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UFC on Versus 5 Predictions

• By Michael David Smith
• Aug 11th 2011 11:19AM
• The UFC is back on Versus Sunday night with a five-fight televised card that will answer some big questions: Can Dan Hardy snap his losing streak and save his job in the UFC? Can Jim Miller prove that he's worthy of a lightweight title shot? Can Charles Oliveira get back on track and show that he's one of the sport's most promising young fighters? We'll weigh in with some answers below.
  
  What: UFC Live on Versus 5: Hardy vs. Lytle
  
  When: Sunday, the Facebook fights begin at 5:45 PM ET and the Versus fights start at 9.
  
  Where: Milwaukee
  
  Predictions on the four televised fights and the top two Facebook fights below.
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UFC on Versus 5: By the Odds

• By Ben Fowlkes
• Aug 11th 2011 10:59AM
• There's nothing like a free Sunday night fight card from the UFC to take your mind off the impending doom of Monday morning and the current lack of good TV dramas on HBO.
  
  As we settle in to enjoy another event on Versus, which necessarily includes a confused few minutes of searching for Versus on the cable TV dial, let's look at how oddsmakers see the action going down in Milwaukee.
  
  Chris Lytle (-130) vs. Dan Hardy (even)
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Golden Glory Says Alistair Overeem Would Sign a UFC-Only Deal

• By Michael David Smith
• Aug 11th 2011 9:10AM
• Despite the rancor between Golden Glory and the UFC, which resulted in several of the Dutch promotion's fighters being released from their Zuffa contracts, top Golden Glory star Alistair Overeem is still interested in signing an exclusive deal with the UFC.
  
  That is one of the revelations in a statement that Golden Glory co-owner Bas Boon released on Thursday.
  
  "We just want to be able to produce great fighters and create great fights for the fans," Boon said in the statement. "We have no intention for co-promotion deals and are even willing to make an exclusive deal for Alistair Overeem to fight in the UFC, if the terms are right."
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After Layoff, Jacob Volkmann Ready for Return - and Still Has Beef With Obama

• By Matt Erickson
• Aug 11th 2011 8:00AM
• As a professional fighter, Jacob Volkmann will likely have many stories to tell his grandkids. But none will be stranger than the one about his visit from the Secret Service.
  
  The story is now well known – it got a mention from Jay Leno. After his UFC 125 win, Volkmann, speaking to MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani, called out President Barack Obama. On video. And the Secret Service took that seriously.
  
  Volkmann has been on the sidelines since that fight. He finally returns Sunday against Danny Castillo – but he doesn't believe his run-in with the Obama camp, so to speak, is the reason he's been out of the cage.
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'Judo' Jim Wallhead to Face Frank Trigg at BAMMA 7

• By Ray Hui
• Aug 10th 2011 3:18PM
• Coming off a quarterfinal exit in Bellator's most recent welterweight tournament, "Judo" Jim Wallhead will return to the U.K. circuit as a replacement to face Frank Trigg at BAMMA 7 on Sept. 10 in Birmingham.
  
  Tom Watson, who had been scheduled to face Trigg, was forced to withdraw due to a back injury.
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Jared Hamman Looking to Continue UFC Bonus Streak at Middleweight

• By Ben Fowlkes
• Aug 10th 2011 3:10PM
• It's hard for a UFC fighter not to feel a little conflicted when he gets a Fight of the Night bonus for a fight that he lost. On one hand, losing sucks. On the other hand, getting handed a wad of extra money doesn't.
  
  Just ask Jared Hamman, who's pocketed the bonus cash in each of his last two UFC fights, though he only won one of them.
  
  "Any time you get a big, fat paycheck like that, you're like, thank you Lord," Hamman told MMA Fighting. "But I would take the win over the Fight of the Night money any day."
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Ryan Couture to Fight at Strikeforce Challengers 19

• By Ray Hui
• Aug 10th 2011 2:08PM
• Ryan Couture will look to get back on the winning track when he steps in the cage at Strikeforce Challengers 19 on Sept. 23 in Las Vegas.
  
  Couture and his Xtreme Couture gym recently confirmed the return, first reported by MMAJunkie.
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My First Fight: Joseph Benavidez

• By Ben Fowlkes
• Aug 10th 2011 11:18AM
• On Sunday night in Milwaukee, the internet would have you believe that bantamweight Joseph Benavidez will be participating in his 17th professional bout at UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle. The Internet would also have you believe that his first professional fight was against Brandon Shelton in June of 2006.
  
  The Internet is wrong.
  
  Then again, maybe it depends on what your definition of 'professional' is. If you mean professional in terms of the overall quality and credibility of the event, some vaguely official quality that separates the serious promoters from the amateurs, then okay, the Shelton fight might have been it.
  
  But if you mean professional in the sense that it was a fight for which a fighter was paid (and to the man who is or is not going home with money in his pocket, this distinction often matters a great deal), then no way.
  
  For that definition of professional, and for the very humble beginning of Benavidez's MMA career, you've got to go all the way back to 2005 in Silver City, N.M., and into a slightly terrifying bar called the Brown Derby.
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MMA Top 10 Light Heavyweights: A Tough Call at No. 2

• By Michael David Smith
• Aug 10th 2011 9:59AM
• Jon Jones is the undisputed champion of the light heavyweight division, but figuring out who deserves to be No. 2 at 205 pounds is tough.
  
  Is it Rampage Jackson, who gets the next crack at Jones' title? Is it Shogun Rua, the previous champion? Is it Rashad Evans, who beat Jackson? Is it Lyoto Machida, who beat Evans? Is it Dan Henderson, who ran through the Strikeforce light heavyweight division and then beat an opponent who outweighed him by 16 pounds in Fedor Emelianenko?
  
  Good arguments can be made for any of them. So who do I have at No. 2? Find out below.
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Dan Hardy Wants to Scrap; Chris Lytle Says He'll Oblige at UFC on Versus 5

• By Matt Erickson
• Aug 10th 2011 8:00AM
• Dan Hardy will admit it – he pretty well blew it his last time out, dropping his third straight with a unanimous decision loss to Anthony Johnson.
  
  The Brit said he wanted to put on an exciting fight, but instead didn't do his part to deliver, especially for his fans in the U.K. "I had a lot of people, especially over in the U.K. waiting up till early hours of the morning to watch a good fight – and I ended up having a nap for 15 minutes," Hardy said last week on a media call for UFC on Versus 5, which he headlines Sunday in Milwaukee against Chris Lytle.
  
  Believing he has fallen victim in the past to lay-and-pray wrestlers – including Johnson in March – Hardy is hopeful his fight with Lytle won't be a carbon copy of the Johnson fight.
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