A pivotal light heavyweight match-up has been added to the budding UFC 133 pay-per-view card. The resurgent Vladimir Matyushenko, 40, will be meeting with rising contender Alexander Gustafsson, 24, at the PPV event. UFC 133 takes place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 6th, and the winner could likely find themselves in the upper echelon of the division with title implications in there foreseeable future. ...

With this tenth edition of my special twelve-part “maxi-series” entitled “ufc 129 Complete Collection”, we’ve now entered the double digits and, consequently, the last leg of the series. There’s only one more fight left to cover before we get to the massive pair of main events with two major UFC championships on the line. For the previous entry into the series, click here. Now it’s time to focus on a match-up that pits a hard-hitting veteran against a fighter that many think should have beaten another hard-hitting veteran: it’s Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jason Brilz. ...

The meteoric rise of Jon Jones has been well documented, while the less flashy climb to the top that Ryan Bader has traveled has been perhaps less noticeable. But, none the less, both competitors will find themselves pitted against one another when the collegiate wrestlers meet at an as of yet announced event in Las Vegas, Nev., for UFC 127. Jones, the proverbial golden boy of the light heavyweight division, has been nothing but impressive since his inception into the UFC. While his record reads 11-1, by all means the Endicott, New York, native is an undefeated prodigy. ...

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. ...

The UFC Belorussian Vladimir Matyushenko, who most recently re-signed a 4-fight deal with the UFC just a few days ago, is reportedly on tap to face fellow light heavyweight standout Jason Brilz this November, for UFC 122. The event will take place in Germany for just the second time in the promotions history. The UFC's original inception into Germany began last year, for UFC 99, which was headlined by former champions Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin who met at a catch weight of 195-pounds. ...

Despite being in the middle of a two-fight losing streak, I personally think the future’s still quite bright for Brandon Vera. I don’t think he’ll ever reach the potential that he could have achieved when he first came into the UFC and people were predicting that he would be the next UFC Heavyweight Champion, but I think he will always have the skills to consistently be “in the mix”. His star status may be on the decline, but I really don’t see any shame in losing to the likes of Randy Couture and Jon Jones. However, even though Jon Jones quickly finished Vera in their “UFC on Versus” fight, Vera recently stated that he still doesn’t buy into the hype. Personally, I’m never again going to bet against Jon Jones. ...

Longtime veteran Vladimir Matyushenko has secured his spot with the MMA juggernaut that is the UFC. Since his inception into the world of mixed martial arts, Matyushenko has experienced the full gamut that the sport as had to offer, the highs and lows. The former IFL light heavyweight champion holds signature wins over Jamal Patterson, Pedro Rizzo and Antonio Rogerio Nogueria. He's challeneged for the UFC's 205-pound strap against then champion Tito Ortiz, was a contender in it's heavyweight division, but has never been able to secure a top spot in the organization. ...

While Gomi may have picked up his biggest win in recent memory, he also picked up the biggest pay-day of the "ufc Live on Versus 2" card, held on August 1, last Sunday, in San Diego, Cali. ...

Forrest Griffin, the first ever winner of the famed reality series "The Ultimate Fighter", has become a bit of an entrepreneur in the days he spends outside of the octagon. While the former light heavyweight champion has been on the mend since having necessary shoulder surgery following his win over Tito Ortiz at UFC 106 in November of last year, he has taken the opportunity to follow up his best selling book "Got Fight?" with another reader-pleaser, and is now en route on a book tour across the country. ...

While Jon Jones has faced the toughest opposition of his career most recently, he's made it look easy and efficient. Even in a losing effort (albeit a disqualification) to TUF veteran Matt Hamill, Jones looked every bit as dominant as he has in wins over perennial contender's Brand Vera and most recently, Vladimir Matyushenko. It's hard to say what will be next for the 205-pound wrestling stud, but Jones in the mean time is enjoying his most recent triumph none the less, which now moves him to 11-1 overall, and marks his fifth win, inside the octagon. ...

While Jon Jones' meteoric rise to the top has been well documented by the fans and media alike, credit must be do also the patience and tutelage of one, Greg Jackson. While Jackson remains one of the more well respected trainers in the MMA industry, he takes all the credit in stride, and remains a humble human being, calling himself lucky to have made as many friends as he has in the industry that he has put so much into. ...

UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko came to us from the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California last night.  As with all events, we learned a lot about what's going on in the sport and the UFC.  Along with this, here are five important things to take away from the night. ...

That’s right, fans and friends. I’m taking the road less traveled and counting myself in the minority when it comes to the upcoming UFC LIVE/UFC on Versus 2: Matyushenko vs. Jones fight card, in particular, the main event between longtime MMA veteran Vladimir Matyushenko and rising UFC Light Heavyweight phenom Jon Jones. Jonny “Bones” has been on a tear inside the UFC, winning several fights in dominating fashion against stiff competition and having lost only one fight in his professional career, and even that was because he got a little too hot-headed and threw a couple of illegal elbows. But Matyushenko has been fighting for over ten years and lost only four times. In a year filled with upsets, I think the grizzled veteran will finally put a halt to Jones’ meteoric run to the top. Here’s why. ...

Every now and then, an athlete has superstar written all over them.  Usually, this is the result of simply being more talented than those around them.  The NFL's Lawrence Taylor was one of these people.  From day one, it was obvious just how much more athletic he was than the professionals around him.  The speed, the strength, everything.  Well, as far as most can see, the sport of MMA may have one of these guys on its UFC roster as well.  The man's name is Jon Jones, and he goes by "Bones".  And if you've watched this 22 year old fight, then you know why this article is being written. ...

The UFC is working hard to put together the next UFC on Versus event and in doing so they have booked a fight between "The Janitor" Vladimir Matyushenko (24-4) and "Bones" Jon Jones (10-1). ...

UFC on Versus 1 was where The Ultimate Fighter 8 alum Eliot Marshall (7-2) found himself on the losing end of a fight for the first time in inside the Octagon. Is this going to be a trend for the less known fighters? ...

Light heavyweight “Robot” Steve Cantwell (7-2) "may never fight again" due to an unspecified medical issue according to UFC President Dana White.  Cantwell's fight versus “Janitor” Vladimir Matyushenko (23-4) has been removed from the card at UFC 108 in Las Vegas Saturday. ...

American light heavyweight Jared Hamman (9-1) and Swede "Mauler" Alexander Gustafsson (7-0) will both debut in the UFC versus each other at UFC 105 at M.E.N. Arena in Manchester. Hamman is an EliteXC veteran with stoppages over powerhouse "Diesel" Travis Wiuff (57-12), Strikeforce prospect Aaron Rosa (10-3), and ADCC submission grappler and M-1 Global fighter Rogent Lloret (6-1-1). Before his debut in the Octagon, Hamman spoke to Fighters.com about training with “Janitor” Vladimir Matyushenko (23-4), his only loss by 15-second knockout, and his preparations to fight Gustafsson. ...

Xtreme Couture's "Phenom" Vitor Belfort (18-8) scored his bulliest victory in four-plus years TKOing Fighters.com's ninth-ranked middleweight "Ace" Rich Franklin (26-5) at 3:02 of round one in a 195-pound catch weight main event at UFC 103 in Dallas Saturday night. "Jesus, I love you," shouted Belfort in the Octagon after the fight, and in his dressing room he added,  "God gave me a gift and I'm using it.  And, I'm ready.  A lot of people thought I was done, you know, and that's what I'm bringing to this game - hope, faith, and hard work. ...

Former UFC middleweight title challenger Thales Leites (14-3) and welterweight “Barn Cat” Tamdan McCrory (11-3) have been released by the UFC after split decision losses at UFC 101 in Philadelphia Saturday, according to multiple sources. “Legionarius” Alessio Sakara (14-7), who should've amounted to busy work for the Brazilian, upset Leites in a three-round split decision, rendering him with consecutive disappointing losses. Leites paired with UFC middleweight champion "Spider" Anderson Silva (25-4) at UFC 97 in Montréal 18 April to engage in the most disappointing Octagon main event of the year. Leites refused to engage MMA's most feared striker and several times fell to his back inviting the champion into his guard, which Silva refused. ...

Six more bouts were made official Monday for Affliction Day of Reckoning 24 January in Anaheim. “Babalu” Renato Sobral (29-8) will fight “The Law” Matt Lindland (21-5). “Minotoro” Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (14-3) will fight “Janitor” Vladimir Matyushenko (21-3). “Headhunter” Paul Buentello (26-9) will face “Baby Fedor” Kiril Sidelnikov (3-1). “Machine” Mark Hominick (14-7) will face LC Davis (9-1). “Thorobred” Jay Hieron (13-4) will fight Jason High (6-0). Albert Rios (6-2) will face “Tigre” Antonio Duarte (7-1). Brett Cooper will also fight, although no opponent was named. ...

Fighters.com’s Heavyweight Champion and WAMMA Champion “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (28-1) and third-ranked “Pitbull” Andrei Arlovski (14-5) will headline Affliction: Day of Reckoning, which will take place 24 January at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA, the organization confirmed on their official website. Emelianenko versus Arlovski had been reported previously, as well as the date of the event, but Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio last week would confirm neither the main event, the date, nor the venue for their second show. Other fighters on the card are sixth-ranked heavyweight “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (23-5), “Minotoro” Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (14-3), “Janitor” Vladimir Matyushenko (21-3), “Babalu” Renato Sobral (30-7), “Phenom” Vitor Belfort (17-8), “The Law” Matt Lindland (21-5), and the IFL’s Jay Hieron (16-4) and Chris Horodecki (12-1). The match-ups have not yet been announced. ...

“Minotoro” Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (14-3) versus “Janitor” Vladimir Matyushenko (21-3) is another bout officially announced by Affliction Wednesday.  The light heavyweights will fight 11 October in Las Vegas. IFL champion Matyushenko met Nogueira in the ring before, earning a unanimous decision win over “Minotoro” in August 2002 and handing him his first professional loss. Matyushenko is coming off eight consecutive wins; he has not lost since Fighters.com’s fourth-ranked heavyweight “Pitbull” Andrei Arlovski (13-5) knocked him out in September 2003. Nogueira previously confirmed his participation at Day of Reckoning. ...

"Are you serious?" That's the query I'd pose to Fighters.com's Middleweight Champion "Spider" Anderson Silva (22-4) if I was UFC Matchmaker Joe Silva after the former Silva put "Sandman" James Irvin (14-5) to sleep in a minute in Las Vegas 19 July.  "Are you serious about being the UFC champion at both 185- and 205-pounds?" If "Spider" only wants to bulk-up to obliterate un-ranked light heavies for kitsch, fine. But, if Silva wants to match "Hollywood" Dan Henderson's (22-7) feat of holding major titles at 185- and 205-pounds simultaneously - if he's serious - he deserves a serious challenge in his next 205-pound showing. He could do it.  Not with the Vaseline ease with which he ascended to the 185-pound crown, but it's not an X-Files storyline either. The determinant will be how Silva scales the mountain range at the top of the division. UFC Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin (22-4), "Iceman" Chuck Liddell (21-5), "Rampage" Quinton Jackson (28-7), these beasts are all heavyweights with the work ethic to cut 40, 50 pounds or more and fight at 205 pounds. Enter IFL Light Heavyweight Champion "Janitor" Vladimir Matyushenko (21-3)...maybe. ...

Three IFL title-holders tightened the straps on their belts in the Izod Center just through the Lincoln Tunnel from New York City Saturday night. "The Janitor" Vladimir Matyushenko (21-3), Wagnney Fabiano (10-1), and Jay Hieron (15-4) all defended their respective titles with knockouts. Lightweight standout Chris Horodecki (12-1) picked up a unanimous decision, while one-time top 155-pounder "Bartimus" Bart Palaszewski (28-11) continued his slide with a loss by unanimous decision. Featherweight Fabiano set-up a right slobber-knocker to Shad Lierley (2-2) with just his reputation as a submission specialist. "People think I'm just a jiu-jitsu fighter," Fabiano explained after the fight.  "Today I knew he would expect me shooting, so I changed my game plan." The KO came after just 37 seconds. Hieron, an Xtreme Couture 170-pounder, dispatched Mark Miller (8-3) in just 2:10. "It went quicker than I thought, but man it was not easy," said Hieron after his right hook set-up a single-leg takedown leading to a G'n'P finish. "The Janitor" had the toughest time of the IFL's three defending champions. Hometown Jamal Patterson (4-2), who's won exclusively by submission, cranked up striking flurries in the first round causing Matyushenko to duck-and-cover. But, Matyushenko handed Patterson his ass in the second with a ground'n'pound barrage the required the ref to wave the fight finished at 3:35. IFL newcomer Jim Miller (11-1) ran "Bartimus" ragged for three rounds, dumping the winless-in-three lightweight at will and filing through submission attempts like he had an extra limb.  Palaszewski fought back valiantly with several crafty escapes, but Miller took all of the cards in his IFL debut. Horodecki had a handfull named Nate Lamotte (6-3) to contend with in Horodecki's return from his first loss to "The Lion" Ryan Schultz (19-9-1) in IFL's Lightweight Grand Prix final. Lamotte delivered some vicious G'n'P when he was able to catch Horodecki, but the IFL vet kept Lamotte at bay with a snapping jab and pin-pointed punches to take a UD by 29-28 times three. And the rest of the story saw light heavyweight "Shark" Emyr Bussade (11-5) win his IFL debut with a kneebar of Jesse Lennox (6-1) at 1:25 of round two. "Bad" Brad Blackburn (12-9-1) TKO'd "Pe de Chumbo" Delson Heleno (13-5) at 1:50 of the third round of a welterweight matchup. Featherweight LC Davis (10-1) kicked Rafael Dias (10-4-1) in the head for the KO "W" at 3:56 of round three. Xtreme Couture middleweight Alex Schoenauer (13-9) eeked out a split decision over Brendan Barrett (3-3). Finally, heavyweight Miletich fighter Mike Ciesnolevicz (13-3) cut Kongo-conqueror "The Fury" Carmelo Marrero (7-2) with an unintentional headbutt in a fight declared a No Contest after 1:37. The IFL returns 16 May in at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville. ...

IFL titleholders “The Janitor” Vladimir Matyushenko, “The Thorobred” Jay Hieron, and Wagnney Fabiano will defend their belts when the International Fight League returns to the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., with a nine-bout card on Friday, April 4.  In addition to the three Championship bouts, competition between camps will feature athletes from Renzo Gracie Academy, Midwest Combat, Miletich Fighting Systems, and American Top Team. Tickets went on sale on Monday, Feb. 25, and are available at the IZOD Center Box Office (located at the Meadowlands), www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling (201) 507-8900. Of particular interest is the addition of Florida-based American Top Team, which is “outside” of the core IFL camps to compete under the new IFL format which encourages challenges from the top MMA camps across the world. Matyushenko, who defected to the U.S. while a member of the Belarus national wrestling team in the early 1990’s, was the IFL’s first individual champion, capping an unbeaten 2007 by winning the light heavyweight title by defeating Alex Schoenauer last November in Chicago.  On April 4, Matyushenko will battle “The Suit” Jamal Patterson, a Colgate University graduate who now serves as regional sales manager for an orthodontics company in addition to his MMA career. Hieron, a Long Island native who will be fighting in front of a decidedly hometown crowd, knocked out “Pe de Chumbo” Delson Heleno in Connecticut in December to claim the welterweight crown.  His opponent in New Jersey will be Mark Miller, a former machine gunner in the U.S. Marines who was one of the big surprises at 170-lbs. last year in the IFL. Fabiano is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert who used that skill to record five submissions, four of them in the first round, in a perfect 2007, culminating in a win over LC Davis in the featherweight championship in December.  He takes on Shad Lierley, a former collegiate conference wrestling champion at New York University who moves to 145-lbs. after impressing with two victories and a well-documented thrilling battle with “The Polish Hammer” Chris Horodecki last year. “I like the local feel of this card,” said Bas Rutten, IFL Vice President, Fighter Operations.  “In addition to three outstanding championship matchups, featuring fighters from New York and New Jersey, you have Renzo Gracie’s camp, which was the champion last year, Midwest Combat, which features our top fighters from the Chicago area, and great battles with the Miletich camp and American Top Team, which we are very excited to have on board.”  Among the intriguing matchups in the Miletich-ATT pairing are those between welterweights Rory Markham and Emyr Bussade and light heavyweights Mike Ciesnolevicz and Lew Polley.  LC Davis will also compete against a yet-to-be-determined featherweight opponent. The Gracie-Midwest bouts include a rematch of last year’s exciting Deividas Taurosevicius vs. “Bartimus” Bart Palaszewski matchup.  Delson Heleno will also fight at 170 lbs; his opponent is TBD.  Outside of the camp matchups, Chris Horodecki will battle a yet unnamed lightweight for a planned minimum nine-bout card. IFL East Rutherford, N.J. Friday, April 4, 2008 (order TBD) Additional Bouts 155 lbs.: Chris Horodecki (London, Ontario) (7-1 IFL, 11-1 overall MMA) vs. TBD American Top Team vs. Miletich Fighting Systems 145 lbs.: TBD vs. LC Davis (Kansas City, Mo.) (2-0, 9-1) 170 lbs.: Emyr Bussade (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) (0-0, 10-5) vs. Rory Markham (Chicago) (6-2, 12-3) 205 lbs.: Lew Polley (Coconut Creek, Fla.) (0-0, 6-0) vs. Mike Ciesnolevicz (Williamstown, Pa.) (5-3, 13-3) Midwest Combat vs. Renzo Gracie Academy 155 lbs.: Bart Palaszewski (Wonderlake, Ill.) (8-3, 29-10) vs. Deividas Taurosevicius (Lithuania) (3-0, 9-2) 170 lbs.: TBD vs. Delson Heleno (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (6-3, 13-4) *205 lbs.: **Vladimir Matyushenko (Belarus) (5-0, 20-3) vs. Jamal Patterson (Jersey City, N.J.) (4-1, 4-1) Additional Championship Bouts *170 lbs.: **Jay Hieron (Freeport, N.Y.) (6-2, 14-4) vs. Mark Miller (Chicago) (2-1, 8-2) *145 lbs.: **Wagnney Fabiano (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (5-0, 9-1) vs. Shad Lierley (Seattle) (2-1, 2-1) *Championship Bout **Current Titleholder ...