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UFC president Dana White talks about the “legendary” UFC 117 main event bout between defending middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen. He discusses the next possible moves for both fighters, Jon Fitch’s position within the welterweight division, and more.

HT: MMAFighting.com

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HT: Heavy.com

OAKLAND, Calif. - Prior to Saturday's show, UFC president Dana White hosted a pre-UFC 117 press conference and confirmed that the winner of a co-main-event fight between welterweight contenders Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves would get a title shot.

Fitch dominated Alves and posted his 22nd win in 23 fights, but he now appears no closer to that title fight.

"I don't know," White told MMAjunkie.com when asked if Fitch gets the winner of December's UFC 124 title fight between champ Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck.

OAKLAND, Calif. - The UFC's first-ever event in Oakland, Calif., "UFC
117: Silva vs. Sonnen," drew a vocal crowd of 12,971 attendees for a live
gate of $1.56 million according to UFC officials.

UFC president Dana White issued the figures to MMAjunkie.com following the evening's post-event press conference.

The Aug. 7 event, which featured a long-awaited grudge match between middleweight champion Anderson Silva and challenger Chael Sonnen,
took place at Oracle Arena.

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UFC president Dana White’s video blog for tonight’s “UFC on Versus 2″ event in San Diego. Besides watching White’s vlbog fans can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DanaWhite.

UFC president Dana White says fast-rising light-heavyweight contender Jon Jones is undoubtedly one of the sport's top prospects.

However, he also says that the UFC on Versus 2 headliner has some big tests to pass before he's considered one of the sport's best.

In our official event preview, MMAjunkie.com's Steven Marrocco breaks down the latest test and why veteran opponent Vladimir Matyushenko thinks his years of experience could be the deciding factor in the Vesus-televised fight.

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UFC president Dana White talks about the use of Twitter to reach out to millions of fans instantly and his relationship with them using the social medium.

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White went to a Dave & Buster in San Diego to offer fans a chance to win tickets to tonight’s UFC on Versus 2 event.

HT: Heavy.com

You didn’t expect UFC president Dana White to mention “Big” John McCarthy when referring to who his choice of alltime best MMA referee was, did you. Well if you did, then you obviously don’t watch much UFC. Most MMA fans are still behind you Big John.

Sorry, Indianapolis. You missed it by that much.

UFC president Dana White got his wish, and heavyweight champion Brock
Lesnar will return to action sooner rather than later
to take on top contender Cain Velasquez.

But while UFC 119 was the original target date, Lesnar and Velasquez will
instead meet in the main event of UFC 121.

There were several heads that turned in the mixed martial arts world when UFC President Dana White green-lighted Mark Hunt entering the UFC, even though the fighter is currently on a five fight losing streak. A fan took to asking White about the hire via Twitter:

Fan asked: Y was Hunt Signed, he has a losing record and has lost 5 in a row. Big fan of u & UFC but don’t understand signing, plz explain.

Dana: part of the pride deal we contractually owe him fights from our purchase of the company

It’s a strange situation as it’s been three years since the UFC bought out Pride, and still there are several sources reporting that the UFC has awarded Hunt a four fight contract. There is some word that Hunt’s weight was an issue as he was way over the 265 limit, and that Hunt has slimmed down enough to be contractable for fights. Either way Hunt is expected to fight on September 25, 2010 at UFC 119 where his opponent is expected to be Sean McCorkle. Will Hunt be able to make waves in the UFC? Probably not, but he could still be quite exciting to watch.

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.