The Ultimate Fighting Championships has stripped Frank Mir of their Heavyweight Title. He was injured in an accident in late 2004 and has been unable to defend it, and the likeliness that he will return to competition any time this year is low. Andrei Arlovski has been named champion. UFC 55, featuring a match between Arlovsky and Paul Buentello for the heavyweight title, will take place on October 8.
Cecil Peoples gave his side of the story on the Pete Sell/Nate Quarry fight to MMA Weekly: “He took a punch, and he took another punch. He started to stumble back and fall down. I looked at his face, and I knew he was dinged a little bit, but not that bad. He was dinged. He goes down. He hits the floor. Now I was running, and everyone thought I wasrunning to stop the fight. I wasn’t running to stop the fight. I was running to get close in case I had to stop the fight. Before I get there Nate Quarry hits him again with a hard, and I’m talking about a hard right hand…and before Nate could hit him again I was already there because I was running to there, so I grabbed Nate and I held onto him. I said that’s it…He was completely out.”
Robbie Lawler, who is rebuilding his career after a losing streak in UFC after being groomed, will be fighting in the main event of the September 17 King of the Cage show i Indianapolis. He defeated Felaniko Vitale on July 23 by knockout.
Major medical notes from Ultimate Fight Night: The Nevada State Athletic commission has medically suspended both Alex Karalexis and Chris Leben. Provided Karalexis’ nose and rib cage are not broken, the suspension becomes six weeks due to a cut on his nose. Leben will be cleared after he has his thumb and ear checked out and cleared by doctors. Several other fighters were medically suspended for no more than four weeks: Josh Neer, Gideon Ray, Pete Sell, and Sam Hoger.
The scheduled Ismael-Inoki Jungle Fight show in Las Vegas for September 9 has been cancelled. The Frank Shamrock vs. Cesar Gracie match originally scheduled for October 1, was moved, similar to the UFC 55 date, whereas to not compete with the Roy Jones Jr. vs. Antonio Tarver match on PPV.
