BloodyElbow is reporting that Randy Couture may plunge to 205 pounds to face Brandon Vera for the main event at UFC 105. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson left an open hole for the main event of the card when he signed on to play B.A. Baracus in the A-team movie remake, rendering his showdown with fellow TUF coach Rashad Evans an impossibility for the card and also irritating Dana White in the process.  Randy Couture has often been called upon to inject his name recognition and immediate drawing power into any necessary HW or LHW scenario that the UFC sees fit, and it looks like he may once again prove to be the trusty old tool in the shed that they can always count on to get the job done. Interestingly enough, the report also states that Couture accepted the idea of replacing Rampage in a bout versus Rashad, but Rashad declined the opportunity to face the legend.

  The action unfolded with a bang but eventually churned to a slower pace as the last three affairs went the distance, ending in almost drab fashion last night at Brazil's Bitetti Combat 4.  Arona returned from a two and half year hiatus and battled through the ring-rust to secure a decision on the cards versus MMA veteran Marvin Eastman.  Arona started well by snapping off leg kicks, nearly dropping Eastman with one that connected solidly, and was able to wrestle Eastman to the ground for the points in round one.  Eastman showed much more resilience in the second and found rhythm with his strikes on the feet, stifling takedowns and mounting enough offense to steal the round.  Arona looked revived in the third after a possible injury at the close of the previous round, igniting the crowd by deciding to successfully stand and trade with Eastman, punctuated by a takedown at the close of the contest to secure the win. Paulo Filho turned in another disappointing performance against the overmatched Alex Schoenauer, huffing and puffing through the fight to the tune of the booing Brazilians.  Schoenauer appeared to lack the confidence to capitalize on the sluggish Filho, waiting until the 3rd round to unleash the type of effective combinations that could possibly have carried him to victory had he implemented them sooner.  Filho took the decision in another uninspiring chapter in the Filho chronicles. Pedro Rizzo sprawled and brawled his way to a much needed win over Jeff Monson, shattering Monson's impressive seven-fight roll and recouping some respect after back-to-back losses.  Rizzo used his height, straight punches, footwork, and a sweet sprawl to keep Monson at bay and negate his smooth grappling. Murilo "Ninja" Rua turned in the most exciting performance of the night by catching Alex Stiebling with a torquing left high kick, then followed the fallen fighter to the canvas to deliver the fight ending blows.  WEC-hopeful Luciano Azevedo incurred a respectable split-decision loss to the submission savvy Milton Vieira in a high-paced and competitive back-and-forth war.  Full results: Ricardo Arona defeats Marvin Eastman by unanimous decision Paulo Filho defeats Alex Schoenauer by unanimous decision Pedro Rizzo defeats Jeff Monson by unanimous decision Murilo "Ninja" Rua defeats Alex Stiebling by TKO Rd1 Milton Vieira defeats Luciano Azevedo by split decision Fabio Maldonado defeats Vitor Miranda by unanimous decision Glover Texeira  defeats Leonardo “Chocolate” Nascimento by submission Rd 1 Luis “Besouro” Dutra Jr. defeats Henrique “Chocolate” Nogueira by TKO Rd 1 Cassiano Tytschyo defeats Fausto Black by submission Rd 1 Alexandre “Pulga” Pimentel defeats Luciano “Izzy” Correa by unanimous decision

Aspiring actor and model Roger Huerta has only seen action once since December of 2007, which was a loss via decision to Kenny Florian. Amidst reports of bad vibes with the UFC, Huerta is returning on September 16th at UFN 19 to tangle with standout wrestler Gray Maynard, the undefeated LW who has strung five UFC wins together since appearing in The Ultimate Fighter, his last four contests being convincing but lacking a finish. Huerta will have quite a formidable task ahead of him if he plans to stop one of the most powerful takedowns at 155, and the 20-2-1 "El Matador" will also suffer a significant size and strength disadvantage come fight night.

Fabricio Werdum verbally assaulted Strikeforce HW champion Alistair Overeem because he's unable to do it physically.  Overeem has been out of the Strikeforce picture since winning the belt in November of 2007, although he has competed overseas four times since then. Werdum was scheduled to face Overeem for the Strikeforce title, but Overeem withdrew from the match, stating that the hand injury he sustained in a bar fight was not fully healed, and Werdum had to settle for a match with the unranked Mike Kyle.  Around the same tick of the timeline, Fedor Emelianenko was signed to the promotion, his omnipotent status obviously overshadowing Werdum. Werdum expressed his unadulterated discontent with Overeem in a recent interview with MMAWeekly.  He pulled out the steroid card in the form of a metaphoric ode to the Gummi Bears by claiming that Overeem's hesitation revolved around the "Gummi Berry juice" that gives him "super powers", a notion long speculated by fans due to the extremely lax drug testing policies outside of the U.S. along with Overeem's ability to pack on mountains of muscle and significantly fluctuate in weight.

“I cannot be 100-percent right about the reason he is taking so long to solve his issues and come to fight, but it seems either that the gummy berry juice he is taking to give him super powers is (causing) him to avoid fighting here in America or he is afraid of having no arms to fight after facing me one more time.”

 This is the second steroid accusation sailed through the MMA media from a Strikeforce fighter this week, as Gegard Mousasi blatantly accused Paulo Filho of using the juice in this interview.  Mayhem Miller, Jake Shields, and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza continue to publicly blast each other as they push for interim MW championship consideration.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the identical twin and light-heavyweight version of UFC heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, will not enjoy an easy opponent, a build-up fight, or anything of the sort for his highly anticipated debut. Sherdog is reporting that Lil' Nog will face rising knockout artist Luis "Banha" Cane at UFC 105 in Memphis, the Brazilian who has excelled upwards through the rankings by unfurling a deadly striking repertoire that is anchored by his bell-ringing straight left hand.  Cane's only stain on the carpet is a disqualification loss to James Irvin for unleashing an illegal knee, and he's plowed through Lambert, Sokoudjou, and Cantwell since. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira will welcome a stand-up fight considering his established boxing credentials as a two-time Brazilian champion and Pan Am Games medalist, and is more than comfortable dueling on the ground as a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blackbelt.  He also shares the iron beard of his big brother, only being finished once in his career via the shocking combination from Sokoudjou. This is a sensible and appealing addition to the UFC 105 card and a fiery first opponent for Rogerio's inauguration into the stacked LHW division.