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It appears Denis Kang’s last loss in the UFC at the fists of Michael Bisping has cost him his job. He’s been handed a UFC branded pink slip.

Despite winning the Fight of the Night award at UFC 105, middleweight Denis Kang’s 10-month run with the UFC has come to an end for his loss to Michael Bisping last month at the event in Manchester, England.

FanHouse confirmed the release Wednesday with the American Top Team and while Kang’s management would not specifically name the promotions the French-Korean Canadian is eying, told FanHouse that Kang is currently in talks with several promotions in the US and abroad.

It’s unfortunate but not really all that surprising. Kang put together a couple wins prior to entering the Octagon, but he also recently lost fights to Gegard Mousasi and Yoshihiro Akiyama. His shot in the UFC seemed like a perfect opportunity to make a resurgence, but ultimately he was finished by two mid-tier middleweights.

Kang will land on his feet though. He’s a good fit for Strikeforce and/or DREAM.

Roli Delgado and Jason Dent were also released.

Image via Sherdog

“I cannot put into words how much pressure has come off me right now…I have had a lot of critics, a lot of people doubting me, a lot of people writing me off as a fighter and saying ‘he has been exposed’…Whoever the UFC say, I will fight. I just keep doing my job and keep trying to win fights…I felt pretty comfortable. Denis is a highly-respected black belt. I felt confident on the ground, he hit me with a few shots but I never felt in any trouble. I was going to scramble back to my feet but I kind of caught the clock and I thought ‘well this round is nearly over, I have lost this round, I will save it for the second round,’…Going into the second round I felt very confident, I thought ‘I have just took his best there’, I am sure he wanted me on the ground as he thought he could submit me. Yeah, I felt very confident. In the second round when I took him down and started ground and pounding him, I could see it in his eyes. I don’t know which shot it was but one of them broke his will.”

—Michael Bisping talking about his big victory over Denis Kang at UFC 105

I’m not gonna lie, I thought Kang was going to smash Bisping, but it was very much the opposite. In the second round, Bisping took Kang down and destroyed him. He definitely answered all the questions last night. Props to him.

Image via UFC.com

UFC 105 took place earlier today at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England.

In the night’s main event, Randy Couture returned to the light heavyweight division to take on Brandon Vera.

Dan Hardy and Mike Swick fought for a potential welterweight title shot against Georges St. Pierre.

Michael Bisping looked to rebound from his humbling defeat at the hand of Dan Henderson in a middleweight match-up against Denis Kang.

James Wilks looked to get his first victory since winning season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter against TUF 7 veteran Matt Brown.

The other TUF 9 champ, Ross Pearson took on Aaron Riley in a lightweight contest.

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

UFC 105 will take place tomorrow, November 14, at the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England and will air on Spike TV at 8PM ET.

If you’re the gambling type, we recommend visiting BetUS. BetUS is currently offering a $75 sign-up bonus.

Odds below are from BetUS and are subject to change. Feel free to check out the live lines on our UFC Betting Odds page for the most up-to-date betting odds.

The Fights

Minus (-) = favorite | Plus (+) = underdog

With a line of -150 & +150, you would have to wager $150 to win $100 if you’re picking the favorite. You would win $150 for every $100 if you bet on the underdog assuming he won.

Good luck!

Preview and picks after the jump.

Images via CombatLifestyle.com

Michael Bisping looks to rebound from a devastating knockout loss to Dan Henderson when he takes on Denis Kang this Saturday, Nov. 14, in Manchester, England at UFC 105.

Denis Kang takes on the UK’s Michael Bisping in a middleweight bout on Nov. 14 in Manchester, England at UFC 105.

“This will really show the world that I am in the UFC. I was really disappointed with my UFC debut against Alan Belcher in Dublin in January. I feel I was controlling the fight but made a stupid mistake and ended up losing a fight I was winning. It happens, but I’ve worked hard since then not to make the same mistake again…I think he’s a very tough fight for me, for sure. He’s not great at any one thing in terms of offense, and I don’t think he’s very strong, but he’s great at winning and he’s got great cardio; his stamina never runs out. I pride myself on my cardio but I look at him as someone who will be able to keep the pace with me…I’ve noticed a couple of times with him, he’s fresher in the last round than his opponents and it will probably be the first time he won’t have that advantage going into the last round. I am a better athlete than he is, but I expect him to keep pace with me if it goes three rounds. If it were a five round fight I’d expect to wear him down and have more in the championship rounds, but I guess not over three…But I don’t see how he beats me. I hit harder than he does, I think I am faster and have better submissions. My wrestling is better than his. He is very good at avoiding submissions, so we will have to see how it goes. I am not looking for a submission or a knockout in particular, I just want to make a statement in this fight. However I beat him, I am looking to make a major statement.”

—Denis Kang talking to Fighters Only about his UFC 105 opponent Michael Bisping

I tend to agree with just about everything Kang says in his assessment of the match-up. I think Bisping will put up a good fight, but I’m expecting Kang to take it before the final bell rings. Any predictions?

We now know what the UFC was planning on doing with the Anderson Silva/Dan Henderson/Nate Marquardt middleweight title triangle.

They were going to give Dan Henderson another crack at Silva’s belt in November at UFC 105. That was until Anderson opted to have elbow surgery instead. Dave Meltzer has the story.

There was also UFC 105 in Manchester and a third unannounced show.

There were two main events in play for those dates: Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson for the middleweight title and B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez for the lightweight title.

When Jackson-Evans was in danger for Dec. 12 in Memphis, Tenn., Penn-Sanchez was moved to that date. Then Silva, who had complained about facing Henderson again (Silva won via choke in March 2008), told company officials he would be undergoing surgery.

With Silva out of the picture, UFC 105 is still without a solid main event. At the moment, Bisping-Kang is at the top of the card, but that’s pretty weak, even for a UK Spike show. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is believed to be making his UFC debut on the card, so they could always slide his fight into the co-main event slot. The ideal fight to put there though would be Henderson-Marquardt to decide who’s the true number one contender in the middleweight division. Problem with that is Hendo doesn’t want that fight, so if the UFC can’t convince him, assuming they’re thinking along the same lines as me, it might be time to get a little creative.

How about this? Minotauro Nogueira wants a rematch with Frank Mir. How about giving it to him at UFC 107? It would definitely help fill in the gap the Rampage-Rashad postponement left. Then move Cheick Kongo to UFC 105, and assuming Mirko “Cro Cop” at least looks decent against Junior dos Santos (win or lose) and doesn’t suffer any injuries, book their rematch in the co-main event. Cro Cop said he wanted to fight multiple times before the year is out and the UFC needs star power for an overseas card. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. That fight along with Bisping-Kang and Nogueira-TBD (maybe Luiz Cane) and Hardy-Kim would make for a pretty solid Spike card.

Meltzer also mentioned there’s still a mystery event lurking with a full card tentatively in place, but the UFC still hasn’t decided if they’re moving forward with it or not. He didn’t say if this card was dependent upon the UFC signing a new television deal as rumored.

Update: The Sun is floating a few rumors about possible main events for UFC 105.

ANTONIO ROGERIO NOGUEIRA is in line to make his Octagon debut against Dan Henderson at UFC 105, SunSport understands.

However, should Nogueira or Henderson turn the fight down, we understand welterweight legend Matt Hughes is being considered as an alternative big name to appear at the MEN Arena on November 14.

It is rumoured Hughes — who recently signed a new four-fight deal — could be handed a shot against highly-rated Mike Swick.

Update 2: So Anderson Silva may be available in November after all. From Kevin Iole:

I spoke to Ed Soares, Silva’s manager, and contrary to published reports, Silva has not had surgery on his elbow and is not in any way incapable of fighting in November if he’s offered a fight.

This is rather odd. We have one of the major writers at Yahoo saying Anderson told the UFC he is out for the rest of the year and the other saying the exact opposite. Wonder what happened there…

That doesn’t mean Silva-Hendo will necessarily headline UFC 105 or even happen though. According to Josh Gross, Dan Henderson is technically a free agent and negotiations are moving “slow.” From Gross’ twitter feed (I recommend following him):

Shootin down a rumor. Dan Henderson won’t fight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in his next fight. In fact, his next fight might not be in the UFC.
According to a source close to Hendo, Dan is a free agent. The source said Dan wants to remain in the UFC. It makes the most sense.
But as of right now he doesn’t have a contract with Zuffa. Negotiations were characterized as “slow.” Dan’s main focus is fighting A. Silva.
I think something gets done. Maybe not right away, but Hendo needs the UFC because Silva’s there. Plus, it’s the only place to make PPV $$$.
Re: Nate, Dan feels he was privately and publicly promised the next shot at Silva.
He’d entertain a fight @ 205 if it had title implications. Source also said Dan would fight Silva @ 205 if The Spider preferred.

I really can’t imagine Hendo going anywhere else either. It really seems like Silva just doesn’t want to fight him, and probably doesn’t want a shitty pay-per-view bonus from an overseas card.

Whatever happens there, it sounds like the UFC has plenty of other options for the UFC 105 main event. UFC UK president Marshall Zelaznik told Fighters Only they are looking at “four to six” different fighters and they’re all “substantial names.”

Instead, the main event is going to be drawn from a pool of “four to six” fighters, depending what match-ups can be made between which names. Whoever the final two are, Zelaznik says the UFC top brass want UK fans to know the main event will be one to talk about.

“I’ve had email and text exchanges with Lorenzo [Fertitta, UFC co-owner] over the past couple of days and he said ‘Make sure everyone knows that there is a main event going to be announced soon’,” he says.

“And the names are going to be substantial, I kind of know the names that are floating around and once it comes together, everyone will know about it. Its going to be two fighters that everyone wants to see.”

Well as long as it’s not Swick-Hughes. That would be weak.

Michael Bisping will be looking for redemption on November 14 when he takes on Denia Kang at UFC 105.

I think he’s a good test. I wanted to fight someone decent after Henderson because as I said, I had a great camp and I feel improved as a fighter in all departments. I wanted to prove that to the world but I didn’t, I went out there and got knocked out. So for my next fight I wanted a top name and get right back up there. I didn’t want to take a step down in opponent…Originally I was going to fight Wanderlei [Silva] as I’m sure you know, but he had surgery so it wasn’t to be. They came up with Denis Kang and I felt great. He is well respected, very good skillset, very good all-round fighter. MMA fans that are knowledgeable, that have followed the sport outside the UFC, will know him well and will know he is a tough test for anyone…Obviously he has to have confidence in himself or else he would be in the wrong business, so I don’t take it personally anything he said there. More power to him. I just hope he trains hard and we put on a good show for the fans in Manchester.

—Michael Bisping, in an interview with Fighters Only Magazine, talking about his upcoming fight against Denis Kang at UFC 105.

I’m not gonna lie, I was little surprised that Bisping didn’t have more to say about Denis Kang’s comments. Doesn’t look like there will be a lot of talk leading up to this one. Just two fighters trying to make a statement in the UFC’s middleweight division. With Bisping, that’s a welcomed change of pace.

Image via ESPN.com