UFC president Dana White confirmed a couple of things that have been rumoured for about a week now, the Chuck Liddell – Wanderlei Silva mega showdown is likely not happening. White cited difficulties doing business with the “Japanese”, and has mentioned a possible rematch between Liddell and Tito Ortiz as the replacement bout. Additionally, White’s approved the third instalment of Ortiz/Shamrock since he believes the fans were cheated out of proper finish, and will ensure the fans get to see it for free on Spike TV.    

Marc Ratner, UFC vice president of regulatory and governmental affairs, acknowledged the UFC is still hard at work trying to get MMA sanctioned in New York. However, Ratner mentioned this will not happen until after November 7, 2006 when a new Governor is elected, replacing the outgoing George Pataki who has decided not to run for a fourth term.

Also, the UFC had every intention of bringing UFC 63 north of the border to Montreal, which would have featured hometown hero Georges St. Pierre’s much awaited rematch against Matt Hughes. Unfortunately, the Bell Center was already booked for a Montreal Canadiens NHL pre-season game on September 23rd, and due to the limited availability of Pay Per View dates the UFC was forced to return to California.

Ultimate Fighter season 3 middleweight winner Kendall Grove will return to action at the next UFC Fight Night, squaring off against Chris Price on October 10th. Grove won a close decision over Ed Herman and will be looking to continue his climb up the middleweight ranks.    

Kenny Florian was in attendance and confirmed he’ll be fighting Sean Sherk at UFC 64 in October for the vacant lightweight title. Florian’s been the underdog in his last two fights (Kit Cope & Sam Stout), and joked he expects that trend will continue.