The Weekly Wrap: Aug. 15 - Aug. 21

Odds and Ends

• Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the twin brother of the UFC heavyweight and Pride legend, is coming to the UFC to compete at light heavyweight. "Big Nog" announced the signing during a UFC 102 conference call this past week, saying his brother should debut by year's end. Nogueira had a contract with the defunct Affliction promotion. The UFC has signed the man Nogueira defeated on the final Affliction show, Vladimir Matyushenko, to compete at UFC 103 in September.

• Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker made announcements about the promotion's future following the Aug. 15 Carano vs. Cyborg card. The promotion will stage 18 to 20 events next year, with 16 of them on Showtime and the others likely on CBS. The company's alliance with the Dream promotion may be leveraged to stage a Showtime broadcast in Japan by year's end.

• The Nevada State Athletic Commission this week approved a new rule that will allow referees to review replays of fights that are stopped due to injury. The provision will allow officials to determine if the technique that caused a fight-ending injury was a legal blow or not. If it was not legal, the fight could be deemed a No Contest. The commission also adopted a rule allowing the sanctioning of certain high-caliber fights for five rounds, even if a title is not being defended.

• The UFC will premiere "The Ultimate Fighter" on the WOWOW pay-TV network in Japan. The series starts in October and will air weekly, according to a report from SportsNavi. It is the first time the UFC’s pivotal reality series has aired in the country.

• An apparent standoff between DirecTV and Versus could mean the upcoming WEC 43 card will not be available in some 24 million homes. The broadcaster and network have not come to an agreement on a contract extension, and text began appearing at the bottom of Versus broadcasts this week warning that the channel may be not be available on the satellite network after Aug. 31. WEC 43, headlined by Donald Cerrone vs. Ben Henderson for the interim lightweight title, is set for Sept. 2.

• The second season of the MTV show "Bully Beatdown," hosted by Jason "Mayhem" Miller, premieres Aug. 27. The season will feature Andrei Arlovski, Eddie Alvarez and Jake Shields as some of the pro MMA fighters who beat up bullies in MMA exhibitions. The show, which did impressive ratings for its premiere earlier this year but dipped as it unfolded, has significantly upped the pop culture profile of Miller. TapOut is on board, as their logo adorns on the cage used on the show as well as Mayhem’s T-shirts. The show is produced by reality television guru Mark Burnett.

• On Aug. 15 and Aug. 16 the M-1 Challenge rounded out the field for the final four squads competing for this season's team title in Holland. They are Team England, Team Russia Legion, Team USA West and Team USA East. The finals, which will be taped for broadcast on HD-Net, will take place Sept. 26 in Russia, with the two U.S. teams pitted against each other.