HeavyMMA.com writes that the Bellator 40 Fight Card has been finalized. The event, which is set for Saturday night in Oklahoma, is now official with seven contests, including Ben Askren’s welterweight bout against Nick Thompson.

Bellator 40 is now complete with the announcement of seven match ups.

The promotion revealed the fight card earlier today, just one day prior to the April 9 event.

The main card, which will broadcast live on MTV2 features a welterweight non-title contest between champion Ben Askren and MMA veteran Nick Thompson. Also on the card, Jay Hieron takes on Brent Weedman in the semi-finals of this season’s 170 lb. tournament, while Michael Chandler and Lloyd Woodard compete in the semi-finals of the lightweight tournament. Four preliminary card bouts have also been added.

A featherweight bout between Ronnie Mann and Josh Arocho were originally expected to meet on the main card, but the former’s traveling issues forced the cancellation of the tilt.

Check out the full card.

According to HeavyMMA.com, UFC welterweight contender B.J. Penn has been scratched from UFC 132.

Former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion B.J. Penn will not be fighting at UFC 132 this July.

MMAjunkie.com reported the news earlier today after confirming the information with sources close to Penn’s camp.

A rematch between Penn and Jon Fitch was scratched from the card after the American Kickboxing Academy star was forced out of the contest due an injury. While it was believed that the UFC was searching for a replacement, the sources say that Penn will be fighting on a different card later this year.

Penn and Fitch fought a draw at UFC 127 last February and an immediate rematch was set in place for the two. The winner of the rematch would have in all likelihood been the next man to earn a title shot against the winner of Georges St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields.

UFC 132 is set for July 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada and features a bantamweight championship between rivals Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber. A replacement co-main event has yet to be announced.

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Sam Stout vs. Yves Edwards is now official for UFC 131 in Vancouver according to HeavyMMA.com.

UFC officials announced the match up earlier this week.

Edwards last competed at “UFC: Fight for the Troops 2″ this past January, earning an impression submission victory over Cody McKenzie late in the second round of their contest. Prior to that fight, Edwards defeated John Gunderson via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares.” The bout marked his return to the UFC after a four year absence.

Meanwhile, Stout has yet to compete in 2011, but he did end off 2010 with a victory, defeating Paul Taylor via split-decision at UFC 121 last October. The win was his third in four fights with the other victories coming over Joe Lauzon and Matt Wiman. His lone loss since 2009 came against Jeremy Stephens at UFC 113.

UFC 131 is set for Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on June 11 and features a heavyweight main event between Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos. Edwards vs. Stout is the eleventh bout to be made official for the highly-anticipated event.

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HeavyMMA.com notes that the UFC officially announced “UFC 131: Lesnar vs. Dos Santos” for June 11 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

“UFC 131: Lesnar vs. Dos Santos” is currently scheduled to take place on June 11 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, but UFC officials have not made the location official yet.

The event is headlined by a heavyweight No. 1 contender’s bout between “The Ultimate Fighter 13” coaches Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos.

The venue , formerly known as GM Place, has hosted a UFC before. “UFC 115: Liddell vs. Franklin” was held there on June 12, 2010. British Columbia passed a bill to sanction mixed martial arts on December 17, 2009.
Official bouts confirmed for UFC 131 include:

MAIN CARD
Junior Dos Santos vs. Brock Lesnar
Demian Maia vs. Mark Munoz
Shane Carwin vs. Jon Olav Einemo
Kenny Florian vs. Diego Nunes
Dustin Poirier vs. Rani Yahya

Read the rest of the card.

According to HeavyMMA.com, a middleweight clash between heavy-handed brawlers Chris Leben and Wanderlei Silva has come to fruition, as the two will meet at UFC 132 this July.

A middleweight bout between Wanderlei Silva and Chris Leben is official for UFC 132 in Las Vegas, Nevada for the promotion’s annual Fourth of July weekend event.

UFC officials announced the bout on Monday.

Leben, who experienced a career resurgence with dominant victory over Jay Silva, Aaron Simpson, and Yoshihiro Akiyama in 2010, was disappointed against Brian Stann, losing via technical knockout at UFC 125 last January. He is an even 3-3 over his past three years of competition in the UFC.

Silva, meanwhile, jumped back on the right track in his last contest with a unanimous decision victory over Michael Bisping at UFC 110. The former PRIDE superstar has been out of action since the early 2010 victory, which was his debut at the 185 lb. mark.

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According to HeavyMMA.com, a report that Fedor Emelianeko has been released from his Strikeforce contract is false.

Strikeforce heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko has not been released from his contract with the promotion.

Earlier Thursday, Russian website Lifesports.ru reported that the mixed martial arts legend would not have his contract renewed, but BloodyElbow.com has since learned from M-1 Global official Evgeni Kogan that there is no truth to the rumor.

“It’s unfortunate that the site has shown little to no journalistic integrity,” Kogan stated. “This is also not the first time their writers have fabricated a story to create attention. Quite simply, it should be ignored. Should there ever be a change in Fedor’s status, rest assured that M-1 would provide an official position.”

Emelianenko, undoubtedly one of the most recognized figures in the sport, was once considered by many the top pound-for-pound fighter in all of the sport, but a two-fight losing streak has seen him plummet down the ranks. He was defeated by Fabricio Werdum in the main event of their 2010 bout and was then defeated by Antonio Silva nearly one year later in the first round of the highly anticipated Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix.

Currently, the Russian fighter is waiting in the wings as a potential replacement in the tournament. He is expected to return to action this summer.

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According to HeavyMMA.com, an injury has forced Jon Fitch to withdraw from his July rematch with B.J. Penn at UFC 132.

B.J. Penn is in need of a new dance partner for UFC 132.

As first reported by MMAWeekly.com, original opponent Jon Fitch has been forced to withdraw from the bout due to an undisclosed injury. HeavyMMA.com has determined that Fitch injured his shoulder while training.

The two were scheduled to meet for a second consecutive fight after their headlining bout at UFC 127 ended in an unsatisfying draw. Now it seems it will take a little longer to determine a winner between the two top 5 welterweights.

HeavyMMA.com will continue to track this story and will have more information on the nature of Fitch’s injury and potential replacements for the bout with Penn as they develop.

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Brock Lesnar faces Junior Dos Santos at UFC 131 in a No. 1 contender’s bout, but the prize he’s eyeing according to HeavyMMA.com is the title shot with Cain Velasquez.

Lesnar faces Dos Santos in a heavyweight No. 1 contender’s bout at UFC 131 on June 11 in Vancouver with the winner getting a title shot at Velasquez.

Lesnar lost the title to Velasquez at UFC 121 in October of 2010, and Dos Santos stands in his way of an opportunity of regaining the belt.

“I’m angry that I lost last fall, but being angry about it isn’t the solution, but doing something about it, and that’s what I intend to do to get another title shot,” Lesnar said on Monday.

Lesnar made no excuses for the loss to Velasquez, but believes a rematch will be a lot different than their first fight.

“I was healthy physically, but mentally probably not so. I don’t think it really registers to the general public on my year last year from being sick and losing 42 pounds and just to get my ass to the gym to recover and put that weight back on and then having a title fight, and on top of that while I’m training for a title fight a new baby boy, and then fighting Shane Carwin. Then I was expecting some time off because I really needed it mentally more than anything and physically, and then I booked a fight with Cain (Velasquez),” said Lesnar.

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HeavyMMA.com writes that the biggest bantamweight fight in history is set for this summer as Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber will battle at UFC 132.

The long-awaited rematch between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber is now set for UFC 132.

UFC officials announced the bout on Saturday. UFC 132 takes place July 2 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
The Cruz/Faber bantamweight title bout will serve as the main event for the card, the first time former WEC lighter-weight stars will serve in that capacity for a UFC event.

Cruz and Faber first met at WEC 26, where Faber submitted Cruz in just over one minute. It was the only loss of Cruz’s career. Since that time, Cruz has gone on an eight-fight winning streak and captured the WEC (now UFC) bantamweight championship.

The rivalry between Cruz and Faber has blossomed since their first meeting, with the normally-affable Cruz saying that Cruz is one of the few people in the sport that he genuinely doesn’t like. The feeling is mutual for Cruz.

The two fighters were rumored to coach The Ultimate Fighter, but that’s not the case.

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According to HeavyMMA.com, Strikeforce heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko is putting the retirement talk on hold and will return to action this July.

Despite hinting at walking away from the sport following his first round elimination in the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix, Fedor Emelianenko is not ready to hang his gloves up just yet.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told Sherdog.com on the latest “Beatdown” show that the heavyweight legend will return to action this July.

Emelianenko, who was touted as the best heavyweight in the world not long ago, agreed to participate in the eight-man tournament, joining the likes of heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, Andrei Arlovski, and Josh Barnett, among others. But when he met Antonio Silva in the opening round, Emelianenko was dominated, losing to the Brazilian via technical knockout.

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