Former season 10 “The Ultimate Fighter” participant James McSweeney (4-5) will be dropping to the light-heavyweight division for his next fight in the UFC. His opponent for that next fight will be fellow Brit Tom Blackledge (10-6), with both men meeting at UFC 120 in England.

McSweeney weighed in at 231 in his last fight as part of the preliminary card for the “TUF 11″ Finale, a fight in which he lost via TKO in the first round to Travis Browne. Dropping to 205 won’t be that hard of a stretch and will hopefully prove better for the former kickboxer and Muay Thai fighter. He made the announcement on Sunday via his Twitter page.

The former “TUF 10″ fighter will feel the pressure of performing in his fight with Blackledge with a 1-1 record under the UFC banner. McSweeney defeated fellow housemate Darrill Schoonover at the shows Finale to win his UFC debut.

Blackledge trains at the Wolfslair MMA Academy in Liverpool, England and will be making his UFC debut against McSweeney. He’s taken his last two fights under the M-1 Global banner, defeating both opponents in the first round. Both fights took place last year and his UFC debut will mark his first bout of 2010.

UFC 120 is set to take place on Oct. 16 at the O2 arena in England and Spike TV will broadcast the main card in North America for free via tape delay.

"Ak-shun! Ak-shun!"

Fans of Japanese MMA fans know exactly what's coming after hearing these
shouted commands: a yellow card. And just like soccer, the yellow card
comes out as a warning that your behavior simply isn't going to be
accepted.

But unlike the sport currently featured in the World Cup, when a yellow
card comes out in MMA - a result of stalling by one of the competitors -
a 10 percent purse penalty comes along with it. So in our latest
MMAjunkie.com/"Inside MMA" poll, we asked if fans would like to see the
same system implemented in North America.

Even without his magical submission pants, DREAM lightweight champion
Shinya Aoki proved he's still got a few tricks tucked away somewhere in
his fight gear.

The submission ace rebounded from a horrific loss in April to Gilbert
Melendez in stunning fashion and submitted fellow Japanese superstar
Tatsuya Kawajiri in less than two minutes.

The attraction served as the main event of DREAM.15, which aired live
in North America on HDNet early Saturday morning. The card took place at
the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

SAN DIEGO (July 8, 2010) – Two-time UFC heavyweight champion Tim “Maine-iac” Sylvia takes on former UFC and Strikeforce heavyweight title challenger, Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello, in the main event for the vacant Powerhouse World Promotions (PWP), LLC Heavyweight Championship, August 14 on Pay Per View live from Bren Events Center in Irvine, California.

“War on the Mainland,” presented by Powerhouse World Promotions, is being distributed by Integrated Sports Media at 10:00PM ET/6:00PM PT in North America on cable and satellite Pay-Per-View via iN Demand, DIRECTV, Avail-TVN and DISH Network, as well as Viewer’s Choice, Bell TV and Shaw PPV in Canada, for a suggested retail price of only $29.95. It will also be available in the United Kingdom via Primetime Live. The PPV card will also be streamed live on Internet PPV outside of the United States, Canada and United Kingdom by going to www.WarontheMainland.com and registering.

“This event started as a training clinic that we’re still holding August 8 in San Diego,” PWP CEO Brian Manna explained. “It’s a full day, training clinic – MMA, Jiu-Jitsu, striking, boxing kicking, etc. – at Manna’s Martial Arts in San Diego. Tony Martinez (President of Powerhouse) suggested we do a show. We discussed it with members of our team – Joe Moreira, Carlos Palomino, Rodolfo Gonzalez and Burdett Streeter – as well as Doug Jacobs (Integrated Sports Media) and (associate) Benny Ricardo. Pay per view made it an easier sell and we were able to raise capital for the show. Now, people from all over the world will be able to watch our show.

“The depth of our field is unmatched. We not only wanted to make sure that we had three really good fights like we do, but to insure that all of the fights on this show would feature high quality fighters, as well as competitive, entertaining matches. These fights are all very well matched from top to bottom. All of us (Team PWP) are old-school martial artists. We stepped into the ring against anybody that was put in there; the type of show we’re putting on August 14th and few like it exist today in MMA for the public.”

Sylvia (26-6-0), fighting out of Bettendorf, Iowa, is coming off of an impressive second-round submission of 5-time World’s Strongest Man, Mariusz “Dominator” Pudzianowski. During his sensational career, Sylvia (6-8, 300 lbs.) has defeated many of the world’s top MMA heavyweights and super heavyweights – Andrei Arlovski (2) Brandon Vera, Jeff Monson, Wes Sims, Ricco Rodriguez, Mike Whitehead (2), Ben Rothwell and Jason Lambert.

Buentello (6-2, 250 lbs.), fighting out of Amarillo, Texas, has notable victories against “Tank” Abbott, Gary Goodridge, Justin Eilers, Mike Kyle and Kirill “Baby Fedor” Sidelnikov.

Sylvia-Buentello is one of three PWP title fights (5 X 5, all other fights are 3 X 5). Former WEC titlist Jason “The Punisher” Lambert (24-11-0) faces 8-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion Allan Goes (17-3-0) for the vacant PWP Light Heavyweight title belt, while former UFC title challenger Thales Leite (17-3-1) fights Strikeforce veteran Falinko “Niko” Vitale (27-9-0) for the PWP Middleweight crown.

In a Special Lightweight Attraction, former UFC lightweight champion Jens “Little Evil” Pulver (22-13-1), one of the most popular MMA fighters in the world, meets Diego “El Nino” Garijo (4-1-0).

Also fighting on “War on the Mainland” are Brazilian middleweight Gustavo “Ximu” Machado (18-8-1) vs. Rick Reeves (10-3-0), Mexican welterweight Jorge “The Naked Man” Ortiz (16-5-1) vs. veteran Terry Martin (19-8-0), and California lightweights Joao Silva (3-0) vs. Erin Beach (1-0). All fights and fighters are subject to change.

“We’re hitting the ground running,” Manna added. “People all over the world want to fight with us. We’re not interested in signing fighters to long-term contracts. We’re interested in the fighters being self-sufficient and stable. Burdett is a financial advisor and one of our goals is to aid fighters to become more aware of how to make their financial future more stable.”

Tickets, ranging from $35.00 to $110.00 reserved and $110.00 to $295.00 on the floor, are on sale at the Bren Event Center Box Office (10 AM/PT-6 PM/PT, Mon-Fri), going on line to www.bren.uci.edu or www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling 1.949.824.5000.

Doors open at 5:00 PM/PT, first bout 6:15 PM/PT, first PPV bout 7 PM/PT – 10 PM/ET. Go to www.WarontheMainland.com or www.bren.uci.edu for additional information.

Vendor opportunities and sponsorships are available by calling 1.858.798.1541.

Jorge Britto (head instructor of TorontoBJJ) invites all Jiu Jitsu academies to help us carry the flag of this sport into the future. Join us on Saturday August 7th, 2010 at Downsview Park in Toronto. This tournament is a celebration of Jiu Jitsu and we are giving an opportunity to everyone to become part of the next page in the history of Jiu Jitsu in Canada. This tournament will showcase the sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, we need you to be part of the revolution of this sport in North America. We need to be unified, we need to show solidarity by coming together to honor the tradition of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition. We want to demonstrate great Jiu Jitsu, we want to show who we are, we want to exhibit the glory of healthy rivalries between teams and how they help the sport to progress, develop, and grow.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is more than a sport, it is deeply rooted in tradition, and a tried and tested methodology since it was founded in Brazil. In this tournament we aim to honor this heritage and lineage by organizing the tournament in the same manner as the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation. We want to pay tribute to the sport’s founders by not just coming to compete and determine who is best on the day but, we want to live the Jiu Jitsu ideology, philosophy and lifestyle.

This type of competition readies competitors for the highest level of international competition by adhering to international rules, regulations, and standards. We are already seeing the fruits of previous tournaments which produced several champions at this years mundials (worlds championships). The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu format of competition has lead to greater things for many of the stars of the sport, champions like BJ Penn, Marcelo Garcia, Demian Maia, Rodrigo Noguerra, and many more got their starts on the tatami’s of Jiu Jitsu.

What makes the Toronto Jiu Jistu Classic Special?
Divisions will have a specific start time that will be released two days prior to the event along with the brackets. No waiting hours and hours, wondering when your division is going to start.

75 Carl Hall Road,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MAP

More information on the official site.

Based on the success of the inaugural Grapple Girls Open Women’s Grappling Tournament – the first event of its kind in North America – in 2009, we will be running it again in 2010.

First a quick recap of last year’s event:

* 24 competitors came from all over North America.
* the majority of competitors were higher level, some of them world class, decorated grapplers. The action was exciting and non-stop.
* the bouts ran smooth as butter thanks to US Grappling’s own Chrissy Linzy. At no time were competitors wandering around not knowing what the heck was happening. And there was no dead time without a match on the mat. Chrissy is a pro and we were lucky to have her running the show.
* Special guests Felicia Oh and Valerie Worthington – two of the most respected and generous people in the grappling world – were in attendance.

The vibe was nothing short of incredible: the competitors, the spectators, the sponsors, the refs and support staff, the space itself; all came together to create an unforgettable day. Since that event and the Women’s Grappling Camp that immediately followed, the women’s grappling community has grown and solidified even further with networks stretching across all of North America. The Grapple Girls Open 2010 promises to be even better: We’ve got the support of the Ontario Amateur Wrestling Association once again, lending us their space and volunteers. We’ve got the incomparable Chrissy Linzy running the mats (we can’t emphasize this enough: she is AMAZING). We’ll have fantastic sponsors and prizes again this year.

Toronto Wrestling Development Centre,
1 Danforth Ave, Toronto
Canada
MAP

More information on the official site.

Tired of everyone else playing your copy of UFC Undisputed 2010? Having to go over to your friends place every time you want to play the game? Or maybe your mom got you UFC 2009 Undisputed instead of UFC Undisputed 2010 for your birthday?

Well here’s your chance to win your very own copy on us.

The MMA News will be giving away two copies of THQ’s UFC Undisputed 2010. We have one copy for the Xbox and one copy for the PS3 (which includes the coupon code to unlock TUF 10 fighters Roy “Big Country” Nelson, James McSweeney, Brendan “The Hybrid” Schaub and Marcus Jones).

Were also announcing our official partnership with MMAFans.net who will now host our official forums board.

MMAFans.net is a brand new forum board that provides MMA fans a chance to talk about the latest fights, fight news, as well as a wide range of other subjects.

So help us kick off our partnership with MMAFans.net with a bang by signing up and speaking out on the forum boards.

We’ll be giving away one copy of UFC Undisputed 2010 on our FaceBook page and the other on MMAFans.net. We’ll announce the winners on July 11th 18th.

To enter the draw on FaceBook, simply become a fan of The MMA News, post your favorite fighter and preference for gaming platform (Xbox or PS3) on our discussion board.

Contest notes for The MMA News Facebook page:
- We’ll handle the shipping costs for North America. If anyone wins living outside of NA, you’ll be contacted to discuss shipping and handling.

Contest notes for MMAFans.net:
- Sign up on the forum board and start posting.
- You’ll have to reach a minimum number of posts on the site to qualify and will include everyone who signs up between now and July 17th. They’ll be monitoring for anyone who is just spamming to make the number of posts.

That’s it, good luck everyone and we’ll be including a few extras for the winners which we’ll announce later.

UPDATE: Sorry folks the wrong date was posted as the 11th when it should have been the 18th!!!!

The Dean of Mean Keith Jardine was cut from the UFC roster following his TUF 11 finale loss to Matt Hamil. The loss marked the fourth in a row for the long time UFC fighter, and while Jardine is a “name” fighter his skill set seems to have diminished or at least his ability to win. There’s no doubt that Jardine will be able to find work elsewhere, but questions remain as to whether Strikeforce, the number two MMA promotion in North America, will be willing to pick up a fighter coming off so many losses. It’s very easy to see Jardine being popular in Japan, but only time will tell where he will end up.

The UFC has also cut David Loiseau following his loss at UFC 115 to Mario Miranda. The crow has a reasonable 19-10 record but was only 4-5 inside the Octagon. This marks a remarkable third time that The Crow has been released by the UFC.

Starting June 28, M-1 Global, home of the world’s most dangerous fighter, Fedor Emelianenko, is launching its search to find Europe’s top ring girls to sport the M-1 brand and want North America’s fan-feedback in choosing the winners. Go to www.m-1ringgirls.com between June 28-July 12 to vote and make your voice heard.

“Our North American fan base is extremely important to us and we wanted to ensure they were able to participate in the voting process,” says M-1 Global’s Director of Operations, Evgeni Kogan. “The submissions for our ring girl contest have been through the roof and this is shaping up to one of our most successful promotions to date.”

Between June 28 – July 12, M-1 Global’s “Queen of the Ring” ring girl search will undertake seven preliminary elimination voting stages with a new group of contestants being posted to

www.m-1ringgirls.com every two days. The winners from each round will advance to the final selections with the top 10 ring girls being showcased live at the M-1 Selection 2010 – Eastern Europe Final Round on July 22 in Moscow, Russia and as part of the reality show, M-1 Fighter coming later this year.

About M-1 Global:

Founded in 1998 by Vadim Finkelchtein and Sergey Matvienko, M-1 Global has established itself in the realm of mixed martial arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles and affiliates in Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand stages its M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge, M-1 Breakthrough events worldwide and its co-produced Strikeforce events in the United States; captivating the live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups.

Starting June 28, M-1 Global, home of the world’s most dangerous fighter, Fedor Emelianenko, is launching its search to find Europe’s top ring girls to sport the M-1 brand and want North America’s fan-feedback in choosing the winners. Go to www.m-1ringgirls.com between June 28-July 12 to vote and make your voice heard.

“Our North American fan base is extremely important to us and we wanted to ensure they were able to participate in the voting process,” says M-1 Global’s Director of Operations, Evgeni Kogan. “The submissions for our ring girl contest have been through the roof and this is shaping up to one of our most successful promotions to date.”

Between June 28 – July 12, M-1 Global’s “Queen of the Ring” ring girl search will undertake seven preliminary elimination voting stages with a new group of contestants being posted to

www.m-1ringgirls.com every two days. The winners from each round will advance to the final selections with the top 10 ring girls being showcased live at the M-1 Selection 2010 – Eastern Europe Final Round on July 22 in Moscow, Russia and as part of the reality show, M-1 Fighter coming later this year.

About M-1 Global:

Founded in 1998 by Vadim Finkelchtein and Sergey Matvienko, M-1 Global has established itself in the realm of mixed martial arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles and affiliates in Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand stages its M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge, M-1 Breakthrough events worldwide and its co-produced Strikeforce events in the United States; captivating the live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups.