(Video courtesy FunnyorDie)

If you told me that Urijah Faber would be part of one of the best shoe commercials I’d ever see and that the shoes the ad was promoting would be K-Swiss, I’d likely just laugh until things got very uncomfortable for both of us, before walking away.

Well, I’m a big enough man to admit when I’m wrong, like when I said Vladimir Matyushenko had a good chance at beating Jon Jones. Only this time, I don’t feel bad about being wrong. Maybe it has something to do with Faber’s decapitated melon, with the California Kid headband still attached, being booted out of the cage by Kenny Powers.

Whatever it was, this commercial was pure win from start to finish.

 
(Scrabble? I pictured War Machine as more of a Tiddly Winks kind of guy.)

Well, War Machine got through his second week in the clink without any controversy, which is nearly as surprising as Paulo Filho making it to his scheduled Impact FC appearance.

Other than getting ripped off for his phone credits, Machine’s week, which mostly consisted of reading and taking advice from convicted felons, was relatively serene, but considering he has 50 weeks remaining in his one-year sentence, we’re not holding our collective breath that things won’t go sideways at some point in the near future.

(Yeesh, poor kid…)

Kicking off the UFC 117 pay-per-view card this Saturday in Oakland will be Junior Dos Santos (11-1) vs. Roy Nelson (15-4), a guaranteed banger that could decide the next title contender in the heavyweight division. Nelson is nearly a 3-1 underdog against the Brazilian phenom, but let’s take a closer look at the matchup and see who really holds the advantages…

AGE
Dos Santos: 25
Nelson: 34
Advantage: Dos Santos

SIZE
Dos Santos: 6’4, 238 pounds, 77" reach
Nelson: 6’0, 263 pounds, 74" reach; the mass of Nelson’s stomach has been compared to the moon.
Advantage: even

NICKNAME
Dos Santos: Cigano ("Gypsy")
Nelson: Big Country
Advantage: Nelson. Dos Santos is named after a soap opera character, which isn’t very hardcore at all.

KNOCKED OUT STEFAN STRUVE IN…
Dos Santos: 54 seconds (at UFC 95)
Nelson: 39 seconds (at UFC Fight Night 21)
Advantage: Nelson

Sal Mora Video Interview for CagePotato.com with Nate Marquardt – Watch more Sports Videos

Coming back from his upset decision loss against Chael Sonnen at UFC 109, Nate Marquardt will look to regain his fire at UFC 118 (August 28th, Boston) against Rousimar Palhares, the longtime asshole who most recently caught a 90-day suspension for not letting go of Tomasz Drwal’s ankle at UFC 111. Our buddy Sal Mora caught up to Nate this weekend to get his thoughts on the matchup, UFC 117‘s Sonnen vs. Silva headliner, and more. Some highlights:

On his loss to Sonnen: "I didn’t follow my gameplan, and I paid for it. I put on a good show, but mentally I wasn’t there…I fought a wrestler exactly how you’re not supposed to fight a wrestler — just stepping straight forward, trying to knock him out with every punch. So, I learned my lesson. I put on a good fight so I think that’s important as well, but I definitely plan on being a lot stronger mentally this next fight."

 
(Where’s your muay thai now, playboy?)

For most fighters, losing their next fight after losing a championship bout would mean that they likely would drop down a few slots on the main card.

Matt Serra lost his belt to Georges St-Pierre, then lost to Matt Hughes and got another chance to redeem himself against Frank Trigg. Chuck Liddell lost his belt to Quinton Jackson, then lost to Keith Jardine and was given Wanderlei Silva in his next fight. Evan Tanner lost his belt to Rich Franklin, then lost to David Loiseau and was given Justin Levens as a chance at redemption.

Then there’s Thales Leites, who loses via unanimous decision to Anderson Silva and subsequently drops a close split decision to Alessio Sakara and he’s given his walking papers and has to fight the unemployment line.

(Video courtesy YouTube/Fight!)

As impressive as Takanori Gomi’s knockout win over Tyson Griffin was last night at UFC Live on Versus 2, I think it might be somewhat premature to jump on the bandwagon that a lot of reporters have seemed to have piled onto since last night by making claims like Fight! Magazine’s Danny Acosta that the "old Takanori Gomi is back" and that he was "the biggest star in PRIDE."

Even Gomi,  seems like he wants to further prove himself and obviously he feels that he has improvements to make, which he thinks will only come to fruition if he trains Stateside to learn the "American style of fighting" he referred to in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan after his win last night.

("That’s it, go to sleeeeeeep." Alan Belcher and his little friend Johnny gang up on Patrick Cote at UFC 113. Photo courtesy of ESPN.)

UFC middleweight contender (and unapologetic baby-choker) Alan Belcher confirmed yesterday that he won’t be able to headline UFC Fight Night 22 against Demian Maia, due to a detached retina. As he wrote:

While I was in brazil I started losing my vision in my right eye. I saw a dr that told me to go back to u.s. immediately. My friend/surgeon from biloxi got me an emergency surgery scheduled in alabama now just trying to recover. No contact for 6 weeks. Sorry to my trainers. Sorry to ufc & demian Maia, I know he has been training specifically for me. Sorry to my fans as well. As long as I get released from dr I will try to make ufn 22 to see my fans and watch the fights

In response, Demian Maia tweeted: "I dont know who will be my oponent. I think I still in the UFN 22 main event, but Im not sure. Ill let you guys know…"

In other words, Chris Leben should probably start warming up. The current lineup of UFN 22 (September 15th, Austin) is after the jump.

(That reminds us, if you’re ever sitting next to Jon Jones on an airplane and his elbow is crowding your armrest, you’d better just let him have it. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com.)

— $40,000 performance bonuses were handed out to some very worthy recipients after last night’s UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko event. Scoring the Knockout of the Night bonus was Takanori Gomi, who starched Tyson Griffin 64 seconds into their fight with a sledgehammer right hook. The Submission of the Night went to Charles Oliveira, who owned Darren Elkins with a masterful triangle-armbar in another dramatic quick finish during the prelims. Fight of the Night bonuses went to Brian Stann and Mike Massenzio for their unaired preliminary bout. Stann battled back from an early deficit to finish Massenzio via third-round triangle choke. It was the first submission win of Stann’s career.

— Despite his through ass-kicking of Vladimir Matyushenko, Jon Jones is doing his best to stay humble and not let his ever-growing hype influence him. As he said during the post-event press conference:

(Above: Jon Jones works the pads with Phil Nurse in front of onlookers in Las Vegas. Below: Vladimir Matyushenko does nothing with nobody in front of no one somewhere. Photos courtesy of Sherdog.)

Jones and Matyushenko. Rogan and Goldie. Munoz and Okami. Arianny and the other girl. Gomi and Griffin. Big John McCarthy (!), assuming he hasn’t been completely relegated to the dark card. It’s been far too long since the UFC has graced us with their presence — particularly on free TV — and it feels good to be hanging with the old gang again. Live round-by-round results from the Versus broadcast will be piling up after the jump starting at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. Refresh your browser every few minutes for all the latest, and leave us your insightful feedback in the comments section. And please, no unrelated comments about how boring Jake Shields is. At least for one night. Come on, guys, let’s be adults here.

(Back from the grave: James Irvin yesterday [left], and in March [right]. Photos courtesy of CombatLifestyle)

Spoilers after the jump…

("It seems me stay in the colonies has been extended …" PicProps: SBNation)

MiddleEasy.com is at it again, reporting on Sunday morning that Paul Daley has signed a six-fight deal with Strikeforce and will face Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos in his first bout with the American promotion.

Since getting excommunicated from the UFC for punching Josh Koscheck after the bell at UFC 113 in May, Daley appeared on the inaugural pay-pay-view of the Australia-based Impact FC promotion in July – notching a win over Daniel Acacio — and had been rumored to be in contract talks with Bellator as well as slated to fight in the European United Glory welterweight tournament this fall.

No date is yet known for Daley’s Strikeforce debut. Middle Easy cites an anonymous but “very reliable” source with the news.

("Look, you know I don’t want to do this, Vladimir, but this bald dude insists I pretty much kick your ass in every way imaginable. Sorry." PicProps: UFC.com)

If we’re going to be honest about it, we have to admit that Jon Jones vs. Vladimir Matyushenko is a fight no one really wanted to see.  It’s certainly not the fight fans wanted, it’s not the fight Jones wanted and it’s probably not a fight Matyushenko is particularly looking forward to, either. Yet, here we are, just a few hours removed from another fight we all expect Jones to win by some manner of swift and comprehensive destruction.

Of course, it’s no secret what’s going on here. The UFC, for pretty obvious reasons, wants to build Jones into its next great light heavyweight star and it thinks the best way to do that is to give him as many chances as possible to whip ass on free TV. It’s a sound strategy but also a risky one and frankly, it’s an approach that’s kind of starting to piss everybody off. 

(Warning: Do not try this at home. Listening to traditional Russian folk music while doing power cleans should only be performed by professionals. VidProps: YouTube/MMAWarehouse)

If the main event of tonight’s UFC Live on Versus fight card plays out like we all think it’s going to, Vladimir Matyushenko is likely going to need some moral support. Matyushenko’s methodical, wrestling-based style seems tailor made for exploitation by the younger, faster, more dynamic Jon Jones. At least that’s what UFC matchmakers are counting on (more on that later today). Bottom line: It doesn’t look good on paper for “The Janitor,” so if Matyushenko ends up getting beat up kind of badly tonight it would serve us all well to remember that he is actually a totally awesome dude who deserves a ton of respect.

After all, you don’t get a nickname of begrudging admiration from guys like Mark Coleman and Kevin Jackson during a wrestling meet in Siberia without pretty much being a badass.