(“…everything else is virtually identical.”)

By Gary “Big Daddy” Goodridge

‘claymore’ asks: Of all your opponents in your fighting career, who smelled the worst?
I can’t say which opponent smelled the worst but I can tell you one thing that really grossed me out. One time, Tom “Big Cat” Erikson (wrestling coach at Purdue University) came to my house to help me train for a fight. Anybody who is a true fan of the sport knows that Tom Erikson was the biggest stud in the Pride heavyweight division for a long time. Since I knew striking and Tom knew wrestling, we became quick friends and training partners.

One day we were training and Tom grabbed me and put me in some kind of a hold. At the time, I had absolutely no wrestling skills so I had to fight the type of fight that Tom Erikson wanted to. The problem was that his chest came together and all of his sweat drained directly off his long chest hairs into my mouth. Tom thought that he had me in a good hold and he had no idea what was happening, so I could only watch the open faucet pour right into my mouth. It was the nastiest thing that I’ve ever experienced in my life. I ended up letting Tom go and throwing up; it felt like two mouthfuls of sweat had drained downed my throat. I know that didn’t answer the “who smelled the worst” question, but it was definitely the grossest thing that has ever happened to me.

‘bgoldstein’ asks: Who was the most intimidating fighter you’ve ever faced? Was it Fedor? It was Fedor, wasn’t it.

(If you ever wondered exactly how far you are from Fedor, this app has your answer.)

I don’t know how we missed out on this announcement last week, but apparently a company has just released a new Fedor Emelianenko iPhone application to allow fans to keep up with what the Russian heavyweight is up to, you know, just in case you haven’t quite figured out how to use Google.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/knuklo)

Anderson Silva has been chomping at the bit for a rematch with Yushin Okami since losing to the durable Japanese fighter by disqualification due to an illegal upkick in 2006. Now that the UFC middleweight champion has a date for his second meeting with “Thunder” at UFC Rio in August, he has revealed that he thinks Okami faked injury to get out of their Rumble on the Rock 8 bout.

“I was a little surprised with his reaction to that,” Silva told the LA Times this week. “Do I think he could have continued? I do think he could have continued. But he had the rules in his favor. I did an illegal kick and he chose that it was better not to continue.”

(Oh put your hands down, Yves, you had nothing to do with that shit.)

Dana White confirmed today that a middleweight meeting between Vitor Belfort and Yoshihiro Akiyama has been set for UFC 133, August 6th in Philadelphia. It’s a bit of tough break for Belfort, who previously agreed to a fight with Wanderlei Silva (which fell through), then pleaded for a spot on the UFC Rio card and didn’t get that either. On the bright side, Belfort has the firepower to knock Akiyama’s dome into the front row, as long as he can avoid eating a surprise front kick. “Sexyama” has dropped his last two fights, and hasn’t scored a victory since his split-decision win over Alan Belcher at UFC 100 in July 2009.

Speaking of UFC 133, welterweight oddball sensation Brian Ebersole will be returning at the Philly event, fresh off his upset decision win over Chris Lytle at UFC 127 in February. Ebersole will face off against veteran Dennis Hallman, who is riding back-to-back wins over Ben Saunders and Karo Parisyan — both of whom were fired from the UFC after those losses. Ebersole and Hallman have a combined 117 MMA fights between the two of them.

In other fight-booking news…

(“Well, she’s retired now, but she used to be in the import/export business, specializing in other dudes’ penises.”)

Tito Ortiz‘s last-chance fight against Ryan Bader is less than three months away, so obviously, those muckraking sons-of-bitches at MadeMan.com thought it would be a good time to interview Tito about his relationship with former porn “entrepreneur” Jenna Jameson. Personally, I liked this exchange:

MadeMan: Do you feel any jealousy when guys come up to her?

Tito Ortiz: Of course! I’m human. I get jealous. But I trust Jenna no matter what. So, I let her do her thing. It really doesn’t bother me, if I don’t think about it!

MadeMan: On the flip side, it’s got to be a big turn-on, knowing men across the country go slack-jawed watching your wife work…

(Video courtesy of YouTube/ZPsBackUp)

If you missed it, UFC Primetime was back last night with another episode featuring UFC 129 main event fighters Georges St-Pierre and Jake Shields.

The show focused more closely on the training regimens of both fighters and included snippets of GSP’s new gymnastics workout. I was hoping to there would be more of Shields sparring with Nick Diaz as he was in the gym helping the welterweight challenger prepare when they shot the footage of him training  with Gilbert Melendez featured on the show last night, but the Strikeforce welterweight champ has an aversion  to being on camera. There’s a rumor going around that he blasted “The Most Excited Interviewer in the World” for putting up training footage with the interviews he did with Shields a few weeks back and forced him to take the videos down.

All in all it was another decent episode, but the series would be much better without the tired cliches. It’s getting a little bit nauseating hearing how, “Shields will get the best Georges St-Pierre on April 30,” “GSP has never faced a grappler like Jake,” or “This is the toughest opponent of my career.” It seems that we hear the same thing from both camps before every fight.

It would be more entertaining to hear one of them say, “He sucks. Fighting him is almost a waste of my time. I’ve hardly trained because it’s going to be so easy. I’m going to beat him quickly so I can get a head start at pulling tail at the after party.”

Check out part two after the jump.

(Sonnen throwing a kick? That’s got to be photoshopped.)

Looks like Chael Sonnen’s desire to “clear the air” with the Nevada State Athletic Commission will have to wait a bit longer. According to multiple reports out this week, the UFC middleweight’s late-April meeting with the NSAC was postponed on Wednesday because – get this – his status as a confessed felon prohibits him from traveling to Nevada during the legendary Laughlin River Run motorcycle rally. Apparently, this comes as a result of an obscure Nevada law designed to help curb violence between biker gangs, after a wild 2002 brawl and shoot-’em-up between the Mongols and Hells Angels left three dead inside Harrah’s Casino.

Man, we would’ve loved to see Sonnen’s face when his probation officer called to give him the news. For some reason, the whole the idea of Chael Sonnen having a PO just tickles us to death and the fact that his legal status now lumps him in with your average Gypsy Joker, Warlock and Pagan is particularly hilarious. Knowing what we know about Sonnen, we’re betting the recent loss of some of his previously inalienable rights as an American citizen really burns his ass.

(Makdessi showing Anderson how it’s done. PicProps: MMAWeekly)

After carving out an impressive 22-0 kickboxing career and winning a USKBA gold medal in 2006, John Makdessi turned his focus to MMA where he has since rattled off eight straight victories, including a unanimous decision win over Pat Audinwood in his Octagon debut at UFC 124 in December.

A training partner of UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, Makdessi is a driven fighter who says he isn’t satisfied with a win unless the fans are entertained — a rarity in the sport today that seems filled with fighters who are content with doing “just enough to win.”

The 25-year-old Halifax, Nova Scotia-born Lebanese fighter will put his undefeated record on the line against Kyle Watson next week at UFC 129 in Toronto and says he is planning on making a lot of jaws hit the floor during the bout. We caught up with Makdessi recently to talk about the fight, how he got his start in MMA, his thoughts on the current landscape of the sport and much more.

Check out what “The Bull” had to say after the jump.

(This bracket ain’t big enough for the both of ‘em. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)

Ladies and gentlemen — but mostly gentlemen, we’re assuming — your votes have been tabulated, and we’re proud to announce the winners of our “2011 Hottest Women in MMA Grand Prix” quarterfinals. Read on to see who has advanced to the Final Four, and come back tomorrow afternoon to start voting on the semi-finals.

For round-of-16 results, click here.

(Without televisions in the house, Ramsey and Junior had to imagine what happened on the ‘Jersey Shore’ finale. / Props: IronForgesIron)

Lew Polley thinks Team Dos Santos is outworking Team Lesnar, and believes Brock Lesnar has already lost interest. “Junior legitimately cares about how these kids are doing,” he says, totally contradicting the trash he’ll talk after the show wraps.

Lesnar, who missed last week’s fight due to a family obligation, returns to a very luke-warm welcome. “Len, I heard you fought hard buddy,” he says. Len Bentley isn’t interested in such pleasantries. After going 1-2 in the first three fights, Team Lesnar is down to “The Four Horsemen”: Tony Ferguson, Clay Harvison, Chuck O’Neil, and Charlie Rader.

But in practice, the Horsemen are performing like a bunch of damn fillies. Clay is sleepwalking through practice, and Charlie is lollygagging too. (Brock’s word, not mine.)

(“What can I say? Beef jerky and flattops don’t pay for themselves.”)

As the rest of us scramble to get our taxes done in the hopes of getting back a nominal return, the world’s highest paid athletes laugh at us from their million-dollar penthouse apartments as they light thousand-dollar cigars with hundred dollar bills as their accountants write checks to Uncle Sam on their behalf to cover what they owe for the year.

Sadly, what the top ball throwers, dribblers, catchers, hitters and kickers pay out in yearly taxes equals more than many of us will make in a single year as long as we live. According to ESPN The Magazine, former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is a member of that elite club as well.

(Vid: YouTube/DEMusicGroup)

Alright, we take back all those jokes we made about people who think the world will end in 2012. The apocalypse is clearly upon us, as it has just come to our attention that Arianny Celeste apparently fancies herself some kind of singer now. Just let that news sink in for a moment before reading on … We knew she dabbled, but surely these new apparently professional aspirations can only mean the end of western civilization as we know it, right? I mean there are bad ideas, and then there is the fucking Titanic. There is the Hindenburg. There is leading your army into Russia in the dead of winter. Allowing this attractive, halfway famous girl who has no doubt always considered herself pretty good at karaoke to think she can try her hand at making actual “music” ranks right up there with the worst of them.

Nonetheless, there’s our beloved AC starring in the above video, introducing a “sneak peek” of her “debut single” titled “Fight to Love Me” (Get it? Because she’s a UFC Octagon girl …) which she promises will be out soon with the help of something called the DE Music Group. At first, we thought it must be a joke. The lyrics here are (naturally) cartoonishly bad, the “beat” sounds like somebody made it on a hacked version of some Russian production software from the 80s and if you don’t squint a little bit and lean away from the computer every time she tries to hit a high note, well, you don’t have your speakers turned up loud enough.

(Maia’s ever-improving boxing has made him a more dangerous fighter.)

One of mixed martial arts’ best jiu-jitsu players, Demian Maia’s stock rose immensely when the then-undefeated Brazilian fighter quickly subbed Chael Sonnen at UFC 95. Since then he has only lost twice, and although he may not get a chance to avenge his 21-scond KO loss to Nate Marquardt since “The Great” announced recently that he will be dropping down to welterweight, there isn’t a day that goes by that Maia doesn’t think about a second meeting with UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva.

The next rung up the title contention ladder for the 32-year-old, who has steadily improved his stand-up skills for each fight, is a June 11 meeting with scrappy former Division I wrestling champion Mark Muñoz at UFC 131 in Vancouver. We caught up with Maia yesterday and spoke with the humble middleweight about a number of topics, including his upcoming bout with “The Filipino Wrecking Machine,” his title aspirations and whether or not he would fight a friend if push came to shove.

Check out what Demian had to say after the jump.

(Belcher, seen here prior to getting that giant picture of Carl Perkins tattooed on his left arm. Pic: TigerMuayThai.com)

If Alan Belcher manages to return from the detached retina that nearly ended his career last year and can recapture anything close to the 4-1 form he showed during his five most recent fights in the Octagon, it’ll be one of 2011’s true feel good stories. Belcher has always struck us as one of the sport’s more likable characters, so when he tells Sherdog this week that he’s interested in returning to the UFC as soon as September, that’s great news. Only thing is, we wish Belcher would show just a touch more originality in deciding who he wants to fight in his comeback bout. Pretty much the usual suspects here:

“(Michael) Bisping is an asshole who disrespects the sport and his opponent,” Belcher tells the Dog. “A fight between me and Michael Bisping is something everybody wants except for Michael Bisping. It would be amazing to sign that fight and have him come to my backyard. He always gets to fight in Britain and other places, but it’d be good to see him come down to Louisiana. I’d love for that to be my comeback fight.”

Yep. Bisping. The ol’ standby. And in case you’re wondering, Belcher wouldn’t turn down a fight with Wanderlei Silva, either, though he sounds a little more reasonable about Silva’s standing in the division than some of the other dudes who’ve called out “The Axe Murderer” recently …

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

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…

- Barry vs. Kongo to co-headline UFC on Versus 4 with Marquardt vs. Johnson (5thRound)

- Jake Ellenberger talks Shields vs. St-Pierre; predicts GSP will win via ‘jab and yawn’ (LowKick)

- Can we buy Couture’s post-UFC 129 retirement plans? (Versus MMA Beat)

- Erik Paulson talks about the time he had to hold a gun to a guy’s penis (MiddleEasy)

- Fight! Magazine’s MMA rankings: Melendez moves to #1 (Fight! Magazine)

- Dana White quashes Royce Gracie at UFC Rio rumors (MMA Fighting)

- Brock: ‘I don’t know if you ever get used to taking punches’ (MMA Convert)

- Jon Fitch needs shoulder surgery, will be out 4-6 months (Bleacher Report/MMA)

- Judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii steps away from MMA to focus on competing in the 2016 Olympics for the U.S. (Five Ounces of Pain)

(Vid: YouTube/RussBrew)

We gotta admit, we like the way this Russell Brewer kid rolls. Props to our associates at Middle Easy for the find on this vid, which is alleged to show Brewer’s professional MMA debut at an event called “24/7 Entertainment: Professional Cage Fighting” in Midland, Texas recently. As you can see, Brewer lowers the boom on unfortunate opponent Christopher Golden with a Superman punch-knee to the face combo during the first five seconds of the bout. Then Brewer stands over Golden’s stiff, lifeless body for a moment to admire his handiwork, to his credit not landing any unnecessary strikes on the fallen man. Then (if the name of the YouTube channel is any indication) Brewer takes it upon himself to post the video online, possibly creating the channel for this express purpose, since it’s the only video on there. And that, Potatoans, is your Wednesday morning crash course in how to be a 21st Century digital badass.

By CagePotato contributor, Jason Moles

(Garth DeFelice could have been a contender if it weren’t for that bum hip.)

Imagine for a moment that it’s a hot July morning. You wake up in your McMansion located in a gated community or on a private road. You step into a bathroom, which appears to have been transplanted from a magazine, and take a shower. After you’re dressed, it’s time to have a modest breakfast consisting of no less than four eggs, three slices of bacon, three sausage links, a stack of hotcakes so scrumptious Paul Bunyan would be jealous, and all the freshly squeezed orange juice a man could want. Once you’ve had your fill, you hop in your Lamborghini and head to work… at BestBuy, or maybe it’s Staples. Oops, almost forgot; you went to college so you may have landed a comfortable desk job.

Yes sir, instead of heading to two-a-days at the stadium preparing for the upcoming season on the gridiron, you’re playing the role of the stiff with a 9-5’er to make ends meet. Hey man, it is after all “straight cash, homey” and every hour worked in that inglorious soul-crusher known as work is another chance to elude the repo man.

Do you know who you are? You are an American football player who used to play in the NFL. Since the lockout, things just haven’t been the same. We know it’s all about the Benjamins and all (unless your name is Herschel Walker), so here are a few, possibly former NFL players who might actually have a chance in MMA, unlike Jonnie Morton.

(Vid: Playboy.com)

Just a couple of days before the semifinalists in our ’2011 Hottest Women in MMA Grand Prix’ are revealed and we thought you could use a little scouting video. What you’ll find above is a subtle little film from the artistes over at Playboy where Octagon girl (and tournament two-seed) Brittney Palmer dresses up like a slutty Power Ranger and plays video games in the most sexually-charged way possible against some lady named Jo Garcia. We’re led to believe Ms Garcia is some variety of Playmate, but whatevs. When we saw it, we thought of you, Nation. Need convincing that this is something you should invest just under two and a half minutes in? “I’m so on top of you right now,” Garcia says to B-Palm at one point. Watch the vid, then come back on Thursday to find out who stays in the running for the big gold belt, the medal, the trophies, the oversized check and the wreathy crown.

If you’ve ever wondered what UFC conference calls are like, they’re pretty much the same as the UFC pre and post-fight press conferences, featuring the same reporters asking the same questions and typically getting the same replies.

Today’s first half of the two scheduled UFC 129 conference calls which featured Mark Hominick, Jose Aldo, Lyoto Machida and Randy Couture, was somewhat overshadowed by Couture’s retirement announcement that made the rounds this morning. Most of the questions (and a few separate congratulatory messages) were directed at Couture from writers wanting to know if he would keep his word this time, why he made the decision and what he would do next. One even asked Machida how he felt being involved in “The Natural’s” last fight. I was surprised that some of the journos on the call didn’t ask Aldo and Hominick what they thought about Randy calling it a career.

I kind of felt bad for Hominick and Aldo, who, although aren’t quitting fighting ARE fighting as the co-headliners in a championship bout on the largest scale MMA card in North American history. Priorities people. Randy will be available to answer questions about his retirement plans after the fight.

A few tidbits and the audio from the call are after the jump.

(No really, if you squint you might think he is *is* Dana White. Pic: ProMMANow)

In general, we feel like the following situation happens a lot in MMA circles: A guy will do something kind of shitty or controversial – thereby causing a minor internet eruption – and then in his effort to “explain” or “clear the air” or “apologize” he comes out with a bunch of statements that actually make the initial infraction seem much worse. Such is the case with MMA judge Chuck Wolfe, who this week tried to clarify to MMA Fighting the inexplicable 30-27 win he awarded Joe Warren over Marcos Galvao last weekend at Bellator 41. In doing so, Wolfe actually made a string of comments we found far stranger than the decision itself.

The veteran judge’s defense of how he scored the bout essentially proceeded along three tracks: One, he knows more about this than you do. Two, that MMA judges have to score the fight for somebody, right? And three, the fighters shouldn’t have left it in the hands of the judges. All pretty scary stuff, once you really start to think about it. All told, it just kind of makes you want to politely nudge Wolfe and say, “Chuck. Just, you know, shut up.” After the jump, you’ll find the quotes themselves. Be prepared to get mad.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/NicktheFace2)

Although we’re a bit skeptical that he’ll hold true to his word this time, Randy Couture says win or lose, he’s calling it quits after his UFC 129 showdown with Lyoto Machida.

In honor of “The Natural” we thought it would be timely and appropriate to post a highlight video showing some of the greatest moments of his storied MMA career. It just so happens that “Nick the Face” recently assembled a UFC 129 highlight video that fits the bill nicely and incorporates most of Randy’s best performances.

Check out NTF’s awesome Lesnar vs. Dos Santos highlight after the jump.

(UFC 129 will be bittersweet for Couture fans.)

All good things must come to an end, and according to Randy Couture, so to must his career.

The 48-year-old UFC Hall-of-Famer who time and time again has defied the odds and laughed in the face of Father Time to win championships and fights he was meant to lose, says that win, lose or draw, his UFC 129 bout against Lyoto Machida will be his last.

“I believe this is my last fight,” Couture told ESPN.com’s Josh Gross on Monday. “I know the UFC is probably going to have other ideas, especially with acquiring Strikeforce and all that. They’re probably going to try to draw me into another fight but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I want to stick to my guns and this is the last one.”

(“I survived the Full Tilt Poker bust and all I got was this crappy jacket.” Too soon? Pic: WSOP.com)

The federal indictments lobbed at three top poker websites late last week – including noted fight sponsor Full Tilt Poker – continue to cause a troubling ripple effect in the MMA world, new reports indicate. You may have already seen the stories over the weekend about how much the sudden absence of such poker site dough may or may not adversely affect the bottom line of individual fighters, but notable sports business reporter Darren Rovell (who works a lot on ESPN) now says the charges against Full Tilt also mean the loss of an important upcoming deal for the UFC.

“The UFC had a huge new sponsorship deal on the table with Full Tilt that will now go out the window with the feds bust,” Rovell tweeted on Monday afternoon. This came on the heels of a story from MMA Junkie quoting agent Ken Pavia saying the poker shutdown “will severely impact fighters’ sponsor revenue, which traditionally matched their show pay for our televised clients.”

So yeah, any time big sponsors drop out (or get indicted) and their money gets taken out of the pockets of fighters and the coffers of the only important company left in the industry, we have to do the Dennis Hopper voice again: Bad things, man. For those of you who may have actually gone outside or done things with friends/family over the weekend, a short recap of the story and some reflection on what it might mean for MMA are after the jump.

(“Don’t be scared, homie.”)

By Matthew Kaplowitz

Honor. Respect. Discipline. These are the keys to being a good sport. Whether your arm is raised in victory or your head is hung low in defeat, a good fighter maintains his decorum in every situation. Unless you’re a jerk.

Every major sport has an athlete with a temporary lapse in judgment that causes them to do something they will regret later, and MMA is no different. In this sport, two people are locked in a cage and expected to beat one another until the other can take no more, so it only makes sense that some of these would spill out into a second fight if not for a hefty security team. That brings us to the top ten post-fight brawls, where the action keeps going after the bell and turns into one giant debacle that ruins the rest of the night! Don’t take your mouthpiece out or unwrap your gloves just yet, we are just getting started!

(“Tell us again how you chased down that robber and held him until the cops came. That was awesome.”)

An undisclosed injury he is currently rehabbing coupled with a desire to get bigger, better, stronger and faster the next time he steps into the Octagon has prompted UFC light heavyweight prospect Phil Davis to take a brief hiatus from fighting until late 2011.

“Mr. Wonderful” told MMAJunkie recently that besides the nagging injury he is nursing, the other reason why he is stepping away from competing for the time being is to take a look at his last performance — a win over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira last month at UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis — and figure out how he could have performed better.

“I really want to make some huge gains inside the gym before I step back in. I’m ready to take one step back,” Davis said. “I’ve got three steps ahead of me. I’ve got one step back, then two forward. That might sound like the cha-cha. But pow – there it is.”

Way to make us all look like underachievers, Phil.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/officialGSP)

Just when you think bench pressing 120 percent of your bodyweight and doing suicide sets of heavy squats without puking was a major gym accomplishment, GSP has to come along and make you rethink how in shape you really are.

The video above further illustrates the fact that working out is a past time for most of us and for St-Pierre it’s a career he takes more seriously than most fighters competing today.

(Assunção is confident that he’ll be a force at 145. Photo courtesy of Eric Langley Photography)

Four years ago Junior Assunção walked out of the UFC Octagon following a disappointing loss to an up-and-comer by the name of Nate Diaz. Soon afterwards he received the dreaded phone call that every fighter hopes will never come from UFC matchmaker Joe Silva telling them to string together a handful of wins in the minor-league circuit and wait to be called back up to the big show.

6-1 in his last seven fights since losing to Diaz, Assunção (11-4) has not lost in three years. Although he says he is willing to fight anywhere the opportunity exists and reveals that he is planning a drop down to his more natural weight of 145 for his next bout,  the current Xtreme Fighting Championships lightweight champion admits he is eagerly and patiently waiting for his UFC callback.

“I’m not specifically looking to go back to the UFC, but I think there would be better competition for me in the there because of the athletes they have. I was fighting at 155 and with the merger of the WEC with the UFC there were a lot of lightweights went to the UFC and it became very crowded,” he says. “My plan is to go down to 145 and I think when I do, I should get a call to fight for them anytime now.”

(Video courtesy of YouTube/MMACanada)

Jake Shields was in Toronto recently for a photo shoot at Xtreme Couture for Jakt Apparel and he spoke briefly to MMACanada about his upcoming UFC 129 bout in the city with UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre while he was there.

For those of you whose bosses don’t like you wasting your work day watching videos on YouTube, the transcription is after the jump.

(“Screw what I said about business as usual. Let’s make some fan-fucking-tastic fights for this card.”)

With the UFC’s landmark Rio card fast approaching, we thought we’d sit down and think about a handful of bouts we as fans (and pseudo-reporters) would REALLY like to see added to the card.

(We’re looking at you Royce. Seriously. Walk away, dude.)

Check out what we came up with after the jump.

(Fedor Emelianenko: Huge fan of Johnny Cage.)

Before there was the UFC, there was Mortal Kombat. First released in arcades back in October ’92, the addictively gory video-game franchise sought to answer the eternal question: Who would win in a fight between a kung-fu expert and a paddy-hatted immortal who can shoot lightning out of his hands?

The most memorable of aspect of the MK series has always been the trademark “Fatalities” — which have gotten progressively more over-the-top in the last 19 years. Of course, the sport of mixed martial arts often gives us similar moments of decisive ultra-violence. So in honor of the ninth installment of the game, which hits stores tomorrow, we decided to count down our favorite finishing moves in MMA. They may not be as dramatic as a spine being ripped out of your opponent’s body, but in the real world, this is as nasty as it gets…

#10: The Elbow Storm

A barrage of elbows to the head of a helpless fighter will make even hardened fans of the sport wince in sympathy — even if we’ve been watching this scene play out dozens of times since 1994. But there’s no questioning the raw efficiency of a “hellbow” assault from the top, which has the power to turn cocky contenders into broken shells.