Just when you thought it was safe to pull one over on the California State Athletic Commission, word comes down that Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva is getting slapped harder than Badr Hari after the K-1 GP Finals. According to Dave Meltzer of Yahoo!Sports, the CSAC has not taken kindly to Silva’s blatant disregard for the steroid-related suspension he received this past summer, and as punishment are now looking to revoke Silva’s fighter license. The commission is even going an unprecedented step further, fining Silva’s manager (Alex Davis of American Top Team) $2,500 just for negotiating the Sengoku bout which Silva won only two days ago.

So how bad would a revoking of Silva’s license really be you ask? This bad:

“A license revocation would mean Silva, and his corner men, would be banned from fighting in all U.S. commission states until California granted him a new license, which would be no less than one year from the date of it being revoked. Such an action would force whatever form EliteXC that potentially resurfaces this year to strip Silva of the title.”

Speaking to SI.com, famed boxing trainer Freddie Roach, who is currently working with Andrei Arlovski, commented on Fedor Emelianenko’s striking prowess, which is apparently none too impressive:

“He’s flat-footed, has no technique, but he can punch…That always helps. He’s accurate. He’ll follow you right to the floor, so he’s aggressive. But that aggressiveness can be used to our advantage, I think.”

I find it difficult to disagree with Freddie’s statement because, well, it’s true…for the most part. Despite all of his accomplishments, Fedor is yet another MMA fighter whose boxing is unorthodox and a bit looping. It is no secret that Emelianenko counts on power shots as opposed to carefully packaged combinations. But the fact remains that Fedor’s “slack” stand up has yet to make even the slightest dent in his domination of the MMA universe, despite not having the picture perfect jab-cross. Furthermore Feddie Roach, in all of his infinite wisdom, is simply incorrect in stating that Fedor has “no technique” whatsoever. Emelianenko does have a technique, it is just more tailored to mixed martial arts and not traditional boxing. And that technique works.

Bobby Lashley (1-0), Hector Lombard (18-2-1), and Alexis Vila (4-0) have each signed a one-fight contract with Palace Fighting Championships and will debut with the promotion on February 6th at PFC 13 at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California.

PFC has also announced that Erin Toughill, who appeared as “Steel” on the second season of American Gladiators, will be in action at the event against Adrienna Jenkins.

Middleweight Dean Lister has been granted his release from the UFC after requesting that the promotion let him go, MMAWeekly.com reports.

Lister’s release was widely expected following his loss to Yushin Okami on the preliminary card of UFC 92 in December, however most felt the UFC would cut the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. Perhaps sensing his inevitable release, Lister successfully requested to be cut and is already in talks with several other promotions, including Affliction and Dream.

Middleweights Kendall Grove and Jason Day will square off at UFC 96 on March 7th in Columbus, Ohio, according to 411 Mania.

Grove (10-4), the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 3 185-pound tournament, rebounded from back-to-back losses to Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera with a split decision victory over Evan Tanner in his most-recent bout in June 2008. His previous UFC victories came against Ed Herman, Chris Price, and Alan Belcher.

Day (17-6) upset Alan Belcher in his UFC debut at UFC 83 last April but was most-recently defeated by Michael Bisping via first-round TKO at UFC 85 in June. He holds notable victories over Marcus Hicks, David Loiseau, and Jonathan Goulet while his losses include Patrick Cote and Victor Valimaki.

Satoru Kitaoka upset highly regarded lightweight Takanori Gomi in the main event of Sengoku 7 on Sunday at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, submitting Gomi with a heel hook at the 1:41 mark of the opening round to claim the first-ever Sengoku lightweight belt.

UFC veteran Jorge Santiago claimed the promotion’s middleweight title with a fifth-round technical submission of Kazuo Misaki in the evening’s co-headliner.

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal remained undefeated at Sengoku 7, picking up a first-round technical knockout over Yukiya Naito. Former EliteXC heavyweight champion Antonio Silva also scored a victory at the event, defeating Yoshihiro Nakao via first-round TKO due to a knee injury.

Heavyweight Alistair Overeem is in talks with the UFC and Affliction, according to a recent interview with the Strikeforce heavyweight champion by DreamFighters.com.

“Fedor and Lesnar [are] on my list, Mir as well. I am going on a holiday as I really trained hard whole 2008. Beginning in February I will start training again. My management is in negotiations now, I might visit the UFC in Ireland on January 17th (UFC 93),” said Overeem. “My management has been in contact with Affliction as well as the UFC, I am a fighter and I concentrate on fighting, I am very happy with Golden Glory.”

Though Overeem, who is also a veteran of PRIDE and DREAM, could continue to fight in various promotions, the lack of heavyweight depth in the UFC could lead to a lucrative contract for the former light heavyweight while Affliction would add Overeem to its stable of heavyweight fighters. Overeem has bulked up considerably over the past several years, tipping the scales in excess of 250 pounds for his recent kickboxing bout.

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, in an interview with Fighters Only, has announced that he intends to retire in 2009, but expects to return to the UFC for one final fight before calling it quits.

“I believe that during 2009 I will fight three more times for Dream, then I hope for a farewell fight in the UFC,” said Cro Cop.

Filipovic will soon undergo surgery on his injured knee that is expected to prevent him from returning until the second-half of 2009.

Fighters tipped the scales yesterday in Japan to weigh-in for their bouts today at Sengoku 7 and all twenty fighters successfully made weight for their matchups.

Two titles will be on the line at the event, which takes place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, as Takanori Gomi squares off with Satoru Kitaoka for the Sengoku lightweight title and Kazuo Misaki and Jorge Santiago will clash for the Sengoku middleweight belt. Other notable participants on today’s card include Hidehiko Yoshida, Antonio Silva, Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal, and Dave Herman.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for complete Sengoku 7 results as soon as the event concludes.

“The Ultimate Fighter 8″ lightweight winner Efrain Escudero will return to the octagon on April 1st to take on Jeremy Stephens at UFC Fight Night 18.

Stephens recently announced the matchup on MySpace.

The 155-pound bout is the first fight unofficially confirmed for UFC Fight Night 18, which has not yet been officially announced by the UFC. A location for the event has not yet been revealed, though MMA Junkie reports that Nashville and Las Vegas are likely destinations for the event, which is likely to act as a lead-in for the debut of “The Ultimate Fighter 9″.