Get your voting fingers ready, Potato Nation — the right side of the “2011 Hottest Women in MMA Grand Prix” bracket is live and ready for action. But first, a very important announcement about the wild-card spot: After picking up 61.5% of the popular vote against Chandella Powell and Joanne Spracklen, Juliana Salimeni has advanced to the round-of-16, where she will be taking on #1-seeded Gina Carano. Congrats, Juju, and may your Cinderella story have a happy ending.

Now, the usual instructions. With the help of the photographic aids we’ve provided below, cast your vote for your favorite lady in each of the four polls; hit the “next page” link when you’re done with each one. Any questions, let us know in the comments section. If you don’t see the poll widget under each pairing of girls, please refresh your browser, or try a different one.

We plan to announce the complete list of winners from the Grand Prix’s opening round on Tuesday, so if you haven’t yet cast a vote for Pool A, there’s still time to make a difference. Without further ado, let’s get started…

With the announcement yesterday that BJ Penn had to pull out of UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber, the leading candidate to fill in against “The Prodigy,” Carlos Condit (26-5) has now been matched up with durable South Korean fighter Dong Hyun Kim (14-0-1 1NC).

The UFC announced the pairing today.

(“Look mom, no future!” Pic: Las Vegas Sun)

If 13 seasons of “The Ultimate Fighter” have taught us anything, it’s that we will never see Keon Caldwell again. Truth is, you can get away with a lot of things on “TUF” and very little of it really has anything to do with being a professional fighter. You can piss in somebody’s fruit tray. You can piss in somebody’s bed. You can piss in somebody’s workout gear. Hell, you can even get drunk and piss in your own pants and as long as you don’t cause an embarrassing public scene at a casino later, you’ll probably be fine. After approximately 160 episodes however, one thing we know you absolutely can not do is quit the UFC’s popular reality show.

In choosing to leave “TUF” of his own free will this week, Caldwell essentially committed career suicide. Of all the bullshit UFC fighters can do and be forgiven — Steroids? Fine. Federal crimes? Whatever. High speed chases with the cops? No problem – it’s strange to think that quitting a TV program is a sin that simply can’t be absolved. It’s true though, leave “TUF” and you might as well be a child molester. You’re done. Finito. Dead to them. Time to start thinking about community college.

More than any of the ridiculous “made for TV” aspects of the show – more than the editing designed to bury him or his coach’s cartoonish disappointment or Dana White’s self-righteous fuming — that’s what made Caldwell’s exit from the show so hard to watch this week. As fake as the rest of “TUF” may be, one fact is very real: We just saw a 22-year-old kid euthanize his own dream on national television, seemingly without fully grasping the consequences.

(Props: MMAFighting.com)

Nick Diaz is a man of contradictions. He’s a BJJ black belt who usually prefers to keep the fight standing and throw hundreds of punches. He’s a chronic weed smoker who’s somehow motivated enough to compete in triathlons when he’s not competing in mixed martial arts. And he clearly hates doing interviews, yet his interviews are comedy gold, 100% of the time. Case in point: His latest run-in with Ariel Helwani, which follows the classic three-part Nick Diaz interview format:

1) Show blatant hostility toward the interviewer. Usually that just means looking the other direction while answering questions and giving short, mumbled responses for the first couple of minutes. And he does that here, obviously, but the tension is especially high in this one. “I wasn’t gonna do this interview but they told me I had to,” Nick says as an opener, before laying into Ariel personally. “I feel like you instigate fights quite a bit…that’s your job, but where I come from, y’know, people like that get slapped.” Ariel tries to get the proceedings back on track, saying something about mutual respect, and Nick says “it’s all good, I see how you are.” Great. Only seven minutes to go.

(Hurt? Nah, I just wanted to have some time to surf.)

A week after news broke that Jon Fitch had pulled out of UFC 132 due to a shoulder injury, the American Kickboxing Academy fighter’s opponent for the event had reportedly been removed from the July 2 card as well.

Dave Meltzer reported earlier today via his Wrestling Observer subscription newsletter that Penn had apparently sustained an injury this week while training for the event in anticipation of the UFC finding him a viable replacement opponent.

Now MMAJunkie is saying that Penn has opted out of the event for undisclosed reasons and will instead look at a future card for his next bout.

(“I’m pissed. That son of a bitch sold me a six pack of that shit and said it was the good stuff.”)

UFC light heavyweight Thiago Silva won’t be able to fight again until at least January 1, 2012, and he will be $33,750 lighter in the wallet and will have one less win on his record when he finally returns to competition.

Silva was handed the hefty suspension and fine and had the result of his UFC 125 win over Brandon Vera changed to a “no-contest”after admitting in a hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission today that he used steroids and tried to mask his wrongdoing by providing a synthetic urine sample he purchased online for his pre-fight drug screen.

(Props: comingsoon.net)

It’s kind of nice to see an MMA movie that doesn’t involve underground fight clubs or tubby physical comedians. Warrior hits theaters on September 9th, and aside from a couple of overly-dramatic plot points — the “win or you lose your house” angle, the brothers forced to face off in the climactic fight — it could turn out to be the most realistic depiction of the sport in movie history. The director is Gavin O’Connor, who was a producer on the classic 2002 MMA documentary The Smashing Machine, and it co-stars Tom Hardy, who was a total badass in Bronson. We’re looking forward to it.

(“No, I’ve never been a male nurse. Why does everybody keep asking me that?”)

At the end of last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team Dos Santos, we saw that tension was about to develop between Junior Dos Santos and his outspoken assistant coach Lew Polley. Reading Lew’s guest-blog for MMA Junkie, you get the sense that the two never really made up — why else would Polley be throwing JDS under the bus in public? Here’s what the Team Dos Santos wrestling specialist wrote about the coaching dynamic on the show:

“Myself and the other coaches were starting to butt heads already. Junior had never coached before, and fights and trains as a heavyweight, which means he doesn’t cut weight, nor has he fought at a pace that isn’t conducive to a heavyweight fight. Junior has a limited understanding of English. This and my wrestling is why I was brought in. In the season opener, Junior said pretty much the same thing. His other coaches felt differently, and the tension was mounting.

Junior decided to bring in a strength coach that was not very good at his job, or at least explaining why he was having the guys train in such a manner. The Brazilian coaches felt I was pushing too hard because I was trying to maximize the time we had in the gym. Before the fight, it became an issue. I would suggest an aggressive yet normal approach to maximize the guys time and skills, trying to be more efficient. Junior and the other staff decided it was a wrestling vs. jiu-jitsu thing.

(Well, that explains it.)

When message board commenters gush about how much better The Ultimate Fighter alumni are than the rest of the fighters in their respective division, we typically just give the little TUF noobs a proverbial pinch on the cheek and dismiss their uninformed opinions as being asinine as a result of the impeccable job the UFC and SPIKE did convincing them its true.

But when a so-called MMA expert like Franklin McNeil continually gives the edge to fighters who have appeared on the reality show in bouts against fighters who are widely considered more skilled and are thus ranked accordingly, it makes us shake our heads in disbelief that ESPN, the leader in sports coverage, gives this guy a forum to spew his skewed view of the sport under the guise of journalism. We may print a ton of opinion pieces here, but CagePotato isn’t proclaiming to be the CNN of MMA coverage and we’re clear in stating that editorials contain (sometimes cynically humorous) bias and are not to be taken as fact or even seriously in some cases. ESPN, however, is a different animal than CP.

Josh Gross, you have our sympathy.

(Paul Daley vs. Scott Smith, 12/4/10)

With 81.5% of his victories coming by way of strikes, Paul Daley has reason to be confident in his chances against Nick Diaz this Saturday. Semtex has gone 4-0 since his notorious loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 113, and is currently riding back-to-back first-round knockouts of Scott Smith and Yuya Shirai. Of course, Diaz deserves to be a 2-1 favorite, but Daley is always one punch away from producing another devastating knockout. Here are nine of his best moments. (All videos cued up near the good stuff.)

(Paul Daley vs. Junior Barata, 4/18/09)

(Is that a thumbs-up, a hang loose or a 2-out-of-10? We already have a problem here, Ricardo. Pic: MMA Convert)

Suck on this, F. Scott Fitzgerald: Recently retired MMA veteran Ricardo Almeida has apparently wasted little time starting the second act of his fighting life, as Pro MMA Radio’s Larry Pepe reports via tweet that “The Big Dog” will become a licensed judge in New Jersey. Obviously, the immediate reaction to this story is, “Hey, that’s great.” It’s good to see Almeida appearing to make a seamless transition to the next phase (one that baffles so many professional athletes) and it’s nice that he’s looking for ways to stay involved in the sport after hanging up his gloves. Since MMA is still, ahem, technically illegal in the state where Almeida resides, it’s also super cool and neighborly of Jersey to give him a chance. The Dirty Jerz has always fancied itself a forward-thinking athletic commission, so this is a good fit for it as well.

Let us say right off that we have no problem with Almeida the specific man/fighter becoming a judge. He’s always seemed like an agreeable sort and we have no doubt he’ll do a great job. But after the initial warm and fuzzies of this particular story wore off, we were left with some questions. Lots of questions, actually. For starters: Is having newly retired fighters become ringside officials really such a hot idea? Doesn’t it sort of set the stage for some clear cut conflicts of interest?

(The Authentic Sports Management Christmas party might be a bit awkward this year if all of the firm’s fighters attend.)

Jen Wenk, the ex-UFC director of public relations announced today that her new firm, StarPR™ Las Vegas, will be taking over the public relations duties for Authentic Sports Management, the agency representing several MMA fighters including UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and number one contender Rashad Evans.

“I am honored to have worked for the UFC and with owners and visionaries Lorenzo J. Fertitta and Dana White for the last six years,” Wenk said via press release. “I only hope to continue my good public relations work in representing this dynamic new management company and many of the organization’s top fighters, including the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon “Bones” Jones, former UFC champion Rashad Evans and more. “

(Funky Ben goes for the funky finish against Ryan Thomas at Bellator 14. Props: Fight! Magazine)

By Anton Gurevich

Bellator Welterweight Champion Ben “Funky” Askren will step inside the Bellator cage this Saturday, fighting MMA veteran Nick Thompson in the main event of the night. Askren won the Bellator Season Three Welterweight Tournament last year, defeating Dan Hornbuckle in the finals, then captured the Bellator Welterweight title from the hands of Lyman Good at Bellator 33.

“Funky” is 7-0 in his Mixed Martial Arts career, and is considered one of the most decorated wrestlers in the sport today. Askren was a two-time NCAA Division I Champion for the University of Missouri and a 74kg Freestyle Wrestling participant at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Here’s what Ben Askren had to say about his fight against Nick Thompson, the future of his career, and Jake Shields’s chances against Georges St. Pierre at UFC 129. Bellator 40 will take place this Saturday, April 9th, at the First Council Casino in Newkirk, Oklahoma. The event will be aired LIVE on MTV2 at 9p/8c.

Your opponent, Nick Thompson, is a well-rounded fighter with a lot of submissions and KO victories on his record. What was the most important aspect of your preparations for this fight?
ASKREN: I just concentrated on getting myself better as a fighter. At this point in time, I know I have a lot of areas where I can improve, and I’m just working hard on closing some holes in my game. If I do that, give my best in training, the rest of the things will just take care of themselves during the fight. I’m fully prepared and ready to go. It’s just about going there and beating somebody up.

Continue reading on Lowkick.com/MMA

(Chris Cope and Javier Torres: They will clinch you into a living death.)

Coach Dos Santos kicks off the episode by putting his team through an intense workout circuit. “Nobody died by get tired,” he says. Uh, dude?

With control of the matchups still in his hands, JDS wants either Javier Torres or Ramsey Nijem to fight next. One dude who won’t be fighting any time soon is Dos Santos’s last pick, Keon Caldwell, who has been struggling in practices. Junior tries to encourage him. Keon barfs in the bathroom. He thinks he’s falling behind because his mind is “where’s my family’s at.” He misses his daughter and he’s having a tough time with everything.

Brock Lesnar is in a bad mood. He hates to lose, and notices that his team is lacking in wrestling skill, which was their downfall in last week’s fight. Unfortunately, there isn’t much time to get everybody up to speed. “You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken shit,” he tells us, once again. “You know, you can’t polish turds to make ‘em look pretty. But we’re doing all we can.”

“If we don’t win this next fight, Brock is probably gonna kill us,” Charlie Rader says.

(You should have seen Tito driving this thing with his head out the window like Ace Ventura. It looked like a bobblehead in a HotWheels car. Photo credit: TMZ)

You would think that the UFC would have a clause in the contract of its fighters that restricts them from partaking in any dangerous activities like skydiving, attending a barbecue thrown by Mike Whitehead or living with Kim Couture. Apparently Zuffa is too busy writing up their new journalism policies to worry about fighters like Tito Ortiz wrecking race cars when they should be concerned with training for upcoming bouts.

(Call it a hunch, but something tells us that Kalib isn’t going to be the fan favorite in this one.)

Some people are either just too proud, too embarrassed or too pigheaded to ever admit when they’re wrong.

Although we’re not sure which category Kalib Starnes belongs in, we figured that three years after his career-changing marathon running performance against Nate Quarry at UFC 83, the Surrey, British Columbia-born fighter would finally be able to admit that he should have fought differently that night.

Apparently we were wrong, except we can admit it.

Starnes spoke with Neil Davidson from the Canadian Press ahead of his Ringside middleweight bout with Patrick Cote this weekend at the same arena he was booed out of April 19, 2008 and the former American Top Team fighter said that he wouldn’t change anything about the fight with Quarry even if he could in spite of a deluge of hate mail and threats he has received as a result of his baffling performance.

“I’ve learned a lot from that experience. I think I’ve grown a lot personally and as an athlete. I feel very good. If I could go back and change it, I don’t think I would, you know. I think it’s something that in the end will make me a better, stronger person.”

(Obviously the body of a man with a severe testosterone deficiency. Pic: Team Quest)

This is a tricky thing, trying to rank the best fight camps in mixed martial arts. With so many top level fighters constantly on the move and the teams themselves ceaselessly forging, then breaking alliances with the speed and bitterness of your average Tito-Jenna Twitter spat, it’s hard to keep it all straight in your head. Take welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre, for instance. Obviously a feather in the cap for any MMA gym, but how do we consider GSP – the prototypical camp-jumper — for the purposes of our precious little lists? Is he a Team Jackson guy? A TriStar guy? A (*snort*) Freddie Roach guy? Hard to know. Still, in the face of this uncertainty we soldier on. Why? Because of our commitment to you, P-Nation. And our commitment to making you mad with our off-base picks …

(Who’s in the mood for a popularity contest based on the most superficial criteria possible?)

The big dance begins today, ladies and gentlemen. Our quest to crown 2011′s Hottest Woman in MMA kicks off after the jump with the first half of the round-of-16, plus a bonus vote to determine the Wild Card spot in Pool B. (We won’t ruin the surprise, but let’s just say that one of the competitors has an adorable South African accent, one of them is occasionally referred to as “the beautiful” by Mike Goldberg, and one has a cartoonishly huge ass.)

Here’s what to do: With the help of the photographic aids we’ve provided below, cast your vote for your favorite lady in each of the five polls; hit that ”next page” link when you’re done with each one. Any questions, let us know in the comments section, and be sure to come back on Friday to decide the other half of the Grand Prix round-of-16.

Note: If you don’t see the poll widget under each pairing of girls, please refresh your browser, or switch to one that doesn’t suck. And please forgive the janky formatting on pages 2 and 4; not sure what’s up with that. Now let’s go to work…

(The pudgy Russian scamp during happier and more certain times.)

When rumors began circulating that Fedor Emelianenko was considering a drop to light heavyweight to face Strikeforce 205-pound kingpin Dan Henderson, representatives from M-1 were quick to quash them.

“At this time it is all rumor with no truth. It’s not anything M-1 has considered at all,” M-1′s head of PR Eric Nicholls told MiddleEasy last month. “Should it be decided that Fedor would consider dropping to 205, M-1 would make an official announcement.”

Well, it looks like Nicholls was just pretending that things were business as usual at M-1 as Fedor has now admitted that he is considering dropping down a weight class.

(Pic: Tapology)

It’s hard to even know what to think about Paul Daley anymore. Given what we understand about the current MMA landscape, the ’60s radical in us wants to pump our fist and shout out a Hopper-esque “Right on, man!” every time Daley goes on record saying he’s not going to “kiss ass” for the UFC empire. Then again, Daley himself is so thoroughly detestable that it’s also hard not to hope Nick Diaz takes him down and chokes him out in like 45 seconds this weekend during their Strikeforce welterweight title match. Then, if Diaz, Daley, Brock Lesnar, Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn joined hands in the cage, sang “We Shall Overcome” and announced they were filing a joint antitrust suit against Zuffa, LLC, well, that’d be about perfect … as long as one of them didn’t try to steal a bunch of beer from a riverboat casino later that night … but anyways …

Of the five betting websites we perused this morning, only one – Bookmaker.com – is offering lines on all four of Strikeforce’s scheduled televised bouts as well as a couple from the undercard. Most electronic bookies are steadfastly avoiding Gegard Mousasi vs. Keith Jardine, likely because they don’t want to be complicit in Jardine’s untimely demise. Not Bookmaker though, those brave motherfuckers are posting odds on that fight and somehow still allowing prop bets on the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix. A guy can still get Fab Werdum to win it all at +550 over there, if you’re interested. In order to stay focused on the here and now however, after the jump are the lines for Saturday night’s “Diaz vs. Daley” show courtesy Bookmaker, plus our picks.

(Tattoo advantage: Ford)

A welterweight bout between UFC vet Karo “The Heat” Parisyan and Canadian prospect Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford has been submitted to the Ontario Athletic Commission for approval for MMA Live’s inaugural card May 19 at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario, Canada.

(Props: UFCinterviews)

The extended video preview for UFC 129 has hit the Internet tubes, and as usual with these things, we get confident words from all the headliners, intercut with Joe Rogan raving about what beasts they are. Here’s a cheat-sheet…

— Georges St. Pierre says it’s an honor and a privilege to be part of all-time biggest gate in UFC history, and promises to give the fans a good show. Welterweight title contender Jake Shields says he has no problem fighting in hostile territory — which might be the first time that any part of Canada has been described as “hostile territory.” Says Shields: “Everyone has holes. He’s human. Once I get on top of him, I’m going to pass and put him away.” GSP respects Jake’s six year, 15-fight win streak, but says that fighting for a UFC world title is a different game. Particularly when you’re fighting Georges St. Pierre.

(‘Diaz vs. Daley’ video hype, via ESPN)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- Gegard Mousasi Speaks About Upcoming Fight with Keith Jardine (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- 40 of the Greatest Dana White F-Bombs in the History of the UFC (MiddleEasy)

- From Heavyweight to Bantamweight: Seven Future UFC Champions (LowKick)

- Paul Daley: “I’m Not a Kiss-Ass, I’m Not Really a Company Guy” (5thRound)

- Mayhem Miller Moves Past Nick Diaz Feud, Vows to ‘Beat the Brakes Off’ UFC Middleweights (MMA Fighting)

- The Tragedy of the Murder of Sergio Salcido (MMA Convert)

- Fabricio Werdum Eyeing UFC Title-Shot After Strikeforce Grand Prix (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Georges St. Pierre Pretty Damn Confident He’s Going to Beat Jake Shields (MMA-Scraps)

- ‘TUF’ Talk: How Important is Lesnar’s Stint on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’? (Versus MMA Beat)

- MMA Rankings: Alvarez & Wilcox Stay Put At Lightweight (Fight Magazine)

(This is the look that sends cons running for a new cell? Really? PicProps MMAMania)

Well, now that War Machine’s friend on the outside has figured out how to post his blogs again, the jailhouse ramblings of the fighter formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver have been coming fast and furiously the past week.

Judging by his references to missing Christmas and to GSP and Danzig winning (they both fought and won at UFC 124) these entries are about four months behind, which makes sense considering that’s when War’s blogs went MIA.

Apparently someone alerted WM about the MMA media’s fascination with his life behind bars and he’s not impressed. If I was a private and upstanding citizen like he is, I’d be pissed too that the media was critical of me

Check out what shenanigans War Machine got into last year after the jump.

(“Tap? That wasn’t a tap. It was Morse code for ‘You’re dead!’”)

Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer is undecided about whether or not Michael Bisping or Chael Sonnen would be approved as coaching candidates for The Ultimate Fighter if either UFC middleweight applied for a coaching license.

Kizer revealed today MMAJunkie today that Sonnen met with NSAC and UFC officials three weeks ago to discuss remarks he made during his California State Athletic Commission hearing in December to appeal a suspension for high levels of testosterone found in his system in a urine test administered prior to his UFC 117 championship bout with Anderson Silva. During the CSAC hearing, Sonnen testified that he had asked for and received verbal approval for the his prescribed use of synthetic testosterone by Kizer — a claim Kizer flatly denies.

(When Carlos Condit asked how bad you wanted to see him fight BJ Penn, he meant that shit rhetorically. Pic: Sherdog)

This week’s revelation that Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber will headline July’s UFC 132 with their bantamweight title scrap (and for some reason, apparently not coach “TUF 14″) doesn’t necessarily mean bad things for those of us who still want to see BJ Penn included in some way. It just means that – in the wake of Jon Fitch tearing up his shoulder during training – the UFC doesn’t know who to match him up against yet. As we told you last week, former WEC champ Carlos Condit has been publicly campaigning to fight Penn, but the UFC has so far been mum about that idea. At this point, it sounds like Condit is going a little OCD on it.

“I’m not really sure what’s holding it up right now,” Condit manager Malki Kawa told MMA Weekly. “Hopefully Condit’s the guy they call to do it. I don’t know if there’s a better fight than Condit for him, but we’re excited about the opportunity and hopefully, if Joe Silva, B.J. Penn, and the UFC feel like it’s something they want to do, Carlos is itching. He texts me every day, ‘Any word on B.J.?’ I’m hoping that’s what happens for him.”

(And in the background, you can see Jose Aldo getting ready to do this.)

Two months after announcing his intentions to “move to 145 and make a run for that belt,” former UFC lightweight contender Tyson Griffin has his first featherweight dance partner. The Xtreme Couture product will meet Manny Gamburyan at UFC on Versus 4, which is slated to go down June 26th, possibly at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

Griffin is coming off of three consecutive losses (to Evan Dunham, Takanori Gomi, and Nik Lentz), which could make this one of those unfortunate “win or go home” fights. Meanwhile, Gamburyan hasn’t competed since his violently unsuccessful bid for Jose Aldo’s title last September, which broke his three-fight winning streak at featherweight. Gamburyan was booked to face Rafael Assuncao at UFC 128 last month, but was forced to withdraw due to a back injury.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/CNM)

Either this guy drank WAY too many Red Bulls before this interview or he just REALLY likes talking to Jake Shields. Whatever the case may be, he caught up with Jakes at Cesar Gracie’s gym and got his thoughts on a few topic, including his upcoming UFC 129 bout on April 30 against UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre and the prospect of the former Strikeforce middleweight champ possibly fighting Anderson Silva somewhere down the road.

“Do you think you can beat GSP?” probably wasn’t the best question to start the interview with, but Jake took it in stride, laughing off the strange query from his alleged fan.

Judging by his outfit and how giddy he seems to be around his favorite fighters, it’s safe to say he won’t be awarded Strikeforce or UFC credentials under the current regime.

Check out video of Mr. Perky interviewing Josh Thomson, Matt Lindland and Josh Koscheck about the fight as well as footage of Jake training with some old dude after the jump.

(“…and once I find that son-of-a-bitch who embalmed me, there’s gonna be hell to pay.” Image courtesy of ESPN)

Due to a torn MCL suffered in training, Ultimate Fighter 11 winner Court McGee has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled middleweight bout against Canadian prospect Jesse Bongfeldt at UFC 131: Lesnar vs. Dos Santos. McGee has been inactive since his submission victory over Ryan Jensen last October, and his current timetable for return is uncertain. Bongfeldt will likely remain on the Vancouver card against a replacement opponent. Update, 4:01 p.m. ET: Bongfeldt will now be facing Chris Weidman, the undefeated Serra-Longo Fight Team product (and former All-American wrestler) who scored a unanimous decision over Alessio Sakara in his Octagon debut last month at “Sanchez vs. Kampmann.”

According to reports, McGee injured his knee while training with the Cesar Gracie team, helping Jake Shields, Nick Diaz, and Gilbert Melendez prepare for their upcoming fights. (Damn it, why couldn’t it have been Chael?) So remember kids, EFX Performance bracelets may improve your balance and stamina, but they don’t make you impervious to knee injury…

(“Attn journalists: Instead of writing that Fedor ‘lost’ we’d appreciate it if you would use the phrase Fedor ‘almost won.’ Thank you, that is all.” Pic: All Elbows)

Since we figure our readers don’t spend a ton of time poking around the “fine print” section at the bottom of UFC.com, we assume very few of you noticed recently when Zuffa, LLC quietly began imposing its “Professional Journalism Policies” on Strikeforce. All told, the policies (which you can read right here, if you really want) are almost 1,500 words of dense legalese that spell out what it takes to be deemed worthy of a Zuffa (or in this case “Forza, LLC,”) press credential and the rules writers and photogs will abide by in order to stay in the company’s good graces. Basically, it’s two full pages that boil down to one big “Or else!” for MMA journalists. While this may be Business As Usual at UFC events, it charts a bold new direction for how Strikeforce will deal with the media moving forward.

We won’t bore you with many of the details, because it’s all pretty standard: No shooting video of the fights, no cheering on press row, etc., etc.. The policies themselves aren’t much different from the ones imposed on journalists by other major sporting events. The difference here is that the people making the rules have historically been fairly heavy-handed in their dealings with the media. The UFC certainly hasn’t been afraid to hand out indefinite bans to some of MMA’s best known and most “professional” journalists, many times for seemingly very petty reasons. This latest development also means that a few major MMA outlets that were formerly credentialed by Strikeforce (including some of the sport’s most veteran journalists) likely won’t be welcome anymore. Any way you slice it, that’s scary news.