While countless fans along with UFC President Dana White had been licking their chops at the prospect of a potential battle between Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck, it looks like a showdown between the fellow AKA teammates will have to wait – for now- as a bout between Fitch and Thiago Alves is now slated for UFC 115 in Canada.

White recently confirmed the bout via his Twitter account:

ALVES vs FITCH in vancouver!!!!!!

The pair had previously been expected to go at it in a highly anticipated rematch targeted for UFC 111 before an irregularity in the brain of Alves discovered in the days leading up to the event caused the bout to be scrapped, with Thiago being replaced by Ben Saunders. Fitch won the UFC 111 bout via unanimious decision utilizing a superior wrestling arsenal.

Fitch finished Alves via TKO in the pair’s first meeting held nearly four years ago in June of 2006.

Fitch will be coming into the fight on a four-fight win streak in the UFC, while Alves will be looking to rebound from a UFC 100 title defeat at the hands of Georges St. Pierre.

UFC 115 will take place on June 12 from Vancouver.

UFC welterweight fighter Thiago “Pitbull” Alves (16-6) will undergo outpatient surgery at the Hyman Newman institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery located at Roosevelt Hospital later this week.

“I went and saw a specialist this morning who told me I need to have the minor procedure,” Alves said.

At a press conference on Friday Tracy Lee reported that it Alves has a “malformation on the left side of his brain.”

He has malformation of the left side of his brain. After a few days of anguish, they found that whatever it is, it should not be career ending- not an aneurism. He should be back training full speed in 3 weeks.

The outpatient procedure is expected to take place this Wednesday (31 March).

Photo and story courtesy of TMZ.

Less than 72 hours before his chance at redemption against Jon Fitch,
Brazilian slugger Thiago Alves was told he wouldn't get the chance to
step inside the cage.

An irregularity in a pre-fight CT scan was the culprit, but Alves'
agent, Malki Kawa of First Round Management, told MMAjunkie.com that his client is aiming for a quick return.

"Thiago is very disappointed," Kawa said. "But he remains in good
spirits and hopes to get back in the cage very quickly."

UFC welterweight fighter Thiago Alves (16-6) has had to withdraw from this weekends “UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy” due to a failed CT scan.

Alves was scheduled to meet Jon Fitch (21-3) on the pay-per-view card but a a pre-fight CAT Scan revealed an irregularity involving an artery in Alves’ brain.

UFC honcho Dana White tells TMZ he will fly Pitbull to a specialist for further evaluation. White says, “If it’s true, it can be career-ending.”

UFC 111 will take place this Saturday March 27 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The bout was going to be a rematch between Alves and Fitch from their initial meeting in 2007, which Fitch won via TKO.

No information has been provided as to whether Fitch will be given a new opponent on such short notice but a preliminary bout featuring Kurt Pellegrino (14-4) vs. Fabricio Camoes (10-4-1) has been moved to the main card.

Pellegrino posted the update on his Twitter site on Thursday.

For all my twitterbugs I’m now on the Main Card so that means I’m on ppv haha

I’m so pumped to be on the main card but let’s all hope that Thiago is ok and that all our thoughts are with him aswell

Pellegrino has won three straight bouts defeating Thiago Tavares, Rob Emerson, and Josh Neer. His last fight occurred at UFC 101 where he earned a unanimous decision over Neer. His record in the UFC so far is 6-3.

The Brazilian Camoes will have his second fight in the UFC, facing Caol Uno to a draw in his debut at UFC 106. Before the draw he won seven straight fights with various promotions in Brazil and California.

Martins Denis, UFC - The construction of the road to a title shot is never easy. It includes making your name, beating fighter after fighter on the way up, and winning key matches until you face the champion. What a glorious road it would be if all contenders with rough paths to the top then defeated the title holder to become the new champion. But that's not the way it always goes.

Thiago 'Pitbull' Alves knows that fact all too well.

A recent report has UFC welterweights Martin Kampmann (16-3) squaring off against Brazilian fighter Paulo Thiago (13-1) in Vancouver as part of the UFC 115 event.

While not yet officially announced, UFC 115 is expected to take place June 12 at GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. The event’s main card will air on pay-per-view.

The Las Vegas Sun was the first to report the possible matchup, and MMAjunkie.com has since confirmed the bout and noted that both fighters have made verbal agreements to meet at UFC 115.

Kampmann, who was recently forced from a UFC 111 bout against Ben Saunders due to a cut to his forehead suffered during training, enters the match with a fight win streak after submitting Jacob Volkmann at UFC 108. The victory ended a one bout losing streak after losing to Paul Daley via TKO at UFC 103. The Danish fighter has amassed a 7-2 record in the UFC since his debut in August of 2006.

Thiago is on a two fight win streak after suffering his first career loss at UFC 100 last summer. Since then he earned a unanimous decision victory over Jacob Volkmann at UFC 106 and recently submitted Mike Swick at UFC 109.

The current rumored UFC 115 card appears as follows:

MAIN CARD

- Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz*
- Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Wanderlei Silva*
- Patrick Barry vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic*
- Ben Rothwell vs. Gilbert Yvel*
- Evan Dunham vs. Tyson Griffin*

PRELIMINARY CARD

- Martin Kampmann vs. Paulo Thiago*
- Mac Danzig vs. Matt Wiman*
- Carlos Condit vs. Rory MacDonald*
- Jesse Lennox vs. Mike Pyle*
- Peter Sobotta vs. James Wilks*
- Claude Patrick vs. TBA*

* – Not officially announced

A welterweight tussle between Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann is looking extremely likely to take place during UFC 115.

Both fighters have verbally agreed to the match-up according to a recent report on The Las Vegas Sun, with the bout expected to be finalized in the coming days.

UFC 115 is loosely expected to take place from Vancouver, Canada on June 12, although nothing is set in stone at this point.

Thiago will be looking to improve on the recent beating dished out to Mike Swick at UFC 109 following a unanimous decision victory over Jacob Volkmann during UFC 106, while Kampmann will be coming back from his own victory over Jacob Volkmann of the guillotine submission variety during UFC 108.

Demian Maia and Mike Swick may have fared differently inside the Octagon at UFC 109 but share a similar fate now medical suspensions for the event have been issued – visit the doctor or sit on the sidelines until early summer. According to information received by Five Ounces of Pain from the Nevada State Athletic Commission neither will be allowed to return to the cage until August without first receiving a physician’s clearance.

American Kickboxing Academy’s Swick, who was submitted via D’Arce Choke in the second round of his bout against Paulo Thiago, must have his left elbow cleared by an orthopedic specialist in order to compete before August 6th with a minimum suspension from action running until March 24th. He is also prohibited from contact until March 9th.

Thiago’s Brazilian countryman, Maia, also found himself victorious on Saturday night although the win came courtesy of a unanimous decision over Dan Miller. However, during the contest he apparently suffered a cut to his left eyelid and must have the laceration treated by an ophthalmologist or ocular-plastics doctor if he has any desire to fight again during the next six months.

The complete list of suspensions is as follows:

Rolles Gracie – Suspended until 3/9/10 (no contact until 2/28/10)
Melvin Guillard – Needs a follow up ophthalmologic exam in one or two months; must be done before 03/26/10 and he must take a copy of his January 2010 examination.
Mac Danzig – Must have orthopedic clearance on possible left knee sprain or no contest until 8/6/10
Justin Buchholz – Suspended until 3/9/10 (no contact until 2/28/10)
Frank Trigg – Suspended until 3/24/10 (no contact until 3/9/10)
Demian Maia – Must have left vertical upper eyelid laceration cleared by an ophthalmologist or an ocular-plastics doctor or no contest until 08/06/10.
Dan Miller – Suspended until 3/9/10 (no contact until 2/28/10)
Mike Swick – Swick must have left elbow x-rayed and cleared by an orthopedic Dr. or no contest until 8/6/10, minimum suspension no contest until 03/24/10 (no contact until 3/9/10)
Nate Marquardt – Suspended until 3/9/10 (no contact until 2/28/10)
Chael Sonnen – Suspended until 3/24/10 (no contact until 3/9/10 – lacerations on forehead and nasal bridge)
Mark Coleman – Suspended until 3/9/10 (no contact until 2/28/10)

The constantly revolving doors of the UFC talent pool is a necessary evil. It seems like every time a UFC takes place a handful of fighters are handed their walking papers from the promotion, and that’s exactly why I’m going to kick this edition of “The Aftermath” off with a list of….

Those that appear to run the highest risk of being released from the organization following UFC 109:

Frank Trigg – It’s not that losing back to back fights to welterweights like Josh Koscheck and former champion Matt Serra is an unforgivable offense as far as his future with the UFC was concerned, but it’s the fashion of the way Trigg has gone out in the previously mentioned bouts. It hasn’t been pretty.

Phillipe Nover – It was a victory for Nover to come back and complete this bout in the UFC following the syncopal spell that forced his last minute removal from an anticipated UFC Fight Night 19 showdown with Sam Stout, but three consecutive defeats in the Octagon at the hands of guys like Efrain Escudero, Kyle Bradley and Rob Emerson make it hard for the UFC to justify Nover’s place with the promotion.

Justin Buchholz – Much like Nover, the fact that we are even discussing a possible vacation from the UFC for Justin is an absolute testament to the promotion’s increasingly stacked and talent filled 155 pound weight class. However, with that being said, back-to-back… to back defeats at the hands of Terry Etim, Jeremy Stephens and Mac Danzig are going to make the case for Buchholz to stay in the UFC a hard one to make.

-

Raw Talent. “Mr. Wonderful” making it look easy. Finally, Phil Davis has arrived. I’ve been telling anyone that would listen for the last year about this ridiculously talented former NCAA Champion wrestler out of Penn State that was poised to have a tremendous impact on the future of the UFC’s light heavyweight division, and Davis’ performance at UFC 109 solidified my belief that the undefeated twenty-five year old has all of the tools necessary to go as far as he chooses to in the sport in due time. Davis is one of the few wrestlers with the unique ability to convert a series of takedowns combined with technical top control throughout the course of a bout into of the most fascinating aspects of the game to watch. Top notch wrestling at it’s finest combined with what appears to be an unlimited level of raw fighting talent for the still developing Davis have officially merged to put the ENTIRE light heavyweight division on notice.

Smile Now, Cry Later. Mike Swick looked way too happy going into the beating he caught from Paulo Thiago, even going as far as to exclaim that he was “back” during his trip to the Octagon. It was almost as if Swick was trying to convince himself that he was “back”. It appeared obvious that “Quick” meant to stay as relaxed and upbeat as possible going into his match-up with the dangerous Brazilian, and it also appeared obvious that Thiago meant to stay clear headed and…. well , a little bit pissed to be honest. Kind of the way Swick normally has looked prior to running through his opponents in the past.

Unnecessary Weight Loss. I have felt, and still absolutely feel that Mike Swick should move back up to what appears to be a healthier and more natural 185 pound weight class. It seems like the former light heavyweight from The Ultimate Fighter loses quite a bit from his level of explosiveness and power from the drop. So much attention is centered around cutting down to the lowest weight possible in this sport but one could look directly at a fighter such as Fedor Emelianenko to understand that every athlete should approach their specific situation on an individual level.

The Real Deal. Paulo Thiago just keeps getting better and better. Of course there’s that nasty decision loss at the hands of the constant grinder Jon Fitch on his resume, but Thiago has shown the type of promise in his first four bouts in the UFC with victories over the likes of Josh Koscheck, Jacob Volkmann, and now Mike Swick, that future champions are made of.

Back To The Drawing Board. So now that Chael Sonnen has pulled the rabbit out of his hat in the form of a three round pummeling of “The Great” , where does this loss leave Nate Marquardt? I still feel like Marquardt is without a doubt one of the most dangerous middleweights in the world, but the defeat suffered at the hands of Chael Sonnen during UFC 109 highlighted two previously unnoticed chinks in the Greg Jackson trained fighter’s armor. The first being his inability to deal with the type of top level wrestling that an opponent such as Sonnen will offer up. The second being any type of answer off his back in the form of a submission. Sonnen was staying extremely busy on top, but he was enabled to stay busy through a lack of a serious submission threat from the opponent beneath him. A loss in this fashion is exactly the type of loss can make a fighter reconsider some of the training methods that had gotten him there; Much like Yushin Okami before him.

Unlikely Challenger. Could Chael Sonnen be the guy to beat Anderson Silva? I’m just saying… it’s definitely a question that deserves to be asked at this point. I would have slapped myself right in the face if I had caught myself even considering the possibility at any point before last night, but now… well I’m not going to slap myself; I’ll put it that way. I have no doubt that Chael possesses the type of wrestling pedigree that it would take to deposit “The Spider” directly on his bottom, but how long can he keep him there without being submitted. If it was a three round fight I could actually see a situation where Sonnen could manage to come out with a victory, but a potential bout with Anderson would most likely be of the five round variety. Based on what I saw at the end of the bout between Sonnen and Marquardt last night I would have to believe that Silva would catch him in the fourth or fifth rounds if he doesn’t catch him in the first three; But who knows, crazier things have happened.

Not main event worthy? Is anyone complaining about having Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman as a main event now? I think as fans of the sport that sometimes we can get a little too caught up in the lack of a major championship match-up in every UFC that we can lose track of the big picture. The bottom line is that Randy Couture earned his position as a headlining draw a long time ago for exactly the same reasons that he showcased at UFC 109. The saying goes that you’re only as good as your last performance and unfortunately it is an expression widely embraced by a huge majority of the casual fans today. Couture vs. Vera was not an exciting fight; I’m not going to argue that for one moment; But go ahead and tell me the last time “Captain America” took part in anything less than a memorable battle…… go ahead, I’ll give you time to search it. The fact of the matter is that you would have to go all the way back to 2001 to fight a bout that could even be argued as being lackluster on the part of Couture. Couture delivered on Saturday night just as he has throughout his decorated career, and just as he will when he faces off with the winner of Machida vs. Rua II.

Randy Couture earned it. Saturday night’s performance absolutely justified Randy Couture as the next challenger to the light heavyweight title following the inevitable 205 pound championship rematch between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Sure, “The Natural” looked as good as he could have in dismantling Coleman in Las Vegas, and I completely understand that beating “The Hammer” doesn’t exactly justify an immediate title shot, but this is a business. A business that’s in the business of making money, and Randy Couture looking to become a UFC champion for the sixth time at what will be forty-seven years of age is an extremely good look for the promotion in the sense that dollars always seem to make sense.

Newly crowned contender Chael Sonnen picked up more than a shot at the UFC Middleweight Championship when he defeated Nate Marquardt via unanimous decision on Saturday night – he also netted an extra $60,000 for his efforts. Their scrap was named “Fight of the Night” at UFC 109 meaning Marquardt earned an additional sixty thousand dollars to help mend his wounds with as well.

Also taking home an unexpected amount of cash were fellow main card participants Matt Serra and Paulo Thiago. Serra was awarded “Knockout of the Night” after flattening Frank Trigg a few minutes into their bout, while Thiago’s second-round D’Arce Choke of American Kickboxing Academy’s Mike Swick was designated “Submission of the Night”.

The above bonus information was announced at the post-event press conference and originally reported by Sherdog.