Demian Maia To Get Next Title Shot

Jiu Jitsu virtuoso Demian Maia will get the next middleweight title crack, after Thales Leites, reports Cage Potato:

There's no official date set, but our source says Maia's camp is expecting the bout to take place in late August, which would most likely put it at UFC 102 in Portland, Ore. The middleweight title bout would certainly bolster a card that's rumored to be headlined by Randy Couture returning home to the Pacific Northwest to take on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Considering Silva only has five fights left on his contract, it is significant that one is being spent on Maia. The up and coming star is certainly deserving, but he will not provide the big money fight that some other Silva pairings could.

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UFC 101: Penn vs. Florian

MMA Weekly has confirmed this event:

The anticipated showdown between UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn and number one contender Kenny Florian will finally take place. A blog post on Penn's official website stated that Florian has already signed his bout agreement and "as for B.J., we received the bout agreement (Friday) afternoon and plan on making this fight happen."

The post states the bout will headline UFC 101 on Aug. 8 in Philadelphia.

The bout will be Penn's first defense of his lightweight title since defeating Sean Sherk at UFC 84 in May of last year. It will also mark his first action in the Octagon since a loss to UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 94 in January, which has been mired in controversy over accusations of improper usage of Vaseline by St. Pierre's camp.

"I look forward to the challenge," Penn stated about the defense.

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Shamrock Adds New Talent To Team

Legendary Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Fighter Frank Shamrock Adds New Talent to his Fight Team.
A Strikeforce contract was awarded to the standout competitor.

San Jose, CA. – March 27, 2009 – Legendary mixed martial arts fighter and four-time world champion Frank Shamrock officially added new talent to his fight team on March 21st after holding open tryouts at his newest training facility in San Jose, California. Team Shamrock gained six new talented MMA fighters and a Strikeforce contract was awarded to the standout athlete.

The Team Shamrock tryouts, sponsored by TapouT , were open to experienced professional fighters with backgrounds in combat sports such as boxing, wrestling, Muay Thai and kickboxing. Frank Shamrock’s reputation as one of the most respected and skilled mixed martial artists in the world, paired with the opportunity to walk away with a Strikeforce fight contract, attracted over forty fight team hopefuls. Competitors traveled from across the U.S and abroad to compete for a coveted spot on Shamrock’s team.

“The tryouts were a great success; I liked the entire group of athletes that tried out and was very impressed with their skills. The skill level of the average fighter has definitely gone up considerably in the past few years, allowing me to add some phenomenal new talent to my team. I’m also very excited to be one of the first MMA coaches to award a Strikeforce contract at fight team tryouts.” stated Frank Shamrock, MMA Legend and founder of Shamrock MMA.

Middleweight Victor Cheng, the stand out athlete and winner of the Strikeforce contract, traveled to San Jose from Sweden to compete for a spot on the team. Cheng, who excelled in every level of the competition, clearly impressed the judges with his presence, level of conditioning, and unparalleled striking and ground skills.

New Team Shamrock fighters Victor Cheng, Floyd Nazereno, Nick Gennoe, Allen Stevens, Nicholas Eric Marcus and Christian Barber will officially represent Shamrock’s fight team and will have the opportunity to train with Frank Shamrock at his academy. In addition, each new team member will be awarded a contract opportunity with MMA Stars Inc ., a full service management and talent development company for mixed martial arts athletes, and may also have the chance to work with Strikeforce, as well as other local, national, and international fight promotions, various reality TV shows and media outlets.

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Dana White Comments On Affliction Counter Programming UFC 100

Shortly after Affliction announced that they would indeed counter program against UFC 100, FiveOuncesOfPain texted UFC President Dana White.

This is what they got back: “How do I feel about them trying to counter-program UFC 100?,” White began his statement, before continuing, “I love it. I fucking love it. I love it. I don’t like these guys and I want to see them spend more of their t-shirt money. What they should be worrying about is — they’ve already seen first hand that nobody gives a shit about Affliction MMA — what they need to starting worrying about is nobody wants to wear their goofy fucking clothes anymore either. The fad is over and they better start saving as much of that t-shirt money as they can.”

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