Just a few weeks ago, Midwest Training Center fighter Dan Stittgen got the call of a lifetime. The call was from the UFC, asking Stittgen to fight at UFC 143. Oddly enough, Stittgen was being asked to replace the only fighter to ever beat him in MMA.

The dream of fighting in the UFC will come true for Stittgen when he fights Stephen Thompson in Las Vegas this Saturday night. Thompson will also be making his UFC debut.

Stittgen is replacing Justin Edwards, who had to withdraw due to injury. Edwards submitted Stittgen back in January of 2010 in Wisconsin, the only blemish on his career record.

Since then he has rattled off four straight victories, including wins locally in Rockford and at XFO 39, where he tapped out Jason Graves just over a minute into the bout. Stittgen has also fought locally at TFC and Fight Club One. He made his amateur debut back at XFO 23.

Stittgen is coming of a majority decision win against Mark Stoddard at King of the Cage in Wisconsin, but he is best known as a submission specialist. Five of his seven pro wins have come by submission.

You can see Stittgen’s fight on Facebook this Saturday.

Kevin Knabjian had a bit of a rough ride after competing on Season 9 of “The Ultimate Fighter”, dropping three straight bouts. But a more active 2011 and a drop to 155lbs. has reinvigorated the Midwest Training Center fighter.

He got back in the win column in July, needing just :35 to get Jonathan Tarrh to submit from strikes at Total Warrior Challenge 9 in Indy. Saturday night he was back at it, taking on Miletich Fighting Systems’ Brandon Adamson.

Listen to the excellent coaching from MTC’s Alex Trujillo, preaching patience and calling for the move that would finish Adamson.

Mike Marrello vs Miodrag Petkovich
Mike Pitz vs Kent Rexford Jr.
Daniel Aguirre vs TBD
Kevin Knabjian vs Brandon Adamson
Will Brooks vs Chris Tickle
Vincent Ramos vs Guillermo Serment
Adam Ward vs Daniel Rodriguez
Matt Tobie vs Frank Pizzirulli
Joey Diehl vs Joe Voitik
Anthony Goodwin vs Robert Couillard
Andrew Krzeptowski vs Quartus Stitt
Kenny Booker vs TBD
Christopher Haney vs Stanton Gavia

We’ll have an XFO preview as we get closer to the event. The card looks excellent, packed with great local fighters and prospect. My early pick for “Fight of the Night” is MTC’s Mike Pitz vs. Wrecking Ball’s Kent Rexford Jr. I expect that to be a back and forth, all-out war.

Quick updates on Chicago area fighters…

- Miguel Torres is fighting Nick Pace at UFC 139. You may remember Pace from his insane flying knee KO of Collin Tebo back at Bellator 11. Torres will try to get back in the title picture after his loss to Demetrious Johnson. Pace is coming off a UFC 133 loss to Ivan Menjivar.

- Chicago’s Mike Russow is out of UFC 136 as his opponent Dave “Pee Wee” Herman tested positive for marijuana and steroids. No replacement was named so the fight was scratched.

It’s a tough break for Russow, who last fought at UFC Fight Night in March, when he beat Jon Madsen. Russow is 14-1 and has not lost since 2007, when he was submitted by Sergei Kharitonov at PRIDE 33.

- Dan “The Anvil” Stittgen will be fighting on October 8th at “King of the Cage: Interference” in Wisconsin. The MTC fighter recently won at Rockford Cage Fights and at XFO 39 in May. He is also a veteran of the TFC.

- The Supremacy MMA video game has hit stores, and it features local fighters Felice Herrig, Michele Gutierrez and Jens Pulver. Check out the game at their website.

Send any local fighter or school news to matt@chicagosmmna.com.

Mike Lullo has a new opponent for his UFC Fight Night bout on Saturday night. Lullo was initially matched up against Team Curran’s Mackens Semerzier, but “Da Menace” was forced to withdraw due to injury. Lullo will now get to brawl with Honduran fighter Robert Peralta, who will be making his UFC debut.

Lullo (8-2) fights out of Midwest Training Center and made his UFC debut last November against Edson Barboza at UFC 123. He took the fight on short notice and was defeated after via TKO due to leg strikes in round 3. This fight against Peralta will be his debut at featherweight.

Peralta (14-3) is a brawler and Lullo will likely try to get him to the ground. Two of Peralta’s three losses have come via submission, and Lullo’s ground game is exceptional.

Peralta did turn some heads with an upset win over Hiroyuki Takaya at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley. Takaya is the current DREAM featherweight champion, having defended the title once.

Local fighters Carson Beebe and Dustin Neace are on the UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter” season 14 roster.

Beebe fights out of Gilbert Grappling and Midwest Training Center, and is one of the youngest fighters on the show at age 22. He is 7-1 as a pro, and just fought and defeated Matt Wikoff at Rockford Cage Fights on August 13. Beebe has also fought locally at Chicago Cagefighting Championship, Ruckus and XFO.

Neace fights out of Matt Hughes HIT Squad in Granite City, Illinois. Neace is just 24 but has already amassed 42 pro fights. He lost to Jeff Curran here in Chicago at the Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers event, and has also fought at C3 and Ruckus.

Indiana’s Casey Dyer, who fought as an amateur at XFO 31 and XFO 34 is also on the roster.

Here is the promo for the new season, and below that is the complete cast for the show, which debuts Sept. 21 on Spike TV.

John Albert
Victory Athletics
Puyallup, WA

Johnny Bedford
F3 Alliance
Watuga, TX

Carson Beebe
Gilbert Grappling
Western Springs, IL

Roland Delorme
Winnipeg Academy of MMA
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

T.J. Dillashaw
Team Alpha Male
Sacramento, CA

John Dodson
Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts
Albuquerque, NM.

Casey Dyer
No affiliation
New Castle, IN

B.J. Ferguson
All-American MMA
Louisville, KY

Josh Ferguson
All-American MMA
Louisville, KY.

Louis Gaudinot
Team Tiger Schulmann
Yonkers, NY

Matt Jaggers
Team Wolfpack
Connersville, IN

Tateki Matsuda
Team Sityodtong
Boston, MA

Paul McVeigh
Dinky Ninjas
Glasgow, Scotland

Brandon Merkt
The Academy
New Richmond, WI

Dustin Pague
MASE MMA
Centreville, VA

Orville Smith
Integrated Fighting
Indianapolis, IN

FEATHERWEIGHTS

Stephen Bass
Lloyd Irvin MMA
Savannah, GA

Dennis Bernudez
Long Island MMA
Massapequa, NY

Diego Brandao
Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts
Albuquerque, NM

Marcus Brimage
American Top Team
Coconut Creek, FL

Bryan Caraway
Team Alpha Male
Sacramento, CA

Josh Clopton
Skrap Pack
San Francisco, CA

Akira Corassani
Team Kaobon
Gothenburg, Sweden

Karsten Lenjoint
Wolfslair Academy
Nottingham, United Kingdom

Eric Marriott
Grindhouse MMA
Independence, MO

Micah Miller
Coconut Creek, FL
American Top Team

Dustin Neace
H.I.T. Squad
Granite City, IL

Jesse Newell
Knuckleheadz
BoxingVentura, CA

Brian Pearman
Springfield Fight Club
Springfield, MO

Jimmie Rivera
Team Tiger Schulmann
Elmwood Park, NJ
Record: 8-1
Age: 21

Steven Siler
Riven Academy
Ogden, UT

Bryson Wailehua-Hansen
MMA Development
Honolulu, HI

Midwest Training Center’s Mike Lullo will get his second shot in the UFC on September 17, when he fights Team Curran’s Mackens Semerzier.

The fight will take place at UFC Fight Night 25 in New Orleans, and Lullo will make his debut at featherweight. He told the Sun-Times that, “I’m usually walking around at 160, so for me to make 155, I never really cut any weight. I think it will be a lot better for me.”

Lullo dominated the local circuit here in Chicago. A submission specialist, Lullo lost his first professional bout before running off 8 consecutive wins in the XFO, Chicago Cagefighting Championship and other promotions. His UFC debut was a loss to Edson Barboza, but Lullo will have the benefit of a full training camp in his preparation for Semerzier.

Mackens “Da Menace” Semerzier gained new life with a win over Alex “Bruce Leeroy” Caceres at UFC Fight Night 24. It was likely a ‘win or go home’ proposition for him in that bout, as he had dropped 3 straight in the WEC.

Another local fighter, Roufusport’s Eric Koch, will fight TUF winner Jonathan Brookins on that card.

Midwest Training Center fighter Mike Lullo made his UFC debut Saturday night in Detroit against Edson Barbosa, but came out on the losing end after the fight was stopped just moments into round 3.

After Lullo was slammed in round one, he pulled guard on Barbosa into what Joe Rogan and 10th Planet devotees like to call “Mission Control”. From there Lullo worked for a gogoplata for about 2 minutes. He almost had it but could not bring his right leg over the left arm of Barbosa. Barbosa was able to escape.

Barbosa repeatedly landed thunderous leg kicks to Lullo’s lead leg, and when Lullo pulled guard again you could see the redness and swelling caused by them. He again worked for a gogoplata but was unable to secure it. Barbosa landed more leg kicks and you could tell they were really affecting Lullo.

Before round 3 Alex Trujillo told Lullo that they were down 2 rounds and he needed to focus. Rogan made a bit of a snide comment, saying that Lullo needs specific technique instruction to counter the leg kicks, not “there’s 5 minutes left, don’t lose”. But we did not get to hear the rest of what Trujillo was relaying to Lullo, so I thought that was a bit unfair.

Lullo ate some more leg kicks and was having trouble getting up after them. Eventually the fight was stopped because of this early in round 3. Lullo was giving up some size and length to Barbosa, but he showed the world just how tough and game he was throughout the match.

Here is the card for the event:

Lightweight (155 lbs.): Sherron “Rob Roy” Leggett-Kenosha, WI vs. James “The Unbreakable Heavy Hitter” Warfield-Madison , WI

Catchweight (140 lbs.): Chico “King” Camus-Milwaukee, WI vs. Jameel “The Real Deal” Massouh-Kenosha , WI

Light Heavyweight (205 lbs.): Jason Guida-Chicago, IL vs. “Smiling” Sam Alvey-Waterford, WI

Catchweight (140 lbs.): Omar “Baby Sas” Choudhury, Shrewood, WI vs. Joao “Mosquito” Bosco-Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Heavyweight (265 lbs.): Antoine “Herc” Hayes-Chicago, IL vs. Chuck “Diesel” Hoskins-Oshkosh, WI

Featherweight (145 lbs.): Brian Learn-Milwaukee, WI vs. Peter Grimes-St. Louis, MO

Bantamweight (135 lbs.): Floyd “Hitman” Hodges-Janesville, WI vs. Matt Brown-Appleton, WI

Featherweight (145 lbs.):Jose “Temato” Pacheco-Milwaukee, WI vs. Stanton “The Viper” Gavia-Rockford, IL

Middleweight (185 lbs.): Rex “Chaos” Griepentrog-Milwaukee, WI vs. Dan Bolden-Chicago, IL

Lightweight (155 lbs.): Dylan Falduto-Kenosha, WI vs. Jeff Golden-Chicago, IL

Welterweight (170 lbs.): Matt “Buffy” Thompson-Milwaukee, WI vs. Anthony Enyobe-Janesville, WI

Lullo will be fighting another UFC rookie in Edson Barboza. Barboza holds a professional record of 6-0 and is from Brazil. He fights out of “The Armory” in Jupiter, Florida, and was named one of MMA Ranked’s top 50 prospects, as well as the overall top prospect in the lightweight division.

Lullo most recently fought on October 16th at Chicago Cagefighting Championship. He was featured in the co-main event of the card against Tyler Combs. Lullo submitted Combs with an armbar in the 3rd round.