MMAMADNESS.com has confirmed the UFC has a verbal agreement from both Phil Baroni and Marcus Davis to compete on the March 27th card in New Jersey. No contracts have been signed, though both men have made the verbal commitment. Marcus Davis is coming off a two-fight losing streak against Dan Hardy and Ben Saunders, respectively. Phil Baroni made his UFC comeback at UFC 106 against Amir Sadollah, where he lost via unanimous decision. Though Davis recently signed a four-fight extention with the UFC, a win could ensure he is not cut before that contract expires. A win against Davis may secure the long-term contract Baroni has been vying for (his fight at UFC 106 was rumored to be a one-fight contract).

UFC 111 is to be headlined by George St-Pierre defending the welter weight title against British sensation Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy. Also on the card is Frank Mir and Shane Carwin; rumored to be for an interim heavy weight belt. Thiago Alves and Ricardo Almeida are two others rumored to be on the card, though no confirmation has been released and an no opponent for either man has been announced.

Calls to confirm a signed contract have been placed to both the Baroni and Davis camp. Keep checking MMAMADNESS.com for updates.

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Mike Brown plans to return to action as soon as the WEC will let him.

While Jose Aldo and Urijah Faber are unavailable for a January fight, former champ Mike Brown has been begging the WEC to let him back in before his expected March return.

According to Mike Thomas Brown’s website:

“Brown is anxious to get back inside the cage and wants to fight as soon as January for WEC 46 and is willing to beg for it in the process.”

MMAMADNESS.com has learned that a match up between Anthony Morrison and Brown is in the works for WEC  46.

The WEC has plans to sign “CheeseSteak” Morrison in the near future, though has yet to announce an official signing.

Morrison has beat top WEC prospects, Jeff Lentz and Alvin Robinson, in the past three weeks. With a record of 16-6 professionally Morrison would be a welcomed addition to the already stacked 145 division.

Calls out to Brown and Morrison’s representation have not been returned.

Keep checking MMAMADNESS.com for all the updates regarding this story.

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Early this morning Fanhouse’s Mike Chiappetta broke the news that an interim title is in the works for the UFC heavy weight division. The obvious contenders are second and third ranked heavy weights, Shane Carwin and Frank Mir, respectively.

According to sources close to both fighters verbal agreements are in place and a bout agreement is in the process of being drafted. With current title holder, Brock Lesnar, out for an undetermined length of time due to an intestinal illness, UFC execs have decided to create an interim title. UFC 111 is set to take place in Newark, NJ and will be the first time the UFC has been back to the state since UFC 78 in 2007. Carwin, 11-0, last fought at UFC 96 where he knocked out heavy weight contender Gabriel Gonzaga. Since that fight Carwin has had two scheduled fights with Lesnar that have been postponed and subsequentially canceled due to Lesnar’s illness.

Mir, 13-4, is coming of a weekend win over Cheick Kongo at UFC 107. He’s 1-1 against Lesnar and requested a rematch with the champ as soon as he was healthy and able to fight. Going into his fight with Kongo, Mir added approximately 20 pounds of muscle mass to his body; a welcomed addition. Unlike some heavy weights, Mir gained the additional weight by increasing his strength while maintaining his agility and quickness.

Keep checkin MMAMADNESS.com for the confirmation of Mir-Carwin at UFC 111.

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Rafaello Oliveira, right, learned his new opponent.

Rafaello Oliveira found out that he has a new opponent for UFC 108, after his original opponent was swapped.

Oliveira’s new opponent for the card is UFC newcomer John Gunderson, according to Oliveira’s gym, AMA’s Fight Club’s fan page on Facebook and Twitter account, confirmed the news.

Gunderson is 22-6, having won his last three bouts. It will be his first fight in the Octagon, having fought in the now defunct International Fight League back in 2007.

Oliveira is hunting for his first UFC win, after losing to Nik Lentz at UFC 103 in his UFC debut. Oliveira was supposed to fight Sean Sherk, but Sherk got moved into fighting Jim Miller on the same card.

Harris will make his UFC debut

Ultimate Fighter 7 cast member Gerald Harris will make his UFC debut at “Ultimate Fight Night 20: Diaz vs. Maynard” against Mike Massenzio, a source close to the bout told MMAMadness.com.

Contracts for the fight have not yet been drawn up.

Massenzio was originally scheduled to face Tim Credeur, but MMA Fanhouse reported that Credeur has withdrawn from the bout due to an undisclosed injury.

Harris (13-2) was eliminated in the second round of the Ultimate Fighter 7 by eventual winner Amir Sadollah. Harris last fought in September, defeating Nissen Osterneck to become the Shark Fights middleweight champion.

Massenzio (11-3) has not fought since his December 2008 loss to C.B. Dollaway at UFC 92. Since then, Massenzio has had knee and neck surgery.

Donald Cerrone plans on fighting at 145 after his fight with Ratcliff.

Donald Cerrone doesn’t like being on the sidelines too long.

In fact, after he faces Ed Ratcliff at WEC 45, he already has a plan in mind.

“I’m going to call out Jose Aldo and drop down to 145,” Cerrone told MMAMadness.com’s Hector Castro on Tuesday’s episode of The Ground & Pound. “I’m really looking forward to that. I’m not running away from the 155 lb. weight class. I’m going to stay at 155 but just also going to fight at 145.”

Cerrone (10-2-1) said the move wouldn’t be permanent, rather he wants to take interesting fights in the featherweight class.

“I’m not going to go down to 145 forever,” he said. “I’m just going to go down and dabble in there. I’d like to go Jose Aldo, Mike Brown would be a fun fight, Urijah would be a fun fight.

“Anyone at 145, I will fight. The only person I won’t fight is Leonard Garcia, who is my best friend and roommate. So I can’t take that fight but besides that… Fair game”

Cerrone admitted he has been walking around at 149-150 pounds, meaning he could make the limit without any issue. He credits the constant scheduling of fights has helped him maintain his weight a level that he could make it into the featherweight division.

“I’ve been fighting so frequently my weight is way down,” Cerrone said. “As long as I can keep my weight down. (Fighting at 145) shouldn’t be a problem at all.”

Listen to the show, which also featured The Ultimate Fighter’s Matt Mitrione and a UFC roundtable discussion by clicking here.

Reljic has not faught since 2008

Middleweights CB Dollaway and Goran Reljic will  face each other at UFC 110 in Australia, a source close to the event told MMAMadness.com.

The source confirmed that bout agreements have been signed.

Reljic has not fought since his UFC debut, a TKO victory over Wilson Gouveia. He was scheduled to face Thales Leites at UFC 90, but sustained an injury that required back surgery and has not competed since.

Dollaway will look to build on his unanimous decision victory over Jay Silva at UFC Fight Night: Diaz vs. Guillard in September. The Ultimate Fighter alum is 3-2 in the UFC.

UFC gives Amir Sadollah his chance to fight in front of his home crowd.

Recently, Amir Sadollah told MMA Madness radio on how he would love the opportunity to fight in front of his hometown fans in Virginia.

“It would be definitely something cool to fight in Virginia,” Sadollah told MMA Madness’ Hector Castro.

Wish granted.

Sadollah (2-1) will fight at Ultimate Fight Night 20 on Jan. 11 in the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va, sources close to the event have confirmed with MMA Madness.

The Newark Examiner reported that Sadollah’s opponent will be Brad Blackburn (15-9-1), and was also confirmed by MMA Madness.

Sadollah was born in Richmond, Va. and the bout will give him a chance to showcase his skills to his home state fans.

“I walk around. I go to 7-11 and wait for someone to recognize me. Nobody does and I get my feelings hurt,” Sadollah joked.  ”[But honestly,] the two places I get recognized is Vegas and my hometown, Richmond.”

Sadollah was the winner of the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” despite never having fought a pro bout prior to joining the show. He reeled off a pair of submission victories against CB Dolloway in both the semifinals and finals to earn the contract.

He had a bit of bad luck suffering a pair of long standing injuries that kept him to the sidelines for more than a year. He returned at UFC 101, where he was finished relatively quickly by Johny Hendricks in a bout that some saw as a quick stoppage.

He came back at UFC 106, where he dissected Phil Baroni with a Muay Thai clinic to earn a unanimous decision victory.

Blackburn is coming off of a victory over Edgar Garcia at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, but Blackburn injured his shoulder and has been out since. This will be Blackburn’s fourth fight in the UFC (3-0).

Sotiropoulos will fight in his home town

George Sotiropoulos (11-2) and Joe Stevenson (36-10) could fight at UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia, mmamania.com reported.

Both fighters have been given bout agreements, but nothing has been signed yet. However, Sotiropoulos, an Australian native, is reportedly excited to sign for the fight.

Stevenson has found recent success in the octagon after teaming up with Greg Jackson. The former number one contender has won two straight after a slide that saw him lose three of four fights.

Sotiropoulos has won five straight bouts, including all four in the UFC. Four of those five fights have ended in submission.

It was previously rumored that Wanderlei Silva would be facing Yoshihiro “Sexyama” Akiyama at UFC 110 in Australia. However, Fighters Only recently learned that it will be Michael Bisping instead of “Sexyama” in Sydney come February. While no bout agreements have been signed, sources close to both camps have confirmed to Fighters Only the men have verbally agreed to the fight.

UFC 110 is set to take place within Sydney, Australia’s Acer Arena on February 21 of 2010. No bouts have officially been released by the UFC. Rumored bouts are as follows:

• Wanderlei Silva vs. Michael Bisping
• Mirko Filipović vs. Ben Rothwell
• Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
• Dong Hyun Kim vs. Chris Lytle
• James Te-Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac

Keep checking MMAMadness.com for all the updates regarding this story.

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