As futile an effort as it seems at this point, it appears that the much-beleaguered Shine Fights isn’t going down without a fight. The promotion has been plagued with problems ever since the cancellation of their “Worlds Collide” event, which would have seen boxing great Ricardo Mayorga make the transition to MMA to face Din Thomas. Much has been said of the proposed Lightweight Grand Prix that Shine Fights is trying desperately to salvage, and I and other talented writers at Fighters.com have done our best to keep fans appraised of the situation. In that regard, Shine Fights has recently announced the opening-round match-ups for their Lightweight Grand Prix. ...

Marcus Aurelio was primed as one of the leading men to win the inaugural Shine Fights Grand Prix lightweight tournament for this Friday. However, the American Top Team product has recently pulled out of the tournament--an 8-man one night tourney featuring notables Drew Fickett, "Krazy Horse", and Richard Crunkilton among others--citing a lingering elbow injury. Ironically enough, though Aurelio said that the Shine Fights execs knew of him injury for over two weeks now, the Brazilian claims he still has intentions of facing grappling ace Shinya Aoki in DREAM 16 on September 25th. ...

The UFC unveiled Tuesday a ten-fight card for UFC 105 at M.E.N. Arena in Manchester November 14 with a previously announced light heavyweight main event between Fighters.com’s ninth-ranked heavyweight “The Natural” Randy Couture (16-10) and “Truth” Brandon Vera (11-3) atop the bout sheet. ...

Fighters.com's Middleweight Champion "Spider" Anderson Silva (23-4) won by TKO at UFC 90 in Chicago Saturday night when "Predator" Patrick Cote's (13-5) knee popped at 39 seconds of round three. Top welterweight contender "Pitbull" Thiago Alves (16-3) easily beat fourth-ranked Josh Koscheck (11-3) by unanimous decision. Scores were 30-27 twice and 29-28 once. Fourth-ranked heavyweight "Vai Cavalo" Fabricio Werdum (11-4-1) was devastated by fellow Brazilian, but virtual unknown "Cigano" Junior dos Santos (7-1) via first-round TKO at 1:21. Fifth-ranked lightweight "Muscle Shark" Sean Sherk (33-3-1) won a unanimous decision over Tyson Griffin (12-2) by judges' scores of 29-28 twice and 30-27 once. Thales Leites (14-1), "Bully" Gray Maynard (6-0), "King" Spencer Fisher (22-4), Dan Miller (10-1), "Drago" Pete Sell (8-4), and Hermes Franca (19-7) were all winners inside the Octagon. ...

The UFC officially added lightweight bouts Friday between “The Bully” Gray Maynard (5-0) and “No Love” Rich Clementi (32-12-1) and between Shannon Gugerty (11-2) and “King” Spencer Fisher (21-4) to the UFC 90 undercard in Rosemont, just outside Chicago, 25 October. Maynard last fought in April, winning a unanimous decision over “The Answer” Frank Edgar (9-1). Clementi most recently won a unanimous decision over Terry Etim (10-2) in May, his sixth consecutive victory. Gugerty won his UFC debut in July with a first-round submission victory over fellow debutant Dale Hartt (5-1). Fisher most recently faced Jeremy Stephens (13-3) in June, and earned the unanimous decision win. ...

“Spider” Anderson Silva (22-4) def. “Sandman” James Irvin (14-5) via KO (punches), 1:01 of round one. “The Truth” Brandon Vera (9-2) def. Reese Andy (7-3) via unanimous decision (30-27; 30-27; 29-28). “The Answer” Frank Edgar (9-1) def. Hermes Franca (18-7) via unanimous decision (30-27; 30-27; 30-27). Cain Velasquez (4-0) def.  Jake O’Brien (10-2) via TKO, 2:02 of round one. “The Fire” Kevin Burns (7-2) def. “Rumble” Anthony Johnson (5-2) via TKO, 3:35 of round three. “Doberman” CB Dollaway (7-1) def. Jesse Taylor (6-3) via submission (Peruvian necktie), 3:58 of round one. Timothy Credeur (10-2) def. Cale Yarbrough (0-1) via TKO (punches), 1:54 of round one. Rory Markham (16-4) def. Brodie Farber (13-4) via KO (head kick), 1:37 of round one. Nate Loughran (9-0) def. Johnny Rees (10-1) via submission (triangle), 4:21 of round one. “Bad” Brad Blackburn (15-9-1) def. James Giboo (11-3) via TKO (strikes), 2:29 of round two. Shannon Gugerty (11-2) def. Dale Hartt (5-1) via submission (rear naked choke), 3:33 of round one. ...

Wednesday the UFC officially announced that six newcomers will face each other in their Octagon debuts at Fight Night 14 on 19 July, airing on SpikeTV: Rory Markham (14-4) v Brodie Farber (13-3) James Giboo (11-2) v “Bad” Brad Blackburn (12-9-1) Dale Hartt (5-0) v Shannon Gugerty (9-2). IFL veteran Markham, of Chicago, submitted Jay Ellis (6-19) with a first-round triangle choke at Adrenaline MMA’s debut event this month. Farber last lost in May 2006; since then he has finished off all six opponents he faced in the first round, most recently knocking out Eduardo Gonzales (1-4) in January. Giboo, a schoolteacher from Des Moines, will look to extend his six-fight win streak. He has never fought past the second round and submits most opponents, including Zeke Schilling (0-2) in March. Blackburn, another IFL veteran, (T)KO’d both “Pe de Chumbo” Delson Heleno (13-5) in April and Jay Hieron (15-4) last June, and has a “No Contest” against Travis Cox (5-5; 1 NC) between the two wins. Hartt last fought in March, when he submitted Keith Ferreira (1-1) via strikes in the first round. He has never been to a decision. Gugerty is a Total Combat veteran and is coming off a six-fight win streak, most recently putting a guillotine choke on Johnny Torres (5-1) in March. ...