Followers of Nick Diaz’s career know to think twice before listening to the fighter’s “retirement announcements” – Diaz first made a retirement vow after losing to Carlos Condit at UFC 143, but returned after a yearlong suspension to challenge Georges St-Pierre. After failing to acquire St-Pierre‘s title in March, he announced his plans to hang up the gloves once more. But with Dana White saying he’d give Diaz another fight if he wants one, and Diaz stating during UFC 158′s post-fight news conference in March that he could give Anderson Silva a challenge at middleweight, no one has really known what to think… until now.

Diaz has officially created a website and a Twitter account for a new MMA promotion called WAR Mixed Martial Arts, and an official with the California State Athletic Commission recently confirmed that Diaz has started the process of applying for a promoter’s license. A lot more would have to be done before WAR MMA could put on a show – the CSAC would need to review financial statements, resumes and an article of incorporation – but Diaz’s background check by the CSAC came back clean, so the promotion is off to a healthy start so far.

Since he doesn’t currently have another fight lined up, it’s starting to look like his retirement claims may be for real this time, assuming his planned MMA promotion launches successfully. Which would you rather see – the launch of WAR Mixed Martial Arts or Diaz in another fight?

The first season of Spike TV’s Fight Master: Bellator MMA debuts next month, and the network has officially announced the cast of 32 welterweight fighters who will be competing for the $100,000 prize and a slot in a future Bellator tournament.

Bellator announcer Jimmy Smith will host the show, and each fighter will get to pick one of four coaches to work with on the show – former UFC champion and Hall of Famer Randy Couture, former UFC and Strikeforce champ Frank Shamrock, former Bellator champ Joe Warren or famed coach Greg Jackson. Surprisingly, the fighters will also have the power to choose which opponents they face on the show.

 Notable names on the fighter cast list include former UFC welterweight title contender Joe Riggs, five time Bellator fighter Chris Lozano, and American Top Team prospect Steve Montgomery, who beat Ultimate Fighter season 16 winner Colton Smith via knockout eight seconds into the fight.

Here’s the full cast list of Fight Master: Bellator MMA season one:

Marcus Aurelio

• Age: 26
• Record: 6-2-0
• Vancouver, British Columbia

Nick Barnes

• Age: 22
• Record: 5-0-0
• San Diego, CA

Eric Bradley

• Age: 31
• Record: 5-1-0
• Las Vegas, NV

Mike Bronzoulis

• Age: 34
• Record: 15-5-1
• Houston, TX

Frank Carrillo

• Age: 29
• Record: 6-3-0
• Miami, FL

Darryl Cobb

• Age: 32
• Record: 6-6-0
• East St. Louis, IL

Christopher Curtis

• Age: 25
• Record: 7-2-0
• Cincinnati, OH

Evan Cutts

• Age: 22
• Record: 5-1-0
• Dallas, TX

Mike Dubois

• Age: 30
• Record: 3-0-0
• Thomasville, GA

Tom Gallicchio

• Age: 26
• Record: 16-8-0
• Howell, NJ

Ismael Gonzalez

• Age: 32
• Record: 11-10-0
• Los Angeles, CA

Gareth Joseph

• Age: 28
• Record: 9-5-0
• San Diego, CA

Chris Lozano

• Age: 30
• Record: 9-3-0
• Cleveland, OH

AJ Matthews

• Age: 24
• Record: 5-2-0
• Carlsbad, CA

Rob Mills

• Age: 35
• Record: 8-2-0
• Newcastle, United Kingdom

Steve Montgomery

• Age: 22
• Record: 3-1-0
• Florence, SC

Chip Moraza-Pollard

• Age: 24
• Record: 7-4-0
• Plymouth, MA

Brett Nakamura

• Age: 30
• Record: 6-1-0
• Maui, HI

Jason Norwood

• Age: 28
• Record: 12-3-0
• Fort Hood, TX

Dom O’Grady

• Age: 31
• Record: 15-5-1
• Detroit, MI

Jacob Ortiz

• Age: 31
• Record: 8-4-0
• San Manuel, AZ

Josh Quayhagen

• Age: 26
• Record: 6-1-0
• Lake Charles, LA

Joe Riggs

• Age: 30
• Record: 39-14-0
• Phoenix, AZ

Eric Scallan

• Age: 27
• Record: 11-4-0
• Lafayette, LA

Cristiano Souza

• Age: 30
• Record: 5-0-0
• Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Brendan Tierney

• Age: 37
• Record: 10-5-0
• Queens, NY

Bryan Travers

• Age: 29
• Record: 13-3-0
• Bakersfield, CA

Andy Uhrich

• Age: 27
• Record: 8-3-0
• Gering, NE

Tim Welch

• Age: 22
• Record: 8-4-0
• Great Falls, MT

Cole Williams

• Age: 30
• Record: 5-1-0
• Darian, WI

Joe Williams

• Age: 27
• Record: 7-1-0
• Tustin, CA

Artenas Young

• Age: 32
• Record: 9-5-0
• Houston, TX

The series launches on Wednesday, June 19 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, and consists of 10 one-hour episodes.

Sara McMann worked for her entire life to be an Olympic wrestling champion, and nine years ago, she fell just short of her goal, earning the Athens silver medal. Now, she’s begun a new quest – to become a UFC  women’s bantamweight champion. And so far, things are going exactly as she’d hoped.

When she failed to make the U.S. Olympics team for the 2008 Games, McMann took up jiu-jitsu and, not long after, prepared to compete in MMA.

“I started picking things up pretty quickly and I started excelling because I was having fun learning a completely new combative sport,” she said.

McMann made her amateur MMA debut in June 2010, stopping Jasmine Reed in 1:45. And now, in her UFC 159 prelim bout against Sheila Gaff, McMann proved that she’s a definite contender. When action stalled on the ground after her first takedown of Gaff, the pair restarted and the silver medalist took Gaff down again. She trapped the 10-5-1 fighter in a mounted crucifix and hammered her right hand down repeatedly from the top position, forcing the fight to end 4:06 into the first round, via technical knockout.

McMann’s name is now being thrown out there as a legitimate potential challenge for champion Ronda Rousey, who is a former judo Olympic medalist herself. The win improved McMann’s record to 7-0, with four wins by stoppage.