(Props: MMA Convert)

The second installment in the BJPenn.com Show continues to illustrate the problems with making a (internet) TV show about yourself.  As soon as host Margaux Bailey again refers to Penn as “the best MMA fighter in the world” – is this necessary in every episode? – you know you’re watching an exercise in shameless self-promotion.  The highlight this time around is Penn’s coach Rudy Valentino talking trash on Georges St. Pierre, saying he was “incoherent” after their first bout.  I know the guy has a thick accent, Valentino, but that’s uncalled for.

In the latest episode of Inside MMA Jon Fitch discusses his blowup with the UFC and chalks it up to a “personality conflict” that was resolved once he was able to speak with Lorenzo Fertitta.  He says he still isn’t “completely happy with all the contract stuff,” but hey, who is?  It’s worth it to stay in the big leagues, apparently.

After the jump,  Josh Koscheck and Yoshiyuki Yoshida discuss their conflicting game plans for Wednesday night’s "Fight for the Troops."

(It was totally worth kicking Bill Cosby’s ass to get that sweater.  Photo courtesy of K-1 Fans.)

Just when he thought he had safely escaped to the glorious city of Japan, Kimbo Slice may be finding out that Brett Rogers isn’t the only one who thinks it’d be fun to beat him up.  Nightmare of Battle is passing along a rumor that Melvin Manhoef spotted Kimbo backstage at last weekend’s K-1 2008 Grand Prix and wasted no time shouting out his appeal for Kimbo to, "Fight with me!”

Reportedly some K-1 officials got in between them before anything more happened.  Again, this is firmly in the rumor category at this point, but man would it ever be a fight I’d like to see.  Remember the punch from Seth Petruzelli that dropped Kimbo?  Manhoef throws harder punches in his sleep.  Seriously, he does.  As a kid he was banned from attending any and all slumber parties.  Plus, he uses those “Thai-style kicks” that Kimbo would rather just avoid altogether. 

My guess is that after seeing what he did to Paul Slowinski – who knows a thing or two about this kickboxing stuff – Kimbo wants no part of Manhoef.  Watch it for yourself after the jump, then see if you blame him: 

(Props: MMA Scraps)

All I can think when I watch this video of one of Wanderlei Silva‘s insane recent workouts is man, Rampage is going to get smashed. I tried covering my nose up with masking tape the other day and gassed out going up the stairs. It’s inspiring what Silva can do, is all I’m saying. Compare that to the clip below, where Dana White, BJ Penn, and Sean Sherk show up on the set of NBC’s new series Momma’s Boys. (Basic premise of the show: A trio of dudes try to pull some tail despite their mothers’ best efforts to cockblock them. It’s executive produced by Ryan Seacrest, so you know you’ll be getting quality.) Anyway, the UFC crew puts the reality show cast through a grueling 11-minute workout. And they get to breathe through ther noses. And one dude still needs to get picked up by an ambulance. Pathetic.

(Props: NBC)

(‘Sup. You chicks party?’)

Marcus Davis just won’t quit with this master plan he and Chris Lytle have concocted.  While it seems to be Davis who’s always talking about it, the agreement is that they will both stand and bang it out at UFC 93, and Davis is confident that this will result in a fight of epic proportions:

"Chris and I have spoken a number of times about this fight and we know the opportunity that it gives us," Davis told Eurosport-Yahoo! "That’s why we were so desperate to get it organised."

"We’re aiming for more than just Fight of the Night," Davis went on. "We think our styles and the way we fight match up really, really well and that this fight could potentially project us into a sort of legendary status. …I want to be remembered in this sport, and this fight is my chance to make sure that happens."

Badr Hari discusses his DQ loss in K-1 – Watch more free videos

Badr Hari doesn’t seem too concerned about his disqualification loss in the finals of this weekend’s K-1 World GP.  In case you missed it, Hari took Remy Bonjasky down, which is already illegal in K-1, but then he decided that as long as he was down there he might as well punch him a couple of times and then stomp on his face.  When the interviewer here points out to him that this is “prohibited,” Hari responds: “Yeah, but cycling on the pavement is prohibited too.”

Seriously?  That’s his response to illegally attacking an opponent who was under the referee’s care?  Apparently Hari didn’t feel that his actions in the fight made him unlikeable enough.  No, better go ahead and follow that up with a dismissive statement that reveals your amoral thought process to the world, just to be sure.

The argument that I absolutely don’t buy in this case is that he let his emotions get the better of him because Bonjasky didn’t come to fight.  First of all, when Bonjasky dropped him in the first, that seemed an awful lot like fighting.  Second, if you get mad in a kickboxing match, why not kick or punch the other guy in the head, torso, or leg region while you’re both standing?  It’s an effective expression of anger, and it’s legal!

Then again, if you fight only within the scope of the rules, how is everyone supposed to know what an asshole you are?

("We could do this shit right here, if you want." Photo courtesy of FiveOuncesofPain.)

Though it was originally scheduled for this month’s TUF 8 finale, the bout between UFC lightweights Nate Diaz and Clay Guida was postponed when Guida injured his foot in training. Now, GracieFighter is reporting that the matchup has been added to UFC 94 (January 31st, Las Vegas), in the supporting card for the Georges St. Pierre/BJ Penn superfight; it should be mentioned that the pairing hasn’t yet been added to the official lineup on UFC.com.

Diaz has won all five of his matches in the Octagon, most recently a split decision against Josh Neer at UFC Fight Night 15 in September. Though Guida’s 4-3 record in the UFC is a bit spottier, his last performance (also at UFN 15) proved that he shouldn’t be overlooked, as he used dominating wrestling to neutralize all of Mac Danzig’s weapons and score the unanimous decision win.

In other UFC news…

(Props: MMA Mania)

LOFL, people. Here’s video proof of the verbal gaffe made by Kimbo Slice immediately after he was introduced as a guest-commentator at last weekend’s K-1 World GP. It also gives you a sense of how overbearingly annoying Michael Schiavello is. Imagine being Mike Kogan (the other bald, goateed guy), sandwiched in the middle of these two doofs for like four hours. I have a feeling this isn’t what he had in mind when he entered broadcasting school.

After the jump: Mike Swick hangs out in a Thai snake-pit to fuck with some cobras for no good reason. Thanks to Old, Bald and Irish for the find!

(Photo courtesy of Daniel Herbertson Photography.)

Many American fans may only know Yoshiyuki Yoshida as the guy who barely broke a sweat choking out the man now legally known as War Machine back at UFC 84, but on Wednesday the Japanese welterweight enters into his second UFC fight against Josh Koscheck at “Fight for the Troops” on Spike TV.  Not only is it a significant step up in level of competition, it’s also bound to be hostile territory for Yoshida, considering he’s facing an American (okay, it’s Koscheck, but still) in front of an audience of American military personnel.

In this exclusive Cage Potato interview, Yoshida (with the help of a translator) talks about what he’s expecting from Koscheck on Wednesday night, and where he sees himself in the UFC’s welterweight division.

CagePotato.com: Thank you for taking the time to talk with us.  Against a guy like Koscheck, who’s known for having great wrestling skills and good conditioning, how have you been preparing yourself for this fight?

I began training for this fight about two months ago.  I’ve been doing a lot of sparring and running in the mornings, and at night I usually work on my boxing, hitting mitts, and trying to improve my technical skills and my strength.  I’m in great shape for this fight, probably the best shape I’ve ever been in, and I’ll be ready for him.

What’s your strategy for dealing with Koscheck’s wrestling ability?

I understand he is a very good wrestler.  There is no question about that.  I’m not going to try and beat him that way, by outwrestling him.  But one of my strengths is my judo, so I plan on using his aggressiveness against him by implementing my judo skills when he looks for a clinch or a takedown.

Since the fight is a benefit for American soldiers, it’s probably safe to say that you will not be the crowd favorite in this one.  Does that enter into your mind at all, and what are your feelings on that?

(‘Pay no attention to my brother. He is idiot.’ Photo courtesy of afightgallery.com)

Aleks and Fedor Emelianenko don’t seem to have the warmest of sibling relationships.  They don’t train together, don’t speak especially well of one another, and when they were both at the Affliction press conference in July they barely acknowledged one another’s presence.  It’s tempting to blame this on the fact that both of them often appear to be emotionless cyborgs, but then you see that picture of Fedor happily eating two ice cream cones at once, and damn if it doesn’t just melt your heart.  

But Aleks is taking issue with some comments his brother made to a Russian newspaper, where Fedor suggested that his little bro lacks a serious work ethic, even going so far as to claim that as kids, “Aleksander looked for adventures on his rear end…I wouldn’t come out of the gym.”

Aleks, as you might imagine, disagrees:

Last week, Aleks was interviewed by the same newspaper and Fedor “is definitely not correct on that. I don’t know why [he] said that. Probably was overcome by some ambitions.

“My brother sometimes gets overwhelmed. He says something stupid, and then he’s sorry about it afterwards.”

Something tells me Fedor is not terribly sorry about those remarks.  As for him being "overcome by some ambitions," perhaps that’s what Aleks has been telling himself all these years when Fedor’s in the gym becoming the world’s best heavyweight, and he’s been off doing…whatever it is that Aleks does besides getting tattoos.

(Oh yeah, Cyborg will definitely fall for that one.)

Reporting on the possibility of a match (someday, somewhere) between Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg, Sherdog’s Loretta Hunt shared this bit of informed speculation:

As of today, I’ve ascertained enough information to confidently say that an eleventh hour effort is afoot to resurrect Pro Elite. I’m told this new regime includes a mix of a new investor(s) and some of Pro Elite’s old guard, and they have submitted a bid to CBS to take over the promising contract left dormant after the Los Angeles promotion closed its doors in late October. Carano and Santos’ contracts — not to mention those of Elite champions Robbie Lawler and Jake Shields among others — could be legally bound to this reincarnated unit.

As long as the "old guard" in question doesn’t include Jeremy Lappen or anybody named Shaw, this could turn out to be good news. Say what you want about EliteXC’s former scumminess, but the sport needs a high-profile venue outside of the UFC, particularly one with network television coverage. The question is, can anybody run it correctly? MMA Junkie adds to the story, suggesting that ProElite’s assets could be purchased within the next few weeks by a familiar name:

(Props: thepitbullarlovski)

You may have already seen this video when it started making the rounds last week, but above is a clip of Andrei Arlovski taking notes on some of Fedor Emelianenko‘s fights in preparation for their scheduled bout next month at "Day of Reckoning." What he’s writing, of course, is never revealed. So here’s our challenge to you: Give the vid a look and tell us what the Pitbull is jotting down at the 0:50-0:56 mark. The five (5) funniest/most creative entries win one-year subscriptions to Fight! Magazine, which is pretty much the best MMA mag ever. Leave your entries in the comments section below and feel feel to enter multiple times. Contest ends Wednesday night at midnight ET; the winner will be announced on Thursday. Good luck.

(Will Andrei Arlovski be the man to beat Fedor Emelianenko? Will anybody actually get to see it?)

Let’s get this out of the way first: If you didn’t watch Manny Pacquiao’s one-sided walloping of Oscar De La Hoya last night, click here. My God this Mexecutioner.

Okay now. We’ve already told you that boxing promotion juggernaut Golden Boy’s relationship with Affliction could be described as "non-committal" at best. What was originally announced as a grand partnership devolved into straight-up rivalry when GB scheduled a superfight between welterweight stars "Sugar" Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito on January 24th, the same night as Affliction’s "Day of Reckoning" event. And it gets worse: The match is slated to go down at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, about a half-hour drive (depending on traffic) from Affliction’s venue of the Honda Center in Anaheim.

"Day of Reckoning"’s original date of October 11th was canceled due to nearly non-existant ticket sales, and they weren’t even competing with a major boxing match on the same day for attendance and local media coverage. Simply put, Mosley/Margarito on 1/24 is a death-blow for Affliction. It’s hard to envision them filling an arena without rescheduling the event yet again. Still, Fabricio Werdum is under the impression that Affliction has promised 16 events in 2009. Quite a lofty goal for an organization that has put on exactly one event in the last five months. But hey — everybody gotta have a dream.

(One of several great WEC action shots from NBC Sports.)

- California’s drug-testing system is fixed already. (MMA Weekly)

- Chuck Liddell doing work with American Top Team, son. (Fighters Only)

- Josh Koscheck talks Yoshida bout. (CBS Sportsline)

- King of the Cage takes a swipe at Zuffa over Booyaa ban. (MMA Payout)

- British boxers exchange barbs over MMA. (The Sun)

- NBC goes Cung Le crazy this Saturday night. (MMA Mania)

- Diary of a madman who decides to train with Matt Hughes and the rest of the HIT Squad. (NewBreedFighters.tv)

- Flowchart guide to losing your virginity. (Holy Taco)

- Michael Bay’s Amazon wish list. (Screen Junkies)

- Street corner executive search. (Wall Street Fighter)

- Incredible diving basketball shot wins game. (Nothing Toxic)

This afternoon I got a chance to meet up with The Ultimate Fighter 8 lightweight finalist Phillipe "The Filipino Assassin" Nover at Fighthouse in New York City. (Coincidentally, this is the gym where I’ve been taking Muay Thai lessons for the last two months. So yeah, I guess you could say I’m pretty badass.) Anyway, Nover was cool enough to chat with me about his match-up with Efrain Escudero at the TUF 8 finale next Saturday, working as a registered nurse, living without bathroom privacy as a reality TV star, and his official prediction for Bader vs. Vinny; he also had a special shout-out for his Filipino fans. Later, he hit pads and rolled with a couple guys from his Team Insight crew, and tried to stay loose despite the fact that we were surrounded by a bunch of dudes with sniper rifles and one guy who was, no shit, wearing a terrorist-style dynamite vest (proof at the end of the video). Never a dull moment at Fighthouse. Thanks to Spike TV for the invite.

(BG)

Watch DIAMOND DAVE KAPLAN VS. JUNIE BROWNING IN TUF 8 FINALE on RawVegas.tv

I don’t know what it is about Dave Kaplan, but he’s got that special ability where the more he talks, the more you kind of want to see him get his face bashed in.  If only he could be knocked out!  In this video he insists on inserting his nickname, which is “Diamond”, in front of his name at every opportunity.  He also discusses his upcoming bout with Junie Browning and says he’d like to train with Ric Flair.  Okay, so he redeemed himself a little there.  But there’s still a long way to go.

Wanderlei Silva works out with the same pudgy British dude from FHM who Sean Sherk beat up a while back, and the result here is mostly the same.  The best part is the look on Wanderlei’s face while the dude is talking.  He seems like he’s trying to figure out whether this guy is making fun of him or not, then says screw it and stomps his head inside the TUF Octagon anyway.

After the jump, we see what kind of shenanigans "Rampage" Jackson is getting into over on the other side of the pond.

(What a range of honest facial expressions.)

When I first heard that Kimbo Slice would be helping with commentating duties at this weekend’s K-1 World Grand Prix, I immediately wondered where he would fall on the scale of fighters-turned-broadcasters.  Obviously he’s not going to be a Randy Couture or Kenny Florian.  Anyone who saw his dour appearance on Jimmy Kimmel knows that.  But could he maybe be as inept, yet hilarious as the “Rampage” Jackson/Don Frye duo was?

Then I read the official press release and realized one of his broadcast partners will be Michael “The Voice” Schiavello.  Suddenly, it seems like Kimbo is going to be far from the worst sportscaster at the table on Saturday night.   If you don’t know, Schiavello’s an Australian commentator who’s done K-1, Dream, even the Beijing Olympics, and has never shied away from an unfunny quip in any of those jobs.  Check out some of his favorite lines.  As in, his favorite lines that he said, which he was kind enough to compile for us on his official website:

"There are two things I know for sure: Britney Spears will never win Mother of The Year and Albert Kraus didn’t win that fight!"

"Two things I know for sure: we will never beat Amy Winehouse in a drinking contest, and Texeira definitely won that fight."

"He’s been on his back more than my ex-girlfriend."

"He wears more hair product than Bon Jovi."

"He’s proving harder to catch than Osama Bin Laden!"

(‘Yeah, we’re buds now.  So can I borrow $10,000?’ Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle’s WEC 37 Aftermath gallery.)

Payouts for WEC 37 are now public, and thankfully no one dropped below the dreaded $2,000 hard deck, though Danny Martinez walked right to the edge and looked over.  What he saw was poverty.  And he saw that it was not good, and this displeased him.

What’s interesting to note is that of the ten bouts at WEC 37, the betting favorite won all ten.  In seven of those bouts, the favorite made more in show money than his opponent.  Just some fun little trivia for you.  And now, the figures:  

Miguel Torres: $44,000 (includes $22,000 win bonus)
Manny Tapia: $6,000
Wagnney Fabiano: $22,000 (includes $11,000 win bonus)
Akitoshi Tamura: $6,000
Brian Bowles: $23,500(includes $8,000 win bonus and $7,500 Submission of the Night bonus)
Will Ribeiro: $4,000
Joseph Benavidez: $17,000 (includes $8,500 win bonus)
Danny Martinez: $2,000
Johny Hendricks: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
Justin Haskins: $3,000
Mark Munoz: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
Ricardo Barros: $3,000
Diego Nunes: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
Cole Province: $3,000
Bart Palaszewski: $15,500 (includes $4,000 win bonus and $7,500 KO of the Night bonus)
Alex Karalexis: $8,000
Cub Swanson: $17,500 (includes $5,000 win bonus and $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Hiroyuki Takaya: $12,500 (includes $7,500 Fight of the Night bonus)
Shane Roller: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
Mike Budnik: $4,000

Thoughts…

(A fist-medallion-less Kimbo Slice arrives in Japan for his guest-commentator gig at tomorrow’s K-1 event in Yokohama. Props to FightOpinion.)

It’s Friday, which means it’s time to give away some t-shirts. Covering their torsos with soft cotton this week will be:

xogcx on "Strikeforce Payouts Prove You Can Still Get Your Bread Outside of the UFC": A real Xmas? Not like the time I cut my long hair to buy Kimbo some medallion shine and he sold his Gold fist medallion to buy me a brush for my pretty hair…..we learned a lot of about real love and real WORK!
[Ed. note: O. Henry references are always appreciated on this site.]

Poop Chute on "WEC 37 Liveblog: Small But Mighty": There’s another championship match happening tonight: My Hand vs. My Penis. It’s their 103,767th rematch. I always win. Except for those three "no contests".
[Ed. note: I just checked the Sherdog Fight Finder profile for Poop Chute's hand. Those three no-contests were due to unintentional eye-pokes.]

Mr. xogcx and Mr. Poop, please send your real names, addresses, and sizes to feedback@cagepotato.com and we’ll send you those shirts right away. Bro-hugs to all our brilliant commenters. (Even you, anonymous!)

On the latest episode of MMA Live, the always clued-in Franklin McNeil passes on an interesting tidbit regarding Josh Koscheck‘s appearance at next Wednesday’s "UFC Fight for the Troops" event (starting at the -27:05 mark):

"If he loses, and even if he wins, this may be his last fight he has in the UFC. As far as I know, he hasn’t signed the [video game] licensing agreement, and has no intention of signing it."

At the end of the episode, Kenny Florian disagrees with this assessment, arguing that a win over Yoshiyuki Yoshida will keep Koscheck in the UFC, regardless of the current contractual tension; McNeil feels that Kos’s days are numbered no matter what happens on Wednesday. Either way, it looks like he’s playing hardball with the UFC, and that usually ends with a shredded contract. And even though Josh Koscheck is one of the best welterweights in the world, the UFC may feel he’s expendable since he’s already proven that he can’t hang with Georges St. Pierre or Thiago Alves. In other words, if they let him go, they wouldn’t be losing a future champion. Plus, he’s never been a fan favorite. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out, but McNeil may be onto something.

(Photo courtesy of ESPN.)

The other day, Dana White called out Lyoto Machida as possibly the next in line to be "best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA" after Anderson Silva retires. After reading this interview by our pal Ben Zeidler, we wonder if White told Machida that such hype comes with a price — he has to start pretending like he has a personality. In the past, Machida has given interviews like he fights; no frills, accomplish your objective and move on. Now, things are getting a bit more colorful:

BZ: Is there anyone other than Thiago Silva that you would like to face?
LM: Give me the job and I will get it done. Rampage, Couture, Liddell, Vanderlei, Shogun, I work hard to win and will keep winning. Who thought they would see Tito with his back on the floor? Tito is a Great fighter but when he faced me, Lyoto, you know the ending.

BZ: Tell us a little bit more about your training regimens.
LM: My training is very versatile. My life is training, I just make some adaptations for each opponent. They need to worry about me. Look at my past, when I finish the fight I go dinner and have some fun and the other fighters go to the hospital.

BZ: What do you say to fans who say your style is boring?
LM: I am a martial artist, there is a lot of thought and strategy that goes into the way I fight…For some that is boring, I know, but I am beating the best in the world. After my fights I do not have nothing on my face, no scratches, no bruises. I am like a ghost — they can not find me. If that is boring, that is their opinion. But I will be there for long time WINNING. 

Zeidler notes that the interview was done through a translator. Unless that translator was Renato Sobral, it sounds like Machida may be trying to change his persona into something more brash. Not a heel necessarily, but cocky — an unkinder, ungentler version of his former self. Will some of that attitude transfer to the cage? An aggressive performance against Thiago Silva at UFC 94 next month could bolster his case as next in line for a title shot if he can score a stoppage victory.

(Junie would never accept a "Hertz donut" from Efrain ever again.)

During the entire season of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir, lightweight standout Efrain Escudero blogged his reactions to each new episode, right here on CagePotato.com. And wouldn’t you know it, the son-of-a-bitch is going to the finals (congrats, Efrain)! Check out what he has to say about episodes 11 and 12, and let him know how you feel in the comments section.

***

So the day is finally here, the biggest fight of my life. As I’m preparing in my room I just start to think back on how it all started. Who would have thought wrestling in junior high would have turned into this — whooping ass on national television. Since the semi-final matches were announced, everyone was itching to get back in the ring and get their shot at glory.

First, Bader and Elliot fought. Do you guys remember back in earlier episodes I said it wasn’t a good idea for Elliot to call out Bader? Well that was pretty much it; Bader controlled the fight and pretty much just muscled out a victory by decision — so the scoreboard reads Team Nog: 1, Team Mir: 0.

Everything in the house is pretty chill at this point, as these fights are so important; I was in the zone, blocking out everything around me. I could only focus on one thing and that was finishing Junie. The guy just runs his mouth a little too much and all I wanted to do was put my fist in there to close it up.

Now it’s the semis for the other spot in the LW finals — Roop vs. Nover. Now don’t get me wrong, I like George — hell, we have been friends for quite some time before coming on this show. But George got worked. Phillipe came out dropping bombs, the fight then went to the ground and Phillipe worked a Kimura. Phillipe looked pretty good out there. So now the score board reads Team Nog: 2, Team Mir: 0.

Was it me or did anyone else think there hadn’t been a good Junie tantrum in quite some time?? I’m skipping the Krystof vs. Vinny fight. Vinny landed a sick arm-bar, case closed, Team Nog: 2, Team Mir: 1.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back the Junie Browning show. It had been gone way to long — I sure as hell didn’t miss it. So watching the show last night I get to see how terrified Junie actually was, which was hilarious especially when he was trying to give his spot to Shane. It finally hit Junie: HE ISN’T ANY GOOD.

Before he scored three consecutive knockouts at UFC 2 — and way before he harpooned Butterbean at Yamma 1 — Patrick Smith was busy smashing fools in the sport karate circuit. This video (posted on the UG) was just too ridiculous/amazing not to share. Watch as Smith breaks some boards to fire himself up for the match, then executes a perfect side-kick to the balls / reverse-roundhouse combo to knock his opponent off the fighting stage, Bloodsport-style. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: ROBOTE IS THE STRONGEST.

After the jump: The full Torres/Tapia fight from last night.

People have been kicked off The Ultimate Fighter for less than what we saw Junie Browning do this season, but through it all he managed to stay on the show and endure to the semifinals.  After his loss to Efrain Escudero last night, Browning talks with Cage Potato about the person he was and the fighter he’s become, and he promises that we’ll all know the difference when we see him on next Saturday night’s Spike TV finale.

CagePotato.com: So after everything that happened, how surprised were you that Dana White didn’t kick you off the show?

Real surprised, actually.  Especially after what Dana said the first time and what happened.  But I’m sure everyone wanted to see me get my ass kicked, so that was a good reason to keep me on.

Were you knowingly sabotaging yourself and trying to get kicked off?

It was more the fact that I didn’t really care.  I wasn’t ready to fight.  I knew I was out of shape.  I wasn’t prepared to fight so I just didn’t really care about the consequences.  I would have rather just gone home rather than embarrass myself on TV.  That’s not necessarily the way I look at it now, but that’s the way I was thinking then.  It’s not a good way to look at it, but that’s how it felt.

You say you weren’t ready to fight, but in the beginning you seemed to be doing pretty well.  Why do you think you weren’t ready?

The beginning of the fight, that wasn’t pretty well for me.  That was horrible.  I knew it at the time, while I was fighting, that it was horrible.  I felt like every day I was on the show I was getting worse.  I just wasn’t fighting the same.  I wasn’t fighting explosive like I normally do.

If it was just that you were out of shape, why didn’t you spend more time beforehand working on your cardio so you would be ready?

(I love to see a man so bald and yet so happy.)

The Ultimate Fighter‘s Krzysztof Soszynski (known around these parts as K-Sos) came up short in his semifinals match-up with Vinny Magalhaes on last night’s show, but his skills certainly caught Dana White’s eye enough to land him a fight against Shane Primm on next weekend’s finale.

In this exclusive interview, K-Sos recounts his experience, discusses life with Junie Browning, and what we can expect when he gets in the Octagon next Saturday night and fights to keep his dream alive.

CagePotato.com: Thanks for talking with me Krzysztof.  Watching the show, it seemed like you were one of the few guys who didn’t get too bothered by being in the house.  Did it ever get to you like it did with some of the other guys?

Oh, absolutely.  To be honest, it’s a mental game more than anything while you’re there.  It’s a six-week mental challenge.  That’s what it is.  The physical part was easy.  You’re only training about four hours a day.  You can go when you want, you can miss practice if you need to rest, but you’re in that house for twenty hours a day no matter what.  That was the real challenge.  Those who passed will probably go on to do well.  Those who didn’t, they might have some problems down the road.  

It sounds like we’re talking about Junie there, so I’ll just ask, did you think he should have been kicked off?  Did you guys really want him to stay, or did Dana White kind of talk everybody into that?

To be honest, everybody expected him to get kicked off.  We expected him to get kicked off the first day he got in when he became the crazy drunk kid.  But when he threw that glass, we thought for sure that one of the other guys was going to get a shot at Efrain.  So it was very surprising that Dana didn’t kick him off.  

We kind of understood that the kid wanted to be gone, he wanted to leave on a good note so he could say, ‘I didn’t lose.  I would have been the best fighter, but Dana White kicked me off.’  So I see Dana White’s point.  And, we all wanted to see him lose.  I think everyone in that house wanted to see him lose.  Justice was served.

In this video interview with Fighters Only, Chuck Liddell shoots down rumors that he may face Anderson Silva in February or Randy Couture in June, saying that a potential fourth fight with Couture, “doesn’t make sense.”  He seems to have his sights set on a fight some time in March or April.  The opponent sounds less important to him than the date, but then that story could change once he sits down with Dana White and looks at his options.

Liddell also makes the case for continuing his career after the knockout loss to Rashad Evans, pointing out that he was winning the fight (technically true, since not much had happened) before getting caught with Evans’ brutal right hand.

Fair enough, but he has to realize that the situation will only become more desperate if he can’t notch a win in this mystery bout in the spring.  As long as he’s turning down interesting possible fights for himself, he might as well throw out a name or two of someone he would like to fight.   And don’t say James Irvin.  Just please, don’t.

(You can bet that one of these two men went to bed reeking of Bengay and whiskey after this. Click the image to view the video, courtesy of Spike.com)

At long last, the video has surfaced.  Al “Stankie” Stankiewicz and Efrain Escudero lace up the gloves and step in the Octagon.  It starts with a little good-natured ribbing, followed by a very credible Stankie impression by Kyle Kingsbury, and then Efrain finds out the hard way that Stankie isn’t joking about his strong desire to kick some ass one more time.

Say what you will about Stankie’s skills in the cage, but if I can move and punch like that when I’m sixty-seven, I’ll be happy.  Actually, if I’m still alive by then, and if the world has not deteriorated into a post-apocalyptic wasteland where we do battle over watering holes and run from roving packs of wild dogs, that will be enough for me.  

Way to show these young punks what it means to have an enduring warrior spirit, Stankie.  I’d be proud to call you my crazy grandfather figure, if only my actual crazy grandfather wasn’t always banging around up in the attic, yelling about how the neighborhood has gone to hell ever since the Irish moved in.

Related: Stankie, In His Own Words

("Okay, my turn next," said Stankie, taking off his pants.)

Efrain‘s guest blog is going to be a little late this week, but we wanted to get up at least a small post about last night’s TUF double-header so you could discuss it, if you wanted to, in the comments section. Basically, here’s what happened:

Ryan Bader def. Eliot Marshall via boring fucking wrestling
Phillipe Nover def. George Roop via storm/kimura
Vinny Magalhaes def. K-Sos via scary, scary, high-level jiu-jitsu
Efrain Escudero def. Junie Browning via submission (punishment)

Of course, Browning actually competing in his semi-final match was a story in itself. Discouraged by his performance in practice, Browning announced to Frank Mir that he was quitting the competition; Mir had no objection. Back at the house, Browning threw a coffee mug at Shane Primm and started swinging at him. When the dust settled, Dana White stopped by to play psychologist, asked the guys if they wanted to kick Junie off or beat him off — we’d assume that Tom Lawlor voted "beat him off" — and convinced Junie to stay. Oh, and the best part? Junie is going to be on the main card of the TUF 8 finale, solely on the basis of being a ridiculous head-case. (Fittingly, he’ll be fighting Dave Kaplan, the runner-up to Junie’s reality-show dumbass crown.)

For the record, Junie places most of the blame for his loss to Efrain on having awful cardio. As he writes in his final blog entry for UFC.com:

(Props to smoogy; Tapia somehow felt this was an early-stoppage.)

Due to the lengthy main card fights and care-free pacing of last night’s WEC show — yes, we get it, there’s going to be another Punisher movie, and Urijah Faber has no fear — we didn’t get to see any undercard scraps. Which is unfortunate, since two of them were worthy enough to produce end-of-night bonuses. First, the full results:

MAIN CARD
Miguel Torres def. Manny Tapia via TKO, 3:04 of round 2
Wagnney Fabiano def. Akitoshi Tamura via submission (arm triangle), 4:48 of round 3
Brian Bowles def. Will Ribeiro via submission (guillotine choke), 1:11 of round 3
Joseph Benavidez def. Danny Martinez via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)

UNDERCARD
Johny Hendricks def. Justin Haskins via TKO, 4:07 of round 2
Mark Munoz def. Ricardo Barros via TKO, 2:26 of round 1
Diego Nunes def. Cole Province via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Bart Palaszewski def. Alex Karalexis via TKO, 3:49 of round 2
Cub Swanson def. Hiroyuki Takaya via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Shane Roller def. Mike Budnik via submission (guillotine choke), 1:01 of round 1

$7,500 bonuses were handed out to the following fighters:

— Featherweights Cub Swanson and Hiroyuki Takaya for their three-round throwdown that stood out as the Fight of the Night.
— IFL vet Bart Palazewski for knocking out TUF 1 alum Alex Karalexis.
— Brian Bowles for his guillotine choke over Will Ribeiro.

Spend it wisely, men. A few morning-after thoughts on the event past the jump…

("No, I hate you more!" Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

Miguel Torres aims to make his second bantamweight belt defense against the undefeated Manny Tapia, Brian Bowles and Will Ribeiro scrap for the chance to take on the winner, and top featherweights Wagnney Fabiano and Akitoshi Tamura make their WEC debuts. Not too shabby a night for sub-lightweight MMA, if you ask us. Hit that "Read More" link and refresh the page every few minutes to get all the latest updates from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.