Couture, fighting at light heavyweight for the first time since 2006, edged Brandon Vera in the evening’s main event, battling through stinging body kicks to control the pace of the fight while landing occasional combinations to earn the unanimous nod.

Couture rebounded from back-to-back losses to improve to 17-10,  though he’ll likely need another win to earn a shot at the winner of the upcoming rematch between 205-pound title-holder Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua possible. Vera falls to 11-4 with the loss, snapping a two-fight winning streak.

In the UFC 105 co-headliner, Hardy stunned Mike Swick early then rocked him again in the second and third frames to earn a unanimous decision victory.

Hardy ups his record to 23-6 with the win, including four-straight inside the UFC to earn a shot at welterweight title-holder Georges St-Pierre early next year, while Swick had his four-fight win streak stopped in dropping to 14-3.

In other main card action, Michael Bisping rebounded with a second-round knockout of Denis Kang, Matt Brown scored a second-round knockout of James Wilks, and Ross Pearson earned a second-round TKO of Aaron Riley.

On the UFC 105 preliminary card, John Hathaway, Terry Etim, Nick Osipczak, Dennis Siver, Alexander Gustafsson, and Andre Winner all earned victories.

The complete results for UFC 105 were:

• Randy Couture def. Brandon Vera via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Dan Hardy def. Mike Swick via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Michael Bisping def. Denis Kang via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 4:24
• Matt Brown def. James Wilks via TKO (strikes) — Round 3, 2:27
• Ross Pearson def. Aaron Riley via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) — Round 2, 4:38
• John Hathaway def. Paul Taylor via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
• Terry Etim def. Shannon Gugerty via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 2, 1:24
• Nick Osipczak def. Matthew Riddle via TKO (strikes) — Round 3, 3:53
• Dennis Siver def. Paul Kelly via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 2:53
• Alexander Gustafsson def. Jared Hamman via knockout (punches) — Round 1, 0:41
• Andre Winner def. Rolando Delgado via knockout (punch) — Round 1, 3:22

For complete UFC coverage stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Both Couture and Vera tipped the scale at 204 pounds, while welterweight contenders Mike Swick (170) and Dan Hardy (171) and middleweight notables Michael Bisping (186) and Denis Kang (185) also made weight without issue.

The official weigh-in results for UFC 105 were:

MAIN CARD

• 205: Randy Couture (204) vs. Brandon Vera (204)
• 170: Mike Swick (170) vs. Dan Hardy (171)
• 185: Michael Bisping (186) vs. Denis Kang (185)
• 170: James Wilks (169) vs. Matt Brown (170)
• 155: Ross Pearson (156) vs. Aaron Riley (155)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• 170: Paul Taylor (170) vs. John Hathaway (170)
• 155: Terry Etim (155) vs. Shannon Gugerty (155)
• 170: Nick Osipczak (170) vs. Matthew Riddle (171)
• 155: Paul Kelly (156) vs. Dennis Siver (155)
• 205: Alexander Gustafsson (203) vs. Jared Hamman (204)
• 155: Andre Winner (155) vs. Roli Delgado (156)

Pictured: Randy Couture

After stunning Florian several times over the first three rounds and stifling the challenger’s takedown attempts, Penn got a takedown of his own before taking Florian’s back. After softening him with kicks to the body, Penn secured a rear naked choke and Florian was forced to submit 3:54 into the fourth frame.

Penn (14-5-1) rebounds from a January welterweight loss to champion Georges St-Pierre by winning his fourth-straight fight at 155-pounds, while the loss for Florian (11-4), his first in nearly three-years, snaps a six-fight winning streak.

In the UFC 101 co-headliner, UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva returned to the light heavyweight division and silenced his critics, following up back-to-back lackluster wins with a first-round knckout of former 205-pound champ Forrest Griffin.

After an aggressive start by Griffin that saw him miss with a head kick attempt, Silva tagged Forrest with punches, sending him to the canvas twice, and taunted him to attack, leaving his hands at his waist. As Griffin again pressed forward Silva backpeddled, but connected with a compact right that sent Forrest to the canvas for a third and final time as the referee immediately stepped in and stopped the fight.

Knocked unconscious by the awkward-yet-powerful punch, Griffin quickly returned to his feet and ran out of the Octagon while Silva celebrated his return to form. “The Spider” (25-4) extends his win streak to 11-straight overall, including 10-straight UFC victories, while Griffin (16-6) has now lost two-straight.

In other main card action, Aaron Riley, Ricardo Almeida, and Kurt Pellegrino all picked up unanimous decision wins, while Johny Hendricks knocked out Amir Sadollah in just 29-seconds in a controversial stoppage.

The complete results for UFC 101 were:

• B.J. Penn (c) def. Kenny Florian via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 4, 3:54
  UFC Lightweight Championship
• Anderson Silva def. Forrest Griffin via KO (punch) — Round 1, 3:23
• Aaron Riley def. Shane Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Johny Hendricks def. Amir Sadollah via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 0:29
• Ricardo Almeida def. Kendall Grove via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Kurt Pellegrino def. Josh Neer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• John Howard def. Tamdan McCrory via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Alessio Sakara def. Thales Leites via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
• Matthew Riddle def. Dan Cramer via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-27)
• George Sotiropoulos def. George Roop via submission (kimura) — Round 2, 1:59
• Jesse Lennox def. Danillo Villefort via TKO (cut) — Round 3, 3:37

Click here for more UFC 101 coverage.

The UFC lightweight champion Penn and challenger Florian both tipped the scales exactly at 155 pounds, while UFC middleweight title-holder Anderson Silva and Forrest Griffin both weighed in at 205 for their light heavyweight matchup.

Welterweight Tamdan McCrory was the only fighter who visibly struggled to make weight, arriving at the scale still wearing his sauna suit, but didn’t require the one-pound allowance, weighing in right at the division limit of 170-pounds.

One of the lone surprises at the UFC 101 weigh-ins was The Ultimate Fighter 7 winner Amir Sadollah, who weighed in at just 166.5 pounds for his 170-pound welterweight matchup against Johny Hendricks.

The official weigh-in results for UFC 101 were:

MAIN CARD

• 155: B.J. Penn (c) (155) vs. Kenny Florian (155)
  UFC Lightweight Championship
• 205: Anderson Silva (205) vs. Forrest Griffin (205)
• 185: Kendall Grove (185.5) vs. Ricardo Almeida (185)
• 155: Josh Neer (155.5) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (154.5)
• 170: Amir Sadollah (166.5) vs. Johny Hendricks (171)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• 155: Shane Nelson (156) vs. Aaron Riley (154)
• 170: Tamdan McCrory (170) vs. John Howard (169.5)
• 185: Thales Leites (185) vs. Alessio Sakara (185.5)
• 170: Matthew Riddle (170) vs. Dan Cramer (169.5)
• 155: George Sotiropoulos (155) vs. George Roop (154)
• 170: Jesse Lennox (171) vs. Danillo Villefort (170.25)

Remember: Fighters are granted a one-pound allowance for non-championship bouts.

Pictured: Anderson Silva

Amir Sadollah

The UFC today announced the majority of the fight card for UFC 101: Declaration, which is set for August 8th at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.

Joining BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian and Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin on the pay-per-view main card will be Johny Hendricks vs. Amir Sadollah, Ricardo Almeida vs. Kendall Grove, and Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellgrino.

Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley, John Howard vs. Tamdan McCrory, Dan Cramer vs. Matthew Riddle, Rob Emerson vs. George Sotiropoulos, and Jesse Lennox vs. Danillo Villefort were confirmed for the unaired preliminary card.

The only rumored bout that has not yet been officially announced is a middleweight fight between Thales Leites and Alessio Sakara.

Tickets for UFC 101: Declaration will go on sale next week.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest UFC 101 news.

A Richmond, Virginia resident, the 27 year old Sadollah entered “The Ultimate Fighter” with no professional fighting experience to his name. The amateur kickboxer impressed Dana White, along with “The Ultimate Fighter” producers, during the open-workout in Newark, NJ and he earned an invitation to Las Vegas. Since then, despite his inexperience, he has dispatched all comers while exhibiting stunning resiliency, winning his elimination bout to get into the house, and then defeating Team Rampage’s Gerald Harris via TKO in his preliminary bout, winning a war with teammate Matt Brown in the quarterfinals, and shocking the entire gym with his 3rd round armbar of Dollaway in the semifinals. Sadollah has been training with his coach Forrest Griffin for the finale, and plans on using his ever improving well rounded mixed martial arts attack to take home this season’s title.

Standing in Sadollah’s way is CB Dollaway, a 24 year old hailing from Mount Gilhead, OH who went on to a tremendous college wrestling career at Arizona State University, where he was selected as an All American. His pedigree, and dominant showing in his elimination match to get in the house, led to his being selected number one overall to Team Rampage. To reach the finals, Dollaway defeated Team Forrest’s Nick Klein via guillotine choke in his preliminary bout and handling Cale Yarbrough in his quarterfinal bout to reach his semifinal matchup against Amir Sadollah. Though he dropped that matchup, he was given a shot at redemption when Jesse Taylor was asked to leave the show, and defeated Tim Credeur to earn a showdown this Saturday night with the title of The Ultimate Fighter on the line.

Sharing top billing for The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage Vs Team Forrest Finale, former UFC middleweight champion and one of the sport’s pioneers, Evan Tanner, takes on rising star and The Ultimate Fighter Season 3 victor Kendall Grove.

Before his debut at UFC 18 in January, 1999, Tanner (34-7) lived quite an adventurous and often nomadic existence, doing everything from installing cable TV in South Dakota to building beach houses in North Carolina, to laying concrete in Montana. Tanner found his calling in the Octagon and after three straight victories earned a shot at the UFC crown. However, then light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz knocked out Tanner less than a minute to retain his title. The determined Tanner won seven of his next eight bouts including a first round TKO over David Terrell in February 2005 at UFC 51, to claim the vacant UFC middleweight title. However, his reign was short-lived as he lost to Rich Franklin in June 2005 at UFC 53 via TKO (stoppage due to cuts). Most recently, he lost to heralded Japanese contender Yushin Okami at UFC 82 this past March.

The 6’6” Grove (10-5) is a Hawaiian native who honed his skills as a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter 3. Two recent defeats at the hands of veterans Patrick Cote (UFC 74 in August of 2007) and Jorge Rivera (UFC 80 in January of 2008) after an auspicious 3-0 start in the UFC makes this battle with Tanner a must-win for the 25-year old Grove.

As the night’s special feature, Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez takes on hard-hitting Luigi Fioravanti.

Sanchez (20-2), fighting out of Albuquerque, NM, burst onto the UFC scene with incredible fanfare after winning The Ultimate Fighter 1 crown against Kenny Florian After six consecutive wins over such notable opponents as Karo Parisyan, John Alessio, and Nick Diaz, it seemed Sanchez was clearly destined to wear the UFC welterweight crown. However, Sanchez’s lofty title hopes were derailed by two consecutive losses including a three-round decision to bitter foe and The Ultimate Fighter 1 castmate, Josh Koschek, at UFC 69 last April and a split decision loss to Jon Fitch last September at UFC 76. Now, the Gaidojuijitsu black belt is back on the winning track after submitting Brazilian native David Bielkheden in March at UFC 82.

Fioravanti (12-2), from Orlando, Fl, is coming off an impressive victory in March over Luke Cummo at UFC 82. As tough as his opponent Sanchez will be, the 27 year-old has most certainly been in more perilous situations. Fioravanti is a decorated Marine who was part of the first wave of troops to arrive in the Middle East for the ongoing Iraq War. After seeing dangerous action during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Fioravanti returned to the U.S. in 2004 to begin training for a professional MMA career.

Also on the card, Spencer “The King” Fisher looks to bounce back from his loss to Frankie Edgar during November’s UFC 78 as he takes on Jeremy Stephens, a 21 year old fighter looking to extend his winning streak to three after wins against Diego Saraiva Cole Miller. In other action, a personal feud between TUF7 housemates Matthew Riddle and Dante Rivera will be settle inside the Octagon in the night’s first televised match.

“The people who didn’t fight up to par got the boot and got cut. I think the UFC’s just getting so big that they’re only going to take the best. A lot of the guys from the cast weren’t invited to fight at the finale. We’re not allowed to say, but I think it’s a fight everyone wants to see.”

The middleweight tournament final bout, Kendall Grove vs. Evan Tanner, Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fioravanti, and Spencer Fisher vs. Jeremy Stephens have been officially announced for the televised portion of the event with three more non-TUF bouts, Josh Burkman vs. Dustin Hazelett, Marvin Eastman vs. Drew McFedries, and Jeremy Horn vs. Dean Lister, already booked for the preliminary card. Space on the fight card is filling up fast and if Riddle’s comments are any indication a majority of the remaining fight card slots may be given to non-TUF 7 fighters.

The report fits in with recent rumors that the UFC is trying to reduce its 200-plus fighter roster. Signs of the reductions have been popping up for months but made headlines in recent weeks when Jake O’Brien was released following his first career loss and TUF 7 cast member Paul Bradley was permitted to sign with UFC competitor EliteXC. Typically, the UFC locks up “The Ultimate Fighter” cast members to long-term contracts but that does not appear to be the case this season, as the promotion appears to be signing only the most promising talent in an ongoing effort to reduce their ever-growing roster.

Based on Riddle’s comments it has been speculated that he will likely face Dante Rivera at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale.

For more on The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale check out the MMAFrenzy.com rumors section.

The prevailing thought is that Patrick Schultz, who was recalled to replace the infected Paul Bradley last week, will be matched up with Rivera in this weeks match. Instead, Team Forrest’s top pick, Tim Credeur, will face Riddle in the second opening round bout.

Rivera attempts to get into Riddle’s head with a $500 bet on the fight but Riddle refuses the persistent pressure.

Credeur is 10-2 in his professional career while Riddle is relatively inexperienced with just a few fights under his belt. The experience difference is stressed leading up to the fight and after both fighters make weight it’s time for the bout.

Once the action is underway the pair go back and forth in an exciting opening round bout. Riddle, despite his lack of experience, is winning midway through the second and final round and seems to have the decision win locked up as they stand and trade. Against his coaches’ wishes Riddle takes the fight to the ground with a takedown and despite Jackson’s urging to return to his feet Riddle remains on the ground. Credeur seizes the opportunity and secures an armbar to force Riddle to tap out late in round two.

The win puts Team Forrest ahead 2-0 and they retain control of next weeks matchmaking.

RESULTS

• Tim Credeur def. Matthew Riddler via submission – Round 2

TEAM RAMPAGE (0-2)

• Daniel Cramer
• CB Dollaway
• Gerald Harris
• Jeremy May
• Brandon Sene
• Pat Schultz
• Matthew Riddler (0-1)
  Eliminated by Tim Credeur – Week 4
• Mike Dolce (0-1)
  Eliminated by Jesse Taylor – Week 3
• Paul Bradley (0-0)
  Eliminated due to medical issues

TEAM FORREST (2-0)

• Jesse Taylor (1-0)
• Tim Credeur (1-0)
• Amir Sadollah
• Matt Brown
• Cale Yarbrough
• Dante Rivera
• Nick Klein
• Luke Zachrich

MMAFrenzy.com is your source for in-depth recaps and news from the”The Ultimate Fighter 7: Team Forrest vs. Team Rampage”.

RESULTS

• Matthew Riddle def. Dan Simmler via KO – Round 2
• Luke Zachrich def. Patrick Schultz via submission – Round 1
• Tim Credeur def. Erik Charles via submission – Round 1
• Brandon Sene def. Aaron Meisner via submission – Round 1
• Gerald Harris def. Mike Marrello via unanimous decision
• Daniel Cramer def. Jeremiah Riggs via unanimous decision
• Jesse Taylor def. Nick Rossborough via submission – Round 1
• Matt Brown def. Josh Hall via TKO – Round 1

With all of the opening round bouts now completed, the sixteen fighter cast for the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter” has now been finalized.

FIGHTERS

• Matt Brown
• Paul Bradley
• Daniel Cramer
• Tim Credeur
• Mike Dolce
• CB Dollaway
• Gerald Harris
• Nick Klein
• Jeremy May
• Matthew Riddler
• Dante Rivera
• Amir Sadollah
• Brandon Sene
• Jesse Taylor
• Cale Yarbrough
• Luke Zachrich

Next week, coaches Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin will select their teams and the first round of the all-middleweight tournament will commence.

MMAFrenzy.com is your source for in-depth recaps and news from the”The Ultimate Fighter 7: Team Forrest vs. Team Rampage”.