For Alan Belcher, the last eight-months of his life have been long and arduous. Recently, Alan just got the OK to go back to training following a slew of surgeries to repair a detached retina which was the cause of trauma to the eye. In his last outing, the ufc veteran submitted former title challenger Patrick Cote with a second-round rear-naked choke. The win helped extend a two-fight win streak, and Alan has four of of last five fights overall, with the only blemish coming at the hands of former K-1 star Yoshihiro Akiyama, which resulted in a controversial split-decision which earned "Fight of the Night" honors at UFC 100 in July of 2009. His win over Cote was in May of last year, and Belcher is eager to get back to the top of the division. ...

Brian Stann is a UFC veteran, a former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion, and a veteran of the United States Marine Corp. And at UFC 125 “Resolution”, he finally emerged as a legitimate threat in the UFC’s Middleweight division, beating back the always-dangerous Chris Leben and putting an end to what was arguably the best win-streak of Leben’s career. Moving forward, Stann could emerge as a legitimate championship contender by the time 2011 is through, so long as he faces the right opponents. And who should those opponents be? Here’s a Top 5 with just that in mind. ...

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. ...

Duke Roufus took some time on Thursday to talk with John Moody from Fighters.com's.  In this segment he breaks down the welterweight title fight between Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck at UFC 124 this weekend.  Roufus, the head of Team RoufusSport based in Milwaukee, is one of the hottest trainers in MMA with Anthony Pettis, Alan Belcher, Pat Barry, Eric Koch and Matt Mitrione in his camp.  Take a listen here as he lays out his scenario for GSP/Koscheck 2 and why he is also excited to watch the Stefan Struve / Sean McCorkle fight.  Also, stay tuned to Fighters.com for the extended interview with Roufus where he comments on Pettis' preparation for Ben Henderson, Barry's general progression and how Belcher is recovering from his eye injury.  Coming next week. Click through for the Fighters.com Radio interview with Duke Roufus. ...

For the first time in an unfortunately long while, the future looks bright for former PRIDE FC star Wanderlei Silva. Silva’s Middleweight debut and win against Michael Bisping broke a two-fight losing-streak and effectively breathed new life into “The Axe Murderer” as a performer. Now several Middleweight stars all want their crack at Silva: Chris Leben has already vocally called Silva out, but recently, both Vitor Belfort and Alan Belcher made it known that they’d enjoy taking on Wanderlei. Wanderlei even responded to one of their challenges recently. Here are all the details. ...

Along with many in the MMA community, I was incredibly disheartened when news broke several months ago that rising ufc star Alan Belcher would be sitting on the sidelines for the foreseeable future with a career-threatening eye injury. Perhaps the saddest thing about this entire situation was the fact that Belcher’s last fight before the eye injury that could have ended his career was by far his most brilliant performance: a two-round thrashing of Patrick Cote that ended with a massive Piledriver straight out of a pro wrestling organization. But note the “could have” in that last sentence: according to a new report, Belcher is going to be hitting the comeback trail in 2011, and I personally couldn’t be happier. ...

Heading into his ufc debut against "The Ultimate Fighter" alumnus in Gerald Harris last March, Mario Miranda was pegged as being the next big thing in the middleweight division. After all, at 6'4, undefeated as a professional with a perfect 10-0 record, and with only two decisions to his name, it was easy to see why this Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt was sought after by the worlds largest organization. However, after a disappointing knockout loss to Gerald Harris and an additional loss to grappling ace Demian Maia at UFC 118, with a win over former UFC title challenger David Loiseau sandwiched in between, it looked like the Brazilian's career inside the octagon would be short lived. ...

One of the ufc's best kept secrets, middleweight contender Alan Belcher is still in dire straits. The man isn't dying, and he will be able to live a normal, though partially limited, everyday life--so don't fret. But will we ever see "The Talent" fight again? That remains a question that has still yet to be answered. Belcher was last seen in action at UFC 115 in Vancouver, Canada where he submitted countryman Patrick Cote with a second round rear naked choke, capping off an impressive run towards title contention. He was then set to face former middleweight title challenger Demain Maia as the headliner for next weeks "UFC: Fight Night 22" broadcast on Spike TV. However an airplane ride from Brazil back to the states and a detached retina later would change all of that. ...

Former UFC light heavyweight champion and current middleweight contender Vitor Belfort will be returning to action in November, but against who--who knows. The news, which was highlighted previously on Fighters.com , where according to Vitor himself on Twitter, “this year I am not going to fight for the title because the champion (UFC Middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva) is hurt but November we will be in action for sure that is what I can say.” ...

A fairly new addition to the UFC's already massive exposure to it's fan base, SpikeTV officials were able to confirm in July that there would be a joint venture once again between the promotion and network company, in order to broadcast 2 selected fights, as part of a special "UFC Prelims" feature. SpikeTV officials were able to confirm that the one hour special will two bouts, both in the middleweight division. ...

UFC Fight Night 22, which will air live in SpikeTV on September 25th, and the Pay-Per-View event UFC 118, held on August 28, will experience a bit of a shake up. Middleweight contender Alan Belcher reported via Twitter, that a detached retina will prevent him from competing opposite of Demian Maia, a match that "The Talent" had been campaigning for since his victory over former title challenger Patrick Cote. ...

“Predator” Patrick Cote (23-4) will return to the Octagon for the first time since challenging Fighters.com and UFC middleweight champion “The Spider” Anderson Silva (25-4) at UFC 90 in Chicago in October 2008 to fight “The Talent” Alan Belcher (15-6) at UFC 113 in Montreal May 8. Cote's knee gave out in the third round versus Silva and Cote has had two surgeries in the 16 months since he last fought. Belcher TKO'd Wilson Gouveia (12-7) at UFC 107 in Memphis last December. ...

Canadian middleweight Denis Kang (33-10-1) will make his Octagon debut versus “The Talent” Alan Belcher (13-5) at UFC 93 in Dublin 17 January, Kang confirmed to Fighters.com. Kang last fought at Raw Combat in October and TKO’d UFC veteran “Beastman” Marvin Eastman (15-9-1) at 0:46 of round one. He recently signed a four-bout deal with the UFC. Belcher won a split decision over “Short Fuse” Ed Herman (14-7) in September at Fight Night 15. ...

Middleweight "The Talent" Alan Belcher (13-5) nearly let a "W" slip away in a split decision victory over "Short Fuse" Ed Herman (14-7) Wednesday night in Omaha. OVer three rounds, there was no question Belcher won the stand-up with a noticeably sharper Muay Thai style that peppered Herman with jabs, straight rights, and bone-rattling leg kicks. But, Belcher got cocky in every round and surrendered the takedown to "Short Fuse". In the first, Herman closed the round working a D'Arce choke at the fence.  Belcher worked up the fence; but, Herman put him back on his back and returned to the D'Arce choke attempt until the round ended. In the second round, Belcher zapped Herman with a lead left hook, followed by a leg kick, and a striaght right a few moments later that backed Herman to the fence. In the final round, Belcher grazed Herman with a head kick, then threw a leg kick Herman caught and used to dump Belcher on his ass.  Herman mounted and landed shots until the bell sounded. Judges scored the fight 29-28 for Belcher twice and 29-28 for Herman once. ...

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). ...