For the first part of my look at ufc 136 called “A First Look At UFC 136”, I took an in-depth look at three match-ups that would more than likely anchor the UFC 136 main card and undercard. It was the first three of six major match-ups that were all announced nearly at the same time for the increasingly-epic UFC 136 event. Now it’s time to focus on the other three matches, and they’re all huge: we’ve got Frank Edgar vs. Gray Maynard for the UFC Lightweight Championship, Jose Aldo vs. Kenny Florian for the UFC Featherweight Championship, and Melvin Guillard vs. Joe Lauzon. Let’s dive right in. ...

Now that he’s knocking out people left and right and solidifying himself as a top-division athlete, Melvin Guillard is calling out basically every top Lightweight under the UFC banner in order to get himself an eventual shot at the UFC championship. Guillard has called out people like Joe Lauzon and Jim Miller, and recently, he set his sights squarely on the man currently holding the UFC Lightweight Championship: Frank Edgar. Here are all the details. ...

Wow… what an event UFC 132 was. We saw big submissions, close wars, brutal KO’s, shocking finishes, fighters falling from grace, and fighters re-asserting their dominance. It was a mixed bag of highs and lows depending on which fighters you were a fan of, but it all combined for one phenomenal event. But which stars shined brightest, and what moments will fans be talking about in the following weeks? Here’s my take on the matter: my top 5 best moments of UFC 132 “Cruz vs. Faber”. ...

Without hyperbole, UFC 132 “Cruz vs. Faber” was one of the best MMA events I’ve seen in 2011, and perhaps even in the last few years. We had so many interesting fights, so many entertaining all-out wars, so many dramatic and unexpected finishes. Now once again it’s time to ask: what’s next? What does the future hold after Dominick Cruz beat the only man that ever defeated him, after Wanderlei Silva was destroyed by Chris Leben, after Tito Ortiz finally got another win in the Octagon? Here’s my answer to just that: a new edition of my “What’s Next for the Winners and Losers” series of articles, now featuring UFC 132. ...

UFC 132 “Cruz vs. Faber” is now in the history books, and what a history lesson it was. Without the benefit of a UFC mega-draw, headlined by a championship fight in a smaller weight division featuring a champion that was fighting in the UFC for the first time, UFC 132 was an event at odds with itself. But in true UFC fashion, this is an event that lived up to and far exceeded its perceived potential. Fans and friends, we’ve got a strong contender for “Event of the Year”, and UFC 132 may have beaten out the amazing UFC 129, which I said would be the benchmark for the rest of the year. Here are the full results as well as some early commentary for UFC 132 “Cruz vs. Faber”. ...

On July 2, 2011, the UFC will hold its highly-anticipated “UFC 132” event, featuring champion Dominick Cruz defending his UFC Bantamweight Championship against the only man he’s ever lost to, Urijah Faber. Also, MMA legend Wanderlei Silva returns from an extended absence and challenges tough, veteran brawler Chris Leben. Still, some fans may be asking themselves: what are the best reasons to check out this card? Here’s my answer to just that: 5 reasons to watch UFC 132 “Cruz vs. Faber”. ...

Hello again fans and friends, it’s time for another round of “Prelims Predictions”. As my new “dark horse favorite”, I’ve done my best to constantly highlight the under-appreciated “UFC Prelims LIVE” specials that air on both Facebook and Spike TV. At their worst, they serve as additional free fights that are usually passable and mostly entertaining. And at their best, these preliminary mini-events are huge sleeper hits that sometimes steal the show. And there’s a lot of good-looking fights on the UFC 132 undercard, so let’s dive right in with “UFC 132 ‘Cruz vs. Faber 2’ Prelims Predictions”. ...

Hello once more fans and friends, I’m pleased to announce that it’s time for another round of my “A Closer Look” series! For the next two days, I’ll be diving head-first into this weekend’s UFC 132 fight card, which is shaping up to be one of the UFC’s big can’t-miss events of the summer. Much of the main card is loaded with talent and intrigue, and right now I’ll be giving a quick rundown of the undercard. This is “A Closer Look At UFC 132”, and these are the preliminary bouts scheduled to air live first on Facebook and then on Spike TV. ...

From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, Anthony Pettis left the WEC as the final WEC Lightweight Champion and entered the UFC only to promptly lose his debut. But “Showtime” is still a very entertaining fighter and a very interesting addition to an increasingly-crowded Lightweight division. There’s a lot of good opponents for Anthony Pettis in the UFC, and to prove that, here are my personal picks for the five fighters Anthony Pettis should face next. ...

By John Moody We all know how fun it can be to watch Anderson Silva dump an upkick to the grill of Vitor Belfort or Jon Jones drop sledgehammer elbows to Brandon Vera's skull.  But hey, we kind of expect this, these are some of the best pound for pound fighters walking the planet.  So what about the fighters not always front and center of every MMA chit chat.  Well here are some guys, that rarely, if ever, fail to excite and entertain in the cage. ...

Top contender Melvin Guillard might have a few more tests before he heads into immediate title contention. The Greg Jackson product will next return to action for UFC 132 when he takes on former WEC contender Shane Roller. The news may come as somewhat of a surprise to most fans, who would have likely expected a "bigger name" talent for Guillard, who is slowly developing into one of the lightweight divisions most promising contenders for the title, which will be contested come this May between champ Frankie Edgar as he takes on rival Gray Maynard in their highly anticipated rubber match. ...

By John Moody MMA fans are in hog heaven over the next three weeks with two UFC events and another major Strikforce show. There are numerous fights across all the cards which should dazzle, but I have targeted three, in particular, which will impact the sport at large to a greater scale.  They may not be what you expect ... give a look! ...

Whenever an MMA fighter claims that he’s one of the best fighters in the division, he basically paints a large target on his back. By inviting this kind of competition, the fighter opens himself up to a host of challengers willing to take him up on his offer. After his dominating performance over Evan Dunham at the recent ufc event “Fight for the Troops 2”, Lightweight veteran Melvin Guillard made just such a claim. And already one high-profile Lightweight is stepping up to the plate and challenging Guillard to live up to his word: former two-time championship contender Kenny Florian. ...

"The Young Assassin" truly lived up to his moniker last Saturday, when he bested former title contender Evan Dunham with a savage first-round TKO win. Nonetheless, Melvin pulled off the upset win before our country's finest, when the UFC took the show before the troops in Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas for "UFC Fight for the Troops 2", in an effort to help raise awareness for injured soldiers and to help raise funds for the "Fallen Heroes Intrepid Fund". Now that Melvin did his part to help his country, he later took the time to make his case for the lightweight title picture, and with his recent success he has almost everyone believing that he should be next (if not close) in line. ...

Hello again fans and friends and welcome to a new series entitled “Best Performance of the Night”. This new series is pretty self-explanatory: after a major MMA event, I’ll give my thoughts on who put on the best performance and why. The first entry into this new series took a lot of figuring out, since it features UFC “Fight for the Troops 2”, which was a solid event from top to bottom and had a string of good fights. But in the end, it was clear that a certain “Young Assassin” shone brightest during last night’s fights. Here are my thoughts on why Melvin Guillard earns “Best Performance of the Night” for his crushing victory over Evan Dunham at UFC “Fight for the Troops 2”. ...

It’s that time once again, fans and friends. Another major MMA event has come and gone, and I’m sure many of us are wondering “what’s next?” Yesterday’s “Fight for the Troops 2” event certainly gave us a lot to talk about, considering that it featured great submissions, brilliant knockouts, and dominating performances. As is customary, here’s the latest entry in my series that looks at what the future holds for the big winners and losers of an event, this time featuring UFC “Fight for the Troops 2”. ...

Hello again fans and friends and welcome to another “Top 5 Best Moments”. This ongoing series is designed to highlight the five best moments of a recent MMA event, which hopefully encourages discussion of the event and also encourages fans who may have missed the event to give it a watch. So let’s dive in to today’s entry, the Top 5 Best Moments of “Fight for the Troops 2”. ...

UFC Fight Night 23 represented a very good night of fights for a great cause.  This Fight for the Troops 2 event, deemed such because it benefitted those in our military that suffer from brain trauma via the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, was an eye opener in many ways.  Along with this, we'll attempt to detail five things we learned from UFC Fight Night 23 below. ...

During an exciting night of fight's, just three fighters stood out amongst the rest and for their efforts, those men have now pocketed an additional thirty-thousand dollars. UFC President Dana White tweeted post-fight the amount earning of $30k for the award recipients who all fought hard before our fellow countryman's soldiers at "UFC Fight for the Troops 2" at Fort Hood in Killeen, Tex. ...

Melvin Guillard, welcome to the upper echelon. Not many people gave Guillard a chance in his fight with top-contender Evan Dunham. If anything, Melvin always held a "punchers chance", and that's all that the Greg Jackson product needed in order to secure one of the biggest wins of his career. Now, for the first time in his five-plus years in the organization, people will now start recognizing the devastating striker as a possible title contender in the very near future with his first-round smashing of Evan. ...

The UFC continues to shine early and often in 2011, and this fact was readily apparent in tonight’s “Fight for the Troops 2”. While it probably won’t win “Event of the Year”, it was definitely a very solid event featuring several entertaining fights. And it was for a great cause: the event was designed to help raise funds for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a nonprofit charity that helps veterans and the families of veterans. From good brawls to slick submissions, “Fight for the Troops 2” was a big success for a Spike TV show. Here are the full results as well as some initial commentary on UFC “Fight for the Troops 2”. ...

Melvin Guillard, one of the better prospects to hit the UFC, is finally coming into his own. Always considered to be a tremendous athlete and talent in the worlds largest mixed martial arts promotion, he has found trouble in the past relaying his skills inside the cage. Often mired in some sort of controversy, whether it be his suspension following a post-fight drug screening where "The Young Assassin" tested positive for cocaine or several other allegations thrown at him, Melvin has now put his young and rambunctious life in the past. One of the newest additions to the world renowned Greg Jackson camp in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the now budding lightweight contender has won 6 of his last 7 bouts with five of those victories coming inside the octagon. Now, in order to solidify himself as the next contender to the lightweight title, he will have to get past the world-ranked Evan Dunham this Saturday. ...

Hello once more fans and friends and welcome to a new series entitled “What If He Wins?” The goal of the topic is pretty self-explanatory: I’ll take a big upcoming fight, look at one of its fighters, and give my thoughts on what would happen should that fighter win. What can that fighter look forward to, what questions would be answered, and what new questions would need to be asked? All that and more will be covered, so let’s dive right into this new series with the first edition of “WIHW”, featuring “The Young Assassin” Melvin Guillard. ...

On January 22, 2011, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will hold its second “Fight for the Troops” event and its third event ever held inside a military base. This special edition of the UFC’s normal “Fight Night Live” outings is designed to raise both awareness and funds for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a non-profit charity. Several interesting match-ups are scheduled for the event, so as is customary, here are my official picks and predictions. ...

Hello once more fans and friends and welcome to the latest edition of “Crash Course”. “Crash Course” is a series of articles designed to give readers a quick rundown on all the relevant information they need to know heading into an upcoming major MMA event. Everything from why you should watch, what you should expect in the co-main and main event, and even where and when you can find it on TV is all covered in detail. So let’s get right to it with today’s edition, featuring UFC “Fight for the Troops 2”. ...

We’re under two weeks from the second UFC “Fight for the Troops” event, a live night of fights designed to help raise money for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, and fight fans should already be excited for what is shaping up to be a great night of MMA action. In the main event, fast-rising Lightweight Evan Dunham takes on the always-dangerous Melvin Guillard. Here are five early reasons to already be looking forward to UFC “Fight for the Troops 2”. ...

Former title challenger Kenny Florian was set to make his return this January for "ufc Fight Night 23" which has also been dubbed "UFC Fight for the Troops 2". The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt was expected to face rising contender Evan Dunham in the main-event of the evening, however has since backed out of the lightweight match due to injury. Florian was last seen in action when he took on wrestling powerhouse Gray Maynard in his backyard of Boston, Mass. at UFC 118 last August. "Ken-Flo" dropped a unanimous decision victory to Maynard in a bout that was to decide the number one contender to current champion Frankie Edgar's 155-pound title. ...

As the clock turns ever-closer to 2011, the UFC has several big fights and events lined up to kick off the new year in style. Perhaps one of those most important events is not the New Year’s Day UFC 125 or the Super Bowl Weekend UFC 127, but the second edition of “UFC Fight for the Troops”, a “Fight Night Live” event designed to raise money for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. 11 fights have recently been made official for the card, and while not PPV-caliber, it is star-studded nonetheless. Here are all the details. ...

It’s an event that’s been rumored and speculated for quite some time, and now it’s finally official: the Ultimate Fighting Championship will host another “Fight for the Troops” show. Today the ufc and Spike TV officially made “Fight for the Troops 2” official, announcing that the event will take place on January 22 in Fort Hood, Texas. Another prevalent rumor was also confirmed, as it was announced that Kenny Florian would be taking on Evan Dunham in the night’s main event. Here are all the details so far. ...

Yves Edwards is unarguably a pioneer. When people thought of the lightweight division in it's infantile stages, they pointed to Edwards. Heralded as the promotion's "uncrowned" champion during the dark era of the division. During that time, then champion Jens Pulver had a falling out with the UFC, and ultimately left the promotion for a bigger payday else where. Then, when the organization attempted to crown a new champion, BJ Penn and Caol Uno fought to a draw at UFC 41 in 2003. So, when you saw Yves Edwards creating highlight reels inside the UFC, taking out top level competition--most notably, his head kick knockout of former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson some years ago, you can understand why the 34-year-old Edwards hates when he's reminded of the fact that he's never held UFC gold, despite being recognized as the best. ...