Matchmaking

• The final fight on Roger Huerta’s UFC contract was booked against Gray Maynard at UFC Fight Night 19 on Sept. 16 in Oklahoma City. Earlier this year, Huerta turned down a new UFC contract to pursue a career in acting.

• Blagoi Ivanov, the Bulgarian who defeated Fedor Emelianenko in Sambo competition in November, will face the former Pride Fighting Championships titleholder’s brother, Aleksander Emelianenko, on Sept. 29. The bout will carry the first Fighter Mania Championship show in South Korea. Ivanov will meet Kazuyuki Fujita in his professional MMA debut at Sengoku “Ninth Battle” on Aug. 2.

• The MMA debut of 2008 Olympic gold medal winning judoka Satoshi Ishii, originally set for the Aug. 2 Sengoku, will likely be put off until November due to hernia surgery, according to reports out of Japan.

• An anticipated rematch between World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight champion Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone will be delayed longer than expected. A recent exam determined Varner’s hand remains fractured; the injury stems from the first clash with Cerrone in January. Several reports indicated the WEC may create an interim lightweight crown in order to get Cerrone a title fight and allow Varner more recovery time.

• A lightweight showdown between Shane Roller and Marcus Hicks has been signed for the preliminary card at WEC 42 “Torres vs. Bowles” on Aug. 9 in Las Vegas, MMAJunkie.com reported.

• Heavyweight Mike Russow will make his UFC debut against Todd Duffee at UFC 102 “Couture vs. Nogueira” on Aug. 29 in Portland, Ore., according to MMAWeekly.com.

• Sengoku announced it has added Yoshihiro Nakao vs. Mu Bae Choi and Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Clay French to its Aug. 2 show in Saitama, Japan.