UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been forced out of his UFC 133 bout against Rashad Evans, and Phil Davis has stepped in for the August bout writes Nate Lawson of HeavyMMA.com.

Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will not meet Rashad Evans later this year.

Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press broke the news today that the champion was forced out of the contest and that the fast-rising Phil Davis will step in against Evans at UFC 133 this August.

According to MMAjunkie.com, Jones has been sidelined due to a torn right hand ligament, and the recovery will apparently be a lengthy one. A timetable has not been set, though.

Jones defeated former champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 last month to earn the light heavyweight strap. Immediately following the fight, former champion Evans entered the cage, and the pair agreed to fight for the championship later this year.

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HeavyMMA.com writes that Jason “Mayhem” Miller will face Aaron Simpson at UFC 132 in July.

Returning middleweight Jason “Mayhem” Miller has been under contract to the UFC for less than two days, and he already has a fight scheduled. That’s a far cry from his Strikeforce days, where Miller would go months without getting a single fight booked.

Miller will face tough wrestler Aaron Simpson at UFC 132 in July. HeavyMMA.com confirmed the news with sources close to the promotion on Saturday morning. The Miller/Simpson bout is expected to be a part of the night’s pay per view telecast.

Miller hasn’t fought loss an August victory over Kazushi Sakuraba in DREAM last year, and hasn’t competed in North America in just over one year, ever since his involvement in the famed Nashville brawl with members of the Cesar Gracie camp. Miller inked his new UFC contract late this week.

Simpson earned a unanimous decision over Mario Miranda in March, getting back on track after consecutive losses to Chris Leben and Mark Munoz.

UFC 132 is headlined by a UFC bantamweight title bout between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber.

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HeavyMMA.com writes that Vitor Belfort will return to the Octagon at UFC 133 when he faces Yoshihiro Akiyama.

Vitor Belfort will return to the Octagon for the first time since a stunning knockout loss to Anderson Silva in January when he faces Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133.

The event is scheduled for Aug. 6 in Philadelphia.

Silva used a front kick to the jaw to finish Belfort in their middleweight title fight in January. It was Belfort’s first fight in the UFC middleweight division after dismantling Rich Franklin in a catchweight bout in his return to the promotion.

Akiyama will look to put an end to a two-fight losing streak. He was scheduled to face Chael Sonnen in March, but Sonnen’s suspension by the UFC put an end to the bout. Nate Marquardt replaced Sonnen, but Akiyama was forced to pull out of that fight after the tragic earthquakes in Japan left him unable to travel.

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A light heavyweight rematch between Mauricio Rua and Forrest Griffin is set for Brazil this August at UFC 134 according to HeavyMMA.com.

A light heavyweight tilt rematch between Forrest Griffin and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is set for “UFC Rio.”

UFC president Dana White confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com earlier today.

The two first met back at UFC 76, the event where Rua made his debut with the promotion. The former PRIDE superstar failed to capitalize, however, as he was submitted by Griffin in what was one of the more improbable victories in the history of the UFC.

Since then, Griffin has earned and lost the 205 lb. title, while Rua has done the same. The Brazilian is coming off a technical knockout loss to Jon Jones which lost him the title, while Griffin is still on the road back with consecutive wins over Tito Ortiz and Rich Franklin.

“UFC Rio,” also known as UFC 134, is set for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 27 and features a middleweight title fight between champion Anderson Silva and top contender Yushin Okami.

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Yushin Okami, the last man to beat Anderson Silva, will finally get his shot at the title when he faces Silva again at UFC Rio according to HeavyMMA.com.

Yushin Okami was the last man to beat Anderson Silva. At “UFC Rio,” he’ll finally get his long-awaited crack at the middleweight title.

UFC President Dana White confirmed the bout with USA Today on Wednesday afternoon. The news puts an end to the idea that welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre will move up to challenge for Silva’s title.

Okami defeated Nate Marquardt in November to earn his shot at the middleweight title. He defeated Silva via disqualification back in 2006 when Silva used an illegal upkick at a Rumble on the Rock show. Silva is undefeated since that lone loss, while Okami has gone 12-3 in the same span.

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Spike TV officially announced the debut of “UFC Primetime: St. Pierre vs. Shields,” which begins this Wednesday on the cable network according to HeavyMMA.com.

Spike TV has announced that “UFC Primetime: St. Pierre vs. Shields” will debut this Wednesday night at midnight ET/PT.

The show – which will follow St. Pierre and Shields as they prepare for their UFC 129 bout in Toronto on April 30 – began production last weekend in San Diego. Primetime crews followed Shields around the city as he prepared to corner teammate Gilbert Melendez while attempting to find time to do his own training as well.

The full press release for the show can be found below:

New York, NY, April 11, 2011 – In anticipation of their world welterweight title clash at UFC® 129: ST-PIERRE vs. SHIELDS, UFC® champion Georges St-Pierre and challenger Jake Shields will be featured on UFC Primetime®, a weekly, three part series premiering Wednesday, April 13 at Midnight ET/PT on Spike TV.

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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

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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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