You may have thought that Fedor’s bee story was the joke, but Matt Hughes is the one enjoying the April Fool’s Day hilarity. It’s not quite like Fightlinker’s pony tomfoolery, the Tommy Lee vs. Kid Rock UFC fight, or the bastard in the forums who kept Rick Rollin’ everyone — I got it twice and had to shut my computer down, Bastard — but here is Matt’s blog entry from today:

Well, for a long time I’ve talked about going up in weight class and I’ve decided to finally do it. Only I’m not going up to 185, I’m going up to 205 to fight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in June. I’m bulking up now and packing on muscle and I’m thinking that it will be nice to not have to cut weight for a change. I think it’s a great match-up for me and I’ve told Dana that if I win this, then I want a shot at the 205 title next.

Sorry for the short blog this week, I’m here in Colorado helping Tommy get ready for his fight, so I’ll try to have more for you all next week. I just wanted to break the big news. -matt

You’d think Matt would’ve picked a fake opponent who hadn’t already backed out of a June fight because of injury for his “joke.” I also don’t want him to shoot me for pointing that out. So let’s take this a step further: imagine Matt going up even further in weight against, say the recently UFC-departed Tim Sylvia. I’d guess it would end in Matt running for his life.

Wonder what little Matty had in that backpack? Snacks, juice boxes, and the latest Harry Potter novel would be my guess. As for the other most hated fool from the UFC, it’s always fun to be reminded again about Big Tim’s fear of spiders and love of girlie drinks.

Happy Fool’s Day to all.

Fedor Emelianenko has won $1.6 million because of the following video:

A Russian chief of a martial arts agency was nailed for fraud for using publicity rights of Fedor without permission. KoreaTimes has the scoop:

Emelianenko filed the suit early this month over a “shoddy” honey commercial that went on air on Korean cable television featuring his image. The world heavyweight champion sought 1.55 billion won ($1.6 million) in compensation from the president of Korea Sambo Federation and the head of a local apiculture agency whose honey product the commercial promoted.

The 19-second commercial starts with a victorious scene of Emelianenko in a wrestling ring, followed by footage of a bee landing on a yellow rape flower. Then the image of a plain, expressionless Emelianenko returns, as he drinks a bottle of the honey and says ” Seonyu Honey is good.”

In the complaint, his representative said, “Fedor is the sports star who commands the image of being the strongest fighter in the world… The defendants damaged Fedor’s image by producing commercials that do not fit his powerful image and were made with shoddy footage.”

Besides the compensation, his representative asked the advertisers to run an apology in mass-circulation newspapers in South Korea.

Dude, I don’t know about honey, but bees are pretty badass.

(Props to MMAMania)

(That’s just mean, Tim)

The first time I met Tim Boetsch was one day before he took on Vladimir Matyushenko in the IFL semi-finals last summer. Boetsch had been called on as a late replacement and, despite having fought just five days earlier, he accepted a match with arguably the league’s toughest pound-for-pound fighter.

Here, I thought as I looked at him from across the room at the weigh-in, is a man who doesn’t know what he’s gotten himself into.

Imagine my surprise when Boetsch not only went the distance with Matyushenko, but even had “The Janitor” in trouble once or twice. This is why I wasn’t surprised when, at UFC 81, Boetsch spiked David Heath like football in the first round and then finished him moments later.

Now the UFC has decided to see just how many surprises Boetsch has in him, and they’ve matched him up with TUF standout Matt Hamill on tomorrow night’s UFC Fight Night card.

The betting line on this match has Hamill as a comfortable favorite (-200 for Hamill, +160 for Boetsch, according to Bodog), but when you take a moment to analyze this matchup, you’ll see that could very easily turn out to be a mistake.

(Ricco is about to get his YAMMA on)

YAMMA Pit Fighting just won’t give up. They’ve added former UFC champ and Celebrity Rehab star Ricco Rodriguez to their eight-man tournament, and they’ve also announced that Mark Kerr will take on Oleg Taktarov in a “Masters Superfight”. Exactly what Kerr and Taktarov are masters of is still unclear, though indications are that “Masters” is a kinder synonym for “old”.

But wait, it gets better. Details are emerging regarding the mysterious new surface upon which the fights will take place. The good news is, it’s every bit as ridiculous as we’d hoped:

The YPF surface, known as “The Yamma,” is an evolution of the traditional fighting structure and is designed to keep the fighting more explosive and continuous. In today’s MMA matches, fighters rush their opponents in the quest for a takedown, and the fight often ends up on the ground and pushed up against the fence. The action often stalls there, and must be stopped and moved back into the center of the ring. The Yamma’s design is specifically aimed at stopping this break in the action. The Yamma is a circular pit, shaped almost like a bowl, with a circular flat bottom that rises up around the edge. In this ring, if a fighter is pushed backwards towards the fence, he moves up the lip, gaining both a height and leverage advantage over his opponent. From this position, the fighter on the lip can use gravity and leverage to reverse his opponent, and take the fight back into the center without a break in the action.

If this is all a clever ruse by YAMMA founder Bob Meyrowitz to put on an event that is so strange and obviously ill-fated that people are too distracted to notice while he skips town with the fighters’ purses, then I think we can declare it a success. If the goal is anything else, then no.

Ignoring, for the moment, that “The YAMMA” sounds suspiciously like the surface in Chuck Norris’ World Combat League, I also have to doubt that it will work the way Meyrowitz thinks it will. The fact that he refers to fights that go to the ground and end up against the cage as ‘stalling’ is troubling in itself. That makes me think that he is not a man with a real appreciation of MMA.

If you like fights that never go to the ground or end up against the cage, Mr. Meyrowitz, you should really check out boxing. I think you’ll love it.

But beyond that, haven’t we reached a point where we can effectively declare that the possible “surfaces” for MMA competition are settled? You can have a cage, preferably with eight sides and an even, flat floor, or you can have a ring. Meyrowitz says The YAMMA is “about the evolution of a sport”, but if the intent is to limit groundfighting, how can that be considered evolution? Does anyone out there believe that what’s holding MMA back is the lack of a big, sloped bowl for guys to fight in?

Apparently, yes, someone does. That someone is Bob Meyrowitz, and he seems pretty confident that your mind will be blown when you see Butterbean and Gary Goodridge square off inside The YAMMA. My question is, does it really count as “evolution” if the newly-evolved organism dies almost immediately?

(“Pequeno” gives thumbs up to WEC.)

Ex-Shooto champ Alexandre Franca “Pequeno” Nogueira is scheduled to make his WEC debut on June 1st at WEC 34. He will face Jose Aldo, as confirmed by Sherdog. “Pequeno” is 13-4-2, but is 1-2 in his last three. He has fought only twice since July of 2005, mostly due to injuries.

Nogueira won the Shooto featherweight title in 1999 and held the belt in dominating fashion for seven years. The title was taken from him due to injuries in May of 2006. The fighter had lost via KO to Hideo Tokoro at K-1: Hero’s 2 while still holding the Shooto belt and then followed his title-stripping up by losing via decision to Koutetsu Boku at K-1: Hero’s 6. He got back on track last July when he KO’d Shuichiro Katsumura in the first round of K-1 Hero’s Middleweight Tourney. He used to be mentioned as one of the best, but how things change when you lose two fights in a row (see: Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva). It should be noted that the guy was fighting through injuries, lost his KO fight in the third and the other fight went the distance. If he’s finally healthy, he can still rock the cage.

Nog’s opponent is on a three-fight win streak, winning his last in July via decision at a Pancrase event. Aldo has a 9-1 overall and has been a journeyman for much of his career. His only loss was to Luciano Azevedo via RNC in 2005. It will also be Aldo’s WEC debut.

In related news, contender Jeff “The Big Frog” Curran and WEC newbie Mike Brown are rumored to also be going toe-to-toe on June 1st. While agreements have not been inked, Curran has told MMAWeekly that the wheels are in motion.

“I have been told and Mike has been told that we are facing each other, but we don’t have contracts yet,” Curran said. “That announcement will become official soon I am sure. I am just so ready to go fight again.”

WEC 34 will be headlined by feathers Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver in a title bout. Pulver — a former UFC lightweight champ — has never been beaten at featherweight, but “The California Kid” is on a 12 fight win streak since losing the only fight of his career. Jeff Curran was one of those victims. The night will also see 32-1 Miguel Torres defend his bantamweight belt against undefeated Manny “The Mangler” Tapia.

You gotta’ hand it to the WEC for stockpiling such a great group of little guys. With the signing of Nogueira and already having guys like Pulver, Faber, Torres, Chase Beebe, and Tapia, among others, not many organizations can boast that many top fighters that come in under 145.

(Rampage: Stokin’ the Silva-Jackson III fire?)

Lotta’ trash talk floating around the past few days and here are some select dishes from today’s war of words.

— The Sun — which is apparently owned and operated by Chuck Liddell what with all the love they give him — has a piece today detailing The Iceman’s thoughts on Kimbo Slice. In a nutshell, Chuck doesn’t think Kimbo is worthy of the praise. The UFC light heavyweight fighter talks about how Kimbo has yet to be tested in MMA and mentions his first fight against Bo Cantrell — a guy who had already been KO’d twice before in under 30 seconds.

“So is that a real fight? I mean come on! The guy tapped before he hit the matt – he was tapping on the way down!”

“Gannon beat him didn’t he? And how long did Gannon last in the UFC?!!

“Kimbo’s one of those guys who doesn’t have any ground game. He’s training and he’s learning but he’s been built up as such a big star and that’s the thing that bothers me.

“People talk about him like he’s the next great thing when he really hasn’t done anything.

“He’s been built up because of the Internet and him beating a bunch of guys on the street.”

Using Kimbo’s loss to Sean Gannon in a ‘street fight’ as a prime example is something that a lot of people resort to. It’s also the same people that say Kimbo has no ground game. But mat work has nothing to do with Kimbo’s loss to Sean Gannon — that fight was a fist fight with an occasional lock-up. The only time it went to the ground was when both fighters were so gassed they collapsed on one another. And who fucking knows if Kimbo has a ground game or not. We’ve never seen him have to use one.

Chuck then talks about how he could make his own set of KO vids — although his plan would be to just go around punching people.

(Ben Rothwell is happy about his new contract, and yes, that’s what he looks like when he’s happy)

The last six months have been confusing times for Ben Rothwell. After leaving the IFL following an unbeaten run that spanned nine fights in fifteen months, he’s been waiting on the sidelines for a new contract and a new organization. Last week, Rothwell’s manager and former CEO of the short-lived M-1 Global promotion, Monte Cox, announced that Rothwell would be joining his new organization, Adrenaline MMA.

In this exclusive Cage Potato interview, Ben Rothwell discusses the details of that contract for the first time, as well as the very strong possibility that he may also fight for another organization later this year.

CagePotato.com: Tell us about the new organization that you signed with, Adrenaline MMA. What’s your contract with them like and how did you decide to go with them instead of one of the other companies that offered you a deal?

I was trying to find the best company to go with. M-1 had been talking to me, obviously Monte Cox was the head of it and he gave me an idea of what they were looking at. I was trying to hold out while they figured out their business with Fedor. I had other organizations looking at me, but I wanted to wait and see what the best deal would be. Fedor’s management was just impossible to deal with, so that hurt M-1, but Monte and everyone else there decided, ‘Hey, we can still be an organization’, so they created Adrenaline.

They’re not missing a beat, because they had everything planned and now they can still go ahead with it, minus Fedor and the Russians. As soon as that was decided I got the phone call to get signed and I said absolutely.

It’s a good deal. Three fights, non-exclusive, so it’s a very cool thing for two reasons. Number one, I’m getting paid a flat rate win or lose. Now I can go out and just throw everything I have without worrying because I know I’m getting paid. The second thing is the non-exclusive thing. If there’s a lot of time between shows or an opponent doesn’t come through, if I a get a call from Japan I can go over there and fight. It’s very cool and I’m very happy.

Can you talk about what kind of money you’re getting in this flat rate contract?

I don’t really want to talk about that, but I will say that it’s a lot more than what the IFL had offered. It’s the kind of contract that makes me happy, I’ll put it that way. It’s the kind of money that makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something and like I’m making it as a fighter.

After all the trouble with M-1, are you concerned about how solid the organization is and what kind of future they might have? It seems like they’ve already had a lot of difficulty without ever putting on a show. Does that worry you?

(All natural. Steroids are natural, right?)

The International Herald Tribune reports that occasional MMA fighter Bob Sapp’s name has surfaced in a case related to the BALCO steroid probe. If you’re surprised by this news, we can only assume that you’ve never seen a picture of Bob Sapp before today. What have you been doing with your life?

Inland Revenue Service agent Jeff Novitzky has apparently spent his days running down juicers, which makes him a busy man in court these days.

Novitzky said 30 athletes were called to testify before the grand jury in 2003. Novitzky didn’t identify any of the athletes, but testified there was “some evidence” that professional wrestler Bob Sapp — who briefly played in the NFL — bought steroids from Arnold.

What’s most interesting here isn’t just that out of all the evidence against all the other athletes, Bob Sapp is the one who gets mentioned, though that does make you wonder. No, what’s truly fascinating is the use of the phrase “some evidence” in this context. It’s vague enough that it could mean so many different things.

For example, Sapp’s physique, including traps that come straight out of his ears? Yeah, that’s some evidence. His tenure in pro wrestling and his Look-Like-Tarzan-Fight-Like-Jane approach to real fights? Also some evidence.

In the end, though, we tend to think that this video was the smoking gun:

(“Disrespect me again and I snap the kid’s neck!”)

In our chat with Kenny Florian, he kinda’, sorta’ hinted that feels he’s being disrespected by BJ Penn and the Lauzons. He flat out says it in an interview with MMAWeekly:

“But now here’s a kid looking past me. He’s training with B.J. Penn and apparently he’s become B.J. or whatever it is and they’re looking past me. You know what? If they do that, B.J.’s going to end up sending Joe Lauzon to the slaughter, because I’m not going to have anyone disrespect me like that or anyone going into a fight thinking they’re just going to run right by me.”

And a similar statement from a Sprawl.tv interview:

I think he has been very disrespectful. I think Joe has been hanging out with B.J to much, and now he thinks he’s little B.J. Well little B.J is going to get taken care of on April 2nd.

Joe Lauzon didn’t do any disrespectin’ when we talked to him and judging by the video the Lauzons shot and posted over at Joe’s official site, they’re full of respect.

A lamp shade on a head — when not creepy — is comedy gold, no matter how you slice it. Lightweights Ken-Flo and J-Lau will battle it out in the main event on Wednesday during UFC Fight Night 13.

(Ryan McGivern, on his back, will defend his title for the first time in May.)

The IFL‘s next event is this weekend, but the organization is already rolling out the card for its May event. The show is to go down on May 16th and mark a return to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The fights will, of course, be live on HDNet, as always. Staying true to their word of multiple title fights at every event, the IFL has scheduled three title defenses — heavyweight champion Roy Nelson, newly-crowned middleweight champ Ryan McGivern, and lightweight title holder Ryan Schultz. This will be the second defense for Nelson and Schultz.

Two new camps are also joining the action — The Bomb Squad and Team Prodigy. The Bomb Squad is a Northeast-based camp that will do battle with Mario Sperry’s World Class Fight Center (Vegas). Team Prodigy is based in Ohio and will take on Matt Lindland’s Team Quest (Portland).

For the title fights, here’s a snip from the press release:

In the title bouts, Nelson will defend his heavyweight belt against UFC veteran Branden Lee Hinkle (Weirton, W. Va.). Nelson won the title in December at Mohegan Sun with a knockout of Antoine Jaoude, then defended with a decisive first-round TKO over Fabiano Scherner in Las Vegas in February. Schultz will battle Deividas Taurosevicius (Lithuania) for the lightweight crown. Schultz also won his title in his last visit to Mohegan Sun in December, bouncing Chris Horodecki from the ranks of the unbeaten, then earned a decision win over John Gunderson in Las Vegas in February to defend. McGivern, one of the most improved fighters in the IFL, took the middleweight belt from Matt Horwich in February and has won three of his past four bouts.

Team Quest’s three fighters will find out their Team Prodigy opponents soon, but we do know that Zac George, Matt Horwich, and Aaron Stark will be representing Lindland’s group. The Bomb Squad’s John Howard — a Boston fighter — will fight Mario Sperry’s Marcello Salazar, and WCFC’s Danillo Villefort will take on BS’s Mike Massenzio in other camp action.

Here’s the card so far:

World Class Fight Center vs. Bomb Squad
170 lbs: Marcello Salazar (7-1-2) vs. John Howard (8-3)
185 lbs: Danillo Villefort (6-2) vs. Mike Massenzio (10-1)
155 lbs: TBD vs. TBD

Team Prodigy vs. Team Quest
155 lbs: TBD vs. Zac George (12-2)
185 lbs: TBD vs. Matt Horwich (21-10-1)
205 lbs: TBD vs. Aaron Stark (5-4)

Championship Bouts
265 lbs: Roy Nelson (12-2) vs. Branden Lee Hinkle (13-9)
185 lbs:Ryan McGivern (12-5) vs. Dan Miller (7-1)
155 lbs:Ryan Schultz (19-9-1) vs. Deividas Taurosevicius (9-2)

(ABC Wide World of Sports’s “Agony of Defeat” skier: The ’70s version of Anderson Silva’s thai clinch.)

With EliteXC readying its blockbuster cards on CBS and Strikeforce getting some late-night love from NBC, the UFC is running out of major networks to sign with. But if the latest “informed speculation” turns out to be true, we could eventually see some Octagon fights on ABC. MMAPayout passes along this unconfirmed report:

The UFC and ESPN are discussing a potential strategic partnership. Representatives from each company reportedly met for what were described as extensive discussions last week in New York and Bristol, Connecticut. While Spike is the official cable home of the UFC, there is no longer an ABC Sports division, only ESPN on ABC, leading to speculation that such a partnership could lead to live events on ABC.

Screw creative control: If I’m Dana White, I’m going to do everything in my power to make this happen, “gladiator intro” be damned. Because if ABC gets snatched up by some other fight club, then the UFC is basically locked out of network television. Now is the time to make a deal. Pull back the ego a little bit and make it happen.

Semi-related: I just realized that I can’t name any show that’s currently airing on ABC. For my benefit, please post a comment with the name of a series that’s on that network — without consulting Wikipedia. Caller number nine gets a pair of tickets to see Blue Oyster Cult at the Rock-o-Rama.

…and now we have video proof. Our favorite parts?

1) “You ripped it up lookin’ for guns, well, I got ‘em. And I’m gonna beat you with ‘em.”
2) The theme song (0:45-1:13), which makes “Jesus Didn’t Tap” sound like The Low End Theory. “The grudge is some guy, who just wouldn’t quit / A heated argument, over some buullll / such.”
3) Officer Carter’s compulsive finger-counting.
4) “They have a gruuzh, they wanna settle.”

In related news, it was announced last week that Tito Ortiz’s grudge-settling show, Anytown Beatdown, will be produced for the G4 cable network.

Previously: The Strange, Sad Case of ‘Called Out’ (a.k.a. ‘Settle Your Grudge’) (a.k.a. ‘Fight It Out’)

(Making dad proud.)

CBS’ Saturday edition of “The Early Show” had a piece about parents allowing their kids to participate in MMA. And by “participate”, I mean beat the shit out of one another. We’re having trouble with the embed, but 5oz. of Pain has the video and a rundown. Basically, the piece went like this:

The video shows a bunch of cagefighting kids in Mizzou taking it to each other. Then Dana White comes on for his two cents — and it makes me smile that he’s a guest on a CBS show while CBS has been pumping their upcoming EliteXC broadcast. Dana does his normal ‘people just don’t understand MMA’ and that it’s basically no different than the kids participating in karate and kung fu. I agree, except — as Sam Caplan points out — for that little no head contact in karate sparring and no submissions. Some may think kids are vile creatures, but those aren’t the people putting their kids in an MMA match either. The ones doing it are the retard ex-high school jocks who can barely hold down his Burger King assistant manager job, pushing his washed-up dream onto his boney 10-year-old out of “love.”

The Huffington Post also recently had an article about kids in “ultimate fighting” as they put it. Again, Missouri comes up as the state allowing this, as well as Oklahoma. My favorite is this quote from one of the pro-kids in MMA dads:

“When they get out of the cage, they go back and play video games together. It doesn’t matter who won and who lost. They’re still little buddies.”

That’ll work until puberty hits and fills their bodies with enough testosterone to fill a wading pool. That little buddy thing will change real fast. Some have expressed putting an age limit on MMA and their worry that if more kids are actively participating they’ll end up speaking like Rampage Jackson. I’d say no age limit and no sanctioning body to waste their time on tyke fights. Douche-bag parents should just have some common fucking sense. If you want your 7-year-old taking shots in the face, then you, Sir, are a classy human being indeed.

It’s also not the first time “The Early Show” has tackled combat sports. Watch below and believe for yourself.

By CagePotato Special Contributor Brian Knapp

Clay Guida had Roger Huerta reeling. Up two rounds to none in their main event showdown at the Ultimate Fighter 6 live finale in December, Guida could have taken his foot off the gas and coasted to a decision victory. No one would have blamed him. Instead, he hit the throttle.

Early in round three, Huerta rocked a shooting Guida with a jarring left knee, and the pendulum swung in his favor. Huerta took his dazed opponent’s back soon after and secured a rear-naked choke for the tapout. Their memorable bout — a strong candidate for best fight of the year — ended 10:31 after it began. Huerta was reduced to tears afterwards. Guida went back to the drawing board.

“It was an honor to be a part of that fight; Roger’s a warrior,” Guida says. “I think he and I are very similar. He fights with a lot of heart and passion, and people know when they come to watch us, they’re not going to see a lackluster fight.”

As has been his custom, Guida made certain he had nothing left to give inside the cage. The free-spirited Chicagoan vows to learn from the mistakes he made.

“I was up 2-0 and got clipped,” he says. “I learned from every exchange, from every opportunity I missed. It’s not always about the outcome. I missed six or seven chances to end that fight.”

Guida returns to the Octagon on Wednesday, when he meets French UFC newcomer Samy Schiavo at Ultimate Fight Night 13 at the Broomfield Event Center in Broomfield, Colo. The lightweight tilt will take place on the preliminary portion of the 12-fight card, which airs on Spike TV (7pm ET/PT) and leads into the season premiere of The Ultimate Fighter 7.

“I want to start off the year right with a decisive victory,” Guida says. “He’s coming into my cage, and I’m going to send him back to the doghouse. We’ll see how I bounce back. We’ll see on Wednesday what I learned from my fight with Roger.”

…and by “wacky” we mean “morbidly obese.” Pics of DEEP’s Megaton Grand Prix from gbring.com via Fightlinker.

(Even CondomDepot wouldn’t sponsor these guys.)

(Let me guess…former Korean baseball player?)

(As in, “I need one to find my dick.”)

(Bitch-titty keylock!)

(“Holy fuck are you ugly.”)

(In fairness, he was actually aiming for the guy’s fupa.)

(“DEEP: A Judgment-Free Zone.”)

(“Pweeeeez?” Drew Fickett and Jae Suk Lim, courtesy of Sherdog.)

While you were professing your love for big girls…

— The current frontrunner for the role of Guy Kimbo Slice Will KTFO on EliteXC’s First CBS Show is [drumroll...] James Thompson? According to Sam Caplan, EliteXC was trying to book Ron “H20 Man” Waterman for their May 31st jump-off, but a deal could not be reached, and they started talking to “The Colossus.” Thompson has been knocked out three times in his last four fights, most recently at the hands of Brett Rogers at EliteXC: Street Certified. Seasoned ground specialist Waterman would have been a much more credible opponent for Slice, but EliteXC can’t really be faulted for setting up a guaranteed KO for their most marketable asset in their first network broadcast. I’ve already set the betting line for this one: Kimbo Slice (-15,500) v. James Thompson (+12,000). So if you have fifteen grand and want to pick up an easy Benjamin, go for it.

— Dana White’s craftiness is boundless. On the same day that Tim Sylvia was set to announce his release from the UFC and desire to pursue a fight with Fedor Emelianenko, the UFC prez announced that he’d be renewing his efforts to sign Emelianenko to the UFC. As White said: “We want to make the fights the people want to see…We’ll see what we can do as far as (signing Emelianenko) goes.” We tend to think that previous insults will prevent Emelianenko and his managers from ever dealing with the UFC again, but signing Fedor would both provide current heavyweight champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira with an opponent (are there any contenders left in that division?) while blocking another UFC refugee (Tim Sylvia this time) from getting a fight with Emelianenko. It’s gotta be worth a shot.

— This guy caused a minor shitstorm on Sherdog by passing on a rumor that Saturday’s Shamrock/Le fight was a planned work, intended to set up a three-part rubber match. B.S.? Obviously. But the thing that gives the “work” theory a scrap of believability is that dramatic leg sweep in the third round. Watch it again: We understand why Le let Shamrock get up afterwards — why risk going to the ground if you’re dominating on the feet? — but would Frank actually turn his back on Le for that long while getting up unless he knew he wasn’t going to get pounced on? And how about Frank’s kick that set up the sweep? Have you ever seen such a half-assed front kick thrown in a pro MMA match? It’s like it was meant to be caught…

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3 (demoralizing leg sweep at the 2:25 mark; arm-breaking leg-kick at 4:57, Cung’s meddlesome girlfriend at 7:30):

UPDATE: The round 3 vid has been taken down. You can watch the whole fight here.

Final thought: Remember that stuff about Frank not being dumb enough to stand and trade with a superior striker? We will never doubt the stupidity of any member of the Shamrock clan ever again; that’s a promise. And so goes the last remaining shred of marketability for Blood Brothers…

(Photo courtesy of Tom Casino @ ProElite)

The dust has barely settled from the EliteXC/Strikeforce event — and what an event it was. For those on the Kimbo watch, he did make a showing during the broadcast and for some reason thought he was in San Francisco. FYI, the fight was in San Jose, and Kimbo also didn’t reveal who he would be fighting on May 31st. Anywho, we all know the headlining event was a war between Frank Shamrock and the undefeated Cung Le. So in the spirit of theatrics, we’ll save the main event results until last.

Let’s get to the quick results:

– Joey Villasenor and Ryan Jensen battled in a slow stand-up fight that garnered boos from the audience due to boredom. Villasenor dropped Jensen once, but the fighter came back and rocked Joey with some shots of his own. Just before the end of round one, Villasenor ends it on a KO. Wake me up for the next fight.

– Mike Kyle fought Wayne Cole for about 42 seconds. The crazy bastard tapped out due to an armbar at that mark in the first round. Cole picked up a well-deserved submission win.

– Gilbert Melendez took on Gabe Lemley in a title fight. Gilbey rocked it in the first, which was mostly on the ground. Herb Dean stopped the fight in the second when Melendez took it to the ground and pounded the piss out of Lemley.

– Drew Fickett versus Jae Suk Lim — which was supposed to be Drew Fickett versus Jake Shields until the latter pulled something in his back — ended early in the first via a guillotine choke. The win gave Fickett another notch in his impressive 33-5 belt.

(Bone is for the dog; meat is for the man.)

Hey Potato Heads; couple things to pass along this afternoon…

Commenters “Near07″ and “Da Freak” are refuting our earlier report, taken from The Fight Network, that Gary Goodridge has dropped out of YAMMA Pit Fighting’s debut show on April 11th. From the comments on Wednesday’s post:

Near07 Says:
March 28th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I am talking to Gary and he claims that this article is bogus, and he is indeed fighting butterbean in Yamma!! Not sure who puts thes up, but it should be scraped!! Thanks

Near07 Says:
March 28th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Gary just sent this to me 2 minutes ago
“Just post on it, that you talked to me and I told you it was all bogus and I already talk to Bob M Yesterday being Thursday. We got everything straight. I have but one Manger and it is not Dave Wallis”

Da Freak Says:
March 28th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Hey gang ,
I have no idea where this BS came from, but I am Gary’s training partner and we are in full training camp mode for Butterbean.
GARY WILL BE THERE AND WILL KICK SOME UGLY ASS
Fredd

As with everything posted by blog commenters, everything related to YAMMA Pit Fighting, and pretty much everything posted on this site, take the above with a nice-sized chunk of rock-salt.

In other news, top-ranked female fighter Tara LaRosa, who openly despises Gina Carano, recently made the following post on The UnderGround Forum in reference to “Crush”:

(Video courtesy of my Canon PowerShot.)

Bad Indian food, maybe? Check out the 0:16 mark to see him swallow it back down. Lovely.

Oh, and about Timbo’s “huge news”: Yeah, it actually was pretty huge. Here are the brass tacks:

— Tim Sylvia has left the UFC in a “mutual separation” and is officially a free agent.

— He has signed a non-exclusive contract with Adrenaline MMA (formerly M-1 Global). Between his fights with Adrenaline, events in Japan (likely referring to Sengoku and DREAM), and “the Affliction show,” he expects to fight 5-6 times per year.

— Adrenaline plans on holding its first event on June 14th in Chicago. Ben Rothwell has also signed to the organization.

— Notable Tim quote #1: “I’m out of the UFC for a couple years, and maybe I go back. I want to end my career in the UFC…Right now, this is the best thing for me.”

— Notable Tim quote #2: “There’s a guy out there named Fedor who I’d like to fight, and I think the only way that’s gonna happen is by me leaving the UFC.”

Holy crap! Can you imagine if Tim got a crack at Fedor before Randy Couture? It seems a little shocking that Dana White would let Tim leave the UFC without putting up a fight (Sylvia had one match left on his current contract), but maybe this is just an elaborate scheme to screw Randy. Dana, you brilliant asshole!

(Chael Sonnen, pre-WEC.)

Chael Sonnen earned some real estate commission-sized dough this week at WEC 33, raking in $34k. The official payouts for all 20 of the event’s participants have been released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and Sonnen was the night’s big money winner. The event saw Chael easily handle Bryan Baker, and also saw the light heavyweight title switch from Doug Marshall to Brian Stann. The total payout for the night hit $213k, or about what Kimbo makes for winning a fight. After looking at the WEC’s payments, the phrase “salary commensurate with experience” comes to mind.

Here’s the dish:

– Brian Stann ($18,000) over Doug Marshall ($10,000)
– Chael Sonnen ($34,000) over Bryan Baker ($5,000)
– Marcus Hicks ($10,000) over Ed Ratcliff ($7,000)
– Steve Cantwell ($8,000) over Tim McKenzie ($6,000)
– Hiromitsu Miura ($8,000) over Blas Avena ($6,O00)
– Brock Larson ($24,000) over John Alessio ($15,000)
– Richard Crunkilton Jr. ($20,000) over Sergio Gomez ($4,000)
– Alex Serdyukov ($12,000) over Ryan Stonitsch ($3,000)
– Chris Manuel ($3,000) in a draw with Kenji Osawa ($5,000)
– Logan Clark ($12,000) over J. Scott Harper ($3,000)

Fighters in the win column got 50% of their haul as base and the other half as a win bonus. Sucks to be Kenji Osawa and Chris Manuel, who fought to a draw and got stuck with only their “to show” money. NSAC head Keith Kizer confirmed to MMAJunkie that the fighters are not given a bonus if a draw happens. That fine print will get you every time.

As always, none of this includes subtractions for insurance, taxes, etc. Let’s just hope the fighters had some healthy sponsors to help off-set this brand of payday. We’re talkin’ Chael Sonnen style sponsorship.

(“Look, guys…the truth is, he’s not my ‘roommate’.”)

This should be exciting for the three of you who actually subscribe to HDNet. From an e-mail sent to us earlier:

Subject: Tune in tonight for breaking news from Tim Sylvia
Body: “Inside MMA” airs tonight, March 28, at 9:30 p.m. ET, only on HDNet. This hour-long program brings you the most comprehensive MMA news. Don’t miss a minute, as this week’s “Inside MMA” will be breaking huge news in the MMA world concerning Tim Sylvia…..tune in to hear what Tim has to say!

An informed source has already confirmed to MMAWeekly that Sylvia was released from his UFC contract last week, though his manager (and M-1 Global’s former president/CEO) Monte Cox refused to confirm the split. If there’s nothing better on TV tonight, we’ll watch Inside MMA and let you know what happens. But you definitely owe us one, because that show is fucking painful.

We’re short on details right now, but this video was posted to YouTube yesterday with the description “A trailer for up coming Bio pic for Ricco Rodriguez.” Could this be Ricco’s version of The Smashing Machine? Or maybe it’s a promo for an upcoming VH1 spinoff of Celebrity Rehab — just like Flavor of Love begat I Love New York?

(Google Image Search for “robbery.”)

Hey, wanna hear something fucked up? Cool. But first, some backstory:

12/11/07:
Rodrigo Gracie, Crosley Gracie, Platinum Heaven Productions, and Applebox Entertainment announce their intentions to launch a reality show called Settle Your Grudge, in which real people involved in personal disputes are trained in BJJ so they can settle them on the mat; a “famous face” would be hosting the show.

2/12/08:
CagePotato finally catches wind of it. We take the anti- stance, calling the concept “‘tarded.” To quote ourselves: “[I]s hand-to-hand combat ever the best way to settle disputes between managers/employees and teachers/students? At that point, haven’t we conceded that society has basically failed? … That ‘Cop vs. Con’ episode alone would be enough for me to stamp ‘DENIED’ on this bitch.”

2/17/08:
This posting shows up on RealityWanted.com, claiming that Tito Ortiz will be involved in a new reality show in which real people involved in disputes will be trained so the beef can be settled in a cage-fight. Sample line: “UFC Champion Tito Ortiz is going to train you to battle out your problems in the Octagon!! We are looking for ALL SHAPES AND SIZES to walk into the ring and settle it once and for all!!!!”

2/19/08:
CagePotato comes across the posting, assumes that Tito Ortiz is the “famous face” involved in Settle Your Grudge, and posts this. To quote ourselves: “The posting reinforces what initially skeeved us out about the show’s concept to begin with — their attitude that when personal disputes get too heated, “the only way to [resolve them] is to fight it out!” It’s like they’ve never realized that losing a fight makes the average person more hostile afterwards, and winning a fight often makes the winner even more of a prick than he was in the first place.”

3/14/08:
Dan Frenkel of Applebox Entertainment reads our previous post, and leaves us this comment: “First off, I would like to comment that our show starring Rodrigo and Crosley Gracie is in no way affiliated with Tito Ortiz or his show. Second, although real its just simple ENTERTAINMENT. It still beats watching crap like “who wants to marry a tranny”. If you don’t like it do us all a favor and don’t watch it. And if you really don’t like it think about auditioning, whimpy!” For a moment, we have an urge to pretend to be journalists and contact Frenkel so he can set the record straight in a more official sort of way. Then we realized that we really, really don’t care about Settle Your Grudge or Tito’s show, beyond the fact that there are two shows based on the same ‘tarded concept, which is kind of amusing. Our lives resumed as before.

Then this happened.

(Maurice Smith becomes the latest YAMMA victim.)

Seriously. It’s now officially fucked up. Let’s count the fighters that Bob Meyrowitz’s YAMMA 1 event has lost to date:

– Headliner Don Frye
– Gary Goodridge
– Frye’s replacement, Patrick Smith
– Rex Richards
– Two undisclosed members of the heavyweight tournament

The fight card on YAMMA’s site has still not been updated, but we’ll try and keep score for ya’. It was reported earlier that Ricco Rodriguez had been tapped to fill in as one of the replacements in the eight-man tourney, but we’re still not sure where that one stands. Rex Richards was replaced by Kevin Jordan. Don Frye had pulled out for whatever reason — probably because he realized how terrible the card is — and Patrick Smith took over. Then Pat Smith had been dropped due to arrest scheduling and 90-year-old Maurice Smith had been submitted as his replacement.

Now 5 Ounces is reporting that Maurice Smith has pulled out due to sickness related to old age (okay, I added that last part). But it gets better. Nick Lembo, attorney for the New Jersey Athletic Control Board, confirmed that Smith was dropping out, but then said the other Smith had been resubmitted. Pat Smith’s charges had been taken down a notch to misdemeanors so he would be able to compete. In case you’re lost by now, Patty would be fighting Oleg Taktarov at the show.

Gary Goodridge has yet to be replaced, but rest assured that the replacement will be well into his forties, if not fifties. Skip Hall should keep his phone on.

YAMMA 1 is scheduled for April 11th at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and we’ll wait until the 10th to publish the fight card, because it just might change. More importantly, those that care about Bob Meyrowitz should put him on round-the-clock suicide watch. This is just too much for one man to absorb.

(The Good, the Bad, and the Leathery.)

Cyborg, Shields, and Mean Mr. Munchies may be M.I.A., but tomorrow night’s EliteXC/Strikeforce show still has some very compelling match-ups going for it, including a main event that will pit the fan-hyped Cung Le against the self-hyped Frank Shamrock in a middleweight championship bout. You can catch the action on Showtime starting at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Here’s what the televised lineup looks like…

Shamrock vs. Le (for Strikeforce middleweight title)
Frank (24-8-1) has talked his usual trash about how he’s going to spank the relatively inexperienced Le (5-0), but trust us, it’s only for promotional purposes; Shamrock isn’t dumb enough to actually believe he’ll be cruising through an easy one tomorrow, and unlike his brother Ken, he’s not dumb enough to stand and trade with a superior striker. Le has the most devastating kicks in MMA right now, and he ended his last fight — against Sam Morgan last November — via the ultra-rare body-kick KO. But like other fighters who come from a kickboxing background, Le’s long-range kicks often leave him open for single-leg takedowns, and Shamrock could capitalize. He’ll certainly be looking to take the fight to the ground when the moment is right and finish Le by submission, and we think Shammy will succeed in the second or third round. If they really wanted to make this one interesting, the loser would have to accept eternal banishment from San Jose.

Drew Fickett vs. Jae Suk Lim (welterweights)
A.k.a., “The Battle of the Guys Who Were Supposed to Be Fighting Other Guys.” Rage in the Cage/UFC vet Drew Fickett (32-5) has choked out fighters like Josh Koscheck, Kurt Pellegrino, and Carlo Prater, and has generally faced much tougher competition than “The Korean Icepick” (9-3), who spent most of his career in Spirit MC. We’re loving Lim’s nickname, but it’s not going to help him much against the far-more-experienced Arizona native. Both men hadn’t been preparing to face each other, so it’s a bit of a wash, but judging from how Fickett’s done against guys with Lim’s skill level, we’d say a first-round submission victory is nearly inevitable.

I don’t think I’ve sat through a fight-flick since Ong-Bak (Jaa ftw!), but this is straight-up historic — Jackie and Jet on the same set, battling for cinematic kung-fu dominance. The Forbidden Kingdom hits theaters on April 18th, but you can get a taste right now by watching the fight scene above and the official trailer here.

More must-see video goodness after the jump.

(Mug shot courtesy of MMAWeekly.)

Thirteen members of an El Paso-to-Lubbock cocaine smuggling ring were arrested this week during raids that followed a four-year investigation. And now the bad news:

NewsChannel 11 has learned one of those arrested is mixed martial arts fighter Leonard Garcia. He was arrested Tuesday in alleged connection with the cocaine ring. Garcia is currently ranked sixth in the featherweight class in MMA. [Ed. note: According to KCBD News Channel 11's independent rankings?]

If convicted, three of those arrested could face up to 40 years in prison and up to a $2 million fine. The others could face up to life in prison and up to a $4 million fine.

Cripes, so 40 years is the best case scenario? Let’s hope “Bad Boy” has a good attorney. When reached for comment, Garcia’s manager Sven Bean said:

“It was a shock to me. It definitely came out of left field. I’ve talked with his family and I’ve had one phone conversation with his lawyer. We’re just letting him do his job at this point. Hopefully, we’ll know more as the days progress.”

Obviously, we’re just as shocked. Could Garcia’s managerial position at Frito-Lay have just been a front for something more devious? We’ll update you when more details emerge…

Previously — Leonard Garcia: Stalking Urijah

(Hint: None of the quotes were from this guy.)

From today’s notable quotes, who said…

A) To look out for the “purple nurple” in his next fight?

B) That he wants to fight Dana White?

C) “It’s like if you have a Ferrari and a police officer gives you a speeding ticket before you turn the key.”

D) “I’m definitely one of the players in the weight class. It might depend on the outcome of this fight and a couple of other fights in the UFC. The 155-pound class is definitely one of the most stacked in the UFC.”

E) “I heard Kimbo Slice is calling me out. Hold on, Dawg, you aren’t even in my weight class! You don’t even fight in my organization!”

F) “My balls itch.”

(Cung Le to appear on The Peacock soon.)

MMA continues to penetrate the media, what with “Iron Ring” on BET, Spike TV’s UFC broadcasts, CBS agreeing to air EliteXC shows, Frankie on Kimmel tomorrow, and now the official announcement of the NBC/Strikeforce marriage. We dropped details for it a while back, but now the official announcement has been made.

From the press release:

In a major step for the fastest-growing sport around the globe, NBC has partnered with world championship promotion company Strikeforce to be the first to premiere a weekly mixed martial arts cage fight series on broadcast television. “Strikeforce on NBC” will premiere the night of April 12 from 2-2:30 a.m. ET on NBC.

“Strikeforce on NBC” will air immediately following NBC’s hit poker tournament series, “Poker After Dark” (1-2 a.m. ET/check local listings), the core audience of which — 18-34 year old males — matches that of mixed martial arts.

Each episode of the hard-hitting series will feature Strikeforce mixed martial arts fights and highlights as well as fighter profiles. Mixed martial arts pits fighters skilled in a wide array of combat disciplines against each other inside a caged-in ring. Popular disciplines include boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, among others. The premiere Strikeforce episode will feature superstar Cung Le vs. Brian Warren, Duane “Bang” Ludwig vs. Tony “The Freak” as well as a profile on Le, recognized as one of the most dynamic competitors in the sport.

While it’s annoying that they kept typing out “mixed martial arts” as opposed to just going with “MMA”, this is still a forward motion for the sport and we’ll applaud that. However, here’s something NBC-related from an IFL press release that makes the applause stop cold:

…twins Jim and Bill Germanakos, the most recent winners of NBC’s hit show “The Biggest Loser,” will host the IFL weigh-in next Thursday, April 3, at 3 p.m. at L.A. Boxing in Secaucus, N.J., and give tips to the athletes trying to make weight for the IFL “New Blood, New Battles” show at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. The fights will take place on Friday, April 4, at 7:30 p.m.

“These athletes are in unbelievable shape, but if there are any quick tips that we can help them with to shed a few ounces as they hit their desired weight, it will be our pleasure,” Bill Germanakos said. “The sport of Mixed Martial Arts is a great base for training and weight loss since it involves so many aspects of conditioning, including strength and flexibility and self discipline, so this will be fun for us as we continue to spread our message of healthy lifestyle to a larger audience.” All information for Jim and Bill can be found at WeightLossTwins.com.

Dear God. Speechless…