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. ...

Hello once more fans and friends and welcome to a new series simply called “Prelims Predictions”. When I normally do my “Picks and Predictions” piece for an upcoming MMA card, I usually only focus on the main/televised card. For Strikeforce it’s the Showtime broadcast, for the UFC it’s the Pay-Per-View lineup, etc. But now more and more the major players in MMA are giving fans easy access to preliminary fights, and the UFC in particular is leading the trend with multiple free prelims on Facebook and Spike TV for UFC 128 this Saturday. As this idea grows in popularity and more and more fans tune in to watch these prelims, I think it’s only natural that I give my thoughts on them in order to both talk more about the fights I enjoy and give exposure to a pretty entertaining series. So here we go with the first edition of “Prelims Predictions”, featuring my predictions for the UFC 128: “Shogun vs. Jones” preliminary fights. ...

"The Ultimate Fighter" season-eight semi-finalist Eliot Marshall will be returning to the octagon come this March, taking on arguably one of his toughest challenges in his mixed martial arts career. The light heavyweight submission specialist eventually made his way to the octagon after a successful stint on the TUF series, where he was defeated by eventual show winner Ryan Bader. After rattling off a 3-0 run in the 205-pound division, Marshall was abruptly released from the promotion following a lackluster decision loss at the hands of perennial top-10 fighter, Vladimir Matyushenko. Now, Eliot will make the best of this second-chance as he steps up for an injured Karlos Vemola and takes on Brazilian slugger Luiz Cane. ...

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. ...

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? ...

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. ...

"Fire" Eliot Marshall (5-1) defeated Jules Bruchez (1-1) via submission during the Ultimate Fighter Season 8 Finale in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

The battle began with Marshall landing a hard right hand punch that visibly stunned Bruchez. Marshall immediately slammed Bruchez down to the ground and took side control. Attempting to roll out, Bruchez gave up his back to a tenacious Marshall. Marshall grabbed a guillotine choke and sank it deep. Bruchez tapped out under the pressure.

Eliot Marshall officially won via guillotine choke submission at the 1:27 mark of the first round.

TUF 8 lightweights Phillipe Nover (4-0) and Efrain Escudero (6-0) and light heavyweights “Darth” Ryan Bader (5-0) and “Pezao” Vinicius Magalhaes (3-3) secured a spot in the finals in Wednesday night’s episodes of the reality television series. Following the broadcast the UFC announced the full lineup for the live finale of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir 13 December in Las Vegas. Also on the card are a previously reported bout between middleweights “The Athlete” Jason MacDonald (19-10) and Wilson Gouveia (11-5), and a rematch between Kevin Burns (7-1) and “Rumble” Anthony Johnson (5-2). Rounding out the main card is a lightweight match-up between TUF 8 competitors Junie Allen Browning (2-0) and David Kaplan (0-0). ...

By Steve Cha "I like the small guys.  They go at it," UFC President Dana White stated to TUF 8 coach Frank Mir (11-3). Lightweights Wesley Murch (3-2) and John Polakowski (2-1), who, in his words, “loves giving hugs to everyone”, didn’t disappoint White in the first fight of the night on Wednesday’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter 8. Both fighters were able to land strikes and take each other’s backs; however, at the end of the first round, British fighter Murch injured his shin on a low kick attempt.  Ouch! Murch braved the pain, but, early in the second round, collapsed; and, the ref was forced to stop the fight. True to his words, Polakowski hugged Fighters.com’s top heavyweight contender and TUF 8 coach “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1), White, and Mir, forcing an admission from Nog': " I don’t care, you know.  I like to hug too." ...

Monday the UFC officially announced its line-up for the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, premiering 17 September on SpikeTV. The 16 lightweights and 16 light heavyweights will be coached by Fighters.com's top heavyweight contender and interim UFC Champion “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1) and former UFC Heavyweight Champ Frank Mir (11-3). Lightweights Jose Aguilar (0-0) Fernando Bernstein (0-0) Junie Allen Browning (1-0) Rolando Delgado (0-0) Joseph Duarte (0-0) Efrain Escudero (10-0) Brandon Garner (4-1) David Kaplan (0-0) Eric Magee (1-1) Brian McLaughlin (0-0) Wesley Murch (3-2) Shane Nelson (9-3) Phillipe Nover (5-0-1) Ido Pariente (8-3) John Polakowski (2-1) George Roop (8-3) Light Heavyweights Ryan Bader (7-0) Antwain Britt (3-1) Jules Bruchez (0-0) Charles Diaz (3-0) Lance Evans (2-2) Karen Grigoryan (6-1) Jason Guida (17-17) "Big Deal" Ryan Jimmo (6-1) Kyle Kingsbury (7-1) Tom Lawlor (4-1) Ryan Lopez (4-4) "Pezao" Vinicius Magalhaes (0-1) Eliot Marshall (5-1) Sean O’Connell (0-0) Shane Primm (1-0) Krzysztof Soszynski (15-8-1) ...