Another day, another cursed UFC match...or two! Maybe Dana White should consider bringing in a shaman or the little, old lady from "Poltergeist"?

Unfortunately, UFC matchmaker, Joe Silva has been doing his jobe several times over, fixing broken fights and finding late replacements. Perhaps he should ask for more money!

When Tyson Griffin was injured, Sean Sherk was taken from his fight with Rafael Oliveira at UFC 108, and pitted against Jim Miller. A nice fix, but Oliveira needed an opponent. The UFC will put him against John Gunderson, 22-6, who makes his UFC debut.

Now, we have Rory Markham out of his UFC 108 welterweight battle with Martin Kampman. Replacing Rory, is Jacob Volkmann, who just recently dropped a close decision to Paulo Thiago at UFC 106. Volkmann was very impressive in his UFC debut, and I think this is going to be a very tough match up for Kampmann. 

Stay tuned and see where the UFC Undisputed Curse strikes next! 

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The parent company of the UFC and WEC, Zuffa Inc., recently renewed their deal to air on Versus network. A couple of items popped out from the contract and could have a big impact in where we see the UFC in 2010.

First, it came out, that Versus will air two UFC shows in the coming year. Big news, as SpikeTV has been widely thought to be the only cable network to air the promotion.

Second, we learned that the UFC can air up to four cards on any other cable network. This could be big as more and more companies are looking to air big time MMA.

My thoughts are, that much of the future landscape will be affected by how Strikeforce does on CBS and Showtime. If they do well, it will put the UFC in that much more demand. Could you imagine watching the UFC on ABC and ESPN?

The other thing is, that Versus was recently purchased as part of the Comcast/NBC deal, and word is, they executives want to turn the network into a major sports channel. This could open a lot of doors for the UFC and network deals. However, the first thing that needs to be done, is return Versus to DirectTV, which dropped the channel a few months back, due to a contract dispute.

All I know for sure, is that the more MMA I get to watch on TV, the better for me! 

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Happy early birthday to Chuck Liddell! "The Iceman" turns 40 on Thursday, amid more questions and uncertainties than ever. We know what the immediate future is, a coaching gig on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter and a trilogy completing fight with Tito Ortiz. The big question is, what happens next? Especially if Chuck were to pull off the trifecta and beat Ortiz yet again.

Dana White is not only Chuck's boss, but his good friend and here is what he had to say about Chuck's return at the UFC 107 presser.

On Chuck's health and their relationship:

"He's been checked out. He's had the CAT Scans and all the other stuff. He's healthy. He can fight. My thing is me and Chuck have been together since the beginning of this thing. For a promoter and a fighter to have the relationship that we've had for as long as we've had it – and he became such a huge superstar and everything else, and we've had this great relationship – the reality is I love this guy. I care about him personally."

On what Dana hopes for Chuck's return:

"I'm not thrilled with it. It's not what I wanted. But like I said, I'm not his father. I'm not his dad. We'll see what happens after the Tito fight. I would like to see him hang it up after the Tito fight. That's my plan: He does one fight and then he retires – win, lose or draw."

Chuck has been knocked out badly in 3 of his last 5 fights and has not looked like the feared champ he once was. Can a year off reset him for one last run? Or is this the perfect retirement fight for him?

I've never been a huge Chuck fan, but no doubt he is one of the greats and I would much rather see him retire and not hang on to long. 

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As much as I like to see the UFC hand out big money bonuses to their fighters, I'm not always sure how they determine who wins.

When the UFC started releasing under-performing fighters, I was all for the opportunity it would provide for fresh faces. The side-effects have made me rethink that.

These are two of the issues I am about to address, so make the jump and see just how misguided I am, as we take a look at the results, bonuses and aftermath, of the final UFC show of 2009!

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Surprisingly, the UFC wasted no time in releasing a young fighter that I believe has some potential. TUF 10 contestant, Justin Wren was let go, following his loss to Jon Madsen on the TUF Finale. Justin is only 22 and is very green, so hopefully he will get some experience under his belt and make his way back to the UFC.

Not so surprisingly, Houston "I'm sticking to the game plan" Alexander, was let go after a disappointing performance against Kimbo Slice. If only he had just fought with his usual style... 

The "UFC Undisputed Curse" is still raging and its latest victims are Tim Creuder and Dong Hyun Kim. Creuder was forced to withdraw from his UFN 20 fight with Mike Massenzio and was replaced by former TUFer, Gerald Harris.

Kim had to pull out of his UFC 110 bout with Chris Lytle after suffering a knee injury. A replacement has yet to be named.

Let's end it with some good news! The prelims will return to SpikeTV on January 2nd, as at least two of the UFC 108 under card fights will air free!

And finally...Renzo Gracie and Matt Hughes are going to fight each other in 2010, most likely in April at a card in Abu Dhabi!

UPDATE:

MMAJunkie is reporting that Tyson Griffin was injured in training and has bowed out of his UFC 108 tilt with Jim Miller. Agggghhhhhhh!!! I was really looking forward to that fight. No replacement has been named.

UPDATED UPDATE!

So Sean Sherk steps in to face Miller on the main card. Sherk's original opponent, Raphael Olivera, will now face an opponent to be named. Nicely done UFC!

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