(Cristiane and Evangelista’s high school class voted them "Most Likely to Push Your Shit In." Photo courtesy of Showtime Sports.)

No rest for the hardcore MMA fan: Strikeforce’s second "Challengers" event goes down this Friday at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington — a day before the TUF 9 finale in Las Vegas. Headlining the Strikeforce card will be a middleweight matchup between two exciting strikers: Team Jackson product “Smokin’” Joey Villasenor and Chute Boxe veteran Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos. Both guys are coming off extended layoffs; Villasenor hasn’t competed since his first-round TKO win over Phil Baroni last May, and Santos is coming back from an elbow injury suffered in a Sengoku fight against Siyar Bahadurzada in September.

Also on the card: Highly-regarded welterweight Nick Thompson takes a middleweight fight against Tim Kennedy out of desperation, UFC vet Jorge Gurgel makes his Strikeforce debut against bully-beater Conor Heun, and Sarah Kaufman and Shayna Baszler will test out Strikeforce’s new five-minute-rounds policy in the night’s sole women’s feature. Not bad for premium cable. The full lineup is after the jump.

(Props: The Telegraph)

If you were watching UFC 99 on Saturday and wondering where all that blood on the mat came from, this should help answer that question.  Stefan Struve got opened up brain surgery-style by Denis Stojnic, but came back and won the fight via rear naked choke submission despite fighting through a bloodmask that could not have been helping his vision.  That ought to put to rest any questions about the 6’10" heavyweight’s toughness.  As for his Dutchness, shiiiiieeet, that was never in doubt.

After the jump, Mark Coleman talks UFC 100 with Raw Vegas and gets a little nostalgic about the days when he could headbutt people without repercussions.  

(He was so young and so in possession of two properly functioning eyes once.)

While we were busy speculating wildly about what might happen if Mostapha Al-Turk really does file an appeal with the UFC over his loss via eye-poke at UFC 99 in Germany, Robert Joyner at MMA Payout went ahead and looked at what the standard Zuffa contract has to say about a situation like this.  What a show-off that guy is.  Anyway, here’s what he found:

Any and all Bouts that occur in a jurisdiction or country without an Athletic Commission shall be conducted pursuant to the statutes, rules and regulations of the State of Nevada in effect at the time of the Bout, including, but not limited to, the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts (the “Nevada Rules”); for the protection of the health and safety of the Fighter, to promote fairness in the administration of the Bout, and to preserve the integrity of the sport of mixed martial arts. In its sole discretion, ZUFFA may utilize the Nevada Rules in the oversight of any Bouts that occur under this Subsection 4.7. Fighter may appeal any advisory opinion by ZUFFA regarding any violations of the Nevada Rules relating only to Bouts that occur in a jurisdiction or country without an official government mandated Athletic Commission to an independent third-party arbitrator or arbitration panel selected pursuant to the guidelines developed by the American Arbitration Association. All costs and fees associated with an appeal taken pursuant to this Section shall be the exclusive responsibility of the Fighter. Regardless of where a Bout occurs, in no event shall a Fighter have any right to appeal a decision by ZUFFA relating to the UFC Title or the UFC Championship belts.

After making my MMA highlight reel debut with "Sakuraba: Survivor," I decided to follow it up with a new compilation that’s both shorter and less depressing. The concept of "Stranglehold" is quite simple: Here are some of the most creative and infamous choke-submissions in recent MMA history, soundtracked by Ted Nugent. The cast of characters include Nate Diaz, Dan Miller, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Shinya Aoki, BJ Penn, Nick Diaz, Demian Maia, CB Dollaway, and Toby Imada. Let me know what you think, and if you dig it, please share with a friend.

(BG)

("I’M THE KING OF THE MIDDLE OF THE UFC WELTERWEIGHT LADDER!!! WHOO-HOOOOOO!!!"Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

So how did everybody do with their UFC 99 picks? Did anyone beat our own Ben Fowlkes’s score of 23 points? BF’s picks were straight nasty, with five of the main card fights predicted perfectly. Lucky for you he’s ineligible for the DVDs. BG took in a far less impressive 15 points, and fully admits that picking Saunders over Swick was based on emotion, which is poison in the world of the pick-off. People, you must have ice-water in your balls if you hope to win this contest.

If you did well in round 1, let us know your score in the comments section below so we can keep an eye on the front-runners. Of course, even if you struck out with your UFC 99 predictions, there’s still a chance you can win the first "Machida-Do Karate for Mixed Martial Arts" set that we’re giving away — all you have to do is run the tables this Saturday with your TUF 9 finale picks. Speaking of which…

(Photos courtesy of Sherdog.)

If you want an idea of how not-seriously Tim Sylvia was taking his fight against Ray Mercer, check out the above photos, which show Timmy entering the cage looking like Jamie Varner‘s fat uncle. He’s as bloated as the Montauk Monster, and clearly hadn’t shaved his face or stomach in over a week. And goddamn did Ray make him pay for it. Sylvia now has the unenviable task of losing 45 pounds in a month-and-a-half for a scheduled "Affliction: Trilogy" bout against Paul Buentello on August 1st — though Buentello now wonders if the fight will even happen. Way to go, tubby.

UPDATE, 3:12 p.m. ET: Tim Sylvia has officially been taken off the 8/1 Affliction card.

(Sorry, Al-Turk.  Cro Cop doesn’t do injury timeouts. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

Mostapha Al-Turk apparently doesn’t agree with Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s assertion that the inadvertent eye-poke in the first round of their UFC 99 bout had no effect on the outcome, because he plans to appeal that ugly (for several reasons) loss, according to his agent, Ken Pavia:

"We are going to appeal that, we don’t think its right that it should be a TKO. The referee should have got onto the eye poke," said Al-Turk’s agent Ken Pavia. "Look at Henderson v Franklin at UFC 93 in Dublin. Franklin got a timeout when he got eye-poked. …With the fight taking place in Germany we aren’t sure what the protocol is, but we will put our appeal in writing and see what we can do."

(The optimist sees this as a wave ‘hello.’  The pessimist sees it as a wave ‘goodbye.’)

Well, the UFC made it through their first German event without anyone dying or even getting seriously injured.  That ought to shut up the German newspapers, although Cro Cop’s Three Stooges eye-poke against Mostapha Al-Turk didn’t exactly help.  Now it’s time we sort through the winners and losers from this weekend and see who’s up and who’s down.

Rich Franklin +97
It wasn’t a dominant victory, but a win is still a win.  He picked Silva apart pretty well until a couple hooks wobbled him and sent him into retreat mode.  Even so, he fought smart and did just enough down the stretch.  Now let’s see him against one of the young up-and-comers in the 205-pound class and find out if he’s got any real bang left in him.

Wanderlei Silva +10
He showed that he can still take a shot as well as he can give one, and that’s enough to overshadow the latest loss tacked on to his record.  That said, he needs to go win a fight as a middleweight if he wants to stick around.

Cain Velasquez +86
So he has a chin to go along with that ground game.  He also has an ADD-style ground-and-pound game that never stops, though it also never stays with one approach long enough to finish.  Before we decide that he lacks power, though, let’s remind ourselves that Kongo couldn’t even stand up after the third round.  Now who’s got next?

Shaq Wants to Fight Chuck Liddell and Hong Man Choi – Watch more Funny Videos
(Props: the6levels.com)

The chances of Shaquille O’Neal taking on Chuck Liddell in an MMA match? Still not very good. But it seems that Sweaty Shaq has another fighter in his sights these days: "The big boy that knocked out Jose Canseco." O’Neal has been training hard at The 6 Levels, and wants to avenge the reputation of American pro athletes by whupping Hong Man Choi after he retires from basketball in a year or two. We hope DREAM is still around by then to put this match together, because it sounds like the ultimate freak-fight. Shaq already has a way with trash-talking Asian opponents, and with Bob Sapp‘s star power fading, someone needs to fill the role of "huge crazy black guy who fights in Japan and beats up cardboard cutouts." Anyway, Shaq vs. HMC: Who takes it and how?

Brutal Flying Knee KO at Bellator XI – Watch more Funny Videos

Lyman Good became Bellator‘s first welterweight champion on Friday night, scoring a quick TKO victory over Omar De La Cruz at Bellator XI in Uncasille, Connecticut. The Tiger Schulmann MMA product needed just 1:23 to take De La Cruz down and slug his way to a referee stoppage, collecting a $100,000 check in the process.

But the event’s real star was Good’s rookie teammate Nick Pace, who KTFO’d Collin Tebo with a flying knee to the jaw, then knocked his mouthpiece out with a follow-up right hand; the video is above. Not sure how we feel about his weird hip-grinding at the end, but Pace could be a fighter to watch. Full results from the card are here. Video of the Good/De La Cruz stoppage is after the jump.

(Cro Cop vs. Al Turk Props: MMA Linker)

Dana White’s over-the-phone verbal contract with Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic prior to UFC 99 was the first time he’d done a deal with a fighter without getting it in writing, or negotiating in person. We’re guessing it’ll also be his last. The big scandal coming out of Germany after yesterday’s show is the surprise news that Cro Cop had already signed a new three-fight deal with DREAM by the time he stepped into the Octagon against Mostapha Al Turk (video above). Though Cro Cop had previously told White that he wanted to officially sign for two more fights in the UFC and make a run for the heavyweight title, the truth came out following Mirko’s TKO victory via eye-pokes. As you can imagine, DW was seeing red in the post-show press-conference:

(Props: MMA Scraps)

Jens was right — Ray Mercer still knows how to thump, and Tim Sylvia shouldn’t have messed with a real boxer. After weighing in at a worrisome 310.6 pounds for his boxing MMA match against Mercer at "Adrenaline III: Bragging Rights" in Birmingham, Alabama, Sylvia only had a chance to throw one leg kick before eating a massive overhand right and dropping like a felled redwood. (The video above doesn’t show the kick, but you can hear the cameraman’s buddy say "Aw see, they agreed to not do that.") After the fight, Mercer said “Wow, I didn’t get a chance to warm up," and called out Butterbean. Meanwhile, the Maine-iac’s career prospects just went from bad to worse. He’d better hope DREAM organizes another Super Hulk tournament — or maybe Strikeforce can set up a "Loser Has to Drink Ipecac" rematch between him and Andrei Arlovski.

Full results from the Adrenaline card are here.

(‘All I do is drink one shake for breakfast, another for lunch, then follow up with sensible dinner.  Many thanks, Nutrisystem.  If Wanderlei can do it, anyone can do it!’  Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle.)

Wie geht’s, Potato Nation?  You ready to see the nation of Germany get its collective mind blown when they realize, with some measure of disappointment, that the UFC is not a bare-knuckle brawl to the death?  I’m looking forward to it almost as much as I’m looking forward to seeing Cro Cop get his head kick on once again, while Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin battle for relevance in the UFC’s highly competitive catchweight divison.  We’re going to get started any minute now, so remember to hit refresh every so often to keep your ass current.

With UFC 99 now just a couple hours away (don’t forget to join us for a little afternoon liveblogging) we get a glimpse of some of Dana White’s latest antics in the Vaterland.  He kicks a little knowledge on German history, is entranced by a sausage, and raps with his fighters a bit just to see how everyone’s family is doing.  Notice the difference in attitude between Dan Hardy and Marcus Davis near the end there.  Seems like "The Outlaw" may have just realized that he’s talked himself into a beating, while Davis sounds like he is in the beginning stages of a premeditated murder.  This ought to be fun to watch.  Part two is after the jump.

(So you wanna be an Ultimate Fighter?  A UFC retrospective by CP reader B.J.)

- Lee Murray tried to break out of prison…unsuccessfully. (Fighters Only)

- Fox ignoring Jay Glazer’s pleas for more MMA coverage. (USA Today)

- Watch Mike Swick screw around in Germany. (MMA Mania)

- Dan Hardy and Marcus Davis share a tense elevator ride. (Cage Writer)

- Could Tito Ortiz be coming back to the UFC someday? (MMA Fanhouse)

- Gina Carano and "Cyborg" Santos will fight five-minute rounds. (MMA Junkie)

- Examining the Fight! Magazine "Power 20" in MMA. (MMA Payout)

- Thiago Alves guarantees a KO against GSP. (Ask Men)

- Hilariously illustrated UFC 99 predictions from Lil Calvin. (Asylum)

- Wanderlei Silva looks straight-up ripped at 195. (UG)

- Someone finally puts boobs in perspective. (Holy Taco)

- The best everyman fight outfits in the history of film. (Screen Junkies)

- Fall a little bit in love with this cute NASCAR reporter. (All Left Turns)

- Old lady tazed by cop. (Nothing Toxic)

Just a friendly reminder to those of you who have yet to enter your UFC 99 picks in this forum thread, you only have until midnight PST tonight (Friday, 6/12) to get them in.  You know you want to see what Lyoto Machida’s “Karate for MMA” DVD set is all about, while also establishing your dominance as the MMA prognosticator of all prognosticators.  This is the best chance to do both at once.  Take our word for it, nothing impresses the ladies like bringing them back to your place, popping in a Machida instructional DVD, and telling them how you won this puppy free of charge thanks to the power of your brain.  It helps if the ladies are very drunk and not listening to you at all during this.

After the jump, check out our UFC 99 picks and be amazed.  Or just mock us in the comments section.  Either way.

(It didn’t last. Nothing perfect ever does. Props: BloodyElbow)

From Paul Kelly via the CageWarriors forum (all misspellings printed as-is):

In case you missed it, Roli Delgado freaked out earlier today at the UFC 99 weigh-ins when Tellys got a little too close for comfort — and in doing so, signed his own death warrant. Not that UFC 99 needed any more bad blood, between Davis/Hardy and Franklin/Silva, but there ya go. After the jump, one of the jokers on the CageWarriors board takes the piss out of the Crazy Cuban…

(Peter Sobotta highlight reel. How do you say "I FINISH FIGHTS!" in German?)

The UFC 99 lineup is packed with plenty of European faces, and as usual, a couple guys will be getting called up to the majors for the very first time. Get acquainted with the latest batch of Octagon newbies below…

PETER SOBOTTA (WW)
Experience: 8-1 record, with all wins by stoppage. Has competed almost entirely in Germany, where he has lived since he was three years old. (He was born in Poland.) Sobotta’s last fight was a third-round TKO of Kerim Abzailov at a KSW event last September.
Will be facing: Paul Taylor (9-4-1, 2-3 UFC)
?Lowdown: One of the local scrappers brought in for the UFC’s Deutschland debut, 22-year-old Peter Sobotta is a well-rounded prospect known for his aggressive offense. No, he’s never beaten anybody you’ve heard of, but he may be able to overwhelm the injury-addled Taylor. Sobotta grew up training in Judo and Tae Kwon Do, took up MMA as a teenager, and had his first pro fight at the age of 17. According to this interview on nokaut.com, Sobotta trains at Berserker’s Gym, is studying to be an "IT system merchant," and is not a morning person.

So here’s a little taste of how Affliction is hyping their third (but totally not final) event.  Basically, it’s W-A-M-M-A champ Fedor Emelianenko against Josh Barnett, and yeah, some other dudes will be fighting on the “stacked” undercard.  So stacked, in fact, they can’t even get into it on this brief ad.  Just take their word for it, okay?

After the jump, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic talks about his motivation for coming back to the UFC (proving jerks like us wrong), and Mostapha Al-Turk employs some logically consequential thinking to come to the conclusion that since all men who go to the bathroom are beatable, and Cro Cop is a man who goes to the bathroom, therefore Cro Cop is beatable.  Yeah, son!  Now that’s how you hype a fight!!!!

(Unless you’re bringing an aggressive woman or loose dog over 60 kilos with you into the Octagon, be very afraid, Mr. Al-Turk.)

With UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany just a day away, we can think of no better way to waste time on a Friday than debate Cro Cop‘s UFC future, what’s to become of the winner and loser in the Wanderlei Silva/Rich Franklin main event, and so much more.  You’re welcome.

Does Mirko Cro Cop have a legitimate shot at the heavyweight title this time around, or is he just going to be used a few more times as a draw for the UFC’s European expansion efforts, then discarded after he inevitably loses?

BG: When you’re a veteran fighter and you hit a rough patch in your career, there’s two ways to respond. One is to acknowledge that your mental and physical preparation was lacking in your recent fights, and actively change your habits to produce different results. The other is to say, over and over again, that you just got caught. Luckily, Cro Cop falls into the first category. He says he’s found his motivation again and will make up for his disappointing UFC run in 2007.  And I have to give him the benefit of the doubt because you don’t go from being one of the greatest fighters in the world to the worst Octagon washout ever within a year, just because of deteriorating skills. His heart momentarily left the game, simple as that. If it comes back to him, Cro Cop is absolutely a title threat.

He’ll be starting from scratch, though. Mirko’s opponent on Saturday, Mostapha Al-Turk, is as bottom-rung as it gets, and shouldn’t pose any more problems than Eddie Sanchez did.  Sure, the UFC wants to tee up an easy knockout for Mirko in front of his European fans, but after UFC 99, he’ll be back to fighting top contenders; he doesn’t have enough time left in his career to do otherwise. Maybe the size and power of guys like Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin would overwhelm Cro Cop at this point. But as long as he can avoid any spirit-sapping knees to the balls, he still has the goods to outstrike anybody who can’t take him to the mat. It’s time for redemption, and I believe he’ll rise to the occasion.

BF: As pleased as I am at the thought of a refocused Cro Cop coming into the UFC’s heavyweight division and kicking some of these wrestlers all upside they heads, he’s not a legitimate title contender now, nor will he ever be.

All fighters made weight today in Cologne, Germany, for tomorrow’s UFC 99 event — though things got off to a tense start for the undercard fighters. During the heavyweight faceoff between Stefan Struve and Denis Stojnic, the much-taller Struve leaned in to rest his forehead on Stojnic’s face, and the much-fatter Stojnic shoved him off; Dana White had to jump in to separate them. Then it happened again in the very next staredown, as Paul Kelly pushed his forehead against Roli Delgado‘s, and the Crazy Cuban angrily pushed Tellys off of him. The meeting between Dan Hardy and Marcus Davis was disappointingly cordial. The numbers are after the jump…

(Whoever does Kimbo’s manscaping is a genius. More chest-hair photoshops right here.)

From MMA Weekly:

“He came in hungry. In my eyes, he came in hungry like he was before the Tank Abbott fight. It was a pleasure for me to see…We sparred every single day. We did not do that in the past. Because he had so much to learn, so many more technical things that Bas was showing him, he really didn’t have time to spar…As far as what happened before, he’s just got to take his loss and move forward…I told him the best revenge is success. He needs to go out there and show all those people that don’t like him and talk bad about him, even Dana White, go out there and be successful and everybody will forget all those things that happened to him. The biggest thing is that he’s mentally there, and he’s ready to go."
— Boxing coach Randy Khatami discusses his reunion with Kimbo Slice after a six-month layoff. Kimbo had stopped training at Elite MMA with Khatami after a falling-out with the gym’s co-owner Bas Rutten. By the way, rumors of more confirmed TUF 10 castmembers are coming out of the woodwork, including Justin Wren and "Big" Jim York.

(Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle’s UFC 99 press conference set.)

For all our talk about how far superior Cain Velasquez‘s wrestling is and how that might make all the difference in his fight with Cheick Kongo at UFC 99, it’s worth noting that Kongo is one big dude, and that often tends to help in fights, especially in the heavyweight division.  I mean, just look at the success of Tim Sylvia, such as it is/was.  That wasn’t all pure talent and genius career moves, people.  When it comes to keeping Velasquez at a distance and avoiding the takedown, it also helps that Kongo has the wingspan of a freaking condor.  Is it possible Kongo could just stay on the outside and use a combination of jabs and groin kicks to take Velasquez out of his game?

(Wandy and Rich can’t even get an open workout in without being bothered by this crap.)

Oh, Germany.  Your fashion sense and taste in music aren’t the only things that often trend about a decade behind the United States.  Your media coverage of the first German UFC event this weekend is equally outdated, raising all the same arguments and accusations that our media did back in the dark days of MMA.  The only difference is, when our media blasted the UFC for putting on brutal, bare-knuckled brawls with a dearth of rules to protect the competitors, it was actually true.

In an interview done with Steve Cofield yesterday, Jens Pulver warned his longtime friend and Miletich teammate Tim Sylvia that boxing is a different world from MMA, and he might be setting himself up for another career setback if he’s not taking Ray Mercer seriously. "I love [Sylvia] on a personal scale," Pulver said, "[but] professionally, sometimes you gotta step back and say ‘damn Tim, what are you doing?’"

Thankfully, it’s become a moot point, as the Sylvia vs. Mercer boxing match scheduled to headline Adrenaline III this Saturday has been declared "unwarranted and illegal" by the Association of Boxing Commissions. As Fightnews reports:

(Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos tosses around her 200-pound husband during a Showtime photoshoot. Click all images for larger versions. Photos courtesy of sports.sho.com via Fightlinker.)

MMA Junkie passes along some details on the August 15th Strikeforce title fight between Gina Carano (7-0) and Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos (7-1), informing us that the match is scheduled for five three-minute rounds, and will be contested at a weight of 145 pounds. So in other words, women can fight for 15 minutes just like the boys, as long as it’s in the context of a blockbuster title fight. (Yay, equality!)

Of course, that "145" is the more troubling number when it comes to these two. Cyborg famously came in seven pounds over the 145-pound limit for her last fight against Hitomi Akano, while Carano’s long history of scale fails include weighing in at 144.5 for a 140-pound fight against Kaitlin Young, and the infamous naked-behind-a-towel situation prior to her scrap with Kelly Kobold in October. While Cyborg blamed "woman problems" for missing weight, Carano probably should have been competing at 145 all along — though after a 10-month layoff, missing weight again is always a possibility. Good luck to both of these dangerous, water-retaining warriors.

"Carano vs. Cyborg" will be held at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California; tickets go on sale this Monday.

(Gomi’s contract stipulates that he is allowed to start a post-fight melee at a time of his choosing, but he agrees to provide his own confused Asian kid.)

Earlier today MMA Weekly reported that a 165-pound catchweight bout between former Pride star Takanori Gomi and IFL/Affliction up-and-comer Brett Cooper was “in advanced negotiations” for Affliction “Trilogy.”  Awesome, right?  Now Ariel Helwani comes along and destroys our hopes of seeing “The Fireball Kid” on American soil again by going and talking to Affliction VP Tom Atencio, who says it ain’t happening.  Damn.  We barely had time to get excited, and already we’re disappointed.

If you missed it, check out parts 1 and 2 of this series.

The Fedor Emelianenko Era: 3/03-present

Fedor’s dominance over MMA’s heavyweight division is such that, had he been born a few hundred years ago, they might have burned him for being a witch.  At least they might have tried, though he would certainly have armbarred the entire mob and then calmly collected their pitchforks.  Fedor is the rare fighter with devastating one-punch knockout power on the feet and deft submission skills off his back.  In other words, you are never really winning against Fedor; you’re just temporarily not losing. 

Fedor’s run through Pride’s heavyweight class was like Sherman’s March to the Sea, only much more efficient.  He beat everyone there was to beat and he did it convincingly.  His list of victims includes former UFC champs like Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski, as well as Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mark Coleman, and even Hong Man Choi.  In fact, the only barrier to Fedor’s continued reign of terror is his own refusal to sign with the UFC, where more heavyweights are waiting to be conquered.  Will he ever cave in and do to the UFC’s big men what he did to Pride’s?  It’s doubtful, though until he loses you really can’t begrudge him the title of the world’s best heavyweight.

(Props: Genghis Con)

MMA highlight film whiz Genghis Con is back with a two-part tribute to Randy Couture called "The Father of Time." The first installment, shown above, covers Couture’s UFC career from his debut choke-out of Tony Halme at UFC 13 to his "retirement" after losing to Chuck Liddell for the second time at UFC 57; we’ll let you know when part two hits the ‘net.

After the jump: The second segment from Spike’s "Countdown to UFC 99" sepcial, which gives us a closer at the beast that is Cain Velasquez, and Cheick Kongo‘s scrappy path to contender status. Could this heavyweight brawl be a dark horse for Fight of the Night? Parts 1 and 3 are here.

(The completed TUF 9 lightweight bracket; click above for larger image. Props to Wikipedia.)

With Damarques Johnson taking the first finale spot in the welterweight bracket, Team U.S. has momentum, and Dan Henderson says he wants to make the finale "Dana’s nightmare, no U.K. guys." But the Brits have other ideas. First up in the lightweight semis will be Team U.K.’s Andre Winner vs. Team U.S.’s Cameron Dollar, who’s struggling in practice due to injured cartilage in his ribs. "I catch a body shot or a kick, I’m gonna fold in half," he says.

Andre says Jason Pierce gave him some insight into Cameron’s striking, and all he really needs to do is stay away from the big right hook. He looks tight on the focus mitts. Andre also sucks his thumb, it turns out. Cameron says he can’t lose to a thumb-sucker, and prays he has God’s speed and the Devil’s rage.