Last night's UFC 146 all-heavyweight main card was very exciting and delivered more than I thought it would. There are still many MMA fans who haven't forgotten last weekend's showing by Daniel Cormier against Josh Barnett at Strikeforce.

When UFC president Dana White was asked about Cormier and his future in the UFC, Dana hinted that he made it clear that he doesn't think Cormier's future is at heavyweight (via ESPN):

"Yes, he will end up coming over to the UFC. The thing is I'd love to see the guy go down to 205lbs," White said. "I think he's a small heavyweight over here.

"Listen, I respect Josh Barnett, he did work Barnett. Barnett fights like once a year, I'm not taking anything away from Barnett, but it's a whole other ball game over here.

"I'm not telling him [Cormier], if the guy wants to stay at heavyweight, I'm not going to tell him where to go, but I think it would be a good move for him to go to 205."

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Frankie Edgar is certainly familiar with the art of the rematch. After having edged out a narrow decision win over B.J. Penn to win the UFC lightweight title, Edgar granted Penn a rematch and earned a much more emphatic win. He then fought Gray Maynard to a draw in what was already a rematch, resulting in them fighting yet again, this time with Edgar earning the dramatic knockout victory.

Now, having lost an exciting, competitive fight with Ben Henderson, Edgar will be in the role of challenger receiving a second chance.

Frankie getting that rematch doesn't seem to sit well with Penn, who talked about the situation on MMA Uncensored Live (transcribed by MMA Mania):

Honestly, I don't think he should have [received a rematch]. He could make the case for it. He gave me a rematch. He had to give Gray (Maynard) the rematch, because they had a draw. I'd like to see Benson Henderson fight Nate Diaz. Fight someone else.

...

I got the rematch, some people say it was a close fight or not. Frankie's fight, I guess you could have made a case that he did well with Benson. But to me, I look at fights -- I don't know who took the guy down more. I don't look at stuff like that. Who woke up in the morning and who was in more pain? I think Frankie Edgar was hurt the next morning. Benson told me he (Edgar) had his 'stunner shades' on. I think he probably got hurt more.

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Would you be interested in a rematch of one of the best and most important fights in UFC and MMA history? Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar locked horns 7 years ago, and it changed the landscape of Mixed Martial Arts. Bonnar wants to not only recreate this, but he also wants to one-up that.

The American Psycho again campaigned hard for a TUF coaching slot against Griffin, and he did it during the latest episode of Spike TV's MMA Uncensored.

Check out as Bonnar makes his case after the jump.

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UFC president Dana White isn't one to react passively to events. He spoke to the LA Times' Lance Pugmire on Friday about the recent rash of failed drug tests that have afflicted the UFC. Most recently the UFC lost its headliner for the upcoming UFC 146 when Heavyweight title challenger Alistair Overeem failed a random urine test in late March for an elevated testosterone:epitestosterone ratio.

White told Pugmire the UFC is taking steps to expand their internal drug testing program:

White: "The steroid, [performance-enhancing drug] thing affects the whole sport. The key is to make sure these guys never get on it, because once they do, they change. The problem with Overeem is that I want to sit in a room with him man to man and believe him. He told me before he ever fought for us, 'Don't worry, I'm the most tested athlete in sports.' But I think we have about 42 fights a year . . . you have a guy or two popping [positive tests] here and there, that's a pretty good ratio."

Pugmire: Do you want to increase testing?

White: "Yes. We're going to do our own testing, order these guys into [a lab]; we're sorting it out now. You have to do this to save the sport. You can't have these guys fighting on this stuff."

This is a massive sea change in the UFC's approach to drug testing. For years they deferred all questions regarding drug testing to the various athletic commissions that regulate the sport and hoped no one important would note that they acted as the commission in jurisdictions (the UK, Japan) with no regulatory body in place.

White also addressed what he regards as the uninformed coverage in the MMA media about the declining UFC ratings on Fox, FX and Fuel TV:

See what Dana has to say about TV ratings after the jump...

SBN coverage of UFC 146: Dos Santos vs. Mir

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If you watched TUF Live last week, you know by now that Urijah Faber will be meeting Renan Barao for the UFC interim bantamweight title at UFC 148 on July 7th. But even right up until the announcement, Faber was all sorts of confused about who he'd actually be facing. Faber told Pro MMA Radio that Dana White 'basically lied to him' and that he was given the distinct impression that he'd be rematching Ivan Menjivar (the two met in a 2006 bout in the TKO promotion, where Menjivar lost by disqualification due to an illegal kick). Here's what he had to say (transcribed by MMA Mania):

"I had first assumed it was going to be Barao, or McDonald or Menjivar and Barao was my first prediction. I started getting tape on him as soon as I found out about Dominick. This was a couple of weeks ago. Then, when Dana came in to do the announcement, I asked him if there were any hints or insights on who it would be and he was saying 'Oh, you wouldn't believe what all had gone down, how McDonald broke his hand and Barao didn't want to leave Brazil, to leave Aldo's side, because Aldo was training' and all this crazy stuff, so I didn't know for awhile.

Then like two days before the thing, I had text Dana and he was basically lying to me, saying it was gonna be Menjivar. For like two days I thought I might be fighting Menjivar. Then the day of the announcement, I was like 'Are you sure it's not Barao?' And he was like, 'Yeah.' But I had a feeling that it was. Then Dana apologized right before he announced it, for basically lying, which is kinda weird, I thought, because Barao was there. I don't care who I fight, I told Dana I wouldn't say anything anyway, if he was thinking I might spoil the surprise, or what the deal was."

The whole thing sounds really odd. Faber's a company man and it seems pretty obvious that he wouldn't tell anyone who his opponent was going to be if he found out a little while before everyone else. Was Dana really lying to him? Or was it just crossed wires? Either way, Menjivar is now meeting Mike Easton on the card and Faber has a date with Barao.

SBN coverage of UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II

UFC Light Heavyweight Jon Jones was arrested Saturday morning in Binghamton, New York on suspicion of Driving Under the Influence. He drove his Bentley into a telephone pole. Jones' mother bailed him out a few hours after the incident.

His manager Malki Kawa issued a statement in the immediate aftermath of the arrest:

"I can confirm that Jon Jones was arrested early this morning on suspicion of DUI. While the facts of this situation are still being gathered and situated, First Round Management fully supports Jon and we are asking for fans and media to respect the privacy of Jon and his family during this time."

Related Stories: Video: UFC Champ Jon Jones' Bentley After The DUI Wreck |Jon Jones Arrested on Suspicion of DUI, Suffers Minor Injuries

Jones has also issued a statement on his Facebook page and that's after the jump:

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The UFC middleweight division has been kind of strange for a long time. Champion Anderson Silva has long been accused of facing less-than-stellar competition at times, simply due to the fact that he's picked off everyone ever put in front of him. He'll rematch Chael Sonnen at UFC 148 on July 7th but in the meantime, the rest of the pack is jockeying for position to face the winner of that bout. One of those men is occasional Silva training partner Mark Munoz, who faces Chris Weidman in the five-round main event of UFC on Fuel 4.

In an interview with All Elbows he had a few things to say about his opponent on July 11th, but his comments about another middleweight were a lot more interesting. That person would be former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard, who meets Brian Stann at UFC on Fox 4 on August 4th and might earn a title shot with a victory:

Hector Lombard? Shoot, I got respect for that guy. He's a good fighter and he's already mixing up the water, I mean, he's already doing that. But at the same time, I've been in this organization for over two years (actually over three, just sayin) and I've been earning my stripes. He needs to do the same. So this fight against Brian Stann, should he win it, I don't think he deserves a title shot. I don't. Just being honest, just being real. For me, I've gone to the brink of where I was fighting for a title shot when I fought Yushin (Okami). I lost that fight, but now I'm on a four-fight winning streak, so now I feel like I deserve that fight should I win against Chris Weidman.

I understand why the UFC would try to throw Lombard in there ASAP against the champ, mostly because he's new blood and there's some intrigue factor there. But it's pretty obvious that Munoz has a point here. Wins over Maia, Leben and Weidman should probably be enough to earn him a title shot in a shallowish division. If it does indeed play out like that, it'll be interesting to see which way Dana White leans. Established vet that's tasted defeat in the big leagues, or the new (but relatively untested) hotness. Which way would you lean if you had to choose?

SBN coverage of UFC on Fuel 4

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UFC 146 heavyweight Stefan Struve is blogging on MMA Fighting in the leadup to his bout next Saturday. His first blog earlier this week was about his path to MMA and his admiration for then-opponent Mark Hunt. But the day after it was posted, Struve found out that Hunt was out of the bout with an injury and Lavar Johnson would be taking his place. This blog talks about finding out about that, and gives his thoughts on his new opponent.

First, the timeline on the shocking news:

The news arrived at a very funny and awkward time actually. I was at my girlfriend's place and we were looking for potential holidays after the fight. It was then that my manager sent me a text message telling me I needed to call him immediately because Mark Hunt was injured and out of the fight. At that moment I panicked, as I wasn't sure whether I'd still be fighting or not. I didn't want my whole training camp to go to waste. Luckily, I spoke with my manager and he told me Lavar had already been put in place as the stand-in opponent - I was delighted. It's a really cool fight.

He believes that Johnson is actually a better fight for him that The Super Samoan:

As it turned out, Lavar Johnson is every bit as exciting for me as Hunt was. Credit to him for stepping up to the plate. All in all, Lavar is a big, strong guy who likes to stand and punch, and he's also far easier to take down than Hunt. I truly believe Mark has better takedown defense than Lavar, and that makes it a fun fight for me.

He hopes that he can fight Hunt in the future:

Of course, it goes without saying, it would have been an absolute honor to fight Mark Hunt. I've been watching Mark's fights for years and was genuinely excited at the prospect of testing my skills against him. I hope he gets well soon and doesn't suffer too much as a result of the injury. It would be great to fight him at some point in the future and pick up where we left off. He's great for the sport and, so long as he can continue performing the way he's done recently, that man's going in the right direction.

Is Struve right when he says that Johnson is actually an easier fight than Hunt?