The Weekly Wrap: Dec. 13 – Dec. 19

Odds and Ends

* The UFC announced a three-year deal with the Brazilian television channel Globostat. The deal will start with an airing of UFC 92 and include the “Unleashed” and “All Access” specials that air on Spike.

* Blue-chip heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez’s next fight in the Octagon will take place at UFC Fight Night 17 on Feb. 7 at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Fla. Velasquez will face Denis Stojnic, a heavyweight based out of the Golden Glory fight camp in Holland.

* Diego Sanchez, in what will be his first fight at 155 pounds, has verbally agreed to face Joe Stevenson at UFC 95 on Feb. 21 at the O2 Arena in London.

* Versus announced it will air a “Best of WEC 2008” special on Dec. 28 that will feature the television premiere of the Donald Cerrone vs. Rob McCullough barnburner at WEC 36 that did not make it to the air due to time constraints.

* Satoshi Ishii, the Japanese Judoka who won a gold medal in Beijing, said in a Nikkan Sports interview the he plans to head to American Top Team to train in hopes of getting into the UFC or WEC. Ishii had been expected to join Dream for big bucks. He announced in October that he would attend the K-1 “Premium Dynamite 2008” show on Dec. 31 and would fight in Japan in 2009. Sherdog.com’s Jordan Breen reported that Ishii’s camp is concerned at how slow he has acclimated to striking.

* British heavyweight slugger Neil Grove and impressive heavyweight kickboxer Stefan Struve have signed contracts with the UFC, according to Fighters Only Magazine. The pair is expected to debut at an upcoming UFC card in the UK.

* East Coast standout John Howard, a recent UFC signee, will face Chris Wilson in a welterweight bout at UFC 94 “St. Pierre vs. Penn 2” on Jan. 31 in Las Vegas.

* UFC hall of famer Ken Shamrock will return to MMA competition on Feb. 13 at an event in Fresno, Calif., promoted by Shamrock’s KSP group and the War Gods promotion. His opponent has not been named.

* Sergey Golyaev, the Russian unknown who defeated Takanori Gomi last month, will take on Eiji Mitsuoka at the next Sengoku show -- a network television special -- on Jan. 4 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Mistuoka lost to lightweight grand prix winner Satoru Kitaoka in November. Kitaoka will face Gomi to crown the first Sengoku lightweight champion at the Jan. 4 event.

* Former UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture announced he has a significant role in an upcoming Sylvester Stallone action project called “The Expendables.” It was not clear when the film would start shooting or how it might affect Couture’s fight schedule.

* British men’s magazine The Zoo named UFC middleweight Michael Bisping as the “Coolest Man of the Year” in Britain.