The UFC will be conducting a pre-fight press conference today from Montreal ahead of their UFC 113 "Machida vs. Shogun 2" event at The Bell Centre Saturday night and Cage Potato will be broadcasting the event in it’s entirety live here at 2:00pm EST.

The fight card for the event is as follows:

UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun II

The Bell Centre
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

MAIN CARD
Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (Light Heavyweight Title Bout)
Paul Daley vs. Josh Koscheck
Jeremy Stephens vs. Sam Stout
Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson vs. Matt Mitrione
Alan Belcher vs. Patrick Cote

PRELIMINARY CARD
Joe Doerksen vs. Tom Lawlor
Marcus Davis vs. Jonathan Goulet
T.J. Grant vs. Johny Hendricks
Joey Beltran vs. Tim Hague
Mike Guymon vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Jason MacDonald vs. John Salter
—–

Just a reminder that you must have Microsoft Silverlight installed on your computer to be able to view video on the web player that will appear after the jump.

(Photo courtesy CBC.ca) 

UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre met with Canadian Federal lawmakers on Wednesday to help educate them about the sport of mixed martial arts in an effort to move along legislation to add the sport to the Criminal Code of Canada alongside boxing on the list of legally sanctioned combat sports in the country.

St-Pierre’s visit was a result of an invitation by Canadian Heritage Minister Jim Moore, a vocal MMA fan who helped with the push for legalization in his home riding of Vancouver, BC, which approved sanctioning on a two-year trial basis late last year and is playing host to UFC 115 next month.

It was no coincidence that GSP’s trip to Parliament Hill coincides with the UFC’s latest trek to Canada for this weekend’s UFC 113 event in Montreal. According to an interview with MMAJunkie last week, Marc Ratner, the UFC’s Vice President of Regulatory and Governmental Affairs said that members of the company’s legal team and lobbying group were also expected to join St-Pierre for the engagement.

(Also, groin kicks will be allowed in cases when one fighter clearly had it coming.)

By CagePotato contributor Jim Genia

In the beginning it was anything goes, with 200-pound karate stylists taking on 600-pound sumo wrestlers and Brazilians feverishly jumping up and down shouting “Vale tudo! Vale tudo!” as they beat opponents with sticks. For a new American promotion called the Ultimate Fighting Championship this made for some serious pay-per-view buy rates, but it also made the general public somewhat upset, so rules were introduced. Suddenly gone was the wrestler’s ability to run down his foe with a tractor. Also gone was the kickboxer’s ability to use a prison-shiv. With a new list of fouls and weight classes, “no-holds-barred fighting” became the MMA we know and love today. Unfortunately, over the course of ten years the evolution of the sport has created a new set of problems, and the time has come to implement some very necessary additional rule changes. Here, in no particular order, are the six most important:

A Two-Round Limit on Dry-Humping
When ground-and-pound turns into lay-and-pray and it becomes painfully obvious that the guy on the bottom can’t stop takedowns and the guy on top couldn’t out-grapple a passed-out teenager on prom night, then watching what transpires is akin to torture. At the last Strikeforce/CBS outing, we learned by round 3 that Gegard Mousasi knew no wrestling and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal knew nothing but wrestling. Every round after that was like watching Twister ™ night at the retirement home: boring, horrifying and sad. There needs to be a two-round limit on dry-humping — maybe stand them up immediately or let them duel with pistols at 20 paces. Anything is better than five rounds of man-loving-man.

Heavyweight Fighters Are Forbidden From Punching in the First Round
Props to CP reader Dan W. for suggesting this crucial rule change. We’re tired of paying big money for heavyweight interim title-fights and headliners, only to have them end abruptly in the first round due to excessive punching. Look, you guys are just too damn strong, and it gives you all an unfair advantage against each other. (Yes, that makes complete logical sense, just trust me.) Since we can’t shrink the size of their 7XL hands, we’ll instead ban heavyweights from throwing leather in the first frame. Wrestle, try some kicks and flying knees, work for submissions — that’s all good. But Shane Carwin‘s uppercuts represent the kind of brutality that this sport doesn’t need right now.

Don’t know about you guys, but I’m still reeling from the horrible decision on last night’s episode. Seriously, the way the judges scored Nick Ring vs. Court McGee made Garcia vs. Jung look like Brown vs. Board of Education. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning…

Kyacey Uscola is pissed that Coach Tito had Kris McCray doing intense plyometrics in the days leading up to his fight, which might have sapped his energy. McCray doesn’t feel he was overtrained, and his boy Jamie Yager appreciates that he didn’t make any excuses: "I’m proud of you that you went out there and did your dizzle. ‘Nuff said." James Hammortree thinks Tito is just pushing them to their limits, and "some of us haven’t had that before." To Nick Ring, the TUF workouts feel like a vacation compared to what he normally does.

Kyacey’s bad vibes get back to Tito, so he arranges an Airing of Grievances. Tito defends his methods to Kyacey, explaining that he’s training his guys to fight back to back to back, and points out that Kyacey’s cardio has visibly improved since he entered the house. Tito doesn’t doubt himself, despite the score, which is 4-1 in Chuck’s favor. He still feels that the fighter who gets his hand raised at the end of the show will be a Team Punishment member.

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAFighting.com)

Somebody needs to explain to Ed Soares how a bet works. Unless you’re Pete Rose, you never make a wager that favors the other team.

MMAFighting.com reporter Ariel Helwani challenged the MMA manager today drink a cup of his own urine if his fighter, Lyoto Machida, retains his belt Saturday night in Montreal against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, which begs the question: Who is the winner in this bet?

(I guess we’re not the only ones.)

Well, you can’t ever say that Randy Couture is an underachiever.

In an interview with MMA Weekly Radio this week, the former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion said that he wants a title shot within the next six months against the winner of this weekend’s bout between 205-pound kingpin Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

"I think within the next six months I’d like to be in line to fight the winner of the Machida/Shogun fight," Couture told MMAWeekly Radio host Damon Martin. "I’m going to be in Montreal to watch that fight very attentively. I think it’s going to be a great fight."

Like "The Natural," I too have some lofty goals that will probably never come to fruition, like hitting my lottery numbers and winning a Pulitzer for my CP body of work.

 
(I knew Dana reminded me of someone, I just couldn’t put my finger on who.)

Filed under the "Now I’ve heard everything" category, UFC president Dana White revealed in a recent story in the Vancouver Sun that he’s a big fan of self-proclaimed self-help guru Dr. Phil McGraw. White admits in the interview that he didn’t know much about McGraw before appearing on an episode of his daytime talk show last year, but he says now he really respects Dr. Phil.

("Trust me bro, you’ve never had piss until you’ve had it out of a coconut." Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

After a disappointing performance at WEC 48, the Gambling Enabler is ready to do what it does best: Make even larger, more desperate bets in order to break even. We’ve got UFC 113 coming up this weekend, and you can’t win if you don’t play. As usual, we’ve compiled the most favorable betting lines courtesy of BestFightOdds.com. Confused about what the numbers mean? Then punch yourself in your stupid balls and read this first.

MAIN CARD
Lyoto Machida (-174) vs. Mauricio Rua (+160)
Josh Koscheck (-215) vs. Paul Daley (+218)
Sam Stout (-180) vs. Jeremy Stephens (+162)
Kimbo Slice (even) vs. Matt Mitrione (-102) 
Alan Belcher (-110) vs. Patrick Cote (+105)

PRELIMINARY CARD
Tom Lawlor (-475) vs. Joe Doerksen (+400)
Marcus Davis (-450) vs. Jonathan Goulet (+400)
Johny Hendricks (-450) vs. TJ Grant (+350)
Tim Hague (-205) vs. Joey Beltran (+200)
Yoshiyuki Yoshida (-240) vs. Mike Guymon (+235)
Jason MacDonald (-155) vs. John Salter (+135)

Who wants to make some money the easy way? (Or potentially lose it, because anything can happen in a fight?)

(Video courtesy YouTube and stevia)

There’s something reassuring about watching a Dan Quinn video. I don’t know if it’s knowing that no matter how crazy I may get as I get older, there’s no way I’ll ever claim that I’m a self-trained scientist who has discovered that the cure for every disease known to mankind is drinking a mixture of a sugar substitute and water. Or maybe it’s the fact that every time he posts another one of his more increasingly psychotic rants, my original inclination that he was a character attempting to pull off the ultimate troll-job evaporates more and more, like the soap floating on top of pure H2O and I realize that he is a legit whack job, which gives me faith that not everyone on the Internet is lying about who they are.

("The creepy guy behind the ring? Don’t worry Rachelle, that’s just James McSweeney. He’ll probably ask you for a lock of your hair before you leave, but he’s cool." / Photo courtesy of twitter.com/nathanmarquardt)

– Though Nate Marquardt and Alessio Sakara were slated to meet at UFC 116 in July, Sakara has postponed his Octagon return due to the recent death of his father. So, the UFC did some re-shuffling and came up with the following: Sakara will now compete at UFC 118 (August 28th, Boston) against Jorge Rivera, who picked up his third-straight win in March when he wrecked Nate Quarry. As for Marquardt, he will also likely return in August (either UFC 118 or UFC 117), against Rousimar Palhares, who you may know as the asshole who holds his submissions for too long.

– Speaking of the UFC’s Boston show, hometown kid Joe Lauzon will try to rebound from his lopsided decision loss against Sam Stout when he meets up with British contender Terry Etim. Etim had a four-fight UFC win-streak snapped last month in Abu Dhabi when he fell to an armbar submission against Rafael Dos Anjos.

 
(Props: Nicole B.)

UFC 113 goes down this Saturday at the Bell Centre in Montreal, featuring the long-awaited light-heavyweight title rematch between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio Rua, and the potential #1 welterweight contender’s match between Josh Koscheck and Paul Daley. (Plus, Kimbo Slice and a whole lot of Canadians.) We’ll be liveblogging the pay-per-view broadcast starting at 10 p.m. ET; come early to ensure seating.

If you feel like testing your prediction skills against the Potato Nation this week, please head over to MMA Fightpicker by Friday, enter some pools, and make your educated guesses on how the card will play out. The full question list is after the jump…

Related: Become a FightPicker fan on Facebook!

(Video courtesy FoxSports.com/MMAthletics)

Hosted by former UFC Octagon girl Rachelle Leah and produced by sports broadcaster  Jay Glazer and former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy Couture, MMAthletics (which coincidentally shares the same name as Couture and Glazer’s P90X-like MMA conditioning program) is a new MMA lifestyle and training show featured on FoxSports.com.

(Fear is not in Fedor’s programming)

The most interesting story that came out of the Strikeforce conference call today was Alistair Overeem’s  proclamation that Fedor Emelianenko is scared to fight him. 

"I’ve been challenging Fedor for some time now. His management has declined to fight me on numerous occasions," Overeem told reporters on the call. "If you have two parties and one of them is willing to fight and the other isn’t than what are you going to do?" 

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

First, there’s the Matt Mitrione you thought you knew from TUF 10: The house snitch, the crazy guy, the brain-damaged faker, the unbearable heel of a TUF season in which we all expected Wes Sims to be the unbearable heel. In this promo for Saturday’s UFC 113 event in Montreal, Mitrione (who will be facing Kimbo Slice) acknowledges that most people who watched him on the show think he’s a "straight douchebag." However: "I’m misread quite often…I’m probably a little bit cooler than most people give me credit for." Sure Meathead, it was just the editing, right?

It seems like the UFC wants Kimbo to be the good guy in this matchup. Slice has given up sex, smoking, and drinking for his training camp, which makes him as good a role model for the children of the world as anybody else. But then there’s this video profile from IndySportsNation, which reveals a few things we didn’t know about Mitrione…

(Jason desperately tries to defend the unpredictable mucous attacks of Eliot Marshall. / Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Sorry guys, it won’t be Jon Jones. Not long after word came out that Forrest Griffin had to withdraw from his UFC 114 fight against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira due to injury, wrestling specialist Jason Brilz has reportedly stepped up in Griffin’s place; bout agreements are expected to be finalized shortly. 

Brilz (18-2-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) has been quietly heating up as a light-heavyweight prospect, most recently scoring a unanimous decision win over Eric Schafer at UFC on Versus: Vera vs. Jones. His only loss in his last 15 fights was a decision against Eliot Marshall last September, and he also holds career wins over Tim Boetsch, Brad Morris, Jason MacDonald, and Alex Schoenauer. Of course, holding his own against a world-class 205′er like Lil’ Nog on less than a month’s notice will be a tall order, but at the very least, Brilz is tough enough to avoid being steamrolled. As long as Nogueira stays on the card, we can’t really complain…

(Werdum taking advantage of his only opportunity to try on Fedor’s belt.)

Today Strikeforce put to rest the rampant rumors that Fedor Emelianenko would be signing with the UFC with the announcement that "The Last Emperor" will face two-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Fabricio "Vai Cavalo" Werdum in a headlining bout on the promotion’s Saturday, June 26 card.

The event, which will be co-promoted by M-1 Global will be featured on SHOWTIME. Strikeforce was hoping to have CBS showcase the bout, but the organization’s president Scott Coker mentioned last week that have not met with the network to discuss their plans moving forward since the post-fight brawl that took place during their last broadcast event last month.

("Don’t you know who I am, bro?")

According to a report by Ariel Helwani at MMAFighting.com, Karo Parisyan is currently involved in negotiations with Strikeforce and if the two sides can come to an agreement, the Armenian judoka could compete for the organization on their June 16 card in Los Angeles. 

(Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

After sifting through over 250 entries — most of them surprisingly hilarious — we are pleased to announce the winners of our latest caption contest, brought to you by Ranger Up. But first, some honorable mentions…

danomite: Angela could only watch and wait patiently for the day to come when she too would be old enough to drunkenly walk over to some guy she’s never met before and ask him to scribble his name on her boobs.

jimmylegs: Guy in the background: "Which one do you want? I’ll take the freaky chick wearing the hat."

Slampage: Darrill Schoonover gets a sweet autograph from Urijah.

Harry Nips: "We’re keeping it PG-13 for the kid. Urijah, do you mind putting some underwear on your ass-chin?"

cagepotato: "I can’t wait to go home and show this to my boyfriend, Jose."
[Ed. note: No, we're not shouting out ourselves. Some joker started an account as "cagepotato" to post this. Luckily, he/she did us proud.]

hotsaucemonster: "and could you make it out to Ebay?"

Millertime84: Do me a Faber, sign these Knockers.
[Ed. note: As the great Mark Twain once said, "If you don't like a good pun, then fuck you."]

And the winners are…

("Well, that’s the last time I let Fred do my makeup.")

As first reported by TMZ and later confirmed by more reputable sources — not that TMZ isn’t reputable, particularly when it comes to MMA fighters getting arrested in California — Forrest Griffin recently injured his shoulder, and will not be able to take his scheduled match against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 114 (May 29th, Las Vegas). At this point, the extent of Griffin’s injury is unclear, and a replacement opponent has not yet been found for Nogueira, who hasn’t competed since his impressive Octagon debut at UFC 106.

The loss of Griffin vs. Nogueira is an unfortunate hit for UFC 114, which coincides with the UFC’s second Fan Expo — but the lineup is still nicely-stacked; you can check it out after the jump. We’ll update you when we know more on Forrest’s injury, and if a replacement steps up to face Lil’ Nog. 

(Video courtesy YouTube/FightHubTV.com)

Just when we thought we’d heard the last of his creepy lecherous sweatpant-wearing ass when it came to MMA, Gary Shaw has wriggled his way into a new interview with Fight Hub TV and shared his thoughts on the return of EliteXC, Gina, Jake Shields, Kimbo and whether or not he sees himself back in the MMA business in the future.

(
(It’s likely a safe bet that this fight isn’t going to end in a submission.)

A light heavyweight tilt between Thiago Silva and Tim Boetsch has been greenlit for UFC 117 according to Sherdog.com. Although neither fighter has received bout agreements for the fight, both have verbally agreed to face one another at the August 7 show in Oakland, CA.

The owner of a 14-2 record, Silva’s only losses have come against current and former UFC champions. His first blemish came at UFC 94 in the form of a knockout at the heavy hands of Lyoto Machida, who repeated the feat to take the title from Rashad Evans four months later at UFC 98. After knocking out Evans’ Team Jackson teammate, Keith Jardine at UFC 102 Thiago dropped a unanimous decision to Evans at UFC 108.

Boetsch, who compiled a 2-2 record in the Octagon with wins over Michael Patt and David Heath before being dropped by the promotion in 2009, has kept busy since his departure, racking up three straight wins outside of the UFC. You might remember him as the fighter Matt Hammill decided to demonstrate his newly acquired boxing skills on.

(Now that his name was finally cleared, Rampage was looking forward to getting some normalcy back in his and Tiki’s life.)

The wrongful death lawsuit filed against Quinton Jackson by the mother who miscarried her unborn child days after being sideswiped by the former UFC light heavyweight champion’s monster truck in Costa Mesa, California in July 2008 has been dismissed.

TMZ is reporting that the plaintiff, Holli Griggs, has dropped the lawsuit, meaning the two parties likely settled out of court.

(Horsemeat is a helluva drug.)

In an interview with MMANews.com‘s Chris Howie, Alistair Overeem flatly denies that his growth spurt over the past three years is attributed to the use of performance enhancers such as anabolic steroids, testosterone or growth hormone.

The Dutch-born K-1 standout, who made the jump to the heavyweight class in 2008 fighting just over the minimum weight and now tips the weigh-in scale at approximately 255 pounds the day before his bouts, says that his increase in muscle mass is a result of his diet and weight training regimens.

("You’ve got some schmutz on your face. Let me get it for you.")

Fast-rising UFC heavyweight contender Junior Dos Santos is considering following in the footsteps of his training partner and South American boxing champion Antonio Rogerio Nogueira by stepping into the boxing ring in the near future to compete.

Dos Santos, who is currently stuck in a holding pattern waiting to find out who he will be matched up against next, may try his hands at the sweet science in the interim. A report by Tatame today reveals that "Cigano" was slated to make his boxing debut in early 2010, but the bout was postponed due to his back-to-back UFC bouts against Gilbert Yvel and Gabriel Gonzaga.

(Coleman and Shamrock had to be restrained by their respective corners after being informed prior to their bout that prune juice had been added to the banned substances list)

I’m not sure if it’s because of the weather, the beaches or their commission’s lax drug testing policies, but Australian MMA is attracting quite a few fighters these days.

MMANews is reporting that Ken Shamrock and Mark Coleman will face each other under the Strikeforce Aussie-based Impact Fighting Championships banner July 10. The promotion’s inaugural event will also feature a main card bout between Josh Barnett and Geronimo "Mondragon" Dos Santos.

(Video courtesy YouTube/Kimura.se)

PRIDE veteran Enson Inoue sat down with Kimura.se recently for a candid interview and discussed everything from his fighting career and marijuana possession charges to his relationships with all of the Japanese Yakuza mafia families.

Inoue was asked about his tumultuous relationship with former brother-in-law Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto and expounded on why their friendship went south.

(Loiseau spinning back kicking Charles McCarthy out of the UFC)

David “The Crow” Loiseau won’t have long to wait before he gets the opportunity to fight for the UFC again in Canada.

CagePotato.com has learned that the 30-year-old Montreal fighter, who due to licensing issues was bumped off the UFC 113 card that takes place in his hometown this weekend, has signed to face Mario Miranda on the undercard at UFC 115 June 12 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“The Crow,” who was slated to face John Salter Saturday night, was replaced by fellow Canadian Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald when Quebec’s commission, (the Régie des Alcools, des Courses et des Jeux) held back from issuing his license to fight in the province until an investigation into Loiseau’s alleged ties to an organized criminal group could be completed. Police cleared Loiseau of any criminal involvement on Wednesday, but it was a day late and a dollar short, as the UFC had offered MacDonald the fight the day before as show was less than a week and a half away.

(Koscheck came to Montreal to kick ass and chew bubblegum. Fortunately for Daley, Josh brought plenty of bubblegum.)

Either Josh Koscheck is doing his damndest to keep upcoming opponent Paul Daley guessing about his game plan for their UFC 113 meeting or he has realized that going toe-to-toe with a guy whose hands are nearly as effective at making people’s heads spin and putting them to sleep as a Brent Brookhouse editorial, is not the best idea in the world.

Less than a week away from the May 8 bout in Montreal and Kos is giving ostensibly different answers when asked how he is planning to face "Semtex."

("Okay, fine, I abused her *this* much.")

From a new report on Sherdog:

Tito Ortiz and longtime girlfriend Jenna Jameson appear to be on the road to some form of reconciliation following an incident Monday that led to the fighter’s arrest and later accusations of the former adult star’s alleged drug use…

Ortiz’s lawyer, Chip Matthews, told Sherdog.com on Friday that the entire incident was just a “misunderstanding.” Matthews also said it was his understanding that statements made by Ortiz and Jameson on Monday to officers during his arrest would either be altered or retracted by the parties, as was first reported by TMZ.com on Thursday.

“Both sides are interested in the truth coming out and for the welfare of their children and bringing an end to this,” Matthews told Sherdog.com on Friday. Matthews would not confirm if Ortiz and Jameson are in direct communication due to the ongoing investigation…

(Props: BloodyElbow)

Who’s watching tonight? Got any specific predictions? Check back here for all the latest MMA news!

Previously: Floyd Mayweather Jr. Expertly Brings Race Into the Boxing vs. MMA Debate