Is Nogueira done? No, despite what a lot of forum posters wanted to think in the moments following the Velasquez fight. Yes he’s lost two of his last three, but with the Mir fight he was banged up going in—not to take anything away from Mir’s performance that night—and this was a case of Nogueira getting beaten by a younger, quicker fighter by playing to that younger fighter’s strong point. Is Velasquez for real? Of course. The Congo win got people’s attention, the Rothwell win made him not just another punchy heavyweight, and this win gives Velasquez a real bargaining point to say that he deserves a heavyweight title shot; that and he’s fought almost twice as many fights as Lesnar.

Photo: Sherdog.com

UFC Heavyweight Ben Rothwell remains in Australia while he recovers from an illness that forced his withdrawal from a UFC 110 main-card bout with this past weekend in Sydney. Duke Roufus, one of Rothwell’s chief trainers, today told MMAjunkie.com that his fighter was diagnosed with a case of “traveler’s flu” that rendered him unavailable to fight Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic in the opening content of the February 20th PPV.

Australian Anthony Perosh stepped into the octagon to face Cro Cop in Rothwell’s absence in a fight that saw Cro Cop when the battle was stopped due TKO doctor stoppage due to a cut.

Rothwell and his team still carry high hopes for a shot at Cro Cop at UFC 115, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The UFC is set for its debut in Australia this evening with UFC 110 set for Acer Arena in Sydney.

The event, unlike most foreign ones, is set to air at 10 p.m. ET here in the United States with a main card headlined by a heavyweight contender match up between Cain Velasquez and Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Noguiera. Also featured on the evening’s main card is the bad blood match up between Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva and Michael “The Count” Bisping.

Filling out the main card is another heavyweight fight between Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Anthony Perosh. A light heavyweight bout between Keith Jardine and Ryan Bader, along with a lightweight bout between George Sotiroupolous and Joe “Daddy” Stevenson.

Inside Fights will be covering the event live tonight with round by round updates beginning at 10 p.m. ET for the entirety of the main card. Please join us for a night of exciting fights with the UFC’s debut in Australia.

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The UFC is making the move to Sydney, Australia this weekend for the first time in the history of promotion with a card featuring several of the most prominent Pride FC stars in the history of mixed martial arts, along with several of the UFC’s most promising prospects. The weigh-ins for this event are in the books from Acer Arena in Sydney at 10 p.m. ET.

The main card is headlined by a heavyweight bout between Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera and Cain Velasquez to aid in sorting out the top contenders for the UFC heavyweight division. Also on the card is a middleweight match up between Michael “The Count” Bisping and Wanderlei Silva.

The three other fights include Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Anthony Perosh, Keith Jardine vs. Ryan Bader, and George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe “Daddy” Stevenson.

Stay tuned to Inside Fights for the weigh-in results, along with everything involving UFC 110. Be sure to tune into our live blog tomorrow night beginning at 10 p.m. ET.

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With only 48 hours remaining until the Saturday night’s Australian debut for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s, there were several major changes made to the evening’s card. The biggest: Anthony Perosh (10-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC) replaces the ill Ben Rothwell (30-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in a UFC 110 main-card fight with Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (25-7-2 MMA, 2-3 UFC), once considered among the most feared strikers in the world. The Australian Perosh is returning to the octagon for the first time since his 0-2 stint with the company in 2006.

Also of note, an unexpected shoulder injury suffered by Elvis Sinosic has forced the cancellation of his preliminary-card bout with fellow Australian Chris Haseman.

UFC 110 takes place Saturday at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.

[Source: MMAWeekly]

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic is seriously contemplating retirement.

The once-feared Croatian striker says that the hunger for fighting that he once had is now gone.

“I’ve been training like a spartan for twenty years now. My body is worn out,” said Filipovic. “Obviously, I can’t break my mental block in the octagon. The years have caught up to me, and I’m worn out.”

Filipovic was once the most feared striker in combat sports, with a deadly arsenal of kicks that made him one of the most entertaining fighters on the planet. During the glory years of Japanese promotion PRIDE, Filipovic became the biggest star in the company and one of the biggest drawing cards, far surpassing the popularity of the more talented Fedor Emelianenko.

But his sojourn into the octagon has not been a pleasant one, and his battering at the hands of Junior Dos Santos at UFC 103 may have been the final straw. Filipovic apparently called off the fight in the third and final round after a Dos Santos uppercut drilled him on the orbital bone, but he says that’s not the case.

“Dos Santos punched me and tore my eyelid. Blood and sweat completely blurred my vision,” says Filipovic. “But it was not an early stoppage. The referee made the correct call. Dos Santos was winning the fight and would have won a decision anyway.”

Does he want to continue fighting?

“I don’t feel the hunger anymore. I started playing it safe and I’m not ready to take risks,” said Filipovic. “I’ve been living a military life for twenty years. I want a normal life. I’m stepping into a cage, but I’m thinking about fishing in Privlaka. You can’t live that way.”

It does sound like goodbye.

“Maybe I should have quit after I won the (PRIDE) Open Weight Grand Prix,” said Filipovic.

Inside Fights is on location in Dallas for UFC 103, and we’ll be starting live coverage of the event tonight at 9:30pm ET. You can join the live discussion at both FoxSports.com and here at Inside Fights and you will get real-time results from the event via the fastest live blog on the web.

In addition, you will have the ability to leave your own comments and ask your questions as well as participate in instant reader polls.

Join us tonight at 9:30pm ET for all the latest action from UFC 103!

I am live from the Dallas Convention Center, the location for today’s UFC 103 weigh-ins. Tito Ortiz just completed a Q&A session (which I covered in detail) and is now signing autographs for hundreds of fans.

The first fighter hits the scale at 5pm ET, so stay tuned for real-time coverage of the results.

And here we go.

Rafael Dos Anjos (155.5) vs. Rob Emerson (155.5)

Igor Pokrajac (203) vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (205)

Jason Brilz (205) vs. Eliot Marshall (204)

Brian Foster (170) vs. Rick Story (170)

Rafaello Oliveira (155) vs. Nik Lentz (155)

Steve Lopez (154) vs. Jim Miller (154)

Tomasz Drwal (185) vs. Drew McFedries (185)

Cole Miller (155) vs. Efrain Escudero (157) – Escudero must lose one pound

Hermes Franca (159) vs. Tyson Griffin (155) – This will be a catchweight bout

Frank Trigg (170) vs. Josh Koscheck (170)

Martin Kampmann (169) vs. Paul Daley (170)

Junior dos Santos (236) vs. Mirko Cro Cop (226)

Vitor Belfort (196.25) vs. Rich Franklin (195) – Vitor shreds all of his clothes but is still 1/4 of a pound over the limit.

Rogan interviews Belfort. Belfort says he wants to accomplish his dreams and he was given a second chance. He’s going to do his best.

Franklin says he’s the best version of himself. Says it’s going to be a great fight. Rich says his new contract will allow him to fight legendary guys, and Vitor is one of them.

UPDATE: Efrain Escudero made weight on his second attempt. Still waiting to see if Belfort is able to shed that last quarter of a pound.

UPDATE 2: Belfort finally made weight, but he’s nearly lifeless. It’s going to be tough for him to recover from this cut before tomorrow night’s main event. A lot of people picked him to KO Rich in the first round, including me; it might be prudent to reconsider that pick at this point.

Hermes Franca and Tyson Griffin made a deal before weigh-ins to do a 159lb catchweight bout. Franca knew he wouldn’t be able to make 155, so he struck the deal with Griffin.

UFC 103 is an interesting show.

For starters, it’s up against the boxing return of Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather, absent from the sport since a 2007 victory over Ricky Hatton, is one of the biggest pay per view attractions in the world. He’s been surpassed as the undisputed king of pay per view over the past two years by Brock Lesnar, who has established himself as one of the biggest draws in combat sports history, but Mayweather still packs a punch at the box office. And despite the rumors of slow ticket sales and a general lack of interest in the big return, Mayweather is still expected to land a resounding revenue victory on this night.

UFC 103 also lacks a real drawing card. The show has hardcore fans all over the world salivating, but it’s not a show that will capture the hearts and minds of the casual fanbase, and that’s the demographic that drives 90% of the UFC’s current business. Zuffa is still making an attempt to bring in the casual audience; they did a very strong UFC 103 Countdown show, painting Vitor Belfort as one of the baddest men on the planet and a man who may very well kill Rich Franklin in the middle of the cage.

They’re also showing two preliminary matches on Spike prior to the show. Other companies have taken this course (most notably Affliction), but this show marks the first time Zuffa will show live prelim fights for free. They’ll push the pay per view hard and try to convince some on-the-fence viewers that UFC 103 offers more value than the boxing show they might be considering.

The preliminary matches and Countdown show will certainly help, but we’re still looking at a pay per view event that will give us a rough estimate on what the low end of UFC buyrates are. And that’s not really a bad thing, either; Zuffa will need to get used to the idea that they’re going to do some bad pay per view buyrates, especially given the idea of running three shows per month in 2010.

There are plenty of fights on the UFC 103 card that have potential for excitement, drama and intrigue.

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We reported yesterday that Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and rising UFC heavyweight Junior dos Santos were rumored to meet at UFC 103 in September, and now sources close to the organization have confirmed to Inside Fights that the fight will take place.

Lorenzo Fertittta traveled to Croatia several weeks back and reportedly signed Filipovic to an incentive-laden contract that will make him one of the highest-paid fighters in the organization if he continues to win.

With a large majority of the high-profile fighters in the company already booked for summer dates, it’s very likely that dos Santos vs. Cro Cop will serve as the main event of the show. If that’s the case, there is a chance that the show could be moved from pay per view to a Spike television event. They’re already competing against the Floyd Mayweather return fight on September 19th, and there’s no reason to try and take on that even with a pay per view headlined by two guys who really have zero relevance among mainstream UFC fans at this point in time.