Middleweight fighter Dean "The Boogeyman" Lister requested and received his release from his UFC contract following a loss to Yushin "Thunder" Okami at UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 in December 27. He will seek a deal with a new employer in 2009. The news was confirmed on Sunday by Lister's management team at Haymaker's Empire.

According to the management team, Lister requested the release and the UFC granted his leaving the promotion. The former Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Absolute Division Champion and King of the Cage (KOTC) Middleweight Champion is already in talks with several promotions, including DREAM and Affliction, for a new deal.

During his time with the UFC, Lister amassed an impressive 4-2 record with wins over fighters like Jeremy Horn and Alessio Sakara, with his only losses coming against Nate Marquardt and Okami in his last bout. However, he has not been a fan favorite due to his reliance on his grappling. He's won nine times by submission but never won by KO or TKO since debuting in September 2000. Eight of of Lister's 19 career fights have gone the distance.

With his release from the UFC, Lister is not looking to sit out for very long. He wants to return soon with a new promotion.

The grappling guru is also looking for a shot at a fighter such as Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza or possibly the new Sengoku Middleweight Champion Jorge Santiago to get back in against top competition and prove his meddle as one of the top submission artists in mixed martial arts.

UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 fight card is perhaps the most anticipated of the year, featuring two title bouts and a third grudge match between MMA superstars Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

In one of the title bouts, Michigan State University's own former wrestling star Rashad Evans will go for the light heavyweight title against defending champion Forrest Griffin.

The other title bout features Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira against Frank Mir for the interim heavyweight title and the right to fight Brock Lesnar for the true heavyweight title down the line.

Here are the results for the event which took place at the MGM Grand Garden arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on last Saturday, December 27, 2008:

• "Sugar" Rashad Evans def. Forrest Griffin by TKO at 2:46 of Round 3

• Frank Mir def. Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira by TKO at 1:54 of Round 2

• CB "The Doberman" Dollaway def. Mike "The Master of Disaster" Massenzio by TKO at 3:01 of Round 1

• Quinton "Rampage" Jackson def. Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva by KO at 3:21 of Round 1

• Cheick Kongo def. Mostapha Al Turk by TKO at 4:37 of Round 1

• Yushin "Thunder" Okami def. Dean "The Boogeyman" Lister by unanimous decision

• Antoni Hardonk def. Mike "The Juggernaut" Wessel by TKO at 2:09 of Round 2

• Matt "The Hammer" Hamill def. Reese Andy by TKO at 2:19 of Round 2

• "Bad" Brad Blackburn def. Ryo "Piranha" Chonan by unanimous decision

• Pat "HD" Barry def. Dan "The Viking" Evensen by TKO at 2:36 of Round 1

UFC 92 will come to us live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, December 27, 2008. It will be called "The Ultimate 2008". Namely, that coming in it looks like the best MMA card of the year.

This event is the ultimate event of the year with the original Ultimate Fighter Forrest Griffin defending his title against "Sugar" Rashad Evans. Then the Ultimate Fighter coaches face off as Interim World Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira takes on former Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. Plus, two of the hardest hitting light heavyweight fighters go toe-to-toe when Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva battles former Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Here is the fight card for the event:

• Forrest Griffin vs "Sugar" Rashad Evans

• Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira vs Frank Mir

• CB "The Doberman" Dollaway vs Mike "The Master of Disaster" Massenzio

• Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva vs Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

• Cheick Kongo vs Mostapha Al Turk

• Yushin "Thunder" Okami vs Dean "The Boogeyman" Lister

• Antoni Hardonk vs Mike "The Juggernaut" Wessel

• Matt "The Hammer" Hamill vs Reese Andy

• Ryo "Piranha" Chonan vs "Bad" Brad Blackburn

• Dan "The Viking" Evensen vs Pat "HD" Barry

The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale will come to us live from Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada this Saturday night starting at 9 PM ET/PT.

Below are the official weight in results for the event:

• Kendall Grove (186 lbs.) VS Evan Tanner (186 lbs.)

• CB Dollaway (185 lbs.) VS Amir Sadollah (185 lbs.)

• Luigi Fioravanti (171 lbs.) VS Diego Sanchez (170 lbs.)

• Jeremy Stephens (155 lbs.) VS Spencer Fisher (156 lbs.)

• Dante Rivera (185 lbs.) VS Matt Riddle (185 lbs.)

• Dustin Hazelett (170 lbs.) VS Josh Burkman (170 lbs.)

• Drew McFedries (185 lbs.) VS Marvin Eastman (186 lbs.)

• Matt Arroyo (170 lbs.) VS Matt Brown (170 lbs.)

• Dean Lister (185 lbs.) VS Jeremy Horn (186 lbs.)

• Cale Yarbrough (186 lbs.) VS Tim Credeur (185 lbs.)

• Rob Yundt (185 lbs.) VS Rob Kimmons (185 lbs.)

Jiu-jitsu expert Dean Lister will make his return to the Octagon on June 21 at the Ultimate Fighter 7 finale on SpikeTV against fellow tactician Jeremy Horn. Lister and Horn have a history together because they fought back in 2003 where Horn earned the majority decision victory. It was a close fight, but Lister came up short and he's looking forward to getting some redemption.

"Absolutely. If you are a true fighter, you definitely want to avenge any kind of loss you ever had," Lister said recently on an interview with MMAWeekly radio. "I definitely want to have a good fight here."

While that loss did hurt Lister's career a little bit, he maintained a positive attitude in his defeat. "I care if I win, I care if I lose. But every single fight you have, win or lose, it's something on your path and your journey to become a better fighter. That's all I want to do is become a better fighter. That was just one little stop on my journey. That's all it was. No big deal."

"The Boogeyman" hasn't fought since UFC 79 back in December where he defeated Jordan Radev. Prior to that fight, he had an eleven-month hiatus. Part of the reason for the layoff was for Lister to prepare himself mentally to fight and the other part was because of a serious bicep injury before and after his fight with Nate Marquardt.

"Before that fight, I had hurt it sparring," Lister explained. "I pulled it. And after the Marquardt fight, I completely tore it. Just imagine snapping a rubber band. I felt it and it didn't feel good."

The San Diego native has had a pretty successful MMA career thus far, but he is well known for his wins in Abu Dhabi. Lister had been asked if he had any plans to return to competitive grappling in the near future. "Right now, the only grappling one I'd consider is Abu Dhabi," he replied. "That's my home. If they'd call me and say someone's injured and we'd like you to fight in a super fight, I'd do it. Other than that, I really want to concentrate on my mixed martial arts. I want to focus all my time and energy to that now."

A lot of jiu-jitsu practitioners have tried to emerge in the MMA world. Some have enjoyed success and some have failed. Lister shed some light on why there are ups and downs with some of the transitions. "Who was it that said, everyone has a plan until they get hit in the face? It's a huge thing to say whether you can take a hit or not. I'm very fortunate. I don't know if I'm part Neanderthal. I can take a hit. I don't want to, but I can. It's either something you can do or you can't."

However, Lister believes the most invaluable piece of advice he can give is to get involved with a great camp. "It's the number one piece of advice I give. The number one thing you can do consciously as a fighter is find a solid training camp. You can't train yourself. What you can do is trust your training from someone who really knows what they're doing."

Horn is a legend in the sport and has over 100 fights to his credit. Lately, he has hit a slide losing three out of his last four bouts, all fights that he was finished in. That doesn't mean much to Lister, as he would never underestimate Horn's unmistakable ability to show up at any point.

"With Jeremy Horn, he's such a well-rounded fighter that's been around for so long," Lister commented. "I'd hate to try to identify what he's going through right now. Everyone goes up and down, and has things happen to them. I don't know what's going to happen. The reason I don't know is because he's so well-rounded. I'm just going to try to focus on what I can do. Look at Wanderlei Silva. He lost three fights in a row, and came back and looked great. I don't want to count anyone out or in."

One priority that the San Diego native has on Saturday night is to go out and have an exciting fight. That's why he never thinks about the next fight and only concentrates on the task in front of him. "We can't just go in there thinking about our next fight. I have to try to make it a very exciting fight. The UFC being the biggest organization in the world, who knows who can be cut at any point? I'd rather get "Fight of the Night" than "Submission of the Night".

Lister will admit he's not the type of guy who goes out and challenges individual fighters. He wants to fight whoever the UFC matches him up with and anyone who gets him one step closer to his professional goal: the UFC middleweight title. "Maybe it would be more exciting if I challenged guys all the time. I'll fight whoever they put in front of me. I'll fight whoever is the right guy for me to fight at the time. I would love to have the UFC middleweight title around my waist at some point. I mean, if that's not my goal, then I shouldn't be fighting."

When asked for a prediction for the fight, Lister said, "What's going to happen is… I don't like to predict what happens. I see there being action. I see it going to the ground. I see two guys going in who like to finish fights. And I think it's going to go that way, finishing the fight."