Dana White’s UFC 87 Video Blog – Watch more free videos

Dana White’s video blog is back, and it picks up steam around the 3:34 mark when he sits down to dinner with Rampage Jackson, who is totally “not crazy”. Just suffering from some “delirium”, as it turns out, but otherwise seems to be back to his old self. But don’t worry, the Dana White news update doesn’t stop there.

White appeared on a radio show recently (download the full version here, via Bloody Elbow) in which he has some sharp words for Roger Huerta. As you might have guessed, he is not pleased with Huerta’s comments bashing the organization’s treatment of him, and White responds by painting Huerta as an overhyped prima dona. And who overhyped him? The UFC, of course. But that doesn’t mean he should believe it, according to White:

“Roger Huerta’s a guy who’s been reading the headlines a little too much. You get out there and promote the guy and he’s like, “Look at all the papers I’m in, look at all the promotion I’m getting, I want a lot more money.’ Well he hasn’t fought anybody to get the money yet. He beats Kenny Florian, that’s a whole different ballgame.”

“Roger Huerta has contract problems? What’s his contract problem? He signed a contract, he’s under contract, when his contract is up he’ll renegotiate a new one. …What he was bitching about was doing PR. In his thing he said, ‘They got me out there doing PR.’ Yeah, moron. How do you think you make money? You don’t make money unless people know who you are and want to see you fight. Am I supposed to pay Roger Huerta to go out and do PR? Is that how it works?”

“That’s not how it works. When Oscar De La Hoya fights, he’s on Leno and Letterman. The night before his fight, he weighs in in Las Vegas, and then flies to Los Angeles to do PR for the fight. Because he makes more money. Because he becomes more popular and more people want to see him fight. …What happens is these guys turn into pussies, is what happens.”

(Next big thing, or MMA’s Ryan Leaf?)

With a blockbuster UFC 87 lineup as our fodder, it’s time again for Cage Potato’s editors to argue like an old married couple that only got hitched because of an unexpected pregnancy. We don’t love each other and yet we don’t know enough to expect better from our lives, so here we are. In this edition we debate topics such as what’s to become of Brock Lesnar on Saturday night and beyond, who will be the number one lightweight contender when the dust finally settles, will Rampage Jackson be back in the UFC any time soon, and more. Let’s grimly get it on.

Will Brock Lesnar revive his MMA career with this fight, or will he officially be a bust once UFC 87 is in the books?

Fowlkes: Clearly the UFC isn’t interested in giving Brock Lesnar a lay-up to help jumpstart his MMA career, and you have to respect that. Heath Herring is tough and experienced and, had a couple things gone differently for him, he could easily be the top heavyweight contender right now instead of Frank Mir, who won all of two straight fights to achieve that distinction.

Lesnar is a physical specimen who is athletically gifted, this we know. But what else do we know about him? He hates airplanes and gays, prizes staying home, and is vulnerable to submissions. Basically, we don’t know what he’s really capable of as an MMA fighter. Strength won’t be enough against Herring (who will have spent the last couple months drilling his wrestling if he has any sense at all) and strength is about all we can count on from Lesnar at this point.

Herring is too crafty a veteran to get overwhelmed by pure power. He’s going to pick Lesnar apart on the feet and submit him late in the second or early in the third, and when he does you should turn up your TV so you can actually hear the air going out of Lesnar’s hype balloon. The UFC will give him a young up-and-comer next, just to see what he has left, but this is the point where he goes from a top prospect to another guy fighting for contract survival.

Goldstein: Yeah, Herring’s probably been drilling his wrestling. You know who else has been drilling his wrestling? Brock Lesnar. I wouldn’t be surprised if either fighter pulled a win out of this match, but there’s one thing that’s guaranteed: At some point, Herring will be taken down and put on his back. Seriously.

(Is Jay Hieron the latest IFL refugee to be rescued by Affliction?)

Some more news and rumors emerging about Affliction’s October 11th show in Las Vegas…

— Tim Sylvia and Ben Rothwell’s agent Monte Cox has informed Five Ounces of Pain that the two Miletich big boys are unlikely to be added to “Day of Reckoning,” though they could be part of Affliction’s third event.

— According to Tom Atencio, Aleksander Emelianenko “still faces licensing problems” and will not fight at “Day of Reckoning.” Said the CSAC’s Bill Douglas: “The one thing that I can absolutely say is that he (Emelianenko) was not and will not be cleared to fight in California. He is officially denied a license and that will stand for all of the United States of America.” The reason for Emelianenko’s rejection is still unclear, though he and his camp continue to refute reports that he tested positive for Hepatitis B before “Banned.”

— According to MMA Junkie, the middleweight bout between Matt Lindland and Vitor Belfort that was slated for “Day of Reckoning” could be scratched due to a hand injury suffered by Belfort. No word yet on who might replace him on the card against Lindland.

— And finally, some good news: Junkie also reports that IFL welterweight champ Jay Hieron has been approached by Affliction and is expected to compete at their October event against an opponent to be determined later. If this is true, Hieron would be the third reigning IFL champion that Affliction has picked up, after Roy Nelson and Vladimir Matyushenko. Of the remaining three, middleweight champ Dan Miller signed with the UFC, Ryan Schultz is heading to Japan to be a part of Sengoku’s lightweight GP, and featherweight champ Wagnney Fabiano is apparently still weighing his options.

In an apparent attempt to boost their anemic ratings, DREAM has signed notoriously dirty fighter Gilbert “Hurricane” Yvel to a three-fight contract. The Dutch striker is expected to face Alistair Overeem in the near future.

Yvel took the #7 spot in our list of the 10 Most Despicable People in MMA for his trio of DQs — one for biting Karimula Barkalaev in 1998, one for eye-gouging Don Frye at PRDE 16 in 2001, and once for knocking out a referee during a match against Atte Backman in 2004; video of that one is above. Yvel last competed in May — at an event in Holland ironically titled “Gentlemen Fight Night” — picking up his fifth-straight win with a knockout of Michael Kita.

Speaking of despicable fighters, UFC/Cage Rage brawler-turned-armed robber Lee “Lightning” Murray will be immortalized in the feature film Breaking the Bank, which will be based on his involvement in the $92 million raiding of Securitas AB in 2006 — the largest cash heist in history.

(That’s the kind of youthful exuberance Affliction needs!)

Today’s Affliction press conference managed to temporarily steal some of the media spotlight away from UFC 87, as the organization announced that they had signed former IFL lightweight Chris Horodecki, and revealed a planned bout between IFL heavyweight champ Roy “Big Country” Nelson and Paul Buentello at their next in event in Vegas on October 11. That’s right, Nelson will not face Xtreme Couture’s Jay White in a pump-up squash match, as was previously rumored. Instead he’ll get something closer to a real test when he takes on the revitalized Buentello, who is fresh off a decision victory over Gary Goodridge at Affliction: Banned.

Affliction VP Tom Atencio said he was “really excited” about signing Horodecki and added that “everything is falling into place for Las Vegas.”

What Affliction didn’t announce at the press conference was the official signing of Tito Ortiz, who was said to be close to a “ground-breaking record contract” with the organization. According to Michael Cohen, Affliction’s COO (also Special Counsel to Donald Trump, see how that works?) there’s nothing to get excited about just yet:

Yesterday we referred you to the first edition in Dana White’s UFC 87 video blog (a vlog, if you will). If you missed it, allow me to sum up: he sat around in his office for two minutes talking about how excited he was for UFC 87. Yeah, not exactly “Citizen Kane”. The second edition is above, and while it’s an improvement in the sense that he actually does stuff, it’s still incredibly boring. Sure, he flies around in an awesome private jet, but didn’t we already know or at least assume he did that? Where are the escorts and live animals that I always imagined were on that plane with him? Where’s the magic?

It would be fine if I really believed that Dana White’s life were this uninteresting, but I don’t. I’m sure there are plenty of great moments throughout each day that involve him yelling into a cell phone and threatening to crush people, then actually crushing those people, then auditioning new Octagon girls without the intention of hiring any, then having some lunch.

But we don’t get any of that. We get him standing in a hotel room and talking us through his daily schedule, which is always going to be boring unless you’re someone like Gary Busey and your schedule involves you being batshit crazy all day.

I really hope this thing picks up a little momentum as we get closer to the event, because this sounds like a great idea. But right now it just looks like someone convinced him to give up two minutes of every day in non-consecutive stretches, and the result is a tired, cranky Dana White and a bored audience. Maybe time for a special guest star in the next episode? My money’s on GSP.

(“Where’s the money, bitch? I want my money!”)

We’ve already gone over how Roger Huerta feels underloved and underpaid. But we haven’t gotten any sense of what El Matador thinks he’s actually worth — until now. From WrestlingObserver.com via MMA Mania:

Huerta, who has one fight left on his contact after the Florian fight, is far apart with UFC on terms for a renewal. Huerta, who has gotten a new agent, was asking for six-figures guaranteed per fight as well as points on the PPV, in negotiations that haven’t gone well for some time. That’s a better deal then [BJ] Penn, so he wasn’t going to get it. The UFC position is that they groomed Huerta and pushed him hard and were careful of his opponents, with the exception of Clay Guida…

OMFG. Six figures is a ballsy request for someone who’s four days away from being sent back to the middle of the UFC’s lightweight ladder. (Remember, he’s currently making $19,000 to show and $19,000 to win.) But asking for points on the pay-per-view take is straight-up delusional. All of a sudden, beating Clay Guida puts you into the Chuck/Tito/Randy level of compensation?

Not only does Huerta seem to have an over-inflated sense of his value — which is troubling enough as it is — but his demands could easily sink his chances of fighting for the lightweight championship. It’s the UFC’s policy to not allow title shots to fighters unless they sign contract extensions, and if the two sides can’t meet in the middle, he’ll be given the Arlovski treatment — a long, involuntary hiatus, a meaningless final match on an undercard, and a “goodbye” without the common courtesy of a “good luck.” So if he manages to get past Florian at “Seek and Destroy,” he’ll need to make nice if he wants a crack at the belt.

Or, he could just wait it out and join up with Affliction, where they literally sneeze at $100,000 base salaries. $100,000 is what they spent on shrimp cocktail for Tim Sylvia’s dressing room at “Banned.” And goddamn if he didn’t eat all of it.

In this video of Cung Le fielding questions at a seminar of some sort, the Strikeforce middleweight champ gives the lowdown on his relationship with the UFC (skip to the 0:47 mark). Apparently, Dana White wants to lock him into an exclusive six-fight contract, but Le still has three fights remaining on his Strikeforce contract — even though Strikeforce would be willing to let him fight Anderson Silva in a one-off match. (White, obviously, doesn’t play that shit.) But then it gets interesting. Speaking about Silva, Le says:

“Anderson Silva is pound-for-pound ranked number one, but what I see is, all four of his losses are all by Asians…those Asians are not scared of him, so they will come in and they will engage the fight. Now, everyone in the UFC who’s fighting him, they’re fighting scared. I mean, I’m gonna go in there, I’m either gonna win or I’m gonna lose. It’s how am I gonna win or how am I gonna lose. And when I walk out of there I want to be able to carry my head high, because if I happen to lose, I gave it my all…It’s like, I have nothing to lose. What can they say? Anderson Silva is favored to win. I got nothing to lose.”

He then goes off on a tangent about how much of a lush Quinton Jackson is, and how he watched Rampage down 14 Jack-and-cokes in one sitting. But never mind that. The important thing is that Asian fighters are kryptonite for Anderson Silva! Well, if you count Silva’s DQ against Yushin Okami as a legitimate loss, and if you count Luiz Azeredo as Asian, then sure, the statement totally holds water. But hey, when a fight with the Spider lurks in the distance, you comfort yourself with the little things.

Related: “He has very nice ankles, I like pulling on them.”

(Props: MMA Mania and MMA Scraps)

(Whose house? KenFlo’s house.)

As MMA fighters go, Kenny Florian is as intelligent and articulate a guy as you can hope to find. He’s also a workaholic and an ever-evolving bad-ass in the cage, and his next test against the formidable Roger Huerta should answer any lingering questions as to who deserves to be the UFC’s top lightweight contender. Whether B.J. Penn will stick around to defend his 155-pound title, well, that’s another issue altogether.

In this exclusive interview with KenFlo we discuss training strategies, Roger Huerta’s apparent dissatisfaction with the UFC, being an ESPN MMA analyst, and more.

CagePotato.com: Hey Kenny, thanks for talking with me. How has your training for this fight been going?

Everything’s been going really well. My training camp was awesome. I really didn’t take too much time off. After the Lauzon fight I think I was back in the gym the following week and I wasn’t completely pleased, technically speaking, with my performance, so I wanted to get right back in the gym and improve on those things. With all the commitments I had before this fight, the traveling and all that, I’m glad I got a jump on it early.

What were you displeased with about your performance against Lauzon?

Joe Lauzon just shouldn’t have taken me down like he did. That was the main thing, was the wrestling angle of it. I just wanted to get back and get my hands on a quality wrestling coach so I could really improve in that area. It’s one thing to be able to do it in training, but it needs to be second nature in order for you to use it when you need it in a fight. So I found a great wrestling coach who’s just been a phenomenal addition to my team.

I’ve just been working on a lot of the fundamentals of wrestling, both defensively and offensively, and working on making sure I’m doing things right technically. With wrestling in particular you get a lot of people who will tell you ‘Oh, you should do it this way or that way,’ but having a world class guy to show you this is the way it should be done and here’s why, it gets it into your muscle memory and makes you a stronger fighter.

What do you think Roger Huerta’s greatest strength is as a fighter?

(The continued search for the elusive ‘back of the head’.)

The California State Athletic Commission takes a lot of heat for its handling of MMA affairs, on every topic from fighter licensing to drug testing. Executive Officer Armando Garcia, the head honcho over there, spoke with BoxingInsider.com about some of the big issues in MMA these days, including the disputed region known as the back of the head. So where does Garcia stand? Mohawk rule? Earphones?

Armando Garcia: That is easy. The same as boxing. From the back of one ear to the back of the other ear. I’m in complete opposition to the ‘mohawk’ concept for back of the head fouls. Our Physicians support our position.

Illegal blows to the head are devastating. Ask Gerald McClelland.

For those of you who don’t know, he’s talking about this Gerald McClelland.

This is an interesting insight into how Garcia views MMA and its rules, coming from a background as boxing referee. The ‘headphones’ definition works well for boxing, because there’s no situation where you naturally end up behind an opponent without the fight being halted and restarted. Not so in MMA, where taking an opponent’s back is fairly common. Apparently that difference between the two sports doesn’t matter in California.

Garcia also discusses his views on how the ten-point must scoring system works in MMA, and what about it might be reworked to fit the unique demands of the sport:

Dana White has told The Canadian Press that the UFC hopes to return to Montreal in November or December:

“I literally just left a meeting where we were talking about that,” UFC president Dana White told The Canadian Press on Tuesday. “We’re looking to come back to Montreal.”

The UFC’s Canadian debut — “Serra vs. St. Pierre 2″ in April — was a record-breaking event, drawing 21,390 fans to Montreal’s Bell Centre for a gate of $5 million. With a superfight between hometown boy Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn being discussed for the end of the year, it may be wise to begin making arrangements; if GSP beats Jon Fitch on Saturday, we wouldn’t be surprised if White makes an announcement about the UFC’s next Montreal card shortly after. Said White: “Obviously B.J. is pulling for GSP because he wants to fight him.”

In the same article, White discussed the condition of beleaguered former light-heavyweight champ Quinton Jackson, telling The Canadian Press that Rampage is A-OK:

“It wasn’t psychiatric at all, it was physical,” said White. “He had a physical condition — exhaustion, dehydration that caused delirium.”

White said Jackson, a California native, had remained in Las Vegas for a week after the fight and was fasting — living on energy drinks alone.

“Bad combination,” said White. “Physically and mentally he’s OK. Now he’s got some legal problems, obviously.”

Well sure, exhaustion and dehydration can cause delirium, but what could compel a person to fast and go on a Brawndo bender until they’re exhausted and dehydrated? Could it have maybe, possibly have been a psychiatric issue? See, you didn’t think about that, did you?

(Props: TKO Extreme)

(“Yaaaaaaaay!” Photo courtesy of MMA Mania.)

According to SI.com, Tito Ortiz signed a deal with Affliction yesterday that will make him the highest paid fighter in MMA history, and will compete at Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” card (October 11th, Las Vegas); his opponent is expected to be Renato “Babalu” Sobral. Though he wouldn’t drop specific numbers, Ortiz told SI’s Arash Markazi:

“I guarantee you that my contract will be like no other…It will be a ground-breaking record contract for sure, without a doubt. There’s so much money to be made right now in mixed martial arts and it’s all about the fighters trying to make that money. It’s going to be a long-term deal where I put my heart and soul into the company and help build them…They’re going to bring me on, not just as a fighter but also doing some of the back work also…

I’m going to a company that’s going to take care of me, a company that’s going to respect me, a company that’s going to put me in the forefront and make me the ambassador that I’ve always been.”

Regarding Affliction’s drawing power with him on board, Ortiz was optimistic — perhaps insanely so:

“I know they want to make some money and I know they got over 100,000 pay-per-view buys on their first show and with me it’s guaranteed to be over 500,000 pay-per-view buys just by the number of fans that are going to follow me no matter where I go so they’re going to get there money’s worth just in pay-per-view no matter what.”

(‘You’re looking at Don King’s hair behind me, aren’t you? Man, every damn time.’)

In an interview with MMAmemories.com, Winky Wright diagnoses boxing’s problem by contrasting it with what MMA is doing right:

“When I was coming up, more top fighters fought each other. They all wanted to prove they were the best in their weight class, not in the WBA, the IBF, but the best, period. But now the promoters and the networks get in the way and we’re losing a lot of fans because of it. The promoters milk the prospects, they don’t match them against top fighters. The networks allow too many easy fights.”

“I would definitely say (boxing is) declining as the best are not fighting the best. In the NBA they don’t just cancel the playoffs and have the Lakers against some sorry team. No one would watch. That’s why the UFC is gaining so much in popularity. The best fight the best and the fans love to see it.”

Winky is spot on, here. It just makes you wonder if we shouldn’t be interpreting this as a cautionary tale.

- In other news, Sherdog.com is reporting that Chris Horodecki has been officially released from the IFL, at his request, and is entertaining a couple different offers at the moment. The cockeyed financial optimists at the AFL have supposedly made a “very generous offer” (they know he’s not a woman, right?), but Affliction has said they’ll beat it in order to get “The Polish Hammer” on their October 11 show. The clock’s ticking…

Drew Fickett vs. Richard Villes – Watch more free videos

Drew Ficket has fallen on hard times lately. I don’t say that simply because he lost this weekend to Richard Villes via a TKO stoppage that he seems to think was completely unjustified. I say that because he lost to Richard Villes in Rage in the Cage, which is clearly no Strikeforce, nor is it MFC — both organizations Fickett ran afoul of when he tried to violate his contract.

Just check the video to see what I mean. Note the “And 1 Mixtape Tour” vibe from the announcer, the woman (Villes girlfriend? wife? mom?) screaming throughout the entire fight, and the super slo-mo ring girl shot at the 4:39 mark. Someone rocked their high school AV club.

Fickett seemed to be in control of the fight until a failed shot that was followed by a good knee from Villes that was in turn followed by Fickett eating leather for the next thirty seconds. He’s moving the whole time, looking fairly alert, but offering no offense or even much of an effective defense. When the referee finally moves in to stop it, he pops right up to his feet to complain. This is sort of like fouling someone in basketball and then immediately putting your hands up, as if to show that you couldn’t possibly have done anything wrong. In other words, it never works.

Fickett doesn’t look like he’s too beat up afterwards, but if you lay on your back getting punched in the face for that long, you really can’t be too surprised when the ref stops it. Especially if you’ve been in the game as long as Fickett.

(Melvin Guillard shuts down Dennis Siver. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

MMA Weekly has confirmed that UFC 90 (October 25th, Chicago) will feature a lightweight bout between Spencer Fisher and Melvin Guillard. Fisher (21-4, 6-3 UFC) is coming off a decision win against Jeremy Stephens at the TUF 7 finale in June, while Guillard (21-7-2, 4-3 UFC) is coming off a 36-second KO of Dennis Siver, which won him the “Knockout of the Night” bonus at last month’s UFC 86. Seems like a decent matchup, though Fisher’s coach Pat Miletich isn’t so pleased: “Spencer has no reason to fight that guy,” Miletich told MMA Weekly. “I don’t think Melvin’s earned the right to fight him yet. I think Spencer should be fighting somebody where he’s got something to gain.”

Also in the lightweight division at UFC 90, Sherdog reports that Hermes Franca (who has dropped his last two fights to Sean Sherk and Frank Edgar) will be facing Gleison Tibau (who has dropped his last two fights to Tyson Griffin and Joe Stevenson). It goes without saying that the loser of this match could find himself bounced out of the UFC. Tibau currently trains at American Top Team, and Hermes Franca — a former ATT member — considers him a friend.

MMA Weekly also lists a third high-profile lightweight bout — between Sean Sherk and Tyson Griffin — on its UFC 90 Rumors page. The event will feature the middleweight title fight between Anderson Silva and Patrick Cote, as well as a potential #1 welterweight contender match between Thiago Alves and Diego Sanchez.

In other UFC news…

— Wanderlei Silva will return to the Octagon in December against Unknown Fighter.

— Ever wonder why Luke Cummo looks so damn healthy and energetic? Partly the pee-drinking, mostly the pre-fight fasting.

— Brock Lesnar isn’t ruling out a return to pro wrestling.

— Dana White allows you into his world.

(Can Dan “Viking” Evensen conquer the UFC’s heavyweight division?)

“Seek and Destroy” is just four days away, and like most UFC shows, there will be a crop of Octagon newbies given a chance to sink or swim against high-level competition. Let’s take a look at the fresh meat…

DAN EVENSEN (HW)
Experience: 10-2 record (5 wins by 1st-round KO/TKO), with multiple appearances in Gladiator Challenge and BodogFight. Notable wins over Ruben Villareal and Jeremiah Constant; losses to Christian Wellisch and Dan Bobish. Last fight was a decision win over Konstantin Gluhov last November.
Will be facing: Cheick Kongo (11-4-1, 4-2 UFC)
Lowdown: Evensen is a 6’3″, 250-pound Norwegian, who “hates all wrestlers worldwide.” He briefly competed in K-1 and was associated with Master Toddy‘s Muay Thai Camp.

RYAN THOMAS (WW)
Experience: 9-1 record (all wins by stoppage), with multiple appearances in Extreme Challenge and Courage Fighting Championships. Is one of 27 fighters to have defeated MMA punchline Kenneth Allen. Has already competed five times this year, most recently submitting John McElroy in 36 seconds on July 17th.
Will be facing: Ben Saunders (5-0-2, 1-0 UFC)
Lowdown: A part-time student at Eastern Illinois University, Thomas accepted the Saunders fight on just 12 days notice, filling in for Jared “J-Roc” Rollins, who had to pull out of the card suddenly. According to Thomas, he was brought on under a four-fight contract.

(Better times. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.com)

The split with trainer Juanito Ibarra is said to have precipitated former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton Jackson’s mental breakdown, but Ibarra himself has been quiet on the issue. While he still refuses to talk to about exactly what happened between he and Rampage, he does seem to be deeply affected by it in this talk with MMA Junkie:

“I’m devastated by what he’s been through and some of the things I’ve heard,” said Ibarra. “I’ve not sat down with Quinton to this day to discuss things. I pray for his well-being, and if I helped Quinton out a little bit with his growth in the sport, then I’ve been very blessed and honored to do that. I love this kid with all my heart, and I wish him nothing but the best.”

[...]

“I’m not going to get in to storytelling. … It’s not what I’m about. I haven’t sat down with Quinton Jackson, and I’m not going to hear things through sources and through people. This is a kid I’ve been with for almost four years. I have nothing but love and support for him. All I want for Quinton right now is what’s best for him. Whatever he needs from me in any way, I’m here for him and always have been.”

Recent reports have attributed the split to money, but as more information on Jackson’s mental state becomes apparent it seems less and less likely, if only for the reason that money is way too normal a thing for fighters and trainers to squabble over, and nothing about this situation seems normal. Particularly since Ibarra seems to be as much of a spiritual adviser as a trainer to Jackson, perhaps a reconciliation of some kind could really help the former champ.

In this MMA Rated interview with Heath Herring, he makes it plain that he is not expecting a new and improved Brock Lesnar at UFC 87 this Saturday night. He also seems to think it’s funny that Frank Mir will fight for the heavyweight title next after beating Lesnar, while he beat Cheick Kongo and somehow ends up taking a step back. Maybe the fact that he’s already been beaten three times by the reigning champ played a part in that decision.

Never one to miss a chance at a light-hearted ending (see also: How’s taste my pee-pee-pee and How’s taste my big pee-pee), Ariel Helwani just has to revisit Herring’s infamous staredown knockout of Yoshihiro Nakao at the end of this interview. Herring laughs it off, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t serious about not wanting to be kissed. Just ask Nakao.

(Props: MMA Scraps)

Skip to the 2:02 mark of this video taken backstage at Affliction: Banned, where Josh Barnett gives Aleksander Emelianenko a piece of his mind. The backstory to all this starts with an interview Emelianenko did with Sherdog last month in which he claimed that Barnett was refusing a re-match with Emelianenko because he knew he’d lose. (Barnett previously defeated Emelianenko at PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute in May 2006.) The Babyface Assassin responded thusly on his MySpace blog:

Aleksander Emelianenko must have hit something mighty powerful to think I am afraid of fighting him. The only offer I ever had to fight him was the one time I did fight him…and I won. His version of asking for a rematch is doing so in a locker room after beating Bobish while I visited his brother. “Sure we can fight. Why not for free even, I mean who does this to make money right!?” He’s not an “insane” fighter. He’s just delusional.

He thinks I have been “running” from him because “I know I will lose”. He says he lost because he had a, and I am not making this up, a temperature of “98.6″. No, he doesn’t mean Celsius because his organs would have cooked off like fireworks at the kind of heat (208.6C). Go back to rapping about….fuck who cares!? Have you heard that shit!?

I was asked if I would fight him in this Affliction event and I said “In a heart beat”. Ask Tom or Todd. I will walk up to him when I see him next and let him know too. You will never beat me. I will fight you anytime and you will lose again. You can make all the excuses you want but when they’re picking up what’s left of you the proof will be for all to see…splattered all over the ring.

Awkward confrontations are even more awkward when done through an interpreter, and it seems like Aleks doesn’t know what to make of Josh’s diatribe. If there are any Russian speakers reading this, please let us know how accurately the translator is relaying Barnett’s words to Aleks. Because if the dude was like “Josh says he apologizes for ducking you, and he acknowledges your superior masculinity, and would you please shake his hand now,” we wouldn’t be that surprised.

(Hiromitsu Miura and Carlos Condit. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

The Nevada State Athletic Commission has released the fighter salary figures for Sunday’s WEC show. Yeah, they’re lower than what you might see in UFC, but the greatest disparity lies in the fight bonuses. The WEC handed out $7,500 bumps for Knockout (Brock Larson), Submission (Brian Bowles), and Fight of the Night (both Condit/Miura and Varner/Hicks) — compared to the $60,000 bonuses now up for grabs in the UFC. The numbers are below; props to MMA Junkie and MMA Weekly.

Carlos Condit: $51,500 (includes $22,000 win bonus, $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Jamie Varner: $37,500 (includes $15,000 win bonus, $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Brock Larson: $37,500 (includes $15,000 win bonus, $7,500 Knockout of the Night bonus)
Marcus Hicks: $23,500 (includes $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Brian Bowles: $15,500 (includes $4,000 win bonus, $7,500 Submission of the Night bonus)
Hiromitsu Miura: $12,500 (includes $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Blas Avena: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
Shane Roller: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
Brian Stann: $11,000
Steve Cantwell: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
Josh Grispi: $8,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus)
Carlo Prater: $7,000
Mike Budnik: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
Scott Jorgensen: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
Damacio Page: $6,000
Micah Miller: $5,000
Kenji Osawa: $5,000
Todd Moore: $4,000
Dave Terrel: $3,000
Greg McIntyre: $2,000
Total: $275,000

Underpaid: Pretty much everyone. Particularly, everyone under Steve Cantwell on the list, and Hiromitsu Miura, who went into the main event title fight with just a $5,000 base salary — and left with a long medical suspension. To put this in perspective, Matt Lindland out-earned WEC 35′s entire payroll for fighting at Affliction: Banned.

Overpaid: Nobody. Though, relative to the other fighters you might say Marcus Hicks was overpaid. For some reason, his $16,000 base salary was the night’s second-highest, after Carlos Condit.

(‘Who has the nachos? Don’t act like I don’t know nachos when I smell ‘em!’)

After reports that Zuffa was buying the video library and at least some of the IFL’s fighter contracts, we kept expecting the flood of stories about all the ex-IFL’ers making the jump to either the UFC or WEC. So far news has been relatively light on that front, but it looks like Affliction has swooped in to pick off a couple of top prospects for themselves.

MMANews.com reports that Roy Nelson will face Xtreme Couture’s Jay White at Affliction: DoR (the abbreviations have already begun, deal with it) in October. Nelson was the IFL’s only official heavyweight champ, and White is…2-5. Wonder which of these guys is being groomed for a big future in the stacked Affliction heavyweight division?

Meanwhile, Sherdog is passing along info that a rematch with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has been offered to IFL light heavyweight champ Vladimir Matyushenko. Vladdy beat Little Nog via decision in 2002, and he never faced much of a test during his unbeaten run in the IFL. Matyushenko would make an excellent addition to the growing 205-pound ranks in Affliction, which should soon include Tito Ortiz, who Matyushenko lost a decision to in 2001.

In other news…

- Fightlinker has enlisted the services of Matthew Polly — author of this hilarious and highly recommended book — to review several of the MMA “memoirs” that have hit the shelves in recent months. Polly does to their sense of narrative and craft (and their ghostwriters’ sense of exactly how much work they’d have to do to get paid) what these same fighters would likely do to the face of anyone who uses words like narrative and craft. Fun times. Check out his review of “Iceman: My Fighting Life” and you’ll see what we mean.

- Ever wondered how rich Dana White really is? Well, rich. But Wall Street Fighter tries to nail down a solid figure. It’s actually harder than it sounds, although their photoshop of the UFC Prez is just adorable.

(Something has to keep a fella’s pants up. Might as well be an imaginary belt.)

When Vitor Belfort told Tatame.com that he was going to be fighting Matt Lindland “for the belt” at Affliction: Day of Reckoning (dun-dun-duh!!!), they took it to mean that it would be a bout for Affliction’s middleweight title, which the organization doesn’t currently have and which they may or may not be creating. No biggie, we thought. Either Affliction is planning to create a title belt, or else it’s a harmless misunderstanding.

At least, it was harmless. And then Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (aka Little Nog) found out about it. Now he wants a belt to be created so he can fight for it too. After all, Vitor’s getting one. It’s not fair!

“Minotouro” (it’s been said before, but really, these twin brothers with almost identical names have to have almost identical nicknames, too? come on) first heard about the situation from Tatame, and they later relayed the conversation in this crystal clear translation:

“I’ll fight in October 11th, but it’s not right yet against who. They’re speculating a lot of opponents, but they didn’t say anything yet”, told Rogério, that didn’t knew yet about Belfort’s fight. “Did they created a belt for him? Do you know if they’ll create a belt to light-heavyweight too?”, asked Nogueira.

After hearing a “no” as an answer, Nogueira promised win the belt – when Affliction creates one. “If they make one it’ll be great… I wanna be on top, and I’m ready. If I get this belt I can be a top 3”

Top three, huh? For winning the Affliction title that hasn’t been created yet? Okay. Eventually someone’s going to have to tell Little Nog that there are some serious problems with this logic. We’re just glad it won’t be us.

Now that it’s looking more likely that Gina Carano will face Kelly Kobald-Gavin at EliteXC’s next CBS card on October 4th, we decided to do some scouting. Above is the video of KK-G‘s last win, which came against Adrienna Jenkins last March in Minneapolis at an all-female fight event called “NFF: The Breakout.” (Props to MMALinker.) Watch as Kobald comes out like a woman scorned, beating Jenkins to the mat with power punches, then tying her up in a triangle choke and slugging her in the face until she gives up. Reffing provided by the incomparable Nick “The Goat” Thompson!

Now, some fights from last night’s WEC show…

(The brief and violent lightweight title match between Jamie Varner and Marcus Hicks.)

(Mmmm, apocalyptic…)

After a Long Beach Press-Telegram article confirmed that Affliction’s next event would be headlined by a heavyweight bout between Josh Barnett (23-5) and Andrei Arlovski (13-5), the t-shirt company put up a home page for the October 11th card — named “Day of Reckoning” — which will be held at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. An exclusive ticket presale for “Affliction customers” begins Wednesday; tickets can be bought here.

Besides that reported bout between Matt Lindland and Vitor Belfort, the only thing we know about the lineup at this point is that Fedor won’t be on it. Though the absence of Affliction’s best fighter is unfortunate, Emelianenko still isn’t a proven pay-per-view draw in the U.S., and if Affliction can quickly get their hands on someone who is — Tito Ortiz, in a best-case scenario — then “Reckoning” should be able to out-perform “Banned.” We’ll keep you updated as the card comes together.

But speaking of Fedor, you wanna hear something totally freakin’ wild?

(‘Where’s my money, homey?’)

In a new post on Graciefighter.com, a media outlet which might be slightly biased in favor of Nick Diaz, Stockton’s favorite son is said to be looking for a fight and an overdue paycheck. The site claims that Diaz passed his drug test for “Elite XC: Unfinished Business” — good news, assuming it’s true — but he is still waiting on his fight purse for his last bout in Dream. He beat Katsuya Inoue back in May, though the site says he hasn’t received “a cent” in payment for his work.

Can you really do that if you’re running a major MMA promotion? I’d hate to think of what happens if you don’t pay one of the Diaz brothers for a fight. Something tells me it involves you waking up wrapped in duct tape while they stand over you with their middle fingers in your face. Terrifying.

It’s a shame, too, since Diaz is supposedly hoping to face off against Hayoto Sakurai in September if he can’t convince KJ Noons to give him a rematch for the Elite XC title at the organization’s next big show on October 4. All this waiting around means Diaz doesn’t have a fight lined up for August, and since he seems to want to fight at least once a month, in between triathlons, he’s slated to put the gi back on and do some jiu-jitsu tournaments. Say what you will about Nick Diaz, he does work, son.

(Props: Five Ounces of Pain)

After the UFC’s lobbying efforts failed to get MMA legalized in New York, Zuffa’s Marc Ratner vowed not to give up so easily. Not long afterwards, Melvina Lathan was named as the new chairwoman for the New York State Athletic Commission, and guess what? She seems friendly to the UFC’s cause, despite being a "boxing purist" according to a recent Newsday article:

"I would hope that New York would keep an open mind," Lathan said. "There’s room for two sports. I’m a boxing purist and I will always be, but I truly believe MMA is a sport all of its own. I think the more people are educated about it, the more they understand it and accept it."

The article goes on to tell the story of Lathan growing up in Philadelphia, where she would peek into a local boxing gym on her way home from school. One day a man opened the door and invited her inside to watch. Turns out the man was Sonny Liston, or so the story goes. Ratner describes Lathan as "a wonderful asset to the sport" and implies that she’ll be the boost they need to get MMA legalized when the Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development Committee revisits it in January. But not everyone is pleased with Lathan’s appointment:

(Brian Bowles’s fight-ending flying guillotine of Damacio Page. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

Even without franchise fighter Urijah Faber on the card, the WEC managed to put on one of the wildest events in recent memory last night, featuring six first-round stoppages and a welterweight title fight that you’ll definitely be seeing on “Best of the Year” lists in a few months. Following a kickass supporting card that saw welterweight standout Brock Larson smash Carlo Prater in just 37 seconds, and undefeated Brian Bowles choke out the tough and cocky Damacio Page in a bantamweight match, the broadcast featured a trio of title fights, and they did not disappoint.

Leading off was WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner in his first title defense, facing submission specialist Marcus “The Wrecking Ball” Hicks, who walked into the cage with a perfect 8-0 record. After an exchange of knees in a clinch, Hicks bulled Varner to the ground and nearly sunk in a guillotine choke. Hicks tossed Varner down again when he escaped, but “The Worm” scrambled to his feet and started pouring on an insane barrage of kicks, knees, and punches that continued until Hicks hit the deck at the 2:08 mark.

In the light-heavyweight championship match, Steve Cantwell avenged his only career loss and stole the WEC’s 205-pound belt at the same time, scoring a second-round TKO over reigning champ Brian Stann. The first frame saw Cantwell get the better of the previously undefeated “All-American” in a kickboxing match that turned absolutely frantic about 90 seconds in. There was a scary moment for Cantwell at the end of round one as he slipped to the ground and started taking heavy shots from above by Stann, but he was able to get to his feet as the horn sounded. Stann started the second round by kicking Cantwell dead in the nuts, but the challenger recovered with more sharp striking, eventually staggering Stann with a left hook and turning out his lights with a right hook.

(Photo courtesy of kozyndan.)

More bad news for Rampage — and unbelievably bad news for the pregnant woman he struck during his hit-and-run spree last month. The Daily Pilot has the story:

A Huntington Beach woman who was more than 16 weeks pregnant and who police said was injured in a hit-and-run crash with mixed martial artist Quinton “Rampage” Jackson on the 55 Freeway two weeks ago has had a miscarriage, her fiance said Friday.

Holli Griggs, 38, was driving her 2007 Cadillac Escalade in the left lane on the southbound 55 Freeway just south of Bay Street on July 15 when Jackson’s gray-and-green pick-up truck sideswiped her as he drove along the median lane at about 45 mph, California Highway Patrol officials said…Prosecutors would not comment on any potential charges due to Griggs’ miscarriage.

“Our office will make sure we take as much time as necessary to make a proper filing decision and including all evidence and medical information to make sure any charges that are filed are fair and accurate,” Dist. Atty. spokeswoman Farrah Emami said.

Griggs was unavailable for comment Friday. Her fiance, Bill Krebs, said doctors were immediately concerned when they noticed a significant loss of fluid in Griggs’ womb after the accident. Days before the crash, the couple had visited the doctor for an ultrasound, and Griggs was told she “had enough fluid for three babies,” Krebs said. She was pregnant with a boy…

The couple have retained an attorney but have yet to take legal action against Jackson.

Whoa. A miscarriage is a tragedy in any context, and not to be too insensitive regarding Jackson’s possible mental condition, but if you needed a sign that you’re not actually an incarnation of God’s will on Earth (or God Himself), this is pretty much it. Of course, we’re thinking the same thing you are — does this mean Jackson could be catching a manslaughter charge in addition to his hit-and-run and evasion charges?

(Battle of the Teams Who Only Win About 60% of the Time.)

After doing a little bit of digging on Sherdog’s Fight Statistics section, MMA Madness posted a list of the ten most successful MMA camps (with at least 100 combined fights):

1. Arizona Combat Sports, 116-27, .81
1. Jackson’s Submission Fighting, 124-30, .81
3. Minnesota Martial Arts, 243-64, .79
4. Team Curran, 108-42, .77
4. American Jiu-Jitsu, 92-28, .77
4. American Kickboxing Academy, 174-53, .77
7. HIT Squad, 80-25, .76
7. Capital City Fighting Alliance, 78-25, .76
7. Southwest MMA, 78-25, .76
7. Miletich Martial Arts, 457-148, .76

Falling just out of the top ten were ATT, Xtreme Couture, Team Punishment, and The Pit.

In the interest of fairness, we compiled the ten least successful MMA camps. If you were thinking about joining up with these guys, think twice.

(Props: MMAFightGirls)

No, not after a high-speed chase. This actually went down during a recent seminar at the Fairfax County Police Department, where SWAT officers convinced Amir to get “tazed” for a demonstration. Looks like someone’s earning their $50 a day…