It’s always unfortunate when a fighter gets injured and is unable to compete. It does however, leave a slot open for someone else to fill. In this case, Kevin “The Fire” Burns (5-1) is the lucky guy. Team Quest fighter Ryo Chonan has pulled out with an injury so Burns is stepping up to fight extremely tough Roan Carneiro.  The laundry list of fighters from Des Moines making it to the big shows is getting longer and longer. Burns has a recent first round KO victory over MCC champ Bobby Voelker and looks to improve. Will his jiu-jitsu and cardio be enough to get past Carneiro? Be sure to watch UFC on Pay-Per-View June 7th to find out.

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Tickets for UFC 87 will be on sale Sunday, May 25th at 12:00pm CST. The prices range from next to nothin’ at $50.00 to an entire paycheck at $600.00.

Initially, it was thought that UFC Hall-of-Famer Mark “The Hammer” Coleman would be headlining the show against uber-tough Brock Lesnar. Rumors on the net hint that this will not be the main event and something even bigger will instead fill the slot. Kenny “Ken-Flo” Florian, who has been on a tear as of late, will take on a Minnesota native in Roger “El Matador” Huerta in a battle that some are calling fight of the year.

Other bouts not confirmed by the UFC are Cheick Kongo vs Dan Evensen, Luke Cummo vs Tamdan McCrory, Damien Maia vs Jason MacDonald and George Sotiropolous is rumored to be on the card as well.

The UFC is planning on venturing out as much as possible into not only new states, but new countries. Australia, The Philippines and Mexico are future locations. Atlanta Georgia will likely host UFC 88 in September. After speaking with Mr. J. Walsh of the Iowa Athletic Commission, he stated nothing has been brought to his attention as of yet, but said that he welcomes the idea of the UFC coming in the future.

Personally, I’ve been on both sides of the country for the UFC. There is nothing I’d like better than to have it in my own back yard. Wells Fargo Arena, make some calls!

***UPDATE*** Clay “The Carpenter” Guida has been rumored to be fighting Frankie “The Answer” Edgar at this show as well.

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Rumors hit the forums today stating “The Dentist” would be back in action September 17th. Neer (24-6-1) has won seven out of his last eight fights including his last win over veteran Din Thomas. Thomas was released from the UFC after a poor perfomance and a loss to Neer. Josh has agreed to the bout on the 17th and although the opponent has been chosen, it can not be released at this time. I was able to confirm that Joe Lauzon, Gray Maynard and Tyson Griffin are not possible opponents. Nate Diaz and Mac Danzig would be the most likely contenders in my book. I’ve also been told that the event is likely to take place in Southeastern US, likely in Florida at the Seminole Hard Rock where previous Ultimate Fight Nights have taken place. The Ultimate Fighter 8 is set to premiere on the same night.

Updates to follow. Stay tuned!

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Kevin “Fire” Burns (5-1) expected an all out blood-bath against Bobby Voelker (13-3) at May 9th’s Victory Fighting Championships in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Luckily, Burns escaped the cage unscathed in less than a minute with a brutal KO that left Voelker wobbly even after exiting the cage. Burns, known for his ground game, had not had a TKO since 2006 against the always exciting Demi Deeds. This leaves us with two questions. Where does Burns stand now? And who will he face next?

Only one way to find out. …STAY TUNED!

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The young and always smiling cast-member of TUF7 and I shared a few words via text message:

PG: Hey Riddle, rumor is you are fighting Dante Rivera at the finale in June. Can you provide any truth to that?
MR: No I can’t, who did you hear that from?
PG: Rumors spread fast on the net. I was hoping to break the news to the world officially.
MR: You’ll just have to wait and see

We’ll know soon enough… Stay tuned!

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• Josh Barnett confirmed he’s fighting Pedro Rizzo at Affliction event for a rematch long overdue
• Shinya Aoki okayed to fight at Dream 4 (SWEET, he’s one of my favorites)
• Will Noguiera & Mir be coaches for TUF8 or will it be GSP & Fitch?
• Is Houston Alexander going to get another shot after showing he doesn’t
  have a strong jiu-jitsu game, nor a solid chin?
• Who will Josh Neer fight next? (My guess is Joe Lauzon)
• Din Thomas, Tommy Speer and Kuniyoshi Hironaka cut from the UFC this
  week. Starnes, Lutter, Chainsaw McCarthy amongst others that were cut.
  Who will be cut next?

Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

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I was able to steal a few minutes from Thomas “The Irish Assassin” Mastin today. Thomas first got into the fight game at Toad Holler in Des Moines. Thomas did well at Toad as an amateur fighter but slowly evolved into a referee. His first time as a referree was late 2002. Mastin continues to referee fights for the Midwest Cage Championship pro fights once a month and DMX (Des Moines Xtreme Fighting) amateur fights every Wednesday.

PhyteGuru: Being a referee is a tough job. You have to put up with early stoppages, late stoppages, and of course the crowd. Why continue to be a referee?

TM: I love it. It’s work, but it’s exposure for me and I’m doing what I love. There is nothing greater than two guys battling to see who is better. Oh, and not to mention I get to be on TV.

PhyteGuru: What is the best fight you’ve ever refereed?

TM: This is a really tough one because I’ve refereed so many fights. I’d have to go with Brian Green vs Mike Van Meer. The guys actually had bad blood before the fight and Van Meer was taking it to him before Green was able to sumbit him in the 3rd. Green was smiling through every punch even though you know he was hurt.

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Thompson, the reigning welterweight champion of the all-but-defunct BodogFIGHT organization, fought for the first Sengoku show in March and defeated DEEP veteran Fabricio Monteiro via unanimous decision. The win came just a month after a first-round submission victory over John Troyer at a February BodogFIGHT event. Thompson’s current win streak began after an April 2006 loss to Karo Parisyan at UFC 59. Thompson owns a 1-1 career record in the organization.

Sengoku III is expected to be headlined by highly ranked lightweight Takanori Gomi, though his opponent hasn’t been finalized.

NT: My weight is a little higher than I would like but I am in great shape otherwise. I had trouble shaking a few nagging injuries while prepping for my last few fights so this is the healthiest I have been in quit a while – though there are still five weeks of hard training during which I could easily much that up, lol.

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Yesterday, the WEC announced the line-up for their June 1st show (Faber vs Pulver). Lucky for most Des Moines fans, we get the VERSUS network (channel 55) through Mediacom. Don’t miss your chance to watch “Rev” show his skills and the reason he is currently riding an eight fight winning streak.

Main event

WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver

Main card (televised)

WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres vs. Yoshiro Maeda
Mark Munoz vs. Chuck “The Reverend” Grisby
“Razor” Rob McCullough vs. Kenneth Alexander

Under card (may not be broadcast)

Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone vs. Richard “Cleat” Crunkilton
Jeff Curran vs. Mike Brown
Chase Beebe vs. Will Ribiero
Tim McKenzie vs. Eric Schambari
Alex Serdyukov vs. Luis Sapo
Alexandre Noguiera vs. Jose Aldo
Charlie Valencia vs. Dominick Cruz

For more information, visit www.wec.tv

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Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Seminar - Rodrigo Vaghi

Rodrigo started his Jiu-Jitsu at the age of l4, in the original Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro. Vaghi’s instructors were Grandmaster Helio Gracie and his sons: Rickson, Royce, Royler and Rolker. He was also an instructor at the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Brazil.

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