Affliction Veep Tom Atencio wants "Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko (28-1) to fight "The Natural" Randy Couture (16-8) at Affliction's October sequel if Couture can get a judicial nod to fight; but, if not, Emelianenko will be matched versus either "Babyface Assassin" Josh Barnett (26-5) or "Pitbull" Andrei Arlovski (13-5). If Atencio can make Emelianenko v Couture, Barnett and Arlovski will fight for the right follow-up Couture versus Emelianenko, since Couture has intimated his intention to retire win, lose, or draw versus Emelianenko. However, the more intriguing matchmaking question in the heavyweight division after Saturday night is what to do with "Maine-iac" Tim Sylvia (24-5) and "Big" Ben Rothwell (33-6) after their losses. They present two very different matchmaking problems. "Big" Ben should get no rest after his gutsy brawl versus legit heavyweight stud Arlovski. Rothwell took everything Arlovski dished and dished back until the end. Rothwell closed distance despite Arlovski's superior footwork, rolled out of the "Pitbull's" leg locks, and worked Arlovski over from the top position on the mat. As soon as Rothwell is healthy, he should get another challenge just a little less monumental than Arlovski. ...

Chicago's "Bartimus" Bart Palaszewski (29-11) snapped a three-fight losing streak with a right high kick that left "Grinder" Jeffrey Cox (9-6) unconcious against the fence at 1:27 of round two Saturday night at Adrenaline MMA in Hoffman Estates, east of Chicago. After a paced and cautious first round for both fighters, "Bartimus" began working kicks in the second, first a solid body shot, then snapping at Cox's leg. During the final flurried exchange, Palaszewski wheeled a wide left hook to Cox's body, backing Cox into range for the right high kick finisher. Palaszewski literally lept out of the cage upon the stoppage "W". In the main event, Michael Russow (10-1) manhandled late replacement for "Snowman" Jeff Monson (24-8),  Jason Guida (17-16), tapping Clay's big brother in a standing neck crank against the fence at 2:13 of round one. "I hope he's OK," Russow related after the stoppage. Hometown hero Rory Markham (14-4) said, "Let's get serious.  That guy just jumped over me!" after "Silent Assassin" Jay Ellis (5-19) launched a flying knee at the opening bell, indeed, flying right over Markham.  "So, I decided I was going to keep it on the ground." Markham pounced on Ellis; but, Ellis swept to Markham's guard, which Markham climbed into a triangle tapout at 57 seconds of round one. ...

Fighters.com was live in Hoffman Estates, east of Chicago, Friday for the Adrenaline MMA weigh-ins. Late main event replacement for "Snowman" Jeff Monson (24-8), former middleweight Jason Guida (17-5) weighed-in at 241.5 pounds, and it didn't look like he found heavyweight girth in the gym (unless "The Gym" is the name of a pizzeria in Little Italy.) Guida's opponent, Chicago police officer Michael Russow (9-1) looked svelte at 243.2 pounds. Middleweights Terry Martin (16-4) and bleached blond Daiju Takase (7-11-1) made their weight class at 185.2 and 185.8 pounds repectively. IFL veteran Rory Markham's (13-4) opponent, Jay Ellis (5-18), will give up nearly twenty pounds to Markham in their 180-pound catch weight match-up.  Markham weighed 180.1 pounds and Ellis weighed 161.6 pounds. Fighters.com's third-ranked heavyweight "Maine-iac" Tim Sylvia (24-4) attended with his girlfriend, who didn't weigh-in but stood about 5'1" next to 6'7" Sylvia, and chided "Meat Truck" Kerry Schall (21-9), shouting, "Meat Trick!" as Schall weighed in. ...

"Snowman" Jeff Monson (24-8) was replaced in Adrenaline MMA's 14 June main event by Jason Guida (17-15) Wednesday due to a broken hand sustained 18 May versus Fighters.com's fifth-ranked heavyweight "Babyface Assassin" Josh Barnett (22-5). Guida, older brother of UFC lightweight "Carpenter" Clay Guida (23-9), will fight Michael Russow (9-1) in Chicago. "Say what you will about Guida, but when you need somebody to jump in on short notice and fight anybody...he's the guy," said Adrenaline CEO Monte Cox. Fighters.com foreshadowed the eventuality of Monson's injury in a May interview: Fighters.com: Aren’t the odds pretty high that at least one of these [three] fights [in six weeks] will be canceled?  I mean, even assuming you win them all, the likelihood of sustaining a cut or other injury that doesn’t heal between fights is high, isn’t it? Monson: If I fight to my potential, I should be alright.  To be honest, the training is harder than the fights; so, if I make it to the fight date OK, I like my chances. Check Fighters.com Saturday night for live Adrenaline MMA updates from the Sears Center. ...

HDNet Fights announced Tuesday that it will air both 14 June's and 6 September's Adrenaline MMA events. The 14 June event in Chicago will air live at 9:30 PM and is headline by a heavyweight fight between "Snowman" Jeff Monson (24-8) and Michael Russow (9-1). HDNet Fights has previously aired live events from Strikeforce, IFL, DREAM, and other promotions. ...

Thursday Adrenaline MMA, formed of the American executives from the now defunct M-1 Global promotion, issued it's official fight card for the promotion's Chicago premier 14 June. As reported by Fighters.com, the main event matches grappler "The Snowman" Jeff Monson (24-7) versus wrestler Michael Russow (9-1) in a mat struggle. "The Snowman" will fight Russow just two weeks after taking on Fighters.com's third-ranked heavyweight "Babyface Assasin" Josh Barnett (21-5) at Sengoku II in Tokyo. UFC fighter turned boxer Terry Martin (16-4) will fight Japanese middleweight Daiju Takase (7-11-1) before his hometown crowd. Martin comes off UFC losses to "Crippler" Chris Leben (18-4) and "Beastman" Marvin Eastman (15-7-1), but won his boxing debut 12 April with a knockout of Ricardo Upchurch (0-2 in boxing). Lightweight jiu-jitsu player Alberto Crane (8-2), who lost both of his UFC fights, will bounce back matched against King of the Cage vet Clay French (15-2). IFL lightweight standout "Bartimus" Bart Palaszewski (28-11), who's taken three tough losses consecutively, will rebound in his hometown versus Jeffrey Cox (9-5), who lost his UFC debut to "Pitbull" Manvel Gamburyan (8-2) last month in Denver. Also on the card to be held at the Sears Centre: "The Freak" Tony Fryklund (14-9) v Brian Gassaway (28-17-2) Taiwan Howard (4-1) v Rory Markham (13-3) James Giboo (11-2) v Mark Miller (8-3) "Herc" Antoine Hayes (6-5) v "Meat Truck" Kerry Schall (21-9) Rob Kimmons (20-3) v Hector Urbina (11-4) Aaron Rosa (10-2) v "Killing Fields" Ron Fields (22-25-1) Dom O'Grady (4-0) v Mike Stumpf (9-1) Joe Jordan (39-12-2) v Ryan Williams (5-2) Christian Reynosa (6-2) v John Hosman (7-3-1) ...

Either "The Snowman" Jeff Monson (24-7) fights cheap or has the best manager in MMA. While it seems to take a trained hostage negotiator to get a deal done between "Maine-iac" Tim Sylvia (24-4) and "The Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko (27-1), "The Snowman" has picked up three fights in five weeks. Count'em: 24 June versus "The Monster" Kevin Randleman (16-12) at Godz of War in Charlotte. 12 June versus Michael Russow (9-1) at Adrenaline MMA in Chicago. And, today World Victory Road announced Monson will fight Fighters.com's fourth-ranked heavyweight "The Babyface Assassin" Josh Barnett (21-5) 18 May at Sengoku II in Tokyo. Monson last fought MMA in December, picking up a unanimous decision over Hakim Goram (4-3). ...

"The Snowman" Jeff Monson (24-7) has said he doesn't follow MMA. I believe him! Today Adrenaline MMA, formerly M-1 Global, announced Monson will headline their debut card versus Michael Russow (9-1) 14 June in Chicago. On a call from Scotland tonight, where Monson is giving seminars, he asked, "Who's Mike Russow?  What do you know about him?" Russow is a wrestler from Chicago coming off a first round north/south choke submission of Roman Zentsov (16-12) on New Year's Eve.  Russow's only loss was to Sergei Kharitonov (15-3) at PRIDE's last American dalliance, after which Russow compalined to the referee that Kharitonov had held his glove to secure the armbar. "That's Monte Cox's promotion?"  Jeff asked.  "Yeah, I knew my manager was talking to him.  We'll do anything with Monte." Monson hasn't fought since December either, when he won a unanimous decision over Hakim Goram (4-3). In November 2006, Monson lost a UFC title fight to "The Maine-iac" Tim Sylvia (24-4), another recent Adrenaline MMA signee. He said, "I don't feel I fought my best in that fight; but, no, I'm not seeking revenge or anything like that."  He added, "If I were offered the fight [with Sylvia], I'd take it." ...