(Keith "Necro Reaper" Jardine, after his barbed-wire and fluorescent-light-tube death-match against Matt "Da Def Syco" Hamill. / Photo courtesy of the TUF 11 Finale gallery on MMAFighting.com)

Because you pansies get all red-faced when the Potato Index skips an event, we’ve brought back the beloved arbitrary numerical ranking system for a special two-fer installment. As for the recent complaints that the Potato Index’s scores have gotten less arbitrary, we have passed the feedback onto the Index and hope that the scores are now sufficiently chaotic while still maintaining their accuracy and integrity…

Court McGee +518
Going from pantsless meth addict to Ultimate Fighter winner? Yeah, we’d call that an upgrade. But Court McGee is more than just an inspirational story. With his endless heart and skill with a choke-hold, he’s a legitimately valuable acquisition for the UFC. If they bring him along slowly, he could become a factor in the middleweight division someday.

Kris McCray -33.333 [repeating]
Sometimes, tough ain’t enough. McCray may be a little too green to compete at the UFC level, but as a season runner-up, he deserves one more fight — ideally, against one of the TUF guys that scored victories on Saturday, like Chris Camozzi or Rich Attonito.

(Video  courtesy YouTube/LUMBATE)

Just when you thought UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva couldn’t get any stranger than his bizarre UFC 112 performance against Demian Maia in Abu Dhabi, "The Spider" goes and ups the ante and brings in washed up silver screen tough guy Steven Seagal to help him train in the deadly art of Aikido for his upcoming UFC 117 fight with Chael Sonnen in August.

(Video courtesy TMZ)

According to former WWE heavyweight champion, Dave Batista, he has signed a contract with Strikeforce and his opponent and the date of his debut should be announced shortly.

In the above interview with TMZ, the retired pro wrestler answered the interviewer’s query of "So are you going on to the UFC or what? What’s going on with that?" with a word, "Strikeforce." When questioned further about who he will face in his debut for the promotion, the 41-year-old replied,"You’ll see. I know, but I’m not telling you."

(Video  courtesy

CagePotato Exclusive Video Interview w/UFC Star Jon Jones – Watch more Funny Videos

Coming off his devastation of Brandon Vera in March, fast-rising UFC star Jon Jones will take on veteran Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC On Versus 2 (August 1st, San Diego). It may not be an obvious step up in competition, but in this exclusive video interview — shot by our friend Sal Mora at Jackson’s MMA in Albuquerque — Jones calls Matyushenko a "solid step sideways," and assures us that he’s not looking past the Janitor. Of course, another impressive win would put the 22-year-old directly into the 205-pound title mix, which suits him just fine, since there’s nobody in the division he doesn’t think he can beat:

"I’m really confident in myself, and I’m big on faith. I just believe if I study for any opponent — his interviews, his fights, his footwork, his timing — I think I’ll figure out that opponent. It’s like doing your homework…you know yourself, you know your opponent, and there’s really nothing to worry about."

As a native of Endicott, New York, Jones weighed in on the MMA regulation efforts in New York State: "That would mean so much to me, competing in New York…it would be a dream come true, and something that I believe in my heart will happen one day. I would love to fight for a title in Madison Square Garden."

Bones also discussed his current preparations with trainer Greg Jackson, explained how his 84.5" reach helps him in his daily life, and told us what line of work he might be in if he wasn’t fighting. Enjoy.

(In Iran, a brutal kick to the balls is actually a gesture of respect. Photo courtesy of CageWriter)

It was supposed to determine the next challenger to Ben Henderson‘s lightweight title, but the main event of last night’s WEC 49 event at the Rexall Place in Edmonton only proved that 1) Jamie Varner is a magnet for illegal techniques, and 2) You don’t leave it in the hands of the judges, particularly when Sensei Cecil is on the scoring table.

Varner (16-3-1) had the edge early in his three-rounder against Iranian-born wrestling specialist Kamal Shalorus (6-0-2), using his far more technical striking attack to land punches from the outside, and clearly rocked Shalrous at one point. Instead of relying on his grappling, the Prince of Persia stood in the pocket, and focused on attacking Varner’s lead leg with heavy kicks. Despite getting the worst of the exchanges, Shalrous was happy to brawl with the former lightweight champ. Things got ugly in the second round when two of Shalrous’s low-kicks made contact with Varner’s cup. The second occurrence spurred referee Josh Rosenthal to deduct a point. After taking an extended break to collect himself, Varner continued to outstrike Shalorus, wobbling him again with a head kick and right straight. The kicks to the legs and balls were slowing Varner down, but he still seemed to be in control of the fight.

The final round opened with Shalorus landing another point-blank kick to Varner’s nuts, putting the Worm down again. Rosenthal decided that one point deduction in the fight was enough, and decided not to take another one from Shalorus, despite Varner’s protests. When the action was restarted, Shalorus managed to score a takedown after catching a kick from Varner, and worked some strikes from the top for the majority of the round. Varner escaped to his feet in the final minute, and kept his distance as the match came to a close. The scores were a surprise, to say the least. Nelson Hamilton seemed to get it right with his 29-27 tally for Varner, but local yokel Cameron Quwek had it 29-27 for Shalorus, meaning he gave all three rounds to the Iranian, minus the point deduction. Ridiculous. Putting the anti-climactic cherry on top, Cecil Peoples cast the final vote — a 28-28, making the match a split draw. Varner stormed off in disgust, and is probably icing his balls as we speak. 

(Kamal Shalorus vehemently objects to your plans to watch “Cold Case” tonight. PicProps: Sherdog)

Sure, after UFC 115, Strikeforce: LA, Bellator 22 and the “TUF 11” Finale, it’ll be the fifth MMA show in fewer than 10 days but that doesn’t make WEC 49 any less deserving of your attention, does it? I mean, it’s Sunday night, what else are you going to do? Tuck in at a decent hour so you can get started being “FIRST!” in the comment section bright and early Monday morning?

After a litany of injuries, a loss to current champ Ben Henderson and a significant number of fans calling him a faker following his bout with Donald Cerrone last January, former WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner is pretty much in a must-win situation against Kamal Shalorus tonight. Officially, Varner is 5-1 in his last six fights but his reputation has seen better days. Unfortunately, Shalorus — the former Olympic wrestler and undefeated MMA prospect — will provide a pretty stiff test. Toss in the return of featherweight phenom Josh Grispi from injury and this starts shaping up as a decent show. Besides, yours truly will be doing a “live Twitter” thing of this event for @VsMMA, so I know you’ll be following that …

("The best part is, stick this baby in the freezer and it’ll keep your drinks cold on a hot summer day." PicProps: UFC.com)

Matt Hamill fought and defeated Keith Jardine on Saturday night with a staph infection he didn’t know he had as well as a broken hand suffered early in the fight round and blurred vision from getting poked in the eye during the second, according to statements made at the "TUF 11" Finale post-fight press conference. That makes it a bit more noteworthy that their three-round battle rightfully claimed “Fight of the Night” honors.

“I thought I was going to be blind and deaf. Enough handicaps,” Hamill joked at the press conference about getting a thumb in the eye that caused Jardine to lose a point in the second stanza. Any laughter caused by that comment could probably best be described as “uneasy.”

Other post-fight bonuses – each amounting to $25,000 – went to Chris Leben for his come-from-behind knockout of Aaron Simpson and Court McGee for choking out Kris McCray in the “TUF” championship.  As for the infection – which caused the nasty-looking  lesion on his back you may have noticed during the broadcast – Hamill said he planned to get started with some antibiotics ASAP. Yeah, you might want to get on that. After the jump, a picture of Hamill’s foulness.

(Glory days / Well they’ll pass you by / Glory days / In the wink of a young girl’s eye / Glory days …)

Considering what we know now, the scene in this picture feels almost quaint. Remember back when we all thought Tito and Chuck were going to settle their differences in the cage for an unbelievable third time? Remember when Nick Ring and Kyle Noke were the favorites to win “TUF 11”? Remember the days before Rich Franklin was morally conflicted over ending Chuck’s career while he had a broken frickin’ arm? God, what dupes we were back then.

Tonight, in one of the most anticipated finale events in the history of television, we find out how it all really ends. We find out if the UFC has the balls to name either Court McGee or Kris McCray the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter,” or if Dana White will just call a “do-over” on this whole crappy season.  We find out who wins the “co-main event” – Seriously, guys. What did I just say about that? – and who (probably) gets fired. We might even find out if Jamie Yager has more to offer than cool hair and neat jump-kicks.

The action roars out of the gate at 9 p.m. EST, 6 p.m. PST. We’ll be live shortly thereafter. Say it with me: Be sure to hit refresh early and often to keep up with the latest updates.

("’People think they have taken quite an extraordinarily bold step forward when they have rid themselves of belief in hereditary monarchy and swear by the democratic republic. In reality, however, the state is nothing but a machine for the oppression of one class by another, and indeed in the democratic republic no less than in the monarchy.’ That’s Friedrich Engels, bitch. Deal with it." PicProps: Business Week.com.)

Remember that report from earlier this month where Dana White alleged that some MMA journalists were either being so influenced by ad revenue that they were cooking the books on fighter rankings or, even worse, out-and-out selling their votes to the highest bidder? Well, despite the fact that story is obviously totally fucking ridiculous, Big DW is sticking to it. In fact, he’s taking it a step further, implying this week in an interview with MMAJunkie – yes, that one – that MMA websites shouldn’t be considered “news sites” if they (gasp!) try to make money off their work.

“My biggest beef with a lot of these MMA websites is that these guys are for-profit websites,” White told the Junkie during one of his trademark, seemingly only partly thought-out rants. “They’re not [expletive] news sites. They’re for-profit websites."

These comments come on the heels of White’s earlier suggestion that the MMA media is somehow “in it for the money” and the sentiment itself isn’t particularly surprising, given that the UFC brass has historically had a tough time grappling with the idea that the media doesn’t work for them and isn’t responsible for advancing their agenda. However, the above statement is a bit more troubling than all that, because it seems to show that despite his own vast fortune, White also may not understand the basic workings of free-market capitalism.

(Fedor doesn’t ask for relentless positivity, he demands it.)

After showing up fashionably late for yesterday’s Strikeforce media conference call with upcoming foe Fabricio Werdum, Fedor Emelianenko did his usual song and dance about respect for his opponent, trust in God and love of country. You may have read about all of that in the recap provided through the Friday link dump. But aside from expounding on his own core beliefs, the world’s consensus No. 1-ranked heavyweight also slipped in a dig at the competition during an exchange not featured in the Dump’s version of events.   

According to a report from MMAFighting.com’s Mike Chiappetta, Fedor commented that he doesn’t totally approve of how our friends in Las Vegas are running their organization:

"I’m not a UFC fan," Fedor said through an interpreter.

<(Forget Randy Couture and fancy gym equipment; Shane Carwin trains in the desert…the fucking desert!)

– War Machine Tweets that he’s going to the big house for a year (Twitlonger)

– Scott Coker says Shields’ self-perceived value isn’t realistic (MMAFighting)

– CP contributing blogger/fighter Rich Attonito talks wanting to smash Yager’s face Saturday night (MMAJunkie)

– Video footage of War Machine’s bar brawl (MiddleEasy)

– Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum conference call notes (Heavy)

– UFC 115 hat stealer makes ESPN’s "Not Top 10 List (MMAJunkie)

– 25 horrible fake tans (Break)

– ‘Scarface’ in 50 seconds (ScreenJunkies)

– Best American wives and girlfriends (WAGS) (Chickipedia)

– British model Daisy Lowe pics (HolyTaco)

– Need to know home improvement tips (MadeMan)

– LOL race pics (AllLeftTurns)

– Medal of Honour trailer (FileFront)

– Unearthly cleavage (Ebaumsworld)

Just a reminder that you can watch the TUF 11 weigh-ins right here at 7:00pm ET.
As always, the link to the UFC media player is after the jump

Just a reminder that you can watch the TUF 11 weigh-ins right here at 7:00pm ET. As always, the link to the UFC media player is after the jump

(Props: Hamill the Movie on Vimeo)

If for some reason that hot date of yours falls through this Saturday night, why not swing by CagePotato.com, as our weekend editor Chad Dundas will be running the liveblog of the Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale. The show starts at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV, so check your local listings and be wary of spoilers. (And join a MMA FightPicker pool if you haven’t already!)

Speaking of the finale, co-headliner Matt Hamill is now the subject of an inspirational biopic called Hamill, which follows the athlete’s life and career; you can check out the trailer above, and learn more about the film at hamillthemovie.com. The actor who plays Matt is Russell Harvard, who you may remember as the "bastard from a basket" in There Will Be Blood. Plus, Rich Franklin is in the flick as some sort of disapproving wrestling coach, I guess. Now if they would only make a movie based on Court McGee’s life…

 
(Seriously, any excuse to run this photo…)

Gina Carano‘s upcoming star turn in Steven Soderbergh’s next action flick will reportedly hit theaters in January, and early impressions are very positive. The movie, now titled Haywire instead of Knockout, had its first test screening earlier this week, and Hollywood Elsewhere passed along a rundown of the plot and Carano’s surprisingly compelling performance:

Mallory Kane (Carano) is young, tough, beautiful, determined, and a freelance covert operative. She is hired out by her handler, Kenneth (Ewan McGregor), to various global entities, to perform jobs which governments can’t authorize and heads of state would rather not know about.

For all her looks and youth, Mallory is still the best in her field, and her skills are in constant demand. But when one of her operations goes awry, Mallory needs to use all her skills, tricks and abilities to escape an international manhunt, make it back to the United States, protect her family, and exact revenge on those that have betrayed her.

(Video courtesy of NBC)

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night to promote the A-Team and came off very well.

Though it’s obvious Leno researched all of his questions by doing a quick Google search (i.e. Rampage’s kids are all named ‘Rampage’), Quinton’s timing was impeccable, as always. I’ve actually been hearing from a lot of people that he did a decent job in the movie.

Mike Russell caught up with Warrior One (W-1) president Jack Bateman at the MMA Expo in Toronto last weekend to talk about his upcoming show on Saturday night and what the future holds for the burgeoning Ontario, Canada-based promotion. According to the promoter, his organization has some big plans for the rest of 2010 and beyond that includes signing the top free agents from around the world and developing the talent at home in the Great White North.

Besides their "Judgement Day" show set for this Saturday night in Laval, Quebec that features UFC and PRIDE veteran Denis Kang (32-12-1), Shooto veteran Antonio Carvalho (11-4), Zahabi MMA standout Thierry Quenneville (15-8) and the return of Ivan Menjivar (20-7), Bateman says that the promotion is planning two more events this year.

(Props: XCMMA)

As he prepares for his July 3rd showdown with Shane Carwin, Brock Lesnar has joined forces with a somewhat unlikely ally — Randy Couture, who Lesnar wrecked in his first UFC title fight back in November 2008. The two heavyweight stars stayed friendly after their meeting in the Octagon, and Couture recently decided to head up to Alexandria, Minnesota, to train at Lesnar’s private Death Clutch training facility; you know, the one with all the badass tigers and jacked gladiators on the walls and shit.

(The Jose Vega vs. Jarrod Card knockout. Props: YouTube.com/BellatorMMA)

By DL “Low Blow” Richardson

Bellator XXII returned to the Kansas City Power and Light District last night, in the penultimate show of the second season. The welterweight tournament finals were the main event, but “Boring” “Funky” Ben Askren was part of that matchup, so those nice folks at Bellator tried to put on a good ol’ fashioned, bread and circuses, action packed kind of card. Most of the fighters had an invite to one of next season’s tournaments — conditional upon their performance in KC, MO. What we got was one KTFO, one technical submission, one tap to strikes like a pussy, and…wait, wait, wait, let me start from the beginning. After the jump, allow me to thrill you with my account of the action. And maybe apologize for my can’t miss predictions…

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAFighting)

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker did a Q&A with reporters following last night’s Strikeforce: Los Angeles event and touched on a variety of subjects including Herschel Walker, Nick Diaz, Renato Sobral and Jake Shields’ future in the promotion and the fact that Strikeforce has zero interest in signing Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson.

Surprisingly, Coker is still pushing for the Sobral-Lawal fight, despite both fighters repeated assertions that they won’t fight each other. 

Personally, I think Babalu should stay at middleweight and enter in the proposed 185-pound tournament Coker said the promotion will be putting on in two to three months.

CagePotato.com has been able to confirm with a source close to the show the participation of several former UFC and PRIDE veterans in an August 14 hybrid boxing and MMA card in San Diego, California.

War on the Mainland’s self-titled event will take place at the San Diego Sports Arena and will feature Murilo Bustamante, Thales Leites, Alan Goes,  Pedro Rizzo, Jens Pulver and Jason Lambert among others. Rizzo was originally scheduled to take on former UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia for the WOTM heavyweight title, but is currently waiting on another opponent as Sylvia injured his foot in his May 21 Moosin bout with Mariusz "The World’s Strongest Man" Pudzianowski.

According to the poster for the event, there will be two more "MMA title fights" on the card, but the weight classes and bout participants have yet to be announced.

(Cartoonishly large chin or dreamcatcher tattoo — WHO YA GOT?)

That strange mini-event at the Nokia Theatre was just the beginning of this wild week of MMA. Set your DVRs, folks, because Bellator returns to the Kansas City Power & Light District tonight for the finals of their season 2 welterweight tournament (FOX Sports Net, 8 p.m. CST). Fighting for a shot at 170-pound champ Lyman Good are Dan Hornbuckle — who scored first-round submissions over Tyler Stinson and Steve Carl to reach the finals — and Ben Askren, who had to defeat Ryan Thomas twice due to a bizarre series of events. Elsewhere on the card…

– Stephanie Frausto (2-1), the sister of Strikeforce vet Zoila Frausto, makes her Bellator debut against Lisa Ward (12-5) in a 115-pound clash. Frausto has only been fighting professionally since January. Video of her pro debut (against a girl who kind of looks like Nate Diaz) is after the jump.

– Cole Konrad (3-0), the Brock Lesnar training partner who impressed nobody with his physique and cardio at Bellator 17, returns against John Orr (5-4). For some reason, Konrad is as high as a -1500 favorite against Orr. Do the oddsmakers know something we don’t? If you check out some of Orr’s fights, you’ll see that he’s definitely raw, but not completely inept.

(Video courtesy YouTube/ddevilMMA)

Thursdays are like the red-headed stepchild of the work week.

Mondays are a write-off. Everyone says they hate them, yet most of us can’t wait to get to work on Monday to tell everyone what we did or to talk about the fights that happened on the weekend. I guess you can say they’re like Josh Koscheck.

Tuesdays are kind of like Matt Wiman. We can take them or leave them, they put in decent performances, but nobody really looks forward to them.

Wednesday is "Hump Day" — you know, middle of the road not quite Monday, not quite Saturday, but a hell of a lot of fun — kind of like Joe Stevenson.

Fridays are gimmes. Who ever really works hard on "the third day of the weekend"? They’re like Fedor. You know they’re going to be full of win, but you don’t ever really think about it because nothing ever changes.

But what does Thursday have going for it?  Not much.

So in honor of the Jason Thacker of the work week, here is something to help you make it through to Fedor-day.

More vids after the jump.

("I pity the fool who makes fun of my scarf and inability to ignore the camera.")

It didn’t take Quinton Rampage Jackson long after his unanimous decision loss to Rashad Evans at UFC 114 to pull a Tito Ortiz. Just two and a half weeks after the bout and Rampage has already formulated his own "cracked skull" defense.

(Ah, the good ol’ days…)

As the 11th season of The Ultimate Fighter officially comes to a close this Saturday, we’re left with the same complaints we have nearly every season: The format is stale. The fighters aren’t UFC-level. Hey, weren’t the coaches supposed to fight each over? And while any asshole with an opinion can say that something needs to change, notable CagePotato commenter Chris "Viva Hate" Morse actually sent us some concrete ideas on how to fix the show. Read his thoughts below and let us know what you think. So crazy they just might work? Or so crazy that Viva Hate should go back to trolling the comments section?

*****

With yet another dismal season of TUF winding down and fans once against asking if the show has run its course, it is obviously time for some improvements. The past two seasons have featured numerous fights that turned out to be large men hugging and slobbering all over each other due to a lack of cardio. The show that partially helped launch MMA into the mainstream is now weaker and weaker by the episode. Here is a list of ways that could help revitalize and reenergize this dying beast.

Season 4 of TUF was the "Comeback" season featuring UFC castoffs trying to get one more chance at glory. Why not take this one step further with TUF 13: The OGs? Bring back early fighters to train with current fighters for the contract. This would be great for two reasons. One, it would show just how far the sport has progressed from the early days. Two, who doesn’t enjoy a little nostalgia? At least we know Tom Lawlor would be glued to the TV. There is a list of guys who would most likely take the shot based on attempts in recent years to get back into MMA. A few names that come to mind are Dan “The Beast” Severn and Oleg “The Russian Bear” Taktarov. Even giving Royce Gracie the invite which would bring in guaranteed ratings. Sadly, Joe Son and Harold Howard will not be available.

(Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos vs. Marius Zaromskis)

From last night’s event at the Nokia Theatre. Props: ZP840.

(Tim Kennedy vs. Trevor Prangley)

("You think you scare me, Whitemare? I bang Cris Cyborg. Voluntarily." Photo courtesy of the Strikeforce LA Live Weigh In Pics gallery on CombatLifestyle.com)

Q: Why are we watching a Strikeforce event on Showtime, in the middle of the damn week, ten days before a bigger Strikeforce event on Showtime?

A: Why the hell not?

The stakes are relatively low, but the matchups are promising. In the main event, Renato Sobral and Robbie Lawler slug it out in a moneyweight battle for a potential title shot down the road. Welterweights Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos and Marius "The Whitemare" Zaromskis meet in a guaranteed basher. Plus, Army Staff Sergeant Tim Kennedy defends his country’s honor against South African veteran Trevor Prangley, and KJ Noons returns to the cage against Conor Heun. Round-by-round results await you after the jump. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and let’s hope these fights end early so I can go to bed.

("All those for MMA in New York State, say ‘Aye’. All those against, say ‘duh’.")

New York’s MMA bill S 2165 made it over another major hurdle today by passing a third senate reading and vote and being referred to ways and means.

If this sounds familiar, its because the parallel bill, A 2009-C was recently passed by the Committee of Parks, Tourism and Sports Development onto the Codes Committee for a June 14 vote, where it was passed on to ways and means as well.

(Video courtesy Sportsnet)

Sportsnet’s "Showdown" Joe Ferraro sat down with Jon Fitch this past weekend in Vancouver and, among other topics, spoke with the American Kickboxing Academy fighter about the UFC’s welterweight landscape and his teammate, Josh Koscheck’s year-end showdown with 170-pound champion. Georges St-Pierre.

Not surprisingly, Fitch is picking Kos to beat GSP, and says that if it happens and Josh successfully defends his belt,  he’ll move up to middleweight indefinitely.

"The first fight, Koscheck lost the fight to a takedown. He won the first round, lost the second round and in the third he shoots a single, switches of to a double and Georges is able to defend it and sprawl and Josh has to pull guard," Fitch said. "That was the deciding factor in that fight, so it will be interesting to see where this fight goes now. I don’t know if will be as much of a wrestling match as it was the first time. There might be a lot more striking involved. It’s a tough fight and its an interesting fight, but I think Koscheck’s gonna win it."