Author Hank Booth

Wanderlei Silva was reborn a week ago today in San Jose. His impressive TKO finish of film and television star Cung Le was reminiscent of the Wanderlei who went undefeated in 18 straight fights under the PRIDE Fighting Championships banner.

If legendary PRIDE superstar Wanderlei Silva wants to continue fighting for the UFC he needs to stay awake inside of the Octagon this Saturday Night. His UFC career has been a combination of impressive hard-fought decision losses (vs. Liddell, Franklin) and 1st Round knockout losses (Rampage, Leben) with a win or two sprinkled in between (Jardine, Bisping).

For a moment there Thiago Alves looked to be another victim of the dreaded GSP curse. Playing the role of the victim in three of his last four fights including the title shot, the "Pitbull" had to make a statement against UFC new comer Papy "Makambo" Abedi at UFC 138 last Saturday night. Starting off by not making weight (again) was a another step in the wrong direction by Alves. The Dolce Diet devotee had no problem making weight on his second attempt though, allowing this fight to be contested at Welterweight as planned.

Former WEC and Cage Rage standout Brad Pickett will be stepping into the Octagon for the first time at UFC 138 this Saturday night in Birmingham, England. The last time we saw the gentleman they call "One Punch" (who was originally scheduled to fight at UFC 130 in May) he fought himself to a unanimous decision victory over Ivan Menjivar as a part of the final WEC show. After sitting out for nearly a year due to injury Pickett is finally ready to put a much-needed jolt into the UFC Bantamweight division.

I swear Roy Nelson is hiding a six-pack under that suit. We'll know exactly how slim and trim he is at today's weigh in's but I wouldn't be surprised if Nelson's mobile device gets blown up this weekend with messages from Men's Health and GQ.

September 7, 2011 Nick Diaz is a no-show for his second consecutive UFC 137 Main Event presser opposite Georges St. Pierre. He's quickly punished during said presser and removed from the night's Main Event / title shot. A brand spanking new event trailer featuring St. Pierre and his new challenger, Carlos Condit, is rolled out to applause during the "beauty pageant" and Nick Diaz is later matched up in the co-main event with B.J. Penn on the very same card.

The Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City will be the setting for the two most important middleweight clashes of the weekend as the Season 5 Bellator Middleweight Semi-Finals are here. With no competition from the UFC this weekend Bellator 54 is the big show Saturday Night.

A Silver Star Recipient, former WEC light heavyweight champion, U.S. Marine Core Captain and undefeated UFC Middleweight Star. This is a man that even a gangster from Oregon can respect.