Nick Diaz Interview – Watch more Funny Videos

Our good buddy Ariel Helwani was on the scene after Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz, and got some camera time with Stockton’s conquering hero Nick Diaz. Diaz was his usual gregarious self — making sure to never make eye contact with either Ariel or the camera — and he attributed his win to intense preparation and top-shelf sparring partners. He also says he could have finished the fight on the ground, but sometimes it’s easier just to throw punches. Does he regret anything he might have said in the buildup to this fight? Not so much, homey.

Below: Tito Ortiz (at left, with sunglasses on the wrong side of his head) says he’d love for Strikeforce to make him a big offer so that the UFC can match it. Ortiz has just finished up physical therapy following his back surgery, and will soon begin training again so he can get back in the cage in August or September.

Tito Ortiz Interview – Watch more Funny Videos

After the jump: Will we see MMA pioneer Royce Gracie return to competition in the near future? Gracie plays it close to the vest, but "anything’s possible." You can see all of Ariel’s recent one-on-ones at Break.com/ArielHelwani.

(Nick Diaz vs. Frank Shamrock, round 1)

(Nick Diaz vs. Frank Shamrock, round 2)

("Y’know, I used to box a little myself. Say, do you party?" Photo courtesy of this great set on allelbows.)

If not for Cris Cyborg’s woman-problems fiasco, last night’s Strikeforce show would have been an unequivocal success. There were memorable knockouts, brilliant performances (we take back every bad thing we ever said about you, Nick), and one fight (Smith vs. Radach) that will probably make year-end lists as one of the best matches of 2009. Here are some of the stories coming out of the event…

— "Shamrock vs. Diaz" pulled in 15,211 fans for an estimated live gate of $750,000. Said Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker: "We scaled the tickets back for the economy to make it affordable…We tried to be considerate and make it affordable for everybody. Would we like to scale (up) the prices and bring in more revenue? There will be a time for that. We’ll keep building it."

— In the post-event press conference, Coker stated that he’d like to put together the much-anticipated bout between Gina Carano and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos for Strikeforce’s August event, and said it would be for "our first Strikeforce female title belt." As for the ongoing contract talks with Gina Carano, Coker said, "We’re currently negotiating the final touches of this contract. Hopefully we’ll get it to bed here in the next two weeks or a week. I think we’re very close."

— Also during the press-conference, recent Strikeforce signee Fabricio Werdum said that he’d like to be a future opponent for Alistair Overeem; Werdum previously submitted Overeem via kimura at PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute in May 2006. Said Werdum: "I’m going to take the other arm home. And then the third time it’s going to be hard to fight with no arms at all." Overlooked once again, Brett Rogers said "Before everybody walks away, I mean I wouldn’t mind fighting Overeem. That would be nice right there." Awww, of course it would, big guy!

(Photo courtesy of Esther Lin at AllElbows.com. You might also want to check out "Cyborg" Santos’s reaction to missing weight. Does that seem like a woman who is even a little bit sorry?)

The talking is done, the agreed upon weights have been ignored, and the Stockton Heybuddy’s have been thrown out.  That means there’s nothing left to do now but fight.  All you lovers of crazy antics needn’t worry though, because if there’s one thing that’s almost guaranteed in a bout between Frank Shamrock and Nick Diaz it’s poor sportsmanship.  

We’ll be liveblogging all the action tonight, so grab a cold one, make sure your CAPS LOCK key is disengaged (you know who are you are) and let’s all jump right in and have ourselves a time.  Remember to hit refresh often.  We’ll get started any minute now.

Our friend Ariel Helwani is at San Jose’s HP Pavilion to cover tonight’s Strikeforce event for JarryPark.com, and he got this fun little surprise when he tried to use their internet connection to check on his favorite non-porn website, Cage Potato.  The HP Pavilion seems to feel that this site is inappropriate, due to "Hate and Aggression."  It’s sadly ironic that the qualities which made us so successful in prison are now hurting our advancement on the outside.

The other interesting thing about this screenshot is the brief glimpse it gives us into the world of Helwani.  His bookmarks feature nothing but sports/MMA websites, as well as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace.  In other words, if ain’t about sports or social networking, Helwani ain’t trying to read about it.  What a sad, shallow man.

Stay with us.  Liveblog is coming at you soon.

Josh Barnett Interview – Watch more Funny Videos

After all the drama at yesterday’s weigh-in and the madness that followed Hitomi Akano’s threat to pull out of the bout with Christianne "Cyborg" Santos due to the tremendous difference in weight, the bout is now apparently back on after Scott Coker smoothed everything over in late night/early morning negotiation sessions.  No one is saying exactly what sweetened the deal enough for Akano to jump back in, but we’re guessing it was lots of money and a giant teddy bear.

In the above video, Akano’s trainer, Josh Barnett, talks with Ariel Helwani about his Girlfight Monstrosity of a student, and about his own future.  On Aleks Emelianenko, Barnett again confirms that due to blood test-related issues, that fight could never happen…in a ring.

Alistair Overeem Interview – Watch more Funny Videos

Our friend Ariel Helwani is in San Jose for this weekend’s Strikeforce event and he sidled up to Alistair Overeem to ask him when he might actually defend his Strikeforce heavyweight title.  Overeem says he’ll be back on June 6, but doesn’t know or won’t say against who (and if you press him on it, as Ariel did, he will kind of threaten you).  He also hints at the possibility of some Affliction heavyweights coming on over to Strikeforce soon.  We knew it!

In other Strikeforce news, "Cyborg" Santos made it down to 150, which means the fight could technically still take place, but "Girlfight Monster" is talking like she may not take the fight at all now, even with Santos giving up a big portion of her purse as a penalty.  If there’s one thing MMA’s female division doesn’t need right now, it’s a fiasco like this on a big show.

After the jump, more Helwani interviews with Steve Cofield and Brett Rogers.

(You think you know where this is going, but the end may surprise you.)

- "Cyborg" Santos having trouble at Strikeforce weigh-ins. (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Sylvia/Mercer to box one another in a cage. (MMA Junkie)

- Strikeforce contracts can make you pay for failing a drug test. (MMA Payout)

- Anderson Silva not happy about Wanderlei’s drop in weight. (Sherdog)

- Fedor vs. Cro Cop: from the ref’s perspective. (MMA Scraps)

- Scott Smith says he wouldn’t hire Seth Petruzelli. (Cage Writer)

- A look at HBO’s "Thrilla in Manilla." (Scores Report)

- Why seduction doesn’t work. (AskMen)

- If your IM buddy list were honest. (Holy Taco)

- The far-reaching influence of "The Karate Kid" examined. (Screen Junkies)

- Is the secret to success the car or the driver? (All Left Turns)

- Emo girl fight! (Nothing Toxic)

If you haven’t already, you best hurry up and get your picks in for our No Fear/Strikeforce pick ‘em contest.  Though we are both sadly ineligible to win the No Fear prize pack, we still like to throw our own picks in just to give you chumps a chance to beat the Bens (as if).

Remember to come on back after the event is over and tally your own score in the forums (one point for every correct category, but only if you get the winner right).  If you wait for us to do it you will be waiting a looooong time.  We’ll verify the winners and let you all know who they are so you can begin griping about it.

Our picks are below.  Read ‘em and weep.

(Will fight for munchies.)

Eager to get a sane perspective on Nick Diaz’s unapologetic love of weed, MDS over at MMA Fanhouse took the issue up with Cesar Gracie, Nick’s longtime coach and mentor.  Gracie did not disappoint, laying out Diaz’s case in a way we can all understand.

1. It’s technically legal for Nick since he has a prescription for it thanks to his ADD/California’s lax medicinal marijuana laws
2. He still plans to test clean, so screw it anyway
3. It’s probably not something athletes should be doing, but Diaz has great cardio and does freaking triathlons, so it can’t be that bad
4. Michael Phelps does it, and how many gold medals have you won?

If that summary of points isn’t enough for you, leave it to the Brazilian to give your American ass a lesson about personal liberty:

On this Sunday’s episode of Bully Beatdown (MTV, 9:30pm ET/PT) Jake Shields stops by to kick the garbage out of a roller-skating doofus named Jonathan, who is an absolute animal on the heavy bag. This is probably the most predictable installment of BB yet, but you should still tune in on Sunday to see if Jonathan changes his ways after his beating and starts wearing big-boy shoes without wheels on the bottom.

Below: The season premiere of Spike TV’s surprisingly entertaining new series Deadliest Warrior aired Tuesday night, and answered the question that has baffled historians for years — who would win in a fight between an ancient Roman gladiator and an Apache warrior? To gather evidence, a dude named "Snake Blocker" smashes the fake-brains out of a model head, and Chuck Liddell shows up to beat a bag with spiked gloves. It’s kind of like Sport Science, but way more badass. Segment one is below; if you dig it, go here to watch the rest.

(Props: Fightlinker)

(Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo trade places. Ranallo is chubby. Frank has braces. Hilarity *almost* ensues.)

— After jiu-jitsu badass Andre Galvao (3-0) finishes his current run in DREAM’s welterweight GP, he’ll be heading over to Strikeforce to shake shit up in their 170-pound division. The seven-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion is currently training at the new Black House facility in Los Angeles, and will be working out with Anderson Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza for his next DREAM tournament bout on July 20th. Jake Shields, you’ve been put on notice.

— In an effort to make tomorrow night’s lightweight scrap between Gilbert Melendez and Rodrigo Damm a little more interesting, the winner will be named Strikeforce’s interim world lightweight champion. (Are you psyched yet?) The interim champ will face the actual lightweight champion, Josh Thomson, as soon as the Punk’s leg is healed.

— Kim "Sugar Free" Couture will compete next on the main card of Strikeforce’s first "Challenger Series" event, which will take place May 15th in Fresno, California, and will be broadcast on Showtime. Couture will take on the very-tough Miesha Tate (5-1) in the up-and-comers event, which will be headlined by a fight between undefeated lightweight Billy Evangelista and BJ Penn student Mike Aina.

— We’ll leave you with this quote from Frank Shamrock’s Yardbarker blog: "its time to get serious. i am taking off to the hotel and getting ready to cut some weight. i was 185.2 when i got up so its nothing of a cut. looking forwrd to that BARBQ after. nick is gonna die. i love this sport."

(Someone should tell Nick that in some cultures they consider that an insult.)

As Strikeforce’s Showtime debut closes in on us and we prepare to get our liveblog on (that’s right, so remember to stop on by tomorrow night) it’s time to debate the hell out of the merits of this fight card, its resemblance to a Zombie EliteXC here on Zombie Jesus weekend, and more.  Here it is, your Ben vs. Ben…

Is Diaz/Shamrock a completely meaningless, just-for-the-hell-of-it bout?  If so, does it matter, or do you need something more to get excited about it?  Who wins this, anyway?

BF: Of course it’s a meaningless fight.  I mean, it’s being contested at 179 pounds.  That’s not even a round number, let alone a weight class.  It’s not as if this is a fight to settle some longstanding grudge (unless you count the grudge Frank Shamrock has against anyone unwilling to admit that he’s the greatest fighter ever, or the grudge Nick Diaz has against the world).  It’s certainly not a fight to sort out the contenders from the pretenders in the 179-pound division.  Naw son, this is just for kicks.

Does it matter to me?  Not in this case.  It may be fighting for the sake of fighting, but it’s such a weirdly compelling match-up that I don’t care.  Diaz and Shamrock are always fun to watch, and they’re both absolutely insane in very different ways.  So why not make them fight each other?  It’s not as if either one of them is climbing to the top of any division at this point.

As for who’s going to win, the fact that I have to think about it a little only makes me more interested in seeing it.  Five years ago this is Shamrock’s fight all the way, but the ravages of age, as they say.  I’ll still take Shamrock via decision, based mostly on superior size and strength, but also based on his notorious in-fight antics, which will bait Diaz into fighting a stupid fight.  Not that that’s especially hard.

BG: I’m thinking the fight will end in a draw after Shamrock and Diaz spend fifteen minutes with their arms in the air, each trying to lure the other one into hitting them in the face. On the real though, yeah, probably Shamrock by decision, or a late TKO stoppage that Diaz will immediately complain about. It’ll be a much less nuanced fight than it could be. Both of these guys prefer to stand and bang, so that’s what’s going to happen. The deciding factor will be power, which Shamrock has and Diaz lacks.

(‘Can’t let a day go by without me being fly, fresh to death.’)

If there’s one thing Frank Shamrock isn’t suffering from, it’s a lack of confidence.  He’s long been one of the sport’s most outspoken competitors, which usually makes him a pleasure to talk to, even if you never know exactly how seriously he expects you to take some of the things he says.  With his Strikeforce bout against Nick Diaz just a day away, Shamrock talked with me about his legacy, his plan for the fight, what he thinks about Diaz’s extracurricular habits, and more.  Let’s just say I was never bored during this conversation.

Thanks for talking with me Frank.  I have to say, this bout seems like kind of an odd choice for you right now.  Tell me, what’s really at stake in this fight?

I don’t know (laughs).  Honestly, I don’t know.  It’s just another fight to me.  I think there are some questions about my age and my body. I don’t think I have any problems with my body, but everybody else seems to think so.  Other than that, it’s another physical challenge for me.  I don’t think I have a lot to gain from it really, but it’s another fight.

(Kid Yamamoto highlight reel, y’all. Bounce ta dis.)

As previously rumored, former K-1 HERO’s champ and #4-ranked featherweight Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto will end a year-and-a-half hiatus at DREAM.9 (May 26th; Yokohama, Japan) when he enters their ongoing featherweight grand prix, taking an automatic bye to the quarterfinals. Yamamoto hasn’t competed since his second-round TKO victory over Rani Yahya at K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!! on New Year’s Eve 2007, which was his 14th-consecutive win. And it seems like DREAM’s organizers have a sense of humor, because they’re slotting him against former U.S. wrestling champion Joe Warren, who, like Yamamoto, was involved in a reputation-injuring marijuana scandal. (Weed is a big no-no over there. Very dishonorable.) May the best pothead win? DREAM.9′s featherweight GP matchups will be arranged thusly:

Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto vs. Joe Warren
Masakazu Imanari vs. Bibiano Fernandes
Yoshiro Maeda vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
Abel Cullum vs. Hideo Tokoro*

(Photo courtesy of NewMexicoBoxing.com.)

The UFC has officially announced five bouts for the supporting card of their historic UFC 100 event, which goes down July 11th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas; tickets go on sale to the general public tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT. Here’s what the lineup looks like so far, according to UFC 100′s fight card page on UFC.com:

Main Card
Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir (for unified heavyweight championship)
Georges St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves (for welterweight championship)
Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping (MW)
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Alan Belcher (MW)

"May not be broadcast"
Jon Jones vs. Jake O’Brien (LHW)
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Jonathan Goulet (WW)
CB Dollaway vs. Tom Lawlor (MW)
Matt Grice vs. Shannon Gugerty (LW)

For some reason, the light-heavyweight match between Mark Coleman and Stephan Bonnar isn’t listed on UFC.com, even though Amir Sadollah confirmed the fight during an "Inside the Octagon" segment on Wednesday’s installment of The Ultimate Fighter. In addition, welterweights Jon Fitch and Paulo Thiago have reportedly agreed to meet at UFC 100, while a new report from MMA Weekly claims that a lightweight bout between Mac Danzig and Jim Miller will also be added to the card.

Nothing against Forrest Griffin here.  He seems like a genuinely good guy and hard-working fighter.  But he is 29 years old.  He held the UFC light heavyweight title for about five minutes.  Why would I want to read his book Got Fight? at this particular point in time?  Its clichéd title notwithstanding (how long did it take to think of that, about eight seconds?), I’m not sure I see the appeal.

Maybe this is just a pet peeve of mine, but I hate when fairly young people without an especially amazing story to tell put a book out.  At least Tori Spelling was in her mid-thirties when she released sTori Telling.  I realize the rules are a little different in this field, so let me go ahead and list what I see as the five scenarios under which you may release a book if you’re a pro fighter.  Hopefully this will clear up some confusion.

1) You’re a Legend of the Sport
Randy Couture?  Yeah, he gets to put a book out.  He’s old enough and has been in the sport long enough to have some interesting insights.  Chuck Liddell?  It’s a little bit of a stretch, but sure.  Tito Ortiz?  Okay, I guess.  But guys who are still in the middle of their careers, why?  Wouldn’t we rather wait and get your perspective once it’s all over, or at least close to over?

As The Fight Nerd reminds us, this weekend marks one year since the MMAbortion known as YAMMA Pit Fighting was forced upon the world.  In honor of this YAMMAversary, our nerdy friend has dug up some promo material that never saw the light of day.  Remember when Don Frye was originally scheduled to take on Oleg Taktarov in the "Master’s Division" (read: old guys), and then had to pull out with an injury?  It proved to be Frye’s smartest career move, but fortunately for us he had time to film some promos for YAMMA first. 

Say what you will about "The Predator," but he is the master of totally sweet burns that sound like something you’d hear down at the hardware store.  Plus, his delivery is second to none.  Today’s fighters just don’t compare their opponents’ heads to a "five-gallon bucket full of buttholes" quite the way Don used to.

After the jump, relive the awful shitshow that was YAMMA, and then be glad that it went away forever.

Like Gerald Harris and Efrain Escudero before him, Team USA lightweight Santino Defranco has the great honor of blogging his reactions to each episode of The Ultimate Fighter: U.S. vs. U.K. every Thursday right here on CagePotato.com. Here’s what he had to say about last night’s episode, in which Santino first met Dana White (aka Lord Humungus), and dug waaaay deep to get his first victory on the show. Enjoy.

***

I was completely at peace with the fact that I was about to go through with the most tumultuous event in my life — fighting to get into a house, where I would be cut off from the rest of the world (no TV, music, magazines, books, correspondence with my wife and family) for six weeks, all the while being filmed 24 hours a day to be broadcast on national television. Then Dana White came in, and all that calmness I spent weeks preparing went out the window.

When Dana White walks into a room he’s noticed. Not only is he a physically imposing figure being around 6’2" and probably 250lbs, but he is a man of power. The latter is by far more intimidating than the former. Knowing that this bald human basically holds my future in the palm of his hand, turns me from an "Ultimate Fighter" to a child waiting to see if he is going to be praised or punished for whatever questionable deed has been done.

As Dana lined us up the nervousness that embodied that room was something fantastic. You could see people smiling, laughing, biting their cheeks, fidgeting, and even in Pierce’s case…fainting. Don’t be fooled by those swash-buckling tricksters, all was done out of nervousness, including my own silence, which, as the show continues you will see is a rarity.

(You can thank The Garv for this absolutely necessary photoshop.)

Thanks to reader Kadumel for pointing us to this article in the L.A. Times, in which Nick Diaz reaches new levels of stupidity by telling a reporter exactly how he will beat the California State Athletic Commission’s drug screening process when he fights Frank Shamrock this weekend:

"I’m happy to get loaded, hear some good music . . . I remain consistent. And I have an easy way to deal with [the drug tests].  I can pass a drug test in eight days with herbal cleansers. I drink 10 pounds of water and sweat out 10 pounds of water every day. I’ll be fine."

Goddammit, Nick.  You are fighting in the main event of a card on Showtime.  You are not applying for a job at Hot Topic.  You’re relying on herbal cleansers to keep you from getting fined, suspended, and possibly having the result of your bout changed to a no contest…again!?  Have you learned nothing?

(‘Look what I found in the dumpster behind Jake Shields’ apartment!  Honestly, the things some people throw away.’)

The Gambling Addiction Enabler isn’t going to jerk your chain here, after last week’s dismal performance he considered giving it up.  He went to a couple meetings, listened to those quitters down at Gambler’s Anonymous whining about the houses and cars and marriages they’d lost because of their compulsive betting.  He even thought about taking up a less destructive hobby, like tennis or pornography. 

Then he thought about you, the members of the Potato Nation who depend on him for his reckless and often unsound gambling advice, and who live vicariously through his wins and his losses.  Dear readers, he decided he simply couldn’t let you down.  That’s how much he cares about you/is willing to use you as a justification.  And besides, if his wife really loved him she wouldn’t ask him to change, right?

Odds for the main card of this weekend’s Strikeforce event come courtesy of BestFightOdds.com:

Frank Shamrock (-165) vs. Nick Diaz (+145)
Benji Radach (-165) vs. Scott Smith (+145)
Gilbert Melendez (-315) vs. Rodrigo Damm (+275)
“Cyborg” Santos (-455) vs. Hitomi Akano (+375)
Brett Rogers (-440) vs. Abongo Humphrey (+360)

Thoughts…

"We’re doing that already?" Yes, unfortunately, we are. Junie Browning‘s brother Rob will be making the most of his appearance on TUF 9 by acting like a drunken lunatic and throwing shit at people. Don’t vote him off, Jason — fuckin’ BEAT HIM OFF.

Team USA didn’t exactly get off to a promising start on the second elimination episode of The Ultimate Fighter: U.S. vs. U.K. last night. Welterweight Jason Pierce fainted during the show-opening lineup (but won his first fight anyway), making him the new Phillipe Nover. Lightweight John David Shackleford showed up with a damn herpe on his head (and was immediately dismissed), making him the new Paul Bradley. Welterweight Christian Fulgium was kicked off for not making weight, making him the new Jason Guida. And Steve Mazzagatti couldn’t decide if he wanted to stop fights early or late, so he decided to do both, making him the same old Steve Mazzagatti. Here’s how the elimination-round matches went down:

Mark Miller (WW) def. Kevin Knabjian via TKO, round 2

Richie "The Choking Tomato" Whitson (LW) def. Paul Bird via submission (rear-naked choke), round 1

Santino DeFranco (LW) def. Waylon Lowe via submission (rear-naked choke), round 2

Jason Pierce (WW) def. Steve "Red Nose" Berger via decision

Cameron Dollar (LW) def. Tom Hayden via submission (rear-naked choke), round 1

Damarques Johnson (WW) def. Ray Elbe via TKO (mount ‘n’ murder), round 1

(‘If I have offended any of you in any way, please line up right over there in the corner on top of that trap-door looking thing to receive your apology.’)

During Dana White’s brief apology tour following his use of the word that starts with “f” and rhymes with baguette in a recent video blog, he made two things abundantly clear: 1) he never meant to offend or attack gay people, and 2) he totally meant to offend and attack Loretta Hunt.  Amazingly, point #1 seemed to be good enough to get people to mostly forget about point #2, but now the Association for Women in Sports Media (the AWSM, if you’re nasty) is calling on White to apologize for calling Hunt a bunch of ugly words.

"This is disheartening because this behavior is unacceptable," (AWSM President) Jenni Carlson wrote. "It establishes a hostile work environment not only for Loretta but all women who cover the UFC. We cannot accept that any female sports journalist would have to work in an environment of intimidation or a hostile workplace. … It is a mystery to me that a man who is always seeking more coverage and exposure for his sport would disenfranchise some of the very people who are covering, sponsoring and watching his sport — women.”

(Props: MMA Mania)

Skip to the 0:56 mark for this personal statement:

“There’s certain things I can’t do, I’m not going to do.  If someone tells me to do it I’m not going to do it.  I’m going to do what I want to do and that’s why I fight.  I want to do what I want to do.  I want to fight.  That’s what I want to do.  They’d say, ‘Hey, why didn’t you do your work, Nick?’ in class or school or whatever.  ‘Why don’t you do your homework?’  And I’m like, I don’t wanna.  I couldn’t figure out why, I just can tell you right now I don’t wanna.  I’m not going to.  And then when I found out what I wanted to do was I wanted to train jiu-jitsu.  That’s what I want to do.  I wanted to tap people out and train jiu-jitsu.  ‘What do you want to do?’  I want to fight.  That’s what I want to do so that’s what I’m going to do.”

A rare moment of lucidity from Nick Diaz in this old Showtime promo for one of his ShoXC fights gives us the clearest insight yet into his motivations.  I feel like I went to school with a few Nick Diaz’s.  Only instead of becoming famous pro fighters they ended up working at Chili’s, and not the good Chili’s by the movie theater where the girls from the community college all worked.  I’m talking about the bad Chili’s by the freeway where the used car salesmen drank on their lunch breaks.  Not pretty.  If only they’d done their homework.

After the jump, a little something to prepare you for the enthusiasm-over-substance approach of announcer Gus Johnson, who’ll be on the mic for Showtime on Saturday.

(Dos Santos makes short work of Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve at UFC 95 in February. Photo courtesy of DayLife.com.)

There are some MMA fans who will tell you that Junior Dos Santos is one of the ten best heavyweights in the world. Personally, I think he needs one more win over a credible opponent before he becomes Power Ranking-worthy, but I won’t deny that he’s got serious talent and potential. Which is why it’s strange that for his third fight in the Octagon, he’s being given someone near the very bottom of the UFC heavyweight totem pole. MMA Junkie reports that Dos Santos and Justin McCully have agreed to face each other at UFC 102 (August 29th; Portland, Oregon). So, quick MMA Math…

Junior Dos Santos wasted Fabricio Werdum, who pwned Gabriel Gonzaga, who made McCully his bitch = OMFG can this fight even get approval by the Oregon State Athletic Commission?

We’ve spent a lot of time analyzing Strikeforce’s main event this Saturday, but we’re honestly just as psyched to see the return of Chute Boxe rising star Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos. When she steps into the cage against "Girlfight Monster" on Saturday, it could be one more step towards the fight that everybody wants to see — Cyborg vs. Carano. Get reacquainted with Santos’s body of work through the above highlight video, where she beats on some poor Brazilian girls as if they were rented redheaded stepchildren.

After the jump: TheGarv has found a complete version of the new James Toback documentary Tyson, which doesn’t hit theaters until later this month. We don’t expect it to be up for long, so take a look now because it’s required viewing. Did you know that Iron Mike was burnin’ with the gonorrhea when he fought Trevor Burbick? You do now!

(Excellent use of the ‘Rogers, you a hater!’ sample here.)

After sitting out for nearly a year following the collapse of Pro Elite and the ensuing sticky contract situation, Brett “The Grimm” Rogers finally gets back into action this weekend as he takes on Ron “Abongo” Humphrey in Strikeforce.  Despite his undefeated record, Rogers may be best known for his feud with EliteXC poster boy Kimbo Slice (see also: this awesome video).  In this exclusive interview, Rogers talks about that bad blood, his frustration with Elite XC, and his plans for taking over the Strikeforce heavyweight class.

Your last fight was in May of 2008, and since then you’ve been waiting around for another fight, first with EliteXC, and now with Strikeforce.  Are you concerned that all the time off, all the contract stress, may have made you rusty or affected your timing?

I’m more eager than anything.  I’ve had a lot of time to think about things, and now I’m just ready to go.  It’s time for me to go out there and show off, once again.  I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who bumped into contract conflicts over it.  But everything’s squared away now.  I’m just trying to focus on what I have to do this weekend and go out and get a win.

In honor of this weekend’s Strikeforce event we bring you possibly the hottest girl ever to carry a numbered sign for the San Jose, California-based organization, Maysa Quy.  You might remember her from Fight! Magazine’s Hottest Ring Girl of 2008 contest, which is where the above picture comes from.  According to this interview she loves Janet Jackson and thinks "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" is the greatest movie of all time.  According to her MySpace page her current mood is "delerious."  So there you go. 

Whether Maysa made the jump to the big time along with Strikeforce, or whether they’ll try for some new blood on Showtime, we have no idea.  But we think it might be wise of them to retain her services.

(Props: MMA Convert via Fightlinker)

Kenny Florian trains at Montreal’s Tristar Gym with Georges St. Pierre, Firas Zahabi, and the rest of the gang who helped turn a proud champion into a ruined crybaby. No word on whether Zahabi ever took BJ Penn up on his generous offer to go fuck himself. Florian and Penn will battle for the UFC’s lightweight title at UFC 101 (August 8th, Philadelphia).