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.

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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 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

Russian MMA heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko to fight Saturday

CBS will resume televising mixed martial arts Saturday by airing a Strikeforce promotion headlined by Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko fighting unbeaten American Brett Rogers.

The card from Chicago’s Sears Centre, shown tape-delayed at 9 p.m. Pacific time, will also feature a middleweight fight between Jason Miller and Jake Shields and a heavyweight bout pitting Antonio Silva versus Fabricio Werdum.

CBS formerly aired cards promoted by the now-defunct organization Elite Xtreme Combat. It has now united with Strikeforce, which signed Emelianenko, the man some consider the best MMA fighter in the world. He declined an offer to fight for the best-known MMA organization, Ultimate Fighting Championships, earlier this year following the collapse of the Affliction circuit.

Rogers (10-0) positioned himself for this shot by knocking out Emelianenko’s last victim, Andrei Arlovski.

-- Lance Pugmire

Photo: Fedor Emelinanenko. Credit: Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times

UFC 104 live results

Lyoto Machida-"Shogun" Rua, UFC light-heavyweight championship:

Lyoto Machida retains light-heavyweight championship.

All three scorecards: 48-47.

Here's a round-by-round recap:

First round: Lots of kicks, a little too much downtime, and maybe Machida's first lost round yet. Rua landed some hard kicks to Machida's legs, and Machida's attempts to charge in for a knee and more were muted by Rua's own advances. They wasted time with Rua pinning Machida to the cage. Rua pressed the action a little more, and was a strong defender. 

Second round: Some good left kicks by Machida, but Rua is at this point looking like the champ's equal. They both score with right kicks to the chest. They pose in karate stances too long, and Rua ends round pressing Machida to cage again.

Third round: Machida opens with two left kicks to body. Rua gets in a left punch to face. The crowd urges more action, booing. Rua misses a wild right kick. Rua sends forearm blow to head, no real damage. Rua hard right kick to Machida's left leg. Rua charges with a flurry of punches and kicks. Machida kicks, backs away, then comes forward again with fists. With 35 seconds left, Machida charges impressively with hard knee to gut, and sends in flurry of punches as Rua backs up to cage during assault.

Fourth round: Machida stepping a bit gingerly on left leg. Rua kicking at it. Machida kicks to head. Machida kicks and slips, Rua approaches, Machida holds him and they separate. Rua hits Machida on break. Rua right kick to body. Again. Machida not pressing. More boos. Lots of dancing, little fighting in last minute.

Fifth round: Rua is fresh in corner, sipping water, listening to advice. Fighters touch hands. Rua right kick to gut. Good Rua kick to Machida's left leg. Nice left kick to body by champ, but no follow-up. Rua flings punches, he's more aggressive. Rua right kick backs Machida to cage. Machida had tried to land hurtful knees.  Right kick to body by Rua. More forward fighting by Rua. Good late exchange, horn sounds.

Other pay-per-view fights:

The Staples crowd responded warmly to the Spanish music accompanying the ring walk of Cain Velasquez from Salinas, Calif. Velasquez gave up more than 25 pounds to opponent Ben Rothwell, but took him down in the first minute and worked to leverage his college wrestling experience and used it to punish Rothwell on the canvas, with punches to the head.

Velasquez at one point delivered 11 punches to Rothwell's dome, then re-positioned to hit him nine more times, and he then mounted Rothwell again to send him a half-dozen lefts to the head. In the end, Rothwell wobbled as he stood at the round's close.

Rothwell found himself pinned against the cage early in the second round, and Velasquez uncorked at least six straight left hooks to the chin, causing referee Steve Mazzagatti to stop the fight at the 58-second mark.

The crowd roared its approval to the UFC's new rising star, who now has a 7-0 record.

Velasquez said even if the fight was stopped early, "I would've taken him down again." He spoke Spanish to the L.A. crowd and announcer Joe Rogan said, "The hype was justified."

Brazilian Gleison Tibau (30-6) won a lackluster fight against lightweight opponent Josh Neer (25-9-1), relying on more comprehensive MMA skills to win by unanimous decision.

Victorville’s Joe Stevenson (36-10) pounded fellow veteran lightweight Spencer Fisher with repeated forearm blows to the head, causing Fisher (24-5) to tap out at the 4:03 mark of the second round. Stevenson had cut Fisher in the right eye area in the first, and battered him on the head while mounting Fisher's back. Stevenson is 2-0 under the direction of elite trainer Greg Jackson (Georges St-Pierre and Rashad Evans).

One of the differences between UFC and other major sports: Fisher's shorts were sponsored by a condom company.

Welterweight Anthony Johnson of San Jose displayed lightning-like punching power in knocking out Yoshiyuki Yoshida (11-4) in just 41 seconds. Johnson (8-2) apologized to the UFC and fans for weighing in 6 pounds above the 170-pound weight limit, and said he may ultimately move to middleweight.

Of his one-sided performance, Johnson said, "I saw a big face in front of me and I decided to punch it."

Pre-pay-per-view undercard:

Westchester's Antoni Hardonk suffered a second-round TKO loss at the hands of Pat Barry. Barry landed punches liberally in the first, despite sustaining a poked right eye.

After delivering sharp rights to the face and throat, Barry (5-1) knocked down Hardonk (8-5) with a right to the top of the heavyweight's head, then pounded a right-left exchange on the ground that caused referee Josh Rosenthal to stop the bout.

Unbeaten Ryan Bader (11-0), the winner of "The Ultimate Fighter 8" and a former Pacific 10 Conference wrestling champion from Arizona State, produced a furious first round against light-heavyweight foe Eric "Red" Schafer (13-4-2) by unleashing powerful blows and slamming him.

Bader looked winded in the second round, and sustained a straight right to the chin. He recovered in the third to blast a right that cut Schafer at the eye and nose, proceeding to a unanimous decision.  

Middleweight Jorge Rivera roughed up Rob Kimmons throughout their bout, particularly during a ground-and-pound clinic in the second round. Kimmons lasted until 1:53 into the third round after getting knocked down by a right and badly cut on the forehead, causing a brief stoppage. Rivera (17-7) resumed ground-and-pound duty, and seconds later was awarded the TKO victory.

Journeyman Chael Sonnen (25-10-1) outworked Yushin Okami (24-5) in a middleweight fight that went the distance, slamming Okami three times and getting the better of some entertaining exchanges to win a unanimous decision.

Stefan Struve defeated Los Angeles' previously unbeaten Chase Gormley in a heavyweight bout by forcing Gormley to tap out while in a first-round triangle chokehold.

Kyle Kingsbuy defeated Razak Al-Hassan by split decision.

Weigh-in:

Welterweight Anthony "Rumble" Johnson weighed in 5 pounds over Friday for his UFC 104 bout against Japan's Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

The mixed martial arts fight Saturday night at Staples Center will go ahead with the 6-foot-2 Johnson forfeiting 20% of his purse to his Japanese opponent.

Gleison Tibau (157) and Josh Neer (156.5) both missed the 155-pound limit. They agreed to fight at a catchweight.

All other fighters made weight with light-heavyweight champion Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida at 202.5 and challenger Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at 204.5.

Co-main heavyweights Cain Velasquez and "Big" Ben Rothwell were 238 and 265 pounds, respectively.

Change to UFC 106 fight card

Jon Fitch, scheduled to fight Ricardo Almeida at UFC 106 on Nov. 21 in Las Vegas, wrote on his facebook page today that Almeida injured his knee and will not be able to compete.

Fitch says he, "can't say who [my new opponent is], but lots of you have been waiting for this fight for a long time."

Based on that line, the best guess would be Matt Hughes, but you never know what UFC President Dana White has up his sleeve.

-- Houston Mitchell

Chuck Liddell steals the show on "The Simpsons"

Not only is Chuck Liddell quite the dancer (as you can see each week on "Dancing with the Stars"), he is now a voice-over star.

Liddell was a guest star on Sunday's episode of "The Simpsons."

We have a feeling that when people say Liddell can get really animated in the ring sometimes, this isn't what they meant.

You can watch the entire show below.

-- Houston Mitchell

UFC announces undercard for UFC 104

Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced the undercard for UFC 104, which is headlined by undefeated Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida defending his Ultimate light-heavyweight belt against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Heavyweights Cain Velasquez and “Big” Ben Rothwell will also fight, but officially added to the card today were: Josh Neer vs. Gleison Tibau, Joe Stevenson vs. Spencer Fisher, Anthony Johnson vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Antoni Hardonk vs. Pat Barry, Yushin Okami vs. Chael Sonnen, Jorge Rivera vs. Rob Kimmons, Ryan Bader vs. Eric Schafer, Kyle Kingsbury vs. Razak Al-Hassan and Stefan Struve vs. Chase Gormley.

 UFC 104 will take place at Staples Center on Saturday, October 24th at 4:30 p.m.

Tickets are still on sale and are available online at ticketmaster.com, and are also available at the STAPLES Center box office.

-- Houston Mitchell

Kimbo Slice loses to Roy Nelson, but you haven't seen the last of Kimbo Slice

If you think you’ve seen the last of Kimbo Slice on "The Ultimate Fighter" this season, well, think again.

Slice's impressive Wednesday night loss on Spike TV's "The Ultimate Fighter" to Roy "Big Country" Nelson might not have been his final fighting appearance on the show.

An industry source who declined to be identified because of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's sacred protection of the show's previously filmed results said Kimbo's strong performance on Wednesday's "TUF" broadcast left him strongly positioned him to be a replacement for another fighter who couldn't proceed in the tournament.

"TUF" will continue weekly on Spike TV and conclude with a live finale Dec. 5 at The Palms hotel in Las Vegas, with the winner of this season's "Heavyweights" version winning a six-figure, multi-fight UFC contract.

Slice agreed to join the "TUF" cast after his street fights generated millions of hits on YouTube. He moved on to join the now-defunct MMA organization, Elite Xtreme Combat, on CBS, which aired two of his fights on prime-time television.

Earlier this month, UFC President Dana White told The Times that Kimbo will fight again in the UFC whether he wins or loses "TUF."

--Lance Pugmire and Houston Mitchell