Five Ounces of Pain: UFC acquiring Pride would hurt MMA
• It appears as though Roger Huerta will be taking on Alvin "Kid" Robinson at UFC 69 on April 7 in Houston. Robinson, who is 7-1 in his brief MMA career, will be making his UFC debut. No disrespect to Robinson, but it would be nice to see Huerta face a step up in competition at this stage of his UFC career.
• Heath Herring is now scheduled to face Brad Imes on the UFC 69 undercard. Imes was a heavyweight finalist during the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, losing to Rashad Evans in the finale.
• Drew Fickett vs. Keita Nakamura has been added to the UFC Fight Night 9 card on April 5. The match will be a non-televised preliminary bout.
• According to UFCJunkie.com, Karo Parisyan's next fight for the UFC will be sometime in May. It's not yet known whether he'll fight in a Spike TV or pay-per-view event.
• UFCJunkie.com also reported last week that Sean Salmon and Eric Schafer will fight each other at UFC 71 in May.
• It's looking very likely that Joe Riggs' next fight won't be for the UFC, but will instead be for the WEC. Riggs might be appearing on the WEC's second card under Zuffa ownership scheduled for March 24. Jason "Mayhem" Miller is also expected to debut for the promotion on the same card.
• The Nevada State Athletic Commission has approved a bout between Sergei Kharitonov and Michael Russow for Saturday's Pride 33 card in Vegas. Kharitonov had been scheduled to face Gilbert Yvel, but Yvel was denied a license because of a previous assault on a referee.
• Pride isn't the only promotion from the Far East looking to take away some of the UFC's market share in North America. K-1's MMA promotion, HERO's, is expected to hold a card on May 19 in Las Vegas. The card is expected to feature a double main event of Brock Lesnar vs. "Techno Goliath" Choi Hong-Man in Lesnar's MMA debut and Royce Gracie vs. an unnamed opponent. Hong-Man is a professional kickboxer, so one would think Lesnar will try to get him to the ground from the outset.
• EliteXC middleweight David Loiseau, in the midst of a three-fight losing streak, has switched to Greg Jackson's camp in Albuquerque, N.M. If Loiseau can't revive his career under Jackson's guidance, then there might be no hope for him.
Sam Caplan is a Philadelphia-based sports talk show host and freelance sportswriter. He's also an amateur mixed martial artist (and we do mean amateur) who trains out of the Mixed Martial Arts Academy of Philadelphia. Sam can be reached via e-mail at SCaplan8@comcast.net or you can check out his blog at: http://www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com
