FanHouse UFC101

BRISTOL, Conn. -- Kenny Florian looks healthy and happy 19 days after his loss to B.J. Penn at UFC 101, and he says he's hoping to get back into the Octagon in November, with Clay Guida as his likely opponent.

I caught up with Florian here at ESPN's headquarters, where he moonlights as an MMA analyst for the Worldwide Leader, and he said he's feeling good and hoping he doesn't have to wait any longer than November to fight again. He said a fight with Guida at UFC 106 on November 21 in Las Vegas has not been finalized, but that he's optimistic it will get done.

On this week's edition of The MMA Hour, MDS and I were joined by Strikeforce fighter/commentator Frank Shamrock and CEO Scott Coker to talk about this Saturday's card on Showtime, headlined by Gina Carano vs. Cris Cyborg.

We also looked back at last weekend's UFC 101 and WEC 42 events. Where does Miguel Torres go from here? Who's next for Anderson Silva? Can anyone beat BJ Penn at 155 pounds? All those topics and much more were discussed. Enjoy the show below.

Thales Leites, who less than four months ago competed for the UFC middleweight title, was given his walking papers in a meeting Wednesday afternoon with the UFC, FanHouse confirmed with a source close to Leites.

Leites (14-3) had exclusively fought for the UFC since The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale in November 2006, where he lost his promotional debut to Martin Kampmann, but would bounce back with five straight wins to earn a shot against champion Anderson Silva. However, after the two turned out a lackluster and tentative five-round performance, both faced heavy criticism and required a strong follow-up outing to restore their reputation.

The Ultimate Fighter 7 semifinalist Dan Cramer has been released by the UFC following his loss last Saturday at UFC 101 in Philadelphia, FanHouse has learned.

Cramer (1-1), one of the few fighters to make his pro MMA and UFC debut at the same time, dropped a lopsided decision to castmate Matt Riddle on scores of 27-29, 26-30 and 27-30. Cramer entered coming off a split decision win over season six's Matt Arroyo at UFC 94 in January.

After a big win at UFC 101, Anderson Silva has moved up the mixed martial arts pound-for-pound rankings. But is he now the No. 1 fighter in the world? Not in my rankings, which are below.

Anderson Silva put on one of the most impressive performances of the year in MMA on Saturday night with his destruction of Forrest Griffin at UFC 101, but Dan Henderson watched from cageside and came away from the fight convinced he's the man to beat Silva.

UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn looks so unbeatable that Kenny Florian, a legit No. 1 contender, never had him in any trouble at all Saturday night at UFC 101. Middleweight champion Anderson Silva looks so unbeatable that he moved up in weight class and absolutely dominated former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin. So what does this say about the state of the championship picture in the UFC?

PHILADELPHIA -- Anderson Silva walked into UFC 101 surrounded by boos, a goat, and left bathed in adulation, the G.O.A.T., or at least something close.

Needing a highlight-reel worthy performance to quiet the sudden doubts emanating from two straight lackluster performances, Silva -- fighting for only the second time at 205 pounds -- toyed with former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin before putting him away with a stunning short right in just 3:23 of the first round.

B.J. Penn showed once again on Saturday night that he's the best lightweight in mixed martial arts, defending his UFC title and defeating Kenny Florian with a fourth-round rear-naked choke at UFC 101.