To truly understand what’s happening in this fight, you need to consider the context of the bout, provided by MMA Videos:

Word on the street is that Ben Spikers prank called Renzo all night in his hotel room, in the press conference, taunted him, and insulted him by saying Renzo’s eyes look like Ben’s girlfriend’s eyes. See what Renzo does after the fight.

You also have to consider that this was back in the days of headbutts and groin strikes, so how much civility can you really expect from your opponent?  Check out referee Cecil Peoples admonishing Gracie for his post-fight show of dominance and disrespect.  Huh, so apparently there was a time when Cecil actually paid attention to what was happening in a fight.  Who knew?

(Oh, good.  For a second we thought he was mad at us.  Turns out it’s some other site called Cagecrapato.com.  Wouldn’t want to be those poor bastards right now.)

It’s times like these when we’re glad we do all our blogging from a special groovy submarine in the middle of the Atlantic, because otherwise we might be a little worried about the enormous pro fighter who is pissed off at us.  Clearly, this post rattled Shane Carwin’s cage just a little bit, and he apparently didn’t appreciate our attempts at offering possible nickname ideas either, which is really the fault of you, our readers, since they were your suggestions.  Whoever is to blame, Carwin doesn’t seem to think we’re as funny as our mothers keep telling us we are.

(Props: Sherdog via Bloody Elbow)

If there was a rivalry between Anderson Silva and Wanderlei Silva leading up to UFC 99, it’s clear that the Spider has no interest in keeping it alive. In this video interview shot at Black House, Anderson insists that his training of Rich Franklin before Ace’s fight with the Axe Murderer was a matter of timing, not revenge. At any rate, he’s got a more pressing issue at hand — preparation for his UFC 101 fight against Forrest Griffin. And can we expect to see Silva to make a run for the light-heavyweight belt if he gets past Griffin? For the thousandth time, no: "Lyoto is the champ, and I don’t have intention of fighting him…I’m Lyoto’s friend. I like him a lot, and I think it’s going to be hard for anyone to beat him. This is Karate’s era, not the normal Karate but Machida Karate." Also, he ain’t got no time for no haters: "Whoever has a mouth can say whatever they want…I’m not worried about what people are saying."

(Props: Cafepress.com/Buffer360 via bismanfightclub.)

Planning on attending UFC 100? If so, we hope you’ve been practicing your Fedor chant. And if you haven’t yet planned your outfit, may we suggest this fetching Obama-inspired Bruce Buffer tee? Rumors of a possible "Buffer 360" at UFC 100 have spread like wildfire over the last few months; if we can hope hard enough and believe boldly enough, then maybe, just maybe, he’ll pull it off. Joe Rogan has claimed that if Buffer lands the full rotation during the event, he’ll shit his pants. What will you do?

(Buy the shirt here. And follow Mr. Buffer on Twitter here.)

Since we recently went back in time to celebrate one of Thiago Alves’s past triumphs, it seems only right that we do the same for Georges St. Pierre as we build up to their title fight at UFC 100.  At UFC 56 GSP met Sean Sherk, who had never been finished in his pro career.  Looking back now it seems kind of absurd that he ever competed at welterweight; his reach is a hindrance even at 155.  GSP not only outstruck him on the feet, but also just plain outwrestled him, much to Sherk’s surprise.  It’s not quite as sexy as dropping an opponent with one big bomb, but it’s methodical and it’s dependable.  Makes you wonder, will it be GSP’s wrestling ability that makes the difference against Alves, or will he have a harder time getting someone his own size down to the mat?

Perhaps someone should explain the concept of Twitter to Shane Carwin because he seems surprised that people are reading what he writes on his page, despite the fact that this is the sole reason for the existence of Twitter.  The heavyweight contender posted some news about his next fight (October 24 in L.A., which puts it at UFC 104) on the social networking website, and apparently he wasn’t supposed to since it hasn’t been officially agreed to by both sides.  Carwin and Cain Velasquez seemed to be on a collision course following Velasquez’s win over Cheick Kongo at UFC 99, so it’s not like he revealed the combination to the safe where Lorenzo Fertitta keeps his getaway money.  Still, he did put Cain on the spot.  If the bout doesn’t happen now, we’ll all know whose bitchassness is to blame. 

(This is particularly good news for Indiana-based fighters who aren’t currently allowed to leave the state.)

The unregulated, chaotic MMA scene that produced Miguel Torres is finally getting some much-needed structure. Via MMA Junkie:

(Props: computercowboytv via FiveOunces.)

Allow us to translate for those who don’t speak jive:

Computer: Hey everybody, it’s Computer. You may remember me as the personal assistant from Three Six Mafia’s old reality show, Adventures in Hollyhood. I’m here with my friend Quinton Jackson. Quinton, would you like to say a few words?

Jackson: Hey guys, Rampage here. My friend Computer and I are from the Southern United States; you should already know what that implies. By the way, I punch people in their mouths. I know, it’s not really relevant to the conversation at hand, but I’m a little intoxicated, and it’s what I do.

(Did he have ‘crazy eye’ surgery, too?)

Joe Rogan posted photos on Twitter to show how he’s recovering from surgery to fix a deviated septum, and we haven’t been this terrified since we saw "Leprechaun 2: Back to Tha Hood."  Usually when someone with a career in broadcasting or television who lives in L.A. has surgery for a deviated septum, it’s code for nose job.  Kind of like how being hospitalized for "exhaustion" means you crashed at the end of a coke bender.  But in Rogan’s case we’re inclined to believe that he really did go in to fix years of broken noses, and not because his agent told him all that was standing between him and a recurring role on "Gossip Girl" was that monster schnoz. 

Of course we have to ask, is it really a great idea to have nose surgery a little over a week out from UFC 100, which is probably going to involve some TV time for old Joe?  Maybe it’s just a ploy to distract people from Mike Goldberg’s unnaturally white teeth.  That dude’s beauty regimen is just a little too intense.

The UFC’s first 132 events have given us over 15 years worth of legendary battles, shocking finishes, and historic debuts. With UFC 100 coming up on July 11th, we decided to do some digging and pick out the 10 most monumental events of all time. So join us as we step into the way-back machine…

(Check out part one here.)

***

#5: UFC 1: The Ultimate Fighting Championship
11/12/93; Denver, Colorado


Notable Fights: Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock, Gerard Gordeau vs. Teila Tuli, Royce Gracie vs. Gerard Gordeau
Lowdown: Nearly 3,000 people packed into the McNichols Sports Arena on one fateful night in November to witness the beginning of cultural movement, which is cool even if most of them only showed up because they were already drunk and had reason to believe that they might see a man killed.  It was billed as an eight-man tournament with no rules, and although that wasn’t entirely true (biting and eye-gouging were both outlawed) it might as well have been.  Referee guidelines consisted mostly of instructions not to stop the fight no matter what, there were no judges, not even the suggestion of weight classes, and the approved attire had no limits whatsoever, as evidence by Royce Gracie’s gi and Art Jimmerson’s one lonely glove.

(Photo courtesy of The Insider.)

Tito Ortiz, to Trib Total Media: "I’m starting my own organization also with Strikeforce called Punishment Fighting Championship; not just as a promoter, I’ll be competing."

Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz, to MMA Fanhouse: "I don’t know anything about it."

Well, that settles that. Tito, you have fooled us for the last time. Just as E! banned Speidi, CagePotato will now enact a news ban on Tito Ortiz until he actually does something newsworthy. Seriously. Even if it’s the slowest of slow news days, and the only story going around is that Tito is "very close" to signing a deal with DREAM to participate in their "Super Douchebag Tournament," we won’t cover it until it actually happens. That’s our promise to you.

(Props: twitpic.com/photos/ariannyceleste)

I know what you’re thinking: That’s just too much sexyness for me to handle; I must turn off my computer for a while and walk around the block until my head clears. And Fabio knows you’re thinking that too, and he’s cool with it.

Apparently, the above image was shot during an infomercial-taping for Fabio’s Healthy Planet Protein System, and since we just came into the possession of some very cool prizes, we’re using it as the basis of a caption contest this week.

First up, we’ve got a signed copy of Greg Jackson and Kelly Crigger‘s new book for Victory Belt, The Stand-Up Game, in which Jackson shares his arsenal of striking techniques and methods for developing game-plans; the book even includes a chapter on street-fighting. Also, we have Ranger Up‘s new Team Sityodtong tribute tee to give away. If you haven’t checked out RU’s shirts before, do yourself a favor.

Please submit your captions to the above picture in the comments section below by noon ET on Friday. The best one will get the book, the second best one will get the shirt, and any other runners-up that we deem worthy will get the Hall of Fame. Cool? Well, get goin’.