ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Gracie Barra New Mexico Professor Quinn Mulhern (18-2) will make his Ultimate Fighting Championships debut at UFC 158 on March 16 in Montréal, Québec against Rick “The Horror” Story (14-6). Mulhern, who replaces injured Sean Pierson, takes a three-fight win streak in to the Octagon and has won 10 out of his last 11 fights. While his numbers were impressive, Mulhern was not on the official list of fighters to survive Strikeforce’s collapse, but was sure that the call could come at any moment.

“I had been waiting for that call,” said Mulhern. “When Strikeforce dissolved I had a sense that I would make it to the UFC but nothing was for sure. I had the feeling that I would be filling in for an injured fighter. Thankfully it was six weeks out when they gave me the call.”

Not knowing who or when you’re going to fight is a fighter’s dilemma that haunts the dreams of fighters on the rise. Mulhern stayed patient, stayed hungry and most importantly, stayed in shape.

“The thing that’s nice about this camp is I came in, in really good shape,” said, Mulhern. “Part of the reason was, I never stopped training hard. I’ve been dedicated to the training and I’ve been training really hard at Jackson’s and Gracie Barra. Now I have an opponent and I can focus on that. I’m not celebrating yet. I’ve got to beat this guy and I’ve got to win this fight.”

Mulhern moved to Albuquerque, N.M. from his home just an hour north in Santa Fe, N.M. to train full-time at one of the most renowned gyms in the nation, Jackson’s MMA.

“Since my fight with Jorge Santiago got cancelled last September,” he said. “I was just trying to live my life so it was sustainable without fighting. I stayed focused so I wouldn’t get caught off guard. There was never a guarantee it would happen but it’s been fun exploring a new town. I tried to come here and build friendships and connections to help get myself better.”

The UFC’s welterweight division is arguably one of its toughest divisions with the likes of Champion Georges St. Pierre, Nick Diaz, former World Champion Carlos “the Natural Born Killer” Condit, Johny Hendricks, Rory McDonald and the list goes on. Mulhern’s first test is against Story, who is an 11-fight vet of the UFC going 7-4 in that stretch but has lost three of his last four. Story holds wins over no.1 contender Hendricks, and former no.1 contender Thiago Alves.

“This is a good match up for me,” he said with confidence. “Rick Story is tough and he’s no joke. One of the things with Rick Story is, he tends to be a little one dimensional. He really puts pressure forward in such a way that I think guys are starting to figure out how to counter. If you deny his one big attribute he is beatable.”

To help get him ready for this fight, Mulhern has trained with some of the best grapplers in the world at Gracie Barra New Mexico and is under the tutelage of MMA wizards at Jackson’s.

“There’s so many people supporting me,” he said. “Just being in a bigger city helps. Carlos Condit has helped me out a lot, Buddy Roberts and all the coaches at Jackson’s including Coach (Mike) Winklejohn and Coach Brandon Gibson helping me with mits. Obviously working with Coach Jackson because he is a wizard at this game.

“The Jackson’s camp is big but also the team here at Gracie Barra has helped me a lot as well,” he continued. “Tussa has helped me a lot and so has Don Ortega. Just everyone who is in that big class on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, everyone is good to roll with. You’ve got guys like, Diego Sanchez, Diego Brandao, Barata, Gustavo and a bunch of other beasts all training hard. All these people are good to be around because they push me and they make me a lot better.”

Mulhern started at the original Santa Fe Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy that was founded by UFC veteran and BJJ World Champion Alberto Crane. He remembers the beginnings of what is now Gracie Barra New Mexico and how it molded him.

“I have a lot of love and respect for Gracie Barra,” he said proudly. “As well as the original schools that were founded by Master Crane. It goes way back, back before I even started jiu jitsu. I’m thankful for Tom Pless and the guys up in Santa Fe who got me to this point. It’s great to have some many people interested in fighting in this state and so many people supporting me.”

For more information, visit www.gbriorancho.com

Bunch of big names at the grand opening. We wish Anderson the best. Check out his gym if you are in the area!

A couple days ago, UFC fans were left in shock when the UFC released 15 fighters from their roster. Fighters including Jon Fitch, Paul Sass, Terry Etim, and more. Now, Dana White says there is still 100 more to be cut from the roster. What is your take on that? Details below on the story:

The MMA world was a little shocked on Wednesday when ZUFFA announced that 16 fighters had been cut from the roster, including Jon Fitch.

However, the 16 is apparently just the beginning – multiple sources are reporting that the UFC plans to cut 100 fighters from the roster.

MMAJunkie co-founder tweeted definitively:

John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn
Surprised at some of names but not number of guys released by UFC. Was told they need to trim about 100 guys right now.

The information was confirmed by Ariel Helwani:

Ariel Helwani @arielhelwani
Dana says they are over 100 guys on the roster. The releases aren’t over, he says.

The cuts are presumably due to the unflux of fighters from Strikeforce, as well as the addition in the last year of two new divisions – the women’s 135 pound Bantamweight division, and the men’s 125 pound Flyweight division.

It’s believed that this is primarily down to the influx of new fighters into the UFC via Strikeforce, while the introduction of the woman’s 135lb division in addition to the 125lb men’s flyweight division last year has also played it’s part in the promotion now having a surplus of fighters for the 33 events they plan to hold in 2013.

Gareth A Davies ‏@GarethADaviesDT

100 more fighters going from @ufc roster says @danawhite – incredible

Mike Bohn ‏@MikeBohnMMA

Dana White says Urijah Faber might be the next to go if he loses on Saturday? Wow.

Adam Martin ‏@MMAdamMartin

Dana confirms the UFC will cut 100 more fighters.

 

@GarethADaviesDT: @360fov no insult you ll find I’m right the @ufc has 100 fighters more than they want on roster ‘over by 100′

According to sources from tatame.com the fight we have all been waiting for, Anderson Silva vs Chris Weidman, is in the works for July 6th, 2013. More details from them below:

Contacted by TATAME, Chris Weidman’s agent Dave Martin, confirmed that the UFC is interested in the fight for the Independence Day week, which should happen in Las Vegas. He said there have been initial contact to make the match, and Weidman waiting for a positive response from Zuffa.

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is 100% physically, and awaits the official announcement of his next fight, while meeting business commitments. His last performance took place at UFC Rio 3, when he knocked out Stephan Bonnar in a non-tile super fight without putting the title on the line.

The undefeated Weidman has not fought since his victory over Mark Munoz by knockout, and is coming off a shoulder injury.

Weidman has the tools to make it a really interesting fight. Who are you rooting for in this match up?

Renan Barao defended his interim bantamweight title Saturday Night in impressive fashion, submitting the young start Mcdonald in the 4th round with an arm triangle. Following the fight, Barao called out Dominick Cruz saying, “Dominick Cruz, I’m ready for you. Please come quick.”

Full results of the card after the jump:

Main Card
Renan Barao defeated Michael McDonald by Submission (Arm Triangle, 4th Round, 3:57)
Cub Swanson defeated Dustin Poirier by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Jimi Manuwa defeated Cyrille Diabate by TKO (Injury, 1st Round, 5:00)
Gunnar Nelson defeated Jorge Santiago by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
James Te Huna defeated  Ryan Jimmo by Unanimous Decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Matt Riddle defeated Che Mills by Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

Preliminary Card
Renee Forte defeated Terry Etim by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Danny Castillo defeated Paul Sass by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28))
Andy Ogle defeated Josh Grispi by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Tom Watson defeated Stanislov Nedkov by TKO (Ref Stoppage, 2nd Round, 4:42)
Vaughan Lee defeated Motonobu Tezuka by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Phil Harris defeated Ulysses Gomez by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28

At an event before the UFC on Fuel TV 7 fight card, Dana White stated his strong opinion on TRT, saying it was cheating and he will try everything he cant to stop it. The details below:

“TRT has become a way for people to cheat,” said White. “If this is what your normal level should be and then you have guys training at huge levels for their whole camp then tapering down to get to normal levels before the fucking fight, that’s cheating, and I don’t like it anymore.”

“There are plenty of guys in the UFC that are naturally gifted and talented fighters. If you’re testosterone levels are too low then you’re probably too old to be fighting, stop fighting! “

“We can test everybody. I’m telling you right now, if you are using testosterone replacement therapy, get ready motherf@$%ers because we’re going to test the s#!* out of you.”

“Some things recently have lead me to believe that people are f@$%ing cheaters, people are taking good things and turning it into a bad thing and if you want to play those games then guess what, we’ll play!”

“There’s so much s#!* out there. Right now there’s banned substances and and we follow the regulations and we’re going after the banned substances, TRT was never one of them and they would be tested leading up to the fight to make sure the levels are good. If you’re on TRT now, you’re going to wish you weren’t. We’re going to test the living shit out of you.”

“You have guys that go in there 100% natural with his talent and natural ability, against someone on TRT, basically someone thats on steroids. I’m absolutely 100% against TRT and now I’m going to start fighting it 100 percent with the athletic commissions and I want nothing to do with it.”

Strong words from the UFC President. What are you’re thoughts on TRT?

Machida is set to take on Dan Henderson at UFC 157 in less than 10 days.

Will Ronda get another armbar? or will Carmouche be able to take the belt from her? We will find out in a couple weeks.

The UFC confirmed 3 awesome fights for UFC 158 in Canada.

The card so far looks like this.

UFC 158
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
March 16, 2013

Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz (Welterweight title fight)
Johny Hendricks vs. Jake Ellenberger
Rory MacDonald vs. Carlos Condit
Patrick Cote vs. Alessio Sakara

GSP’s comment on facing Diaz

“There’s been a lot of talk about who I should fight next but this was really the only choice for me,” said St-Pierre. “He’s made it personal and I personally can’t wait.”

Nick Diaz’s comment on facing GSP

“This is the fight I want,” Diaz said. “I want to go out there and beat Georges St-Pierre in Montreal and show that I’m the best welterweight in the world.”