According to multiple sources, and finally Dana White’s twitter account, Dominick Cruz has torn his ACL and is forced to withdraw from his scheduled UFC 148 fight with Urijah Faber.

Wow, I hope everything turns out OK in this situation. Here is the story from TMZ.com

UPDATE: Tito has been arrested for domestic violence against Jenna Jameson, according to TMZ.com.

Mark Bocek vs. Joe Brammer
John Howard vs. Dennis Hallman
**Brian Stann vs. Rodney Wallace
Jon Madsen vs. Justin Wrenn
**Darrill Schoonover vs. James McSweeney
Marcus Jones vs. Matt Mitrione
Frank Edgar vs. Matt Veach
**KIMBO SLICE vs. HOUSTON ALEXANDER
Matt Hamill vs. Jon Jones

** Rodney Wallace’s nickname is “Shonuff The Master” — so, I’m picking him to win.

** Darrill Schoonover has been called back to military duty (he was in the Army for 4 years already) and he’ll be leaving for duty again soon after his fight.

** WAR KIMBO, ALL DAY SON.

I really hope to see Marcus Jones have a great MMA career.

NICE! Of course, I’ve already heard the rumors/spoilers, and they appear to be accurate so far, but it still doesn’t bother me. I am excited to see the fight.

Overall, a great show. Chris Lytle is a bad man. He’s never been knocked out in 49 fights, but came damn close to being KTFO in round 1 after an uppercut from Kevin Burns made his legs like jello for a second, but was relieved when the bell sounded to end the round. Lytle looked around to gather his senses for a couple of seconds, went to his corner and came back out in the 2nd round ready for more war. Dude was slinging haymakers from both sides, landing gnarly body shots with his right. Both dudes continued to slug it out, with Lytle being the aggressor for the rest of the fight, constantly moving forward and cutting Kevin Burns open for a bloody mess.

Clay Guida seriously needs to cut his hair, as much as it is awesome. I know it gives him character and makes him look like a Geico Caveman, but still, it has to mess up his peripheral vision. I would even say there is a chance he could’ve seen that kick coming at his head in round 1 that knocked him on his ass, but maybe not. Anyway, great fight, and Diego is gonna be a top contender for a long time.

Congratulations to the Ultimate Fighter season 9 lightweight and welterweight winners, Ross Pearson and James Wilks, both from Team UK on the show. Pearson won a decision against his teammate Andre Winner, and James Wilks looked very impressive in his 1st round submission victory against Team USA favorite DeMarques Johnson.

Frank Lester fought on the undercard, and I had $10 on him to win. He got submitted by Nick Osipczak, and they didn’t show it on air.

Now I’m looking forward to TUF Season 10 with Kimbo. And who the hell is the 7′ footer in the commercials standing behind Rampage and Rashad?

Topps Forms Exclusive Partnership With The Ultimate Fighting Championship® Organization

Multi-Year Deal Gives Topps Exclusive Rights to Produce UFC Brand Trading Cards of UFC’s Biggest Stars 

The Topps Company, the leading creator and marketer of sports and related trading cards and entertainment products, and The Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®), the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization, have announced an agreement that will give Topps exclusive rights to produce UFC brand trading cards featuring current, future and former UFC athletes. The deal lasts through May 2011 for UFC trading cards and stickers.

The new collector brand will allow fans to experience the history and excitement of UFC and will include all of the biggest mixed martial arts moments from the start of the brand at UFC 1 to the upcoming Nov. 15 mega-fight UFC 91, featuring returning Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar (predicted to be the organization’s biggest event ever), and all the action-packed fights to come.

MMA continues to become one of the most popular sports in the country and Topps is looking forward to joining forces with UFC’s rising stars and illustrious history,” said Warren Friss Topps’ GM of Sports & Entertainment.  “We are extremely excited to work with UFC and give our collectors access that has never before been available in our industry.”

As part of the deal, UFC will provide Topps with unique elements of their organization including images and memorabilia such as match-used gloves and pieces of the UFC Octagon.  These will give the loyal fan a literal piece of the UFC or that special event.  These cards are highly collectible and sought after and usually sequentially numbered to a limited quantity.  Some of the UFC brand cards available to collectors will feature: Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes, Brock Lesnar, Royce Gracie, Forrest Griffin, Quinton Jackson and many others.

“We are excited to be working with Topps to showcase our incredible athletes on UFC trading cards,” said Dana White, UFC President.  “We look forward to having great success with Topps, and to giving UFC fans a product they can collect and trade with other fans of our sport.”

The UFC trading cards will launch in early 2009.

The official fight line-up for The Ultimate Fighter finale show that takes place on December 13th:

• Phillipe Nover Vs. Efrain Escudero
• Ryan Bader Vs. Vinicius Magalhaes
• Jason MacDonald Vs. Wilson Gouveia
• Kevin Burns Vs. Anthony Johnson
• Junie Browning Vs. Dave Kaplan
• Krzysztof Soszynski Vs. Shane Primm
• Eliot Marshall Vs. Jules Bruchez
• Kyle Kingsbury Vs. Tom Lawlor
• Shane Nelson Vs. George Roop
• Rolando Delgado Vs. John Polakowski

The Ultimate Fighter wasn’t on last week due to the holiday, but this week they showed two episodes back-to-back to catch us up.

I think at the beginning of tonights episode, the narrator Mike Rowe called Ryan Bader “Bryan”.. not that it matters, just what I noticed. I also think Nogueira calls him Bryan sometimes.

Anyway, first fight of the show is Ryan Bader vs. Eliot Marshall. Gawd what a shit fight, imo. Bader score tons of takedowns, but did ZERO with any of them, I kept expecting him to ground-and-pound, but he didn’t do shit. Sure, he controlled the fight, and won, but damn. I sure hope we don’t see him win like that much more. He literally looked almost asleep laying & praying on Eliott’s chest.

Phillipe Nover defeated George Roop, as expected.

Vinny submitted Krysztof Soszynski with an armbar. I was hoping Krysztof would win this, but now I really hope Vinny submits Ryan Bader quickly at the finale, or we’re in for a long boring fight with Bader on top avoiding submissions. However, if Bader had been fighting Vinny earlier instead of Eliot Marshall, he would have been submitted already. Where Marshall was having trouble pulling an omoplata, Vinny won’t have a problem. As soon as Bader is just being lazy in Vinnys guard and puts his hand on the mat, Vinny will get the omoplata and at least take control — in other words, I don’t think Bader will be able to lay-and-pray to control Vinny like he did Eliot Marshall, but we’ll see.

And finally, it was nice to see Junie Browning choked to submission.

MMAMania broke the news, and it’s a ridiculous decision by the UFC to cut Jon Fitch. Also, Dana White is supposedly pissed off at the entire AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) group of fighters, and won’t be doing business with them anymore. According to Kevin Iole, Dana White said he will keep AKA welterweight Mike Swick because he said Swick called him and told him he wants to keep fighting for the UFC. However, as Jon Fitch and heavyweight Christian Wellisch were cut, heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez and welterweight Josh Koscheck could be next.

Seriously, what the hell? Fitch said Wednesday that the reason he was cut was because he wouldn’t sign a lifetime contract to allow the UFC to use his name and likeness in a video game. He said he “simply didn’t understand the need to sign a lifetime contract, particularly since it would not pay his family in the event of his death.” Futhermore, Fitch said this has nothing to do with money and that he’s never caused a problem for the UFC. “He wanted us to sign that merchandising agreement, and it was not a very good agreement,” Fitch said. “There was not really a reason for us to sign it. The first thing they brought to us was for us to sign all of our rights away for everything forever. It was for very small compensation, and there was no compensation for family members if we were to die…We could die and they could make memorial figurines and stuff and make thousands, millions of dollars, and our families wouldn’t see a penny of it. The way they bring the contracts and stuff to us, I don’t know, it’s just not how business is done.”

Dana White is quoted as saying “Affliction is still out there trying to build its company. Let him go work with them. Let him see what he thinks of those (expletive). F**k him. These guys aren’t partners with us. F**k them. All of them, every last f**king one of them.”

Jon Fitch has an outstanding record of 17 wins and 3 losses. He went undefeated in the UFC for 8 fights before losing a decision to Georges St. Pierre in a welterweight championship fight.

You know something isn’t right when Jon Fitch gets cut and Brock Lesnar and his 2-1 record (1-1 UFC) gets a title shot with Randy Couture.

Meanwhile, we’ve got Dana White cussing up a storm, and members of The Ultimate Fighter cast drinking each others piss and eating semen tainted food, they make Junie Browning seem normal and classy. Wonderful. Let’s not forget the stupid “Condom Depot” advertisements that fighters wear across the ass of their shorts.

Pure class. While bitching about the Jon Fitch/AKA fiasco, Dana White also bitched about the economy and how the fighters should get out there and find out just how tough it is in todays economy. I can tell you, he would make more money with the UFC and go mainstream a lot quicker, if he would do things a little bit differently. He could appeal to a wider audience.

Regardless, the UFC seems to be the only game in town right now, and they can try to make whoever they want disappear. I know, MMA loyalists are still wanting to see Fedor Emelianenko fight Randy Couture or Brock Lesnar. It’s not going to happen if Dana White doesn’t want it to. Why does Dana even have to let people know who Fedor is? The general public and casual MMA fan doesn’t know the name Fedor, only us who follow MMA religiously really know who he is. If UFC is the only brand with any recognition, they never even have to mention Fedor, they can let him be forgotten and tell the world that Brock Lesnar is teh greatest evah!!1

So can we count on the UFC having the worlds best fighters? Or maybe just the worlds best “yes-men”? I think Dana needs to give Rob Emerson a LW title shot. Then maybe he should give Houston Alexander a HW title shot.

You might know Dave Kaplan as the victim of the semen-on-sushi eating prank on the latest episode of The Ultimate Fighter. Here he is as a contestant on NBC’s game show “The Singing Bee” with former Backstreet Boy Joey Fatone, on “girl power” night.. Enjoy..

He says at least he wasn’t “saran-wrapping peoples underwear and stuff…I’m sorry I can’t be as lame as them”… and he admits half the stuff he did he “can’t even remember” and “at least the ratings are up.” LOL.

Awesome. I’ve often wondered what happened to Jason “Strange Brew” Thacker after he fought Chris Leben at the TUF Season One Finale show. I was actually hoping for Thacker to win that fight at the time, considering Leben had pissed on Thackers pillow. Props to Jason Thacker for showing much heart and requesting a fight with Chris Leben. Looks like Strange Brew has bulked up since the show.

Damn. MMARated(click here) is reporting that Jason Guida (brother of current UFC fighter Clay Guida) missed weight for his first fight on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV.

“THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER: TEAM MIR VS TEAM NOGUEIRA,” FEATURING FIGHTERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD, PREMIERES SEPTEMBER 17

Two Of The UFC’s Top Heavyweights, Interim Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Former Champ Frank Mir, To Serve As Coaches

New York , NY , August 18, 2008 – They come from all over the globe, spanning Brooklyn to Israel , including far-off locales such as Russia , Nova Scotia , England , and Hawaii . Their diverse backgrounds range from a former Division 1 college football player to a CIA recruiter and include the brother of “The Ultimate Fighter 2″ winner.

For these 32 up-and-coming mixed martial arts fighters, there is one goal, to win a six-figure contract with the preeminent mixed martial arts organization in the world, The Ultimate Fighting Championship.®

Season eight of Spike TV’s wildly successful original series, “The Ultimate Fighter,” premieres Wednesday, September 17 at 10:00pm ET/PT, with 16 lightweights (155lbs) and 16 light heavyweights (205lbs) under the watchful eye of the coaches interim UFC heavyweight champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir.

Each of the 32 contestants must fight his way into the Ultimate Fighter House by winning a preliminary bout that will be featured during the first two episodes (Sept. 17 and 24). The remaining 10 episodes will feature the victorious 16 fighters and their quest for the coveted “Ultimate Fighter” crown.

During the six-week taping of “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Mir vs. Team Nogueira,” these 16 men who survived the prelims endured a grueling regimen of jiu-jitsu, judo, muay thai, karate, boxing and wrestling. The intense competition between the fighters continues after they leave the gym – at The Ultimate Fighter House. These warriors must live together, knowing that any day they might be forced to fight each other in the famed UFC Octagonâ„¢.

The two finalists will square off in a live finale Saturday, December 13 on Spike TV, when the two weight class winners will be declared The Ultimate Fighter® and net the aforementioned contract and a cash prize. UFC President Dana White will once again serve as host of the series.

After each show, Spike.com users will get exclusive extended footage from each episode and an exclusive video leak of the upcoming episode.

Craig Piligian of Pilgrim Films and Television, Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White of Zuffa, LLC, and Kevin Kay of Spike TV are the show’s executive producers. Brian J. Diamond, senior vice president, Sports & Specials, Spike TV is co-executive producer and Christopher Martello is executive in charge of production for Spike TV.

The contestants for a new season of The Ultimate Fighter on SpikeTV were officially announced by Sports Illustrated. The show premiers on September 17th at 10pm. The 32 fighters are:

LIGHTWEIGHT

Jose Aguilar
Age: 25
MMA Record: 17-3-0
Trains With: Grapplers Edge
Location: Las Cruces, N.M.

Fernando Bernstein
Age: 25
MMA Record: 2-0-0
Trains With: Progressive Martial Arts
Location: San Clemente, Calif.

Junie Allen Browning
Age: 22
MMA Record: 2-0-0
Trains With: Four Seasons Martial Arts
Location: Lexington, Ky.

Rolando Delgado
Age: 26
MMA Record: 7-3-1
Trains With: We$t$ide Fight Team
Location: North Little Rock, Ark.

Joseph Duarte
Age: 24
MMA Record: 3-0-0
Trains With: Unleashed Training Facility/Alliance MMA
Location: San Diego

Charles Diaz
Age: 30
MMA Record: 14-4-0
Trains With: Team EFX
Location: El Cajon, Calif.

Efrain Escudero
Age: 22
MMA Record: 10-0-0
Trains With: Southwest Martial Arts
Location: Tempe, Ariz.

Brandon Garner
Age: 26
MMA Record: 4-1-0
Trains With: Team ROC
Location: Raleigh, N.C.

David Kaplan
Age: 28
MMA Record: 3-1-0
Trains With: Lloyd Irvin Team
Location: Las Cruces, N.M.

Brian McLaughlin
Age: 23
MMA Record: 5-0-0
Trains With: Team Gracie Tampa
Location: Tampa, Fla.

Wesley Murch
Age: 25
MMA Record: 4-2-0
Trains With: Trojan Gym
Location: Bristol, U.K.

Shane Nelson
Age: 24
MMA Record: 11-3-0
Trains With: B.J. Penn’s MMA Academy
Location: Hilo, Hawaii

Phillipe Nover
Age: 24
MMA Record: 5-0-1
Trains With: Team Renzo Gracie
Location: Brooklyn, N.Y.

Ido Pariente
Age: 30
MMA Record: 13-4-0
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel

John Polakowski
Age: 26
MMA Record: 3-1-0
Trains With: The Pit
Location: San Luis Obispo, Calif.

George Roop
Age: 26
MMA Record: 7-3-0
Trains With: Ultima MMA
Location: Tucson, Ariz.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Ryan Bader
Age: 24
MMA Record: 7-0-0
Trains With: Arizona Combat Sports
Location: Chandler, Ariz.

Antwain Britt
Age: 29
MMA Record: 4-0-0
Trains With: Bombsquad MMA
Location: Virginia Beach, Va.

Jules Bruchez
Age: 30
MMA Record: 3-2-0
Trains With: Ronin Dojo
Location: Lafayette, La.

Lance Evans
Age: 30
MMA Record: 4-2-0
Trains With: TKO MMA
Location: Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Karen Grigoryan
Age: 26
MMA Record: 5-0-0
Trains With: RusFighters Sport Club
Location: Russia

Jason Guida
Age: 30
MMA Record: 26-13-0
Trains With: Hellhouse Gym
Location: Chicago

Ryan Jimmo
Age: 26
MMA Record: 6-1-0
Trains With: Titans MMA
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Kyle Kingsbury
Age: 26
MMA Record: 7-1-1
Trains With: American Kickboxing Academy
Location: Sunnyvale, Calif.

Tom Lawlor
Age: 24
MMA Record: 6-2-0
Trains With: American Top Team
Location: Oviedo, Fla.

Ryan Lopez
Age: 25
MMA Record: 5-3-0
Location: Oklahoma City

Vinicius Magalhaes
Age: 23
MMA Record: 2-2-0
Trains With: Team Quest
Location: Temecula, Calif.

Eric Magee
Age: 23
MMA Record: 3-1
Trains With: South Shore Sports Fighting
Location: Rockland, Mass.

Eliot Marshall
Age: 27
MMA Record: 5-1-0
Trains With: Eastern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Location: Boulder, Colo.

Sean O’Connell
Age: 24
MMA Record: 1-0-0
Location: Salt Lake City

Shane Primm
Age: 23
MMA Record: 1-0-0
Trains With: Team Gracie Tampa
Location: Tampa, Fla.

Krzysztof Soszynski
Age: 30
MMA Record: 16-8-1
Trains With: Team Quest
Location: Temecula, Calif.

Looking to Prevail

James Gilliland – PureCombat

Clovis, California – Jason “The Livewire” Von Flue, a UFC & Strikeforce veteran, is on the hunt for victory after losing his last four fights. On August 15, He will be taking on Bryson Kamaka at PureCombat: Hardcore.

“He’s better than what he is” said Von Flue, referring to Kamaka’s fight record of 5-11. “He’s a legitimate threat and he’s a game opponent,” most of Kamaka’s wins have come by way of knockout.

While 10 of Von Flue’s 12 wins have come by way of submission, he is always willing to stand-up and strike with his opponent. “I’ll throw some punches at the guy and test him out,” said Von Flue. “I’ve never seen this kid fight before, gonna get out there work some strikes and work the takedowns try and mix it up.”

Von Flue is coming back from a 60 day medical suspension from a fight he had with Pete Spratt, Spratt landed an uppercut knocking out Von Flue. He was suppose to fight Dustin Arden in June but was unable to fight because of the suspension. Now he’s at 100% and ready to return to the cage, “It’s been a bumpy year, I’m over it, ready to turn it around with a win.”

The Livewire has also done all of his training in the valley instead of at The Pit in San Luis Obispo; which is famous for training Chuck Liddell and PureCombat fighter, Scott Lighty. “I’m trying to refine myself and re-develop my skills here in the Central Valley pull away from the total striking aspect get back to the Jiu-jitsu game.” Von Flue said. “Working towards getting back to where I’m most dominate at.”

Even with the change in training Von Flue is looking forward to getting a victory this August. “I would like to put that all together and show the Central Valley, what I have learned and what I have fine tuned while being here in the Fresno area at the two gyms I’ve been training at.”

For Jason, fighting isn’t his only job he is also an instructor at Royce Gracie Jiu-Jitsu of Fresno and part-time bartender at a local bar. He spends a majority of time training, “I spar four days a week, grapple four days a week,” says Von Flue. “I try to hone those skills as best as I possibly can.”

An interesting fact is that Jason plays the video game “World of Warcraft” in his spare time. “It’s a cheap efficient way of keeping me busy, where I’m not gambling and drinking. Getting myself into who knows what trouble.”

Jason Von Flue versus Bryson Kamaka happens August 15 when PureCombat presents Hardcore at the Visalia Convention Center in Visalia, California

(Phoenix, AZ) – MTX Audio, the leader in high performance mobile audio products, is growing its MMA presence by supporting three MMA fighters on three different fight cards all on the same evening. On July 19th, MTX Fight Team member, C.B. Dollaway (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC), will return to the UFC octagon for the second time in two months to battle former TUF 7 alumnus, Jesse Taylor (6-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC), on UFC Fight Night live from Las Vegas which will be broadcast free on Spike TV. Dollaway is looking to get his first UFC win and to prove he belongs in the UFC against a determined fighter in Taylor who is looking for redemption in the eyes of the world. Also on July 19th, MTX will be supporting Ray Lizama (5-5-0) on Affliction’s first ever fight card to be broadcast on PPV. Lizama will be looking to advance in the ranks by defeating Justin Levens (9-8-0) at the Affliction: Banned event at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. On Monday, July 21st, HDNet Fights will broadcast the conclusion of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix Tournament from Osaka, Japan where MTX MMA fighter, Joachim Hansen (17-7-1) will go toe-to-toe with Kultar Gill (9-7).

UFC Fight Night 14 features a main event between the UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva, and James Irvin in a light heavyweight battle. This step up to 205lbs will be the first for Silva in his UFC career. On the same card, C.B. Dollaway, an MTX MMA Fight Team member and TUF 7 finalist, will fight against Jesse Taylor who used his ground and pound to get into the TUF 7 finals before he was formally removed from the show by UFC President Dana White for inappropriate behavior outside the cage.

The Affliction: Banned event features a heavyweight bout between Russian Fedor Emelianenko and American Tim Sylvia. During that night MTX MMA Fighter, Ray “Lights Out” Lizama, is set to match up against Jesse Levins, an aggressive fighter who has built a cult following for himself in the central valley of California and who recently gained attention with his quick defeat of Tony Lopez at WEC 15 on May 19th of this year.

Finally, MTX MMA Fighter, Joachim Hansen, fresh off one of the best MMA fights of the year despite his loss to Eddie Alvarez, will go to battle with Kultar “Black Mamba” Gill. The DREAM 5 event in Osaka, Japan will be broadcast live on HDNet Fights, Monday, July 21st at 2:00AM ET and there will be a rebroadcast at 10:00PM ET.

With three different event cards in three different organizations all in one weekend, MTX is front and center in the face of MMA fans worldwide. MMA fans have some big decisions to make when July 19th rolls around and will have Tivo’s working overtime. Rest assured, no matter which event you choose, MTX is going to be there!

MTX is taking the audio industry by storm by setting the standard for all others to follow with reaching all corners of the automotive industry. Visit www.mtx.com for up-to-date information regarding the new MTX Mobile Audio products and news.

CagePotato.com says Jesse Taylor will get his shot at redemption on July 19th, in a fight against CB Dollaway. Also, Jesse Taylor pisses his pants when he gets drunk, so hopefully he’s off the alcohol. CB Dollaway didn’t win any fans with his “I didn’t tap” protests after getting caught in an armbar by Amir Sadollah. Therefore, I hope these two guys beat the hell out of each other. I also sorta hope Taylor busts CB Dollaway’s upper lip. He always looks like he smelled something awful.