Chael Sonnen only did one interview following his hearing with the California State Athletic Commission, (which is said to have been set up for weeks) with HDNet’s Mike Straka which appeared on Friday’s episode of Inside MMA.

During the segment, Sonnen said that he basically paid the issue no mind as he was dealing with the much bigger issue of getting his name cleared in the real estate issue that forced him out of the Oregon State political race this year.

"A commission is a pretty small entity, but a commission has a lot of power over a guy like me. I hadn’t really dealt with this matter until today. I had a team of lawyers [do it for me]. I’ve been dealing with the federal government all the way dating back five years ago, which interfered with a campaign I had for public office," Sonnen explains. "That’s where my attention has been. I’m getting really close to reaching a deal with the federal government on that issue. That’s where my focus has been. The lawyers handled things and business went well today."

When asked by Straka how he intends to deal with those who don’t buy his story, Sonnen stated simply, that he doesn’t have any plans to entertain the notion that he cheated, regardless of who is asking about it.

"I don’t plan to deal with it at all. I don’t know really anybody that thinks I was on steroids and if they do I wouldn’t offer an explanation or an apology," he says. "The facts were the facts and that’s it. That was between me and the commission and we dealt with it."

(Props: WorldMMAawards)

Remember when we told you that the Fighters Only World MMA Awards were last Wednesday on Versus? Well, what we meant was that the live online broadcast was happening on Versus.com, and the actual Versus television broadcast is this Thursday at 10 p.m. ET. (I know, we’ve done a great job of promoting it so far.) Even if you have no intention of tuning in, you may want to check out these sort-of-funny promo skits starring MMA fighters, which has become an annual tradition for the show. In the above clip, Randy Couture visits the Pawn Stars gang to get rid of some used property. Yeah, it’s kind of awkward when he sells Natasha Wicks into white slavery at the end, but come on, "eight year abs" is a good one. Ah, what do you know from funny, ya bastards.

After the jump: Find out what happens when a guy known for a hilariously thick New York accent tries to play a Texan. Plus: Amber Nichole Miller‘s heaving chest saves a "Shake Weight" parody from total failure, and Wanderlei Silva gets in touch with his warm-hearted bow-tied side.

(Props: ‘caposa’ on the UG)

Today’s GIF party features a couple of animated highlights from the TUF 12 Finale‘s unaired prelims, as well as the Spike broadcast. First up, the night’s only knockout — Pablo Garza’s flying-knee-KO of Fredson Paixao, which came just 51 seconds into round one and scored Garza a $30,000 Knockout of the Night bonus. As if the KO wasn’t impressive enough, check out Steve Mazzagatti flying in from 15 feet away to tackle Garza before he makes Paixao’s concussion any worse than it needs to be. 

After the jump: The "Pace choke," the McKenzitine, and the stunned expessions following Phan vs. Garcia.

(Video courtesy Vimeo)

Do you ever see or hear something and say, "Man, that has to be a joke," and then you find out to your surprise that it’s legit and still think it’s fake?

About a year ago, I stumbled upon this Saturday Night Live-esque video and archived it, knowing that it likely wouldn’t last long when the MMA messageboard jackals got a hold of it.

Anyway, the guy in the self-aggrandizing UFC audition tape above, JayT, is apparently gunning to be the next Joe Rogan or Ariel Helwani and is calling himself "Canada’s premiere mixed martial arts interviewer and host," despite never having interviewed a fighter or MMA personality. 

(If this fence wasn’t here, Nick Diaz would be in *trouble.* Pic Props: ProMMANow)

It started out funny, quickly got silly and the latest news out of the Jason “Mayhem” Miller vs. Nick Diaz tiff just makes us feel tired and sad and a little bit annoyed. The weirdly unclickable GracieFighter.com – which according to its own time sigs has been updating its news section about once a month since Jake Shields beat Martin Kampmann back in October – posted an update on Sunday so spinny that it reads like an out-of-work Republican political strategist wrote it after a couple cocktails. Essentially the website is taking it upon itself to call off any potential fight between Diaz and Miller, which – as far we knew – wasn’t happening anyway. It’s probably best if we just let you read it in its entirety but don’t worry, the Gracie camp wrote it, so it’s pretty short.

(Video courtesy BREAK/SportScience)

If you watched Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu this weekend and read any of the ensuing commentary on MMA websites and messageboards, by now you have digested a lot of talk about the weak chins of fighters like Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Scott Smith, Mike Kyle and Matt Lindland.

Some writers and posters even went so far as to call for their retirement, as if they have any say in the matter.

If a fighter’s health is at risk, either long or short-term, then I’m all for them hanging up the gloves, but it isn’t up to anyone but them to decide when that time is.

As far as the uninformed opinions that a fighter’s "KO button" is easier to push or that his chin is weaker as a compound result of multiple knockouts incurred over the span of his career, both are fundamentally incorrect.

(Apparently, leaving your face open for repeated blows means you’re "dictating the action." Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

So another Leonard Garcia fight is in the books, which means it’s time to ask the judges, once again: Are you guys totally blind, or just legally blind, so that, you know, you can make out shapes and degrees of light, that kind of thing?  

Garcia’s split-decision victory over Nam Phan at Saturday’s TUF 12 Finale elicited immediate chants of "Bullshit!" from the Las Vegas fans, as well as a lengthy anti-NSAC rant from Joe Rogan. Did the judges see something we didn’t? Am I just biased by the fact that Phan is a likable underdog, and Garcia’s striking is an aesthetic nightmare that I can’t stand watching?

Well, no, as it turns out. According to FightMetric’s report on Phan/Garcia, the match should have been scored a 30-27 for Phan based solely on statistical effectiveness. Phan landed more "significant strikes" in every round, with only the first round being close (33-30 significant strikes in Phan’s favor). The second round was an obvious runaway for Phan (34-13 in the s.s. department, with a brief knockdown via side-kick) and the third was also a clear win for Phan (35-21). The only advantage Garcia had was his two takedowns (one apiece in rounds 2 and 3), neither of which led to any real damage.

(Props: MMA Weekly)

Can’t exactly blame Stephan Bonnar for showing up at the postfight press conference of the “TUF 12” finale this weekend looking like the cat that ate the balding, 6-foot-tall Croatian canary. Something tells me Bonnar isn’t great with secrets, but leading up to his co-main event bout with Igor Pokrajac he did a pretty good job keeping a lid on the fact he wasn’t going to go out there and fight like the same, old swing-for-the-fences “American Psycho” we’ve all come to know, love and worry about. Nope, Bonnar looked every bit the smart and savvy vet in there on Saturday and the result was a unanimous decision win. Weird, huh?

“Everyone expected me to brawl,” says a half proud, half sheepish Bonnar in the above vid. “I knew what I was going to do, but I kind of let on that I was going to brawl. I feel sneaky, I feel surreptitious. It feels good, though. I felt a little guilty out there for not going toe-to-toe but hey, I got the win.”

Indeed. Also, someone should tell Bonnar that it’s not “sneaky” to analyze your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses in order to devise a strategy you think gives you the best chance to win. That’s just called, you know, professional fighting.

(Propers: YouTube/ShoSports)

If you insist on framing Saturday night’s dueling MMA action as a head-to-head matchup between Strikeforce and the UFC – and we do, since we’re media types, meaning we can always be counted on to find the easiest storyline and absolutely beat it to death – then you have to consider it a victory for Scott Coker and Co. Strikeforce came into the evening with the better card on paper and on this night the chalk held up. By virtue of back-to-back-to-back-to-back knockouts (if you count Antonio Silva’s TKO over Mike Kyle, which we do), last night Strikeforce was the metaphorical broken clock that turns up right twice a day, the dog’s ass that finally catches some sun. Meanwhile, every live fight on the UFC’s broadcast of the “Ultimate Fighter” season 12 finale went the distance. Both shows were decent, but after months of incessant bitching we should know by now that MMA fans will take a night full of stoppages over a night of scorecard verdicts every time.

During any given week on this website we give Strikeforce an unending raft of shit on the basis of its general incompetence, so it only seems fair to hand out some props on the rare occasion when the company doesn’t screw up in any obvious way. Good job, Strikeforce. We’d love to sit here and tell you last night’s show was indicative of the promotion “figuring it out” somehow, but frankly it seems like it just got lucky with a bunch of dynamic knockouts. Still, the fact this show went off as well as it did after the original fight card got scrambled by late injuries is sort of remarkable. Now it just remains to be seen how many people actually watched it.

("Babalu, you old son of a bitch, I thought you were dead." "Maybe I was, Danny. Maybe I was." Photos courtesy of Esther Lin/Strikeforce.)
  
(From left to right: Mike Kyle squares off with Bigfoot Silva’s massive cranium, Kelli Hutcherson stands out in a crowd, and this is going to sound really strange, but does that photo of Lawler and Lindland remind anybody else of those optical illusion face-drawings that show a different person when you look at them upside-down?)

Headlined by a rematch ten years in the making, and featuring a solid supporting cast of knockout artists, Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu could be the sleeper event of the year. The main card is about to kick off at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, and CagePotato contributor Matt Kaplan will be liveblogging it as quickly as his little fingers will allow. Round-by-round updates from the Showtime broadcast can be found after the jump, beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and share your own thoughts in the comments section.

(Above: "Remember, remember, the fourth of December, the Gunpowder Treason and plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot, brah." 
Below: You know what to do, honey. / Photos courtesy of UFC.com)

Welcome, fight fans, to the first leg of a liveblog double-header on CagePotato.com. The TUF 12 Finale gets rolling on Spike at 9 p.m. ET, with Team GSP lightweight finalists Jonathan Brookins and Michael Johnson battling for the highly coveted glassware, Stephan Bonnar trying to build a winning streak against Igor Pokrajac, and Demian Maia tangling with rangy TUF 3 winner Kendall Grove. Plus, five other TUF 12 vets will do their best to hang on to their UFC contracts, including Nam Phan, who clashes with hardy slugger Leonard Garcia in the UFC’s first-ever televised 145-pound feature. (Yes, the UFC has featherweights now!)

Round-by-round results await you after the jump; refresh the page every few minutes to get all the latest. Please toss in your two cents in the comments section, and don’t forget to check in at our viewing party at PlayPhilo.com for a chance to win a UFC: Ultimate 100 Greatest Fights DVD set. 

("What part of ‘No, I am not interested in becoming a Jehovah’s Witness *or* accepting your complementary copies of "The Watchtower"’ do you not understand?" PicProps: Strikeforce)

Since the UFC and Strikeforce are set to go head-to-head tonight with dueling shows, we feel it’s only right to pass along another fairly fascinating story courtesy of Old Dad’s ongoing “My First Fight” series over on MMAFighting. This particular gem involves Matt Lindland, who at 40 years old faces a must-win against Robbie Lawler in Strikeforce tonight and prior to that was a royal pain in the UFC’s ass from about 2000-05.

The following story is an example of what we might call “classic Lindland behavior.” It also could serve as a good litmus test for any aspiring fighters out there who may be questioning if they have what it takes to make it in MMA. The test is this: When confronted by a man who tries to crush your dreams, how do you respond? Do you A) Nod sheepishly and slink away? Or B) Offer to fight that man for all the money you have in your wallet? If you answered B, you sir, are a fighter. You may also be Matt Lindland.

(Propers: The Fight Nerd)

A two-for-one video sesh to get your Saturday started: At top, watch the aptly named Fight Nerd chat with M-1 Global Director of Ops Evgeni Kogan at the MMA World Expo 2010 this week. After the jump, find Chael Sonnen’s “exclusive interview” with HDNet’s Mike Straka following the California State Athletic Commission’s ruling to reduce by half his suspension for a funky UFC 117 drug test. First though, the Fedor stuff, because frankly we’re getting a little bit sick of talking about Sonnen’s gonads …

In this vid, Kogan – who you may remember as the dude who told Ariel Helwani that Fedor was MIA in New York City earlier this year when he no-showed his radio program — looks like he could seamlessly transition from a heated contract negotiation to playing bass for Weezer without even changing his striped belt. He also demonstrates that despite the fact M-1 Global’s biggest bargaining chip expended much of his political capital when he swan dived into the waiting legs of Fabricio Werdum in June, the Rent-a-Fedor company is still not afraid to make a bunch of totally ridiculous demands on both Strikeforce and Showtime. Follow the link to find out what they’re asking for this time. Seriously, it’s gonna blow your mind.

Heads up, Potato Nation: The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale goes down tonight at 9 p.m. (8 p.m. central) on Spike TV, and we’ll be posting round-by-round updates from the broadcast. If you’re around for it, you should also check out our new buddies at Philo, a social media service that lets you discuss your favorite TV shows with other like-minded fans, discover what your friends are watching, and win awards and prizes just for sitting on your ass. 

Speaking of prizes, Philo and CagePotato are co-hosting an online viewing party for the TUF 12 Finale, and you are cordially invited. Here’s what to do: 1) Register at PlayPhilo.com, which you can do automatically if you’re a Facebook user. 2) Go to Philo’s Ultimate Fighter page and click that big yellow "Check In" button. 3) Share your thoughts in the page’s activity feed during the broadcast; your comments will also be posted to your social media accounts. Each comment will count as an entry for the night’s giveaway contest, with two winners scoring a UFC: Ultimate 100 Greatest Fights DVD set. The more you comment, the better your chances are.

Doing all that will spread awareness about the TUF finale, and (much more importantly) the site you’re reading right now, so help out if you can. Any questions, let us know in the comments section below. We’ll see you tonight…

(Video courtesy YouTube/K-1)

- Phil Anselmo still rocking shit at 42 (exclaim)

– Video highlights of Sonnen’s CSAC hearing (mmafightvideosonline)- 

– The hottest bloodthirsty babes in movies (mademan)

– TUF 12 Finale weigh-in results (mmafighting)

-  The Chronicles of Fedor is everything you expected, but better (middleeasy)

- John Salley chronicles: don’t leave your sex tape beside your answering machine (deadspin)

– Chael Sonnen will talk about his CSAC hearing tonight on Inside MMA (HDNet)

– Childress says Moss tried to get him sacked (scoresreport)

– The economic effects of training MMA (fiveouncesofpain)

– Bellator to air live on FX, delayed on Fox Sports and Fuel (mmajunkie)

– Charles Oliveira wants to fight his idol, BJ Penn (tatame)

– 10 porn stars over the age of 50 (holytaco)

– NBC signs for Steve Carell mailman comedy series (screenjunkies)

(Well, it could be worse, I guess; my kid could be a Brock fan.")

Well, it looks like Matt Hughes may be taking his KO loss to BJ Penn at UFC 123 a bit harder than we thought.

The former UFC welterweight champ wrote on his blog this week that the outcome of the fight has him more closely considering retirement.

Here what Hughes’ thoughts are on the situation:

"A lot of people have been asking about the fight and how I am doing. Of course, the fight didn’t go like I had planned it. I knew BJ was going to be in shape, but I didn’t know he was going to come in with a game plan and really look for my tendencies. I think BJ knew I was going to come in throwing my jab and I think he had a game plan for that," Hughes explains. "He hit me with a hard right hand that I never saw coming. It’s funny how styles make fights and I’m not at all like Frankie Edgar. So it just kind of stinks that BJ came off two losses and then ended up beating me in less than 30 seconds. I knew BJ was going to be tough that first round. I was trying to get him into the second and the third round where I could wear on him, slow him down and soften him up a little bit; but it just didn’t go that way."

(See, Forrest? You used to *love* microphones… / Photo courtesy of milwaukeemma.com)

When we hosted Stephan Bonnar on the latest edition of our Bum Rush Radio Show, we ran through the standard set of questions about his training for tomorrow night’s fight against Igor Pokrajac, his opinions on TUF 12, and his future as a broadcaster. But considering Bonnar’s long history with Forrest Griffin, we couldn’t resist asking for his take on the question that’s been plaguing us lately: "Why is Forrest such a dick to reporters?" Bonnar’s candid and insightful answer is after the jump. If you haven’t already, please give the new episode a listen, and subscribe on iTunes!

(Luckily, Falcao listed a prescription for assault on his pre-fight medicals. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)

Maybe that video of Maiquel Falcao‘s savage and prolonged beating of an old opponent should have served as a warning that the dude is a bit of a loose cannon. According to Diario Popular (via MMA Mania) Falcao was arrested on a corporal assault charge today in Pelotas, Brazil, by local police. The Chute Boxe prospect was pinched after giving an interview to Grupo Brasil de Comunicação, and offered no resistance while being arrested, according to witnesses. No other details have been released yet, but we’ll update you when we know more. From MMA Junkie:

The Brazilian native was detained after a warrant for his arrest was issued in relation to a 2002 assault charge. MMAjunkie.com confirmed with Falcao’s management that the fighter is currently incarcerated, though the Chute Boxe product hopes to be released as soon as today. According to Falcao’s camp, the Brazilian was ordered in 2002 to serve a 24-month house-arrest sentence. After eight months, Falcao moved to a new home, though his lawyer advised him that the Brazilian authorities would have no issue with him completing the sentence in a new location. Today, Falcao returned to his hometown, as he reportedly has several times since 2002, but authorities elected to take him into custody…[Falcao's] camp did insist the matter was unlikely to affect his Octagon career.

Oddly enough, Falcao’s bust wasn’t the only MMA-related assault case in the news today. After the jump, an MMA fighter finds himself on the receiving end of a weird dust-up in Albuquerque…

("What, the pink shirt? I need to wear it for undisclosed medical reasons." PicProps: FightNightNews)

As expected, there’s a ton of fallout today from Thursday’s California State Athletic Commission hearing, which saw Chael Sonnen’s year-long suspension for a failed UFC 117 drug test cut in half. Reactions range from pious outrage that Sonnen got let off the hook to excitement that MMA’s best trash talker will be back in the cage sooner than expected to amusement that he had to spend at least part of the hearing publicly talking about his balls. 

A lot of it was very boring and a lot of it was very strange. Sonnen referencing his late-teen puberty and citing the Americans with Disabilities Act as part of his defense were both admittedly pretty weird. All that aside, your feelings on this case probably boil down to whether or not you believe Sonnen has a legitimate, albeit sort of nebulous medical condition that requires the regular injection of testosterone. If you don’t, if you believe Sonnen, his attorneys and his doctor perpetrated a large scale fraud in front of the CSAC, God and everybody online yesterday, you’re probably pretty pissed right now. If you do believe him, then you likely think the commission’s ruling was the appropriate one. 

Honestly, our personal opinions about what happened at the meeting seem kind of beside the point right now. In my view, the thing I’m really still waiting for someone to explain is this: After his suspension is up, will Sonnen be allowed to keep fighting while receiving the same testosterone replacement therapy, so long as he does the proper paperwork next time? If so, then what are we really talking about here? A technicality? An administrative error? Sonnen got confused about to how many doctors and how many times he had to disclose his medical condition? Wow that seems, uh, dull.

This week’s episode of The Bum Rush is a jam-packed one featuring a double dose of fighter interviews, a rundown of some of this week’s hot MMA news topics as well as pre-fight breakdowns of this weekend’s TUF 12 Finale and Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu events.

Roy Nelson stops by the show to talk about where his contract status stands and what he hopes to accomplish in 2011, and as always, "Big Country" has plenty to say about these topics and more. The guys also catch up with Stephan Bonnar ahead of his TUF 12 main card bout with Igor Pokrajac to talk about training and his thoughts on everything from the MMA media to the UFC-WEC merger.

As per usual, you can listen to the entire episode in the player below, but for the best listening experience we suggest you subscribe to The Bum Rush on iTunes. Alternatively, for those of you staunchly opposed to supporting anything that puts money in Steve Jobs’ bank account, you can download the show HERE.

(Props: TachiPalaceFights. Fight starts at the 2:03 mark.)

Two months after he barely survived his first post-UFC outing against Angel DeAnda, James Irvin was back in action last night at "Tachi Palace Fights 7: Deck the Halls" in Lemoore, California — and he wasn’t so lucky this time. In the main event of the evening, Irvin took on 5-2-1 Chute Boxe product Jorge "Van Damme" Oliveira, who holds victories over Shonie Carter and Mike Van Arsdale. After failing on a takedown attempt, Oliveira wound up on his back, and did his best to defend Irvin’s ground-and-pound. At the video’s 3:24 mark, Irvin’s gets enough space to rain down some nasty blows, and Oliveira kicks him off. Irvin dives back in, and is immediately caught in a triangle/armbar. Fun fact: Irvin hasn’t been out of the first round in over four years.

Maybe Oliveira is just an affectionate guy in general, but the dude lays it on a little thick in his post-fight show of respect, hugging and kissing Irvin on the mat, raising the Sandman’s arm in faux-victory, bowing to him in a "we’re not worthy" pose (dude, it’s James Irvin, you’re worthy), getting up to hug him some more, then hugging him again after a brief visit with his corner. Now we know why they call him "Van Damme."

The Tachi Palace event also featured an insane bout between TUF 11 castmember Seth Baczynski and WEC/UFC vet Tim McKenzie, which ended with Baczynski getting his left arm snapped in an armbar, then elbowing McKenzie into unconsciousness with his non-broken arm. 2010 Finish of the Year candidate, for sure. Check it out after the jump…

(Sonnen’s testimony was as good as his pre-UFC 117 soundbites were.)

Sonnen’s legal team gave evidence showing that Sonnen has been undergoing testosterone replacement therapy via twice weekly injections of a synthetic version of the hormone since 2008 under the care of his physician, who also testified to the same. 

During testimony, Sonnen said that he had been embarrassed to disclose that he was suffering from hypogonadism, which is characterized by low testosterone levels due to malfunction of his testicles during a fighter’s meeting in which the participants of the card congregate to fill out necessary paperwork in the days prior to the bout. He also revealed that he did not reach puberty until early adulthood and that he did not care to relive the ridicule that he endured as a child because of it.

(Props: Versus.com)

So, anybody watch those World MMA Awards last night? Jesus Christ, you’ll find better jokes at a CSAC board meeting. For an idea of how ugly things got, check out the above clip of "comedian" Bobby Lee and former UFC Octagon Girl Amber Nichole Miller presenting the Ring Girl of the Year award (to Arianny Celeste, naturally), which somehow required Lee to strip down and humiliate himself. Even Tiki Ghosn is disgusted. But at least Arianny saved the day with her dynamic personality. After the jump, Steve-O gets a guest-pass out of rehab to proposition Brittney Palmer for sex. 

(Video courtesy YouTube/shosports)

Despite the fact that its card is better from top to bottom than the competition’s on Saturday night, Strikeforce’s  Henderson vs. Babalu broadcast on Showtime will likely top off at less than half as many viewers as The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale show on Spike TV.

In an effort to win over a few sets of eyeballs who are indifferent in preference between the two cards, Showtime has released some highlight videos this week featuring main card fighters, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Dan Henderson and Scott Smith.

Now, I only took two marketing courses in college, but wouldn’t it have been wiser to have released these videos a few weeks ago and to have more than three fighters featured in them?

Regardless of Strikeforce’s head-scratching business decisions, the shorts are pretty well done. 

Check out Scott Smith’s highlight and the original Babalu-Henderson bout after the jump.

("Well, Ed Soares and Lyoto Machida bought me a few shots the night before the fight…")

Just a reminder that Chael Sonnen’s appeal will be heard today by the California State Athletic Commission. The proceedings start at 12:30 pm ET but according to Loretta Hunt of the LA Times, Chael’s appeal will not be heard until 4:00 pm ET, so unless you have nothing to do all day, you may want to check in with us for updates instead.

We’ll have a link for you to watch, but it won’t be live until 15 minutes prior to the meeting, so check back at 12:15.

It will be interesting to hear what angle Sonnen’s legal team will use to plead its case.

On his pre-fight drug screening forms he filled out on the eve of his UFC 117 fight with Anderson Silva before providing CSAC officials with his questionable urine sample, Sonnen disclosed that he received one shot of testosterone two days prior to the bout.

Note: In addition to the the lightweight finals, three more matches featuring TUF 12 cast-members have been added to Saturday’s finale show. Details are at the end of this post…

"Now, fuck the team," George St. Pierre says to Jonathan Brookins and Kyle Watson to kick off last night’s episode. "There’s no more team." GSP won’t be giving strategic advice to Brookins and Watson for their red-on-red semifinal match; it’s time for them to sink or swim as individuals. John Danaher says this is the fight that should have been the final, as they’re the two most talented athletes.

Watson has seen enough of Brookins to know that he loves to shoot at his opponent’s lead leg for takedowns. In practice, Watson goes over how he’ll make Brookins pay for that, with uppercuts and lead knees. Meanwhile on Team Koscheck, training has ground to a halt. Only Nam Phan is left in the semis, and everybody else is just sitting there with their teeth in their mouth, bitching about their lots in life. Marc Stevens feels like he didn’t learn much from the TUF experience, and the yellow team in general feels envious of all the great guest-coaches that GSP brought in for his guys. Sevak sort-of comes to Koscheck’s defense: "I got a lot of positive things from Josh. I expected less."

("In Stary Oskol, these ARE weights.")

Fedor Emelianenko did a rare fan Q&A session this week on a Russian website championat.ru where he opened up about a lot of interesting topics, including his thoughts on Cain Velasquez, the prospect of universal champions and whether or not he is considering signing with the UFC over Strikeforce.

I apologize for the somewhat shoddy translation in advance. I was pressed for time since the interview was three pages long, and Fedor likes to talk in Russian slang, but the overall messages are there.

Check out the translation after the jump:

Here are Fedor’s thoughts:

After taking a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday, The Ultimate Fighter is playing catchup tonight with a two-hour episode that kicks off at 9 p.m. The four remaining lightweight hopefuls will be whittled down to two, as Jonathan Brookins takes on Kyle Watson, and Nam Phan rumbles with Michael Johnson. There will be a lot of time to kill in between, so hopefully Georges St. Pierre brings another celebrity guest-coach into the mix. (Kanye?) Tune in, and be sure to read our recap tomorrow morning…

Props (as usual) to MMAFightGirls for introducing us to Shannon Lee Marr, a 20-year-old model and ring girl from North Andover, Massachusetts, who’s currently studying to be a nurse. Shannon has modeled for the MMA labels Knockout Athletics and Boston Brawler, and will appear tomorrow night as a featured ring girl for the CES MMA Snow Brawl at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island.

Random quote: "I was promoting Knockout Athletics at a recent UFC Expo and MMA fighter Pat Barry had me sign his whitey tighties in front of crowds of people."

Nobody ever said this job would be easy, Shannon. You can see more of Ms. Marr at ModelMayhem.com. A few more choice pics are after the jump…