Change of destination as Harris vs Lineker re booked for UFC Fight Night 30

Phil Harris vs John Lineker set to battle as UFC returns to England

by Ben Heather @benheather

The UFC have re booked a flyweight battle between Phil Harris (22-10 MMA 1-1 UFC) and John Lineker (22-6 MMA 3-1 UFC) which was originally booked for UFC 163 which took place this past weekend in Rio, Brazil. Unfortunately Phil Harris had to pull out of the original fight due to a facial injury. The injury happened just over two weeks before the fight when he got caught while sparring and fractured his orbital bone.

John Lineker still fought at UFC 163, defeating Jose Maria Tome by TKO in the second round. He looked very impressive in the fight but all of that good work was undone the day before when at weigh ins he weighed in at 129lbs. This was the second time in four UFC fights that Lineker has missed weight.

However, now the UFC has re booked the original match up except for one big change.... this time Phil Harris now has home field advantage. He will be fighting in England in front of potentially 21,000 British fans instead of walking in to the lion den in Brazil. Today Kingdom MMA caught up with Phil who told us what it meant to be fighting in England now.

"Having this fight in the UK and not Brazil puts the ball in my court, no flights, different time zones different food and of course the home crowd support will all go along way in helping me get the win!"

Also, Harris has already spent nearly a full camp preparing for John Lineker but didn't get to put that training in to action and now by the time UFC Fight Night 30 he will have had another full camp and will be very motivated to get in to the octagon and prove to the world that not only can he beat John Lineker but also that he will prove he is one of the best flyweights in the world.

"Training for this fight twice makes me want the win even more, I'm so excited for this fight, Lineker is coming off 3 wins and he's stopped his last two opponents so beating him will cement my place in the world top 10."

Tickets for the event go on sale to Fight Club members at 10am on Monday 12th August, on the 16th August for the UFC Newsletter Presale and 10am on 19th August the tickets go on general sale. Tickets are priced from £75-£450.

Stay tuned to Kingdom MMA for all the latest news regarding the UFC's return to England.

UFC 163: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

My review of UFC 163

by Tommy Strong @strong_tea

UFC 163 came and went with a bit of a whimper with Jose Aldo retaining his UFC Featherweight belt for the fifth consecutive time at the HSBC Arena Rio de Janiero, Brazil,  and the co-main event seeing a somewhat controversial decision in the eyes of the fans and the fighter!!

Jose Aldo def. Chan Sung Jung (4th Rd TKO)
The Ugly

Jose Aldo proved once again why he is so formidable at 145lbs, Aldo pressed the action from the off, The Korean Zombie was hesitant in coming forward in a relentless fashion we are accustomed too and where he earn't his nickname.

Aldo made the most of this , landing strikes and taking Chan down and taking control of the first three rounds.

Going into the 4th, the Korean Zombie threw an overhand right to the head of Aldo which missed, leading to a dislocated shoulder, you could clearly see the pain Chan was in, and in the process tried to pop his shoulder back into its socket.

Having failed to do so, Aldo took the advantage straight away landing a kick to the damaged shoulder and jumped all over him, with little else to do but cover up under the barrage of strikes, Herb Dean called an end to the action.

Phil Davis def. Lyoto Machida (29-28 x 3)

The Bad: The Fight & Decision ? 

Im glad we don't see too many of these fights! It was a stinker. With so much on the line for both fighters it became a very cagey fight where both were hesitant to engage or force the action.
Machida was the more aggressive of the two, and was stealing the first two rounds until Davis managed take downs at the end of the first and second round, but doing little once down.

Going into the third Machida landed the better strikes and stuffing the take downs Davis was gunning for.

When the Judges came back with a majority decision , I think everyone expected a Machida win.

29-28 on all 3 judges score cards, Bruce Buffer announced the winner..................
Phil 'Mr. Wonderful' Davis!!!

Cezar Ferreira def. Thiago Santos (1st Rd Sub)

Blink and you would've missed this fight! Cezar wasted no time in hunting down Santos landing a left hook which staggered Santos. Cezar could smell the blood and went in for the kill, sinking in a guillotine choke forcing Santos to tap after just 47 second into the first round.

Thales Leites def. Tom Watson (29-27 x 3)

Leites made his return to the UFC since being released in 2009, looking very impressive against Watson. Controlling the fight from the first bell, showing superior grappling and wrestling skills to control Watson and taking him to the mat at will and keeping him down.

Landing heavy damage throughout the first and second round, Watson had little success until the they got back on their feet.

Watson landed some good strikes when Leites was tired at the end of the second and third round, but it wasn't enough to earn a round let alone a win.

John Linekar def. Jose Maria  (2nd Rd TKO)

If Linekar carries on to miss weight he will either be forced to moved back up to Bantamweight or see himself in deep trouble with the UFC. Having missed weight by 4lbs on Friday its the second time in his last four fights he's failed to miss weight!

Maria look very tentative on his UFC debut with Linekar walking him down looking to land a right hand to finish the fight early. Though it was Maria that started well, landing a wonder spinning backfist that landed flush on Linekar who was on wobbly legs, Maria sensed Linekar was in trouble and landed some heavy shots which saw him in serious trouble.

Linekar managed to survive the first round , into the second Maria started the stronger and faster of the two until he throw a leg kick which seemed to hurt himself. Linekar pounced on the opportunity handed to him and landed some heavy shots to Maria, forcing the ref to stop the fight.

The Good:

With Joe Rogan away with prior arrangements, ex UFC Middleweight Brian Stann stepped up to take his place. With some concern of how the relationship between Goldberg and Stann would work, I was assured after a few minutes he would be a great replacement.

I was very impressed of how informative Stann was, he came across very well without all the excitement of Rogan at key times. As much as I enjoy Rogan and Goldberg, I wouldn't mind seeing more of Stann in future events! Bravo UFC, good call.

Fighter vs Writer: UFC's Mike Wilkinson predicts UFC 163 (The Results)

Fighter vs Writer: UFC's Mike Wilkinson predicts UFC 163 (The Results)

by Ben Heather @benheather

On Saturday night Mike Wilkinson stepped in to the hot seat to challenge Kingdom MMA in the latest Fighter vs Writer feature.

This week we put forward our very own predictions Guru (we hoped) Tommy Strong and hoped he could follow in my footsteps and get the win after the past two events. At UFC 161 Chris was beaten by Jim Alers and then last time out Jack drew with Phil Harris. So it was about time that we got back to winning ways.

Below you will be able to see the results as the fights happened. It was a closely contested battle and Mike certainly proved to be a respectable opponent for Tommy.

The Scoring

If you predict the correct winner of the fight you will get one point and if you predict the correct method of victory you will get an extra point. However, if the fight ends in a stoppage and you predict the round as well the method you could earn a third bonus point. If the fight goes the distance you can only earn a maximum of two points.

UFC 163 Results

John Lineker Def. Jose Maria by TKO RD2

• Mike Wilkinson: Tome by Decision - Score 0
• Tommy Strong: Lineker by Decision - Score 1

Score after the 1st fight: Mike Wilkinson - 0 Tommy Strong - 1

Thales Leites Def. Tom Watson by Decision

• Mike Wilkinson: Watson by Decision - Score 0
• Tommy Strong: Watson by Decision - Score 0

Score after the 2nd fight: Mike Wilkinson - 0 Tommy Strong - 1

Cezar Ferreira Def. Thiago Santos by Sub RD1

• Mike Wilkinson: Ferreira by TKO - Score 1
• Tommy Strong: Ferreira by TKO Rd 1 - Score 1

Score after the 3rd fight: Mike Wilkinson - 1 Tommy Strong - 2

Phil Davis Def. Lyoto Machida by Decision

• Mike Wilkinson: Machida by Decision - Score 0
• Tommy Strong: Davis by Split Decision - Score 1

Score after the 4th fight: Mike Wilkinson - 1 Tommy Strong - 3

Jose Aldo Def. Korean Zombie by TKO RD4

• Mike Wilkinson: Aldo by TKO Rd 3 - Score 2
• Tommy Strong: Aldo by TKO Rd 2 - Score 2

Score after the 5th fight: Mike Wilkinson - 3 Tommy Strong - 5

FINAL SCORE MIKE WILKINSON - 3 TOMMY STRONG - 5

Kingdom MMA would like to thank Mike Wilkinson once again for his participation in Fighter vs Writer. For more on Mike Wilkinson, check out and follow Mike on Twitter - @M_WilkinsonMMA

Fighter vs Writer - UFC 163 Main Card Picks Challenge - Mike Wilkinson vs Tommy Strong

UFC Fighter Mike Wilkinson challenges Kingdom MMA in a picks challenge

by Tommy Strong @Strong_tea

Welcome to another Kingdom MMA fighter vs writer challenge.

For this challenge we challenge some of the big names from the world of MMA to give us their picks and fight outcomes for specific MMA events. Then they will be challenged by one of our writers, who will make their own predictions. Previously we have challenged the likes of Luke Barnatt, Jim Alers and Phil Harris. Last time out at UFC 162 Phil Harris managed to draw with our very own Jack. Leaving Jim Alers the only fighter to beat one of our Kingdom MMA writers.

For this event I will be challenging Mike Wilkinson, who fought on the last UFC event in Brazil. Unfortunately for Mike it didn't end how we all wanted at UFC on Fuel TV 10 and resulted in the first loss of his career. Hopefully we will see Mike back in the octagon soon where he can get back to winning ways. As yet Mike does not have a fight lined up but I am sure it is only a matter of time before something gets announced.

The Scoring

If you predict the correct winner of the fight you will get one point and if you predict the correct method of victory you will get an extra point. However, if the fight ends in a stoppage and you predict the round as well the method you could earn a third bonus point. If the fight goes the distance you can only earn a maximum of two points.

The predictions:

Main Event: Jose Aldo vs Jung Chan Sung

Wilkinson: The zombie has been looking good in his last fights but I don't think he is able to beat Aldo at this stage in Aldo's career.

Prediction: Aldo by TKO Round 3 

Tommy: I see this being a formality for Aldo, even though Jung looked great against Dustin Poirier in May '12, i think Aldo will be too big and too strong for the Korean Zombie. I just can't see anyway Aldo losses unless its by DQ or... actually or nothing! Aldo doesn't lose this.

Prediction: Aldo by TKO Round 2

Lyoto Machida vs Phil Davis

Wilkinson: Machida has come back with a vengeance since his loss to Jones even though I like Davis and his style I don't think he is going to match Machida's stand up.
Prediction: Machida by Decision

Tommy: Im torn between these two fighters, I keep changing my mind on who wins. It really is a toss up. I know Machida is a big favourite, though my head and heart are telling me Davis wins. That probably means I should pick Machida! But I am going for the upset.

Prediction: Davis by Split Decision

Cezar Ferreira vs Thiago Santos

Wilkinson: Cezar has had a big lay off but won the TUF Brazil and is probably looking to win in style.

Prediction: Cezar by TKO

Tommy: Both fighters have not fought for a year, I can't confess to know much about Santos. Though I'm going for Cezar to win.
Prediction: Cezar by TKO Round 1

Thales Leites vs Tom Watson

Wilkinson: Leites is coming back from a lengthy lay off, his last fight in the UFC was in 2009 and he has not fought in over a year. Watson looked good in his last fight in the UK with a win and a bonus.
 
Prediction: Watson by Decision 

Tommy: Leites hasn't fought for the UFC since 2009 but has won his last 3 fights. Watson showed great heart against Nedkov from the brink of defeat to knocking out Nedkov in an epic fight that will be a contender for fight of the year. Though there are two sides to Watson, if he turns up like he did against Brad Tavares he losses, if like he did against Nedkov I see him winning.
Prediction: Watson by Decision

John Lineker vs Jose Tome

Wilkinson: Tome's first fight in the UFC and he is the underdog but being Brazilian and fighting in his home town comes in his favour.

Prediction: Tome by Decision 

Tommy: Having the advantage of picking after the weigh ins, Lineker missed weight by 3lbs. It will be interesting to see whether this will have any effect on him come tomorrow night.

Tome could be a real handful for Lineker though with his style and having home advantage he could pull of an upset here. With that in mind I'm still backing Lineker to grind out a win.
Prediction: Lineker by Unanimous Decision

So that's our predictions for the fights, we will be live tweeting on Saturday night as always and we will keep you all informed as to how the challenge is going with latest scores throughout the main card.

Thanks again to Mike for providing us with his picks for this weekends fights and it just leaves me to say.... May the best man win!!

UFC 163 - UK Betting Odds

UFC 163 - UK Betting Odds

With UFC 163 approaching at a rapid pace, we team up with partners William Hill to bring those who fancy a little flutter the latest clear cut, betting odds - Good Luck, and don't miss out on your free £25 bet below!

Preliminary Card
1/10 Rani Yahya v Josh Clopton 6/1
4/7 Viscardi Andrade v Bristol Marunde 11/8
4/5 Ednaldo Oliveira v Francimar Barroso EVS
1/4 Ian McCall v Iliarde Santos 3/1
3/10 Vinicius Magalhaes v Anthony Perosh 5/2
1/4 Amanda Nunes v Sheila Gaff 3/1
4/5 Sergio Moraes v Neil Magny EVS

Main Card
2/9 John Lineker v Jose Tome 16/5
4/5 Thales Leites v Tom Watson EVS 
1/4 Cezar Ferreira v Thiago Santos 3/1
2/7 Lyoto Machida v Phil Davis 13/5 
1/7 Jose Aldo v Chan Sung Jung 9/2  

* Blue denotes The Favourite

Tom "Kong" Watson "a win is not enough, I need to go in there and knock him out" at UFC 163 against Thales Leites

Kingdom MMA chat to Tom "Kong" Watson ahead of his fight at UFC 163

by Ben Heather @benheather

In the early hours of Friday morning Kingdom MMA caught up with Tom Watson. We discussed everything from his last fight, his next fight at UFC 163 in Brazil next Saturday, his recent run in on twitter with Michael Bisping, twitter trolls and even his opinion on whether Suarez will stay at Liverpool.

Next Saturday at UFC 163 live from the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil "Kong" will be fighting former UFC Middleweight contender Thales Leites. He will aim to try and make it back to back wins for the first time in his UFC career. Kong made his debut in the UFC in September 2012 where he lost a split decision against Brad Tavares but in Nottingham. That performance was then forgotten about as Kong won for the first time in the UFC by knocking out Stanislav Nedkov in the second round.

Ben: Last time out you were in the fight which in my opinion is the fight of the year so far. Do you feel extra pressure coming off a great performance?
Watson: Not really, that's how i try to go out there and fight every time. I think the fight before that against Tavares was a good fight but I think that went under the radar a little bit because it was a loss. I think the Ninja fight before that was a good fight, the Marshman one similar back to fighting in Cage Rage and MFC. I just think I am always in those type of fights really.

Ben: The atmosphere in Wembley for that fight was incredible I have never been in a crowd and heard the crowd like as loud as it was for that fight. Did you notice it at all and if so did it spur you on in to the second round and ultimately to get the win?
Watson: Yeah I did notice it and I don't usually notice the crowd that much. Obviously I have fought at Wembley before and headlined but I didn't really expect that much noise on the prelims. Even the atmosphere at the weigh ins i think it was a pretty loud reception at the weigh ins for that fight. I wouldn't say it necessarily spurred me on, you hear the noise but I don't get that caught up in to it. But it definitely makes it more exciting to be able to compete in that sort of atmosphere.

Ben: Like you have said before you like to put on exciting fights do you aim to be known as an exciting fighter? Is that important to you?
Watson: Yeah that's the main thing to me really. I think a lot of people get too carried away about it all, I see a lot of fighters come out and say this is my job and its better for me to win blah blah blah but not necessarily be exciting. I disagree I was a fan of the fight game before I ever fought and went to a lot of events and its pretty expensive to go to. I have a lot of friends and family that go to them and its not just the ticket prices that are expensive but the whole occasion going down there, most people stay down there and if you don't put on an exciting fight is it worth spending that money. So if I can put on those kind of fights its what I want to do.

Ben: Would you rather be in an exciting fight and possibly lose or a boring fight which you can guarantee a win?
Watson: I have said that before I came to the UFC, but the UFC put so much emphasis on winning that its difficult but I would still probably be in a much more exciting fight to be honest. For me its not really about doing this for the money, its not really about any of that. Its about enjoyment and if its a boring fight i don't really enjoy it so I would sooner enjoy the fight myself.

Ben: How has the camp gone for this fight?
Watson: Its gone pretty well, obviously for every fight you have a few injuries I think if you don't then you haven't really had that good a camp. If you come in 100% fresh then your just gonna get knocks. Ive probably had a 10 week camp for it so its been as good as can be expected. Its going to be a tougher fight and I'm excited to be going to Brazil and fight there in front of a reasonably hostile crowd I think with me fighting a guy from Brazil. I just need to lose the weight and I will be ready to go.

Ben: Where have you done your camp for this fight?
Watson: I have been in California at Mark Munoz's gym. I was helping him a lot for his fight with Tim Boetsch and there is a lot of guys out here. Chael Sonnen has just come out here in the last week. There is a lot of good wrestlers for me to work with out here.

Ben: Leites has won most of his fights by submission have you focused on your take down defence and your ground game for this fight?
Watson: Yeah obviously that's his speciality, he is super dangerous on the ground so he is not just a good grappler he finishes. Most of his wins he has actually submitted his opponent and finished them so obviously I need to focus on that. The longer you fight, the longer you're in the sport I have had a lot of fights where I have thought this guy is going to do this so I need to do that but then you get in to the fight and he does something else so really I train mostly the same for most fights now. A lot of striking, a lot of wrestling, a lot of grappling it doesn't really change for any fight really.

Ben: Do you think you can be the first person to knock out Leites? Anderson Silva couldn't do it, can you?
Watson: Yeah that's my intention. Obviously Anderson fought him over 5 rounds, it wasn't a great fight but he didn't finish him. He has fought some good names and I don't really think its enough for me to go in there and just win the fight. I need to go in there and knock him out and I see it happening. I know if I catch him at some point in the fight he is going to go to sleep.

Ben: How do you feel going to fight in Brazil? In front of a very partisan crowd.
Watson: I have fought in Canada against people and I think my mind is pretty good and I am not bothered by that kind of thing but it will be a loud crowd but I would sooner fight in front of 200-300,000 people than 5 so the more people the better.

Ben: You touched upon fighting in Canada there, the last time you travelled to fight a foreign fighter in his home country was against Travis Galbraith and you got possibly the best knockout of your career, would you say you thrive on the pressure of being the foreign fighter? (For those who haven't seen that fight the link is here and its well worth a watch)
Watson: Well I don't really think it makes that much difference in my experience by the time you get there. When you fight in the UFC the fighters generally get the same hotel and the same kind of schedule so although you are in Brazil your still really in a sort of bubble with the UFC. Your in that media circle or at the hotel, I'm not really going to see a lot of Brazil. The only real difference is obviously there is going to be a huge crowd who isn't really supporting me. So as long as its loud it gets me excited so we will see what happens, I'm pretty excited by it.

Ben: Having been in that fight can you draw any comparisons for what you are expecting from the crowd next weekend in Brazil?
Watson: Well the fight in Canada was a similar thing, when I fought the guy everybody was really against me and then because the fight was a pretty exciting ending and a good finish the crowd kinda took to me. They didn't really know what to make to the entrance, I don't know what Brazil will think to that either. I think Brazil just like to watch a fight so if its a good fight I put on, the type of fights I usually put on then they will appreciate that. As far as the world goes I think they are right up there with one of the biggest of the fight community.

Ben: When do you leave for Brazil?
Watson: I fly out of California on Monday and I get to Brazil on Tuesday so five days before the fight.

Ben: Recently you gave an interview and mentioned Michael Bisping's name. He seems to have taken offense to it and went on twitter to tell you not to use his name to try get ahead in your career. Do you think it has all been blown out of proportion?
Watson: Well I don't really know what happened, to be honest they asked me about Leites saying is it an easy fight and all I said was he has fought for the title. If you take Bisping for example the guys he has fought who have fought for the title he has never beaten any of them so that was just referencing the fact that how can it be an easy fight if the guy has fought for the Middleweight title. Bisping obviously didn't like it. Whatever, doesn't really bother me you know nobody can obviously mention his name. Its not allowed you need approval from him first, so whatever he wants to go on about it doesn't really bother me. 

Ben: After Bisping sent the tweet to you it seemed every troll on twitter was tweeting you, did you have fun reading the messages as some of the comments you replied with were brilliant.
Watson: Yeah its just because half the people on twitter I swear they don't want to be abusive but that's there way to get a response. I think that they think that if they say something normal they wont get a response so mostly I go and look at peoples timelines and if they are just abusing everybody then I don't really respond to them but if its just specific abuse to me then I find it quite funny so I enjoy that type of thing. I don't really get wound up by it so it makes a bit of a laugh to my day to be honest.

Ben: Lastly, I believe you are a Liverpool fan. Do you think Luis Suarez has played his last game for Liverpool?
Watson: You know what, I think he probably has. I hope he hasn't, you know obviously he has had a few problems at the club but really if you ask me what they would have done over the past couple of seasons without him I don't really think it would have been a lot so I think they will really struggle if he leaves. They got a lot of really good younger players coming through I have been talking about Sterling since he was about 16 but in pre season they got another couple of youngsters who look pretty good. I don't really like it when players leave all the time I think it takes a few years so hopefully on that basis I hope he stays.

 Kingdom MMA would like to thank Tom for his time and all of us at the site will be cheering Tom on in Brazil.

Phil Harris out of UFC 163

Phil Harris is the latest fighter to pull out of a fight due to an injury

by Jack Broadey @J3cK_b

Phil Harris will miss out on his big opportunity of facing John Lineker in Lineker's home country of Brazil on the main card of ufc 163. The British flyweight was caught in sparring preparing for the fight and has unfortunately fractured his orbital bone.

Harris made his UFC debut in October unfortunately he was submitted in the second round of that fight. That loss snapped a five fight win streak but he got back to winning ways when the UFC returned to the UK in February as he beat Ulysses Gomez.

Lineker will now fight Jose Maria Tome, who he defeated in 2009. Will this fight also finish via a first round submission victory or will Tome pull off the upset.... we will find out at UFC 163.

Josh Samman and Clint Hester injured and pulled from their fights

TUF17 fighters are the latest to pull out of fights due to injury

by Tommy Strong @Strong_tea

Ultimate Fighter 17 runner up Uriah Hall will now face his third change in opponent come UFC fight night in Boston on August 17th 2013. After his latest opponent and former TUF cast mate Josh Samman, had to withdraw from the fight. 

Uriah was originally scheduled to fight Nick Ring in Boston, but Ring was forced to pull out due to social security number issues. Josh Samman stepped forward in the fight which we all hoped to see on the ultimate fighter. Samman has now been forced to pull out due to an injury.

Uriah Hall will now face Boston's very own, John "Doomsday" Howard the UFC have re-signed Howard, after releasing him back in 2011 having lost 3 fights in a row at Welterweight to Jake Ellenberger, Thiago Alves and Matt Brown. Since his release, Howard decided to move back up to Middleweight and went on to a (6-1) record and in the process winning the CES Middleweight title and successfully defending it four times.

Another TUF 17 contestant Clint Hester has been forced to pull out with his bout with Cezar Ferreira (5-2) which was scheduled for UFC 163 on August 3rd which is being headlined by Jose Aldo vs Chan Sung Jung. 

Clint (8-3) defeated Bristol Marunde via KO in his debut fight, which was at the TUF 17 final. Ferreira who won the 'TUF' Brazil middleweight tournament defeated Sergio Moraes in the final via unanimous decision at UFC 143 in June 2012. But hasn't fought since.

He will now be facing Thiago "Marreta" Santos. Thiago will be making his debut within the UFC after appearing on the ultimate fighter Brazil 2 series, making the quarter finals before losing via UD to Leonardo Santos.

More Injuries to UFC 163 card

The UFC 163 injury bug strikes again

by Jack Broadey @J3cK_b

After Anthony Pettis had been forced out of the main event the Brazilian fans could be excused for cursing there luck. They will be doing so again this week after the cancellation of the Maia-Koscheck fight. 

Josh Koscheck has been forced to pull out of the fight with an injury and the UFC wont be looking for a replacement as Maia has also been pulled from the card. I am not sure if this means the injury is not a serious one and the fight could be rescheduled in the next few events but all we know is it will not be taking place next weekend in Brazil.

Maia has recently turned his career around after dropping down to welterweight and a win over Koscheck could have really helped push him in to title contention.

UFC officials announced the news on Friday, but no further details about the nature of the injury were provided.

Lyoto Machida returns to Brazil to fight Phil Davis at UFC 163

Machida v Davis added to UFC 163

by Jack Broadey @J3cK_b

UFC 163 has its co main event. It came as a little bit of a surprise as Machida was expected to fight for the title. That could mean Jon Jones foot injury will put him out longer than first expected or it could simply be Machida has been passed over for a title shot.

With a win over Davis he can't be passed over again so he now knows what he needs to do. He edged out Dan Henderson last time in a fight of little action. So this time out on home turf fans will hope this is a little faster paced.

Davis comes in to the fight off the back of a relatively dominant decision win over Vinny Magalhaes. He was never in any danger at any point to the BJJ expert and will be hoping to nullify Machida's stand up game as well.

UFC 163 takes place in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on 3rd August. The event will mark the start of the the new UK tv deal with BT Sport.

Koscheck vs Maia rumoured for UFC 163

Josh Koscheck vs Demian Maia set for UFC 163

 by Tommy Strong @Strong_tea

Demian Maia vs Josh Koshcheck is reported to be taking place on August 3rd at UFC 163 in Brazil.

This Welterweight battle may come as a surprise to some considering that Koshcheck (17-7) will be coming into the fight on the back of 2 losses, admittedly a very close decision loss to the number 1 contender Johnny Hendricks and a 1st round TKO to Robbie Lawler at UFC 157.

Maia (18-4) on the other hand is on a 3 fight winning streak since dropping from Middleweight (185 lbs) down to Welterweight (170 lbs) last July. With wins over Dong Hyun Kim, Rick Story and a dominating performance over the recently released Jon Fitch at UFC 156. Maia is currently ranked number 5 in the UFC official rankings. With Koscheck ranked at number 10 in the division.

A win for Maia over the very tough Koscheck would certainly put him in the mix for number 1 contender. What would another loss for Josh Koscheck do, where would that leave his future?...

UFC 163 will be headlined by the highly anticipated featherweight title fight Jose Aldo vs Anthony Pettis.