Two fighters are out of scheduled fights and one of them will affect the pay-per-view this weekend in Atlanta at UFC 88. Karo Parisyan will miss his scheduled fight with Yoshiyuki Yoshida due to a back injury. Parisyan was returning to the Octagon for the first time since losing to Thiago Alves in April. No time table has been set for Parisyan's return. As a result of this fight being taken off of the pay-per-view, the fight between Matt Brown and Dong Hyun Kim will air in that spot.

Wednesday's game against the Mets was over for the Brewers almost before it had a chance to begin. The Mets put up six runs in the first inning on Brewers starter Dave Bush. Bush lasted five innings as his record fell to 9-10 on the season but manager Ned Yost should have lifted him in the first. Bush was getting hit hard and the highlight of the inning for the Mets was a grand slam by Ryan Church. The Mets wound up winning the series finale 9-2 against the Crew.

Randy Couture's return to the UFC is now official. The announcement was made by Dana White during a press conference. The press conference also cleared up several rumors and laid the framework for the immediate future of the UFC's heavyweight division.

Now I know that no one can look at the title of this blog and not have very strong feelings one way or another. And that's okay. There has never really been any middle ground when it comes to personal feelings about Ted Thompson and the off season soap opera with Brett Favre did nothing but cement feelings either way.

Monday was not a good afternoon if you're a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers. Ben Sheets left the game after five innings due to tightness in his groin and the bullpen was unable to hold the lead and the Brewers lost a tough one to the Mets, 4-2. Sheets was on his way to pitching a gem before the injury sidelined him. He tossed five scoreless innings while only giving up two hits.

It has been widely reported this holiday weekend that Randy Couture may be on the verge of returning to the UFC, possibly as soon as November, when the UFC makes their debut in Portland, Oregon. Couture hasn't fought since August 2007, when he beat Gabriel Gonzaga via a third round TKO.

In looking over my first two blogs I noticed I was missing something in both. My idea in wanting to write this blog was to talk about all sports and look back on great music from the 90's. So I figure now is as good of time as any to start sharing my love of the music from that time. While Labor Day usually signals the end of the summer, I wanted to reminisce about a great summer song from the past. "California Love" took over the number one spot on Billboard's Hot 100 on July 13, 1996. It was Tupac Shakur's most widely known song and biggest commercial hit. The song also featured raps from hip hop legend, Dr. Dre. The song is one of my favorites from Tupac. I find Tupac's music has always crossed all racial and economic lines if people allow themselves to really listen to his message.

In a stunning move shocking UFC and MMA fans around the world, UFC President Dana White has resigned from his post with the company in order to become a full-time, stay at home mom as he raises Chuck Liddell's love child. Okay, that may not be happening but would anyone really be surprised by that considering the preferential treatment that White gives to Liddell?

I have to say I am thoroughly enjoying this Brewers season. It feels different than the last few, mainly due in part to a certain left-handed pitcher that should get serious consideration for the Cy Young award no matter if he's only a National Leaguer for a half season or not. That, however, is another discussion for another time.

Seeing as though I'm still six months shy of turning 30 (the world doesn't really end at 30, does it?), this is the first time I've been able to live the emotions of a pennant race. Sorry, I don't count last year as being in a pennant race. The Crew was scuffling down the stretch and even though the Cubs wanted to give us the division, the Brewers wanted no part of it.

Ben Sheets picked up his 12th win on the season Tuesday night as the Brewers destroyed the Cardinals, 12-0. Sheets pitched six shutout innings and struck out four while only allowing five hits and walking two. Brian Shouse, David Riske and Eric Gagne each pitched a scoreless inning to finish off the Cards.

Kimbo Slice next fights on October 4th. and he finally has an opponent. Slice will face none other than UFC and MMA legend, Ken Shamrock. The fight will likely serve as the main event of the show and CBS will no doubt be hoping for a ratings splash by adding Shamrock to their card.

Hello, everyone! Welcome to Sports Nirvana. I thought before I get into any hardcore writing that I should tell you a bit about myself and my likes and dislikes in the world of sports. I was born and raised in Green Bay, so it'll be pretty easy to figure out where my loyalties lie in the NFL. And for those still unsure, they lay with the Packers...not Brett Favre. I grew up a Brewers fan as well but once the Seligs ran the franchise into the ground in the late 90's, I lost interest. I returned to the Crew in 2004 when a young infielder named Bill Hall brought passion, hard work and excitement to the game that I hadn't seen in Milwaukee in several years. I moved to Milwaukee on New Year's Day 2005, and I've been a Brewers' season ticket holder ever since. Needless to say, it looks like a good time to be a season ticket holder and have a guaranteed spot for playoff baseball.

Rich Franklin may very well be the second best middleweight fighter in the world. The problem is that Anderson Silva is leaps and bounds better than Franklin and has two wins over "Ace" to prove it. Franklin will now move back up into the light-heavyweight division at UFC 88 and take on Matt "The Hammer" Hamill.

Rashad Evans is one of the best young light-heavyweights in the world. He is a former collegiate wrestler for Michigan State and was the winner on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter. Evans will face the biggest challenge of his professional career when he steps into the Octagon against UFC legend, Chuck Liddell at UFC 88 in September.

Kenny Florian stated after his fight with Roger Huerta that he wasn't going to sit around and wait for BJ Penn. Florian is a man of his word and will return to the Octagon in November to face Joe Stevenson. Florian would cement his claim as number one contender to BJ Penn with a win, while a win for Stevenson would shoot him back up the lightweight rankings.