D. Mandel/Sherdog.com
• The King of the Cage promotion staged a live HDNet broadcast on Feb. 12 in Mescalero, N.M., the first under a multi-year agreement that will see the network host a card every month from the longstanding organization.
In the main event, Mike Kyle knocked off the well-traveled Travis Wiuff in a heavyweight bout with a short right uppercut one tick after the bell sounded between the second and third round. Kyle was ruled the winner by doctor's stoppage. Also on the card, heavyweight champion Tony Lopez picked up his 16th consecutive win with a triangle choke over Tyler East; Dream veteran Abel Cullum retained the KOTC flyweight title with a kimura over previously unbeaten Joe Coca; Santa Fe-based grappler Quinn Mulhern stopped recent contender UFC Rich Clementi with strikes from the mount in the second; and Donald Sanchez became KOTC bantamweight champion by defeating Victor Valenzuela with strikes in the fourth.
• The Nevada State Athletic Commission has received a request from the UFC to reserve a July 3 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, according to MMAJunkie.com. The card is expected to feature the return fight of Brock Lesnar.
• Highly regarded 21-year-old Icelandic prospect Gunnar Nelson submitted Sam Elsdon with a first-round rear-naked choke on Feb. 13 under the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts banner in London. The Renzo Gracie black belt is coming off a fourth place finish in the 2009 Abu Dhabi Combat Club submission wrestling championships. It was his first MMA fight since Sept. 2008.
• The UFC has reached a deal with Fathead, the company that manufactures life-size wall hangings/stickers for athletes in all major sports. The UFC line will be unveiled in the next few months and will feature Georges St. Pierre, Brock Lesnar and Anderson Silva. Fatheads sell between $30 and $100. The company had previously released a B.J. Penn wall graphic negotiated independently from the UFC, and other companies have signed up fighters in the past for similar products.
• The UFC prevailed in a years-long court battle with Ken Shamrock. Shamrock claimed the UFC violated provisions of his final fight agreement after his third fight with Tito Ortiz in 2006, and was, according to a UFC press release, “demanding several hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation he claimed was due and owing from the UFC.”
Shamrock filed the suit in 2008 and the case went to trial, where a judge found the UFC did not breach Shamrock’s contract. Shamrock’s final UFC fight was portrayed on television as his retirement fight, though he went on to coach in the International Fight League and take fights elsewhere. The UFC will seek to reclaim court and attorney costs from Shamrock in a separate motion.