Evans replaces Rua for UFC 85
After an ACL tear sidelined Brazilian light heavy weight Marcio “Shogun” Rua, Ultimate Fighter Season 2 Champion Rashad Evans has stepped in to replace him for UFC 85. Evans fill face Chuck Liddell at the O2 Arena in London, England on June 7th.

Evans and Liddell are both coming of wins. Liddell came back from a two fight losing streak to defeat Wanderlai Silva in December. Evans won a three round decision against Micheal Bisping in November. The fight in June will be Evans' toughest test yet. Liddell has an impressive track record when it comes to wrestlers like Evans, stopping the likes of Renato Sobral, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz. Evans remains confident, working with the likes of coaches Greg Jackson and Keith Jardine. Jardine was Liddell's last loss, utilizing perfect leg kicks to chop down the former 205 pound champ.

Evans is 28-years-old, with a professional MMA record of 16-0 -1. Liddell is 10 years his senior at 38 and has a record of 21-5.

Elite XC signs deal with CBS
ProElite, inc. and the CBS television network have announced a multi year deal that will see four, two-hour events air per year. The first broadcast is rumoured to take place sometime between April and June of this year. CBS will be in charge of the promotion and production of the event, while ProElite will put the fight cards together.

Cro-Cop's first DREAM opponent announced
Croatian heavyweight Mirko “Cro-cop” Filipovic's return to Japan will see him face off against Pancrase veteran Tatsuya Mizuno. Cro-cop is coming off of back to back losses in the UFC against Gabriel Gonzaga and Chiek Kongo. The UFC released Cro-cop earlier this year, meaning a second stint in Japan for the former PRIDE superstar. Cro-cop has not fought in Japan since winning the PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix in 2006. His opponent, Mizuno, is coming off a TKO win against former Japanese pro-wrestler Masayuki Kono.

Silva sets his sights on Roy Jones Jr
After successfully defending his middleweight title earlier this month, Anderson Silva still remains vocal about his desire to box with legend Roy Jones Jr. Silva's manager, Ed Soares, confirmed this saying, “It's not just talk, we would really like to put this fight together.” Soares elaborated on Silva's desire to silence crarts. In an interview with Boxingscene.com's Mark Vester, Jones said, “UFC is the best fighting, the best, and that's what boxing has to do. If you are an ultimate fighter, you are going to fight someone who is going to fight. In UFC, if you lose to a good fighter, you lost, you still know you are good fighter, and you come back the next day and fight again. In boxing, if you lose that's it. You are done. I lose a few fights, they want to tell me I'm washed up and I don't have it no more.”

Although no formal negotiations have taken place to set this fight up, it is one that has both boxing and MMA fans salivating.