The nomination stage for the 2010 World MMA Awards closes this Saturday at www.worldmmaawards.com.

The awards program, launched in 2008 by "Fighters Only," honors the industry's best in 20 different MMA-related categories.

MMAjunkie.com looks to three-peat in the competitive "Media Source of
the Year" category while lead staff reporter and MMAjunkie.com Radio
co-host John Morgan looks to defend his inaugural win in the "MMA
Journalist of the Year" division.

The California State Athletic Commission dropped a one year suspension and $2,500 fine on Chael Sonnen for his failed UFC 117 drug test on Tuesday.

The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) has suspended the license of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Chael Sonnen, after Sonnen tested positive for steroids, a banned substance.

A sample from Sonnen’s August 6 drug test came back with a high T/E (testosterone-to-estrogen) level, which is indicative of anaboloic steroid use. CSAC learned of the results September 2 and ordered a second test, which also came back positive for steroid use. CSAC received test results from the second sample on September 14 and suspended Sonnen two days later. He is suspended for one year. Sonnen has 30 days to appeal the decision.

“The use of anabolic steroids and other banned substances are not tolerated by the commission,” said CSAC Executive Officer George Dodd. “Anabolic agents put the health and safety of both the user and his opponents at risk.”

Sonnen’s test was observed in the presence of a CSAC representative and the sample was sent to the World Anti-doping Agency test facility at the University of California, Los Angeles on August 6, 2010 for processing.

Sonnen faced UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva last month in the headliner of UFC 117. After four-and-a-half rounds of dominating the Brazilian, Sonnen was caught in a triangle submission and was forced to tap ending months of trash talk by the fighter.

Sonnen’s manager, Mike Roberts has stated that his fighter would be appealing the suspension. Sonnen will also appear on this Thursday’s upcoming episode of ESPN’s ‘MMA Live’ to talk about the issue.

A middleweight bout between Chris Leben and former WEC champion Briann Stann has been targeted for the Jan. 1 UFC 125 card.

Sources close to the event today alerted MMAjunkie.com of the tentative plans, though bout agreements have not been signed.

Although not officially announced, UFC 125 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view.

It looks like the UFC will start 2011 out with a bang, substituting the pyrotechnics from New Year’s Eve for fireworks of a more-physical kind the following evening at UFC 125 in Las Vegas. Already rumored to be headlined by the rematch between Chael Sonnen and 185-pound champ Anderson Silva, the event now looks to also be hosting a clash between respected light heavyweights Brandon Vera and Thiago Silva.

News of the fight, in which both men will be looking to right their proverbial ships, was reported by MMAJunkie.

The match-up against Vera will mark almost exactly a year to the day since Silva last stepped foot in the Octagon, a hard-fought decision loss to Rashad Evans at UFC 108. Though he was previously scheduled to compete against Tim Boetsch at UFC 117, the 14-2 Brazilian pulled out of the event on short notice with an affliction causing him to “lose movement” in his right leg.

“The Truth” will also be returning to the ring after an extended injury-related layoff when the cage-door closes at UFC 125. Vera last competed in March against Jon Jones and had three bones in his face broken as the result of a fight-finishing elbow keeping him out of action since. The TKO was his second consecutive defeat, the first coming by decision to Randy Couture in November 2009, and the fifth of his sixteen-bout career.

Both light heavyweights should offer up an exciting display at the event for fans in attendance and tuning in at home. Vera and Silva are both quite capable on the ground, but are known more for rendering opponents unconscious rather than tapping them out. Of their twenty-five combined wins, eighteen have come by way of TKO (not to mention a strike-based submission for American Top Team’s Silva).

Here are a couple of videos from the Norwegian lifters at Junior Worlds in Czech. In the first video we have 20 year old Carl Yngvar Christensen (+125kg) and in the second video we have 22 year old Stian Walgermo.(100kg)

Brazilian slugger Vitor Belfort recently explained he would be facing Yushin Okami in mid-November rather than UFC middleweight title-holder Anderson Silva due to injured ribs “The Spider” had stated would keep him out of the cage until next year. As it turns out, Silva will indeed be sidelined until after the curtain drops on 2010…and could be back in action about twenty hours after it according to top 185-pound contender Chael Sonnen.

During Sonnen’s recent stint as a co-host on ESPN’s MMA Live, the outspoken wrestler confirmed his expected rematch against Silva would take place on January 1st, 2011 in Las Vegas at UFC 125 as long as the champ didn’t suffer any setbacks while his ribs recovered (with “Super Bowl Weekend” slated as a back-up plan).

“Last time I defeated the myth. This time I’m gonna defeat the man,” he predicted. “The only thing different is I’m leaving there with the belt.”

Sonnen famously fell victim to Silva’s hybrid triangle-armbar at UFC 117 with less than two minutes remaining in a twenty-five minute bout he’d dominated prior to the submission. The Team Quest staple is 25-11-1 in his career and had won three consecutive fights before the championship bout including victories over Okami and Nate Marquardt.

Reports are coming out that this year’s annual year end UFC show will be UFC 125 and it will take place on January 1 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. There’s not much else known about the card, but expect that the UFC will push a solid finish to the year.

The MMA News will update UFC 125 and the word comes out.

Video of Willie Albert (181) and Jay Nera (220) training for the 2nd WPC Raw Worlds in Idaho Falls this September. Last year

Thomas Gerbasi, UFC - I once asked then-super middleweight boxing champion Jeff Lacy what a knockout felt like. He described it as playing a video game, but that he was controlling his opponent. When I posed the same question to UFC heavyweight contender Junior Dos Santos, he replied, "It's what I train to do; it's great when I accomplish my goal in a fight."

UFC’s most rotund heavyweight contender Roy “Big Country” Nelson is set to take on dangerous striker Junior dos Santos at UFC 117 on August 7, 2010 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California with a number one contender spot going to the winner. Nelson, who surprised MMA fans by scoring two back to back KO’s of the Night, certainly wants to keep the streak going and jab his way to victory, as he explained in his recent interview with Tapology:

I’m hoping that I can just throw a jab out there and knock dos Santos out with that and get Knockout of the Night. I’m hoping that it’s not Fight of the Night because I hate wars. I think it will be an exciting fight and it’s a pivotal fight in the division. I’m hoping that I can put myself in position to become champ by the end of the year.

It would be uber surprising if Nelson KO’d dos Santos with a jab, but stranger things have happened. This is definitely one of the biggest matches at UFC 117, and one to watch closely.