Maximum Fighting Championship on Monday announced that it was stripping light heavyweight champion Trevor Prangley of the title and releasing him from the promotion.

In other MFC news, the promotion announced last week that UFC veterans Thales Leites and Dean Lister will square off in the main event of MFC 23 on December 4 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Despite a report earlier Friday that UFC President Dana White would reverse the releases of middleweight Thales Leites and welterweight Tamdan McCrory, the UFC has officially cut both fighters.

MixedMartialArts.com and MMAjunkie.com confirmed the releases on Friday afternoon:

Middleweight Thales Leites and welterweight Tamdan McCrory, who were both reportedly released by the UFC following losses last Saturday at UFC 101, will remain on the UFC roster, UFC President Dana White today told Yahoo Sports.

“They won’t be cut,” said White.

As speculated on Wednesday after their UFC.com profiles were removed, recent middleweight title challenger Thales Leites and lightweight TUF 8 castmember George Roop have both been released from their UFC contracts, according to MMA Fanhouse.

The latest cuts follow the release of welterweights Tamdan McCrory and Dan Cramer on Wednesday, all of which were in action at Satuday’s UFC 101 event.

Contrary to previous reports following his knockout of Forrest Griffin on Saturday at UFC 101, Anderson Silva says he won’t be relinquishing his middleweight title to remain permanently at light heavyweight and will continue to fight in both divisions.

In other news, the UFC will counter-program Saturday’s Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg event with a free replay of UFC 100 on Spike TV, Dennis Hallman has signed a four-fight contract to return to the UFC, and more…

UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn retained his title on Saturday in the main event of UFC 101, submitting Kenny Florian in the fourth-round of their championship headliner to cap off the pay-per-view event, which took place at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.

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.

All 22 UFC 101 fighters hit the scales on Friday at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia to weigh in for their Saturday bouts, and the entire card, including headliners BJ Penn, Kenny Florian, Anderson Silva, and Forrest Griffin, successfully made weight.

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.

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.

Recent middleweight title challenger Thales Leites has been tapped to replace an injured Rousimar Palhares and square off with Alessio Sakara at UFC 101 on August 8th in Philadelphia. Leites confirmed the bout to InTheGuard.tv earlier today.

Though Anderson Silva's alleged greasing went unnoticed by most fans until after the UFC 97 main event, referee Yves Lavigne not only noticed the Vaseline on Silva's chest and arms but wiped it off and received approval from Leites' corner before starting the contest.

Anderson Silva appears to transfer Vaseline from his face to his chest and arms during his UFC 97 unanimous decision victory over Thales Leites. A video of the incident is after the jump...

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.

Welcome to MMAFrenzy.com's live coverage of UFC 97: Redemption, which takes place today at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. The event features Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites and Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua on its 12-bout card.

Headliners Anderson Silva and Thales Leites and co-main event foes Chuck Liddell and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua successfully made weight on Friday at the Bell Centre in Montreal for their UFC 97 bouts. Full weigh-in results for UFC 97: Redemption are after the jump...

Undefeated middleweight Demian Maia will challenge the winner of April's championship matchup between current title-holder Anderson Silva and challenger Thales Leites later this year, likely at UFC 102 on August 29th in Portland, Oregon.