Both Jason MacDonald and Pabloe Garza had something to prove come UFC 129. Garza, an import from the WEC wanted to prove that his first-round knockout win over Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Fredson Paixao at "The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale" this past December was no fluke, and that he had the skills to hang with those in the UFC. MacDonald, meanwhile, was hoping to make good on his second foray inside the octagon. He came back to the organization last May on the heels of a three-fight win streak, taking on John Salter at UFC 113. Jason suffered a nasty leg injury which kept him out of the better part of the year until his return earlier tonight. Both Jason and Pablo showed that they have the skills to remain factors in the UFC with their first-round submission victories over their well-respected opponents. ...

Hello again fans and friends and welcome back to “ufc 129 Complete Collection”. This special twelve-part series will take an ultra in-depth look at the upcoming UFC 129 mega-card. Since the UFC has given fans the option of watching all twelve UFC 129 fights, whether it be through Facebook, Spike TV, or Pay-Per-View, I’ve chosen to devote twelve separate articles to all twelve fights: why you should care about them, who is fighting, what’s on the line, and why I’m excited for all twelve of these fights. For the previous entry into the series, click here. Now it’s time to focus on the bout that pits Jason MacDonald against Ryan Jensen. ...

"Athlete” Jason MacDonald (19-12) will fight "Serial Killer" Travis Lutter (9-5) at MFC 22 Payoff in Edmonton 2 October, not “Beastman” Marvin Eastman (16-9-1) who claimed Thursday he would fight MacDonald.

Maximum Fighting Championship CEO Mark Pavelich, who wouldn't confirm the Eastman v MacDonald fight Thursday, did confirm the Lutter v MacDonald fight Saturday.

Lutter hasn't fought since getting TKO'd by "Ace" Rich Franklin (26-4) at UFC 83 in Montréal in April 2008 and subsequently getting axed by the UFC. He underwent knee surgery on his right knee in October 2008.

"Athlete" Jason MacDonald (19-12) and "Beastman" Marvin Eastman (16-9-1) will rematch at MFC 22 Payoff in Edmonton 2 October, according to a post Eastman published on MySpace Thursday morning.

Maximum Fighting Championship CEO Mark Pavelich replied to Fighters.com's request for confirmation, "This is not confirmed." However, MacDonald mentioned in a 4 July blog post at Sportsnet Ontario that Pavelich had offered the fight to both fighters, but Eastman had declined to drop from 205 pounds to 185 pounds to fight MacDonald at middleweight.

"[Eastman] apparently said he can’t come down to that weight any more," MacDonald wrote. "But he fought Denis Kang at 185 two fights ago, so I don’t know that I believe that.
...

Wilson Gouveia (12-5) tapped out Canadian middleweight “The Athlete” Jason MacDonald (19-11) with elbow strikes in round one at the season eight live finale of The Ultimate Fighter Saturday night in Las Vegas.

The Brazilian Gouveia came out with a leg kick. MacDonald followed a right-left punch combo with a single-leg takedown, but Gouveia refused to stay down. Trading strikes, Gouveia dropped MacDonald with a hard left jab, and immediately fell on him with hammerfists and elbows, splitting open MacDonald’s head.

Referee Josh Rosenthal stopped Gouveia’s assault of MacDonald at 2:18 of round one.

Wilson Gouveia (11-5) weighed in at 189 pounds Friday for his middleweight bout against “The Athlete” Jason MacDonald (19-10) at the live finale of The Ultimate Fighter 8 Saturday night in Las Vegas. The Nevada State Athletic Commission would not allow Gouveia to cut the remaining pounds for safety reasons.  Instead the match will proceed at a catch weight of 189 pounds, with Gouveia forfeiting 20 percent of his purse to MacDonald. Gouveia used to fight at light heavyweight.  He made his middleweight debut in August, submitting Ryan Jensen (13-6) with a second-round armbar. All other fighters on the card made weight. ...

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). ...

Canadian middleweight “Athlete” Jason MacDonald (19-10) will face American Top Team’s Wilson Gouveia (11-5) at the live finale of The Ultimate Fighter 8 on 13 December. MacDonald’s manager, Mark Pavelich, confirmed the fight on MMA Weekly Radio Wednesday. MacDonald submitted “Punisher” Jason Lambert (23-9) with a rear naked choke at UFC 88 in September, just one month after he himself tapped out to Demian Maia’s (8-0) rear naked choke. Gouveia armbarred Ryan Jensen (13-6) in round two at UFC: Fight Night 15 in September. ...

Conventional MMA wisdom has already matched "Count" Michael Bisping (17-1) versus the winner of UFC 93's main eventin Dublin 18 January between Fighters.com's fifth-ranked light heavyweight "Hollywood" Dan Henderson (23-7) and second-ranked middleweight "Ace" Rich Franklin (24-3). But, that's not explicitly what UFC President Dana White told The Sun 17 Octoberin the report that first announced that Bisping and either Hendo' or "Ace" would coach on the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter. In fact, White promised The Sunthat Bisping would coach TUF 9 "win, lose or draw" versus "Crippler" Chris Leben (18-5) at UFC 89 in Birmingham 18 October. It doesn't make sense that Bisping would earn a fight versus either currently ranked and historically relevant mixed martial artist, Henderson or Franklin, if he drew or lost versus popular, but unranked Leben. Does it? ...

"Sugar" Rashad Evans (12-0-1) knocked out Fighters.com's fourth-ranked light heavyweight "Iceman" Chuck Liddell (21-6) with a right hook in the second round Saturday night in Atlanta. Liddell lay unconcious on the canvas for several minutes after the punch. Evans jitter-bugged around a stalking Liddell the entire fight.  Liddell never really got a beat on him, but landed a straight right in the first round.  Evans back-pedalled and taunted Liddell with a dance. In the second round, Liddell lunged for an uppercut and took Evans's counter right hook square on the jaw to end the fight at 1:51. Franklin Finishes Friend "Ace" Rich Franklin (24-3) TKO'd his friend and former training partner "Hammer" Matt Hamill (4-2) at 39 seconds of round three with a left kick to Hamill's floating rib in Franklin's return to 205. Franklin had landed the same kick consistently through the first two rounds.  In the third, the kick dropped Hamill and Franklin landed two punches before referee Mario Yamasaki waved the fight off. ...

Is "Athlete" Jason MacDonald (20-10) a terrorist?  MacDonald told Fighters.com that U.S. Immigration is suspicious about why he crosses the border from his native Canada so often. Saturday in Atlanta, MacDonald enters the Octagon for the second time in less than a month versus "Punisher" Jason Lambert (23-8) and intends to make Lambert feel the 20 pounds Lambert is cutting to make 185 pounds for the first time. ...

Fighters.com attended the UFC 88 open workout in Atlanta Wednesday afternoon. Fighters.com's fourth-ranked light heavyweight “Iceman” Chuck Liddell (21-5) bounced in place as reporters lined-up to interview the former UFC champion before his fight versus "Sugar" Rashad Evans (11-0-1) Saturday night. Playful and boisterous, Liddell told Fighters.com he was ready to fight Evans today in a video interview that will be posted shortly. Evans was a bit more low-key, focusing on the biggest fight of his career and rolling with middleweight training partner Nathan Marquardt (26-8-2), who fights "Hitman" Martin Kampmann (13-1) Saturday night. Co-main event second-ranked middleweight "Ace" Rich Franklin (23-3), moving to 205 Saturday versus former training partner "Hammer" Matt Hamill (4-1), skipped his scheduled session. Sources in Franklin's camp alternately told Fighters.com that Franklin wasn't feeling well and that he was eating to maintain the weight of his new division. Neither excuse gives much solace to Fighters.com after Franklin's comments about his uncertainty about fighting his former training partner and moving to 205 pounds. ...

“Dooms Day” Jason Day (17-7) has pulled out of UFC 88 due to injury; but, fellow Canadian “Athlete” Jason Macdonald (20-10) will take his place opposite “Punisher” Jason Lambert (23-8) in Atlanta 6 September. According to Sportsnet, Day is suffering from an elbow and bicep injury. "There is no range of motion in my arm, I can't rotate it all," Day said.  “Good news for JayMac though.” MacDonald was defeated earlier this month by Demain Maia (8-0) by rear naked choke, and sees this as “a chance to erase a loss that just happened."  He added, "If you fall off the horse you have to get right back on." ...

Fighters.com's Welterweight Champion "Rush" Georges St. Pierre (17-2) defended his title in a five-round unanimous decision over top contender Jon Fitch (17-3) Saturday night in Minneapolis by scores of 50-44 twice and 50-43. The win facilitates an apparent New Year's Eve champion-versus-champion rematch between St. Pierre and Fighters.com's Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn (13-4-1), who was invited into the Octagon after the main event to challenge St. Pierre, saying, "I want to put this fight together." St. Pierre accepted Penn's challenge, proclaiming, "I'm a proud champion." In the co-main event, Brock Lesnar (2-1) dominated a three-round unanimous decision over Fighters.com's eighth-ranked heavyweight “Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring (28-14) by scores of 30-26 three times. "I fell off the horse," Lesnar told the 15,082 spectator hometown crowd referring to his Octagon debut loss to former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir (11-3), "but, tonight I got on that stallion and rode it out of town, baby! Wooo!" Fighters.com's seventh-ranked lightweight "KenFlo" Kenny Florian (10-3) won a blow-out unanimous decision over "El Matador" Roger Huerta (20-2-1) by 30-27 on all three judges' score cards in a UFC top contender bout. ...

This week, middleweight Canadian "The Athlete" Jason MacDonald (20-9) confirmed a bout with Demian Maia (7-0) at UFC 87 on 9 August in Minneapolis. MacDonald is excited about fighting Maia, saying, "I’ve got a lot of respect for what he’s done in the jiu-jitsu world.  But, I think we’ve seen time and time again that good mixed martial artists have been able to defeat high-level jiu-jitsu guys." MacDonald added, "[Maia] is still fairly new to the MMA side of things so I’m hoping to go out there and put on a strong mixed martial arts fight." Maia, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, has made a strong showing so far in MMA with his perfect professional record. Both fighters won their last fights, both at UFC 83 in Montreal. MacDonald's second-round TKO of Joe Doerksen (39-12) was the "Knockout of the Night", while Maia won "Submission of the Night" with his triangle-choke victory over "Short Fuse" Ed Herman (14-6). This match is one of several recently confirmed on the card: Hermes Franca (18-6) versus “The Answer” Frank Edgar (8-1); Cheick Kongo (11-4-1) versus Dan Evensen (10-2); Chris Wilson (13-4) versus Steve Bruno (11-3); and "Berserk" Ben Saunders (5-0-2) versus Jared Rollins (6-4). ...

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). ...