The Weekly Wrap: Feb. 20 - Feb. 26

Odds and Ends

• Frank Mir caused a stir with comments he made on WXDX Radio in Pittsburgh. The sharp-tongued Mir, in the spirit of eschewing political correctness, said he hoped to render nemesis Brock Lesnar the first fighter to die of Octagon-related injuries. UFC President Dana White decried the remarks, leading to Mir issuing an apology on the UFC Web site. In further interviews, Mir questioned how his statements had differed from other aggressive proclamations made in fight buildup interviews by other UFC fighters like B.J. Penn.

• Spike TV announced the two preliminary fights that will be featured on its 60-minute pre-UFC 111 special on March 27. Airing will be Nate Diaz’s debut fight at welterweight against Rory Markham and Matt Brown vs. Ricardo Almeida.

• The state of Alabama, long considered a wild west for MMA spectacles that would not be sanctioned in commission states, has legalized MMA. The Alabama Boxing Commission will be renamed the Alabama Athletic Commission and oversee professional and amateur MMA fights. The change leaves New York, West Virginia, Connecticut and Vermont as the only states with boxing or athletic commissions that have yet to sanction MMA.

• ProElite Inc., the parent company of the ill-fated EliteXC organization, looks to be resurrected as an MMA promotion by Stratus Media Group, a live events company with offices in California and New York. In a press release, Stratus CEO Paul Feller said the company had assumed control of the company, which technically remained in business after unloading fighter and television contracts to Strikeforce early last year. ProElite still takes in residual revenue from ownership stakes purchased in an array of MMA promotions, including King of the Cage. The Stratus release does not mention when the company might promote an MMA event but said the company “engaged in an extensive restructuring that included the sales of certain assets for cash and a share of future revenues, significant expense reductions, the elimination of $12 million of direct and contingent liabilities and the shedding of unprofitable subsidiaries.” Stratus hired William Kelly, who was Pro Elite’s chief operating officer during its two years of operation, to resume the role.

• The latest offering from the Bitetti Combat Nordeste promotion in Brazil on Feb. 25 saw several last-minute shuffles. Middleweight Paulo Filho did not show for his on-again, off-again main event fight against Yuki Sasaki; Portaldovaletudo.uol.com reported that Sasaki refused to face replacement Daniel Acacio. The headliner ended up featuring UFC veteran Thales Leites, who defeated Rico Washington via first-round arm-triangle submission. Filho told Tatame.com that his absence was due to a disagreement over pay. Heavyweight Jeff Monson also failed to appear to fight Glover Teixeira. His manager explained during an Internet broadcast of the card that the UFC veteran had not given his parole officer enough notice to travel to Brazil and would have been arrested if he made the trip, according to BloodyElbow.com. Teixeira ended up defeating Joaquim Ferreira via TKO.

• Touted prospect Gian Villante captured the Ring of Combat heavyweight title on Feb. 19, landing a left and a slam on Mike Cook that led to a rear-naked choke victory. The Bellmore Kickboxing Academy fighter’s fifth win came 40 seconds into the fight in Atlantic City, N.J. Also on the card, Villante teammate Ryan LaFlare became ROC welterweight champion by knocking out Justin Haskins in the second round, and UFC and International Fight League veteran Andre Gusmao struck Vagner Curio into first-round submission.