Bloody Elbow

The UFC has started to flesh out the two events they have scheduled for May, adding several fights today to the UFC on Fox 3 card at the IZOD Center New Jersey on May 5th, and the UFC on FX 3 show in Fairfax, Virginia on May 15th. In middleweight action on the New Jersey card, Garden State native Mike Massenzio will meet Karlos Vemola who's dropping down in weight class yet again. On the FX card in Virginia, another pair of middleweights will face off when Tom Lawlor meets Jason MacDonald, according to UFC.com:

Verbal agreements are also in for a middleweight matchup at that (Virginia) event between "Filthy" Tom Lawlor and Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald. Plus, Karlos Vemola has verbally agreed to drop down to middleweight to face New Jersey’s own Mike "The Master of Disaster" Massenzio.

Massenzio, now in his second stint with the UFC, is coming off a quick submission loss to Rousimar Palhares at UFC 142 last week, but it appears he didn't suffer any serious damage from the Brazilian's dangerous heel hook, as he'll step right back into the Octagon just four months later, and against a very different type of opponent in Vemola. The Czech native started out his UFC career at heavyweight, but after getting smothered by larger opponents, he cut down to light heavyweight, where, despite thrashing Seth Petruzelli, he again got ragdolled by Brazilian prospect Ronny Markes who exploited Vemola's inability to get off his back. Now hoping that middleweight is the finally the right weight class for him, Vemola will have to deal with Massenzio's improving boxing and solid submission grappling.

Lawlor, a fan-favorite from the eight season of The Ultimate Fighter, is perhaps best known for his elaborate entrances rather than his fighting prowess, and with his current UFC record sitting at 3-3, and having most recently gotten choked out by uber-prospect, Chris Weidman, the Florida resident will have to do more to impress inside the cage, rather than outside of it. MacDonald, a longtime veteran of the Canadian scene and with 11 UFC fights under his belt will certainly hold the experience edge over Lawlor, while his dangerous submission game is always a threat, and has earned him three submission of the night bonuses in his UFC career. Although "The Athlete" has struggled to put together consecutive wins and is coming off a quick loss to Alan Belcher back in September, he's fought some of the best fighters the UFC's middleweight division has to offer, including Rich Franklin, Yushin Okami, Demian Maia, and Ed Herman and Chris Leben, both of whom fell victim to MacDonald's submissions, proving that the Canadian always has a chance to pull a rabbit out of his hat.

UFC on Fox 3 coverage

UFC on FX 3 coverage