At virtually, every WEC post fight press conference that involved its Welterweight Champion Carlos "Natural Born Killer" Condit celebrating a win, the inevitable questions came from the media in attendance.

"When are you going to go to the UFC?" "How do you think you'd do against the welterweights there?"

The questions will finally be answered on April 1 as the WEC's final 170-pound champion makes his long awaited UFC debut against Martin Kampmann to headline UFC Fight Night 18 on Spike TV.

Condit has been a mainstay in the welterweight rankings for the past two years. After clearing out the WEC's 170-pound weight class, the New Mexico native will look to prove why there is so much hype around him.

UFC President Dana White commented recently in an interview that he is looking forward to Condit's move to the Octagon. He's excited to see what he can do against the best welterweights in the world.

"I think it's exciting, it's interesting," White said. "He's been so dominant over at the WEC in that weight division and it's going to be fun to see him come into the UFC and that's a free fight on Spike. I'm actually excited about that fight, a lot of people are pumped for that."

After winning the WEC title by defeating John Alessio, Condit went on to defend his title three times including wins over Brock Larson, Carlo Prater and Hiromitsu Miura.

Now training at Arizona Combat Sports, Condit looks to make the same impact in the UFC welterweight division. White believes that he could be in title contention very soon.

"Definitely," White responded when asked if Condit could get a title shot in his next few fights. "I think him coming over as the champ, we'll see how he looks in this fight here, and I'm excited about him. Excited to see how he does. He's a good kid and always exciting to watch, too."

First things first, Condit have to face Martin Kampmann at UFC Fight Night 18 on April 1 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Shooto is getting ready for the final event of its Tradition series, which celebrates the venerable Japanese MMA promotion's 20-year history. They will look to celebrate with a bang as former top ranked lightweight Takanori Gomi, who returns to Shooto for the first time in nearly six years, will face current Shooto Welterweight Champion Takashi Nakakura on May 10 event at the JCB Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

Gomi, former Shooto Welterweight Champion and PRIDE World Lightweight Champion, is currently on a two fight losing streak with his losses coming to Sergey Golyaev at Sengoku 6 and Satoru Kitaoka at Sengoku no Ran 2009. Once considered the top lightweight, Gomi hasn't looked the same ever since he lost to Nick Diaz at PRIDE 33: Second Coming, which was later ruled a no-contest due to Diaz testing positive for marijuana.

The opponent, Nakakura is currently riding high on a five-fight winning streak. His most recent win came over Bendy Casimir at Shooto Tradition 4 back on November 29th, 2008.

The Nassau Guardian recently caught up with street fighting sensation Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, who touched on a number of subjects including Ken Shamrock getting injured before their May 31 fight, his current status in MMA and a possible transition to professional boxing. Kimbo Slice last fought in October 2008 at EliteXC: Heat, where he was defeated by replacement fighter Seth Petruzelli. Kimbo Slice's loss on EliteXC's October event was believed to be the nail in the coffin for the promotion, which has since drastically scaled back its operations.

Below are excerpts from the interview:

On Ken Shamrock getting injured before their fight:

"In some cases, if you are too far advanced in promoting a MMA fight, anything can happen to the fighter. A fighter can get an injury, causing him to pull out of the fight; like Shamrock [MMA fighter Ken Shamrock] getting a cut above his eye and backing out at the last minute. That left me having to fight an opponent who I knew nothing about. If the fight is called off then it would mean bad business for that promoter and that also affected me," said Ferguson.

On possible move to boxing:

"Boxing is really my first desire. I have a lot of love for it and believe I can do pretty well. [The sport of] MMA is somewhat of a project for me. Boxing is one dimensional while there are a lot of dimensions in MMA. I don't think it would be a hard transition from MMA to stand-up boxing because of my fighting style," noted Slice.

"Out of no disrespect to my country, seeing as I am there [United States] and already established a relationship in the fighting world, I would have to continue that until I get officially set up. Furthermore, I have two more MMA fights scheduled before this year is out. Every fighter and athlete knows that you should not switch camps in the middle of something. Also, I train in Florida. My MMA trainer will also be training me for stand up boxing. Finishing up my contract would allow me to be a free agent," he said.

On transition from MMA to boxing:

"Not taking anything away from boxing preparation, MMA training is extremely hard," said Ferguson. "When you consider martial arts training, you have to prepare for kicks to the head and legs, and opponents wanting to grapple and throwing you to the ground, pounding you with their knees and hands, whereas in boxing you just have to be prepared to weave and bob although the training can be just as intense. At this point in my career, I want to take that same drive and focus that I invested in MMA and put that into training for pro-boxing cards."

On current MMA status:

"The last two fights that I have left in MMA don't have set dates," he said. "Everything normally gets set up six to eight weeks prior to the fight. Nearer to that point I would be told the particulars like who my opponent is and where the fight would be. With boxing, you can have a fight on Monday and if you are well you can have another fight the following week. Before the month is out, you would have already fought on several cards. In MMA, whether you are well or not, there is a six-week waiting period before you can engage in any other battle."

Bobby Lashley recently spoke to The MMA Digest. Here are some highlights from interview:

On Ken Shamrock being ousted as his opponent:

"I was a little disappointed in the fact that I didn't get to fight him...we train specifically for our opponent. I was going through two pretty tough practices everyday and we were staying afterwards, after the final practice in the evening and going for an hour and a half to two hours on just what Shamrock was going to do -- some of his tricks, some of his key moves and everything like that."

Thoughts on his new opponent Jason Guida:

"I think he's a decent opponent, I think he's a decent fighter. It's my second fight; he has one advantage -- he has had so many fights under his belt...so we're not going to take him lightly at all, he's a vet, he knows a lot of tricks, he has been in there before, he's going to be comfortable, he's going to be ready to bang and really he has nothing to lose. So we're just going to go in there really aggressive, we're going to stay on him, and we're going to force the issue and see if he can take it."

Las Vegas, NV - In celebration of UFC 100, the Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization, along with Reed Exhibitions, today announced the launch of UFC® Fan Expo™, a two-day fan exposition of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) activities starting Friday, July 10th and leading right up to the start of the historic fights on Saturday, July 11th. UFC Fan Expo will take place inside the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, and will be the first event of its kind for UFC fans.

Among the UFC Fan Expo two-day roster of activities will be meet and greets with legendary UFC and WEC fighters, MMA demonstrations, fan-inspired special events, training and development sessions, and other exciting opportunities and entertainment. All the UFC Fan Expo activities will be planned in conjunction with UFC 100, including the free-to-the-public weigh-in event on Friday, July 10th.

Expected to attract over 100 companies and brands, UFC Fan Expo will span more than 200,000 gross square feet of space exhibiting apparel, electronic gaming, food & beverages, fight gear and fitness equipment, MMA training and development, nutritional supplements, lifestyle products, and much more.

Currently seen on television in over 120 countries and territories in 17 different languages, UFC is the world's largest pay-per-view content provider, and is the fastest-growing sports franchise in history. UFC programs are often the highest-rated television sports shows among the coveted male 18-34 and 18-42 demographic. UFC Fan Expo and UFC 100 are expected to attract tens of thousands of sports fans from throughout North America and abroad.

"We are pleased to work with Reed Exhibitions to present UFC Fan Expo in conjunction with UFC 100," said UFC President Dana White. "The UFC 100 event is a milestone for us, for the sport of mixed martial arts, and for fight fans around the world, this will be an amazing weekend for UFC fans."

"Reed Exhibitions is the largest global producer of high-profile and highly targeted events," said Ed Gallo, event director of the UFC Fan Expo. "Drawing on our experience in pop-culture inspired events such as New York Comic Con and New York Anime Festival, the UFC Fan Expo will deliver an unprecedented all-access pass to loyal UFC fans around the world, and new fans discovering their passion for mixed martial arts."

For more UFC Fan Expo information and to purchase tickets, visit UFCfanexpo.com. For companies interested in reserving space at this premier event, contact Ed Gallo, Event Director at 1-203-840-5546 or email egallo@ufcfanexpo.com.

Source: UFC.com

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans will be fighting inside the Octagon for a very long time.

On Friday's episode of "Inside MMA" on HDNet, Evans revealed that his new deal with the UFC is for eight more fights.

The agreement was signed after his title win at UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 over Forrest Griffin and replaces his previous six-figure contract signed after winning "The Ultimate Fighter 2" on Spike TV.

Evans completed nine out of the ten fights under his previous deal.

Evans (13-0-1) will make his first title defense against undefeated Lyoto Machida (14-0) at UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida on May 23 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

EA Sports is already a dominant force in sports gaming but there's one sport they haven't tackled yet: mixed martial arts. If EA Sports boss Peter Moore has anything to say about it, though, they'll expand into MMA soon.

"Obviously we've got Fight Night -- we're incredibly excited about Fight Night -- but boxing, for me, sadly feels like it's the past of fighting and Mixed Martial Arts feels like it's the future of fighting," Moore told IGN at EA Sports' Season Opener on Thursday.

The fact that retired greats Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson are the cover athletes for Fight Night Round 4 does suggest that EA views the sport in a more historical or nostalgic light. The suggestion that boxing's best days are past might not sit well with fans but there's no indication that they'll abandon the Fight Night series.

As IGN notes, THQ currently has the video game license for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the largest mixed martial arts organization in the world, until 2011. You'd expect them to make a bid for the UFC license once that deal expires. Maybe EA will test the market by first releasing an MMA game without an official license.

Source: CinemaBlend.com

"World's Most Dangerous Man" Ken Shamrock has apparently tested positive for three separate steroids following his February 13 victory over the 350-plus-pounder Ross Clifton at the WarGods-Ken Shamrock Productions "Valentine's Eve Massacre" event in Fresno, California. The California State Athletic Commission announced that the 45-year-old mixed martial artist tested positive for Norandrosterone, Noretiocholanolone and Stanozolol.

The former WWE wrestler has been suspended through February 1, 2010 and fined $2,500. Shamrock was to fight another former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley on March 21 at the "March Badness" MMA/boxing event headlined by Roy Jones Jr. vs. Omar Sheika.

Shamrock has the right to appeal but will not be able to in time for the fight.

That will be the second straight high-profile fight Shamrock has been forced out of. Last October at EliteXC "Heat", Shamrock pulled out the same day of the fight due to a cut suffered while warming up.

Shamrock was also looking forward to a fight against fellow UFC old schooler David "Tank" Abbott at the next WarGods-Ken Shamrock Productions event to take place in Reno, Nevada.

Meanwhile, Bobby Lashley will remain on "March Badness" card. The Square Ring Promotions will find a replacement for Shamrock against Lashley.

"The show will go on," Square Ring Promotions CEO John Wirt said. "Ken said he was taking over-the-counter products and has requested an expedited appeal. We're working with his group but, just in case, we are also looking for a possible replacement to fight Bobby Lashley. We have identified some great replacements for Shamrock and have been in contact with them. A press release will be issued very soon as to which direction we will be going."