So, perennial problem child Melvin Guillard may truly be turning the corner. After saying all the right things following his split decision victory over Gleison Tibua, he was rewarded with a main event fight opposite Nate Diaz at UFC Fight Night 19.

Continuing on his new path of maturity, Guillard is now auctioning off the trunks he wore in his bout with Tibau. The proceeds are going to a local Houston charity. If Guillard can keep his head on straight, he'd be quite the reclamation project.

You can visit the ebay auction via this link.

The shuffling of Heavyweight matchups at UFC 102 is finally complete. Junior Dos Santos has been removed entirely from the UFC 102 fight card. He's rumored to be facing Mirko Cro Cop or Heath Herring at UFC 103, where he will have a chance to fight on the main card rather than be buried on the stacked UFC 102. With Justin McCully needing an opponent, Mike Russow has agreed to face him.

Justin McCully has dealt with injuries for most of his UFC career. Most fans recall McCully getting submitted in the first round by Gabriel Gonzaga, but besides that loss, McCully has more or less held his own with strikers Antoni Hardonk and Eddie Sanchez. McCully was preparing himself for the dangerous Dos Santos, but can now focus more on his grappling, rather than striking for his fight with Russow.

Russow's signing with the UFC flew under the radar, but he was once considered a top prospect a couple years ago. His biggest fight to date was a loss to Sergei Kharitonov in PRIDE, but that's his only career loss. Russow usually weighs in at 265 and he should attempt to exploit his strength advantage over McCully. It's likely that Russow will test the water standing with McCully, but be prepared to see this fight hit the ground. Though McCully's strength is jiu-jitsu, Russow possesses strong submission skills himself. It should be an entertaining undercard fight, despite the loss of contender Junior Dos Santos.

What's becoming a regular occurrence, Todd Duffee's opponent has changed again. Yet, this time Duffee may be pleased with the change, considering he won't have to face Mike Russow. Duffee has now drawn Tim Hague, who despite debuting successfully, seemed less than impressive on his feet. Duffee is not a renowned striker himself, yet Hague does not have the pedigree that Russow possesses.

Tim Hague was the underdog coming into UFC 95, against striker Pat Barry. During the first few moments of the fight, Hague was hurt badly via strikes, but he somehow weathered the storm and was able to submit Barry in front of a stunned audience. Hague is a bigger heavyweight who is used to being the stronger fighter, yet he won't have that advantage once he steps into the octagon with Todd Duffee.

Duffee is a beast, pure and simple. He challenges the 265 weight limit for the division and he's as rock-solid as they come. Duffee uses that size and strength to completely overwhelm his opponents. His last fight before signing with the UFC showed his quick development and future potential. In that fight, Duffee dominated a seasoned veteran in Assuerio Silva finishing him in the very first round. Duffee has previously acknowledged, that he's a bit surprised the UFC came calling so soon, considering Duffee's only registered a 4-0 record in MMA. Yet, the UFC has been hitting gold as far as signing new Heavyweight talent. It's also a testament to Duffee that the UFC didn't just cast him on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter. Though Duffee could have developed his skills there, the UFC thought he was ready for the big show. Duffee trains out of the much-respected American Top Team.

Ryan Jensen and newcomer Steve Steinbeiss will face-off at Fight Night 19, after their first fight was cancelled due to Jensen using Adderall.

Ryan Jensen may be winless in his 3 UFC bouts, but he had a strong showing in his last bout, nearly defeating Wilson Gouveia. Jensen seems to be getting more confident with each fight and will have a golden opportunity to pick up his first octagon victory. Jensen's only career losses are to top competition: Gouveia, Demian Maia, Thales Leites, Joey Villasenor, and Brock Larson. Jensen has solid grappling skills and has started to become more aggressive.

Steve Steinbeiss is one of the transfers from the WEC. He also fights out of the same Arizona camp as Ryan Bader and C.B. Dollaway. Steinbeiss has struggled with veteran competition. He lost his last bout in the WEC to Carmelo Marrero via split decision. Steinbeiss was competing at 205 in the WEC, but will make the cut to 185.


source: mmaweekly