(“Matt Horwich’s ‘Infinitely Accelerating Current Of Creativity’ is a searing literary masterpiece … an engrossing epic about the triumph of the human spirit.” – New York Times Book Review. VidProps: YouTube/KarynBryant)

Lost in the shuffle of our despair over Jens Pulver’s sixth straight defeat and the tedium of Tim Sylvia slouching all over Paul Buentello at PWP’s War on the Mainland show this weekend was that longtime MMA journeyman and noted insane-iac Matt Horwich won the promotion’s middleweight title with a fourth-round submission over Thales Leites. Long a practitioner of Nogueira-style Zombie Fighting – wherein you take as many punches to the face necessary to get the fight to the ground – Horwich weathered some early bluster from Leites before locking on a rear naked choke with less than a minute left in the first championship round. That’s just how the undead do, playboy.

Also true to form, shit didn’t really start to get weird until the post-fight interview, when MMA Heat’s Karyn Bryant caught up with Horwich to get his thoughts on life, the universe and everything. Horwich was only too happy to oblige, talking about his poetry, the relativity of subatomic particles, string theory and submission grappling. If you want to see a textbook example of a reporter doing the “smile and nod” check out Bryant at the 58-second mark, when Horwich mentions for the first time what a “beautiful multiverse” we live in. Cuz she’s a straight-up pro, Bryant immediately marshals the troops and asks Horwich if he’s “going to write a song” about this win. I mean, of course he is. Later, Bryant says something about a fight being a “unity of two bodies.” Dude, Karyn, inappropriate.

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAFighting)

I was beginning to think that all of the back-patting he was getting from his entourage and training partners was starting to make James Toney a bit delusional in thinking he was an actual MMA fighter, but after seeing this video, I have to admit I was wrong. Toney isn’t just a bit delusional. He’s completely delusional if he really believes that he has more than a puncher’s chance against former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy Couture at UFC 118.

All of the half-hearted sledgehammer smacks and tire flips in the world won’t make up for the fact that he has only been training MMA for six months (though he claims he’s been training for nine) and Couture has been competing in the sport for thirteen years.

Regardless of how much Toney may be fooling himself, I enjoy trying to dissect his unintelligible ramblings and convert them into text — a task which I rank slightly higher on the difficulty scale than solving a sudoku puzzle. I’ve done so many of these transcriptions that I can listen to Toney talk and understand exactly what he is saying. I’m actually considering sending the UFC my resume in the hopes that I can be Lights Out’s Ed Soares and I can translate for him in his pre and post-fight interviews.

(Whatever Benavidez throws at him in the cage, it won’t be nearly as intense as that horrible freakin’ ice bath. Props: YouTube.com/fightmagazine)

Headlining tomorrow night’s WEC 50 card on Versus is Dominick Cruz (15-1) attempting his first bantamweight title defense against old rival Joseph Benavidez (12-1). Cruz won their first meeting at WEC 42 by unanimous decision. Will he be able to repeat the performance, or is Joe B gettin’ that belt? Let’s go to the stats…

AGE
Cruz: 25
Benavidez: 26
Advantage: Even

HEIGHT
Cruz: 5’8"
Benavidez: 5’4"
Advantage: Cruz. Seriously, Ariel Helwani looks like a giant standing next to Joe. Though to be fair, Miguel Torres is 5’9", and Benavidez wrecked him.

FINISHING PERCENTAGE
Cruz: 44% (7 out of 16 fights ended in stoppage victories)
Benavidez: 77% (10 out of 13 fights ended in stoppage victories)
Advantage: Benavidez

The Ultimate Fighter 12 Exclusive Promo – Watch more Sports Videos

Now that we’ve met TUF 12‘s lightweight contestants, it’s time to start building some hype for the rival coaches. SPIKE has provided CagePotato.com with this exclusive promo for The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck, in which St. Pierre and Kos face off during a pretty nasty-looking storm. Personally, we’d be huddled in a basement somewhere, but you know how these fighters are — you can’t tell them anything. TUF 12 premieres Wednesday, September 15th, at 10pm/9c, directly following UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares.

(Silva and Hughes both got the same to win and Sonnen got paid what Almeida made to take a nap)

The California State Athletic Commission today released the fighter salaries for UFC 117, which was held August 7 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

According to CSAC, the total payroll for the event, which is said to have drawn 12,971 fans for a live gate of $1.56 million, was  $1.029 million.

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, whose come from behind win over Chael Sonnen thrilled fans, topped the list with $320,000 which included his flat rate $200,000 show purse and double-fisted $60,000 Fight of the Night and $60,000 Submission of the Night bonus haul. Sonnen on the other hand made just $35,000 show money for the fight, which would have tied him for eight place with Ricardo Almeida on money earner board for the event if he hadn’t picked up the $60,000 Fight of the Night Bonus he shared with Silva.

Apparently DREAM has become the Michael Lohan of the MMA world.

According to TATAME, five months after he won the DREAM featherweight tournament, Bibiano Fernandes hasn’t been paid his contracted fight purse. Unlike the Impact FC fighters who haven’t been paid for their July fights by the Australian promotion, Fernandes has something over the Japanese promotion he is contracted to for one more bout: his belt.

The report says that Fernandes has turned down a title defense on the September 25 DREAM 16 card and maintains that he won’t fight for the organization until he receives his check for his win over Joachim Hansen at DREAM 13 back in March.

("You ain’t my wife, but you’ll do for right now.")

The UFC has confirmed the pay-per-view lineup for their super-stacked UFC 121 event, which goes down October 23rd at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Tune in and you will see Brock Lesnar go for his third heavyweight belt defense against Cain Velasquez, Jake Shields attempt to leapfrog Jon Fitch on the welterweight ladder by smashing Martin Kampmann, and Tito Ortiz try to take advantage of Matt Hamill’s deafness-related lack of equilibrium. (Science!) Plus: Sanchez vs. Thiago, Schuab vs. Gonzaga, TUF 11 winner Court McGee stuffed onto the prelims and more. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Saturday at noon PT.

Fun fact, from the UFC press release: If Lesnar defeats Velasquez, he will tie Tim Sylvia for the most heavyweight title defenses, and will set the record for most consecutive heavyweight title defenses. And now, the lineup…

Main Card
Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez (for heavyweight title)
Martin Kampmann vs. Jake Shields (WW)
Paulo Thiago vs. Diego Sanchez (WW)
Tito Ortiz vs. Matt Hamill (LHW)
Brendan Schaub vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (HW)

(You’re really going to pick against a guy who can play Für Elise with handguns? Props: YouTube.com/RangerUpVideo)

Following WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez on Wednesday and Bellator 25 on Thursday, this wild and wooly week of MMA concludes Saturday with Strikeforce Houston, which features King Mo vs. Rafael Cavalcante, Tim Kennedy vs. Ronaldo Souza, KJ Noons vs. Jorge Gurgel, Bobby Lashley vs. Chad Griggs, and a champion of two different promotions on the preliminary card. For some reason, betting sites are only offering action on Lawal (-381) vs. Cavalcate (+375), so you’ll have to make things interesting by wagering some FightPicker PotatoChips — which you can accumulate just by signing into the game every day. Swing by fightpicker.cagepotato.com (or the Facebook equivalent) to make your predictions on the four marquee fights, as well as three prelim scraps that will probably never see the light of day. The question list is after the jump. Pick wisely.

(Video courtesy YouTube/HDNet)

Chael Sonnen sat down with Mike Straka for the HDNet interviewer’s "Fighting Words" show the day after his UFC 117 war with Anderson Silva and spoke a bout a variety of topics including his loss to the UFC middleweight champion, the fact that he didn’t get a cut of the PPV earnings and the fact that he visits a sports psychologist to help deal with the weight a loss like he had against "The Spider"two weeks ago heaps on him emotionally.

Overall, it was another polarizing interview, minus all of the pre-fight posturing that has garnered him so much attention (which he maintains was not an act), but it what the Oregon wrestler said about the controversial tap and subsequent stoppage at the end of the fight was arguably the most interesting tidbit from the Q&A session.

(Reached for comment, Peoples stood by his assertion that the MagnaFlow Exhaust Products corner is the most prestigious corner in the world. VidProps: YouTube/ZombieProphetMMA)

Man, is it really too much to ask that Cecil motherfucking Peoples just referees and/or judges one fight without doing or saying something ridiculous to make himself the center of attention? Apparently yes, it is. Witness this video, in which MMA’s favorite head-in-the-clouds official puts on a command performance of his own tenuous grasp of reality prior to Friday night’s King of the Cage heavyweight title match. Not only does Peoples mutter something into the microphone about the KOTC championship being “the most prestigious belt in the world” during his prefight instructions to Daniel Cormier and Tony Johnson Jr., but then he does some kind of weirdo karate chop bullshit to start the bout. I swear, this guy.

Thankfully Peoples — who ends his comments to the fighters by saying “Let’s dance!” — doesn’t do anything to screw up the actual fight. You have to consider that a cut above his average appearance as an MMA judge/ref. Seriously though, what’s it gonna take before state athletic commissions start looking at Sensei Cecil and thinking, “Do we really want this jackass representing us in any way?”

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAScraps)

Ed Soares, the manager of a large contingent of the UFC’s Brazilian roster including Lyoto Machida, Anderson Silva, Junior Dos Santos and the Nogueira brothers, was on MMA Scraps radio last week and was asked about Vitor Belfort calling him a clown for mistranslating his fighters interviews.  

Although he didn’t address the actual issue of him allegedly misrepresenting what his clients say on the mic in this clip, (he admits doing it in another portion of the interview) Soares did say that he has spoken to Belfort and has since "squashed" any beef they had.

(Props: YouTube.com/PrivateMichael104)

The story of Tito Ortiz getting punched out by convicted bank robber Lee Murray during an alleyway altercation after UFC 38 has grown into one of MMA’s most beloved bits of folklore. The most famous version — relayed second-hand from a drunken Pat Miletich and published in Matt Hughes’s autobiography Made in America — ends with Tito Ortiz getting starched by "like, a five-punch combo," then boot-stomped.

On this Friday’s installment of Michael Schiavello’s HDNet interview series The Voice Vs…, Ortiz gets to tell his side of the tale. Basically, it was Ortiz’s friend that was getting stomped, and when Murray dropped Ortiz with a punch it was more of slip then anything else, and that only happened after Murray was running away like a little bitch, and Tito was able to pop back up anyway. As Tito explains, "I was never unconscious at the time, in my whole career I’ve never been unconscious, and I never will go unconscious." Also, Lee Murray’s robbery conviction was karmic revenge for this embarrassing story being spread around.

No mention of the best part of the Ortiz vs. Murray street fight legend, which involved Chuck Liddell knocking multiple dudes out with his back against a wall. Where were you back then, TMZ?

According to Fighters Only, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will be unable to face Frank Mir in their headlining rematch at UFC 119 (September 25th, Indianapolis), due to an injury that will require surgery. Which sucks for him, but on the bright side, you didn’t really care about that fight anyway. Stepping in for Big Nog will be Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, who has been surging back to relevance with back-to-back stoppage victories over Anthony Perosh and Pat Barry. It’s a huge opportunity for Cro Cop, who would finally become a legitimate heavyweight contender in the UFC with a win over the former champion. Mir hasn’t competed since his TKO loss to Shane Carwin at UFC 111, which followed his quick spanking of Cheick Kongo last December.

Though Nogueira had to undergo knee surgery in 2009, his latest injury is possibly hip-related. Big Nog has also battled staph infections in recent years, which delayed his meeting with Cain Velasquez, and supposedly affected his first performance against Frank Mir at UFC 92. After suffering the only two stoppage losses of his career in his last three fights, it seems that Nogueira has finally learned his lesson about fighting hurt. But after so many tough battles, injuries, and illnesses, will his body ever fully recover?

(The first round of the fight, and nearly the last chapter in these two guys’ character arcs. All vids from: YouTube/ZombieProphetMMA)

For the first minute, 10 seconds or so Tim Sylvia and Paul Buentello actually have a decent little fight going at Powerhouse World Promotions’ War on the Mainland show from Saturday night. After that it’s pretty much a clinch-fest, with Sylvia leaning his 274-pounds on Buentello in the corner so relentlessly he’s able to draw five separate restarts from referee Big John McCarthy in just under two full rounds. While still looking as awkward as ever on the feet, Sylvia at least mixes some good punching combination with a few kicks and knees when the two fighters exchange at range. Buentello lands a couple of shots too, but for the most part appears overwhelmed by Sylvia’s size.

Round two is after the jump. Also, just in case you weren’t feeling melancholy enough on this Sunday morning, Jens Pulver’s sad, sad loss to Diego Garijo from the same event is there as well …

(Nine out of 10 British Columbian doctors were astonished to learn Dan Hardy is actually alive and well. PicProps: Examiner.com)

Just a few days after a bunch of those crazy, socialist Canadian doctors – probably the same lot who tried to kill Brock Lesnar – called for a nationwide ban on MMA, the Ontario government announced on Saturday it will sanction the sport beginning in 2011. Take that, quacks! (OK fine, the two stories are probably unrelated, but still …)

Ontario and its capital city of Toronto opening their doors to MMA is being regarded as kind of a big deal and the news touched off some fairly hilarious quotes among the local politicians north of the border. The Canadian Press is also asserting that the UFC might hold off on Georges St. Pierre’s rematch with Josh Koscheck until the new year so it can stage that “blockbuster bout” at the Air Canada Centre or Rogers Centre. Oh Canada, so adorable with your funny spellings, earnest political discourse and relentless optimism.

(PicProps: Squabbles.com)

The name of former UFC interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin appeared on a list of 22 professional athletes federal prosecutors allege obtained steroids from a Mobile, Ala.-based pharmacy between 2004-06, according to an internet report published on Friday by the Mobile Press-Register newspaper.

Carwin was among seven athletes – including pro wrestlers Kurt Angle and “Hardcore” Bob Holly as well as four professional bodybuilders – named by Assistant U.S. Attorney Donna Dobbins at the sentencing of Alabama pharmacist J. Michael Bennett. Bennett, one of five men recently found guilty of "participating in a nationwide conspiracy to illegally sell anabolic steroids," was sentenced to four years in prison, according to the report.

("So, what’s your dad do? He’s in risk management? That’s cool, I guess." PicProps: Strikeforce)

The most shocking fact to emerge from Strikeforce Challengers 10 on Friday? Joe Riggs and Ryan Couture are the same age. Actually, Couture is a month older. Yet while the fresh-faced Couture made his professional debut last night, Riggs – who is about as grizzled and world weary as a dude under 30 can possibly be – was taking part in bout No. 44 of his nine-year career. Luckily for both, they were fighting opponents brought in specifically to chum the waters.

If you had complicated feelings about Couture’s first-ever pro fight airing on national television, you weren’t alone. On one hand, nobody likes Jacob Dylan. On the other hand, it feels a little unseemly to harbor a grudge against a guy as apparently likeable as the younger Couture just because he won some kind of genetic MMA lottery. Luckily, Ryno solved our emotional torment for us in just a minute, 15 seconds last night, proving he belonged in the cage with a glossy smooth triangle choke victory over local boy Lucas Stark.

(One night, two wins, two different outfits. How are the men supposed to compete with that? PicProps: Strikeforce)

In theory, I was in favor of Strikeforce’s 135-pound women’s tournament on Friday night. At this point in MMA’s development, tournaments feel like a nostalgic throwback to our wild, misspent youth. They’re like that one friend we all have who just turned 30 and now insists on drinking two beers and talking about how crazy he was back in college. More specifically, I was hopeful that this particular tourney would brings some much-needed forward momentum and excitement to SF’s female welterweight division, where right now even the champ doesn’t especially want to be there. In practice however, not so much.

In reality, the truncated fights, overall lack of sizzle and a field that felt from the start like Miesha Tate and three also-rans all conspired to make the tournament a bit of a nonevent. Tate won the whole thing in a little less than two hours, Strikeforce strapped a belt on her (Really? A belt? For that?) and then we all went off and did other things. It all happened so fast that play-by-play shouter Mauro Ranallo looked like he didn’t even bother to shave before he went on the air. That alone should tell you something.

(Video courtesy bjpenn.com)

– Somebody stole Semmy Schilt’s 2009 K-1 GP belt (headkicklegend)

– Today’s friday the 13th so here’s Jason Voorhees on Arsenio (break)

– Frankie Edgar talks BJ Penn rematch (mmadiehards)

– The Expendables Terry Crews offers manvice (mademan)

– 25 hot photos of Amanda Righetti (holytaco)

– Eddie Alvarez vs. Roger Huerta set for Bellator 33 (heavy)

– Top ten signs she’s faking it starring white board girl (askmen)

– 10 unforgettable MMA gifs (mmascraps)

–  Interview with Bellator FC season II welterweight winner Ben Askren (bleacherreport)

– Randy Couture wants to fight Anderson Silva (mmafighting)

– Strikeforce Challengers 10: There’s something about Miesha (watchkalib run)

– Dave Batista talks MMA career he’s been plotting for a while (fight!)

 - Reed Harris and Ariel Helwani break down WEC 50 (versus)

– Bisping expects to face Sonnen if he beats Akiyama and Cote if he loses (fightersonly)

– Nerds rejoice: James Cameron talks Avatar II (screenjunkies)

(Funny, these quacks aren’t calling for a ban on hockey.)

When a syndicated story run in the majority of Canada’s  newspapers begins with "Ladies and gentlemen; boys and girls; children of all ages! In this corner, weighing in at a staggering mass of popularity, we have the blood sport known as mixed-martial arts!"

"And, in our other corner, sporting a stethoscope and look of genuine consternation, we have . . . Canadian doctors!" it usually isn’t a positive story for the sport of MMA.

A story appearing in several major Canadian newspapers today reports that
the organization that represents doctors in British Columbia is urging its counterparts from across the country to call on the federal government to impose a national ban on mixed martial arts.

According to the report, the B.C. Medical Association held a caucus meeting and passed a resolution stating it wants the full-contact sport banned in Canada last month and now the body, which acts as the voice of doctors in B.C. is planning to bring that resolution to the Canadian Medical Association’s annual general meeting at Niagara Falls, Ont., from Aug. 23 to 25.

If the national group votes in favor of adopting the resolution, it will lobby the federal government to work with the provinces to bring an end to MMA contests in the country.

"We know there are a number of serious injuries that can occur, including broken limbs, lacerations and brain damage," said Dr. Ian Gillespie, president of the B.C. organization.

Apparently Gillespie doesn’t drive a car, ride a bike or walk down the street in the presence of traffic, since each of these activities carry similar inherent risks.

("Next time on Extreme Makeover…" / Photos courtesy of Esther Lin/Strikeforce.)

Program the codes into your DVR machine, because Strikeforce’s femme-tastic Challengers event in Phoenix airs tonight at 11 p.m. (For most of us, at least. Check your local listings.) Weights have been made, and the first-round tournament match-ups have been set: Miesha Tate will face Maiju Kujala in the semis, while Carina Damm takes on Hitomi Akano. Plus, Ryan Couture makes his pro debut, and Joe Riggs aw who cares. If you’re tuning in, please direct your thoughts to the comment thread below. Let’s have some fun tonight…

(Run and tell *that*, homeboy. Props: YouTube.com/BellatorMMA)

By DL “Friday the ReX13th” Richardson

Look, you know me, and you know what I’m going to say about the Bellator Fighting Championships: when it comes to MMA, they’re doing it right. Bellator does away with traditional ranking and matchmaking for their main events; they instead sign an eight-person field and let the fighters decide amongst themselves. It’s a format that appeals to fans and fighters alike, and it’s produced some exciting fights and amazing finishes. When some promotions go after a high-visibility free agent, they try to feed them impressive victories and pave the way toward championships. Bellator just drops them in the quarterfinals like everyone else. Upsets happen (see: Huerta, Roger). Cinderella stories happen (see: Curran, Pat). But it feels much more legitimate seeing champions develop organically like this while some promotions throw title fights to guys coming off of losses.

Never mind if injuries throw things off (Curran out versus Eddie Alvarez due to shoulder injury), or if those high visibility free agents get a shot at the champ anyway (Huerta in versus Alvarez, albeit in a non-title bout) or speculations that Bellator is on the verge of financial insolvency — they’re putting on good shows and the fighters are hungry. There’s entertainment in them there FSN channels.

If you’ve missed Bellator like I’ve missed Bellator (or if you’ve just missed me, for whatever reason), come along and I’ll tell you about the first event of Bellator’s third season. We’ll talk about the minor leagues of heavyweights, and the elite picture of the women’s featherweight field. Plus we might talk about how catchy that Bed Intruder Song is…

(Video courtesy MMALive)

We’d put our usual "Ignore Franklin McNeil’s inane ramblings,"disclaimer on this video, but after you hear him try to string a series of words together to describe how he was feeling during the Sonnen-Silva fight, it seems unnecessary.

"First time in a long time that I was actually a fan. I’m sitting there and I can’t believe what I’m seeing. No one could have foreseen that particular outcome."

Which outcome is that, Anderson winning by submission against a guy who always loses by submission or you being asked to give your thoughts on it?

Sonnen’s interview makes up for McNeil’s deer in the headlights style of reporting.

(Remember to bring snacks, drinks, headphones and a piss bottle for this road trip.)

You thought we forgot, didn’t you?

To be honest, we were going to do a show next week to preview Strikeforce Houston and UFC 118, but we decided last minute to split the shows up. 

This episode, which features an interview with Strikeforce middleweight challenger Tim Kennedy, is slightly abridged as we were somewhat crunched for time with Ben working his ass off to plan the CP UFC Fan Expo extravaganza. We apologize in advance for not including the insider roundtable segment which has become your consensus favorite and the standard way we close out The Bum Rush.

Before the comment section blows up with "We want ReX13" or "You guys suck" posts, rest assured that we will be bringing back some of your favorite CP personalities for the next show to drop knowledge and terrible predictions on y’all.

We should have all of the episodes up on iTunes very soon and we will let you know when you can subscribe. The process is underway and we’re waiting on Apple to accept our metadata submissions or some other IT-type mumbo jumbo.

Hope you enjoy the show.

Player, download link and Tim Kennedy video we mention on the show after the jump.

(Killa B gets worked by Dennis Hallman at UFC 117. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.)

Following back-to-back unanimous decision losses to Dennis Hallman at UFC 117 and Jon Fitch at UFC 111, Ben Saunders (8-3-2, 4-3 UFC) has been released from his UFC contract. The American Top Team welterweight confirmed the news on his Twitter page, where he wrote the following:

Sorry everyone I tried to fight my best these past two fights but ended up getting out worked… the UFC has officially cut me… the good news is they told me to work on my wrestling and ground game and then come back… So that is all I am going to be doing… improving dramatically and show them I belong. It was a honor to fight for the @UFC and I will make it back into the mix in due time… no one ever said my dream of getting that belt would be easy… in fact I was denied it as even a possibility and told I was crazy since I was a kid… look how far I have gone feeding off the doubters and haters… it just makes me that much more hungry… I’ll be back! There isn’t a doubt in my mind.

(Above: Eric R.  /  Below: Dwayt W.  /  Click all for larger sizes.)

We’re one week into our CagePotato wallpaper design contest, and the submissions are rolling in nicely; you can check out some of our current favorites above and after the jump. Please keep sending your work to contest@cagepotato.com for the chance to win $250 in gear from the good people at Throwdown. Voting begins next Monday. 

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAPrime)

When Chael Sonnen came within an arm’s length of tasting victory against Anderson Silva Saturday night and instead got a mouthful of Anderson Silva’s sweaty cup and his arm nearly torn off for the effort, Vitor Belfort’s chances of getting the next shot at "The Spider" may have gone out the window.

Had Anderson dominated Chael or vice versa, the need for Belfort to challenge either man would never have been greater.

But since Sonnen shone a light on weaknesses in Silva that we had never seen exposed before in the dominant champ and Anderson revealed after the fight that he wasn’t firing on all cylinders due to a nagging rib injury, many fans are now clamoring for a second glimpse at these two fighters in the Octagon. Now it’s looking like if it does come to fruition, the fight may not happen until next spring.

So where does that leave Belfort?

ix3623 is a ridiculously prolific editor of MMA/sports videos that are unmatched in their ability to waste large blocks of your time. While checking out ix’s new two-part "compilation of interesting mix martial arts facts" series today, we noticed the above tribute to sick knockouts at local shows, and it might be his most important work yet. First, a point of clarification: "amateur" here means "shot with a shitty camera." (We definitely recognized a few smaller pro leagues in the mix.) But that’s just a minor detail, because my goodness is this stuff hardcore. These are not TKO stoppages. This is nine and a half minutes of guys getting knocked dead-asleep in horrible fashion. Enjoy! We also recommend ix3623′s unsportsmanlike behavior megamix, the 30-part (!) funniest moments in MMA series, and this unrelated but compelling highlight reel.

(Video courtesy YouTube/

When Mike Swick lost his last fight to Paulo Thiago a lot of critics wondered if a welterweight with such a gaunt frame might be better suited to compete as a lightweight.

It turns out that Swick’s weight loss and drop to the 170-pound class from his usual 185-pound one was a result of a medical condition he now says was misdiagnosed more than four years ago.

Originally diagnosed with dyspepsia, Swick was put on a restrictive diet and was unable to hold onto the muscle mass he put on in the weight room simply due to the fact that he was burning through more calories training on the mats and in the ring than he was taking in.

(In my recurring nightmare a Brazilian spider chokes me out with his legs. He’s right behind me isn’t he? / Photo courtesy of Inphotography.com.)

Despite a general consensus that Fedor Emelianenko’s days as a Strikeforce fighter are likely over after he fulfills his last fight obligation with the organization, "The Last Emperor" says that he is happy with the California-based promotion and that he will likely sign another deal with them.

"So far I feel very comfortable fighting, very good with my fighting, and I’m planning [to fight] as long as I can physically," he said in a recent interview with M-1global.com. "As far and I’m concerned we should discuss the possibility of signing another contract for four to six fights."