In Bowles’ place steps Takeya Mizugaki (11-2-2), a WEC newcomer who will fight for the title in his promotion debut.

Bowles’ camp confirmed with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) the undefeated fighter suffered a back injury during a recent training session with American Top Team in Florida.

WEC 40 takes place at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago and airs on Versus.

No time table was given for Bowles’ possible return, but an initial medical examination ruled out the need for surgery. The injury isn’t thought to be too serious, and Bowles could return this summer.

Replacing Bowles is the Japanese fighter Mizugaki, who’s undefeated (5-0-1) in his past six fights. The 25-year-old Shooto veteran is widely regarded as one of the division’s top-10 bantamweights.

Meanwhile, Torres, based near Chicago, enters the bout with a 16-fight win streak. He won the title from Chase Beebe in February 2008 and has since posted successful title defenses over Yoshiro Maeda and Manny Tapia.

For complete coverage of WEC 40, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.

Taken from MMAJunkie.com

In an interview earlier today with Setanta Sports, one of the UFC’s European-based television broadcast partners, White confirmed several rumored matchups over the next few months.

White spoke freely as he relayed the details of UFC 100, a future German card, plans for Georges St. Pierre, B.J. Penn and several other potential future matchups.

First on the list was the much-discussed, though as-yet-unannounced, UFC 100, rumored for a July 11 date in Las Vegas.

“Other than, ‘How do I get a job with the UFC, that’s the second-most asked question: When is UFC 100, and what are you going to do for it?’” White joked. “I had been putting it off for so long. We were doing so many fights (that) I couldn’t focus on 100.”

Now that he has time to focus on the historic event, White said he is planning on putting together a card sure to excite the MMA community.

“UFC 100 is going to deliver,” White said. “People are going to be really pumped about that card.”

When questioned on rumored matchups for the event, White confirmed that champion St. Pierre would put his welterweight title on the line against Thiago Alves, while “The Ultimate Fighter” coaches Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping would also meet at the event.

White said there would also be one other marquee bout on the card.

“There’s going to be three major fights on the card,” White said.

The U.K.-based broadcasters also asked White what a win would mean for Bisping, and the answer was a title shot — possibly on his home soil.

“If [Bisping] beats Dan Henderson, not only will he break into the top five, I think if he wins that fight his next fight will be a title shot against Anderson Silva — which hopefully would be here in the U.K.,” White said.

White also discussed the UFC’s German debut, currently rumored to be UFC 99 on June 13.

“B.J. (Penn) is probably going to defend his 155-pound title against Kenny Florian, and I’m thinking maybe it’s going to be in Germany,” White said. “Wanderlei (Silva) will probably fight on that Germany card, too. Not sure yet, but possibly.”

White did not commit to a specific date for the German card, stating only that it would take place in June or July. Croatian striker Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic was also discussed as a potential competitor for the German event.

“I talked to Mirko probably about a month ago,” White said. “He said he’s ready to come back.

“He wants to come back in the UFC and he’d love to fight in Germany. I’m talking to his agent right now, and we’re trying to figure out what we can do.”

White also confirmed that Brock Lesnar will be facing Frank Mir in May to unify the heavyweight titles, that 205-pound contender Lyoto Machida will “probably have his title shot this summer,” and that there will be a title on the line when the UFC returns to the U.K. this summer.

White also mentioned Scotland, France and Dubai as future host for the UFC’s worldwide expansion, as well as the potential for future WEC events outside of the U.S.

Taken from MMAJunkie.com

MMAWeekly.com on Wednesday, however, was able to confirm through multiple independent sources that former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin and former Pride 205-pound champion Wanderlei Silva have agreed to fight each other at UFC 99.

Franklin has fought his last two bouts at light heavyweight, returning to the division after running into a brick wall named Anderson Silva at middleweight. Even though Wanderlei Silva’s fights in the UFC have all been at 205-pounds to this point, he has made public his intention of wanting to move down to the 185-pound division.

“I talk with (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva and… say no problem, I’m down for 185? He say, no problem,” Silva said in a recent interview with MMAWeekly.com, but adding, “I could fight in both divisions; I could fight 185 and 205.”

It appears that he may not fight at either weight come June 13. Though it is too soon for bout agreements, sources have indicated that Franklin and Silva have agreed to face each other at a catch weight somewhere in the neighborhood of 195 pounds.

With both fighters coming off of losses – Franklin to Dan Henderson and Silva to Quinton Jackson, each in the 205-pound division – a catch weight fight doesn’t really damage either’s hopes for a title shot, as each would likely have to win a couple of fights before being considered a contender again.

A catch weight fight is a logical step for Silva to make his transition to the middleweight division a little easier. Walking around at about 208 pounds, he’s never really had to deal much with weight cutting in the past, but will obviously have to in order to compete at middleweight.

The UFC has not officially confirmed any bouts yet for Germany, and it is not yet known whether Franklin and Silva will headline the UFC 99 fight card. Considering each fighter’s stature in the MMA world, their bout would likely be at least a co-main event.

The only other independently confirmed bout for UFC 99 at this point is a lightweight contest between Spencer Fisher and Caol Uno.

Taken from MMAWeekly.com

A representative for Riggs told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) the bout was finalized earlier this week.

The event takes place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., and features a main event between Frank Shamrock and Nick Diaz.

Shields, a 30-year-old who won the EliteXC strap this past summer, will leave the belt with the remnants of ProElite, Inc. Strikeforce struck a deal with the company earlier this month to take most of its top fighters and its Showtime deal. (A new CBS deal could also be in store for Strikeforce.)

Shields now enters Strikeforce, which doesn’t have a welterweight champion, as a top contender. With an 11-fight win streak (including stoppage victories in his past seven wins), Shields has become one of the 170-pound division’s top-ranked competitors worldwide.

He’ll put his impressive streak on the line against Riggs, who’s 4-2 since leaving the UFC after a December 2006 loss to Diego Sanchez. Riggs most recently fought at “Strikeforce: Destruction” in November 2008, when he defeated Luke Stewart via second-round TKO.

In addition to Shamrock vs. Diaz and Shields vs. Riggs, the April 11 Strikeforce event features Benji Radach vs. Scott Smith.

During a recent media call, Strikeforce promoter Scott Coker also said Gilbert Melendez and Strikeforce world lightweight champion Josh Thomson would likely be on the card. Although Coker mentioned recent signee Jorge Gurgel could be an opponent for Thomson, a representative from the Brazilian’s camp recently told MMAjunkie.com that an elbow injury will keep him off the card. Gurgel hopes to instead return at a Strikeforce event tentatively scheduled for May in Seattle.

Taken from MMAJunkie.com.

The March 1 event takes place at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, and the main card airs on Versus.

The night features WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown’s first title defense since the American Top Team fighter defeated former champ Urijah Faber. Brown (20-4) meets Texas-based fighter Leonard Garcia (12-3) in the night’s main event.

A late addition to the main card is rising featherweight contender Jose Aldo (13-1), who recently moved to 3-0 in the WEC with a first-round TKO of Rolando Perez in January. Aldo takes on 38-fight veteran and WEC newcomer Chris Mickle (26-11-1), a busy Midwest-based fighter who’s only 25 years old.

Other bouts scheduled for the televised main card include former top WEC lightweight contender Richard Crunkilton (16-2) vs. former IFL stand-out Bart Palaszewski (30-11). Additionally, former WEC lightweight champ Rob McCullough (16-5) meets Marcus Kicks (8-1), and Oklahoma State’s two-time NCAA Division I national wrestling champion and four-time All-American Johny Hendricks (4-0) takes on Alex Serdyukov (8-4).

WEC 39 was originally slated to feature a co-main event between WEC welterweight title-holder Carlos Condit and challenger Brock Larson. However, the bout was scrapped when Condit suffered a sprained wrist, and the WEC opted to scratch the entire 170-pound division soon after. Both Condit and Larson have since been moved to the UFC, where they’ll make their octagon debuts in the coming months.

The full WEC 39 card includes:

MAIN CARD (Televised)

* Champ Mike Brown vs. Leonard Garcia (for featherweight belt)
* Jose Aldo vs. Chris Mickle
* Richard Crunkilton vs. Bart Palaszewski
* Marcus Hicks vs. Rob McCullough
* Johny Hendricks vs. Alex Serdyukov

PRELIMINARY CARD (Un-televised)

* Marcos Galvao vs. Damacio Page
* Mike Budnik vs. John Franchi
* Justin Haskins vs. Mike Pierce
* Alex Karalexis vs. Greg McIntyre
* Phil Cardella vs. Danny Castillo
* Kenji Osawa vs. Rafael Rebello

Taken from MMAJunkie.com

A source close to the fighter has told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Robert Browning (1-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), the younger brother of controversial season-eight cast member Junie Browning, was one of 16 American fighters chosen to compete in the season-opening elimination round.

The show is currently in production, and the 22-year-old Browning is in Las Vegas with the other American and British participants.

As with other recent seasons of the show, “TUF 9″ uses a 32-man tournament format (broken into two different weight classes). Each fighter must win an elimination-round bout to earn a spot on the official 16-person TV cast. The show will ultimately feature eight welterweight fighters and eight lightweights.

(To avoid spoilers, we aren’t revealing the outcome of Browning’s fight.)

“The Ultimate Fighter 9: U.S. vs. U.K.” began production earlier this month. Former PRIDE champion Dan Henderson heads the U.S. team, and Michael Bisping, who was the middleweight winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 3,” leads the U.K. squad. The show debuts on April 1 after a broadcast of UFC Fight Night 18.

According to the MMA.tv database, Robert Browning has a 1-0 professional record and a 4-2 amateur mark. He’s fought exclusively in organizations in his home state of Kentucky, which included the American Fight League, where he holds the organization’s amateur featherweight title. (One AFL fight, which included a colorful cage entrance and some questionable in-ring antics, can be found below.)

His brother, Junie Browning, a lightweight semifinalist for Team Mir on “The Ultimate Fighter 8,” was nearly kicked off the show multiple times due to a series of outbursts, usually fueled by alcohol. He threw glasses at fellow cast members Kyle Kingsbury and Shane Primm, and UFC President Dana White read Junie the riot act on more than one occasion. He was knocked out of the competition by eventual show winner Efrain Escudero, but Junie rebounded for a second-round submission victory over Dave Kaplan at the show’s live finale. He next meets Cole Miller in a UFC Fight Night 18 televised main-card bout on April 1.

Our source told MMAjunkie.com that Robert Browning, like his big brother, also creates some drama before he even steps into the cage.

Taken from MMAJunkie.com

Always known for his tremendous strength and cardio conditioning, Sanchez will not accept a loss in either of those categories for his move to lightweight, which may not last as long as some people may have expected.

“I definitely am going to go back to welterweight. Maybe a year, year and a half at this weight, we’ll see,” he said in the interview. “It’s all about the business and the right fights, whatever are the best fights for the UFC. I’m here to put the best fights on for the fans and the UFC, and be the best fighter out there that I can be for you guys.”

The New Mexico born fighter attributes the move to lightweight as something he felt necessary at this point in his career, but as he ages, he believes that 170 will be his home once again.

“I’m 27 now, so I’m only in my twenties. When I come into my thirties it’s going to be a lot harder to make that weight drop, so I said hey go for the belt at 155 and then later on in my career, I can go for the belt at 170,” commented Sanchez.

Working in Lake Tahoe with his camp, he is confident that he will make the 155-pound weight limit with no problem. He’s already walking around at a comfortable size ready to make the cut.

“There’s no practice run for me. Time is ticking. I started at like 190 at the beginning of the year, and I’ve just lived very disciplined,” stated Sanchez. “(The) first 10 pounds came off easy, second 10 pounds not as easy, and now I’m weighing 166, so I’m about 11 pounds over, fully hydrated. That’s before I work out; I’m about 166. I get down to about 163, 162½ after the workout, so I’m at where I need to be in my mind.”

For the time being his home is the lightweight division and despite the weight loss, the “Ultimate Fighter” season 1 winner is ready to tackle the world.

“I’ve never felt better in my life,” he said about the weight cut.

Sanchez will close out his camp this week before heading to London to face Joe Stevenson in the main event of UFC 95.

Taken from MMAWeekly.com

However, lightweight contender Tyson Griffin, who snapped a four-fight win streak with a recent loss to Sean Sherk, didn’t and will instead meet Rafael dos Anjos on the night’s un-aired preliminary card.

The UFC recently confirmed most of the match-ups for the April 1 event, which takes place at the Sommet Center in Nashville for what will be the UFC’s Tennessee debut.

UFC Fight Night 18 is headlined by a bout between reigning WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit (22-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who was moved to the UFC after the WEC eliminated its 170-pound weight class earlier this month, and former middleweight and now rising welterweight contender Martin Kampmann (14-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC).

Three other bouts have been promised TV time, according to the UFC.com Events page.

Bader (8-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), fighting for the first time since his December 2008 victory over Vinicius Magalhaes at the TUF8 Finale, takes on Carmelo Marrero (10-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC), who’s 4-0 (with one no-contest) since he was dropped from the UFC following a 1-2 stint in the organization from 2006 to 2007.

Escudero (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who also makes his post-TUF debut after defeating Phillipe Nover at the show’s live finale, meets Jeremy Stephens (14-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) who recently filled in for an injured Hermes Franca in a UFC Fight Night 17 main event with Joe Lauzon. Stephens suffered a submission loss but is expected to be ready to go for the April 1 event.

Browning (3-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who’s constant confrontations and drunken behavior nearly forced him off the latest season of “TUF,” meets a fellow “TUF” veteran in Cole Miller (14-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC), a very well-rounded American Top Team fighter who will have a decisive jiu-jitsu edge in the bout. Miller hasn’t fought since his July 2008 come-from-behind submission victory over Jorge Gurgel.

In the preliminary card’s biggest feature, Griffin (12-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) meets dos Anjos (11-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who looks for his first UFC win after a devestating knockout loss to Stephens at UFC 91. If history tells us anything, his bout with Griffin should be a good one. In just seven career UFC fights, Griffin has won four Fight of the Night bonuses and one Submission of the Night award.

The latest card now includes:

MAIN CARD (Televised)

• Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann
• Efrain Escudero vs. Jeremy Stephens
• Ryan Bader vs. Carmelo Marrero
• Junie Browning vs. Cole Miller

PRELIMINARY CARD (Un-televised)

• Rafael dos Anjos vs. Tyson Griffin
• Nissen Osterneck vs. Jorge Rivera
• Tim McKenzie vs. Aaron Simpson
• Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Horwich*
• Rob Kimmons vs. Joe Vedepo*
• Brock Larson vs. Jesse Sanders*
• Ryan Jensen vs. Steve Steinbeiss*

* – Rumored and not officially announced

Taken from MMAJunkie.com.

The event takes place the weekend of March 28 (exact date TBD) at the Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu.

KINGDOM MMA, which recently announced the main-event fight, is the newest venture for ICON Sport and Superbrawl founder T. Jay Thompson.

“I started MMA in Hawaii when nobody gave it a chance,” Thompson stated in a press release. “I am more excited today about KINGDOM than I was in the early years about Superbrawl.”

Miller, a former UFC and WEC fighter who has a long history fighting in Hawaii, hasn’t competed since a June 2008 loss to Ronaldo Souza in last year’s DREAM middleweight tournament. Prior to the loss, Miller, 28, has won nine of his previous 10 fights and had emerged as a top-10-ranked middleweight in many polls.

Following the loss, Miller said he was retiring from the sport, though few took the announcement seriously.

He’ll look to continue his past dominance against Hawaiian fighters when he meets the hard-hitting Hose, an ICON Sport and EliteXC veteran who’s won seven of his past eight fights — all via knockout. The only loss came to Robert McDaniel at “EliteXC: Return of the King” in Honolulu in June 2008.

Miller and Hose are both former ICON Sport middleweight champions.

No other participants were announced for the upcoming event.

Tickets for the show, ranging from $15 to $150, go on sale Feb. 21 at the Blaisdell Box office and Ticketmaster.com.

Taken from MMAJunkie.com.