The Weekly Wrap: Dec. 26 - Jan. 1

Odds and Ends

• Bellator Fighting Championships has signed another welterweight prospect to its increasingly appealing 170-pound second season tournament. Steve Carl, a 25-year-old Iraq war veteran, 10-1 in his three-year MMA career, inked a deal to compete in the tournament, according to MMAJunkie.com. Carl joins Ben Askren, Dan Hornbuckle, Jacob McClintock and Jim Wallhead in the tournament, which will determine a challenger for champion Lyman Good. The tournament begins in April; fights will air live on Fox Sports Net.

• The UFC cut fighters Shane Nelson, Kevin Burns and Edgar Garcia after losses at UFC 107 on Dec. 12 and released Darill Schoonover, Justin Wren, Marcus Jones, and Houston Alexander following their defeats at “The Ultimate Fighter 10” Finale on Dec. 5.

• MMA trainer Marco Jara, who trained several well-known fighters, including Marco Ruas and 2006 Pride Fighting Championships open weight grand prix winner Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, was found murdered from three gunshots in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, according to a report from Redo Globo TV. Jara reportedly stopped his car to retrieve something from the trunk when the vehicle was robbed by two men. Jara was kidnapped, and his body was found two hours later in his car. Jara, whose full name was Marcos Adriano Albuquerque, was 39.