It’s always interesting when a professional sports athlete or organization hosts an event to raise awareness for a charity or cause. The chief example in MMA is the UFC’s “Fight For The Troops” events, which have helped raise large sums of money for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. But, and this makes me a very proud MMA fan to say this, many MMA fighters are taking it upon themselves to personally hold events to raise awareness. Take, for instance, Sam Stout, who recently gave an interview to promote his anti-bullying and anti-domestic violence campaign. ...

There are several ways veteran fighters can breathe new life into their careers. They can drop down in weight, switch training camps, or even change their personalities. Of course, the simplest way to get people talking about you again is to start winning dramatically again. A veteran of over twenty fights, Sam Stout recently did just that when he viciously KO’d Yves Edwards at UFC 131. In a new interview, Stout gave some interesting thoughts on what he thinks the future holds should he beat Dennis Siver, his upcoming opponent. ...

I wasn’t lying when I said it earlier today… UFC 137 is quickly shaping up to be the can’t-miss MMA event of fall 2010. In addition to Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz, a whole host of interesting match-ups are being added to this card. And in a story that’s only just broken, it’s now been revealed that Sam Stout will be fighting Dennis Siver in a key Lightweight showdown at UFC 137. Here are all the details. ...

For all intents and purposes, ufc 131 “Dos Santos vs. Carwin” was a better event than UFC 130 “Rampage vs. Hamill”. In terms of pure quality, it had a better prelims special, a more talked-about main event, more dramatic finishes, and a main event that lived up to most of its hype, whereas the main event of UFC 130 lived up to its “anti-hype”. But in terms of the almighty dollar and the almost-as-mighty TV rating, how successful was UFC 131? Here are the post-fight award bonuses, live attendance, gate receipts, and “UFC Prelims LIVE” ratings for UFC 131 “Dos Santos vs. Carwin”. ...

Hello once more fans and friends and welcome to another new edition of “Best of the Rest”! I really enjoy taking the time to give my detailed thoughts on a show after watching it, but after the serious discussion and debate I’ll raise in topics like “Top 5 Best Moments” and “Best Performance of the Night”, I think it’d be nice to have a tongue-in-cheek topic where I give out some other “awards”. It’s all in good fun, so don’t take any of it too seriously. So let’s dive right into this latest edition, now featuring UFC 131 “Dos Santos vs. Carwin”. ...

Another match-up has since been confirmed for ufc 131. The pay-per-view event takes place in Vancouver, Canada on June 11 at the Rogers Arena. The main-event of the evening is expected to pit former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar against top contender Junior dos Santos. However also on the card will be an equally explosive lightweight match that everyone will want to tune into. Former top UFC contender Yves Edwards continues his road to the top as he will be taking on fan favorite Sam Stout at the June event. The winner will likely catapult themselves to the top of the heap with a win over one another. ...

Former WEC title challenger Donald Cerrone will make his much anticipated UFC debut sooner than most expected. The Greg Jackson product has been tabbed as a replacement for an injured Sam Stout, and will now face lightweight standout Paul Kelly at UFC 126. The event takes place on Feb. 5 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, and will feature a main event pitting current middleweight champion Anderson Silva against former teammate Vitor Belfort for the title. ...

The ufc seems poised to kick off 2011 in several huge ways with numerous awesome-sounding cards. UFC 125 will be a New Year’s Day attraction featuring Frank Edgar vs. Gray Maynard. UFC 126 sees Anderson Silva taking on Vitor Belfort and Ryan Bader fighting Jon Jones. UFC 127 features BJ Penn vs. Jon Fitch and Michael Bisping vs. Jorge Rivera. As the cards continue to take shape, two new interesting bouts have emerged: one for UFC 126, one for UFC 127. Here are all the details. ...

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. ...

Direct from the ufc press office comes the final bout confirmations for UFC 121.  UFC 121 features the headline fight between heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and challenger Cain Velasquez on October 23^rd at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. This card certainly brings the goods with Lesnar topping the slate but it is the Spike TV bouts and undercard which really makes this night shine.  Patrick Cote and Ryan Lawlor kick off the two fights on free TV while fans in the house will be treated to the always exicting Sam Stout battling Paul Taylor at lightweight and Gilbert Yvel brawling with Jon Madsen at heavyweight. Are you ready for BROCKTOBER?  Read on for all the latest event details from the UFC. ...

In my previous article concerning the UFC’s upcoming UFC 121: “Lesnar vs. Velasquez” event, I noted that the PPV card was filled with excellent matches. My anticipation for this card remains very high, especially now that the UFC has released four preliminary matches. While not containing the sheer star power of fights like Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez, Tito Ortiz vs. Matt Hamill, or Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann, the UFC 121 undercard will be filled with championship contenders, submission specialists, knockout artists, tough veterans, and even the winner of the most-recent series of “The Ultimate Fighter”. Here’s how it all breaks down. ...

In some fights, with some fighters, there is a moment, a turning point, which fans love, Dana White loves, but coaches and trainers hate.  It is a point, where the game plan goes bye-bye.  The best laid ideas to use foot movement and the jab, to methodically work for take downs, to breakdown an opponent with leg kicks all goes out the window.  It is at this moment that some fighters revert to their primal instinct to let it all hang out, enter the pocket, swing away, and let the outcome hang on the power of their fists. Did plan A fail?  Has punishment and fatique stripped the fighter of three months of planning in the gym? Whatever the reason, it is in these moments that some of the most exciting fights take place.  For some fighters, this is when their most memorable work takes place.  The fight has become a messy brawl with blood flowing, fans screaming, and the decision in the balance. ...

UFC lightweights "J-Lau" Joe Lauzon (18-4) and "Hands of Stone" Sam Stout (14-5-1) will matchup at UFC 108  in Las Vegas January 2, according to MMAmania and since reported by other publications. ...

Liverpulian lightweight Terry Etim (11-2) won a unanimous decision over Canadian "Hands of Stone" Sam Stout (13-5-1) by judges scores of 29-28 twice and 30-27 once. Both strikers came out swinging in the first round.  Stout knocked Etim down with a left hook; but, Etim rebounded with a Superman punch. Said Etim, "That was the gameplan from the start, you know?  He said he was going to trade and, give him all of his credit, he stuck to what he said." ...

All UFC 89 fighters made their weight today at the NIA for Saturday's card in Birmingham. "Count" Michael Bisping (16-1) 185 pounds v "Crippler" Chris Leben (18-4) 186 pounds "I'm glad you guys let me into your country," main event fighter Leben said at Thursday's press conference.  "I was a little worried on the plane." Leben was originally scheduled to fight Bisping in London 7 June, but opted to put to rest legal issues in Oregon stemming from an earlier DUI arrest to ensure a legal UK visa. But, the pressure is squarely on the shoulders of Brit Bisping, who told the press, "I am on a quest.  Losing this fight for me is not an option." Leben, wearing tight cornrows, chided his opponent, saying, "It seems to me that, when Michael Bisping fights, self-preservation is top on his list." A brawl would certainly benefit Leben.  Bisping's stand-up style is a bit more circle-and-poke, while Leben is happy to plant and throw bombs. ...

The UFC officially added two more matches Thursday to the UFC 89 card, set for Birmingham, England, 18 October. Swedish lightweight Per Ecklund (13-3-1) will face France’s Samy Schiavo (10-5), and in another 155-pound match-up, Canadian “Hands of Stone” Sam Stout (13-4-1) will take on Liverpudlian Terry Etim (10-2). Ecklund’s last fight was in January when he lost a unanimous decision to Stout. Schiavo was TKO’d at his Octagon debut in April by “Carpenter” Clay Guida (23-9), snapping his six-fight win streak. Stout lost his last fight, a split decision that went to Rich Clementi (32-12-1) in April. Etim also lost his last fight to Clementi, by unanimous decision in May. ...

Canada welcomed in the UFC Saturday night in Montréal; and, the UFC welcomed back in Canada as "Rush" Georges St. Pierre (16-2) avenged his loss to "The Terror" Matt Serra (9-5) by second-round TKO to capture sole possession of the UFC welterweight title before his countrymen and fellow Quebecois. Former UFC Middleweight Champion and Fighters.com's second-ranked 185-pounder "Ace" Rich Franklin (23-3) also found the land of maple leaf friendly in a second-round TKO of "The Serial Killer" Travis Lutter (9-5). TUF Champions "The Count" Michael Bisping (15-1) and Mac Danzig (18-4-1) debuted in new weight classes with stoppages. Les habitants "The Athlete" Jason MacDonald (20-9), "Dooms" Jason Day (17-5), and Jonathan Goulet (22-9) also had success for the home team, while "The Rock" Nathan Quarry (10-2), Demian Maia (7-0), "No Love" Rich Clementi (31-12-1), and Cain Velasquez (3-0) scored wins as visitors to the true north, strong and free. Though seven of the 11 duels on 83's lineup featured St. Pierre's fellow countrymen, this French-Canadian bon soirwas entirely the Quebecois phenom's. He entered the Octagon blazing a crimson gi with the strength of 22,000 at the Centre Bell. Serra had played a clever villain during the event's promotional tour, but had no quips for "Rush" as St. Pierre packed him into the mat upon stuffing Serra's initial shot. St. Pierre mauled "The Terror" with short, sharp elbows as Serra pedaled through guards, all passed by St. Pierre. Serra finally crawled up the cage to his feet. In the center of the cage, St. Pierre blasted Serra with a Superman punch, setting up a double-leg takedown near the end of round one. Serra, a mouse puffing beneath his right eye, emptied his tank about 90 seconds into round two as "Rush" tagged "The Terror" with five snapping jabs before planting him back onto the mat with a double-leg takedown. St. Pierre's G'n'P onslaught poured on, driving Serra into turtle guard. A series of unanswered rib-rattling knees persuaded referee Steve Mazzagatti to end the fight at 4:45. "I tired him out," explained the best 170-pound fighter in the world. Serra countered, "I ended up coming up short, no pun intended." Welterweights Goulet and Kuniyoshi Hironaka (11-5) both pocketed 75 grand for battling the "Fight of the Night" in the card's opening bout. Goulet got the worst of it in the punch-up's first round. Attempting to press his striking advantage, Goulet got tagged with a short Hironaka left hook. The Japanese fighter fell the Canadian and followed with a mix of fists and elbows to close the round. "He tried to finish me," Goulet admitted after the fight, "but he got too excited. I was careful because of my experience." The two fighters traded evenly to open the second before Hironaka was stunned with a punch that backed him to the cage. Goulet stalked with a flurry that dropped his opponent for a TKO at 2:07. In the co-main event, Franklin also rebounded from a lost first round in which Lutter took the former champ to the mat and worked his jiu-jitsu juju. Franklin was nearly tapped in an armbar before he countered in a nifty maneuver that rolled him into Lutter's full guard. Lutter had worn himself weary by the second round and got caught with head kick as he shot for single-leg takedown. Franklin hammered "The Serial Killer" and motioned for the referee to stand him up. "Ace" picked Lutter apart on their feet with a combination of slick boxing and knees until the referree stopped the fight at 3:01 Danzig predicted to Fighters.com that Mark Bocek (5-2) is susceptible to a knee and the debuting 155-pounder delivered three big knees to set Bocek up for a rear naked choke submission at 3:48 of the third round. "I paced myself, and I needed that; because, if I didn't pace myself I wouldn't have been able to do what I did in the last round," Danzig said. His fellow TUF Champion Bisping debuted at 185-pounds with a dominant TKO "W" over "Chainsaw" Charles McCarthy (10-5), who was unable to continue due to an arm injury after round one. "Charles couldn't get up," "The Count" expalined after the fight. Middleweight Quarry chased down a timid Kalib Starnes (8-3-1), who probably ran himself out of the UFC, for a unanimous decision. Middleweight MacDonald added $75,000 to his bank balance with a "(T)KO of the Night" versus Joe Doerksen (39-12) at 54 seconds of the second round. Middleweight Maia also earned 75 grand for "Submission of the Night", a triangle choke of "Short Fuse" Ed Herman (14-5) at 2:27 of round two. Middleweight Day made a successful UFC debut with a 3:58 TKO of "The Talent" Alan Belcher (12-5). Lightweight Clementi ruined Canadian "Hands of Stone" Sam Stout's (13-4-1) homecoming with a split decision victory. Finally, touted heavyweight Velasquez only spent 2:10 in his Octagon debut before TKOing Brad Morris (9-3). ...

Leather-clad UFC President Dana White manned the podium at a presser in Montréal Monday morning to promote UFC 83 at the Bell Centre April 19th. The fight card's big bout features interim UFC Welterweight Champions Matt Serra and Georges St. Pierre. "To be the champion, I have to beat the champion," St. Pierre clarified. St. Pierre, 15-2, was TKO'd by "The Terror" Serra at UFC 69 last April, but has dominated his subsequent two opponents. "A bit of an underdog?  Is that what you heard?" Serra teased a reporter.  "What were the odds?  Something ridiculous, like 14 to one?" Serra's "W" was the upset of '07, a year which included "Rampage" Jackson's KO of top-ranked former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin's submission of highly-touted PRIDE standout Mauricio Rua. Serra, 9-4, echoed St. Pierre, "That's what I always heard: You beat the guy, you're the guy." Serra's championship is considered a fluke. Serra lamented, "If I beat [St. Pierre] again, they'll want to give him the best three out of five!" "Serra likes being Rocky," White explained, likening Serra's role to Sylvester Stallone's character in "Rocky IV".  "I want to thank Matt Serra for taking this fight in Canada.  I don't think there's going to be a lot of Matt Serra fans here in Canada." UFC 83 will be the preeminent MMA promotion's debut in Canada. Quebec Boxing Council Commissioner Mario Latraverse announced, "In April, we have our Super Bowl." Quebec was the first Canadian province to sanction MMA in 1998. White told a curious Canadian press corps, "People in Canada don't even realize how big this sport is in Canada." Tickets went on pre-sale yesterday and White claimed "13,700 were sold on the first day.  We're almost sold out now.  This event here will be the biggest UFC event ever." "It's a dream come true," a swaggering St. Pierre boasted of fighting in his hometown.  "I can't be more happy than I am right now." St. Pierre's loss to Serra is blamed on his mental focus. "I had a lot of issues before," St. Pierre admitted.  "It's done now." However, fighting in his hometown will compound distractions unimaginably. "My life might change," St. Pierre mentioned thoughtfully. White confirmed the card will also feature former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin versus TUF champion Travis Lutter, Brit TUF champion Michael Bisping, lightweight TUF champion Mac Danzig, and Canadians Patrick Côté and "Hands of Stone" Sam Stout. ...