Takanori Gomi dropped off the lightweight face of the earth after Pride FC was vanquished.  Hanging in limbo for a year, he then signed with Sengoku and fought on their first show, amassing a fairly disappointing 2-2 record in the promotion with a questionable decision loss to Russian Sergey Golyaev and by tapping out to submission whiz Satoru Kitaoka. Although he was victorious in his return to the Shooto organization, the exhilerating gogoplata secured by Nick Diaz in Pride's last outing seemed to deflate Gomi's reputation and roll, in addition to the UFC reestablishing their lightweight division after closing it down years before, the latter paving the way for the Japanese lightweight scene to dominate the market almost by default.  Gomi was scheduled for his first appearance in Affliction, but the promotion was wiped clean off the MMA screen by Josh Barnett's tainted drug test results. It seems his resolve remains unshattered as he provides a very bold statement from a somewhat contradictory demeanor of calm modesty.  Speaking with Fighters Only, he shares thoughts about his maturity and expectations of being a new father, and declares that he is still the #1 lightweight in the world.  Some choice excerpts from the interview:

EP: It is some time since you last fought. Do you believe you may have difficultly on your way back to the ring?No, I’m stronger than ever. I’m more experienced and after Affliction’s demise I decided not to create further expectations. When I do return to fighting I’ll be all set.   EP: Where do you expect to fight, in USA or Japan?I’ve no worries with that at this time. What really matters is, I feel good to return. I don’t have much expectation on where or when I’ll fight. It’s going to be decided nicely. EP: How about that message you sent to Dana White? That was after Nakamura’s fight. I believed I’d fight for UFC but some terms avoided me to fight at that time. I regret having said that. EP: Do you still think you’re the number one MMA lightweight fighter? Of course. I don’t see any fighter over me in this weight class. I think nobody has reached my best but there are great fighters able to get where I got, for sure.

  As a staunch supporter of Gomi's status atop the worldwide lightweight division in years past, his apparent state of oblivion towards many currently ranked 155'ers is a tad perplexing.  Although Gomi may still be the most accomplished lightweight with the most impressive overall resume, his stature has plummeted in the last year, making him nearly irrelevant in current rankings. Full interview at Fighters Only.

           

The copyright of this photograph belongs to Susumu Nagao

Eddie Alvarez ventured off of the big stage at DREAM to the fairly indistinct Bellator Fighting Championships after proving himself a standout amongst the top lightweight competitors outside of the UFC, winning their LW championship with three consecutive submission wins. Bellator FC made MMA news last week when they announced their intention to continue focusing on the tournament format and to expect Bellator FC fighters to make appearances in other organizations, and, hot on the heels of this news, MMAWeekly has learned of the potential pairing of Alvarez back in DREAM against the former DEEP champion Katsunori Kikuno. Kikuno made a splash with his DREAM debut by crippling Andre "Dida" Amade with his signature crescent kick and following up with a cycle of brutal punches for the 1st round TKO win.  He is a very calculating and methodical fighter with an odd stance, but consistently employs unorthodox (yet effective) striking in unison with powerful Judo from the clinch and solid ground-n-pound.  He is a 12-1-1 fighter and one of the rising suns in Japan. This will be quite an interesting combat-comparison to Alvarez' crisp boxing and strong wrestling game.  Both fighters throw heavy blows on the feet complimented by a strong top game on the ground, and have something to prove in the world lightweight scene.

MMAWeekly reports that the heavyweight match-up has been agreed upon by both parties, but the originally speculated event that the fight will take place on of UFC 105 has been swapped for UFC 107 in an effort to compensate for the cancelled Rampage vs. Rashad main event. This fight symbolizes a battle between two UFC heavyweights that have stubbornly remained afloat at the top of the charts despite widespread opinion that neither possessed the overall skillset to be a longstanding champion.  Although Mir briefly obtained the HW title after folding Tim Sylvia's arm backwards, his fortune was shortlived as he collided with a vehicle on his motorcycle in Las Vegas, forcing him to abandon the belt. His return to action was anything but convincing, losing 2 of 3 to Marcio "Pe De Pano" Cruz and Brandon Vera, and even his decision victory over Dan Christison was considered ominous due to Mir's disappointing performance.  Showing the heart of a lion, Mir rebounded by assembling the most impressive 3-fight win streak of his career with a quick kimura win over Antoni Hardonk, an amazing leglock of current champion Brock Lesnar in his first UFC fight, and an equally impressive dismantling of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira with an uncharacteristic stand-up destruction.  His rematch with Lesnar fared differently than the first as he succumbed to strikes in the 2nd round. Cheick Kongo raised eyebrows during his UFC entrance with exciting and convincing TKO wins over Christian Wellisch and the late Gilbert Aldana, but Carmello Marrero seemed to expose his Achilles heel by dominating him on the ground with an armbar victory.  Kongo surged forward despite his loss of momentum to post a 5-1 record in his next 6 fights, punctuated by a career-inflating victory over highly touted Mirko CroCop.  Heath Herring served up the only loss during that series of fights with a split-decision win, and Kongo most recently dropped a decision to strong grappler Cain Valesquez at UFC 99. Each fighter enjoys strengths that are reciprocal to the other, but Mir has shown vast improvement with his striking, and Kongo has proven resilient on the mat despite his disadvantage, and has never been finished by submission.  Kongo's height and strength will be a nightmare for Mir on the feet, just as Mir's snake-like submission ability will be for Kongo should action proceed to the ground.

All right!  Here we go!  Tonight is American Steel Cage Fighting's second show.  We'll be at the Icenter in Salem, NH for a night of mixed martial arts action.  Check out the fact sheet below, courtesy of Bob Trieger.  See you at the fights! TICKETS: $75.00 (ringside), $60.00, $40.00 and $30.00, are available to purchase at the Icenter in Salem, New Hampshire (603.893.4448/ This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .) WHEN: Friday night, Sept. 11, 2009 WHERE: Icenter, Manchester, New Hampshire BOUTS: MAIN EVENT – NABC MMA EAST COAST LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP (5 X 5) Calvin “The Boston Finisher” Kattar (7-1-0), Methuen, MA 155 LBS. vs. Andrew “New York State of Mind” Montanez (7-10-1), Mineola, NY 158 LBS. CO-FEATURE – NABC MMA EAST COAST MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP (5 X 5) Mike Geurin (5-0-0), Dallas, PA 185.8 LBS. vs. Lorenzo Hood (5-0-0), Billings, MT 195 LBS. UNDERCARD (3 X 3) * denotes amateur matches) Doug “Flash” Gordon (10-7-0), New Castle, DE 174 LBS. vs. Eric Henry (8-6-0), 174.6 LBS. Tyson “Psycho” Akl (Pro Debut), Salem, NH 181 LBS. vs. Collin Schrader (1-0-0), Cortland, NY 185 LBS. Kenny Foster (2-1-0), Long Island, NY 154.6 LBS. vs. Travis Lerchen (4-5-0) 155 LBS. *Neil Wodworth (1-0-0) 204.6 LBS. vs. Eric Johnson (1-0-0) 201.8 LBS. *John Fiore (Debut) 143.8 LBS. vs. Jason Earl (0-1-0), 142.6 LBS. PROMOTER: American Steel Cagefighting MATCHMAKER: Gary Marino

I hope Joe Silva and Dana White are paying attention. There is a hot MMA prospect who is undefeated and is ready for the big time. His name is Pat Audinwood and he has compiled an 8-0-1 record. His latest fight, back on July 31 at American Cage Steel Fighting's debut, was a quick first round submission over tough Al Buck. Audinwood trains at Team Bombsquad, where Jon Jones also got his start. Bombsquad head trainer Ryan Ciotoli has an eye for upcoming talent, and he is very high on Pat. So am I. I've seen Audinwood fight four times now and I can tell you he is something special. Let's get this guy into the UFC! Here is Pat's fight with Al Buck.

We're pretty strict on categorizing everything as a rumor until things are officially announced, yet we still want to voice the buzz of the MMA world to keep fans abreast of possibilities that could unfold into tangibles. Disclaimer aside, there are two interesting UFC rumors circulating for upcoming fights:  WW's Ben Saunders and Marcus Davis squaring off at UFC 106 on November 21st, and Frankie "The Answer" Edgar versus Kurt "Batman" Pellegrino in a lightweight contest for UFN 20 in December. MMAJunkie reported Saunders and Davis as "in the works", and this is a fight that I find very appealing.  The UFC in the past has seemed to pinpoint a few individuals and spotlight their rise into title contention with a road less perilous than others.  Personally, I prefer to see everyone in the division battle it out to determine their place on the ladder, and this match-up makes sense in light that contrivance. Saunders is coming off a KO loss at the hands of Mike Swick, while Davis will look to rebound from a split-decision loss to the UK's Dan Hardy.  Davis racked up two wins previous to the Hardy-loss after also suffering a decision-loss to Mike Swick.  This match-up will feature two fighters with a propensity to strike, although both have solid ground skills, and Saunders will enjoy a hefty 6" height advantage that can only intensify his constantly improving Muay Thai clinch. The Frankie Edgar and Kurt Pellegrino rumor was derived from the Twitter page of Jon Anik, who hosts MMA Live. 

"According to two sources (one via McNeil), Kurt Pellegrino is expected to face Frankie Edgar December 5th at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas."

This bout presents another pivotal plunge for both fighters as they inch forward towards their title shot, with Pellegrino's underrated wrestling and thorough ground-attack carrying him past Thiago Tavares, Rob Emerson, and Josh Neer in his last three fights, and Edgar continuing to shine his singularly-marred record by soundly besting Hermes Franca and Sean Sherk after Gray Maynard handed "The Answer" the first loss on his 10-1 record.

Josh Gross of SI.com was able to confirm with Henderson himself that his UFC contract is currently completed after his battering of Britain's Michael Bisping at UFC 100. Although he did verbally agree to rematch Rich Franklin at UFC 105, pen was never put to paper after the fight was called off due to the loud and displeased voice of the fans.  His text message to Gross read as follows:

"No fights left on my deal, working on a new one."

Its hard to imagine Henderson taking any course of action other than re-signing with the UFC, with the new tri-unity of Strikeforce, M1 Global, and DREAM being the only other possibility, and a slim one at that.  Its an interesting thought to consider Hendo at MW in Strikeforce against a fresh group of adversaries such as Jake Shields or Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, but Henderson has made it well known that he intends to avenge his loss to Anderson Silva, be it at 185 or 205 lbs.

 Its no mystery nor revelation that anything less than Anderson Silva would be considered a big step down in the world MW and LHW landscape.