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Our partners in crime over at BloodyElbow.com have once again published their divisional rankings for mixed martial arts in the nation’s largest daily newspaper, USA Today, for the month of July 2010.

For those of you unfamiliar with the process, here’s how it works:

“The rankings, which will offer a definitive perspective of top MMA fighters across all weight-classes, will be released monthly and published in the Sports section of USA TODAY, online at USATODAY.com and on SB Nation’s MMA commentary and community blog, BloodyElbow.com … The USA TODAY/SB Nation Consensus MMA Rankings are compiled each month by Nate Wilcox and Richard Wade of BloodyElbow.com. The rankings utilize each of the top MMA rankings from multiple unique sources. A weighted-formula is applied to normalize and distill the various rankings into one consensus ranking per weight class…

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Never heard the name Antonio McKee? Most casual fans of mixed martial arts haven’t. The 40-year-old with a 24-3-2 record has never reached the bigs or gotten the exposure he feels he deserves. Part of the problem may be that the takedown artist, who hasn’t lost since 2003, has turned in decision victories in 12-of-14 fights. So McKee is pulling out all the stops to get eyes on his next fight saying if he doesn’t finish Luciano Azevedo on Sept. 10, he’ll retire. 

"This is what I said. I said, if this fight goes to a decision and it’s a boring
decision, I retire. If this fight is not the fight of the night, I retire.
Basically, if I don’t go out there and put on a show, just destroy and
annihilate this guy, then I’m done," McKee told Fanhouse’s Ben Fowlkes. "If it’s one of those matches where I take
him down, ground and pound, holding him there, I retire. I’m done…

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CHICAGO, Ill. (July 29, 2010) – A showdown between one of MMA’s most exciting lightweights and a colorful, highly-regarded South Florida fan favorite will serve as the “Local Main Event” when Bellator Fighting Championships returns to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood , Fla. , for its Season 3 debut on Aug. 12th.

The much anticipated fight pits UFC and PRIDE veteran Yves Edwards (37-16-1) against four-time Bellator veteran and Miami native Luis “Baboon” Palomino (13-5) in a battle for bragging rights between two of South Florida’s top MMA gyms, American Top Team and MMA Masters.

Edwards, one of MMA’s most battle-tested veterans, is known as one of the most vicious finishers in the sport with 15 knockouts and 15 submissions to total 30 stoppages during his 13-year pro career…

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SAN JOSE, Calif. (July 29, 2010) – Ryan Couture, son of MMA legend Randy “The Natural” Couture, has signed a multi-fight agreement with world championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion STRIKEFORCE and will make his professional MMA debut on Friday, Aug. 13 at the STRIKEFORCE Challengers event at Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz., LIVE on SHOWTIME (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast).

The 27-year-old Couture, a member of the Las Vegas, Nev., based Xtreme Couture fight team, will face Lucas Stark of Chandler, Ariz. in a three-round lightweight (155 pounds) bout.

Looking to make a name for himself in the sport his father helped pioneer, Couture compiled an amateur record of 5-1-1 competing as a lightweight with all five wins coming by way of submission…

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Countdown to UFC 117: “Silva vs. Sonnen” will debut Monday, Aug. 2 at 11:00 p.m. ET on Spike TV to promote the upcoming pay-per-view (PPV) event scheduled for the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California on Saturday, Aug. 7.

The network special will provide a glimpse into the preparation and training camps of the fighters set to headline the show, featuring current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and division number one contender Chael Sonnen.

Replays of “Countdown to UFC 117″ will air at the following times:

Tuesday, Aug. 3 at 1 a.m. ET (Monday night into Tuesday morning on MTV tr3s)
Wednesday, Aug. 4 at 8 p.m. ET (Spike TV)
Thursday, Aug. 5 at Midnight ET (Versus)

Remember that MMAmania.com will provide LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of UFC 117, beginning with the PPV telecast at 10 p.m. ET…

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Props: MMA Live (via CageWriter)

Quoteworthy:

“I think he’s getting out of 185 because he’s a little bit afraid of Anderson (Silva). Anderson’s a tough guy to fight at that weight class and he’s thinking (Georges) St. Pierre’s an easier fight. I think it might be too much of a weight cut. Sometimes trying to cut that it’s a little bit too much for you and I think Shields is going to find out right off the bat. He’s a great wrestler but at that weight class, cutting that weight is going to be rough.”

Former WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres has an unflattering assessment of Jake Shields return to the welterweight division after leaving behind his 185-pound title in Strikeforce to test his might inside the Octagon. Shields has competed in both divisions with great success but according to Torres, some of that wrestling prowess will be compromised in the weight cut…

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