The Weekly Wrap: Nov. 11 - Nov. 19

Odds and Ends

• UFC President Dana White moved off a plan to promote a third fight between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir after an Internet campaign flooded his Twitter account with messages protesting the fight. The decision calls into question who the UFC could match Lesnar against next in a manner that takes full advantage of his drawing power as the sport’s number one pay-per-view attraction. White said during a Q&A last week that Lesnar vs. Mir 3 “kind of makes sense,” while Mir spoke against the fight because Lesnar is coming off a deflating loss to Cain Velasquez.

• With only one event remaining until the promotion dissolves into the UFC, World Extreme Cagefighting showed signs of vitality. Its second-to-last offering, WEC 52 on Nov. 11, headlined by top draw Urijah Faber vs. Takeya Mizugaki, scored a 0.57 rating on Versus for an average of 570,000 viewers. The number is the second-highest of 2010 for the WEC and the highest since WEC 46 in January, which put up 640,000 viewers for a show that included Faber vs. Raphael Assuncao.

• The UFC will end its four-year tradition of running an event in Ohio to coincide with the Arnold Fitness Expo every March. No show is planned there in 2011. The promotion is working on its return to the United Arab Emirates for that month.

• Bellator Fighting Championships announced it has signed veteran Jay Hieron to compete in its Season 4 welterweight tournament. Hieron, who last fought in January on a Strikeforce undercard, is riding a seven-fight winning streak. He will join Rick Hawn, Steve Carl, Dan Hornbuckle, Jim Wallhead, Brent Weedman and Chris Lozano in the bracket.

• Authentic Brands, the company that purchased Tapout and a huge chunk of the MMA apparel market earlier this year, added Sinister fight wear to its portfolio. Authentic’s stable of MMA apparel companies also includes Silver Star, Hitman Fight Gear and Iron Star. Sinister, a presence in the sport since 1998, has distribution deals with Kmart and Sears.

• The Lima Brothers stepped into the spotlight in the most recent offering from Maximum Fighting Championship, as Douglas Lima became the promotion’s welterweight champion by submitting Jesse Juarez with an armbar. Meanwhile, his brother, Dhiego Lima, scored a first-round knockout. The American Top Team fighters shone brightest at MFC 27, which took place Nov. 12 in Enoch, Alberta, Canada, and aired on HDNet. Lima ended Juarez’s nine-fight winning streak. He spent two and a half rounds on his back underneath the Antonio McKee-trained wrestler, but his activity from the bottom paid off in a flash in the third, as he swung up his legs for a triangle choke and grabbed an armbar for the tap. The other Lima improved to 4-0 with clean right straight knockout of Bill Fraser. There was a post-fight dispute over Juarez’s medical treatment. Juarez posted on his Twitter account that the MFC refused to pay the cost of surgery required to repair a broken arm and foot he suffered in the second round. Juarez wrote that his leaving Canada disqualified him from insurance coverage. MFC issued a statement to BloodyElbow.com claiming Juarez did not alert the promotion he required further medical care before leaving Canada, and that he would have to return to the country to qualify for insurance-covered treatment.

• The Shine Fights promotion announced it has signed heavyweight Rolles Gracie and is closing on a cable television deal. Gracie is coming off a one-and-done stint in the UFC, where he gassed baldy in a TKO loss to Joey Beltran in February. Gracie will face Mike Ciesnolevicz at a Jan. 8 event. Shine Fights head Jason Chambers told MMAWeekly.com the promotion will hold six pay-per-views in 2011 and that undercards will air on a cable network.