Speculation has been running rampant for several weeks over reports that Chuck Liddell would face Rich Franklin at UFC 115 instead of original opponent and opposing coach from the current season of "The Ultimate Fighter" Tito Ortiz. MMAWeekly.com initially reported the rumored bout on March 13. The UFC has on Monday confirmed those rumors announcing Liddell will indeed face Franklin on June 12 in Vancouver for the main event of UFC 115. The story surfaced after Ortiz had suffered injuries during training that would prevent him from fighting in the bout against Liddell in June, and it was former middleweight champion Rich Franklin that would step in to replace him. The UFC denied the initial reports and stood ...

As he hinted after suffering a split decision loss to Gray Maynard at UFN 20 earlier this month, it looks like Nate Diaz (6-3 UFC) will indeed make move up to the welterweight division. Diaz's first test at 170 lbs will come against Miletich-trained striker Rory Markham (1-1 UFC) who hasn't seen action in over a year due to nagging injuries which also forced him out of a UFC 108 fight with Martin Kampmann. The report comes from MMA Junkie: It didn't take long for Nate Diaz to get the phone call.      Diaz has stated that the cut to 155 is rough for him, and he'd at least like to ...