(Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle. Check out the full album.)

You watched a lot of reality TV and sat through the lame TUF theme song countless times just to get to this point. Now we finally get to discover who is The Ultimate Fighter…by watching the rematch of a fight from the tournament semifinals.

Okay, so that part may be anti-climactic, but there’s a whole lot of other action on tonight’s fight card, including the always fun loser-gets-fired match between Kendall Grove and Evan Tanner. The Cage Potato liveblog starts at 9 pm EST. Remember to hit refresh so you can get the most updated acerbic wit possible.

All fighters made weight yesterday for the “Ultimate Fighter” Finale on Saturday night. If you thought weigh-ins were just a boring photo-op where guys stand around on a scale in their underwear, then you obviously haven’t seen a weigh-in hosted by Joe Rogan. In the above video you can hear Rogan cranking up the enthusiasm by screaming every word he says, despite the fact that he is already holding a microphone.

For a look at the really awkward staredown between Evan Tanner and Kendall Grove, skip to the end. And no, by awkward I don’t just mean that Tanner has a huge beard during it, though he does.

CB Dollaway and Amir Sadollah talk about tonight’s fight and their road to the finals after the jump.

(A little cheap heat never hurt anyone.)

Dana White spoke with Si.com recently. As usual, the phrase “[deleted expletive]” appeared throughout the interview. He also found time to say this:

“When we came in, we shook up the entire industry. We rebuilt this industry, we rebuilt the fight business. And we think we have the right plan and the right strategy over the next five years, and I think mixed martial arts and the UFC is going to be the biggest sport in the world. Bigger than soccer, bigger than football, bigger than anything.

[...]

The announcement I [made June 18] is so [deleted expletive] huge in terms of what it means to the business side of this thing, what it means to the fighters and where we’re going to take this thing in five years. Everyone’s looking at “right now.” I’m working on things that are going to happen two, three, five years down the road. We’re in this thing for the long haul. Remember that I told you this: in the next five to eight years, this thing’s going to be the biggest sport in the world — bigger than the [freakin'] NFL, bigger than Major League Soccer, bigger than World Cup soccer or whatever the hell they call it. Bigger than anything. So remember I told you that.”

Bigger than anything? Wow, okay. In a few years, when the UFC is so big it has planets and stuff orbiting around it, I will at first be very surprised but then I will remember that Dana White made this vow, and I’ll be like, ‘Huh, guess he was right. And here I dismissed his claim the moment he said “World Cup soccer or whatever the hell they call it.”‘

In the latest installment of the half-hour MMA web show, Dana White stops by to chat about Anderson Silva, the UFC’s July SpikeTV event going up against Affliction’s PPV, and Lorenzo Fertitta’s new role in the company. On the UFC’s global expansion, White says: “In eight years, this will be the biggest sport in the world. Bigger than the NFL, bigger than soccer (!!!), it’s gonna be the biggest.” Later in the show, Kenny Florian talks about avenging his losses as well as punishments for missing weight, and Josh Barnett calls in to analyze the ongoing DREAM tournaments and his Affliction debut against Pedro Rizzo. In the “MMA for Dummies” segment, Ken-Flo demonstrates the Muay Thai clinch.

…and Stitch and Juanito look awesome.

(Images courtesy of 1up.com via BloodyElbow)

Tonight at 1 a.m. ET/PT, Spike TV’s GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley will unveil the first gameplay footage trailer from THQ’s UFC 2009 video game; UFC prez Dana White will be on hand to introduce the clip. 1up.com has a gallery of screen-shots for the highly-anticipated game, and a behind-the-scenes featurette with Rampage and Cheick Kongo getting their motion-capture on is after the jump.

(Photo courtesy of Complex.com)

From the OC Register’s “Keep Punching” blog, via MMA Mania:

“I’m trying to fight (Hayato) Sakurai, I’m trying to fight K.J. Noons, I’m trying to fight Anderson Silva, I’m trying to fight everybody. I’m trying to fight Georges (expletive) St. (expletive) Pierre. I’m trying to fight … I didn’t mean to call Georges a (expletive), but I ain’t got no problem getting there and fighting the best people in the world. Georges is a nice guy. I’m trying to fight Jon Fitch, I’m trying to fight Silva, I’m trying to fight K.J. Noons, I’m trying to fight everybody. I’m trying to fight Takanori Gomi, Sakurai, I’m trying to (expletive) everybody up. (Expletive) this (expletive). This is (expletive) gangster (expletive) warfare. I don’t give a (expletive). You know what I mean?

I don’t mean to sound like … this is … you know … people need to grow up and be mature enough to handle this (expletive). If they can’t and their eyes are not old enough to handle my cuss words and to handle the reality ofo what my life is really about, then don’t (expletive) watch. Because I’m tired of hearing about this and that about how I’m a (expletive) punk and I’m this and that and I’m (expletive) stupid because I didn’t go to school and I don’t know how to talk without (expletive) cussing and say the F-word every five minutes. If you can’t handle it, then don’t listen to me. I don’t give a (expletive).

I’m here to fight. I’m not trying to be a movie star. I’m not trying to wear a (expletive) suit like K.J. Noons. I’ll save my money to buy some (expletive) weed. You know what I mean? I’m trying to enhance the quality of my living. That’s the same reason why I will fight people, I will get high, because that’s a higher quality of life. You know what I mean? I don’t (expletive) do drugs and I don’t do no (expletive). You know what I mean? I’m trying to enhance the quality of my living. Whatever is going to do that. I’m not down for (expletive) chemicals. You know what I mean? I’m down for whatever is going to do it. If fighting and whatever else I do and saying (expletive) you, and being able to do that and still make money, you know, sounding ignorant.

“People are going to think I’m ignorant. But you know what … it’s actually … who is ignorant when you are not the one who understands this sarcasm? You know what I mean? You are just not up to par on how people talk these days or something. Open your eyes and look at the real (expletive) world. Look at the world I live in. That’s all I’m saying.”

And so on, and so on, and (expletive) so on…

As you may or may not know, tonight in Las Vegas the Thomas and Mack Center is putting on a boxing/MMA event, for which they gave away tickets for free in order to drum up interest.

Fighting on the MMA portion of that event is John Alessio, who will be facing Pete Spratt. If you’re wondering whether Alessio has moved past his DQ loss against Brock Larson in the WEC, the short answer is no. The long answer, which can be found in the above video from MMA Rated, is that Alessio thinks Larson is a “fucking pussy.” So there you go.

It should be interesting to see where this zany idea of putting boxing and MMA together goes from here. As anyone who’s ever been to a show that combined MMA fights with “submission grappling” matches can tell you, the response to the thing that is not MMA is often very, very negative. And very, very drunk.

But that could be different when the other option is boxing, because at least that still involves punching people in the face. Or this could all be a ruse to try and trick boxing fans into watching MMA. If that’s the case, expect a lot of hilarious comments equating ground fighting with gay male sex. That never gets old.

(Do you trust this man with your money?)

There’s yet another UFC event this weekend, which means another chance to throw your money into the bottomless pit of online sports wagering. As always, we’re happy to help you burn through your savings with our helpful advice, because who says your children need to go to college? If the Merchant Marines was good enough for you, it’s good enough for your little girl, too.

Betting odds are courtesy of Bodoglife.com. Read this if you still haven’t figured out what the + and – stuff means.

Evan Tanner (-190) vs. Kendall Grove (+160)

Right off I’ll say it, these odds seem a little reckless. It’s just so difficult to know what to expect out of either of these two. Tanner hasn’t won a fight since 2006 and that was against the consistently mediocre Justin Levens. He took an extended hiatus from the sport in order to wander the earth like Caine from Kung Fu, and then he returned to get KO’d by Yushin Okami. Now suddenly he’s the favorite?

Grove is coming off two straight losses, but against two pretty tough guys in Cote and Rivera. It’s understandable that his stock has dropped, but we still don’t know if that was a bad run for him or if he was never as good as his TUF victory made him appear.

Bottom line, this is a difficult one to call, which is why it’s surprising that the odds aren’t closer to even. Might be worth small action on Grove, but betting on this fight is like betting on a coin flip.

C.B. Dollaway (-160) vs. Amir Sadollah (+130)

(LOFL!)

— Brock Lesnar has brought in seven-time BJJ world champion Rodrigo “Comprido” Medeiros to help out with his ground game in preparation for his match against Heath Herring at UFC 87 (August 9th, Minneapolis). Lesnar by flying cockswordplata?

— UFC: Silva vs. Irvin is now officially listed on UFC.com’s events page, while UFC 88 (September 6th, Atlanta) has been dubbed “Breakthrough”; no matches are listed yet other than the Liddell/Evans headliner.

— Fightline.com reports that Jared Shaw has confirmed Kimbo Slice and Brett Rogers will fight in October. The fight will “more than likely” take place on CBS. A Nick Diaz/KJ Noons match is being discussed as a co-main event for the same card.

— Affliction: Banned will feature a performance by Megadeth (!), who will be rockin’ out at key points throughout the event. Hopefully that means they’ll be playing the end of “Peace Sells” during Fedor’s ring entrance, and then “Killing Is My Business” during the main event fight itself.

— A “Japan and South Korea friendship event” called Kakutougi Taikai GLADIATOR has been scheduled for August 16th in Okayama, Japan, featuring a headlining bout between crusty American legend Don Frye and Japanese middleweight Ikuhisa “The Punk” Minowa, aka “Minowaman.” Minowa is no stranger to freak show bouts, as he already holds wins over Paulo Cesar Silva, Eric “Butterbean” Esch, Bum Chan Kang, and Phil Baroni.

CagePotato.com Interviews Evan Tanner – Watch more free videos

CagePotato.com got a chance to catch up with both “Ultimate Fighter” season one winner Diego Sanchez and former UFC middleweight champ Evan Tanner as they prepare for their respective bouts on the “Ultimate Fighter Finale” this Saturday night. Check out the above clip to hear Evan Tanner discuss his hiatus from MMA, the pretty boys in the sport, and what will become of that awesome beard of his.

Diego Sanchez is after the jump.

(‘This shirt, she is…how you say…totally sick, yes?’)

In case you were wondering how the people at Affliction are feeling about the UFC’s all out counter-programming assault, USA Today’s Sergio Non has an article that looks at where the clothier/MMA organization stands right now. Turns out that with a month still to go, they aren’t in bad shape.

VP Tom Atencio claims they’ve sold between 7,000 and 8,000 tickets so far, which is good news this far from the event if it’s true. Anaheim’s Honda Center holds around 17,000. That’s about on par with the Prudential Center in New Jersey, where Elite XC sold just over 8,000 tickets when all was said and done.

Affliction’s big marketing push is planned for two weeks before the show, and as for the impact of UFC Fight Night 14, Atencio is planning on the miracle of modern technology to protect him:

“As far as I’m concerned, people are going to Tivo (the UFC show) and watch our fight, and then go back to (watch UFC) later,” he said. “Obviously you’re going to get those people who are going to watch something for free (rather) than pay. … But our card is definitely stacked. I don’t know anybody that can say it’s not a great card.”

That’s a valid strategy as it relates to hardcore fans. We’ll see whether it will work on those people we always hear about who only know the UFC.

Atencio is right when he says the card is stacked, though it’s stacked largely with fighters who appeal to that hardcore fan base and much less so to the casual fan, who may or may not have heard the name Fedor at any time in his life. Their success with this show — particularly with the UFC going up against them on Spike TV — could tell us a lot about the actual interest level in MMA as a sport, rather than simply the UFC as a brand.

(Props: MMA Payout)

(Ah, crap: Spike.com embed is currently down…click the image to see the video.)

For all the debate we’ve had on the Jesse Taylor situation, it might be good to hear Mongo tell his side of the story. In this three-part interview from Spike.com, Jesse doesn’t shed any light on Dana White’s accusation that he terrorized the female guests of Palace Station, but he does admit hitting a slot machine. (Wait a minute, was Mongo so drunk that he mistook a woman for a slot machine? Uh-oh.) Later, he reveals that he’s entered AA, he’s been trying (and failing) to contact Dana White, and he thinks CB is going to take Amir in the finale re-match.

(CBD, reppin’ the MTX Audio Fight Team.)

Pretty much everyone had CB Dollaway as a lock to get into the Ultimate Fighter 7 finale, and the former All-American wrestler from Arizona State seemed to have it clinched on last night’s episode, kicking Amir Sadollah’s ass all over the Octagon. And then it happened — an armbar in the third round put a shocking end to the fight, and seemed to derail Dollaway’s dreams of making it into the UFC. Good thing Jesse Taylor can’t handle his liquor, because now the Team Rampage standout has a chance to battle Amir again, this time for all the marbles. Talk about drama. In this exclusive Q+A, Dollaway chats with CagePotato about his rematch with Sadollah, the drawbacks of having Rampage as a coach, Jesse Taylor, and the bullshit one has to endure when living in the TUF house.

***

CAGEPOTATO.COM: What do you think went wrong at the end of your semi-final match with Amir?
CB DOLLAWAY: I think conditioning came into play. We’d been fighting two-round fights previously, and it kind of slipped my mind that it was gonna be a three-round fight. Towards the end of the third round I was just exhausted, and I got sloppy. I wasn’t doing things right, and he was. He kept his composure and caught me in that armbar. I definitely think I was controlling the whole fight, and I believe I was ahead on the scorecards, but you have that mental lapse for a minute and the other guy capitalizes on it.

How confident are you that you’ll have him figured out when you fight him again?
Pretty confident. I believe I took care of the mistakes I made in the first match. I think it should be a similar fight, but with me winning at the end. He’s a hard competitor to finish — I already know that from fighting him once — so I’ve taken measures to make sure I’ll be in great condition.

What did you miss the most while you were trapped in the Ultimate Fighter house?
The freedom, I guess. We were told what to do and when to do it, and we didn’t have access to anything. You can’t call anyone, you can’t get on the Internet and browse around, you can’t go to the mall — you’re just there. In a sense, it’s like being in jail.

We’ve heard a lot about how some of the castmembers were made to look a certain way on the show through editing. Jeremy May says he wasn’t really that much of an asshole. Amir told us the “confessional” scenes involved very leading questions. How accurately do you think you were portrayed on the show?
It seemed like they portrayed me to be a cocky asshole, and I’m not really like that. I just want to be confident and I don’t want to put negative thoughts in my head before I fight. They basically edit out everything you say except for the parts where you’re being confident…

Or when you’re referring to yourself in third-person.

(Brad Blackburn is moving on up.)

The UFC has been busy this week. Between throwing together the July 19 Anti-Affliction show and preparing for the TUF 7 Finale on Saturday, someone in the Zuffa offices has definitely earned themselves a vacay (don’t worry, Anderson Silva will fill in for you while you’re gone).

For Saturday night’s show, Tim Credeur vs. Cale Yarbrough has been officially added, bringing the total number of scheduled bouts to eleven. They won’t all fit into the three-hour broadcast, but that might just mean we get spared having to sit through another Marvin Eastman joint.

For the July 19 show, former IFL fighter Brad Blackburn has reportedly been signed to take on fellow UFC newcomer James Giboo. As previously reported, another former IFL fighter, Reese Andy, will make his UFC debut as he welcomes Brandon Vera to the light heavyweight division.

While a lot of fans may not be familiar with Andy, he’s a former college wrestling standout at the University of Wyoming who could potentially give Vera some problems on the mat. He’s also competed at heavyweight before, so he probably won’t be giving up too much weight.

Also expected on this card — which is officially titled UFC Fight Night 14 — is Frankie Edgar squaring off with Hermes Franca, Jake O’Brien and Cain Velasquez, and Kevin Burns against Anthony Johnson.

Oh, and that Anderson Silva guy will be taking on James Irvin. If that sort of thing interests you.

(‘Oh bicep, you’re the only one I can truly depend on.’)

Watching Dana White drop the hammer on Jesse Taylor during last night’s super-shocking episode of “The Ultimate Fighter”, I have to say I was filled with mixed emotions.

On one hand, everything White said to him seemed justified. He can’t have someone representing the UFC who is incapable of controlling himself after downing a few drinks. Not only does it create a bad image, but as White pointed out, this is what Jesse is like after merely fighting his way into the finals. If he’s out of control without really even winning anything yet, what’s he going to be like in six months?

Aside from Dana’s assertion that Las Vegas is “his town”, his admonition of Jesse and the punishment he handed down seemed completely appropriate.

But then I had a flashback to earlier episodes. I recalled images of Jesse drinking and breaking things, peeing his pants, and generally acting up. That’s when I had to wonder, what’s the fundamental difference between destroying a house that doesn’t belong to you and kicking out a limousine window? Hadn’t they been content to show Jesse’s antics — which you could also argue reflect poorly on the UFC and its fighters — for weeks?

(Amir and his hail-Mary armbar against CB. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

Every Thursday morning, Team Rampage member Gerald Harris blogs his reactions to each episode of The Ultimate Fighter 7 on CagePotato.com. Here’s what he had to say about last night’s insane ep, which we’ve already summarized here.

***

Damn, what a season! Now, I can’t sit here and say it was the best season ever, because I didn’t watch many of the previous TUF shows, the finale hasn’t happened yet, and who am I to make such a bold statement? All I can say is that we fought our asses off and hopefully built a strong fan base for ourselves while bringing some new faces to the UFC.

I don’t want to overshadow the two fights with Jesse’s incident so I’ll address that now. I feel sorry for him, but every man is responsible for his own mistakes. It’s not like getting caught with a punch or submission — this is a voluntary act that you can control. There are consequences in the real world and unfortunately Jesse picked the wrong time to learn a lesson. I witnessed most of the events that night and even tried to help him get home, but he was out of control. With a son to feed and a future career in the UFC, the decision to go home instead of party would have changed his life.

(Amir gets all “Rocky” on us.)

I’m assuming that most of you watched last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter — which, hype aside, was easily one of the greatest episodes in the show’s history — so I won’t bore you with extraneous details. But here’s a quick recap:

— CB Dollaway and Amir Sadollah square off in the last semi-final fight. Aside from a couple of hard body kicks and a close armbar attempt from Amir, the first two rounds are all CB, who controls the action from the top, and delivers a Rampage-style body slam as well as some brutal elbows that open up a large gash under Amir’s right eye. CB nearly locks in a rear-naked choke in the third round, but Amir spins out, momentarily tries to figure out a toe-hold, then catches CB in another armbar that immediately causes him to tap. With his professional MMA record still 0-0, Amir Sadollah has battled his way to the TUF 7 finale.

(Afterwards, getting sewn up.)

Learned a few things while drinking ipecac last night:

1) If properly stored, ipecac does not lose effectiveness with age.
2) Honestly, just a tablespoon will do ya. If I had chugged the bottle, I’d probably still be throwing up.
3) Unlike other occasions when you might barf, you don’t feel any better after the deed when you’re on a ‘cac bender. I took the stuff around 7 p.m. ET, puked for the last time around 11 p.m. (nothing but stomach acid, just nasty) and felt sick until I woke up at about 3:30 a.m.

Anyway, the video above represents the conclusion of my ill-fated UFC pick-off bet against Ryan Harkness of Fightlinker. In retrospect, I wouldn’t recommend that anyone take ipecac unless you absolutely have to get the entire contents of your stomach outside of yourself, and even then, think twice. Enjoy; we’ll get ‘em next time.

It looks like the UFC’s lobbying efforts in New York may have all been for nothing. The New York State Assembly’s Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development Committee shelved the MMA bill today and a vote is not expected to take place tomorrow, as was previously expected. This doesn’t mean it’s dead for good, but it does mean that we won’t be seeing a UFC event in Madison Square Garden any time soon.

According to Sherdog, the committee plans to hold a public forum to review the bill some time between now and January 2009:

“This would give the opportunity to have a round table or a public hearing, an opportunity for all sides to weigh in and take a hard look at the issue,” said Elizabeth Nostrand, legislative and policy director for Assemblyman Steven Englebright, who authored the bill and chairs the Tourism committee. “Of course, there’s a lot of interest in the bill, but there’s a lot of confusion too as demonstrated by last week’s vote.”

If I were Dana White, I might ask those lobbyists for my money back. And when they told me that my request was not only implausible, but also extremely tasteless, I’d call them a bunch of fucking pussies. Then I’d probably feel bad the next day so I’d send them a text message to apologize. This is why I’m not Dana White.

(Lorenzo Fertitta, second from the right.)

UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, who made $113.8 million last year as president of Station Casinos is resigning from his position in the family business in order to work full-time to expand the UFC, develop the brand internationally, and secure more big-name sponsors. He and Dana White will now be “co-heads” of the company; Lorenzo’s brother Frank Fertitta III will become Station Casinos’ CEO while retaining his 45% ownership in the UFC.

White and L. Fertitta made the announcement to their employees today at Palace Station (a Station Casinos property), and the news broke via Yahoo!’s Kevin Iole, who acknowledged that Dana White’s “long-awaited announcement, which had many in the industry in a lather speculating about what it might be, may turn out to be ho-hum news to the sport’s hard-core fans.” Said Lorenzo Fertitta:

“The problem, if there is a problem, is that the business has gotten so successful, it’s requiring more time, focus and attention. Station Casinos is a business my family and I have built and now it’s a multi-billion dollar company. But the reality is, the UFC has gone through so much growth in the last eight years, my brother and I felt we’d be better in divide and conquer mode…

Think about this for a second: India has 350 million men between the ages of 18 and 34, and that’s our key demographic. The magnitude of these markets is staggering…The UFC is going to have a global footprint in the not-too-distant future. We’re already working on furthering our position in Brazil. This is getting so big that it demanded I spend more time with it.”

Drop whatever it is you’re pretending to do and watch this highlight reel (props: KingAtRock), which covers the year’s best knockouts from the UFC and EliteXC, starring Kala Kolohe Hose, Wilson Gouveia, Tim Boetsch, Chris Leben, Brett Rogers, Yves Edwards, and Kimbo Slice.

Also: If you need proof of Dana White’s rumored iron-pumping prowess, check out the wacky video after the jump.

(‘Who shall I beat up for you, my friend?’)

Every company should be lucky enough to have a team player like Anderson Silva in their employ. You ask him to move up in weight and fight on short notice just to help you stick it to a competitor, and he doesn’t complain about overtime pay or make up an excuse about needing to go to his kid’s piano recital — he just does what needs doing.

In fact, he seems pretty unconcerned about the whole thing. He told Si.com’s Josh Gross recently that he’s walking around at 212 pounds and is ready to pitch in and do his part for the UFC’s global domination efforts:

“If the UFC asks me to do something, and it’s within my capability to do so, I’m going to do it,” he said. “I feel like I’m part of the UFC family and the head of the family asked me to fight. I’m in condition to fight, my coaches say I can fight — I’m going to fight. I want to do whatever I can to help make UFC the No. 1 event around the world like it is.”

Keep talking like that, Anderson, and Dana White’s going to show up at your house with flowers and an engagement ring.

Silva’s manager, Ed Soares, has a realistic though mathematically hazy take on the champ’s move up in weight.

(‘These walls are funny. First you hate ‘em, then you get used to ‘em…’)

Chris Leben’s time in jail may have cost him a big time bout with Michael Bisping, but it does seem to have forced him to reflect on the state of his life. It also gave him the opportunity to choke out a convicted felon. Which is, you know, good to have on your resume.

He tells the story to MMA Weekly, describing what happened when his attempts to train in jail drew the curiosity of fellow inmates, who asked Leben to teach them a choke.

“I told the guys it’s a blood choke, so you don’t have to squeeze hard,” he said. “So I was just kind of choking him with one arm while he’s standing up. And I told him just tap when you start to feel like you’re going to pass out. Well, he didn’t tap, and at the time I’m going wow, this guy’s pretty tough, I’m surprised he hasn’t tapped yet. He just drops to the floor in the cell.

“Now I’m standing there with 20 prisoners around and they’re freaking out. This guy’s laying there, snoring like crazy. I’m like ‘it’s all right, it’s all right,’ then I realize they have cameras in here. I’ve just choked this guy out in jail – I could get in trouble for this. I kept telling them, ‘he’s fine, he’s fine,’ and it took this guy a minute to wake up. Finally he woke up and we had a laugh, and luckily I didn’t get in any trouble for it. That was beginning and the ending of my inmate coaching career.”

Two things here: 1) That’s awesome, and 2) The moment where Chris chokes out an inmate and then thinks it through long enough to realize that it was probably a bad idea is, I’m going to say, emblematic of the kind of approach to life that landed him there in the first place.

To his credit, Leben seems to have enough self-awareness to admit that:

(Do not do a Google Image Search for “Patrycja Mikula” unless you want to see this woman naked.)

When I was skimming through the coverage of Saturday’s Adrenaline MMA show — Russow submits Guida, Terry Martin gets repeatedly kicked in the nuts, yada yada — I saw a mention of Tim Sylvia being spotted with Andrei Arlovski’s ex-girlfriend. At the time I didn’t think much of it, assuming that the X-GF in question was some skank that Arlovski dated before Patrycja Mikula (the lovely nude model who we’d previously featured here). Dude, no. Arlovski and Mikula are apparently dunzo, and the Maine-iac, in the words of Sir Mix-a-Lot, pulled up quick to retrieve it. Steve Cofield reports:

Word out of Chicago this weekend says Arlovski got the ultimate kick in the groin when arch-rival Tim Sylvia was seen hanging with the Russian’s old flame Patrycja Mikula. Sylvia was attending the Adrenaline MMA show at the Sears Centre in Arlovski’s backyard.

Is this a WWE-style ploy to build to a fourth Sylvia-Arlovski fight? The angle has ‘Chris Benoit stealing Kevin Sullivan’s wife, Woman’ written all over it.

Is Mikula actually smitten with the 6-foot-8 ‘Maine-iac’ Sylvia? Or is she using poor Tim as a pawn to get back at her old boyfriend? And is it cheesy for Sylvia to be scooping up Arlovski’s leftovers? …

Sylvia’s tryst with Mikula was confirmed by solid Miletich Camp sources, who said the Playboy model is simply a ‘wallet and belt chaser.’

I like the idea of this being Monte Cox’s retardo-crafty ploy to get people interested in Sylvia/Arlovski IV under the Adrenaline banner. If not, I just hope that for the sake of Ms. Mikula, the WAMMA belt doesn’t have any sharp edges.

(Props: FightOpinion)

(No ice cream makes Brandon Vera sad.)

Yesterday, we reported on the July 19th event that the UFC was throwing together — definitely not in an effort to siphon off interest from Affliction: Banned, by the way — which will be headlined by Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin (ha!). Though the event isn’t listed on UFC.com yet, it’s being widely referred to as “UFC Fight Night 14,” and some notable matchups are coming together:

Brandon Vera will reportedly be making his light heavyweight debut against Reese Andy, a 7-1 Octagon newcomer and IFL vet who holds notable wins over Kala Kolohe Hose, Jamal Patterson, and Krzysztof Soszynski. Vera makes the move to 205 just six weeks after his UFC 85 loss to Fabricio Werdum.

UFN 14 will also see the return of Jake O’Brien — who was dropped from the UFC after losing to Andrei Arlovski in March — as he’s been re-acquired to take on AKA heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez.

In the welterweight division, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (who most recently beat the freckles off of Tommy Speer at UFN 13), will reportedly return to the cage to do battle with Kevin “The Fire” Burns, who’s coming off a shocking choke-out of BJJ black belt Roan Carneiro during his Octagon debut at UFC 85.

And finally, the source is unclear but MMA Weekly and MMA Junkie are listing Frankie Edgar vs. Hermes Franca on the UFN 14 card; the lightweight bout had originally been announced for UFC 87: Seek and Destroy on August 9th.

More to come…

(Coming soon to Strikeforce’s late-night offering?)

Kim Couture appeared on TAGG Radio today to talk about the possibility that she may sign a real MMA contract soon, either with Strikeforce or the AFL, which recently signed Tara LaRosa to a supposedly lucrative deal. That’s all fine and good, but where things really got interesting was when Couture discussed some of the rumors about her past and her relationship with “The Natural”, as well as the source of those rumors:

“When Hughes and (Rich) Franklin were on [The Ultimate Fighter 2], I had a surprise birthday party for Randy, and I invited everybody from the show because Randy was still doing a guest coaching appearance,” Couture said. “Matt went around and told the whole (production) crew, ‘I would never go. Randy was my hero, and he’s no longer. I can’t believe he’s with a stripper or a hooker’ or whatever. And I’m like, ‘What’s he talking about?’ Well, time went by, and I hated the guy. I was like, ‘This guy doesn’t even know me. I don’t know where he’s getting this information from.’ I’ve worked my ass off and had some very prestigious jobs.”

According to MMA Junkie, Couture is a former cop and casino executive who has never worked as a stripper. Guess that doesn’t stop Matt Hughes from calling you “a stripper or a hooker” in mixed company. A lot of people will tell you that the “or” in that sentence is what’s significant but honestly, isn’t it just a question of degrees?

Apparently the dispute was eventually resolved, though it’s clearly not been forgotten.

(Who can you count on in a jam? This guy.)

Remember that UFC event they’ve been planning for July 19? You know, the one they only started putting together recently, and which is purely by coincidence on the same day as Affliction’s MMA debut? Yeah, well, looks like it may actually happen. And it looks like the UFC is pulling out all the stops.

MMA Rated is now calling the July 19 event on Spike TV “official” and says it will be headlined by Anderson Silva making his light heavyweight debut against James Irvin.

What’s that you say? It’s totally insane for one of the sport’s pound-for-pound best to be pushed into moving up a weight class to face, of all people, James Irvin, on a show that is being thrown together a month in advance just to screw with Affliction? Yes, you’re right. Deal with it.

The initial story had Wanderlei Silva taking on Brandon Vera, who is said to be dropping to light heavyweight after his loss to Fabricio Werdum. And MMA Rated also reports that a rematch between Silva and Dan Henderson was considered. But Silva has reportedly turned down the fight because — get this — he doesn’t have enough time to prepare.

What? A last-minute offer to fight in a month on a hastily thrown together show doesn’t appeal to you, Wanderlei? Man, don’t make Dana White question your heart in the press again. He’s not above it.

Cain Velasquez is also said to be a candidate to fight on this show, which is expected to take place at the Palms in Vegas. The UFC is still looking for someone to face Brandon Vera at the time of this report, though the way this thing is going he could be signed to face BJ Penn by tomorrow morning.

Legendary boxing guru Freddie Roach — who has trained a long list of superstars including Oscar De La Hoya, Mike Tyson, Bernard Hopkins, and James Toney — will enter the world of mixed martial arts on July 19th, when he’ll be working the corner of Andrei Arlovski at Affliction: Banned. According to Fighthype, Arlovski has been developing his hands at Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, in preparation for his bout against Miletich-trained bruiser Ben Rothwell.

Roach fought as a pro boxer from 1978-1986, beginning his career on a 26-1 run before retiring with a 39-13 record. Casual boxing fans may know him best from his appearances on De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7, the HBO documentary series that followed his training of the Golden Boy. For your viewing pleasure, here’s a short HBO feature on Roach, which details his rough upbringing, boxing career, transition to training, and recent battle against Parkinson’s disease.

Well, it’s Tuesday, which means you’ve probably been biting your nails all day wondering when Dana White is going to drop his huge, mind-blowing announcement that may or may not define the future of the sport. Dave Meltzer, who broke some news earlier about EliteXC’s next CBS show — which has the working title of “Unfinished Business,” by the way — now has this to say via f4wonline.com:

Dana White has moved the meeting for UFC employees to Noon tomorrow (Wednesday) for the big announcement. So word should break shortly after that time.

MMA Mania points out that the New York Tourism, Arts and Sports Development Committee is slated to vote again tomorrow on legislation to legalize MMA in NY. That could just be a coincidence — White previously denied that his announcement was related to New York MMA regulation — but we’ll update you when we know more.

And hey, just so this post isn’t a total waste of your time, here’s a rather-awesome UFC 86 hype video, running down the matchups between Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson, as well as Cote vs. Almeida. By the way, if you tell Rampage he’s not going to win this fight, you can kiss his natural black ass.

UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin Preview

Stay tuned…

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