UFC 148 Loses Faber Fight

The 2012 summer of injuries has claimed yet another main event. UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo is the latest to be sidelined by injury, forcing his UFC 149 bout against Erik Koch to be postponed. The new headlining event in Calgary will be the interim UFC bantamweight title bout between Urijah Faber and Renan Barao, originally scheduled for UFC 148.
 
The new lineup for the UFC 148 main card has yet to be finalized; one addition to the July 7th undercard is a lightweight bout between exciting striker Yoislandy "Cuba" Izquierdo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Rafaello "Tractor" Oliveira.

Cote in for Franklin Against Cung Le updated May 31
With yesterday's announcement that Rich Franklin would fill in for the injured Vitor Belfort in the main event of UFC 147, middleweight Cung Le was left without an opponent for his UFC 148 main card bout.

The wait for another big name wasn't long, though, as Canadian veteran Patrick Cote has been tapped to return to the UFC -- where he once fought Anderson Silva for the title -- to face Le.

"I M BACK !!!," tweeted Cote, whose fans had launched a campaign in recent months to lobby for his return to the Octagon. "UFC 148 Las Vegas , july 7th vs the dangerous Cung Le ! Thanks everybody for the support !"

Faber vs. Barao for 135-Pound Title updated May 18
On Friday evening's episode of The Ultimate Fighter® </a>Live, UFC President Dana White officially announced Renan Barao, 30-1 with 1 no-contest, will face Urijah Faber for the UFC Interim Bantamweight Title at UFC 148.
 
The fight card change comes on the heels of reigning UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz's knee injury, and subsequent withdrawal, in early May.
 
The owner of the longest unbeaten streak in mixed martial arts (31 fights without a loss), the Brazilian ‘Baron’ has stormed his way to the top of the UFC’s 135lbs division beating - in succession - Cole Escovedo, Brad Pickett and Scott Jorgensen.
 
The 25-year-old Barao said: "I'm very surprised to be the No.1 contender to now fight Urijah Faber but I'm so very excited to fight for the title and replace Dominick Cruz. I'm very confident. I have been training a long time for this chance and I will be ready to go out there and put on a good show."

Barao was already scheduled to fight at UFC 148, against Ivan Menjivar.
With Barao stepping in for the injured Dominick Cruz, Mike Easton will
become Menjivar's new opponent on July 7th.

Easton is one of the bantamweight division's rising contenders who's now
going after the biggest win of his career, but he has to get past the
incredibly dynamic and highly experienced Menjivar. Both fighters have
verbally agreed to the bout.

This switch marks Barao's third opponent for the summer. Barao was originally scheduled to fight Jeff Hougland at UFC 148, but Hougland was tapped to fight at UFC on FUEL May 15th instead when none other than Mike Easton was injured and forced to withdraw.

Also announced today....

Coming off a submission victory over a powerful wrestler, Cody McKenzie is now moving to featherweight and wasting no time by taking on yet another wrestling-based powerhouse, one of the division's elite, Chad Mendes.

McKenzie's last 11 wins have come via his signature guillotine choke, while the 11-1 Mendes has never been submitted. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the bout, set to take place on July 7th at UFC 148 in Las Vegas.

Alessio vs. Roller Set for Summer updated May 10
It's well-rounded striker vs. well-rounded grappler as verbal agreements are in for a lightweight fight between John "The Natural" Alessio and  Team Takedown’s Shane Roller at UFC 148.

It was also confirmed at a UFC press conference this week that the scheduled middleweight match between Michael Bisping and Tim Boetsch has been moved to UFC 149, taking place two weeks later in Calgary.

Cruz Injured, Out of UFC 148 updated May 7
A torn ACL has taken UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz out of his highly-anticipated rubber match with Urijah Faber on July 7th in Las Vegas. In a Twitter post Monday afternoon, UFC President Dana White confirmed the injury and wrote “Stay tuned for more info.”

Updates to the UFC 148 card, headlined by the middleweight title fight between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen, are available, will be posted when they are available.

Silva-Sonnen II to Top UFC 148 updated April 24

A stacked UFC 148 card in Las Vegas just got another jolt of star power today, as UFC President Dana White announced that due to scheduling conflicts with the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development on June 20-22, the June 23rd rematch between middleweight champion Anderson Silva and number one contender Chael Sonnen has been moved from Havelange Stadium in Rio de Janeiro to the MGM Grand Garden Arena for the July 7th event in the fight capital of the world.

White made the announcement Tuesday morning at a press conference in Rio with both Silva and Sonnen both in attendance.

It was also confirmed that the July 7th event would feature the title-fight rubber match between bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and rival Urijah Faber. Faber defeated Cruz via first-round submission to retain the featherweight title in Cruz' first bout in the WEC in 2007. Cruz went on to win the bantamweight championship in the WEC and became the UFC's first 135-pound title-holder. In a 2011 rematch, Cruz won a unanimous decision.

The two are currently stoking their rivalry on a weekly basis as coaches on FX' The Ultimate Fighter Live.

"Young Assassin" Gets His Next Assignment updated April 3
Another exciting lightweight battle has been agreed to for UFC 148 this summer: Melvin "The Young Assassin" Guillard will look to rebound from two straight submission losses against third-degree BJJ black belt Fabricio Camões.

Feared Lightweights Collide at UFC 148 updated April 3
The locker rooms at UFC 148 will be even more like a model UN than previously expected, with the announcement of a lightweight bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Gleison Tibau.

The Russian-born Nurmagomedov is undefeated and has never had a fight last fifteen minutes; Brazilian-born Tibau is an American Top Team standout. Both men now train on the East Coast and possess black belts; Numagomedov's in judo and Tibau's in BJJ.

The current UFC 148 card now includes fighters from Russia, Brazil, El Salvador, Canada, Korea, Japan, Cyprus, Vietnam, the UK and the US.

Bantamweight Shakeup on Summer Card updated March 23
With Jeff Hougland being plucked to fill in for an injured fighter on the May 15 card, Renan Barao has found a new UFC 148 opponent in Ivan Menjivar. Both men are explosive, elite contenders with the experience, records, and talent worthy of a title shot.

The outcome of this fight could cement the next challenger for the bantamweight belt currently belonging to Dominick Cruz.

Maia to Make 170-Pound Debut at UFC 148 updated March 20
The UFC 148 fight card continues to add muscle -- not to mention international flair -- with verbal agreements coming in for two more bouts at the July 7 event.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Demian Maia will drop to welterweight and be welcomed by the super-tough 15-1 Korean judo expert Dong Hyun Kim.

Plus, heavy-hitting middleweights Riki Fukuda and Costa Philippou will clash. The Japanese Fukuda scored a decision win last month at UFC 144; Cyprus-born, Long-Island based Philippou accomplished the same a week later at UFC on FX.

Ortiz and Griffin to Break The Tie at UFC 148 updated March 20
A stacked UFC 148 card got another jolt of star power, as former light heavyweight champions Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin will meet for the third time on July 7th in Las Vegas. This rubber match will settle the score between the 205-pound superstars in a series that saw Ortiz win a close split decision over Griffin in 2006, and Griffin return the favor by beating his rival at UFC 106 in 2009.

UFC 148's Summer Blowout Starting to Shape Up updated March 19
Verbal agreements are in for three fantastic bouts for this year's Fourth of July weekend event, slated for July 7 in Las Vegas.

Former UFC middleweight champion Rich "Ace" Franklin will return to 185 to take on former Strikeforce champion Cung Le.

In another middleweight matchup, top ten middleweights Tim "The Barbarian" Boetsch and Michael "The Count" Bisping will square off in a battle that could have major implications for the 185 title picture.

Bantamweight Renan Barao has the greatest unbeaten streak in the sport -- a staggering 31 straight fights -- and he'll gun for another when he faces Jeff "Hellbound" Hougland at UFC 148. Unbeaten since 2003, Hougland is looking for his 10th straight victory and a spot in the upper rankings of the bantamweight division.