It's been something I harboured mixed feelings about for quite some time; the MMA picture that I'm most well known for is one of a fighter's utter defeat - yet in many ways it 'put me on the map', so to speak, and opened quite a few doors for me. I'd always wanted to thank Joe Stevenson... but how? 

 (more after the jump)

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Just announced a short while ago over on UFC.com, the second UFC Fan Expo will take place on May 28-29, 2010 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. For those who aren't au fait with diary dates, that's Memorial Day weekend (which I've always thought is an odd way to put it)

As rough around the edges as the first Fan Expo was, it was still a good experience for me and one I'd gladly look forward to attending again.

Naturally it helps that the Expo weekend will be anchored with a marquee UFC fight card - likely featuring the return of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, if rumours are to be believed - but I'd say it's way too far in the future to even speculate about what fights may be on this card. We've got two Vegas fights, Australia, New Jersey and Abu Dhabi happening before then so only time (and fighter injuries) will tell what's in store.

Anyways that's enough chatter. I'm off to see how much a room at the Mandalay costs for this weekend; perhaps I'll see some of you there?

Tweeted not that long ago, Machida has confirmed a Saturday, May 1st date will be his rematch against Mauricio "Shogun" Hua. We've got the when, now all we need to know is where;  any takers on the location for this fight? I had thought the May show was going to be Montreal.

FYI at the moment I'll treat this as 99% confirmed - if I get word from Shogun's manager to verify, I'll post an update.

UPDATE: I asked Shogun's manager if he could confirm and got this response

I guess he's just being appropriately cautious until the UFC make this bout official :)

From MMA Unlimited mag via mma.tv

Hardest hit is Aaron Riley who has a mandatory 60 days no contact after getting roughed up by Ross Pearson; the only suspensions that would run longer were if Swick, Kelly, Brown, Wilks and Hamman don't get favourable news from their doctors, in which case each could be out as long as 180 days - ouch!

Full list after the jump.

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Promoted from the Fan Posts by Kid Nate.

Well I haven't had this much fun since... well, UFC 99; this past weekend in Manchester saw an action packed card full of surprise and thrills and luckily I managed to capture some of those moments from my viewpoint that I can share with you. I'll likely blog about my experience in a day or two but, for now, I'll let the pictures do the talking

First up, Andre Winner lives up to his name with an early stoppage of Rolando Delgado

 Ten more images (in the same, new format) after the jump...

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The first of my UFC 105 fight week blogs is up at http://bit.ly/31Y4xv - I'll be posting regular updates as the week progresses, sometimes at my blog, sometimes via my Twitter account (just follow @TheMadScot to find me)

It should be an interesting week if all the advance planning I've done pays off - stay tuned to find out more as and when it happens.

Oh, and if you're in town - give me a shout!

Hopefully I'm not re-hashing old news but, from the depths of twitter, it looks like Kimbo Slice is being lined up to face Houston Alexander at either UFC 107 or the TUF 10 finalé

First, Mr. Ferguson tweeted His first mistake was saying "I Accept" and then just about half an hour ago, we see HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM posted as a ReTweet on Kimbo's twitter feed.

If true, Houston is no joke for Kimbo, and we'll get to see what Mr. Ferguson's time in ATT has provided him in the way of new skills.

Conversely this is also a dangerous match for Houston; he's 0 - 3 in his last three fights so a loss to Kimbo might see him handed his hat as he leaves the octagon.

Over on the MMA section of ESPN.com, reporter Franklin McNeil (no relation) lays out a piece about the judges who scored the Machida - Rua bout at UFC 104 doing their jobs to the best of their ability. Here's a notable pullout from the article

"Where a judge is seated at a particular time during the action must be taken into account. Judges have the best seats in the house, but they don't always have a clear line of vision"

Now I've been sat next to judges whilst shooting UFC events - literally elbow-to-elbow with them - and have first hand experience of the issues that they face when trying to read a fight.

There have been a few occasions where I've thought a fight went in favour of one guy (based on my vantage point) only to be surprised when the scores came in.

If I've simply shooting a fight and thinking "Hey, this guy's got in it the bag" based on what I saw... well the same must hold true of the judges. How else to you explain split decisions or differences in how many rounds are scored for which fighter?

I'll tell you what it's not: it's not incompetence, it's not fight-fixing and it's not corruption.

Read the article, think a little and then hopefully it might clear up some of the trash talk that's been going on about the judges in the Machida - Rua fight.

Try doing their job from their vantage point. It ain't easy.

It's kinda hard to type this without sounding conceited but I've finally gotten a blog off the ground; I'll be talking about all my shooting, especially my upcoming assignment to UFC 105. Catch it at http://martinmcneil.blogspot.com

For those of you more into the casual following thing, add me to your twitter feed by following @TheMadScot - expect lots of tweets when I'm down in Manchester for 105.

/self promotion ends

Promoted to the front page from the FanPosts by Luke Thomas.

Yes, it's real - the UFC will now be on network TV... in the United Kingdom.

Gareth Davies broke the exclusive news on his Telegraph Blog and it's been confirmed by UK UFC VP Marshall Zelaznik via Facebook.

The shows will be called UFC: Main Event and will be shown regularly at midnight Sunday/Monday

Each show will be one hour long, and kicks off with fights from UFC 102, showcasing Nogueira vs. Couture, Marquardt vs. Maia and Jardine vs. Silva to start.

Personally as a UK resident this is great news - whilst it's not a primetime spot, it's still a development that will expand the reach of the sport into the mainstream without stepping on the toes of the deal that has been done with ESPN UK.

Update [from Luke Thomas]: The channel now scheduled to run this programming is channel FIVE. Wiki background here.