/ Affliction

Renato "Babalu" Sobral hopes to extend his winning streeak and capture the Strikeforce light-heavyweight title.

Florian makes a statement
Kenny Florian might have had the most impressive win of UFC 91. Joe Stevenson is a tough, experienced guy, and Florian buzzsawed him. Stevenson left the cage with a stunned look on his face and for good reason.

Lightweight champ B.J. Penn previously had little interest in facing the Florian-Stevenson winner. But after Florian beat Stevenson faster than he did, perhaps his curiosity is piqued. Florian is peaking and presents a challenge for Penn after the Hawaiian squares off with GSP in January. If Penn wins that match and holds two belts, he's likely going to have to drop one, and would probably relinquish the lightweight crown. Florian, however, has earned his shot with six straight wins, including five by finish.

Fitch out, then back in
The licensing issue at play in the Jon Fitch/AKA problem that was later resolved wasn’t simply about a videogame. When the UFC tries to make a merchandising deal, they want to be able to sell the entire roster, not just 50 percent of the fighters. Having to sign fighters one-by-one takes time and threatens deadlines. Working with the NBA for instance, companies seeking merchandising deals negotiate with NBA Properties, which works with the Players Association. So when a deal is reached, they get every player in one fell swoop.

The UFC is trying to make it easier to finalize deals by getting all its athletes under licensing contracts. Earlier this year, the UFC underwent an initiative to increase brand awareness. Deals with Jakks action figures, Topps trading cards, and THQ video games are all part of the plan.

UFC’s hero fighter
In case you missed it, it was reported earlier this week that Croatian UFC middleweight Goran Reljic saved the lives of two men whose car crashed into the sea near his home.

It was around 3 am when Reljic heard the crash, leaped out of bed in his underwear and jumped into the water. At that point, he broke the car’s windshield and pulled both men free. Amazingly, Reljic did it all with a back injury that has sidelined him from training and competing.

The story, in the Croatian newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija, highlighted Reljic’s humble nature and quoted him as saying, “The only satisfaction I get is that both young men are alive and healthy. I don't need any praise, I simply did what anyone one would have done in that situation.”

Reljic is 8-0 in his career and scored a TKO over Wilson Gouveia at UFC 84.