(Jeez, Georges, casual Friday? Vid courtesy of ESPN.)

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…

– Helwani vs. Dundas: MMA Awards Edition (Versus MMA Beat)

– ‘Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu’ Media Conference Call Highlights (LowKick)

– UFC-WEC Merger Brings Excitement, Warning About Jobs on the Line (MMA Fighting)

– CSAC’s George Dodd Pokes Holes In Chael Sonnen’s Rumored Testosterone Defense (MMA Convert)

– Prodigimon: Which BJ Penn Will You Get on Fight Night? (MiddleEasy)

– Mike Swick and Frank Shamrock Engage in Online War of Words (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Anthony Pettis Discusses ‘Fast Track to a UFC Title’ (FIGHT! Magazine)

– Alistair Overeem Discusses Steroid Accusations With Michael "The Voice" Schiavello" (MMA Scraps)

– Sean McCorkle Addresses Internet Fame, Trash Talk, and Stefan Struve (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Joe Rogan Calls MMA Writer a ‘F*ggot’, Internet Explodes (SBNation.com/MMA)

(Remember to include "proficient in jabbing" on your resume. / Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

UFC middleweight contender Gerald Harris confirmed last night that he has been released by the UFC following his decision loss to Maiquel Falcao at UFC 123. Yes, Gerald Harris, the SportsCenter highlight-maker and all-around nice guy, who had come into the fight with a 3-0 Octagon record and two Knockout of the Night bonuses under his belt. Even considering how lackluster his fight last weekend turned out, this has to be the most unexpected UFC firing in recent memory. Is the UFC so dead-set on trimming their roster with the influx of WEC talent that they’ll bounce a rising star for one bad showing? Maybe. But get this…

("Easiest title win EVA!!")

According to a report from Heavy.com, newly crowned UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has  been forced out of his planned first title defense against Josh Grispi at UFC 125 in January.

Aldo was presented with the belt during last weekend’s UFC 123 event in Auburn Hills, Michigan and if he really wanted to make an interesting mark in the MMA record books, he would go through with our suggestion that he retire as the only UFC champion with an 0-0 record in the Octagon.

There’s no word on the nature of the injury, but there’s bound to be a plethora of rumors about how Aldo got hurt. We actually have it on good authority that it was groin pull he sustained during his first Smashers Club get together on Saturday night.

We’ll have more details as they emerge.

(We should all be that fired up, at least once in our lives. Props: UFC.com)

When BJ Penn knocked out Matt Hughes at UFC 123, one of the greatest rivalries in MMA history finally got its conclusion. And while not every two-fight series needs an immediate tie-breaker — the Internet has already informed Dana White what we think of Lesnar vs. Mir III — there’s something incredibly dramatic and satisfying about a good rubber-match. Off the top of our heads, here’s a few others we’d like to see…

Jason "Mayhem" Miller vs. Tim Kennedy

History: Kennedy def. Miller via decision @ Extreme Challenge 50 (2/23/03), Miller def. Kennedy via decision @ HDNet Fights: Reckless Abandon (12/15/07)
Why it needs to happen again: Look, I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for Jason Miller to agree to a catchweight fight with Nick Diaz under 185 pounds. Mayhem hasn’t even fought for Strikeforce since he squashed Tim Stout in April, and Kennedy is still without an opponent himself after dropping a decision to Jacare Souza in August — and he’s already mentioned that he wants another go-round with Mayhem. Strikeforce has two talented, unattached middleweights at their disposal with a storyline already in place. It doesn’t take rocket appliances to figure this out, guys.

("Do not want.")

According to a chapter in the recently translated PRIDE: Secret Files tome, PRIDE came very close to making former WBA and current WBF boxing champion Evander Holyfield into an MMA freakshow.

Fortunately for MMA fans, and for Holyfield who was able to turn his lagging career around the next year, the bout didn’t happen.

The card, which saw Jens Pulver’s chin exposed by Takanori Gomi and Anderson Silva caught by a textbook heelhook by Ryo Chonan turned out to be a pretty entertaining one even without the spectacle of a pro boxer versus a sumo wrestler.

The full story, via MMA-Japan is after the jump:

(Diaz insists all negotiations be handled through the proper channels. PicProps: CombatLifestyle.)

Don’t fret homies, Nick Diaz is totally down to fight Jason “Mayhem” Miller in the Strikeforce cage just as soon as that organization actually gets around to offering him the fight. So said Diaz mentor and trainer-to-the-stars (seriously, any stars) Cesar Gracie during an appearance on MMA Junkie Radio this week. One problem: Gracie said Mayhem can’t make welterweight and Diaz damn sure isn’t going all the way up to 185-pounds to fight him, so CEO Scott Coker (or maybe somebody who really wears the pants in Strikeforce) is going to have to figure out a catchweight. Any implication to the contrary is just Miller running his mouth, Gracie said.

"If that fight was offered, yeah, we’d probably take that fight," Gracie said. "We’d just have to look at what weight class it’s going to be in and apparently, Mayhem can’t make 170. We’re not going to accommodate going to 185 … That fight just hasn’t been offered to us in an official manner yet. I know Mayhem goes on his websites and (says) Nick is ducking him and everything.  It’s kind of hard to duck someone when you haven’t even been offered the fight. It’s just Mayhem talking about that. Until it’s been offered, you can’t say yes or no."

 
(You’ll still always be "The Kimbo Killer" to me, Seth.)

It looks like the post-UFC 122 cuts just keep coming. 

Five Ounces of Pain is reporting that Seth Petruzelli has been dropped by the UFC after being finished for the second time in as many fights in his most recent stint in the Octagon.

30-year-old Petruzelli (12-6 MMA, 0-4 UFC), who lost by TKO to Karlos Vemola at the event in Oberhausen, Germany 10 days ago and was also submitted  by Ricardo Romera at UFC 116 in July in his first fight back since being dropped by the promotion originally in 2007 joins fellow UFC 122 losers Peter Sobotta and Goran Reljic on the unemployement line. Both fighters were also given their pink slips by the promotion because of their respective three-fight losing skids.

(Props: TheProwler31 via MiddleEasy)

After a strong start against Gerald Harris at UFC 123, Maiquel Falcao checked out in the third round, deciding to coast to a decision victory rather than try to finish the fight — a terribly anti-climactic ending to what might have been a career-making performance. But things would have turned out a lot differently if not for a monumental screw-up by the timekeeper.

As the above video proves, the horn went off about six seconds before the first round actually should have ended. That wouldn’t make much of a difference in most fights, but Falcao had Harris in a fully-sunk rear-naked choke at the end of the round, and Harris seemed dangerously close to either tapping or passing out. Instead of picking up his eighth-consecutive first-round victory, Falcao became the night’s official scapegoat for boring point-fighters. Not that Big Rig’s behavior in the last five minutes of the fight should be excused, but that shit ain’t fair. I wonder if the timekeeper had money on Harris…

  
(Photos courtesy of UFC Magazine via MMA Fix. Click all for larger versions.)

The latest issue of UFC Magazine is on newsstands now, featuring a cover story on Georges St. Pierre, a list of the 25 greatest submissions in UFC history, and most importantly, some jaw-dropping photos of new Octagon Girl Brittney Palmer, who will be making her debut at UFC 125 on New Year’s Day. Of course, Brittney is already a familiar sight to anybody who’s followed her work in the WEC. And because CagePotato is your #1 resource for crudely-scanned magazine photos of hot MMA ring girls, shots from her new pictorial are above. What else can you say, except perhaps "My God dat ass"?

(Video courtesy YouTube/TheFrankShamrock)

Before you ask, the video above is not a leaked sketch from next month’s MMA Awards. Frank Shamrock really started an anti-bullying organization after some trolls on the Internet hurt his 37-year-old feelings recently. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not condoning bullying in any way shape or form. I used to work doing PR for an anti-bullying program that is recognized as part of grade school curriculums. I just think this thing reeks of being opportunistic. Maybe Frank saw the attention that Daniel Puder’s anti-bullying crusade has gotten him and decided to hop on the bus.

Sometimes a fighter connects with his opponent so perfectly that he can confidently peace out to collect his check before the ref even stops the fight. It’s called a walk-off knockout, and it’s what all other knockouts aspire to be. Here, presented with limited commentary, are our favorites.

#8: Brad Kohler vs. Steve Judson @ UFC 22 (9/24/99)

(Rampage really needs to get some sun.)

Fair warning: If you’re epileptic, you may not want to make the jump to check out the gifs of the best of action of Saturday’s UFC 123 show.

(In a world without fences, Lyoto Machida could just back up and circle out of any situation. PicProps: ESPN.)

As noted in this morning’s Armchair Matchmaker, the last time we saw Lyoto Machida really look like Lyoto Machida was May, 2009, when he delighted GIF creators worldwide by making Rashad Evans go all googly-eyed while winning the light heavyweight title by second-round knockout at UFC 98. Though we joke about it, it’s worth pointing out that at the time Machida’s defeat of Evans capped a run of seven wins in the Octagon all dominant enough to prompt the UFC broadcast team to prematurely ejaculate all over the beginning of “The Machida Era.” Can’t really blame them. Dude did look poised for a nice, long run with the gold. Naturally, cue obligatory disappointment in 3 … 2 … 1 …

Since then (as you know) Machida has looked increasingly mortal in three consecutive appearances – a gift decision over Shogun Rua at UFC 104, the karmically-justified follow-up KO by Rua at UFC 113 and Saturday night’s split decision loss to Rampage Jackson at UFC 123, in a fight admittedly difficult to score because of its general shittiness. After watching Machida seemingly dry up and turn into a brittle, hollow husk of his former self during the last 18 months, is it wrong/unjustified to wonder aloud what the fuck is going on here? Was this guy just overrated from the start? Is he simply on a cold streak? Is something wrong with him? Obviously, it would be reckless and irresponsible for us to speculate … then again, reckless and irresponsible speculation is basically what we do. In light of that, here’s a few ideas (read: wild guesses) about what could be ailing the former light heavyweight champion … 
 

(Video courtesy Vimeo/TheReem)

While speaking with Golden Glory founder and manager Bas Boon a couple weeks ago, I told him how much the Potato Nation was digging The Reem series and I asked him if there were any plans to profile other GG fighters like Marloes Coenen, Sergei Kharitonov or Semmy Schilt in a similar fashion. 

According to Boon, the cost of making The Reem (which is completely produced out of pocket by his company) is very high as they have had to hire a crew to follow Alistair 24-7. Although it isn’t something he says they are working on at the moment,  he says he hasn’t closed the door on the notion altogether.

This isn’t the only fan-centric initiative Golden Glory has put on.

If you recall, the Holland-based gym also streamed its Glory MMA and kickboxing event last month for free, although they could have easily charged fans to watch it. Boon told us that the reasoning behind the decision was that they simply wanted to increase the exposure of their fighters and the sport, which is why they decided to give it away.

We need more people involved in MMA who value the fans as much as Golden Glory does.

(Image courtesy of Twitter.com/ShaneCarwin via BloodyElbow)

Following his loss to Brock Lesnar at UFC 116, Shane Carwin‘s online persona seemed to change from "strong, silent type," to "loose cannon who will shout down everybody from fans to MMA blogs to his own employers." And while we’re not going to criticize a fighter for letting their personality hang out a little more, we will offer this one bit of advice: Be careful, bro.

Last month, Carwin publicly blasted the UFC for banning GOOD4U drinks as a UFC sponsor. Last night, he vented more anger via Twitter after apparently being "blocked" by the UFC’s official account. And then, he asked (jokingly, we hope) for Scott Coker’s number, which is not the kind of joke that Dana White would find amusing.

Carwin is far too valuable to be straight-up fired for his attitude, Duffee-style. But after these Twitter-outbursts, the recent steroid accusations, and his unwillingness to do media appearances leading up to the Lesnar fight, he can’t be the UFC’s favorite person right now. So please, Shane, stop self-sabotaging. And if Pinkberry offers gift baskets, make sure there’s one on Dana’s desk by tomorrow morning.

Update: Don’t worry, the UFC has unblocked Shane.

(Seriously, who let that mouse into the Octagon? Props: UFC.com)

Here’s what we know: BJ Penn and George Sotiropoulos already have dates at UFC 127 in Australia. Karo Parisyan has been fired (again), and Matt Brown will surely be let go as well after suffering his third-consecutive submission loss. (Tyson Griffin also lost his third-straight on Saturday, but will remain in the promotion, as the judges’ decision in his fight against Nik Lentz was utter horseshit.) So where do UFC 123‘s other winners and losers go from here? As usual, we have a few suggestions…

Quinton Jackson: This one’s fairly obvious, assuming that nobody really wants to see an immediate rematch between Jackson and Machida. Rampage should get the winner of Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader at UFC 126. The winner of that fight gets a title shot. Bada-bing, bada-boom.

Lyoto Machida: Once an unstoppable force in the light-heavyweight division, it’s now been a year and a half since the Dragon has put on a dominant performance against anybody. At this point, the UFC needs to re-build Machida against a mid-level contender. Give him Matt Hamill, who deserves a step up after handling Keith Jardine and Tito Ortiz. Alternately, you could throw Machida in against Randy Couture, and see if the Natural’s gift for game-planning can carry him through against the Dragon. Of course, that matchup might not be pointless enough for Randy, so don’t get your hopes up.

(Same time tomorrow? Same time tomorrow. PicProps: UFC.com)

OK, three things: 1) Did Rampage deserve to win? Yes. 2) Was it a great fight? No. 3) After spending much of the last couple years making movies and generally acting disinterested in the fight game, did we think Jackson had it in him to beat Lyoto Machida leading up to UFC 123? No we did not, but we were wrong. Look, we’re not going to try to sell you a bill of goods that says Rampage looked outstanding out there on Saturday night. He didn’t, but he looked better than he has in some time and he implemented a solid, if unexciting game plan. Props to the much maligned Lance Gibson for cooking up a strategy (controlling the distance, punching off the break, trying to mix in some takedowns) that on this night was good enough to win two rounds against a suddenly very ordinary seeming Machida. Do we need to see them do it again? Meh … not really, so we’re glad UFC President Dana White is also opposed to the idea. Feels nice to agree with Dana for once.

BJ Penn is the real story here. Pretty much everyone on the planet said leading up to his third bout with Matt Hughes that the key for the former lightweight and welterweight champion was to come in motivated and in shape. Well, Penn proved very motivated this weekend. Crazy-eyed, mumbling-to-himself motivated. Unintelligible-after-the-fight motivated. So motivated that we had no time at all to see what kind of shape he was in after he came out of his corner like a house of fire and knocked Hughes cold in just 21 seconds. Now, if you thought Penn-Hughes III was a weird booking for Penn following his back-to-back losses to Frankie Edgar at 155-pounds, just wait to hear who Big DW says he’s got next …

(“So then I said, ‘Hey Tim, Dana told me if you beat Rizzo he might let you back in the UFC.’ Man, you should’ve seen his face. I think the poor fucker believed me.” PicProps: CombatLifestyle)

I went to Detroit once. During the summer of 1998 my band played at a bar called the Old Miami in the city’s Cass Corridor neighborhood. It was the kind of place where Vietnam veterans hung their actual purple hearts on the wall and tacked up fading snapshots of fallen fellow soldiers with the letters “KIA” scrawled above their heads in ballpoint pen. I kept expecting Dennis Hopper to wander in and say something like, “This is a heavy scene, man.” In fact, the whole town was like a living embodiment of every Bruce Springsteen song ever written. It was kind of cool, in an anthropological sort of way. Needless to say, the middle-aged ex-grunts who hung out at that bar didn’t seem to appreciate our particular brand of balls-to-the-wall, angsty hardcore music. Weird, I know.

I imagine not much has changed. In a lot of ways, war-torn old Detroit is the perfect setting  for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to stage a comeback fight. Both are getting on in years and still carry an aura of unpredictable violence despite the fact that their best days are probably behind them. I don’t even know what city Machida is like. Where do they drink the most piss? Santa Barbara? Probably Santa Barbara. Anyway,  we’ll be going live at 10 p.m. Eastern. As always, be sure to hit refresh early and often to keep up with the latest happenings.

(Our thoughts exactly, Waachiim. PicProps: Strikeforce)

Without question, the most memorable part of Friday night’s Strikeforce  Challengers 12 broadcast came not from the fights, but during an unexpected television appearance by Strikeforce rules director Cory Schafer. After the tepidly anticipated bout between Marius Zaromskis and Waachiim Spiritwolf was declared a no contest when Zaromskis opened the first round with a flying finger to Spiritwolf’s eyeball, Schafer didn’t just afford himself well during his 30 seconds on camera with Mauro Ranallo, he owned it. In fact, immediately following five minutes of the Strikeforce announce team bitching about how no one understands the rules of MMA, Schafer gave the impression that he’d been waiting his whole life to come on TV and tell us all – especially Mauro – off about it.  Also, Strikeforce has a rules director. Who knew?

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC.com)

- KahLOne presents: Legend of Dragon and Tiger (thegarv)

– 7 celebrity TSA body scans (holytaco)

– Penn changing things up with new coaches for UFC 123 (mmafighting)

– What her Facebook photos say about her (mademan)

– Joe Lauzon seems really concerned about Sotiropoulos’ legwear (fightersonly)

– New Green Hornet trailer busts out Kato-Vision (screenjunkies)

– Like Velasquez, Swick won’t commit to picking Koscheck to beat GSP (Tatame)

– Martha Higareda gallery (tuvez)

– Yankees to offer Jeter more than fair (scoresreport)

– Forrest Griffin & Michigan football (youtube)

– Don Frye calls Brock an embarrassment (hurtsbad)

– Machida’s brother weighs in on Rampage match-up (gustavoblat)

– Yesterday’s episode of MMA Live (espn)

(If you can’t laugh at Jorge’s smiley-face-tie-tuxedo underwear, something’s definitely wrong with you. Photo courtesy of MMA Junkie.)

Alessio Sakara has been conspicuously silent about his health since dropping out of UFC 122′s co-main event. The American Top Team fighter was slated to take on Jorge Rivera, but instead pulled out just hours before the match due to "flu-like symptoms." So what was really going on with him? British MMA journalist Gareth Davies has a theory, which he shared on MMA Live:

"I have it on good authority that 8 or 9 days before bout was due to take place; Alessio Sakara was walking around at 220 pounds. He failed to show for the fighter workouts on the Thursday in Italy. He was walking around the fight hotel looking very gaunt and ghostlike. When you take that much weigh off, that quickly, it does bring on illness sometimes and I do fear this may have happened here with Alessio Sakara. And it doesn’t do him any favors with the UFC, I can guarantee you that."

Just a reminder that we’ll be streaming the UFC 123 weigh-ins today live from the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Check out the main card preview videos while you wait and the UFC media player of the weigh-ins after the jump.

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC.com)

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC.com)

If you aren’t familiar with the general consensus at CagePotato.com that when a fighter whose career has been sagging claims to be bringing back an incarnation of his or her former self, it’s usually bullshit and nine times out of 10 said fighter loses in dramatic fashion in their next fight.

Hopefully for Quinton Jackson’s sake there’s a loophole in the rule that says when a fighter’s trainer makes the comment, it doesn’t have the same repercussions or else he’s going to be in for a long (or short) night on Saturday night at UFC 123 against Lyoto Machida.

In an interview with MMA Fighting’s Mike Chiappetta Jackson’s new coach Lance Gibson says he is bringing back the old Rampage, only a new and improved version — so we’re not quite sure which one it is: the old one or the new improved one.

"I’m bringing back the old Rampage, but new and improved plus more," Gibson said. "The guy with takedowns, slams, punches, kicks. The man’s got vicious kicks and elbows, and nobody’s seen it yet because he had a manager and trainer who was just a boxer, and he got him in that state of mind. But now he’s ready to go."

"How did he do it?" you might ask. The answer is simple according to Gibson: he made training fun.

"The difference between last camp and this one is apples and oranges," Gibson told MMA Fighting. "His mentality, everything is superb. He’s having more fun, you notice he’s smiling more. He’s enjoying himself. He trained really hard for this fight and he’s excited to show it."

Translation: "We didn’t work him too hard and we didn’t push him during conditioning training, which he always says he has hated so don’t expect his cardio to be great for the fight."

(Shaq has always been a sucker for a guy in a Santa suit. PicProps: MMA Digest)

It was with bated breath a few months back that we brought you news that sleazebag promoter and World’s Greatest Dad Gary Shaw would soon be exploring new and interesting ways to get Kimbo Slice knocked the fuck out by transitioning the internet legend/UFC washout to professional boxing. Obviously, that has not happened yet and this week ESPN’s Dan Rafael got tired of waiting. Rafael reached out to Shaw with a courtesy “WTF” call this week and learned that The Sliceman’s pro punching debut has been pushed back to “the beginning of next year” because Kimbo is, uh, on vacation. Also, (and we hope we’re not reading too much into this) it sounds like Shaw is just a little bit pissed off about it.

"Right now he’s vacationing in Florida. He went home for Thanksgiving. His pro debut will be put off until at least the beginning of next year," Shaw says. "He needs more work and more sparring …  I had him in California sparring and in real training … He was given all the tools, but he continues to get offers from MMA and offers to be in movies and it’s hard to keep him focused on training camp. That’s the story more than anything else."

Although the promotion has only "officially" announced one of the match-ups for its annual New Year’s Eve extravaganza, the December 31 K-1 Dynamite! show, in Saitama, Japan, which may include at least two title fights, is looking pretty good so far.

K-1 announced today that DREAM featherweight champion Bibiano Fernandes will rematch Hiroyuki Takaya on the card and that it will be a five-round affair that will see the Brazilian defend his belt for the second time.

According to a Tatame story, Sengoku fetherweight champion Marlon Sandro is in negotiations to put his belt on the line against Japanese standout Hatsu Hioki at the event as well. Sandro says he has verbally agreed to the bout and is awaiting the contract to make it official.

("I’m actually preparing for my next movie role right now. It’s called ‘This Muhfucka Breff Stank: The Machida Story’." Props: twitter.com/danawhite)

With Bellator on hiatus, Friday mornings have gotten a little lonely around here. So I decided to reach out to Doug "ReX13" Richardson and see if he felt like reviving a classic feature on CagePotato, and engaging in some spirited debate on a few UFC 123-related topics that we didn’t get to cover in last week’s podcast. Will this be the beginning of a new era, or the raping of an old legacy? Read on and decide for yourself. And don’t forget to come back tomorrow night for our liveblog of Rampage vs. Machida!

Between Rampage, Machida, Hughes, and Penn, who would most deserve a title shot after a win on Saturday?

BG: Matt Hughes by a country mile. Hughes has already built up three-straight wins in his division — which sets him apart from the other headliners on the card who are all coming off of losses — and a win in his rubber match against Penn might generate interest in the revival of another big-money rivalry from the past: Hughes vs. GSP. (Yes, Georges would need to get past Josh Koscheck at UFC 124, but who are we kidding here?)

No matter who holds the 170-pound strap at the end of next month, it’s clear that the UFC’s welterweight division is short on exciting title challengers, while the light-heavyweight division almost has too many of them. Once the Mauricio Rua vs. Rashad Evans title scrap finally goes down, the winner of Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader could legitimately be slotted in for a shot ahead of Jackson or Machida. Meanwhile, a Hall of Famer like Matt Hughes making another unlikely title run would be a lot more compelling than Jon Fitch or Jake Shields getting their dutiful turns at bat. In fact, Fitch and Shields should have to fight each other to establish the UFC’s Alpha Blanket before either of them get a whiff of championship gold.

RX: Wow, really? Country Breakfast was the first guy I eliminated. His last win over a guy under thirty years old was five years ago, and he hasn‘t shown any interest in actually fighting top 5 fighters at 170. Both Hughes and Penn are looking to win this fight so internet assholes like ourselves don’t start saying they’re washed-up bums.

The Cyborg Family – Watch more Funny Videos

Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos and Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos — aka The Most Violent Couple on Earth — have been hard at work at their new Chute Boxe Team Cyborg gym, which they operate out of Cleber Luciano’s school in Huntington Beach. CagePotato West Coast correspondent Ruben Vera recently caught up with them to get an update on their lives inside and outside of the cage.

Neither fighter knows who their next opponent will be in Strikeforce, but they’re both training hard just in case an offer comes along. In a perfect world, Evangelista would get rematches with Gegard Mousasi and Melvin Manhoef. Cris doesn’t care who she fights because she doesn’t have anything personal against anybody — even Erin Toughill, who keeps calling her out. ("Even a bird can talk," Cris says.) Though she would be happy to go up in weight in fight Erin’s big ass, if it came to that.

As for their domestic life, Evangelista claims to do most of the cooking at home, and all of the cleaning. "Never clean!" Cris admits. In a fight between them, Cris would win because Evangelista would never hit a woman. On their iPods, Evangelista jams out to an audiobook of the Bible. Cris prefers "Waka Waka."

(Props: Strikeforce. For a larger version, go here.)

Junie Browning has a grenade tattooed on his hand because he could go off at any time. War Machine has an anarchy symbol on his hand because fuck a government. Waachiim Spiritwolf has a bear’s head tattooed on his hand because he’s a Native American warrior with excellent taste in body art. Marius Zaromskis is a strong favorite in their meeting at Strikeforce Challengers tonight — but you should never count out a man whose power-hand embodies the soul of an angry grizzly. That’s all I’m saying.

(Goodbye sweet princes. We hardly knew you.)

It looks like UFC 122 fighters Peter Sobotta and Goran Reljic are the latest casualties of the UFC’s new lose three fights in a row and you’re out policy.

Sources close to the situation revealed to CagePotato.com Thursday that Sobotta has joined Reljic (who fiveouncesofpain.com reported was fired by the Zuffa-owned promotion yesterday) on the unemployment line.

Both fighters lost their fights on Saturday night in Oberhausen, Germany, bringing their losing streaks to three apiece and prompting the UFC to release them.

Sabotta dropped unanimous decisions to Paul Taylor and TUF 9 winner James Wilks before losing in the same manner to TUF 7 winner, Amir Sadollah in his last bout in the Octagon.

Reljic’s UFC career was also spoiled by a trio of TUF vets including season 7 runner-up CB Dollaway and season 3 winner Kendall Grove. The loss to the latter prompted the Croation fighter to move back up to light heavyweight for his last fight with season 8 semi-finalist Krzysztof Soszynski, which he lost by unanimous decision on Saturday.

The 26-year-old won Fight of the Night honors in 2008 in his UFC debut in which he defeated Wilson Gouveia by TKO at UFC 84.

(Son may use Keith Hackney’s nut shots at UFC 4 to as a defense to explain his overactive libido.)

I’ve been following UFC fighter-turned type-casted actor Joe Son’s rape case for a while and had regular correspondence with the Huntington Beach Police Department over the past few months about the upcoming trial, but around the beginning of October I was passed on to the Orange County District Attorney’s office who I was told would be able to answer my questions from that point on as they had taken over the case.

I’m not sure why, but the OCDA’s office never returned a single one of my calls or emails, despite numerous attempts to get further info on Son’s case from them.

Today, I remembered that Son’s trial was to start some time in November, so I checked my notes and realized that it actually started two weeks ago on November 4. I had it incorrectly written down as starting on November 14.

Accessing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s website as I had several times over the past six months (and was able to do so as recently as three weeks ago) to see if there was any new info on Son’s case, I was surprised to find that his prisoner number showed no such person in the database and that there was no record that he ever existed in the system. 

I’m going to try to get in touch with the DA’s office to see what’s going on, but I found it kind of odd that nobody wants to divulge anything about the case and that he mysteriously disappeared from California State’s records.

In the meantime, for those of you who haven’t read the court’s synopsis of the case, you can read it after the jump.