As Strikeforce: Evolution is only a matter of hours away, one of the main card fights has been canceled. Middleweight, Robbie Lawler, has been taken off the card, after his opponent, Trevor Prangley, was injured in training.

So why is this good news? Taking a fight of this caliber on a few days notice is rarely a good idea. The fighters don't have time to prepare and game plan, often setting up a lackluster fight and opening the door for a huge upset of a star fighter.

Strikeforce has a card next month in Florida, so simply find a new challenger and move the fight to that card. This wasn't a headline fight and would make a solid addition to the next show.

Hopefully, Strikeforce will do a better job of getting fights set earlier and having contingency plans in place for this type of incident, which is becoming more and more common.

Strikeforce: Evolution airs Saturday on Showtime.

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When the news broke that Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was out of his fight with Brandon Vera and that instead, Vera would face Jon Jones, it came to light that the UFC would be returning to the thin air. Now, we are hearing that this will mark the promotion's first airing on Versus Network, which will play host to two UFC events in 2010. 

The UFC held one of its biggest Ultimate Fight Nights ever, a year and a half ago, at the Broomfield Events Center in Colorado. The center was bought out by the Pepsi Center's management company and will re-open as the Odeum Colorado in early March. 

A few thoughts:

Attention fighters! The Altitude is no joke. Be sure you get here well in advance and come into the fight in your best cardio vascular condition. If you don't believe me, give Tim Boetsch a call. He suffered greatly in his fight last time the UFC visited the Mile High city.

You think there will be any pressure to get Versus back on DirectTV in the coming months? I fully expect a deal to get done asap.

So, promotions are notorious for putting local fighters on their cards. I don't think we will see anyone like Nate Marquardt or Shane Carwin, but how about Eliot Marshall? TUF 10 runner-up, Brendan Schaub? Or bring back Duane "Bang" Ludwig? Unfortunately, area fighters Alvin Robinson and Mike Nickels suffered losses recently, so they may not be considered.

Lastly, MMA is huge in the Rocky Mountain region, with many great local fighters, lots of up and comers and the emergence of The Grudge Training Center (formerly T's KO), how much longer before we get a big-time UFC PPV card?

Check back as fights and fighters are announced for the March 31st show.

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MMAJunkie has the report and it is great news! After giving us free lead-in fights for UFC PPVs in 2009, the cable network announced that it will do it again ten times in 2010!

I love free MMA and the exposure for fighters and the organizations is great. Fans have been calling for this type of programming for years from the UFC, and now we have it. 

The show will be packaged under the title, "UFC Prelims" and will be an hour long lead-in to several UFC PPV broadcasts, featuring at least two of the under card fights. 

The program begins airing on January 2nd with UFC 108.

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Ugggghhhhh. I hate interim titles! I'm getting the bad feeling that Dana White is milking the Brock Lesnar illness for all the drama he can. Why have an interim title fight, if the champ is returning a couple of months later? This is either adding spice to the mix, or Dana knows something about Lesnar that we don't and it isn't good.

The rumor today is, that Frank Mir will take on Shane Carwin March 27 at UFC 111: Jersey Shores. It has been picking up steam in the last few days, with both heavyweights expressing their respect for each other and desire to match up in the Octagon.

I like the fight a lot, just not the interim tag that will likely be applied to it. This would be a big fight for Carwin to add to his resume and a huge test in the style of Brock for Frank Mir. Add this to a card already featuring the welterweight championship and it is looking spectatcular.

The rumored card so far:

Georges St. Pierre vs Dan Hardy UFC Welterweight Championship

Frank Mir vs Shane Carwin UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship

Ricardo Almeida vs Thiago Alves welterweight contender match

Some nice fights, regardless of the interim title.

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This is getting ridiculous! It would be nice to go one day without reporting an injury or illness affecting a major fight card, but today isn't that day.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira re-injured a recently sprained ankle and was forced to pull out of his UFC 109 bout with Brandon Vera. No timetable has been set for his return, but it isn't thought to be a long recovery if he can keep from aggravating it again.

Vera, who was recently robbed in a decision loss to Randy Couture, instead will fight on the March 31st Ultimate Fight Night, in Denver, Colorado. The card will serve as the lead-in to The Ultimate Fighter 11 debut on SpikeTV.

Jon "Bones" Jones steps in to take on Vera, in what could be a big fight for both guys. Jones was just seen "losing" to Matt Hamill, after a couple of illegal, downward elbows forced a disqualification.

In other promotions, Trevor Prangley was injured in training and is out of his fight this Saturday, against Robbie Lawler at Strikeforce. No opponent has been named yet.

The WEC also has a couple of replacements, as Tyler Toner is out of his fight this Saturday against Brandon Visher. Courtney Buck fills in, as Toner failed the vision test for the NSAC licensing. 

At next month's WEC 46, Yves Jabouin is out with an injury and Mark Hominick will get a new, as yet determined, opponent.

Check back for all the latest news!

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