UFC lightweight Phillipe “The Filipino Assassin” Nover (6-2-1) has agreed to step in to fight Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout (14-5-1) at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 19 on September 16. Following an undisclosed injury, Stout's original opponent Kyle Bradley (14-6, 1 NC) was forced to withdraw from the event, leaving Nover the opportunity to snap a two fight losing streak. Nover will be taking the fight on just four weeks notice.
Following a controversial disqualification at inaugural ShoMMA event this past May 15, the CSAC overturned the result of the headlining bout between lightweights Billy Evangelista and “Iron” Mike Aina; declaring the bout a “no decision.” The fight was halted and awarded to Aina following a knee by Evangelista to the upper torso of his downed opponent, referee Herb Dean called an end to the bout declaring a disqualification victory for Aina.
Strikeforce welterweight contenders Nick Diaz (20-7, 1 NC) and Jay “The Thoroughbred” Hieron (18-4) were unable to meet at the August 15th “Carano vs. Cyborg” event, however CEO and co-founder Scott Coker hopes they can meet by the end of the year. Following the Sho- wtime broadcast, Coker said of Diaz "I think he's going to meet with the athletic commission, get that all worked out, and hopefully we'll see Nick back here before the end of the year."
“Essentially, we just ran out of time,” was the explanation from a staffer for New York State Assem- blyman Steve Englebright on the failure to pass a bill legalizing and regulating Mixed Martial Arts in the state during the past legislative session. Governor David Patterson called the state Senate into an emergency session to break a leg- islative deadlock resulting from several members alternating between political parties. As a result, the focus of the session will be on high-priority bills including city budgets and same-sex marriage, while less-priority bills including the regulation of mixed martial arts will be deferred to the following year.
UFC President Dana White and heavyweight Mirko “CroCop” Fil- ipović (24-6-2, 1 NC) participated in a conference call about CroCop's return to the UFC and the org- anization's historic first event in Cologne, Germany. This call gave reporters the opportunity to question CroCop before the event, as he will be unable to attend the UFC 99 “The Comeback” pre-fight conference. Continue reading for highlights from the call.
