(“What you don’t seem to understand, *Pat*, is that our reliance on Lockean liberalism is precisely what’s allowed America to live under this guise of exceptionality that leads us to deny our own history in the name of social order. Look, go read some Louis Hartz and then we’ll talk.” PicProps: @DCBrockLesnar)

Those of you who’ve been keeping up with “UFC Primetime” have likely already noticed two things: 1) Visiting sparring partner Pat Barry is far and away the most engaging and interesting (read: smartest) personality inside Brock Lesnar’s DeathClutch gym. 2) Yeah, it’s a little weird for Barry to be training with Lesnar leading up to his UFC 121 clash with Cain Velasquez. Somehow I just don’t see those two guys having compatible personalities. Nonetheless, Barry’s status as an invited guest at DeathClutch is another clear indicator that The Dark Lord is making an effort to get his leather together in the striking department. That endeavor, according to a recent article in the Boston Herald, has also included a second straight training camp with noted boxing coach Peter Welch.

“I never learned just the basics in boxing,” Lesnar explains. “I wanted to go get a grassroots boxing coach to get my feet underneath me, to try to combine my wrestling positions and mold into a boxing stance, and just lower myself and learn to punch from my feet to my hands. And so he’s been a huge help — just being able to understand the fundamentals of punching.”

Also, this is yet another situation that underscores how totally awesome it is to be Brock Lesnar. Here’s a guy who was already UFC heavyweight champion by the time he thought to himself, “Hey, you know what? I should learn a little bit of this crazy boxing stuff that everybody else is doing.” Must be nice.

(Video courtesy TheFightFix)

According to Jake Shields’ father and manager, Jack Shields, the rumors that his son suffered an injury training for his UFC debut next weekend aren’t without merit.

The elder Shields told CSN Washington’s The Fight Fix over the weekend that Jake, who hasn’t fought at 170 since 2008, sustained a back injury due to a combination of too much running and cutting too much weight too quickly to drop down to welterweight for his UFC 121 fight with Martin Kampmann, but says that he has since made a complete recovery.

If you watch Jake’s training session with former Olympic wrestler Ben Askren, the former Strikeforce middleweight champ doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of being injured, but if the injury came from cutting weight, you never know what effect dropping the final five to 10 pounds will have on his back this week.

(One of the few moments on Saturday when Travis Browne wasn’t in danger of getting his nuts demolished. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com)

Though many UFC fighters have gotten bad reputations for everything from eye-poking to greasing, nobody’s as consistently rotten as heavyweight Cheick Kongo, who put on another notorious performance against Travis Browne at UFC 120. Kongo started things off in the second round by launching his trademark strike — a knee to the balls, straight up the middle — and wound up costing himself the victory in the third frame when he continued to grab Browne’s shorts despite warnings from the ref; the resulting point-deduction led to a unanimous 28-28 judges’ decision. At this point, it’s pretty much indisputable that Kongo is the dirtiest fighter currently on the UFC roster. Who could forget his other career highlights…

vs. Paul Buentello at UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones: After being warned by Herb Dean for shots to the back of the head and 12-to-6 elbows in the second round, Kongo is finally deducted a point for kneeing Buentello in the head while Buentello was down. Later in the round, Kongo connects with another knee to his downed opponent’s dome, though Dean brushes it off, saying Buentello was trying to draw the foul. 

Some more on-the-scene videos from our good friends at kimura.se: First up, Michael Bisping promises that Yoshihiro "Ironhead" Akiyama would have eventually gone down if it were a five-round fight, but says there’s no shame in not being able to put him away. He calls Mark Kinney the best boxing coach he’s ever worked with, and feels that he’s finally putting Mark’s lessons into practice. As for his future, the Count still has his eyes on the prize. "I’ve been around for a long time now, I’m not getting any younger," Bisping says. "Now it’s time to do it, it’s time to put in a run for a title and hopefully get the gold."

After the jump, Dan Hardy reflects on his knockout loss against Carlos Condit, and our BFF Dana White discusses educating new markets on MMA, the question of "morality" that jackass politicians bring up around the world, and the new "GSP is bigger than Gretzky" talking point he’s been testing out recently. For lots more UFC 120 interviews, check out youtube.com/kimurase.

(“Free porridge for everyone!” PicProps: UFC)

We hope Dana White didn’t have to make any profane and vaguely threatening phone calls on Saturday night after several of his athletes ignored his well articulated desire for them not to let their fights go to the judges at UFC 120. Michael Bisping was among the offenders, claiming a clear-cut (and fairly compelling) unanimous decision over Yoshihiro Akiyama. Mike Pyle’s grinding upset win over John Hathaway also went the distance, as did wins for undercarders Claude Patrick and Spencer Fisher. Oh, and Cheick Kongo and Travis Browne fought to a frickin’ draw (which Big DW actually joked about on yesterday’s video blog) after Kongo got a little grabby with Browne’s shorts.

Only Carlos Condit and Alexander Gustafsson were good for televised stoppages and Zuffa even fudged that by adding Gustafsson’s choke out of Cyrille Diabate by the magic of tape delay. On the whole – and despite its overly judgy nature – UFC 120 was the kind of card that proved a bit better in practice than on paper. Still, we’re sure glad we didn’t have to pay for it.

 
(Confidence is believing in yourself, cockiness is believing everyone else sucks)

Fair disclosure: if you’ve forgotten that the replay for UFC 120 is on tonight starting at 8:00 pm ET and you make a few wagers at the bar tonight and lose, don’t say we didn’t try to help you out.

For everyone else who is on the up-and-up and managed to avoid all of the spoilers today, we’re going to be liveblogging the replay after the jump.

Get your beverages and snacks ready and let’s get down to business.

(So guys, where they giving out the free sunglasses? PicProps: VegasNews.com)

Math must work differently in England, what with the metric system and everything. Otherwise, we can’t see exactly how Michael Bisping – who is 2-2 during the last 15 months – could possibly judge himself worthy of a middleweight title shot with a win over Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 120 tonight. Conventional wisdom says a victory against the underwhelming Japanese “sensation” who himself is lucky just to be 1-1 in the Octagon could certainly put Bisping in line to fight somebody like Nate Marquardt or Demian Maia, but Anderson Silva? Seems like he’s got more than enough on his plate right now. Not surprisingly however, “The Count” sees himself at the front of the line.

(We ain’t saying no names, but it looks like somebody’s ready for UFC 120. PicProps: SBNation. Vid Interview Props: YouTube/Kimurase. DanaVlog Props: YouTube/UFC)

While some CagePotato editors are lying low until the heat dies down, our trusted Swedish affiliates at Kimura.se were on the scene in London in the days leading up to UFC 120. See, we’ve got people everywhere. Mad props to Kimura for serving up the collection of semi-exclusive prefight interviews that are after the jump, especially since they slapped our logo on them and everything (right there next to OrcBite.com, which feels pretty special). Find out how Mike Pyle has embraced the role of heel against hometown favorite John Hathaway this weekend, how Greg Jackson prepared Yoshihiro Akiyama for Mike Bisping and what Travis Browne plans to do to Cheick Kongo. Also, hear from Cyrille Diabate, Paul Kelly (who fights Godzirra at UFC 123) and Jon Jones, who as of yesterday still sounded pretty sure he was going to fight Ryan Bader next.

For good measure, we even tossed Dana White’s third UFC 120 video blog on the bottom. Even in the worst of times, we still show love. Tune in to see Big DW get exasperated when his own fighters keep predicting a slew of decisions for tonight’s fight card. It ain’t always easy being the most powerful man in MMA, people …

(Video courtesy FlowWrestling)

- Aldo to test UFC LW waters soon according to Dana White (mmajunkie)

- Bustamante’s pro boxing debut (thegarv)

- The impossible puzzle (break)

- Magnetic lingerie (mademan)

- Need a better seat at a sporting event? Buy a wheelchair (tuvez)

- 25 clowns you wouldn’t hire (holytaco)

- Bisping could face Marquardt or Okami if he beats Akiyama (fightersonly)

 - Overeem may take five months off after the K-1 GP (fightlinker)

- Trademarked phrases that shouldn’t be (modernman)

- Jackass guys talk favorite stunts (screenjunkies)

- Miesha Tate doesn’t like Tara Larosa (middleeasy)

- UFC 120 weigh-in recap (mmafighting)

- DV hotties in the wild (doubleviking)

- MMA is big now, but it continues to grow (scoresreport)

- Ultimate Fighter infographic (totalprosports)

- Akiyama pre-fight UFC 120 interview (versus)

- Lots can go wrong shooting a sex tape (nothingtoxic)

- Hardy may want Penn, Hughes or Lytle after Condit (bleacherreport)

- Dos Santos breaks down Lesnar-Velasquez (tatame)

 
(War enjoying the only action he’ll get for the next nine months.)

I’m not sure how War Machine did it, but he posted a blog last week that slipped through the cracks and didn’t get picked up by anyone in the MMA blogosphere.

The latest entry details the fighter formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver’s obsessive masturbation, how it felt to shave his junk for the first time in three months and the trials of being in the clink like the risk of Hepatitis C and keeping his nose clean.

One of the more interesting bits touches on how Machine has captured the hearts of the guards who feel that he got a raw deal in his case and now he is actually beginning to think that he didn’t do anything wrong, which I hear is a recurring theme amongst felons.

Check out what extra fruity adventures WM got into last week after the jump.

(Well, they found the shortest guy at the Palms Pool. Next on the photo scavenger hunt list? A pair of real breasts. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)

Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader was supposed to be the badass Super Bowl Weekend co-headliner that established a top-dog 205-pound contender in the UFC. Turns out, it might not happen at all. As Dana White told fans earlier today in London, "I don’t know if Jones is going to fight Bader. We tried to put that fight together, but Bader has some stuff going on. Jon Jones might be fighting somebody else, I don’t know how that’s going to go…[Jones is] going to have to go through a couple of guys before he gets a title shot, but at the rate Jon Jones is going he could be fighting for the title next year."

BloodyElbow points out that the "stuff" Bader has going on includes his wedding at the end of this month and a gym-opening later this year. According to Jones’s agent, Bones vs. Darth is still a go at this point, so all hope isn’t lost. It would be a shame if a fight as important and logical as this one doesn’t happen because Bader has to nurse a honeymoon hangover and attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony. In other words, would you mind sacking up, bro?

(I like how they put "Season #3 Tournament Purses" in the memo line, so that Cole doesn’t get confused when he’s going through his stack of $100,000 novelty-checks at home. PicProps: MMAFrenzy)

By ReX “Write Pride” Richardson

Bellator’s third season just came out of the seventh inning stretch, visiting the Kansas City Power & Light District with a couple of championship matches on hand and two more events on the calendar. Unfortunately, you probably missed it due to either incompetence or fuckery most foul; the event was broadcast late, if at all, by every Fox affiliate in the multiverse. On top of that, it appears that the Fox-Dish Network pissing match has gone into perpetual death overtime, so essentially I’m saying that sometimes these things happen in MMA, and I was unable to watch and then come tell you guys about it. Sorry, bro. Since I feel bad about missing the last event (Bellator XXXI.V, at Talking Pines Casino, BFE), I’ve included this drawing of a spider, plus some other stuff after the jump.

(He might go home and try to get on top of his wife but he will not, we repeat not, get on top of your questions about immigration. PicProps: @DCBrockLesnar)

Since we’re already all so giddy to see these two behemoths get in the cage and crush skulls next weekend, it’s been pretty easy to overlook the fact that neither Brock Lesnar nor Cain Velasquez has done a great job selling UFC 121. Truth is they don’t have to, since these titanic heavyweight matchups have a way of promoting themselves. Nonetheless, Velasquez has thus far proved too media savvy and Lesnar too mind-numbingly obstinate to say or do anything interesting leading up to their clash in Anaheim.

Even with two-thirds of “UFC Primetime” already in the books, you’d be hard-pressed to come up with a storyline for this bout aside from the run-of-the-mil “unstoppable force vs. immovable object” trope that’s worked so well for promoters for decades. For that reason, we’d like to offer up an earnest golf clap to whichever reporter tried to actually get the fighters to say something interesting during yesterday’s conference call by asking both Lesnar and Velasquez about Arizona’s recent controversial illegal immigration enforcement laws. Brilliant move that might’ve yielded solid gold results. Unfortunately, neither guy really took the bait. 

(Who’s getting shit-canned in the UK this weekend? We have a few ideas.)

Looking down the card of UFC 120, you can’t help but notice the large contingent of fighters whose Octagon careers are hinging on their performances on Saturday.

By our calculations, there are no less than eight fighters who really need a win in London this weekend.

The fighters in question are listed after the jump.

(Props: caposa)

In case you missed it, all fighters made weight for tomorrow’s UFC 120 event; the numbers are after the jump. Remember to come back to CagePotato.com tomorrow night at 8 p.m. ET for our tape-delayed "live"-blog of the Spike TV broadcast.

One notable absence from today’s weigh-ins was light-heavyweight Steve Cantwell, who ripped a knee ligament in training yesterday and was forced to withdraw from his fight. The general consensus on this week’s installment of The Bum Rush Radio Show was that Cantwell — on a two-fight losing skid and slated to face scary Bulgarian Stanislav Nedkov — was in serious danger of getting fired after Saturday. So maybe this is for the best…

We just remembered that the weigh-ins for UFC 120 start in a couple minutes, so please excuse the lack of humorous anecdotes on this post.

Check out Akiyama, Bisping, Hardy, Condit and a bunch of other dudes hugging and mean-mugging in their underwear  after the jump.

Now that Gina Carano is off chasing the Hollywood dream, Miesha Tate has the title of "Hottest Female MMA Fighter" pretty much locked up. She recently posted a new gallery of Brandon Olimpiada-shot photos on her Facebook page that proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Check out more highlights from the shoot after the jump…

 
(This wouldn’t be the last time Ben and Dana’s paths would cross…)

Chances are, if you’re an MMA media type like Ben, Chad or myself and you get a mid-afternoon call from Dana White on a Saturday, it’s not because he’s inviting you out for Pinkberry.

I won’t give away the surprise, but I will say, if nothing else, although I recommend you check out Ben’s interview with UFC welterweight contender Martin Kampmann, I suggest you listen to the first five minutes of the show to hear what "The Baldfather" had to say to our fearless leader.

All of the usual inane banter, terribly inaccurate predictions and somewhat expert analysis are all still included free of charge.

Instead of waiting with bated breath for us to post the latest episode of the show every other week, make your complicated lives easier by subscribing to The Bum Rush on iTunes HERE.

(Guillard prepares for battle at UFC 109. Believe it or not, there’s a shriveled-up old white man under that mask. Photo courtesy of URDirt.com)

Coming off a split-decision victory over Jeremy Stephens at UFC 119 last month — his third straight victory in the Octagon — UFC lightweight contender Melvin Guillard already has his next fight booked. As the Young Assassin tweeted last night: "Ok world an @Young__assassin fans the next fight is set for JAN 22,2011. FORT HOOD ,FIGHT FOR THE TROOPS."

Though he didn’t name an opponent, MMA Junkie claims that Guillard will be meeting well-traveled veteran Yves Edwards, who won a decision over John Gunderson last month in his UFC return fight, following a four-year absence from the organization. Junkie also pegs Charlie Brenneman vs. Amilcar Alves to the event.

If Guillard’s announcement turns out to be accurate, the January 22nd show at Fort Hood will be the UFC’s second "Fight for the Troops" event, following their December 2008 visit to Fort Bragg, which left Corey Hill with a broken leg, Razak Al Hassan with a broken arm, and Brandon Wolff with a cartoonishly lumped-up head. Talk about setting the bar high…

(Video courtesy YouTube/Middleeasy)

Remember when Gegard Mousasi was on a 15-fight win streak, was knocking and tapping fools out left, right and center and everyone was calling him the next Fedor? That was awesome.

Then King Mo came along, laid Mousasi on his back and peppered him with more non-committal shots to the face than Jenna Jameson took in her heyday for the majority of their 25-minute fight.

While he isn’t necessarily a better fighter, Mo, who is regarded by anyone who has spoken at length with him about the sport as an MMA savant, executed the perfect game plan to beat Mousasi. In his next fight against Rafael Cavalcante...not so much.

(Photos courtesy of natalieskyy.unfilteredmma.com. Click all for larger images.)
   

While cruising the nominees for the third annual World Mixed Martial Arts Awards, we noticed an unfamiliar name in the "Ring Girl of the Year" category. Battling it out with Arianny Celeste, Chandella Powell, Brittney Palmer, and Rachelle Leah is Natalie Skyy, a model/actress from Campbell, California, who has held round-cards for Strikeforce and Shark Fights. If you feel that Natalie is the greatest ring girl of 2010, you can vote for her here until November 26th. Winners in all the categories will be announced during a live ceremony at the Pearl Theater in Las Vegas on December 1st. For more photos of Natalie, check out facebook.com/NatalieSkyy and natalieskyy.unfilteredmma.com.

Ending weeks of speculation about who and when he will fight next, former UFC number one heavyweight contender, Shane Carwin revealed in a blog post on his website today that he will face Roy "Big Country" Nelson at UFC 125 January 1 in Las Vegas.

“I will be fighting Roy Nelson on 1-1-11 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight will be the Co-Main Event of the Edgar Maynard rematch. I think Roy is a tough opponent for anyone. He has been in several main event situations and has fought a lot of veterans in the sport," Carwin wrote today. "I am honored to be fighting again and feel like Roy is a worth opponent. My goal for the fight is to be exciting and go home with the win. I have a lot to prove as does Roy so this should make for a great fight.” 

(“Hey, before we do this whole ‘speech’ thing, can we hit up Hot Topic? I need to pick up some age-appropriate clothing.” VidProps: YouTube/Ariel Helwani)

We figure all you academic types will be interested to know that UFC President Dana White got the chance to address the prestigious (at least that’s how everybody keeps describing it) Oxford Union Society at Oxford University this week while in jolly ol’ Londontown to promote UFC 120. We’ve been led to believe this is a pretty big deal, as such luminaries as Malcolm X, Mother Teresa and Ronnie Reagan have all given talks there. Plus, at one of the world’s most highly-regarded institutions of higher learning you’d think Big DW might face a gamut of thought-provoking queries about any number of interesting topics – i.e. the moral and sociopolitical implications of his work, the level of discourse in his field and the health and safety of the athletes he relies upon to build his fortune. Yeah … not so much.

Your first clue that White is in for a comfy, Larry King-style lovefest with his Oxford peeps is when he takes the stage and asks if the students in attendance are UFC fans and all of them but one raise their hands. Then some guy (an American, from the sound of it) stands up and asks a question that basically translates to, “Dana, how have you managed to make the UFC so awesome?” and we’re off and running.

Frankly, we expected a little more critical thinking from you, Oxford. After the jump, some highlights from DW’s fireside chat, plus he sits down with Ariel Helwani to talk about the criticism of UFC 120, why he’s still pissed about UFC 119 and how there can never be too much MMA on television.

(Video courtesy YouTube/SpikeTV/UFC)

If you missed last night’s episode of UFC Primetime: Lesnar vs. Velasquez, look no further, we got you covered, homie.

The recurring theme coming out of Velasquez’s camp is that Cain is going to use his speed and endurance advantage to take Brock into the later rounds where he is planning on putting on a boxing clinic.  Dave Camarillo went so far as to say that Velasquez in planning on being the spry matador who will make Lesnar the bull look like a lumbering idiot…or something to that effect.

Lesnar’s coaches are pissed at the assertion that their fighter is a slow, out of shape fighter, and they take every opportunity to try to dispel the assumption, even sticking temporary training partner, Pat Barry in front of the camera to talk about Brock’s cheetah-like reflexes and ability to out run a Mack truck with a full tank of diesel.

I was a bit taken aback by Erik Paulson’s claim that Brock hits harder than anyone he’s ever trained, especially since we’ve really only seen him throw those awkward turbo hammer fists and no power punches. Maybe we’re in for a surprise on October 23, or maybe Paulson is just trying to scare Cain from standing with Brock using the old bait and switch technique.

They really seem to be playing up Cain’s ethnicity, though I’ve noticed Spike has stopped running the commercial with the, "Velasquez is hoping to become the first Mexican UFC heavyweight champion" since he was born in the U.S. and Ricco Rodriguez isn’t impressed. Not only did he explain the significance of his controversial, "Brown Pride" tattoo for the tenth time in the past few years, he also visited with a group of young Latino men to tell them they should embrace their heritage and that they can do anything they put their minds to if they persevere and work hard.

Unless they’re Tito Ortiz and their goals are to become a commentator.

It’s interesting that Brock wouldn’t let the show film his house, his wife or his kids. He’s always been a pretty private guy and I can’t say I blame him considering how obsessive some adult pro-wrestling fans are.

Part two is after the jump.

(This is allegedly a picture of a pre-MMA Mac Danzig. Shame on Roy Nelson for biting his style.)

As first reported by MMA Mania, a lightweight meeting between Ultimate Fighter winners Mac Danzig and Joe Stevenson is likely for UFC 124: St. Pierre vs. Koscheck II (December 11; Montreal, Quebec, Canada).

After cruising through the sixth season of TUF as a welterweight, Danzig immediately dropped to lightweight and took out Mark Bocek at UFC 83. Since then, he’s gone 1-4 in the Octagon, most recently losing to Matt Wiman by a controversial technical decision. Danzig was scheduled to have a rematch with Wiman at UFC Fight Night 22, but had to withdraw due to injury. 

As for Joe Daddy, the TUF 2 welterweight winner could also use a ‘W’, as he’s coming off his unanimous decision loss to George Sotiropoulos at UFC 110. Stevenson was slated to take on Takanori Gomi at Jones vs. Matyushenko, but dropped out due to an injury of his own and was replaced by Tyson Griffin. Time for one TUF winner to get his shit together, and another to board the slow boat to palookaville…

(Hick-Jitsu is no match for Drunken French Muay Thai.)

Alex Caceres has gone full heel. For some reason, he decides to put bleach in Nam Phan‘s fabric softener. Michael Johnson borrows it to do a load of delicates, and freaks out when he learns the truth. "Why would you run the risk of fuckin’ up someone’s whole wardrobe like that?" he asks. Caceres explains that it was meant for Nam, which begs the question — what the hell did Nam Phan ever do to you, bro? "I got a love/hate personality," Caceres says later. "That’s why I don’t have many friends." 

As Team GSP rides to practice, Cody McKenzie spits dip-juice into an empty Red Bull can. It’s the most country thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

GSP brings in another special guest for his guys. Very special. Jean Charles Skarbowsky is a French kickboxing savant who sleeps three hours a night and gets drunk before every practice. Georges advises the guys that if you respect him, he’ll respect you; if you go hard to prove a point, he’ll kill you. "Please be careful, he had a long ride from Paris to get here," GSP says. Hmm, he doesn’t look like much. But there he is, tossing around the entire team and dropping everybody with liver shots. "You cannot have the same lifestyle as Jean Charles and be an MMA fighter. In Thailand they smoke and drink and fight every day." And let’s not even get into the transsexual thing…

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC)

When I clicked on the latest episode of Dana White’s fight week video blogs, I was hoping to at least hear the UFC president mention the candid private conversation he had with Ben on Saturday afternoon about Arianny’s Playboy spread, but instead I was treated to the usual inside jokes and inane banter between The Baldfather and his homeboys.

For more on what Dana had to say to Ben (and trust me, you don’t want to miss it) tune into The Bum Rush Friday morning.

Let’s just say Dana makes Gus Johnson seem like a polite telemarketer.

(Ramon says his head isn’t big; every hat he owns is simply too small.)

Brazilians always seem to take the glass is half full approach to life, so it shouldn’t surprise us that Anderson Silva’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach, Ramon Lemos sees a bright side to Chael Sonnen’s positive post-UFC 117 steroid test result.

Lemos told Tatame recently that Sonnen’s infraction only proves how good his fighter really is.

"I was very happy because he was on top of us for 23 minutes, on his best position, and Anderson submitted him, won the fight and kept the belt… Then you see that the guy had used things, so he had better conditioning than a regular athlete… It’s wonderful for us," Lemos said. "That proves that Anderson Silva is the best of t he world, without any doubts."

Considering that Sonnen, whether or not he had any help from PEDs, is the only fighter to ever dominate Silva the way that the Oregon Republican did in August, it’s no surprise that Ramos is in agreement that the one year suspension Chael was handed down by the California State Athletic Commission last month was just. He also is of the opinion that when Sonnen does come back from his suspension that he should be forced to work his way back up from the bottom of the UFC’s middleweight division.

Since Silva only has a handful of fights remaining on his current UFC contract and has expressed a desire to retire in the next year or two, unless Sonnen wins his appeal, it’s unlikely the pair will ever get a second match.

"I’m in favor of rematches for the fans, the show, the event, the whole media… But, as a professional and athlete, and now as Anderson Silva’s coach on Atos, I consider a rematch a bad thing and it doesn’t worth. Because, if the guy had loss on the judges’ call, it’d be ok. But he stayed for 23 minutes, and that means five rounds, on his best position, which is to takedown and punch from the top, and he couldn’t define the fight, and he lost," Lemos said. "There’s no need to know if he had taken extra medicines or not. You can’t have a rematch on those conditions. He has to be punished and stay a year off and then come back for the end of the line and wait for his call to fight Anderson Silva again."

(Stanislav Nedkov highlight reel, courtesy of BGMMAFIGHTER. Check out 0:50-0:59 for yet another example of a guy wearing a t-shirt during an MMA fight and getting absolutely ruined.)

Now that you’ve met Curt, Fabio, and Paul, let’s continue along the UFC 120 preliminary card and see who else will be making their Octagon debuts on Saturday night…

STANISLAV NEDKOV (LHW)
Experience: 11-0 record (8 wins by first-round stoppage), with appearances in Sengoku, Pancrase, and Shooto Bulgaria. Holds wins over Kevin Randleman and Travis Wiuff.
Will be facing: Steve Cantwell (7-3 record, 1-2 UFC)
Lowdown: Nedkov was slated to make his UFC debut against Rodney Wallace at UFC 117, but had to withdraw due to injury. The Bulgarian native comes from a decorated grappling background, and is experienced in freestyle wrestling, sumo, and BJJ. Judging from his fights, he seems to love a good brawl just as much as a ground battle. Causes for concern: At 5’11", he’ll be one of the shortest 205-pounders in the UFC, and his Sengoku fights against Randleman and Wiuff raised questions about his stamina.

(Video courtesy YouTube/FightHubTV)

At last week’s Bellator show, middleweight Hector Lombard raised a few eyebrows when he said he wanted to face recently-signed Strikeforce heavyweight Josh Barnett in his next bout.

It turns out that the pair have a beef between them that can be traced back to a particular sparring session in 2008.

According to Lombard’s former and Barnett’s current trainer from Combat Submission Wrestling, Erik Paulson, a day or two after a bloody 30-minute boxing match between the duo at the gym, "The Babyfaced Assassin" dragged Lombard into the cage and used his weight advantage to hold him on the canvas and humiliate the Cuban judoka in front of his teammates.

Paulson revealed that the incident was the reason Lombard walked away from the gym to join American Top Team and said he’s surprised that he’s still upset over it.