Former middleweight contender Yushin Okami will likely return to action against Lucio Linhares at UFC Fight Night 21 on March 31 in North Carolina. An exact location and venue have yet to be determined for the Spike-televised event, which serves as the lead-in for the debut of The Ultimate Fighter 11.

UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who headlined Saturday’s UFC 104 event in Los Angeles, topped the pay-per-view event’s disclosed $922,000 fighter payroll, according to figures released Tuesday by the California State Athletic Commission.

Machida earned an event-high $200,000 for his controversial main event win over Rua, while “Shogun” received $155,000 for his efforts. Other top earners included Joe Stevenson ($94,000), Cain Velasquez ($70,000), and Chael Sonnen ($54,000).

The “Machida Era” was extended in controversial fashion on Saturday, as light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida was awarded a questionable unanimous decision win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the main event of UFC 104 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Cain Velasquez dominated Ben Rothwell in the UFC 104 co-headliner, while Gleison Tibau, Joe Stevenson, and Anthony Johnson also earned main card wins.

All twenty-two fighters who will be in action at Saturday’s UFC 104 event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles hit the scales today to weigh in for their bouts. Light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida (202.5) and challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (204.5) successfully made weight for the UFC 104 main event, as did co-headliners Cain Velasquez (238) and Ben Rothwell (265).

Anthony Johnson, Josh Neer, and Gleison Tibau were the only fighters who failed to make weight, but their fights will go on as scheduled.

Ten fights are now official for UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun on October 24 in Los Angeles, as the UFC on Tuesday added eight additional bouts to the event’s official lineup, joining the previously announced main event between light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua as well as a confirmed heavyweight matchup between Ben Rothwell and Cain Velasquez.

Middleweight contenders Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami will square off at UFC 104 on October 24 in Los Angeles, the UFC recently announced on its newly-launched Japanese website, ufcjapan.jp.

Sonnen, who replaced on Okami on the UFC 98 card, is coming off a unanimous decision over former IFL champ Dan Miller is May, while Okami was last in action in December, topping Dean Lister by unanimous decision.

Middleweight contender Yushin Okami (23-4), who was forced out of a UFC 98 bout against Dan Miller last month with a torn ligament, expects his next fight to take place in September.

Ed Herman has been selected to replace an injured Yushin Okami against Dan Miller at UFC 98 on May 23rd in Las Vegas. The news, which comes via MMA Weekly, is a bit disappointing considering the UFC promised an "awesome replacement challenger".

The UFC announced on Thursday afternoon via Twitter that Yushin Okami has been forced out of his UFC 98 bout against Dan Miller after suffering a torn ligament. According to the message, an "awesome replacement challenger" will be announced as soon as possible.

Just one day after officially announcing UFC 98: Lesnar vs. Mir 2, the UFC today confirmed the majority of the event's lineup, adding Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra, Dan Miller vs. Yushin Okami, and Sean Sherk vs. Frankie Edgar to the UFC 98 main card.

The UFC has officially confirmed additional bouts for UFC 92 “The Ultimate 2008″, which takes place on December 27th in Las Vegas and features Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva.
Added to the pay-per-view televised main card are bouts featuring The Ultimate Fighter 7 [...]

Top middleweight contender Yushin Okami (22-4) will return to the octagon on December 27th to take on Dean Lister (11-5) at UFC 92 in Las Vegas, according to MMA Weekly.
Okami was to square off with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva for the 185-pound title in the main event of UFC 90 in October but was [...]

Lyoto Machida’s manager, Ed Soares, announced during a recent appearance on TAGG Radio that the light heavyweight contender will next fight in October against an opponent to-be-announced. During the appearance Soares also confirmed that Anderson Silva will indeed take on Yushin Okami next following his July 19th light heavyweight bout against James Irvin.
All of the [...]

Former UFC lightweight champion and current WEC featherweight Jens Pulver, who is coming off of a loss to WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber, will likely return to the cage in October, possibly against Alexandre Franca Nogueira.
The UFC is planning to hold an event in Chicago in October and in Boston in November and will also [...]

All ten tested fighters from UFC 82 on March 2nd in Columbus, Ohio have tested clean for steroids and drugs of abuse according to MMA Junkie.
The Ohio Athletic Commission only conducted tests for steroids and drugs of abuse on winning fighters from the event.
Tested fighters were Anderson Silva, Heath Herring, Chris Leben, Yushin Okami, Jon [...]