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Despite several hints to the contrary from UFC president Dana White following UFC 121, it appears the UFC is going to give Tito Ortiz another chance to break out of his four-year, four-fight losing streak. And they’re not going to make it easy on him either. As initially reported by Tatame last night, Tito will take on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in March, possibly at UFC 128. Dana White confirmed the news earlier today in Germany.

White today confirmed that “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” meets Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in March 2011, possibly at UFC 128.

UFC U.K. president Marshall Zelaznik on Thursday told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that a potential March event, UFC 128, could take place in the United Arab Emirates, possibly in Abu Dhabi, thought other cities also are under consideration.

White did not specify a date for Ortiz vs. Nogueira.

While I’m not aware of Dana saying otherwise, one has to imagine Tito will be fighting for his job when he steps in the cage with Lil’ Nog. That’s a really tough fight for him, but one he could pull off if he follows the Jason Brilz game plan. I wouldn’t bet on it, but you never know how people are going to react when they’re back’s against the wall.

On a side note, Tito may have made the cut, but it doesn’t look like Gilbert Yvel did. His profile was removed from the UFC website last week, and now word is coming in that he was in fact released. He joins Gabriel Gonzaga and Patrick Cote in the unemployment line following UFC 121.

Image via CombatLifestyle.com

UFC 115 took place earlier this evening at GM Place in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

In the main event, Chuck Liddell took on Rich Franklin in a light heavyweight battle.

In the co-main event, Pat Barry’s childhood dream came true when he faced his idol Mirko Cro Cop.

Paulo Thiago took on Martin Kampmann in a welterweight battle.

Ben Rothwell and Gilbert Yvel looked for a much needed win a heavyweight match-up.

Carlos Condit and Rory MacDonald met in a welterweight bout.

Results, thoughts, bonuses and live gate (when available) after the jump.

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UFC 115 was expected to feature two heavyweight battles in the form of Mirko Cro Cop vs. Ben Rothwell and Pat Barry vs. Gilbert Yvel. However, it appears the UFC has decided to shake things up and switch the match-ups around.

Pat Barry so badly wanted to fight Cro Cop at UFC 110 he was willing to hop on a plane to Australia on a day’s notice and fight Cro Cop in his jeans. It didn’t work out then because of visa issues, but the UFC apparently took note of Barry’s enthusiasm and offered him the fight for UFC 115.

A battle of former K-1 strikers has been lined up as rising star Pat “HD” Barry will face former Pride Grand Prix champion Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic on the main card of the Vancouver show.

Sources close to the fight on Friday confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that the bout has been verbally agreed upon. The fight was initially reported by MMA Scraps Radio.

Meanwhile, their former opponents, Rothwell and Yvel, will now face each other on the card instead.

Nice job by Joe Silva if you ask me. He managed to take two pretty solid fights and make them even better.

UFC 108 took place earlier this evening at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the night’s main event, Rashad Evans took on Thiago Silva in a light heavyweight contest.

In the co-main event, heavy-hitter Paul Daley faced off against submission wizard Dustin Hazelett.

Joe Lauzon returned to action against Sam Stout.

Duane “Bang” Ludwig returned to the UFC to take on Jim Miller.

Gilbert Yvel made his UFC debut against Junior dos Santos.

Results, thoughts, bonuses and live gate (when available) after the jump.

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Gilbert Yvel and Junior dos Santos meet in a heavyweight battle this Saturday night at UFC 108.

We’ve heard rumblings of Gilbert Yvel heading to the UFC following Affliction’s demise, but nothing really came of it. However, it appears they’ve finally found a good reason to pull the trigger.

Junior dos Santos has an opponent to UFC 108. According to his boxing coach, Luis Dorea, the Brazilian heavyweight faces former Pride fighter Gilbert Yvel, who comes from an devastating knockout victory over Pedro Rizzo.

MMA Weekly has since confirmed Tatame’s report so this one looks like a go. It’s not a show-saving fight, but it has the potential to turn into a exciting slugfest between two heavyweights who love to stand and bang.

Image via All Elbows

Paul Buentello and Gilbert Yvel meet in a heavyweight match-up on August 1 at Afflcition “Trilogy.”

With Gilbert Yvel’s win over Pedro Rizzo, he should now get the opportunity to face Paul Buentello at Affliction “Trilogy.”

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We’re getting closer.

While nothing is official yet, Mike Chiappetta is reporting that Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett have verbally agreed to fight at Affliction 3 on Aug 1.

Affliction’s third event, featuring a main event of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett and taking place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 1, should be officially announced within days, a source with knowledge of the situation told FanHouse.

Though neither Emelianenko or Barnett has signed official bout agreements, they have both verbally accepted the matchup, according to the source.

Apparently, Affliction also briefly considered booking a Fedor-Arlovski rematch, but didn’t move forward with the idea. Arlovski will face Brett Rogers on June 6 at Strikeforce “Lawler vs Shields,” and at least at the moment there seems to be no indication that Arlovski will compete at Affliction 3.

The report also mentioned that Vitor Belfort and Gegard Mousasi were likely to meet on the card. However, with Mousasi’s participation in DREAM’s Super Hulk Tournament and his unwillingness to compete at middleweight again, who knows whether that one will actually happen or not.

And last but not least, Tim Sylvia could make his return to legitimate competition against either Paul Buentello or Gilbert Yvel. Either one should make for a pretty entertaining fight.

All sounds good to me, but of course, it’s matter of papers being signed and everything coming together. I guess you could say I’m cautiously optimistic.

Update: MMA Mania is saying Tom Atencio has confirmed that Fedor vs Barnett for Affliction 3 on August 3. I’m assuming this means it’s signed. Also, Tom confirmed Mousasi vs Belfort, as did Mousasi himself earlier today, however, Belfort’s contract is not yet finalized. Tim Sylvia, Paul Buentello, Chris Horodecki and Dan Lauzon were also confirmed as participants.

You can check out the latest Affliction 3 fight card in our fight cards section.