Swick Off Fight Night 11 Card

MMAWeekly is reporting that a rib injury will prevent Mike "Quick" Swick from facing Jonathan Goulet on the September 19 UFC Fight Night 11 card.

Swick and his Fight Night 11 opponent(s) have been in and out of the headlines since the beginning of summer. First he was supposed to fight Chris Leben, who ultimately pulled out of the fight. Then Swick was called out by Jonathan Goulet, which I found altogether laughable.

UFN 11 Card Looking Good

Tis is a shaping up to be a great little card, especially for the price.

Kenny Florian vs. Din Thomas (main event)
Jonathan Goulet vs. Mike Swick
Junior Assuncao vs. Nate Diaz
Chris Leben vs. Terry Martin
Nate Quarry vs. Pete Sell
Leonard Garcia vs. Cole Miler
Gray Maynard vs. Joe Veres
Thiago Alves vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka

Morning Droppings

- First Horodecki, then Hieron. L.A.Anacondas welterweight and Long Island native Jay Hieron suffered an injury while training and will be sidelined for the August 2 IFL semifinals, for which he was scheduled to fight Silverbacks welterweight Rory Markham. Anacondas coach Shawn Tompkins will announce later today the replacements for both Horodecki and Hieron.

- UFC lightweight Roger Huerta will take on his third UFC newcomer in as many fights, as he is scheduled to fight Alberto Crane next month at UFC 74. Crane carries an impressive 8-0 record, with seven of those wins coming via submission.

- UFC.com is reporting that former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir will be returning to the UFC octagon for UFC 74 in a match against Antoni Hardonk.

- UFC veteran Marvin Eastman is rumored to face the hard-hitting Miletich fighter Drew McFredries in a middleweight showdown as part of the UFC 77 card, which will be headlined by a middleweight championship match between Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin.

- With Chris Leben out of the UFC Fight Night 11 match between him and Mike Swick, it looks like Jonathan Goulet will instead fight Swick. Both fighters have agreed to the fight, according to MMAWeekly. Yesterday, Goulet issued the challenge to Swick, who gladly accepted.

Swick: Leben “Backed Out” of Fight

Mike Swick has gone on record to say that Chris Leben has "backed out" of their September 19 fight, which was scheduled to headline UFC’s Fight Night 11 card.

"He backed out. He didn’t take it. It kind of sucks with how tough he talks about fighting anyone, anywhere. He kept saying we could rematch anytime," Swick griped. "It’s disrespectful to back out now."

Swick explained that he will probably remain on the televised part of the Fight Night 11 card, but the Houston native doubts that he’ll be in the main event. The UFC is currently looking for an opponent for the popular Swick.

Swick seemed particularly upset, and with good reason. Leben holds a win 2004 KO win over Swick (at WEC 9), and Swick has been looking to avenge that loss.

"What it comes down to is that [Leben’s] got a win over me, and he’s been blabbing about it since the show," Swick told UFCJunkie. "And he can’t give me the respect to let me avenge that loss? All that talk he talks, and this is how it goes? I think he lost that warrior spirit."

I haven’t heard anything as to why Leben has decided against this fight (injury, management issues, contractual difficulties???), but I’ll do some investigative work and let you know as soon as I can.

Morning Droppings

- The next UFC Fight Night card has been booked for Thursday, September 20, and will air live on Spike TV (free) as a lead-in for The Ultimate Fighter 6 debut episode. In the main event of the Fight Night event, Miletich Fighting Systems' Spencer "The King" Fisher will face American Top team fighter Din Thomas in what promises to be a very exciting lightweight showdown. Also rumored for the card is a Chris Leben-Mike Swick showdown, presumably at middleweight.

- A member of Rashad Evans' camp has confirmed to UFCJunkie.com that Rashad Evans-Tito Ortiz II has been booked for UFC 77 on October 20 in Cincinnati.

- Speaking of draws and rematches, Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett-Victor "Joe Boxer" Valenzuela II is rumored to take place on the September 1 EliteXC card. The two were scheduled to fight last month as part of the Baroni-Shamrock event, but due to Krazy Horse's legal woes and an inability to make his flight out to Vegas for the fight, Valenzuela fought (and lost to) James Edson Berto. Bennett-Valenzuela is a rematch I'd love to see. Their first fight (2005) ended in a draw after brutal, non-stop action that left Krazy Horse lying exhausted in the middle of the cage. These fighters cgenuinely dislike one another, and I expect another war from these two.

Welterweight Swick at UFC 75

Mike "Quick" Swick will reportedly bring his lame nickname and new 170-pound frame over to Anaheim for UFC 76, which will go down on September 22 at the Honda Center.

Rumors have swirled around Swick and his possible drop from middleweight to welterweight for some time now, and it’s being reported by UFCJunkie that Swick feels good (physically good) about the cut to 170.

You may remember Mike Swick as a young fighter on the original Ultimate Fighter show…or as the guy who got his ass pounded at UFC 69: Shootout by Yushin Okami in front of his own hometown fans in Houston.

Swick's opponent is for UFC 76 is TBA. I like TBA by second-round armbar.