“Starnes told The Fight Network that he requested his release from the remainder of his UFC contract, which had been carried over from his appearance on “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series and ensured him three fights per year.”

“[UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva told me that it usually takes a couple of days for their legal department to complete the paperwork and that he would send me all of the paperwork to indicate that my contract has been dissolved,” Starnes said. “Later on in the afternoon, after I had spoken to Joe Silva, a story was released by some reporter from Yahoo! in which Dana White said that he had released me from my contract. I received no documentation on that, and it came after I asked to be released.”

Despite a total unwillingness to engage against Nate Quarry, Starnes says he has incurred quite a few injuries from the bout:

Right now, I have a broken foot [that] I sustained with the first kick I threw in the fight,” Starnes said. “My leg is purple and black from my knee up, I have a black eye, a sprained jaw, and he’s questioning my desire to fight? If that isn’t enough to satisfy him and the crowd, I can show them the medical report. I can barely walk. [Quarry] totally destroyed my thigh with those kicks. I’m sure a lot of people would rather see me suffer a traumatic brain injury and be rendered unconscious. That’s too bad. If that’s what they want, they’re paying the wrong guy $10,000 to get his brain smashed in.”

Kalib also addressed Dana White’s negative comments, and had a few choice words of his own for the UFC President:

“In my opinion, it was inappropriate to make public statements regarding my character and my future and so on the way that he has, especially without having the courage and the respect to call me up and speak with me personally,” Starnes said. “All of these comments come from a man that has never had a fight in his entire life who claims to be the ultimate authority on fighting and courage. I couldn’t be happier than to be released from the most oppressive contract I’ve ever been under in my life.

Dana White wouldn’t stand and trade with a guy [like Quarry] who had an 80 or 90 percent knockout ratio with injuries like I had Saturday night,” Starnes said. “He wouldn’t cross the street for $10,000. I don’t have anything to prove to anybody. I’m not about to stand there and get smashed to pieces. After I knew my foot was broken, I was trying to back up and work off the jab and keep moving so I didn’t get knocked out.”

While Starnes’ statement offers some answers concerning his shameful performance, I still can’t feel much sympathy for the guy. Sorry Kalib, but there are people out there who paid good money to see you fight that don’t even make $10,000 in a year, let alone in one evening. If you broke something during the bout and couldn’t continue then tap out or call it quits during the round break. But don’t run around for 15 minutes and waste our pay-per-view.

“He just doesn’t belong in the UFC and after his performance the other night, he should consider a new line of work…”

Starnes’ opponent, Nate Quarry, also commented:

“I think if you’re fighting in the UFC, you’ve got to come to fight,” Quarry told UFC.com in a post-fight interview. “I would much rather get knocked out than lose a decision running backwards. No disrespect to Kalib. I know the stress really gets to you. A lot of guys, they focus on not wanting to lose instead of wanting to win. I didn’t mean to disrespect him in any way. I just got frustrated because you can’t fight when somebody’s moving backward that fast.”

It is currently unknown if any other promotions have shown interest in the newly released Starnes, but my guess is that someone out there will eventually scoop him up despite this debacle. That’s of course assuming Starnes wishes to continue competing in MMA, which is also unconfirmed at this juncture.

Matt Serra vs. George St. Pierre (welterweight championship)
GSP via TKO, round 3

As many MMA diehards well know, there are a number of great fighters out there that for one reason or another, just cannot for the life of them beat a certain opponent. Rampage can’t beat Wanderlei, Liddell can’t beat Rampage, Barnett can’t beat Cro Cop, Franklin can’t beat Anderson, Tanner can’t beat Franklin, Trigg can’t beat Hughes, Hughes can’t beat Hallman, the list goes on. The big question is, will Serra soon be added to the list of people who serve as kryptonite for an otherwise dominant fighter? I think not.

Though Serra definitely made St. Pierre look foolish the first time around, I think the smart money is still on GSP for this one. I will say that I don’t think that Serra can win this fight, but that GSP can lose it. If Serra wins it will only be because GSP is unprepared in some way, shape or form. Simply put, Serra on his greatest day is still not a better fighter than George St. Pierre on a good day. Don’t get me wrong, I believe Matt Serra is a top ten UFC welterweight and could hang in the UFC for quite some time, but there is no amount of improvement or training that Serra could undergo which would make him the type of fighter that GSP is. GSP is bigger, stronger, faster, and more dominant in pretty much every aspect of the game. Serra is a great ground guy, but I can’t give him a definitive advantage there because GSP is also ridiculously dangerous on the ground. Not to mention that outside of his TKO over GSP, Matt Serra has not finished a fight since 2002. I feel like Serra plays better defense than offense, and that will not be enough to get him past GSP.

On the flip side, Matt Serra has a short frame and uses good head movement, making him a difficult target to pinpoint. And while Serra has not finished a fight since 2002 as I mentioned above, he has also only been finished off once, by Shonie Carter back in 2001 via that famous spinning backfist. Some forget that Serra has also gone the distance with Karo Parisyan and B.J. Penn, not an easy task by any means. So if Karo and Penn couldn’t finish Serra, who’s to say the St. Pierre will either?

Of course, let’s not forget about the mental mumbo jumbo. Lots of chatter leading up to this fight about who’s got the mind game advantage. Will GSP’s hometown crowd help him or weigh him down with nerve-racking pressure? Will Serra have such a mental edge because he has relatively nothing to lose (other than the title) and GSP has a reputation on the line?

The final word: I think that all of the mental-toughness controversy coming into this fight is total B.S. I think its clear cut simple. GSP underestimated Serra once upon a time, he wont this time, and he will destroy him. I give Matt Serra a good chance at holding off GSP, but it won’t last more than a couple rounds. GSP via TKO 3rd round.

Travis Lutter vs. Rich Franklin
Lutter via split-decision

After speaking with the confident Travis Lutter personally, you would think that Franklin doesn’t even have a chance coming into this fight. But the truth is, Franklin is the all-around better fighter. While Lutter maintains a superior ground game, he will have to get Franklin on the ground to employ it. So if Franklin sprawls and brawls all night, Lutter will either get knocked out or lose on points. But that’s not how I see it going down. I think that Lutter will eventually be able to score the takedown, and will be able to neutralize Franklin for at least a round or two. I don’t think Lutter will be able to secure the submission, but I also don’t think that Franklin will be able to end the fight either. I predict a split-decision upset victory for Travis Lutter.

Nate Quarry vs. Kalib Starnes
Quarry via TKO, round 2

Starnes will have the crowd, but Quarry has the skills. I think that Nate Quarry is a much better fighter than Kalib Starnes, and should be able to throw down some crazy ground and pound somewhere in the second round. Gotta go with Nate Quarry on this one.

Charles McCarthy vs. Michael Bisping
Bisping via TKO, round 2.

Many who frequent this particular website will noticeably comment “Bisping Sucks” from time to time, and at 205lbs, I can almost agree with that statement. But at 185lbs the man seems much better positioned to climb to the top of the division. Charles McCarthy is a better ground guy but Bisping has been working on his jiujitsu a lot lately, and should be able to defend a take down fairly easily. I say Bisping catches McCarthy in the second round and scores the TKO.

Mark Bocek vs. Mac Danzig
Danzig via unanimous decision.

Though I never really cared for Mac Danzig while he was on TUF, the guy does have undeniable skills and is rightly the favorite to win this fight. Danzig is very well rounded and at 155lbs, a lot better proportioned than when he fought at welterweight. Maybe Danzig won’t be able to finish Bocek off, but I bet he gets the decision once the final bell tolls.

Joe Doerksen Vs. Jason MacDonald
MacDonald via unanimous decision

Ah, the dueling Canadians. Jason MacDonald actually defeated Doerksen via rear naked choke once before back in 2005. While both fighters have surely improved since then, I really don’t see this fight going any differently than the first meeting. Maybe Doerkson will avoid the submission this time around, but I doubt he dominates the fight at all. Cruising decision for MacDonald.

Jason Day vs. Alan Belcher
Belcher via TKO, round 3.

Tough fight to call. Belcher has the heavy hands, Day has the ground game. I say this one goes to the ground but Day fails at securing the submission and ends up on the receiving end of some ground and pound. It doesn’t take many shots from Belcher to spell lights out.

Ed Herman vs. Demian Maia
Herman via split decision

Demian Maia has solid and tested BJJ, but I don’t know if he will able to combat the experience and well roundedness of Ed Herman. Close one to call, but I say Ed Herman squeezes out the decision.

Rich Clementi vs. Sam Stout
Clementi via submission, round 3.

Sam Stout definitely has the striking advantage, but Clementi is strong enough to weather the storm and should be able to get Stout down and submitted by the end of the third.

Brad Morris vs. Cain Velasquez
Morris vis submission, round 2.

We don’t know much of anything about Cain Velazquez other than that he is 2-0, with both wins coming via TKO. Brad Morris on the other hand is 9-2 with most of his wins coming by way of either submission or decision, but I haven’t been able to watch any of his fights, so it’s tough for me to say who the better fighter is. I will have to go with Morris on this one simply because of the experience factor. I’m assuming Morris will eventually look to take Velasquez down and apply a submission, which he probably gets due to Cain’s lack of ground game-familiarity inside the octagon.

The event, the first ever in Canada, will be held April 19th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, a venue that holds nearly 22,000 spectators. According to the official press release announcing the event, more than 13,000 tickets were sold yesterday to UFC Fight Club members with the remainder of available tickets expected to be sold out by this afternoon.

Additionally, the UFC announced nearly the entire card for the event which remains more than two months away. The event, which will be broadcast on pay-per-view, is set to feature 10 bouts, one more than the promotion’s traditional 9-fight cards.

Here is the official fight card for the event:

Main Card

• Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre
  Welterweight Championship Bout
• Travis Lutter vs. Rich Franklin
• Nate Quarry vs. Kalib Starnes
• Charles McCarthy vs. Michael Bisping
• Mark Bocek vs. Mac Danzig

Preliminary Bouts

• Jason MacDonald vs. Joe Doerksen
• Sam Stout vs. Rich Clementi
• Ed Herman vs. Demian Maia
• Jonathan Goulet vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
• Patrick Cote vs. TBD

For more on UFC 83 check out the MMAFrenzy.com rumors section.

Starnes (8-2-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) is a Canadian fighter who was featured on the third season of The Ultimate Fighter. After a first-round submission win against Danny Abbadi in his UFC debut Starnes was defeated by Yushin Okami at UFC 64. After bouncing back with a win over Chris Leben at UFC 71 Starnes was defeated by Alan Belcher at UFC 77 as a result of a deep gash on his forehead.

Quarry (9-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) made his UFC debut on the finale of The Ultimate Fighter after an appearance on the first season of the reality series. Following his UFC debut win over Lodune Sincaid, Quarry defeated Shonie Carter and Pete Sell and was awarded a shot at then-champion Rich Franklin. In the title fight Quarry was quickly defeated via a knockout punch midway through the opening round. Following successful back surgery Quarry returned from a year-long hiatus in September at UFC Fight Night 11 defeating Pete Sell via third round knockout.

For more on UFC 83 check out the MMAFrenzy.com rumors section.

Mark Bocek will face Doug Evans at UFC 79. Evans confirmed the bout to MMAFrenzy.com earlier today.

I went to Las Vegas yesterday only for the day because there was a mandatory UFC meeting for all fighters. Basically they had different aspects of the corporation represented, including the Nevada State Athletic Comission, doctors, lawyers, production and public relations, etc.

Anyway I emailed the matchmaker to see if I could get on the Dec. 29th card when Matt Serra defends his belt. Unfortunately they have filled all the matches up so I’m on the waiting list in case someone gets injured. I’ll be taking over for Ray Longo a little while he’s out in Vegas with Matt. Then once my schedule changes I’ll start fight training and look to book something for early-ish 2008.

• Sean Sherk’s appeal has been scheduled to continue on December 4th.
• Middleweight Nate Marquardt will reportedly be returning to competition on February 2nd at UFC 81. A report earlier this week in the Houston Chronicle indicated Marquardt had not received word on his next fight because he has just one bout remaining on his current contract though he is now working with the UFC towards re-signing.
• The Ultimate Fighter 3 castmember Ross Pointon will face Marios Zaromskis at Cage Rage 24 in December. Drew Fickett will face Mark Weir at the event.
• Some reports suggest that Tim Sylvia will face Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 81 in February for the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
• UFC vet Jonathan Goulet will face Dan Chambers in the main event of Ring Xtreme Challenge II. The event is November 24th in Victoriaville, Quebec.
• The UFC has announced that they will be holding an open casting call for The Ultimate Fighter 7 November 19th in New Jersey. Interested middleweight participants should show up at the Newark Airport Hilton Hotel at 8am and can sign up in advance at UFC.com.
• A new report at Sherdog connects Xyience with UFC owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta and also discusses recent reports of fighters turning down sponsorship by the company due to non-payment.
• Mike Swick will reportedly be returning in January 2008, presumably at UFC 80 in England.
• Forrest Griffin will be appearing on Law and Order: SVU on November 20th.
• In a recent interview Martin Kampann indicated that he hopes to return in early-2008.
• Suspensions for UFC 77 have been handed out. Rich Franklin, Kalib Starnes, and Eric Schafer all received 30-day suspensions while Forrest Petz received a 60-day suspension.
• This weekend UFC veteran and fan favorite Nick Diaz will face KJ Noons in the main event of EliteXC: “Renegade”. The event will air live on Showtime on Saturday.
• The WEC has officially announced four fights for it’s December 12th event including the return of former UFC champion Jens Pulver:

Featuring WEC Featherweight Champion “The California Kid” Urjiah Faber against Jeff “Big Frog” Curran, “The Rhino” Doug Marshall defending his Light Heavyweight title against Cuba’s own Ariel Gandulla, Paulo Filho returning to the Cage to defend his WEC Middleweight crown, and former UFC® Lightweight Champion Jens “Lil’ Evil” Pulver making his WEC debut at 145 lbs. against rising star Cub Swanson, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas will be rocked off its foundations by the most explosive MMA action of 2007.

The main event will feature a rematch between Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin in a title bout for the UFC Middleweight Champion. This should make for a great fight especially since Franklin has chosen to isolate himself to seriously focus on training for this fight.

The co-main event will mark the return of both Tim Sylvia and Brandon Vera. Sylvia has not seen any action since undergoing surgery after losing the Heavyweight belt to Randy Couture back at UFC 68. Vera makes his return to the Octagon, putting his perfect MMA record on the line after nearly a year of absence. Both fighters are known to love to stand and trade so this one should be a dandy. Expect some fireworks to go off in this bout.

Main card:

• Rich Franklin vs. Anderson Silva (Middleweight Championship Match)
• Tim Sylvia vs. Brandon Vera
• Eric Schafer vs. Stephan Bonnar
• Alan Belcher vs Kalib Starnes

Undercard:

• Jason MacDonald vs. Yushin Okami (swing bout)
• Alvin Robinson vs. Jorge Gurgel
• Josh Burkman vs. Forrest Petz
• Matt Grice vs. Jason Black
• Demian Maia vs. Ryan Jensen

Starne, who trains with Revolution Fight Team in Vancouver as well as American Top Team in Florida, defeated Danny Abbadi by first round submission in. In his next fight Starnes lost to Yushin Okami at UFC 64 but he bounced back in his next fight with a win over Chris Leben at UFC 71. His overall MMA record is 8-1-1.

Belcher has a 10-3 MMA record and heavy hands recording six of his ten wins by knockout. After going 8-1 in other MMA promotion Belcher made his UFC debut at UFC 62 in a losing effort to Yushin Okami. He returned later in 2006 to face Jorge Santiago at UFC Fight Night 7, winning the fight with a knock out kick. He dropped his next UFC fight to TUF-veteran Kendall Grove but bounced back with a win over Sean Salmon at UFC 71 as a late replacement for Eric Schafer.

Both fighters are solid in the middleweight division but a win over good competition could cement a spot for either as a legitimate contender with several more wins. The middleweight division is light on contenders right now (although that may not be true following The Ultimate Fighter 7) so this matchup could have a near-immediate impact on the middleweight division.

For the latest on UFC 77 check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.