The Weekly Wrap: Dec. 11

Mauricio 'Shogun" Rua | Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

The return of UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua following knee surgery has been set, as he will make his first defense against Rashad Evans at UFC 128 on March 19 in New Jersey. Neither man has fought since May, Rua since defeating Lyoto Machida to take the title at UFC 113 and Evans since defeating Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to become No. 1 contender at UFC 114.

MMAWeekly.com reported that Strikeforce is working on closing a deal to have Fedor Emelianenko fight Antonio Silva at a Jan. 29 event on Showtime. Emelienanko has one fight left on his Strikeforce contract, and the promotion was working on reaching a new multi-fight deal with the Russian before making his next fight. The Wrestling Observer reported the contract calls for Emelianenko’s last fight to be on pay-per-view, a platform Strikeforce does not seem to have in its short-term plans. A middleweight tilt between Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Tim Kennedy is also in the works for the show, MMAWeekly reported, as is former Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker’s return.

UFC 123 on Nov. 21, headlined by Jackson vs. Machida and B.J. Penn vs. Matt Hughes, did an estimated 500,000 pay-per-view buys, according to the Wrestling Observer. The number is considered solid, in the middle range of PPV numbers the promotion has put up in 2010. The highest concentration of buys was in Honolulu, where Penn enjoys some of the most fervent native support of any fighter in the sport.

Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem became the first fighter in history to win an MMA title and kickboxing’s most prestigious title on Dec. 10, toppling three opponents to take the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix in Tokyo. The tournament, which aired on HDNet, started in 1993. Overeem defeated Tyrone Spong via decision, Gokhan Saki by injury stoppage (shoulder) and all-time K-1 legend Peter Aerts via knockout to claim the crown. Strikeforce put out a press release praising the accomplishment. Overeem is in talks to fight in an MMA bout at K-1 “Dynamite! Power of Courage 2010” on New Year’s Eve.

Gegard Mousasi will return to fighting on Dec. 31 in Japan but not under MMA rules. Fighting and Entertainment Group announced the Dream light heavyweight champion will face Kyotaro Fujimoto, the K-1 heavyweight champion, in a kickboxing match. In another “Dynamite!! Power of Courage 2010” note, it was confirmed the event will air live on HDNet.