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Embattled and enigmatic lightweight Melvin Guillard (21-7-2) is scheduled to return to the Octagon against promotional newcomer Ronys Torres (13-1) at UFC Fight Night 18 in Nashville, Tenn., on April 1, according to FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

Guillard was most recently supposed to take on Spencer Fisher at UFC 90: “Silva vs. Cote” at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., on October 25.

However, the “Young Assassin” was arrested in Houston, Texas, on August 13 for violating probation on a 2007 drug charge. The star-crossed former contestant on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) was released to a drug treatment facility per the terms of his recently amended probation.

We haven’t really heard of him since … until now.

The talented 25-year-old talented Louisiana native appeared to have slayed his personal demons, destroying Denis Siver at UFC 86: “Jackson vs. Griffin” in July 2008 — his return fight after being released by the UFC for, among other things, his relationship with illegal drugs.

In fact, Guillard (21-7-2) tested positive for cocaine after his loss to Joe Stevenson at UFC Fight Night 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada, in April 2007. He was fined and suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) for the transgression.

Stevenson went on to fight BJ Penn for the world title. Guillard, on the other hand, sat on the sidelines and returned to fight nemesis Rich Clementi. He lost that fight and was cut from his contract, which many believed was his last chance.

But UFC President Dana White and the promotion invited him back, and then after the win over Siver, set him up with a very good opportunity against Fisher. Guillard, however, blew the chance, proving once again that he is his own worst enemy.

Now he gets another chance to put it all behind him and compete inside the Octagon against Torres.

The Nova Uniao-trained fighter has a solid mixed martial arts record. He among the brightest and most promising prospects to emerge from Brazil in recent years. He is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who reportedly has great takedowns, submissions and ground and pound.

That’s not the best style match up for the submission-susceptible Guillard. But Torres needs to get close to work his magic, which could pose some problems for him, too, thanks to the heavy-handed Guillard.

UFC Fight Night 18 will serve as the lead-in to The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 9 on Spike TV. The event has yet to be announced or made official; however, several bouts are also rumored for the show, including a match up between TUF 8 lightweight winner Efrain Escuedero taking on Jeremy Stephens and Ricardo Almeida challenging Matt Horwich in a middleweight match.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more announcements and news surrounding UFC Fight Night 18. For the latest fight card rumors click here.

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Finally …

The much ballyhooed three-part series titled “UFC Primetime,” which features an in-depth look at the colossal UFC 94 welterweight title fight between current champion Georges St. Pierre and former welterweight and current lightweight champion BJ Penn, will debut tonight (January 14) at 10:30 p.m. ET on Spike TV.

Episodes two and three will air on January 21 and 28, respectively.

Penn and St. Pierre have already met inside the Octagon at UFC 58: “USA vs. Canada” in 2006, which resulted in a controversial split decision win for St. Pierre. ‘The Prodigy’ brutalized St. Pierre for much of the first round, but ‘Rush’ was able to storm back and hang on in the final two frames to get the winning nod.

Most at the time felt at the very least it should have been a draw because of the lopsided opening stanza; however, the judges ringside did not agree. Regardless, it was a great fight and the encore will likely be even better since both fighters have improved significantly over time.

And that’s a scary thing to say — these are two of the most gifted pound-for-pound talents in the sport going up against one another in the prime of their careers. Its historical significance cannot be overstated.

UFC 94: “St. Pierre vs. Penn 2″ takes place January 31 live on pay-per-view from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada and also features the highly anticipated showdown between light heavyweight unbeatens Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva.

For more on UFC 94 click here. Be sure to also hit up our “UFC Primtetime” archive right here for video teasers of the episode.

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MMA News, UFC 94, UFC on SpikeTV, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

New York, NY, January 12, 2009 — Spike TV heads across the pond for the fourth time to telecast a UFC fight card when “The Ultimate Fighter” champions Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez (Season 1), making his debut in the lightweight division, and Joe “Daddy” Stevenson (Season 2) meet in a bout which headlines the telecast Saturday, February 21 at 9:00pm ET/PT (same-day tape delay) from the O2 Arena in London, England.

UFC 95’s co-features are pivotal bouts in the middleweight and welterweight divisions, as Wilson Gouveia and Nate Marquardt meet at 185 lbs, and Rory Markham and Dan Hardy collide inside the Octagon at 170 lbs.

On the undercard, Josh Koscheck will look to spoil the UFC debut of newcomer Paulo Thiago in welterweight action, and submission specialist Demian Maia will welcome Chael Sonnen back to the UFC’s middleweight division in Sonnen’s first bout since coming over from the WEC.

Joe “Daddy” Stevenson (34-9) from Victorville, CA, burst onto the MMA scene while appearing on “The Ultimate Fighter 2,” defeating Luke Cummo in the show’s finale to win the welterweight competition. After dropping down to lightweight, Stevenson defeated a succession of impressive opponents, including Yves Edwards, Melvin Guillard, and Kurt Pellegrino, to earn a shot at the lightweight title against BJ Penn. And though Stevenson fell short in his title effort, he looks to kick off 2009 on a winning note against Sanchez.

Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez (21-2) will make his debut in the lightweight division at UFC 95, a far cry from his days on the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, where he, incredibly, fought at middleweight. After defeating Kenny Florian to take home “The Ultimate Fighter” crown at Season 1’s finale, Sanchez dropped down to welterweight, and rattled off wins against some of the division’s best, including Nick Diaz, Karo Parisyan, and Joe Riggs. After dropping back to back bouts to Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch, Sanchez left the welterweight division on a high note, besting David Bielkheden and Luigi Fioravanti before announcing his move to lightweight. Now he’ll be aiming for his third straight win, this time with his eyes on BJ Penn’s lightweight belt, as he takes on Stevenson.

The night’s co-features will go a long way towards sorting out the contenders from the pretenders in the middleweight and welterweight divisions.

In middleweight action, Wilson Gouveia (12-5) is on a quest to win his third straight bout, and seventh in eight tries. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, who trains with American Top Team in Coconut Creek, FL, most recently defeated Jason McDonald at “The Ultimate Fighter 8” finale. He achieved this victory like he has all of his wins inside the Octagon: by finishing the bout before it went to the judges’ cards. Gouveia will look to continue that trend against Nate Marquardt.

Marquardt (30-8-2), who trains with Greg Jackson’s Submission Fighting camp in Albuquerque with current light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, made his UFC debut in 2005, and won his first four matches en route to a title shot against Anderson Silva at UFC 73 in July of 2007. Like so many of Silva’s foes, Marquardt dropped his bout with “The Spider,” but is hungry for another shot at the reigning middleweight champ. He began his quest by defeating Martin Kampmann at UFC 88 this past September, and Gouveia is the next step in his journey back towards the top of the 185 lbs. weight class.

In the welterweight division, Rory Markham takes on UK native Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy in a battle of two of the most promising talents in the division. Markham (16-4), a member of Team Miletich in Bettendorf, IA, made his UFC debut at “Ultimate Fight Night: Silva Vs Irvin” in July, winning by knockout in the first round over Brodie Farber. Finishing fights is not uncommon for Markham, who, in twenty professional bouts, has never had a fight go to decision. He’ll face a stiff test in Hardy (20-6, 1 NC), who showed great resiliency in winning his UFC debut against Akihiro Gono in October at UFC 89. Hardy won that slugfest via split decision, and the Nottingham, England native has never been stopped in a fight. He’ll need that iron jaw against Markham, as both men try and ascend the ranks of the welterweight division.

Also on the card, Josh Koscheck (14-3), coming off one of the most devastating knockouts of 2008 in defeating Yoshiyuki Yoshida on the UFC Fight for the Troops card in December, will take on UFC newcomer Paulo Thiago (7-0) in welterweight action. In the middleweight division, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu virtuoso Demian Maia (10-0) will look to remain perfect in the UFC and win his fifth straight fight via submission as he faces Team Quest member Chael Sonnen (23-9-1), who is fresh from a November 2008 victory over previously unbeaten Brazilian phenom Paulo Filho.

Spike TV is available in 97.3 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press.

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Props: UFC.com

Note: It’s not listed to air on Spike TV. And “UFC Countdown” is usually never featured on UFC.com. Check it out when you can … it’s very well done. No need to set your digital video recorders or stay up until 1 a.m. to catch the premiere. Good stuff!

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MMA News, UFC 93, UFC Countdown, UFC on SpikeTV

MMAmania.com has confirmed that a welterweight bout between Englishman Paul “Tellys” Kelly (7-1) and The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 6 alum Troy “Rude Boy” Mandaloniz (3-1) is in the works for UFC 95 at The O2 Arena in London, England, on February 21.

This will be Kelly’s third fight in the Octagon. He defeated fellow Brit Paul Taylor via unanimous decision in a great fight at UFC 80: “Rapid Fire.” He followed that up with a submission (guillotine) loss to Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis nine months later at UFC 89: “Bisping vs. Leben,” marking the first blemish of his previously perfect mixed martial arts record.

Kelly has made a home fighting on the UFC cards in England — each of his other two fights for the promotion have also taken place across the pond.

“Rude Boy” will make his second start for the organization. After losing to Matt Arroyo in the quarter finals on the reality show, he went on to stop his former teammate Richie Hightower via first round technical knockout at the show’s finale in December 2007.

That fight was the last one to date for the Hilo, Hawaii, native. When he faces Kelly on February 21 it will have been more than months since his last professional fight.

Both of these guys like to bang it out with their opponents so we should be in for a classic slug fest in London.

UFC 95 is scheduled to be headlined by a lightweight bout between Diego “Nightmare” Sancez and Joe “Daddy” Stevenson. Demian Maia, Nate Marquardt, Josh Koscheck, Junior Dos Santos, Wilson Gouveia and Chael Sonnen are all expected to be in action as well.

For more on the UFC 95 fight card click here.

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Ricardo Almeida (9-3) will return to action against former IFL middleweight champion Matt Horwich (23-11-1) at UFC Fight Night 18 in Nashville, Tenn., on April 1.

The 185-pound tilt was supposed to go down at UFC 90: “Silva vs. Cote” in October 2008; however, an injury forced “Big Dog” off the card. “Suave” remained on the card and gave last minute replacement Dan Miller all he could handle, but he eventually lost the bout via a hard-fought unanimous decision.

Almeida could have very well found himself in the main event of the UFC 90 card in a title match against Anderson Silva had things gone his way against Patrick Cote at UFC 86: “Jackson vs. Griffin” in July of last year. However, the Brazilian dropped a razor thin split decision, snapping a seven-fight win streak.

The Hamilton, N.J., resident now appears fit to get back in the thick of things and re-establish himself as a top contender in the division to start his 2009 fight campaign.

Horwich –- the first-ever IFL middleweight champion -– is a mixed martial arts veteran who was on a roll before losing his title to Ryan McGivern via unanimous decision earlier last year. “Suave” rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Joey Guel three months later to get back to his winning ways.

This will be his sophomore effort inside the Octagon … and yet another daunting task.

UFC Fight Night 18 will serve as the lead-in to The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 9 on Spike TV. The event has yet to be announced or made official; however, two lightweight bouts are also rumored for the show, including a match up between TUF 8 lightweight winner Efrain Escuedero taking on Jeremy Stephens and Junie Browning challenging Cole Miller.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more announcements and news surrounding UFC Fight Night 18.

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Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin will be the focus of the latest installment of “UFC All Access,” which will debut on Thursday, January 15 at 1 a.m. ET on Spike TV.

“Ace,” of course, is about to challenge Dan Henderson in the main event at UFC 93: “Franklin vs. Henderson” at The O2 in Dublin, Ireland, on January 17.

It’s a highly anticipated showdown that is important for several reasons. The winner will likely earn a spot as coach opposite Michael Bisping on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) mixed martial arts reality series, which is themed “U.S. vs. U.K.”

In doing so, it will get either Franklin or Henderson one step closer to another shot at 185-pound kingpin, Anderson Silva.

Here’s the official program description:

“Get up close and personal with Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin, and go behind the scenes as he trains for UFC® 93!”

Former UFC ring girl and recent Playboy magazine cover girl Rachelle Leah is the host of the half-hour program. It is currently not scheduled to re-air prior to the pay-per-view (PPV) event … so don’t miss it.

Be sure to tune in to see what all the buzz is about. And remember to hit us up on fight night for all the latest LIVE UFC 93 results and coverage next weekend.

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For more on the three-part series, which will debut on Spike TV on January 14 at 10:30 p.m. ET, click here.

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The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 cast clown, Matt Riddle (1-0), will meet up with Steve Bruno (12-4) inside the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 17 from the University of Southern Florida (USF) Sun Dome in Tampa, Fla., on February 7, 2009.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com reported the welterweight match up — a first for Riddle — earlier today.

Riddle — who on the show joked that he still lived with his mother, didn’t have a driver’s license and much more — is perhaps best known for shattering Dan Simmler’s jaw in the opening of the show, which coach Quinton “Rampage” Jackson quipped was the “Knockout of the Century.”

He was bounced out of the tournament-style show courtesy of a Tim Credeur armbar. He rebounded to score a unanimous decsion win over Dante Rivera at the TUF 7 Finale back in June — the first of his professional fighting career.

Riddle now trains at Arizona Combat Sports alongside WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner, CB Dolloway, Ryan Bader and others, proving that he is serious about improving his mixed martial arts skills.

His opponent, Bruno — the United States Navy veteran turned mixed martial artist — scored his first win inside the Octagon against Johnny Rees via submission (rear naked choke) at UFC Fight Night 16: “Fight for the Troops” on December 1.

The American Top Team (ATT) member was overwhelmed by Chris Wilson at UFC 87: “Seek and Destroy” in August 2008, dropping a lopsided unanimous decision.

UFC Fight Night 17 features a 155-pound match up between Joe Lauzon and Hermes Franca. Fellow lightweights Mac Danzig and Josh Neer are also likely hook ‘em up in the co-featured fight of the night, provided Neer is in the clear following a recent arrest for Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) and other charges in Iowa.

To check out the latest UFC Fight Night 17 fight card and rumors click here.

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MMAmania.com today received the list of medical suspensions from the North Carolina Boxing Authority in the wake of UFC Fight Night 16: “Fight for the Troops” from the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville on December 10.

Of course, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 5 alum, Corey Hill, is the most serious case on the list. He sustained a gruesome leg fracture in the second round of his preliminary bout against Dale Hartt. Today he underwent surgery to repair the damage at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.

According to an update on UFC.com, Hill is “handling the injury well and is in good spirits.” He will be on the mend for about 12 to 18 months. All things considered, it’s great news to hear that it appears he will make a full recovery.

Razak Al-Hassan — who refused to tap from a tight Steve Cantwell armbar — was treated for a dislocated elbow and released from the hospital. It’s safe to say that his situation could have been much worse based on the graphic video replays of the submission.

He has been slapped with an indefinite medical suspension and will be unable to return until he receives medical clearance from and orthopedic surgeon.

Here’s the rest of the “Fight for the Troops” injuries and their medical instructions:

Brandon Wolff – Suspended for at least 45 days because of a head contusion/hematoma

Nate Loughran – Suspended for at least 30 days because of lacerations.

Jonathan Goulet — Suspended for at least 60 days. He must have his left elbow x-rayed and cleared by an orthopedic physician before returning to action.

Yoshiyuki Yoshida – Suspended for at least 90 days because of a severe concussion.

Just a quick reminder: Fighters often return to action much quicker once doctors give them the green light. The lengthy suspensions are just a precaution in most cases.

For complete results and coverage of UFC Fight Night 16: “Fight for the Troops” click here and here.

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