-0) def. Johnny Rees (10-1) via submission (triangle), 4:21 of round one. “Bad” Brad Blackburn (15-9-1) def. James Giboo (11-3) via TKO (strikes), 2:29 of round two. Shannon Gugerty (11-2) def. Dale Hartt (5-1) via submission (rear naked choke), 3:33 of round one. ...

Wednesday the UFC officially announced that six newcomers will face each other in their Octagon debuts at Fight Night 14 on 19 July, airing on SpikeTV: Rory Markham (14-4) v Brodie Farber (13-3) James Giboo (11-2) v “Bad” Brad Blackburn (12-9-1) Dale Hartt (5-0) v Shannon Gugerty (9-2). IFL veteran Markham, of Chicago, submitted Jay Ellis (6-19) with a first-round triangle choke at Adrenaline MMA’s debut event this month. Farber last lost in May 2006; since then he has finished off all six opponents he faced in the first round, most recently knocking out Eduardo Gonzales (1-4) in January. Giboo, a schoolteacher from Des Moines, will look to extend his six-fight win streak. He has never fought past the second round and submits most opponents, including Zeke Schilling (0-2) in March. Blackburn, another IFL veteran, (T)KO’d both “Pe de Chumbo” Delson Heleno (13-5) in April and Jay Hieron (15-4) last June, and has a “No Contest” against Travis Cox (5-5; 1 NC) between the two wins. Hartt last fought in March, when he submitted Keith Ferreira (1-1) via strikes in the first round. He has never been to a decision. Gugerty is a Total Combat veteran and is coming off a six-fight win streak, most recently putting a guillotine choke on Johnny Torres (5-1) in March. ...

Chicago's "Bartimus" Bart Palaszewski (29-11) snapped a three-fight losing streak with a right high kick that left "Grinder" Jeffrey Cox (9-6) unconcious against the fence at 1:27 of round two Saturday night at Adrenaline MMA in Hoffman Estates, east of Chicago. After a paced and cautious first round for both fighters, "Bartimus" began working kicks in the second, first a solid body shot, then snapping at Cox's leg. During the final flurried exchange, Palaszewski wheeled a wide left hook to Cox's body, backing Cox into range for the right high kick finisher. Palaszewski literally lept out of the cage upon the stoppage "W". In the main event, Michael Russow (10-1) manhandled late replacement for "Snowman" Jeff Monson (24-8),  Jason Guida (17-16), tapping Clay's big brother in a standing neck crank against the fence at 2:13 of round one. "I hope he's OK," Russow related after the stoppage. Hometown hero Rory Markham (14-4) said, "Let's get serious.  That guy just jumped over me!" after "Silent Assassin" Jay Ellis (5-19) launched a flying knee at the opening bell, indeed, flying right over Markham.  "So, I decided I was going to keep it on the ground." Markham pounced on Ellis; but, Ellis swept to Markham's guard, which Markham climbed into a triangle tapout at 57 seconds of round one. ...

Fighters.com was live in Hoffman Estates, east of Chicago, Friday for the Adrenaline MMA weigh-ins. Late main event replacement for "Snowman" Jeff Monson (24-8), former middleweight Jason Guida (17-5) weighed-in at 241.5 pounds, and it didn't look like he found heavyweight girth in the gym (unless "The Gym" is the name of a pizzeria in Little Italy.) Guida's opponent, Chicago police officer Michael Russow (9-1) looked svelte at 243.2 pounds. Middleweights Terry Martin (16-4) and bleached blond Daiju Takase (7-11-1) made their weight class at 185.2 and 185.8 pounds repectively. IFL veteran Rory Markham's (13-4) opponent, Jay Ellis (5-18), will give up nearly twenty pounds to Markham in their 180-pound catch weight match-up.  Markham weighed 180.1 pounds and Ellis weighed 161.6 pounds. Fighters.com's third-ranked heavyweight "Maine-iac" Tim Sylvia (24-4) attended with his girlfriend, who didn't weigh-in but stood about 5'1" next to 6'7" Sylvia, and chided "Meat Truck" Kerry Schall (21-9), shouting, "Meat Trick!" as Schall weighed in. ...

Thursday Adrenaline MMA, formed of the American executives from the now defunct M-1 Global promotion, issued it's official fight card for the promotion's Chicago premier 14 June. As reported by Fighters.com, the main event matches grappler "The Snowman" Jeff Monson (24-7) versus wrestler Michael Russow (9-1) in a mat struggle. "The Snowman" will fight Russow just two weeks after taking on Fighters.com's third-ranked heavyweight "Babyface Assasin" Josh Barnett (21-5) at Sengoku II in Tokyo. UFC fighter turned boxer Terry Martin (16-4) will fight Japanese middleweight Daiju Takase (7-11-1) before his hometown crowd. Martin comes off UFC losses to "Crippler" Chris Leben (18-4) and "Beastman" Marvin Eastman (15-7-1), but won his boxing debut 12 April with a knockout of Ricardo Upchurch (0-2 in boxing). Lightweight jiu-jitsu player Alberto Crane (8-2), who lost both of his UFC fights, will bounce back matched against King of the Cage vet Clay French (15-2). IFL lightweight standout "Bartimus" Bart Palaszewski (28-11), who's taken three tough losses consecutively, will rebound in his hometown versus Jeffrey Cox (9-5), who lost his UFC debut to "Pitbull" Manvel Gamburyan (8-2) last month in Denver. Also on the card to be held at the Sears Centre: "The Freak" Tony Fryklund (14-9) v Brian Gassaway (28-17-2) Taiwan Howard (4-1) v Rory Markham (13-3) James Giboo (11-2) v Mark Miller (8-3) "Herc" Antoine Hayes (6-5) v "Meat Truck" Kerry Schall (21-9) Rob Kimmons (20-3) v Hector Urbina (11-4) Aaron Rosa (10-2) v "Killing Fields" Ron Fields (22-25-1) Dom O'Grady (4-0) v Mike Stumpf (9-1) Joe Jordan (39-12-2) v Ryan Williams (5-2) Christian Reynosa (6-2) v John Hosman (7-3-1) ...