Paulo Filho

DREAM.12 to Feature Six-Sided Cage

Fighting and Entertainment Group today announced details regarding DREAM.12, which will take place on October 25 at the Osaka Castle Hall in Osaka, Japan. For the first time in the organization’s short history, it will use a six-sided cage.

DREAM also released a promotional video for the event, which features eight of the nine announced participants for the fight card. The video can be seen above.

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Arona Decisions Eastman at Bitetti Combat

Former PRIDE Fighting Championships standout Ricardo Arona looked rusty in his first fight in over two years, but managed to put together enough offense to stifle challenger Marvin Eastman en route to a unanimous decision victory in the main event of Saturday night’s Bitetti Combat 4 event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Arona (14-5) started the fight on a high note, connecting with a pair of leg kicks to Eastman’s thigh, one of them sending the UFC veteran falling to the canvas. A couple of successful takedowns saw Arona control the majority of the first round on the mat. However, Arona’s infamous lack of cardio began to show at the start of the second round, which featured very little, if any offense from either fighter.

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Weekend Preview: Arona Returns at Bitetti Combat, Horn Headlines Arena Rumble & More

Former PRIDE Fighting Championships standout Ricardo Arona will return to active competition for the first time in over two years when he takes on fellow veteran Marvin Eastman at Bitetti Combat 4 this Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

It will be the first fight for Arona since losing three out of four bouts under the PRIDE banner, including a brutal knockout at the hands of a streaking Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at PRIDE 34 in April 2007. Eastman is coming off of a second-round TKO of Aron Lofton at a Maximum Fighting Championship show in May.

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Quick Hits: Struve Tapped to Face Gormley, Weekend Preview & More

— Towering heavyweight prospect Stefan Struve has reportedly been tapped to face undefeated All-American collegiate wrestler Chase Gormley at UFC 104, which takes place on October 24 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.. Bout agreements have apparently been signed. Gormley was originally slated to face Ben Rothwell at the event but Rothwell was recently moved into a main card matchup against Cain Velasquez. [Fighters Only Magazine]

— A number of notable MMA veterans are in action this weekend. Art of Fighting’s latest offering in Tampa, Florida includes Seth Petruzelli, competing for the first time since his 14-second win over Kimbo Slice, going up against Chris Baten. Marcio Cruz and Delson Heleno will be on the AOF card as well. Neil Grove and Brad Pickett will also be defending their respective Ultimate Challenge UK titles in London, England while Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Masakazu Imanari, and Ryo Chonan are in action at DEEP 43 in Japan. [Bloody Elbow]

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DREAM.10 Live Results

We will be going live at 3:00 AM EST with live results of DREAM.10, which takes place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

The card will be headlined by a lightweight bout between Shinya Aoki and Vitor Riberio. Also on the card is the welterweight tournament semifinals featuring Hayato Sakurai vs. Marius Zaromskis and Andre Galvao vs. Jason High.

Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments throughout the evening. Detailed live results are after the jump.

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WEC 36: Faber vs. Brown Live Results

We will be going live at 5:30 PM ET with complete results from tonight’s WEC 36: Faber vs. Brown event, which will take place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The show’s televised main card will air on Versus starting at 8 PM ET.

WEC 36 is headlined by Urijah Faber once again defending his featherweight title against gritty top contender Mike Thomas Brown. In addition, WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho will meet Chael Sonnen in a non-title rematch of their December 2007 fight and former UFC lightweight title holder Jens Pulver will look to get back on track against rising featherweight Leonard Garcia.

Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments throughout the evening. Detailed live results are after the jump. 

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Sonnen Could Still Earn Belt From Filho

Even though his scheduled WEC middleweight title bout for tomorrow night as been changed to a non-title affair courtesy of Paulo Filho’s inability to make 185 lbs, Team Quest product Chael Sonnen could still end up getting his championship belt if he defeats Filho:

Perhaps more interesting is that Filho’s cornerman indicated to Lindland that they would give up the title belt if Sonnen wins. “His cornermen told us that they would walk across the cage and hand Chael the belt if he wins. When Chael whoops his ass, I expect them to live up to their word.

It remains unknown if the WEC would recognize the above as an official title change and Filho relinquishing the belt. Still, even if the bout was still for Filho’s middleweight title, Sonnen winning it wouldn’t have much bearing as the WEC is still set to dissolve it’s 185 lb. division by the end of the year.

Filho Misses Weight; Sonnen Fight Now Non-Title Affair

WEC middleweight title holder Paulo Filho came in an astounding seven pounds over the 185 lb. limit at the weigh-ins for WEC 36 on Tuesday afternoon, putting his championship rematch against Team Quest product Chael Sonnen in jeopardy.

After the two-hour allotted time limit, Filho was only able to cut down to 188 lbs, making his showdown against Sonnen a non-title affair. Sonnen will be awarded 25% of Filho’s purse.

In addition, featherweight title challenger Mike Brown came in a half pound over the featherweight limit and jiu-jitsu wizard Rani Yahya weighed-in one pound over the bantamweight requirements for his fight against Yoshiro Maeda. Brown was quickly able to shed the extra baggage while Maeda has agreed to face Yahya without forcing him to cut weight again.

Complete weigh-in results are after the jump.

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Despite Friendship, Filho and Silva Could Fight

Even before Paulo Filho competed for World Extreme Cagefighting, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva stated that he would not fight him because of their long-standing friendship.

At the time, it was a blow to all those that wanted to see the fight happen. However times have changed. The reality is that neither fighter has a decent amount of viable contenders left in their respective divisions. With the WEC all but set to merge some of it’s weight classes into the UFC next year, one has to assume that Filho and Silva would eventually be forced to clash.

According to Ed Soares, the cult-favorite manager of both fighters, it could happen:

“If that’s the fight that the world wants to see, then I guess we’re going to have to sit back and talk about it,” Soares told MMA Weekly. “I think that’s going to be a hard one to get across to both sides.”

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WEC Announces Full Card for Sept. 10 Show

World Extreme Cagefighting today officially announced the complete lineup of fights that will take place at the organization’s scheduled September 10th event in Hollywood, Florida.

The most notable bout made official today involves former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver looking to solidify himself as a contender once again in the WEC’s featherweight division as he will take on fellow heavy-hitter Leonard Garcia. The bout will be part of the event’s televised main card on Versus.

Pulver is coming off of a failed attempt to dethrone reigning 145 lb champion Urijah Faber while Garcia will be fighting for the first time since being charged and eventually cleared of involvement in a New Mexico drug ring.

Additional matchups announced for the card this afternoon included Rani Yahya vs. Yoshiro Maeda, Rob McCullough vs. Donald Cerrone, Jake Rosholt vs. Danillo Villefort, Johny Hendricks vs. Alex Serdyukov, Tim McKenzie vs. David Avellan, and Ed Ratcliff vs. Danny Castillo.

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