(Propers: YouTube/zikobeetlejuice)

Alistair Overeem clearly does most of the heavy lifting during the first two rounds of last night’s K-1 2010 World Grand Prix tournament final. After edging Tyrone Sprong via close(ish) decision in the quarterfinals and surviving a game but overmatched Gokhan Saki in the semis, the outcome is basically in the books for The Reem against 40-year-old Peter Aerts in the championship. As you can see in the above vid, Overeem is so sure he has Aerts down and out with a flurry early in the first round that he’s already standing on the ropes preparing to celebrate as the referee is issuing the count.

People who actually know stuff about K-1 contend Overeem was the odds-on favorite to win the GP anyway  – and indeed he looks like the smart choice in each of these three fights – but it’s still pretty damn impressive to see the erstwhile MMA fighter stalking down and roughing up these professional punch-fighters at what we’re led to believe is the highest level. When it’s all said and done, surprisingly quiet color commentator “King Mo” Lawal even proclaims Overeem “the combat sports athlete of the year, hands down.” Kind of hard to argue with that, after this display.

Overeem’s back-and-forth slugfest with Sprong and his bout with Golden Golory teammate Saki – which Michael Schiavello dubs “Kebabs vs. Horse Meat” – are obviously the better fights. Sprong appears to have Overeem’s number early (and we can’t help but notice that The Reem is kind of allowed to cheat his ass off in that one), while Saki comes out and tries to do some video game shit during their entertaining scrap. It almost works. Those vids are after the jump.

(Good ol’ Sean McCorkle. Trolling to the bitter end. / Photo courtesy of the UFC 124: Weigh In pics gallery on CombatLifestyle.com)

UFC 124: St. Pierre vs. Koscheck II goes down tonight at the Bell Centre in Montreal, and CagePotato will be liveblogging the pay-per-view broadcast beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.  To help get you in the proper spirit, Ben Goldstein and Doug "ReX13" Richardson have returned to squabble over all the important storylines. Does Josh Koscheck have any chance at an upset? Are UFC fighters becoming boring overall? Which of UFC 124′s lightweights are dead weight? Who gives worse gambling advice, Ben or Doug? Do us a favor and slog through this painfully long column, then let us know your own thoughts in the comments section.

Assuming we both think GSP is going to rout Josh Koscheck on Saturday, what does Koscheck need to do to earn your respect in this fight?

BG: Well, he’ll have to avoid getting finished, first of all–

RX: Word.

BG: –and he’ll have to win at least one of the five rounds. That doesn’t seem like a lot to ask–

RX: HA!

BG: –but nobody’s been able to take a round from GSP since — wait for it — Josh Koscheck kind-of won the opening frame of their first meeting at UFC 74, over three years ago. Seriously. If Kos can avoid a 50-45 shutout on all three judges’ cards or an ugly TKO loss, he will have done better than Matt Hughes, Matt Serra (in their rematch), Jon Fitch, BJ Penn, Thiago Alves, and Dan Hardy. That would be a hell of an accomplishment.

So how can he pull it off? Koscheck only holds one real advantage over the champ: Punching power, which he’s used to flatten guys like Yoshiyuki Yoshida and Frank Trigg. Kos just needs to stuff St. Pierre’s takedown once in a while, and then put his fist on Georges’s chin, as he so confidently promised on TUF. A hard shot, well-placed, will wobble GSP — maybe enough to allow Josh to score a takedown of his own. Obviously, I don’t see that happening consistently in the fight, but if it even happens once, I will lose my shit.

THE REEM EPISODE 11: READY FOR THE K-1 FINAL from THE REEM on Vimeo.

- Bas Rutten meets with Munchie the agent (atom)

- Hannah Montana takes a bong hit and gets even more annoying (tmz)

- UFC suing Ubisoft for trademark infringement (middleeasy)

- Tito and Koscheck twitter war (ug)

- McCorkle uses interview to try to find his next wife (heavy)

- The video that prompted the Tito-Kos Twitter War (mmamania)

- 12 reasons why Dabney Coleman is the greatest actor of any generation (screenjunkies)

- Koscheck vs. Askmen V2.0 (askmen)

- Duffee’s MMA return set (fiveouncesofpain)

- Howard Stern signs 5-year contract extension with Sirius (mademan)

- Helwani vs. Dundas: UFC 124 edition (versus)

- UFC 124by the odds (mmafighting)

- Irina Shayk gallery (tuvez)

- Rashad-Shogun on track for March (mmajunkie)

- 25 Christmas-themed horror movies (holytaco)

(VidProps: YouTube/DSSFight)

Gotta admit, this Jason “Mayhem” Miller is one crafty guy. Practically as soon as we hit “save” on our rant about how we’re sick and tired of all this Miller-vs.-Diaz nonsense, the guy releases the above video brilliance and – boom – we’re suckered right back in again. The Scrap Pack thought they were being clever with their little internet statement that made it look like it was Miller that wouldn’t fight Nick Diaz? Mayhem laughs in the face of your flawed rhetorical strategy, Cesar Gracie.

Count on the "Bully Beatdown" host to take tihings to the next level. Dude goes all political-smear campaign on us here and the results are pretty effective. Dig the subtle inclusion of Jared Shaw at the 19-second mark, among the montage of “wannabe gangsters.” That’s attention to detail, people. As for the footage of Diaz’s admission that he “can make 185” and wants “someone to offer me a fight” at the 23 second mark? Well, that’s just good shit. Your move, 209.

Just a reminder that we will have the live stream of the weigh-ins for tomorrow night’s UFC 124 event in Montreal today at 4:00 pm ET.

Tune in and see if Josh Koscheck tries to goad GSP into slapping him in the face with a glove or, if Stefan Shruve presents Sean McCorkle with a copy of the winning Photoshop contest entry or if Edith Labelle is being brought in from the stable for one last trot around the Octagon..

Whatever happens, the Canadian fans should make it very hard to hear what the hell Joe Rogan is screaming.

As always, the UFC media player is after the jump.

Man, did FEG fire all the guys responsible for their awesome posters of the past?  (PicProps:  K-1′s Official Site)

Heads up for those of you who forget such things: K-1′s World Grand Prix Finals are going down tonight/tomorrow/whatever in Japan, and will air live on HDNet Fights at 2am EST.  Eight heavyweights from six countries (including at least one guy you should damn well be familiar with) will meet to do bodily harm to one another in the name of entertainment, and to determine whom you would least like to meet in a bar while hitting on his girlfriend. 

A rundown of the brackets and the rest of the card are after the jump….

(Be sure to pick up Georges St. Pierre’s new training video: "How to Use Your Unbelievable Explosiveness and Superior Genetics to Win Any Fight." PicProps: MMA Mania)

File this under: Must be nice. You know that dude Georges St. Pierre? Yeah, the guy so naturally athletically gifted that he’s managed to teach himself to be one of the best wrestlers in MMA, despite having no formal background in it whatsoever? The most dominant welterweight fighter on the planet today? Turns out that guy doesn’t really think that lifting weights and/or doing cardio will help you in a fight. 

"I don’t believe in strength and conditioning,” St. Pierre tells stand-up comedian/color commentator/MMA political action director Joe Rogan this week on the UFC’s “Ultimate Insider” show. “I never do strength and conditioning. I do not believe that running on a treadmill or doing I don’t know what … I don’t believe that’s going to help you have better cardio for a fight.”

Huh. We’re going to assume that what St. Pierre means to say is that he prefers sport-specific training like sparring and grappling drills in order to build his MMA skills and endurance. Still, not to over-simplify the message here, but this sounds suspiciously like Georges St. Pierre is saying the way to succeed in MMA is just to be Georges St. Pierre. Also, let us say for the record that lifting weights and doing conventional cardio probably will help you if you are, you know, a normal person. If you’re a mild-mannered French Canadian cyborg whose three great joys in life are kicking ass, finely tailored suits and pool parties, well, maybe the laws of science and nature just don’t apply to you.

(
(Wait, you guys FIGHT in this thing?)

Earlier this week, Dana White mentioned that his promotion was in talks to add Japanese featherweight Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto to the mix of the UFC’s top notch 145-pound class.

Well, according to the UFC president, the popular 33-year-old Japanese fighter has come to terms with the Zuffa-owned organization.

White tweeted the news last night.

("Come on Josh, don’t be pissed at me. I said you’re ‘HALF A DICK,’ not a full on dick.")

Veteran UFC welterweight Phil Baroni stopped by The Bum Rush Radio Show this week and while he was here he gave his thoughts on this weekend’s heavily-anticipated welterweight title bout between his American Kickboxing Academy teammate Josh Koscheck and dominant champion Georges St-Pierre.

Baroni took issue with Ben’s assessment that St-Pierre will be able to take Koscheck down at will en-route to a late submission victory.

"I disagree — not just because we’re friends. Koscheck’s the better wrestler. It’s not gonna come down to striking at all. I don’t think Koscheck needs to land a big shot to win the fight. Koscheck’s a better wrestler. He has a much better pedigree. GSP has a double-leg tackle — that’s about it," Baroni explained. "He’s more of a jiu-jitsu guy and I don’t see him getting on top. Koscheck’s gonna have to control where the fight goes and beat him in a wrestling match. If he does that, he’s gonna win the fight. GSP is mentally weak. He’s a great athlete, he’s got a huge gas tank, he’s strong, he’s fast, but between his ears, there’s a little bit of softness. I think if comes down to a gut-check, Koscheck will take care of him."

Realizing that we forgot to touch on UFC 124 on last week’s episode of The Bum Rush, we put together a pretty decent little show for this week, which although it clocks in at just over 30 minutes, is packed from top to bottom with goodness.

In this episode, which could be argued is our pound-for-pound best, perennial Potato Nation favorite, Phil Baroni stops by to talk about a number of topics, including his upcoming UFC 125 bout with Brad Tavares, the fact that he’s one of the last old school brawlers and his thoughts on his American Kickboxing Academy teammate Josh Koscheck’s championship bout with Georges St-Pierre Saturday night.

Stefan Struve also checks in with the guys to discuss his online rivalry and UFC 124 heavyweight scrap with Sean McCorkle, how he got his start as a fighter, which fighter he looked up to growing up and much, much more.

If you don’t have iTunes you can download the show HERE.

If you haven’t done so already, please subscribe to the show on iTunes and spread the word about our marginally entertaining and somewhat informative Friday time wasting show.

As always, we appreciate any input — good or bad — about the show. Let us know if there are any segments or MMA personalities you want to see on future episodes.

("Just a backpack full of shit I killed. No big deal." PicProps: Sherdog)

In the immediate aftermath of Brock Lesnar’s soul-shattering beatdown at the hands of Cain Velasquez at UFC 121, Dana White went on TV and wagered that Lesnar might call off much of his previously scheduled vacation time in favor of getting back in the cage. That’s just the kind of no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners SOB that Brock Lesnar is, Our Fearless Leader told us, sounding certain the big guy would want to wash the taste of defeat out of his mouth as soon as possible.

Instead … cue the crickets … because aside from some pics of him posing alongside a freshly smote whitetail, we haven’t heard boo from Brock since then. What with the UFC’s 2011 cards already filling up into March and the heavyweight division devolving into chaos around our very ears, our pals at MMA Fighting.com got a little antsy and decided to start asking the tough questions. Turns out Big DW hasn’t heard from Lesnar lately.

(Video courtesy BREAK/UFC.com)

If you missed the Countdown to UFC 124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck show on Monday, we got you covered.

One of the most intriguing parts of the St-Pierre-Koscheck segment of the show came courtesy of Kos’ ex-college wrestling coach who said that the American Kickboxing Academy-trained fighter’s assholish persona is not an act. According to the coach, Koscheck who was not well-liked by his college teammates once nearly came to blows with a fellow wrestler in the change rooms and was known as a bit of a loner. He said that he didn’t bat an eye at the way his former charge was portrayed on The Ultimate Fighter, because he remembers him being a bit of a dick.

We’ll have more on Koscheck’s abrasive personality from his AKA teammate, Phil Baroni on tomorrow’s UFC 124 edition of The Bum Rush. 

It’s also worth noting from the countdown show that Koscheck, who was involved with Bobby Southworth in taunting that "fatherless bastard" Chris Leben on TUF 1 was raised very modestly by a single mother and seems very bitter as a result. Maybe Josh just needs a good hug to make him stop being such a prick. Too bad he says he’ll never fight Jon Fitch.

Check out the rest of the countdown videos after the jump.

(We were going to make a joke about how we were not impressed by your pool party performance, but we can’t lie. Totally impressed. PicProps: The Dragon Zone)

As of this writing, Josh Koscheck is set to go off as a 3-1 underdog in the UFC 124 main event, according to most odds makers. Suffice it to say, the guy is not the popular pick among fans or media types to defeat Georges St. Pierre when they climb into the cage this Saturday. With good reason: We’ve already seen this fight once before at UFC 79. St. Pierre won in fairly dominant fashion and went on to amass a seven-fight win streak, erasing any doubt as to who is King Shit of Fuck Mountain at 170-pounds. We have no real reason to believe this bout will be any different. So why am I not 100 percent confident? Because I’m the kind of pessimistic son of a bitch who always fears worst, that’s why.

Also, there legitimately are some things that I find troubling just days before this fight. Here are five of them  …

(Video courtesy YouTube/Bosh4ffl)

Just a friendly reminder that we will have the feed of today’s UFC 124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck press conference from Montreal which will go live starting at 1:00 pm ET.

Will Josh Koscheck stop being a dick long enough to show an ounce of due respect to his opponent prior to their fight?

Will GSP let his guard down and tell Josh to go f*ck himself with a bottle of maple syrup?

Will Sean McCorkle attain Chael Sonnen’s title of best smack talker in the UFC?

All of these question and more will be answered this afternoon.

As always, the UFC media player is after the jump.

(Yeah, I can see Duffee being testosterone deficient.)

According to a story in the most recent edition of Dave Meltzer’s F4WOnline newsletter, only two fighters have received approval in Nevada for testosterone replacement therapy and one of them is 24-year-old brick shithouse, Todd Duffee. The other one is 40-year-old former PRIDE champ Dan Henderson.

On an unrelated note, besides getting older, MMAJunkie’s resident medical expert, Dr. Johnny Benjamin pointed out this week that one primary cause of abnormally low testosterone levels in otherwise healthy males is prolonged steroid use.

Meltzer says that only one fighter has received medical clearance for his use of testosterone replacement in California, but CSAC would not reveal the name of the fighter whose name rhymes with Stan Menderson.

(Kirby will likely be making license plates for the next 13 years.)

The 53-year-old two-time drunk driver accused of causing the death of TapouT co-founder Charles "Mask" David Lewis Jr. was found guilty by a jury yesterday of one felony count of vehicular manslaughter by unlawful act with gross negligence while intoxicated and a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury.

Lewis died in the March 2009 crash that split his Ferrari in two.

Jeffrey David Kirby of Costa Mesa faces up to 13 years in state prison when he is sentenced February 4 in Santa Ana, Calif.

("There is only four things I not like in this world. One is Justin Bieber; the other three is Chael Sonnen.")

At the tail end of Chael Sonnen’s exclusive post-CSAC hearing interview he did with Mike Straka last week, the former UFC number one middleweight contender told the HDNet reporter that he knew what was up next for him, he just couldn’t say because it was "a secret at this point."

Now I may be reading into that statement and the fact that Sonnen has been hellbent lately on calling out Wanderlei Silva at every turn, but if I had to wager a guess as to what the UFC had on tap for "The Most Interesting Man in the World" it would be a TUF coaching slot opposite "The Axe Murderer."

Sure the season would require subtitles pretty much every time Wand opens his mouth, but they had to do the same with the Brits on the USA vs. UK season, so it’s not like that will turn away viewers, especially when you have as polarizing of a persona as Sonnen opposite him.

I interviewed Chael prior to his fight with Nate Marquardt and he was unusually complimentary of his opponent. When I asked him why, he told me that he basically wasn’t in character yet that far out from the fight and that if I called him a few weeks before the fight he’d be on his game. He also said that it’s tough to smack talk a guy he likes like Marquardt.

To me, that says one of two things about the Wanderlei Twitter assault he launched the day after his CSAC meeting using his account which has been inactive since the news of his positive drug test hit and which he used to repeatedly roast Anderson Silva and his manager, Ed Soares leading up to his last fight: 

He must really want a fight with Wand.

or

He must already have a fight with, or a slot on TUF coaching opposite Silva lined up.

Here’s the backstory and the evidence that prompted my educated guess after the jump:

This Saturday, after a season of TUF that saw Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck grow to like each other even less than they already did, the two welterweight stars will square off in the main event of UFC 124. St. Pierre will be attempting to make his fifth-consecutive title defense; GSP has been involved in 10 title fights in his UFC career, but this is just the first for Koscheck.

As you’re probably aware, St. Pierre and Koscheck squared off once before, in the co-headlining match of UFC 74 back in August 2007. St. Pierre had just lost his belt to Matt Serra in a monumental upset. Koscheck was riding a five-fight win streak, and had out-pointed Diego Sanchez four months prior.

Since that night, George St. Pierre has been undefeated and untouchable in six contests, flawlessly sweeping out the 170-pound division. Koscheck has gone 6-2, taking out some tough opponents in impressive fashion, but getting smacked down by a couple of Brazilians. And now, St. Pierre and Koscheck are going at it again. Which means it’s time to re-watch their first fight and see if we can get any perspective on this thing. Let’s begin…

(Someone is coming out of this fight with new war wounds.)

It looks like Diego Sanchez broke his promise and will be staying at welterweight, at least for the time being.

Sanchez will take on Martin Kampmann in the main event on March 3 on the next UFC on Versus card. CagePotato.com was able to confirm the initial report with sources close to the fight who indicated that bout agreements have been received and they are in the process of signing.

Coming off of a decisive unanimous decision victory over Paulo Thiago at UFC 121 in October, Sanchez, who alongside Forrest Griffin was one of the two winners of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter as a middleweight, dropped down to lightweight in 2009. After running through the division and securing a title shot against then-champion, BJ Penn, Sanchez was dominated for five rounds by "The Prodigy" before being stopped via a cut at the midway point of the final frame.

After the bout, Sanchez decided that a move up to welterweight would likely be a more expedient route to a second shot at UFC gold considering the lineup forming behind Penn, so he took a tune-up fight against up-and-coming undefeated Brit, John Hathaway. The fight proved to be tougher than Sanchez anticipated as he was handed a loss by "The Hitman" who threw a wrench into his welterweight plans.

Now "The Nightmare" will have to avoid the crosshairs of another "Hitman" looking to climb the welterweight ranks by beating him.

(Hearing that punching him in the face is becoming so popular, Bisping wants to see what all the fuss is about. PicProps: Sherdog)

OK, quick show of hands: Are there any resurgent UFC middleweights out there who don’t want to fight Michael Bisping? C’mon guys, anybody? … Anybody? This is going to be a problem.

Granted, you don’t have to hang around Bisping very long to understand why he’s considered one of MMA’s most-punchable faces, but it still strikes us as odd that the former “TUF” winner has suddenly become the go-to guy for 185-pounders who want to make a name for themselves. In just the last month or so, Alessio Sakara, Jorge Rivera and Demian Maia have all publicly stated their desire to fight Bisping. The Brit is so sought-after in fact that his potential suitors are now arguing amongst themselves about who should get the first chance at him. Case-in-point: After Maia told GracieMag.com following last weekend’s win over Kendall Grove that there was talk of a potential bout between himself and Bisping, Rivera’s manager essentially told Maia to step the fuck off on Wednesday.

(Seriously, Nick, nobody wants to see this happen.)

After conceding earlier this week that a much anticipated bout between his protegee, Nick Diaz and the Stockton fighter’s nemesis, Jason "Mayhem" Miller will likely not happen, Cesar Gracie has turned his sights on another opponent for his charge to fight next.

In an interview he did this week, Gracie revealed that he is making a case for a Diaz-Paul Daley match-up and that they could be ready in a month if Strikeforce will put the fight together.

"I would take that fight right now for January," Gracie said.

As far as the fight with Miller not going down, Gracie, who points out that moving up to middleweight to fight a fighter who isn’t ranked in the top ten by any outlets would be a lose-lose situation for Diaz, says that the blame should rest squarely on the shoulders of Mayhem.

("That’s what I thought, bitch!" Photo courtesy of the Kazushi Sakuraba – Laughter 7 Facebook page)

As first reported by MMA Junkie, Japanese MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba will return to action on New Year’s Eve at Dynamite!! 2010, where he’ll challenge Marius Zaromskis for DREAM’s welterweight title. Though the 41-year-old vet has generally competed as a middleweight, he’ll be dropping to the lighter division following back-to-back losses against Ralek Gracie and Jason Miller. 

The match will also serve as a comeback attempt for Zaromskis, who’s coming off of a disastrous Strikeforce run this year which saw him suffer first-round knockouts against Nick Diaz and Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, then eye-poke his way into a six-second no-contest against Waachim Spiritwolf last month. Zaromskis went 4-0 under the DREAM banner in 2009, with three of those wins coming via head-kick knockout.

As of now, the only other fights booked for this year’s Dynamite!! card are a featherweight title fight between Bibiano Fernandes and Hiroyuki Takaya, and a lightweight feature between Josh Thomson and Tatsuya Kawajiri. Shinya Aoki, Melvin Manhoef, and Gegard Mousasi are also reported for the event, but their fights haven’t been finalized. But hey, the show’s not for another three weeks. Plenty of time.

("This thing used to be alive! LMFAO!" More Brock Lesnar hunting photos at Sherdog.)

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…

- Five Lessons: Strikeforce vs. UFC (Versus MMA Beat)

- Georges St. Pierre: Emphasis in Camp Was on Finishing Josh Koscheck (MMA Fighting)

– "When the Pitbull Bites" – Thiago Alves Documentary/Highlight Video From KahL-One (MMA Scraps)

- Jim Miller Is Patiently Waiting For His Shot (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Maia, Bonnar Lead TUF 12 Finale Salary List (MMA Convert)

– James Toney Calls Out Rampage Jackson by Claiming He’s a ‘Black Redneck’ (MiddleEasy)

– Exclusive Interview: George Sotiropoulos ‘Moving in the Right Direction’ Heading Into Fight With Dennis Siver (LowKick)

– Season-Winner Jonathan Brookins Tops List of TUF 12 Finale Suspensions (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Behind the Lens: Vitor Belfort (FightMagazine)

– SB Nation Exclusive: Stefan Struve Talks Path To UFC, Sean McCorkle And St. Pierre vs. Koscheck (SBNation.com/MMA)

(Hopefully somebody Rangers Up soon.)

According to a report from FiveOuncesofPain.com, Strikeforce middleweight contender Tim Kennedy is having a hell of a time finding an opponent for his next fight.

The 12-3 retired Army Ranger who last fought and lost by decision to Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza for the Strikeforce middleweight strap four months ago was offered two opponents for last weekend’s Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu event, but both declined the fight, leaving Kennedy in the lurch.

“I said yes to two different names for the December 4th card but both guys turned down the fight,” Kennedy explained. Though the humble 31-year old did not reveal names, he did explain he’s being proactive about the situation – a quality [that] likely serv[ed] him well throughout his decorated military career.

(Dude. Yikes. Photos courtesy of UFC.com)

Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve just received word that Cody "The French Revolution" McKenzie has agreed to take on Yves Edwards at UFC Fight for the Troops 2 on January 22nd, after Edwards’s original opponent was drafted for the main event. (It should be noted that Edwards has never lost by guillotine choke in 56 career fights.) McKenzie’s big return made us wonder — what does the future hold for the other winners of last Saturday’s UFC event? Well gather around, kids, and we’ll tell you what should happen…

Jonathan Brookins: You know how this works. In his first post-TUF outing, Brookins needs to be built up against a relatively established vet who happens to be vulnerable against his skill-set. So, who’s a chokable, lateral-droppable lightweight who you’ve heard of, but who doesn’t have the kind of striking skills that will make Brookins look foolish? Huh. That actually doesn’t leave a lot of options among the UFC’s current roster.

This is going to sound random as hell, but I think the UFC needs to bring back Matt Veach. Though the H.I.T. Squad fighter was released by the UFC earlier this year after consecutive losses to Frankie Edgar and Paul Kelly (both by submission), he’s gone on to win three straight in smaller promotions; he was also undefeated before he came to the UFC, scoring stoppages in nine out of ten fights. I think we all want to see Brookins developed slowly in winnable matchups; still, Veach is far from a pushover.

(Who’s to say what ‘Octagon control’ means, anyway? PicProps: UFC.com)

Among the warning signs that you may have won a bullshit decision, we’d think that A) The company being so unhappy that it decides to pay the other guy his win bonus anyway and B) A resulting internet beef on the subject between the top athletic official in Nevada and a shoot-from-the-hip stand-up comedian would both be pretty high on the list. That is to say nothing of the chorus of boos from the live crowd and your own trainer shrugging at you like “We’ll take it, dude,” in the cage after the announcement of the verdict. On their own, any one of those things would be bad enough, but together they make Leonard Garcia’s split decision victory over Nam Phan from last weekend look like an open-and-shut case of judging incompetence.

At the time even Garcia — who seems like a totally likable guy, by the way – admitted during his postfight interview that he didn’t think he deserved to win. Given a day or two to think about it however, he now tells MMA Fighting.com that after sitting down with Phan to watch the fight (awkward!) and then viewing it “approximately 15 times” since, he’s changed his mind. You know what? Fuck it, Garcia thinks he won that bad boy.

(The Octagon will touch down for the first time in Toronto in April.)

During a press conference in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre today, UFC president Dana White announced that the promotion will make it’s first foray into Ontario when it hosts UFC 131 in the city on April 30 at the Rogers Centre.

Although no match-ups were revealed for the spring card, but White may have thrown out a clue about one possible participant of the event during the presser when he reiterated his statement that UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre is the most popular athlete to come out of Canada.

White also announced that the city will also be treated to a UFC Fan Expo that weekend and that the event will be held at the Direct Energy Centre. CagePotato.com is in the process of planning a booth for the show to try to eclipse the popularity our extremely popular Boston UFC Fan Expo spot.

(Props: volton via MMA Scraps)

From dramatic come-from-behind victories to face-plant knockouts to completely unexpected upsets, MMA in 2010 was as entertaining as it was shocking. This brand-new new highlight video serves as a good reminder of how crazy things got, even if it seems to focus only on stoppages. (Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung, Megumi Fujii vs. Zoila Frausto, and the Penn vs. Edgar double-header were as notable as any other fights this year, but they don’t get any screen time here.) Let us know your favorite moment from the compilation — and what else you think should have been included.

("The Promise" and "Killer Bee" will clash down under.)

CagePotato.com has learned from a source close to the fight that a middleweight bout between The Ultimate Fighter 11 standout Nick Ring (10-0) and Kazuo Misaki’s Grabaka teammate, Riki Fukuda (17-4) has been signed for UFC 127 February 27 in Sydney, Australia.

The fight will be the first for Ring since the undefeated Canadian notched a majority decision win over eventual TUF 11 winner Court McGee while filming the show in January. After the bout, Ring, who had been competing with a lingering knee injury, was forced to pull out of the competition due to a torn ACL which would require surgery. The favorite to win the competition, the 30-year-old has been rehabbing the joint since having it surgically repaired in April and has been training in Montreal at Tristar Gym with fellow UFC fighters, welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and longtime training partner Rory MacDonald.

Fukuda, who, like Ring,  will also be making his Octagon debut at the event down under, is the DEEP middleweight champion and has not lost since 2008. An EliteXC and DREAM veteran, his most notable victory is a unanimous decision he won over Murilo "Ninja" Rua at DREAM 8 in 2009. The 29-year-old native of Tokyo who has only been finished once in his career surprised many when he took veteran Joe Doerksen to a decision in his first bout in 2004.

(The best bodyguards are the ones that just look like random fat guys. Photo courtesy of Kenny Florian’s Facebook page.)

We’ll let Kenny break the bad news himself:

It is with deep regret that I will not be able to compete in my scheduled fight against Evan Dunham on January 22nd, due to a knee injury I sustained during training this morning. Although I have not had an MRI as of yet; the doctors are cautiously optimistic that it will not require surgery. I want to express my sincere apologies to the fans, the UFC and Evan for not being able to compete at UFC Fight Night 23: Fight for the Troops 2. Since early September, I have been training for this fight. Evan is a great fighter and has undoubtedly been working very hard towards this fight as well. Plus, it is a big disappointment that I will not be able to fight in the octagon for the brave soldiers that fight for us. I am determined to return to the octagon in the first half on 2011. Accordingly, I will keep you all updated.

The Fight for the Troops 2 main event was to be Florian’s return to the cage after his tough unanimous decision loss against Gray Maynard in August. Dunham most recently dropped a controversial split-decision to Sean Sherk at UFC 119 — but luckily, he already has a replacement opponent lined up for January…