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UFC matchmaker Joe Silva has been a very busy man. Now, if the fighters can remain healthy, Silva might actually be able to take some time off.

Through several MMA sites, and Twitter, here are the fights announced on Tuesday.

The site MMA Weekly reported that Kyle Noke will move down to welterweight to take on Charlie Brenneman at UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson. The card takes place September 1 from Las Vegas.

Noke (19-6-1) has lost his last two fights, while Brenneman (15-4) is 1-2 in his previous three.

The site also confirmed that the planned Rob Broughton-Matt Mitrione heavyweight contest originally set for this coming Saturday night will take place October 5 at UFC on FX 5.

Broughton (15-7-1) was forced out due to a family issue, while Mitrione (5-1) decided to remain on the sidelines.

Rick Story took to his Twitter page to announce his next fight. Story (14-5) will take on Demian Maia at UFC 153 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on October 13.

Maia (16-4) made a successful debut at welterweight recently by besting Dong Hyun Kim.

And finally, MMA Fighting has confirmed that middleweights Francis Carmont and Tom Lawlor will square off at UFC 154.

Carmont (19-7) has won all three of his UFC fights, while Lawlor (8-4) is 4-3 inside the Octagon. UFC 154 goes down in November from Montreal.

According to MMAjunkie.com, the planned heavyweight contest between Rob Broughton and Matt Mitrione has been pulled from UFC on FOX 4.

The card takes place in just a few short days, as it goes down August 4 from Los Angeles. In the main event, former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua will take on Brandon Vera.

Broughton and Mitrione were expected for the prelims. It is unknown at this time if a replacement fighter will be named for Mitrione (5-1).

The report indicated that personal issues forced Broughton (15-7-1) to cancel the fight.

Photo credit: Dave Mandel/Sherdog

An injury to Rob Broughton has paved the way for former UFC heavyweight title contender Gabriel Gonzaga to return to the UFC this winter.

According to MMA Junkie, Gonzaga has signed a new multi-fight deal with the UFC and will take on UFC newcomer Ednaldo Oliveira at UFC 142 in Rio de Janeiro as Broughton’s replacement.

The fighter has signed a new multi-fight deal with the organization and now meets fellow Brazilian Ednaldo Oliveira (13-0-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) as an injury replacement for Rob Broughton (15-7-1 MMA, 1-2 UFC) at next month’s UFC 142 event.

Gonzaga’s management today announced the booking. MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) subsequently confirmed it with sources close to the event.

Gonzaga is 1-0 since he was cut from the UFC following his loss to Brendan Schaub at UFC 121. There were rumors earlier this year that he was in talks to fight Fedor Emelianenko, but that fight never came together and obviously won’t now.

It was also reported today that Siyar Bahadurzada and Stanislav Nedkov have withdrawn from UFC 142 due to injuries. It’s unclear who will replace them. Another report, albeit unconfirmed, claims that Paulo Thiago has also sustained an injury and will not fight in Rio.

Image via Esther Lin for MMA Fighting

A few observations from UFC 135: “Jones vs. Rampage”:

-I love Aaron Riley and do remember his Hook’n’Shoot wars with Yves Edwards (from “back in the day”).  But there comes a time when a fighter needs to stop fighting – especially when that fighter likes having a functional jaw for eating and speaking purposes – and it may be time for Riley to call it quits.

-We knew going in that Tony Ferguson was going to punch to the face and punch hard.  I say enough with the “gimme” fights for this TUF winner.  Release the hounds!  (And by hounds, I mean let’s see how he likes Jim Miller or Don Cerrone punching him back.)

-I like this 185-pound version of Tim Boetsch.  Very strong, very dangerous and very fun.

-If Nate Diaz continues looking like he did last night, he might finally become a force to be reckoned with in the lightweight division.  The kid was straight-up flawless.

-If we never see Rob Broughton or Travis Browne again I’d be happy.

-Say what you will about Ben Rothwell – he had zero cardio, looked sloppy, blah, blah, blah – but coming out for Round 3 when he was completely spent took a ton of heart.  He was even trying to finish while the final seconds of the bout were ticking away.   Bravo, dude.

-Matt Hughes was kicking ass up until he wasn’t.  He may not have gotten a “Chris Lytle” ending to his career, but he has nothing to be ashamed of.  He was, and always will be, the man.

-Honestly, Jon Jones beating Rashad Evans is a forgone conclusion.  Now, the only match-ups to seriously challenge him would be against Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.

UFC 135 takes place later tonight at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado and will air live on pay-per-view at 9pm ET/6pm PT. The pay-per-view will be preceded by prelim specials on Spike TV at 8pm ET/5pm PT and Facebook at 6pm ET/3pm PT.

In the main event, Jon Jones puts his UFC light heavyweight title on the line against Rampage Jackson.

In the co-main event, Josh Koscheck steps in on short notice to take on Matt Hughes.

Travis Browne meets Rob Broughton in a heavyweight match-up.

Takanori Gomi faces Nate Diaz in a lightweight bout.

Mark Hunt looks for his second UFC win against Ben Rothwell.

Results, recap and bonuses after the jump.

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The UFC 135 weigh-ins took place this afternoon at the Wells Fargo Theater at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado.

All fighters made weight. Surprisingly, most of the fireworks happened on the undercard. Must be something in the water up there in Denver because it seemed like everyone wanted to get in each other’s face for the staredown. Heck, Junior Assuncao pretty much charged Eddie Yagin, forcing Dana White to immediately step in and separate them. Then Nick Ring gives Tim Boetsch a mini-headbutt, once again forcing Dana to break it up. Nate Diaz of course invaded Takanori Gomi’s space with a little Stockton mean-muggin’. Ben Rothwell tried to coax an uninterested Mark Hunt into a staredown, but the K-1 vet didn’t seem to notice. Funny enough, Josh Koscheck was one of the most respectful on stage today as he stood in front of Matt Hughes.

Then of course came Jon Jones and Rampage Jackson. With the way things have been going it wouldn’t been surprising to see a shoving match break out between them, but they kept it pretty civil. After shaking hands, Rampage actually coaxed Jones into looking him straight in the eye, something Jones never does with his opponents, before promising he would knock him out tomorrow.

And yes, the Denver crowd booed the hell out of Jon Jones.

The weigh-in results:

• Jon Jones (204.5) vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (204)
• Josh Koscheck (170.5) vs. Matt Hughes (170)
• Ben Rothwell (263) vs. Mark Hunt (261)
• Travis Browne (255) vs. Rob Broughton (261)
• Nate Diaz (156) vs. Takanori Gomi (155)
• Aaron Riley (155) vs. Tony Ferguson (155)
• Tim Boetsch (186) vs. Nick Ring (185)
• Junior Assuncao (145) vs. Eddie Yagin (145)
• Cole Escovedo (135) vs. Takeya Mizugaki (135)
• Ricardo Romero (205) vs. James Te Huna (205)

Fighters in non-title fights are allowed to weigh in one pound over the weight class limit.

UFC 135 “Jones vs. Rampage” will take place tomorrow, Sept. 24, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado and will air live on pay-per-view at 9pm ET/6pm PT. The pay-per-view will be preceded by prelim specials on Spike TV at 8pm ET/5pm PT and Facebook at 6pm ET/3pm PT.

More UFC 135 weigh-in pics at CombatLifestyle.com. Video highlights via MMA Fighting

We’ve got a full weekend of MMA ahead of us, what with Bellator, Strikeforce Challengers and DREAM all poised and ready to go with a bit of the old ultra-violence.  But there’s no doubt what the main course will be: UFC 135 on Saturday night, which will have light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones defending his belt against Quinton Jackson in what promises to be either something thrillingly competitive or just a straight-up murder.  Ah, who am I kidding?  Did you see the way Jones beat Shogun into putty?  Rampage is going to wind up a statistic on an FBI violent crime analysis chart.  Anyway, there are some other interesting pairings at UFC 135, including what may be the last hurrah of a welterweight legend and a fallen Japanese superstar’s shot of redemption (sort of).  So.  Preview.  Check it out.

Jon Jones vs. Quinton Jackson – Jones’ meteoric rise to the top is marked by “Holy crap!  Did you see that?” moves and utter destruction visited upon whoever has stood in his way.  In the last two years, Rampage has either been squeaking by opponents with decisions or losing via those same means.  Now, sure, Jackson’s still got a dangerous hook that can put people away, but Jones has been in there with some knockout strikers (Mauricio Rua, Ryan Bader, Brandon Vera) and no one even came close.  The bottom line is the champ is going to have to slip on an awful lot of banana peels – plus stumble on an oil slick and choke on a handful of half-chewed olives – before Rampage can touch him.  Yup, this one is going to be ugly.  Like, “Godzilla stomping Tokyo into rubble” ugly.

Matt Hughes vs. Josh Koscheck – This is the last fight on Hughes’ contract, and his wife has stated “No mas, mister”, so when the former champ steps into the cage against TUF 1 veteran Koscheck on Saturday, we might be seeing the finale of the great Matt Hughes.  In terms of comparing their skills and abilities, both men are proven wrestlers with competent stand-up – maybe Hughes hits a little harder and has the edge in experience, maybe Koscheck will have the edge in youthful vitality (he’s about four years younger).  But you know what?  When someone like Hughes says he’s on the verge of hanging up his gloves, you just have to root for him.  Chris Lytle went out with a win; hopefully, Hughes can do the same.

Rob Broughton vs. Travis Browne – Broughton is a big Brit whose most notable win was over Neil Grove a few years ago; Browne went the distance with Cheick Kongo and knocked out Stefan Struve easily.  Can you guess which one of these guys has a future in the Octagon and which one will be back fighting in the UK circuit soon?

Takanori Gomi vs. Nate Diaz – Once upon a time Gomi was one of the best fighters coming out of Japan, and his explosiveness saw him putting away a lot of people.  But back in 2007, Nick Diaz tapped him out with a gogoplata, and things sort of went downhill from there.  Nate Diaz, on the other hand, peaked right around when he won TUF 7, and has since amassed a mottled record in the UFC (in other words, he isn’t his older brother Nick).  Can Gomi get some modicum of revenge by defeating the sibling of the man who submitted him back in the day?  Or will Nate catch him like an errant trout and make him gasp for air?  If I bet, it would be on Gomi punching Diaz.  Real hard.

Ben Rothwell vs. Mark Hunt – Rothwell is an interesting guy.  He’s had about a million fights outside of the UFC, sometimes against less-than-stellar competition, sometimes against some solid guys, and his losses have only come to the best (a prime Andrei Arlovski, Cain Velasquez).  But all those fights wear on you, and for the past year he’s been sidelined with a torn ACL.  Does he have any “umph” left in him?  It might not matter, as his UFC 135 opponent is Hunt, a New Zealander with world-class kickboxing (circa 2002) who’s aged about as well as a carton of milk left on the side of a desert highway.  All Rothwell needs to do is avoid Hunt’s striking, get him to the ground, and whisper sweet-nothings in his ear.  The only question mark is the American’s knee and if it will hold up.

MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani caught up with Rampage Jackson, Jon Jones, Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck, Travis Browne, Rob Broughton and Ben Rothwell to talk about their upcoming fights this weekend at UFC 135.

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UFC 135 is official.

UFC 135 “Jones vs. Rampage” is scheduled to take place at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado on Saturday, September 24 and will air live on pay-per-view at 9pm ET/6pm PT. The card will be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and Rampage Jackson.

“Many people think that Jon Jones should be considered one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world, but I wouldn’t make that claim too fast,” UFC President Dana White said. “The 205-pound division is and always has been the most stacked division in MMA.  Rampage Jackson has been one of the top five light heavyweights in the world since 2003.  A win over Rampage Jackson will definitely put Jon Jones on the right track for becoming the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.”

“Fighting Rampage Jackson is an awesome opportunity and a win is definitely something that could add to my legacy as champion,” Jones said. “I think he’s re-motivated and that makes him dangerous. He’s driving me to a different level of training right now. I’m training like a champion so that I can go in there on Sept. 24 and perform like a champion.”

“I am planning on bringing the belt back to where it belongs,” Jackson said. “That belt is very serious and very dear to me. That belt should never have been taken off of me, and it’s been a long time coming to get my chance to get my belt back. The proudest thing I’ve done in my career is unify that title with the PRIDE FC title, and in the next fight it was taken off me despite me winning the fight. I’ve had to wait since 2008 to get my chance to get my belt back, but anything that comes easy isn’t worth having in the first place.”

In the co-main event, former UFC champ Matt Hughes meets Diego Sanchez in what will likely be one of the last fights of his storied career. Other bouts announced for the card include Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton and Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi.

Ticket info below.

• UFC Fight Club Presale: Wednesday, July 20, 10am MT
• UFC Newsletter Presale: Thursday, July 21, 10am MT
• Public On-Sale Date: Friday, July 22, 10am MT

Tickets will be priced at $400, $300, $225, $150, $100, $75 and $50. They can be purchased at the Pepsi Center Box Office, by calling Ticket Horse at 303-53-HORSE or online at TicketHorse.com and Stubhub.

The latest UFC 135 fight card and event info can be found in our fight cards section.

MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani caught up with Dana White, Carlos Condit, Travis Browne, Claude Patrick, Alexander Gustafsson, Rob Broughton and Spencer Fisher following UFC 120.

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