(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAFighting)

The more interviews I see with James Toney, the more I’m beginning to think the guy really believes that six months of sprawl training is going to give him the tools to walk through Randy Couture and subsequently earn him a shot at Brock Lesnar, whom he feels he will knock out with a lazy jab while adjusting his shorts. 

Juanito Ibarra is a helluva drug.

Ariel Helwani deserves a medal for getting through an entire interview with the International Boxing Association and North American Boxing Organization heavyweight champion without a single, "C’mon James. You don’t really believe that, do you?"

(Photo courtesy of sarahkaufman.ca)

The Strikeforce 135-pound women’s champion talks about her upcoming title defense, her desire to fight on a major Showtime/CBS card, and the potential of a superfight with 145-pound champ Cris Cyborg.

By CagePotato contributor Brian J. D’Souza

When fans think of women’s MMA, their first thought is often a tossup between pinups like Gina Carano and Miesha Tate or a 2-2 Kim Couture aided by a last name she married into. But sitting pretty at 11-0 with possession of the Strikeforce women’s welterweight championship belt is Victoria, BC’s Sarah Kaufman, who fights Friday, July 23rd, on the ShoMMA: Strikeforce Challengers event to be held in Everett, Washington. It will be her first defense against 15-5 Roxanne Modafferi, but she’s driven not just to get the win, but also by the goal of making it to the next level.

“I started out in dance when I was about two,” explains Kaufman of her earliest pastime, which was interrupted when she took her first Muay Thai class at age 17. “Adam Zugec opened Zuma (MMA gym) underneath my dance studio — when I started that, it was something fun that just took over my life.”

Later, she even tried to work her University classes around her training schedule for MMA, but there was just no compromising her passion.

“After two years of University, I decided it wasn’t really where I wanted to go. Now I’m doing MMA fulltime”

(Batista vs. Undertaker, reffed by Ricky Hatton. A terrifying glimpse into the future of MMA.)

We all go a little crazy sometimes. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker can certainly be forgiven for losing his mind in the wake of Fedor Emelianenko’s upset loss against Fabricio Werdum, which wrecked Coker’s chance at a heavyweight title fight between Emelianenko and Alistair Overeem on pay-per-view, and even now seems unreal, a bad dream suffered after a night of torture porn and Indian food. But this is the topsy-turvy world of Strikeforce, where up is down, and guys who just got their asses kicked are #1 contenders. As Coker recently said on Sherdog Radio: “My feeling is maybe Fedor should fight Alistair Overeem and whoever wins that fight gets to fight Fabricio Werdum. Alistair vs. Fedor? I’d love to see that fight happen.” 

LOL at "gets" to fight Fabricio Werdum. Is he the champion now? Is that how it works in your little club? Look genius, everybody would like to see Fedor vs. Overeem happen, but unless you want your titles to lose all significance and your matchmaking to devolve into utter chaos, you probably shouldn’t have Fedor challenge for Overeem’s belt after getting subbed in 69 seconds. I know, Brett Rogers got a title shot after being dunced by Fedor, but that situation was different, as Emelianenko was unavailable to fight at the same time Overeem was. In this case, the deserving #1 contender is available (even though he’s asking for an immediate rematch with Fedor, God knows why).

It should be mentioned that M-1 Global has also formally requested a rematch between The Last Emperor and Werdum. The logical title fight, Werdum vs. Overeem, is the only fight that nobody seems to want. Forget it Jake, it’s Strikeforcetown. But Coker’s suggestion of a title shot for Fedor isn’t the only alarming thing he said last week…

("Why do they keep pitting me against Brazilians? It’s tougher to smash the faces of my fellow countrymen.")

TATAME is reporting that the UFC is planning to hold its second event in Brazil in 2011 and that the promotion could possibly do a Brazilian-only version of The Ultimate Fighter next year as well. 

Looking at the current UFC roster and taking into account the SPIKE TV series’ penchant for (except in a few cases) pitting the two coaches against each other at the end of each season, I’m guessing they are looking at Anderson Silva opposite either Vitor Belfort or Demian Maia as the coaches for the show.

(Chris Leben wades through punches at UFC 116 like a drunk man on steroids. Oh. Sorry, dude. Bad choice of words. / Photo courtesy of LasVegasSun.com)

Brock Lesnar already has a date with Cain Velasquez — potentially at UFC 119 in September — but the fates of all the other winners and losers from Saturday night are still up in the air. So let’s run down a few of the notables and try to determine who they should take on next. You’re really gonna have to start paying us, Joe.

Shane Carwin: Word on the street is that the winner of Junior Dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson at UFC 117 will receive the next heavyweight title shot after Velasquez, which means the loser could be a good opponent for Carwin’s return fight. Cigano and Big Country are both skilled enough to drag Carwin into round 2, where he’ll either crumble again, or prove to everyone that cardio is not his achilles heel.

Chris Leben: He called out Wanderlei Silva following his unbelievable submission victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama, and the Axe Murderer is down with it. Seems like a no-brainer to us. Who wouldn’t want to see two of the UFC’s most beloved brawlers beat the stuffing out of each other? Dana White says he wants to have Leben fight again soon rather than have him sit out the rest of the year while Silva’s knee heals up. But after two fights in two weeks (and $100,000 in bonus money), we think Leben could use a nice vacation.

(Many fans in attendance at the MGM Grand were given giant foam fists adorned with UFC gloves, which they drunkenly used to … oh, wait. PicProps: LA Times.)

When last we saw the UFC heavyweight champion on Saturday night he was slapping fives and doing bro grabs with his homies Stone Cold, Paul E. and Good Ol’ JR. And why not? The Dark Lord certainly had reason to celebrate: Though his face was scratched and his forehead bruised, the newly unified 265-pound strap was still around his waist. Maybe he’d even garnered some new fans with the gritty performance he’d just turned in, battling back from an early deficit to emerge victorious in the toughest fight of his career.

But damn it, just barely.

In fact, it’s difficult to know what to make of Brock Lesnar after a showing like this. The victory over Shane Carwin was definitely the most impressive moment of his short MMA career and it admittedly capped the best UFC pay-per-view we’ve seen in a long while. From Lesnar’s comeback to surprising wins from Stephan Bonnar and Chris Leben to the great scraps put on by Chris Lytle, Matt Brown, George Sotiropoulos and Kurt Pellegrino, UFC 116 delivered.

But Lesnar himself? Did he look great en route to the win? The real answer is both yes and no.

(Now who’s laughing? I mean at my MMA career, not my tattoo.)

Just a reminder that we will have the post-fight presser right here at approximately 1:00am ET.

Will Chris Leben get Submission of the Night and Wanderlei Silva as his next opponent?

Will Sotiropoulos-Pellegrino or Soszynski-Bonnar get fight of the night?

Will Gerald Harris get Knockout of the Night for his slam KO of David Branch or will Dana give it to a main card fighter?

Who is getting dropped and who is getting a title shot next?

All of these questions and more will be answered below.

(Silly Sable, you don’t step in between two giant beasts who are about to rumble)

Here we are with yet another liveblog. Although I don’t agree that Lesnar-Carwin is "the biggest fight in UFC history, I’m pumped to see which one of these behemoths knocks the other one the eff out.

Let’s cut the chit chat and get this party started.

(“And, presto! The dove vanishes before your very eyes. Now, if I may have a volunteer from the audience, I will amaze you with a trick learned during my extensive travels in the orient …” PicProps: Sherdog.)

There are two ways to look at this: Either the extensive knowledge gleaned from their years of training and competing in mixed martial arts leads a majority of professional fighters to believe Shane Carwin will defeat Brock Lesnar tonight at UFC 116 … or Lesnar’s peers are even more sick of this a-hole than we are and they don’t care who knows it.

Either way, a kind of astonishing 62 percent of pros surveyed by Sherdog.com for its recurring “Pros Pick” piece on Saturday tabbed Carwin to unseat Lesnar, despite the fact he remains a slight betting underdog. Judging from the voter turnout – 61 athletes participated in the super-scientific polling process – The Dog didn’t have to try too hard to get the pros to come out of their shells and voice their opinions, either.

For example, the ever diplomatic Seth Petruzelli weighed-in thusly : “Please, Shane, smash that overgrown non-veggie eating poop stick.”

We assume he meant Lesnar.

(VidProps: MMA Fighting)

Heavyweight contender Cain Velasquez brings a lot of excitement to his fights from bell to bell. In an interview setting? Not so much. Velasquez is a great guy but let’s face it, it’s almost impossible to get him to say anything interesting. Just ask Ariel Helwani, who does about all he can to pry something, anything good out of Velasquez in this video.

In the wake of UFC President Dana White reconfirming this week that Velasquez has got dibs on the winner of Shane Carwin vs. Brock Lesnar, Helwani asks Velasquez who he’d rather fight. Either guy, Velasquez says. Who does he think will win on Saturday, Helwani asks. Depends, Velasquez says. Would the businessman in him rather chase the bigger payday of a fight with Lesnar than Carwin? No, he just wants to fight the best, Velasquez contends. What will we see from him in his next fight? He just wants to get better in all aspects of MMA.

So yeah, pretty much sticking to the script.

(VidProps: MMA Weekly)

Brock Lesnar could have a lot of things working against him when he climbs into the cage tonight for UFC 116 – a long layoff, possible lingering effects of a career-threatening disease, his most dangerous challenger to date and the concentrated hatred of all the good and decent people of the world, just to name a few. With so much already on his plate, it was a little weird earlier this week when Lesnar disclosed that he used some of the extra time off he had while recovering from that hole God put in his stomach lining to switch from an orthodox striking stance to southpaw for his fight with Shane Carwin.

Maybe it’s the smirk on Lesnar’s face during the opening seconds of the above video, but it’s hard not to wonder: Is Brock just fucking with us? Does he really intend to try to fight Carwin as a lefty tonight? Or is this just some gamesmanship on the part of the former WWE wrestler?

(Video courtesy YouTube/Fight!Magazine)

It’s do or die time for Stephan Bonnar Saturday night (MMAMania)

Rashad cool with waiting until March for shot at Shogun (MMAJunkie)

Lesnar will make ten times what  Carwin will tomorrow night (MiddleEasy)

Nick Diaz will be out until late summer serving SF suspension (MMAWeekly)

Erin Toughill isn’t afraid of Cyborg (TheGarv)

Bibiano Fernandes explains how he was recruited to help BJ prepare for Edgar (TATAME)

20 hottest ring girls (Heavy)

Backflips ain’t easy (Break)

Newly casted movie Spiderman is a dweeb (ScreenJunkies)

7 frighteningly smokin’ screen babes (Chickipedia)

First look at the 2011 Ford Mustang RTR (MadeMan)

LOL race pics: blame Gordon (AllLeftTurns)

Dwayne Wade has second meeting with Chicago Bulls (ScoresReport)

Assassins Creed Brotherhod gameplay (FileFront)

Don’t eat it (FunnyJunk)

Sweet ass parade (NothingToxic)

A thank you to creepy late night gas stations (HolyTaco)

(Video courtesy YouTube/k4BOSH; footage courtesy ZUFFA LLC)

Just a friendly CP reminder that the weigh-ins for UFC 116 are live at 7:00pm ET tonight.

If watching the UFC’s pre-fight presser at 6:30 doesn’t float your boat, there are some videos to help you kill some time after the jump, including one of Brock Lesnar’s college wrestling matches, a light heavyweight version of Brock in his early days with the WWE and a highlight featuring early and recent clips of Shane Carwin’s bouts and the backstage interviews from the weigh-ins.

Remember to check in with us tomorrow for our UFC 116 liveblog at 10pm ET. If you’ve never joined in the festivities, give it a try. The Potato nation knows how to party like it’s 1999.

(It’s the only time that Demian feels truly free. Props: MMAFunHouse)

If you’re like us, you mentally checked out of work hours ago, and are just counting down the minutes until it’s time to leave the office and get the grill started. Independence Day weekend is upon us, signaling that the glorious summer is in full swing. But have you ever wondered what kind of crazy hijinx your favorite fighters are up to during the summer? And for the artistically gifted folks who are reading this, would you be interested in converting your imaginings into hilariously photoshopped images? Yes, it’s time for another CagePotato photoshop contest. The theme is: "How are MMA fighters spending their summer vacations?"

We’re going to run the contest a little differently this time. After you complete a ‘shop of an MMA fighter in a humorous summer-related scenario, head to CagePotato.com’s Facebook page and post it there. (If you’re not already a fan, become one, duh.) On Friday, July 16th (two weeks from today), we will pick the five entries that collected the most "likes," post them on the site, and award their creators CagePotato Devil Horns t-shirts. Sound good? Then slather on that suntan lotion and get crackin’. Have a kickass weekend, you guys!

(Right leg, mild contusion. Left leg, charley horse.)

Former 2006 PRIDE open weight grand prix champion Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic spoke with Fighters Only’s John O’Regan this week about a number of topics, including his future in the sport of MMA and what it would take to motivate him to continue to fight in the sport that he began competing in nearly nine years ago.

Filipovic says that he hasn’t yet decided whether or not he will step into the cage or ring again as a fighter, but mentioned that being a coach and trainer is a role he would love to tackle after his fighting days are over. 

I’m assuming most of you will be packed into sports bars watching Lesnar vs. Carwin on Saturday, but if you live on the East Coast and happen to be near a radio for some reason, please tune in to "The Mouthpiece MMA Show" to hear yours truly, BG, discuss the aftermath of Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum and the awesomeness that is CagePotato.com. Hosts Tim O’Connor and Mark Daniels were kind enough to have me record a segment earlier this week, which will air tomorrow night on the three stations the show is syndicated on. They are…

- WIFI 1460AM: Philadelphia, Atlantic City; Mouthpiece Fight Block @ 10 p.m. to midnight

- WGAM The Game (ESPN Radio 1250 + 900): Manchester/Nashua, New Hampshire; Mouthpiece Fight Block starts at 11 p.m.

– 1320AM WARL: Providence and Southeastern Massachusetts; Mouthpiece Boxing/wrestling/MMA block from 9:00 p.m. to midnight

If you don’t live in those areas, or if you won’t be able to listen on Saturday, or if you’re just impatient, you can download the audio of my appearance right here. Thanks so much to Tim and Mark for having me on. Follow the Mouthpiece Radio Network at twitter.com/mouthpieceradio.

(BG)

("I recommended Gus Johnson as my replacement. I heard he trains twice a week.")

Eddie Bravo contacted Cage Potato last night to expound on the news reported by Gareth Davies Wednesday that he had resigned from his post as an analyst with the UFC.

Although he confirmed he has indeed left the organization, he says his departure was an amicable one and that the move was necessary to allow him to focus more on his growing number of schools and students and will not restrict him from cornering his fighters in the Octagon.

"Yes, I quit to focus on cornering George [Sotiropoulos] and [Dan] Hardy. It was an amazing seven years with Zuffa," Bravo explained via text message. "I owe Dana, Lorenzo and Frank to the death."

(Alistair engages in a moment of reflection with his life-partner, Hilda. That’s the name of his sledgehammer. What, you didn’t think I was talking about the dumpy broad on the right, did you?)

Contradicting earlier reports, Alistair Overeem will probably not face Ricco Rodriguez at DREAM.15 next Saturday. Said Overeem’s trainer Martin De Jong: "If he’s going to fight, he’s probably not going to fight Ricco Rodriguez…We didn’t receive any contract. [DREAM] proposed Ricco Rodroguez, but they didn’t send a contract, and definitely we did not sign it." De Jong added that Overeem has no problem fighting Rodriguez, but they may skip DREAM.15 due to other issues with the promotion that he wouldn’t discuss.

Nevertheless, three additional fights were announced for the card today, bringing the current total to seven. They are…

This week’s caption contest brought in 241 entries — but only five of you will walk away with your very own copy of The Crazies, which is available now on DVD and Blu-Ray. So who made the cut? Our hand-selected winners are after the jump. Laugh, complain, do what you’re gonna do. Props to Anchor Bay Home Entertainment for making this happen…

(Dana may want to skip right to dessert.)

During a media scrum following today’s UFC 116 pre-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White made his feelings about his longtime friend Chuck Liddell continuing to compete in the Octagon crystal clear.

"He’ll never fight in the UFC again. Can Chuck Liddell still make money? Could I make money off of Chuck Liddell? Yes. I don’t want that money. I don’t want to make that kind of money," White asserted. "I’m not interested in that. He won’t do it again. He cannot do it again. It will not happen again."

(Video courtesy BJPenn.com)

Continuing his tradition of hosting a variety of top-tier fighters to help him prepare for his upcoming fights, BJ Penn has brought in a secret weapon to bolster his training camp for his August 28 rematch with Frankie Edgar: DREAM featherweight champion Bibiano Fernandes.

Although he fights a weight class below Penn, Fernandes is the perfect fighter to mimic Edgar and is very similar in stature and style to "The Answer," with the only real difference being Bibiano’s superior jiu-jitsu base. 8-2 with losses to Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto and Urijah Faber, "The Flash" has not lost since 2007. His most recent win came in his first title defense via split decision over Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen at DREAM 13 in March.

(Will Shane bring the pain, or does Brock have this on lock? Anybody want a peanut?)

UFC president Dana White, heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, interim champ Shane Carwin, and middleweights Chris Leben and Yoshihiro Akiyama are all about to take the stage at the MGM Grand Garden Arena’s Hollywood Theatre for a UFC 116 press-conference. You can follow the presser live on CagePotato.com via the media-player after the jump, starting at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT. If you’re watching, let us know your thoughts in the comments section…

By CagePotato contributor Dallas Winston

For a match-up of such epic proportions, both literally and figuratively, Lesnar vs. Carwin does not offer a ton of evidence to analyze.

In the grand scheme of the MMA heavyweight scene, both Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin are relative newcomers, as their total career fights combined equates to a number one-half of former god Fedor Emelianenko’s times at bat. In only five fights, Lesnar has shown marked improvement and new aspects of an evolving game in each outing, and even though Carwin specified that his focus is becoming a well-rounded fighter, his right hand alone has left a trail of twelve motionless cadavers in its wake.

My team of MMA scientists submitted the official report from their pre-fight ceremonial ritual — in which bits of evidence are fed into the “MMA Math Machine” to extrapolate key factors that assist in fight predictions — and the findings for both read: Big. Strong. Wrestle good. Punch hard.

As much I’d like to over-glorify things, that’s really what this fight boils down to.

("It’s like looking in the mirror…four years ago." Photo props Joe Ferraro via Facebook)

UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell got his first peek of himself ever-immortalized a champion in wax, as Madam Tussauds unveiled his statue at an induction ceremony today in Las Vegas.

The figure, which is purportedly valued at over $300,000 US was first unveiled at the UFC Fan Expo in May, but "The Iceman," who was unable to attend didn’t get a chance to see the sculpture until the ceremony today at The Venetian Resort, Hotel and Casino.

("Fay-jeow?! I said I wanted to fight Fay-dor.")

Further proving our theory that Scott Coker and co. are just throwing darts at their roster lists to come up with match-ups, Fiveouncesofpain is reporting that recently crowned Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Muhammad Lawal (7-0) will take on Rafael Cavalcante (9-2) August 21 in Houston, Texas.

2-1 in his last three outings, Cavalcante, who suffered the second loss of his career in the form of a TKO at the hands of controversial journeyman Mike Kyle in his Strikeforce debut last June, hasn’t exactly been running through top-tier competition. His last five wins have come opposite Antwain Britt (11-4), Aaron Rosa (13-3), Travis Galbraith (18-7), Wayne Cole (16-16) and John Doyle (10-14) — none of whom could be considered a contender.

The problem is, Strikeforce doesn’t have anyone else to face Mo.

Sal Mora talks w UFC Lightweight Clay Guida for CagePotato.com – Watch more Funny Videos

After suffering tough losses against Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian last year, Clay Guida came back with a renewed fire this March and choked out Shannon Gugerty — his first submission victory in three-and-a-half years. With momentum back on his side, the Carpenter looks to keep the ball rolling next month at UFC 117 (August 7th, Oakland), where he’ll take on Rafael Dos Anjos, who is riding three straight victories against Rob Emerson, Kyle Bradley, and Terry Etim. In this exclusive interview filmed by Sal Mora at Jackson’s MMA in Albuquerque, Guida tells us what the fight against Dos Anjos means to him, and explains the advantages he’ll have in the cage. He also weighs in on UFC 117′s Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen main event; unsurprisingly, Clay likes the hard-nosed wrestler’s chances.

When asked which loss he’d go back and avenge if he could, Guida said that he doesn’t like to look back at the past. However:

"I think the Diego Sanchez fight kinda spoke for itself. I think he won three minutes of the fight, maybe four. I think I controlled the rest of the fight. So that’s one of those [fights] that would have maybe put me in line for title contention. And it would also be one of the greatest fights again…Diego’s a buddy of mine, I hope the best for him, and our time will come again, maybe. If not, who cares, I [plan to] just keep winning."

("Tell ‘em you want a $125,000 base salary to start, increasing $25,000 with every win."
"And a custom Hummer, like the ones they give to Ultimate Fighter coaches."
"And an immediate shot at Anderson Silva."
"And a percentage of the…wait, what?")

After a difficult bidding period in which Jake Shields was asking for more money than Scott Coker thought he was worth, Strikeforce released their middleweight champion yesterday, putting Shields on the open market. Shields’s Strikeforce contract ended after his April title defense against Dan Henderson, which allowed other organizations to make bids on his services. Strikeforce was in the matching stage of the process, and had the option to meet any competing offers, but ultimately decided that letting Shields walk was their best option.

As Scott Coker said on MMA Weekly radio, "The numbers, there was a big gap between what we thought was real, and what we thought was going to work, and I call that the numbers dance. It is what it is, and we’re going to probably be moving forward with that tournament."

Tensions between Shields and Strikeforce have reportedly been strained since he appeared at WEC 48, sitting next to UFC president Dana White, who mouthed "he’s mine" at the camera. Strikeforce may have even tried to block Shields from attending Saturday’s Fedor vs. Werdum show.