Just a few days ago, Dana White told us Brock Lesnar was very sick.  He couldn't comment on what it was specifically, but he let us know it was bad.  Real bad.  Maybe life threatening.  Definitely career endangering.  But he assured us it wasn't AIDS or cancer.  Three days later, Brock Lesnar is out of the hospital and resting at home after minor surgery for an intestinal disorder.  Turns out that as soon as he went to a hospital they were able to handle his issues.

Dana White is not a doctor.  I've been saying that over and over to people the last few days.  He has no idea what Brock's future is medically.  Based on what we know now, I wouldn't be shocked if Brock is back in the octagon fighting by summer.  A lot has changed in a few days.

There's news that Dana is considering an interim heavyweight title match.  My guess is it would be on the Australia card  and that it would feature Shane Carwin vs. Cain Velasquez.  I see no reason whatsoever to make this fight.  Just 3 days ago everyone thought Brock was on his deathbed, now he's at home on a low fiber diet recovering.  Give it two weeks, and see what his medical status is then.  Maybe he really won't fight again.  But maybe he'll be ready to fight by the Memorial Day show in May.  If that's the case, creating an interim champion in February only to unify in May is a ludicrous decision that only cheapens the title.

Here's an alternative suggestion.  Wait 3 weeks, and if it looks like Brock will be able to fight again, simply schedule his original fight with Carwin for late spring or early summer, and put Cain Velasquez and Nogueira on The Ultimate Fighter as coaches.  By the time they finish and fight it will probably be right around the time Brock fights Carwin, and we'll have another good contender.  If they don't want Nog on there again, maybe Cain and Mir if Mir wins at 107.  This solution avoids a pointless interim title and takes care of the TUF problem without putting a division on hold.

Dana White talks about Rampage Jackson as B.A. Baracus [2 min mark], being Dana White, guaranteeing the UFC on network TV and more.

HT: The DAM show

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From Cage Writer:

While on "Inside MMA," Clay Guida announced that he will train at Greg Jackson's to prepare for his upcoming fight with Kenny Florian at UFC 107.

...

Joe Stevenson made the same change before his win over Nate Diaz. Quinton "Rampage" Jacokson switched to Wolfslair in England after losing his light heavyweight belt to Forrest Griffin. He then pulled off two victories, a knockout of Wanderlei Silva and a decision over Keith Jardine.

I just finished reading Greg Jackson's new training book and I'm even more convinced than ever that he's coaching MMA at whole different level from all but the most elite camps.

This is an excellent move for Clay Guida, although I must admit I'll be disappointed if it means we won't get to see Joe Stevenson vs Guida.

Another angle to consider is whether a Stevenson or Guida rematch with Diego Sanchez will be a grudge match between the original Greg Jackson fighter and the new guys.

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From Mike Chiappetta:

Rashad Evans has yet to be officially informed that his UFC 107 main-event matchup with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson has been scrapped, according to his manager, Jervis Cole.

FanHouse contacted Cole on Saturday to find out whether the ex-UFC light-heavyweight champion had been informed of any change in scheduling. As of yesterday afternoon, he had not.

"Haven't heard anything yet," Cole wrote in a text message to FanHouse. "As far as we know the fight is still on. Until the UFC tells us something different, Rashad Evans starts training in mid-October."

Frank Mir is rumored to be fighting Cheick Kongo in December in a fight that almost nobody cares about.  It's a decent heavyweight fight, but there's a much better fight just begging to be made, and it's a rematch from UFC 92.

A huge cloud hangs over the first Mir vs. Nogueira fight.  Nogueira had a torn up knee and was severely weakened by staph infection. At the same time, Mir put out his back weeks earlier, a fact often overlooked by those looking to excuse Nogueira's performance.  Still, not all injuries are created equal, and the Nogueira we saw looked like a broken down shell of his former self.  

Frank Mir says it was the same Nogueira that fought Couture, but I think a simple viewing of his fight with Couture suggests otherwise to all by the most oblivious viewer.  He moved at the pace of a senior citizen against Mir, never really threw any punches, and failed to put together any combinations at all.  I think Mir is well aware of this.

Mir's recent comments regarding Nogueira are certainly calculated.  He is aiming to talk his way into a big fight, and I think he will be successful.  Nogueira's been listening to these interviews, and according to Ed Soares, he's none too pleased:

Rodrigo just got off the phone with me, and we were talking about it...Nogueira feels he is not making excuses...he's giving the reason he performed the way he did back in December.

There's a big difference between making excuses and giving the reason why.  And just to prove that Nogueira is not making excuses, he wants his next fight to be against Mir, and he wants to fight him in December.

A rematch has to happen to answer all the questions.  Both fighters want a rematch, fans will be very interested in a rematch, and from a business perspective, the fight makes a ton of sense.  If Nogueira wins, he can ride into a title match on a huge wave of momentum.  If Mir knocks him off again, he's on his way to a rubber match with Lesnar.  Either way, the UFC wins.  

If Nogueira beats Mir and Lesnar beats Carwin, Lesnar vs. Nogueira will be a monstrous fight in 2010.  With a "UFC Primetime" special to hype the fight and highlight the difference between the two men, it could be one of the most anticipated fights in UFC history.  

I considered the argument that it's best to hold this fight off, because if Nogueira wins the title you have a natural first title defense against Mir.  The argument makes sense, but it assumes too many things.  It assumes Nogueira wins the title, and assumes Mir doesn't get knocked out by Cheick Kongo in the meantime, taking him out of contention.

This is a hot fight right now, and would be a strong semi main event under Penn-Sanchez.  

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Dana White announced today that lightweight champ B.J. Penn will defend his belt on December 12 in Memphis at UFC 107.

Zak Woods raises the obvious question:

Sanchez and Penn were initially rumored to fight on the UFC 105 card but then it was rumored that they would headline a third UFC card in November, which would possibly be on network T.V.

The addition of the lightweight title fight to UFC 107 may indicate that the rumored UFC-network television deal has fallen through (again).

This is also significant news for UFC 105, which is still without a main event. Middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, made his intentions to take time off known and with the lightweight title fight at UFC 107 the U.K. fight card is still without a main event.

Too soon to tell, but all signs point to no network deal. The UFC thought they were very close. They also thought they would sign Fedor.

A couple of days back I wrote:

It's pretty thrilling to watch Dana White swing from success to success and still keep going for more. The guy knows that this is no time to get complacent and sit on his lead. Dana and the Fertittas came very close to permanently locking up all five of the marquee divisions in MMA when they went balls out trying to sign Fedor Emeliananko earlier this month. ...

But even with that final victory snatched from his grasp, Dana only pushes even harder for world domination. In the aftermath of Strikeforce's very solid ratings performance with Carano vs Cyborg, the specter of Fedor on CBS has to be keeping Dana White up at night.

I'm rooting for Dana to land a network deal -- the right network deal -- but the drama of the situation is irresistibly fascinating: the brash young man at the top of his game, experiencing success that would have astounded all observers just five years ago still driven to attain ever more dizzying heights while his competitors nip at his heels.

Looks like Dana has once again chosen to look before he leapt into a network deal. Or maybe he didn't get an offer. Let's not forget only two years ago White was promising that the UFC would be on HBO. There are reasons the networks might still be leery of the UFC and MMA, from Sports Business Journal:

It’s difficult to tell whether the UFC slowly is moving to the mainstream, or whether it will remain a niche player on the sporting landscape.

It’s an important question, because if the UFC is viewed as mainstream, more sponsorship and ad dollars will flow to it. But it’s a question that is still being asked, despite massive pay-per-view numbers and considerable buzz from “UFC 100” in Las Vegas this month.

Speculation was that the event would log about 1.5 million PPV buys at between $45 and $55. Even with those numbers, to some of the country’s most influential ad buyers, the risks associated with getting involved with UFC still far outweigh the benefits.

Fightlinker reports and discusses:

- Thiago Alves vs. Paulo Thiago is probably happening at UFC 107. I can’t even read that without getting confused. Anyway, Paulo went from beating up guys named Marcone Marcone (really?) to fighting Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, and Thiago Alves in a row. That’s like going from being the governor of the state famous for Ice Road Truckers to running for Vice President of the United States. Yeah, I just compared Paulo Thiago to Sarah Palin. That just happened.

If Paulo Thiago had stuck to the plan and gotten starched by Josh Koscheck he might have gotten an undercard tune up fight as his second fight. If he hadn't gone three rounds with Jon Fitch, the world's #2 welterweight according to the USAT/SBN Consensus MMA Rankings, he might have gotten Chris Lytle or Marcus Davis for his third UFC fight. Instead he's going to get the USAT/SBN Consensus MMA Rankings #3 welterweight in the world, Thiago Alves.

We'll see how that works out for him.

Thiago Alves meanwhile should have control of his own fate and gets a decent tuneup fight against a still-ranked welterweight who is perhaps more credible than formidable. Alves ought to be able to batter Paulo standing and avoid going to the ground and deposit a tune up win in the bank. From there it will be interesting to see how the UFC brass views Alves. Will he have to get past Jon Fitch to get another title shot?