Fight Rumors

Dustin Hazelett will face his toughest challenge yet when he faces Karo Parisyan at UFC 106 in Vegas.  Great matchup and big opportunity for Hazelett to step into the upper-tier of the UFC welterweight division if he can earn a victory against the always game Karo.  With Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin, Jon Fitch vs. Ricardo Almeida, and Tito Ortiz vs. Mark Coleman already on the card, UFC 106 just keeps getting better and better.

It must be hard work being Greg Jackson, top guys just keep wanting to come and train with him in New Mexico.  Oh well, his record shows he’s happy to oblige.  It should be no surprise, then, that hot prospect Jon “Bones” Jones has joined Team Jackson and at 22 years old will gain nothing but world class experience and coaching as long as he stays.  Great move for Bones and another notch in Jackson’s list of badasses.

The negotiations for the fight between Tito Ortiz and Mark Coleman reported on Thursday appear to be over after a video posted on youtube of Tito confirming the bout and faxing in his signed contract.  From the looks of it, UFC 106 has the makings of a monster card, one sure to score a buttload of PPV buys.

Strikeforce has added a heavyweight bout on the “Strikeforce Challengers: Kennedy vs. Cummings” card that is sure to raise some eyebrows.  K-1 legend Ray Sefo will make only his second appearance in an MMA fight against UFC veteran/punching bag Kevin Jordan.  Jordan better be looking to get this to the ground from the get-go if he wants to avoid a hospital visit after the fight.  Great matchup for a smaller card like this too, even if American fans don’t know the legend of Ray Sefo (search him on youtube for some great ko’s), it is a great opportunity for Sefo to showcase some of his skills and not get lost in the mix.

Unfortunatly for Dan Lauzon, he will not be making his return to the Octagon just yet.  The younger Lauzon has been forced to withdrawl from his UFC 103 fight with Rafaello Oliveira due to a back injury.  A tough break for a kid who lost out on the chance to fight on the Affliction Trilogy card following the company’s folding.

Finally, Ben Henderson has had an undisclosed injury, and as a result his chance at headlining WEC 43 as well as getting a crack at the interim lightweight belt in the form of Donald Cerrone has been moved, along with the entire card itself, to October 10th, so that he can have time to get to 100%.  As long as this card goes down one way or another, I’ll be happy.