The nine-bout card, which features a number of Xtreme Couture fighters, was organized on short-notice after Affliction vacated the venue with their recent postponement of “Day of Reckoning,” which had been slated to take place at the Thomas & Mack Center this weekend.

Other featured bouts include Jay Hieron vs. Bryson Kamaka, Brian Gassaway vs. Mike Pyle, John Alessio vs. Gideon Ray, and Sean Salmon vs. Josh Haynes.

Notable Xtreme Couture fighters, including Gina Carano and Wanderlei Silva, will be on hand for the event, which will be broadcast on HDNet on October 17th.

Johnathan Mix vs. John Halverson, Patrick Gonzalves vs. Shawn David, Ryan Hass vs. Ian Omalza, and Stephanie Palmer vs. Elena Reid are also slated for “Night of Combat 2″.

UFC 72 may have taken another significant hit as rumors are currently suggesting Forrest Griffin (4-2 UFC) has been forced to withdraw from UFC 72. The rumors stems from Griffin’s removal from the official card for the event on UFC.com. He was scheduled to face Hector Ramirez.

Let me preface this report by saying that the UFC website is not known for its timely updates but the fact that Griffin was listed on the site and is now gone is intriguing. I discovered his removal earlier tonight but was hesitant to report the news but the site seems to be up-to-date as Yushin Okami is already listed in the events main event, an announcement just made official earlier today.

This is the second time Griffin has pulled out of his next UFC bout. Griffin had been previously signed to face Lyoto Machida at UFC 70 last month but had to withdraw due to a staph infection. Griffin is one of the biggest fan favorites in the UFC stemming from his win on the TUF 1 finale against Stephan Bonnar and his sense of humor. In his last fight Forrest lost to Keith Jardine at UFC 66.

I did some digging and was unable to turn up anything on this story with regards to his removal but I will keep you updated if this is confirmed or dismissed.

You can always catch the most up-to-date information on UFC 72 in out UFC rumors section.

Sherdog is reporting that there will be a UFC show on 6/16 in Ireland (I had heard a June show in Belfast for a while, but never a confirmed date) with Martin Kampmann vs. Rich Franklin as a main event. They also said Forrest Griffin vs. Hector Ramirez was in the process of being put together. This show would most likely air on Spike as a three-hour special, unless the HBO deal closes in time.

Tags: mma, ufc, ufc 72

Petruzelli competed on the Ultimate Fighter reality series second season. Though standing just 6 feet tall, Petruzelli competed as a heavyweight during his time on the show. He defeated Dan Christison via unanimous decision but lost a split decision to Brad Imes.

He officially debuted in the UFC octagon in October at Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter where he lost a unanimous decision to Matt Hamill. Petruzelli next fought a non-UFC fight at Ultimate Warrior Challenge where he posted a KO win in February.

Wilson Gouveia lost to Keith Jardine at the Ultimate Fighter 3 finale but returned to the octagon to beat Wes Combs via submission at UFC 62. The fight is an undercard fight (only 3-4 fights are shown during Ultimate Fight Nights) of an event that includes fights between Joe Stevenson and Melvin Guillard as well as Antoni Hardonk against Frank Mir.

The full rumored card for UFC Fight Night 9 on April 5:

Main Card Fights:
Joe Stevenson vs. Melvin Guillard
Kenny Florian vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima
Antoni Hardonk vs. Frank Mir

Preliminary Bouts:
Drew Fickett vs. Keita Nakamura
Wander Braga vs. Kurt Pellegrino
Kuniyoshi Hironaka vs. Jeff Joslin
Naoyuki Kotani vs. Thiago Tavares
Wilson Gouveia vs. Seth Petruzelli
Roan Carneiro vs. Anthony Torres

Technorati Tags: ufc, mma, fight+night+9