In a world of negative news stories we wanted to write about a positive story going on in the world of Mixed Martial Arts.  I know if you are like me you are tired of reading about the national debt and ‘debt ceiling’ so here is someone that is turning negativity into positivity in his life.  So, sit back and enjoy a few minutes of a feel good story in the world of MMA.

Who wears day-glo, candy striped, multi-colored shorts for an MMA match? That has their mother really hands craft them for him? Who really adopts a fight after being introduced as “Fancy Pants”? Who did annually along with a day inside a Washington Condition Penitentiary for crimes associated with a meth addiction, got launched from that prison and won his first amateur fight just 8 days later?

A few days after Tyson Griffin announces that he will cut down to the featherweight class another current lightweight star is doing the same. Kenny Florian is planning on moving down to the featherweight division in 2011. First reported by ESPN’s Franklin McNeil, this is big news for the 145 weight class.

Florian, who has twice challenged for the lightweight title, is currently recovering from an injury that has had him sidelined since his lost to Gray Maynard in August of last year. Florian was pulled off of the January 22nd Fight for the Troops card when the injury left him unable to train. The 13-5 Florian has an impressive record that includes wins over fighters such as Clay Guida, Roger Huerta and Joe Stevenson.

Gilbert Melendez became the second “Scrap Pack” member to resign to a multiyear deal with Strikeforce. The current lightweight champion will return to the organization along with his teammate Nick Diaz who is the welterweight champ.

At 18-2 Melendez is considered one of the top three lightweights in mixed martial arts. His resume includes impressive wins over the likes of Shinya Aoki, Josh Thomson, and Clay Guida. Due to injury he has not completed since that April victory over Aoki, but is now ready to get back into the cage. In route to his dominance, Melendez has finished 10 of his 18 victories by technical knockout while never being finished in his two losses.

As announced during the post fight interview with Jon Jones, the young prospect will now face off against current UFC Light Heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for his title at UFC 128 in Newark, New Jersey. This information comes in light of the injury to former number-one contender Rashad Evans.

Evans, who is a teammate of Jones at Greg Jackson’s Submission Fighting Team, was set to face off against Rua until news broke that he had suffered an injury to his knee. While it has been reported that he will not need surgery, he is unable to train and compete for at least an eight week period, according to UFC President Dana White.

Three minutes and twenty five seconds of work was all that was needed for Anderson Silva to shock and awe the mixed martial arts world once again. The man who holds 14 consecutive victories during his career proved once again why his striking is the very best in the sport.

As usual, Silva’s fight began very slowly, with both fighters feeling each other out for a few moments. Vitor Belfort pushed the action first landing two clean leg kicks and a right-left combination. However, Silva responded with a front kick that cut the contender down where he stood. Two more solid shots and this fight was over before anyone really knew what happened.

The “City of Brotherly Love” will not be so loving of brothers for at least one night in 2011. First reported by MMAfighting.com, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will return to Philadelphia for an event in August.

A source confirmed with the outlet that a show is in the works for the Wells Fargo Arena. This event may potentially be UFC 133. The UFC was last in Philadelphia two years ago for UFC 101 in an event that featured Anderson Silva dispatching Forrest Griffin with a rousing first round knockout and BJ Penn dominating Kenny Florian on his way to a fourth round submission victory.

The state of New York continues to fight against the tide that is the expansion of mixed martial arts. Today it was announced that information to legalize the sport within New York was absent from 2011-2012 budget created by newly elected governor Andrew Como.

This comes a few weeks after the UFC held a large press conference within Madison Square Garden to present research findings that stated how well the legalization of MMA would bring funding into the state. The research found that yearly events within the Empire State could bring an additional $23 million dollars in funding. Even with the release of that information, the sport was still left off the coming year’s budget which puts a serious cramp in the push to bring MMA to New York.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is starting off 2011 in exciting fashion. This weekend will be the third event for the organization already. With two successful cards under their belt, the UFC would like to keep things rolling and the UFC 126 card looks like it is built to deliver.

Headlining the show is a matchup between two calculating Brazilian strikers. Former Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort and current Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva will meet in one of the most anticipated matchups of the year.

Strikeforce has officially announced added fights to the March 5th event which include a well-anticipated championship matchup.

Current number one contender, Miesha Tate, will receive her shot against current Strikeforce Women’s Lightweight Champion Marloes Coenen. This fight has been confirmed according to various MMA news outlets.

Tate became the number one contender when she defeated Hitomi Akano and Maiju Kujala during the women’s tournament at Strikeforce Challengers 10 last August. Seven of her 11 wins have come by stoppage, while she has only been stopped once, early in her career.

The weekend was filled with action for mixed martial arts fans. A number of former UFC veterans were in the cage either trying to fight their way back to the big stage or just enjoying the sport that they love. Here is a rundown of some of that action.

The Titan Fighting Champions 16 card in Kansas City had a number of former UFC fighters back in action with mixed results.