Earlier this week, ufc middleweight fighter Maiquel Falcao, spoke about his desires to once again compete in his native Brazil. The organization will be making it's long awaited return to Brazil, the first time since 1998, when the UFC comes to Rio de Janiero come this August. Falcao will have his wish to fight before his countryman as he has recently been added to the budding "UFC 134: Rio" pay-per-view event, which has also added some other big named talent, including two rematches of epic proportions as former champions Forrest Griffin and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua will battle once again for top contender supremacy, and middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva defends his title for a record setting ninth time when he steps inside the octagon opposite of the last man to defeat him in perennial contender Yushin Okami. Needless to say, this event is a big deal, and now Maiquel will be a part of it. However, Tom Lawlor, his opponent come this August will do everything in his power to prevent Falcao from victory. ...

Patrick Cote, a main stay in the UFC's middleweight division, recently announced his release from the promotion. Debuting with the organization in 2004, Cote took a short notice fight against former champion Tito Ortiz at UFC 50, stepping up in weight class to compete in the light heavyweight division. Though losing a unanimous decision, Cote impressed many when he was able to drop Ortiz inside of the first round, and was invited back to the promotion as a middleweight. Subsequent losses to Joe Doerksen and Chris Leben eventually signaled his release from the promotion, before he was brought back by "The Ultimate Fighter". Competing on the special "Comeback" series on season 4, Patrick battled his way to the finals, where he eventually lost to winner Travis Lutter, who won his shot at the middleweight title. Cote was invited back by the promotion once again, and after a dismal 0-4 run with the worlds largest organization, came storming back with four straight victories over credible opponents. The glory days, of course, are well behind him now. ...

Once again, I sympathize with UFC matchmaker Joe Silva.   On paper, Tom Lawlor vs. Patrick Cote at UFC 121 had all the ingredients for fireworks.  Yet, as we see more and more, when you combine a pure puncher with a native wrestler … who is committed to only wrestling, the potential for a sleeper is always close at hand. In baseball it goes ... "good pitching beats good hitting." In MMA should it go ... "good wrestling beats good standup?" ...

As the year is coming closer to an end, the now annual World MMA Awards, which is hosted by Fighters Only Magazine, has recently announced their finalists for the December 1st event, which will take place once again in Las Vegas, Nev., which has become a hot bed for all things fighting related. The 2009 event opened up to a large audience, and has become a propellant in the mixed martial arts world, opening up the eyes to a mainstream audience, by the community taking leaps and bounds in order to legitimize itself as not only a legitimate sport, but one that deserves that same sort of recognition that most others receive, here in these United States. ...

A fairly new addition to the UFC's already massive exposure to it's fan base, SpikeTV officials were able to confirm in July that there would be a joint venture once again between the promotion and network company, in order to broadcast 2 selected fights, as part of a special "UFC Prelims" feature. SpikeTV officials were able to confirm that the one hour special will two bouts, both in the middleweight division. ...

In my previous article concerning the UFC’s upcoming UFC 121: “Lesnar vs. Velasquez” event, I noted that the PPV card was filled with excellent matches. My anticipation for this card remains very high, especially now that the UFC has released four preliminary matches. While not containing the sheer star power of fights like Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez, Tito Ortiz vs. Matt Hamill, or Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann, the UFC 121 undercard will be filled with championship contenders, submission specialists, knockout artists, tough veterans, and even the winner of the most-recent series of “The Ultimate Fighter”. Here’s how it all breaks down. ...

Middleweight “El Dirte” Joe Doerksen (44-12) has been tapped for a return to the UFC versus “Filthy” Tom Lawlor (6-2) in place of injured “Crazy” Timothy Credeur (12-2) at UFC 113 in Montreal May 8, according to Sherdog. Doerksen rides five-right win streak back into the Octagon for the first time since a TKO loss to “The Athlete” Jason MacDonald (20-13) at UFC 83 in April 2008.  He won a split decision over "Hitman" Chad Herrick (6-5) at King of the Cage in Detroit April 16. Lawlor lost a split decision to  Aaron Simpson (6-0) at UFC Fight Night 20 in Fairfax, Virginia January 11. ...

Fighters.com's sixth-ranked welterweight Josh Koscheck (13-4) will follow-up his first-round knockout of “Twinkle Toes” Frank Trigg (19-7) at UFC 103 in Dallas September 19 with a challenge from propsect Mike Pierce (6-1) at UFC Fight Night 20 in Virginia January 11, according to an MMA Junkie report. ...

Tom Lawlor (5-1) defeated Kyle Kingsbury (8-2) via unanimous decision during the Ultimate Fighter Season 8 Finale in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

The fight opened with Lawlor scoring a takedown. Kingsbury scrambled out and got back to his feet only to be taken down again by Lawlor. Falling into guard, Kingsbury attempted a gogoplata without success. Lawlor landed some punches in the guard as Kingsbury attempted a second gogoplata to be answered by a flurry of punches from Lawlor before round's end.

The second round began with Lawlor shooting for a double leg takedown. Kingsbury stuffed the takedown attempt but Lawlor kept attempting takedowns until he finally found the mark and forced Kingsbury to pull guard. Rolling into half guard, Lawlor landed some heavy elbows upon Kingsbury's head before the sounding of the horn.

The final round of the bout began with Lawlor going for another takedown. Kingsbury stuffed the attempt before being pushed back into the cage. Trying to take Kingsbury down again, Lawlor gets caught with two solid knee strikes to the body. Attempting near constant takedown attempts, Lawlor ate a few hammerfists during the attempts and appeared gassed at the end of the round.

Tom Lawlor officially won via unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 29-28.

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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) ...