Jose Aldo became the WEC’s new featherweight champion on Wednesday with a second-round TKO of title-holder Mike Brown in the main event of WEC 44, which took place at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas.

Also on the Versus-televised main card, Manny Gamburyan topped fellow featherweight contender Leonard Garcia by unanimous decision, newcomer Karen Darabedyan scored a split decision win over former lightweight champ rob McCullough, Shane Roller submitted Danny Castillo with a third-round rear naked choke, and Kamal Shalorus knocked out Will Kerr in the opening round.

A rematch between UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua will headline a May 1 UFC event in Montreal, Canada, UFC President Dana White confirmed with Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel on Wednesday.

Machida retained the 205-pound title with a controversial unanimous decision win over Rua in their first meeting at UFC 104 in October.

UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar underwent minor surgery yesterday to treat a bacterial infection in his intestinal tract and has been released from the hospital.

With Lesnar out indefinitely, White told the LA Times on Tuesday that the UFC will schedule an interim heavyweight title fight, with Carwin and fellow contender Cain Velasquez expected to square off early next year.

Light heavyweights Randy Couture and Mark Coleman are expected to meet in the main event of UFC 109 on February 6 in Las Vegas, according to Sherdog, marking the first time UFC Hall of Famers will square off inside the Octagon.

Couture is coming off a win over Brandon Vera this past Saturday at UFC 105, while Coleman defeated Stephan Bonnar in his most-recent bout in July.

WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown, challenger Jose Aldo, and the rest of the WEC 44 card successfully made weight today for Wednesday’s Versus-televised event, which takes place at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas.

Brown and Aldo both tipped the scale right at the 145-pound featherweight limit, while featherweight contenders Manny Gamburyan and Leonard Garcia, who co-headline the event, weighed in at 146-pounds.

UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre and top contender Dan Hardy are “not under consideration” to be coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 11, according to Heavy.com. Yesterday, The Telegraph reported that St-Pierre and Hardy could appear as coaches on the reality series, likely delaying a matchup between the pair from February or March until mid-2010.

UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is suffering from a bacterial infection in his intestinal tract, according to the Associated Press. The previously-undiagnosed illness will keep Lesnar out of action indefinitely, though he could be released from the hospital soon, UFC President Dana White told the AP.

UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, sidelined indefinitely from an undisclosed illness, is likely to require “major surgery” and may never fight again, UFC President Dana White today told TMZ.com.

According to White, Lesnar, who is also suffering from mono, has been hospitalized since collapsing during a trip to Canada last week. He will reportedly be transferred to the Mayo Clinic, where he’d undergo surgery for a “intestinal disorder”.

The UFC will host its first event in Virginia on January 11 as UFC Fight Night 20 takes place at the Patriot Center in Fairfax just outside of Washington, D.C. The Spike TV-televised event is headlined by a lightweight matchup between contenders Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz, while Efrain Escudero takes on Evan Dunham in the evening’s co-main event.

A matchup between light heavyweight contenders Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva will headline UFC 108 on January 2 in Las Vegas, the UFC today announced.

Heavyweight contenders Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Cain Velasquez were to meet in the card’s main event, which was announced just last week, but Nogueira was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a severe staph infection in his left elbow.

UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and top contender Dan Hardy are under consideration to be coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 11, according to The Telegraph.

With a recent rash of injuries shelving many of the UFC’s headliners from early-2010 action, the news comes as a surprise as it delays St-Pierre’s return against Hardy from March or April to July or later, removing yet another draw from the promotion’s available roster for the first half of next year.

Michael Bisping, Denis Kang, Dennis Siver, and Terry Etim each earned $40,000 “fight night” bonuses for their performances at Saturday’s UFC 105 event in Manchester, England.

UFC 105, which was headlined by Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera, drew a European-record attendance of 16,693, generating a live gate of more than $2 million.

UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will be sidelined indefinitely as he continues to suffer from illnesses that recently forced him to postpone his scheduled title defense against Shane Carwin, while Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has been forced to withdraw from his matchup with fellow heavyweight contender Cain Velasquez which was to headline UFC 108.

Randy Couture and Dan Hardy each moved one step closer to title shots in their respective divisions on Saturday with unanimous decision wins at UFC 105 in Manchester, England. Couture edged Brandon Vera in the UFC 105 main event, while Hardy topped Mike Swick in the evening’s co-headliner.

Michael Bisping, Matt Brown, and Ross Pearson were also victorious on the UFC 105 main card.

All 22 UFC 105 fighters, including headliners Randy Couture and Brandon Vera, successfully made weight on Friday for Saturday’s event at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England.

Both Couture and Vera tipped the scale at 204 pounds, while welterweight contenders Mike Swick (170) and Dan Hardy (171) and middleweight notables Michael Bisping (186) and Denis Kang (185) also made weight without issue.