UFC Ultimate Insider Best of Joe Rogan – Watch more Funny Videos (Vid courtesy UFC.com)

Two of the most overlooked redeeming qualities of great interviewers are that they they are comfortable and that they make their subjects comfortable enough that they will open up to them.

Joe Rogan does both.

Thanks to his years of television and stand-up comedy experience, Rogan has been able to transition into the role of interviewer with relative ease, without coming off on the mic or behind the camera as a gushing 12-year-old fan like many MMA reporters do today.

(The signs that something was off with Vyacheslav were there for some time, but nobody realized he was nuts until it was too late.)

Insane former MMA fighter and mental hospital escapee, Vyacheslav Datsik has been denied asylum in Norway and will be extradited back to his Russian homeland where he will face additional charges, including unlawfully escaping custody, trespassing and illegal arms possession.

According to officials, the deciding factor in not granting him refuge in the Northern European country was the weapons offense, which came about after he surrendered two handguns to police when he turned himself in September 21.

"We are currently preparing the documents for his [Datsik's] extradition on charges of illegal possession of arms" Oeyvind Nordgaren from the Oslo Police District’s organized crime unit said.

In case you haven’t checked it out before, "The Aftermath" is a weekly online series hosted by Stephan Bonnar in which the winners, losers, and peripheral characters from The Ultimate Fighter discuss each episode’s events. In the latest installment, victorious Team GSP fighter Kyle "Old Balls" Watson talks about the maturity gap in the house, Sevak Magakian’s run-up on Bruce Leroy, and Josh Koscheck‘s constant harassment of Georges St. Pierre — which actually bothered GSP a lot more than he let on.

Team Kos’s grappling coach Dave Camarillo discusses his history with Josh Koscheck, the frustration of going on a losing streak in the house, and breaks down exactly what Andy Main did wrong in last night’s fight. He also shares a touching story about Paul Buentello barfing into a towel before a fight in New Jersey.

Plus, Stephan Bonnar describes John Danaher as "a cross between Dr. Phil and Criss Angel," which is apparently supposed to be a compliment, even though that combination would officially make Danaher the biggest douchebag in the history of the universe. Anyway, it’s interesting stuff, so give it a look…

(Diaz pops Marcus Davis in the jaw at UFC 118; meanwhile, Yves Lavigne notices the rancid smell coming from his armpits. / Props: CageWriter.com)

As first broken by Korean news site mfight.co.kr, Nate Diaz (13-5) will reportedly make his Octagon return against Dong Hyun "Stun Gun" Kim (13-0-1, 1 no contest), at UFC 125: Edgar vs. Maynard on New Year’s Day. Diaz most recently picked up his second victory at welterweight, beating the piss out of Marcus Davis at UFC 118 before choking him to sleep in the third round.

Kim’s last cage-appearance was a unanimous decision win over Amir Sadollah at UFC 114, in a performance that was marked by Kim’s superior wrestling and positional control. No, it wasn’t the most exciting fight, but it got the job done and preserved DHK’s unblemished record. Kim was scheduled to return against John Hathaway at UFC 120, but was forced to drop out of the fight due to injury. (Injury withdrawals are kind of a bad habit for Kim, who also missed scheduled UFC meetings with Dan Hardy and Chris Lytle.)

Diaz is on his way to becoming a real contender in the welterweight division — but as we saw in his lightweight losses to Gray Maynard, Joe Stevenson, and Clay Guida, he’s vulnerable against strong wrestlers. If Kim can blanket him like he did to Sadollah, it could be a sad night in Stockton.

(Video courtesy YouTube/TurismoGTR all rights reserved ZuffaLLC/SPIKETV)

If you missed episode one of UFC Primetime – Lesnar vs. Velasquez last night, we got you covered, playa.

The first segment shed some light on the background of Velasquez beyond the topical info we already know about his pop being an illegal immigrant and him being a hard worker. I was pretty surprised to hear Javier Mendez say that Cain has more talent than anyone he has ever trained including Frank Shamrock, Cung Le or BJ Penn. I could have sworn I heard Josh Koscheck mutter, "Javier. I’m right here and I can hear you," off camera.

Another interesting tidbit that kind of flew under the radar was that Pat Barry is in Minnesota helping Brock do something about his stand-up. Honestly, he might be about two years too late to make any marked improvement in Brock’s hands, but I may be wrong. Just ask James Toney how much can be learned in a few months.

Part two is after the jump.

(The face of an angel. PicProps: Boston Globe)

One of the more hilarious (and largely overlooked) aspects of the UFC’s response to the recent Chael Sonnen steroid fiasco was that whenever anybody asked Dana White about drug testing in MMA he basically threw his hands up and said the company couldn’t have anything to do with it, because “The Government” is in charge of that. For example, when White discussed the topic with Ariel Helwani before UFC 119 he took on a wide-eyed reverence that was so un-Dana it was clear he was just sticking to the company-approved talking points: “Everybody has this belief that, ‘Oh, Dana White has the commissions in (his pocket).’ Listen, the commission doesn’t give a shit what I think — what I think, what I say, nothing,” White said. “You’re dealing with the government, OK? That’s like thinking Dana White can tell the IRS what to do. It’s never gonna happen.”

Now, either DW is the only millionaire businessman in America who thinks “The Government” is doing a great job regulating his industry … or he’s bullshitting us. Obviously, his equating state athletic commissions with the IRS is laughable, but the assertion that a billion dollar company like the UFC couldn’t possibly get involved with “The Government” is also pretty clearly not true. In fact, according to reports out this week, Zuffa, LLC would very much like to take an active role in helping New York state pick its next governor, and this is certainly not the first time the UFC has dipped into its pockets to help sway “The Government” to its way of thinking.

(If you fire Jerry Millen, I’ll get rid of Gus Johnson. Shake on it.)

According to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, in 2011 the promotion will match each of its top heavyweight fighters up against each other and not just tease the fans by mentioning the prospect of said matches.

During an appearance on Sherdog’s Beatdown Radio Show on Wednesday Coker said his organization is planning on going all-in next year and aren’t going to hold anything back to protect certain future fights.

“One thing I can tell you is all these guys … Alistair, Fedor, Fabricio, Josh Barnett, [Antonio] ‘Bigfoot’ [Silva], [Sergei] Kharitonov, Andrei Arlovski, Brett Rogers — all those guys are all going to fight each other in 2011,” Coker said. “We’re not going to hold anything back. You’re going to see these guys fight the toughest guys because really, if you’re a heavyweight, there are no easy fights in Strikeforce. It’s arguably the best heavyweight division in the world, and I think Josh Barnett said it best. The competition is here. He signed with us because he wants to fight all those guys. We’re going to put those fights together, and I think the fans are going to love it.” 

(Now that’s gangster. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com) 

Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II goes down Saturday night (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET/PT), and it’s not too late to put some cash on the fights. If you’ve already blown your kids’ college fund — hey, it happens — please swing by MMA Fightpicker and made your picks there. Otherwise, check out the Internet’s most favorable betting odds (below, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com) and let’s get to work…

MAIN CARD
Nick Diaz (-199) vs. KJ Noons (+200)
Sarah Kaufman (-290) vs. Marloes Coenen (+273)
Josh Thomson (-160) vs. Gesias "J.Z." Cavalcante (+159)
Tyron Woodley (-240) vs. Andre Galvao (+220)

PRELIMINARY CARD
Bret Bergmark (-124) vs. James Terry (+120)
Eric Lawson (-110) vs. Ron Keslar (EV)

(…Only I didn’t say "fudge." I said the word. The big one. The queen mother of dirty words. The f-dash-dash-dash word…) 

Team GSP is basking in Michael Johnson’s victory, and Mike Tyson is in a reflective mood. Iron Mike says the fight game is about who’s smarter. "Confidence breeds success, and success breeds confidence…confidence applied properly surpasses genius." Also, how you conduct yourself in the cage reflects on how you conduct yourself in life. Between him, Greg Jackson, and John Danaher, the team is stacked with philosophers.

After two losses, Team Koscheck is fired up to get revenge on Team GSP. "The harder you work now, the later you get rewarded," Josh Koscheck says, probably meaning to say "the more you get rewarded later." He also pronounces "especially" as "ekspecially" at one point. We’ll see if these Titoisms become a trend. 

During the Johnson/Wilkinson fight, Alex "Bruce Leroy" Caceres was a little too supportive in the bleachers, screaming "Beat the shit out of him! Fuck him up!" to MJ. Some of the guys don’t like how Caceres seemed to wish harm upon one of his housemates. I mean, they’re all in this together, right? They all came to the house to make friends? Anyway, the guys have a little shit-talking session about it. "That’s disrespectful, bro," says Sevak "The Armenian Stereotype" Magakian. "He’s a stupid, ignorant kid," Jeff Lentz says, bitterly.

("Tough loss against CB." "Yeah. How’s your leg doing?"

The card for UFC 124 is filling in nicely with the addition of four fights reported by various sources today.

MMAFighting reports that Jason MacDonald will return to action following one of the most gruesome leg-break injuries in UFC history he incurred in his UFC 113 bout seven months ago in Montreal against John Salter.

MacDonald (24-14), who is on his second go-around in the UFC will be looking to make this stay in the Octagon a permanent one when he takes on Gracie jiu-jitsu black belt,  Rafael Natal (12-3) who lost by decision in his Octagon debut against Rich Attonito at UFN 22 in September.

Also on the card, according to MMAJunkie and MMADiehards will be MacDonald’s fellow Canadians Joe Doerksen and TJ Grant who will take on Dan Miller and Ricardo Almeida, respectively.

(Jimmo’s a tough dude, but his mean-mug needs work.)

Imagine spending more than three years working for a company and putting in countless gallons of your blood sweat and tears in equity to be given the opportunity to compete for a promotion within the organization. Now imagine if the company’s president decided to bring in a talented, but underrated go-getter to interview for the role you worked frenetically and incessantly to earn in your 44 months under his employ.

Chances are you might not be too receptive of the proposition.

That’s exactly the situation Ryan Jimmo found himself in the past few weeks when negotiating his next fight with the Canada-based Maximum Fighting Championship.

(Props: Card/homo sapient)

Remember when ESPN: The Magazine featured a semi-nude Gina Carano in their inaugural "Body Issue" last year? (Answer: Sure you do.) Well, they’re at it again this year, with a new pack of pro athletes stripping down for your amusement. Representing MMA this time around are Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos, her husband Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, and Herschel Walker. What the hell? Was Miesha Tate unavailable? Since that Playboy rumor never came to fruition, these pictures of Cristiane and Evangelista are the closest you’ll get to seeing Cris Cyborg naked in a magazine, if you’re into that sort of thing. The rear-view is after the jump. If you want to see Herschel Walker naked, you’re on your own.

(Video courtesy YouTube/TheShoot)

When Nate Diaz said in an interview last week that sponsors help put clothing on fighters’ backs and food on their tables, he apparently wasn’t referring to his brother, Nick, who says he’s broke and that he doesn’t make enough money to buy anything but food.

"People need to understand that I don’t make a lot of money. For real. I spent all my money on food. I don’t have any money; I spent it all on food. I didn’t buy anything," he explained. "I worry about taxes and I watch my bank account just, *whoosh* get sucked away. So I’m like, man, I just want to fight and get paid, you know?"

By "food," I wonder if he’s referring to weed since that would explain how all of his money went up in smoke.

Nick made $100,000 for his Strikeforce win over Mariusz Zaromskis in February alone, not including sponsorship money. Maybe he and Nate need to hire an accountant like Chuck Liddell look over their books.

(Denial, anger, bargaining, plyometrics – Duffee has been through it all. PicProps: Sherdog)

It’s been almost a month and if you’re still having trouble wrapping your head around how Todd Duffee managed to get himself fired from the UFC after just one kind of fluky loss, you’re not alone. Duffee doesn’t seem to know exactly what to make of it, either. We’ve heard rumors of him faking injuries, turning down fights and having an all around piss-poor attitude, but the actual facts of the situation are still murky at best. One thing we know is true, however: At this point Duffee seems legitimately bummed about it. In a new article from Old Dad over on MMA Fighting, Duffee (and a few others) discuss the hard realities of getting fired from the only job they’ve ever really wanted. This MMA can be a pretty harsh mistress, fellas.  

(War’s lucky his cellmate didn’t see his Ebay ad.)

Well, it looks like War Machine has kept true to his word that he was going to stay out of trouble while in the clink.

Detailing his last four weeks in jail, the fighter formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver avoided a brawl and had the self control to not beat his gay cellmate who insinuated that he wanted War to be his daddy.

In this packed edition of the embattled fighter’s Big House Blogs ^tm, the UFC outcast talks about wanting to fight fellow UFC outcast Junie Browning and snitching on some fellow inmates, which hopefully won’t get back to them like his stories of debauchery behind bars did the DA.

Here’s what Machine has been up to since the last time he checked in:

WEEK 8
So another fake ass back stabber gets added to the list: Steve Bruno. Him and Junie Browning both have volunteered to be stepping stones on my climb back to the UFC.

On a different note, my old celly is gone. I hope he is able to stay clean and out of trouble. Funny shit is my new celly is GAY! LOL! He’s been in the same module as me the whole time but I never knew it! Now that he lives with me he knows that I’m not a homo-phobe so he told me and holy shit! You wouldn’t believe the stories. I asked him if he’s got any "action" and he’s hooked up with two guys since I’ve been here. Crazy part is one was this skinhead guy and the other a young dude who actually had a hot girlfriend, I saw her at a visit. I wonder if she knows!? Weird, I guess you never know how people are behind closed doors. It’s a trip though. Whatever, it doesn’t bother me as long as no one pulls none of that gay shit on me! lol.

(Props: graciefighterz)

This Saturday in San Jose, Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz will defend his belt against KJ Noons, the last fighter to defeat him. Diaz vs. Noons 1 took place at EliteXC: Renegade in November 2007; the fight was stopped due to cuts after the first round. Since their first meeting, Diaz has gone 7-0 (all wins by stoppage), with notable victories over Frank Shamrock, Scott Smith, Marius Zaromskis, and Hayato Sakurai. Noons has gone 4-0 since his win over Diaz, scoring knockouts against Yves Edwards and Jorge Gurgel.

It’s a rematch that needed to happen eventually, and most oddsmakers currently have Diaz at more than a 2-1 favorite, apparently based on Nick’s reputation and the fact that Noons is fighting in an unfamiliar weight class. The question is, will it look anything like their first meeting? In case you haven’t lately, check out the above video of their first fight. Let’s try to break it down…

(Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante trains like a beast for his fight against Josh Thomson at "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II" this Saturday. Props: GenghisConFilms)

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…

– Stefan Struve vs. Sean McCorkle Planned for UFC 124 in Montreal (MMA Fighting)

– Ed Soares’ Dream for Jose Aldo? Super-Fight Against Frankie Edgar (Versus MMA Beat)

– Gina Carano Lands Her Next Major Movie Role, and More Juicy Rumors (MiddleEasy)

– Is Bad Sportsmanship Just Part of the MMA Fight Game? (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Gerald Harris and Phil Davis Get Main Card Slots at UFC 123, Karo Parisyan and Tyson Griffin Stuck in the Prelims (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Nevada State Athletic Commission Makes Half-Baked Changes To Drug Testing Policy (Watch Kalib Run)

– 5 Fights You Shouldn’t Miss This October (LowKick)

– Is Frankie Edgar the #2 P4P Fighter in the World? Dana White Thinks So… (MMA Convert)

– Crazy Slugfest from K-1 MAX Grand Prix (MMA Scraps)

– Jake Shields: The Specialist [VIDEO] (FightMagazine)

(Video courtesy Amoeba Records)

Dan Hardy always comes off as a dude I’d like to hang out with, and not just because we’re both 10th Planet Jiu-jitsu guys and have a penchant for mohawks and punk music.

As Ben pointed out earlier, he can pretty much make anything sound cool by saying it with a slick Nottingham accent that makes him sound like a cross between James Bond and Johnny Rotten.

Hardy stopped by Amoeba Music in L.A. recently and revealed what he had purchased for a segment of their "What’s in my bag?" series and some of his buys were a bit surprising.

(When Lawler said he’ll beat Lindland with his eyes closed, he was serious.)

Strikeforce announced today that a bout between Matt "The Law" Lindland and "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler has been added to its December 4 show in St. Louis, Missouri.

2-3 in his last five outings, Lindland will be looking to avoid racking up any more brain trauma when he meets the dangerous knockout artist, Lawler, who has also only won two of his last five contests.

Two statistics worth noting are that Lawler has finished each of the six opponents he defeated in his past ten fights by KO or TKO and that four of his six losses have come by submission. Considering that Lindland has submitted a hanful of tough jiu-jitsu black belts including Travis Lutter, Carlos Newton and Fabio Leopoldo, the fight could be more competitive than it seems at first glance.

(GNC vs. KFC)

Earlier today, Shane Carwin tweeted that he expects to return to the Octagon at UFC 125 (January 1st, Las Vegas), but doesn’t have an opponent yet. He also promised that "If I knock my opponent out on 1-1-11 in the 1st round at the 1:11 mark I will give the gloves to a follower on Twitter." In other words, Shane will probably be hanging on to those gloves.

So who is this mystery opponent? The answer might be the most obvious one. Sources have informed MMAFighting.com that the UFC is trying to book Carwin against TUF 10 winner Roy Nelson, though the matchup could be delayed depending on Nelson’s knee surgery recovery. Carwin and Nelson had a brief Twitter feud in August regarding steroids and obesity, so they already seem to dislike each other. Plus, both guys are coming off of nasty losses, so the fight also has a nice redemption angle. Makes sense to us, especially since UFC 125 needs a prominent co-headliner. We expect Carwin to be the odds-on favorite in this one. Who’s picking Big Country for the upset?

(VidProps: UK Telegraph)

Just a tip, P-Nation: Next time you need to make an important first impression – whether on a first date or a job interview or that guest spot on The Bum Rush you’ve been hoping for — give some serious consideration to affecting an English accent. Essentially, sounding like you’re from across the pond is guaranteed to add a few points to your IQ and hey, it’s working for Dan Hardy. I know this sounds shallow, but something about listening to Hardy break down his upcoming UFC 120 opponent Carlos Condit in his lilting, Nottingham-art-school accent makes me think: “I’d definitely hire this guy.”

Now, we already know this is an illusion. We know that Hardy’s thin veil of smarts falls away in short order when he has to commit his thoughts to pen and paper. In fact, if I had to throw out a blind guess (and you know I will) I’d say Condit would probably best Hardy in most any battle of wits. Unfortunately, the battle of sounding cool when you say shit is already a totally one-sided slaughter in favor of the Englishman.

(Cocaine really is a hell of a drug. It makes you do some crazy things.)

Get your surprised faces ready. 

Remember the gargantuan tranny-looking lady "friend" of Ricky Hatton who came out a few weeks ago to reveal that "The Hitman" had a cocaine problem because she was concerned for his well-being?

Well, it turns out her concern stemmed not from the fact that Ricky bumped a few lines here and there, it was due to the fact that Hatton wasn’t going to be snorting his coke off of her hotel room toilet any more before he banged her as he recently broke off an 11-month relationship he allegedly had with the Irish female boxing champ.

According to jilted lover and probable post-op, Emma Bowe, she went out of her way to meet Hatton, whom she had idolized for many years, while he was in Ireland in October and was thrilled when Ricky was receptive to her advances.

("Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? To me, that’s the definition of ‘warrior‘." / Photo courtesy of allelbows.)

When you’re on a five-fight losing streak like former UFC light-heavyweight contender Keith Jardine, there’s two ways you can approach your situation. 1) You can take a few months off to completely re-assess your skills, weaknesses, and motivation. Or, 2) You can get back in the cage as soon as possible in a desperate attempt to wash off the stink of failure. The Dean of Mean, God help him, is going for option two.

Just two months after his demoralizing loss to Trevor Prangley at Shark Fights 13, Keith Jardine will take on Francisco "Kiko" France in the main event of "MMA Global Invasion," which will be held November 13 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Props to MMAFighting for the heads-up.) France is a 6-1 light-heavyweight who has claimed all of his victories by submission, including four by arm-triangle choke. He’s competed for various organizations in Missouri and Mississippi; most notably, he appeared on the undercard of Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery, where he finished Lee Brousseau by first-round rear-naked choke.

(Props: joerogandotnet)

Before UFC color-man Joe Rogan became a disciple of Eddie Bravo and 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu, he was a diehard Tae Kwon Do practitioner who won several championships as a black belt. He obviously keeps up with his training, because the dude can still throw a mean turning side kick (known as the "spinning back kick" to you laymen). Of course, this video raises more questions than it answers. For instance, will we eventually see a full series of instructional DVDs from the analyst/comedian? How long would Gus Johnson last in a cage-fight against Joe? What happened to the lizard?

(The Strikeforce Police will be a fixture at every event Nick Diaz is at)

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker says that if a brawl erupts during the weigh-ins or main event bout of this Saturday’s event, the promotion will shoulder the blame this time around for not having the proper preventative measures in place.

Coker appeared yesterday on MMAFighting’s The MMA Hour and told host, Ariel Helwani that there will be plenty of precautions to ensure Nick Diaz and KJ Noons’ camps don’t throw down before or after their scheduled fight this weekend.

"I’ll tell you what – if we leave those two guys in a room alone, I think you know what’s going to happen," Coker said. "So it’s up to us – we’re going to have a wall of security there. We’ve brought extra police to handle the weigh-ins, the press conference and pretty much a wall of people will be there for the night of the fight. We have to take precautionary measures because these guys have this big feud – and it’s not just them, it’s their camps. We’re going to make sure that we host it properly, and part of that is adding extra security and police officers, and it’ll be fine."

(Depending what happens on December 2, Sonnen might be back running for office sooner than expected)

According to MMAJunkie, we’ll finally get to see how good of a politician Chael Sonnen really is on December 2 when he attempts to talk his way out of a one-year suspension he was handed for allegedly testing positive for steroids following his UFC 117 fifth-round submission loss to Anderson Silva.

Sonnen will have his appeal heard that day by the California State Athletic Commission.

It will be interesting when the facts of the case come to light, considering all of the information that has been released to date, including an allegation by CSAC executive director, George Dodd that Sonnen prefaced his pre-fight drug screening with the disclaimer that "he may test positive for something." Whether or not this hearsay can be used as evidence will remain to be seen, since Chael has been known to deny conversations in the past. Maybe it was a Hispanic guy Dodd mistook for Sonnen.

(Photo courtesy of the exclusive WEC 51 gallery at CageWriter.com)

Due to a number of factors — including the broadcast starting nearly 10 minutes late thanks to a goddamned arena football game — we never got a chance to see the WEC 51 preliminary bout between former featherweight champion Mike Brown and Cole Province, even though it was the shortest fight of the night at just 78 seconds. Thankfully, Versus has made it up to y’all by posting the fight online; you can check it out after the jump. Watch as Brown drops Province with a well-timed uppercut, then smashes him from the top as Province turtles. The ref steps in, and Cole immediately goes into ‘WTFIYP’? mode. Was he just about to spring into action when the fight was called? Who knows. Who cares. Enjoy.

(Stephan Bonnar: He will stand there all day like that.)

The finale show for The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck — slated for December 4th at the Palms in Las Vegas — just picked up its first two official matchups. According to a press release sent out by Spike this morning, the event will feature a middleweight contest between former title contender Demian Maia and TUF 3 winner Kendall Grove. Maia most recently outpointed Mario Miranda at UFC 118 in Boston, while Grove is coming off a split-decision win over Goran Reljic at UFC 116.

Also on the card, Stephan Bonnar will try to follow up his TKO victory/Fight of the Night against Krzysztof Soszynski (also at UFC 116) when he meets Igor Pokrajac, the man responsible for choking James Irvin out of the UFC. With his 1-2 Octagon record, Pokrajac isn’t exactly a step up in competition for Bonnar after the K-Sos fight. But it’s a fight that Bonnar can win, and if you don’t like seeing Bonnar win fights, we have one question for you: Why do you hate America so much?

Related: According to an MMAJunkie report, the TUF 12 Finale will also host a welterweight battle between Johny Hendricks (9-0, 4-0 UFC) and Rick Story (11-3, 4-1 UFC).

(They call him "The Hurricane" because he makes opponents want to hide in the basement when he touches down on them.)

If you don’t know who Ferrid Kheder is, by this time next year you will.

Here’s the story of The Hurricane:

The French-born Tunisian judoka who placed seventh as a lightweight at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia has completely dedicated himself to becoming a mixed martial artist since discovering the sport in 2005 and has done so impressively, compiling an 18-5 record in the process.

Hooking up with Hector Lombard, a fellow judo competitor and friend who was living and training in Australia at Sydney satellite of The Lion’s Den, the pair soon became the best fighters in the gym and were looking for a change.

Out of the blue, Kheder received a MySpace message from Ryan Parsons, the manager of Dan Henderson’s Temecula, California branch of Team Quest, inviting him and Lombard to move to the states to train with the stacked fight team that at the time included guys like Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, Krzystof Soszynski, Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Joey Warren.

He jumped at the offer.

“To make a living at MMA, I knew it would be hard because every day I had to work. I couldn’t even speak English, so I had to work doing jobs that I didn’t need to talk to do. I worked as a mover and security at a nightclub and I trained in the morning and at night between working. You can’t expect to be one of the best in the world living and training like that, so after I had a few wins, I was contacted by Ryan Parsons," he recalls. "He contacted me through MySpace and he wanted me and Hector to come over to train at Team Quest. That was why we decided to move to America. Hector didn’t get his visa at the same time as me, so I started in 2007 to train at Team Quest.”

(“Is good, no? Is from child’s meal at fast food restaurant.” PicProps: FCFighter.com)

By now we’ve all had a good chuckle over last week’s vid of the world’s most awkward van ride where Wanderlei Silva tells Chael Sonnen to keep Brazil’s name out his mouth, if he wants that mouth to keep functioning for the purposes of things like chewing food and telling insane lies. But as Sonnen – who pretty much backed down in the face of Wanderlei’s rough-hewn wisdom — continues to hole up in Oregon and contemplate the possibility that he may have squandered his last chance at being a relevant fighter, a few other Brazilians followed Wanderlei’s lead over the weekend and let fly with their own opinions about the alleged testosterone addict.

That included Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who told Sherdog.com that he thinks “God is just” in not allowing Sonnen to win the UFC middleweight title while (probably) cheating against Anderson Silva. “The Spider” also spoke with the Dog, telling it that he didn’t think Sonnen deserved a rematch, anyway. For his part, Wanderlei went the extra mile to prove he’s like the nicest dude in the world, telling MMA Canada (during kind of an awkward video blog) that he thinks Sonnen’s year-long suspension is a bit too harsh.