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While nothing has been confirmed by Bellator MMA officials, War Machine and Seth Petruzelli appear headed for a June card from Oklahoma.

The two exchanged messages via Twitter on Tuesday, and it would seem like they will have matches this summer inside the Bellator cage.

Oklahoma you best lock up your wives and daughters,Whore Machine comin to kick ass in June and you know I need plenty #POWPOW after!

— War Machine (@WarMachine170) April 15, 2013

The 31-year-old War Machine (12-4) last fought in late 2011, defeating Roger Huerta. He was expected to make his Bellator debut earlier this year, but an injury forced his exit.

Petruzelli (14-7) lost to Jacob Noe this past January, snapping a two-fight win streak for the veteran.

Just hours before he was supposed to return to the Bellator cage to take on Carmello Marrero, Seth Petruzelli has been removed from tonight’s card, and his fight scratched, as Petruzelli could not get medical clearance to compete.

Petruzelli posted on Twitter that he “heard weezing” and had “fluid in my lungs.” The fighter offered apologies to his fans and his opponent as well “I am so sorry,” he wrote. “I feel like I’m in a nightmare.”

It’s unclear at this time what bout will be promoted to the main card.

In a week marked by momentous news, it’s almost a relief to spend Saturday night watching dudes beat the stuffing out of each other.  So it was with Bellator 48, which marked the final installment of the promotion’s “Summer Series”, the last round of their latest featherweight tournament, and the first time the MTV2 fistic offering aired since SpikeTV suddenly had a vacancy in their MMA show lineup.  How did things go?  Although no programming changes were announced, there most certainly was a new 145-pound top contender added to the mix, and as weekend offerings go, this one panned out in highly-entertaining fashion.

You know what’s awesome?  When a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and a Daniel Gracie-trained brown belt come out, stand in front of each other and simply throw bombs.  Such was the case with lightweights Rene Nazare and Juan Barrantes, who spent the first half of their opening round blasting each other, and, in the case of the Brazilian, dishing out the kind of boxing beatdown that probably took a couple years off of the Costa Rican’s life.  For the rest of Round 1 and all through Round 2, Nazare effortlessly took his opponent down and smashed him from above – so much so that in between the second and third frame, the doctor deemed Barrantes’ now swollen eye to be untenable and called the bout.  For his part, Barrantes showed no signs of quitting, and at various points had gone for a few guillotines and a triangle.  But it was all Nazare all the time, and he looked impressive scoring the “W”.

Add former UFC heavyweight champ Ricco Rodriguez to the list of fighters considered in the twilight of their careers.  Meanwhile, you can count Kimbo Slice-killer Seth Petruzelli as a force to be reckoned with in whatever future Bellator tournament (light-heavyweight or heavyweight) he ends up competing in.  Why?  Because when the two met in the Bellator 48 cage, it was clear Rodriguez was unable to cope with his opponent’s striking, and Petruzelli looked about as sharp as ever.  The first and only round began with the man who ended EliteXC landing repeated spinning back-kicks, the first nailing Rodriguez in the junk but the following two scoring.  Perhaps sensing his fortunes lay only within the realm of grappling, Rodriguez came in looking to latch on, and BAM!  He ate a right a hand and fell to the canvas.  The follow-up hammerfists erased all doubt that Rodriguez was done, and referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in at 4:21 of Round 1.

It was just another day at the office for Ryan Quinn, who handled an overmatched Brett Oteri like Oteri was a white belt who had mistakenly wandered into the black belt class.  From takedown to uneventful journey into back-control to judicious application of the rear naked choke, Quinn was the boss, and Oteri didn’t even know enough to tap out – prompting the ref to step in at 1:49 of the first round when Oteri went to sleep.

Once upon a time Paul Buentello scrapped his way up through the King of the Cage ranks to secure the belt, then battled into the top contender spot in the UFC.  He was hungry in those days, and when it came to throwing leather, he was one of the deadliest.  Yeah, those days are long gone.  Taking on Bellator reigning heavyweight champ Cole Konrad – whose forte is lying on top of people and smothering them – Buentello was timid and gun-shy when his old self would’ve been a murderous fist-sniper, and it was Konrad who seemed fearless when it came to the stand-up exchanges.  This was how the first two rounds played out, and a misstep in the third saw Buentello slip to the ground and Konrad swarm him like a wrestler made out of angry bees.  The bottom line was that Buentello had nothing and Konrad looked to be steadily improving, and the unanimous decision that was awarded to the champ was a surprise to no one.

Mixed martial arts… wow, what a sport, huh?  Anything can happen, and in a tournament, anyone can transform themselves from an almost-was to a “good grief, he’s a killer!”  That’s the story with Pat Curran, who won a Bellator lightweight tournament only to get clobbered by lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez.  But while he looked decent winning the 155-pound tournament, he was “Hulk smash” in this summer’s featherweight conflagration, cruising easily to the finals to face heavy-favorite Marlon Sandro.  And it was there, in his match against the Brazilian, where the American really shined.  For nearly two full rounds Curran got picked apart on the feet, doing his best to counter-punch a superior, aggressive and accurate striker in Sandro.  Yet all it took was for Sandro to zig when he should have zagged, and Curran – battered and bleeding from a cut above an eye – expertly nailed the former Sengoku star with a kick to the chops that surgically removed Sandro from his consciousness.  The official time of the knockout was 4:00 of Round 2, and Curran accrued another tournament win and a shot at another one of the organization’s champions.

Results:

-Pat Curran def. Marlon Sandro via Knockout (Kick) at 4:00 in Round 2

-Cole Konrad def. Paul Buentello via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

-Ryan Quinn def. Bret Oteri via Technical Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:49 in Round 1

-Seth Petruzelli def. Ricco Rodriguez via TKO (Punches) at 4:21 in Round 1

-Rene Nazare def. Juan Barrantes via TKO (Doctor Stoppage) at 5:00 in Round 2

It’s been over two years since the fateful night that Seth Petruzelli stepped in on hours notice for Ken Shamrock to take on backyard brawler Kimbo Slice. As most of you remember, Petruzelli stopped Kimbo seconds into the fight and subsequently blew down EliteXC’s house of cards with some extremely questionable comments on an Orlando radio show that came to be affectionately known as “Standgate.”

For those that didn’t follow MMA at the the time, Petruzelli inadvertently implied, though later denied, that EliteXC officials paid him not to take Kimbo to the ground. It created a media firestorm that scared CBS away, and ProElite, the parent company of EliteXC crumbled under the weight of it’s $55 million debt with a broadcast deal to save them.

They were fun times, but no one ever found any smoking gun evidence that EliteXC paid Seth Petruzelli to stand with Kimbo Slice. Well, Jared Shaw, son of former EliteXC promoter Gary Shaw formerly known by his rapper persona $kala and one of EliteXC’s matchmakers at the time, went on Sherdog radio with Jeff Sherwood last night and spilled the beans about all the behind-the-scenes drama that took place at EliteXC. And yes, the topic of Standgate came up. Shaw vehemently denied that Petruzelli was paid to stand with Kimbo, however, he claims there a twist to that story that’s never been revealed publicly until now.

As you may recall, it was reported the night of the fight that Ken Shamrock’s adopted brother Frank Shamrock offered to step in for Ken, who sustained a mysterious cut earlier that day, and fight Kimbo in the main event. Here’s the twist: Shaw not only confirmed that in the Sherdog interview, he also alleged that Frank Shamrock, who had a financial interest in EliteXC, offered to take a dive. Transcription via CagePotato:

“I don’t really have a tell-all book. I don’t want to make any more money in MMA. I don’t really care what happens in my name. There was nothing fixed about that fight. I could give two shits if it went to the ground. Ken Shamrock was going to go to the ground. I was scared of this guy’s K-1 legs. There was no fix, but there was an offer of a fix that night. Should I get some police protection after this….no, just kidding. Frank Shamrock pulled me in the back of a room, turned the music up and offered to work the fight against Kimbo Slice. I almost threw up in my own stomach because I had thought for the past six months prior to that that he and Cung Le had fixed their own fight unbeknownst to me again, because I just can’t understand why Frank Shamrock didn’t go to the ground against Cung Le. I really don’t. I still don’t, but then my stomach made me throw up in my own mouth and I had to swallow it. I was like, ‘Uh, Frank, I don’t fix fights.’ And he was like, I’ll make up for my brother and…’ I was like, ‘Yo. Are you not hearing me? I don’t do that.’ Sure enough, what’s karma? I get accused of fixing a fight right after. Any day anybody in MMA wants to take a lie detecter test and someone will pay for it, I will be there to take the test and I will pass on everything I am telling you. Of course he’s going to hear it and he’s going to deny it and he’s going to swear at me.  He’s going to do everything. I don’t care. I’m not trying to ruin the guy. He’s got a career, you’re not going anywhere. You’re a good announcer, your career is over and you tried to do what was best for the company because he had a piece of the company back then. He was a percentage owner. I’m not hating on him, but at the same time, I’m pure. Anyone who wants to label Jared Shaw or Gary Shaw as being unpure in the sport, you’re going to have to take a second look at what you’re thinking. Nothing is ever what it appears to be. I’m tired of living with that myself…

It’s a heck of an allegation, but luckily, Frank Shamrock just happened to be on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani today to talk about the UFC-Strikeforce buyout and was able to respond. Not surprisingly, he denied the allegations.

“No, absolutely not. That’s some movie b.s. right there… It sounds like he’s trying to sell a book or something, or write a movie script,” said Shamrock before asking: “Where would I get the music at? What are you talking about here? Do I just carry a beatbox with me?”

So who to believe, right? Well, the way Shaw tells the story it was only him and Shamrock isolated in a room with the music blaring, so really, it’s his word against Shamrock’s. Unfortunately, we’ll probably never find out who’s lying and who’s telling the truth.

Ironically, it just so happened to be announced today that Seth Petruzelli and Ken Shamrock, albeit in separate fights, will co-headline an April 22 World Extreme Fighting show in Orlando. What are the odds?

Image via Esther Lin

Update: Frank Shamrock elaborated on the topic with Sherdog.

“The whole thing’s goofy,” he responded. “I can tell you what I probably honestly said is, ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll make him look like a million bucks.’ But I would have never [offered to work the bout]. That’s just silly.”

Asked to clarify what making Slice look like a million bucks would entail, Shamrock said it meant that he’d “kick the crap out of him with style.”

“I have never been approached to throw a fight, carry a fight. I’ve never participated in the carrying of a fight or the throwing of a fight,” Shamrock said. “… I love Kimbo, but at that level, I was going to come off the bench, off an all-night bender and kick his ass. It was beyond question. The skill set wasn’t even comparable.”

“I’m here for the sport,” Shamrock said. “I’m here for the cause, and at that moment, the sport was in serious jeopardy. The CBS executives were basically saying, ‘If you don’t produce Kimbo, we’re all going home.’ And that was the end of ProElite. That was the end of that MMA movement. That was the end of everything we’d generated. No one else was raising their hand, so I raised my hand.”

Dana White wasn’t kidding when he said he’d “take a guy who loses a dog fight any day of the week over a guy who stares at somebody for five f–king minutes.” Of course, the bout he was referring to was Maiquel Falcao vs. Gerald Harris at UFC 123. Obviously, Dana was pissed how both fighters failed to do anything in the third round, and while Falcao has taken most of the heat from it, he won the fight and can’t be cut. Gerald Harris on the other hand lost and can be, but the UFC wouldn’t cut him after a 3-1 run with two KOTN bonuses, would they? Actually, they would.

Sources close to Harris informed MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the two-time “Knockout of the Night” winner and former cast member of “The Ultimate Fighter 7″ has been released from the world’s biggest mixed martial arts promotion.

When contacted by MMAjunkie.com, Harris also confirmed his release but declined to comment on the matter at this time.

Can’t say I saw that coming, but I do wonder if Harris would still have his job right now if the timekeeper hadn’t cut the first round short. Falcao likely would have finished him and Harris never would have been involved in that boring third round that pissed Dana off so much. Maybe they still would have cut him, but I bet the decision would have been a lot harder to make.

Of course, Gerald Harris wasn’t the only fighter to get the axe following UFC 123. “The Kimbo Killer” Seth Petruzelli lost his second straight in his second tour with the promotion. Not surprisingly, he won’t get a third chance.

Other fighters let go in recent weeks from the UFC include Karo Parisyan, Goran Reljic and Peter Sobotta.

Update: Looks like you can add Nick Ospiczak to the cut list too.

UFC 116 took place earlier this evening at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the main event, Shane Carwin challenged Brock Lesnar for the UFC heavyweight title.

In the co-main event, Chris Leben stepped in on short notice to take on Yoshihiro Akiyama.

Chris Lytle took on Matt Brown in a welterweight match-up.

Stephan Bonnar and Krzysztof Soszynski met in a rematch from UFC 110.

George Sotiropoulos squared off against Kurt Pellegrino in a lightweight bout.

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

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Cagewriter’s Steve Cofield talks to Seth Petruzelli about returning to the Octagon this Saturday at UFC 116.

These pictures pretty much tipped everyone off that Seth Petruzelli wasn’t your typical mixed martial artist, or 30-year old male for that matter. Then Seth played the dog in Tom Lawlor’s UFC 100 “Who let the dogs out” ring entrance proving there wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for the sake of entertainment. So really, it shouldn’t come as a shock to see Seth’s training regimen for Ken Shamrock consisting of a half-naked Seth letting some Russian dude hit him with a stick in the middle of Siberia, yet somehow it still is.

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You may remember a couple weeks back when Seth Petruzelli blasted Kimbo Slice for remarks he made on ESPN. Petruzelli claimed Kimbo was offered a rematch on three separate occasions, but turned them all down. Today, Kimbo found out about Seth’s comments on a conference call promoting his fight against Roy Nelson on Wednesday’s episode of TUF 10 and denied he was ever offered the rematch even once.

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