MMA Fighter Dies After Losing Fight, TUF Casting Call Canceled, BJ Penn's Return Opponent Announced

- Tragedy struck the MMA world as 28-year old fighter Joao Carvalho died in a hospital just three days after suffering a TKO loss at Total Extreme Fighting in Dublin. Ireland's minister of sport Michael Ring said he will look to regulate MMA in the country following the death. Carvalho became ill just 20 minutes after the loss and never fully recovered.

Conor McGregor, who trains alongside Carvalho's opponent Charlie Ward, posted the following on Facebook.

See Also: UFC Responds To BJ Penn Sexual Assault Accusations

- Former UFC Champion BJ Penn is set to return at UFC 199, and now officially has an opponent for the show in a featherweight bout. Penn will take on Dennis Siver as "The Prodigy" heads back to the cage for the first time since an overwhelming loss to Frankie Edgar.

Penn had been accused of sexual assault weeks ago, but has since been cleared to compete. The UFC posted a statement on their official website regarding the matter.

"Following a review of the matter by Campbell & Williams, a Las Vegas-based law firm hired by UFC to evaluate the situation, UFC has been informed that no criminal or civil charges have been filed against Penn to date, nor has any action been taken by local law enforcement. It should be noted that UFC reserves the right to reevaluate the matter should new information be made available."

- We reported just last week that the UFC had announced a casting call for their 24th season of The Ultimate Fighter, with the winner receiving a Flyweight title shot. Now UFC has canceled that casting call.

The UFC issued us a statement that said the following:

"UFC® announced today that the open casting call for the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter® originally scheduled for April 25 in Las Vegas has been canceled. UFC apologizes for any inconveniences this cancellation has caused.

More information about the next season of the show will be made available in the weeks to come."

damien demento contributed to this article.