Another edition of the Independent Link Club that brings some of the best stories that might have been missed by the biggest sites.  This week’s stories include officiating, the new trend in fighting, an interview with Nate Landwehr and more.

Nate ‘The Train’ Landwehr talks TKO win at XFC 20 [Pro MMA Now]

What the %$#! Ref? Good Officiating Too Often Taken for Granted [The MMA Corner]

Know This Fighter: China’s Zhao Ya Fei [The Fight Nation]

The New Trend in the UFC, Turning Down Fights [MMA Valor]

Jimi Manuwa delivers an impressive performance at UFC on FUEL TV 5 [The MMA Review]

Two professional Chicagoland mma warriors held a press conference at Janosik Banquet Hall to promote their rematch at the upcoming Bellator Fighting Championship Friday October 5th at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana. Rafal Skibinski and Jason Graves will be looking to bring everything they have to fight for what many fans are calling unfinished business. The fight will take place in the welterweight division.

The last time these two combatants faced off was at XFO 43 on April 13th, 2012 at the Copernicus Center in Chicago. Skibinski came away with a win by first round technical knockout due to a doctor stoppage because of a cut below the eye of Graves. However Graves had Skibinski in trouble dropping him and getting full mount raining down heavy right and left blows. According to observers and fans, Skibinski swept Graves, getting a reversal, when Graves appeared to look up at the referee hoping he would stop the fight. When Skibinski
got on top he opened a cut up on Graves with a big elbow. The referee didn’t like the look of the cut and called the doctor in, who didn’t like it either and stopped the fight, declaring Skibinski the winner.

Skibinski is out to prove the last fight was not a fluke and Graves is out to prove the opposite. Both fighters spoke at the press conference today and answered questions to the press and guests in attendance. ” I appreciate how people cheer for Rafal especially the Polish fans and the community.” Said Graves. ” Time will tell what will happen in the fight and I believe the fans will see a new and improved Jason Graves and the fans will see a new and improved Rafal Skibinski. The fans will be in for a treat.” Graves added.

Skibinski was also very humble and respectful when answering questions. “I’ve been working a lot on my jiu jitsu because I know Graves trains with one of the best schools in the Chicagoland area. Lets just see what happens.”

Joe Fortis who manages the two fighters was also in attendance and answered questions as well. “I think this will be fight of the night. In fact I know this will be fight of the night.” Fortis also stated that this fight is also a good opportunity for both fighters to showcase their skills and get good exposure for the organization. The fighters posed for the press in a face off in respectable manners to promote their rematch following the questions. The fight will be streamed on Spike.com and promises to have a huge following by the Chicagoland mma fans.

Carson Beebe has been on a tear since his short time on The Ultimate Fighter. He’s gone 7-0 since then, most recently submitting James Porter by guillotine choke in the second round at Colosseum Combat. It was only a matter of time before a bigger promotion took notice of Beebe and signed him and now it appears that chance has happened.

Beebe will be fighting on the November 15th Tachi Palace Fights against Rolando Velasco in bantamweight action. Velasco is riding a two-fight win streak into the fight, having submitted both of his opponents in the first round.

Tachi Palace Fights is known for their support of the lighter weight classes as several flyweight, bantamweight, and featherweight fighters have gone on to sign with the UFC. Should Beebe be victorious on the 15th, he will likely fight for the Tachi Palace title against Ian Loveland.

Dustin Neace just defeated Pete Dominguez in 16 seconds snapping a three-fight losing skid. The win was according to Neace, the most important of his career and now we know why. He will be fighting Marlon Sandro at Bellator 81 in Rhode Island.

The announcement came via his new management’s facebook page stating the fight will happen on November 16th and be apart of the televised portion of the card. No official word from Bellator with regards to the fight yet.

Sandro meanwhile is coming in off a disappointing loss to Daniel Straus at Bellator 68. The two met in the finals of the season six featherweight tournament; both wanting to earn a shot at redemption against current champ Pat Curran.

No official fights have been announced for the card, but it will likely play home to the finals of one of the season seven tournaments.

The weigh-ins for tomorrow’s UFC on Fuel TV 5 took place earlier today and almost everyone was on weight. Late replacement DaMarques Johnson however was seven pounds over the limit for his catchweight 175lb preliminary bout.

Both fighters agreed to still fight with the difference in weight, though Johnson will forfeit 20% of his fight purse to his opponent Gunnar Nelson.

The weigh-ins took place at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, England, the same venue where the fights will take place. The event airs live starting at 4pm EST on Fuel TV with preliminary action streaming on facebook at 1pm.

The full weigh-in results include:
Stipe Miocic 239 vs Stefan Struve 251
Dan Hardy 169 vs Amir Sadollah 169
Yves Jabouin 136 vs Brad Pickett 135
Paul Sass 156 vs Matt Wiman 156
John Hathaway 169 vs John Maguire 169
Duane Ludwig 169 vs Che Mills 170
Kyle Kingsbury 204 vs Jimi Manuwa 204
Akira Corassani 144 vs Andy Ogle 144
Brad Tavares 185 vs Tom Watson 1856
DaMarques Johnson 183 vs Gunnar Nelson 175
Robert Peralta 144 vs Jason Young 145

This week’s link club brings us some of the best from the independent mma websites.  We have interviews with Craig Zimmerman, Kyra Gracie, and Carlo Prater.  Also the UFC 152 fall out is abundant and more.

Pandemonium blog: MMA promoter Craig Zimmerman on dealing with fighter injuries [Pro MMA Now]

Kyra Gracie: Bringing the Famous Name to the Women’s Side of MMA [The MMA Corner]

Arnaud Lepont talks Shinya Aoki training, food, his awesome Mohawk and what he’s really like [The Fight Nation]

Questions Exiting UFC 152: Jones vs. Belfort [MMA Valor]

The MMA Mom with Michael Hill on TUF 16 Opisode1 [The Fight Nerd]

Interview with Carlo Prater ahead of his UFC on FX 5 bout with Marcus LeVesseur [The MMA Review]

The new season of Bellator kicks off with Bellator 74 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  The main card features the season seven opening round of the welterweight tournament with returning favorites Jim Wallhead and Lyman Good set to throw down in the main event.  All fighters made weight on their first attempt.

The full results are below:
MAIN CARD:
Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Jim Wallhead (169.8) vs. Lyman Good (170.2)
Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Nordine Taleb (170.8) vs. Marius Zaromskis (170.8)
Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Andrey Koreshkov (170.8) vs. Jordan Smith (169.8)
Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Tim Welch (170.4) vs. Michail Tsarev (171)

PRELIMINARY CARD:
Bantamweight Feature Fight: Claudio Ledesma (134.8) vs. Kenny Foster (135.8)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Casey Johnson (145.6) vs. Will Martinez (144.6)
Women’s Feature Fight: Munah Holland (125.8) vs. Michelle Ould (123.8)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Brylan Van Artsdalen (145.4) vs. Jay Haas (145.6)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Derrick Kennington (154.2) vs. Phillipe Nover (156)

The world’s first and best mixed martial arts business conference just got a lot better.  As of today, the cost to attend the event is FREE.  All attendees who already purchased an expo ticket will be refunded.  When asked about the change to the format, Mike Hauben stated, “This industry is at the worst it has ever been.  Over 50% of the companies are failing, because they don’t know how to do things properly. We want to make sure that everyone in this industry is able to get the knowledge they need and have the ability to network with the right people.”

This year’s Fight Summit also adds something new to the mix; a pro-am jiu jitsu tournament and a CrossFit Challenge.  Hauben was quick to shed light on the decision.  “I don’t like going to a seminar and be bored during the down time.  This brings something new and entertaining for the people attending while also adding value to the conference.  Both things can and do play a role in successful gyms and promotions and we wanted to ensure that we didn’t exclude anything.”

Like previous years, Fight Summit is all about learning about the business of mixed martial arts.  Some of the best in the industry will be speaking including Bruce Buffer of the UFC, Brian Butler from Suckerpunch Entertainment, Brian Cimins of Grapplers Quest, Ed Soares of Blackhouse, Glenn Hansen of MMA Business Magazine, Hans Molenkamp of Triumph United and many more.

The event takes place on Saturday November 3rd and Sunday November 4th.  In addition to the seminars and the special attractions, several vendors will be in attendance showcasing the latest products.

For more information about Fight Summit, visit their website at www.fightsummit.com or visit them at facebook.com/fightsummit

This week’s MMA Link Club features results from BAMMA, a look at The Ultimate Fighter, politics and more.

MMA in Politics: Is the Sport a Partisan Issue? [The MMA Corner]

BAMMA 10: Full post-event review and official results [The MMA Review]

Outlook of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson [MMA Valor]

The Art of MMA Matchmaking from Spartan Fighting Championship promoter Terry Callihan [Pro MMA Now]

Road FC 9 Results: Melvin Manhoef wins, Vuyisile Colossa Kills it and Minowaman proves that those red shorts are still sexy [The Fight Nation]

Top 10 Characters from Street Fighter who could win in MMA [The Fight Nerd]

Starting on Wednesday, September 19th and ending on Saturday September 29th, Chicagoland is being invaded with card after card of amateur mixed martial arts action. The first show is the return of United Combat League to Bourbon Street on the 19th. This marks the second time the promotion has visited the venue, and their third show this year.

Just two days later on Friday September 21, Total Fight Challenge returns with an impressive lineup of fights. Headlining the night of action will be Rob Caulfield taking on Martyn Jimenez for the interim welterweight title. Also on the card, John Weinert versus Ryan Berry for the bantamweight belt and Trevor Bob Adzeko goes to battle with Luis Miguel for the interim lightweight belt. In addition to the mixed martial arts fights, there will be two Muay Thai bouts on the card as well.

The next night, American Predator FC invades the Sears Centre for the first time. The amateur promotion has put on numerous high quantity and quality shows since their inception. With the ever growing fan base, organizers looked to a bigger venue and found one. With nearly six weeks until the show, all of the table seats had been sold out and only a select few sky boxes and general admission was left. APFC Unleashed is set to feature six title fights on the card.

Capping off the action is Fight Card Entertainment’s return to the Sports Zone in Melrose Park for No Mercy 2012. The night of action was supposed to see a lightweight title fight between Brandon pries and Tony Ortiz, but an injury to Priest has allowed Charlie Radtke to step in and fight for the title. Also on the card Yousef Alghoul will defend his title against Angelo Rivera Jr.