File Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
• The UFC has signed Quinton Jackson to a new six-fight contract, UFC President Dana White announced during a press junket in Toronto. Jackson, who has had contractual court battles with the UFC recently, had said he was not interested in fighting again for the promotion after his May 29 fight with Rashad Evans. White said he and Jackson “are friends again now.”
• ESPN.com’s “MMA Live” weekly news magazine show will move to ESPN2 on May 6. The show will air Thursday nights at 1 a.m. ET and will be on a trial month in May to determine its future placement, MMAJunkie.com reported. In addition to the weekly specials, MMA Live, hosted by Jon Anik, Kenny Florian and Franklin McNeil, will also air a pre-UFC 113 special on ESPN2 on May 8 and a post-UFC 114 special on May 30. The move puts the show, which premiered in May 2008, in about 99 million homes.
• Spike TV and the UFC launched UltimateFighter.com, an ad-supported site that makes available every episode in the 10-season history of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show. The site launched ahead of the March 31 premiere of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 11 on Spike TV.
• According to a report in the Vancouver Sun, the province’s athletic commission has granted a promoter’s license to the Ultimate Fighting Championship to hold UFC 115 at GM Place on June 12 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The approval is reportedly contingent on insurance and indemnity issues being resolved. There was some question about whether Vancouver would sanction the event, and the UFC had begun to look for backup locations.
• Satoshi Ishii, a gold medalist in judo at the 2008 Olympics, kept a decidedly lower profile in his second MMA bout on March 20. Ishii submitted Sasae Pagofie via first-round keylock in an exhibition match at an X-1 show in Hawaii. Ishii debuted to widespread fanfare in Japan on New Year’s Eve, dropping a decision to fellow judo medalist Hidehiko Yoshida on a live national television special.
• The Florida-based Xtreme Fighting Championships promotion crowned a new lightweight titleholder in Junior Assuncao and saw featherweight champion Jarrod Card retain his crown at its most recent event, XFC 10 “Night of Champions,” on March 19 in Tampa, Fla. The event aired live on HDNet. Assuncao jumped into a guillotine on John Mahlow, tapped him and took the lightweight title and his fourth straight victory. Mahlow was also cut on the forehead during the contest. Elsewhere, Card used a modified rear-naked choke in round two to submit Jason Wood and defend his title. Local favorite Gerardo Julio Gallegos notched a technical knockout over “The Ultimate Fighter” veteran Shane Primm in the first round.