UFC veteran and former WEC lightweight champion Hermes Franca is retiring from active competition after suffering a TKO loss to Eric Wisely on the Max Fights DM: "Ballroom Brawl IV" card in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday, Jan. 8. according to MMAWeekly.com.

The Brazilian at one time was one of the industry's most feared lightweights. After winning eight straight fights including submission victories over Toby Imada, Jamie Varner and Nate Diaz, Franca finished Spencer Fisher at Fight Night 8 to earn a crack at Sean Sherk's 155-pound title at UFC 77 back in July 2007.

He would drop a unanimous decision to "The Muscle Shark" and subsequently test positive for steroids.

Unfortunately his career would go into a tailspin following his loss to Sherk. After returning from a 12-month suspension stemming from his positive drug test, he came up short against Frankie Edgar in his July 2008 comeback fight at UFC Fight Night 14.

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News via Josh Gross twitter:

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"We talked to Dana White. We were trying to get on the March 27 card (UFC 111 in New Jersey). That card already had two title fights on it [Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy and Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin]. It looks like we’ll be fighting April 10 in Abu Dhabi. Nothing is signed, so tentative date, April 10. We’ll see how everything goes. Hope everything goes well."

-- UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn, who made history as first non-Brazilian to win the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship black belt division in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2000, tells fans via BJPenn.com that he expects to return at UFC 112, which is scheduled for Abu Dhabi on April 12. No opponent is known at this time; however, Gray Maynard and Frank Edgar are currently the leading candidates. That means there is potentially a lot at stake when "The Bully" battles Nate Diaz at UFC Fight 20 early next week. With a win, should Maynard -- who recently defeated Edgar via unanimous decision -- get the nod or is Edgar's more exciting style where it's at?

 

Maximum Fighting Championship has certainly been making waves in the MMA community, putting on high quality shows while creating a financial model for other promotions to follow. MMA fans have long had a love him or hate him relationship with MFC president Mark Pavelich who is equally outspoken about his views on mixed martial arts.

 Here’s the interview

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"I'm a good wrestler but if I wanted to do it, I would have to focus on wrestling and dedicate myself 100 percent for a period of time. I would not retire now but if I decided to do it I would have to dedicate myself 100 percent I would say maybe for a year and a half or so. I have a decision to take but I don't know if I'm ready to do it. I just need to think about it right now.... I'm going to tell you the truth, right now I don't have the level that I need to do it. If I go right now to do it, I'm going to lose. I'm not good enough right now to do it. And I don't know if I'm going to be able to be good enough to do it.... I'm going to do it if I know I have a good chance to make it. I'm the kind of guy that when I do something, it's to be on top. I don't do something to try to do it. if I do it, it's because I'm going to win, I'm going to go 100 percent.... I have to talk with a lot of people ... all my trainers, all my sponsors. All the people that helped me to get where I'm at. Because it's not going to be forever. It's just going to be a period of time, then after I'll be back if I decide to do it."

-- UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre shares his thoughts with the Canadian Press on a potential run at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, representing Canada on its national wrestling team. Even though "Rush" has never competed in organized amateur wrestling, he's widely regarded as one of the best wrestlers in the sport of mixed martial arts. However, he realizes that wrestling in the Olympics and wrestling in MMA are totally different. So, too, is the compensation ... he'd make more inside the Octagon. Nonetheless, the 28-year-old says it's under consideration, and that if he decides to go for it, would vacate his 170-pound belt for about a 18 months to ensure that he's successful. In the meantime, St. Pierre is poised to defend his welterweight crown against Dan Hardy in March 2010. Perhaps after that, or shortly thereafter, he'll begin to seriously consider whether or not to his the mat. Should he or shouldn't he?

"Frank is a dangerous guy. He’s an exciting fighter... I always thought that he would be an interesting guy to fight. On top of that, he just has one of those faces that you want to punch.... When Joe Silva called me with the Trigg fight, I said, ‘Hell yeah.’ It’s a matchup that excites me a lot. Look, when my career is over and done with, I’m the one who can look back and say that I was the champ. He got there twice and choked both times -- literally. I refuse to lose to a guy that has a [expletive] tramp stamp. You’ve seen his back, right? C’mon. No way am I losing to a guy that walks around with that."

-- Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra talks to Sherdog.com about his upcoming showdown with former two-time division contender, Frank Trigg, at UFC 109 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, on Feb. 6, 2010. "Terror" apparently isn't scared of a man who walks around with his lower back tattooed. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has also more than likely seen Trigg's two "choke" performances against his nemesis, Matt Hughes. In fact, Serra, technically, has a huge advantage when it comes to submissions, which begs the question ... should he even bother punching Trigg in the face or should he take him down right away and work for a fight-ending submission?

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