(Nolte as Four-Leaf Tayback in Tropic Thunder. Photo courtesy of IMDb.)

Could it be? An MMA movie that doesn’t involve an "underground fighting league" or one-armed combat? And it stars the lovably grizzled Nick Nolte? Color us interested. MMA Payout passes along this Variety.com report:

Okay, so shades of Ken and Frank Shamrock, maybe, with the brother vs. brother thing. But here’s another sign that the movie could be worth a damn: Director Gavin O’Connor, who previously helmed Miracle and Pride and Glory, was the executive producer of The Smashing Machine, the landmark documentary about MMA cautionary tale Mark Kerr. So he knows the sport, and would likely bring an authentic point-of-view to his new project. Back in October, O’Connor gave a more detailed synopsis of the film to Premiere:

Above: MMA/video-game mashup artist lookoutawhale created this Dana White/Super Mario Bros tribute for a UG contest to win tickets to DW’s St. Patrick’s Day party in Boston, and it’s pretty Fuk’n amazing. If only dealing with your rivals was as simple as jumping on their heads.

Below: The more I watch Dan Quinn‘s videos, the more I’m convinced that he’s not a real person, but a highly trained actor playing a character named "Dan Quinn," and the whole YouTube video thing is just a brilliant guerilla marketing campaign for Starwest Botanicals. Because honestly, how can this person not be in on the joke? Yes, that’s his mom who comes by to bust Dan’s weed party at the 4:44 mark, and remind him that "that thing is still simmering." So yes, he lives with his mother. He also alludes to a knowledge about methamphetamine that rivals his knowledge about marijuana and stevia. Why are we not surprised?

After the jump: Some lucky dickhead teaches you how to reverse guard, with the help of two very sexy girls. The last shot = possibly NSFW, totally OMFG.

(Aoki vs. Gardner. Props to MMALinker.)

The opening round of DREAM’s featherweight GP is in the books, with tournament standout Masakazu Imanari advancing (just barely) over Atsushi Yamamoto, former wrestling world champion Joe Warren scoring a cut-stoppage victory over former WEC bantamweight champ Chase Beebe, and Korean judo champ Jong Won Kim losing his MMA debut to Hiroyuki Takaya.

The non-tourney bouts were all easy victories for the big names, as Mitsuhiro Ishida used his wrestling to dominate Daisuke Nakamura for 15 minutes, and Tatsuya Kawajiri was able to choke out BJ Penn student Ross Ebanez in the shortest fight of the night. The Shinya Aoki/David Gardner 163-pound feature started out exciting, with the American punishing Aoki with punches to the face after Aoki tried to pull guard, but once Aoki took his back it was only a matter of time before the submission came. Completely trapped, Gardner took a couple opportunites to wave to the audience. I don’t think I need to tell you what happens when you’ve got Aoki on your back and you decide to lift your arm to wave.

Full results are after the jump, followed by videos of the Warren/Beebe and Ishida/Nakamura scraps.

(‘Page vs. Keef. Props to MMALinker.)

After a wild, occasionally bizarre night of action which once again proved that weak-on-paper cards often turn out to be the most entertaining ones, the UFC released $60,000 end-of-night bonuses to UFC 96‘s standout fighters. Taking home the extra cash are…

Fight of the Night: Quinton Jackson and Keith Jardine, who put on a surprisingly competitive three-rounder in the main event; in fact, the fight was one of the few matches on the card that wasn’t a one-sided squash.

Knockout of the Night: Matt Hamill, obviously, for his Cro Coppian head-kick obliteration of Mark Munoz. 

Submission of the Night: No bonus was given out, even though Tamdan McCrory did technically make Ryan Madigan tap due to strikes. We’ll let you know if he decides to file a complaint with the athletic commission.

UFC 96 drew a very-impressive 17,033 spectators to Nationwide Arena, for a gate of $1.8 million. 

After the jump: The Hammer’s nasty KO, Carwin’s ownage of Napao, the Brown/Sell fiasco, and Kendall Grove’s job-saving beatdown of Jason Day.

(‘You…just ruined my vacation, Frank Mir.’)

Despite the heat generated by the post-fight face-off between "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad Evans, the proposed title bout for UFC 98 in May isn’t guaranteed just yet.  Dana White was upfront about the possibility that injury or simple fatigue could keep Jackson out of the fight, in which case Lyoto Machida would get the title shot.

Injuries or not, Rampage didn’t exactly sound thrilled about fighting again in just a little over two months.

"I want my belt back, but I got to talk to manager and talk some things though.  Then I’ll tell Dana what’s up," he said.

(Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle.)

It’s a lovely spring day in Columbus, Ohio and the streets of the Arena District are teeming with fans eager to find out, can Keith Jardine really continue his streak of ruining every good plan the UFC has, or will "Rampage" Jackson save him from the ethical quandary of a potential future title shot against his dear friend Rashad Evans?  We’ll be liveblogging all the action as it unfolds, so stick with us.  And when I say stick with us I really mean it.  God help me, if I find out you’re two-timing us with some other liveblog there will be hell to pay.

Before we get started, how about giving this a quick Digg.  It only takes a second, and you’ll feel better about yourself afterwards.  Remember to hit refresh often to keep up with the action.  We’ll get started any minute now…

Dana White’s UFC 96 video blog – Watch more free videos

Dana White pays a hungover visit to the Arnold Classic in the latest edition of his UFC 96 video blog.  Then he gets taken by an arm-wrestling shark.  The whole thing looks like a set-up to me but Dana can afford to give away some tickets to this one, and he forgets all about it once Buster Douglas shows up. 

Other highlights include Joe Rogan telling stories that involve Joe Rogan being high, Dana White making dreams come true, and Matt Hughes grab-assing.  Never a dull moment.

(I know, Joe.  I have the same reaction when I get too close to the Cage Potato logo.)

It’s hard to be the Cage Potato sometimes.  Partying with MMA royalty like Forrest Griffin and Urijah Faber.  Drinking for free at an open bar while chicks in bikinis gyrate beneath a giant flashing sign that says “SEXY.”  Giving out free Hall of Fame t-shirts to the pleading masses.  Oh, wait a minute.  That isn’t hard.  That was just my Friday night.

If you can’t tell from the above paragraph, last night’s Fight Magazine/Cage Potato VIP Party was a complete success.  I arrived with an all-star blogging crew that featured Fightlinker’s Ryan Harkness and MMA Frenzy’s Kris Karkoski precisely at 8:30 pm.  It might seem a little lame of us to show up exactly when the party was scheduled to start, but in our defense: a) that’s when the open bar started, and b) Joe Stevenson had already been there for ten minutes by then.  That’s right, “Daddy” knows how to party.

(Mir talks with the Jiminy Glick of sports interviewers at the Arnold Classic.  Props: MMA Fanhouse.)

Reports are coming in from all sides regarding Frank Mir’s readiness to fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 98.  Dana White says he still doesn’t think the fight is off, while Mir is saying otherwise.  

Sources tell us that Mir’s camp asked the UFC not to announce the fight earlier this week since the champ had just had knee surgery that would prevent him from training other than on a treadmill or in a pool for 4-6 weeks.  The UFC apparently ignored these wishes and announced the fight anyway, which they’ll probably have to scrap if they can’t convince Mir that it’s no biggie for him to be unable to train before the biggest fight of his life.

So what will the UFC do for a main event in May?  The rumor is they may try and replace the heavyweight bout with Rashad Evans making his first title defense against either “Rampage” Jackson or Lyoto Machida.  If true, it would salvage the May event, while also finally indicating that the UFC is no longer in denial about the Mir-Lesnar fight is off.  As any therapist will tell you, acceptance is a painful but necessary first step.

(Well, it didn’t really look like these two BFFs wanted to fight anyway.)

FiveOuncesofPain breaks it:

A follow-up report by MMA Mania called it a knee injury, not a back injury, but the situation remains the same — UFC 98′s headlining bout has gone from Lesnar vs. Mir to Hughes vs. Serra. Unless, of course, the UFC throws in a replacement for Mir. (The winner of Gonzaga/Carwin, anybody?) But with the rivalry and dual titles that Lesnar and Mir have accumulated in the last year, it’s hard to imagine that the UFC would risk giving Lesnar a loss and killing the heat behind the matchup. Stay tuned…

(Photo courtesy of myspace.com/scottthelionheartblevins)

We heard rumblings about this in the comments section of our recent interview with winless fighter Scott "LionHeart" Blevins, but we assumed it was just your average case of haters hatin’. Well dig this bombshell, courtesy of the Times-Union Online: 

(A good representative of the spokesmodels at the Arnold Classic.  I’ll let you decide whether that’s good or bad.)

I have no idea what Columbus, Ohio is like on weekends when it isn’t hosting the Arnold Classic and the UFC.  Maybe it’s a normal, pleasant little town.  But this particular weekend it shines like a beacon attracting every meathead in North America.  It’s the kind of city where when you walk into a restaurant and ask the hostess if there’s room at the bar, she replies that there’s an empty seat next to a big guy in a backwards baseball cap and then stops herself when she realizes that description is no help at all.

The UFC knows what they’re doing coming here on this weekend.  Instead of trying to draw their crowd to Las Vegas, this is the weekend that they go where their crowd already is.

And since I’m here to report on tomorrow’s fights I figured, when in the land of meatheads, go to the Arnold Classic – or, as I now like to call it, Land of the Awesome t-shirts.

(Seems like a pretty good way to throw out your back.)

Before we get into this week’s t-shirt winners, we’d like to announce that CagePotato.com now has its own Facebook page. Become a fan, and allow us to infect your lives even further… 

Myles Kilometers on "Videos: Maia’s ‘Science of Jiu-Jitsu,’ Ken Shamrock’s Life Story + More": Before I "jumped" I assumed the "weak old man gets beat up by an MMA fighter" was just more recent Ken Shamrock footage.

The Carpenter on "Videos: Maia’s ‘Science of Jiu-Jitsu,’ Ken Shamrock’s Life Story + More": Close Call. Jesus of Nazareth could definitely take more punishment but his chin was suspect. However, Guida is tough enough to actually fight back, even if he just hugs his opponents. Jesus is tougher in a sense that he can take more punishment, but Clay could probably kick his ass.

In one way, Jesus was a better carpenter because he was more accurate and he took it more seriously. Clay on the other hand, participates in fighting and it is his main source of income so he doesn’t take carpentry as seriously. However, Clay has the better and more advanced tools, so I’d have to say he could build a better spice rack if he had to.

punchguyinface on: "Kirill Sidelnikov, Of All People, Tests Positive for Steroids": that Kirill guy puts the lol in Stanozolol

Brian W on "Is ‘UFC 2009 Undisputed’ in Jeopardy?": 
up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, A, B, A, B, Select, Start
That’s the code to unlock Harold Howard. You’re welcome.

If you’re a big winner, send your name, address, and shirt size to feedback@cagepotato.com and we’ll get a "Hall of Fame" shirt out to you ASAP. 

(A face only Greg Jackson could love.  Courtesy of Combat Lifestyle’s UFC 96 press conference gallery.)

It’s debatin’ time again.  With one day to go before UFC 96 rocks Columbus, Ohio, we’re talking title shots, Hall of Fame inductees, and more in this edition of Ben vs. Ben.

Given Jardine’s track record for spoiling the UFC’s best-laid plans, what are his chances to upset Rampage Jackson and force a Machida-Evans title fight?

BG: Unless Greg Jackson’s gameplan for Keith Jardine is “change everything about your standup game,” the Dean of Mean is in deep shit. Sure, Jardine has been a notable spoiler for Forrest Griffin and Chuck Liddell, but he’s just as well-known for being eaten alive by the heavy-handed onslaughts of Houston Alexander and Wanderlei Silva, thanks in large part to his often-shaky striking defense. Jardine may be able to outmaneuver a measured counter-puncher, but if Jackson comes out slugging, he’s done for.

Not to say that Rampage is going to be a wild man from the opening bell. Against Wanderlei Silva in December, he took the first half of the first round at a slow pace, settling in and finding his range. (And then he found it, and boom went the dynamite.) But there’s a difference between the patient knockout artist that Jackson was at UFC 94, and the tentative, off-peak, troubled Rampage we saw against Forrest Griffin at UFC 86. Jardine could have probably won a decision over that Rampage via leg kicks. Unfortunately, a 100% healthy and focused Quinton Jackson would likely outbox Jardine into unconsciousness, sometime after the first round. QJ wins this one four out of five times. Machida’s title shot will come at the end of this year, at the earliest.

BF: First of all, QJ?  Man walks around with a perfectly good nickname like “Rampage” and here you are calling him QJ?  There’s just no excuse for that.

(Ali Sonoma and some other chick.  Photo courtesy of Hardbody.com)

Former UFC Octagon girl and Diego Sanchez-lover Ali Sonoma won the overall Arnold Amateur NPC Bikini Championship in Columbus, Ohio this week.  Apparently the women’s class was broken into two divisions: tall and short.  Simple enough, right?  Ali won the tall division (the woman who won the short one is standing next to her in the above picture, clearly envying Ali’s height), but also won the overall honors.  

Good thing, because judging from that picture she basically lived in a tanning bed for the last few weeks.  At least she didn’t go overboard, like some other people. 

Looks like times aren’t so hard for Ali after all, even if we’re still baffled by those pictures of her on the weird porn site.  Which we totally only looked at for research…um…professional purposes.  Try explaining that when your mom walks in, though.  Seriously, it was really uncomfortable and our relationship hasn’t been the same since.  But congratulations, Ali.

("Ladies, do you mind? Evans-Machida is about to start.")

Great news for cheese-steak gobbling Ryan Howard fans — last Friday, Pennsylvania officially approved the regulation of mixed martial arts, allowing for MMA events to take place there this year. And you know what that means:

Added MMA Weekly:

2009 has already seen the UFC make its first appearance in Ireland, and the organization is preparing for its upcoming debuts in Tennessee (Condit vs. Kampmann on April 1st) and Oregon (UFC 101 in August). New York is far from a done deal, but Philadelphian UFC fans may want to keep their schedules clear this fall.

(Hey, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

FEG has finalized the lineup for this Sunday’s DREAM 7 in Saitama, Japan, which will feature the opening round of their featherweight grand prix. Even though the card contains such big names as Shinya Aoki (in a welterweight tune-up match), Tatsuya Kawajiri, and Mitsuhiro Ishida, the show’s main event will be the tournament’s most anticipated first-round bout, between #5-ranked featherweight Masakazu Imanari and Krazy Bee standout Atsushi Yamamoto. Here’s how the fights will go down: 

9. FW GP: Masakazu Imanari vs. Atsushi Yamamoto
8. FW GP: Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Kim Jong Won
7. FW GP: Yoshiro Maeda vs. Micah Miller
6. Lightweights: Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Ross Ebanez 
5. Welterweights: Shinya Aoki vs. David Gardner
4. Lightweights: Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Daisuke Nakamura
3. FW GP: Akiyo Nishiura vs. Abel Cullum
2. FW GP: Chase Beebe vs. Joe Warren
1. FW GP: Takafumi Otsuka vs. Bibiano Fernandes

You might have noticed that DREAM 7 will only produce six quarterfinalists for the featherweight GP. The other two will be Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, who’s getting a bye to the second round, and the winner of the Daiki Hata/Hideo Tokoro match at DREAM 8 (April 5th, Nagoya, Japan). Unfortunately, Sunday’s event won’t be broadcast on HDNet until next Saturday, but we’ll post the best fights on Sunday and Monday, so stay tuned.

(Shoulda used your Vaseline cheat-code, Georges. Props: urdirt.com) 

Even if you don’t read the news regularly, you may be aware that our country is going through a bit of a recession. Maybe your former boss might have mentioned it when you were fired. Basically, it’s a bad time to own a company in America, or work at one. And though the UFC’s pay-per-view buys have looked seemingly recession-proof, they may be feeling the pinch in an unexpected way. WatchKalibRun reports that THQ, the publisher of UFC 2009 Undisputed, is in serious financial straits, which could affect the fate of the hotly-anticipated video game:

(Only one thing could make "The Dean of Mean" smile like that: ice cream sandwich.)

Need some money and don’t want to go through the tedious motions of acquiring it through work?  Man, I sympathize.  That’s why I’m moving to an internet gambling-based personal financial model.  Yes, literally every piece of financial advice I read strongly suggests I not do this, but if those people know so much why are they still working as financial advice writers instead of living it up in limos with a bunch of Armenian strippers?  Riddle me that, suckas.

Betting lines come to us via BestFightOdds.com, as usual.

Quinton Jackson (-281) vs. Keith Jardine (+261)
Gabriel Gonzaga (-160) vs. Shane Carwin (+150)
Matt Hamill (-160) vs. Mark Munoz (+150)
Pete Sell (-131) vs. Matt Brown (+121)
Gray Maynard (-160) vs. Jim Miller (+155)
Tamdan McCrory (-290) vs. Ryan Madigan (+275)
Kendall Grove (-160) vs. Jason Day (+165)
Tim Boetsch (-130) vs. Jason Brilz (+130)
Brandon Vera (-500) vs. Mike Patt (+450)
Aaron Riley (-205) vs. Shane Nelson (+190)

Thoughts…

(Props: KahL)

Inspired by such HL-vid masters as Genghis Con, RVR, and Robert Park, a shadowy figure known as KahL-One has gotten into the MMA-film game with this tribute to Demian Maia, spanning Maia’s early fights to his current training with Wanderlei Silva. As you can tell from the intro, KahL seems to think that Demian is the second coming of Rickson — and maybe he’s right.

Below: Ken Shamrock shared his tale of personal redemption at the Fighting With God conference in January, and revealed the source of his early struggles — he wasn’t hugged enough as a child. No, seriously. This video cobbles together the highlights of his speaking appearance, where he gave the lowdown of life with his adoptive father Bob, losing to "a guy in pajamas" at UFC 1, cheating on his wife and the sport (‘roids?), and loving Jesus. A rare insight into the psyche of the World’s Most Dangerous Man. 

After the jump: A weak old man gets beat up by an MMA fighter. And believe it or not, you will be rooting for the MMA fighter.

(Look dude, if you can’t pull off the somersault into heel hook, don’t even try it.)

Now that you people are finally done bitching about another contest you didn’t win, we can finally move on to the pressing issues addressed in your questions.  Like which MMA fighter we would like to have for a father.  Thank God we’re finally getting serious around here.

Who do you guys see as the Best and Worst Referees of UFC, and any other big Organization, and why? Thanks sirs.  – Rokabee

Steve Mazzagatti took some heat from Dana White for his late stoppages, and while he’s not the best he certainly isn’t the worst.  That’s a toss-up between Dan Miragliotta and “Regional” Donnie Jessup.  Miragliotta screwed up the Kimbo Slice-James Thompson fight something awful, but bless his heart, he seems like he’s doing his best.

Jessup, on the other hand, seemed like he had no idea what the ground game was when he worked “Fight for the Troops.”  He called for action while one fighter had another’s back and forced stand-ups like he needed to hurry up and get the fight finished so he could run and put money in the parking meter.  And let’s be honest, the Southern accent never helps the perception of anyone’s intelligence.  It just doesn’t.  Worst ref around.  No question.

(Well, at least you and Rude Boy will finally be able to open that taco stand you’ve been talking about for the last five years. Again, props to CombatLifestyle.)

Though he was successful in his last performance — a split-decision victory over Evan Tanner at the TUF 7 finale last June — Kendall Grove‘s previous back-to-back losses still seem to be fresh in Dana White’s mind. As the UFC prez told USA Today, in regards to Grove’s UFC 96 matchup with Jason Day:

It’s cool, Dana — we forget about Travis Lutter sometimes, too. Anyway, that’s what we call "tough love." Is it possible that DW is suggesting that Da Spyder’s job is on the line just to add another hook to Saturday’s show, which has very little heat behind it right now? Grove had better win, just in case his boss backs up his words.

Also in the USA Today article, Dana expressed frustration at Keith Jardine’s recent comments that he wouldn’t fight his friend and teammate Rashad Evans for the UFC’s light-heavyweight title if he was given the opportunity:

It is aggravating when team alliances get in the way of compelling matchups (see also: Anderson Silva staying out of the light-heavyweight division because "this belt belongs to Lyoto"), but you can’t force people to fight each other. Danny Trejo tried that once, and wound up getting shot in the gut by Ken Shamrock’s wife. You just never know how people will react when their backs are against the wall…

("I’th my birfday." Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

According to Sherdog, Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida have agreed to face each other in the headlining bout of the Ultimate Fighter: Team U.S. vs. Team U.K. finale (June 20th, Las Vegas). In his lightweight debut at UFC 95 last month, Sanchez used his boxing to dominate Joe Stevenson en route to a unanimous decision victory; the Nightmare had previously compiled an 8-2 record as a welterweight. As for Guida, the Chicago-based fighter has been on a tear lately, with three consecutive victories over Samy Schiavo, Mac Danzig, and Nate Diaz.

While Guida’s wrestling prowess and endless gas tank have been a curse for former Ultimate Fighter winners, Sanchez won’t be vulnerable in the same way that Danzig and Diaz were. Sanchez is just as skilled at takedowns and positional control as the Carpenter, and he has his own reputation for vast cardio. If striking decides this fight, Sanchez will likely have the edge. But a win would mean the same thing for either fighter — a big step towards establishing themselves as the next top lightweight contender after Kenny Florian.

(Miller plays a fun little game of ‘got you first!’ with Matt Wiman.)

When we interviewed Josh Koscheck before his now-infamous bout with Paulo Thiago and he admitted that he hadn’t watched any video of Thiago’s previous fights, and in fact didn’t even know what Thiago looked like, a few of you noted that this seemed a little strange and probably like a bad idea.  Then he went and got knocked out and we couldn’t help but wonder, what if he’d taken ten minutes to do a little YouTube search?  Would it have helped?

Apparently not interested in finding out is Jim Miller, who tells Ariel Helwani that he also doesn’t watch tape on opponents and hasn’t really studied film on Gray Maynard to prepare for their UFC 96 bout:

Yeah, I am one of those guys who doesn’t watch tape. That’s when I get nervous, when I’m watching tape. I just also think that I am going to go out there and make him fight my fight. I am not going to be worried about what he does and what might work against him. I just try to focus on what I am going to do him.

Far be it for me to tell you how to prepare for a fight, but wouldn’t you like to know what to expect out there?
It is good to know what somebody brings to the table, but I just don’t study tape. I have seen Gray fight a couple of times, and I know the gist of how he fights. But I feel like I need to improve in every aspect of my game. So, I try to just train the way I always train, and get better at everything because I feel like I have just so much more room to improve at everything.

(Dignity is spelled, "K-I-M-B-O.")

Remember when we posted this picture and wondered aloud, ‘WTF?’  Well, Fightlinker has discovered the answer and it has left us exclaiming ‘WTF!?’

Turns out the picture was from a porn movie that features a cameo from Mr. Kimbo Slice.  The title of this porn movie is “Farold & Fumar Escape to the Bottomless Party” (link is obviously NSFW, unless you work at Hustler, and if you do, are you guys hiring?).  It is a predictably half-assed rip-off of “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay,” which is itself already a half-assed attempt at a sequel to a half-assed attempt at a movie.

Kimbo plays a Gitmo guard by the name of Big Bud.  We know this because he shows up on screen and says, “What’s up bitches?  Hey bitches, I’m Big Bud.”  And his delivery is bad even for a porn movie.

Yeah, I think it’s safe to say Kimbo ain’t getting that part in the A-Team movie.  But the porn rip-off of the A-Team movie (entitled “Anal Team,” obviously) he’s a shoe-in for that.

(Cris Cyborg [right] with former victim Shayna Baszler. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

From a new press release sent out by Strikeforce:

("Ladies, do you mind? Gonzaga-Carwin is about to start.")

There’s simply nothing better in the world than screaming at a row of flat-screen TVs in a sports bar during UFC events, surrounded by a pack of howling MMA fans, buzzed off of dollar-drafts of Bud Light. (Honestly, we defy you to find something better than that. The love of a child? Ha.) So in our continuing efforts to serve you, CagePotato is setting out to determine America’s 25 best bars/pubs/lounges/other-places-that-serve-booze to watch MMA. And we need your help to come up with some nominees. So what makes for a great MMA bar? Well…

— The bar in question always shows UFC and other important MMA events, with the sound actually turned on.
— The fights are shown on multiple screens, so you don’t always have to be pointed in one direction.
— You are never charged a ridiculous cover to come in during pay-per-view events.
— The place draws a fun, enthusiastic crowd, high on attractive women and low on douchebags
— It’s a solid place to hang out even when fights aren’t going on. The drink list is deep, and the place either contains a diverse jukebox or a DJ whose shit is on point.

If the place you go to watch MMA meets most of these criteria, we want to hear about it. Go to this forum thread and tell us the bar’s name, the town it’s in, its website if it has one, and a little bit about why MMA fans should go there. If you play your cards right, we might just organize a CagePotato meetup there one of these days — and your first dollar-draft will be on us. Thanks guys!

Here’s the latest monthly MMA video summary from FightFace, featuring the greatest hits from UFC Fight Night 17, UFC 95, MFC 20 and more; big ups for the Jeff Buckley soundtrack. Anybody know who was responsible for that insane upkick KO at the 1:25 mark? (Update, from Facey himself: "That was Dustin Kempf from the North American Allied Fight Series, although he ended up winning by RNC.") For more great MMA highlights, check out fightface.blogspot.com.

(The youth of Russia: finding new and innovative ways to abuse performance-enhancing drugs.  Hope you’re taking notes, American children.)

We were hoping that the official explanation behind Kirill “Baby Fedor” Sidelnikov’s positive steroid test would be physique-related, but it looks like we lose this particular MMA betting pool.  The increasingly shady organization known as M-1 sent out a statement today ascribing the positive test for Stanozol to “a nose spray commonly used in Russia” to treat complications from a broken nose.  

Damn.  We never would have guessed nose spray, but now that we hear it we can’t help but feel like we shouldn’t be so surprised to find out that certain chemical treatments commonly used in Russia might contain anabolic steroids.

The statement itself is a true marvel of linguistic acrobatics, as it manages to express support for Sidelnikov while also conveniently distancing M-1 from any hint of wrongdoing.  For example:

Dana White’s UFC 96 video blog, ep. 2 – Watch more free videos

In this edition of the UFC 96 video blog, Dana White and the rest of the traveling circus dazzle Deutschland in their promo tour for UFC 99 this summer.  ‘But wait a minute,’ you’re saying to yourself, ‘isn’t this video blog supposed to be about hyping this weekend’s event on an entirely different continent?’  To which Dana White would respond: “Fuck yourself, it’s only Wednesday you pussy.”

Highlights of this episode include a touching conversation between White and Wanderlei Silva, who displays the ability to laugh at himself and his Borat-like grasp of the English language, as well as a trip to a weirdo German talk show with a moving stage, and of course an obligatory shot at Tito Ortiz.  In other words, a good time is had by all.

After the jump, a strange, quick knockout from an amateur MMA bout in Scotland.  Dude’s going to need an ice pack when he wakes up.