Edmonton's Ryan Jimmo (16-1) will make his Octagon debut close to home, as the Canadian light-heavyweight will take on Anthony Perosh (13-6) at UFC 149 in Calgary, a source told Sportsnet.

The 30-year-old Jimmo was originally scheduled to fight Karlos Vemola at UFC on FX 1 in Nashville on Jan. 20, but he had to pull out with an injury. The Maximum Fighting Championship 205-pound title-holder is on a 16-fight win streak since losing to CFL player Adam Braidwood in his professional MMA debut.

Perosh, 39, is on a three-fight win streak and coming off a TKO of Manitoba’s Nick Penner at the UFC show in his native Sydney, Australia in March.

UFC 149 takes place July 21 at Calgary's Scotiabank Saddledome.

The injury bug has bitten again, and this time its target was UFC 146, which underwent two more changes today.

After much reshuffling on the all-heavyweight main card, Roy "Big Country" Nelson (16-7) now has his third opponent since the event was announced. Gabriel Gonzaga is out with an injury, just 8 days after being slotted to fight Nelson after Nelson's original opponent, Bigfoot Silva, was plucked for another bout. Hirsute heavyweight Dave Herman (21-3) will now fill in against the TUF 10 winner.

On the undercard, lightweight contender Evan Dunham has also been injured, forcing him to withdraw from his much-anticipated bout against Edson Barboza (10-0). The change opens the door for the Zuffa return of former WEC champion Jamie Varner (19-6-1). Varner has racked up three impressive wins in the last year, all finishes in under two minutes.

UFC 146 takes place May 26 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Heavy-handed bantamweight Francisco Rivera will get a second chance in the Octagon, albeit on short notice.

With less than two weeks before the event, Rivera (7-2) has agreed to replace Azamat Gashimov and take on fellow Californian Alex Soto (6-1-1) at UFC on Fuel TV 3. Sherdog.com learned of the change Tuesday from a source close to the bout; the reason for Gashimov’s withdrawal was not immediately known.

Rivera -- who suffered stoppage losses to Erik Koch and Reuben Duran during his first Zuffa tenure -- had been slated to face Alexander Crispim on May 10 in the co-main event of Tachi Palace Fights 13. With Rivera’s move up to the big show, Tachi Palace officials Tuesday announced that recently released UFC bantamweight Ian Loveland will step in to take on Crispim.

Since his loss to Duran in June 2011, Rivera has reeled off two vicious knockouts under the Tachi banner, disposing of Brad McDonald and Antonio Duarte in a combined 1:55. His opponent, Soto, will look to rebound from his first defeat, a 56-second battering at the hands of top prospect Michael McDonald. Prior to the loss, the Team Hurricane Awesome product had managed a 6-0-1 record, finishing all but one of his wins.

UFC on Fuel TV 3 takes place May 15 at George Mason University’s Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va.

Clay Hantz (7-3) has replaced injured Jesus Rivera (6-2) and now meets Jorge "Macaco" Patino (26-13-1) in the championship headliner of next week's Legacy Fighting Championships 11 main event.

LFC officials today announced the change.

Hantz and Patino fight for the organization's vacant lightweight title at the event, which airs live May 11 on HDNet.

The event takes place at Houston's Arena Theater and features notables such as Chad Robichaux, Joseph Sandoval, Marcus Aurelio and Jamie Varner.

Hantz, a Dallas-based fighter, is a former Shark Fights competitor who makes his Legacy debut on the strength of a three-fight win streak. All of the victories came via stoppage, including a submission win over 3-0 Micah Franks and a submission victory over 7-2 Chris Gregoire. In fact, six of his seven career wins have come via stoppage.

Patino, a 17-year pro who fought primarily in Brazil until a few years ago, looks for his fourth straight win. Recently, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo black belt has picked up Legacy wins over Pete Spratt (to win the welterweight title) and Mike Bronzoulis (in a title defense). Patino was stuck in a 2-5 skid before his recent string of victories. This will be his third consecutive five-rounder.

Fresh off respective award-winning performances at UFC 145, big men Travis Browne and Ben Rothwell have been paired off for a UFC on FOX 4 encounter.

The heavyweight tangle was announced overnight by the promotion.

Both men won in short order at UFC 145.

Browne continued his unbeaten stretch with an arm-triangle submission win over Chad Griggs in just 2:29. It was his first tapout win in the UFC, and only the second of his career as he improved to 13-0-1. For his efforts, he won the Submission of the Night bonus.

Rothwell took one of the evening's other big prizes, Knockout of the Night, needing just 70 seconds to conquer Brendan Schaub. It was an emotional win for the longtime veteran, who said afterward that he probably would have retired if he had lost.

Rothwell is 32-8 overall, and while he's been around the MMA scene for over a decade, at 30 years old, he's just nine months older than Browne.

UFC on FOX 4 takes place on August 4 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Other announced fights include Lyoto Machida vs. Ryan Bader, and Brian Stann taking on the debuting former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard.

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Jake Shields (27-6-1) is returning to the middleweight division to meet Ed Herman (20-7) in the Mile High City.

UFC president Dana White today announced the fight via Twitter.

Shields, a former EliteXC and Strikeforce champion, won 15 consecutive fights over six years before back-to-back losses to Georges St-Pierre (in a UFC title fight) and Jake Ellenberger. However, the submission specialist recently rebounded at UFC 144 in Japan with a unanimous-decision victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama. It was his first victory since his UFC-debut win over Martin Kampmann.

Since a two-year layoff due to a knee surgery and recovery, Herman has been on a roll. "The Ultimate Fighter 3" runner-up was stuck in a 1-3 skid prior to the layoff. However, he's since scored a knockout victory over Tim Credeur and submission wins over Kyle Noke and Clifford Starks.

UFC 150 takes place Aug. 11 at Denver's Pepsi Center.

Former UFC champion Lyoto Machida (17-3) and onetime-surging contender Ryan Bader (14-2) have agreed to meet on the network-televised UFC on FOX 4 fight card.

UFC officials today passed along news of the fight from the Brazilian outlet esporte.ig.com.br.

Since opening his career with a 16-0 mark and winning the UFC light-heavyweight title, Machida has dropped three of his past four fights. The Japanese-Brazilian karate specialist most recently fought in December, when he failed in an effort to reclaim his title. At UFC 140, new champ Jon Jones score a technical-submission victory over Machida, which followed "Dragon's" earlier defeats to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Bader, who won "The Ultimate Fighter 8," surged into title contention after winning his first five UFC fights. He then suffered back-to-back losses to Jones and Tito Ortiz (in a major upset) to derail his title hopes. Recently, though, the NCAA Division I wrestling standout has gotten back on track with a knockout win over Jason Brilz at UFC 139 and a unanimous-decision victory over Jackson at UFC 144. A win over Machida could get him right back in the thick of the title hunt.

UFC on FOX 4 takes place Aug. 4 at Los Angeles' Staples Center.

Karl Amoussou (14-4-2 MMA, 2-1 BFC) and David Rickels (10-0 MMA, 2-0 BFC) will still meet in a season-six welterweight-tournament-semifinal fight.

They'll just do so on a different date.

While initially targeted for Friday's Bellator 67 event, a source close to the fighters told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) the tourney fight instead takes place next month at Bellator 69.

Bellator 69 takes place May 18 at L'Auberge du Lac Casino Resort in Lake Charles, La., and the main card airs on MTV2 following Spike.com prelims.

Amoussou made short work of Chris Lozano in Bellator 63's headliner and an opening-round fight. After an intense staredown, Amoussou carried the hard feelings into the event, where he threw a head kick, hit the mat, and quickly transitioned into a fight-ending rear-naked choke just two minutes into the fight.

He looks to continue his first-ever Bellator tourney run against Rickels, who needed just 22 seconds to knock out Jordan Smith, who was a late replacement for medically ineligible Brian Foster, in his opening-round matchup. Rickels stunned Smith with a right, and the submission specialist then pounced with follow-up punches to secure his first KO victory since his pro debut in early 2010.

The Amoussou vs Rickels winner meets the winner of Friday's Ben Saunders (13-4-2 MMA, 4-1 BFC) vs. Bryan Baker (17-3 MMA, 7-2 BFC) bout in the tourney's finale next month.

Brian Stann (12-4) will serve as the UFC's welcoming committee for longtime Bellator champion and recent UFC signee Hector Lombard (31-2-1).

Lombard, Bellator's longtime middleweight champion, signed with the UFC just this past week. The Cuban-Australian standout enters the UFC on the strength of a 24-0-1 unbeaten streak that dates back to 2006. Lombard, who nearly signed with the UFC in 2007 before visa issues got in the way, most recently knocked out Trevor Prangley at Bellator 58, which fulfilled the terms of his Bellator deal. He concluded his run in the organization with an 8-0 record.

Stann recently picked up his fourth win in five fights with a first-round knockout via ground and pound of Alessio Sakara earlier this month at UFC on FUEL TV 2. Prior to the victory, the former WEC light-heavyweight champion snapped a three-fight win streak and potentially cost himself a title shot with a second-round submission loss to upcoming title challenger Chael Sonnen.

UFC on FOX 4 takes place Aug. 4 at Los Angeles' Staples Center.

Event results from Invicta FC 1, taking place Saturday at Municipal Hall in Kansas City, Kan.

Main Event

145 lbs.: Marloes Coenen def. Romy Ruyssen via decision (30-26)

Fight Card

105 lbs.: Jessica Penne def. Lisa Ellis via TKO (punches), Rd 3, 2:48
135 lbs.: Liz Carmouche def. Ashleigh Curry via TKO (punches), Rd 1, 1:58
135 lbs.: Kaitlin Young and Leslie Smith via draw (29-28,28-29, 29-29)
135 lbs.: Sarah D'Alelio def. Vanessa Mariscal via TKO (punches), Rd 2, 3:19
115 lbs.: Sarah Schneider def. Sally Krumdiack via submission (armbar), Rd 1, 3:01
105 lbs.: Amy Davis def. Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc via submission (kimura), Rd 2, 3:47
125 lbs.: Sarah Maloy vs. Michele Gutierrez via decision (29-28x2, 30-27)
145 lbs.: Randi Miller vs. Mollie Estes via TKO (punches), Rd 3, 3:27
115 lbs.: Ashley Cummins vs. Sofia Bagherdai via decision (30-27x29-28)
105 lbs.: Cassie Rodish def. Meghan Wright via submission (head and arm choke), Rd 1, 0:36

Luiz Cane (12-4) will drop to 185 pounds to meet Yushin Okami (26-7) at the event.

A featured bout for the card was not revealed.

Eight-time UFC veteran Cane fights as the middleweight for the first time after mixed results in the company's light heavyweight division. After opening his octagon career at 3-1, he's since fallen to .500 in the UFC with three losses in his past four fights. Most recently, Cane was handed a disappointing first-round TKO result by Stanislav Nedkov.

Meanwhile, Okami looks to snap a two-fight win streak after dropping back-to-back outings against Tim Boetsch and Anderson Silva. While Okami was never a threat in the title fight with Silva, he was leading comfortably on the cards over Boetsch when "The Barbarian" launched a furious third-round come-from-behind assault.

The recent defeats are the first two-fight losing streak of Okami's career.

Benson Henderson's first defense of the UFC lightweight belt is likely to take place in Denver, Colo., against Frankie Edgar at UFC 150, which is expected to take place on Aug. 11.

UFC officials have yet to make an official announcement regarding the event or the headliner. Contracts for the fight have yet to be distributed.

Denver's Pepsi Center may host UFC 150, but nothing has been finalized to date.

Edgar (14-2-1), of course, surrendered the belt to Henderson (16-2) at this past February's UFC 144 event.

UFC president Dana White initially encouraged Edgar to drop to 145 pounds and challenge UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo for the title. However, Edgar remained intent on fighting again for the lightweight belt, and a bit of fan lobbying and fighter encouragement eventually led White to change his mind and award a rematch to "The Answer."

Edgar is no stranger to rematches. Henderson marks the third-straight opponent that he's faced in two-consecutive fights after tussling with Gray Maynard and B.J. Penn twice each.

Meanwhile, former WEC champ Henderson looks to remain perfect under the UFC banner. "Smooth" was defeated by Anthony Pettis in the final WEC event but earned wins over Mark Bocek, Jim Miller and Clay Guida to earn his title shot before taking the decision win over Edgar.

Pettis was initially expected to get the next shot at Henderson after earning a knockout win over Joe Lauzon at UFC 144. Instead, he now waits on a new opponent.

Legacy Fighting Championship is proud to announce that it has signed female mixed martial artist Carina Damm (17-6) to fight undefeated Claudia Gadelha (7-0). The bout will take place at Legacy FC 13 at the Europa Expo on August 17 in Dallas, Texas.

Damm is an experienced fighter who has fought some of the best female MMA fighters in the world, including Hitomi Akano, Jessica Aguilar, Rosi Sexton, Tara LaRosa, and Miku Matsumoto. A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, Carina has finished 8 of her fights by submission and 5 by (T)KO, and is riding a two-fight win streak. She has fought for several promotions, including BodogFight, Shark Fights, and Strikeforce.

Gadelha is one of the top female prospects from Brazil. The Nova Uniao BJJ black belt has finished all but two of her opponents by submission, the majority of which were by armbar. Her MMA career was sidelined for over a year due to an injury, but made her return on April 20 against Valerie Letourneau and earned a split decision victory.

A lightweight matchup featuring Anthony Njokuani (15-6) and Paul Taylor (11-6-1) is set for UFC on FUEL TV 4 on July 11 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

Njokuani gets a quick turnaround after an impressive showing at this past weekend's UFC 145. The Las Vegas resident outstruck fellow standup specialist John Makdessi en route to a unanimous decision, which put him back on the right track after a split decision loss to Danny Castillo at UFC 141.

Since migrating from the now-defunct WEC, Njokuani has hopscotched between losses and wins.

Taylor has done much the same, though he's lost more than he's won. Most recently, he blew a returning Gabe Ruediger out of the water with a head kick and punches at UFC 126. That got him back in the winner's circle after a razor-close decision loss to Sam Stout at UFC 121 and a unanimous decision dropped to John Hathaway.

The Walsall, England, resident has nonetheless won three performance bonuses for his entertaining, striking-based style.

Marc Ratner, the current UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, was appointed chairman of the newly formed Technical Committee within the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF).

“I’m very honored to work with the IMMAF and help with formulating guidelines and instituting the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts throughout the world. As the Chairman of the Technical Committee our mission will be to have the same rules and medical standards wherever MMA is happening.” says Mr. Ratner.

The appointment became official at the IMMAF board meeting held on Friday the 13th of April 2012. The decision was unanimous in both forming a Technical Committee and Ratner’s appointment.

The committee will have the task of researching and analyzing best practice in the area of MMA regulations for the purpose of future IMMAF recommendations and rule sets.

Ratner comes with unmatched experience and expertise. In addition to his current role with the UFC, he held previous positions with the Nevada Athletic Commission for over 20 years, including roles as the Chief Inspector and Executive Director.

“We are excited to have Mr. Ratner onboard as chairman of the Technical committee”, says IMMAF President August Wallén. “Researching best practice and eventually formulating IMMAF regulations is one of the most important tasks ahead, and one we take very seriously. There is no one out there who is better suited than Marc Ratner to head up this work and we are very grateful for his commitment.”

Official Ring of Combat XL weigh-ins took place Thursday with all fighters making weight.  The live event takes place April 27 at Tropicana Atlantic City in New Jersey.

The full Ring of Combat XL weigh-in results included:

MAIN CARD

• Marvin Eastman (207) vs. Dmitry Zablotny (221)
• Ed Gordon (204) vs. Ryan Contaldi (205)
• Carlos Brooks (203.5) vs. Danny Babcock (203.5)
• Daniel Akinyemi (185) vs. Brett Linebarger (185)
• Chris Wing (169.5) vs. Stephen Govan (169.5)
• Ryan Vaccaro (145) vs. Billy Vaughan (144.5)
• Adam Fearon (176) vs. Yusuf Yoldas (172)
• Nabih Barakat (151) vs. Mervin Rodriguez (150)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Walter Howard (200.5) vs. Michael Andrillo (204.5)
• Chris Wade (156.5) vs. Maykon Santos (153)
• Matthew Rizzo (133.5) vs. Daniel Carbonel (136)
• Andre Harrison (144) vs. Epifano Diaz (146)
• Pat DeFranco (160.5) vs. David Jordan (159)

The UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida card just got a little deeper, according to UFC president Dana White.

"Two of the top featherweights in the world, Hatsu Hioki and Ricardo Lamas, will battle it out June 22 on the UFC on FX card in Atlantic City," White told FOXSports.com.

Hioki (26-4-2) comes in riding a six-fight winning streak, including his first two UFC bouts. He last fought at UFC 144 in February, where he won a unanimous decision over Bart Palaszewski.

Lamas (11-2) has also won his first two UFC bouts following a stint in the WEC. Lamas last fought in November on the UFC on FOX 1 card, where he beat Cub Swanson by submission.

“Many pegged Hioki as the next possible challenger for Jose Aldo's title, but he wants one more test before going for the belt," White said. "In his way is Lamas, who has proven to be a tough competitor for anyone to deal with, especially since moving down to featherweight and finishing both opponents at 145 pounds. Both guys have verbally agreed to the match."

UFC on FX 4 takes place June 22 at Revel Atlantic City in Atlantic City, N.J.

UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones ($400,000) and fellow headliner Rashad Evans ($300,000) were the top earners at this past weekend's UFC 145 event.

They accounted for 56 percent of the event's $1,241,000 payroll.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today requested and received the list of official disclosed paydays from the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission.

UFC 145 took place this past Saturday, April 21, at Atlanta's Philips Arena. The night's main card, which included Jones' unanimous-decision victory over Evans, aired on pay-per-view. FX and Facebook carried the prelims.

The full list of paydays from the 12-bout card included:

Champ Jon Jones: $400,000 (no win bonus)
def. Rashad Evans: $300,000

Rory MacDonald: $36,000 (includes $18,000 win bonus)
def. Che Mills: $8,000

Ben Rothwell: $104,000 (includes $52,000 win bonus)
def. Brendan Schaub: $14,000

Michael McDonald: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Miguel Torres: $32,000

Eddie Yagin: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
def. Mark Hominick: $17,000

Mark Bocek: $46,000 (includes $23,000 win bonus)
def. John Alessio: $10,000

Travis Browne: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)
def. Chad Griggs: $27,000

Matt Brown: $36,000 (includes $18,000 win bonus)
def. Stephen Thompson: $8,000

Anthony Njokuani: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)
def. John Makdessi: $12,000

Mac Danzig: $54,000 (includes $27,000 win bonus)
def. Efrain Escudero: $10,000

Chris Clements: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
def. Keith Wisniewski: $10,000

Marcus Brimage: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Maximo Blanco: $13,000

Former WEC champion Jamie Varner (19-6-1) has replaced Alex Morono (4-1) and now meets Lee King (16-16-1) at next month's Legacy Fighting Championships 11 event.

LFC promoter Mick Maynard today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) about the 160-pound catchweight fight, which will be part of the night's HDNet-televised main card.

Legacy Fighting Championship 11 takes place May 11 at Houston's Arena Theater.

Varner vs. King is one of seven bouts airing on HDNet.

Varner currently is on a 3-1 post-WEC run. Most recently, he's competed for the Florida-based XFC promotion, where he's picked up back-to-back stoppage wins over Nate Jolly and UFC vet Drew Fickett. The current AMA Fight Club fighter's lone loss during the stretch came via decision to Dakota Cochrane in September in the Titan Fighting Championships 20 headliner.

King is a journeyman fighter from Texas who's fought some of the lightweight division's biggest names during his decade-long career. He's currently riding a three-fight win streak that included a recent first-round TKO of Shawn Machado at Legacy's February event.

A heavyweight matchup between Cheick Kongo (17-7-2) and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (33-7-1) has been added to UFC 149 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The bout will be Nogueira's first fight since Frank Mir snapped his humerus at Toronto’s UFC 140.  Meanwhile, Kongo most recently lost to Mark Hunt at UFC 144.

Sources say that while Nogueira and Kongo have agreed verbally, no paperwork has been signed.