Previously-reported fights between Matt Hamill and Jon Jones as well as Frankie Edgar and Kurt Pellegrino were confirmed for The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale, while BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez, Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo, and Thiago Alves vs. Paulo Thiago were announced for UFC 107.

For the latest UFC news and UFC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Jon Jones

“If I was making excuses, I would have been making excuses right after the fight. I’m not making excuses, I’m giving you a reason,” Nogueira recently told MMA Weekly. “If Mir feels it’s an excuse, then lets get in the Octagon and see whether it’s an excuse or a reason in December and settle it. I’d love to fight Frank Mir at UFC 107.”

Nogueira previously had his sights set on a title shot against Brock Lesnar, but Mir has been vocal in accusing Nogueira and others of making excuses for Nogueira’s December 2008 loss to Mir rather than giving Mir credit for the victory.

A Nougiera-Mir rematch could bolster the UFC 107 lineup, which lost a matchup between TUF 10 coaches Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans on Friday after Jackson accepted a role in the upcoming “A-Team” movie that will postpone the fight until early-2010.

The pay-per-view event is headlined by lightweight champ BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez, but has not yet been officially announced, providing the UFC an opportunity to book the rematch between Nogueira and Mir.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest UFC 107 news and UFC 107 rumors.

Pictured: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Kongo (14-5-1), who trains with the likes of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Michael Bisping at the Wolfslair in the UK, had won three-straight over Dan Evensen, Mostapha Al-Turk, and Antoni Hardonk before suffering a unanimous decision loss to Cain Velasquez at UFC 99 in June.

The former heavyweight champion and recent interim title-holder Mir (12-4) suffered a second-round knockout to Brock Lesnar earlier this month at UFC 100 after previously winning consecutive bouts over Hardonk, Lesnar, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

UFC 107 is headlined by a matchup between light heavyweight contenders and TUF 10 coaches Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans.

[Pictured: Cheick Kongo]

The complete list of suspensions includes:

• Rich Franklin — Left foot must be X-rayed and cleared by a doctor or suspension runs until December 5. Minimum suspension until July 14 with no contact during training until July 5.
• Cain Velasquez — Suspended until July 14 with no contact until July 5.
• Cheick  Kongo — Suspended until July 29 with no contact until July 14.
• Mostapha Al Turk — Must have left eye cleared by an ophthalmologist or suspension runs until December 5. Minimum suspension until July 29 with no contact until July 14.
• Mike Swick — Must have right hand X-rayed and cleared by a doctor or suspension runs until December 5. Minimum suspension until July 14 with no contact until July 5.
• Marcus Davis — Must have nose and face X-rayed and cleared by a doctor or suspension runs until December 5. Minimum suspension until Aug. 13 with no contact until July 29.
• Terry Etim — Must have nose X-rayed and cleared by a doctor or suspension runs until December 5. Minimum suspension until August 13 with no contact until July 29.
• Dale Hartt — Must have X-ray and MRI of left shoulder and must have a CT scan of his right orbit or suspended until December 5. Minimum suspension until August 13 with no contact until July 29.
• Paul Taylor — Suspended until July 14 with no contact until July 5.
• Stefan Struve — Suspended until August 13 with no contact until July 29.
• Rick Story — Suspended until July 14 with no contact until July 5.

Silva connected with heavy punches throughout the 195-pound catchweight contest, but Franklin countered with frequent kicks and punches of his own. Both fighters were hurt on multiple occasions during the three-round, 15-minute bout, but the frequency of Franklin’s strikes were enough to earn him the unanimous decision victory.

As was the case with all of the card’s unanimous decisions, the official judge’s scores weren’t announced, but the fight appeared to be closer than the unanimous scores indicated (MMAFrenzy.com scored the bout 29-28 Franklin).

With the win, the former UFC middleweight champion Franklin, who now competes at light heavyweight, improves to 25-4, while Silva, a former PRIDE light heavyweight title-holder who is moving down to middleweight, falls to 32-10-1 following the loss.

In a battle of heavyweight contenders, Cain Velasquez used his superior wrestling to dominate Cheick Kongo en route to a unanimous decision victory in the UFC 99 co-headliner. Velasquez, now 6-0 in his young career with four-straight UFC victories, should meet another contender in the 265-pound division in his next bout with fellow wrestling prospect Shane Carwin among his potential opponents. Kongo, meanwhile, must improve his ground game if he’s to climb back up the heavyweight ladder towards a title shot, as Velasquez easily secured mount and rained down ground and pound throughout the bout.

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic successfully made his return to the Octagon at UFC 99, dispatching of Mostapha Al-Turk with punches midway through the opening round of their heavyweight fight. An accidental eye gouge that set up Cro Cop’s finishing flurry was the only blemish on the bout, but appeared to have little affect on the result as Al-Turk had been staggered with punches moments earlier. Unbeaten in his last four fights, Cro Cop improves to 25-6-2, while Al-Turk falls to 6-5, including an 0-2 mark in the UFC, and should soon find himself released by the promotion.

Mike Swick stopped Ben Saunders with punches in the second round of their welterweight contest on Saturday at the Lanxess Arena, lining himself up for a fight against a 170-pound contender, with the loser of July’s matchup between current champion Georges St-Pierre and Thiago Alves, Martin Kampmann, or Carlos Condit among the possibilities. Swick is now 14-2 on his career with wins in 9 of 10 UFC bouts, while Saunders drops to 7-1 with the first loss of his career.

In other main card action, Spencer Fisher spoiled Caol Uno’s UFC return with a unanimous decision victory and Dan Hardy won the biggest fight of his career by outpointing Marcus Davis via unanimous decision in the pay-per-view opener.

The event’s official results were:

• Rich Franklin def. Wanderlei Silva via unanimous decision
• Cain Velasquez def. Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision
• Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic def. Mostapha Al-Turk via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 3:06
• Mike Swick def. Ben Saunders via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 3:47
• Spencer Fisher def. Caol Uno via unanimous decision
• Dan Hardy def. Marcus Davis via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Terry Etim def. Justin Buchholz via submission (D’Arce choke) — Round 2
• Denis Siver def. Dale Hartt via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1
• Paul Taylor def. Peter Sobotta via unanimous decision
• Paul Kelly def. Roli Delgado via unanimous decision
• Stefan Struve def. Denis Stojnic via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 2, 2:37
• John Hathaway def. Rick Story via unanimous decision

[Pictured: Rich Franklin]

Surprisingly, the staredown between Marcus Davis and Dan Hardy appeared tame compared to the shoving matches that broke out between preliminary card fighters Roli Delgado and Paul Kelly and Denis Stojnic and Stefan Struve.

MMAFrenzy.com will have live coverage of UFC 99 tomorrow beginning at noon ET.

The official weigh-in results for UFC 99 were:

• 195: Rich Franklin (194) vs. Wanderlei Silva (194)
• 265: Cain Velasquez (239) vs. Cheick Kongo (230)
• 170: Ben Saunders (169) vs. Mike Swick (169)
• 170: Marcus Davis (171) vs. Dan Hardy (170)
• 155: Spencer Fisher (154) vs. Caol Uno (155)
• 265:Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (233) vs. Mostapha Al-Turk (236)
• 155: Justin Buchholz (155) vs. Terry Etim (156)
• 155: Dale Hartt (156) vs. Denis Siver (156)
• 170: Peter Sobotta (169) vs. Paul Taylor (169)
• 155: Roli Delgado (155) vs. Paul Kelly (156)
• 265: Denis Stojnic (241) vs. Stefan Struve (248)
• 170: John Hathaway (170) vs. Rick Story (169)

Herring was forced to withdraw from the event yesterday after an extended illness prevented him from training.

Kongo (14-4-1), a native of France who trains at the Wolfslair MMA Academy in the UK alongside the likes of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Michael Bisping, has won five of his last six bouts, including three-straight over Dan Evensen, Mostapha Al-Turk, and Antoni Hardonk. His only loss since 2006 came against the man he’s replacing, as Herring picked up a close split decision victory over Kongo at UFC 82 last March. Kongo is 7-2 since first stepping into the Octagon in mid-2006.

A junior college national wrestling champion and two-time collegiate All-American wrestler at Arizona State, Velasquez (5-0) went 2-0 in bouts with Strikeforce and Bodog Fight in 2006 before debuting in the UFC in 2008. Fighting out of the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California, Velasquez has won all three of his UFC bouts, defeating Brad Morris, Jake O’Brien, and Denis Stojnic.

Explore MMAFrenzy.com for the latest UFC news and UFC rumors.

[Pictured: Cheick Kongo]

Chuck Liddell

• UFC 97 drew an official attendance of 21,451 for a live gate of $4.9 million. If confirmed, the crowd would be the largest in North American MMA history.
• Sam Stout’s unanimous decision victory over Matt Wiman was “Fight of the Night”, Krzysztof Soszynski’s first-round kimura submission of Brian Stann was “Submission of the Night”, and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s first-round TKO of Chuck Liddell earned “Knockout of the Night”. Stout, Wiman, Soszynski, and Rua each earned $70,000 for their UFC 97 performances.
• If Georges St-Pierre defeats Thiago Alves in July he could fight Anderson Silva in Toronto.
• Chuck Liddell is done fighting, according to UFC president Dana White, who effectively announced the former UFC light heavyweight champion’s retirement and confirmed he’ll instead assume a new role with the company.
• White said he wasn’t sure if David Loiseau will get another opportunity in the UFC, but that he is a really nice guy and he’ll consult Joe Silva before making a decision on Loiseau’s future with the promotion.
• White also said that Cheick Kongo is a serious contender for the heavyweight belt and is in the mix for a future title shot.
• Sam Stout said he arrived at the arena at 5pm and basically did a six hour warmup after his fight was pushed back from the first fight of the event to the next-to-last bout.

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

Anderson Silva defeated Thales Leites via unanimous decision in the UFC 97 main event on Saturday in Montreal, Canada in a fight that will be remembered as one of the most uneventful in UFC history. In the co-headliner, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua likely retired Chuck Liddell with a first-round knockout.

The event’s official results were:

• Anderson Silva (c) def. Thales Leites via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 50-46)
  UFC Middleweight Championship
• Sam Stout def. Matt Wiman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Mauricio “Shogun” Rua def. Chuck Liddell via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 4:28
• Krzysztof Soszynski def. Brian Stann via submission (kimura) — Round 1, 3:53
• Cheick Kongo def. Antoni Hardonk via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 2:29
• Luis Cane def. Steve Cantwell via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Denis Kang def. Xavier Foupa-Pokam via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Nate Quarry def. Jason MacDonald via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 2:27
• Ed Herman def. David Loiseau via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
• Mark Bocek def. David Bielkheden via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1, 4:57
• TJ Grant def. Ryo Chonan via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
• Eliot Marshall def. Vinicius Magalhaes via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

For complete UFC 97: Redemption play-by-play click here to check out our UFC 97 live blog replay.

The 12-bout event will get underway at 7:30pm ET with a 7-fight unaired preliminary card followed by 5 televised bouts, including Silva-Leites and Liddell-Rua.

Join MMAFrenzy.com beginning at 7:30pm ET for live results and main card play-by-play.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Anderson Silva (c) def. Thales Leites via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 50-46)
  UFC Middleweight Championship
• Sam Stout def. Matt Wiman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Mauricio “Shogun” Rua def. Chuck Liddell via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 4:28
• Krzysztof Soszynski def. Brian Stann via submission (kimura) — Round 1, 3:53
• Cheick Kongo def. Antoni Hardonk via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 2:29
• Luis Cane def. Steve Cantwell via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Denis Kang def. Xavier Foupa-Pokam via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Nate Quarry def. Jason MacDonald via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 2:27
• Ed Herman def. David Loiseau via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
• Mark Bocek def. David Bielkheden via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1, 4:57
• TJ Grant def. Ryo Chonan via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
• Eliot Marshall def. Vinicius Magalhaes via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

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