(‘You seem like a nice boy.  It’s a shame what Rashad is going to do to you.’)

Merry Christmas, Potato Nation.  In the spirit of giving, we present to you our customary pre-event face-off.  It was either this or a gift card to The Pottery Barn.  So, you know, you’re welcome.  Enjoy the holiday, and all the best to you and yours.  Don’t forget that we’re back on schedule tomorrow and liveblogging UFC 92 on Saturday.  Doin’ work, son.  

Exactly when and how will the three marquee fights end?

BG: Let’s start with the easy one. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira subs Frank Mir via armbar at 2:52 of round 3. And it’s not just because he has better jiu-jitsu and can absorb more damage. He will win because that’s how the TUF 8 story ends. It is written: Big Nog represents everything that is good and pure about this sport, while Mir is the cocky John Kreese–like asshole who didn’t care that the house pranks were interrupting Efrain Escudero’s sleep. (Monster!) Minotauro is going to beat Mir standing for the first two-and-a-half rounds, and then an ill-advised takedown attempt from Mir during the third will blow up in his face, leading to the submission win for Nogueira. We need this to happen, just like we need Lesnar vs. Nog for the real heavyweight title.

If Forrest Griffin can stick to the game plan he had against Rampage — playing it smart and safe, but pouncing when there are opportunities — he’ll beat Rashad Evans in a split decision. Here’s a fun stat: Evans has never won a unanimous decision in the UFC, even though five of his eight Octagon appearances have gone the distance. I’m not saying that judges don’t like him (although who knows, maybe they don’t), but it may suggest that if a fight goes to the scorecards, it’s because he wasn’t able to dominate his opponent. Also, Rashad’s never gone five rounds — Griffin has been there before.

Finally, Wanderlei Silva beats Quinton Jackson via unanimous decision in UFC 92’s Fight of the Night. It’s a difficult outcome to predict because of all the variables separating Silva/Jackson III from the previous two installments but Silva definitely has the advantage. I’m going to give Rampage the benefit of the doubt and say he’s eating normally this week, rather than following his occasional fasting/hallucinating routine. And while Wolfslair might not be the most acclaimed MMA camp in the world, the friendly and nurturing environment he’s found there will give him the confidence he needs to not perform like a shambling wreck. Jackson might get beaten to a pulp, but he won’t be knocked out.

BF: I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of some way Mir might win, just to be contrary, and I’ve got nothing.  He definitely won’t sub Big Nog.  He doesn’t have the cardio or the faith in himself to outpoint him over the course of five rounds.  And if Mir becomes the first person to knock Nogueira out there’s simply nothing left for me to believe in.  Nog submits Mir via rear naked choke at 3:55 of round two.  That’s that.

#10: Kaitlin Young @ HOOKnSHOOT 2007 Women’s Grand Prix (11/24/07)

Defeated: Suzi Smith (KO, 0:22 of R1); Miesha Tate (KO, 0:30 of R1, shown above); Patti Lee (KO, 0:53 of R1)

Though HOOKnSHOOT has been putting on high-caliber women’s MMA bouts since 2001, the organization’s most infamous moment was the eight-woman tournament it held last year, where an unknown Minnesotan named Kaitlin axe-murdered her way through three opponents in less than two minutes of combined fight time. Young would go on to face Gina Carano in the first women’s MMA match to be broadcast on network TV, at EliteXC: Primetime in May of this year. Even if she never wraps her wrists again, Young’s MMA legacy is secured.

#9: Gegard Mousasi @ DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix Final (9/23/08)

Defeated: Melvin Manhoef (sub. due to triangle choke, 1:28 of R1, shown above); Ronaldo Souza (KO, 2:15 of R1)

Unless you caught him in his PRIDE Bushido appearances in 2006, you probably had no idea who Gegard Mousasi was when he entered DREAM’s middleweight tournament earlier this year. But after choking out the highly-regarded Denis Kang in the opening round in April, and beating Dong Sik Yoon to a decision in June, he proved that he had a right to be there. And after the finals in September, he proved that he was one of the most talented middleweights in the world.

The event was almost anti-climactic in the way that it played out. These were not epic battles — this was Gegard Mousasi simply outclassing Melvin Manhoef (who had famously massacred Kazushi Sakuraba in the quarterfinals), then upkicking the daylights out of “Jacare” (who had torn through Zelg Galesic and Jason Miller in the tourney’s previous rounds). When the dust settled, Mousasi had picked up his 10th and 11th straight victories as well as a DREAM championship belt — a perfect ending to a breakout year.

#8: Don Frye @ UFC Ultimate Ultimate 1996 (12/7/96)

Defeated: Gary Goodride (sub. due to fatigue, 11:19); Mark Hall (sub. due to achilles hold, 0:20); Tank Abbott (sub. due to rear-naked choke, 1:23, shown above)

You have to remember — beating Gary Goodridge and Tank Abbott used to mean something. Both men were responsible for some of the most gruesome finishes in the UFC’s early history, from Goodridge’s crucifix/elbow-smashing of Paul Herrera to Tank’s starching/mocking of Jon Matua. The Ultimate Ultimate ’96 was just about the toughest eight-man field that the UFC could throw together in those days — it also included Ken Shamrock, Kimo Leopoldo, and Paul Varelans — and Don Frye notched his second UFC tournament win by cruising through it.

Frye pushed Goodridge past the breaking point in the quarterfinals (back before there were those cushy one-minute breaks between rounds that our spoiled fighters have today). After eleven-and-a-half minutes of back-and-forth brawling, Big Daddy found himself underneath Big Mustache and decided to tap before he suffered permanent damage. Frye’s semi-final match was a breeze — he’d already defeated tournament alternate Mark Hall twice in his career, and the third time was no different — but the Frye/Abbott final was a true superfight. Tank had just finished nelmarking Steve Nelmark in the semis, and his intimidation quotient was at an all-time high. Though the Predator got clocked with some big punches early, he was able to capitalize on a Tank Abbott slip, quickly sinking in a rear-naked choke. Don Frye — the toughest S.O.B. alive — collected his big-ass check and strolled out, never to fight in the UFC again.

(Strictly business, baby. Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle’s UFC 92 press conference album.)

Important: With the holidays now upon us, our posting will be lighter than usual as we pause to get reacquainted with our estranged families.  But have no fear, Potato Nation, as we have some Christmas Eve and Christmas Day treats planned, then we’re back to semi-normal on Friday.  Naturally, we’ll also be liveblogging UFC 92 on Saturday night, so don’t wander off.

And now, some betting odds for your gambling pleasure, courtesy of the Venetian sportsbook (via Yahoo!).

Rashad Evans +110 v. Forrest Griffin -140
Frank Mir +300 v. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira -400
Quinton Jackson +110 v. Wanderlei Silva -140
Mike Massenzio +150 v. C.B. Dollaway -180
Mostapha Al Turk +250 v. Cheick Kongo -330
Dean Lister +220 v. Yushin Okami -300
Mike Wessel +300 v. Antoni Hardonk -400
Reese Andy +180 v. Matt Hamill -220
Brad Blackburn +130 v. Ryo Chonan -160
Dan Evensen +130 v. Pat Barry -160

Thoughts…

Dana White’s UFC 92 Video Blog, Ep. 1 – Watch more free videos

The Dana White pre-event video blog returns…kind of.  As White breathlessly explains at the onset, he’s been busy.  So instead of a real video blog covering his event week activities, he’s starting us off with some behind-the-scenes stuff from the Spike TV video game awards.

Highlights here include a meet and greet with Mike Tyson, who almost seems ready to say something to Nogueira about Frank Mir until he’s alerted that Mir is standing right behind him.  Then it’s on to that awkward portion of the evening when an LL Cool J performance turns into a UFC 92 promo.  In case you were wondering whether it was as weird and stilted live as it was on TV, this video clearly answers that question from one of the worst seats in the house — right behind the guy who really loves LL Cool J. 

It’s like it doesn’t matter where you go, whether it’s the movies or an awards show, that guy is always there, standing just in front of you and shouting "Mama said knock you out!"

(Props: Sportal.vecernji.hr)

That tall son-of-a-bitch you see on the right is Franjo Arapovic, a former Croatian basketball star who scored silver medals at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics. And he’s been brought in to replicate Hong Man Choi’s pituitary freakishness as Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic prepares for their showdown on New Year’s Eve. So how did he get the gig? As FreeFightVideos translates:

Fair enough, but I still think Cro Cop should have ponied up a little more money to hire Yao Ming. You can beat up Croatian basketball centers for months, but it won’t really prepare you for the sight of a seven-foot-tall Asian person.

Some rather-awesome pics of Cro Cop armbarring and head-kicking poor Franjo are after the jump. You know you wanna see that.

(Lookin’ forward to another gutsy performance by Joe Daddy. Photo courtesy of slam.canoe.ca.)

It’s official — UFC 95 (February 21st, London) will be broadcast on tape-delay on Spike TV. This is good news for two reasons:

1) MMA fans are going to be tapped-out cash-wise from pay-per-view cards in January, with UFC 93 (1/17), Affliction: Day of Reckoning (1/24), and UFC 94 (1/31) all competing for the dollars that you pretty much already spent during the holiday season.

2) As of now, there’s no major matchup that would warrant spending $45 to buy this card. UFC 95 has that lightweight match between Diego Sanchez and Joe Stevenson, and a reported match between Nate Marquardt and Wilson Gouveia, but that’s about it right now. The addition of a title fight seems extremely unlikely.

Speaking of the UFC and the U.K., Michael Bisping has named his main assistant coaches for TUF 9, in which he’ll be leading a team of British fighters. As the Count told MMA Weekly: "[O]n the grappling side of things I’ll be bringing in Mario Sukata, who is my jiu-jitsu and my wrestling coach. Fantastic coach, he’s a bit of a legend in Brazil, so he’ll be doing that side of things, and Dave Jackson, who’s a Thai boxing coach, he’ll be coming out there and helping out with the striking side of things…I’ve got a lot of friends out in the States who might be stopping by from time to time, coming in and offering their experiences."

(The end is very nigh, indeed.)

So this fight is really happening, isn’t it, K-1 Dynamite?  You’re sure there’s nothing I can say to talk you out of it?  Fine, have it your way.  

But at some point in the night on New Year’s Eve, when Bob Sapp is standing in the ring across from a dude in a mask, you’re going to have to answer some pretty difficult questions about how you got to this point.

And yeah, I know that in Japan on NYE the rules are a little different.  I can accept that.  When Fedor fought Zuluzinho, then later Hong Man Choi, I was willing to chalk it up to cultural differences. 

But this is Bob Sapp.  Against a dude in a mask (not that exact same mask, but still).  It might sound like a lot of fun for a crazy New Year’s Eve show, but you’re going to hate yourself for this in the morning.  Or at least you ought to.

(Yeah, that’s a dragon on his t-shirt. Go ahead and say something and get your ass whipped right here in baggage claim.)

Rashad Evans is a unique case among UFC fighters.  He’s undefeated, a former Ultimate Fighter winner, and now stands one victory away from claiming UFC gold.  And yet he’s still far from a fan favorite, despite his recent brutal knockout of Chuck Liddell and his rise through the light heavyweight ranks.

With his title shot just a few days away, Evans talks with us about dealing with the criticism, gameplanning for Forrest Griffin, and yes, even the Greg Jackson camp nipple tweak.

CagePotato.com: Thanks for talking with us, Rashad.  Now that fight night is closing in, how has your training camp been?

Training has been good.  I feel really strong and I’ve had a great camp.  I’ve had guys like James McSweeney, Georges St. Pierre, Nate Marquardt, Joey Villasenor and lots of others in here helping me.  With guys like that you can’t help but have a good training camp.

Your fight with Forrest is being billed as the explosive athlete (you), against the hard worker (Forrest).  What do you think of that characterization?

I can see how people would say that, yeah.  But I think there’s aspects of both those things in each of us.  I think I might be a little better natural athlete, but he can also be a real explosive fighter.  And it’s not like I don’t work hard, either.  I’m not going in there with any expectations of him in that regard.  He’s the champ right now, and you don’t get to be the champ if you’re not a good, explosive fighter.

(Overeem during his losing effort against Chuck Liddell at PRIDE Total Elimination 2003. Photo courtesy of AlistairOvereem.com.)

Though Alistair Overeem’s New Year’s Eve rematch with Mirko Cro Cop never panned out, another heavyweight match has been added to Fields Dynamite!! 2008 that almost makes up for it. In a new post on his website, Overeem writes:

In their most recent bouts, Overeem kneed Cro Cop’s nuts up into his chest cavity, while Hari was disqualified for using PRIDE rules in a K-1 match. I say K-1/FEG should also book Gilbert Yvel vs. Mike Kyle, and hold a four-man tournament to crown the World’s Dirtiest Fighter. Maybe the finals could be a fight to the death. What, you wouldn’t pay thirty bucks to spend New Year’s Eve watching that on your computer?

All respect to Overeem for stepping up and agreeing to fight Badr Hari on Hari’s terms, but the Demolition Man is in for a world of hurt. When they have their MMA-rules bout next year, it’ll be a different story, as Overeem is pretty damn handy with a choke-hold. In a standup-only fight, however, it’ll probably be all Hari. It’s strange that K-1, who just finished stripping Hari of his heavyweight title and prize money, are basically letting the dude call his shots for the Overeem fight — why not hold the MMA match first, as punishment? But business is business, and Hari’s nasty DQ probably increased his drawing power more than any respectable victory ever could.

(Leites smashes Pete Sell at UFC 69. Photo courtesy of miyanville.com.)

According to MMA Junkie, UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva and Thales Leites have verbally agreed to face each other at an April event (update: IntheGuard.tv says it’ll be UFC 97 on 4/18), though bout agreements have not been signed yet. As the story goes, the UFC is hoping to replicate the success of UFC 83 by returning to Montreal for the card, one year after "Serra vs. St. Pierre II."

This of course means that Silva won’t be headlining UFC 95 (February 21st, London), and it means that his next match won’t be one of those "superfights" that people love so much. Not taking anything away from Thales Leites, who’s obviously very talented, but does anybody believe that he’s truly the #1 contender in the UFC’s middleweight division? Though Leites is on a five-fight win streak — just like Patrick Cote was when he got his title shot — the only big name he’s beaten during his current run is Nate Marquardt, and he would have lost that fight if Marquardt didn’t have two points deducted for illegal strikes; one judge still scored the fight for Nate.

Now that Dan Henderson is (temporarily?) back at light-heavyweight, I see two guys ahead of Leites in the middleweight title picture…

Just as a heads up, if you own a TV and don’t have plans tonight at, say, eleven-ish, you might want to check out the "Countdown to UFC 92" on Spike TV.  Will Joe Rogan’s head explode as he attempts to get you to understand how huge this fight card is?  Will Forrest Griffin make a self-deprecating joke or nine?  Will Wanderlei Silva‘s ESL classes finally pay off?  Will Frank Mir get all weird and start talking about his soul again?  Only one way to find out…

(When Bob got stood up by the captain of the football team on prom night, it was simply more than he could bear.)

With crazy freak show fights mixed in among legitimately interesting real fights at K-1 Dynamite on New Year’s Eve, we were more than a little disappointed when we heard that the event might not hit airwaves in the U.S.  This is the type of thing that usually airs on HDNet, but because Dynamite is technically not covered under HDNet’s contract with FEG it may not get shown on American TV’s at all.

Never fear, though, as MMA Payout has passed along a press release from Event Magic TV suggesting that the fight may be available via streaming online video for $29.95 on pay-per-view.  

Yippee.  Nothing quite like paying money to watch fights on the computer, especially when those same fights are likely to be available for free on the internet a day or so later.  

Look, I’m not going to judge you.  I won’t call you a loser for staying home on New Year’s Eve and paying money to sit in front of your computer and watch Bob Sapp fight a guy in a mask while the rest of the world is out partying and kissing strange girls.  I’m not going to do that, because if that’s your plan I assume you already know what a loser you are, and me pointing it out would just be mean and unnecessary.  All I’ll say is that streaming video is a crapshoot to begin with, and Bob Sapp will still be there tomorrow.  So let’s leave it at that.  I know you’ll do the right thing.   

On this week’s Inside MMA Ron Kruck talks with MMA referee Doc Hamilton.  In addition to have a name like a character in a Western movie, Doc has some interesting things to say about judging flaws in MMA and how those might be rectified, namely by taking a good, hard look at the ten-point must system. 

Randy Couture breaks down UFC 92 with Steve Cofield.  Sounds like even Randy has some doubts about Rampage Jackson‘s mental state right now, and how that might affect things.  Glad we aren’t the only ones.

After the jump, a little something extra that you will immediately wish you had never seen.

(Props: MMA Mania)

The UFC has confirmed the full lineup for UFC 94: St Pierre vs. Penn 2 (January 31st, Las Vegas), and you’ll be pleased to learn that it’s nearly as stacked as this Saturday’s "Ultimate 2008." So stacked, in fact, that Jon Fitch’s fight against Akihiro Gono is slated for the undercard, and may not be televised. Could this be the UFC’s passive-aggressive punishment for the video game licensing agreement drama that led to Fitch being fired for a day? Fitch/Gono does seem more main-card-worthy than Bonnar/Jones, after all. Anyway, check out the lineup below and draw your own conclusions…

Main Card
Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn (for welterweight championship)
Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva (LHW)
Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones (LHW)
Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim (WW)
Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida (LW)

Undercard
Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono (WW)
Manny Gamburyan vs. Thiago Tavares (LW)
Chris Wilson vs. John Howard (WW)
Jake O’Brien vs. Christian Wellisch (HW)
Matt Arroyo vs. Daniel Cramer (WW)

Related: Georges St. Pierre has been named Sportsnet.ca’s 2008 Canadian Athlete of the Year, after taking in 89% of fans’ votes. GSP beat out wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc, Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla, Minnesota Twins first-baseman Justin Morneau, and tennis player Daniel Nestor. Said St. Pierre: “It’s an honor for me to have this award and being the first MMA guy to receive something like this…I want to be a good Canadian ambassador for the sport and represent MMA well."

(You can have the t-shirt or your hand. You can’t have both.)

When beloved CagePotato commenter Old, Bald and Irish won a CP "Hall of Fame" t-shirt for his epic Affliction/car-wreck-related comment last week, it was kind of a big moment, as OB&I tries so damn hard on all our little contests, but rarely wins anything. (Sorry, buddy.) Anyway, we’ve grown quite familiar with Irish. His real name is Michael, and we know where he lives. Which is why we were taken aback when we got this e-mail in our feedback account on Saturday from a dude named Greg Kelly (street # and town name have been redacted):

Yeah, peace bro. Surprisingly, this is the first time that someone has e-mailed us trying to claim a contest prize that they didn’t actually win. You’d think it happens all the time, but it doesn’t. So Greg, consider yourself banished from the site. Caption contests live and die by the honor system, and the dishonorable shall not be tolerated. Please use this post’s comment section to tell Greg what a doucheface he is.

Seriously — posing as Old, Bald and Irish? Of all people…

In our recent talk with him, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson said it wasn’t his idea to take on Wanderlei Silva in his first fight back in the UFC since losing his title in July.  The fight he asked for?  A rematch with Forrest Griffin.  The UFC, apparently, had other plans for him.

“Fighting is my job.  That’s how I look at it. I didn’t ask for Wanderlei.  I wanted a rematch with Forrest.  But I don’t get to pick my fights.  I fight the ones they give me, and they’re giving me Wanderlei.”

After everything that’s happened, Rampage seems more convinced than ever that he deserved to win the fight against Griffin.

“I still think I won that fight.  I was the champ, and I think I did enough in that fight to stay the champ.  You’re supposed to have to take the title away from the champion, and he didn’t do that.  Even though it goes down on my record as a loss, I feel like I won that fight.

“I don’t see how anyone could give him that first round.  I don’t know how a guy can get dropped and win the round.  The judges must have been picking their noses or something, but I still feel like I won.”

(Here comes the pain, Whoville.)

Yeah, that’s Randy and Kim Couture enjoying the hell out of themselves at their Christmas costume party.  Combat Lifestyle was there and captured the magic in a photo album you really should take a look at. 

While there is absolutely no way I can go to sleep tonight without having a nightmare about Randy the Grinch up there, I do have to admire his willingness to go all out and his attention to detail.  Not only did he do the whiskers, he did the creepy long eyelashes too.  That’s a man who is committed to his costume.  We also gotta give respect to Shawn Tompkins, who nailed the "dick in a box" thing perfectly…

("My career went that-a-way.")

It looks like all those weak performances are finally catching up with Brandon Vera. The Truth — who has gone 1-3 in his last four fights, most recently dropping a split decision to Keith Jardine at UFC 89 — is reportedly finalizing a new contract extension with the UFC. I’d be willing to bet that he was forced to take a pay cut, as his $100,000 to show/$100,000 to win salary made him unquestionably the most overpaid fighter on the UFC’s roster. But even more painful than the possible money issue is who he’s fighting next. According to 5oz., Vera will be taking on Michael Patt at UFC 96 (March 6th; Columbus, Ohio).

So basically, the former top heavyweight contender is now at the bottom of the light-heavyweight ladder, taking on a guy who was trounced by Tim Boetsch in his UFC debut. Vera has gone from prospect, to star, back to prospect again. He’s one train stop away from Palookaville. As long as the UFC continues to pursue expansion into the Philippines, they’ll want to keep Vera around, even if it’s just to beat up unknown caucasians. But it’s not like he’ll be headlining a card anytime soon.

Of course if Vera loses to Patt, he’s done. We’ll have witnessed one of the most dramatic rises-and-falls in recent MMA history. It’s not a very likely scenario, but this is MMA — and this is Brandon Vera — so anything can happen.

(Bob’s fist-allergy starts acting up at the worst possible time.)

There are freak show fights, and then there are fights that re-define the phrase "freak show." Bob Sapp’s next MMA appearance — his first in Japan since he beat comedian Bobby Olugun at last year’s K-1 Dynamite New Year’s Eve event — will be one of those fights.

It was announced today that the Beast will be competing at K-1/FEG’s Fields Dynamite!! 2008 card (December 31st; Saitama, Japan) against Kinniku Mantaro. And just who is this Mantaro fellow? Allow Nightmare of Battle to explain:

What we’re talking about here is a character from the Japanese comic series/cartoon Kinnikuman, which American audiences might remember from the ’80s collectible figurine line M.U.S.C.L.E. Playing the role of Kinniku Mantaro will be Akihito Tanaka, a heavyweight pro wrestler seven-time All-Japan Wrestling Champion who has been training recently at Kazushi Sakuraba’s Laughter 7 gym. And yes, he will be wearing the Kinniku mask during the fight, which will be "produced by DJ OZMA." Holy Crap. Good-natured comic relief, or the low point of Japanese sports entertainment? We’ll find out on New Year’s Eve. The nearly-complete lineup for Dynamite!! 2008′s otherwise-compelling card, and video of Kinniku in action are after the jump.

(That guy in the lower left still has nightmares to this day. Photo courtesy of 5oz.)

Great news, everybody: Shane Carwin may finally be getting a real opponent. Not to say that his past opponents haven’t been "real," in a literal sense — they’ve all unquestionably had height, width, and depth, and existed in what we all perceive as the physical realm — but anybody who’s seen the massive heavyweight prospect fight knows that he has enough talent to be a title contender, and deserves better competition than the palookas he’s been stomping lately. Over ten fights, Carwin has racked up ten first-round stoppages, with the longest being his pro debut against Carlton Jones, which went to the 2:11 mark. His two opponents in the UFC, Christian Wellisch and Neil Wain, were rescued at the 0:44 and 1:31 marks, respectively. 

So anyway, it looks like he’s getting Gabriel Gonzaga (10-3) next. FiveOuncesofPain reports that Carwin and "Napao" will be meeting at UFC 96 (March 7th; Columbus, Ohio). Gonzaga was briefly considered one of the ten best heavyweights in the world, before consecutive losses to Randy Couture and Fabricio Werdum derailed his momentum. Since then, he’s gotten his balls back with quick stoppage victories over Justin McCully and most recently Josh Hendricks at last month’s UFC 91. Gonzaga and Carwin both lie somewhere in the middle of the UFC’s heavyweight ladder, and the winner of their fight will take a big step towards a title shot. Though Gonzaga has unraveled against tough competition in the past, he’ll be the first legitimate test for Carwin. Should be a corker. 

In other fight-booking news…

Arlovski 360, Ep. 1 – Watch more free videos

From the moment this video declares Fedor-Arlovski to be the most anticipated heavyweight bout in MMA history, for the "undisputed" heavyweight title, you know what you’re getting into.  Still, the look of the video is impressive for a DIY internet effort.  It rips off all the cool things about the HBO 24/7 series, though since they spend the entire time pumping up Arlovski it reaches none of the emotional depth. 

Oh well.  It’s still the best promotional tool we’ve seen yet for this fight that’s just over a month away.  If Affliction’s not embarrassed by that, they should be.

After the jump, Frank Mir gets deep, plus a little something extra that you may hate me for, but it’s for your own good.

(Dave Kaplan cleans up on "The Singing Bee’s" Girl Power Night.  No joke.  The money line: "You’re making me nervous, Fatone!" Thanks to reader bpd for this.)

- Inside MMA previews Arlovski/Fedor. (MMA Scraps)

- Wagnney Fabiano in no hurry to get WEC belt. (Tatame)

- Phil Baroni wants back in the UFC.  Good luck, bro. (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Joe Rogan’s "Fight For The Troops" rant is pretty right on. (Fightlinker)

- Satoshi Ishii celebrates his birthday. (Suki MMA)

- Hong Man Choi not worried about midget Cro Cop. (Fighters Only)

- Dodgeball, Xtreme Couture style. (Xtreme Couture)

- If alcohol labels were more realistic. (Holy Taco)

- Goodbye Sparks, you will be missed. (Wall Street Fighter)

- The weirdest Jeff Goldblum moments are really weird. (Screen Junkies)

- Cop hits deer at 75 mph, and it goes flying. (Nothing Toxic)

(Looks like things are about to get rough for digital Forrest.)

Rashad Evans is really excited about being in the UFC 2009 Undisputed video game.  Maybe part of it is because they released some nice little screen shots showing him getting his dominate on against Forrest Griffin, or maybe he just wanted to seem extra-enthusiastic so as not to risk a Jon Fitch-like predicament at any point in the future.

Either way, check out what Evans had to say to IGN.com about what being in the game means to him:

"I never thought I’d be in a videogame, and I’m happy about that. To be a part of the whole organization and to be a part of the videogame, that’s my immortality right there. I may die next year, or in the next couple of days or whatever, but I’ll always be in that videogame."

Whoa, take it easy.  I can understand being pretty pumped about having your mug in a video game (the closest I ever came was making a character who looked kind of almost like me in the old Pride game – he specialized in Thug Jitsu, naturally), but it does not make you immortal.  I mean, look at Danny Sullivan, of Danny Sullivan’s Indy Heat.  He’s not immortal, and it was his game!  You’re a character in the game, and even Doink the Clown can say that.

To be honest, though, the screenshots do look pretty sweet, so I can almost understand why Evans is so happy he thinks he can die now.  Check out  a couple more after the jump.  Looks like the THQ people see Forrest spending a lot of time on his back at UFC 92.

(Yeah, they are less impressive in real life.)

From MMAFighting.com:

I initially doubted that the UFC would have much interest in Ishii, since he’s an MMA newbie with very little name recognition in the States (and a hefty price tag, probably). The only way this would make sense is if the UFC was planning on expanding into Japan soon, as some are suggesting. Even then it might not be worth it, unless they intend to put on as many shows in Japan as they do in the U.K. now. But Ishii is undeterred; he wants to fight in the Octagon so badly that he may be leaving an obscene amount of cash on the table in his home country. 

Damn, is it Friday already? Well, you know what time it is. (No, not peanut butter jelly time.) It’s time to give away some t-shirts to some of our LOLiest commenters. This week’s winners:

Dangada Dang on "Michael Bisping Voted the Coolest Bloke in the U.K.":
Bisping makes a good point as the last person to get him on the ground was Abu Dhabi world champion Chris Leben.

Old, Bald and Irish on "No Ortiz Announcement at Today’s Presser":
All this "Affliction: DEATHWATCH (TM)" is making me nuts. Ya know when you see something horrible happen, like a car crash, and everything is in slow motion? That’s what following Affliction is like. Except, you’ve already seen the crash and you can’t peel your eyes away from the slo-mo sight of the mangled girls body ejecting through the front windshield as her $95 Affliction t-shirt gets sheared away from her skinless naked body as it sloooooowly rips on the broken glass while her pulverized bloody carcass gets forcefully expelled from the flaming vehicle.

Kinda like that…

…except Fedor is standing there on a street corner witnessing the whole thing with an emotionless expression on his face and an ice cream cone in each hand.
[Ed. note: Suck on that, Kadumel!]

milo bling on "Randy Couture Joins Cast of Stallone’s ‘The Expendables’":
if someone invited me to see this, i wouldn’t show up. but i guess it wouldn’t really matter.
[Ed. note: You had to be there.]

If you’ve been shouted out, please send your name, address, and size to feedback@cagepotato.com to claim your CagePotato Hall of Fame t-shirt. Fuuuuuuuun!

(Pride Final Conflict, 11/9/03)

If you’re like us, then those ESPN hype videos for Rampage-Wandy III at UFC 92 only aroused your appetite for destruction.  Might as well go back in time and look at how it played out.  Above is their first meeting.  Fight number two (with some of those crafty Fox Sports Net edits) is after the jump.  But only a fool believes that the fighters we see in these videos are the same exact ones we’ll see next Saturday night, and you aren’t a fool, are you?

Here are five variables to take into account when trying to predict the outcome of the third meeting:

1. Change of Camps: While Silva came to America to train, Jackson left.  Now Wanderlei is running around a converted warehouse in Las Vegas with a snorkel in his mouth and "Rampage" is over in England grab-assing with the Wolfslair.  We’ve seen Silva in action since relocating, and he looked good against Keith Jardine, but the jury’s still out on Jackson’s new crew.

2. Mind Games: Let’s be honest, no one knows for sure what’s going on in ‘Page’s head these days.  He’s had a rough few months, and now he has to fight a guy who’s knocked him out twice.  Everyone wants to see if Jackson still has his wits about him.  Either the pressure will elevate his game, or crack him like an egg.

(Photo courtesy of Zoo Magazine.)

Man, Daniel Radcliffe is going to be pissed.  According to the readers of Britain’s Zoo Magazine, the UFC’s Michael Bisping is the U.K.’s "coolest" man of the year.  Upon hearing the good news, Bisping described himself as “shocked.”  

You know who else is shocked?  Bear Gryllis.  That bad-ass survivalist dude from the Discovery Channel.  He finished seventh in the voting.  Seventh!!!!  And he drank elephant poop!  Hell, Noel Gallagher from Oasis was third.  Sup with that, Brtiain?  You guys feeling okay?

When it came to analyzing the meaning of these results, Zoo’s editor chalked it up to the “growing influence that UFC is having on young men in Britain,” as well as a changing economic and cultural climate. 

Other notables on the list:

4. Jason Statham (that guy)
5. Daniel Craig (James Bond)
12. Christian Bale (effing Batman, yo)
24. Ricky Gervais (this dude)
33. Simon Cowell (just stop)
36. Morissey (I thought you said “coolest?”)
60. Paul McCartney (he’s still British?)
86. Sacha Baron Cohen (if this isn’t cool, what is?)

In other Bisping news, the Wolfslair fighter tells MMA Bay that he’s not concerned about a potential bout with submissions grand wizard Demian Maia, because:

(Props: MMA Scraps)

Anybody else psyched that Jackson/Silva III is just eight days away? Sure, it could be a one-sided stomping like their first two matches, but their upcoming meeting at UFC 92 has serious heat behind it. It’s no made-up storyline — these guys genuinely dislike each other. In the ESPN clips above, Rampage says that Wanderlei was lucky in PRIDE, but he hasn’t looked lucky in a while. He wishes Silva a good Christmas, because he isn’t going to be too happy come New Year’s. Silva, for his part, is upset with all of Jackson’s Internet-hatin’, which he doesn’t consider "a man’s attitude."

After the jump, fellow UFC 92 competitor Frank Mir works on rubber-guard techniques with the very-excitable Eddie Bravo. If Mir manages to catch Big Nog with one of these subs next weekend, Joe Rogan will not be able to stop screaming.

(Why have I never heard about this magazine before? It’s like it was made just for me!)

Diego Sanchez, who recently announced his intention to drop to lightweight, will reportedly take on Joe Stevenson in his first 155-pound match, according to Sherdog. Sanchez has verbally agreed to the fight, which would take place at UFC 95 (February 21st, London), though bout agreements have yet to be signed.

It’s somewhat strange that the TUF 1 middleweight winner is dropping in weight after two impressive victories (over David Bielkheden and Luigi Fioravanti), and somewhat unfortunate that Stevenson may be heading for his third loss in four fights. "Daddy" could probably use a tune-up match after being choked out by Kenny Florian last month. But with BJ Penn chasing a welterweight belt, now might be the best time for Sanchez to get all up in the lightweight mix. For the record, Florian would welcome a rematch with Sanchez, who beat him at the TUF 1 finale. In other UFC news…

Autopsies conducted by the Orange County Sheriff Coroner’s Office are leading authorities closer to ruling the deaths of the fighter and his wife a murder-suicide, with Levens as the suspected shooter.  A spokesman for the coroner described the fatal gunshot wounds to Sherdog.com, saying: “It was a chest wound that penetrated her heart and killed her and his was to the head.”

The two were found next to one another in their bed, with a gun found next to Levens’ body.  Autopsy results put the deaths at around four days ago.

In the Laguna-Niguel condo the Orange County Sheriff’s Department found prescription painkillers and anti-depressants, though the pills were not in the typical pharmaceutical containers.  

An AP report claims that police had visited the condo twice in the last month, once for a possible overdose.  An “anonymous source” tells NBC Sports that Levens was “never the same” after the suicide of IFL teammate Jeremy Williams in May of 2007.

Levens’ one-time agent, Ken Pavia, described him as having become “disenchanted with his career and the sport.”

No suicide note has been found.