Next international edition of ?The Ultimate Fighter? will pit the United Kingdom against Australia

After success in Brazil with an international spinoff of "The Ultimate Fighter," the UFC will head Down Under, with fighting prospects from the United Kingdom taking on UFC hopefuls from Australia. The new show, called "Smashes," will cast in London on June 12 and Sydney June 15.

According to UFC officials, it's playing off the natural rivalry between Aussies and Brits. To the press release:

"Australia and the UK have a fierce, long-standing rivalry, and where better to settle the score than in the UFC's Octagon," said Marshall Zelaznik, UFC's Managing Director of International Development. "The popularity of MMA has exploded in Australia and the UK, with gyms opening all over the respective countries. There is an athlete in one of those gyms who hasn't had the chance to show the world what he can do ? The Ultimate Fighter is going give to him that opportunity. We're going to discover the UFC's future stars, you can bet on it."

TUF, American style has already produced plenty of British and Australian UFC veterans. Michael Bisping won season three and then went on to coach a host of Brits on season nine. Ausses George Sotiropoulos and Kyle Noke also made their name on TUF.

There is no word on coaches yet, but American fans can look forward to plenty of subtitles on English-speakers. Most of Team UK from season nine had that honor. By sheer history alone, my money is on Australia. Remember, they are descended from the British convicts of yore.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/next-international-edition-ultimate-fighter-pit-united-kingdom-204041639.html

Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi 

Korean Zombie gets upset win in main event over Dustin Poirier at UFC on Fuel 3 (PHOTO)

Chan Sung Jung delivered with another great fight, this time taking Dustin Poirier into the fourth round before submitting him with a D'arce choke at UFC on Fuel 3 on Tuesday. He took home the Submission of the Night bonus while he and Poirier both earned Fight of the Night.

After three impressive wins in a row, do you think "The Korean Zombie" deserves a shot at the UFC featherweight title? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/korean-zombie-gets-upset-main-event-over-dustin-031611742.html

John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves 

B.J. Penn shoots down Josh Koscheck?s plans for a fight

Thursday morning, UFC welterweight Josh Koscheck tweeted news on his next possible fight. "#UFC just offered me to fight BJ Penn...I said YES!!!!! Just waiting on him!!!!!! Let's scrap bra?"

Coming off a loss to Johny Hendricks, a bout with Penn, a former champion at lightweight and welterweight, would certainly pique Koscheck's interest. Not only would it draw considerable fan interest because of Penn's vast legions of fans, but it's the kind of win that could get Koscheck back on track.

Unfortunately for Koscheck, Penn is completely retired and appears to have no interest in returning to the fight life. He responded, " I know it costs a lot of money to live that lavish lifestyle, big house, fast cars & you need big fights but sorry I'm not coming back anytime soon!"

Perhaps now the MMA world will believe that Penn really retired after losing to Nick Diaz in November. He was also talked about as an opponent with Gilbert Melendez and had to shoot that down, too. Penn had a great MMA career and is now enjoying the retired life in Hawaii. Would you give that up?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/b-j-penn-shoots-down-josh-koscheck-plans-221324896.html

Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz

Poler Napsack Contest: What's In The Bag, Dad?

Our good friends at Poler came to us with a simple idea ? let?s give some stuff away.

We were like, ?Hell yeah, good friends at Poler. Let?s!?

So, once a week for a month, we?re going to give you a chance to win one of Poler?s hooded Napsacks, perfect for sleeping wherever you might find yourself sleeping ? a friend?s couch, the back of a pickup, side of the road, or inside a tent.

Source: http://theskateboardmag.com/blogs/kevin-wilkins/2011/12/16/poler-napsack-contest-whats-in-the-bag-dad/

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

UFC on Fox 3 ratings dropped off from previous shows

Though Saturday's UFC card on Fox was the best of the three cards that have aired on the network. Unfortunately, it was also the least-viewed of the three. Saturday's fights pulled in 2.25 million viewers, less than the four million plus who watched UFC on Fox 1 and 2. The UFC won the key demographic of adults 18-49, but lost badly in overall ratings to CBS' "48 Hours Mystery."

There are several reasons for this drop-off in viewers:

-- Lack of star power: The main card was not stocked with bankable stars, like in the past two events. There was no belt on the line, no outspoken promoter like Chael Sonnen, no well-known former champ like Rashad Evans. While Josh Koscheck has the reputation of being an MMA bad boy, it wasn't anywhere near what Sonnen and Davis brought to the last card. The shame is that the performances were great and had nothing to do with the names written on a fight card.

-- Mayweather/Cotto: Though the UFC did not go up directly against the marquee boxing match-up of the year, the Floyd Mayweather/Miguel Cotto bout did not help. Much of the week's pre-fight coverage was devoted to the big boxing event instead of MMA bouts, and contributed to the lack of buzz around the UFC fights.

-- No football: Something that hurt the UFC that they had no control over is that there was no football to promote the events. For the UFC's first two events on Fox, the NFL was in-season and gave considerable promotion to fights. Cain Velasquez appeared on set with the NFL on Fox crew, and ads were run throughout games. Without football and its broad audience and huge ratings, the UFC didn't have as much of a promotional push to pull in casual fans.

Did you watch Saturday's fights? Why or why not? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fox-3-ratings-dropped-off-previous-shows-120339648.html

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana 

Nick Diaz no-shows for grappling superfight, Facebook post blames ?shady promoter?

Suspended UFC fighter Nick Diaz was supposed to take on BJJ star Braulio Estima in a grappling supermatch in California Saturday. Diaz was supposed to show off his grappling chops in a match against one of the world's best jiu-jitsu players. He was supposed to donate his entire purse to St. Jude's Children Hospital.

Most importantly, he was supposed to show up for his first competitive match-up since being suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission for a positive marijuana test after losing to Carlos Condit in February. He didn't.

Diaz never showed up to the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo in Long Beach, where the bout was scheduled to take place. Estima was reasonably steamed for the no-show.

"I know he's supposed to be the big MMA bad guy and he's all tough, he's supposed to be showbiz, but what is this?" said Estima. "When you make an announcement that you're going to fight for charity and you don't show up, what the hell is going on? It's not about showbiz. It's about being a good person. I don't know what is going on."

The Facebook page that purports to represent the Diaz brothers had this post on it early Sunday morning:

Promoter fails to donate the money to charity as agreed. (shady) Promoter changes rules for weigh ins to accommodate fellow Brazilian
Match ain't happening

When Estima communicated with the WJJE organizers that he couldn't get down to the agreed-upon 180-pound weight limit, they renegotiated the weight to 185 pounds. Diaz's camp agreed to the weight change ahead of time. As for the donation, could Diaz not have deposited his purse into his account and then written a check to St. Jude's? Taking five minutes to make the donation himself surely would have been better than depriving the hospital completely.

And if he really made the decision not to show up because of the promoters, he should have communicated it to his fans well before they spent $12.95 on the live stream of the event. That decision would have truly hurt the "shady" promoters in their wallets.

Instead, Diaz again decided not to show up for a commitment. In October, he skipped out on several media opportunities before his planned title fight and was removed from the bout. Again, he bizarrely blamed everyone but himself.

At this point, Diaz not following through on his commitments is par for the course. The MMA world shouldn't expect anything else.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/nick-diaz-no-shows-grappling-superfight-blames-shady-120642645.html

Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida