Adam Carolla, who we’ve idolized since his Loveline days, had Dana White as a guest on his radio show this morning to plug UFC 78 (you can listen to the audio here). We were particularly surprised by the following:

— Dana White and the Fertitta brothers bought the UFC for $2 million in 2001 and then proceeded to lose $44 million over the next three years.

— Though he didn’t say anything during the segment, Danny Bonaduce is apparently Adam’s sidekick on the show. Good for you, Danny!

Last Friday, I met up with World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champ Urijah “The California Kid” Faber at a little-known Italian joint called Carmine’s. Faber, who has already defended his title three times this year, will put his belt on the line once again at WEC 31, which goes down December 12th in Las Vegas and will be televised live on VERSUS starting at 9 p.m. ET. The stacked fight card also features a middleweight championship bout between Paulo Filho and Chael Sonnen, a heavyweight championship fight between Doug Marshall and Ariel Gandulla, and the WEC debut of Jens Pulver. In this exclusive CagePotato interview, Faber shares his thoughts on Pulver, Justin Timberlake, and that little misunderstanding he had in Bali…

Let’s start with the most important question — what did you dress up as for Halloween?
I was a pimp! I had some gold chains, a hat with dollar signs all over it, and a fur coat that was my girlfriend’s grandmother’s. I kept it sober that night but I still had fun.

You’ll be defending your title against Jeff Curran next month. What’s your impression of Jeff as a fighter?
I think he’s really good. He’s a very good grappler, he’s got good hands, and he’s hard to finish. It seems like he’s got a chip on his shoulder, so I know he’s looking forward to fighting me, but I’m pretty sure I’ll have the edge.

Okay, so she may not be a ring girl per se, but Patrycja Mikula — a model, Playboy.com Cybergirl, and the longtime girlfriend of Andrei Arlovski — was once a guest ring card girl for an IFL event in her adopted hometown of Chicago. Plus, she’s officially the hottest MMA fighter-girlfriend, now that Jenna Jameson looks like this. Enjoy the pics, and if you want to be Patrycja’s friend, visit her on MySpace.

Remember when we told you that Kimbo Slice’s opponent for EliteXC: Renegade had been changed from Mike Bourke to Bo Cantrell, and that Cantrell had recently become infamous as the second consecutive guy that Brad Imes submitted by gogoplata? Well, we finally have the video of the Imes/Cantrell fight. Check it out below, and notice how Cantrell looks like a completely different fighter compared to his laughable non-performance against Kimbo. He quickly drops the much-taller “Hillbilly Heartthrob” to the mat with a barrage of punches, and tries to finish the fight early with some relentless ground-and-pound. But Imes manages to keep his composure and ends up choking Cantrell out with his shin. It’s a crazy world. Too bad EliteXC didn’t put Kimbo up against Imes…

Sam Caplan has a solid interview with new EliteXC lightweight champ KJ Noons on his ProElite.com blog, where Noons discusses his training, a possible rematch with Nick Diaz, and his pro boxing ambitions. But the most telling quote comes right at the beginning:

Sam Caplan: After you beat Nick Diaz, how did you celebrate?
K.J. Noons: I showered up and we went out to a Fudrucker’s [sic] that my buddy owns in Corpus Christi. I had about 40 friends and family down there that drove from Houston and he re-opened up his restaraunt and (there was) an open bar. Open bar and food. It was kind of like a private party. It was fun.

Okay, for all of you who have never been to a Fuddruckers before, when KJ says there was an “open bar,” he’s referring to Fuddruckers’ famous Toppings Bar, where you can turn your hamburger into a “Burger Masterpiece” by dressing it with as much lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, peppers, cheese, seasonings and sauces as you want — and in any combination. It’s what ensures that no two Fuddruckers burgers will ever be quite the same. And you don’t have to be an MMA champion to use it!

Also, when he says that it was “kind of like a private party,” he means that the last customers had gone home four hours ago, and except for the homeless drifter that sleeps outside of the women’s restroom, they basically had the place to themselves.

I’m not exactly sure what he meant by “It was fun.”

(Joe Lauzon)

The UFC held a media conference call yesterday to pump up UFC 78, and since I wasn’t around to liveblog it — I know, disappointing, right? — you’ll have to settle for this recap. Dana White, Michael Bisping, Rashad Evans, and Houston Alexander were in attendance, and the audio from the call can be heard here.

Among the revelations…

— Dana White has officially offered Randy Couture a title defense against Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira. The match would fulfill the last fight on Couture’s UFC contract; he isn’t technically in violation of that contract unless he turns the fight down. Couture texted White on Sunday and they are planning to discuss it next week. Nogueira is a former PRIDE heavyweight champion who won his first UFC fight in July via unanimous decision against Heath Herring. Never, ever do a Google Image Search for “Nogueira.”

Today marks the 14th anniversary of UFC 1, and Dave Meltzer has a great tribute to/history of the groundbreaking event at Yahoo! Sports. Some highlights:

— Though it was marketed as “banned in 49 states,” it wasn’t banned anywhere at the time; the banning would come later.

In the market for a pre-owned vehicle? Well heads up, because Randy Couture is auctioning off the limited edition H2 Hummer that Dana White gave him for participating as a coach on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. The bidding is supposed to start today, so go to Xtreme Couture for details and a full photo gallery of the vehicle in question. It hasn’t been confirmed if Randy is selling off the Hummer to make room in his garage for a more environmentally conscious Toyota Prius, or if it’s just a petty “fuck you” to Dana White, but we’re guessing it’s the latter.

From time to time, I like to check out the M-1 Global website to see what’s new with the fledgling, Fedor Emelianenko-mascoted organization. You’d think they’d be hustlin’ non-stop to build buzz, and making regular announcements to maintain the heat created by their first press conference last month. But the website has only posted one piece of “news” since then — a rundown of M-1′s global management team. It’s encouraging to know that while they still haven’t formally announced the signing of any fighters besides Fedor, Joost Raimond will be responsible for directing day-to-day operations in Eurasia.

But at least their franchise player is keeping somewhat busy.

Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson is an intimidating son-of-a-bitch. Still, there’s no excuse for what happened Saturday night at EliteXC: Renegade. Kimbo’s “opponent,” Bo Cantrell — a late replacement for the injured Mike Bourke — came into the fight completely psyched out, and after a couple of glancing shots from Kimbo, he dropped to the mat and started tapping for mercy. You have to watch the video to see just how pussified it was:

“Don’t forget to watch Kimbo Slice tear some poor cracker apart on Showtime tomorrow night at 10 p.m. ET/PT!”

Will do, Tanya. By the way, you’re easily the hottest Jewish girl we’ve seen all week…

It looks like some scabs will be crossing the WGA picket line after all — specifically, the ones on Forrest Griffin’s face. CBS, the network responsible for such quality programming as The Unit and Shark, could be making a further committment to MMA with one or two UFC-related prime-time specials. The Los Angeles Times has reported that CBS is in negotiations with the UFC, and hopes that these specials could provide a hedge against the ongoing writers strike.

If you’re wondering how the UFC could arrange this so soon after negotiating an exclusive contract extension with SpikeTV, keep in mind that 1) the UFC is exclusive to Spike only in the cable market, and can pursue other opportunities in network television, and 2) both the CBS Corporation and SpikeTV’s parent company, Viacom, share Sumner Redstone (pictured above) as their Chairman. And if you’re wondering how Redstone’s hand got so jacked-up, click here and scroll down to “interesting facts.”

The drug abuse continues at CagePotato…

This went down back in March, so apologies if you’ve seen it already, but I just came across the clip of Chuck Liddell’s disastrous appearance on Good Morning Texas, where he was promoting, of all things, the movie 300. Liddell slurs like a stroke victim through the entire excruciating segment, calls out boxer Tommy Morrison for a fight, and at one point falls asleep. Live television, people:

Afterwards, Liddell claimed he was suffering through a sinus infection and had taken a large amount of cough syrup the night before. (In Texas, they call that purp or drank.)

Host Gary Cogill gives his post-interview thoughts here. “What a day in television…what a day.”

Jennifer Tate has become the first female MMA fighter to test positive for drugs. Results of a drug test administered during EliteXC’s “Clash at Chumash” event — where Tate was submitted by Shayna Baszler via armbar — showed that Tate had marijuana in her system; she has been suspended for three months and fined $500. The spunky 130-pounder joins such notable mixed martial artists as Nick Diaz, Kazuhiro Nakamura, and Diego Sanchez in the previously male-dominated fraternity of fighters who can’t resist taking a few bong rips before a match. Viva equality!

#10 (tie): Chris “The Polish Hammer” Horodecki & Peter “The Dutch Lumberjack” Aerts

Though it has a long, proud history, the nationality + noun combination is always a risky move when crafting a nickname. If it’s “The Polish ____” it can end up sounding like the setup to a joke. (i.e., “You hear the one about the Polish Hammer? They use it to pound fingernails.” Or something like that, but much funnier.) With any other nationality, like “The Dutch ____,” it can end up sounding like a deviant sex act. Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis gets a pass because hand grenades are badass.

Before he fought Tito Ortiz to a draw at UFC 73, Rashad “Sugar” Evans scored his tenth consecutive win by way of a nasty high kick against Sean Salmon. As Joe Rogan so eloquently puts it, “WOOOOOOOOOOW!”

Note to Michael Bisping: Your strategy against Evans at UFC 78 should closely reflect this classic Wu-Tang jam.

Sherdog reports that former undisputed heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe has his eyes on an MMA career. The 40-year-old currently retired fighter wants to be the first man to hold major titles in boxing and MMA simultaneously. (Coincidentally, I want to be the first man to win both a Nobel Prize in literature and an AVN Award for “Best Male Newcomer.”)

Remember how we told you that Sean Sherk’s appeal hearing for his steroid case was postponed until November 13th? Well, it’s been postponed again, this time until December 4th. Man, you thought Dana White was pissed before…

Sherk’s lawyer in the case is Howard Jones, who has advised many other high-profile athletes in doping cases, including sprinters Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery, and Tour de France winner Floyd Landis. Basically, what Johnnie Cochran is to double-murder, Howard Jones is to steroids — sure, it looks a little suspicious when you hire him, but as Chris Rock once said, “I’d rather look guilty at the mall.”

Lookin’ good, buddy! For the “before” pic, go here…

(Source: punchdrunkgamer.com)

In a remarkable display of balls, Tommy Speer dominated Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver in last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, despite an early cut that had full pints of blood squirting from his forehead. As Matt Serra shouted in his charming Lawn Guyland accent, “He’s bleedin’ like a pig, War!” Unfortunately for Team Serra, the fight would not be decided on blood loss alone.

The “Dude, you’re getting a Dell” guy is now a waiter at a Tex-Mex restaurant. Just thought you should know.

So I was skimming this mostly boring BuddyTV interview with Michael Bisping, when I came to this part:

Do you know what song you’re going to be walking out to on UFC 78 yet?
I do, yeah. It’s Puff Daddy and Jimmy Paige [sic] “Come with Me” from the Godzilla soundtrack.

Right. Nice. Okay, Cool.
Every time I go running and that song comes on, I always have to speed up. So I thought I’d put that on to excite me for a little bit.

Why Xcess Fighting chose to hold their debut event at a gay nightclub is beyond me. At any rate, the super macho fight organization’s “Havoc in Hollywood” show goes down tonight — but if you were planning on heading out there to get a glimpse of Eric “Butterbean” Esch, don’t bother.

According to Canvas Chronicle, Tim Sylvia will face Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira at UFC 81 for the vacant heavyweight title. Feel free to harass the Chronicle’s editor Ric Gillespie (ric@canvaschronicle.com) until the bastard reveals his source.

Ultimate Ultimate Knockouts, a DVD collection of the all-time greatest K.O.’s in UFC history, hit stores today. Among the fighters featured are Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Andrei Arlovski, Matt Hughes and Matt Serra, but the most frightening knockout on the disc comes from David “Tank” Abbott’s jaw-dropping debut against John Matua at UFC 6. Looking at Matua — a 400-pound beast who, as Michael Buffer manages to say with a straight face, is “a practitioner of Kuialua, the brutal Hawaiian art of bone-breaking” — you’d think he’d be the favorite against the beer-bellied Abbott. But Abbott makes his presence known immediately, punching Matua so hard that he ends up in an Awakenings-style paralysis, and then mocking him for it.

These days, Tank Abbott is seen as a relic of simpler times, when strikers couldn’t be bothered with learning how to grapple. He’s lost seven of his last nine fights (including once to Frank Mir). But on that night…he was brilliant.

Today, RioHeroes will broadcast its super-lightweight championship tournament live on its website. The eight-man event will kick off at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, and will follow Brazilian vale tudo rules — meaning there’s no gloves, no rounds, no time limits, and all techniques are legal except eye-gouging, hair pulling, biting, and groin strikes. Single-night tournaments are brutal enough with gloves, so this one should be utterly insane.

RioHeroes LIVE MMA Fights – Watch more free videos

In other online fighting news, Bodog Fight: The Vault premieres today on Bodog TV. Every Tuesday and Saturday, the website will broadcast never-before-seen matches from Bodog Fight-sponsored organizations like SportFight, StrikeForce, XFC, and other leagues where the fighters are so pussy that they have to wear hand protection.

UFC.com has reported that ex-WWE star Brock Lesnar’s first opponent in the UFC will be former heavyweight champion Frank Mir; the fight will go down on February 2 in Las Vegas. Mir is best known for his controversial June 2004 title match against Tim Sylvia, where referee Herb Dean stopped the fight 50 seconds into the first round after Sylvia’s forearm snapped in an armbar. Sylvia didn’t tap out, and refused to acknowledge that his arm was broken:



Mir was badly injured in a motorcycle accident three months after winning the heavyweight belt, and has been 2-2 since then. Still, he’s an ideal matchup for Lesnar; as much as fans want to see Lesnar challenged in his first fight, they also don’t want to see him steamrolled by a superstar at the top of his game. And Mir, who has scored six of his ten professional wins by submission, will certainly put Brock’s wrestling skills to the test. I’m not prepared to make a prediction at this point, so instead I’ll present my favorite paragraph from Tim Sylvia’s wikipedia page:

“Despite having been the UFC heavyweight champion and earning six-figures per fight, Tim Sylvia is always seeking new sources of revenue. While champion, he attempted to sell a Playstation 3 on eBay for well over retail price (although he did generously offer to autograph the box.) He also once, while still UFC heavyweight champion, raffled off the opportunity to go bear hunting with him in Ontario…tickets were $100 each, and ticket sales were limited to 100. This adds up to $10,000. There was nothing in the raffle to indicate that the money would go to any sort of charity, or to anyone other than Sylvia himself.”