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Jonathan Goulet. Photo property of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Jonathan Goulet, who recently knocked out Kuniyoshi Hironaka in Canada last month, has reportedly pulled out of his upcoming scheduled bout against Paul Kelly next month at UFC 85: Bedlam in London, England.

The circumstances concerning Goulet’s withdrawal differ however. In a recent interview with MMA Weekly, Goulet apparently stated that he was pulling out of the Kelly bout due to health reasons that he wished not to discuss. However our friends at TKO Xtreme have learned that Goulet may have backed out of the fight at the request of his training partners at the Tristar Gym, of which the Victoriaville native recently aligned himself with.

WVR Announces Thompson-Costa for ‘Sengoku III’

With the fight card for it’s upcoming May 18th event completed, World Victory Road officials today announced the first fight for the promotion’s third event on June 8th via their official website: Nick Thompson vs Michael Costa. Thompson, the current BodogFight welterweight champion, won a unanimous decision over Fabricio Monteiro at Sengoku I in March. Costa, a Chute Boxe product, is currently riding a two-fight winning streak.

Additional fighters being advertised as competing at the event include Hidehiko Yoshida, Rodrigo Damm, Kazuyuki Fujita, Fabio Silva, and Marcio Cruz. Former PRIDE lightweight title holder Takanori Gomi has also stated that he intends to return to action at the show.

Talks Between WEC, Alessio Stall

Contract negotiations between veteran welterweight John Alessio and World Extreme Cagefighting have reportedly come to a halt according to a report by The Fight Network.

"I'm actually wondering myself what's going on," Alessio said in the report. "I figured I would have heard something by now. They offered me the rematch with Larson, but it's now up to my manager to negotiate. It's going to come down to money and if they want to sign me long-term or not."

Alessio also went on to say that he had been offered a bout against the above-mentioned Nick Thompson by Hardcore Championship Fighting officials. However it’s key to note that Thompson has stated in the past that he is not locked into any sort of contract with HCF to date.

MTV’s “True Life” to Feature Kit Cope

UFC and WEC veteran Kit Cope will reportedly be featured on MTV’s “True Life” series for the second time according to a report by our friends at MMA Junkie.

Cope, who was originally featured in “True Life: I’m a Muay Thai Fighter” back in 2004, will now serve as one of the featured fighters in “True Life: I’m an MMA Fighter”. Filming for the show is currently being done and cameras will also accompany Cope to his next scheduled fight for World Fighting Championships against Dave Cochran later this month.

Read more at: http://www.mmaontap.com/mma/entry/evening-news-and-notes-may-8-2008/.