Laura D’Auguste – Team Tiger Schulmann
She was at the top of the food chain in the world of female mixed martial arts, but many months have gone by with D’Auguste sitting on the sidelines, unable to find an opponent. At Ring of Combat 11, D’Auguste rematches with judoka Megumi Yabushita in what should be a battle between two grappling experts. Will she take a step towards reasserting herself as "number one"?

Garrett Carmody – Pitt’s Penn
Easily the best fighter out of Pitt’s Penn right now, Carmody packs sticks of dynamite in his gloves – and he’s used them to quickly destroy nearly all who’ve stood against him. Expect some explosions in this bout.

Steve McCabe – Fight Factory
McCabe had a rough time at the last Ring of Combat, falling prey to a guillotine courtesy of Frankie Edgar. But prior to that McCabe’s star was on the rise, and hailing from a strong school, there’s no question he has all the necessary tools. Will he find redemption when he steps into the ring against the ultra-experience Andrew Montanez?

Phillipe Nover – Universal Defense/SOCA
Nover must have strong ground skills given his jiu-jitsu background. But it’s a shame we never get to see them, as his hands have proven far too fast and heavy for any of his bouts to last that long. Expect some serious leather to be thrown in this one, and don’t blink.

Stephane Cloud – Real Combat Martial Arts
Although his MMA debut ended in defeat, Cloud made one hell of an impression, putting a serious hurting on his opponent with a nonstop barrage of strikes on the feet and on the ground. At Ring of Combat 11, the former Savate-stylist squares off against grappler Tenyeh Dixon in what is surely a tough match-up for the more experienced Dixon. One thing is certain: this one will be a crowd-pleaser.

Here’s the full card as of 8/16:
Championship Bouts:

Super Welterweight
Israel Gomes (Muay Thai Dream Team) vs. Adriano "Nasal" de Lima Pereira (Memphis BJJ/Brazilian Top Team)

Welterweight
Laura D’Auguste (Team Tiger Schulmann) vs. Megumi Yabushita (Japanese Champion)

Brian McLaughlin – Rob Kahn
McLaughlin made short work of his opponent in his MMA debut, nailing the takedown early and sinking in the rear choke before you could say "jiu-jitsu brown belt and skilled kickboxer." He’s established himself as a force in the lightweight division in just one bout. But he’s about to be tested by a man named Eric Uresk.

Eric Uresk – United MMA
A national-level Greco-Roman wrestling competitor before making the switch to MMA, Uresk fought on the underground NYC shows prior to turning pro. Showing a weakness for subs, he went back to the drawing board, where a new fight team and training regimen may have the lightweight powerhouse back on track. Either way, someone is getting slammed in this bout – and odds are it won’t be Uresk.

Doug Gordon – Rio BJJ/Robson Moura
A win over a tough Glover Texeira and a decision loss to TUF Season One competitor Marcus Davis. Yup, those were Gordon’s first two fights, so unless he’s taking on Rich Franklin next, it can only get easier. Facing Gabe Toribio at Sportfighting 4 should be no walk in the park, but for Gordon, it should be a hell of a lot less difficult than what he went through with Texeira and Davis.

Leandro Hernandez – Alex Wilkie’s Martial Arts
Blazing hand speed saw Hernandez score an impressive and quick knockout at the last show, while a tentative and not-so-polished pair of hands saw Cruz barely eke out a decision. Can you guess what will happen when these two face each other on August 19th? If this one goes past the first round, I’ll eat my FCF baseball cap.

Joe Andujar – Rhino Fight Team
Jim Miller derailed the Andujar train with a rear choke at Reality Fighting a few months ago, but the Rhino Fight Team lightweight is no less the wrestling/ground-and-pound machine he was then. Expect him to make his Sportfighting 4 opponent pay for the Miller loss with a nonstop barrage of leather.

Here’s the card as of 8/16:

Light-Heavy Championship Title Bout:
Tim Carpenter (Balance Studios) vs. Dale Carson, Jr. (Rhino Fight Team)

Lightweight Championship Title Bout:
Brian McLaughlin (Rob Kahn) vs. Eric "Purple Haze" Uresk (United MMA Academy)

Featherweight Championship Bout:
Mike LaDuke (Empire Martial Arts) vs. Leandro "Tatu" Escobar (ATT Boston/Best Way)

Tinh Tupy – Jersey Shore BJJ
Sporting a solid wrestling base to compliment his ever-increasing submission skills, Tupy has stepped into the cage twice and looked impressive both times. A ground-and-pounder not afraid to stand up and kick a downed opponent in the ribs (which is legal under USKBA rules, and which brought a collective gasp from the audience), he’s as exciting as he is dominant.

Chris Dietzel – Yamasaki Academy
Textbook jiu-jitsu. That’s what Dietzel is all about, and the Yamasaki representative has had no trouble using it to get the win in the cage. On August 19th, however, Dietzel will face his toughest challenge yet: Rich Collazo Jr.

Rich Collazo Jr. – Atlantic City Mixed Martial Arts
A polished striker on the feet and a game fighter on the ground, Collazo had no trouble picking his opponent apart when he made his debut. He’ll likely have a tougher time with Dietzel, but either way, the fight will definitely be exciting.

Derrick Hopkins – Berks County BJJ
Hopkins has dominated every time he’s fought, due in no small part to his confidence in his boxing skills and his polished grappling. It shouldn’t be long before Hopkins turns pro, so expect him to emerge victorious at "Battle at the Pier."

Rob Constance – Team Renzo
Sure, Constance is an amateur, albeit because his first and only fight was before the Athletic Control Board took an active role in shows like Reality Fighting. But Constance’s fight was a close decision-loss to a tough Antoine Jouade from Ruas Vale Tudo, and he’s been considered for a number of top-level New Jersey MMA cards since then. So will the strong Team Renzo heavyweight break a sweat against his truly amateur opponent on August 19th? Maybe. Maybe not.

Here’s the fight card as of 8/16:

Right after he beat John Alessio at UFC 60, Diego Sanchez (16-0) told me that he was looking forward to his fight with Karo Parisyan (15-4). He predicted a relentless battle that would see each of them rolling around, seeing every part of the octagon and taking almost as well as they gave. His prediction was dead on. The fight was decided mainly by the second round: Sanchez completely dominated the third with strikes from the back mount and mount. In the first, Parisyan took control by hitting three slick judo throws. It was a red flag that every fighter should know how to throw, and how to counter them.

The second round was the decisive one though, as Sanchez seemed to pull it out based on good counters and a couple convincing takedowns. It puts him in line for a possible title shot, and love him or hate him, he’s getting the job done.

The rest of the welterweight division should be ticked off at Javier Mendez at AKA. That’s because of what he’s teaching Josh Koscheck (9-1), and what Koschek showed off against Jonathan Goulet (16-7). Dropping the Canadian with a one-two that ended with a thunderous right hand, Koscheck’s stand-up was night and day from his previous fights. He looked light on his feet, and was able to control the bout completely once it hit the ground.

By 4:10 of round one when John McCarthy stopped the fight, Koscheck was landing at will from the back mount. Wrestlers "ride legs" on the mats, which accounts for why it comes so naturally to "throw hooks" for a fighter without an extensive jiu-jitsu background. Reminiscent of the progression that Matt Hughes underwent as an evolving wrestler, Koscheck picked up a win impressive enough to put him on a plain above the rest of the welterweight crop.

Dean Lister (9-5) looked and fought absolutely exhausted when round three started in his match with Yuki Sasaki (20-13-1). Sasaki appeared to be having cardio problems of his own, and as Mike Goldberg pointed out on Spike TV’s air, that may have been the "saving grace" for Lister. Belly back to suplex’s followed by an array of submission attempts marked Lister’s dominance, but his UFC debut at 185-pounds wasn’t nearly as impressive as his premiere at light heavyweight against Alessio Sakara. Still, Lister picked up the victory looking dominant and slick on the ground for 10 of the fight’s 15 minutes. The unanimous decision win was assuredly not the worst that could have happened against an experienced opponent like Sasaki.

In between bouts Joe Rogan interviewed Randy Couture about The Ultimate Fighter 4, and it may have been the best interview he’s done. Memories of Lisa Dergan interrogating B-level celebrities about their after-fight plans at past events almost disappeared with Rogan’s downright interesting questions. Rogan, a multi-talented individual anyhow, sounded in the interview like he could pick up the journalism bug if he wanted.

I don’t much condone scoring rounds even, but since the one punch knockout that Chris Leben (20-2) conjured up for fans rendered round one useless, I’ll make an exception. With that one even round in the books Leben knocked out Jorge Santiago (12-6) with a looping left hook at 35 seconds of round two.

"I hate hanging around on the losing side of things," said Leben to Joe Rogan after the fight. There isn’t a better way to get on the winning side than to score a convincing knockout, and Leben was able to do that. His striking looked wild with the hands down, chin up look to it. That doesn’t seem to matter though when you land first, as Leben did.

Mike Goldberg summed the career of Joe Riggs (25-8) right up: "early bumps, but a lot of success late." Now feeling healthy at 170-pounds, Riggs was impressive with a second round triangle choke submission over Jason Von Flue (12-7-1). This could be the start of that "late" success for Riggs. He’s still only 23 years old, but has fought a complete ledger including Matt Hughes, Alex Stiebling, Cabbage Correira and too many others. When his maturity keeps pace with his experience, Riggs will be more of a force than he already is. His win over Von Flue very well could be the start of that.