Kawajiri, Uno, Alvarez Advance at DREAM.3; Mayhem Clowns His Way to Victory

(Jason Miller keeps ‘em laughing against Katsuyori Shibata.)

DREAM.3 went down today in Saitama, Japan, with two upsets pulled off in the lightweight grand prix, while Nick Diaz, Jason Miller, and Melvin Manhoef all scored first-round TKOs. The night’s biggest surprise was the defeat of top-ten lightweight Mitsuhiro Ishida at the hands of Caol Uno — who had received a bye into the GP’s quarterfinals — by way of rear-naked choke early in the second round. Eddie Alvarez also took an unexpected win, grinding down Joachim Hansen over 15 minutes en route to a unanimous decision. The card’s other marquee names didn’t disappoint, with K-1 vet Melvin Manhoef demolishing Dae Won Kim, and Nick Diaz getting the better of Katsuya Inoue in a slugfest. But Jason Miller did his best to steal the show, entering the ring in Zubaz-esque tights for his fight against the completely outmatched Katsuyori Shibata, and repeatedly posing for the camera. Full results are below, and videos are after the jump.

Lightweight GP Quarterfinals
Caol Uno def. Mitsuhiro Ishida via rear-naked choke, 1:39 of round 2
Eddie Alvarez def. Joachim Hansen via unanimous decision
Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Luiz “Buscape” Firmino via unanimous decision

Welterweight Feature
Nick Diaz def. Katsuya Inoue via TKO (towel thrown), 6:47 of round 1

Middleweight GP Round 1
Jason Miller def. Katsuyori Shibata via TKO, 6:07 of round 1

Middleweight GP Reserve Fight
Melvin Manhoef def. Kim Dae Won via TKO, 4:08 of round 1

Lightweight Features
Daisuke Nakamura def. Jung Bukyung, 1:15 of round 2
Takeshi Yamazaki def. Shoji Maruyama via unanimous decision

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Feast Your Eyes on Affliction’s First Fight Card

(It’s going to be totally sick, bro.)

The word on the street is that Affliction is having trouble getting their first event together and onto the airwaves in some form, but Vice President Tom Atencio sought to put out that fire in a recent talk with USA Today’s Sergio Non. Atencio insists that talks have not broken down between Affliction and HDNet, as has been previously reported, but that they are still in negotiations.

Affliction plans to put the top half of their July 19 card on pay-per-view (which will run you round $40-50), while airing the undercard on a live TV broadcast of some sort. And what will this inaugural card look like? As it stands right now, something like this:

• Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia
• Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo
• Renato Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead
• Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao
• Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Paul Buentello (unofficial, not yet signed)

Non-pay-per-view fights:
• Savant Young vs. Mark Hominick
• Justin Levens vs. Ray Lazama
• J.J. Ambrose vs. Patrick Speight
• Mike Pyle vs. Brett Cooper

Not a bad lineup at all. Also rumored for the card is heavyweight Ben Rothwell, though an opponent for him has not yet been named. The fights will take place in a ring, not a cage, and Atencio confirmed The Pond in Anaheim, Calif., as the venue for the event.

Atencio also said the winners of the Fedor-Sylvia bout and Barnett-Rizzo bout would meet in the main event of Affliction’s next show, most likely in October. Depending on your take on Affliction so far, you might call that planning for the future or cockeyed optimism.

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B.J. Penn Wants Wild West Justice For Sean Sherk

(Scene from a jiu-jitsu tournament, or an extremely amicable episode of Maury Povich’s paternity test show?)

If you love your title fights with a side of acrimony (and who doesn’t) then the B.J. Penn-Sean Sherk bout at UFC 84 is definitely for you. It’s no secret that these guys don’t like each other. Sherk thinks Penn’s a quitter. Penn thinks Sherk’s a cheater. It’s a fun little back and forth.

But in a recent interview with Sirius Radio’s “Sports Rage“, Penn kicked it up a notch with his anti-Sherk rhetoric. Here are some excerpts from the full broadcast:

” … I know there are a lot of people out there doing steroids, cheating and every time I run into one of them, I’m going to call them on it and then I’m going to beat the shit out of them …

… It’s going to be a historic night because all the kids out there will realize that you can do it with just hard work alone …He wants to say he has heart and all this different shit, but you can’t confuse steroids with heart.

… What would happen in the old days when you get caught with a couple of aces up your sleeve, they kill the guy right there and that’s why I say Sean Sherk is dead…”

Tell me, who’s still not excited for this fight? Anyone?

Nothing makes for an intense fight quite like death threats. I was willing to ascribe the first one to Penn being a little pumped up following his victory over Joe Stevenson, but after he repeated it with a calm rationale to explain why he wants to murder Sherk, well that’s just plain mean. Also pretty awesome.

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It’s Official: Leben Out, Day In For UFC 85

(So is the implication here that he causes mushroom clouds, or just poses in front of them with his shirt off?)

The UFC today confirmed what we all suspected. Chris Leben has been pulled from his bout with Michael Bisping due to ongoing legal trouble that will keep him locked up throughout most of the month. Instead of scratching the bout altogether, they’ve tapped Jason “Dooms” Day as his replacement.

Day, a Canadian who’s coming off a TKO win over Alan Belcher when he filled in for Patrick Cote at UFC 83, is a solid replacement for Leben. He’s 17-5, riding a five-fight win streak, and better still, he’s not locked up in jail right now. In fact, the only major criticism we can think of for Day revolves around his nickname. When your last name is Day, you have a lot of options. It just seems like “Dooms” was the first thing they thought of, and the first thing is rarely the best thing.

All I’m saying is, Jason “Dooms” Day sounds like just another dude trying hard to come up with an intimidating nickname. Jason “Sunny” Day, on the other hand, that’s a guy might have a screw loose. Other options include Jason “Wedding” Day and Jason “Oh, It’s Such A Perfect” Day, to name a couple.

In any event, Bisping likes the match:

“Obviously I was looking forward to the Leben fight but I guess it wasn’t to be,” said Bisping. “You have to respect Jason Day for stepping in on even shorter notice than myself. I am looking forward to really putting on a great performance in London.”

“Jason Day looked bloody dangerous in his fight with Belcher and I think this fight has exactly the same potential as the Leben fight to be a real war”

I guess if you’re Bisping and you can’t beat up an American in your home country, a Canadian is the next best thing. With the UFC slashing away at their rosters in recent weeks, you can bet Day is feeling the pressure to turn in a strong performance here. Dana White loves nothing more than a guy who can step in on short notice and put on a good show. And if there was ever a time for an up-and-coming fighter to get on White’s good side, that time is now.

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Kimbo’s Lice, Come Onnnnnn Down!

(Go for it.)

[sarcasm]Wow, you guys really knocked us out today with all the voting.[/sarcasm] Anyway, Kimbo’s Lice has dragged his way to a victory in this week’s Triumph United Comment Contest. K.L.: Please check out Triumph United’s shirt rack, and e-mail us at feedback@cagepotato.com when you know which shirt you want.

As for the rest of you: We’ve created an even more expansive venue for you to complain with our new forums section, so if you haven’t already, join up and start throwin’ your feces!

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Gina Carano’s Ex-Fiancee to Represent MMA for Nation’s Youth

The smirky dude above is Kristopher “Kit” Cope, a former Muay Thai champion with an unfortunate MMA record of 1-4. You might know him as the dude who used to be engaged to Gina Carano, or the guy who got hit with a steroid suspension after getting steamrolled by Rob McCullough at WEC 25, or as one of the subjects in MTV’s True Life episode “I’m a Muay Thai Fighter.” According to his Wikipedia page, “He once armwrestled a warewolf [sic] and won.”

Anyway, you’ll be seeing him again if you watch the MTV, as the network has enlisted him for their upcoming special “True Life: I’m An MMA Fighter.” According to MMA Junkie, Cope’s segment of the show will focus on his World Fighting Championships match against Dave Cochran, which takes place May 30 in Atlantic City. EliteWrestling.net reports that Frankie Edgar is also being filmed for the show, which will premiere in August.

Despite the fact that it’s produced by MTV — which is largely responsible for the collective plummeting of our nation’s IQ (don’t get me started) — I’m not ashamed to say that I’m a big fan of True Life, particularly their episodes “I’m a Meth Addict,” “I’m an Alcoholic,” “I Have O.C.D.,” “I’m Back From the War and Also a Meth Addict,” and “I’m a Teenager and Pregnant Again and a Heroin Addict.” The train-wreck quality of the subjects is endlessly compelling. Usually, the show follows three subjects in varying degrees of their shared personal crisis. At least one winds up rising above their challenges, and at least one falls deeper into them; part of the attraction in watching the show is trying to figure out how everyone’s story will end.

So if you’re asking yourself why they’re using Kit Cope, of all people, as a standard-bearer for mixed martial arts in the sport’s first appearance on MTV, just chill. Depending on how he performs on May 30th, the editors might use Kit as an object lesson for the pitfalls of trying to make it as a professional fighter, especially when one is haunted by steroid abuse and losing your really hot and famous fiancee; or, he could be portrayed as a guy who’s finally getting his career on track. Either way, it’ll almost certainly be a more genuine portrayal of MMA than you’ll find elsewhere on basic cable…

(BG)

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‘Farm Boy’ To Slop Hogs in WEC

(Technically, this picture wasn’t gay until the guy on the far right started dragging his pants down.)

In an interview with Rochester, Minnesota’s Post-Bulletin, Tommy Speer announced that he has been picked up by the WEC and expects to debut with the organization in August. The TUF 6 finalist — who was cut by the UFC after getting knocked-dead by Anthony Johnson at last month’s UFC Fight Night 13 — competed once before in the WEC, knocking out Sidney Silva at WEC 27 last May. Said Speer on his bounce from the UFC:

“I didn’t agree with it right away; it was depressing news. But now I know I lost to a great fighter, and he surprised me and everyone by how well he fought. I don’t think it’s too bad of a thing for me to be going to the WEC. There are great fighters there, too. I need to keep learning and working on my game, and the WEC is a great place to do that.

The WEC’s 170-pound division is certainly respectable, with names like Carlos Condit, Carlo Prater, John Alessio, and Brock Larson populating the roster, but it’s not nearly the threshing machine of the UFC’s welterweight class, and seems like a great place for Speer to develop while still maintaining a decent level of exposure. “The Farm Boy” intended to fight outside of the WEC before his August debut, but his training has been halted by an appropriately rural setback:

“The doctors at Mayo (Clinic) said I was bit by a brown recluse spider (on my calf), so I’m on antibiotics,” Speer said. “They said it might take a month to heal up. So I’m not training now, and I probably won’t be able to fight until August, because I’ll need some serious training time when I get back.”

Speer said he still intends to travel to Missouri to train with former UFC champion Matt Hughes at his gym, H.I.T. Squad, prior to his fights.

In other news…

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