Tavares Replaces ‘Mayhem,’ Steps in Front of ‘A-Train’ at UFC 132

Tuesday, May 31, 2011
by Chris Nelson (cnelson@sherdog.com) Brad Tavares will meet Aaron Simpson in a middleweight matchup at UFC 132, replacing Simpson’s original opponent, Jason Miller, who last week was drafted to coach the 14th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” opposite Michael Bisping.

The UFC Tuesday announced that Tavares (Pictured) has verbally agreed to take part in the July 2 event, which emanates from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a bantamweight title bout between champion Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber.

Tavares, 23, is a former “TUF” contestant, having reached the UFC reality show’s 11th-season semifinals before losing to eventual tournament winner Court McGee. The Hawaiian made his official Octagon debut in June 2010 with a unanimous decision over castmate Seth Baczynski, whom Tavares had beaten via disqualification during the season. On Jan. 1, Tavares added a major win to his 7-0 professional record, knocking out veteran Phil Baroni in the first round of their UFC 125 meeting.

An NCAA Division I wrestling standout and longtime assistant coach at Arizona State University, Simpson carries an MMA record of 9-2 with six knockouts. The 36-year-old “A-Train” began his career with eight straight wins, besting the likes of Ed Herman and Tom Lawlor in the UFC before falling to Chris Leben in a June 2010 stoppage. After dropping a decision to fellow wrestler Mark Munoz in November, Simpson rebounded on March 26 with a unanimous verdict over Mario Miranda at UFC Fight Night 24.

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‘Sapo’ Replaces Goncalves, Meets Sakara at UFC Live 3

Rafael “Sapo” Natal (Pictured) will step in for an injured Maiquel Jose Falcao Goncalves and face Alessio Sakara in a middleweight duel at UFC Live 3 “Sanchez vs. Kampmann.”

The bout has yet to be officially announced by the promotion. MMAWeekly.com first reported the change on Friday, and Sherdog confirmed the news shortly thereafter with sources close to the contest. The event, which will go down March 3 from the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., will be headlined by a welterweight tilt between Diego Sanchez and Martin Kampmann and will air live on Versus.

A student of Renzo Gracie, Natal is still searching for his first UFC win. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt’s first trip inside the Octagon ended in defeat, as he was outpointed by Rich Attonito at UFC Fight Night 22 in September. In his sophomore effort, “Sapo” fought Canadian Jesse Bongfeldt to a majority draw at UFC 124 in Montreal. The middleweight holds seven of his 12 career victories by submission and has never been submitted himself.

Sakara has won his last three bouts in the UFC, but he has struggled with injuries in the last year. After besting Joe Vedepo, Thales Leites and James Irvin, “Legionarius” was supposed to meet Jorge Rivera at UFC 118. When injuries forced both men off the card, the pair was scheduled to rematch at UFC 122 in November. Suffering a nasty bout of gastritis just hours before the fight was to start, a vomiting Sakara was forced to again withdraw from his bout with Rivera.

UFC Live 3 will also feature a middleweight scrap between C.B. Dollaway and Mark Munoz, as well as a bantamweight tilt between former WEC champion Brian Bowles and Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts product Damacio Page.

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Report: Cerrone Replaces Stout Against Kelly at UFC 126

Donald Cerrone: Jeff Sherwood | Sherdog.com

Donald Cerrone now has a date for his UFC debut, but the “Cowboy” won’t be fighting Cole Miller as he had hoped. Instead, Cerrone will reportedly step in for the injured Sam Stout to take on Paul Kelly in a lightweight scrap at UFC 126.

The event, which goes down Feb. 5 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, will be headlined by a middleweight title clash between reigning champion Anderson Silva and former light heavyweight title-holder Vitor Belfort. News of the Cerrone-Kelly matchup was first reported by MMAWeekly.com on Monday.

Cerrone comes fresh off a dominant submission victory over Chris Horodecki at the WEC’s final show in December. After an evenly-matched first round which saw both men slinging leather, Cerrone locked up a triangle choke and finished the fight in the second frame.

The Jackson’s MMA product has shown great improvement in his wrestling of late, as evidenced by his performance against former WEC champion Jamie Varner in September. In the rematch, Cerrone shucked Varner’s takedown attempts and dictated the flow of the fight while using his superior striking to score points. Cerrone thrice competed for the WEC lightweight title, but come up short in each attempt.

A product of Team Kaobon in Liverpool, England, Kelly has found mixed results in his last few Octagon outings. Though he holds a 5-3 promotional record overall, Kelly is 2-2 in his last four fights for the UFC. Most recently, the 26-year-old earned a technical knockout victory against T.J. O’Brien at UFC 123 in October.

Kelly originally competed in the promotion at welterweight and made his lightweight debut at UFC 99. The Brit has been bested by Jacob Volkmann, Dennis Siver and Marcus Davis, and holds notable victories over Matt Veach and countryman Paul Taylor. Kelly has finished eight of his 11 career wins and has only been knocked out once as a professional.

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Guillard Replaces Florian vs. Dunham

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Kyle Replaces Overeem, Meets Silva at Dec. 4 Strikeforce

Resurgent American Kickboxing Academy representative Mike Kyle (Pictured) will lock horns with former EliteXC heavyweight champion Antonio Silva in a featured matchup at Strikeforce “Henderson vs. Babalu 2” this Saturday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Strikeforce officials on Monday made Sherdog.com aware of the matchup.

Kyle replaces Valentijn Overeem, who withdrew from the event with an elbow injury.

Based in San Jose, Calif., Kyle will carry a four-fight winning streak into the match. The 30-year-old last appeared at an Xtreme MMA show on Nov. 5, when he stopped Stephen Oliver on first-round punches at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre in Sydney, Australia. A potent finisher, Kyle has delivered 12 of his 18 career victories by knockout or technical knockout, including a June 2009 upset of reigning Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante. He owns a 2-2-1 mark inside Strikeforce.

The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Silva has not competed since he earned a unanimous decision over former UFC heavyweight king Andrei Arlovski at Strikeforce “Heavy Artillery” in May. A black belt in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the 31-year-old has won seven of his last eight fights, losing only to the world-ranked Fabricio Werdum in that span. In 16 professional appearances, Silva has been finished only once.

A light heavyweight showdown between two-time Olympian Dan Henderson and Renato “Babalu” Sobral will headline Strikeforce’s year-end event, along with a middleweight tilt pairing former EliteXC champion Robbie Lawler with 2000 Olympic silver medalist Matt Lindland.

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Rocha Replaces Fitch Against Ellenberger at UFC 126

Carlos Eduardo Rocha (left): Sandra Leidecker | Sherdog.com

Jake Ellenberger will likely square off against undefeated Carlos Eduardo Rocha on Feb. 5 at UFC 126 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Originally scheduled to face top-10 welterweight Jon Fitch at the event, Ellenberger was left without an opponent when Fitch was plucked from the matchup in favor of a UFC 127 scrap against pound-for-pound great B.J. Penn. The news was first reported by MMAJunkie on Tuesday afternoon.

Ellenberger has won six of his last seven fights and is coming off back-to-back victories inside the Octagon. After dropping his UFC debut via split decision to welterweight contender Carlos Condit, the Nebraskan rattled off consecutive TKO's over Mike Pyle and John Howard, respectively. Well-traveled as a professional, the 25-year-old is a veteran of Bellator and the now-defunct International Fight League. He holds notable victories over Pat Healy and Jose “Pele” Landi-Jons and has finished 15 of his 23 victims by knockout.

Stepping up to fill Fitch's void will be Rocha, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner who holds eight of his nine career victories by submission. The Brazilian is fresh off an impressive UFC debut, wherein he finished “TUF 11” finalist Kris McCray with a slick kneebar. The welterweight prospect holds his only non-submission victory by knockout and has never allowed a fight to see the judges' scorecards.

UFC 126 will reportedly be headlined by a middleweight title clash between longtime champion Anderson Silva and the resurgent Vitor Belfort. The card will also feature two pivotal light heavyweight contests, as former champions Rich Franklin and Forest Griffin toe the line while prospects Jon Jones and Ryan Bader lock horns. Rounding out the card will be a bantamweight tilt with title implications as former WEC king Miguel Torres takes on Antonio Banuelos.

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Poirier Replaces Aldo, Meets Grispi at UFC 125

As reported yesterday, UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has sustained compacted cervical vertebrae that will force him out of his UFC 125 title defense against Josh Grispi, scheduled for New Year's Day at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Stepping up to fill the void left by Aldo will be up-and-comer Dustin Poirier. The news was first reported by Heavy.com on Wednesday afternoon. The bout has yet to be officially announced by the UFC.

Only 21 years old, Poirier made his professional debut in 2009 and rattled off seven consecutive victories before signing with World Extreme Cagefighting. “The Diamond” was welcomed to the big show rudely, as he was defeated by Danny Castillo by unanimous decision at WEC 50. Poirier rebounded at WEC 52, stopping Zachary Micklewright by technical knockout in just 53 seconds. Both of Poirier's fights inside WEC were at lightweight.

Poirier will face a dangerous finisher in Grispi, who has knocked out or submitted all but one of his competitors. The 22-year-old is undefeated since coming to WEC in 2008. After notching four-straight victories inside the blue cage, it was announced earlier this month that Grispi would become the number one contender for Aldo’s newly-christened UFC title.

UFC 125 will be headlined by a lightweight title clash between champion Frankie Edgar and the only man to ever beat him, Gray Maynard. Aldo’s withdrawal marks the second time the show’s co-main event has been canceled. Shane Carwin was originally supposed to meet Roy Nelson as the pay-per-view’s co-headliner, but Carwin was forced to withdraw in favor of having surgery on his injured back.

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