(Photo courtesy of Model Mayhem.)

As we all attempt to work through the shock of losing Logan Stanton and Natasha Wicks as UFC ring girls, there’s bound to be some hand-wringing and maybe even a little finger-pointing.  We understand that, but as part of the healing process, let’s look to the future.  Thanks to help from Cage Potato reader Rooster, we found some photos of the rumored replacement for Logan and Natasha, former Playboy model Chandella Powell. 

We realize it might too soon for some of you who are really hurting right now.  We all get over these things at our own pace.  All we’re saying is, when time heals that wound and you feel like you’re ready to ogle once again, the pictures will be here for you.  More await you after the jump, though be warned that they’re somewhat NSFW-ish.  Which basically means really hot.

(Cung Le as Tekken’s Marshall Law.  The costume is spot on, but that set is really half-ass.)

Strikeforce returns to the cage this Saturday night, as does MMA’s prodigal actor, Cung Le.  We’ll be liveblogging the whole thing, so don’t forget to stop on by and make your obnoxious voice heard.  Meanhwhile, let’s look at some betting lines.  To do your own research on how the fighters stack up against one another, check out the official website here.

Odds today come from BestFightOdds.com:

Cung Le (-315) vs. Scott Smith (+300)
Josh Thomson (-115) vs. Gilbert Melendez (+105)
Matt Lindland (+240) vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (-249)
“King Mo” Lawal (-425) vs. Mike Whitehead (+405)

The breakdown…

(Cue melancholy Forrest Gump theme music.)

Some tragic news coming in from MMA Madness:

Well this blows. With no other information to work off of at this time, we’ll just assume that Arianny became jealous that her alpha-chick status was being threatened by the two newcomers, and went into them-or-me mode during contract negotiations. I know it’s not very responsible to make up rumors out of whole cloth, but goddammnit, Logan and Natasha are gone — gone, you guys — and the last thing I’m feeling right now is responsible. More to come; for now, let’s remember the good times…

– Exclusive Interview: UFC Octagon Girl Logan Stanton
– Photos: Octagon Girl Logan Stanton in Fight! Magazine
– And the UFC’s New Octagon Girl Is…
– Pics: UFC Ring Girl Natasha Wicks Goes ‘Au Natural’
– Hot Potatoes: UFC Releases New Octagon Girl Photos
– The Strangest Thing Happened to Me at the Raw Vegas UFC 106 Afterparty

(After this fight, Andre Gusmao lobbied hard to outlaw "6-to-9:30" flying knees.)

The UFC’s debut fight card on Versus now has a date and a headliner. Sources indicate that the show will go down March 21st in Denver, with the previously reported match between Jon Jones and Brandon Vera in the main event slot. When Vera broke news of the 3/21 date on Twitter, most people assumed that he meant 3/31, the same night as the premiere of TUF 11. But the Truth was right, and we feel just awful for doubting him.

Versus is available in approximately 75 million homes, compared to the 98.6 million that Spike TV can be seen in, which means that this probably isn’t great news for some of you. At this point, it’s unclear if the UFC will be putting together a Fight Night show on Spike on March 31. Three events in an 11-day stretch seems like a backbreaking schedule; remember, UFC 111 is also on the agenda for March 27th in Newark.

And speaking of Jon Jones, the 22-year-old stunna’s management team filed their formal complaint with the NSAC regarding Jones’s disqualification against Matt Hamill at the TUF 10 Finale. If you’re interested, you can read more details here.

Fight Magazine has put out another video from their pleasant afternoon in the hills with Bas Rutten, and just like the last one, it makes for a gripping couple of minutes.  This time Rutten talks about his career as a bouncer, and it turns out he was pretty much the real-life version of Dalton from "Roadhouse."  Thanks to his people skills, he was able to avoid violence most of the time.  But Rutten knows that you can only be nice until it’s time to not be nice, and then you have to smash somebody’s head against a slot machine.

After the jump, a video that proves Alistair Overeem is as strong as he looks.  Because of all that horse meat.  And nothing else.

(It’s odd that the smile seems like the most unnatural part of this picture.)

The tasteful pornographers at Playboy have thus far been unsuccessful in trying to convince Gina Carano to take her clothes off and pretend to wash a car, so they’ve gone one step lower.  Or higher, depending on how you think about it.  Cris "Cyborg" Santos says she’s been offered a spot in Playboy’s glossy pages, and she’s considering it.  There’s one thing, though.  As she puts it, "…only one man saw me naked in my entire life and I have to think deeply about that."

One man?  Really?  I don’t know whether to be impressed or concerned.  But regardless, it’s not like she’s got anything any of us haven’t seen before.  Unless she does.  Which would be kind of awesome and possibly scary.

Let’s just hope nothing amazing happens in the next two weeks. Major props to AllElbows, Sherdog, and The Las Vegas Sun.

#14. Frank Shamrock and Nick Diaz display their vastly different personal styles at a Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz press conference.

#13: The final resting place of BJJ godfather Helio Gracie.

#12: "Stop trying to hit me and hit me!" Anderson Silva stays juuuuust out of reach against Forrest Griffin at UFC 101.

("Okay Robbie, I’ll take the fight under two conditions. First, we do it at a catchweight of 195. And no pre-fight drug test. That one’s kind of non-negotiable." Photo courtesy of flickr.com/photos/shosports.)

Though Robbie Lawler was slated to face South African veteran Trevor Prangley at this Saturday’s Strikeforce: Le vs. Smith event, plans changed when Prangley was forced to pull out due to a knee injury suffered in training. Strikeforce scrambled to find another opponent for Ruthless this week, but a suitable replacement didn’t turn up, so Lawler’s fight has been scrapped altogether. Bummer. Lawler hasn’t competed since his first-round submission loss against Jake Shields in June; the organization hopes to place him on their "Miami" show on January 30th.

With Lawler vs. Prangley off the docket, the Strikeforce: Le vs. Smith lineup looks like this…

Showtime televised card (10 p.m. ET/PT)
Cung Le vs. Scott Smith
Josh Thomson vs. Gilbert Melendez (for unified lightweight title)
Matt Lindland vs. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal vs. Mike Whitehead

Preliminary card
Antwain Britt vs. Scott Lighty
Daisuke Nakamura vs. Justin Wilcox
Juan Nunez vs. Luis Mendoza
Bobby Stack vs. Alex Trevino
Alex Crispim vs. A.J. Fonseca

(Dana White: He won’t rest until every night is Fight Night. Photo courtesy of myspace.com/danawhite.)

After previous preliminary card broadcasts did solid numbers on Spike TV this fall, the UFC has announced that it will telecast 10 more live "UFC Prelims" shows next year, beginning with UFC 108 on January 2nd. The lineup for UFC 108′s one-hour undercard broadcast hasn’t been announced yet, but it could potentially feature such names as Sean Sherk, Vladimir Matyushenko, and Martin Kampmann.

But even with those extra spots, the UFC still apparently has more product than can fit on Pay-Per-View and Spike. The Versus network — long known for being the broadcast home of the WEC — has agreed to run two additional UFC events next year. Though dates and locations are still TBA, Dana White said these planned events would be similar to the UFC Fight Night shows on Spike, adding: "Versus has shown their commitment to mixed martial arts, the UFC, the WEC, and we couldn’t be happier to be in business with guys like this."

As Versus is owned by Comcast, which now owns NBC as well, the new partnership could be a first step towards getting UFC fights on a major network.

(Props: twinkletoestommy via MMA Mania.)

UFC middleweight star Michael Bisping is currently in Austin, Texas, working on his first feature film, an action flick called Beat Down. MovieSet.com gives us the synopsis:

What, you were expecting a period piece about the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria’s rule and her enduring romance with Prince Albert? Beat Down stars Rudy Youngblood in the lead role, as well as legendary bad-ass Danny Trejo, Eric Balfour, and Heath Herring. And of course, Bisping and Bobby Lashley have supporting roles that include at least one fight scene. (Spoiler alert: Bisping wins.) Check out the latest installment of the Count’s video-blog above, which shows the two fighters going over their spots, a lineup of chicks in white t-shirts getting water dumped all over their chests, and Bisping reacting to the news of his homeboy Cheick Kongo’s loss.

(Couture and Toughill, locked in an old-fashioned bikini duel.)

The beef between female fighters Erin Toughill and Kim Couture just won’t die, mainly because Toughill won’t let it die. She hates “Sugar Free” so much, she managed to take a UG thread about Gina Carano and turn it into another rant about Couture, who no one had even mentioned up until that point. At first it was the usual criticism of Kim’s lack of talent and inflated sense of self-importance, but then she took aim at Couture’s website, pointing out that the bio page doesn’t really make sense.

Out of sheer idle curiosity, we went to check it out. What we learned is that Toughill is totally right.  As unintentionally hilarious bio pages go, this one is pretty great.  For example, after describing how Kim “took the ‘Bull by the Horns,’ so to speak” by attending public school as a child, the biography offers this description of her early work life:

(Keep an eye out for the James Toney workout tape, in stores now.  Makes a perfect Christmas gift for people you hate.)

Don’t ask us why, but former boxing great James Toney has got it in his head that he wants to fight in the UFC. Maybe he’s just that blissfully unaware of the full compliment of skills it takes to compete at that level of MMA. Maybe he’s punch-drunk and is not in complete control of what comes out of his mouth. Maybe he’s just in dire need of some attention/money. Whatever the root cause is, he tried to bolster his case while attending UFC 107 in Memphis last weekend, and it sounds like he didn’t quite make the stellar impression that he seems to believe he did:

“I met up with Dana. He was cool and said we could do business. We exchanged numbers and I texted him all night, ‘Don’t forget chicken shit!’ But I was sitting behind Chuck Liddell and I could tell he was uncomfortable with my presence. …I think I can break records with the UFC. I would fight Kimbo Slice, Chuck Liddell, or Randy Couture. Brock Lesnar, too. He could get it and we would do a ton of buys.”

("Why does this happen every time I drink tequila?")

With Brock Lesnar’s return date still uncertain, it looks like the UFC will dust off their interim heavyweight title for one more ride. Multiple sources report that a fight between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin is in the works for UFC 111 (March 27th, Newark), with the winner earning the UFC’s interim belt. Both fighters have been very open to the bout; Carwin recently wrote on his blog that Mir "is a LEGEND of the sport and I would be honored to fight him," while Mir described a potential fight against Carwin as a "phenomenal matchup," and Carwin as "a better version" of Brock Lesnar. Well Merry Christmas, boys, because you got your wish.

Though Mir was already mentally preparing for a future clash with a heavy-handed powerhouse wrestler, Carwin must now start game-planning for a submission expert with rapidly-improving boxing skills. Carwin also has ring-rust working against him. An entire year will have passed since his last appaearance against Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 96; Mir has fought twice in that period, and his confidence-boosting choke-out of Cheick Kongo at UFC 107 will be fresh in his mind. Is the Engineer of Pain fighting an uphill battle here, or will Mir just be a speed-bump on Carwin’s path to the title?

UFC 111 is scheduled to be headlined by the welterweight title fight between Georges St. Pierre and Dan Hardy, and will also feature the return of Thiago Alves.

Due to a fractured ankle, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has been forced to withdraw from his co-headlining bout against Brandon Vera at UFC 109 (February 6, Las Vegas). Shortly after the news broke, Vera posted (then quickly removed) the following message on his Twitter page: "just found out I’m firing Jon Bones Jones on March 21st in Denver Colorado. hope u heard it here first!!!!"

We can only assume that Vera meant "fighting Jon Bones Jones," and that he won’t be flying out to Denver to terminate Jones from his contract, Clooney-style. And the March 21st date may also be a misprint: MMA Junkie and MMA Weekly both report that the yet-unsigned fight is actually slated for March 31st, and will headline an Ultimate Fight Night card just four days after UFC 111 (March 27, Newark). The 3/31 Fight Night show will lead directly into the premiere of TUF 11.

With Vera losing a close decision to Randy Couture at UFC 105, and Jones coming off his unfortunate DQ loss against Matt Hamill earlier this month at the TUF 10 Finale, both men will come into this fight with a lot to prove. Jones certainly has the wrestling advantage — as well as the spinning-elbow advantage — but will Vera’s rangy kickboxing cause problems for young Bones?

(Gunderson looks for a guillotine against Wagnney Fabiano in an IFL bout back in 2007.)

There is one upside to having an event so plagued with injuries and illnesses that it barely limps its way onto pay-per-view.  With so many holes opening up in the fight card, that means some UFC first-timers are bound to turn someone else’s misfortune into their own big break.  One such Octagon newcomer at UFC 108 will be IFL vet John Gunderson.  He’ll be taking on Rafaello Oliveira, who was supposed to fight Sean Sherk, who got moved up to face Jim Miller when Tyson Griffin pulled out.  That’s the kind of event this has been, and that’s the convoluted chain of events that led to Gunderson getting his shot in the UFC just a little over two weeks from now.

"I actually found out last night," said Gunderson.  "[Evan] Dunham saw it online and he told me about it.  After practice I checked my cell phone and sure enough there were a bunch of texts from my manager about it."

(Don’t get too chummy, Berlusconi. Fedor only came to this thing because Putin told him there would be ice cream.  He’s been patient so far, but his patience has limits.)

CBS was so happy with how well their first Strikeforce event turned out, they’re going to do it again.  Eventually.  MMA Weekly reports that CBS is eyeing April 2010 as their next date for live MMA action, and they want both Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson on the fight card.  Probably not against each other, though.  That would be insane.

According to CBS senior executive vice president Kelly Kahl, they are "looking at a few different dates" but after the ratings the last Strikeforce show did they "look forward to being back in the cage."

As excited as we’ll be to see both Fedor and Hendo fighting for free on CBS once April rolls around (assuming we make it through the winter without being eaten by wolves, and we never assume that), that puts a five-month gap between Strikeforce’s network TV events.  We can’t help but pose the question: is that really the kind of scheduling pace that builds brand loyalty?  Sure, it gives them time to stack the card using the full might of Strikeforce’s roster, but at this rate they’ll only do about two network TV events a year.  Is that the kind of thing that builds a fanbase, or just tries to quickly exploit whatever existing fanbase is already there? 

(For reference: St. Pierre vs. Serra 1, UFC 69, 4/7/07.)

From an interview with #1 welterweight contender Dan Hardy on Sherdog:

(Bowles didn’t just shock the world — he threw a toaster into the tub while the world was trying to relax in it with a glass of red wine and the latest Nora Roberts novel.)

After scoring one of the biggest upsets of the year in August — knocking out the seemingly-indestructible Miguel Torres in the first round of their bantamweight title fight at WEC 42 — Brian Bowles is ready to defend his crown. The WEC announced yesterday that Bowles (8-0) will next compete at WEC 47, which is slated for March 6th at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. His opponent will be 15-1 contender Dominick Cruz, who has won his last four WEC fights by decision, and whose only career loss came in a featherweight bout against Urijah Faber back in March 2007. Cruz most recently won a unanimous decision over much-hyped up-and-comer Joseph Benavidez at WEC 42, earning the event’s Fight of the Night award.

Miguel Torres is also slated to compete on the card against a yet-unnamed opponent. And even though he basically retired in June, Jens Pulver will be fighting at the Columbus event as well. WEC 47 — which will take place during the weekend of the annual Arnold Sports Festival — will mark the organization’s first show in Ohio.

Semi-related: No matter how his fight against Ed Ratcliff turns out this Saturday at WEC 45, Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone plans to drop to featherweight for his next fight.

(Askren’s most recent fight vs. Matt Delanoit, 8/28/09. Props: Pure Fight.)

Ben Askren was a four-time All-American wrestler at the University of Missouri and an Olympic hopeful at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. He came home without a medal, his dreams temporarily dashed, and has since turned his focus toward MMA, racking up a 3-0 record in smaller promotions. But now the former wrestling standout has signed on to compete in Bellator’s welterweight tournament in the spring of 2010, though that doesn’t mean he’s forgetting all about his goals in the world of wrestling. Far from it, in fact. He seems to think he can someday be the best in the world at both MMA and wrestling, and nobody can talk him out of it.

CagePotato.com: You’re one of the more well known wrestlers. You were a two-time national champ at Missouri and you got a lot of press heading into the Olympics. What made you decide to sign with Bellator?

It’s the best offer I had right now. They made me a good offer and they said they’d let me keep wrestling on the side, so that played a big part in my decision.

(Props: Fight Magazine)

Most of the time when people begin sentences with the phrase, "Funny story…" the one thing you can count on is that you’re about to hear a story that is only funny in the eyes of its teller.  That is, except when the teller is Bas Rutten.  When "El Guapo" begins sentences that way, what usually follows is a story about someone getting badly beat up, and usually that story will be oddly funny in a violently bizarre way. 

For instance, in this case Rutten tells a tale about how he went from being a sickly kid who got picked on to a neighborhood terror who hunted down former bullies in order to give them their comeuppance.  Then he and some friends are hanging out at a bar where a strange woman gets knocked unconscious into Rutten’s arms and, as it often does in these situations, hilarity ensues.  You know, after somebody punched a woman.  Don’t worry, I’m sure she was okay.  Well, not okay, but you get the point.

Barely related: Ten Things "Roadhouse" Taught Us About Fighting

(The appropriately epic poster for Dynamite!! 2009.)

Members of FEG and World Victory Road held a press conference earlier today in Japan to discuss their collaborative effort for New Year’s Eve, Dynamite!! 2009: The Power of Courage. A batch of fights were announced, and the lineup (via Nightmare of Battle) is looking like this so far…

MMA Heavyweight Feature:
Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida

Super Hulk Tournament Final:
Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

DREAM vs. Sengoku Raiden Championship:
Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto vs. Masanori Kanehara
Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Michihiro Omigawa
Hideo Tokoro vs. Marlon Sandro
Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Akihiro Gono
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Izumi
Alistair Overeem vs. Kazuyuki Fujita

(Sonnen and Okami: Bros before foes.)

By CagePotato.com contributor Mike Russell

When Chael Sonnen was asked after beating Yushin Okami at UFC 104 whether or not he was upset that his fight was relegated to the undercard, his reply was:

“We got men and women at war right now – they got real problems – so me complaining about where I come out on the card would be very arrogant. But with that said, there are guys that I’m opening the show for that would never fight after me had Okami not been my dance partner. They call him Yushin “Thunder” Okami, I call him Yushin “Anchor” Okami; he pulls people down, whereas if you get a fight with me – if you get me on the docket, I’m going to pull you up. I’m going to get exposure and attention and people to care about the fight and “Anchor” Okami’s got the opposite effect. So was it annoying? Yes.”

Two months later the Team Quest middleweight apparently had a change of heart, and invited his former opponent to stay with him for a month at his home in Oregon to help kick off the training camp for his UFC 109 showdown with Nate Marquardt on February 6.

“I’m actually on my way to practice right now and Yushin is sitting next to me in the car.”

(‘Thanks for the workout, chummmmmmmp.’ Photo courtesy of Fight Magazine.)

Because the MMA gods would never be content to allow the UFC’s heavyweight division be both intriguing and problem-free, Brock Lesnar’s illness just happens to have coincided with a number of potential challengers rising up all at once. You’ve got Shane Carwin, who was originally slated for the next shot at Lesnar. You’ve got Cain Velasquez, who’s been running through everyone the UFC puts in front of him. And after UFC 107 on Saturday night you’ve got Frank Mir, who would like to smugly point out that he almost knocked out and then submitted a guy who Velasquez couldn’t finish. You know, just saying.

With Lesnar’s future still uncertain, what will become of these three able heavyweight contenders? If you ask Carwin, he’ll tell you that he wouldn’t mind fighting Mir while all this other stuff gets sorted out:

A win like Frank had last night surely propels him to share the top of the division with Nog, Cain and myself. If beating Kongo was enough to propel Cain to number two contender status, destroying Kongo might edge Cain out. What is more compelling is that Mir made it our of that fight injury free so not only is he at the top of the division he is likely ready to fight sooner then later.

The MMA Minute: post-UFC 107 edition – Watch more Funny Videos

As part of our continuing effort to please our illiterate fanbase while simultaneously infuriating those of you who read Cage Potato in quiet work environments, we present "The MMA Minute."  It’s a brief rundown of the weekend that was in mixed martial arts, telling you nothing you didn’t already know if you actually watched the fights, but telling you that nothing in the wry, almost witty manner you’ve come to expect from this site.  Think of it as a minute and forty-five seconds of your life that you’ll never get back.  Ever. 

Also, there’s a cat in it, though any resemblance that cat may have to the one that went missing from the house down the street from mine is purely incidental.  That little girl can cry and put up all the posters she wants, it’s not going to change my position on the matter.

(Props: Spike.com)

Saturday night’s Spike Video Game Awards crowned UFC Undisputed 2009 as the year’s Best Individual Sports Game, beating out such notable titles as Fight Night Round 4 and Wii Sports Resort. And while that’s not a huge accomplishment considering that the UFC and Spike are in bed together and the whole broadcast was basically just one big advertisement, the ceremony did offer a first look at next year’s installment of Undisputed.

We begin with a montage of UFC stars telling us what being a fighter does and doesn’t require. To be honest, it sounds like a very demanding profession. Tito Ortiz tries so hard to sell his line, God bless him. Though there isn’t much actual game-footage to judge, some minor improvements are on display: Anderson Silva switches from southpaw to orthodox stance. Frank Mir is held against the fence. And of course, Kimbo Slice joins the cast, swinging some wide-ass punches at a faceless opponent. UFC Undisputed 2010 is slated to hit stores on May 25th — what improvements would you like to see in the updated version?

(Diego, we don’t want to embarrass you or anything, but, well, your brain is showing. Photo courtesy of Fight Magazine’s UFC 107 gallery.)

The results from UFC 107 are in and the numbers have all been tallied up. And don’t worry, after concerns arose that some of our stats had been poorly calculated, we hired some real experts: the dudes who counted all the votes in the most recent election in Afghanistan. See, they’ve got real world experience!

Join us to see who’s up, who’s down, and who made little progress in either direction after UFC 107, all according to the arbitrary numerical rankings system of the Potato Index.

B.J. Penn +193
What kind of champion goes five rounds with the number one contender to his title and only gets hit eight times? The thoroughly dominant kind. Penn is without question the world’s best lightweight right now, but that doesn’t mean he has to jump divisions right away. Stick around, beat up Gray Maynard, issue a few futile challenges to Shinya Aoki, then go. You’ll have our blessing.

Diego Sanchez -12
On Saturday night we learned that Sanchez isn’t really in Penn’s league (which we already knew, or at least suspected), but he is one of the toughest SOB’s in MMA at any weight class. One gets the sense that if the doctor hadn’t stopped it, he would have kept going all night. Fortunately for his face, it doesn’t work like that.

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Following his four-round drubbing at the hands of Georges St. Pierre at UFC 94, the general consensus was that BJ Penn should return to the 155-pound division for good, and give up his pipe-dream of becoming the UFC’s welterweight champion. Penn did return to lightweight competition, and went on to completely demolish the division’s two top contenders, Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez. He now finds himself in same position as his nemesis GSP, where no challenger to his title seems quite worthy enough. So will we be seeing the Prodigy make another run at welterweight next year? Dana White lays it out:

Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar are among the names of lightweight fighters who have enjoyed great success recently, and could be tapped as Penn’s next opponent. But good luck selling them as actual threats to the belt. If the UFC’s main-event-drought continues, they might be better off using Penn for exhibitions against tough welterweights like Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, or Thiago Alves — at least until an undisputed #1 lightweight contender emerges. Few people are clamoring for Penn/GSP III at this point, but I think we all want to see Penn get an even greater challenge his next time out, even if it takes him out of his most effective weight class.

(Markham starches Brodie Farber during his Octagon debut last July.)

Following withdrawals by Anderson Silva, Brock Lesnar, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Gabriel Gonzaga, Carlos Condit, and Tyson Griffin, MMA Weekly reports that the latest fighter to pull out of UFC 108 (January 2, Las Vegas) is Rory Markham, who recently aggravated an old achilles tendon injury, and may be out of action for up to a year. Markham, who hasn’t competed since his first-round knockout loss against Dan Hardy at UFC 95, was slated to take on fellow welterweight Martin Kampmann, who is coming off his own loss against Paul Daley; Kampmann is still expected to compete on the card against an opponent to be named later.

Though not all of the matchups have been officially confirmed, UFC 108′s lineup is currently looking like this:

(Wilson Gouveia [in the Brazilian shorts] and Alan Belcher [in the Fairyland shorts] slug it out at UFC 107. Photo courtesy of MMA Fanhouse.)

Despite some thrilling moments in UFC 107‘s main card, the UFC awarded all of its traditional end-of-night bonuses to preliminary card fighters. Scoring the $65,000 pay bumps were…

Knockout of the Night: TJ Grant, for wrecking Kevin Burns with a right hook in the closing seconds of their one-rounder, which kicked off the prelims.

Submission of the Night: DaMarques Johnson, who upkicked the wits out of Edgar Garcia, then quickly finished him with a triangle choke in the first round of their fight. The memorable sequence — which was shown at the end of the pay-per-view broadcast — occurred shortly after Johnson was punched to the mat.

Fight of the Night: Alan Belcher vs. Wilson Gouveia, which also made it to the PPV broadcast. Though their match was the second-shortest of the night, it was a fast-paced striking war that ended with Gouveia crumpling under Belcher’s onslaught. And really, are you going to give it to Clay Guida three fights in a row? You know he’ll just blow it all on shampoo and energy drinks…

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

If you watched last night’s UFC event, you already know that BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez was one of the most lopsided five-round fights in UFC history. But exactly how bad did things get for the hapless challenger? According to FightMetric, Sanchez threw 108 strikes at Penn, and only landed eight of them. Seriously. Eight, the whole fight. That’s a 7% success rate. By comparison, Penn was able to touch Sanchez 150 times out of 214 tries, for a remarkable 70% success rate. Compounding his failure, Sanchez also went 0/24 on his takedown attempts. (Fun fact: Penn hasn’t been successfully taken down by a lightweight since Takanori Gomi, six years ago. But hey, kudos to Sanchez for trying anyway.)

Of course, you could also just look at the above photo to understand what a bad situation the Nightmare found himself in at the FedExForum. Allow Dana White to explain what you’re looking at:

After the jump: A completely unmarked BJ Penn discusses his victory.