Kyle, Baker Win Decisions at Fighting 4 Kidz

UFC and EliteXC veteran Mike Kyle and World Extreme Cagefighting middleweight Bryan Baker were both victorious last night at JG and TKT Promotions’ “Fighting 4 Kidz” charity event in Santa Monica, California Saturday night, while former “Ultimate Fighter” cast member Gabe Ruediger fell in his first fight in almost a year.

Kyle overcame a dangerous third round to earn a decision over Mychal Clark while Baker used superior striking skills to pick apart Gary Padilla over three rounds en route to the nod on the judge’s scorecards.

Ruediger, who came into the event not fighting since November 2007, was never able to get going against American Kickboxing Academy Justin Wilcox, who dominated Ruediger and won a unanimous decision.

World jiu-jitsu champion Andre Galvao was successful in his professional MMA debut in the show’s main event, submitting Strikeforce veteran Jeremiah Constant with an armbar in the second round.

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Team USA Edges Out Korea in M-1 Challenge

Team USA earned a narrow 3-2 win over Team Korea behind the performances of Jake Ellenberger and Jeremiah Constant at the latest edition of the M-1 Challenge in Korea.

Ellenberger scored a second-round TKO of Doo Won Seo via doctor’s stoppage due to cuts while Constant submitting Ji Hoon Kim in the first round of their featured bout. David Gardner‘s quick knockout of Jang Yong Kim handed the Americans the hard-fought victory.

Behind a strong showing by UFC veteran Jordan Radev, the World Star Team soundly defeated Team Japan 4-1. Radev, who was released from the UFC following a loss to Dean Lister last December, picked up his third straight win, winning a decision over Yuya Shirai.

Other notable bouts saw Bruno Carvalho decision DREAM veteran Tatsuya Mizuno and Roman Zentsov fall to Sang Soo Lee by way of first-round submission in one of the show’s superfights.

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Ortiz Talks Free Agency, Interested Parties

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz was featured as a panelist on last night’s edition of Inside MMA on HDNet and discussed his current state as a free agent in the world of mixed martial arts following the conclusion of his contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship earlier this month.

Despite his ongoing feud with UFC President Dana White, Ortiz admits that he is actually still negotiating with his long-time home, although a clause in his contract may be giving the UFC more room to talk to him than he would like.

Even after all of the drama, Ortiz says that there is still a small chance he may end up signing with the UFC after all.

“EliteXC - possibility, Affliction - possibility, the UFC - a small chance of that happening,” Ortiz said when asked about where he might end up. “You know I’m taking this stuff with Dana White and shoving it aside and moving on with my life. I’m going to wash my hands [of it] and make sure that my future is going to be very, very, very… great.”

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Quach, Murphy Withdraw from ShoXC

Bao Quach and Jon Murphy have both withdrawn from their respective bouts at the latest edition of ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series, which is scheduled to take place at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California on September 26th, according to reports by Five Ounces of Pain and MMA Junkie.

Quach, who was slated to take on skilled grappler Wilson Reis for EliteXC’s vacant featherweight title, has been forced off the card after suffering a “facial injury” during a recent training session. A timetable for his return is unknown at this time.

MMA on Tap has since confirmed with EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw that King of the Cage flyweight champion Abel Cullum will move up in weight to challenge Reis for the belt.

Murphy’s manager, East Coast fight promoter Ed Hsu, has also stated that Murphy has withdrawn from the show due to unknown reasons. His opponent, Shane Del Rosario, is now expected to face Carl Seumanutafa.

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Countdown to UFC 88 Video Preview

Above is a preview of “Countdown to UFC 88”, which profiles the upcoming light heavyweight clash between Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans and premieres Wednesday, September 3 at 11 PM ET on Spike TV.

Diaz’s Camp Responds to Noons’ Statement

Days after EliteXC lightweight champion K.J. Noons issued a formal statement to the media concerning his reasoning behind turning down a proposed title defense against Nick Diaz, Cesar Gracie, Diaz’s longtime trainer, has posted a response on his fight team’s official website, Graciefighter.com.

The post breaks down Noons’ statement piece-by-piece, offering the camp’s thoughts on a variety of things that Noons elaborated on, including his lack of promotion by EliteXC, his boxing career, his salary, and his father among other things.

Below are some excerpts from their response.

Diaz’s camp on Noons decision to turn down the Diaz bout to pursue his boxing career despite wanting fight Eddie Alvarez instead: “Earth to KJ; you don’t have a boxing career. No one in the boxing world knows who you are. Another MMA company would have paid you less and not given you a title shot, especially when you were 1-1. If you will not fight Diaz due to a breach of contract by EliteXC then why would you fight Alvarez for the same terms?”

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Raw Combat Signs Jose Landi-Jons

Raw Combat, which is taking the place of the now-defunct Hardcore Championship Fighting in the Alberta mixed martial arts scene, announced Friday that the promotion has signed longtime veteran Chute Boxe co-founder Jose “Pele” Landi-Jons.

“He’s my one of my top five MMA fighters,” Raw Combat CEO Dave Feser said in a recent press release. “He’s got true warrior spirit and he’s been in battles with some of the best guys in the world. I’m honored to have him on our show. His camp says he is back and training like a madman. He’s itching to get back into the cage to prove that he’s still one of MMA’s top fighters in the world.”

Landi-Jons was extremely successful during the early stages of his career, notching wins against Matt Hughes and Pat Miletich. He last competed against Brian Gassaway at TKO 32 in February, where he suffered a broken leg after a botched kick to Gassaway’s shin. Landi-Jons now claims that the injury has healed and he is ready to return to action.

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Affliction Inks Fedor to Contract Extension

Perennial heavyweight king Fedor Emelianenko has reportedly signed a contract extension with Affliction Entertainment, who are looking to have Emelianenko defend his WAMMA heavyweight title at the organization’s planned third event in either January of February according to MMA News.

“We’ve just extended our deal with Fedor and we are very happy about that,” Affliction VP Tom Atencio told the website. “We are looking at the Arlovski/Barnett elimination fight right now with the winner fighting Fedor for sure in January or February.”

Atencio also stated that although Emelianenko currently plans on fighting in Japan for his annual bout on New Year’s Eve, nothing is official in that regard.

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Report: Couture and UFC to End Legal Battle

Update 11:37 PM ET: Dave Meltzer is now reporting that Couture in the midst of negotiating with the UFC for a new three-fight deal that will have him headline UFC 91 in Portland, Oregon against Brock Lesnar. If a deal is signed, an official announcement is expected to be made next week.

Just as rumors circulate that embattled heavyweight champion Randy Couture would be interested in fighting for the UFC one last time, Couture may now reportedly be signing a new long-term deal with the promotion according to Michael Rome of Bloody Elbow:

I’ve spoken with a lot of people about Randy Couture in the last day.  Things are definitely happening.

First, I can say with 100% certainty that there are current negotiations for Randy Couture to return in November to main event, and that the current proposed opponent is Brock Lesnar.  They can’t get Fedor, too many issues to work out on short notice, and he has a US-only non compete with Affliction.

This will be a new contract, not a return to the old one.  It will likely pay him more and give him more benefits, but it will lock him into the UFC for the long term.  In exchange for signing it Zuffa would drop all breach of contract charges.

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WEC to Drop LHW Class After Sept. 10

Former “Ultimate Fighter” contestant Alex Schoenauer has revealed that World Extreme Cagefighting plans to drop their light heavyweight weight class following the conclusion of WEC 36 on September 10 in a recent interview with MMA Junkie.

“I believe it’s a five-fight deal,” Schoenauer said of his contract with the WEC in the interview. “Only one is with the WEC and the rest are supposed to be with the UFC. [The WEC] is supposed to be moving all of the 205 (pounders) from the WEC to the UFC. This is supposedly their last 205 (pound) show.”

Schoenauer also stated that his previously announced signing with the California-based Palace Fighting Championships never became a reality. He is replacing an injured Mark Munoz against BodogFight veteran Steve Steinbeiss in one of WEC 36’s non-televised preliminary bouts.

Rumors that Zuffa was considering to combine the WEC’s 185 lb. and 205 lb. weight classes into the UFC started months ago and the plan was eventually confirmed by UFC President Dana White. No word as of yet concerning whether or not the Sept. 10 show will also be the last for the WEC’s middleweight division as well.