EDGAR AND HENDERSON TO REMATCH IN SUMMER

Lightweights Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson will rematch for the UFC 155lb title this summer. The date and location of the bout were not available at the time of going to press. Champion Henderson will look to retain his title against Edgar, the man he won the belt from in a close and thrilling five-round decision back in February at UFC 144 in Tokyo, Japan.

Challenger Edgar was one of the the first to confirm the news via his Twitter account, stating: “Rematch anyone? It’s on! Thanks to @danawhite @lorenzofertitta. Me and Henderson 2. Here we go!” The last WEC lightweight champion, Anthony Pettis, had been linked to an opportunity at Henderson’s belt following his UFC 144 knockout of Joe Lauzon, setting up a rematch of their exciting WEC 53 tilt from 2010, but instead it was Edgar who received the nod.

ORTIZ TO RETIRE AGAINST GRIFFIN, BISPING MATCHES BOETSCH, FRANKLIN FACES LE AT UFC 148 IN VEGAS

Former UFC light heavyweight champions Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin will complete their trilogy at UFC 148 over Independence Day weekend in Las Vegas. The fight will also serve as Tito Ortiz’s farewell fight, ‘The People’s Champ’ having previously indicated he will bow out of mixed martial arts competition win or lose. Griffin, meanwhile, will be looking to erase the memory of a 1:53 knockout loss at the hands of ‘Shogun’ Rua at UFC 134 in Rio during August of last year.

Elsewhere on the card, headlined by the clash between Ultimate Fighter coaches Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz, top UFC middleweight Michael Bisping will meet resurgent Tim Boetsch and former champions Rich Franklin and Cung Le face off. Bisping last fought to a debated unanimous decision loss against now-number-one contender Chael Sonnen, while Boetsch will want to retain the momentum gained from TKO’ing former Anderson Silva challenger Yushin Okami in the third round at UFC 144 after being dominated for 10 minutes.

Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin returns to 185lb after a stint at 205lb to compete with former Strikeforce middleweight king and san shou expert Cung Le, whose last UFC bout saw him suffer a TKO loss to Wanderlei Silva.

LORENZO FERTITTA SAYS UFC COULD FOSTER WOMEN’S LEAGUE

Women’s mixed martial arts has received a vote of confidence from UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta who’s stated UFC matchmakers could develop a women’s league. UFC president Dana White has repeatedly said the world’s largest promotion was unlikely to form a women’s division due to a lack of high-caliber fighters, and while Fertitta agrees, he believes that’s changing. “This might sound a little self-serving, but we’ve never been in the women’s game, so we’ve never had our matchmakers do this,” said Fertitta to MMA Fighting. “Let Joe Silva and Sean Shelby develop a women’s league. I guarantee you they can do it. They’re that good.” Fertitta cited the recent high-profile and much-talked-bout Strikeforce main event between Miesha Tate and new women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey as an example of how much interest the female arm of the sport can generate, and how successful it can be. Fertitta added: “I think that there’s enough great athletes out there and when you see the stature, the celebrity, the money that these girls are now starting to make, I think you’re going to see more women rise to the occasion and want to become professional athletes and compete. So I’m kind of positive on the whole thing.”

MCCALL AND JOHNSON REMATCH FOR 125LB GP FINAL SLOT

UFC flyweights Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall will go to a fourth round after all, albeit as part of a rematch scheduled for three rounds. The bout, due to take place on the UFC on FX 3 bill set for June 8th, will decide the last finalist in the UFC’s four-man tournament to crown the promotion’s first 125lb king. Their first clash, in Australia in March, could have lead to the first sudden-victory fourth round in UFC history had one judge’s 10-8 third-round been correctly transcribed onto the scorecard tally sheet. Instead it was marked as 10-9, announcing Johnson as the majority decision victor when instead it had been scored a majority draw.

ROGER GRACIE DROPS TO 185LB, JOINS BLACK HOUSE MANAGEMENT

Promising 4-1 Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Roger Gracie will drop down from Strikeforce’s 205lb division to middleweight. The grappling hero is 2-1 under the Strikeforce banner after picking up submissions over Kevin Randleman and Trevor Prangley, but suffering a first-round knockout to ‘King Mo’ Lawal. The multi-time BJJ world champion and ADCC champ has also signed with the Ed Soares-led Black House management team, responsible for former UFC 205lb champ Lyoto Machida, the Nogueira brothers and the Western profile of middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

88

The world’s oldest UFC fan is 88-year-old Sam Chinkes of Las Vegas, estimates UFC.com.

The UFC will stage the long-awaited rematch for the middleweight title between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen at the Estadio Olimpico in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which could be configured to seat 80,000 people.

19

Brazilian fighter George Clay has the longest active fighting career in mixed martial arts at 19 years, according to FightMatrix.

10-15

Pat Curran said he believed the referee for his Bellator featherweight title win over Joe Warren at Bellator 60 could have stopped his TKO onslaught of Warren 10 to 15 seconds earlier.

WHAT'S HOT. . .

The flyweights: We told you they’d bring it, all the way back in the November 2011 issue.

TUF live: Mind games and finishes, all live. What’s not to like?

Benson Henderson: It’s hard not to be impressed with the indomitable THFE cover star and UFC lightweight champ

. . .WHAT'S NOT

No UFC bouts for Renzo Gracie? One more match! One more match!

Jose Canseco: We’re not sure his idea for a four-man tourney consisting of him, Mike Tyson, Shaquille O’Neal and Herschel Walker is a good one

Jon Fitch’s beard: Recently, UFC welterweight, Jon Fitch posted a picture of his ever-changing facial hair, finishing with a moustache that would make Tom Selleck rejoice. Cringe.