The Ultimate Writer 01.11.09: Tons of UFC Fights Announced, Dean Lister Released, Updated UFC Undisputed 2009 Info, and Much More

Posted by Dustin James on 01.11.2009

"The Ultimate Writer" returns with news on LOTS of upcoming UFC fights for 2009, the "shocking" release of Dean Lister, updated information on UFC Undisputed 2009, and tons more! 411's Dustin James gives you all the latest MMA news and views inside.......

Welcome to the latest edition of "The Ultimate Writer". First off, I must apologize for the length of the column this week as well as this introduction! I'm extremely short on time right now (due to Fable 2 and other things! HAHA!) but I promise I will try to put a smile on your face a few times this week........

SO LET'S GET IT ON!!!!

The Week That Was:

This feature is self-explanatory. The biggest news items of the week go here, duh!

Monday:

On Monday we got some EARTH SHATTERING NEWS! That's right, it seems the UFC and Dean Lister agreed on a mutual release meaning Lister is no longer a Zuffa employee. I can't tell you how expected this news was. The UFC had come out and basically WARNED Dean Lister to make the fight at UFC 92 exciting, and what did he do? He put on another boring fight in a losing effort to Yushin Okami and now Lister is out of the UFC. All I can say is...don't let the door hit you where the good lord split you. See you in Japan, Lister.

In other news we learned that Josk Koscheck would be fighting for the 345th time in the past 4 months. OK, so maybe it wasn't exactly that much....but you get my drift. The dude is staying active and he will now welcome Paulo Thiago into the UFC. Seriously, I need to see the Vegas odds on this fight. All I can say is, good luck Paulo.

The Koscheck/Thiago fight wasn't the only fight announced by the UFC on Monday. We also learned that David "The Crow" Loiseau would return to the UFC at UFC 97 and face my BFF Ed Herman. GEE, I wonder who I'm picking???

And finally, 411mania broke the news that Kendall Groves would be facing Jason "DOOMS" Day at UFC 96. Joooooooooooooy.

Tuesday:

Tuesday was actually pretty slow on the news wire. We learned that Josh Neer was still on the card for UFC Fight Night 17 despite his drunken joy riding down the streets of Iowa. I think the biggest shocker here is the fact that Neer is a UFC fighter who still lives in Iowa. Seriously dude, you have money now! It's much cooler to get a DUI and hit-and-run in California than Iowa, just ask "Rampage". It gets you front page of TMZ baby!

Besides that piece of delicious news, it was revealed that Antonio Silva was in danger of losing his fighting license in the United States due to him fighting on the Sengoku 7 card despite being suspended. Yep, it's pretty clear that Silva is either getting bad advice or is just plain stupid. You had six months left on your suspension, just sit it out, train your ass off and prove to the world you are a top heavyweight fighter. Noooooo, you couldn't do that! Well, now you face the consequences guy....good job!

Wednesday:

Wednesday was loaded with news! Especially news on the Zuffa side of the MMA world. We learned that UFC 95 would be on Spike (Well, DUH! Who the hell would shell down money for this card?), that Aaron Riley would face Shane Nelson at UFC 96 (I'm taking Riley), that the WEC was adding a flyweight (125lbs) division (are there seriously grown men walking around at 125lbs? Eat some protein for crying out loud....), and finally in the greatest news of all the times the UFC made the Gabriel Gonzaga/Shane Carwin fight for UFC 96 OFFICIAL. Hell yeah! I'm down for that one.....

In news outside of Zuffa-land, boxing coach Freddie Roach predicted that Andrei Arlovski would KO Fedor Emelianenko at "Day Of Reckoning" later this month. I'm actually going to one-up Mr. Roach here and predict that he will be HORRIBLY wrong. Fedor will become the first man to ever submit Arlovski.....watch!

Thursday:

Thursday was once again packed with all sorts of rumored upcoming fights for future UFC shows. We learned that Troy Mandaloniz would face Paul Kelly at UFC 95, Cole Miller would face Junie Browning at UFC Fight Night 18, Jake Rosholt would face Dan Miller, and the biggest and bestest one of all....Keith Jardine would face Luis Cane at UFC 97 in April. Look for the very inconsistent Jardine to drop that one.

Friday:

Friday was reallllllllllllly slow. The big news of the day was Roger Huerta announcing that he has declined a new deal with the UFC and will be trying his hand at acting once his current UFC deal is up. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! I'm sorry.....but REALLY? See you in the UFC again in two years big fella.

Saturday:

Saturday I was busy helping my friend move, and knowing this....the MMA world decided to take it easy on the news. However, Matt Hughes decided to take matters into his own hands and post on his own personal website that his fight with Matt Serra that was originally scheduled to go down eleventy billion years ago will FINALLY go down on May 23. At least, that's what Joe Silva told him. But, much like the past Serra/Hughes planned bouts....this one is SUBJECT TO CHANGE!

Oh, and we also learned that Matt Hamill may be welcoming Mark Munoz to the UFC at UFC 96. Does this card even have a main event yet?

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Where are they now?

This feature looks at fighters who have been inactive for some time. Where exactly have they gone? I don't know and I'm reaching out to you guys to help us find these missing MMA stars......

MISSING

Tra Telligman

Everyone HAS to remember Tra Telligman. If you don't remember him, then you must be a newer UFC fan. Well, let me explain Telligman to you. Tra was in a car accident at a young age and was missing his right pec leaving a deep recess on his chest. That didn't stop him from pursuing a career in fighting and man, did he ever do that. After just three professional fights, Telligman made his UFC debut at UFC 12 and lost to Vitor Belfort via TKO. Telligman was in and out of the UFC after that and actually fought his last professional fight against Tim Sylvia at UFC 54 in 2005. Telligman lost to Sylvia via KO and hasn't fought since. Where oh where is Tra "Trauma" Telligman at? Is he still competing? Officially retired? WHERE????????

If you know the whereabouts of Tra Telligman, please contact Dustin James at [e-mail], or go to his myspace located here.

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Random Top 10 List Time!

Here you will see a random top 10 list put together by yours truly. It may be Top 10 submission fighters, Top 10 stand-up fighters, or hell, even Top 10 ways that Anderson Silva could kill you. Seriously, don't mess with that man. He's dangerous.

Top 10 Characters From LOST: (Because I'm such a massive LOST fan and the season premieire is FINALLY coming up, I will celebrate by ranking my personal Top 10 favorite LOST characters of all the times. If you aren't a fan of LOST you may want to skip this section otherwise it will be meaningless to you.....)

ARE YOU READY?

(This list is in no particular order)

10. John Locke - What's not to love about John Locke? At first he was the weird guy who put orange's in his mouth to scare the piss out of me. But we quickly learned that Locke is a very nice man who has a history that's actually pretty damn interesting. Hell, the man was thrown out of a window by his own father!! It's pretty clear that Locke is a huge factor on LOST and he's one of the reasons I keep tuning into the damn show. It's just a damn shame he's dead now....at least that's what we think!

9. TIE - Kate, Sun, Juliette, Shannon - They are all gorgeous women and that immediately puts you on this list.

8. Boone - Boone dying in season 1 really shocked me. I really felt that he had a lot of potential as a good character down the road.

7. Desmond - Everyone loves a good Desmond episode brother.

6. Hurley - The comedy relief of the show. Plus he has one of the most interesting stories off the Island. You know....with his lottery winnings and all his mental problems.

5. Sayid - Who honestly doesn't love the Iraqi torturer who has a known soft side?

4. Mr. Eko - My least favorite episode of LOST is the one where Mr. Eko is killed off. WHY DID THEY HAVE TO KILL OFF MR. EKO?? Oh....it's because the actor (Adewale Areallylonglastname) hated Hawaii and thus wanted off the show. Either way, Triple A is one of my favorite actors and it was hard enough seeing the guy get killed on OZ, now I have to watch the black smoke throw him around like a bitch. I surely do miss Mr. Eko.

3. Ben - Aside from Locke, Ben is easily the most interesting character on the show. What are his intentions? Is he good? Is he bad? WHO KNOWS!

2. Jin - Jin was a badass. He went from being the "wife abuser" to being one of the friendliest guys on the Island. If Jin really is dead that would be a shame. Part of me believes that we will see Jin alive this season.

1. Sawyer - Sawyer is by far my favorite character on LOST. The king of nicknames is known as the "bad boy" on the Island, but let's face it....the guy has banged Kate and that means he automatically gets a place on this list.

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Current Champions:

This feature is pretty self explanatory. I list the current champions in each relevant promotion, and you guys sit and read. Easy enough for ya?



Brock Lesnar - UFC Heavyweight Champion

Won the title from Randy Couture back on November 15 at UFC 91.

Frank Mir - Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship

Won the title from Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira back on December 27, 2008 at UFC 92

Rashad Evans - UFC Light Heavyweight Champion

Won the title from Forrest Griffin back on December 27 at UFC 92

Anderson Silva - UFC Middleweight Champion

Won the title from Rich Franklin back on October 14, 2006 at UFC 64

Georges St. Pierre - UFC Welterweight Champion

Won the title from Matt Serra back on April 14, 2008 at UFC 83

BJ Penn - UFC Lightweight Champion

Won the title from Sean Sherk back on May 24, 2008 at UFC 84



Alistair Overeem - Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion

Won the title from Paul Buentello back on November 16, 2007 at Strikeforce: Four Men Enter, One Man Survives

Renato "Babalu" Sobral - Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion

Won the title from Bobby Southworth back on November 21 at Strikeforce: Destruction

Cung Le - Strikeforce Middleweight World Champion

Won the title from Frank Shamrock back on March 29, 2008 at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le

Josh Thomson - Strikeforce Lightweight Champion

Won the title from Gilbert Melendez back on June 27, 2008 at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson



Gegard Mousasi - DREAM Middleweight Champion

Won the title from Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza back on September 23, 2008 at DREAM 6

Joachim Hansen - DREAM Lightweight Champion

Won the title from Shinya Aoki back on July 21, 2008 at DREAM 5



Carlos Condit - WEC Welterweight Champion

Won the title from Mike Pyle back on March 24, 2007 at WEC 26

Jamie Varner - WEC Lightweight Champion

Won the title from Rob McCullough back on February 13, 2008 at WEC 32

Mike Brown - WEC Featherweight Champion

Won the title from Urijah Faber back on November 5, 2008 at WEC 36

Miguel Torres - WEC Bantamweight Champion

Won the title from Chase Beebe back on February 13, 2008 at WEC 32



Fedor Emelianenko - WAMMA Heavyweight Champion

Won the title from Tim Sylvia back on July 19, 2008 at Affliction "Banned"

Shinya Aoki - WAMMA Lightweight Champion

Won the title from Eddie Alvarez back on December 31, 2008 at FEG FieLDS Dynamite!! 2008



Satoru Kitaoka - Sengoku Lightweight Champion

Won the title from Takanori Gomi back on January 4, 2009 at Sengoku 7

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Watch Out For This Guy:

In this feature I will showcase a fighter who I believe is on his way up in the MMA world......



Paulo Thiago


I don't know if it's fair to add Paulo Thiago here considering his first fight in the UFC will be against Josh Koscheck at UFC 95 in February. For those of you unfamiliar with the newest addition to the UFC's welterweight division, Thiago is currently 7-0 as a pro with 4 wins in 2008. Does Paulo have much of a chance against Koscheck? I would say, no.....but this could become the first major upset of 2009. Thiago is such an unknown fighter that I couldn't even find a picture of the guy online. Go figure.

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Upcoming Events:

Here are a few of the upcoming events in the wonderful world of MMA:




UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson - January 17 at The O2 in Dublin, Ireland

-Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson
-Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Mark Coleman
-Denis Kang vs. Alan Belcher
-Chris Lytle vs. Marcus Davis
-Rousimar Palhares vs. Jeremy Horn
-Martin Kampmann vs. Alexandre Barros
-Eric Schafer vs. Antonio Mendes
-Thomasz Drwal vs. Ivan Serati
-Nate Mohr vs. Dennis Siver
-John Hathaway vs. Tom Egan

Affliction: Day Of Reckoning - January 24 at The Honda Center in Anaheim, California

-Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski (WAMMA heavyweight title)
-Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel
-Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort
-Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Sokoudjou
-Dan Lauzon vs. Chris Horodecki
-Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
-Jay Hieron vs. Jason High
-Paul Buentello vs. Kiril Sidelnikov
-Antonio Duarte vs. Albert Rios
-Mark Hominick vs. L.C. Davis
-Brett Cooper vs. Patrick Speight

WEC 38: Varner vs. Cerrone - January 25 at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California

-Jamie Varner vs. Donald Cerrone (WEC lightweight title)
-Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver
-Jose Aldo vs. Fredson Paixao
-Danilo Villefort vs. Mike Campbell
-Blas Avena vs. Jesse Lennox
-Ed Ratcliff vs. Anthony Njokuani
-Hiromitsu Miura vs. Edgar Garcia
-Frank Gomez vs. Scott Jorgensen
-Ian McCall vs. Dominick Cruz
-Seth Dikun vs. Charlie Valencia

UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn - January 31 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada

-Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn (UFC welterweight title)
-Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva
-Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones
-Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida
-Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim
-Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono
-Chris Wilson vs. John Howard
-Jake O'Brien vs. Christian Wellisch
-Thiago Tavares vs. Manny Gamburyan
-Matt Arroyo vs. Dan Cramer

UFC Fight Night 17: Lauzon vs. Franca - February 7 at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida

-Joe Lauzon vs. Hermes Franca
-Josh Neer vs. Mac Danzig
-Amir Sadollah vs. Nick Catone
-Cain Velasquez vs. Denis Stojnic
-Matthew Riddle vs. Steve Bruno
-Rich Clementi vs. Gleison Tibau
-Anthony Johnson vs. Luigi Fioravanti
-Kurt Pellegrino vs. Rob Emerson
-George Sotiropoulos vs. Matt Grice
-Dan Miller vs. Jake Rosholt

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UFC Undisputed 2009 Update:

It's no secret that I'm a huge UFC and video game fan. I currently own an Xbox360 and a Wii, and will gladly take a PS3 if it's offered to me. With that out of the way, I can't WAIT for the upcoming UFC Undisputed 2009 video game. Therefore, "The Ultimate Writer" will be your headquarters for all the updates and news on the upcoming video game!

Will Be Released: Spring of 2009

Platform: Xbox360, PS3

Current Updates: THQ has confirmed that the game will be released in the first quarter of 2009 most likely in May or June to avoid competing with their other big release in March, WWE Legends of Wrestlemania. I personally can't wait for either game and will gladly be purchasing them both.

Current roster for UFC Undisputed 2009: (These are the confirmed fighters in the game thus far. The game is rumored to feature over 80 fighters.)

Heavyweight:
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Brock Lesnar
Randy Couture
Frank Mir

Light Heavyweight:
Forrest Griffin
Wanderlei Silva
Quinton Jackson
Chuck Liddell
Rashad Evans

Middleweight:
Anderson Silva
Amir Sadollah
Michael Bisping

Welterweight:
Georges St. Pierre
Jon Fitch
Matt Hughes

Lightweight:
BJ Penn
Roger Huerta
Kenny Florian
Joe Stevenson

UFC Legends:
Royce Gracie

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Current 411mania.com MMA Rankings:

These are the current MMA rankings as voted on by the staff of 411mania.com. You can catch the updated version every Thursday on 411mania.com!

Heavyweight: (last voted on January 6, 2009)

1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Andrei Arlovski
3. Josh Barnett
4. Frank Mir
5. Brock Lesnar
6. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
7. Randy Couture
8. Gabriel Gonzaga
9. Alistair Overeem
10. Cheick Kongo
11. Cain Velasquez
12. Fabricio Werdum
13. Tim Sylvia
14. Aleksander Emelianenko
15. Ben Rothwell

Light Heavyweight: (last voted on December 11, 2008)

1. Forrest Griffin
2. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
3. Lyoto Machida
4. Rashad Evans
5. Wanderlei Silva
6. Thiago Silva
7. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
8. Keith Jardine
9. Chuck Liddell
10. Luis Cane
11. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
12. Rich Franklin
13. Vladimir Matyushenko
14. Tito Ortiz
15. Renato "Babalu" Sobral

Middleweight: (last voted on December 18, 2008)

1. Anderson Silva
2. Dan Henderson
3. Robbie Lawler
4. Yushin Okami
5. Matt Lindland
6. Gegard Mousasi
7. Nathan Marquardt
8. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
9. Yoshihiro Akiyama
10. Denis Kang
11. Kazuo Misaki
12. Thales Leites
13. Frank Trigg
14. Michael Bisping
15. Demian Maia

Welterweight: (last voted on December 26, 2008)

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Thiago Alves
4. Jake Shields
5. Josh Koscheck
6. Carlos Condit
7. Matt Hughes
8. Mike Swick
9. Diego Sanchez
10. Marcus Davis
11. Dustin Hazelett
12. Matt Serra
13. Karo Parisyan
14. Brock Larson
15. Nick Diaz

Lightweight: (last voted on December 4, 2008)

1. BJ Penn
2. Shinya Aoki
3. Eddie Alvarez
4. Kenny Florian
5. Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante
6. Sean Sherk
7. Takanori Gomi
8. Josh Thomson
9. Gilbert Melendez
10. Joachim Hansen
11. Tatsuya Kawajiri
12. Mitsuhiro Ishida
13. Nate Diaz
14. Jamie Varner
15. Tyson Griffin

Pound For Pound: (last voted on December 30, 2008)

1. Anderson Silva
2. Fedor Emelianenko
3. Georges St. Pierre
4. BJ Penn
5. Miguel Torres
6. Lyoto Machida
7. Urijah Faber
8. Rashad Evans
9. Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto
10. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
11. Eddie Alvarez
12. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
13. Kenny Florian
14. Forrest Griffin
15. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

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Thank you for joining me again for this wonderful column. I hope you continue to read every week and don't forget to check out the other wonderful columns here on 411mania.com, which is updated daily because that's how we roll.