Fight Coverage: Top Headlines Of The Week (October 22nd-29th)

Although the Ultimate Fighting Champion (UFC) nor Strikeforce held events over the past week, there has been no shortage of news to keep mixed martial arts fans talking after the shocking passing of one of the sport’s most significant behind-the-scenes figured in Jeff Blatnick.

If you have been living under a rock and happened to miss any of them, here are the top headlines from October 22nd – October 29th.

  • Olympic gold medalist, former UFC commentator, commissioner and MMA judge Jeff Blatnick passed away at the age of 55 after complications arose in a heart surgery.

  • Junior dos Santos conducted an interview with ESPN where he predicted he will defeat Cain Velasquez by second-round knockout at UFC 155 on Dec. 29.

  • Rashad Evans will make his return to the Octagon at UFC 157 in February against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

  • Alistair Overeem believes Cain Velasquez will defeat Junior dos Santos to become UFC heavyweight champion at UFC 155.

  • UFC welterweight Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson withdrew from his UFC 154 bout against Besam Yousef due to a knee injury.

  • UFC President Dana White said female MMA is “absolutely” coming to the UFC whether it’s one day or one year from now.

  • Quinton “Rampage” Jackson said on Inside MMA Chael Sonnen is “ruining” the sport of MMA. Sonnen responded to the comments via Twitter the next day.

  • Episode seven of “The Ultimate Fighter 16” aired Friday night on FX. Team Nelson’s Michael defeated Team Carwin’s Matt Secor in the sixth welterweight elimination fight of the season to tie the competition at three wins for each team. For complete results from episode 7 of “TUF: 16”, click here.

  • As usual, ZUFFA officials unveiled a slew of fight announcements for future events over the past week. For the latest on all upcoming UFC cards, check the rumors section.

This article was written by Mike Bohn, founder and lead writer of FightCove.com. You can follow Mike on Twitter at @MikeBohnMMA. Also, be sure to follow @FightCove on Twitter and “Like” Fight Cove on Facebook.

Posted by Mike Bohn | News