The UFC added four big fights to its upcoming UFC 159 card, including a middleweight clash between contenders Michael Bisping and Alan Belcher, which serves as the co-main event to the headliner of Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen. Both Bisping and Belcher are coming off of disappointing losses in their last outings to Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami, respectively, but both still have the potential to make a run for the title so it was smart of the UFC to match them up. Both guys are extremely well rounded and always in entertaining fights so this should be a very fun scrap. As well, the UFC announced that heavyweight Roy Nelson will fight Cheick Kongo, that lightweight Jim Miller would fight Pat Healy, and that the long-rumored match between light heavyweights Phil Davis and Vinny Magalhaes would fill out the card. The event, at least on paper, looks absolutely stacked so cross your fingers there’s no injuries and that we all get to enjoy the card we want to see. UFC on FOX 7 Adds Diaz vs. Thomson UFC on FOX 7 continues to take shape, as the promotion officially announced that lightweights Nate Diaz and Josh Thomson will clash at the event, which takes place April 20 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. Both Diaz and Thomson are ranked in the top 10 of the MMA Fighter Rankings, and since both men love to come forward and push the pace this is the perfect fight to put on FOX. It’s likely this fight will take place on the main card, alongside Benson Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez, Daniel Cormier vs. Frank Mir, and Dan Hardy vs. Matt Brown. Patricky “Pitbull” Freire Scratched From Bellator Lightweight Tournament With Knee Injury A knee injury has forced Brazilian lightweight Patricky “Pitbull” Freire from taking part in Bellator’s next 155lb tournament, which is set to begin tomorrow. The scratch was first reported by Jason Floyd of TheMMAReport.com, who said Freire was injured during his last sparring session. Freire was set to fight Guillaume DeLorenzi in a quarterfinal matchup, but was pulled from the card today and replaced by Saad Awad. It’s a bad break for “Pitbull,” who was looking to get back to his winning ways following his stunning head-kick KO loss to Eddie Alvarez last October. Rampage Says He’s Done With UFC In a video posted today on TMZ.com, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson said that he is done with the UFC and that he will be free to take offers from other promotions after a 28 day waiting period. According to Jackson, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, the UFC didn’t treat him well and so he has decided he wants to take his services elsewhere. Although Jackson is a free agent, the UFC will have the right to match any offer that he gets from a rival promotion, and it’s been rumored that Bellator Fighting Championships is interested in acquiring the light heavyweight’s services. Jackson, 32-11 in his MMA career, went 7-5 during his stint with the UFC, the highlight of his tenure coming of course when he knocked out Chuck Liddel back at UFC 71 to claim the 205lb title.
