Originally Posted by swpthleg

We need conclusive proof. Or just don't post rumor and speculation as though it were gospel truth anymore.

Originally Posted by UFC86

Fabio Maldonado just signed with the UFC!
he will be replacing Tom Blackledge @ UFC 120 against Mcsweeney.
should be a striking matchup as Mcsweeney is a pro kickboxer while Maldonado is undefeated pro boxer 22-0. he has a style similar to Nogueira and JDS as he trains with them. he defeated another ufc newcomer in Big Rig Falcao twice. i see Maldonado winning it but hes untested yet.

edit:
here is a comprehensive list of fighters that will most likely fight for ufc/wec in near future:fighting next in ufc:
1. Pascal Krauss (9-0, defeated undeafeated John Quinn)
2. Edson Barboza Mendes Jr. (6-0 from Ring of Combat)
3. "Big Rig" Falcao Goncalves (25-3, 23 finishes)
4. Kenny Robertson (10-0)
5. Carlos Rocha (8-0, 7 finishes in round 1.)
6. Karo Parisyan
7. Chad Corvin (6-0 beat Scott Barrett @ XFC)
8. Williamy Freire ((17-3, 11 wins in a row)
9. Antonio Mckee
10. Jay Hieron
11. Josh Burkman

KOTC fighters Quinn Mulhern, Abel Cullum, Jimmie Rivera, Myles Jury and Gary Wright are also close to a UFC contract

following the signing of Nick Pace and Edson Barboza from ROC who both have no more then 6 pro fights, Ryan Laflare and Edward Guedes should follow soon.

Nick Ring from tuf 10 said if he recovers well from surgery he will return to UFC. also Tom Murphy is undefeated and previously fought for UFC. Canadian icehockey enforcer Steve Bosse was promised a spot in an upcoming tuf show.

Ricardo Arona and Ninja Rua both Pride stars who will probably need a W to get into UFC. Ninja is fighting for W-1 next, and was also petitioned by his brother shogun.

Alistair Overeem is rumored to join the UFC after 2 fights

before his recent win against Daniel Tabera, Jan Blachowicz said he could hang in the UFC.
Jimi Manuwa 9-0, previously rejected ufc contract, but with UFC having more shows in UK and Manuwa picking up some big wins and claiming to be the poster boy for UK MMA, he is on the horizon
Scandinavian Papy Abedi, Gunnar Nelson and Simeon Thoresen made significant steps towards coming to UFC

Hector Lombard was supposed to fight previously against Karo Parisyan but had visa issues. he again expressed interest to fight in UFC and is now fighting Shlemenko.Raphael Davis said he wants to win the Bellator tournament before joining.
Glover Teixeira was going to fight in UFC but had visa issues. hes going to fight Marcos "Pezao" and Ryan Jimmo in MFC and hopefully in ufc after that fight. Cacareco issued an open challenged to ufc fighters after his shine fight fell apart. Jorge Santiago said he is ready to fight for either UFC or Strikeforce. other Brazilians include Delson Heleno, Eduardo Pamplona, Yan Cabral and Yuri Alcantara who might be joining UFC

Antonio Silva- is fighting Valentjin Overeem and might have 1 more fight left after that. he expressed displeasure in fighters avoiding him and the ufc was interested in him before. he could fight his final fight against Brett Rogers or Fedor.
Mousasi- the current DREAM lhw champion and will be fighting Feijao for the title next. the ufc and Dana really want him, but if he wins there will be a champion's clause, if he loses its questionable how much the ufc will try to pursue him. he is running out of fights outside the ufc though.
Robbie lawler is unhappy with his sf contract and isnt getting the good fights he was expecting, and will probably have jason miller as his last opponent. similar situation to Jake Shields and Jay Hieron who are joining the ufc.

also some fighters that havent fought in a long time: Heath Pedigo, Nathan Gerrard, Phillip Miller, Jesse Bongfeldt, Drew Daniels, Jason Tapia, Kyle Pimental,Alex Pimentel, Jon Tuck, Anthony Durnell could all get a shot.

in WEC:
1. Michael Mcdonald (10-1, avenged his sole loss)
2. Din Thomas- dropping to FW

Rob Mcculough is returning to WEC or UFC if he wins his last Tachi palace fight.

Matt Fiordirosa- 13-1 with only loss to Wagney Fabiano by decision in his 2nd fight, won 12 in a row mostly by submission and tko. just came back to fighting after 3 years as he was busy working and won his second decision (the other being over beebe)

Nazareno Malegarie -18-0 (could be the first 25-0)

Hai Lin Ao could be joining his WEC teamate Mongolian Wolf if the latter is succesful.
Bao Li Gao- 4-0 fought for AOW which is owned by Flash

Un Sik Song pracrises traditional korean martial arts and is dropping to 145.

lightweights from WEC
1.Ben Henderson 13-1
2.Donald Cerrone 11-3
3.Jamie Varner 16-3
4. Kamal Shalorus 6-0 with 2 draws
5. Mac Jew 8-0
6. Mongolian Wolf 11-07. Anthony Pettis 12-1
8. Shane Roller 8-3
9. Anthony Njoukani 12-4
10. Bart Palaszewski 35-13
11. Danny Castillo 9-3
12. Ricardo Llamas 12-1
13. Dave Jensen 14-2
14. Will Kerr 9-2
15. Chris Horodecki

125lbs division
1.Mikey Lovato 10-1 125lbs
2.Alexis Vila 8-0 125lbs (39 years old)
3.John "The Magician" Dodson- 9-5 125lbs
4.Nick Cottone 8-2 125lbs fighting in ROC
5.Louis Gaudinot 5-1 with a win over Riggleman in ROC
6.Jessie "Mountain Man" Riggleman 125lbs was 9-0 before 2 straight losses in a row in ROC

some great fighters that will most likely not sign in the near future if at all:

Fedor was offered a great deal from the UFC, but it seems like after his loss the ufc interest in him has declined and the two parties will just not come to terms. fedor's association with m-1 and vadim finkelstein will deny him the opportunity to fight in the ufc.

Fabricio Werdum is coming off the greatest win in mma history, but is injured and wont fight until 2011 most likely against alistair overeem.the ufc did not show an increased interest in him, and he is locked in strikeforce for years to come
Brett Rogers is in a similar situation. he was a prospect who had a huge jump in competition and knocked out arlovski, following two defeats to top fighters. he will now be fighting Ruben Villareal, and in the future probably against other strikers like Antonio Silva, Kharitonov, Del Rosario and maybe Arlovski rematch
Nick Diaz seems to have disciplinary problems that might keep him out of UFC. other top fighters that might have burned their bridge with ufc include Babalu, Lindland, Henderson, Sylvia, Arlovski,Daley and kang.
Cung Le seems to be just too old at this point.

Mo Lawal previously expressed interest in fighting in UFC and was compared to Phil Davis and Jon Jones.he also had some rivalry going with rampage. he wont be fighting until mid 2011 due to knee injury.his opponent will probably be Dan Henderson

Jacare and Feijao may be locked up in championship clauses

Lyle Beerbohm, got stuck with a bad contract in strikeforce

Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez signed new contracts and will also probably stay for some time.

Shinya Aoki and Kawajiri fight for Dream currently, much like Ishida, Noshiura, Takaya and
Joachim Hansen. DREAM is currently in partnership with strikeforce and lets their fighters fight for them. even though UFC now focuses on Asia, Japan is a very hard market to navigate in.

Warren, Bibiano, and Sandro are not interested in WEC at the moment. Joe Warren plans to compete in the 2012 olympics, and plans to start in about half a year. Marlon Sandro might avoid fighting his training partner Jose Aldo. Bibiano Fernandes was complaining Dream was not paying on time, but likes Japan and wants to keep fighting for them.

Michihiro Omigawa claims to want to fight the best in the world in WEC, after defeating the likes of Hatsu Hioki and Marlon Sandro by split decisions.

Originally Posted by _RIVAL_

Up to your old tricks again I see.

I really dislike you trying to pass off your own speculation as a fact. Anyways I 've invested too much time disproving your "facts" over and over again.

it just gets boring and irritating after a while..

I need to make a tabloid section for you to post in here....

I just really hope that the other members will take what you say with a grain of salt.


BTW take Abel Cullum off your list. He's not siging with the UFC. He's a 135 pounder..

Originally Posted by kantowrestler

I don't see Lawler going back to the UFC. Also I don't think Bigfoot is ready to go there just yet. Lastly, Arona probably will happen relatively soon!