Heavyweights Shane Carwin and Gabriel Gonzaga are likely to clash at UFC 96 on March 7th in Columbus, Ohio, Five Ounces of Pain is reporting.

In other UFC 96 news, former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell, in a recent radio interview on The Tom Leykis Show, confirmed that he’s working towards a rematch with Keith Jardine at the march event. “There’s been a few names,” said Liddell. “We have Jardine listed. We want him in March.”

After much neglect over the past two weeks as I completed my finals, the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section has been completely updated.

Nearly every upcoming fight card has been updated, including UFC 92, which saw Mike Wessel replace Mark Burch against Antoni Hardonk on the evening’s preliminary card, UFC 93, which has now been finalized, and UFC Fight Night 17, whose updates included Denis Stojnic vs. Cain Velasquez and Rich Clementi vs. Gleison Tibau.

The lineups for both upcoming events in Japan, FEG FieLDS Dynamite!! 2008 and World Victory Road Sengoku no Ran 2009, were also updated.

Diego Sanchez’s first fight at 155-pounds is likely to come against recent lightweight title challenger Joe Stevenson at UFC 95 on February 21st in London, England, according to Sherdog.

The bout is expected to be the co-headliner of the evening after initial plans to have UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva headline the event fell through.

Veteran mixed martial artist Justin Levens and his wife, Sarah McLean-Levens, were found shot dead yesterday at their home in Southern California.

Authorities investigating the deaths suspect it to be a murder-suicide based on preliminary findings, including no signs of a struggle and a gun recovered at the scene.

The 28-year old Levens was 9-8 in his professional career, which included stints in the IFL, WEC, and UFC. After a promising 6-0 start, Levens struggled, losing 8 of his next 10 bouts including both of his UFC matchups against Evan Tanner and Jorge Santiago. He has not fought since an October 2007 loss to Kenny Ento, but had been scheduled to compete at Affliction “Banned” in July. He was scratched from the card due to time constraints and subsequently tested positive for the banned painkiller oxymorphone.

English heavyweight Neil Grove has inked a four-fight deal with the UFC, according to a report from Fighters Only.

Grove is expected to make his octagon debut at UFC 95 in London, and although an opponent has not been confirmed Grove is eying a matchup with Mostapha Al-Turk, who he was scheduled to fight for the heavyweight title in Cage Rage before the promotion ceased promoting events after it’s parent company, ProElite, closed its doors. An immediate matchup with Al-Turk may be unlikely, however, as he’ll need to get past Cheick Kongo at UFC 92 with next to no damage to be prepared for a February bout.

Juanito Ibarra has denied claims he offered to train Wanderlei Silva for his upcoming fight against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Tito Ortiz has signed with Affliction - but only as an announcer, Steve Cantwell has issued an apology for his post-fight comments at UFC Fight Night 16, and the lineup for K-1’s Fields Dynamite!! 2008 is rapidly filling with matchups.

Continue reading for the latest MMA news…

UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin, in a recent interview with Fanhouse, comments on the upcoming rematch between light heavyweight contenders Wanderlei Silva and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 92 and also expresses his openness to a potential future bout against “The Axe Murderer”.

“I think Wanderlei is a bad man and Wanderlei will get him,” Griffin said. “I’m not great at calling fights but that’s my honest opinion. He’s a good training partner and we’re becoming better friends because his English is getting better. I’ve got nothing bad to say about Wanderlei. He will never get tired of punching you. There’s just no break in him. I think of myself as someone who’s willing to do as much as anyone, but he’s the one guy who might do more. That’s a bad dude. He’s hard to put out. If he was a video game, he’d have no life bar. You’ve got a life bar that goes down but his life bar doesn’t go down. That’s why I like watching him fight. [A fight against Silva] would be great. If it’s for the right money or a belt, I’ll fight anyone.”

Silva, in a recent interview with MMA Weekly, confirmed he too would have “no problem” fighting Griffin.

Light heavyweight Tim Boetsch has re-signed with the UFC, inking a new four-fight deal with the promotion according to MMA Weekly.

A veteran of the IFL, Boetsch made his UFC debut on short notice at UFC 81 in February, dismantling David Heath with strikes in the opening round. Following a TKO loss to Matt Hamill at UFC Fight Night 13 in April, Boetsch rebounded to score a first-round TKO of Mike Patt at UFC 88 in September.

Boetsch will return to action in March again an opponent to-be-determined.

Former UFC light heavyweight champ and current MMA free agent Tito Ortiz appears headed to Affliction.

The promotion has not yet announced the potential signing, but has promoted Ortiz as a “special guest” for a press scheduled for tomorrow in Los Angeles to promote their upcoming “Day of Reckoning” event, which takes place on January 24th in Anaheim.