While the cast of TUF 13 competitors has yet to be revealed in any official capacity the line-up attached to the show’s season-ending live event on June 4 continues to take form with a handful of bouts already appearing to be in place. The trend continued over the weekend as word surfaced that Ultimate Fighter Season 3 finalist Ed Herman will see action at the event against popular TUF 7 alumnus Tim Credeur.

News of their pairing was initially reported by HeavyMMA and has since been all but confirmed by Credeur by way of his Twitter account.

“I am so excited I am vibrating,” Credeur playfully explained while referring to the forthcoming fracas.

The 33-year old Louisianan hasn’t fought due to injury since a “Fight of the Night” performance, albeit a loss, opposite Nate Quarry at Ultimate Fight Night 19 in September 2009. Prior to the defeat Credeur had won six consecutive bouts including a trio inside the Octagon.

The fiery Herman has also been out of the mix for more than a year after shredding his knee while in the midst of a match-up with Aaron Simpson at UFC 102, then essentially repeating the feat months later while training for a return to the ring. “Short Fuse” is 21-9 in his career with past wins over a number of respected opponents such as Scott Smith, Joe Doerksen, Nick Thompson, Glover Teixeira, and David Louiseau.

The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale is set to be headlined by a bout between top lightweight contenders Clay Guida and Anthony Pettis as well as home to TUF 12 champ Jonathan Brookins’ follow-up to his hard-fought decision win over fellow finalist Michael Johnson. Brookins will take on stand-up savvy Jeremy Stephens in main card conflict.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFCSimilar Posts:

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• Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale Weigh-In Results

NEW YORK, NY, May 19, 2010 – The live finale of “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs Team Ortiz” on Spike TV will include two bouts showcasing four of the UFC’s most exciting fighters. Emanating from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV on Saturday, June 19 at 9:00 PM ET, the fights announced today include a middleweight bout between Aaron Simpson (7-0) and Chris Leben (19-6), and a lightweight matchup pitting Dennis Siver (15-7) against Spencer Fisher (24-5).

Currently sporting a 7-0 record, with all but one of his victories coming via knockout, Aaron Simpson is a former All-American wrestler who is developing into a lethal striker. He left a lasting impression on the minds of fight fans with his 18-second knockout of David Avellan at WEC 36 in November 2008. After entering the UFC, he continued to display his devastating punching power, defeating Tim McKenzie and Ed Herman via TKO early in successive bouts, before running his UFC win streak to three with a decision victory over Tom Lawlor this past January.

Simpson’s opponent is the enigmatic Chris “The Crippler” Leben (19-6), who was one of the breakout stars from the historic first season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Leben’s UFC career began with seven straight wins over such notables as Jorge Rivera, Patrick Cote, and Luigi Fioravanti. Never one to back down from a challenge, Leben had his streak snapped in April 2006 by current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Since then, he has continued to take on all comers, and following a win over Jay Silva earlier this year, he hopes that a victory over the undefeated Sampson will further him on the path for a shot at the UFC middleweight title.

Hailing from Mannheim, Germany, Dennis Siver has 22 professional bouts under his belt, and only four have gone to decision. He made his UFC debut in 2007, but it was in January 2009 that he truly announced his arrival as he took home “Knockout of the Night” honors with a TKO victory over Nate Mohr at UFC 93, knocking out his opponent with a spinning back kick. After a win over Dale Hartt at UFC 99 in his native Germany, he once again scored a “Knockout of the Night” bonus with the same spinning back kick against Paul Kelly at UFC 105 in November 2009. He had his four fight winning streak stopped by Ross Pearson this past March, but will look to bounce back against his opponent, Spencer Fisher, on June 19.

North Carolina native Spencer Fisher has established himself as one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC over the course of his five year career with the organization. He holds wins over such UFC notables as Thiago Alves, Sam Stout, and Jeremy Stephens, and has twice won “Fight of the Night” honors for his relentless attack inside the Octagon™. Coming off of a tough loss to Joe Stevenson at UFC 104, Fisher hopes to have his hand raised at the end of what promises to be an exciting fight with Siver.

Other bouts, including the finals of “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs Team Ortiz,” will be announced at a later date. The two finalists will be competing for a six-figure contract with the preeminent mixed martial arts organization in the world, The Ultimate Fighting Championship®.

Spike TV is available in 98.6 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press.

Does Lyoto Machida or “Shogun” Rua need to finish his opponent to be a successful champion? How long will Josh Koscheck wait before trying to take down Paul Daley? What are the chances of Kimbo Slice going 2-0 in the UFC? Is Alan Belcher ready to be a contender with a win over Patrick Cote? Should Ken Shamrock or Mark Coleman call it quits if they lose their upcoming fight?

Adam Tool here, and after a brief respite from high level mixed-martial arts action last week things kick back into full gear with UFC 113 on Saturday. I’m joined as always by my colleague Brendhan Conlan as we look up and down the card for all the issues that need grappling with. Once we’ve had our say you can feel free to leave your own opinions in the comment box below.

Using a percentage, how certain are you that Kimbo Slice will raise his record in the Octagon to 2-0 after this weekend’s clash with Matt Mitrione?

Adam Tool: I’ll go with 50%. We saw Kimbo make improvements to his overall game in the Houston Alexander fight, but he’s still got a long way to go if he wants to hang with the UFC’s elite heavyweights. Fortunately for him, Matt Mitrione is not in that group. Mitrione doesn’t have a lot of weapons in his arsenal but he does have some heavy hands. There’s a good chance these two will decide to trade blows early and often, and at that point it’s basically a coin flip as to who goes down first.

Brendhan Conlan: 35%. “A long way to go” might be the understatement of the year in terms of how far Slice must travel to serve as a competitive opponent for any “Top 10” heavyweight. In reality, the distance is equivalent to Heidi Montag’s trek towards delivering an Academy Award winning performance in a four-star film. Fortunately, as Tool said, Mitrione isn’t close to being an “elite” fighter at this point in his career, and furthermore Kimbo doesn’t need to be a world-beater in order to have a successful career. He simply needs to win more often than not while avoiding a razor blade at all costs.

The reason I’m giving the former NFL defenseman the slight nod in this bout is because I think he has more ways to win than Slice. Granted, some of Mitrione’s flaws have undoubtedly been masked by how little time he’s spent inside the cage, but I think I’ve seen enough of both fighters to have a basic idea of what each currently offers as a Mixed Martial Artist.

Kimbo definitely showed a few things against Houston Alexander (the slam, some ground work, mildly improved cardio) that hadn’t previously appeared in his arsenal but, as good as he looked, I couldn’t help but be concerned about what he didn’t display – knockout power. Alexander’s chin has been shown to possess a relatively loose on/off switch, and similar to his fight against an equally glass-jawed James Thompson, Slice wasn’t able to put him face down on the mat. The Miami native’s YouTube-based reputation as a devastating striker is slowly fading away in my mind, and if Kimbo can’t knock people out then what does he really have to threaten his adversaries with?

On the other hand, Mitrione has decent, albeit punishing, stand-up and is at minimum a comparable grappler to his opposition on Saturday night. I’d favor him in the submission and takedown departments, and I also think his boxing is a little more technical than Slice’s which should afford him the ability to land jabs while avoiding most of the wild blows the bearded brawler is known for throwing. Seth Petruzelli was able to rattle Kimbo’s brain off of his back foot, and I’m confident “Meathead” can do the same if not worse by landing one or two clean shots.

Approximately how many total minutes (or seconds) will Josh Koscheck keep things standing against Paul Daley before shooting in for a takedown?

Tool: If he’s smart it will be less than a minute. I know Koscheck has made some big improvements on his striking, and his ego might tell him to test the waters standing for a little while. Unless Koscheck didn’t watch any tape whatsoever on Daley, he has to know that this is a dangerous proposition.

While Daley has a clear advantage in the striking, there’s a much bigger gap between these two in terms of grappling ability and Koscheck would be a fool to not take advantage of that. We know that Daley has fallen victim to more than his fair share of submissions, and we also know that Koscheck is on another level in terms of wrestling ability. Koscheck recently choked out the heavy-handed Anthony Johnson, so is there any reason to think that he won’t look to do the same on Saturday?

Conlan: 94 seconds (because round numbers are boring). I believe Koscheck’s confidence in his striking will cause him to get a better look at Daley on his feet before committing to a ground war, but I also think he’s intelligent enough to recognize the opportunity in front of him, i.e. a likely title-shot and gig coaching the Ultimate Fighter, and won’t throw it away by playing to Daley’s primary method of attack.

More than just the fact eighteen of Daley’s twenty-three wins have been of the TKO variety, five of his losses have been by submission and two of the other three came in the form of decisions to above-average grapplers. There’s no mistaking “Semtex” is in serious danger of having his fuse snuffed if the Ultimate Fighter O.G. drags the action down to the canvas, while also recognizing Daley can easily straighten Koscheck’s trademark curls by knocking the blond out of them while standing. Based on that equation it would be silly for “Kos” to spend serious time doing anything other than attempting to take Daley down with the goal of finishing things horizontally as opposed to vertically.

Should Alan Belcher be considered the UFC’s top middleweight contender if he beats Patrick Cote?

Tool: It took me a while to answer this question, but only because I had to stop laughing first. Alan Belcher is a good fighter, and he’s able to consistently put on entertaining fights. But a title contender? No way.

We’re talking about a guy who has losses to Kendall Grove and Jason Day. He recorded a narrow split decision win over Ed Herman in a fight that many thought should have gone the other way. He beat Denis Kang, but only after getting his ass kicked for the first nine minutes of the fight. Yes he did score a nice win over Wilson Gouveia recently, but prior to that he came up short against Yoshihiro Akiyama (and despite what Joe Rogan might tell you, Akiyama deserved to get the decision). Personally I feel that the winner of the upcoming Akiyama/Wanderlei Silva fight would have a better claim for contendership.

A win over Cote would undoubtedly move Belcher closer to reaching the higher levels of competition, but I don’t think anybody believes that beating Cote puts a fighter right into the title contenders’ pool. It’s true that Cote is a former title contender himself, but then again so are David Loiseau and Nate Quarry. I’m looking forward to a great fight from these two on Saturday, but I don’t expect the winner to be talked about as a future contender on Sunday morning.

Conlan: Did your fit of laughter come before or after you penned the next topic? But I digress…

Perhaps not THE top contender, but I absolutely think Belcher should be considered among them. No, I don’t actually believe he’ll be given the opportunity based on the minimal push the bout has received from the UFC and the superior marketability of middleweights like the afore-mentioned “Axe Murderer” and Akiyama, as well as Vitor Belfort who the company seems intent on offering a title shot to regardless of how few wins he actually has at 185-pounds, but my case for Belcher is this…

Even if Tool thinks my opinion was influenced by Joe Rogan, or perhaps even by a batch of Rogan’s brownies, I feel Belcher beat Akiyama at UFC 100 based on aggression, ring control, and the actual damage dished out. I wasn’t horribly offended by the split decision but I didn’t agree with it. The win would’ve marked his third in a row instead of being the lone defeat in his last four Octagon appearances and brought his current record to 6-1 in the organization since losing to Grove three years ago. He may have dropped the actual bout to “Sexyama” but the performance still stands. A convincing victory at UFC 113 (in his opponent’s home-base of Montreal no less) would be an impressive achievement and comparable to what any other 185-pounder in the UFC has done in the division as of late. Were Cote, Thales Leites, Demian Maia, or current contender and friend-of-the-scorecards Chael Sonnen so much more qualified for the chance they received to dethrone Anderson Silva than Belcher would be with another win over a respectable opponent like “The Predator”? I don’t think so, and as such I think he and his oddly fascinating Johnny Cash tattoo deserve to be on the cusp of top contendership.

BUY/SELL – If he’s going to have a truly successful reign as champion, the winner of the Lyoto Machida/”Shogun” Rua title fight must finish his opponent.

Conlan: Sell, as I don’t see the relationship between finishing a single opponent and defining a fighter’s tenure as title-holder. The measure of a champion’s success involves the quality of competition faced and number of times the belt is put on the line. It doesn’t hinge on how a particular outcome was achieved so long as it was a victorious one.

While a second win over Rua would actually double the lone positive result found between the last three 205-pounders who entered the Octagon as UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, it would still only be his second defense of the belt and few can forget the first involved a questionable judges’ decision. Soundly beating “Shogun” on Saturday night certainly wouldn’t hurt how Lyoto’s reign is perceived by fans and media, but even memories of a shaky five-round performance will fade away as long as he keeps the strap around his waist for the foreseeable future. Likewise, if he drops his subsequent bout the UFC 113 result means very little no matter how highlight-filled it may be.

As far as the challenger goes, even if Rua wins in the most devastating of fashions he’ll still be a new champion with zero title defenses to his credit. If he loses the following fight, or even the one after that, why would it matter what he did against Machida in terms of labeling his reign a success when it clearly wasn’t?

Tool: I’ll go with buy, because if you think either man’s reign won’t be affected by this fight’s outcome then perhaps you should consider what would happen if this rematch ends the same way as the first fight. Should Saturday night’s main event end in another extremely narrow decision with one fighter getting the nod while everyone and their mother believes it should have gone the other way, the winner of the fight will never hear the end of it.

The success of a champion’s reign is obviously predicated on the quality of opposition he beats, but the methods of victory can play a huge role in the fans’ perception of a champion. Georges St. Pierre is the most dominant welterweight fighter in the world, but he’s currently facing a staggering amount of criticism for his inability to finish his opponents.

This rematch comes under the most auspicious of circumstances, as the results of their first fight gave us more questions than it did answers. I’m hoping that we see this fight stopped by the referee and not the buzzer so we can truly determine who is the better fighter and move on with all our lives.

Which of the six prelim fights at UFC 113 are you hoping to see on the live broadcast?

Conlan: The preliminary action I’m most looking forward to, Tom Lawlor’s entrance not withstanding, is the scheduled bout between Jonathan Goulet and Marcus Davis. Though neither is within a stone’s throw of title contendership or is likely to dramatically improve their standing in the immediate future, both are veteran fighters who prefer to strike and may be in a “loser leaves town” situation. UFC 113 will be Goulet’s first scrap since December 2008, while “The Irish Hand Grenade” is coming off a brutal knockout loss to Ben Saunders sustained at UFC 106 which also marked his second consecutive defeat in the Octagon. It makes me feel as though the pairing definitely has “Fight of the Night” potential based on their styles and the “must win” nature of the match-up. Additionally, Goulet is from Quebec so the energy of his Canadian countrymen in attendance should amp the drama up a notch when the cage door shuts.

Tool: I like the chances of Davis/Goulet making it on the live broadcast, as Davis’ heavy hands combined with Goulet’s paper mache chin should result in a rather brief affair.

I’ll go with the middleweight showdown between Tom Lawlor and Joe Doerkson. Lawlor should be on the main card simply by virtue of his crazy personality, but he’s also got some decent skills as a fighter too. His opponent is the very definition of a journeyman, with more submission wins than most guys have professional fights. Lawlor could look to rely on his wrestling, but I won’t be surprised if these two decide to stand and trade instead. It may not be the most evenly matched fight on the card, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be competitive.

It has been announced that Mark Coleman will face Ken Shamrock on an upcoming Australian card. Given the two men involved, is there any chance that the loser of this fight will retire afterwards?

Conlan: Of course there’s a chance – it’s just a very, very slim one. Other than satisfying any lingering competitive desire still burning inside, I’m sure both icons enjoy the spotlight fighting on the upper-echelon of a Mixed Martial Arts card provides as well as the financial rewards included. I doubt either man is remotely poor but I’m also willing to bet neither is lighting their cigars with crisp hundred-dollar bills either. Fighting is what they know, and, similar to a lot of other athletes in the twilight of their careers, they don’t seem willing to give up the sport they love until forced to do so.

So no, though their combined age is a decade short of a century and between them they’ve won a total of five fights since 2004, I don’t think Shamrock or Coleman will trade in their five-ounce gloves regardless of how their fight unfolds. It’s just too bad this match-up couldn’t have happened 10-12 years ago because both men were fearsome competitors in their respective primes.

Tool: I believe Shamrock will be the one to lose this fight, therefore the question I’m forced to answer is whether or not I believe the former WWF Intercontinental Champion will call it quits afterwards. I’m guessing not, because if Shamrock wanted to retire with some dignity he would have done it three years ago.

While Shamrock’s contributions to the sport are unmatched, his willingness to continue as a competitor long past his prime is profoundly embarrassing. His lone win in the last six years was against a guy that weighed nearly 400 lbs., and Ken needed steroids to get the job done. I won’t pretend that I know for a fact what Shamrock’s motivation is to continue on in the sport, but I’m sure there’s still some decent money to be made for somebody with his kind of name value. That being said, I wonder how much is enough when your legacy is taking a significant hit every time you fight?

After missing the chance to fight at UFC 113 in Montreal this weekend, David Loiseau (19-9) will get his moment to fight on Canadian soil at UFC 115 against Mario Miranda (9-1).

UFC 115: Liddell vs. Franklin will take place on June 12 at GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The bout between Loiseau and Miranda will take place on the preliminary card.

Loiseau had been a late replacement for an injured Nick Catone at UFC 113, and was to fight in front of his hometown of Montreal, but failed to receive his license in time and was replaced by another Canadian, Jason MacDonald in the bout against John Salter.

The delay in licensing was due to an open investigation into the sale of the XMMA, a Quebec based mma promotion Loiseau once owned part of, to a group of individuals who are being investigated by the authorities.

Loiseau has eight bouts under the UFC banner going 4-4 over the past seven years. He earned a victory over Chester Post at a MFL 2 Battleground event last February in his last match. In his last UFC appearance, at UFC 97, Loiseau lost a unanimous decision to Ed Herman at the April 2009 event.

Miranda made his UFC debut in his last fight against Gerald Harris, losing the first fight of his career by TKO at UFN 21. The Brazilian almost earned a spot on “The Ultimate Fighter 11″ but instead earned a contract with the UFC.

UFC 115 now appears as follows:

Main Card

- Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin
- Patrick Barry vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic
- Martin Kampmann vs. Paulo Thiago
- Carlos Condit vs. Rory MacDonald
- Evan Dunham vs. Tyson Griffin

Preliminary Card

- Ben Rothwell vs. Gilbert Yvel
- Mac Danzig vs. Matt Wiman
- David Loiseau vs. Mario Miranda
- Peter Sobotta vs. James Wilks
- Ricardo Funch vs. Claude Patrick
- Jesse Lennox vs. Mike Pyle

After missing the chance to fight at UFC 113 in Montreal this weekend, David Loiseau (19-9) will get his moment to fight on Canadian soil at UFC 115 against Mario Miranda (9-1).

UFC 115: Liddell vs. Franklin will take place on June 12 at GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The bout between Loiseau and Miranda will take place on the preliminary card.

Loiseau had been a late replacement for an injured Nick Catone at UFC 113, and was to fight in front of his hometown of Montreal, but failed to receive his license in time and was replaced by another Canadian, Jason MacDonald in the bout against John Salter.

The delay in licensing was due to an open investigation into the sale of the XMMA, a Quebec based mma promotion Loiseau once owned part of, to a group of individuals who are being investigated by the authorities.

Loiseau has eight bouts under the UFC banner going 4-4 over the past seven years. He earned a victory over Chester Post at a MFL 2 Battleground event last February in his last match. In his last UFC appearance, at UFC 97, Loiseau lost a unanimous decision to Ed Herman at the April 2009 event.

Miranda made his UFC debut in his last fight against Gerald Harris, losing the first fight of his career by TKO at UFN 21. The Brazilian almost earned a spot on “The Ultimate Fighter 11″ but instead earned a contract with the UFC.

UFC 115 now appears as follows:

Main Card

- Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin
- Patrick Barry vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic
- Martin Kampmann vs. Paulo Thiago
- Carlos Condit vs. Rory MacDonald
- Evan Dunham vs. Tyson Griffin

Preliminary Card

- Ben Rothwell vs. Gilbert Yvel
- Mac Danzig vs. Matt Wiman
- David Loiseau vs. Mario Miranda
- Peter Sobotta vs. James Wilks
- Ricardo Funch vs. Claude Patrick
- Jesse Lennox vs. Mike Pyle

A midleweight bout between striking specialist David Loiseau and fast rising Brazilian Mario Miranda is expected to take place during UFC 115.

The pair are expected to throw down from Loiseau’s backyard in Vancouver, Canada on June 12 from the GM Place according to a recent report from Vancouver’s News1130 Radio.

Loiseau recently bounced back from a UFC 97 unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Ed Herman with a first round TKO over Chester Post during an MFL event in February, while Miranda had put together a sparkling record of 11-0 before his UFC debut in March where he was TKO’d by Gerald Harris in the opening round.

UFC 115 is set to feature match-ups such as Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Pat Barry and more.

MMA veteran Joe “El Dirte” Doerksen (44-12) will replace an injured Tim Credeur at UFC 113 after Credeur pulled out of the event after suffering an undisclosed injury during training.

Doerksen took the fight on short notice and will step into the octagon against Tom Lawlor (6-2), no official word has come from the UFC so there is no word whether this fight will take place on the main or preliminary card.

UFC 113 takes place May 8 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and features a light heavyweight title rematch between current champ Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Doerksen, who is from Manitoba, Canada, will fight for the seventh time under the UFC banner when he steps into the octagon against Credeur. Over his 50 fight career Doerksen has bounced around from the UFC, the IFL, Sengoku, KOTC, and fought for the WEC middleweight title, losing to Paulo Filho at WEC 29. His most recent stint with the UFC saw him lose back-to-back bouts to Ed Herman and fellow Canadian Jason MacDonald.

Lawlor dropped his last fight to Aaron Simpson at UFN 20, losing a split decision in a three round battle that saw both men walk away with the “Fight of the Night” bonus, netting each man an extra $30,000. Before that loss, Lawlor had victories over C.B. Dollaway at UFC 100, Kyle Kingsbury at the “TUF 8″ Finale, and was eliminated by Ryan Bader at the “TUF” quarterfinals.

A middleweight bout between UFC fighters Aaron Simpson (7-0) and Chris Leben (19-6) has apparently been rescheduled from UFC 114 in Las Vegas on May 29, to the “TUF 11″ card on June 19th.

The move was first reported by MMAWeekly.com who stated that sources close to the fight have moved from the prelim card of UFC 114 to the Spike TV televised portion of “TUF 11.”

The Finale for “The Ultimate Fighter” 11 will take place on June 19th at the Palm Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

The undefeated Simpson earned a split decision victory over Tom Lawlor at UFN 20 in his last bout and so far in the UFC he’s won all three of his fights. Those two other victories were over Ed Herman and Tim McKenzie, all of which have come within the past year beginning with his UFC debut in April of 2009.

Leben bounced back from two straight losses to earn a unanimous decision over Jay Silva at UFN 20 this past January. The losses came at the hands of Jake Rosholt and Michael Bisping bringing Leben’s UFC record to 9-5.

The current “TUF 11″ Finale card appears as follows:

- Middleweight Finalist vs. Middleweight Finalist
- Matt Hamill vs. Keith Jardine
- Aaron Simpson vs. Chris Leben*
- Travis Browne vs. James McSweeney*

* – Not officially announced

After a 14-month layoff, Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace and once-fast-rising middleweight David Terrell again suffered an injury and was forced out of a November 2007 UFC 78 bout with Ed Herman.

Now, it's been nearly four years since the 32-year-old "Soul Assassin" has stepped foot inside a cage.

But on today's edition of MMAjunkie.com Radio, Terrell said he's considering a comeback. He also detailed the gruesome (yet little-known) ailment that led to the quick descent of one of the sport's most promising careers.

Miami, FL (USA): Shine Fight Promotions (Shine Fights) is excited to announce the signing of UFC and StrikeForce veteran and former Bodog Fight world champion Nick “The Goat” Thompson.

Thompson broke into the national MMA scene in October 2005 with a rear-naked choke victory over UFC veteran Josh Neer at Extreme Challenge 64. A rough matchup for any fighter, Thompson then defeated another tough guy in Keith Wisnewski at UFC 56 less than a month later.

With over 50 pro fights in just six years, Thompson is one of the more experienced fighters in the world. Prior to 2009, “The Goat” was riding a 22-2 streak as a welterweight, with wins over current UFC contender Paul “Semtex” Daley and current Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.

Despite a gaudy record and a minuteman attitude that allows him to take any fight on any notice, Thompson was unable to find competition at 170 pounds and was forced to move to the middleweight division to take a tough fight with fast-rising prospect Tim Kennedy in StrikeForce.

His willingness to fight and an offer from a growing promotion in Shine prompted Thompson to sign on the dotted line: “Over three years I’d gone 22-2 at welterweight, and I couldn’t get a fight. It was really frustrating…if you look at my record, I had 50 fights in five years, and all of a sudden I’m going down to two fights in a year. I’m going out of my mind.”

Despite riding a two-fight losing streak, the well-rounded Thompson is still a force to be reckoned with: “I can submit you from the top, from the bottom…I’ve knocked out world-class strikers, and I think that’s one thing that sets me aside is just my well-roundedness.”

A quick rundown of Thompson’s resume and the names that it contains proves why he is one of the more respected fighters in the world. On top of the aforementioned victories over Daley, Alvarez, Neer, and Wisnewski, “The Goat” has defeated the likes of former Cage Rage contender Mark Weir, and UFC veterans Ansar Chalangov and Chris Wilson. The impressive veteran has also faced the likes of Bellator welterweight Dan Hornbuckle, StrikeForce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields, former UFC welterweight contender Karo Parisyan, “The Ultimate Fighter” season three runner-up Ed Herman, and UFC middleweight contender Yushin Okami.

Now setting his sights on the Shine roster, Thompson plans to make it back into the top ten in his weight class: “I want to be the number one ranked guy in Shine Fights, plain and simple.”

“Nick is a world-class fighter, and we’re extremely excited to feature him in our shows,” said Shine Fights matchmaker Ron Foster.

Thompson will fight in the Shine Welterweight division and a debut is expected in 2010.