The Future of Fighting Blog

The new partnership starts with DREAM.1, which will air on Friday, May 2 at 10:30 p.m. ET. The event occurred earlier this year on March 15 and featured the opening round of the promotion’s Lightweight Grand Prix tournament.

On May 3, HDNet will air DREAM.2, which occurs Monday, April 29 in Saitama, Japan. DREAM.2 features the opening round of the promotion’s Middleweight Grand Prix tournament.

Though no definitive times were released, future DREAM events will air on the same day of the event in Japan or on a much shorter delay than the first two events.

The initial deal between HDNet and DREAM covers the promotion’s first six events.

News of the deal arrives on the heels of DREAM losing its primetime television slot on the Tokyo Broadcasting System in Japan. TBS will still are DREAM events, but it will be on a one-week delayed basis.

The DREAM events will, however, air on live pay-per-view television on SkyPerfectTV, including the April 29 event, according to a report on Sherdog.com. Although being pulled from primetime is a step backwards for the promotion, the live pay-per-view events will air unedited, unlike the edited prime time showings.

After Liddell was forced to withdraw – for the first time in his career – due to injury, the UFC went to work on a revised line-up. Although a bout was quickly put together between Evans and James Irvin, speculation pointed to a possible headline change to popular British fighter Michael Bisping facing “The Ultimate Fighter” season one alum Chris Leben.

Then on Friday a surprise announcement came via Hughes’ website that he would be fighting Alves in the main event of UFC 85. Alves’ camp also confirmed the bout to MMAWeekly.com.

Late Friday afternoon, the UFC confirmed all of the above bouts. Hughes will indeed face Alves in the main event, Evans vs. Irvin was confirmed, and the bout between Bisping and Leben was also confirmed, although it will play second fiddle to Hughes vs. Alves.

“Obviously Chuck Liddell’s injury was a big blow, but as always our incredible fighters step up to give fans the best possible replacement,” said Dana White, UFC president. “Now we will see an explosive matchup between top ten ranked contender Thiago Alves and two-time former UFC world champion Matt Hughes.”

In a statement earlier in the week announcing Liddell’s withdrawal, the UFC stated it would expand the UFC 85 fight card to 13 bouts.

In addition to the line-up changes, Friday’s statement also cleared up the broadcast status of UFC 85. Despite speculation that the event would be televised on Spike TV, the UFC informed that the event will be available in the United States on pay-per-view.

UFC 85 Bouts (officially announced):
-Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves
-Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben
-Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick
-Rashad Evans vs. James Irvin
-Fabricio Werdum vs. Brandon Vera
-Martin Kampmann vs. Jorge Rivera
-Thiago Tavares vs. Matt Wiman
-Nate Marquardt vs. Thales Leites
-Luis Arthur Cane vs. Jason Lambert
-Neil Wain vs. Antoni Hardonk

The bout had originally been schedule for March 29 of this year, but fell apart when Thomson had to undergo surgery for a shoulder injury that occurred late last year.

“This is a very big fight for the fans, for the promotion and for Josh and me,” said the 26-year-old Melendez.

Currently ranked as the No. 6 lightweight fighter in the world with only one loss on his record, Melendez doesn’t plan on letting his belt go any time soon. “Josh is a great fighter, but I’m the champ and I plan on remaining the champ for a long time.”

Thomson earned his way to the title shot via a six-fight winning streak. But the American Kickboxing Academy product has trained extensively with Melendez in the past and knows that taking his belt won’t be an easy task.

“This fight with Gilbert has been a long time coming and we’re ready to do it,” said the 29-year-old fighter. “We both know each other very well. We’ve trained together; we’ve sparred together. We’re gonna come out ready for five rounds, but we’re gonna bang it out.”

Not overly concerned about the condition of his shoulder, Thomson said, “As we’re training, it’s getting stronger so we’re just taking it one day at a time.”

Matt Hughes is coming off of a loss to St. Pierre in December. After premature talk about his possible retirement, he will return to headline another UFC card.

Hughes also has no plans to call it quits regardless of the outcome of the fight with Alves. As he stated on his website, “The fight (with Alves) is confirmed, it will be the main event for (UFC 85). Dana just called me with the news. Chuck got hurt and couldn’t fight, so he needed a replacement and called me and I said yes … No matter what happens in this fight, I’ve got Serra next.”

In his last fight out, Thiago Alves took the biggest step forward in his career defeating Karo Parisyan by TKO in the second round, putting himself in the mix as a top contender in the weight class.

This is actually the second time Alves has put himself in place to face Hughes. After former champion Matt Serra had to drop out due to a back injury, Alves stepped up and offered to fight Hughes, but Georges St. Pierre ended up getting the fight instead.

UFC 85 also features a bout between Rashad Evans and James Irvin that MMAWeekly.com confirmed with both fighters earlier this week.

UFC 85 Bouts (officially announced):
-Fabricio Werdum vs. Brandon Vera
-Martin Kampmann vs. Jorge Rivera
-Nate Marquardt vs. Thales Leites
-Thiago Tavares vs. Matt Wiman
-Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick
-Luis Arthur Cane vs. Jason Lambert
-Neil Wain vs. Antoni Hardonk

Pennsylvanian fighter Lamont Lister takes on Team Quest fighter Aaron Stark. Lister comes off a stoppage victory over Oleg Savitsky at YAMMA 1, while Stark submitted Dallas Browning at Sport Fight 21.

Undefeated welterweight prospect Nick Calandrino faces off with Boston native John Howard. Calandrino submitted George Sullivan at Battle Cage Xtreme 4, while Howard knocked out Jose Rodriguez at Ring of Combat 18.

Oregonian fighter Joey Guel takes on former IFL middleweight champion Matt Horwich. Guel lost a decision to Falaniko Vitale at X-1: Champions in his last bout. Horwich also lost recently, dropping a decision to Ryan McGivern at an IFL event in Las Vegas.

IFL draft participant Josh Souder takes on lightweight wrestler Zac George. Souder comes off a submission victory over Craig Meagher at Legends of Fighting 8, while George dropped a decision to Mike Joy at Sport Fight 21.

Brazilian submission fighter Fabricio Camoes takes on Ring of Combat lightweight champion Jim Miller. Camoes submitted Joe Camacho at a recent ShoXC event, while Miler scored a decision over Bart Palaszewski at the recent IFL event in New Jersey.

Danillo Villefort, another IFL draft participant, takes on Team Bomb Squad fighter Mike Massenzio. Villefort earned a TKO stoppage victory over Todd Carney at Word Fighting Championships 5. Massenzio enters the bout having submitted Lance Everson at Ring of Combat 17.

“Unfortunately, Chuck Liddell tore his right hamstring during training last week, and being the warrior that he is, he still wanted to fight, which is the reason why everyone in the world loves him,” said UFC president Dana White. “But I wouldn’t let anyone fight with his leg looking that way. Let him heal and come back and fight when he is 100 percent.”

Although the UFC has made no formal announcement, MMAWeekly.com was able to confirm that James Irvin has agreed to step in and face Evans on June 7 in London in Liddell’s absence. Sources close to both fighters’ camps acknowledged the bout.

Irvin competed recently at the April 2 event in Broomfield, Colo., which makes for a quick return by UFC standards. His bout with Houston Alexander lasted just eight seconds though, leaving Irvin tied with Don Frye for the quickest knockout in UFC history.

Following an impressive knockout of Sean Salmon little more than a year ago, Evans enters the bout coming off of a frustrating draw with former UFC champion Tito Ortiz and then a split decision over Michael Bisping.

Neither Evans nor Irvin were available for comment at the time of publication.

Evans on Monday, however, expressed to MMAWeekly his disappointment at the withdrawal of Liddell, but indicated he wanted to remain on the fight card, not wanting to go an extended period of time without a fight.

In Liddell, UFC 85 loses much of the drawing power of its headline bout. The promotion intends to make up for that by loading up UFC 85 with 13 bouts, which is the most that it has had on one fight card in more than a decade.

“We’re adding fights to the card and rearranging it so the U.K. fans won’t have to worry, we’ll still be bringing an amazing card to London and the O2 Arena,” said White.

There has also been recent speculation that popular British fighter and Ultimate Fighter season three winner Michael Bisping – fresh off of a victory over Charles McCarthy this past weekend in Montreal – may become a late addition to the fight card.

UFC 85 Bouts (officially announced):
-Fabricio Werdum vs. Brandon Vera
-Martin Kampmann vs. Jorge Rivera
-Nate Marquardt vs. Thales Leites
-Thiago Tavares vs. Matt Wiman
-Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick
-Luis Arthur Cane vs. Jason Lambert
-Neil Wain vs. Antoni Hardonk