• Affliction heavyweight Aleksander Emelianenko (14-3), the younger brother of WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, posted a first-round knockout of South Korean Sang Soo Lee (10-5) on Saturday in the main event of M-1 Challenger 9 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Emelianenko earned the victory with a right hook midway through the opening round that dropped Lee to the canvas. In other notable action from the event, PRIDE veteran Gilbert Yvel stopped Alexander Timanov with strikes in the first round and Kiril “Baby Fedor” Sidelnikov defeated Jang Yong Kim via first-round TKO.
• Former WEC light heavyweight champion Doug Marshall successfully made his middleweight debut on Thursday in the main event of Palace Fighting Championship 11 at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, California. Marshall stopped opponent Rafael Real with strikes just 69-second into the headlining bout. Also on the card, Jorge Olivera retained the PFC light heavyweight title in the co-main event, defeating challenger Isaiah Larson via third-round submission, and Erin Toughill improved her record to 8-2-1 with a unanimous decision win over Jan Finney.
• Heavyweight prospect Dave Herman returned to action on Saturday, earning a TKO of Chris Guillen early in the first-round of their bout at King of Kombat in Texas.
• UFC veteran Dan Christison was also victorious on Saturday, submitting Steve Banks with a kimura late in the first-round of their matchup at Intimidation Cage Fighting “Redemption”.
• The Ultimate Fighter 7 cast member Paul Bradley, who was forced out of the middleweight tournament due to a skin infection, defeated fellow TUF 7 fighter Dante Rivera via TKO just 34-seconds into their bout at a Ring of Combat event at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, NJ on Saturday.

– In a recent post at MMA.tv Jon Fitch revealed that he hopes to return to the octagon before the end of 2008. “I wasn’t that beat up. Just a little off in the head after the first dropedge. Im fine and will be back before the end of the year if I have any say in it,” wrote Fitch. [MMA.tv]

– “MMA Live”, ESPN.com’s MMA news show, could soon be headed to television according to UFC lightweight contender and show host Kenny Florian. [MMA Junkie]

– UFC veteran Sam Hoger will return from a 16-month layoff against Braden Bice at a September 19th World Championship Fighting Event in Wilmington, Massachussets. [MMA Junkie]

– Undefeated welterweight Lyman Good will soon sign with EliteXC. [The Fight Network]

– UFC newcomers Jim Miller and David Baron will square off at UFC 89 on October 18th in Birmingham, England. [MMA Weekly]

– Former professional wrestler Bobby Lashley will make his MMA debut at American Fight League’s first-ever pay-per-view event, which will likely be held in November. Details for the event, including a date, location, and PPV price, have not yet been announced but are expected to be revealed soon. Also in action will be Tara LaRosa, lightweight champion Diego Saraiva, welterweight champion Brent Weedman, middleweight champion George Lockhardt. UFC veterans Dan Christison, John Alessio, and Mike Van Arsdale may also fight at the fall event. [MMA Junkie]

The championship bout was just one of three title bouts on the fight card but it was two major signings announced by the upstart promotion that are truly making headlines.

Former WWE professional wrestler Bobby Lashley and top women’s MMA fight Tara LaRosa have both signed with the AFL and will be in action on the promotion’s October PPV card. Their opponents for the event have not yet been announced.

In other notable bouts UFC veteran Diego Saravia defeated challenger Josh Cate via first-round TKO to retain his AFL lightweight title, George Lockhart defeated George Allen to win the AFL middleweight championship, Torrance Taylor upset UFC vet Junior Assuncao via unanimous decision, and UFC veteran Dan Christison n submitted opponent Sam Holloway 50-seconds into the opening round.

AFL “BULLETPROOF” RESULTS

• rent Weedman def. Douglas Lima via submission – Round 2, 4:39
• Torrance Taylor def. Junior Assuncao via unanimous decision
• Diego Saraiva def. Josh Cate via TKO – Round 1, 1:34
• George Lockhart def. George Allen via unanimous decision
• Dan Christison def. Sam Holloway via submission – Round 1, 0:50
• Ethan Garrison def. Willie Smalls via submission – Round 1, 4:38
• David Curby def. Robi Ramey via TKO – Round 3, 3:10

The event takes place on May 30th at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

Saraiva, an Atlanta native, came to the UFC with a 9-3-1 record in early-2007 but lost all three of his bouts against Dustin Hazelett, Jorge Gurgel, and Jeremy Stephens. After leaving the promotion Saraiva posted back-to-back wins over Poppies Martinez and Joe Ammerman. He won the AFL’s lightweight title in March with the first-round submission win over Ammerman. Saraiva was in action just last week, losing via unanimous decision to Brian Cobb at PFC 8.

“Josh is a phenomenal athlete with a misleading record. He has really improved since the beginning of his pro career,” said Saraiva in a press release announcing the event. “He is one of those fighters that on any given night he could beat you if you aren’t careful. Don’t mistake what I am saying here. I am keeping this championship and I hope he knows it. I won’t give it up, especially not in front of my hometown crowd. I have a lot of fans, friends, and family that are going to be there and I am going to put on a good show. If he thinks his jiu-jitsu is better than mine, well I am sorry he is making that mistake. I have been training hard with Junior and Rafhael (Assuncao) along with Douglas (Lima) and Rory (Singer). They have been pushing me harder than ever before.”

Despite having an underwhelming professional record, Cate in a jiu jitsu black belt under former-UFC fighter Hermes Franca. He enters the lightweight title fight as a loser in 4 of his past 5 fights, but hasn’t fought professionally in over two years.

“I have wanted this fight for so long just to prove that I am one of the best jiu-jitsu guys in the game,” said Cate in the release. “Diego is amazing, no doubt about that. The problem is that for various reasons, unknown to me, it couldn’t happen. I’m not saying he’s been ducking me or anything, by any means. I’m just tired of walking about it now. It’s time to get after it. I wouldn’t care if this fight was in Philips or my backyard. It just needs to happen.”

Eight bouts, including three title fights, are scheduled for the May 30th event. Two marquee signings will also be announced at the event and the new fighters will be present to sign autographs.

AFL: BULLETPROOF OFFICIAL FIGHT CARD

• Junior Assuncao vs. Torrance Taylor
• Diego Saraiva vs. Josh Cate
  AFL Lightweight Championship
• Dan Christison vs. Sam Holloway
• Douglas Lima vs. Brent Weedman
  AFL Welterweight Championship
• George Lockhart vs. George Allen
  AFL Interim Middleweight Championship
• Robi Ramey vs. David Curby
• Todd Duffee vs. Steve Banks
• Ethan Garrison vs. Willy Smalls