As many of you may be finding out, the big news in MMA Friday was the signing of former PRIDE superstar Wanderlei Silva by UFC president Dana White.  Silva (a.k.a. "The Axe Murderer") has been a force in MMA for close to a decade and is PRIDE's former light heavyweight champ.  He is currently on a two-match losing streak but his opponents in those losses -- Mirko Cro Cop and Dan Henderson -- are no slouches.

This signing sets up the much-anticipated and oft-rumored fight between Chuck Liddell and Silva.  While this would have been a better fight mid-2006 when both held their respective belts, it is still a great match.  Look for this fight to take place towards the end of this year, possibly at UFC's last event of the year on December 29.

Click here for UFC.com's report on the Silva signing.

In addition, earlier this week UFC announced the re-signing of Brandon Vera to the promotion.  Vera is the much-ballyhooed up-and-coming heavyweight fighter who hasn't fought since defeating Frank Mir at UFC 65 last November.

Vera is unbeaten in UFC competition and began his training at the local MMA gym run by Lloyd Irvin.  While the UFC heavyweight division is stacked now, unlike when Vera last fought, look for him to make waves with his exciting well-rounded fighting style and sparkling personality.

White has said that Vera's first fight will probably come against former UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia later this year.

For more on Vera's signing, click here.

And, finally UFC held its UFC 74 conference call on Thursday.  MMA Madness writer Ben Lipov outlines the key points from that call in this article.