10 Legendary MMA Fighters You've Probably Never Heard Of

April, 2010

Friday Link Dump


(I know 114 is more than a month away, but this fan-made pre-fight video by KirbyLovesTacos got me excited for two reasons: A) The fight between Forrest and Lil’ Nog is going to be a slugfest and B) he used Hendrix in the clip)

-Despite ending up 16th in online voting, UFC president Dana White fails to make Time’s 100 Most Influential People list. (Cagewriter)

-Kongo injured; not likely for Nelson bout (Riddum)

-Jose Pele Landi Jons leg break vs. Brian Gassaway at TKO 32 (YouTube)

-Chris Clements’ fastest (2 second) MMA knockout (YouTube)

-Chuck Liddell gets beat (at Wii tennis) and interviewed by Asylum reporter (Asylum)

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Alves vs. Fitch Tentatively Moved to UFC 117; Is There More to the Story?


(It looks like Thiago will have to wait a few more months before he can resume his Fraggle-bashing training.)

An MMAFighting.com story reveals today that the planned UFC 115 match-up between Thiago Alves and Jon Fitch will likely not take place until UFC 117.

UFC president Dana White told MMA Fighting’s Mike Chiappetta that the promotion was pushing the fight back as a precaution to ensure that "Alves is 1000 percent healthy."

I can’t help but wonder, though, if there is more to this story.

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Videos: Silva vs. Sonnen Fan-Made Promo, The Buffer Lunge


(Props: nicktheface via Fightlinker)

Will Chael Sonnen‘s over-the-top trash-talk infuriate Anderson Silva into engaging with him? Will Sonnen make good on his promise to come straight at the Spider and force him to fight? Would Dana White really cut his middleweight champion after a win? Has Sonnen signed his own death warrant, or bought a ticket to a 25-minute dance contest? All these questions will be answered on August 7th, when Silva and Sonnen meet at UFC 117 in Oakland, California. Speaking of #117, the event will reportedly host the welterweight rematch between Thiago Alves and Jon Fitch, which was originally scheduled for UFC 115 in June, but has been pushed back to give Alves more time to recover from brain surgery.

After the jump: A behind-the-scenes video of Bruce Buffer at UFC 102, which reveals Buffer’s warm-up technique and a dramatic fighter-introduction maneuver we’ll call the "Buffer Lunge"

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CagePotato Comments of the Week: A Show of Solidarity

Fight Magazine cover Jens Pulver MMA WEC
(For the next few weeks, "Comments of the Week" winners will score subscriptions to our favorite MMA-rag, Fight! Magazine. Follow Fight! on Twitter, and pick up the latest issue on newsstands now. Pictured above: "Gens" himself.)

There are some people in this world who are so socially inept and abrasive in real life that they can only function on the Internet, relying on non-relationships with total strangers via message boards and blog comments. And then, there are some people who can’t even do that right. Such is the case with "thisredengine," a truly bizarre individual who showed up here out of the blue on Tuesday, and immediately tried to impress all of you by claiming the following:

– He’s pretty well-known and respected over at BloodyElbow.com, and regularly tweets with Leland Roling. He’s pretty much an unofficial staffer there.
– MMA legend "Gens" Pulver once acknowledged something he wrote.
– He’s a jet-setting world traveler, on account of his job.
– He considers himself "one of the cool kids in the MMA community."
– He considers himself and BE’s Luke Thomas to be "a level above most in MMA conversations." The readers of this site would not be able to hang on his conversation-level.
– He ignores all comments from people he doesn’t know, which on this site would be everybody.

Though many of us (including myself) begged him to fuck off and leave us alone, he refused to fuck off. And so, new contributor ReX13 hit him with what will go down in history as the "I Have a Dream" speech of CagePotato.com…

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Cro Cop’s Secret to Getting Back to PRIDE Form: A New Alarm Clock

 
(Mirko was known for being a lightweight when it came to partying. Two Ambiens and a Zima and he was dead to the world until 3pm the next day.)

Nokaut was on hand at Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic’s gym during one of the Croation fighter’s  recent training sessions ahead of his UFC 115 showdown with leg-kick punisher Pat Barry. Apparently the biggest change he has made to his regimen, which he believes will do the most to revive the PRIDE version of himself, is doing the brunt of his training earlier in the morning.

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Did Tito Rick Roll the UFC, TUF and TapouT?


(Unfortunately for the fan, Tito couldn’t sign the autograph because he couldn’t see how to spell his last name.)

While watching The Ultimate Fighter on Wednesday night, something that caught my eye and made me do a double take was the "Team Punishment" shirt Tito was wearing and how closely it resembled the "Team Ortiz" shirts fighters on his squad were sporting.

I figured they must be made by the same company as a package as part of the show branding. Well it turns out I was wrong.

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Bellator 16 Recap: Middleweights Bring It, Ask Where They Can Find Some Decent Barbeque

Bellator 16 first draft jimbonics rex13
(Rex’s "first draft," courtesy of jimbonics. Click for larger version.)

by CagePotato.com contributor DL "ReX13" Richardson

Middleweight just hasn’t been home to many exciting fights lately. Whether it’s the result of a grinding style that never goes for the finish, or simply because a fighter is apparently out of his goddamn mind, there’s been a noticeable lack of offense at 185. Bellator hoped to bring the sexy back last night, as they visited the Power & Light District in Kansas City, Missouri, for the quarterfinals of this year’s middleweight tournament. The winner of the Season Two tourney receives a title shot against current champ Hector “Shango” Lombard, who faces off with Paulo Filho in a non-title scrap on May 13th. Full Bellator XVI event recap and results are after the jump…

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Strikeforce Conference Call Notes


(Besides sporadically training MMA, Bobby Lashley has been saying his prayers and taking his vitamins and the results have been staggering.)

Strikeforce held a media conference call today with Andrei Arlovski, Antonio "Big Foot" Silva, Roger Gracie and Kevin Randleman to hype their upcoming
 Saturday May 15 “Heavy Artillery” event in St. Louis.

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Jonathan Goulet Had to Choke a B*tch Out

 
(It looks like Tito isn’t the only UFC fighter who keeps his pimp hand strong.)

I don’t know if it was due to boredom from hearing the the same old answers and cliche quotes regurgitated back to me by fighters, but a while back I began asking interview subjects strange arbitrary questions and have been paid back in kind with strange arbitrary answers.

Some notable anecdotes I’ve been told:

– No matter if he’s at home, on a bus, on a plane or on a train, Pat Barry can only fall asleep while wearing a pillow case tied around his head.

– Eric "Red" Schafer has a stalker in his hometown in Wisconsin. He is male and likes to break into his car and sniff his shoes and gym clothes.

– Jason MacDonald was originally slated to be on TUF 3, but was beaten by Kalib Starnes at an event in British Columbia just before the final selections were made for the show and was replaced by "The Running Man" that season.

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Czech Beast Karlos Vemola to Make UFC Debut Against Jon Madsen in July


(Karlos Vemola HL reel, with narration by Cookie Monster. Props: gangstervideoscouk via Fightlinker)

With his hulking appearance and string of first-round stoppage victories, Karlos "The Terminator" Vemola is already drawing hype as a Euro version of Shane Carwin. The Czech Republic-bred London Shootfighters product has gone 7-0 in his MMA career so far — primarily in England’s Cage Fighters Championship league — with five of those wins being decided in the first minute of the fight; his longest match lasted 3:14, and his shortest ended in just five seconds. And so, the UFC is giving Vemola a shot, slating him against TUF 10 wrestling specialist Jon Madsen (5-0), who most recently out-pointed Mostapha Al Turk on the preliminary card of UFC 112. Vemola vs. Madsen is slated to go down at UFC 116, July 3rd in Las Vegas.

Besides his intimidating build, Vemola has a couple of good story-lines coming into the match. He’s a training partner of Al Turk, so there’s the trusty revenge angle. He also has personal history with another TUF 10 vet, James McSweeney, who previously accused Vemola of using steroids; Vemola and McSweeney were supposed to fight for CFC’s heavyweight title at one point, but McSweeney withdrew from the match to move to the United States. If Vemola can smash Madsen, maybe he and McSweeney will have their date after all.

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TUF 11 Fighter Rich Attonito’s Guest Blog: Episode 5

Rich Attonito UFC TUF 11 Ultimate Fighter Team Liddell

In the wake of last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz, CagePotato.com guest blogger Rich Attonito discusses the frustrations of being sidelined due to injury (yet stuck in the prison-like environment of the TUF house), and how underestimating Josh Bryant turned out to be Kris McCray’s downfall.

The Wild Card speculations begin and everyone’s curious to see who the picks could possibly be. None of this had any impact on me anymore since I had a broken hand. I was going to have to sit by and watch the entire competition unfold in front of me and there was nothing I could do about it. I tried to remain positive and be as helpful to the guys on my team as I could. Mostly giving them some pointers with their wrestling, since that was what my background was in.

I spent a lot of time doing cardio and trying to exercise the rest of my body as best I could. I had to keep myself in as best of shape as possible so that eventually when my hand healed my transition back to training would be easier. Also, the only relief from the monotony of the house was when it was training time. Now I was barely even going to be afforded that luxury, as it was near impossible to do anything with my hand being as badly broken as it was.

Clayton was another member of the walking wounded in the house. After re-visiting the doctor he found out he was going to need shoulder surgery. I remember he didn’t want to get it done because he was still thinking about having a chance for a Wild Card spot. But after a little time he realized that his injury was severe and the only thing to do was go under the knife to get it fixed.

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Paulo Filho Thinks His Style is Too Boring for the UFC; Says Promoters Often Determine the Outcome of Fights


(Paulo could not sleep that night, as he was worried sick about what people would think about his new moustache)

Paulo Filho sat down for an interview with Tatame recently and the normally reserved  31-year-old embattled Brazilian had a lot to say about a lot of things including his May 13 Bellator match-up with Hector Lombard, his future in the sport and the MMA industry in general.

For those unfamiliar with him outside of the bizarre things he has done as of late like talking to ghosts during his fight with Chael Sonnen and tattooing his face like Mike Tyson, Filho used to be an absolute juggernaut when he fought for PRIDE and it sounds like he is trying to put a lid on some of his demons and doing what he needs to do to get things straightened out. Hopefully he can get back to form and we can see him on a bigger stage before long.

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DREAM Cancels Light Heavyweight Tournament; Is the Organization in Trouble?


(DREAM’s master plan of eventually having puppet-only fight cards didn’t go over as well as predicted with Japanese fans)

According to a report from Sherdog.com, DREAM has inexplicably scrapped its planned (but never officially announced) May 29 light heavyweight grand prix. The reason for the cancellation, which is the second major change to the event (organizers rescheduled the show from April 24 until they added more Korean fighters to the card to help them secure a TV deal in Korea) was loosely linked to comments made by event producer Keiichi Sasahara on Tuesday that because the event would be contested in the hexagonal cage introduced at DREAM 12, that was not used at DREAM 13, "the tournament would need to be reevaluated."

Seriously? Because some of the fighters assumed they would be fighting in a ring, you cancel the entire tournament? They have over a month to adjust to the change. The funny thing is, the fighters who will step in to fill in the card  have the same amount of time to prepare for a fight as these guys would have had to make the subtle changes to their respective game plans to prepare for a larger and differently shaped fighting surface. They’re fighters, for Crom’s sake. Shouldn’t they be prepared to fight under any circumstance? I don’t buy this excuse.

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Barely-MMA Gossip-Rag Update: Jenna Jameson Tests Clean for Drugs

Jenna Jameson Tito Ortiz sons
(I was going to say "work it out for the kids," but for God’s sake, look at those little monsters. You’re better off putting them in an orphanage and cutting your losses at this point.)

Casting doubt on Tito Ortiz‘s claim that baby-momma Jenna Jameson "relapsed" on OxyContin, TMZ reports that Jameson tested clean for 10 major drugs the day after their little domestic abuse misunderstanding:

We’ve learned the results of the test, administered Tuesday by American Toxicology Inc. in Las Vegas, show Jenna’s urine tested "negative" for the ten major drugs they were screening for, a list that included cocaine, weed, meth and oxycodone — the major ingredient in OxyContin…Now, after receiving the results of the test, Jenna is reaffirming her claim telling us, "I am definitely not addicted to OxyContin or any drug.”

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TUF 11.5 Recap: A Living Death

Jamie Yager Nick Ring TUF 11 Ultimate Fighter UFC
(Hey Jamie, what did you think of Precious?)

We’re halfway through the round-of-16, and the guys are looking a little beat up. Clayton McKinney is out for a couple months with a shoulder injury that he has to get surgery for. The recently-smashed Charles Blanchard is also injured, and says he’s in no condition to beat anybody. (Not that he was when he was healthy, but whatever.) And of course Rich Attonito is sidelined with a broken hand. Which begs the question: Is anybody going to be well enough to compete in the wild-card match? James Hammortree and Kyacey Uscola seem like they’ll qualify by default — but two more guys may need to come back to fight for Rich’s spot as well. Maybe we’ll meet one of them tonight.

Tito has control, finally, and chooses Kris "Savage" McCray to go up against Team Liddell’s Josh Bryant. McCray and Bryant have a lot in common, even if Josh doesn’t "look or act" like a fighter. First off, they’re both undefeated. Bryant is a perfect 10-0 professionally, while McCray is 5-0 as a pro and 4-0 in amateur competition. They also had less-than-ideal childhoods. Bryant mentions that he didn’t get along with his stepfather (or mom, for that matter), and moved out as soon as he could. Later, McCray says he’s afraid of no man, except his father when he was younger, but they have a good relationship now. I’m guessing their relationship changed as soon as Kris got big enough to kick his dad’s ass.

But there are also some obvious differences between the two fighters. While McCray looks like a true middleweight, Bryant is another one of those guys who could easily be competing at welterweight. And while Bryant is your garden-variety white dude, "Minority Report" member McCray is Austrian, black, and Mexican, an ethnic mixture that most people mistake for Puerto Rican until he starts speaking German.

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Strikeforce Announce Mid-Week June 16 Show Featuring Lawler, Noons and Lashley


(At a press conference today, Strikeforce president Scott Coker said predictions of his promotion’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.)

In an attempt to disprove  Dana White’s assertation that they are a "bush league, C-level promotion that will probably be out of business next month," Strikeforce today demonstrated a desire to outlive the moratorium date predicted by the UFC president with an announcement that they are organizing a June 16 mid-week show.

I smell a June 16 UFC Fight Night announcement on the horizon.

The yet-to-be-named event, which will be broadcast on Showtime at 11pm ET will take place at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live and will feature former EliteXC lightweight champion KJ Noons, former EliteXC middleweight champion Robbie Lawler and ex-WWE wrestling star Bobby Lashley.

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Mondragon vs. Barnett at Strikeforce in Australia Apparently News to Strikeforce


(Geronimo started noticing huge gains when he began following the Overeem diet book he got for Christmas.)

Citing a news article from TATAME.com, several outlets today are reporting that Josh Barnett will face Gerônimo “Mondragon” Dos Santos at an upcoming Strikeforce event in Australia. 

The Brazilian’s sentiments were apparently lost in translation, as TATAME is now reporting that the heavyweight will actually be fighting Barnett in Australia at the inaugural Impact MMA show on July 17.

Strikeforce does not have an event planned for that date and sources tell CagePotato.com that they have no immediate plans to follow in the UFC’s footsteps and hold a show down under.

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Report: Jon Jones Verbally Agrees to Murder Old Man in Utah

Jon Jones Matt Hamill UFC MMA Steve Mazzagatti
("He was like this when I found him.")

Look, I like Vladimir Matyushenko. I like that he’s 39 years old and still has enough spunk to whoop on much-younger dudes like Eliot Marshall and Igor Pokrajac. But when I see this report on TheGarv.com saying that he and Jon Jones have verbally agreed to face each other at UFC on Versus 2 (August 1st, Salt Lake City), I have to question his management and the UFC’s matchmaking. Not that the Janitor would ever duck a fight, but holy crap is this going to be an annihilation. Matyushenko’s strength is his wrestling; so was Matt Hamill’s, and Hamill got ragdolled and torn to shreds. And on the feet? Forget about it. There’s no way that Vlad will be quick enough to avoid the unpredictable attacks that Jones might throw at him. I hate to count guys out, but I just don’t see one scenario in which Matyushenko manages to shock the world. Can’t wait to see the betting line on this one.

It’s unfortunate that Jones wouldn’t be getting a solid step up in competition after destroying Brandon Vera last month, but I think the UFC’s motivations are clear here: Jones is already in line for a title shot, but he has to keep winning until the Machida/Shogun/Rampage/Evans contender logjam sorts itself out. Why risk giving Jones a loss in the meantime? It’s a cynical interpretation of the matchup, but no other explanation makes sense…

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Gamburyan, Garcia, Henderson Lead ‘WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber’ Salaries


(Somebody should have warned Jose about those adjustable-rate mortgages. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

Zuffa dished out $595,500 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the fighters at Saturday’s "Aldo vs. Faber" event, with the end-of-night bonus winners coming out way ahead of the pack. Check out the numbers below, and keep in mind that they don’t include additional income from sponsorships or undisclosed "locker room bonuses," or deductions from insurance, licensing fees, or cornrow maintenance.

Jose Aldo: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
def. Urijah Faber: $28,000

Ben Henderson: $91,000 (includes $13,000 win bonus, $65,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. Donald Cerrone: $14,000

Manny Gamburyan: $101,000 (includes $18,000 win bonus, $65,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
def. Mike Brown: $21,000

Shane Roller: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus)
def. Anthony Njokuani: $7,000

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Exclusive: Loiseau Vindicated of False Criminal Affiliation; Granted License in Quebec


(Note to RACJ: Don’t make David angry. You won’t like him when he’s angry.)

David Loiseau contacted CagePotato.com today to inform us that he has been granted his fighter’s license by the The Régie des Alcools, des Courses et des Jeux (Regulators of Alcohol, Racing and Gaming), but says it’s too little too late for him to make it back onto the card for UFC 113 May 8.

Loiseau was slated to fight opposite John Salter at the Montreal show in a week and a half, but was informed by the UFC that he had been replaced by Jason MacDonald yesterday due to his inability to obtain his license, stemming from a baseless claim by the RACJ that the Canadian MMA pioneer had ties to organized crime.

According to the 30-year-old Montreal native, several months after he sold off his minority share of his Quebec-based XMMA promotion, following an extensive police investigation, its new owners were allegedly found to have ties to organized crime in the province. Loiseau was questioned by police and it was determined that he did not have any knowledge of the criminal involvement of the individuals he sold his stake in the organization to.

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Josh Barnett Plans His [Fake] Fighting Future


(If you can’t beat [a drug test], join [a Japanese pro-wrestling organization])

Zach Arnold over at FightOpinion.com dug up an interesting story on where embattled former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett is fighting next.

It turns out that "The Babyfaced Assassin," who was denied licensure in California last year due to a positive steroid test prior to his Affliction showdown with Fedor Emelianenko and was subsequently blamed for the promotion’s collapse by its president Tom Attencio, is stepping away from MMA and is going back to his pro wrestling roots. Barnett is said to have signed a longterm deal to "compete" under retired Japanese MMA fighter, pro wrestler and onetime Muhammad Ali opponent Antonio Inoki’s IGF (Inoki Genome Federation) banner in Japan.

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Caption Contest: Win a Patriotically Ass-Kicking T-shirt From Ranger Up!

Kris McCray Ranger Up MMA t-shirt

(Top: TUF 11 "Minority Report" member Kris McCray models the War Eagle Flag shirt from Ranger Up. Directly above: The War Eagle Crown and Phoenix Rising shirts.)

The honorable military men over at Ranger Up have just given birth to some new t-shirt designs, and they’d like a few select members of the Potato Nation to have them. Here’s how to win: Check out the photo after the jump, come up with a caption that makes us laugh, and post it in the comments section. Please submit your entries by Sunday at midnight PT; we’ll choose three winners on Monday, who will be eligible for one of the t-shirts shown above. Sounds good? Well get going, and if you have a chance please check out Ranger Up’s full line of badass (and occasionally hilarious) t-shirts, and visit The Rhino Den for RU’s original articles on MMA and military life.

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Exclusive: ‘Filthy’ Tom Lawlor Talks UFC 113 Opponent Switch, Ring Entrances, Pro Wrasslin’ + More

Following his controversial split-decision loss to Aaron Simpson at UFC Fight Night 20, Tom "The Filthy Mauler" Lawlor was ready to bounce back to the W column against fellow TUF vet Tim Credeur at UFC 113 (May 8th, Montreal). But an injury has forced "Crazy" Tim off the card, and now Filthy Tom will be facing Dirty Joe — Joe Doerksen, who has a 1-5 lifetime record in the UFC, but is getting another shot after racking up five straight wins in promotions like Sengoku and King of the Cage. We sent our friend "Skanky" Remington Reed to track down Lawlor at his gym in Orlando, The Jungle MMA & Fitness, and discuss how he copes with tough losses, the method behind his memorable cage entrances, the runaway success of his "Lawlormania" t-shirt, his weather-based prediction for Machida vs. Rua II, and the question everyone else has been afraid to ask: Between him and Seth Petruzelli, who’s gayer? Enjoy… 

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Video: The Top Five Worst MMA Ideas

Sometimes in mixed martial arts, ideas to improve or add to the sport are born, that, although they may seem like great notions at the time, often aren’t. Even the creators of the world’s most popular MMA promotion have had their flops. We’re just glad there were people there to film them.

Here are the Cage Potato Top Five Worst MMA Ideas:

# 5
EliteXC: Kimbo Slice vs. Seth Petruzelli (Source: YouTube)

Sure Kimbo may have made it to the UFC in spite of this fight, but besides a recurring night-sweat inducing nightmare for Gary Shaw EliteXc is just a punchline in MMA history.

More vids after the jump.

 
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Unfounded Mob Ties KO Loiseau’s UFC 113 Return; MacDonald Replaces Him Against Salter


(Loiseau demonstrating what he would like to do to Quebec officials who won’t grant him a license to fight in the province)

Well, it seems that Quebec’s athletic commission, The Régie des Alcools, des Courses et des Jeux (Regulators of Alcohol, Racing and Gaming), is overstepping its boundaries at the cost of the livelihood of one of its province’s own fighters.

David “The Crow” Loiseau was brought in by the UFC to face John Salter on the undercard at UFC 113 May 8 as a late replacement for the injured Nick Catone. Having lost decisively to Ed Herman in front of a hometown crowd in Montreal in his last attempted UFC comeback at UFC 97 a year ago, Loiseau was relishing the opportunity to get back into the Octagon to try to earn a steady slot on the Las Vegas-based promotion’s roster.

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Report: ‘Aldo vs. Faber’ Draws 150k-200k PPV Buys

Urijah Faber WEC 48
(Have an AMP energy drink, Urijah. You’ve earned it. / Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.)

According to new reports on Heavy and f4wonline, early estimates indicate that Saturday’s "Aldo vs. Faber" event generated between 150,000 and 200,000 buys. In other words (assuming the estimates are accurate), the WEC’s first attempt at pay-per-view was a smashing success. A couple points to put those numbers in perspective:

— 150k-200k is not too far off from the 240,000 buys that UFC 110 pulled in, with its roster full of MMA stars.
— Affliction did no more than 100,000 buys with its first event.

As a starting point for WEC-product on pay-per-view, it’s very encouraging, and proves that Zuffa knows how to promote and package their fights. Now that fans know the WEC is worth their money, Zuffa is in an even better position for the next time they want to charge us. Of course, the lineup has to be just as compelling as "Aldo vs. Faber"’s. At this point, what could the WEC offer to make you shell out another $45? Urijah Faber vs. Miguel Torres as a co-headliner seems like a no-brainer to me…

Related:
– Urijah Faber’s leg is still nasty-looking.
– Ratings for the "Aldo vs. Faber" prelims broadcast on Spike shot up during the Garcia vs. Jung fight.

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MMA FightPicker Update: Make Your Predictions for Bellator XVI and Mayweather vs. Mosley!


(Alexander Shlemenko‘s last appearance, a 40-second stoppage via knees to the body against Sean Salmon, at Fight Festival 27 last month in Finland.)

Who needs a frantically thrown-together arena in Abu Dhabi? Bellator is hosting its own outdoor event this Thursday at the Power & Light District in Kansas City, Missouri, featuring the quarterfinals of their middleweight tournament. Sure, there really aren’t any big names on the card, but it’s Bellator, so you know there will be at least one insane finish on YouTube by Friday morning. Here’s how the middleweight tourney is arranged:

Bryan Baker vs. Sean Loeffler
Ryan McGivern vs. Jared Hess
Alexander Shlemenko vs. Matt Major
Eric Schambari vs. Luke Zachrich

Go to fightpicker.cagepotato.com right now to make your picks for the tournament fights as well as the "Local Feature Fight Card," which includes recently-ousted featherweight GP competitor Eric Marriott, former Strikeforce Challengers headliner Rudy Bears, and Drew Dober. Note: Due to some recent changes to the Bellator XVI lineup, we had to make a few edits to the questions this afternoon. So if you already entered a pool, please go back and double-check your picks.

And just for fun, we’ve included two questions about Saturday night’s welterweight boxing championship match between Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley. For inspiration, the first episode of HBO’s Mayweather vs. Mosley 24/7 is after the jump…

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Harold Howard is Batsh*t Crazy


(Face of a crazy man, or just a Canadian?)

It looks like former UFC fighter Harold Howard’s crazy behavior this past December, that landed him in jail for the next five years wasn’t a totally out of the blue occurrence. The Toronto Star is reporting today that a couple weeks before the incident that saw Howard launch an unprovoked hammer attack on his nephew and sister, whom he had been staying with since October after he was charged with assaulting his wife, he had visited the newspaper’s offices in the hopes that they would expose an X-Files-like plot against him.

From the report:

“On Dec. 9, 2009, Howard showed up at the Toronto Star with a briefcase. He looked like a businessman, but his clothes were worn, and his knuckles were bruised and caked with dried blood. In a hoarse voice, he said there was a plot to ruin his life. He claimed he had been injected with a liquid that hardened his veins and immobilized him. He held out his shaking hands for inspection, his eyes wide in desperation. As he was escorted out of the building, he left nodding to no one but himself. “On to Plan B,” he told an editor before leaving.

Almost two weeks later, residents of a Niagara Falls street were awakened by screams. Howard was attacking his sister and nephew with the claw end of a hammer. His 21-year-old nephew fought back before Howard screeched out of the driveway.”
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Ben Henderson Doesn’t Want Any More Rematches


(Rematches? Bendo don’t need no stinkin’ rematches.)

In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun following his second win in a row over Donald Cerrone at the generic Aldo vs. Faber event in Sacramento, CA this past weekend WEC lightweight champ Ben Henderson says that he isn’t interested in fighting any of the guys he has faced in the past. If he has his way, which is very unlikely given the WEC’s penchant for rematches (see Faber vs. Brown or Faber vs. Pulver), it would mean that the promotion would have to bring in a new roster of talent, considering his list of former opponents include the top contenders in the division like former champ Jamie Varner, Anthony Njokuani and Shane Roller.

When asked by Brett Okamoto whether he was impressed by Roller’s first round submission win over Njokuani (who, in an  interview prior to the event told the reporter that he was in talks to face the winner of Henderson-Cerrone) Saturday night, Henderson replied, “I did catch Shane’s performance (Saturday) and he had a smart game plan. But I’m not looking to rematch people I’ve fought before. If I fight somebody and knock him out in a minute-thirty, do I want to fight him again? No; not so much.”

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Chan Sung Jung “Dawn of the Dead” Highlight + More Korean Zombie Videos


(Props: spicadocious)

Now that the Korean Zombie has made his name in the U.S., we figured we’d take a break from the Tito vs. Jenna saga and bring you this fantastic Chan Sung Jung highlight compilation. The 23-year-old Korean Top Team product comes from a hapkido and kickboxing background, and is one of the most dynamic MMA strikers to come out of Asia in years. As we’ve mentioned before, Jung’s split-decision loss to Leonard Garcia at WEC 48 wasn’t the first time he’s been screwed by judges. His only other MMA loss came in a decision against Masanori Kanehara at Sengoku’s featherweight grand prix quarterfinals last year. Check out the video of that fight after the jump, and let us know if you can find any justification for the decision other than blatant racism.

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