Mike Pyle

All Fighters on Weight for UFC Fight Night 19

The official weigh-in results for tomorrow night’s UFC Fight Night 19 event, which takes place at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, are below. All fighters successfully made weight.

Headlining UFC Fight Night 19 will be a lightweight clash between “Ultimate Fighter 5” winner Nate Diaz and colorful striker and fellow “TUF” alumnus Melvin Guillard as well as Roger Huerta’s potential final UFC bout against standout wrestler Gray Maynard.

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Previewing UFC Fight Night 19: The Prelims

One of the more busy weeks in MMA will kick off on Wednesday when the UFC holds UFC Fight Night 19 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma before premiering the first episode of the tenth season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show on Spike TV.

Headlining UFC Fight Night 19 will be a lightweight clash between “Ultimate Fighter 5” winner Nate Diaz and colorful striker and fellow “TUF” alumnus Melvin Guillard as well as Roger Huerta’s potential final UFC bout against standout wrestler Gray Maynard.

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Cantwell vs. Stann Rubber Match Added to UFC Fight Night 19

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced that former WEC light heavyweight champions Brian Stann and Steve Cantwell will settle the score at UFC Fight Night 19 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

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“Night of Combat II” Fight Card Changes

Following a reported positive test for marijuana, Bryson Kamaka has been taken off from tonight’s “Night of Combat II” card, which is being promoted by Kim Couture’s KC Concepts and Scott Kelp’s Superfights MMA and will take place at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The news comes from a report by Five Ounces of Pain.

MMA on Tap has since been able to confirm through the management team of former IFL welterweight champion Jay Hieron, who was Kamaka’s original opponent, that he will now face local product Chris Kennedy at the event.

Kennedy, who currently fights out of Las Vegas, has won his last three fights, most recently earning a third-round submission of Mike Arranz at Jeremy Horn’s Elite Fight Night on July 12. Kennedy has also gone the distance with fellow welterweight prospect Josh Williams and “Ultimate Fighter” cast member Joe Duarte during his brief career.

Hieron has not competed since successfully defending his IFL belt against former U.S. Marine Mark Miller in April. He became the IFL’s first-ever welterweight champion after defeating Donnie Liles and Delson Heleno in consecutive fights. The Long Island native is currently keeping in shape by training at Xtreme Couture. He was originally slated to take on Drew Fickett on October 11 at Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” show before it was postponed until early next year.

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Cooper-Speight Finalizes Affliction II Card

A welterweight bout between IFL veteran Brett Cooper and undefeated prospect Patrick Speight will reportedly finalize Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” card, which will take place on October 11th at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of UNLV according to a report by MMA News.

Affliction VP Tom Atencio was said to have confirmed Cooper vs. Speight as the final bout to be signed for the event yesterday. Both fighters were originally scheduled to be part of Affliction’s “Banned” show on July 19 but were removed from the card due to unknown reasons.

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Surprises and Switches at Affliction Presser

Affliction Entertainment held a press conference earlier this afternoon at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas to confirm a quartet of fights and reveal broadcast details for the promotion’s scheduled “Day of Reckoning” event, which will take place on October 11th at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of UNLV.

Among the bouts officially announced today by Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio included two previously reported bouts: a rematch between IFL light heavyweight champion Vladimir Matyushenko and longtime divisional contender Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and a middleweight contest between former UFC standouts Vitor Belfort and Matt Lindland.

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Fedor Submits Sylvia at Affliction Premiere

The long-running dispute is now over. After over a year of continual debate regarding Fedor Emelianenko’s perennial status as the world’s top heavyweight, the former PRIDE title holder answered the call in fighting his first top-ranked opponent in nearly three years, and won, in decisive fashion.

Emelianenko quickly knocked down and submitted former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in just 36 seconds, capping off a night of exciting action at Affliction Clothing’s inaugural event, which took place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California in front of a host of notable athletes and celebrities.

Sylvia literally never even got started in the fight. After circling each other for a brief moment, Emelianenko stunned and dropped Sylvia with a flurry of left and rights. Fedor quickly pounced on the 6’8 Miletich Fighting Systems product, pounding away with hammer fists until Sylvia gave up his back, allowing Emelianenko to sink in the rear naked choke for the impressive finish.

After the bout, post-fight interviewer and former referee “Big” John McCarthy asked the Russian who he’d like to fight next. His answer then stepped into the ring in the form of current embattled UFC heavyweight champ Randy Couture, who is currently seeking legal help in the courts in his quest to fight Emelianenko before his impending retirement.

“I always thought that the day where I would have to fight Randy would come,” Emelianenko said after the fight with the help of a translator. “It would be a true honor to fight him and I hope that we will be able to work things out in order to make it happen.”

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Affliction: Banned Live Results

We will be going live at 7:00 PM ET with live results of tonight’s Affliction: Banned, the inaugural mixed martial arts show for the popular California-based clothing company, which will take place this evening at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

The show features a main event years in the making between former PRIDE title holder and perennial top heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko and five-time UFC champion Tim Sylvia. Other notable fights on the card include a rematch between Josh Barnett and Pedro Rizzo, a sure-fire war on the feet between Andrei Arlovski and Ben Rothwell, and the return to active competition of former Olympic wrestler Matt Lindland as he faces Brazilian submission wizard Fabio Negao.

Be sure to leave comments throughout the night. Details live results are after the jump.

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Affliction: Banned Weigh-In Results - Buentello vs. Emelianenko Cancelled

The official-weigh in results for tomorrow night’s Affliction: Banned event, which takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, are below. All fighters successfully made weight with the exception of Justin Levens, who weighed-in four pounds over the middleweight limit. However it’s unknown whether or not his bout against Ray Lazama is being fought a catch-weight or not.

In more unfortunate news, the scheduled bout between PRIDE veteran Aleksander Emelianenko and one-time UFC heavyweight title challenger Paul Buentello has been scrapped. According to the California State Athletic Commission, Emelianenko failed to meet the necessary licensing requirements. A replacement opponent for Buentello will not be able to be found in time.

Tickets still remain on sale for the event. The pay-per-view portion of the card will begin at 10 PM ET and FOX Sports Net will be airing three preliminary bouts tomorrow night as well. The promotion intends to televise as many fights as possible, including those prelims that will not be featured on FSN, which will act as swing bouts for the PPV.

Main Card:

Fedor Emelianenko (230 lbs) vs. Tim Sylvia (263 lbs)
Andre Arlovski (241 lbs) vs. Ben Rothwell (264 lbs)
Josh Barnett (256 lbs) vs. Pedro Rizzo (242 lbs)
Matt Lindland (185 lbs) vs. Fabio Negao (185 lbs)
Renato “Babalu” Sobral (201 lbs) vs. Mike Whitehead (206 lbs)

Preliminary Bouts:

Vitor Belfort (185 lbs) vs. Terry Martin (185 lbs)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (205 lbs) vs. Edwin Dewees (205 lbs)
Mike Pyle (171 lbs) vs. J.J. Ambrose (170 lbs)
Savant Young (145 lbs) vs. Mark Hominick (144 lbs)
Justin Levens (189 lbs) vs. Ray Lazama (186 lbs)

Report: Four Prelims Signed for Affliction Show

On the same day that Affliction Clothing makes it’s official entrance into the world of promoting mixed martial arts events, details regarding four signed preliminary bouts for it’s upcoming planned “Banned” show on July 19th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California have come to light.

The news comes from Sergio Non of USA Today, who confirmed the fights with Affliction VP Tom Atencio.

IFL veteran Savant Young, who recently earned a huge upset win over former Shooto featherweight title contender Takeshi Inoue last weekend, will take on WEC and TKO veteran Mark Hominick in the most high-profile preliminary bout.

Additional dark matches include UFC veteran Justin Levens vs. Ray Lazama, Mike Pyle vs. Brett Cooper, and J.J. Ambrose vs. Patrick Speight.

Atencio also informed Non that Ben Rothwell will indeed fight at the event but an opponent for the Miletich Fighting Systems product has yet to have been determined. Various sources have been reporting that former UFC heavweight champion Andrei Arlovski may very well be Rothwell’s counterpart in the cage but it’s still unknown whether or not he will continue to free agency after finishing out the remainder of his deal with the UFC two months ago.

Contracts for a heavyweight clash between Aleksander Emelianenko and Paul Buentello have also reportedly been sent out to both fighters but have not yet been returned signed.

The potential fight card for the event now looks like this:

Main Card:

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia
Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo
Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao
Mike Whitehead vs. Renato Sobral
Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Paul Buentello
Ben Rothwell vs. TBA

Preliminary Bouts:

Mark Hominick vs. Savant Young
Justin Levens vs. Ray Lazama
Mike Pyle vs. Brett Cooper
J.J. Ambrose vs. Patrick Speight