The Weekly Wrap: Nov. 28 – Dec. 4

Odds and Ends

• The anticipated, but much-delayed, Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort middleweight title fight is apparently out of the UFC's short-term plans. Due to a slow recovery from elbow surgery, Silva has said he will not be able to fight Belfort at UFC 109 on Feb. 6. Rumors swirled that Belfort may be matched with Nathan Marquardt, but that looked less likely as the week unfolded.

• An impending merger in the television industry could have a big effect on World Extreme Cagefighting. It was reported this that cable giant Comcast, which owns Versus, is close to purchasing a majority share of NBC Universal in a massive, multi-billion dollar transaction.

The New York Times reported that NBC Universal would take the reigns of Versus and look to turn it into an alternative to ESPN. The Times reported that Versus would be overhauled over 12 to 18 months and renamed something like NBC Sports Cable. There are no early indications if MMA would fit into the picture, but the WEC reportedly signed a contract extension with Versus recently.

• “Ultimate Fighter 8” firebrand Junie Browning made an auspicious Nov. 28 return to fighting after a suicide attempt earlier that month, submitting Scott Cornwell with a triangle choke in 3:13 on a card called "MMA Big Show" in Florence, Ind. Browning took the microphone after the fight and cut an incendiary interview, telling female members of the audience to line up for him after the event to perform sexual acts.

• Another TUF alum to catch negative press was season 6 veteran "War Machine" (formerly Jon Koppenhaver), who allegedly struck several guests at a Los Angeles party attended by people in the pornography industry, in which Koppenhaver recently began dabbling. He is wanted by police.

• Coming off his first-round submission loss to Kendall Grove at UFC 106, former national collegiate wrestling champion Jake Rosholt announced that he’d been cut from the UFC. Rosholt submitted Chris Leben and lost to Dan Miller in his two other Octagon efforts.

• Kerry Vera and Kim Couture turned out to be serviceable television draws, as their fight on the Nov. 20 helped a "Strikeforce Challengers" broadcast draw an average of 172,000 viewers for the two-hour broadcast on Showtime. The rating is one of, if not the highest, rating for a Challengers card or its predecessor, ShoXC, according to The Wrestling Observer . A Challengers card two weeks earlier, the Nov. 6 event headlined by Billy Evangelista vs. Jorge Gurgel, drew 154,000 viewers.

• Massachusetts became the 42nd state in the country to pass a law regulating MMA this past week after Governor Deval Patrick signed a law that sailed through the House of Representatives and Senate. The UFC plans to bring a pay-per-view to Dana White's former stomping grounds in July or August to the TD Bank Garden in Boston.

• Strikeforce veteran Anthony Ruiz defeated UFC veteran Xavier Foupa-Pokam by unanimous decision on Dec. 3 atop the latest offering from Tachi Palace Fights in Lemoore, Calif. Also picking up wins on the card were UFC vet Diego Saraiva (third-round doctor’s stoppage over Eddie Yagin); Cyrille Diabate (first-round rear-naked choke submission over Rob Smith); and flyweight Ulysses Gomez (first-round guillotine submission over Chino Nicolas).

• The UFC garnered press for opening its first branded "UFC Gym" in Concord, Calif., last week. The gyms are expected to open franchises across the country and are targeted at kids beginning in martial arts and adults who just want to lose a couple of pounds. The UFC is partnering with New Evolution Fitness on the venture, which will expand to 300 to 400 gyms across the country in five years, including locations in Hawaii and Montreal.

• The California State Athletic Commission clarified its policy on medical marijuana this week, issuing a statement saying marijuana is a banned substance regardless of whether a fighter has a doctor's prescription to use it. In California, where marijuana is largely decriminalized, it is still legal for employers to discriminate against employees based on whether they use the drug. While the commission is not strictly an employer, it does argue it has the same interest an employer would in not allowing licensees to work with it in their system.

The policy is a wedge issue with Nick Diaz, an outspoken marijuana user who has dropped out of scheduled fights in the state when the commission did not allow him to fight with the exemption. Diaz had a 2007 win over Takanori Gomi overturned because he tested positive for marijuana, which he says he takes to combat Attention Deficit Disorder.