This isn't about the top 10 best fighters in the world based on skill. It's the top 10 fighters you would want by your side when the s*!t hits the fan. Keep in mind that appearance is half the battle when a hairy situation needs defused. let's proceed with caution.

1. Chuck Liddell - He's big, has a mohawk, and a reputation for being pretty damn good street fighter. Is there another choice for number one?

2. Kimbo Slice - Kimbo is one of the most intimidating.................

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Jul 02, 2008 at 11:48 am ET

World Exteme Cagefighting will likely keep its competing lightweight and welterweight divisions, but the organization's middleweight and light-heavyweight divisions could be folded into its sister company, the UFC.

UFC president Dana White mentioned the possibility to Kevin Iole in his latest Yahoo! Sports Mailbag piece.

The moves, of course, could mean WEC middleweight champion and highly ranked 185-pounder Paulo Filho could be headed to the UFC.

When Zuffa LLC, the UFC's parent company, purchased the organization in December 2006, White said the WEC would be used to showcase lighter weight classes. While the organization does feature bantamweight (135-pound) and featherweight (145-pound) divisions -- which aren't used in the UFC -- the two organizations both have lightweight, welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight divisions.

Aside from Filho and perhaps WEC light heavyweight champion Brian Stann, though, the talent pool in the WEC's 185-pound and 205-pound class are awfully shallow. The UFC's middleweight division isn't nearly as thin, but it could use some legitimate contenders.

Filho (16-0) would provide that, but he and Silva (21-4) -- longtime friends and former training partners -- have both previously mentioned that they'd prefer not to fight each other.

In the meantime, Silva will move up to 205 pounds to fight James Irvin (in a non-title fight) at UFC Fight Night 14 on July 19.

by Dann Stupp on Jul 01, 2008 at 9:33 pm ET

"The Ultimate Fighter 7" runner-up C.B. Dollaway (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) will meet ousted finalist Jesse Taylor (6-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at a recently announced UFC Fight Night 14 event.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed the July 19 fight with sources close to both fighters.

UFC Fight Night 14, which features a main event between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and James Irvin (in a non-title light-heavyweight bout), takes place at The Palms Las Vegas and was organized to counter the "Affliction: Banned" card.

The Taylor-Dollaway fight had been rumored for much of the past week.

Taylor, who defeated Tim Credeur for a ticket into the finals of "The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest," was kicked out of the finals when Dana White received a tape of the drunken fighter kicking out a window of a limousine and harassing guests at Palace Station, a casino owned by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, the UFC's primary owners. The rampage took place after the show finished airing.

White, though, said he planned to give Taylor a second chance.

It'll come with Dollaway, the guy who defeated Credeur to take Taylor's spot in the live finale. There, Dollaway suffered a defeat to show winner Amir Sadollah -- the same fighter who knocked him out of the show's semifinal round. It was the Arizona State University All-American wrestker's first career loss.

I took the trek from KC to Hutchinson, Kansas on Saturday to check out the event WarfareXtreme was putting on at the Grand Prairie Convention Center.........

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Jun 27, 2008 at 10:47 am ET

A bout between "The Ultimate Fighter 3" winner Michael Bisping (16-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) and veteran UFC middleweight Chris Leben (18-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) will headline a recently announced UFC 89 event.

Marshall Zelaznik, the head of the UFC's UK division, made the announcement this week on Setanta News Ultimate Talk Show, a weekly UFC news show that airs on the U.K.'s Setanta Television.

UFC 89 takes place Oct. 18 at The National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England.

Zelaznik said that both competitors have agreed to the fight, though he didn't clarify if bout agreements have been signed.

Bisping and Leben had been scheduled for a June 7 event in London. However, Leben was forced off the card when he had to serve jail time for a probation violation stemming from an earlier DUI arrest.

Bisping, England's most popular UFC fighter, suffered his first career defeat this past November in a split-decision loss to Rashad Evans. He's since rebounded for first-round knockouts of Charles McCarthy and Jason Day. He'll now fight in a UFC-England event for the fourth time.

Leben, a production of the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter," hit a recent skid when he suffered three losses in the span of four fights. However, he recently scored a third-round knockout of Terry Martin and a first-round TKO of Alessio Sakara.

Tyson Griffin Vs. Marcus Aurelio

Griffin wins via split decision

Josh Koscheck Vs. Chris Lytle

This is a really interesting match up. Kos not only has the worst hair in MMA, but he also mistakes himself for a striker. If this fight does stay standing, Lytle could pull off a Decision. I say Lytle wins via unanimous decision.

Joe Stevenson Vs. Gleison Tibau ....................

This fight was not aired on TV. The UFC actually put out something for free!

by Dann Stupp on Jun 24, 2008 at 8:44 pm ET

With every submission attempt he fired at Josh Burkman, 22-year-old Dustin Hazelett inched ever closer to that big milestone in becoming a responsible adult: home ownership.

That guillotine attempt to kick off his fight at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale on Saturday? That could have paid for an extra bedroom. That brief omaplata? One step closer to a double-car garage.

The rear-naked choke attempt, the near-successful D'arce choke, and the fight-ending arm-bar? A down payment, closing costs, and a bunch of mortgage payments.

For Hazelett (11-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC), a Team Jorge Gurgel fighter based near Cincinnati, Friday's second-round submission victory over Burkman was a breakout win. And the victory, which took place at The Palms Las Vegas, couldn't have come at a better time for the aspiring homeowner.

"I've been looking at this house," Hazelett told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "It's a phenomenal house. Before (the fight), it was real iffy. The money was especially tight. I'm getting a good deal because it's in foreclosure, but it was still going to be real tight because, as a fighter, your income is really unsteady. ... It's hard to tell when the money's coming in, so it's really hard to make financial commitments. This definitely helps a lot."

The "this" the UFC welterweight is referring to is his bonus money. Hazelett's performance with Burkman, which included masterful ground work and one of the year's slickest submissions, earned the Brazilian jiu jitsu brown belt a $20,000 Submission of the Night bonus -- and an additional $20,000 for Fight of the Night.............

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Jun 23, 2008 at 12:29 pm ET

Diego Sanchez scored an event-high base salary of $70,000 for his dominating victory over Luigi Fioravanti at Saturday's live finale for "The Ultimate Fighter 7: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest."

Other top earners from the event, which took place at The Palms Las Vegas and aired live on Spike TV, included Spencer Fisher ($36,000) and main-event winner Kendall Grove ($32,000). "TUF7" champion Amir Sadollah earned $16,000.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today received the list of official salaries from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

The total disclosed payroll for the event was $402,000.

The reported salaries included:

Kendall Grove ($32,000) def. Evan Tanner ($25,000)

Amir Sadollah ($16,000) def. C.B. Dollaway ($8,000)

Diego Sanchez ($70,000) def. Luigi Fioravanti ($10,000)

Spencer Fisher ($36,000) def. Jeremy Stephens ($8,000)

Matthew Riddle ($16,000) def. Dante Rivera ($8,000)

Dustin Hazelett ($24,000) def. Josh Burkman ($10,000)

Drew McFedries ($26,000) def. Marvin Eastman ($9000)

Matt Brown ($16,000) def. Matt Arroyo ($8,000)

Dean Lister ($28,000) def. Jeremy Horn ($25,000)

Tim Credeur ($8,000) vs. Cale Yarbrough ($8,000)*

Rob Kimmons ($6,000) def. Rob Yundt ($5,000)

Worst Hair in MMA

1. Josh Koscheck

2. Clay Guida

3. Heath Herring

4. Kimbo Slice

5. Tito Ortiz

by Dann Stupp and George Garcia on Jun 21, 2008 at 2:30 am ET

LAS VEGAS - John Alessio choked out fellow UFC veteran Pete Spratt in the night's main event, and Kim Couture was on the wrong end of a unanimous decision in her professional MMA debut, during Friday's "Free for All, A Night of Combat" event.

The fights took place at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of UNLV in Las Vegas as part of a combination boxing/MMA event.

Approximately 18,000 tickets were distributed for the night of free fights.

After four boxing bouts, the MMA portion of the night kicked off with a five-fight card.

In the night's headline bout, Alessio led a small army of Xtreme Couture fighters who were booked for the show. Spratt likely won the first round based on striking and an array of submission attempts, but the tides turned in the second............

by John Morgan on Jun 21, 2008 at 11:30 am ET

After suffering a disappointing, albeit perhaps controversial, loss to Thiago Alves at UFC Fight Night 13 in April, perennial welterweight contender Karo Parisyan (18-5 MMA, 9-3 UFC) feels primed to once again work his way back to title contention.

Parisyan had been tentatively scheduled to face "The Ultimate Fighter 6" semifinalist George Sotiropoulos at UFC 87. However, Sotiropoulos was forced to withdraw due to injury.

Now, Parisyan confirmed with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that he is close to signing a bout agreement to face Yoshiyuki Yoshida (10-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at UFC 88 on Sept. 6.

Despite the loss to Alves, the 25-year-old Parisyan still considers himself among the welterweight division's elite competitors.

"Chuck (Liddell) lost two fights in a row, but he was still considered one of the best light heavyweights in the world," Parisyan said. "Wanderlei (Silva) got knocked out twice and lost his third fight to Chuck, but he was still considered as one of the toughest 205-pounders in the world. And I still consider myself in the top five in the world."........