I'll get right to it for those that missed the radio show today.  Tonight will be the last night that MMA For Real (www.mmaforreal.com) will be active.  The site is shutting down and will be archived in a consolidation move by Sports Blog Nation Network.  It's bittersweet in some respects.  I mean this site was birthed from absolutely nothing back in August 2008 in an effort  to shine the light on the local MMA scene in North Carolina.  I think we accomplished that.

Just to give you a quick synopsis on how we have come to this I suppose...

You probably began to notice my absence from the site around June 2010 as my wife and I awaited the birth of twins, who were born in late July 2010.  I simply couldn't devote the time into the site that I once had knowing what was coming with three kids under the age of 5...so I notified SBN that I would need to take a hiatus of sorts until we were settled with the twins.  Matt Bishop stepped up to the plate to try and keep things going in my absence, and as I said on the radio show earlier today....I thank you for doing that Matt.  However, I suppose during this time SBN decided to go another direction in regards to their MMA coverage.  Would things have been different if I didn't have to take the leave of absence?  Who knows... but you may have noticed that Watch Kalib Run was shut down about two weeks ago, so some of you may have seen the writing on the wall as things had slowed down quite a bit on this site.

Time changes things, but I certainly don't regret any of the literally thousands of hours I've put into this site.  It was a blast and we've had well over 2 million pageviews in less than two years.  We've interviewed local fighters, former UFC champions, TUF winners, and more.  I think that's pretty incredible.  There are some community members that have been with me since day one over at the old site.  To you guys...I say thank you for the support...I won't name names in fear that I'll forget someone...but you know who you are.

To the SBN guys...I say thank you, and a special thanks to Kid Nate for vouching for me when nobody had a clue who I was.....and they still don't know who I am...lol.

To the local MMA folk that supported this site.  I say thank you.  To the guys that didn't?  You lost.

To the local fighters that we've given shine too..I certainly hope we were helpful to your careers.  Keep grinding, and if we can help in any way in the future...just holla.

To the guys that put in work for this site. 

Charles Walker-Charles is the only guy I knew prior to starting this site and he was one of the first people I talked to when I thought of starting this site...Charles contributed when he could and when he did...it would always generate good discussion.  Thanks man...and I'll see you soon.

Rich Wyatt-This guy came out of nowhere...and was a lifesaver with his infinite knowledge of the local MMA scene in NC and the surrounding areas.  Son is a walking encyclopedia about local MMA!  I had the pleasure of meeting Rich last year and we had a blast.  Rich and I will still be  updating the MMA For Real fan page on Facebook..we'll be updating the local rankings as we have in the past and so on...so you local fans can get your fix there.  Thanks for everything, and I look forward to seeing you soon man. 

Anthony Pace-Anthony joined the site last year as a contributor.  I always enjoyed his pieces, and you can find him putting in work at HeadKick Legend.  Thanks for your contributions man.  Good luck with everything.

Erich Vowell-You have disappeared in the last 6 months or so.  I don't know if you are alive or not.  If so, thanks for your contributions man.  You put in work down in Georgia for us.  Good luck with everything.

Neil and Forrest(From the Radio Show)-Thanks for keeping Matt straight...lol...good luck to you guys in whatever you do in life. 

As for me...well...I'll still going to be doing my thing.  I'll be writing over at PROMMA Now(www.prommanow.com).  So make sure you check me out over there as it's a great site that covers EVERYTHING MMA.  You can still follow me on twitter (@MMA4Real) or (@KelvinHunt)...so check me out there as well or on Facebook.  Feel free to shower us with praises or tell us how you really felt about us in the comments section.  

With that said....on to the next chapter....peace. 

[Note by Kelvin Hunt, 02/21/11 7:25 AM EST ]

Rich Wyatt and I will still be covering North Carolina MMA as we have done in the past.  I've reached an agreement with PROMMA Now (www.prommanow.com) to post North Carolina MMA news there, so that will now become the home of North Carolina MMA.  This is a HUGE deal as PROMMA Now is one of the largest and fastest growing MMA sites around, and is also content partner with USA Today.  So coverage for you guys just got THAT much better, compared to what we were doing here at MMA For Real.  All fighters/promoters feel free to contact me via twitter or at kelvinhunt@hotmail.com.  Thanks. 

As we told everyone on Lights Out Radio on Friday afternoon, this is the end for MMAForReal.com. Kelvin already said it all in his post, but I want to thank him for the chance to bring my radio show to this web site and for the chance to write and report here which ultimately has led me to my new opportunity with Bloody Elbow, something I'm very excited about. I want to thank Kelvin for trusting me enough to turn his baby over to me at the end of June.

I want to thank Kelvin, Charles Walker, Rich Wyatt, Anthony Pace and Erich Vowell for their hard work during the past few months and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my radio show colleagues Neil Wagner and Forrest Lynn for their contributions and for the countless hours of entertainment they helped provide everyone. I want to thank all of our loyal readers and listeners for your comments and positive response to our products.

Going forward, you can find me at Bloody Elbow writing and hosting the brand new Bloody Elbow Radio with Forrest Lynn and Jonathan Snowden. This has been a fun ride, one I've been apart of for 20 months now (which is tough to believe). It's sad to see it go, but it's on to bigger and better things, hopefully.

Finally, I want to take the time to thank Neil for his contributions to the radio show. Neil has been my right hand man since I started Lights Out Radio in August 2007 and was instrumental in helping broker the deal between myself and Kelvin. Many of Neil's greatest contributions weren't on the air, but behind the scenes. I look forward to continuing to partner with Neil and his skills behind the scenes on Bloody Elbow Radio. I want to thank him for behind so understanding when I had to make a difficult decision regarding the show. It's been a great time and this is a sad day for me because this is the end of an era. How many MMA podcasts at our level have last this long? I bet not many. That's a testament to our hard work and what you helped put into it. We'll light it up one more time tonight for our UFC 126 review. From the bottom of my heart, thank you Neil.

Thank you everybody.

I've received goodbyes from Charles Walker, Rich Wyatt and Neil Wagner which you can read after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Matt, Neil and Forrest will be LIVE! for one final time at 1:30 a.m. ET/10:30 p.m. PT to review "UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort" which is headlined by a UFC middleweight championship bout between Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort. Also on the card are light-heavyweight clashes between Rich Franklin and Forrest Griffin and Jon Jones and Ryan Bader.

The trio will break down all the fights that made air in the usual manner you've come to expect from them over the last 279 episodes.

To participate in the final edition of Lights Out Radio, dial (347) 202-0934, leave a question or comment here in the show thread or tweet us @MMA4Real.

SBN coverage of UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort

Matt, Neil and Forrest will be LIVE! at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT Friday for a very special edition of Lights Out Radio.

The crew preview Saturday's "UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort," which is headlined by a UFC middleweight championship fight between Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort and light-heavyweight clashes between Rich Franklin and Forrest Griffin and Jon Jones and Ryan Bader.

The show also will feature a very special announcement about the future of Lights Out Radio and MMAForReal.com that you will not want to miss. The crew also is scheduled to be joined by MMA For Real founder Kelvin Hunt at 4:30 p.m. ET.

To participate in what should be a very special show, dial (347) 202-0934, leave a question or comment here in the show thread of tweet us @MMA4Real.

SBN coverage of UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort

MMAJunkie reports on the confirmation of several bouts for May's UFC 130 in Las Vegas:

Headlined by a third fight between UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar (13-1-1 MMA, 8-1-1 UFC) and Gray Maynard (10-0-1 MMA, 8-0-1 UFC), the May 28 card also features light heavyweights Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (31-8 MMA, 6-2 UFC) vs. Thiago Silva (15-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC), heavyweights Frank Mir (14-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) vs. Roy Nelson (15-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC), middleweights Brian Stann (10-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) vs. Wanderlei Silva (33-10-1 MMA 3-5 UFC), and welterweights Thiago Alves (18-7 MMA, 10-4 UFC) vs. Rick Story (12-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC).

Aside from Stann vs. Silva, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) previously reported all of the matchups, which recently were signed and made official.

UFC 130 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The five above fights likely will comprise the pay-per-view main card.

This card is looking real good. Much like this weekend's UFC 126, this is another stacked main card.

The UFC announced Wednesday it will stream the much-anticipated UFC debut of "Kid" Yamamoto via its Facebook page. Yamamoto will face Demetrious Johnson in a bantamweight clash.

From UFC.com:

Las Vegas, Nevada - In a move that further cements it as one of the most savvy social media organizations in all of professional sports, the Ultimate Fighting Championship® announced plans to stream a broadcast-quality live sporting event on Facebook® this Saturday.

In this exciting broadcast taking place on Feb. 5 at 8:25 p.m. ET/5:25 p.m. PT, sports fans are invited to watch the highly-anticipated UFC bantamweight clash between Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson and Japanese sensation Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto for free at www.facebook.com/ufc.

By simply "liking" the UFC Facebook page, fans will gain access to the live broadcast of the fight from the sold out Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, home to Saturday's UFC® 126: SILVA vs. BELFORT Pay-Per-View event.

This will be the second time the UFC has put preliminary bouts on Facebook. The first was two weeks ago at UFC Fight for the Troops 2. The company showed four preliminary bouts on Facebook that night.

UFC 126 is headlined by a UFC middleweight championship bout between Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort and will air live at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view. The pay-per-view broadcast will be preceded by the one-hour "UFC Prelims Live" on Spike TV.

SBN coverage of UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort

The ratings for "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg" are in and showed strong growth for Showtime, as the event's broadcast averaged 561,000 viewers, MMA Junkie reports.

The event peaked with 850,000 viewers for the Strikeforce welterweight championship bout between Nick Diaz and Evangelista Santos. 

Industry sources confirmed that viewership on the premium-cable channel peaked during the evening's main event between Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz and Brazilian slugger Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos.

Overall, the event averaged 561,000 viewers, which is more than any single Strikeforce event broadcast on Showtime in the past year.

The peak viewership was the second-highest ever earned by a Strikeforce event on Showtime, ranking just behind 2009's female championship fight between Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos and Gina Carano, which drew a Strikeforce record 856,000 viewers during the main event and averaged 576,000 viewers for the card.

Obviously, Herschel Walker still is making a difference for Strikeforce, as the last card Nick Diaz headlined, against K.J. Noons in October, averaged 350,000 viewers. This is a good sign for Strikeforce as they head into what is going to be a crucial stretch for the promotion with the beginning of the Heavyweight Grand Prix in just over a week.

SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg