Rolles Gracie will return to action on April 17 at Ring of Combat XXIV at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The son of Rolls Gracie's previous and only mixed martial arts fight was for his cousin Renzo's New York Pitbulls team in IFL Team Championship Final in September 2007 when he submitted Sam Halloway with a rear naked choke in first round's 1:49.

Gracie is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and won a silver medal at the 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships in the over 99 kg division. His compatriot, UFC veteran Fabricio Werdum, came in first place.

On April 17, Gracie (1-0) will take on the promotion's 2007 "Beast of the Northeast" Light Heavyweight Tournament Champion Ricardo Romero (6-1) in a heavyweight bout.

Ring of Combat XXIV also features "The Ultimate Fighter" competitor Dante Rivera and UFC veteran Sean Salmon.

Danny Davis, the founder and owner of the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), better known to pro wrestling fans as one half of "The Nightmares" with Ken Wayne, has launched the Vyper Fight League in Louisville, Kentucky. The VFL has ushered in a new era in the world of mixed martial arts. Just like the VFL's mission to bring the biggest and baddest cage fighting to the MMA loyal fans.

"Just like OVW revitalized professional wrestling, so too will VFL revitalize the already booming sport of MMA!" the promotion states.

OVW was the previously development program for the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where pro wrestlers signed to development deals with the WWE honed their craft until an open spot was available on the actual WWE show.

The first VFL event, "Enter the Vyper's Pit", happens Friday, April 24 at the recently rechristened Vyper's Pit Arena in Louisville, Kentucky.

For more information about the promotion, please visit VFL's official website.

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans believes that Lyoto Machida will be the one standing across from him at UFC 98 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 23. Evans was recently on the Sherdog Radio Network where he admitted that Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will probably need some time off following his UFC 96 match.

"As I learned, 'Rampage' might need time off," Evans said on Sherdog's "Beatdown" radio show. "It'll probably be Lyoto Machida, but I haven't gotten a confirmation on that."

Coming into this past Saturday Jackson and Machida were both in the running for the title shot and Evans' opponent at UFC 98 would be determined by the result of Jackson vs. Keith Jardine.

Jackson won the unanimous decision over Evans' team mate, but was expecting the title bout to happen at UFC 100 on July 11. Due to Frank Mir's injury, the UFC decided to push Evans' title defense earlier and move Brock Lesnar vs. Mir 2 to the summer, most likely at UFC 100.

"Damn," Jackson said at the post-fight conference, according to Yahoo! Sports. "I'll do anything for Dana (White). I had plans to go on a vacation and find an Asian girl and fly first class, stay in a hut and tell her how I was going to win the light heavyweight title. Now it looks like I have to get my ass back to England to train in two weeks."

A fight for Jackson in May would be his third in five months.

The UFC built the entire UFC 96 PPV telecast around the assumption that a Jackson victory would make official Evans vs. Jackson at UFC 98, but afterwards, UFC President Dana White acknowledged the possibility the fight may not happen.

"We still have to make sure Quinton is 100 percent," White said. "It's not a done deal. Quinton has to go get something checked out, make sure he's 100 percent healthy. If he is, that'll be the fight. If not, it'll be Lyoto Machida."

The Sun UK is reporting that Jackson will be out of the UFC 98 card due to his jaw injury as well as a hand injury he suffered during Saturday night's main event with Jardine.

Even though Machida is going to get his shot at UFC 98, it is expected that the UFC will announce that Jackson will get the winner of the Machida vs. Evans fight.

Bibiano Fernandes, Joe Warren, Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura, Yoshiro Maeda, Hiroyuki Takaya and Masakazu Imanari all advanced Sunday in the DREAM.7 Featherweight Grand Prix at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto was the only fighter to receive a bye and will be in action at DREAM.8. The final spot will be determined by Hideo Tokoro vs. Daika "DJ Taiki" Hata bout at DREAM.8.

In non-tournament bouts, Mitsuhiro Ishida won a unanimous decision over Daisuke Nakamura, Shinya Aoki submitted David Gardner with a rear naked choke and Tatsuya Kawajiri also won by rear naked choke against Ross Ebanez.

Aoki was fighting at lightweight for one more time before he moves up to welterweight to enter the DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix.

Kawajiri called out Gesias "JZ Calvan" Calvancante for a number one contender bout to determine current DREAM Lightweight Champion Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen's first title challenger.

DREAM 7 was dedicated to Helio Gracie. Kazushi Sakuraba and Yuki Sasaki stood inside the ring for a moment of silence during the opening ceremony.

Below are the official results for DREAM.7:

Featherweight Grand Prix Opening Round Bouts:

• Masakazu Imanari def. Atsushi Yamamoto by split decision

• Hiroyuki Takaya def. Kim Jong-won Kim by TKO (punches) at 0:40 of Round 2

• Yoshiro Maeda def. Micah Miller by unanimous decision

• Abel Cullum def. Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura by unanimous decision

• Joe Warren def. Chase Beebe by TKO (doctor stoppage) at 10:00 of Round 1

• Bibiano Fernandes def. Takafumi Otsuka by unanimous decision

Non-Tournament Bouts:

• Shinya Aoki def. David Gardner by submission (rear naked choke) at 5:58 of Round 1

• Tatsuya Kawijiri def. Ross Ebanez by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:03 of Round 1

• Mitsuhiro Ishida def. Daisuke Nakamura by unanimous decision