(Pro fighters give their predictions for Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen. Dominick Cruz and Jake Shields actually pick the challenger for an upset. Props: YouTube.com/FightMagazine)

Come back to CagePotato.com tomorrow night at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT for our liveblog of UFC 117, which will be run by weekend editor Chad Dundas. You can play along at home by entering some pools in our MMAFightPicker game. After all the hype and all the analysis, we’re dying to find out how Silva vs. Sonnen will actually play out. Where are you guys watching the fights anyway?

(Put on the shoes and hat. Stuff the rest into the gym bag. Tell your wife that you don’t need her anymore. Get in the car. Drive.)

Because you guys brought it so hard in our MMA poster contest and t-shirt design contest, we thought we’d give you another shot to flex your creative muscles. Leading MMA gear supplier Throwdown has hooked us up with a very generous prize package (shown above) that consists of the following…

– an All Over Print Duffle Bag
– a Logo Flexfit Hat
– a pair of On Top Remix Shoes
– a Throwdown Hoodie or Thermal of your choice
– 2 Throwdown by Affliction "T"s of your choice
– 2 Large Throwdown Stickers

Total street value of this prize package: About $250. You want it, and it’s yours if you’re willing to work. Here’s how to win…

(Video courtesy YouTube/Heavy)

If you don’t want to sit through 40 minutes of mostly oblivious reporters asking the same old questions that have been asked a hundred times and hearing fighters regurgitate their equally tired responses ad nauseam at yesterday’s UFC 117 pre-fight press conference, check out the above video by Heavy.com that gives you the highlights of the presser in just over seven minutes.

Not surprisingly, the bulk of the clip features Chael Sonnen spinning yarns about how great of a person and fighter he is and how much of a heel Anderson Silva is.

Ironic, isn’t it?

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAAthletics)

Chael Sonnen briefly flashed the hand he’s been playing against Anderson Silva ahead of their UFC 117 showdown Saturday night in an interview with MMAAthletics host Rachelle Leah.

In the interview the Oregon fighter, who has been less than complimentary towards the UFC middleweight champion in the weeks leading up to the fight gave an explanation of why he turned the smack talk up a notch for Silva.

"I like to irritate Anderson. I think Anderson’s a bully and I think he’s a jerk. I think he’s pushed people around long enough. He’s not the bully on the playground when I’m there. He knows that and I know that. When I walk by Anderson Silva he puts his eyeballs on the curb until I pass; he doesn’t even look me straight in the eye and that’s a smart move by him."

(Sakara and Etim, the latest victims of the UFC’s brand-new curse.)

After losing Phil Baroni and Jorge Rivera due to injuries, UFC 118 (August 28, Boston) is inching towards "cursed" status with another pair of late withdrawals that have completely re-arranged the Spike TV prelim broadcast. First off, Alessio Sakara has been forced out of his fight against Gerald Harris due to a knee injury. Harris, who was originally a replacement for Rivera, will now face the returning Joe Vedepo, who has won four straight fights by stoppage outside of the UFC since being released in April 2009. Unfortunately, the fight is no longer slated for the Spike broadcast, meaning that Harris will need another dramatic stoppage to get some TV time. At this point, it hasn’t been confirmed which fight will move up to the prelim broadcast in its place.

The injury fairy also paid a visit to Terry Etim, who bows out of his UFC 118 fight against Joe Lauzon due to a broken rib. Lauzon will instead meet — get this — Gabe "Godzilla" Ruediger, the TUF 5 contestant who became a national punchline due to his love of colonics and ice cream cake, and was eventually dismissed from the show for not making weight. More recently, Ruediger has built up a six-fight win streak competing in California, picked up the Tachi Palace Fights lightweight title, and has helped turn Paris Hilton into a killing machine.

We’ll let you know as soon as UFC 118′s lineup is finalized.

("I deserve to be [*expletive*], FIRST! Before the [*expletive*] jacuzzi! I’ll burn the goddamn house down! But [*expletive*] me first! How DARE YOUUUUUU!!!" Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

The UFC shelled out $640,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the fighters at UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko, with Takanori Gomi coming out way in front of the pack; thanks to his win bonus and KO bonus, he was the only fighter on the card to break the six-figure mark. The numbers are below. Keep in mind that they don’t include additional income from sponsorships and those mysterious undisclosed "locker room bonuses," or deductions for taxes, insurance, licensing fees, and new sunglasses.

Jon Jones: $46,000 (includes $23,000 win bonus)
def. Vladimir Matyushenko: $31,000

Yushin Okami: $46,000 (includes $23,000 win bonus)
def. Mark Munoz: $22,000

Jake Ellenberger: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)
def. John Howard: $15,000

Takanori Gomi: $120,000 (includes $40,000 win bonus, $40,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
def. Tyson Griffin: $30,000

(Video courtesy InsideMMA)

Just when you thought you had heard the most ridiculous thing come of Tito Ortiz’s mouth, "The Huntington Beach Badboy" goes and steps in front of a camera and raises the bar to new heights.

On the latest edition of Inside MMA, which will air Friday night at 9:00 p.m. ET, Ortiz explains the differences between the anatomy of the head of a deaf person, like his UFC 121 opponent Matt Hamill compared to that of someone who isn’t hearing impaired. 

(Either of of these guys could potentially win the opportunity Saturday night to have GSP rearrange their faces again in the New Year.)

Apparently Dana White Sides with me on my opinion that Jake Shields should have to win at least two fights in the UFC before earning a title shot.

The UFC president announced today during the pre-fight press conference for UFC 117 that the winner of Saturday night’s welterweight showdown between Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves will garner a title shot early next year.

Nicknames are like tattoos — badass when you first pick them out, generally embarrassing ten years later. And yet for some reason, they’re often the only things that MMA fighters keep forever, even as they change camps, change fighting styles, and change their hair. And while every fighter sends a message with their choice of nickname, it may not always be the message that they’re trying to send. For example, let’s say your nickname is…

A RHYME

Notable examples: Mike “Quick” Swick, “Bad” Brad Blackburn, Shannon “The Cannon” Ritch, Marvin “Beastman” Eastman
What you think it says: You’re straightforward and to-the-point. You want your nickname to stick in people’s heads.
What it really says: You spent no more than five seconds coming up with that weak bullshit.

A REFERENCE TO YOUR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

Notable examples: Kamal “Prince of Persia” Shalorus, Efrain “Hecho en Mexico” Escudero, Sako “The Armenian Psycho” Chivitchian, “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung
What you think it says: You’re proud of your heritage and want to represent the fighting spirit of your people.
What it really says: You will be met with boos and “U.S.A.!” chants every time you fight, even though you’ve lived in Glendale your entire life.

Forrest Griffin on Fox and Friends – Watch more Funny Videos
(Video courtesy Fox)

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin appeared on Fox and Friends this morning to discuss his second book, Be Ready When the Sh*t Goes Down: A Survival Guide to the Apocalypse. 

Although the release of the book isn’t necessarily a newsworthy event, what is worth noting is that Griffin will be donating the entire proceeds of the sale of the book to a number of charities, including one that has been set up for the young son of his dear late friend John Grantham, who was referred to throughout his first book "Got Fight" as "Big John."

(Maybe Thiago should concentrate more on cutting weight, not on updating his Match.com profile)

When Thiago Alves missed a scheduled appearance at yesterday afternoon’s open UFC 117 workout, it didn’t take long for reports to surface that the American Top Team fighter, who has been plagued with weight cutting issues in the past, was having problems shedding water and that he chose to forgo the media event to focus on making weight for Friday’s weigh-in.

Alves tweeted yesterday that he just had 15 pounds to go before he makes the 170-pound limit, which is at the higher end of the poundage most fighters start cutting at the beginning of the process over a week out from their bouts.

(Props: TheCageDoor.net via MMA Scraps. Fight starts at the 0:19 mark.)

It’s one of the biggest bitch-moves in MMA — acting like you’re going to tap gloves at the start of a fight like a gentleman, and then launching a surprise attack as soon as your opponent is in range. (For examples, see here, here, and here.) At a Legacy FC event in Houston on July 31st, JR Fuller decided to try the unsportsmanlike technique himself, but instead of firing an overhand right like the successful fakers that came before him, he shoots for a takedown. Big mistake. Jonathan Harris throws a perfectly-timed knee, Fuller eats it and hits the mat face-first, Tyson Griffin-style. The official time of the stoppage was 0:05, but the jackass was really out within two seconds. Proving once again, boys and girls: Cheaters never prosper. 

(Props: MMAFighting.com)

Giving more weight to our theory that Chael Sonnen legitimately suffers from multiple personality disorder, the UFC’s #1 middleweight contender did an interview with Ariel Helwani yesterday in which he denied saying that Lance Armstrong gave himself cancer by taking steroids. Keep in mind that Sonnen made those incendiary comments on a publicly-broadcast radio interview that you can still listen to any time you feel like it. Here’s the exchange with Helwani, which begins at the 4:19 mark: 

AH: A lot of people took offense to what you said about Lance Armstrong recently, to Larry Pepe. Can you elaborate on that?

CS: I never did an interview with Larry Pepe.

AH: The Lance Armstrong stuff, you never said.

CS: I never spoke of Lance Armstrong ever. Never. Not until just now.

 
(Unless Huerta had plastic surgery recently, this isn’t him, which means he may not be the guy who TMZ says ‘can be seen finishing his attack on the other man … who is sprawled out on the street.’")

MMA journalists are accused all the time of being "TMZ-like" reporters — sensationalistic rumor-mongers who report on stories devoid of any real facts. Calling  a reporter that is just as bad as saying "you have no integrity and have no right to be in your chosen profession."

Rarely does the match that lit the flame of a story we helped fan into a blazing, fast-spreading inferno get traced back to the source of that most detested disparaging monicker, but when it does, although it isn’t surprising considering the source, it makes you look long and hard at your own journalistic practices.

(Video courtesy UFC.com)

Taking a page out of Jay Glazer and Randy Couture’s MMAAthletics playbook,  the UFC has begun producing a weekly web show, aptly dubbed "Ultimate Insider."

The video above is the first episode of the Joe Rogan and Arianny Celeste hosted show, which although it doesn’t have the obvious feel of an infomercial that MMAAthletics (which, not by coincidence, shares its name with a Couture-Glazer P90-X-like fitness program) is a pretty slick little production overall.

(Argh!. That Free stream you watched a few months back might end up costing you a hell of a lot more than $39.95.)

Apparently Zuffa isn’t f-ing around when it comes to enforcing its copyrights.

According to a report by newteevee.com Ustream.com has complied with a request by UFC parent company Zuffa LLC to hand over the Internet protocol addresses of members who broadcasted the promotion’s events via the popular Internet streaming site.

Last week, Zuffa subpoenaed both Ustream and Justin.tv, demanding that both sites provide them with the IP addresses of individuals whom it says, quite simply, are infringing on its intellectual property rights.

(Unofficial UFC 117 poster via Bloody Elbow)

It’s almost upon us: The fight that may or may not get Anderson Silva fired. (Also known as the fight that may or may not get Chael Sonnen killed.) Your old pals at CagePotato.com will be liveblogging the action Saturday night, so be sure to swing by for up-to-the-minute results. And for you FightPickers out there, please follow the Internet-tubes to fightpicker.cagepotato.com or FP’s Facebook page to make your UFC 117 predictions for this week. We’ve got a husky set of 14 topics waiting for you in the pools, such as: Will the main event be the latest in the Spider’s series of long, drawn-out decisions? When will Sonnen score his first takedown in the fight, if ever? Who wins this USA vs. Brazil pissing contest, anyway? The full list of questions is after the jump; give ‘em a look and let us know how you feel.

Roger Huerta Street Fight – Watch more Funny Videos
(Video courtesy of TMZ.com)

As if he wasn’t already worshipped by enough women, Roger Huerta increased his hero points this weekend by stomping the crap out of some worthless coward who sucker punched a girl outside of a bar in Austin. Check out the video above and you will see…

0:04: The sucker punch in question. Watch as the perp just strolls away like a total bitch.

0:16: Former UFC lightweight contender Roger Huerta comes by. He’s not happy with what he’s just witnessed, and wants to regulate.

(Why isn’t anyone laughing? Clowns are HUGE back home. It’s because I’m Brazilian isn’t it?)

In a recent interview with Esportes UOL (as transcribed by Fighters Only) Anderson Silva says he isn’t arrogant, as many people claim he is and says that the UFC wants him to lose to Chael Sonnen in part because he is Brazilian, not because he has been a bit of a tool lately.

"I can’t please everyone. When you become world-known in a sport you become the target of cheap talking. It’s necessary to watch yourself because any wrong attitude ends showing an opposite image of what you actual represented."

"There’s always bother, right? Even more so with me being a Brazilian. I’m happy in the UFC but this sequence of wins bothers them because the promoters think the fights end up losing their intrigue and that people now want to see Anderson Silva lose. But it’s normal, just business."

("I’m a Jiu Jitsu guy; I don’t want to get hit. I like ice cream. I like girls with big asses. I like dogs. Getting hit is not on that list of things that I like."
- Einstein-)

If you don’t know who Scott Epstein is, chances are you’re a shitty fan of the sport, just like him.

4-0 as a professional MMA fighter, Einstein appeared on season one, episode nine of the TapouT series. He’s been referred to as one of Eddie Bravo’s right hand men, having trained with the creator of the 10th Planet system before the system had a name.

Most recently, he was hand picked by Chuck Liddell to not only help him prepare for his UFC 115 comeback bout with Rich Franklin, but was also chosen by "The Iceman" to be one of his grappling coaches on Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter.

(Click all for larger versions)
   

In a word: Niiiiiiiiiice. Foxy "Best of Pride" host Kenda Perez lent her talents to the Aug/Sept issue of UFC Magazine, which you can pick up on newsstands now. Follow Kenda on Twitter, and check out more great photos on her MySpace and Facebook pages.

(Got a half-hour to spare? Then watch this Bloodsport-themed tribute to Georges St. Pierre’s UFC career, courtesy of lookoutawhale. Too nasty.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– The Anderson Silva flowchart everyone should print and hang on their wall (MiddleEasy)

– Options: What’s next for the winners of "Jones vs. Matyushenko"? (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Demian Maia bumped to UFC 118, will face Mario Miranda (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Dana White Talks Jones’ Future, Japanese MMA Revival, Anderson Silva’s Job Security (Versus MMA Beat)

– Roy Nelson More Impressed with dos Santos Than Carwin or Lesnar (MMA Fighting)

– Inside the Fights: The Face Melting Power of Marlon Sandro (MMA Scraps)

– UFC marketing team striking out this coming Saturday at UFC 117 (Watch Kalib Run)

– Roy Jones Jr.’s Square Ring Sues Zuffa & Roy Nelson Over Alleged Contractual Interference (MMA Convert)

– Vadim Finkelstein: Fedor Emelianenko is still the best Pound for Pound fighter in the World (LowKick)

– Brian Stann discusses his successful middleweight debut, and fighting in front of "thousands of our heroes." (FIGHT! Magazine)

(Much like their varied training regimens, both men have decidedly different pre-fight diets that they follow)

Well, we can’t say we didn’t see this one coming.

Polish promotion Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW) announced today that Mariusz "The World’s Strongest Man" Pudzianowski will square off with Eric "Butterbean" Esch September 18 at KSW 14.

Although it wasn’t rocket science to disseminate the press release sent out by Esch’s Moosin promotion in which Butterbean hurled James Toney-esque insults like "he hits like a girl" at Pudzianowski. It appears the release, although not in any way newsworthy on its own, was simply an attempt at building a grudge match for the KSW card.

I’m going to go all in and bet that KSW will be lending Moosin some of its fighters for their next show in Chicago, especially since the promotion has said that they are targeting markets that heavily are populated by Polish descendants. 

Also on the card is a lightweight tournament featuring six fighters, including Swedish-born UFC veteran Per Eklund and Finnish white trash supremacist Nikko Puhakka.

(I knew this was all an act.)

I’m way beyond trying to figure out what the hell Chael Sonnen is doing as far as his pre-fight antics towards Anderson Silva ahead of their UFC 117 fight go, especially when large portions of his rants have nothing to do with the UFC middleweight champion.

During an interview with Larry Pepe on his Pro MMA Radio show today, Sonnen went off about a popular theory that seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong gave himself testicular, brain and lung cancer by abusing performance enhancing drugs (as he has been alleged to have done by several sources) and that his Live Strong foundation was created, not to aid in raising money to help find the cure for cancer as its mission states, but rather as an opportunistic money making scheme by the former cyclist.

Spike has revealed the full cast of 28 lightweights who will be appearing on The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck, which premieres September 15th at 10 p.m., following UFC Fight Night 22. Of course, 14 of these guys will be eliminated in the first episode, so watch this trailer and get to know them while you still can. Some of the competitors jumped out at us, for various reasons…

The guys we’ve actually heard of: Nam Phan is a nine-year veteran of the sport who has competed for Strikeforce and Sengoku. Mike Budnik has already had a stint as a 155′er in the WEC, but was released after three straight losses to Shane Roller, John Franchi, and Rafael Dias.

The guy with the horrible nickname: Paul "The Wheel" Barrow. Christ. That’s even worse than Nick "The Promise" Ring.

Impressive stat alert: Cody McKenzie has finished his last nine opponents via first-round guillotine choke. That does indeed make him the #2 guillotine-choker in the world, among active fighters; only Travis Fulton (12) owns more.

The inevitable "crazy hair" guys: Jason Brenton (green hair), Alex Caceres (Yagerfro), Jeff Lentz (red hair), Marc Stevens (mohawk), Dane Sayers (red mohawk).

Full cast list is after the jump…

(Photo courtesy of Michael Castillo)

By CagePotato contributor DL Richardson

It seems we expect female fighters to fall into one of a few archetypes, and we want to know what we’re dealing with as soon as we hear her name announced. “The Karate Hottie.” “Crazy Bitch.” “Beauty but the Beast.” “Cyborg.” But what happens when you meet a fighter who doesn’t fit neatly into these pre-formed notions? How do you reconcile the image of a fighter who dotes on her Staffordshire terrier and professes love for the movies Labyrinth and Stardust with the image of a professional kicker of asses and taker of names? Stalking could lead to some interesting revelations about a person’s habits and character, but it could also land you in traction. Easier route: call her and ask her a bunch of questions. Meet Jessica Pene, a participant in Bellator’s upcoming 115-pound women’s tournament who enjoys working with children, long walks on the beach, and subbing dudes forty pounds heavier than she is.

Ask Jessica Pene about her favorite fighter, and she’ll mention a handful of names. She expresses interest in “old school” fighters like Fedor Emelianenko, members of the new wave of MMA like Gegard Mousasi, and female division standouts like Megumi Fujii. One name, though, comes up repeatedly: “I love watching BJ Penn fight,” she says, perhaps unaware of the parallels between them.
 
Like Penn, Pene doesn’t have to fight to pay the bills. Born to a white collar family in southern California, Pene could have cruised through life, gotten a degree at a university and moved on to a cushy job. With her good looks and quiet charm, Jessica Pene could have made good money in advertising or public relations, and never once had to worry about making weight, defending a takedown, or getting punched in the face. Pene wakes and trains when most of us are still asleep, not because she needs to put food on the table, but because she is and always has been athletically inclined. Like Penn, she doesn’t compete because she needs a big payday. Jessica Pene fights because, deep down, she’s a fighter.

(Video courtesy BJPenn.com)

Not wanting to be outdone by smack-talking sonnet writer Chael Sonnen, James Toney is stepping up the pre-fight banter ahead of his UFC 118 showdown with Randy Couture on August 20.

In his most recent interview with BJPenn.com, the 41-year-old International Boxing Association heavy weight champion who likens himself to a stingray, calls Couture "a octopus" who he says would be the equivalent of "a bum in boxing" skill-wise. He once again attempts to goad the former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion into standing and trading with him "like a man" and not laying on top of him "f-ing him like he’s his girlfriend."

I’m starting to think "Lights Out" is a bit more concerned about being on his back than he’s letting on. 

On the bright side, James, maybe Randy will give you half of his money and let you keep his last name after he beats you lays on top of you for three rounds.

(Let me get this straight. I’m fighting Carrot Top?)

Falaniko Vitale has been forced off of the August 14 “War on the Mainland” card for unknown reasons and will be replaced by former IFL middleweight champion Matt Horwich (23-13-1) in a Powerhouse World Promotions (PWP) LLC 185-pound championship bout against former number one UFC middleweight contender Thales Leites (17-3-1).

“We’re excited to add Matt Horwich to our already stacked card,” PWP CEO Brian Manna said. “They are two of the best BJJ fighters in the world. Either one will make a great PWP middleweight champion.”

2-6 in his last eight outings, including losses to Dan Miller, Ricardo Almeida and Jason MacDonald, Horwich may not be the fighter most deserving of a title shot, but is likely being rewarded with a crack at the newly-created belt for stepping up to face Leites on less than two weeks notice.

(Morecraft vs. Josh Diekmann, 11/14/09; fight starts at the 2:27 mark.)

Two minor-league MMA prospects will be taking a major leap in competition this Saturday, as they make their Octagon debuts in the preliminary card of UFC 117. As we saw with Charles Oliveira at "Jones vs. Matyushenko" on Sunday, sometimes dreams do come true. And sometimes they get crushed and blown away like dust. Get to know the new guys below and keep an eye out for ‘em this weekend…

CHRISTIAN MORECRAFT (HW)
Experience: 6-0 record (all wins by first-round stoppage, three within the first minute) competing in the Reality Fighting and Cage Fighting Xtreme promotions. All fights have taken place in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Most recently scored a submission-via-strikes victory over Lee Beane in May to win CFX’s heavyweight title.
Will be facing: Stefan Struve (19-4, 3-2 UFC)
Lowdown: Another large addition to the UFC’s heavyweight division, Morecraft is a 6’6, 258-pound smashing machine that has been drawing lots of attention in Massachusetts. The 23-year-old began studying the sport with John Burke at the Dungeon MMA Academy, and now calls the Cape Cod Fighting Alliance his home. His take on MMA: "For every way there is to put somebody (in a hold), there’s a way of getting out if you do it at the right moment. And everything flows. It’s an art.” Morecraft digs ’80s metal, and walked out to Kiss’s "Calling Dr. Love" for the Beane fight.

(Rousimar Palhares finishes Lucio Linhares at UFC 107 last December. Five of Palhares’s last seven wins have come via heel-hook submission. Photo courtesy of MMAWeekly)

With Alan Belcher‘s main event fight against Demian Maia at UFC Fight Night 22 (September 15, Austin) nixed due to an eye injury, it’s now being reported that the Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares feature scheduled for UFC 118 (August 28, Boston) will be pushed back two and a half weeks to serve as the Austin card’s headliner. Maia hasn’t been officially dropped from the UFN 22 lineup yet, though it seems likely that he’ll get a replacement opponent on a future event.

As for UFC 118, some shifting will need to be done to fill the empty main card slot, and potentially fill the hole that the replacement could create in the Spike TV Prelim broadcast. The lineup currently looks like this…