UFC 138: Chris Leben faces Mark Munoz but has sideswipe at Michael Bisping

Chris Leben prepares for his historic 5-round bonfire night battle with Mark Munoz in Birmingham on Saturday, returning to the city where he lost to British fighter Michael Bisping at UFC 89. Leben even had time for a sideswipe at the TUF coach, who faces off against Jason Miller in Las Vegas on Dec 5.

"Yeah, I remember Birmingham. I fought Bisping, he must prepare for his fights by running five miles backwards," Leben told The Telegraph. Leben was comprehensively outpointed on the night. Leben also said all he could find to eat in the hotel was "a salad". The American was not in too jovial a mood in the workouts in Birmingham. Good sign. Both Leben and Munoz love to battle, and it should be thrilling as long as it lasts.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS LEBEN

CLICK HERE FOR THIS WEEK's BUMPER ESPN UFC PODCAST WITH GUESTS GALORE ON UFC 138. JUST OUT…

OR ON iTUNES

HEAVYWEIGHT CLASH SET FOR MAINSTREAM ON FOX BETWEEN VELASQUEZ AND DOS SANTOS

With the world heavyweight championship fight set to air live on FOX a week on Saturday – Nov. 12 – from Honda Center in Anaheim, a major step change for the UFC on network television in the United States, Dana White, UFC President, said yesterday: “This is going to be a different format than we’ve ever done before. Obviously this is a show featuring one fight so we’re doing a lot of things differently. We are going to be rehearsing for this from Thursday."

“This is a throw-back to the old days of boxing; we are putting a big fight – a huge fight – on free TV to expose this thing to a new audience. Our goal has always been to bring big fights back to network television; we are thinking long-term for the future of this sport. It is an investment in the future of the UFC. Fans that have never seen the UFC before will see this show and that’s why we decided to put Cain and Junior in this position."

“I know for a fact this is going to be an awesome fight. I know it is going to be great. That’s why it was these two in this position. I have no worries at all this is going to be a great fight.

“There’s going to be a lot of backstage features, we are going to be talking to both guys backstage before they fight which isn’t something we’ve done for a very long time.”

The two protagonists are also primed. Cain Velasquez, the UFC heavyweight champion, who has not fought for a year, said:

“There’s always butterflies when you have a fight. It is natural to feel nervous, it means you are ready. But I’m not more nervous because I’ve been out (hurt) for more than a year. I know from my training camp I’m 100 percent and ready to go. I was 100 percent in July."

“I’m excited and it is a great honor to have this fight chosen by the UFC to be the first one on FOX. But I am not focused on the event, the hype or the (expected large TV audience), like any other fight I am focused on my opponent and not much else. Dos Santos is a great opponent. He’s very dangerous.”

Junior dos Santos, No. 1 ranked UFC heavyweight contender, added: “It was such a long wait for my title shot, but I am not sorry. This, right now, is the greatest opportunity I could have had, fighting for the world heavyweight title live on FOX for the very first time."

“I’m very happy in my life right now. I’m in such a good place mentally and physically. I’m proof that if you work hard, treat people right and don’t doubt yourself, you can achieve your dreams. I genuinely believe that Cain is the greatest heavyweight in the world and it is an honor to fight him."

“Yes, I come from humble beginnings, but I have been very lucky in my life. I don’t think this fight will go five rounds. I have trained for five rounds but I don’t expect this to do the distance.”



UFC 138 events this week:

Thursday Nov 3

Evening (5pm), Evans and Pearson will attend Hunt@UFC at Birmingham Bull Ring Shopping Centre, followed by Tesco DVD signing with the pair at Town Gate Retail Park, Birmingham Road.

Friday Nov 4

There is a Fight Club Signing at 1pm with Arianny Celeste, and Pearson, a Fight Club Q&A with Rashad (TBC) at 2pm, with the UFC 138 official weigh-in – at Community Hall, National Indoor Arena, King Edwards Road, B1 2AA – with fighters on the scales at 4pm. Doors open at 3pm. At 5pm, there is a Fight Club after party with Pearson.

From 6pm to 8pm, a signing session at HMV with Rashad Evans.

Saturday Nov 5

10am: JD Sports Signing with Rashad and Ross (Arianny to join from 12noon – 1pm)

1:30pm: Hunt @ UFC (Dana White TBC) with Pearson at Birmingham Bull Ring shopping centre

2pm: THQ Press Conference for UFC game at LG Arena

UFC 138 Leben vs Munoz, LG Arena, National Exhibition Centre, B40 1NT:

5:30pm: First Bout

11pm: UFC 138 Concludes

11.15pm: Post-fight press conference.

Main card

Middleweight bout: United States Chris Leben vs.United States Mark Muñoz

Bantamweight bout: England Brad Pickett vs. Brazil Renan Barão

Welterweight bout: Brazil Thiago Alves vs. Sweden Papy Abedi

Lightweight bout: England Terry Etim vs. United States Eddie Faaloloto

Light Heavyweight bout: France Cyrille Diabaté vs. Australia Anthony Perosh

Preliminary card (Facebook)

Welterweight bout: England John Maguire vs. United States Justin Edwards

Featherweight bout: Japan Michihiro Omigawa vs. England Jason Young

Heavyweight bout: England Rob Broughton vs. England Philip De Fries

Welterweight bout: United States Chris Cope vs. England Che Mills

Bantamweight bout: United States Chris Cariaso vs. England Vaughan Lee

UFC 138 is live on ESPN UK on Saturday night.

Got N.F.L. Questions? Battista Has Answers

Are the Philadelphia Eagles really on track? How shaky is the Patriots’ defense? Why are the Ravens such a puzzle? Judy Battista, The Times’s N.F.L. reporter, will again answer selected questions from readers this week. Use the comment field below to ask your questions, and the answers will appear on The Fifth Down on Friday.

Former Angels pitcher Mickey Scott dies

Mickey Scott, a left-hander who pitched for the Angels from 1975 to 1977 and went on to work for the New York Yankees after his playing career, died Wednesday of an apparent heart attack in Binghamton, N.Y. He was 64.

A native of Weimar, Germany, Scott was a 17th-round pick of the Yankees in 1965, and he played for six organizations. In 95 games with the Angels, Scott went 7-4 with four saves and a 3.58 earned run average, giving up 49 earned runs in 123 1/3 innings. 

-- Mike DiGiovanna

ALSO:

Peter O'Malley wants to run Dodgers

Dodgers sale: Taking a look at potential buyers

Frank McCourt's selling the Dodgers? Get outta town!

Surfing legend Kelly Slater wins his 11th world championship

In 1992, Kelly Slater became the youngest surfer to win a world championship. In 2011, the 39-year old surfing legend became the oldest surfer to win one. 

Slater, a Cocoa Beach, Fla., native, won a record 11th Assn. of Surfing Professionals world championship Wednesday during the 2011 Rip Curl Pro Search at Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

Any chance Slater will retire? It doesn't seem so.

"I think 39 is actually pretty young to most people," Slater said in a statement. "I guess in the past, you would top out once you hit 30, but that’s definitely not the case now. I feel like I’m surfing at the highest level of my career, and I feel like I can keep going. I haven’t thought about it too much, but I plan on relaxing for the rest of the year and enjoying my time in Hawaii. We’ll see what 2012 brings to the table."

Slater tallied a 15.13 in Round 3, besting Dan Ross, a 28-year-old Australian, by .73 to clinch the title, his second straight that also falls on the one-year anniversary of the death of Andy Irons, a bitter rival and former three-time world champion.

"It’s sort of weird, and I’ve been thinking about a lot of things coming together," Slater said in a statement. "What are the chances of me winning on the anniversary of Andy passing away? It makes it a lot more special for me. It’s a way to celebrate my memories with him and be thinking about him. It’s been on my mind, and I wrote a story about him the other day. It’s a time to think back."

ALSO:

Peter O'Malley wants to run Dodgers

T.J. Simers: Fans should demand a legitimate new Dodgers owner

Dodgers sale: Taking a look at potential buyers

-- Baxter Holmes

Photo: Kelly Slater celebrates after winning his 11th ASP World Title in San Francisco on Wednesday. Credit: Reuters

Jeremy Mayfield arrested on charges of drug possession

Jeremy Mayfield, who was expelled from NASCAR in 2009 for a failed drug test, was arrested at his western North Carolina home and charged with possession of methamphetamine. Police said Wednesday that he might face more charges.

Mayfield was arrested Tuesday night and charged with possessing 1.5 grams of methamphetamine, according to records from the Catawba County Sheriff's Office. Mayfield, 42, posted $3,000 bond and was scheduled to appear in district court Wednesday.

Detectives from neighboring Lincoln County said items worth roughly $100,000 that belonged to businesses in that county were also found at Mayfield's home, and officials plan to charge him with possession of stolen goods.

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office said heavy-equipment parts, welders and welding accessories, truck parts, an engraving machine and other items that they say were reported stolen from two businesses in late 2010 and early 2011 were found at Mayfield's home.

The former Sprint Cup driver was suspended from NASCAR in May 2009 after failing a random drug test. Mayfield denied using an illegal drug, but NASCAR said he tested positive for methamphetamine. Mayfield said his positive test stemmed from a mix of an over-the-counter allergy medication and the prescription drug Adderall.

"Having just heard and read the news about the Jeremy Mayfield incident, we will have to see how the facts play out," NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said Wednesday. "NASCAR's goal in its substance abuse program has always been to keep competitors safe and create treatment opportunities for those who need it."

ALSO

FULL COVERAGE: Dodgers sale

-- Houston Mitchell

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo: Jeremy Mayfield in 1998. Credit: Associated Press.

Drag racers still content with shorter races as NHRA heads to Pomona

After the death of drag racer Scott Kalitta in a mid-2008 crash, the NHRA took the dramatic step of temporarily shortening races for the 300-mph funny cars and top-fuel dragsters in its premier Full Throttle Series.

As the series heads to Pomona for its season-ending races next week, the change -- shortening races to 1,000 feet from the traditional quarter mile, or 1,320 feet -- is still in effect. And that's fine by several drivers in contention for series championships this year.

"I think it was actually brilliant on NHRA's part," Jack Beckman, who is a single point behind Matt Hagan in the funny car title standings, told reporters Wednesday. "They solved a whole lot of issues with one change there."

The National Hot Rod Assn. in Glendora took the step both to limit speeds of the 7,000-horsepower dragsters and to give them extra distance for slowing in case of catastrophic problems. Another benefit: Cars and parts last longer, lowering costs.

"Slowing these things down, especially if you have a [para]chute failure, and at some of these racetracks, it's gotten to be a dangerous proposition," Beckman said.

Del Worsham, a seven-time winner this season in the top-fuel class and only two points behind Spencer Massey in that division's title hunt, said "I'd rather accelerate as fast as we are right now to 1,000 feet than have to slow down to [race on] a quarter mile."

"I'd rather keep going faster," Worsham said. "If we have to shorten the track a little more to keep accelerating, so be it."

The NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona are Nov. 10-13.

-- Jim Peltz

Photo: NHRA top-fuel drivers Del Worsham (far lane) and Tony Schumacher (near lane) during qualifying last Thursday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Credit: Jason Zindroski/US Presswire

Carson Palmer talks to Shannon Sharpe for CBS

Former USC quarterback Carson Palmer will be featured on the CBS show "The NFL Today" on Sunday and will be interviewed by Shannon Sharpe.

Palmer is getting ready for his second game as a quarterback of the Oakland Raiders, who play the Denver Broncos in a game that will feature two former star college quarterbacks who are trying to silence critics (Tim Tebow, remember him?).

The show begins at 9 a.m. PDT.

After spending eight seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, Palmer said he would retire rather than play for the team this year and Palmer stayed retired until Oct. 18, when he was traded to the Raiders. After only five days with the Raiders, he made his debut in the second half against the Kansas City Chiefs and had three passes intercepted.

But Oakland did not have a game in Week 8 and now Palmer has had two weeks to get ready for what is expected to be his first Raiders start Sunday. The Raiders are 4-3 and tied with Kansas City and San Diego for the AFC West division lead. 

-- Diane Pucin

USC football: Curtis McNeal will start at tailback

Curtis McNeal will start at tailback for USC on Friday against Colorado regardless of whether senior Marc Tyler is cleared to play, Coach Lane Kiffin said Wednesday.

McNeal, a junior who will be making his first start, rushed for a career-best 145 yards and two touchdowns in 20 carries against Stanford before fumbling on the final play of the 56-48 triple-overtime defeat at the Coliseum.

McNeal scored on runs of 61 and 25 yards.

The former Venice High standout rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown in 17 carries against California and had 118 yards in 24 carries against Notre Dame.

Tyler suffered a dislocated left shoulder against Cal. He aggravated the injury on his first carry against Stanford and has not practiced this week.

More later at latimes.com/sports

-- Gary Klein

Greatest sports figures in L.A. history No. 5: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Continuing our countdown of the 20 greatest figures in L.A. sports history, as chosen in voting by our online readers, with No. 5, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

No. 5 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (70 first-place votes, 5,203 points)

Few, if any, players in basketball history have come close to replicating the perfect combination of power, size, style and grace that characterized Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s game during his stellar, 20-year NBA career. His sky-hooking, bespectacled image came to personify the Lakers' "Showtime" era of the 1980s, making him a recognizable figure even outside the basketball world.

For 14 years he treated the Lakers' fans to an almost otherworldly display of basketball, helping the team win five NBA titles before retiring in 1989 as the league’s all-time leading scorer. His ambidextrous sky hook was virtually unstoppable, his blocking and rebounding superb and his shooting showcased beauty and grit at the same time. "He's the most beautiful athlete in sports," Magic Johnson once told Sports Illustrated.

Born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. in New York in 1947, the 7-foot-2 center leaped onto the national stage at UCLA where he led the Bruins to three national titles under coach John Wooden in the late 1960s. He was selected first overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1969 NBA draft and made an immediate impact, averaging 28.8 points and 14.5 rebounds per game to earn NBA rookie-of-the-year honors.

The following season Alcindor led Milwaukee to its first NBA title and converted from Catholicism to Islam, taking the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, which means "noble, powerful servant."

USC football: Marshall Jones could start at safety vs. Colorado

USC, which will be without safety T.J. McDonald for the first half of Friday night's game at Colorado, also might be missing starting safety Jawanza Starling.

Starling did not practice Wednesday because of an unspecified injury, opening the door for senior Marshall Jones.

Jones started the last four games last season.

On Monday, McDonald was suspended by the Pacific 12 Conference for an illegal hit on Stanford receiver Chris Owusu last week. Junior Drew McAllister will start in his place.

More later at latimes.com/sports

-- Gary Klein

UCLA basketball: Four games added to television schedule

UCLA announced that four more games will be televised this season. The Bruins' game against Middle Tennessee State on Nov. 15 at the Sports Arena will be televised by Prime Ticket, as will their game against Penn on Dec. 10 at the Honda Center.

UCLA's game against Eastern Washington on Dec. 14 at the Sports Arena will be televised by Fox Sports West and the Bruins' game at Washington State on Feb. 4 will be televised by ROOT Sports NW.

The Bruins will play Cal State San Bernarndino in an exhibition game Sunday at 2 p.m. at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario before opening their season Nov. 11 against Loyola Marymount at the Sports Arena.

ALSO:

UCLA picked to win Pac-12 basketball title, but the vote is close

UCLA basketball's David and Travis Wear have versatility in common

-- Ben Bolch

Heat owner Micky Arison fined $500,000 for lockout-related tweets

Miami Heat owner Micky Arison seems to be a smart businessman. He's the founder and chairman of Carnival Cruises, and Forbes estimates his total worth to be $4.2 billion. You don't get to be that successful by doing dumb things ... like tweeting about the NBA lockout when the league specifically has said not to make any comments on the topic.

But that's just what Arison did, with several lockout-related posts on his Twitter account last week. And Commissioner David Stern responded by fining Arison a reported $500,000 for the tweets.

"It was more about his timing," Stern said in an interview with the New York Post, without mentioning the amount of the fine. "We're trying very hard to get a deal done with the players, or we were, and we don't need any external distractions to that focus."

Stern added of Arison: "He believes his tweets were taken out of context and understands our concern about them. And he's very much on board with the other 29 owners about the deal that we want."

Arison's lockout-related tweets were quickly removed and he hasn't addressed the subject since.

It started when someone made a post on Arison's Twitter account, saying "Fans provide all the money you're fighting over you greedy ... pigs." Arison responded, "Honestly u r barking at the wrong owner."

Then someone else posted on Arison's account: "Know it's not ur fault at this point, it's become child's play. Grown men making stupid decisions over money." Arison replied, "Exactly."

The initial poster then responded: "Then can you bark at the other owners? This is RIDICULOUS!!!" To which Arison replied: "Now u r making some sense."

There was more, including Arison's retweeting of some other people's lockout-related comments. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense, seeing that Charlotte's Michael Jordan and Washington's Ted Leonsis had already been fined for similar offenses.

Maybe Arison just needed to get some things off his chest. It's not like he can't afford it. If the going rate is $500,000 for a day's worth of Twitter outbursts, he can feel free to speak his mind some 8,400 more times before going broke.

That would keep Arison busy tweeting for the next 23 years. Hopefully the lockout doesn't last quite that long.

RELATED:

NBA opening night is quiet and bitter

NBA players tweet their discontent over lockout

-- Chuck Schilken

Photo: Micky Arison. Credit: Michael Cohen / Getty Images

T.J. Houshmandzadeh joins Cincinnati Bengals reunion in Oakland

T.J. Houshmandzadeh's signing with the Oakland Raiders on Tuesday further cemented the team's transformation into Bengals West, reuniting the former Cincinnati wide receiver with quarterback Carson Palmer and Coach Hue Jackson.

The question is: Why on earth would any NFL team want to become the Bengals?

Houshmandzadeh played with Cincinnati from 2001 to 2008, then with the Seattle Seahawks in 2009 and Baltimore Ravens in 2010. Palmer was the Bengals' quarterback five of those years (although he was injured most of 2008) and Jackson was receivers coach for three.

And the truth is, the Bengals actually had a relative amount of success -- though "success" is definitely a relative term when speaking of the Bengals -- during the three seasons the trio's paths crossed, from 2004 to 2006.

The Bengals did not have a losing season during that span. OK, they went 8-8 two of those years, but in 2005 they went 11-5 (their best record since 1988) and won the AFC North. If Palmer hadn't suffered a season-ending knee injury on the second play of their wild-card playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who knows what might have happened?

Plus, we're comparing them to the Raiders, a team that hasn't sniffed the playoffs, let alone had a winning season, in a decade. Jackson needed a quarterback after an injury to starter Jason Campbell a couple weeks ago, so he went out and got Palmer.

Palmer apparently needed another target, so the team signed Houshmandzadeh, who had 241 catches for 3,015 yards and 20 touchdowns in his three seasons with Jackson and had a career year with Palmer as his quarterback in 2007 (112 receptions for 1,143 yards and 12 touchdowns).

Sounds like an experiment worth trying for the Raiders.

ALSO:

Packers, Chargers at opposite ends of emotional spectrum

Several NFL players have made surprising impacts on offense

-- Chuck Schilken

Photo: T.J. Houshmandzadeh in 2006. Credit: David Maxwell / Getty Images

Did a Harvard coach once strangle a bulldog to motivate his team to beat Yale?

FOOTBALL URBAN LEGEND: The coach of Harvard once strangled a live bulldog to death to motivate his team to defeat the Yale Bulldogs.

Percy Haughton was, without a doubt, the most successful football coach in the history of Harvard Crimson football. One of the first professional head coaches (initially the job was either done by seniors or volunteers), Haughton (a former Harvard football player himself) led the team to a 72-7 record (with 5 ties) in his nine seasons as head coach of the Crimson. The team also claimed three national championships during his tenure.

A major factor by Harvard (and perhaps more importantly, the boosters of the team) in deciding to bring in Haughton was Harvard's record against Yale in the end of the year game (which eventually became referred to as simply "The Game") the two rival schools had played since 1875 (with some gaps, like when The Game has become so violent that it was canceled for two years. Check out this old Football Urban Legend for a similar situation in the Army-Navy game of the same era).

In the 28 games that they had played prior to the 1908 season, Yale had won 21 of them, including the last six (all shutouts!). So Haughton had a strong desire to defeat the Yale Bulldogs in the 1908 match, not just because of the pressure from his new position but because he, himself (as a Harvard alum) hated the Elis as much as anyone. The legend goes that Haughton actually strangled a live bulldog before the game in front of his players to motivate them to victory. They did, in fact, win the game 4-0 (field goals counted for 4 points back then) and the Harvard/Yale rivalry would no longer be a one-sided one from then on (they have basically split the series since 1908). It is one of the most famous pieces of motivation in college football history (right up there with "Win one for the Gipper!"). But is it true?

Let's find out!

Frank McCourt: Fans speak out on plan to sell the Dodgers

In case you went to bed early and missed the news or, for some reason, you don't read our Dodgers blog, you may not know that Frank McCourt has agreed to sell the Dodgers.

But a lot of your fellow Dodgers fans have chimed in already with their thoughts. A sampling is below. What do you think? Let us know.

slomo1 at 7:14 AM said: Can't you hear "Dandy Don" Meredith now singing, "Turn out the lights, the party's over"...! And all of Los Angeles said, "AMEN!"

eas211 at 7:13 AM said: What I would like to see, once this is done, or even maybe once bids have been received, is for Frank to hold a press conference and hear what he has to say. Hopefully now that it is over for him he will somehow be honest and let everyone know just exactly what he was thinking.  i guess maybe i'm looking for a mea culpa? 

DontEatTheYellowSnow at 6:30 AM said: Frank is not selling because it's the 'right' thing to do, Frank is selling because he's back so far into the proverbal corner, he honestly has no way out… Bring on Mark Cuban.

California Sun at 5:42 AM said: Mccourt should look back, and realize, he blew it.  He could have lived well and built a strong franchise.  Instead he trashed the brand, and he will be lucky to leave with anything.

tede511 at 11:59 PM: Yes, there is a Santa Claus.

RELATED:

Frank McCourt agrees to sell Dodgers

Bill Plaschke: Frank McCourt's selling the Dodgers? Get outta town!

Mark Cuban offered to buy Dodgers, but price was too high

Matt Kemp leads trio of Dodgers awarded Gold Gloves

--Houston Mitchell

UFC 138: Paul Taylor out after car crash; Rashad Evans and Ross Pearson appear in Birmingham

UFC 138 took something of a body blow this week, when local lightweight fighter Paul Taylor was withdrawn from the event after a car crash. Tylor's injuries are not serious. It means, however, Anthony Njokuani is forced off the card, with the UFC unable to secure a late replacement.

Taylor was involved in a car accident late Monday night that resulted in him suffering a severe case of whiplash.

“I was very excited for the opportunity to fight in the UK. Unfortunately a situation outside of our control has caused the bout to be scrapped. I am sure Paul was excited to fight on his own soil so I feel for him as well,” Njokuani told MMAWeekly.com.

It seems that the Taylor-Njokuani bout could be rescheduled for Dec 30, when Brock Lesnar squares off against Alistair Overeem at UFC 141. Njokuani will remain in England through the week at UFC 138 and then head back home to Las Vegas to get back in training on Monday.

Carlos Condit given no option to step aside – claims agent Malki Kawa

Malki Kawa, president of First Round Management and agent for Carlos Condit, claimed this week that Condit had not agreed to step aside from his welterweight title shot against GSP.

“We are obviously disappointed in the UFC’s decision to cancel its commitment with Carlos Condit to give another fighter an opportunity at the Welterweight title based on emotional reactions from UFC 137," said Kawa. "Contrary to what has been stated, Carlos did not step aside to allow this to happen, and would not just hand over an opportunity for him to achieve his greatest career goal, one that he has earned through his strong performances in the Octagon. No option was given to him."

"For the second time in less than two weeks, Carlos has had an opportunity swept out from beneath his feet. He has shown nothing but pure class in his drive to the title, and will continue to do so. Carlos does not need motivation to fight for the title, he already has it."

However, Kawa claimed Condit will return even more motivated. "He will move forward and continue to train at the level that has made him the legitimate number one contender for the UFC Welterweight championship, and he is looking forward to the opportunity to earn that title.”

There is a busy sequence of events for the only UFC event in the UK in 2011

Wednesday, Nov 2:

There are UFC 138 fighter workouts at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel. Mark Munoz and Chris Leben, who headline the event, and British mixed martial artists Brad Pickett, Vaughan Lee and Jason Young will be working out there in the afternoon.

Throughout the week, Rashad Evans and Ross Pearson will be making several appearances. On Wednesday afternoon, Smiling Families Charity will come to the Hilton Hotel to meet the fighters. Later on Wednesday afternoon, Evans and Pearson will visit Birmingham Children's hospital. At 6:30pm – 8pm, at Waterstone’s, Birmingham New Street, Evans and Pearson will then move on to a book signing of the UFC Fan Guide, which has just been published. The book was written by Tom Gerbasi, and Anthony Evans, two of the most knowledgeable writers on the planet on boxing and MMA.

Thursday Nov 3

Evening (5pm), Evans and Pearson will attend Hunt@UFC at Birmingham Bull Ring shopping Centre, followed by Tesco DVD signing with the pair at Town Gate Retail Park, Birmingham Road.

Friday Nov 4

There is a Fight Club Signing at 1pm with Arianny Celeste, and Pearson, a Fight Club Q&A with Rashad (TBC) at 2pm, with the UFC 138 official weigh-in – at Community Hall, National Indoor Arena, King Edwards Road, B1 2AA – with fighters on the scales at 4pm. Doors open at 3pm. At 5pm, there is a Fight Club after party with Pearson.

From 6pm to 8pm, a signing session at HMV with Rashad Evans.

Saturday Nov 5

10am: JD Sports Signing with Rashad and Ross (Arianny to join from 12noon – 1pm)

1:30pm: Hunt @ UFC (Dana White TBC) with Pearson at Birmingham Bull Ring shopping centre

2pm: THQ Press Conference for UFC game at LG Arena

UFC 138 Lebon vs Munoz, LG Arena, National Exhibition Centre, B40 1NT:

5:30pm: First Bout

11pm: UFC 138 Concludes

11.15pm: Post-fight press conference.

Main card

Middleweight bout: United States Chris Leben vs.United States Mark Muñoz

Bantamweight bout: England Brad Pickett vs. Brazil Renan Barão

Welterweight bout: Brazil Thiago Alves vs. Sweden Papy Abedi

Lightweight bout: England Terry Etim vs. United States Eddie Faaloloto

Light Heavyweight bout: France Cyrille Diabaté vs. Australia Anthony Perosh

Preliminary card (Facebook)

Welterweight bout: England John Maguire vs. United States Justin Edwards

Featherweight bout: Japan Michihiro Omigawa vs. England Jason Young

Heavyweight bout: England Rob Broughton vs. England Philip De Fries

Welterweight bout: United States Chris Cope vs. England Che Mills

Bantamweight bout: United States Chris Cariaso vs. England Vaughan Lee

UFC 138 is live on ESPN UK on Saturday night.