Joe Lauzon Submits Jeremy Stephens at UFC Fight Night 17

After a close first-round, lightweight Joe Lauzon forced late-replacement Jeremy Stephens to submit to an armbar late in the second-round of their headlining matchup, which capped off UFC Fight Night 17 on Saturday at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida.

Heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez, veteran Josh Neer, and knockout artist Anthony Johnson also picked up main card victories.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT 17 RESULTS

• Joe Lauzon def. Jeremy Stephens via submission (armbar) — Round 2, 4:43
• Cain Velasquez def. Denis Stojnic via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 2:34
• Josh Neer def. Mac Danzig via submission (triangle choke) — Round 2, 3:36
• Anthony Johnson def. Luigi Fioravanti via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 4:39
• Kurt Pellegrino def. Rob Emerson via submission (rear-naked choke) — Round 2, 3:14
• Dan Miller def. Jake Rosholt via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 1, 1:03
• Matt Veach def. Matt Grice via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 4:34
• Gleison Tibau def. Rich Clementi via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 1, 4:35
• Nick Catone def. Derek Downey via submission (keylock) — Round 2, 1:15
• Matthew Riddle def. Steve Bruno via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

USF Sun Dome

All twenty fighters scheduled to participate tomorrow evening at UFC Fight Night 17 hit the scales this afternoon at the Marshall Student Center at the University of South Florida in Tampa to make their matchups official.

Lightweights Rich Clementi and Josh Neer failed to make weight, each missing the 156-pound non-title limit by just half a pound at their initial weigh-in, but were given an additional hour to shed the extra weight before they’d face a potential penalty. Both fighters made weight on their second attempts.

The remaining 18 fighters, including headliners Joe Lauzon (156) and Jeremy Stephens (156), successfully made weight on their first attempts.

UFC Fight Night 17 takes place tomorrow at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa and airs live on Spike TV.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT 17 WEIGH-IN RESULTS

MAIN CARD

• 155: Joe Lauzon (156) vs. Jeremy Stephens (156)
• 265: Denis Stojnic (246) vs. Cain Velasquez (239)
• 155: Mac Danzig (154) vs. Josh Neer (156*)
• 170: Luigi Fioravanti (171) vs. Anthony Johnson (171)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• 155: Rob Emerson (153.5) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (155)
• 185: Dan Miller (186) vs. Jake Rosholt (185.5)
• 155: Matt Grice (156) vs. Matt Veach (156)
• 155: Rich Clementi (156*) vs. Gleison Tibau (155.5)
• 185: Nick Catone (184) vs. Derek Downey (185.5)
• 170: Steve Bruno (171) vs. Matthew Riddle (169)

* Both Neer and Clementi each made weight on their second attempt after initially weighing in at 156.5

Houston Alexander

Houston Alexander vs. Andre Gusmao, Matt Wiman vs. Sam Stout, and Derek Downey vs. Nick Catone have been revealed for upcoming UFC cards over the last 24 hours:

• Light heavyweights Houston Alexander and Andre Gusmao will clash at UFC 98 on May 23rd in Las Vegas. After back-to-back knockout wins over Keith Jardine and Alessio Sakara to start his UFC career Alexander (8-4) has dropped three-straight to Thiago Silva, James Irvin, and Eric Schafer. Gusmao (5-1), a veteran of the IFL, lost to Jon Jones via unanimous decision in his UFC debut in August. The loser of this matchup will almost assuredly be cut by the UFC, at least temporarily.
• Lightweights Matt Wiman and Sam Stout will square off at UFC 97 on April 18th in Montreal. After dropping his UFC debut to Spencer Fisher Wiman (10-4) won four-straight bouts before losing via unanimous decision to Jim Miller in December. Stout has loss three of his last four UFC bouts, picking up a victory over Per Eklund early last year while losing fights to Spencer Fisher, Rich Clementi, and Terry Etim.
• Nick Catone finally has an opponent for his UFC debut as he’ll take on newcomer Derek Downey in place of an injured Amir Sadollah at UFC Fight Night 17 on February 7th. Downey is 10-3 as a professional while Catone brings an undefeated 5-0 mark into the bout.

Jeremy Stephens

Jeremy Stephens will replace Hermes Franca and take on Joe Lauzon in the main event of UFC Fight Night 17 on February 7th in Tampa, Florida.

MMAFrenzy.com confirmed the replacement earlier this evening and Spike TV has since publicly announced the lineup change.

Stephens (16-3) has won four of his last five bouts overall and three of his last four in the UFC. He was most recently in action at UFC 91 in November, scoring a third-round knockout of Rafael dos Anjos that earned him “Knockout of the Night” honors. “Lil Heathen” had been scheduled to fight Efrain Escudero at UFC Fight Night 18 in April prior to filling in for Franca, though that matchup now depends on how much damage he takes against Lauzon.

Lauzon (17-4) has lost just once in his last eight fights, including four wins in the UFC. He last defeated Kyle Bradley via second-round TKO at UFC Fight Night 15 in September.

For the latest UFC Fight Night 17 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

Hermes Franca

Hermes Franca has been forced to withdraw from his headlining bout at UFC Fight Night 17 against Joe Lauzon after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee.

Franca announced the injury and withdrawal late last night on The Underground.

UFN 17 takes place on February 7h at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida and airs live on Spike TV. With less than two weeks until fight night the UFC is seeking to quickly find a replacement to take on Lauzon. However, it’s likely that Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer, a previously scheduled main card bout, will now headline the card.

Franca’s injury, which was suffered on Saturday, marks the second main card change in the past week. On Friday Amir Sadollah withdrew from his bout against Nick Catone after suffering a broken clavicle while training.

The UFC has not yet announced the injuries of Franca or Sadollah and replacements have not yet been named for either fight.

For the latest UFC Fight Night 17 fight card check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

Amir Sadollah

Amir Sadollah has again been forced to withdraw from his first bout since winning The Ultimate Fighter 7 last summer, suffering a broken clavicle that has knocked him out of his UFC Fight Night 17 matchup with Nick Catone.

MMA Weekly reported the injury on Friday afternoon.

Sadollah advanced to The Ultimate Fighter 7 finals with consecutive wins over Steve Byrnes, Gerald Harris, Matt Brown, and CB Dollaway, then defeated Dollaway again at the TUF 7 Finale in June to win the middleweight tournament in his professional debut. Sadollah was then booked to fight Catone at UFC 91 in November but was forced to withdraw from the fight due to a leg infection. After a late replacement could not be secured the matchup was pushed back to UFN 17 on February 7th, but Sadollah will again be unable to fight after breaking his clavicle while training.

The UFC is actively searching for a replacement for the bout, which was to air on the Spike TV-televised main card.

For the latest UFC Fight Night 17 fight card check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

USF Sun Dome

The UFC this week confirmed the official lineup for UFC Fight Night 17, which takes place on February 7th at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida and airs live on Spike TV

Confirmed for the main card were Hermes Franca vs. Joe Lauzon, Denis Stojnic vs. Cain Velasquez, Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer, and Nick Catone vs. Amir Sadollah.

The promotion also officially announced Rob Emerson vs. Kurt Pellegrino, Matt Grice vs. George Sotiropoulos, Rich Clementi vs. Gleison Tibau, and Luigi Fioravanti vs. Anthony Johnson for the unaired preliminary card.

A bout featuring Alessio Sakara against Jake Rosholt will not take place as scheduled as Sakara has been forced to withdraw from the bout for undisclosed reasons. 2-0 UFC veteran Dan Miller has agreed to fill in on short notice for Sakara and face Rosholt on the undercard. Additionally, a rumored bout between Steve Bruno and Matt Riddle has not yet been officially confirmed by the promotion.

The current UFC Fight Night 17 lineup features:

MAIN CARD

• Hermes Franca vs. Joe Lauzon
• Denis Stojnic vs. Cain Velasquez
• Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer
• Nick Catone vs. Amir Sadollah

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Rob Emerson vs. Kurt Pellegrino
• Jake Rosholt vs. Dan Miller
• Matt Grice vs. George Sotiropoulos
• Rich Clementi vs. Gleison Tibau
• Luigi Fioravanti vs. Anthony Johnson
• Steve Bruno vs. Matthew Riddle

Matt Grice

Lightweight Matt Grice will return to the octagon on Feburary 7th against George Sotiropoulos at UFC Fight Night 17 in Tampa, Florida, according to MMA Weekly.

Grice, who took time off from fighting to graduate from the police academy, announced in November his intention to return to the octagon in early-2009. Plans for a tune-up bout outside of the UFC have apparently been scrapped as Grice and Sotiropoulos will both end extended layoffs with a 155-pound matchup on the evening’s preliminary card.

A four-time high school wrestling champion in Oklahoma and collegiate wrestler at the University of Oklahoma, Grice (9-1) was defeated by Terry Etim in his UFC debut via first-roud guillotine choke but rebounded to top Jason Black via split decision in the “Fight of the Night” at and even his UFC record at 1-1.

Sotiropoulos (9-2) is undefeated inside the octagon with a 2-0 record, earning victories over Billy Miles and Roman Mitichyan. He has not competed since April 2008 after an injury forced him to withdraw from a scheduled bout against Karo Parisyan at UFC 87 in August.

Alessio Sakara

One-fight WEC veteran and wrestling standout Jake Rosholt will make his UFC debut against Alessio Sakara at UFC Fight Night 17, reports MMAJunkie.com.

A three-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion and four-time All-American, Rosholt (5-0) successfully made his WEC debut in November with a second-round TKO of Nissen Osterneck. The UFC’s sister promotion axed its middleweight division earlier this month and Rosholt will now transition to the UFC.

A nine-fight UFC veteran, Sakara dropped to the 185-pound middleweight division following a victory over James Lee in January, but was defeated by Chris Leben via first-round TKO in his debut in the new weight class. He got back on track and evened his UFC record at 4-4 with a first-round knockout of Joe Vedepo in September.

Other bouts slated for the Febuary 7th card in Tampa, Florida include headliner Joe Launzon vs. Hermes Franca as well as Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer, Nick Catone vs. Amir Sadollah, and Denis Stojnic vs. Cain Velasquez.

Cain Velasquez

Up-and-coming heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez will return to the octagon at UFC Fight Night 17 on February 7th in Tampa, Florida against an opponent to-be-announced.

Velasquez revealed the bout in a recent video interview with Steve Cofield, which is embedded below.

A 2-Time All-American collegiate wrestler at Arizona State and a Junior College National Champion at Iowa Central, Velasquez has a 4-0 overall record, including a 2-0 mark in the UFC. After dispatching Brad Morris with strikes in the first-round of his UFC debut at UFC 83 in April, Velasquez defeated Jake O’Brien with strikes in just two-minutes and two-seconds at UFC Fight Night 14 in July. He has yet to have a fight go past the opening round, winning all four matchups via first-round TKO.

UFC Fight Night 17, which was recently shifted from Las Vegas to the USF Sun Dome on the campus of the University of South Florida, is slated to include Joe Lauzon vs. Hermes Franca, Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer, Amir Sadollah vs. Nick Catone, and Rob Emerson vs. Kurt Pellegrino.

In the video, Velasquez not only talks about his fight at UFC Fight Night 17, for which an opponent has been selected but not disclosed, but also discusses the recent situation between the UFC and American Kickboxing Academy where he trains: