Morning Droppings

- Gracie fighter and TUF 5 season winner Nate Diaz will will reportedly make his next UFC appearance as part of the September 19 UFC Fight Night event against Junior Assuncao.

- The Chuck Liddell vs. Keith Jardine headlining fight for UFC 76 is now official.



- Iowa Silverbacks middleweight Ryan McGivern will not be competing in the August 2 IFL semifinals East Rutherford, NJ. McGivern will be replaced by former Portland Wolfpack fighter Gerald Harris.



- The Fight Network is reporting that Royce Gracie did not submit a written appeal to the CSAC to contest steroid use allegations after testing positive for Nandrolone Metabolite, an anabolic steroid, following his June 2 win over Kazushi Sakaraba. Gracie has instead decided to pay the fine and sit out a because he doesn't want to pay the legal fees.

Morning Droppings

- EliteXC president Gary Shaw says that the company's deal with Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou has fallen through and the Cameroon native is now expected to sign with K-1 Hero’s in Japan.

- With Wanderlei Silva off the UFC 76 September card, former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell is expected to face Keith Jardine in the event's headlining fight. This is a lackluster main event, and Jardine is no substitute for Silva.

- Fighter/referee extraordiannaire Herb Dean had to pull out of his Cage Rage 22 fight with Dave Legano due to an eye injury. The big Herbivore later announced that he will retire from fighting and stick to being a mediocre referee.

- Speaking of this weekend's Cage Rage event, I came across this little gem on MMAWeekly.com: "Joe Mac vs. Jeremy Bailey did not happen due to Joe Mac's face being slashed by a knife the night before."