Though the severity of the injury, which was first reported by MMAjunkie, is not yet known, it is expected to require surgery and will sideline Tavares for the immediate future.

Tavares (14-3), who was forced to withdraw from a June bout against Melvin Guillard due to an elbow injury, most-recently fought in January, defeating Manny Gamburyan via unanimous decision. He had previously lost 3 of his last 4 fights, defeating Michihiro Omigawa while suffering defeats to Tyson Griffin, Matt Wiman, and Kurt Pellegrino.

Miller (14-2) is 3-1 in the UFC since making his Octagon debut in 2008, opening with back-to-back wins over David Baron and Matt Wiman before dropping a decision to Gray Maynard in March. The one-time IFL fighter bounced back last month with a unanimous decision win over Mac Danzig at UFC 100.

Though nearly a month remains before the pay-per-view event, with 13 fights scheduled for the card, the UFC could shift Miller to another upcoming event instead of seeking a short-notice replacement.

For the latest UFC 103 fight card check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

Pictured: Thiago Tavares

Miller (14-2) is 3-1 in the UFC since making his Octagon debut in 2008, opening with back-to-back wins over David Baron and Matt Wiman before dropping a decision to Gray Maynard in March. The one-time IFL fighter bounced back last month with a unanimous decision win over Mac Danzig at UFC 100.

Tavares (14-3), who was forced to withdraw from a June bout against Melvin Guillard due to an elbow injury, most-recently fought in January, defeating Manny Gamburyan via unanimous decision. He had previously lost 3 of his last 4 fights, defeating Michihiro Omigawa while suffering defeats to Tyson Griffin, Matt Wiman, and Kurt Pellegrino.

UFC 103 is headlined by Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort and also includes Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Junior dos Santos.

Check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section for the latest UFC 103 rumors.

Pictured: Jim Miller

• The MMAFrenzy.com rumors section has been completely updated. [MMAFrenzy.com/rumors]
• UFC fighters Rousimar Palhares and Thiago Tavares are likely to return in the fall from injuries. [MMAjunkie]
• With just one fight remaining on his current contract, Rich Franklin is ready to renegotiate with the UFC before his next fight. [MMAjunkie]
• Roger Gracie will make his Strikeforce debut against an opponent to-be-named at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg on August 15.
• Featherweight contender Wagnney Fabiano will fight at WEC 43 on September 2 in Youngstown, Ohio. An opponent has not yet been set. [MMAjunkie]
• Bobby Lashley will next fight in September. [MMA Fanhouse]
• Gilbert Yvel vs. Paul Buentello has officially been added to the fight card for Affliction: Trilogy.
• Heavyweight veteran Jeff Monson has signed with Ohio-based NAAFS and will debut against Tony Sylvester at Rock N Rumble III at the Nautica Pavilion in Cleveland.
• A timetable for UFC heavyweight Heath Herring’s return has not yet been set. [MMAjunkie]
• Middleweight Rob Kimmons has signed a new four-fight contract with the UFC. [MMAjunkie]
• Mark Hominick vs. Deividas Taurosevicius and LC Davis vs. Javier Vazquez have been booked for the HDNet-televised “Affliction: Trilogy” preliminary card
• Weigh-ins for UFC 100 will take place on Friday, July 10 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, the same venue which will host the July 11 pay-per-view event. (Note: MMAFrenzy.com will be providing a live stream of the weigh-ins)
• WEC lightweight contender and former champion Rob McCullough is likely to return in the “late fall” [MMAjunkie]
• Diego Sanchez will get the next lightweight title shot against the winner of the August 8 matchup between BJ Penn and Kenny Florian. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Ticket sales for UFC 101 on August 8 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia have surpassed 14,000 for a Pennsylviania record-breaking $3+ million live gate. [MMAjunkie]
• Strikeforce will hold a press conference for the promotion’s August 15 matchup between Gina Carano and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos on July 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
• Luiz Cane wants to fight Rich Franklin. [MMAjunkie]
• UFC heavyweight Antoni Hardonk thwarts a robbery in LA. [Yahoo! Sports]

[Pictured: Rich Franklin]

Note: Items without bracketed-links ([]) have either been officially announced or confirmed by MMAFrenzy.com

Gleison Tibau

Mere hours after it was learned that Thiago Taveres had been forced out of his Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale matchup against Melvin Guillard due to an elbow injury, Gleison Tibau has been tapped to square off with Guillard in a lightweight contest on June 20th in Las Vegas.

MMAjunkie first reported the replacement earlier this afternoon.

After losing back-to-back UFC bouts to Tyson Griffin and Joe Stevenson, Tibau (16-6) has bounced back in 2009 with victories over Rich Clementi and Jeremy Stephens.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale news.

Thiago Tavares

Lightweight Thiago Tavares ( 14-3) has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled bout against Melvin Guillard (21-7-2), which had been scheduled to take place on June 20th in Las Vegas at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, after suffering an elbow injury.

Tatame reports:

Back to victories after defeating Manny Gamburyan at UFC 94, Thiago Tavares was reportedly scheduled to face Manny Gamburyan at TUF 9 Finale, at June 20th, but the ATT fighter won’t be able to fight. According to his manager, Alex Davis, Tavares suffered an elbow injury and won’t have time to recover for the fight.

A replacement has not yet been named to take on Guillard in the 155-pound contest.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale news.

Melvin Guillard

Melvin Guillard will step into the octagon for the first time in over a year at UFC 101, taking on Thiago Tavares on August 8th in Portland, Oregon.

MMA Weekly was first to report the lightweight matchup on Monday, confirming that both fighters had verbally agreed to square off and that bout agreements were pending.

After winning three of his first four UFC bouts between 2005 and 2006, Guillard suffered a 27-second submission loss to Joe Stevenson in the UFC Fight Night 9 main event and was subsequently suspended for 8 months after testing positive for cocaine. He returned to action in December 2007, but was defeated by Rich Clementi and temporarily left the promotion. After going 1-0 outside the octagon, Guillard returned last July to defeat Dennis Siver via knockout in just 36-seconds. He was next scheduled to fight Spencer Fisher at UFC 90 in Chicago, but was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a torn ACL.

Tavares kept his undefeated record intact with back-to-back UFC victories over Naoyuki Kotani and Jason Black in early-2007, before suffering his first career loss to Tyson Griffin at UFC 76 later that year. After picking up a win over Michihiro Omigawa, Tavares suffered losses to Matt Wiman and Kurt Pellegrino, but rebounded in January with a unanimous decision over Manny Gamburyan.

UFC 101 is expected to be headlined by a heavyweight battle between former champions Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and will also feature Forrest Griffin against Thiago Silva.

For the latest UFC 101 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

BJ Penn

The Nevada State Athletic Commission has issued medical suspensions to five UFC 94 participants, including BJ Penn, for various injuries suffered in their bouts Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The medical suspensions were:

• BJ Penn (defeated by Georges St-Pierre via fourth-round TKO) suspended until March 18th with no contact until March 3rd for precautionary reasons.
• Thiago Silva (defeated by Lyoto Machida via first-round KO) suspended until March 18th with no contact until March 3rd for precautionary reasons.
• Stephan Bonnar (defeated by Jon Jones via unanimous decision) suspended until March 3rd with no contact until February 22nd due to a scalp laceration.
• Akihiro Gono (defeated by Jon Fitch via unanimous decision) suspended until March 3rd with no contact until February 22nd for precautionary reasons.
• Chris Wilson (defeated by John Howard via split decision) must clear broken nose with doctor or no contest until July 31st. No contact until March 3rd.

*****

NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer on Monday confirmed to MMAFrenzy.com that the NSAC tested twelve UFC 94 fighters for performance enhancing drugs and drugs of abuse. The tested fighters were Georges St-Pierre, BJ Penn, Lyoto Machida, Thiago Silva, Clay Guida, Nate Diaz, Stephan Bonnar, Jon Jones, Jake O’Brien, John Howard, Thiago Tavares, and Karo Parisyan.

MMAFrenzy.com will pass along the drug tests results as soon as they’re available.

Georges St-Pierre Punches BJ Penn at UFC 94

On a card dominated by uneventful decisions, UFC 94’s top two bouts delivered as Georges St-Pierre dominated BJ Penn on the ground en route to a fourth-round TKO victory while top light heavyweight contender Lyoto Machida used his awkward style to remain undefeated by scoring a first-round knockout of the previously unbeaten Thiago Silva.

A sell out crowd of 14,885 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which generated a live gate of $4.3 million, erupted as St-Pierre and Penn made their entrances to the octagon for their historic main event matchup that is expected to shatter the current pay-per-view buy record held by UFC 66.

The first round saw both fighters exchange on the feet as GSP unsuccessfully worked to take Penn to the ground. Early in the second, however, St-Pierre succeeded in not only getting Penn to the canvas, but passing into side control and pounding away on Penn. After again dominating Penn on the ground in the third-round, St-Pierre poured it on in the fourth, pounding away with elbows and hammer fists that had Penn struggling to survive. Despite escaping the round, Penn’s corner had seen enough and, along with the advice of the doctor, referee Herb Dean called a stop to the contest, awarding the TKO victory to St-Pierre, who retained the UFC welterweight championship with the main event victory.

St-Pierre, who improved to 18-2 with the win, will next fight Thiago Alves, while Penn, who dropped to 13-5-1 with the loss, is likely to fight Kenny Florian next.

In the evening’s co-headliner, Lyoto Machida’s unorthodox style again proved difficult to counter as he dropped Thiago Silva twice early in the first round before putting him on the canvas with a trip takedown late in the frame. Machida pounced with only seconds remaining in the first, connecting with a perfectly-placed punch to the head that knocked Silva unconscious. A second punch sealed the knockout win as Machida delivered the impressive stoppage victory he needed to secure a likely title shot against current 205-pound title-holder Rashad Evans this summer.

Machida’s record now stands at 14-0, including six-straight wins in the UFC, while Silva’s first loss gives him a 13-1 career mark.

The two stoppage victories salvaged what was an otherwise forgettable night as the remaining eight fights all went to decision. On the main card, Jon Jones showed potential with a unanimous decision victory over Stephan Bonnar, Karo Parisyan topped Dong Hyun Kim via split decision, and Clay Guida handed Nate Diaz his first loss in the UFC with split scorecards in an entertaining opener.

Jon Fitch, Thiago Tavares, John Howard, Jake O’Brien, and Dan Cramer picked up decision victories on the UFC 94 preliminary card.

After the event, the UFC announced that Howard’s victory over Chris Wilson and Guida’s win against Diaz were the “Fights of the Night” and each of the four participants earned $65,000 “fight night” bonuses. Though deserving, the evening’s $65,000 “Knockout of the Night” award went to Machida by default, who scored the only knockout on the card with his late first-round stoppage of Silva. Because UFC 94 featured no submission stoppages, a “Submission of the Night” bonus was not awarded.

UFC 94: ST-PIERRE VS. PENN II RESULTS

• Georges St-Pierre (c) def. BJ Penn via TKO (referee’s stoppage) — Round 4, 5:00
  UFC Welterweight Championship
• Lyoto Machida def. Thiago Silva via KO (punch) — Round 1, 4:59
• Jon Jones def. Stephan Bonnar via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Karo Parisyan def. Dong Hyun Kim via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Clay Guida def. Nate Diaz via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Jon Fitch def. Akihiro Gono via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
• Thiago Tavares def. Manny Gamburyan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• John Howard def. Chris Wilson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Jake O’Brien def. Christian Wellisch via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Dan Cramer def. Matt Arroyo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

St-Pierre (170) and Penn (168) clash for the UFC welterweight title in the main event of UFC 94, which also boasts Lyoto Machida (206) vs. Thiago Silva (206), Karo Parisyan (170) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (171), Nate Diaz (156) vs. Clay Guida (156), and Stephan Bonnar (206) vs. Jon Jones (206) on its main card.

“I’m ready,” said Penn in his brief post-weigh-in interview. “I’ve got nothing else to say. Let’s fight. Let’s go.”

“I’ve never been so excited for a fight,” St-Pierre told interviewer and UFC commentator Joe Rogan. “I’ve never wanted to win so bad. Tomorrow, don’t blink. It’s going to be an exciting fight.”

Join MMAFrenzy.com tomorrow evening for complete live coverage of UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn II, including preliminary and main card results and play-by-play.

The official UFC 94 weigh-in results were:

MAIN CARD (PPV – 10pm ET)

• 170: Georges St-Pierre (c) (170) vs. BJ Penn (168)
  UFC Welterweight Championship
• 205: Lyoto Machida (206) vs. Thiago Silva (206)
• 170: Karo Parisyan (170) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (171)
• 155: Nate Diaz (156) vs. Clay Guida (156)
• 205: Stephan Bonnar (206) vs. Jon Jones (206)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Unaired)

• 170: Jon Fitch (171)vs. Akihiro Gono (171)
• 155: Manny Gamburyan (155) vs. Thiago Tavares (155)
• 170: Chris Wilson (170) vs. John Howard (171)
• 205: Jake O’Brien (205) vs. Christian Wellisch (206)
• 170: Matt Arroyo (171) vs. Dan Cramer (171)

Denis Kang

The UFC today announced additional bouts for UFC 93 on January 17th in Dublin, Ireland and UFC 94 on January 31st in Las Vegas.

Announced for the UFC 93 main card, which is headlined by Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin and Mark Coleman vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, were Alan Belcher vs. Denis Kang, Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle, and Jeremy Horn vs. Rousimar Palhares. Antonio Mendes vs. Andre Gusmao, Tomasz Drwal vs. Ivan Serati, Tom Egan vs. John Hathaway, and Dennis Siver vs. Nate Mohr were confirmed for the unaired preliminary card.

A superfight between UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn is joined on the main card by Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva and Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones. Manny Gamburyan vs. Thiago Tavares, Jake O’Brien vs. Christian Wellisch, and Matt Arroyo vs. Dan Cramer are officially slated for the preliminary card.

For the latest UFC rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.