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Andrei Arlovski’s Pro Boxing Debut!
Andrei Arlovski will be making his Pro Boxing on HBO’s September 13th PPV in Las Vegas, Nevada headlined by Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Joel Casamayor. The opening bout will be against a yet to be determined opponent. An original rumor was that he was going to face Tye Fields (41-2, 37 KOs), however he was KOed by Monte Barret just last weekend, ruining any potential matchup.

Andrei is being coached and readied by boxing great Freddie Roach and has no plans for leaving MMA and is still scheduled on the Affliction: Banned card against Ben Rothwell on July 19th.

New weight classes and rules amendments for MMA!!
On Thursday, a revision of the Unified Rules of MMA were passed by the Association of Boxing Commissions via a majority vote at the ABC’s annual conference spearheaded by the ABC’s MMA Chairman Dale Kliparchuk, New Jersey State Athletic Control Board Deputy Attorney Nick Lembo, ABC President Timothy Leuckenhoff and veteran referee “Big” John McCarthy.

Amendments:

* A fighter who has been struck with a low blow will have up to five minutes to recover. All other fouls will be assessed by a physician, who will make a determination within five minutes if the fighter is fit to continue.

* Illegal Strike to the Back of the head-Crown of the head down the centerline of the skill into the spine, with a 1 inch variance to each side. (Mohawk Definition)

* No smothering the mouth or nose of an opponent, preventing breathing, this does not include choke attempts where a fighter’s mouth is covered by his opponent’s arm.

* Elbow strikes of all kinds are now permissible, except to illegal areas. This means that elbow strikes in the downward “12-to-6 o’clock” motion are allowed.

* Amateur MMA Rules: Amateur bouts will consist of 3, 3-minute rounds with 90-second rest periods. Additional protective equipment MAY be required, including shin guards and instep protection pads, at each commissions own discretion.

The debate on allowing knees to the head of a downed opponent did not make it into the revised regulations for a vote, meaning that the debate will live on until next time.

In addition there are now 14 Men’s weight classes, the weight shown is the CUTOFF. Any weight over, moves you up to the next class:

Flyweight: 105 lbs.
Super Flyweight: 115 lbs
Bantamweight: 125 lbs)
Super Bantamweight: 135 lbs
Featherweight: 145 lbs
Lightweight: 155 lbs
Super Lightweight: 165 lbs
Welterweight: 175 lbs
Super Welterweight: 185 lbs
Middleweight: 195 lbs
Super Middleweight: 205 lbs
Light Heavyweight: 225 lbs
Heavyweight: 265 lbs
Super Heavyweight: 265lbs+

So YES….205# weight class….the old Light Heavyweight class is now the Super Middleweight class. Light Heavyweights now can weigh up to 225#s, and the Heavyweight class goes up to 265#s. Anything higher is Super Heavyweight. I LIKE the new classes. What do you guys think of them? Promotions WILL be required to adopt these new weight classes.

Kimbo Slice Mugshot!
Apparently, Kevin Ferguson (aka Kimbo Slice) was arrested by Miami Beach cops in May 2002 on gun and open container charges which was eventually dismissed, because he entered a no contest plea to the booze charge and was ordered to attend an alcohol education course.

Wilson Reis to fight Brian Caraway at EliteXC
Wilson Reis is officially scheduled to fight Brian Caraway on the July 26th EliteXC: Unfinished Business card at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, California.

WEC 35 Official Card!
WEC 35‘s August 3rd card has been officially announced. The event which takes place at The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas will air live on the Versus channel.

Undercard:

* Brock Larson vs. Carlo Prater
* Blas Avena vs. Dave Terrel
* Cub Swanson vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
* Alex Karalexis vs. Todd Moore
* Mike Budnik vs. Greg McIntyre
* Scott Jorgensen vs. Kenji Osawa

Main Card:

* Brian Bowles vs. Damacio Page
* Josh Grispi vs. Micah Miller
* Champ Carlos Condit vs. Hiromitsu Miura (Welterweight Championship)
* Champ Brian Stann vs. Steve Cantwell (Light Heavyweight Championship)
* Champ Jamie Varner vs. Marcus Hicks (Lightweight Championship)

Be sure to check out Spladdle’s WEC category for more WEC goodies, and Spladdle’s post on headlining fight! In addition, hop onto the RSS feed or be sure to revisit Spladdle for the WEC 35 Play by play, results, GIFs and more!

WEC 35 will feature 3 title bouts at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Sunday, August 3. The event will be televised live nationally on VS. at 9:00 pm ET/6:00 pm PT.

Here are the bouts on the main card with my picks in bold:

Carlos Condit vs Hiromitsu Miura
Jamie Varner vs Marcus Hicks
Brian Stann vs Steve Cantwell

All 3 of these fights can be won by the challenger, demonstrating some stellar matchmaking. These challengers all deserve to be in the championship bouts and not only have a chance to win, but I will not even remotely be surprised if all the champs are dethroned. This card is off to a great start, and the WEC is consistently putting on world class events, and not charging us! I feel like I should feel guilty!

Carlos Condit is coming off his guillotine win over Carlo Prater, and Hiromitsu Miura is coming off an impressive KO over Blas Avena. The very experienced Condit, has bounced around from various local events, to ROTR and Pancrase, before making a home with the WEC. He has become a submission machine and won all his bouts in WEC by submission. Besides a loss to Mayhem, Miura has finished his other 2 opponents in the WEC.

Though Miura is very talented and equally capable, I think Condit is much more solid and will be champ for some time to come.

Varner is coming off his impressive championship belt stealing KO over Rob McCullough. Varner’s opponent Marcus Hicks, the undefeated guillotine machine is coming off his win over Ed Ratcliffe after battering him around the ring first. Hicks has finished all of his 8 opponents and is a MONSTER and when they call him “The Wrecking Ball”, they aren’t exaggerating!

I really think this is anyone’s fight. There is a damn good potential for this fight to be fight of the year!

The last big matchup is between Steve Cantwell and Brian Stann. The popular Brian Stann just beat Doug Marshall in pretty impressive fashion to win the belt. In that fight he demonstrated that he doesn’t mind standing toe to toe against anyone and he has a solid punch. He is a very physical fighter, and uses his strength and power in all his matches, and I’m not so sure how long that will carry him. Steve Cantwell, is a damn good striker and I see things in him that make me think that he has what it takes to steal this belt. He certainly is a more skilled, accurate striker with as much if not more power. He is very confident and likes to stand in the pocket and fire.

This match should have fireworks!!!

The undercard is yet to be announced, but when it is I’ll add it.

Promo video to get yourself worked up!!!