Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

By Andy Cotterill (andy@mm-eh.ca)

It looks like Edmonton’s Nick ‘The Quiet Assassin’ Penner (11-2) will be getting his second kick at the UFC can, as it is being reported by the Score’s MMA Blog that he will be facing Tom DeBlass (7-1) at UFC on FUEL TV 4: Munoz vs. Weidman on July 11 in San Jose, California.

Penner made his UFC debut in Australia in March, but fell short to Aussie Anthony Perosh via TKO with only one second remaining in the first round.

New Jersey’s DeBlass is also coming off a loss, his first ever, against Cyrille Diabate at UFC on Fuel TV 2 in April.

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Photo from UFC.com

By Andy Cotterill (andy@mm-eh.ca)

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is in Fairfax, Virginia tonight, where Dustin Poirier and Chan Sung Jung square off in the main event of UFC on FUEL TV 3.

There are twelve fights in total with three Canadians on the card.  Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia’s T.J. Grant faces Brazilian Carlo Prater at lightweight, Montreal’s Yves Jabouin faces Jeff Hougland, and Jason MacDonald fights for what may be his last time in the UFC in a middleweight bout against Tom Lawlor.

Results

Match – Winner – Loser – Method – Round – Time

12 – Chan Sung Jung def. Dustin Poirier - Submission (D’Arce Choke) – R4 – 1:07

11 – Amir Sadollah def. Jorge Lopez - Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) – R3 – 5:00

10 – Donald Cerrone def. Jeremy Stephens - Unanimous Decision (30-27 x 3) – R3 – 5:00

9 – Yves Jabouin def. Jeff Hougland - Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-27) – R3 – 5:00

8 – Igor Pokrajac  def. Fabio Maldonado - Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28) – R3 – 5:00

7 – Tom Lawlor def. Jason MacDonald - KO – R1 – 0:50

6 – Brad Tavares def. Dongi Yang - Unanimous Decision (29-28 x 3) – R3 – 5:00

5 – Cody McKenzie def. Marcus LeVesseur - Submission (Guillotine Choke) – R1 – 3:05

4 – T.J. Grant def. Carlo Prater - Unanimous Decision (30-27 x 3) – R3 – 5:00

3 – Rafael Dos Anjos def. Kamal Shalorus – Submission (Rear Naked Choke) – R1 – 0:40

2 – Johnny Eduardo def. Jeff Curran - Unanimous Decision (29-28 x 3) – R3 – 5:00

1 – Francisco Rivera def. Alex Soto – Unanimous Decision (30-27 x 3) – R3 – 5:00

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Photo by Andy Cotterill / MM-eh.ca

By Andy Cotterill (andy@mm-eh.ca)

Check out this exclusive photo gallery of T.J. Grant training for his bout tonight against Carlo Prater at UFC on FUEL 3 in Fairfax, Virginia.

Grant, who trains out of Fit Plus in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, hopes to make this his second win in as many tries in his newly adopted lightweight division.

You can watch Grant’s fight LIVE on the UFC’s Facebook Page Tuesday evening starting at 5:30 Eastern Time.

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Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada’s T.J. Grant invited MM-eh‘s Andy Cotterill into his home to talk about his fight tomorrow night against Carlo Prater at UFC on FUEL 3.

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Featherweight Champ Jose Aldo (left) squares off against his UFC 149 challenger Eric Koch. Photo by Jason Phillip / MM-eh.ca

By Andy Cotterill (andy@mm-eh.ca)

MM-eh‘s Jason Phillip was in Calgary on Wednesday for the UFC 149: Aldo vs. Koch press conference, set for Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome on July 21.

Featherweight champ Jose Aldo and challenger Eric Koch attended, as well as Calgary’s own Nick ‘The Promise’ Ring, who will be taking on Court McGee in a middleweight bout.

UFC Director of Canadian Operations Tom Wright started the day with the press conference, then he and the fighters traveled the short distance to McMahon Stadium for a fun workout with a few of the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders.  The days events finished with a fan meet and greet at a Boston Pizza.

To see the entire UFC 149 Fight card CLICK HERE.

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Here he is on A&E’s Criss Angel Mindfreak.

Photo by Al Bello/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

By Andy Cotterill (andy@mm-eh.ca)

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced that Canadian John ‘The Natural’ Alessio (34-15) and Oklahoma’s Shane Roller (10-6) have verbally agreed to a lightweight matchup at UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II  in Las Vegas on July 7.

This is Alessio’s third stint in the UFC.  His introduction to the world’s most popular organization came in the form of a lightweight title fight against then champion Pat Miletich at UFC 26 in 2000, when Alessio was only 19 years old.  He rejoined the promotion in 2006 but dropped both of his bouts against Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves — both by unanimous decision.

Alessio spent the next six years fighting in the WEC and other regional organizations and came to be considered one of the top welterweights outside of the UFC.  But in an interview with MM-eh last year, Alessio lamented that he was frustrated because he felt that he was a better fighter than many of the other Canadians who were currently fighting there.

Since 2009 Alessio had won ten of eleven fights and dropped his weight class to lightweight, and after a gritty victory over Ryan Healey at SFS 4 in March he got the call that he had been waiting for.  Alessio recently fought fellow Canadian Mark Bocek at UFC 145 and went the distance, dropping a unanimous decision.

Roller hasn’t fared as well as Alessio recently having one win in his four UFC appearances, so this is likely a make-or-break fight for his future with the organization. 

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MM-eh‘s Chris Harding was in Moncton, New Brunswick Saturday night to capture the action inside the cage at Elite 1 ‘Showdown.’

To see the full event results, CLICK HERE.

New Elite 1 Lightweight Champion Adam Hazelton. Photo by Chris Harding

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Photo from UFC.com

UFC^® COMES TO CALGARY WITH CHAMPIONSHIP CARD

UFC^® 149: ALDO VS. KOCH

Saturday, July 21 from Scotiabank Saddledome – Tickets on sale May 12

PRESS CONFERENCE, STAMPEDER TRAINING AND AUTOGRAPH SESSION

SET FOR WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 

UFC^® FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPION JOSE ALDO AND CONTENDERERIK KOCH ARE JOINED BY NICK RING AND UFC^® DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS TOM WRIGHT AT SHAW COURT IN CALGARY 

TORONTO – The Ultimate Fighting Championship^®, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, announced today that tickets for its inaugural event in Calgary will go on sale to the general public on Saturday, May 12. UFC^® 149: ALDO VS. KOCH sees featherweight champion Jose Aldo defend his145-pound crown against tenacious contender Erik Koch on Saturday, July 21 at Scotiabank Saddledome. Both fighters will join local UFC^® middleweight Nick Ring and UFC^® Director of Canadian Operations Tom Wright for a press conference and other events (as listed below) in Calgary on Wednesday, May 9 at 10 a.m. MTN at Shaw Court.

The July 21 event marks the first of three UFC^® events taking place in Canada in 2012 as Toronto (Sept. 22, location to be determined) and Montreal (Nov. 17, Bell Centre) are also set with UFC^® dates this calendar year.

Reigning UFC^® featherweight champion Jose Aldo (21-1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is undefeated in the UFC as he puts his belt on the line against knockout artist Erik Koch (13-1, fighting out of Milwaukee, Wisc.). Considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, Aldo has reeled off 14 straight wins and has not lost since 2005. For his part, the 22-year-old Koch has but one career loss and has won four straight with two Knockout of the Night awards in those performances.

Two former UFC^® champions add to the star power in Calgary as former light heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua (20-6, fighting out of Curitiba, Brazil) faces off against Thiago Silva (14-3, 1 NC, fighting out of Sao Paulo, Brazil) while former interim heavyweight champ Minotauro Nogueira (33-7-1, 1 NC, fighting out of Bahia, Brazil) returns to action to face thealways dangerous Cheick Kongo (27-7-2, fighting out of Paris, France). Seasoned veterans also clash as Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-5, 2 NC, fighting out of Osaka, Japan) meets welterweight Thiago Alves (24-8, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.) and Michael Bisping (23-4, fighting out of Manchester, England) faces middleweight Tim Boetsch (15-4, fighting out of Sunbury, Penn.).

Five Canadians will also step into the Octagon on July 21 as Edmonton’s Mitch Clarke (9-1) faces lightweight Anton Kuivanen (16-5, fighting out of Helsinki, Finland), Calgary’s Nick Ring (12-1) battles middleweight Court McGee (13-2, fighting out of Orem, Utah), Sudbury, Ontario’s Mitch Gagnon (8-1) takes on bantamweight Bryan Caraway (16-6, fighting out of Goldendale, Washington), Oshawa, Ontario native Antonio Carvalho (13-5) will challenge featherweight George Roop (12-10-1, fighting out of Tucson, Arizona), and Saint John, New Brunswick’s Ryan Jimmo (16-1, fighting out of Edmonton) meets light heavyweight Anthony Perosh (13-6, fighting out of Sydney, Australia).

Tickets for UFC^® 149: ALDO VS. KOCH go on sale to the public on Saturday, May 12 at 10 a.m. MTN. Tickets are priced at $650, $400, $275, $200, $125 and $85 and are available through Ticketmaster.ca, charge by phone 1-855-985-5000, at all Ticketmaster outlets, and the Saddledome Box Office. Ticket prices do not include applicable service charges.

UFC^® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event on Thursday, May 10 at 10 a.m. MTN via the website ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers on Friday, May 11,starting at 10 a.m. MTN. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC^® 149 will be available live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on Shaw Communications, Bell TV, Sasktel and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High Definition.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

UFC^® 149: ALDO VS. KOCH PRESS CONFERENCE

WHEN:                       Wednesday, May 9 – 10:00 a.m. MTN (media check starts at 9:00 a.m.)

WHERE:                     Shaw Court, 630 3^rd Avenue SW, Calgary

WHO:                        Jose Aldo, UFC^® Featherweight Champion

                                    Erik Koch, UFC^® Featherweight Contender

Nick Ring, UFC^® Middleweight and Calgary native

UFC^® Director of Canadian Operations Tom Wright

NOTE:                         ***This press conference will be streamed live on UFC.com. Please note, this media event is not open to the public however fans are encouraged to come meet the fighters Wednesday evening at the Chinook Centre Boston Pizza from 7-9 p.m.

CANADIAN FOOTBALL INITIATION WITH CALGARY STAMPEDERS

WHEN:                       Wednesday, May 9 – 4:00-5:00 p.m. MTN

WHERE:                     McMahon Stadium, 1817 Crowchild Trail Northwest, Calgary, AB

WHO:                                     Jose Aldo, Erik Koch and Nick Ring, members of the Calgary Stampeders

NOTE:                         Calgary native Nick Ring and members of the Calgary Stampeders will introduce Canadian football to Aldo and Koch with a training session at McMahon Stadium. Fans are encouraged to follow @calstampeders and @UFC_CA for a chance to attend thisprivate session with the fighters and players.

UFC^® AUTOGRAPH SIGNING

WHEN:                       Wednesday, May 9 – 7-9 p.m. MTN

WHERE:                     Boston Pizza, Chinook Centre, 6455 Macleod Trail SW, Calgary, AB

WHO:                        Jose Aldo, Erik Koch and Nick Ring

NOTE:                         The first 25 fans will receive a free autographed UFC Encyclopedia

Additional bouts will be announced at UFC.com in the weeks to come. All bouts live and subject to change. For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit UFC.com.

About Ultimate Fighting Championship^®

Universally recognized for its action-packed, can’t-miss events that have sold out some of the biggest arenas and stadiums across the globe, the UFC^® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, and with offices in London, England, Toronto, Canada and Beijing, China, UFC^® produces more than 30 live events annually and is the largest Pay-Per- Viewevent provider in the world.

In 2011, the UFC burst into the mainstream with a landmark seven-year broadcast agreement with FOX Sports Media Group. The agreement includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network annually, with additional fight cards and thousands of hours of programming broadcast on FOX properties FX and FUEL TV. This includes the longest-running sports reality show on television, The Ultimate Fighter^®, which now airs on FX in an exciting new live format.

In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is broadcast in over 150 countries and territories, to nearly one billion homes worldwide, in 20 different languages. UFC content is also distributed commercially in theUnited States to bars and restaurants through Joe Hand Promotions. The UFC also connects with tens of millions of fans through its website, UFC.com, as well as social media sites Facebook and Twitter. UFC President Dana White is considered one of the most accessible and followed executives in sports, with ore than two million followers on Twitter.

Ancillary UFC businesses include best-selling DVDs, an internationally distributed UFC Magazine, the best-selling UFC Undisputed^® video game franchise distributed by THQ, UFC GYM^®, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo^® festivals, branded apparel, trading cards, and action figures.

British Columbia’s Minister of Community, Sport, and Cultural Development, Ida Chong, introduced Bill 50 – Athletic Commissioner Act – in the legislature today.

The mandate of the Commissioner would be to regulate and supervise professional contests such as boxing, kick-boxing and mixed martial arts.

“The benefit of having a provincial athletic commissioner would be that every professional contest would be subject to the same rules and regulations, whether it was being held in Vancouver, Nanaimo or Vernon.” Chong said.

This is a welcome and timely initiative, considering that right now there are at least nine different municipal commissions in BC, each with somewhat differing rules and regulations.  Also, the City of Vernon recently denied a request from the City of Cranbrook for Vernon’s athletic commission to sanction a planned event there during Sam Steele Days on June 17.

Chong also said, “Since sports such as kick-boxing and mixed martial arts are very popular and are taking place without a consistent regulatory framework, it makes sense to be proactive about creating this position to increase the safety of athletes and officials, as well as to provide certainty for communities and the industry.”

Although this move is hardly proactive like she said, MMABC chairman Bill Mahood told MM-eh, “The creation of a Provincial commission to regulate all professional combat sports is a huge step in the right direction.  The move came largely as a surprise to everyone here but we are sure happy to finally be moving in the right direction.”

The role of the commissioner would be to oversee the conduct of professional contests such as boxing, kick-boxing and mixed martial arts throughout the province, with a key focus on the safety of competitors and officials.

The key duties of the commissioner would be to:

-Ensure a consistent standard of qualifications and safety protocols for all participants and officials through a uniform licensing and permitting framework.

-Ensure compliance with the proposed act and its regulations, through the use of suspension or cancellation of licences and event permits, as well as administrative penalties.

Both the Community Charter and the Vancouver Charter currently provide for the establishment of local athletic commissions to authorize public events. Such athletic commissions may regulate professional boxing and similar activities, contests and exhibitions.  If the Province establishes an athletic commissioner, both the Community Charter and Vancouver Charter will be amended to remove the authority to create local commissions.

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