Jason Reinhardt (20-1) is out of the game days before his confrontation with Chinese fighter Tie Quan “The Mongolian Wolf” Zhang (16-0) at WEC 51.

Inside sources have informed FiveOuncesOfPain.com that Reinhardt is out because he did not pass a standard pre-fight eye exam.

The bout, scheduled for September, 30th 2010 at The 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Co., will now feature “The Mongolian Wolf” taking on Pablo Garza.

Reinhardt has been training in Iowa with long time teammate and training partner Spencer “The King” Fisher, and the 40-year-old veteran is officially off the preliminary card for the evening.

Earlier in the week, Reinhardt was confident about his chances against Chinese wunderkind.

“I’ve got so much motivation for this fight it’s incredible. Everything’s on the line in this fight. It all comes down to this moment.

When Monte told me Zhang was undefeated, I thought, ‘What an opportunity to beat China’s best and send him back to China to re-evaluate his career.’ I’ve been through a lot of crap over the last two and a half years.

I know what I’m capable of.  I know how hard I train. I don’t have anything to prove to myself.

I’m 20-1, I deserve this.”

That shot will have to wait.

The WEC 51 card where this fight will take place will be headlined by the featherweight title clash between Jose Aldo and Manny Gamburyan, and former bantamweight champion, Miguel Torres returns to action to square off with Charlie Valencia and get his career back on track.

- Main card:

Jose Aldo vs. Manvel Gamburyan

Jamie Varner vs. Donald Cerrone

Miguel Torres vs. Charlie Valencia

Chan Sung Jung vs. George Roop

Leonard Garcia vs. Mark Hominick

- Preliminary Card:

Mike Brown vs Cole Province

Ed Ratcliff vs. Chris Horodecki

Diego Nunes vs. Tyler Toner

Antonio Banuelos vs. Chad George

Jason Reinhardt vs. Zhang Tie Quan

Clint Godfrey vs. Demetrious Johnson
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While many fans that had the pleasure to witness one of the greatest fights put on in recent memory between “The Korean Zombie” Chang Sung Jung and Leonard Garcia at WEC 48 had anticipated an immediate rematch between the pair, it now looks likely that that particular fight will have to wait.

It now looks likely that “The Korean Zombie” will in fact face off with George Roop at WEC 51, while Garcia is expected to face off with Mark Hominick at the same event according to recent reports at MMAWeekly.

WEC 51 is expected to take place on September 8 from the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colorado while airing live on Versus.

Nothing has been announced yet, but the card is expected to be headlined by a featherweight title bout between Jose Aldo and Manny Gamburyan.

Garcia recently edged out Jung via narrow split decision in a wild slugfest widely considered to be the front-runnner for “Fight of the Year” honors, while Roop went to a draw with Garcia in his previous outing, and Hominick is looking for his fourth consecutive victory.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Current WEC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo has certainly overcome some serious obstacles in his life to become an elite level athlete and fighter. This Fight! Magazine series is pretty revealing and gives us a lot of insight into the childhood of Aldo. Aldo is expected to defend his title against Manvel Gamburyan on September 8, 2010 at WEC 51.

The name “Jose Aldo” warrants both fear and respect among featherweight fighters these days, but how much praise does a champion’s training partner deserve before he’s even made his WEC debut?

At “WEC 49: Varner vs. Shalorus“, fight fans will get an opportunity to draw their own conclusions about Renan Barao — training partner of the current WEC champ and a 20-1 Brazilian fighter whose current 20-fight win streak dates all the way back to his pro debut — but while all the hype seems to surround Barao for his upcoming WEC bantamweight debut, people shouldn’t be too quick to count out the challenger, Anthony Leone.

One of several undefeated fighters from Team Bombsquad, Leone himself is no stranger to trading punches with champions. At 21, he left Long Island, NY and headed to Hilo, HI to study MMA under former UFC Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn. Since then he’s compiled an undefeated record of 8-0 and is just as eager as Barao to get his name out there this Sunday at WEC49.

“My opponent is pretty good. He’s 20-1, with a 20-fight win streak, I know that, but he’s never really faced a wrestler or somebody who will switch it up on him like I can,” Leone said. “All the guys he’s fought are mostly Muay Thai fighters… I don’t know, I think he’s got a lot of hype behind him.”

Leone on the other hand has been winning quietly the last two years, jumping back and forth between the 145 and 155 lb. divisions, but always in the mix with the best around and consistently coming out on top by submission or decision.

Before coming back from Hawaii in 2008, Leone turned to the popular MMA forum The Underground in search of a quality camp to join when he got home to New York. Right away, all signs pointed to Cortland based Bombsquad.

“That was all Zack,” said Leone. “We met on The Underground and he asked me, ‘What type of opponents are you looking for?’ Then he gave me three options; an easy opponent, a hard opponent or whoever we put in front of you. I said, ‘I don’t really care.’ I was 1-0 at the time and feeling pretty good. The rest is history.”

Leone has kept busy since he got back to the mainland and has been in and out of the cage just about every three months for his entire career, but it wasn’t until he took a single fight at 135 that he got noticed by the likes of the WEC.

He and his manager had decided a few months back that the WEC was just too stacked at 145 to make a run at a featherweight contract, so when a new promotion called the XCFL offered Leone a title shot and a chance to drop to 135 for a fight with undefeated Boston Sityodtong prodigy in Teteki Matsui, he jumped at the chance.

The result was a bantamweight debut that contained more memorable moments than most’s career highlight video.

Leone revealed new found speed and the same kind of power against Matsui. He took him down with slams from the front as well as behind, unloaded straight left and right punches at an incredible pace and ate more than one headkick as well as an illegal knee to the head while he was down.

“I had to cut 30 pounds to make 135,” said Leone. “I think i got a lot faster but those guys [in the WEC] are so much faster too. It’s got its ups and downs.”

The real difference in the wrestler’s game came when he moved Upstate so he could train with the Bombsquad full time. He explained there were people to roll with in Long Island but nothing could match the sparring he received day in and day out with his brothers at arms in Cortland.

“Moving up to Cortland has been great for me,” he said. “Back when I used to train in Long Island we’d mostly work on my wrestling or jiu-jitsu, but not spar. Then, I come up to Cortland and we’re forced to spar atleast three or four times a week. I never used to like to get hit, but now I’m used to it. I’m never scared to get in cage and take a shot. I know it’s going to happen — I know I’m going to get punched — it’s just a matter of doing it back to him.”

As World Extreme Cagefighting continues to gather up the most talented fighters under 155 pounds, more and more exciting fights have found their way onto the undercard. This weekend’s event will feature Wagney Fabiano along with Raphael Assuncao and Diego Nunes competing in the featherweight and bantamweight divisions, and fight fans can’t afford to miss Barao and Leone.

Frank Curreri, WEC - Stepping into the Octagon to compete is an act of bravery. Stepping into the Octagon to fight a ferocious Brazilian who has devoured 20 straight foes - and hails from the same thoroughbred-loaded team as Jose Aldo - is even more daring. Stepping into the Octagon to battle that same "Next Big Thing" on just a couple weeks' notice borders on insanity.

World Extreme Cagefighting officials recently announced that former
featherweight champion Urijah Faber would be
making his 135-pound debut for the promotion in August in a featured WEC
50 matchup with Takeya Mizugaki.

Some MMA observers speculated that Faber's April loss to Jose Aldo
prompted WEC officials to recommend a drop in weight to the 5-foot-6
"California Kid."

This past weekend, at a media function promoting this Sunday's "WEC 49:
Varner vs. Shalorus" event, Harris said Faber's decision to drop to
bantamweight was his to make, and the switch isn't necessarily
permanent.

Urijah Faber (23-4) talked recently about dropping down to the bantamweight division, well now apparently, it’s official and MMAWeekly.com has the scoop.

The former WEC featherweight champion will make the move down to 135lbs for his next fight on August 18 as he faces Japanese fighter Takeya Mizugaki (13-4-2) in the WEC.


The bout was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the fight stating bout agreements have been issued at this point for the bantamweight showdown.

Faber has fought at bantamweight in the past, earning the King Of The Cage bantamweight title in 2004 against Eben Kaneshiro. The fighter eventually moved onto the WEC and won the featherweight title in 2006 at WEC 19 and successfully defended the belt for another five times.

“The California Kid” made two more attempts at the featherweight title, losing to Mike Brown and then to Jose Aldo in his last fight. Aldo earned a unanimous decision over Faber in the headliner for WEC’s first ever pay-per-view event at WEC 48.

The fight will be Mizugaki’s fifth WEC match when the two meet in August. So far he’s 2-2 with the promotion, earning a unanimous decision over Rani Yahya as part of the same ppv event at WEC 48. He lost to Scott Jorgensen at WEC 45 via unanimous decision, earned a split decision over Jeff Curran at WEC 42, and lost to former bantamweight champ Miguel Torres at WEC 40.

The Japanese fighter has won 8 of his fights by decision and will likely go the distance with Faber like he’s done in the past.

The California Kid has a new home.

Urijah Faber, the once dominant king of the WEC’s 145-pound division, will indeed be making a move down to bantamweight, according to MMAWeekly.

Faber’s first opponent will be the always tough Takeya Mizugaki, who will be most remembered for giving then bantamweight champion Miguel Torres his toughest fight at WEC 40. Since then, Mizugaki has picked up victories over Jeff Curran and Rani Yahya, and he dropped a decision loss to Scott Jorgensen.

Faber went 2-2 in his last two fights, but his losses were to Jose Aldo and Mike Brown, past and present champions of the promotion.

Press Release

For the second time in a week, the Maximum Fighting Championship has added a first-class talent from Brazil to its growing stable of impressive fighters.

Light heavyweight Glover Teixeira (9-2) has joined the MFC talent pool and is expected to make his organizational debut at the soon-to-be-announced MFC 26 event. The native of Sobralia, Brazil, has scored seven of his nine victories by way of KO/TKO and came highly recommended by several sources, not the least of which was his friend, MFC middleweight title contender Thales Leites.

“When you hear things like ‘He can beat anyone in the division’ and those kinds of statements are coming from well-respected people, you have to take notice,” said MFC Owner/President Mark Pavelich. “I believe that Glover can make an immediate and serious impact in the grand scheme of our light heavyweight picture.

“The MFC is becoming more of a global product and international fighters are stepping up to become part of the action. It is an important aspect of our growth to be adding fighters like Glover Teixeira, Thales Leites, Tom Watson, and Luciano Azevedo.”

The Teixeira signing comes on the heels of the MFC adding Azevedo (16-8) to its contingent of lightweights. The Rio de Janeiro product is the lone fighter to hold a victory over world-ranked standout Jose Aldo, earning a submission victory in 2005. Azevedo, whose career victory list is also highlighted by a decision win over veteran Din Thomas, is also expected to make his organizational and North American debut at the forthcoming MFC 26.

Teixeira has fought somewhat sparingly throughout his career, no more than twice a year since turning pro, but he is expected to become significantly busier under the MFC banner. The 30-year-old has fought twice already in 2010 in his native Brazil, coming away with a pair of convincing victories. Notable wins have come at various points for Teixeira beginning with the lone decision outcome of his career, taking the judges’ verdict over veteran Matt Horwich. Teixeira scored a stunning five-second knockout win over Jorge Oliveira and earned the biggest win to date in his career by handing “The African Assassin” Sokoudjou the first loss of his career with a stellar first-round knockout only 1:41 into their 2006 encounter.

While clearly well-versed in the stand-up game, Teixeira has showcased a multitude of skills on the ground as well. He captured the 2009 title in the under-99 kg class at the Brazilian ADCC championship which qualified him for the world competition alongside such well-known names as Dean Lister, Vinny Magalhaes, and Ricco Rodriguez. Teixeira had previously competed against Jeff Monson and Brandon Vera in grappling events, and he was featured in Season 2 of the “TapouT” reality TV series.

Although facing lethal WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo probably isn't on the top of most fighters' to-do list, defeating the Brazilian striker is now a requirement to take the belt.

Former UFC lightweight contender Manny Gamburyan did his best to stake his claim to a title shot at WEC 48 with a stunning knockout of former champ Mike Brown.

But WEC general manager Reed Harris recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio he isn't ready to declare him a No. 1 contender just yet and said this month's WEC 49 show - and its co-main event - could play a factor in the decision.