Usually, if you're a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter competing in championship main event contest, it means you're fighting the biggest name available in your weight class, right?

Not according to former World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber.

34 fights into his MMA career, 'The California Kid" says fighting "big name" opponents inside the cage is priority number ...

That didn't take long.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight Leonard Garcia has found a new home with Legacy Fighting Championships (LFC), as on Friday (May 10, 2013) "Bad Boy" signed a multi-fight contract with the organization.

Garcia is expected to debut against Rey Trujillo at Legacy FC 21 on July 19, 2013 in Houston, Texas.

News of the signing was first announced on th...

Things went south in a hurry for Leonard Garcia.

After taking a split decision win over Nam Phan back in 2010, "Bad Boy" went on to lose his next five fights, which eventually resulted in his release from UFC. For some fans, the cut was a long time coming, as Garcia hasn't won a fight convincingly since defeating Jens Pulver by technical knockout in November of 2008.

Hoping to revive his career...

(Don't worry, Leonard, the worst is over!) 

It's been a rough couple of years for Leonard Garcia to say the least. Sure, he was able to remain employed with the UFC despite five straight losses, but Garcia isn't the type of guy to take his job, let alone a losing streak, lightly. At least, he wasn't. But somewhere along the line, Garcia became stagnant, he became complacent. He knew all the in...

("...and I'm not saying it was aliens, okay? But dude. It was aliens." / Photo via AlphaEntertainmentOnline.com)

Ever since retired UFC fighter Duane Ludwig stepped in as the striking coach for Urijah Faber's Team Alpha Male, the Sacramento-based crew has been on a tear. They essentially have three #1 contenders on the team right now (Faber, Chad Mendes and Joseph Benavidez) and Alpha Male has...

UFC veteran Duane "Bang" Ludwig's signature accomplishment in a 12-year pro-MMA career was his informal recognition as the holder of the quickest KO in UFC history with what appeared to be a 0:04 second finish of Jonathan Goulet in 2006. Unfortunately the official timekeeper somehow clocked it at 0:11 seconds. Otherwise Ludwig was a journeyman, racking up a 21-14 career but never holding a major ...

Team Alpha Male has been on fire lately, ripping off nine straight wins over the past five months, including a clean sweep of first-round finishes at UFC on FOX 7. Much of the credit has gone to new head trainer Duane "Bang" Ludwig, a longtime UFC veteran who has quickly developed a flair for the art of coaching.

Ludwig remains humble in the face of this newfound praise, though he's willing to a...

Inaugural UFC® flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson will make his second title defense against surging contender John Moraga on Saturday, July 27 when the UFC heads back to KeyArena in Seattle, Wash. At only 26 years old, Johnson earned the division’s title last September with a win over Joseph Benavidez. Following a unanimous decision victory over John Dodson in January, he’s now...

Duane Ludwig has his regrets as a fighter. He wishes he'd been more objective about his career instead of focusing on training and getting ready for the next bout.

All it takes is a little perspective.

Now that "Bang" has taken over head coaching responsibilities at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, he's picked up a thing or two, particularly in the world of film study and gameplanning. Not only ...

One of the key storylines coming out of recent UFC events has been the tremendous performance of Team Alpha Male fighters.

While Team Alpha Male has been known for winning fights, they've had issues coming up short in the big ones with Urijah Faber, Joseph Benavidez and Chad Mendes all coming up short in their last four UFC title opportunities.

Since the addition of Duane Ludwig as the head ins...

Our sources are cited at the bottom of this post.

Rank Fighter Points Promotion Last Rank

1

Demetrious Johnson

200

UFC

1

2

Joseph Benavidez

192

UFC

2

3

John Dodson

179

UFC

3

4

Ian McCall

176

UFC

4

5

John Moraga

164

UFC

5

6

Jussier da Silva

151

UFC

6

7

John Lineker

132

UFC

7

8

Darrell Montague

129

Vale Tudo Japan

7

9

Louis Gaudinot

120

UFC

9
...

The MMA landscape routinely scores high on the incomprehensible scale, so perhaps we're blessed in our own way to live in a sports world where absurdity is the norm, coherence the exception. Now for a month in review:

April 6th Gegard Mousasi vs. Wanderlei Silva - Just kidding!

When the news broke that Alexander Gustafsson would not be available to fight just days before the UFC on Fuel card in...

On April 20th, a powerful statement was made by three members of Team Alpha Male and it was directed at the champions in their respective divisions. It didn’t sound like a pin dropping in a quiet room; it was more like a “BANG”. And, the message was clear, ‘we’re coming for your belts.’At UFC on FOX 7 in San Jose, California, three members of the premier lighter-weight fight team from Sacramento ...

The television programming surrounding UFC 159, headlined by Jon Jones' light heavyweight title defense against Chael Sonnen on Saturday, did generally good ratings particularly the weigh-ins and post-fight show on Fuel.

The prelims on FX, even with some lackluster fights, fluke finishes and having to air the Sara McMann vs. Sheila Gaff fight twice did 1,382,000 viewers. That is above the 1.2 ...

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) now features "official" rankings on its website, UFC.com, covering all eight weight classes (including women) plus a pound-for-pound list. Rankings are updated approximately 36 hours after every UFC event, which means we're back with another installment following this past weekend's (April 27, 2013) UFC 159 show in Newark, New Jersey.

The biggest movers and s...

With the announcement on Wednesday of fights with Demetrious Johnson vs. John Moraga for the flyweight title and Miesha Tate vs. Liz Carmouche, the next UFC show on FOX has its lineup complete.UFC on FOX 8 takes place on July 27 at the Key Arena in Seattle. The event is going to be a tough sell, given the summer time slot and lack of any of the company's biggest stars on the bill. Johnson did he...

Multiple upsets, two fight-ending eyepokes, one dislocated thumb, and one circus match-up of a main event. It's safe to say UFC 159 was a strange night.

In the end, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones did exactly what he was supposed to, finishing Chael Sonnen via TKO with 27 seconds left in the first round to match Tito Ortiz's record of five successful 205-pound UFC title defenses. Yet in...

UFC 159: Jones vs SonnenWhat Chael is going to see from me tomorrow night! http://imgur.com/D79hKdo  #everlast -Jon Bones Jones ‏2 - your official ranking as long as I'm around. #UFC159 #4/27/13  -Chael Sonnen ‏ 01 ..."The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph”... UFC 159 . Are you ready for WAR on saturday? pic.twitter.com/uYONocSpze  -Cheick Kongo ‏Getting the weight off. Pic by @g...

Across2. On Joseph Benavidez: “He’s the size of my ____.”6. On Greg Jackson: “Some smug git from New Mexico who can quote the ____ _____”8. On Anderson vs. Leites: “I've seen more aggression from my ____ when she hits the January sales.”10. On Mayhem Miller: “Miller’s mouth is bigger than his ________.”11. To Ben Askren: “Please enlighten me _______ brush head”Down1. On Alan Belcher: “some gobby,...

Demetrious Johnson's next title defense will once again be on Fox. The UFC flyweight champion will defend his belt against John Moraga in the main event of UFC on Fox 8 in Seattle this July. AJ Perez of Fox Sports confirms:

UFC on FOX 8 has a headliner: UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson vs. John Moraga.

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