Bloody Elbow, for MMA and UFC news

Chis Leben tweeted today that he received his blue belt in BJJ from Sidney Silva.

"UFC 138 Is Better Event Than Critics And MMA Fans Acknowledge"That's the case Thomas Myers makes at MMA Nation.

Strikeforce star, Cung Le, tells Fight Hype he wants to fight in the UFC, and more specifically, on the UFC 139 card in his hometown of San Jose, perhaps against Chris Leben: PC: What's your current situation as far as your Strikeforce/Showtime deal? Could the UFC sign you to fight right now? CL: I definitely have a different contract than the other fighters. Right now, it's all up to the UFC. There may be some roadblocks with the Showtime deal and the Showtime side of things, but we will see what happens. PC: When would you like something to be ironed out and possibly fight again? CL: Ever since I heard that Cain [Velasquez] was going to be fighting in San Jose. I would love to be on the same card PC: At one point, there was a poll done and a lot of people wanted to see Cung Le vs. Anderson Silva. Not only is there Anderson now, but a lot of guys have emerged in the 185-pound division as contenders, such as Brian Stann, Mark Munoz, Chris Leben and Chael Sonnen. Would you be interested in any of those names? Are those the type of fights you're looking to make? CL: You know, on Yahoo! Sports, there is a Cung Le vs. Leben thread if there was a cross promotion. Like I said, if the fans think it is an exciting fight for them to watch, I'm all for it. UPDATE: Chris Leben is now confirmed to be fighting Mark Munoz at UFC 138, so it looks like Cung Le will have to find another opponent.

The UFC tweets that there were some other interesting candidates wanting to fight Rashad Evans at UFC 133 in Philly.

Manabelldo's Chris Leben, based on a Chinese word  pun.

Lesnar vs. Carwin in Natural Born Comics by manabelldo Lots more on his blog, including Aoki/Kawajiri and Akiyama/Leben. (At the bottom of each post is a link to English text.) HT: gryphonjapan

The NSAC has released early salaries for UFC 116's featured fighters: Brock Lesnar: $400,000 flat Shane Carwin: $40,000 to show, +$40,000 with a win Yoshihiro Akiyama: $45,000 to show, +$25,000 with a win Chris Leben: $43,000 to show, +$43,000 with a win Source: MMA Junkie UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin coverage