("Baby, I just wanted to add you and the boys to my Fab 5. Here’s a diamond necklace for you to make this all go away.")

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is embroiled in a legal bout he may not be able to bob, weave and jab his way to judges deciding in his favor.

Pretty Boy Floyd has been ordered to stay away from his former girlfriend and their two sons after the boxer skipped a preliminary court hearing today in Las Vegas to answer charges that he hit his ex and threatened to beat decision his children if they called 911 on September 9.

The Justice of the Peace who was to preside over the hearing gave Mayweather one week to pay $31,000 in bail money or be sent to jail until it is determined if the case will go to trial.

In all, Mayweather faces eight charges including felony coercion, grand larceny and robbery, and misdemeanor domestic battery and harassment.

(Fight begins at the 1:12 mark. Props: ZProphet420 via Fightlinker)

During his long and storied career, Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa has made his reputation off fighting much larger opponents. The reigning Super Hulk champ‘s list of victims includes  Eric "Butterbean" Esch (400+ pounds), Giant Silva (385 pounds), Bob Sapp (340 pounds), Imani Lee (330 pounds), Hong Man Choi (320 pounds) and Jimmy Ambriz (285 pounds). On October 24th at Deep 50 Impact, Minowa was able to add another pudgy pelt to his collection — Chang Hee Kim, a South Korean 300-pounder who came into the fight with an 0-1 record. Would Minowa be able to overcome his opponent’s tremendous size and utter lack of skill, as he has so many times in the past?

Short answer: Yep. Kim shows a hint of capability in the beginning, defending a takedown attempt and sneaking in a knee from clinch. But once Minowa flips that big body over — very impressively, we might add — it’s pretty much a wrap. Minowa goes from mount, to side-control, to a slick little armbar-variation that he sets up with a kind of leg-crucifix. Proving once again, Minowaman ain’t gonna lose to no guy with titties.

(Ortiz and Liddell will settle their grudge once and for all on New Year’s Eve…OR WILL THEY?? / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle)

One of my weekly MMA must-reads is the "Sunday Morning Rumor Mill" column on MiddleEasy, which features a bunch of juicy stories that just might be true. In homage to our pals, we’d like to start a similar feature on CagePotato — except ours will work a little differently. Of the eight items you see below, seven have been pulled directly out of our asses. The other one is absolutely, positively, 100% true, and has been confirmed by inside sources. Which one is it? We’d rather not say, due to legal reasons. You’ll have to figure it out yourself…

– Vinicius Quieroz wasn’t the only fighter who was caught by the UFC’s independent drug-testing at UFC 120. There was a second guy who pissed hot for the same steroid, but the company decided to let him off with a private (but very stern) warning. Hint: Main card, but not main event.

– Arianny Celeste has been dating a former UFC fighter for the past year, but has kept the relationship hidden from the public, in order to protect the fantasy that she’s "available" to her fans. We can’t reveal her boyfriend’s name, but his initials are Tiki Ghosn.

We’re hoping we have another decent turnout for our live taping of The Bum Rush Radio Show Episode 10 today at 5:30 pm ET.

There are several ways that you can interact with us during the show, including chatting live with our editors and your fellow members of The Potato Nation or calling in to hear your regional cadence accentuated on the air.

Besides breaking down UFC 122 and 123, we will be giving away more CP T-Shirts and will be asking for input on a number of ideas we’re working on for the site.

To listen to the show when we go live, click HERE.

To call in, dial (724) 444-7444 and when prompted, enter id number 89629. 

Let us know in the comment section if there are any topics we should discuss during the show.

If you missed our first interactive episode last week, you can listen to it HERE.

Hope to see you all on chat tomorrow and to hear from at least some of you during the show.

(VidProps: YouTube/DragonMan34)

It takes a special kind of man to look at his own family – two daughters, son and wife/mother/diva – and think, “You know what would be good for us? Reality television.” Obviously, that kind of man is Antonio McKee. We all know McKee never saw a camera he wasn’t dying to hog and now that he’s finally about to make his UFC debut against Jacob Volkmann in January, we can only assume he thought it was a no-brainer to self-produce the above reality show “pilot” and release it to the Internets. That displays a brand of foresight, ingenuity and business savvy that few fighters have. It also shows a kind of shocking self-importance, even for a dude who could never be accused of modesty or discretion or even being able to tell a good idea from a bad one.

Then you watch nine-plus minutes of “The McKee’s Untamed” and you have admit: Damn, maybe he’s right. The McKee family is certainly just as entertaining as, say, the Osbournes or Kardashians or whichever bewigged aging rockstar VH-1 manages to dig up next. Actually, it doesn’t even take nine minutes. As soon as you hit the family introductions and see the low-budget glam shots of mother/wife/diva Jen (particularly the one of her holding that dagger … classy …) you’re hooked. By the time you get a load of Kenny, Antonio’s tatted-up “assistant/man nanny” it’s clear that what we have here is a crew of people with the wherewithal to shoot and edit a video of themselves, but absolutely no concept of whether or not they should shoot and edit a video of themselves. Next stop: Comedy gold.

 
("I can’t touch my head, see.")

Jeff Monson is getting too old for this shit and is ready to settle down.

"The Snowman," who turns 40 in January, tells the Miami Herald that at just 5′ 9" his chances of being a heavyweight champion weren’t great, so the Olympia, Washington native made the decision to drop down to light heavyweight for the remainder of his career.

Following his final heavyweight fight last weekend — a win over Travis Fulton Saturday night at Fight Time Promotion’s event in Pompano Beach, Florida — Monson (38-11), who walks around at just over 230 pounds, will now drop down to fight at 205 where he says he will have a distinct size and strength advantage over his opponents.

"Losing the weight is difficult, but I used to lose a lot of weight when I wrestled in college,” he said. "Instead of me being the small guy at heavyweight, fighting the 265 guys, maybe I won’t be taller, but I’ll be one of the biggest 205-pounders out there. When I climb into the cage I’ll be 230 again with all my power behind me. This will be a new bonus for me.”

4-0 in his last four outings, Monson’s first fight in his new weight class will come tonight when he takes on 3-4 Sergey Shemetov at Israel FC: Genesis in Tel Aviv. A win over a sub .500 fighter like Shemetov likely won’t earn him an invite from Strikeforce or the UFC, but it will prove if the weight cut will affect Monson’s conditioning, which has been questionable in some of his recent fights.

By CagePotato contributor Dan “siksik6” Teague

#8: Gray Maynard

When fans and fighters complain about wrestlers in MMA, they’re talking about Gray Maynard. He takes fighters down because that’s what he’s good at. In Maynard’s nine-fight UFC career, he has just one stoppage, a KO of Joe Veres over three years ago. He’s earned his title shot not because of his performances, but rather because what the hell else do you do with a guy who’s undefeated and has won eight straight fights, including one over the current champ? Cole Miller said it best: Taking people down should be a means to an end. Gray needs to start having some refs pull him off of people if he’s ever going to have any drawing power.

#7: Ben Askren

Ben Askren is just starting to make his way into mainstream MMA discussions. However, it’s not exactly a heralded arrival. The kid makes picking strawberries look like it belongs in the X Games. His last “stoppage” was a controversial sub over Ryan Thomas, who promptly and correctly displayed his best WTFIYP face. Before that it was a north-south choke over some guy you’ve never heard of in some organization you’ve never heard of back in August of ’09. For his last fight, in which he won the Bellator welterweight strap, he came about as close to finishing Lyman Good as I did. I was on the couch eating Mayfield Butter Pecan ice cream. It was delicious. As a title holder for an up-and-coming organization, Askren needs to show more of a killer instinct if he ever wants his fights to be broadcast by anyone other than Fox Sports South.

(Video courtesy YouTube/gregorybayne)

It looks like Jens Pulver has effectively answered the collective throng of reporters and fans who have been incessantly asking the former UFC lightweight champion if he will fight again by signing with the upstart CFX/Extreme Challenge promotion in Minnesota for one fight.

Pulver (22-14-1), who hasn’t won since 2007 when he defeated Cub Swanson at WEC 31, will take on Frank Johnson (8-4) December 11 at Target Center in Minneapolis.

According to promoter Gavin Rydell, Pulver is looking to rejuvenate his career by picking up his first win in more than six fights by beating the West St. Paul, Mn. native, Johnson.

"We’re really excited to have him up here fighting in Minneapolis," Rydell said. "He’s obviously a legend, one of the best ever. We’re honored to be able to see him fight here in Minnesota. It’s not every day that a UFC champion fights here. Jens wants to keep fighting, but he knows he needs a couple of wins to keep doing that. He hopes to start that here in Minnesota."

(Alexandre Ferreira vs. Lew Polley, 2/29/08. Props: YouTube.com/IFL)

At this Saturday’s UFC 122 event in Germany, four men will begin their journeys from UFC preliminary card prospects to…whatever they end up becoming. For example, our first-ever "New Guys" column included a unknown kid by the name of Jon Jones. Our most recent "New Guys" column included a guy who got beat up by Rob Broughton then fired for steroid use. So, there’s a pretty wide swing here in terms of potential success. Let’s meet the latest batch of Octagon newbies…

ALEXANDRE "Cacareco" FERREIRA (LHW)
Experience: 18-6 record dating back to 1998, with 17 wins by first-round submission, including victories over Heath Herring, Bob Schrijber, Branden Lee Hinkle, and Fabio Maldonado. Has made appearances in Rings, the IFL, and Jungle Fight, among other promotions.
Will be facing: Vladimir Matyushenko (24-5, 5-3 UFC)
Lowdown: A stocky fireplug of a man, the 31-year-old "Cacareco" began fighting professionally while still in his teens. Ferreira comes from a decorated BJJ/luta livre background, and his grappling accomplishments include a 2nd-place finish in the 2003 ADCC Absolute Division tournament, where he placed ahead of Fabricio Werdum, Marcelo Garcia, Saulo Ribeiro, Marcio Cruz, and Jeff Monson.

This Q&A on UFC.com reveals that Alexandre’s favorite striking technique is the "takedown" (!) so don’t expect the guy to do much standing and banging. When asked which college he attended, Ferreira responded "Unfortunately I could not go to college; my college was my survival as a human." He hasn’t competed since a 70-second kimura victory over Walter Mazurkievicz last October. Ferreira was supposed to face Jamal Patterson at "Shine Fights: Mayorga vs. Thomas" in May, but that event famously imploded at the last minute.

(Hominick has become a ground specialist and Roop has taken to kicking opponents’ heads off since they last both fought in the Octagon.)

It may not be the best compensation for the proposed UFC 125 bout with Jose Aldo he was forced to turn down due to a nagging hand injury, but Mark Hominick has his next bout lined up if he is healthy in time.

Heavy.com is reporting that "The Machine" will face "The Korean Zombie Killer," George Roop at UFC Fight Night 23: Fight for the Troops 2 January 22 at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas.

The fight will represent Roop’s second chance with the UFC since he was let go in 2009 after compiling a less than stellar 1-2 record in the Octagon fighting above his natural 145-pound weight class.

Since signing with the WEC, Roop is 1-1-1 sharing a draw with Leonard Garcia and most recently knocking out Chan Sung Jung with a well placed headkick in round two of their WEC 51 bout.

Hominick, who went 2-0 in his previous short-lived UFC career will be riding a four-fight winning streak into his return bout with the Zuffa-owned organization, which announced a week-and-a-half ago that it would be merging with the WEC.

(Celebrating 12 seasons of two faceless dudes fighting in a warehouse. PicProps: MMAOutsider.com)

Of all the things that consistently suck about “The Ultimate Fighter” – the repetitive plotlines, relentless douchebaggery of much of the cast and what feels at times like a conscious desire on the part of the editors to make everybody involved look as bad as possible, just to name a few — by far the most frustrating remains the show’s continuing unwillingness to reinvent itself. Aside from a couple of minor tweaks over its 12 seasons – one of which was, uh, this guy – fans have consistently been watching the same shit over and over again for the past five years. To say that the format has grown stale would be an understatement of Jake Shields-ian proportions.

That the show’s average viewership hasn’t dropped any lower than the approximate 1.5 million who currently tune in each week is certainly more of a testament to the loyalty of MMA fans than a reflection of quality programming. Even most of the people who (like me) still watch religiously admit that a lot of it is pretty god-awful. But to understand exactly why “TUF” insists on plodding forward from season to season with the mindless tenacity of a reanimated corpse, look no further than SpikeTV senior vice president Brian Diamond’s recent interview with MMA Junkie.

According to Diamond, “TUF” ain’t broken and he responds to the suggestion that maybe the show needs a facelift (actually, a complete body tuck would be better) by making some comparisons that are … well … totally fucking insane.

(He’s NOT crazy? Next you’re going to tell me that Koscheck isn’t an asshole.)

Well, Vyacheslav Datsik’s case took a bizarre turn last week.

According to Dagbladet.no, the Russian Neo-Nazi has now been granted asylum in Norway just weeks after representatives from the country’s immigration office announced that he would be sent back to his homeland to the mental asylum he escaped from before fleeing to the Northern  European country.

The latest development came as a Norwegian police psychiatrist ruled last week that Datsik is not insane as he was diagnosed as being by Russian prison psychiatric testing he underwent after being found guilty.

Because of the diagnosis, Datsik was never sentenced to jail in the former Soviet Union as he would be kept in the hospital indefinitely.

According to the report, officials in Norway say they will allow the former MMA fighter to stay in the country until they Russian authorities answer Datsik’s claims that he was purposefully misdiagnosed as being insane to keep him locked up because of his extreme racist Neo-Nazi leanings.

Ben Saunders Comes To Fight! First Win Post UFC – Watch more Funny Videos

Released by the UFC in August following back-to-back decision losses against Jon Fitch and Dennis Hallman, TUF 6 welterweight vet Ben Saunders returned to action this Saturday at World Extreme Fighting in Kissimmee, Florida, scoring a dominant first-round submission-via-strikes victory over Elijah Harshbarger. ‘Killa B’ was justifiably amped-up after the win, and spoke to our pal Remington Reed about the fight and his future goals. A couple highlights…

(Images courtesy of 62Gear.com. Click to see larger.)

Our dear friends at Six Deuce have come out with two eye-catching new t-shirt designs that we thought you should be aware of. On the left is the "Fall Seven," which pays tribute to a famous Japanese proverb. On the right is the "Muay Thai Arena" shirt, which is basically just two guys fighting. You want ‘em? Well, you came to the right place.

After the jump, you’ll find a photo of Alistair Overeem meeting a river horse at some sort of broke-ass Dutch petting zoo. Submit a clever caption to the pic in the comments section by this Wednesday at noon ET; we’ll pick our three favorites and post ‘em later that day. First place gets both new Six Deuce shirts plus a pair of their satin MMA fight shorts. Second and third place get their choice of one of the new shirts shown above. Sound good? Now go earn it. And check out the rest of Six Deuce’s MMA clothing and equipment at 62Gear.com!

("Did you not see the ‘No Solicitors’ sign?" PicProps: 360Fitness.Com)

At this point, it’s pretty hard to imagine Jorge Rivera as anything besides the grizzled 38-year-old MMA veteran who’s compiled 12 fights in the Octagon during an on-again, off-again seven-year career with the UFC. Maybe that’s why Rivera’s Sunday trip down memory lane with serious journalist Ben Fowlkes – which we’re led to believe is the first installment of a recurring series by MMA Fighting where fighters reflect on their first pro bouts – is so damned compelling.

Back in 2001, Rivera was just a wet-behind-the-ears 29-year-old when he showed up at a “Reality Superfighting” event called “Attack at the Track” in Chester, WV to make his pro debut against Hammer House competitor and future UFC washout Brandon Lee Hinkle.  Details on the exact location are sketchy, but from the clever name we can only assume the show took place at some kind of seedy dog/horse/stock car racing venue in a town boasting a population of 2,592, according to its own Wikipedia page. Sounds lovely.

"I really just wanted to know how good I was, because I honestly had no idea,” remembers Rivera, who’d had a couple amateur fights before turning pro. “It turned out the other guy was much better."

("I asked Scott Coker to find me a couple of cans, but this is ridiculous." Hi-yo! Rimshot! Goddamn it, I’m really sorry about that one, you guys … PicProps: CombatLifestyle)

So, let me get this straight: Herschel Walker’s opponent at next month’s Strikeforce show is a 40-year-old light heavyweight who took 10 years off from fighting to nurse a back injury and then in June got knocked out in the first round of his “comeback” fight at an event called “MEZ Sports” in Los Angeles? Well, that’s just super.

Look, I’ve got no beef at all with this dude Scott Carson. Frankly, if you’re an unknown fighter who gets offered the chance to take on a celebrity like Walker on the televised portion of a Strikeforce card, you pretty much have to take that deal. Hell, you might even win. Suffice it to say, however, that none of Carson’s previous five fights can be found on YouTube – probably because most of them occurred before YouTube was invented – and a Google search for his image only turns up a bunch of pictures of  the goalkeeper for West Bromwich Albion. So I have to ask: What are we really doing here, Strikeforce?  What do we hope to accomplish with this, besides the possibility of netting two or three minutes of airtime from Jim Rome or Colin Cowherd the week of the fight? I mean c’mon, even Kimbo Slice had the decency to fight people we’d sort of heard of before.

(See, 17 years later and Gracie still doesn’t know what Jimmerson’s strategy was. VidProps: Youtube/D3ck3r34)

In honor of the revelations this week that terrible strategist Art Jimmerson has once again obtained gainful employment with Zuffa, LLC., while notorious self-saboteur Gabe Gonzaga might be done with MMA entirely, we offer this retrospective on awful game-planning throughout the short history of our sport. Some guys – like Randy Couture – are considered master tacticians, poring over tape on their opponents in order to cook up just the right recipe for success. The guys on this list? Yeah, they’re not quite on that level.

Though there are clearly scads more examples, after the jump you’ll find our ideas for the most memorable strategic fails in MMA history. Some of these dudes? We’re not sure how they ever made it to the cage in the first place. Still others are respected veterans who just don’t seem to have a knack for planning their work and working their plans. Since we’re in a good mood, both Jimmerson and Gonzaga get a pass here, though Art’s one glove stunt surely deserves a place among the worst in-ring gambits of all time. What’s the No. 1 thing to take away from this list? Well, let’s just say if you come to a fight against Couture with a crappy game plan, that old sumbitch will make you pay. Believe that, player.

(Video courtesy YouTube/naturalbornfightertv)

-  British writer says Pickett could be the next Hardy or Bisping. Does that mean he’s going to get KTFO by an American? (cagewriter)

-  Due Date review (screenjunkies)

-  Training with Team Quest Okami says Sonnen is innocent (mmajunkie)

-  Click-A-Chick: Cristina Brondo, Brittany Barbour, Sofia Vergara, Pixie Lott, Ericka, & friends (bustedcoverage)

-  Jeremy Horn interview (whoatv)

-  Report: UFC 127 in Australia to host Condit-Lytle (yahoo!)

-  Chilean miner sings Elvis on Letterman (TuVez)

-  Weekend preview:  Drysdale and Saunders back in action (mmafighting)

-  Woman fined $1.5 million for downloading music illegally (mademan)

-  Velasquez adjusts to life as UFC champion (sportsnet)

-  Angie Sanclemente Valencia photos (holytaco)

-  Menjivar-Pickett on tap for WEC 53 (sherdog)

-  Cleveland’s response to new LeBron commercial (scoresreport)

-  A book of insults just for the UFC (cracked)

-  For (stuffed) colored girls (funnyordie)

-  The murse from TUF explains why he’s now famous (middleeasy)

- Maxim’s 5 favorite gifs for Friday (doubleviking)

(Video courtesy ESPN/MMALive)

Kenny Florian and Miguel Torres co-hosted last night’s episode of MMA Live and it was surprising to hear both fighters praise Zuffa for making the decision to merge the WEC and UFC brands.

The reality is that the promotion will likely not hold as many events per year as both organizations did in the past, so for both fighters to say that the move is a positive one is curious to say the least.

It’s understandable that Torres, who revealed during the show that he will face Manuel Banuelos at UFC 126, would be excited about the merger as will likely see more lucrative paydays and will get more mainstream exposure fighting on the bigger stage, but Florian doesn’t stand to gain much from the move. 

Not only will there be fewer slots on each card for him to potentially fight on with 20-plus, he will have to face an influx of tough fighters like Jose Aldo and Torres who will inevitably move up to lightweight in the future.

Also on the segment, Roy Nelson and his magnificent mullet discussed being called out by Brock Lesnar and his feelings on the fight, which he has coveted for some time.

Props to our buddies at TheCageDoctors for turning us on to Kathleen Tesori, a fitness competitor and spokesmodel from Salt Lake City who can currently be seen as a ring girl on MTV’s Bully Beatdown. Get to know Kathleen better on her website, and follow her updates on Twitter. And if you really want to be a pal, you can vote for her in the 2011 BodySpace Spokesmodel search.

After the jump: More hot photos, and a Muscle and Fitness video shoot that gives us a workout just watching it…

(There’s only one thing a male nurse hates worse than paperwork: Armenians. PicProps: MMAConvert)

Here’s one for all you morons who fire off those clever “If he doesn’t like it, he shouldn’t be a fighter!” message board posts every time a guy (or girl) utters a discontented word about payment, injury and/or the all-around shittiness of how MMA treats its athletes: “TUF 8” finalist Phillipe Nover is taking your advice. The kid Dana White once prematurely ejaculated all over by comparing him to Georges St. Pierre tells Sherdog this week that he’s taking a break from fighting in order to pursue the assumedly more lucrative, stable and less dangerous career as a technician in a cardiac lab at a hospital in New York.

It seems Nover – who at just 26 comes off as far, far too reasonable for the MMA industry here – would rather enjoy the perks of health insurance, a pension plan, a steady paycheck and the protection of his labor union than toil on the independent circuit after being cut from the UFC following his loss to Rob “The Lord of South County” Emerson at UFC 109. We know, what a pussy, right?

(Dida demonstrating the importance of good head movement.)

A shooting that took place a few weeks ago outside of a popular MMA gym in Toronto came very close to ending the life of K-1 and DREAM standout Andre Amade.

Both Dida and his brother Mauricio Veio were getting into the vehicle of a student to catch a ride home after class on the afternoon of October 20 when a gunman shot two rounds into the back seat of the SUV they were sitting in.

The popular trainer of UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua was grazed on the back of the head by one of the bullets while another student who was sitting beside him in the vehicle was hit in the arm.

Fortunately both men survived.

In spite of the ten staples he required to close the gash, Dida, who has since opened his own gym in Toronto is still planning to compete on Monday’s K-1 Max card against Hinata.

(Belts? We don’t need no stinking belts.)

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker mentioned in an interview this week that the winner of the December 4 light heavyweight bout between Dan Henderson and Renato Sobral will likely be next in line for a shot at the promotion’s 205-pound titleholder, Rafael Cavalcante.

Coker’s revelation seems a bit questionable considering Sobral, who defeated Robbie Lawler at a 195-pound catchweight in his last bout hasn’t fought at 205 for the promotion since losing his title to Gegard Mousasi in 2009 and Henderson, who lost to Jake Shields in a title bout in his Strikeforce debut hasn’t fought under the SF banner at that weight at all.

Regardless of whether or not he beats Henderson or earns a shot at his old belt, Babalu says he may not stick around at light heavyweight for long, revealing that he wants to go wherever there are challenging fights.

"I’m looking for challenges now. Belts don’t mean as much to me any more. I want good match-ups. That’s what keeps me motivated to fight. I’d like to fight maybe at heavyweight. It depends. It all depends on the opponents. If you give me good match-ups, I’ll fight at any weight," Babalu tells CagePotato.com. "I can go up and I can go down. If it’s a good bout for me and I say I want to fight that guy, I’ll move to the weight they’re at. I don’t have any preference. It’s not about weight classes; it’s about fighters."

Compared to TUF 12 good-guy Georges St. Pierre, Josh Koscheck certainly comes off as an asshole bully with the maturity of a fourth-grader. But as with all reality shows, there’s some creative editing involved to make the villain look even worse than he (or she) really is. What we saw on Wednesday night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter was Koscheck physically assaulting Brad Tate, then making snarky comments instead of actually apologizing. It turns out that a lot of important footage landed on the cutting room floor.

In the video above, we see that Brad Tate wasn’t just taunting Kos — he was also mocking the accents of the yellow-team Armenians. The fact that Tate was attacking his guys was what really set Josh off. Koscheck actually does make a heartfelt one-on-one apology to Brad, which ends with their beef getting thoroughly squashed. Before that even happens, Kos advises his team not to start any more trouble with Tate: "When you see him tomorrow, don’t say one word. Kill ‘em with kindness. Let me stand up for you guys. Let me look like the bad guy." It’s a moment that would have swayed sympathy toward Koscheck if it were included in the episode — unfortunately, it wouldn’t have fit into the show’s perfect Kos-as-heel narrative.

(Damn, Anthony, if you can’t get psyched around this crowd, we don’t know what to tell you.)

One day, mankind will realize that fighting is a counter-productive act, leading to only misery and division. Until then…

— Returning from his painful loss to Mirko Cro Cop in June, UFC heavyweight Pat Barry will step back into the Octagon against Joey "The Mexicutioner" Beltran at UFC Fight for the Troops 2. Beltran is also looking to get back to the W column, having dropped a decision to Matt Mitrione at UFC 119.

— Former WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres continues his path back to contendership against Antonio Banuelos at UFC 126 in February. Torres recently snapped a two-fight losing skid by choking at Charlie Valencia at WEC 51. Banuelos outpointed Chad George at the same event, and has won four of his last five.

Cain Velasquez on CP24 BreakfastTV – Watch more Funny Videos

While in Toronto for a media tour Thursday, UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez made some interesting and revealing roundabout comments regarding his American Kickboxing Academy teammate Josh Koscheck’s chances against the promotion’s welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre next month when the pair meet for the second time at UFC 124 in Montreal.

"[GSP is] one of the best out there. His style of fighting is strong and I think he is going to be the champion for a long time," Velasquez told the hosts of CP24 Breakfast. "But guys are always coming after him."

In Cain’s defense, he likely didn’t think Kos would see the show considering the interview took place at 4:00 am California time and it was aired by a local station in Ontario that doesn’t broadcast to the U.S.

Or maybe he’s been watching Josh crank the heel volume up to 11 on this season of TUF and is rooting for the French Canadian to teach his brash teammate some humility.

(War and his cellmate "Dana White" pose with a fellow inmate at the prison prom.)

Time sure flies when you’re not behind bars.

Here we are already at month four of War Machine’s county jail journey.

It seems like only yesterday, he was on the outside bar brawling and tweeting about his views of the world.

Now he spends his days reading, masturbating and playing scrabble with imaginary incarnations of UFC fighters and personalities.

Without giving away too much from the latest releases from his memoirs, War’s reaction to a victim of suicide he mentions in one of his two latest blogs was a bit off, but what else can be expected from a dude who tweets Dana White that he’s imagining him in his cell just before he rubs one out?

And we thought we were going to have a hard time getting back in The Baldfather’s good books.

Here’s what the new age philosopher formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver got into the past two weeks after the jump:

As Jason "Mayhem" Miller so loudly reminded us last week, the third season of MTV’s Bully Beatdown premieres November 4th. That’s tonight, guys. And they’re bringing out the big guns early — for the first time in the series, Miller will actually be fighting one of the bullies himself. (No, it’s not Nick Diaz.) As he told MMAGospel: "November 4 is the episode I fight. This wasn’t the plan originally but it came out so good that MTV decided to have it as the premiere episode. It’s on at 11pm EST. [Fans are] gonna see the biggest douche ever get beat the hell up by the coolest fighter ever."

Wait…so is Mayhem the "coolest fighter" or the "biggest douche"? I guess we’ll have to tune in and find out! As for the rest of the season, guest fighters include Eddie Alvarez, Tyron Woodley, Jeremy Horn, Nick "Afrozilla" Gaston, and Michelle "The Karate Hottie" Waterson. You can catch glimpses of them in the video trailer above. We can’t wait for the season finale, in which a chubby male nurse enlists the help of Georges St. Pierre to get revenge on the dye-jobbed asshole who’s been harassing him at work. It gets better, Brad!

EPISODE 9: BUSINESS AS USUAL from THE REEM on Vimeo.

The Reem Episode 9 is here and the latest segment does not disappoint.

The latest edition of the web-based Alistair Overeem mini documentary opens with Marloes Coenen receiving a hero’s welcome as she returns home to Holland for the first time since she won the Strikeforce women’s 135-pound title.

"I’m very proud, first of all. I know how hard she worked. She’s very dedicated. I knew she had it in her because she’s really strong and she’s really technical," Alistair explains. "Overall I’m very proud. Our Marloes. Our Marloes Coenen."

Golden Glory seems to be one of the tightest knit teams in MMA. It’s nice to see them giving their teammates the support that they do.

The episode also sees "The Demolition Man" attend the Glory MMA and kickboxing event to support his GG mates and beating the shit out of training with a group of friends from across Europe.

(Now seems like as good a time as any to start talking. PicProps: Squabbles.com)

Though his agent said doctors didn’t know the full extent of Shane Carwin’s injuries until after he went under the knife in Colorado this week, the surgery to repair “neck, back and nerve problems” on the UFC heavyweight contender was reportedly successful. The big guy will be able to get back to contact training in 8-12 weeks and is hoping to return to action in the Octagon sometime during the Spring of 2011, according to an MMAFighting.com story out on Thursday.

"It went as good as it could have, but it was worse than we thought it was, if that makes sense …,” said Carwin agent Jason Genet. “The doctor said he was surprised Shane could compete with the damage as it was, but with the surgery, there’s no reason he won’t be able to fight and possibly even perform at a higher level. Once Shane gets back into the motions, we think it’ll be relatively quick for him to get into fighting shape. He’s not a guy who has a lot of ring rust."

Let us say without a hint of sarcasm or snark that this is great news. After Carwin had to pull out of his UFC 125 fight with Roy Nelson many of us media types were worried how extensive surgery might affect the 35-year-old, 265-plus pounder. It’s good to hear such a positive prognosis. Now, let’s address the issue everyone has been thinking about whenever we read anything about Carwin during the last few months: When can we expect the statement he promised us on that whole steroid thing?