(He knew that if he lost to a guy with a bleached-blonde ‘fro all the murderers and crooks back home would never let him live it down.)

One of the genuinely interesting fights that’s being largely overshadowed by all the epic-ness on the UFC 100 fight card is the Jon Fitch/Paulo Thiago Battle for the Honor of the American Kickboxing Academy.  Or, if you prefer, you can think of it as our opportunity to find out whether Thiago is for real, or just a guy who landed one lucky punch on Josh Koscheck.  Either way, the fun story on Thiago is his day job as a BOPE officer in Brazil, which is basically a special forces police unit with the coveted title of “deadliest military force in Latin America.”  

Here’s what Thiago had to say about his work to Fighters Only:

“I live through ordinary situations for a person who chose such an occupation,” Thiago shrugs when asked about his day job. “We pray for action like shooting or whatever. I cannot use the aggressiveness like in MMA but I had to submit and strike many times during my job. I don’t like to hurt people but I had to fight them.”

(First they came for Affliction, and I did not speak up because I was not Affliction. Then they came for Full Tilt Poker, and I did not speak up because I was not Full Tilt Poker. And then…they came for me…and by that time there was no one left to speak up.)

A couple weeks ago we mentioned the UFC’s new stance on fighter sponsors heading into UFC 100 – particularly the part where they are now requiring certain would-be sponsors to pony up $100,000 for the privilege of paying a fighter to plaster “Condom Depot” across his ass – and we noted that since few of the smaller sponsors were likely to agree to this, it seemed like a real screw job for the fighters.  But $100,000 only buys you six months worth of potential sponsorships in the UFC, so the real cost is $200,000 a year, and that’s before you pay a single penny to a fighter.  And already guys are feeling the pain in their pocketbooks.

SI.com’s Josh Gross quotes one unnamed “veteran MMA agent” who says this new policy could cost fighters in the neighborhood of 35-40% of their sponsorship dollars, and cites one (again, unnamed) fighter who could stand to lose about $300,000 at UFC 100 if he doesn’t manage to secure another sponsor.

From MMA Weekly:

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC via MMA Fanhouse)

"This is our time. This is our sport. And we’re just getting started." — So intones the narrator of this official tribute to the UFC’s evolution. Maybe it doesn’t rock as hard as the Bowie-soundtracked fan-made compilation we showed you earlier, but with three days left until UFC 100, it’ll help get you in the proper reflective mood.

(No, B.J.  That does not count as working on your clinch game.)

There are any number of concerns one might have about B.J. Penn’s readiness when he shows up to fight.  That he might be suffering from ‘overtraining’ is typically not one of them.  And yet, without a hint of irony, that’s what Penn says he is effectively guarding against for his UFC lightweight title fight with Kenny Florian at UFC 101.  As he tells AroundHawaii.com (via MMA Mania):

“The training’s going great for UFC 101. I’m making sure not to overtrain. And, you know we started a couple months ago, and I’m training with Marv Marinovich, and we’ll be spending our last 8 weeks in California with a bunch of good training partners, with Marv Marinovich there, Jason Parillo will be there, Rudy Valentino’s gonna fly up, so I feel VERY good about this training camp.”

Well, that’s a load off our minds.  In a related story, Thiago Alves assured reporters that he wouldn’t come in underweight for his fight with Georges St. Pierre at UFC 100, while Mark Coleman vowed not to be too young and vivacious for his bout with Stephan Bonnar.

This clip from the UFC 100 "Countdown" show makes it seem as if maybe Brock Lesnar is displacing some of his rage over losing the first Frank Mir fight.  Turns out he really hates Steve Mazzagatti, which we already knew, what with his specific request to have anyone but Mazzagatti work his bout with Randy Couture at UFC 91.  But when you force him to watch the video of his loss to Mir the anger really comes to the surface.  The things he hates about Mazzagatti include, but are not limited to:

1) His slow reaction time
2) His oversensitivity to the back of the head region
3) His mustache

Basically, he just hates the guy.  Not that he’s the only one.

(Strikeforce’s coveted "Hater of the Year" title will also be up for grabs. Image courtesy of CageToday.)

Talk about making up for lost time. After a 12-month drought that gave us only one light-heavyweight championship match and an interim lightweight title scrap, Strikeforce has decided to just say "fuck it" and call every bout on their next card a title fight.

It has been confirmed that the upcoming grudge match between Nick Diaz and Joe Riggs — originally slated for the undercard of the "Carano vs. Cyborg" show on August 15th — will now decide Strikeforce’s vacant welterweight title. The bout will join the lightweight title rematch between Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez, the heavyweight championship battle between Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum, and the main event, in which Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg will go five rounds for Strikeforce’s first-ever 145-pound women’s title. So yes, three of these four title fights will be rematches. Deal with it.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. We just received the above poster image in our inbox, in which Nate Diaz (who’s coming off back-to-back losses to Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson) and Melvin Guillard (cokehead) appear to be headlining the next UFC Fight Night card over top lightweight contender Gray Maynard and Roger Huerta, who used to be the UFC’s Great Brown Hope until he started talking out of turn. Of course, most fans are just going to be happy to see two great lightweight matchups on free TV, not realizing the passive aggressive jab of disrespect that’s going on here. (Honestly, I can’t wait to hear Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg’s spin on why Diaz vs. Guillard is main-event-worthy.) But hey, good luck to Nate — when was the last time a fighter was given a headlining slot and a "win or go home" match on the same night?

UFC Fight Night 19 will serve as a lead-in to the premiere of Kimbo’s House (aka TUF 10). Tickets to the event go on sale this week; the current lineup is after the jump.

Rampage dry humps Cagepotato Reporter – Watch more Funny Videos

We know a couple things for sure about former UFC champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson: 1) He loves to make it rain in the club, and 2) He has no problem pursuing an aggressively sexual gimmick with a female interviewer to the point of extreme awkwardness.  Really, it’s our fault.  We sent this nice girl to interview ‘Page and it’s possible that we didn’t completely prepare her for what she was walking into.  Suggesting that the two of them star in a romantic comedy together, for instance, was basically an invitation to dry-humping.  We realize that now, even if it’s too late.

You really have to love Rampage’s commitment to a course of action here, however uncomfortable it is to watch.  Most of us would break character after a few thrusts, or at least when the interviewer bravely soldiers on to the next question.  Not Rampage.  You can say ‘cut!’ as many times as you like, but he’s not stopping until he’s done.  And don’t worry.  That dirty, used feeling you’re left with will disappear into the ether after the sixth martini.

In this installment of Dana White’s UFC 100 video blog we finally get an explanation for why the inaugural issue of the UFC Magazine features the UFC president on the cover in the pose of a fighter instead of, you know, actually putting a fighter on there.  As White tells Mark Coleman, the original idea was to put a plethora of big name fighters on the cover, but the photo turned out to be “the worst thing you’ve ever seen in your life.”  Apparently their photographer only snapped that one shot and called it a day, so they were forced to use an old Dana White photo.  Riiiiight.

Also in this episode, Holly Madison brings a little blonde ambition to the Octagon girl bikini while White regales her with stories of the UFC’s early years, and a blue-blood UFC lawyer gets a parking space upgrade.  Just another day in paradise.

For those of you who don’t follow E! reality shows, Holly Madison is a former Playboy model who bravely served as one of Hugh Hefner’s official girlfriends from 2001-2008, starred in the series The Girls Next Door, did a stint on Dancing With the Stars earlier this year, and now appears in the Planet Hollywood burlesque extravaganza Peepshow. She’s also a UFC fan who Dana White once described as "one of the sweetest, most genuine people you could ever meet." Most importantly, she’s an incredibly hot chick who will be adding star power and some much-needed blondeness to the Octagon Girl pit at UFC 100. As Holly posted recently on Twitter (props to MMA Mania for the tip):

Keep in mind that the UFC is still going to pluck one lucky lady out of obscurity during their Octagon Girl Search this Saturday, but we dig the "celebrity guest ring girl" angle. Could Mandy Moore be next? More pics of Ms. Madison are after the jump. Check out more of her work at HollyMadison.com, and be her eBuddy at MySpace.com/hollyewok.

As predicted, five-time UFC light-heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and TapouT founder Charles Lewis Jr. will be inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame this week, according to a press release published last night. From UFC.com:

(One of the few times when shucking and/or ducking would have been the better career move.)

Well, this train has pulled into the station right on time.  Not more than a couple hours after Strikeforce confirmed that Alistair Overeem would defend his heavyweight title against Fabricio Werdum, thus screwing over undefeated big man Brett Rogers, Rogers’ trainer/manager, Mike Reilly, has already responded exactly the way you probably expected him to:

"I don’t think Overeem was ever planning on fighting Brett," Reilly said. "I think Overeem is afraid of Brett. He’s afraid of a big striker who is going to knock him out. … I don’t think anyone is going to admit that, but I’m not going to shy away from it. He’s had two opportunities to fight Brett but he hasn’t taken either of [them]. … if I was Overeem, I would avoid Brett too. It’s a horrible f***ing fight for Overeem."

(A rare Joe Silva sighting caught on film. Like seeing Bigfoot ride by on a unicorn.)

As regular Cage Potato readers already know, we’re big fans of UFC matchmaker Joe Silva both because he does a consistently kick-ass job of putting interesting fights together, and also because he’s a passionate, passionate man who will not hesitate to jump right out of his chair if you do something awesome.  The thing about Silva is, nobody really knows much about him since he doesn’t do interviews and generally stays out of the spotlight as much as possible.  We get a brief glimpse of the man behind the machine in this Las Vegas Sun article, though somehow it manages to make him seem even more mysterious than before:

(Props: genghiscon.wordpress.com)

Genghis Con injects some soul into the upcoming welterweight title fight at UFC 100 with this highlight of Georges St. Pierre and Thiago Alves‘s recent history. It’s a good reminder of how utterly dominant both men have been in the Octagon over the last two years. On Saturday night, the unstoppable force will meet the other unstoppable force. Time to do the man dance.

Speaking of GSP vs. Alves, Spike’s "Countdown to UFC 100" special debuts tomorrow night at 10 p.m. Check out the preview after the jump…

(Overeem vs. Werdum 1; Fabricio starts the fight with a flying kick at the 1:11 mark, and ends it with a kimura at 17:08.)

As first reported by MMA Fanhouse and confirmed shortly after via press release, Alistair Overeem will indeed be making his first Strikeforce heavyweight title defense on the main card of "Carano vs. Cyborg" (August 15th, San Jose). But get this — he’ll be taking on PRIDE/UFC vet Fabricio Werdum, not undefeated KO artist Brett Rogers as was originally speculated.

Overeem and Werdum already have a history together. In May 2006, they had a memorable battle in the opening round of PRIDE’s open-weight GP, with Werdum pulling out a kimura submission near the end of the second round. Said Overeem about the upcoming rematch: “I’m very happy that I’m being given the opportunity to fight him again and I’m looking forward to beating him. This is the one rematch I’ve wanted. I’m going to punish this guy.”

So you’re wondering what life is like in the UFC offices this week, what with their biggest event of all time coming up on Saturday.  Must be pretty crazy.  A lot of panicked running around, working into the early hours of the morning making sure Brock Lesnar doesn’t say anything homophobic to reporters, while also ensuring that Thiago Alves actually shows up on time for his flight to Vegas.  Why, it’d hardly be surprising if they couldn’t find the time to do a video blog for this one at all, right?

We have two important questions for you: 1) Are you going to be in Las Vegas for UFC 100 this weekend? and 2) Do you like to party?  If you answered yes on both accounts, allow us to make a suggestion.  This Friday night Cage Potato will be co-hosting a pre-UFC 100 party with Fight! Magazine at Tryst nightclub inside The Wynn.  Attendees will include MMA stars galore, the Fight Mag boys, a strong Cage Potato contingent, and probably a bunch of those chicks Chuck Liddell used to always end up in pictures with.  If that sounds like the kind of thing you want to be a part of, then come join us.

The party starts at 10 p.m., and as you’ll probably recall from our last co-hosted party, that means we’ll be there at 9:50 with Joe Stevenson, waiting for the bar to start serving.  You can call the number on the flyer up there for reservations, or just swing on by and take your chances.  Trust us, you’re not going to want to miss this.

(Rafaello "Tractor" Oliveira highlight reel. He’s handled Big Big and Fabio Fabio, but will he be able to handle the Fireball Kid?)

After a proposed catchweight bout between Takanori Gomi and Brett Cooper went up in smoke, Affliction has added a lightweight match between Gomi and Rafaello Oliveira to the Affliction: Trilogy fight card page of their official website. Gomi’s name has a suspicious-looking asterisk next to it, but the meaning of that asterisk isn’t defined, and the bout is being reported as official.

Gomi is coming off of a second-round KO victory over Takashi Nakakura at Shooto Tradition Final in May, which followed back-to-back losses in Sengoku. Oliveira has an 8-1 record, fighting mostly in regional leagues in Brazil and North America; he made one appearance in a ShoXC Challenger Series event last year, where he lost to Fancy Pants Beerbohm via doctor’s stoppage TKO. On paper, Oliveira should get crushed by Gomi. In reality…well, he’ll probably still get crushed. This matchup seems to have been made for the benefit of nostalgic PRIDE fans who want to see the Fireball Kid smoke somebody. The current Trilogy card — which is looking pretty damn entertaining from the main event to the prelims — is after the jump.

(Props: BerlinFC via Fightlinker)

It’s like someone set our Eras of MMA and Greatest UFC Events of All Time features to music; the above compilation summarizes the UFC’s entire history from November ’93 until now, in just four-and-a-half minutes. If this doesn’t get you amped up for UFC 100 — T-minus five days, by the way — either you’re not a UFC fan, or you have something personal against David Bowie.

(Photo courtesy of fightsport.fr)

The UFC’s most epic event of the year isn’t really the time or place to trot out unfamiliar faces from regional leagues. And so we have another lonely edition of The New Guys, with only one fighter on the UFC 100 lineup who’s never competed in the UFC before. The good news is, he’s one of Japan’s biggest MMA superstars, and could make a serious dent in the UFC’s rising middleweight division. So without further ado…

YOSHIHIRO AKIYAMA (MW)
?Experience: 12-1 record with 2 no-contests (10 wins by first-round stoppage), with multiple appearances in K-1 HERO’s, K-1 Dynamite!!, and DREAM. Holds notable victories over Denis Kang, Melvin Manhoef, and Kestutis Smirnovas. His only official loss came in his second MMA match against heavyweight kickboxer Jerome LeBanner, who significantly outweighed him. Akiyama most recently defeated Masanori Tonooka via armbar at DREAM.6 last September.

Will be fighting: Alan Belcher (14-5, 5-3 UFC)

As any red-blooded, kick-ass-and-take-names kind of American knows, today is the Fourth of July, when we celebrate our independence from Michael Bisping‘s great-great-great-great-great-grandfather and his buddies.  If our ancestors hadn’t pulled that one off we’d all be sitting around today, eating spotted dick and asking, ‘Who wrote on me boots?’  Avoiding that fate is reason enough to party, which is why we’re taking the day off to grill some meat, down some beers, and play with explosives — so if, after today, all our posts look like they were written by a dude hammering on the keyboard with his fingerless stumps, you’ll know why.

Wherever you are today, and even if you’re not an American, we’d like to wish you a happy 4th.  Get out there and enjoy it.

(B.J. Penn’s very mediocre attempt at pre-fight trash talk. Part two of his message for Kenny Florian is here. His people really ought to learn how to edit videos together. Don’t they have iMovie in Hawaii?)

– Wait, Cro Cop may be headed back to the UFC? Seriously? (Fighters Only)

- Check GSP’s Gatorade ad. (MMA Convert)

- An overdose of Dana White worship rankles a vocal Canadian minority. (Fightlinker)

– Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida for Fight of the Year? (Fanhouse)

- That loveable Fight Nerd gets all up in Josh Barnett’s grill. (Fight Nerd)

- Akiyama plans on bringing some judo skillz to the UFC. (MMA Mania)

– A few good reasons to keep watching "The Ultimate Fighter." (TSB Magazine)

- Slightly scary Amber Nichole Miller photos. (MMA Fight Girls)

– TapouT’s Punkass wants to holla at you a minute. (Ask Men)

- Hot girls gettin’ it on: A gallery to celebrate our independence. (Holy Taco)

- 8 weirdest Johnny Depp roles. (Screen Junkies)

- The 6 girls you dated in high school. (Made Man)

- Wreck of the Week: ‘Don’t mock Jesus.’ (All Left Turns)

- Why you shouldn’t allow people to punch you in the face. (Nothing Toxic)

(The lovely Edith and Logan. Who needs Fabio to have a good time? Photo via MMA Mania.)

If all the fighter appearances, Hall of Fame inductions, grappling superfights, and Kimbo sightings aren’t enough of an incentive to check out the UFC Fan Expo (July 10+11, Mandalay Convention Center, Las Vegas), maybe this will convince you. From UFC.com:

After 200+ entries, we’re proud to announce the winners in this week’s caption contest. Are you sitting down?

In first place, winning Greg Jackson/Kelly Crigger‘s new book The Stand Up Game is Geriatric Peon:
Example of dating rule number 1: If you want to know what the daughter looks like when she is older just look at the mother.

In second place, winning Ranger Up’s Team Sityodtong t-shirt is PauloThiagoSilva:
Goldberg: "Fabio with the clinch."
Rogan: "Yeah, this is NOT where Arianny wants to be."

And our runners-up, winning the soon-to-be outdated "Hall of Fame" t-shirt are…

Richard Tucker: "You know, Arianny, you and me aren’t that different. We both care about our appearance, and we’ve both fucked Josh Burkman."

Jugger: "There might have been a small amount of Vaseline applied, but it didn’t change the outcome."

Horror Fighter: The Dream freak show matches keep getting stranger and stranger.

If your name has been called, please e-mail your commenter name, real name, address, and shirt-size (if applicable) to feedback@cagepotato.com. Thanks to everyone who entered!

At UFC 100 next weekend Jon Fitch takes on Paulo Thiago, the relatively unknown Brazilian who shocked his teammate Josh Koscheck in his first UFC fight.  Here he tells us why he’s not playing along with the revenge storyline in this fight, or any storyline in any fight, for that matter, and he ponders what it might take for him to get the rematch he wants against UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre.

You came out to fight Akihiro Gono right after his epic evening gown entrance.  What was that like?

I was backstage right behind him, just a few feet away in the staging tunnel, and I saw these girls in dresses.  I was like, ‘Why are the ring girls up here?’  Then I realized, oh shit, it’s Gono and his cornermen.  I put my head down and didn’t watch the entrance because I didn’t want to start laughing.  

The funniest thing was in between rounds when I look over and see this girl in pantyhose and a little bit of skirt hanging out below a t-shirt running into the Octagon.  I was like, ‘What is she doing in the cage?’  Then, again, I realized it was Gono’s corner.  They didn’t have time to change.  They took off the wigs but just put t-shirts on over the dresses.  So that was a little distracting.  I told Crazy Bob that I’m going to do that to him next time, put him in a dress.

Did you ever think, ‘Man, if I lose to a guy who came out in a dress I’ll never live it down?’

(Big deal, so you went to Julliard.  Don Frye studied at the prestigious Pride FC Institute for the Performing Arts.)

As those of you who rushed to the movie theater to see the John Dillinger film “Public Enemies” already know, MMA icon Don Frye brings some much-needed mustacheness to the movie in his role as Clarence Hurt.  This is a pretty big deal for Frye, whose previous movie roles have included such characters as “Nation Member” and “Soldier Ant” and “Long-Haired Aryan Brother.”  This is a summer blockbuster movie in which he actually has a character name and as many as one (1) lines.  Okay, it’s not so much a line as it is two words, but the way he delivers those two words makes Johnny Depp look like even more of a pussy.  Congrats, Don.  You do us all proud.

It’s like we’ve always said: Shane Carwin is the best. Thanks for sticking up for us, CAPLOCKHAL. Now please don’t ever do that again.

Previously: Shane Carwin Is Not Amused By Our Antics

Sup, gang. Before you leave your offices (or worksites, or highway underpasses) today for the big Independence Day weekend, we just wanted to remind you not to sleep on our ongoing contests…

— Competition is heating up in this week’s Arianny/Fabio caption contest. There are already some strong front-runners, but if you have any flashes of brilliance by tomorrow at noon ET, you could steal it. Prizes include Greg Jackson’s new book The Stand Up Game, a great new Sityodtong t-shirt from Ranger Up, and our leftover "Hall of Fame" tees.

— If you haven’t entered your UFC 100 picks for our Lyoto Machida "Karate for MMA" pick-off contest, wake the eff up. The best picker will learn the deadly art of Machida Karate via his new 5-DVD instructional set from Victory Belt. Please get in your entries by July 10th.

(Props: MMA Connected)

Fighters who predict Dan Henderson will beat Michael Bisping, in the above video: Patrick Cote, Gray Maynard, Jon Fitch, Sean Sherk

Fighters who think it could go either way: Wanderlei Silva, Rashad Evans

Fighters who predict Michael Bisping will beat Dan Henderson: "…"   

Of course, when you stack the panel with American wrestlers, you’re bound to get a bias for one side. (I have a feeling that Dan Hardy and Paul Kelly see the fight differently.) But the general reality is, people think Bisping is going to get his ass kicked next weekend at UFC 100. According to MMA Moneyline, Bisping’s odds range from +180 at BetUS all the way to an alarming +240 at BetOnline. Sure, Hendo deserves to be the favorite — but an overwhelming one? I mean, Bisping could shock the world, right?

After the jump: Dan Henderson and Cyrille Diabate talk strategy for the Count.