(Would it be possible for the ring to read "Fedor wuz here" backwards, just so we could identify those he’s already pummeled?)

According to a press release sent out this afternoon, WAMMA will be presenting Fedor Emelianenko with a “championship ring” in a special ceremony the day before his fight with Andrei Arlovski at Affliction: Day of Reckoning.  The ring was made by Tiffany’s and is “custom designed in the same manner in which the famed jewelry company produces championship rings for the NFL’s Super Bowl champions.”

In other words, it’s some real fancy pants shit.  So why does Fedor need a ring if he already has the WAMMA belt?  He doesn’t.  At all.  But it’s a good excuse for WAMMA to drum up publicity in itself and Affliction, since they’re one of the few organizations that actually recognizes the rankings body.

The good news for all you fans of Fedor and/or jewelry is that the ceremony is open to the public, as are the weigh-ins, which will be happening at the same time.  Basically, they’re giving him the ring at the weigh-ins.  “Special ceremony,” that’s just, you know, a thing you say.  Like “till death do us part.”

We don’t need to remark on how pointless this is, do we?  We all realize that it’s a blatant, not to mention lazy publicity stunt, and that even Fedor will only to pretend to care about this ring and he’ll probably do that very poorly, right?  Good.  Just checking.

(If God intended for man to fly, we would all have been born with Gonzaga’s foot in our gut.)

Gabriel Gonzaga and Shane Carwin have signed to face each other at UFC 96, which should make for exactly the kind of test we’ve wanted to see Carwin in ever since he knocked Christian Wellish’s mouthpiece into the peaceful night sky at UFC 84.  Carwin is 10-0 with two first-round wins by total destruction in his only two UFC fights, and Gonzaga is 2-2 in his last four fights, including a submission win over bottom-dweller Justin McCully and a TKO of one-and-done UFC newcomer Josh Hendricks.

So why is Gonzaga’s camp so convinced this fight with Carwin should earn “Napao” a shot at the winner of Frank Mir-Brock Lesnar II?

“It’s going to be a tough fight and [if he wins] Napao (Gonzaga) will have [earned the right] to face the winner of Mir vs. Lesnar,” Gonzaga’s trainer, Marco Alvan, told Brasil Combate.

The concept of having earned a title shot is already a vague one in the UFC, and only more so in the heavyweight division.  Consider that Brock Lesnar earned his shot by going 1-1 in his only two UFC fights, defeating mid-level heavyweight Heath Herring via decision to seal the deal.  Frank Mir earned his shot by beating Lesnar back when he only had one fight to his credit.  In other words, earned has nothing to do with it.

(When did Krazy Horse change his name to "Jeffrey Pickett"?)

Well this is just unfortunate. From CovNews.com, via CagePotato reader "Sweep the Leg":

(When you see it, you’ll shit bricks. Image courtesy of FilmDrunk.)

You thought Never Back Down was hardcore? Bro, you have no idea. FilmDrunk gives us the heads-up about another sure-to-be-amazing MMA-related movie in production, which is called, simply, Fighting. No, it’s not about professional mixed martial artists working their asses off to break through in the most demanding sport on Earth, because how boring would that be? It’s about an underground fight league, and it stars a pretty-boy named Channing Tatum. Dig the plot synopsis:

* I was surprised enough when Djimon Housou signed on for NBD. How did they convince the Oscar-nominated Howard to play a street hustler in a teenybopper fighting flick? Was he worried that he was becoming too well-respected?

** "Ay mayn, I saw the kimura-lock you put on that crackhead. You could go places with that shit."

*** No they don’t. This "underground fighting circuit" fantasy has been portrayed in countless movies, at least since Lionheart, and it needs to end. We have above-ground fighting circuits now, and they really exist, and they’re awesome.

(Give it your best shot, but please, no thai-style leg kicks.)

Just when you thought the Kimbo Slice hysteria had died down, more people have figured out how to make money off his likeness.  PrimeTime Amusements has unveiled their brand new “Team Kimbo Boxing Machine.”  

It’s one of those arcade games often found in cheap bars where the object is to hit a speed bag as hard as you can in order to prove your manliness to drunk chicks nearby.  After you hit the bag, a number appears, devoid of any unit of measurement, telling you whether you’ll get laid or not.  Ideally, you will find the number insufficient, and continue pumping quarters into the machine as you become drunker and angrier.  Meanwhile the girls go home with some guys who claim to work on Wall Street.

The fact that Kimbo is not a boxer doesn’t seem to bother the people at PrimeTime Amusements.  Nor are they troubled by the fact that these days “Team Kimbo” probably exists in name only.

I guess you have to strike the merchandising iron while it’s hot.  Though I hear these machines aren’t a great seller because all it takes is a weak jab to put them out of order.  Hi-yo!  Sorry.  I couldn’t help myself.

(Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle.)

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson got himself a new tattoo to celebrate his win over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92.  And look, it has a religious theme.  That’s…that’s good.  For those of you unfamiliar with Christianity, that’s Rampage’s The Lord’s Prayer inked on the old forearm there.  Just as long as he’s getting his eight hours of sleep a night and three squares a day, have at it, big guy.

Also, remember in the great article on Rampage in The Atlantic where David Samuels describes Jackson’s endearing habit of slapping people, just as a goof?  Seems like he’s still doing that.

Yep, Arlovski and Penn are still getting their Internet self-promotion on. Episode three of Arlovski 360: On the Road to Reckoning focuses on the Pitbull’s mental game, though the clip is really just a collection of people talking about how awesome Andrei is. Which is kind of ironic considering Loretta Hunt’s speech about how surrounding yourself with people who tell you how awesome you are is actually bad for your development. (The next episode is titled "The Entourage," which also doesn’t bode well.) Interesting fact: The Morgan Freeman-esque narrator in the Arlovski 360 series is Greg Hollimon, best known for his role as Principal Onyx Blackman in Strangers With Candy. Well, it was interesting to me, anyway.

Below: The intro to the sixth installment of The BJPenn.com Show, which kicks off with a recap of the first three fights in the Beatdown Challenge, visits the Prodigy in training, features the last Beatdown quarterfinal matchup between Chris "Red Bull" Willems and "Dirty" Dave Moreno, and introduces us to another "Pretty Wahine." Segments 2-5 of this episode can be found here. Is it annoying that you have to watch the episode in five separate clips? Yes it is. But BJPenn.com doesn’t play by your rules.

(Mamoru Yamaguchi and Shinichi Kojima: America is not ready.)

With their middleweight and light-heavyweight divisions officially closed down, the WEC is planning to add a new division to further differentiate themselves from their big brothers in the UFC. No, not women (at least not yet). According to MMA Weekly, you’ll soon be seeing 125-pound flyweights battling under the WEC banner: 

Quick, name three flyweight fighters. If you can do it, you’re probably a die-hard Shooto fan, since that’s where most of the top 125-pounders compete. And you can be sure that the WEC will be poaching a lot of talent from the Japanese organization. But Bloody Elbow believes that the WEC will be building their new division around Henry Cejudo, the 21-year-old American freestyle wrestler who won a gold medal in Beijing last summer competing at 121 pounds. Cejudo has been training at a boxing gym in his hometown of Phoenix, and was briefly rumored as an opponent for Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto at Fields Dynamite!! 2008. The upside with Cejudo is that he’s already something of a national hero, and can actually speak English — and therefore would be a lot easier to market than some of the other flyweight talent the WEC might bring aboard.

No matchups for the WEC’s March event have been officially announced, though a welterweight title fight between Carlos Condit and Brock Larson has been rumored.

(Honestly, what’s not to love?)

During today’s media conference call for UFC 93 the talk inevitably turned to the perceived stakes of the Dan Henderson-Rich Franklin bout on January 17 and whether the winner would really end up as a coach opposite Michael Bisping on season nine of The Ultimate Fighter, as has been discussed.  The answer, it seems, is that nobody knows for sure.  But Rich Franklin sure didn’t sound excited about the idea:

"I have not personally spoken to Dana, the UFC or any of the production people about the show," Franklin said. "Six weeks in Vegas, I’ve gotten to the point where I could care less for staying in Vegas for that period of time. It’s time away from my family and time away from doing the things I can do to make money. The show doesn’t pay very well. … But anything the UFC asks me to do, I’m always on board for."

Franklin also pointed out the absurdity of taking two former middleweights, like he and Henderson, and having them fight at light heavyweight to see who will take on Bisping at middleweight.  But Franklin’s main gripe seems to be that coaching the show isn’t such a good deal for a fighter – and he would know, seeing as he’s done it before. 

But is coaching the show really that bad?  So it doesn’t pay much (how much is not much, anyway?  Ten grand for six weeks?  Less?  More?), and it keeps Franklin from other lucrative opportunities, such as making movies with former Saved By The Bell stars, but it is publicity and the chance to build back up to a big main event bout.  That’s all good stuff, right? 

("Step 1: Kiss a picture of Manny Pacquiao every night before you go to bed." Photo courtesy of ESPN.)

From a new MMA Weekly interview with Andrei Arlovski‘s famed boxing coach, Freddie Roach:

Hear that, Tim Sylvia? Angles. If you think that Freddie’s "fight us like a man" line implies a lack of appreciation for MMA and its more subtle ground elements, you’d be correct. As he explains, “I think it’s boring. I saw one fight where the guy just laid on the other guy the whole fight and he won.” But Roach understands that Arlovski’s opponent could wind up scoring a victory on the canvas:

It must be nice to live in a world where you never have to worry about the armbar (I guess it’s called). But I don’t live in that world, and you don’t live in that world, and Andrei Arlovski sure as hell doesn’t live in that world. Can sharp boxing be enough to stave off Fedor’s Hydra-like attack? We’ll find out on the 24th, but my money’s still on the chubby guy.

The best reason to tune in to HDNet’s Inside MMA has always been to watch Bas Rutten act like a spastic, free-associative maniac. The above clip from the show’s "Best of 2008" episode collects Bas’s craziest moments, from his heroin-addict pantomimes to his beloved Tony Montana impression. If him and Robin Williams ever met, the world might explode. Check out the latest episode this Friday at 9 p.m., as Renato Sobral, Vitor Belfort and Carlos Condit join Bas and Kenny in the studio.

Here’s the extended trailer for UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn 2 (January 31st, Las Vegas). BJ Penn delivers the money line in their segment: "If Jon Fitch reminds [St. Pierre] of the Terminator, he’s gonna think I’m God." Later, in the Lyoto vs. Thiago segment, Dana White cackles about how Tito Ortiz couldn’t land anything on Machida in his last fight, while Rogan gets enthusiastic about Machida’s karate skills. We also get to hear Machida pronounce "with Tito" as "wiffa Cheeto," which is always good for a laugh.

After the jump: Mark Coleman says he’ll have a strength advantage against Mauricio Rua at UFC 93, while Rua looks forward to showing the Hammer what a healthy Shogun is capable of.

(Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

The California State Athletic Commission came down hard on Antonio Silva for flouting his steroid suspension and fighting in Japan last weekend, but they also proposed to fine and suspend his manager, American Top Team’s Alex Davis, for setting up the bout.  Davis isn’t taking the action lying down however, as he told us this afternoon that he plans to pursue the matter in civil court.

“We’ve got to.  I don’t see any other options at this point,” said Davis, who maintains that he can prove Silva’s innocence on the steroid charges.  “We’re going to go through civil court.”

Davis described the CSAC’s action against himself and Silva’s cornermen as an attempt to “extend their jurisdiction to the whole world,” and said Silva was motivated by financial necessity to take a fight in Japan after the CSAC turned down his appeal on the steroid charges.

“Antonio has acromegaly.  He has to treat it.  He spends between $6,000 and $8,000 a month just on medicine for it,” Davis said.  “He needs to be able to keep fighting to make a living.  If it’s between Antonio’s health and pleasing the athletic commission, we have to choose his health.”

(Photo courtesy of Tatame.)

Yesterday we relayed news that undefeated Brazilian fighter Paulo Thiago is getting his shot in the UFC against Josh Koscheck at UFC 95 in London.  It’s a tough first fight in the Octagon, but hey, the UFC isn’t the place for you if you’re only interested in easy fights.  

Turns out, however, that this isn’t the first fight in a three-fight deal for Thiago; it’s the only fight in a one-fight deal.  The UFC has signed him to the rare one-off contract, presumably so they won’t have to cut him when he loses to Koscheck.  Thiago says he’s hopeful that a good performance will lead to a longer contract, and that’s looking on the bright side, all right.  If he wins, he can ask for more money when he does actually sign a contract.  

But at the same time this is not a vote of confidence from the UFC.  Sounds like a longshot to stick around.  But you know who else was a longshot?  Rocky.  Although on second thought, Rocky lost, so he might have been cut after the first fight with Apollo.  Then we’d never have seen this.

Just please nobody tell Fedor and his management team that somebody is getting a one-off deal in the UFC.  They will freak right the hell out.

(‘I’m so mad I could pull guard right now.’)

There’s no getting around it, Dean Lister had a bad, bad night against Yushin Okami at UFC 92.  His offense consisted of pulling guard, a few token efforts at striking, and takedown attempts that only became more half-hearted as the fight wore on.  Not surprisingly, he lost the decision, was showered with boos from the fans, and got his release from the UFC afterwards.  

Now Lister has posted a message to the UG apologizing to his fans and teammates:

Listen I had a very poor performance my last fight. Truth is that I let my team and my gym, my friends and definitely myself down for this fight. Its not only that I lost but I really showed a poor performance. I had a much better showing against Arona (even though that was only primarily a grappling fight that I lost) even in Pride who is a better fighter than Okami for sure. Things just didnt come together for me this fight. I trained so, so hard, I really trained hard but it didnt work out.

Nice, right?  He owns up to his poor performance, apologizes to the people he let down, but it doesn’t stop there:

(MSG: You don’t know excitement until you hear 20,000 Long Island accents howling in unison. Photo courtesy of OneLouderNYC.com.)

Though a previous UFC-led effort to legalize mixed martial arts in New York State fell apart last year, the cause is not lost. A legislative session will re-address the issue tomorrow in Albany, which could lead to MMA being placed under the regulation of the New York State Athletic Commission, and open the doors for a historic fall UFC show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. And why might the current push for NY legalization be more successful than the last one? For one thing, New York State now has an Athletic Commission chairperson who’s sympathetic to the sport. Also, the state’s economy is in the crapper and they need every dollar they can get. As ESPN writes:

An independent economic impact study commissioned by the UFC showed that a UFC event would generate $11.5 million for New York City in tax and tourist revenue — which could be just the right amount of grease for the wheels to start turning. The bill (#S02858, FYI) will need to pass through New York’s House and Senate, then get a signature from Gov. Patterson. If all goes well, the UFC will hit Madison Square Garden in the fall, then Buffalo, then Albany.

(Props: MMA Mania)

The UFC has confirmed the lineup for UFC Fight Night 17, which will go down February 7th at the University of Southern Florida Sun Dome in Tampa; tickets can be purchased here. Notably, the recently arrested Josh Neer still has the green light to compete in a lightweight feature against Mac Danzig. Also on the televised main card, TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah finally has his first post-TUF match against undefeated Ring of Combat vet Nick Catone, Cain Velasquez welcomes Golden Glory striker Denis Stojnic to the Octagon, and Joe Lauzon and Hermes Franca try to build a win streak in the main event. The full lineup is below…

Main card
Joe Lauzon vs. Hermes Franca  (LW)
Cain Velasquez vs. Denis Stojnic (HW)
Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer (LW)
Amir Sadollah vs. Nick Catone (MW)

Undercard
Kurt Pellegrino vs. Rob Emerson (LW)
Alessio Sakara vs. Jake Rosholt (MW)
George Sotiropoulos vs. Matt Grice (LW)
Gleison Tibau vs. Rich Clementi (LW)
Luigi Fioravanti vs. Anthony Johnson (WW)

(The hell of it is, the fight was no good anyway.)

We knew that Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva was making himself an enemy of the California State Athletic Commission by flouting their suspension and fighting in Japan anyway this past weekend, but we didn’t know that he might also have condemned the friends who aided and abetted him.  

The CSAC is setting a February 10 hearing date to decide what to do about Silva, who claimed from the beginning that he was the victim of faulty steroid testing, but they’re also going after his cornermen and his manager, American Top Team’s Alex Davis, for negotiating the fight.  Dave Meltzer says Davis has been fined $2,500 and suspended for the remainder of his license for setting up the bout, and the CSAC’s Bill Douglas is notifying all athletic commissions about Silva’s cornermen and the assistance they gave to this fugitive from steroid justice.

Sounds like Bill Douglas comes from the Keyser Soze school of management.  He’s not just punishing Silva; he’s punishing his friends, his manager, his family, people who owe him money, people who owe his parents money… the point is, it’s needlessly harsh.  

(Wouldn’t mind seeing more of this from "The Crow.")

– David “The Crow” Loiseau is coming back to the UFC this spring, most likely against Ed Herman at UFC 97 in Montreal. Loiseau has racked up a three-fight win streak of late, besting TUF alum Solomon Hutcherson in September, and before that he made the rounds in EliteXC, Art of War, and other organizations since being bounced from the UFC following a loss to Mike Swick in 2006.  Apparently, the UFC thinks nothing of sending you packing until they need a token Canadian or two for their Montreal show.

– Matthew Riddle is also getting back in action, agreeing to a bout with Steve Bruno at UFC Fight Night 17 in February.  You might remember Bruno as the guy who did us all a favor and rid the UFC of “The Hater Hurter” at the Fight For The Troops.  Whatever else he does with his life, he’ll always have that.

– Jim Miller has agreed to face Gray Maynard at UFC 96 in a lightweight showdown that all the hardcores will have their eye on.  Maynard’s been wrestling his way to victory lately, notching three straight decision wins, but Miller is the jiu-jitsu dynamo who put Matt Wiman through the ringer at F2T2 despite taking the fight on short notice.  Either this will be the exciting match that finally sorts out the pretenders from the contenders in the lightweight class, or else Maynard will win another boring decision.

– Also looking likely for UFC 96 is an intriguing bout between welterweights Dustin Hazelett and Ben Saunders.  Hazelett twisted Tamdan McCrory’s arm all out of shape at UFC 91, and Saunders tore Brandon Wolff’s face to shreds with knees at F2T2.  At 7-0-2, Saunders has earned a step up in competition.  Hope his submissions defense is up to speed.  He’s going to need it.

(Props: Ensanity)
 
Good news for people who don’t like to see Chuck Liddell getting knocked out, in the same way, over and over again. The Sun-Sentinel reports that the 39-year-old Iceman has begun addressing some holes in his game over at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida:

So Chuck is stepping outside of his comfort zone in order to turn his losing streak around and become a contender again. But is it too little, too late?

 
(Photo courtesy of SportsNavi via Fightlinker)

Hey, check this out: Fight! Magazine has hooked us up with five more subscriptions to give away to our readers. Except, we never give away anything around here. As always, if you want the goods you’ll have to earn it.

We probably don’t need to tell you that the above photo depicts the monumental Dynamite!! 2008 superfight between Bob Sapp and Kinnikuman. (Also known as "The Death-Rattle of Japanese MMA.") Give us some creative captions for this pic and our five favorites will win one-year subscriptions to the magazine. Easy enough, right? Well, here’s the deal…

All entries must be submitted to this thread in the CagePotato Forums. So if you haven’t created an account yet, do so now. It’s quick and easy, and you should be using our forums anyway you lazy bastards. Feel free to submit multiple entries, but get ‘em in by 2 p.m. ET on Thursday. The winners will be announced shortly afterward. Good luck!

(Picture day at the UFC office. Kos would like four 3×5′s and some wallet-sized ones to give to girls in bars, please.)

It looks like Josh Koscheck will get his third fight in four months as the welterweight has been offered a bout with undefeated Brazilian newcomer Paulo Thiago at UFC 95 on February 21 in London.  Thiago makes his UFC debut after running up an unbeaten record in organizations you don’t care about (Jungle Fight, Conquista Fight, etc.) against opponents you’ve never heard of (Carelli Carelli, to name just one).  

Thiago has proved himself in the Brazilian ranks, but stepping up to the UFC to face a guy like Koscheck in his first fight is a tough draw.  Kos is coming off his devastating knockout of Yoshiyuki Yoshida at F2T2, though fortunately for Thiago he gets to meet him on neutral ground in England rather than in the U.S. military’s backyard (also known as one of the few places Koscheck can be a fan favorite, and even then only when he’s fighting a foreigner).  

With this fight added, the UFC 95 card is looking a little better.  Remember, this is the event that’s headlined by the distinctly not headline-worthy Joe Stevenson vs. Diego Sanchez bout.  Lest you think the UFC is treating you like second-class fans, people of the U.K., take a look at how they’ve filled out the rest of the card.

 
(Let’s remember the good times. Props: Old, Bald, & Irish.)

First EliteXC tanked, leaving Gina Carano without an organization to call home.  But if that wasn’t enough of a kick in the ovaries, American Gladiators has also been cancelled.  We can’t say we didn’t see it coming, but it’s sad nonetheless.  If only the new American Gladiators could have captured some this kind of magic from the old AG, maybe they’d still be around.  Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.  Not only does this mean we may never again see “Crush” tossing old ladies around in a unitard, it also means Hulk Hogan is being released back into the wild, so look out.  

But just when all Carano’s revenue streams look to be drying up, it sounds as if Dana White may actually be serious about getting her signed.  The UFC prez told Five Ounces of Pain’s Gary Herman that Carano, Robbie Lawler, and Jake Shields are all former EliteXC fighters he’d like to sign.  He also chastised fighters for signing with “fly by night companies,” saying they were “wasting their time.”

There you have it, young fighters not in the UFC.  Don’t sign with organizations other than the UFC or you’ll be wasting your time.  Just keep fighting one-offs in tiny regional shows for almost no money.  Then, after the UFC signs you and later cuts you, it won’t be so hard to re-adjust to your life of poverty and despair.  See?  Circle of freaking life.

 
Our highlight-video-making buddy Facey has launched a new site called FightFace, where he’ll be compiling the best MMA moments of every month into a single convenient clip. As far as source material is concerned, it doesn’t get much better than December 2008, which is the subject of Facey’s first installment. See above for the craziest stoppages from the TUF 8 finale, UFC’s "Fight for the Troops," WEC 37, UFC 92, and Fields Dynamite!! 2008. It’s an awesome project so keep your eye on it and show some support.

Also: If you don’t think it’s too early in the day to watch bikini-clad chicks gyrate at an MMA ring girl competition, you may want to watch the clip after the jump.

(You know, Dean, if you keep making that face it’ll stay that way forever. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

— The fact that middleweight submission specialist Dean Lister is out of the UFC isn’t too surprising after his terrible performance last month against Yushin Okami, but Lister reportedly requested the contract release himself. He is already in talks with several rival promotions, including Affliction and DREAM, for a new deal. Lister compiled a record of 4-2 in the UFC, and is 11-6 overall.

— Anthony Johnson and Luigi Fioravanti have agreed to face each other at UFC Fight Night 17 (February 7th; Tampa, Florida). Both welterweights are coming off of victories last month; Johnson knocked out Kevin Burns at the TUF 8 finale, and Luigi Fioravanti notched a unanimous decision win over Brodie Farber at "Fight for the Troops."

— TUF 3 middleweight winner Kendall Grove has also been booked for his next scrap. "Da Spyder" is slated to face Jason Day at UFC 96 (March 7th; Columbus, Ohio). Grove last competed in June, when he broke a two-fight losing streak with a split-decision victory over Evan Tanner at the TUF 7 finale. Day has also been out of action since June, losing to Michael Bisping via first-round TKO at UFC 85.

— During an interview with the local NBC news affiliate in Des Moines, Josh Neer apologized to his friends and fans for his New Year’s Eve DUI arrest; he will find out this week if his upcoming fight with Mac Danzig will still take place, and if he still has a job with the UFC. According to reporter Elias Johnson, "once you’re done in the UFC, it’s over." 

— Nearly one-third of UFC 92′s 14,166 spectators didn’t pay for their seats.

(Kitaoka vs. Gomi)

Not that Sengoku lightweight grand prix winner Satoru Kitaoka was some scrub that Takanori Gomi was going to run over, but few people expected Kitaoka to give the Fireball Kid the quickest loss of his career. Yet that’s what happened today at Sengoku’s "Rebellion 2009" card in Saitama, Japan, as Gomi found himself on the painful end of a heel-hook before the two-minute mark. That makes it five impressive wins in a row for rising star Kitaoka — who is now Sengoku’s lightweight champion — and the third loss in five fights for Gomi, whose legendary reputation takes another tough hit.

In the event’s middleweight championship bout, Jorge Santiago put Kazuo Misaki to sleep with a rear-naked choke at the 3:26 mark of the fifth round; if Misaki made it to the bell, he would have likely won the decision after a grueling war that saw the "Grabaka Hitman" dominate Santiago with his striking.

In heavyweight action, Antonio Silva’s suspension-defying matchup with Yoshihiro "Kiss" Nakao ended in disappointing fashion, as Nakao’s knee gave out early in the first round after a couple of brief exchanges. Also, heralded up-and-comer Dave Herman took his first loss after being overwhelmed by punches in the second round of his match against Korean PRIDE vet Mu Bae Choi. Full results and more videos are after the jump…

(Let’s hurry this up. Gomi has to get back to slinging dope in the park. Photo courtesy of Sengoku.)

Everyone made weight for this weekend’s World Victory Road Sengoku event in Japan, which means it’s all systems go for Antonio Silva to officially give the finger to the California State Athletic Commission by fighting overseas while under suspension back in the states.  Silva will have a good thirty-five pounds on Yoshihiro “Kiss” Nakao when they step in the ring, though most of that weight is located in his chin.

Also of note, Takanori Gomi attempts to put his recent decision loss behind him (see video) as he takes on Satoru Kitaoka for the Sengoku lightweight title.  Meanwhile, the guy who beat Gomi, Sergey Golyaev, gets stuck on the undercard.  Real nice. 

In what might be the best fight of the night, Jorge Santiago squares off with Kazuo Misaki for the middleweight strap.  Dave “Pee Wee” Herman and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal are also both on the card, and don’t worry, King Mo is prepared for inclement weather.

Full weigh-in results after the jump.

(Doesn’t Art Davie just ooze sincerity?)

A while back we all had a good laugh over the idiotic spectacle that is XARM, the brainchild of UFC co-creator Art Davie that meshes arm-wrestling with MMA punching people and is somehow even dumber than it sounds.  We were content to let it go, then we saw this, a blog post by Davie declaring that MMA has “lost its way” and the UFC has “de-evolved.”

Normally we’d ignore this kind of cry for attention, but it’s just too good and we love mocking things waaaay too much.  For example:

I was the guy who started this sport [ed. note: bullshit] and let me say, for the record, that I love MMA. But, I’m not the only one or the first one to say that the MMA seems to have has lost its way. MMA, and specifically the UFC, have stopped delivering the kind of extreme fighting sport that fans have come to expect. Some are saying now that the UFC has de-evolved. First it was a spectacle, then it gained acceptance as a sport and now it’s back to being a spectacle.

(Photo courtesy of Fight Sport.)

Now that an eventful 2008 is in the books, Alistair Overeem tells DreamFighters.com that he plans to take a little rest, go on vacation, and maybe even swing on over the Ireland to catch UFC 93 on January 17th.  Lest you think it’s purely a sight-seeing trip, the Dutch fighter says his management team has been in talks with the UFC and Affliction, and Overeem says he’s up for fighting everyone from Fedor Emelianenko to Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir.  

After seeing a very bulky Overeem destroy Badr Hari on New Year’s Eve, we can’t deny that we’d like to see him added to the UFC’s heavyweight stable.  Even signing with Affliction would offer him a fresh list of opponents and probably a nice paycheck, though who knows for how long.  But you put a guy like Overeem into the UFC’s heavyweight division and suddenly you have a lot of interesting match-ups on the horizon, and they’d be particularly helpful in the UFC’s European expansion attempts.

Overeem isn’t the only one thinking about stepping into the Octagon, however, as his old rival Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic says he’ll likely retire in 2009, and would like to have one more fight in the UFC before he does.

Multiple sources are reporting that TUF 8 lightweight winner (and CagePotato guest blogger) Efrain Escudero will take on Jeremy Stephens in an April UFC event. Escudero defeated Phillipe Nover via unanimous decision at last month’s TUF 8 finale, after submitting Ido Pariente, Shane Nelson, and Junie Browning on the show. His pro record currently stands at 11-0, with nine of his wins coming by submission within the first two rounds.

Stephens (14-3, 3-2 UFC) is coming off his monstrous knockout of Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 91 in November. Contrasting with Escudero’s grappling-oriented style, Stephens has taken out most of his opponents with striking, picking up 10 wins via KO/TKO along the way. Still, if Escudero can control Stephens with his wrestling like he did to Nover, Lil Heathen’s punching power won’t be as much of an issue. Could be a great first post-TUF test for Double-E.

(Props: MMA Scraps)

We didn’t pick up on Shinya Aoki‘s post-fight speech at Dynamite!! 2008 because we don’t speak Japanese and we didn’t actually watch the event, but apparently the Tobikan Judan had some strong words for Dana White, the UFC, and our country as a whole. You can check it out above, helpfully translated into broken English.

Later, in a chat with Sherdog, Aoki was a bit more humble:

“I think there’s no doubt that B.J. Penn is still the best at 155 pounds. He’s most likely the best fighter in the world. I don’t ignore the UFC. I respect the UFC because it’s a very high level organization — a high summit in the sport.”

“Personally, the most decisive fight in the world, the culmination, the pinnacle for me is B.J. Penn. Please do not misunderstand — I really need this to be clearly expressed in the media: Shinya Aoki will not go to the UFC. [Ed. note: :'-( ] I just want to fight B.J. Penn. This is my selfish wish. I know that everyone says they want Penn, but I think I’m the number one Japanese fighter to be saying this.”

Yes, Shinya. Out of all the fighters who publicly call out BJ Penn but have no intention of signing with the organization that would make a fight with him a legitimate possibility, you are definitely the top Japanese one.