It’s over. We reported last week that former heavyweight boxing champ turned MMA fighter, Ray Mercer, had gone missing, and was luckily found unharmed and safe in New Jersey. Now, after all the drama and hype, Guy Mezger reported on his twitter account that Ray Mercer would not fight at tonight’s King of the Cage: No Mercy show at all. The reason – “He was disallowed because a 13 yr old injury. Even though he has had fights since that injury.”

Guy Mezger’s words, not mine. It seems as if Mezger is even suspicious of this as well since Mercer has fought through whatever this magical injury is for the past thirteen years. Funny for it to act up now, a day before he was set to battle Ron Sparks, who will no doubt be very disappointed as well as fans who wanted to see this fight happen. What this means for Mercer’s career could essentially just be suicide – this injury at such a last-minute will frighten off many potential matchmakers, but perhaps it is time for “Merciless” to hang up the gloves after all.

On the upside, Abel Cullum VS Jimmie Rivera for the 135 lb. title will be moved to the main event slot for sure, and that fight is one that is guaranteed to be 400% better than Sparks VS Mercer. I have seen Jimmie fight live for Bellator FC and UCC and have watched Abel’s previous KOTC and DREAM fights and this match is going to be insane! There is plenty of other local talent fighting tonight, and this should not scare off fans from seeing this event since Mercer VS Sparks would have ended in about 30 seconds anyway.

We will update you if we hear about any replacements for Ron Sparks or if the fight will be totally scrapped.

Photo courtesy of Sherdog.com

Abel Cullum, 135 lb. champion of King of The Cage, talks with The Fight Nerd about preparing for his upcoming title defense at King of The Cage: No Mercy, on September 17 at the Foxwoods Casino in CT. Cullum discusses fight strategy, how he would do against WEC champion Dominick Cruz, as well as what has made him a dominant champ for the past two years, and talks about his fight with Hideo Tokoro and why he wants to fight him again. Plus, what’s up with that cowboy hat?

If you want to see Abel’s fight with Hideo Tokoro, hit the jump and watch the action unfold!

The Fight Nerd catches up with Ron Sparks at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, NY, to discuss his upcoming fight against former boxing champion Ray Mercer at King of The Cage on September 17 at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. Mercer’s last fight was a dramatic knockout of former UFC champion, Tim Sylvia. Ron talks fight strategy, as well as his last fight, boxers coming into MMA, what weight class he likes to fight at most and how he would do against KOTC Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Cormier.

The Fight Nerd returns with 10 more fights you have never seen before (or maybe you have, but that makes you as big of a loser as me)! We keep the countdown going but this time with more of the big names you might know from the UFC and Strikeforce, so see how many of these fights you’ve seen and how many you never even knew about.

If you can find the championship belt in this pic, you win a prize

From CNBC.com, King of the Cage, one of the oldest MMA organizations in the US, has now regained control to its assets, which were previously owned by ProElite, when bought during a merger with the company, which is great news and a victory for the all the little guys out there! Below is the official story.

LOS ANGELES, Jul 10, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — ProElite, Inc. (OTB:PELE.PK) said today that it has closed a strict foreclosure agreement that returns King of the Cage, the highly successful mixed martial arts brand, to its original owners Terry and Julie Trebilcock. With the agreement, ProElite’s outstanding debt to King of the Cage has been satisfied; and King of the Cage, under the leadership of founder Terry Trebilcock, again becomes an independent company with control over its own extensive video library.

ProElite CEO Charles F. Champion said that the agreement closed today and that the financial and legal issues between the two entities have been completely resolved.

ProElite retains a number of prominent assets including a host of international MMA brands such as Spirit MC, its community-driven interactive broadband entertainment website, and an extensive library of MMA events.

SOURCE: ProElite, Inc.

CONTACT: Hud Englehart Beacon Advisors, Inc. 312.280.8100 Copyright Business Wire 2009 -0- KEYWORD: United States

North America

California INDUSTRY KEYWORD: Entertainment

Martial Arts

General Entertainment

Sports SUBJECT CODE: Contract/Agreement