Dana White says "Mayhem" Miller's return to the UFC came after being banned from CBS and Showtime
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Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9177.shtml
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Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9177.shtml
After a short break, the UFC's middleweight division has a ton of good fights falling into place. Today, the UFC announced Yoshihiro Akiyama is back and he'll face Vitor Belfort. Belfort is badly in need of a big win after getting booted in the face and losing to Anderson Silva back in February at UFC 126.
Akiyama and Belfort will square off at UFC 133 in Philadelphia in early August. Akiyama (13-3, 1-2 UFC) last fought in October at UFC 120. "Sexyama" was submitted in the final minutes against Chris Leben. He's lost two straight, but he's also garnered Fight of the Night awards his last three times out.
Here's a look at the rest of the scheduled bouts for 185ers near the top of the UFC's middleweight division.
UFC 130: Brian Stann vs. Jorge Santiago
UFC 131: Demian Maia vs. Mark Munoz
UFC 132: Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben
UFC 134: Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami
We're still waiting for the next shoe to drop on middleweight bad boys Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping. Sonnen has to sit down with the Nevada State Athletic Commission in mid-May. The UFC has been tight-lipped about the actual penalty it handed down to Bisping for his spitting incident at UFC 127. One would think, he'll be back in the Octagon no later than July or August. Alan Belcher recently announced that he's ready to return in September.
The division lost one its bigger names with Nate Marquardt dropping to 170, where he'll debut against Anthony Johnson as the main event at UFC on Versus 4 in Pittsburgh in late June.
Traditionally, middleweight has been one of the promotion's weaker divisions. That could change once Strikeforce fighters like Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Tim Kennedy, Jason Miller and Robbie Lawler start crossing over.
Update: That didn't take long. Miller has officially signed a deal with the UFC.
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José Aldo John Alessio Houston Alexander Ricardo AlmeidaÂ
Saturday night's Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley card was the first major event on Showtime since the UFC purchased Strikeforce, and it was a good opportunity to see how Showtime would handle its MMA broadcasts now that the premium cable channel is in business with a promotion that had previously been a rival. Overall, I thought Showtime did a solid job of handling the UFC's purchase of Strikeforce. But once it was time for the fighters to step into the cage, the coverage of Saturday night's biggest controversy -- the Gegard Mousasi vs. Keith Jardine draw -- left something to be desired. Let's start with the good: Showtime handled the UFC's purchase of Strikeforce appropriately by tackling it at the outset. It's a major story that deserved the upfront treatment it got.
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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/04/10/showtime-hits-with-ufc-strikeforce-purchase-misses-with-in-cage/
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TORONTO -- MMA Fighting spoke to Yves Jabouin about his Octagon debut at UFC 129, fighting Pablo Garza, being a part of the growing Tristar Gym team, picking up his first WEC in his last fight, learning from his friend Georges St-Pierre and more.Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/04/28/yves-jabouin-feels-blessed-to-make-his-debut-at-rogers-centre/