Kimbo Slice's first UFC fight will take place on Dec. 5

Popular MMA star Kimbo Slice will fight for the first time in UFC live on Spike TV on Dec. 5 at 9 p.m. Slice will appear in a bout on “The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights” finale fight card from Las Vegas.

Slice’s opponent will be announced later, depending on what transpires on the special two-hour “Ultimate Fighter” episode Dec. 2.  Despite suffering a loss to Roy Nelson in the third episode of this season's "Ultimate Fighter," Slice has the opportunity to return to fight on the show if a castmate is injured.

--Houston Mitchell

UFC 106: Forrest Griffin beats Tito Ortiz by split decision

In a rematch of their memorable 2006 fight in Anaheim, former UFC light-heavyweight champions Tito Ortiz of Huntington Beach and Forrest Griffin of Las Vegas renewed acquaintances in Ortiz's UFC comeback fight following a contract split last year.

Griffin dominated the third and final round, blitzing Ortiz with hard rights to the face and combinations that included hard shots to the body and tough kicks to the left leg. Ortiz was cut under the left eye in the round and sustained some good combinations.

The judges saw it like this: split-decision win for Griffin.

Ortiz, as usual, had a memorable ring entrance with Eminem blaring at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, waving the American flag.

First round:

Ortiz takes a right standing up, but charges and lands a right. Ortiz takes down Griffin and tries to ground and pound with some elbows flying. Griffin gets up, the pair end up reversing each other against the cage.

Griffin kicks Ortiz in the left leg, like he did against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Griffin hits Ortiz with a right-left combo punch to face. Ortiz misses a takedown. Both guys jab.

I give the round to Griffin.

Second round:

Ortiz takes down Griffin, smacks him with elbows. Griffin gets back up. Griffin kicks Ortiz in the mouth, knocking out Tito's mouthpiece. Tito takes down Griffin again, Griffin playing defense on ground versus former CIF champion wrestler.

Ortiz sends some elbows and fists to Griffin's face on the mat. Griffin's cut under the left eye, and now has a nasty cut at the right eye. Gushing everywhere. Griffin reverses Ortiz, trying to win round. Some pushing post-bell.

I give the round to Ortiz.

-----

The co-main event, a welterweight clash pitting San Jose fighters Anthony Johnson and Josh Koscheck, will put the winner in prime position for a title shot at champion Georges St-Pierre.

Koscheck initially got the better of stand-up striking exchanges before Johnson popped in two jabs. Johnson slipped a clench, but then committed a rule-breaking violation by sending a right knee toward Koscheck's head.

Kneeing on the mat, Koscheck appeared to have got his arm up in time to deflect the blow toward his right eye. Referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the action and deducted a point from Johnson for the illegal knee. A ringside doctor was summoned and reported to the ref that Koscheck had "blurry vision as a result of the foul."

Still, the fight resumed and Koscheck turned to wrestling. Johnson was seen with a small cut over the left eye.

In the second round, Johnson was poked in the left eye twice in the first minutes. Both fighters had a lively exchange of blows in the center of the octagon. Koscheck got Johnson on his back and sent a few damaging elbows to the 25-year-old's head.

Koscheck (12-4) maneuvered behind Johnson (8-3), squeezing under Johnson's thin tight, forcing Johnson to tap out by the rear naked chokehold with 13 seconds left in the round.

Koscheck called out Dan Hardy, ridiculing his status as the top welterweight contender afterward.

"He ain't fought nobody like me," Koscheck told Joe Rogan in the postfight interview.

UFC 106 is loaded with welterweight action, and the third of four bouts featured Brazil's Paulo Thiago (12-1) vs. Minnesota's Jacob Volkmann (9-1).

Thiago cut the bridge of Volkmann's nose early in the bout, then capped the first round with a right to the face that knocked him down. Thiago again sent Volkmann to the canvas with a kick to the body early in the second. The stronger Thiago also battered Volkmann on the mat.

Volkmann had a few moments of challenging Thiago, getting him in a choke late in the third, but it was too little, and the Brazilian won a unanimous decision.

UFC's Brock Lesnar undergoes intestinal surgery

Brock Lesnar, the heavyweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, underwent surgery Monday for a bacterial infection in his intestinal tract, and UFC President Dana White told The Times that doctors are "waiting to see if he needs more."

White declined to reveal why the surgery was required, describing it as a "minor" procedure, but a high-placed source close to the fighter confirmed the intestinal surgery.

Lesnar, who memorably won at UFC 100 in July via a second-round TKO of Frank Mir, originally pulled out of his scheduled Saturday night fight against Shane Carwin complaining of sickness. He then told White he'd be unable to fight in a rescheduled Jan. 2 card because he had contracted mononucleosis. White told Yahoo! Sports on Saturday that Lesnar was very sick and would be out for an extended period.

White told The Times on Tuesday that he will schedule an interim heavyweight title fight during Lesnar's absence and that he's "working on it right now."

-- Lance Pugmire

Become a fan of the Times' Sports Facebook page and keep up with all the MMA news, as well as sports news from around the country.

Photo: Brock Lesnar. Credit: Ronda Churchill, AP.

UFC makes Rashad Evans-Thiago Silva new UFC 108 main event

Responding to its latest injury, the Ultimate Fighting Championship today announced that a light-heavyweight fight between Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva has been installed as the new main event to UFC 108, Jan. 2 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The main event originally was to have been a heavyweight title defense by Brock Lesnar against Shane Carwin, but Lesnar was diagnosed with mononucleosis and had to be scratched. Sunday, UFC President Dana White said Lesnar has something more serious and will miss an extended period of time, likely forcing an interim champ to emerge.

A heavyweight fight between Cain Velasquez and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria was then put in the Lesnar-Carwin spot, but Nogueria has a "severe injury to his left elbow," the UFC announced, causing him to pull out.

Former light-heavyweight champ Evans, a coach in the current season of the "Ultimate Fighter" reality television series on Spike TV, was supposed to fight his rival coach Quinton "Rampage" Jackson of Irvine. But Jackson announced recently that he's quit the UFC.

So now we get Evans-Silva.

“The bout between Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva is a fight we always talked about as a main event, and now these guys have the chance to headline UFC 108 and kick off the new year in impressive fashion," White said in a prepared statement. "At the same time, we wish Antonio Nogueira a speedy recovery and can't wait for his return.”

-- Lance Pugmire

Photo: Brock Lesnar delivers about 30 more punches to Randy Couture after knocking him down in their UFC heavyweight championship fight last November. Credit: Eric Jamison / Associated Press.   

 

UFC President Dana White: Brock Lesnar has a 'serious' illness

Brock Lesnar, the Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight champion, has been diagnosed with a "serious" illness and expects to be out of action for an extended period, according to a Yahoo Sports report.

Contacted today by The Times, UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta would say only that the organization is granting Lesnar's request for privacy.

The Yahoo story, quoting UFC President Dana White from a Saturday event in Manchester, England, reported that Lesnar recently collapsed in Canada and returned home to learn he had a health problem beyond his previous diagnosis for mononucleosis.

Lesnar had to pull out of his scheduled fight Saturday at UFC 106 in Las Vegas and the UFC's Jan. 2 card versus Shane Carwin.

“It’s bad,” White told Yahoo's Dave Meltzer. “It’s real bad. I am worried about it. I can’t really talk about it right now, but [Lesnar] is in rough shape.”

The UFC has been ravaged by illness and injury in recent weeks. Heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira pulled out of his Jan. 2 main event versus Cain Velasquez because of a staph infection, middleweight champ Anderson Silva is out with elbow pain, and welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was hurt in his most recent fight.

-- Lance Pugmire

Photo: Brock Lesnar in Nov., 2008. Credit: Eric Jamison, AP.

UFC 105 results

Andre Winner d. Roli Delgado by knockout

Alexander Gustafsson d. Jared Hamman by knockout in about 45 seconds.

Dennis Siver d. Paul Kelly by second-round knockout

Nick Osipczak d. Matt Riddle via third-round stoppage

Terry Etim d. Shannon Gugerty in second round via guillotine submission

John Hathaway d. Paul Taylor via unanimous decision

Ross Pearson d. Aaron Riley via doctor's stoppage after Riley was bleeding heavily from a knee to the face.

Matt Brown d. James Wilkes via referee stoppage

Michael Bisping d. Denis Kang via second-round knockout.

Dan Hardy d. Mike Swick via unanimous decision.

Randy Couture d. Brandon Vera via decision in a controversial result, as it looked like Vera had won the fight.

One of the best UFC cards in a while, well worth watching on TV tonight.

-- Houston Mitchell

Couture-Vera in UFC 105 will air on Spike TV

Fight fans who enjoy boxing and mixed martial arts will have their remotes busy Saturday night when Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto participate in a pay-per-view boxing card, and Ultimate Fighting Championship former champion Randy Couture tries to avoid a third consecutive defeat when he fights Brandon Vera in UFC 105 in England.

Spike TV will broadcast Couture-Vera on a tape-delayed basis at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Couture, who has suffered losses at the hands of heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and former interim champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, is moving back down to the light-heavyweight division to face the younger Vera.

Couture said he has fully recovered from the Nogueira loss in late August and wants to contend for the division's title again. He signed a six-fight deal with the UFC earlier this year.

Vera, who has defeated former interim heavyweight champ Frank Mir, said he expects a stiff challenge from Couture.

"The biggest thing I have to worry about is him being a great tactician," Vera said on a recent conference call. "He's always been able to pick his opponents apart in any area."

--Lance Pugmire

Nogueira-Velasquez will headline UFC card in January, White says

Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White just told The Times he'll headline the Jan. 2 UFC card in Las Vegas on Jan. 2 with a heavyweight bout featuring former champion and MMA veteran Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. rising star Cain Velasquez.

Nogueira defeated Randy Couture earlier this year, and Velasquez scored a TKO over Ben Rothwell last month at Staples Center.

The Jan. 2 card was weakened when an elbow injury forced middleweight champion Anderson Silva to delay his title defense against Vitor Belfort while heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar was stricken by mononucleosis.

The Nogueira-Velasquez winner will be the logical next opponent of the winner of Lesnar's rescheduled bout against Shane Carwin.

-- Lance Pugmire

UFC January card takes blows: Brock Lesnar has "mono," Anderson Silva injured

Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White says heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar has been stricken with the mononucleosis virus, and declared the champ's already-delayed title defense against Shane Carwin on Jan. 2 as "off."

"Brock has mono," White texted The Times. "Can't even train for six weeks."

UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta told The Times, 'Until he shakes it, we can't schedule a date," although March is the new goal. White said it "depends on Brock."

Citing excessive fatigue and illness, Lesnar last month told White he couldn't headline the Nov. 21 UFC 106 card at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. White scrambled and made Tito Ortiz's light-heavyweight rematch against Forrest Griffin as the main event.

The Jan. 2 card at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas was to have two title fights, with Lesnar-Carwin and Anderson Silva defending his middleweight belt against Vitor Belfort.

But Fertitta said Silva is "not quite ready," from what a UFC official would identify only as a "nagging injury."

"We're going to have move Silva-Belfort to February, but that fight will happen" Fertitta said.

What's going to happen in January? Fertitta said he's working on "something special" but declined to divulge what he's thinking of because "we're putting the bout agreements together now and trying to fill the card. We've had to deal with sickness and injuries at a level we never have before."  

--Lance Pugmire

Photo: Brock Lesnar on Feb. 2, 2008. Credit: Ronda Churchill / Associated Press.

'Sick' Lesnar appeared at Oct. 18 Vikings' game

On Monday, Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White said heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar had been sick for more than three weeks before opting to postpone his Nov. 21 title-defense bout against Shane Carwin because of missed training time.

But check out this video:

Does Lesnar look sick? He appeared at the Minnesota Vikings' Oct. 18 home victory against the Baltimore Ravens -- one week and two days ago -- blowing the Vikings' ancient horn in an end zone and enjoying "South Dakota Day" at the nonconference game.

A Lesnar representative told me Monday he planned to release a statement regarding the fighter's illness today. It hasn't come yet. On Monday night, White told me Lesnar told him he'd "never been so sick," and "hated to make the call" asking for the postponement but had been sick for a long time. White said it was unclear if Lesnar had been stricken by the H1N1 virus.

The UFC would like to move the Lesnar-Carwin fight to Jan. 2 once Lesnar is back in good health, and a rematch of the Tito Ortiz-Forrest Griffin light-heavyweight fight from 2006 will replace the Lesnar-Carwin main event Nov. 21 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

-- Lance Pugmire