(Video courtesy of YouTube/MMACanadaTV)

- The end of Strikeforce? (SI)

-The Electric Dock Ellis Acid Test: An Attempt To Recreate His Drug-Addled No-Hitter, On Xbox (DeadSpin)

- Paulo Filho training for Satoshi Ishii (Tatame)

- ‘We’ are the champions: in defense of referring to your sports team in the first person (Clutch.MTV)

- 5 UFC fighters who could squash ‘The Spider’ (BleacherReport)

- Dana White talks UFC 133, Overeem and his meeting with Vince McMahon (MMAFighting)

- Calgary Commission finds no fault in ref who stopped Couture-Bird fight way too late (MMAJunkie)

- Comic-Con 2011: Spielberg says Jurassic Park 4 is underway (ScreenJunkies)

- MMA Agent Malki Kawa talks shop (CageWriter)

- The hottest chicks from comic book flicks (MadeMan)

- Overeem declares boxing superior to MMA (FiveKnuckles)

- Bobby Lashley out of next week’s Titan FC event (FiveOuncesofPain)

(“I call this sub ‘The Prison Rape.’”

War Machine is out of jail which is sad for us fans of his Big House Blogs, but on the bright side we’ll be reading a lot more interviews from the man formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver.

USCombatSports.com snagged War’s first post-prison interview and let’s just say that it didn’t disappoint.

Check out some of the highlights after the jump.

Go ahead, make a joke about “pointy elbows”.

Heads up Potato Nation: one of our own is scrapping tonight. Liz Carmouche is a fan of CagePotato in good standing, along with several members of her team. Maybe you remember them: Team Hurricane Awesome MMA Team of Awesomeness? Yup, they like us over there, and we like them. Now, we’re not making any promises, but Girl-Rilla may shout out the Nation before and/or after her fight. Also possibly during the fight, depending on how things go.

(Props: HaywireMovie)

Damn, Gina! Haywire looks like it might exceed our expectations. Your thoughts?

(Props: TheStar)

After four thrilling installments, “Ask Gary” is riding off into the sunset. Gary Goodridge has one more column left in the tank before calling it quits, so please deposit your final burning questions into the comments section below, and we’ll make sure he gets ‘em. If you missed any of Gary’s previous columns for CagePotato, click here.

Still, when one door closes, another opens — and another hulking MMA legend walks through it. We’re pleased to announce that we’ve lined up UFC Hall of Famer Dan Severn to do his own CagePotato column, which will follow the same mailbag format as Gary’s (unless we come up with something better). Got any questions related to the Beast’s 17-year, 124-fight career? Let’s hear it. As always, thanks for supporting the fighters who built this sport while you were, you know, on your father’s nutsack.

(Nate based his decision on money, contractual freedom, and the fact that wrestlers don’t exist in the U.K.)

BAMMA.net breaks it:

We are proud to announce that we have signed one of the top-ranked fighters in the world, former UFC contender Nate Marquardt. We will reveal Marquardt’s next opponent and more details on his highly anticipated BAMMA debut in the coming weeks.

Liam Fisher at BAMMA stated, “As soon as we received word that the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission lifted Marquardt’s suspension we jumped at the chance to sign him. He is a top ranked contender and an asset to any promotion. Words cannot express how excited we are that Marquardt is now fighting under the BAMMA banner”…

(Titanium Spongebob Squarepants FTW.)

With the growing popularity of MMA, many of the sport’s personalities are recognized wherever they go, making it nearly impossible to enjoy a normal uninterrupted day or night out. Wearing disguises would just draw more attention to them, so they typically just deal with their newfound celebrity and try to maintain a semblance of normalcy when engaging in their daily activities like eating out, shopping and going to the movies with fans constantly interrupting them to ask for photos and autographs.

Fortunately for a lot of them this week whose inner nerd craved anonymity amongst fellow geeks, Comic-Con was the perfect opportune venue to blend in by wearing ridiculous costumes as disguises. You may be surprised how many MMA luminaries were out mingling with the crowds at the annual convention throughout the week.

By Jason Moles

Earlier this week, news broke that Ranger Up — a longtime sponsor of MMA fighters who have served in the U.S. military, and a passionate lover of America — has been forced to exit the building. Ranger Up CEO Nick Palmisciano was informed by Zuffa that his company would need to pay the recently-established Strikeforce sponsor fee if their fighters were to wear any RU gear at upcoming Strikeforce events. Most notably, this affects former Marine Liz Carmouche, who faces Sarah Kaufman at tonight’s Challengers event in Las Vegas, as well as bionic super-soldier Tim Kennedy, who’s slated to take on Robbie Lawler on the main card of Fedor vs. Henderson.

“[They] told us in a very professional way,” Palmisciano explained to CagePotato.com. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it now, I completely understand. It’s a business deal and I’ve got no hard feelings. I think it’s a good business decision for them and from my position, I don’t feel like we’re owed anything.”

That’s very gracious of him, but the fighters are still going to be losing money unless another sponsor picks them up, right? Wrong. “I know it sounds cheesy, but the military is a family and we are very passionate about what we do in taking care of the people in our community,” Palmisciano said. “We’ve been sponsoring Tim Kennedy since 2006 and we’re not going to all of a sudden treat a member of our family differently because an organization imposes a fee that prohibits us from going forward with the deal that we had. We’re going to continue to support both fighters like they were already and they will both get paid from Ranger Up like they expected to for this fight and in the future.”

Punch face: when it happens, it’s only painful. When captured properly, however, that moment frozen in time is one of our guilty pleasures. We enjoy it because, c’mon, it’s a picture of a guy making a derpy face that he can’t control. We feel guilty because we have no illusions that we would be able to control our own derpishness if someone were to hit us in the face really hard.

Fighters: if you find yourself in one of our punchface galleries, please do not come punch us in the grill to see if we still look cool. We will not still look cool. If you absolutely have to punch one of us in the face, please make sure you bring a friend with a decent camera. We’re going to want to see it afterwards.

Come one in past the jump and enjoy the comedy that results when knuckles connect with poor defenseless faces. Special thanks to photographers with ninja skills, Fight! Magazine, MMAWeekly, and our own Jason Wright.

[RX]

(Two prom dates? Oh man, how’s Dominick gonna get himself out of *this* one?!)

According to a new MMAJunkie report, reigning bantamweight kingpin Dominick Cruz will make his fourth title defense at UFC on Versus 6, October 1st at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. His challenger will be Demetrious Johnson, the AMC Pankration product whose current four-fight win streak includes decision victories over MMA legend Norifumi Yamamoto and former 135-pound WEC champ Miguel Torres.

Cruz is coming off his ninth consecutive victory, a unanimous decision against old rival Urijah Faber in a Fight of the Night performance at UFC 132. In the aftermath of that classic bang-up, fans wondered if the UFC would schedule an immediate trilogy match between the two. Instead, Faber’s next opponent will be another contender with vengeance on his mind…

(You don’t get to 10,000 friends without making a few enemies. / Images courtesy of 5thRound, Playboy.)

All month, it’s been taunting me — watching the fan count on our Facebook page creep slowly, steadily toward 10,000.  At the time of this writing, we’re sitting at 9,977 fans, just a stone’s throw away from the Promised Land. Well I’m not going to let this affect my sleep any longer. We’re passing 10,000 fans today, damn it, with or without you bastards.

If you’re reading this now and you have a Facebook account, but aren’t a follower of facebook.com/CagePotato for some reason, please head there and “Like” our page. It’ll keep you up-to-date with all the top stories on CagePotato, and provide you with bonus content that we didn’t have room for on the site.

Plus, it’ll give you another outlet to share feedback, post your own links and photos, and complain about our captcha system — all at no cost to you. So please, do us a favor, just this once. Thank you.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UliMorse)

Fedor has been taking his training for his last kick at the cat upcoming tilt with Dan Henderson next weekend seriously, enlisting the help of several top-tier training partners like his brother Aleksander and professional boxer Denis Lebedov to prepare for the former PRIDE and current Strikeforce champion.

(Size advantage goes to Ishii; shitty tattoo advantage is all Filho.)

A bout between former WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho and Olympic judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii, presumably at light heavyweight, is being targeted for Amazon Forest Combat’s inaugural event in Manaus-Amazonas, Brazil on September 14. According to a report by TATAME, the promotion is also in talks with several notable ex-Zuffa fighters including Marcus Davis, Nate Marquardt, Patrick Cote and Ronys Torres.

(Props: IronForgesIron)

Damn. So they really just yank ‘em out of your head, huh? Thankfully I’ve never had to get my wisdom teeth removed like the UFC heavyweight shown above, but I hear it’s The Absolute Worst. Quick poll: Most painful medical procedure you’ve ever had. Go.

(Smile advantage: Hendo.)

According to our homepage poll, 56% of you think Fedor Emelianenko will come away with a victory when he meets Dan Henderson in the headlining bout of Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson on July 30th. Fair enough. But have you considered all the factors involved in the matchup — and I mean all of them, even the stupid ones? Check out our head-to-head rundown and let us know if we change your mind.

AGE
Fedor: 34 years old, 11 years in the sport
Henderson: 40 years old, 14 years in the sport
Advantage: Fedor

NUMBER OF TIMES THEY’VE BEEN KNOCKED OUT COLD
Fedor: 0 times in 35 fights
Henderson: 0 times in 35 fights
Advantage: Dead freakin’ even

LAST TWO FIGHTS RESULTED IN
Fedor: Humiliating losses to Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Silva
Henderson: Thunderous KO’s of Renato Sobral and Rafael Cavalcante
Advantage: Henderson

If you have a good feeling that Brian Stann is going to upset Chael Sonnen when the pair meet at UFC 136 in October, now is the time to throw some money down.

Stann opened up at BetUS.com at +200, meaning that if “All American” wins, for every $100 you bet on him you will get back $200 plus your original wager. Sonnen, on the other hand opened up on the site at a less favorable -260, meaning that if you place a $260 bet on “The American Gangster,” your total return would be $360 is he wins.

(“Stupid rental car.”)

Unless you’re Ben, in which case you can’t be within 200 yards of “Conviction,” and you’re heading to Comic-Con 2011 tomorrow, remember to go check out the Haywire Q&A with Gina Carano and director Steven Soderbergh from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in Hall H.

If you do go make sure you ask Gina some of the questions below that we all want answers to, like:

What was the “medical condition” you had?

What is your phone number?

Check out another new photo from the movie and the synopsis of the film, (whose release has been delayed until January 20, 2012) after the jump.

(“Y’know, Quinton, I think Kevin James takes this one nine times out of ten.”)

It’s getting harder and harder to stay on Rampage Jackson‘s good side. We already know not to ask him questions about anything other than his upcoming fight — and you definitely shouldn’t offer to “squash the beef” afterwards. New rule: Don’t pick against him, either, because he will verbally sit you down even if you’re a beloved UFC Hall of Famer. Via Rampage4Real last night:

“Fuck @Randy_Couture I used 2 rep his line,and he always picked my opponents over me, at 1st it was cool till hamill #has been … @Randy_Couture fuck u dude, u a fake ass has been, I was a real friend and kept my mouth shut when I didn’t know if u would win or lose”

Randy tried to keep things classy in his response:

(Props: twitter.com/kidmcgillivray)

There is nothing wrong with your monitor. TUF 13 castmember Ryan McGillivray tweeted out this horrifying photo of his destroyed nose on Tuesday, after eating a knee in sparring (“Bobbed when I should have weaved haha”). McGillivray, who was released by the UFC after losing a decision to Shamar Bailey at the TUF 13 Finale, will need to get surgery to have that thing taken care of.

After the jump: A few more candidates in the “Worst Broken Noses in MMA” hall of fame…

(MMA fans are no different than anyone else in that they sure love “exremely” terrible tattoos.)

I was walking down the street the other day when I saw a guy with a poorly-drawn UFC Octagon tattoo begging for spare change and I turned to my wife and said, “There’s proof that MMA has gone mainstream. Even street people know the culture.”

The sad reality is, that homeless people aren’t the only ones with bad judgment. Even people who should know better are getting terrible tattoos inspired by their favorite fighters, tattoos that their favorite fighters sport and tattoos of their favorite fighters in the sport. It’s becoming an epidemic.

With all of the MMA fighters trying their hands at reality television, it was inevitable that washouts like Butterbean and Bob Sapp would follow suit.

Sapp is pitching the show above to The Travel Channel in the hopes that they’ll pick it up long-term. Unfortunately for Sapp, besides maybe a handful of us and the Japanese, not many people, especially those who watch The Travel Channel could sit through more than one episode of “The Beast” making faces and and a fool out of himself.

Following losses to Chris Leben and Michael Bisping, Yoshihiro Akiyama‘s back is squarely against the wall coming into his co-headlining bout at UFC 133. Unfortunately, his opponent will be Vitor Belfort, who can end a fight at any time with his notoriously lethal hands. But don’t sleep on Sexy. Akiyama predicts a knockout victory on August 6th, saying that he’s just as dangerous as Belfort in a stand-and-bang situation. “Every time I fight, I fight like my life’s at stake,” he says. And yeah, against the Phenom it very well might be. But we’ll have to find out Akiyama’s stance on Internet porn before we can make an official prediction.

(By the way, is it really necessary to start this clip with that stereotypical Asian flute playing in the background? Come on, son. Akiyama is of Korean descent, so you know the only music playing at his crib is Bubble Pop on a continuous loop.)

After the jump: A look at Vitor Belfort’s dramatic early rise in the UFC as well as his return (which conveniently doesn’t include that part where he got Seagal’d by Anderson Silva).

(Video courtesy of YouTube/TapouTVTC)

Whether you’re an MMA fighter or a guy (or a girl) who likes to settle your differences behind the Dairy Queen, you really need to add this cool little technique from Pat Barry to your bag of tricks.

Basically, you flip the script on the traditional kickboxing combinations that see you end with a kick from the opposite leg of the last punch you throw and follow up a purposely missed left hook with a left high kick. Easier said than done, right?

Like a boss. PicProps: Bellator.com

Bellator 47 pops off this weekend, continuing the featherweight tournament and bridging the gap between season four and five. Unlike some promotions that can’t seem to pronounce “tournament” without fighters getting injured or insulted (or both), Bellator’s grand prix action will roll on in Ontario, Canada, where the contestants will have to brave the bitter arctic cold and vicious penguins as they fight to advance toward a payday and a title shot with current champion (and Baddest Man on the Planet) Joe Warren.

This just in: we’re being told by someone who lives in Canada that it is summer there, and temperatures will be significantly less brutal than we normally expect. We’ll take him at his word, but if anyone can take readings in the area and report back, we’d appreciate it.

Either way, we expect the action to be hot.

For the tourney, Marlon Sandro is matched up with Nazareno Malegarie, and Pat Curran will face Ronnie Mann.

(Papy wears that hat in memory of his late grappling coach, Fred Sanford.)

With three unanimous decision losses in his last four fights, former welterweight title contender Thiago Alves is going to need to start rackin’ up the old W’s if he wants to stay relevant (and keep his job) in the UFC. His next bout will give him the opportunity to rebound like a boss or crash and burn. MMAWeekly reported yesterday that Alves will face recent UFC signee Papy “Makambo” Abedi at UFC 138, November 5th in Birmingham, England.

A Congolese fighter who now fights out of his adopted home of Sweden, Abedi has racked up an 8-0 record (5 TKOs, 2 subs) competing throughout Europe, most recently scoring a first-round submission against Nathan Schouteren at a Superior Challenge event last October. The 32-year-old holds a black-belt in judo, and trains at the HILTI NHB camp in Stockholm. Though Abedi has spent the majority of his career at middleweight, he’s decided to drop to 170 for his UFC debut. Check out some vids of Papy in action after the jump, and let us know how you think he’ll fare against Alves…

(Another nomination in the “worst MMA referee of all time” awards. Props: caposa)

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…

- Brittney Palmer’s Ring Girl Profile Back on UFC.com [Before and After Pics] (5thRound)

- Dana White Doesn’t Rule Out Tito Ortiz as No.1 Contender With a UFC 133 Win (MMA Fighting)

- Rampage Jackson: I Guarantee Jon Jones Won’t Fight Me Like a Man (LowKick)

- Phil Baroni Faces Yoshiyuki Yoshida at September Event Featuring PRIDE Rules (Five Ounces of Pain)

- UFC 2011 Mid-Year Awards: Top 5 Disgraces of the Year (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Demian Maia Recorded a Message for Chael Sonnen on Behalf of Brazil (MiddleEasy)

- Ranger Up “Out” As Sponsors for Strikeforce/UFC Fighters: Kennedy, Carmouche (MMAPayout)

- The Not-So-Secret World of the Underground Combat League (MMA Convert)

- Chris Lytle Eyes Second Career in Politics (NBC Sports MMA)

- Boom to Bust: Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Is Not Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts (MMA Mania)

- UFC Reshifts Focus on Blaming Culinary Unions for Lack of New York MMA Regulation (FightOpinion)

- New MMA Comic “Heart” Coming Out Soon by Image Comics (TheFightNerd)

(Ford will finally get his shot with a top three promotion.)

Canada’s number 5 ranked welterweight Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford has signed on with his first major U.S. promotion. According to the Edmonton, Alberta fighter, he has come to terms with Bellator Fighting Championships and will make his debut with the Chicago-based promotion in October during season 5 at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario against a yet-to-be determined opponent in a non-tournament bout and will then participate in next season’t welterweight bracket that begins in January 2012.

Ford posted the following on his Facebook page this afternoon:

“The Real Deal Will Be Keepin It GDUP For Bellator Fighting Championships. Debut In October @ Casino Rama Then The 170lb 100k Tournament In January 2012 Representing E-Town And Canada!!!!”

He made his bones knocking out palookas in the Toughman circuit in the ’90s, before transitioning into an MMA career where he was usually matched up against other oddly-shaped fighters. But now that he’s older and wiser — and still enormous — all Butterbean wants to do is protect and serve. That’s the premise of a new reality series called Big Law: Deputy Butterbean, which premieres August 9th on the Investigation Discovery channel.

The show follows Eric Esch (aka Butterbean, King of the Damn Four-Rounders) and his partner Deputy Adam Hadder as they patrol the streets of Jasper, Alabama, tracking down crystal meth labs and unsanctioned rib-eating contests. Will the 400+ pound ‘Bean be forced to scale a chain-link fence during a pursuit? Will Steven Seagal come in for a guest-spot? These are serious questions that need to be asked now.

When reached for comment, Tim Sylvia cried “What about meeeeeeeeeeee??” Anyway. You guys gonna watch this crap or what?

(Props: ‘DamnSevern‘ on the UG)

After a pleasant afternoon of trash talk at today’s UFC 135 press conference in Denver, headliners Jon Jones and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson got in each other’s faces for their first officially-sanctioned staredown. Jones was clearly trying to do that thing where he looks off to the side like his opponent isn’t even in the room. Rampage responded by turning his back to Jones and pointing at nobody in particular, politican-style. Round one goes to Rampage?

After the jump, some highlights from their verbal exchanges at the press conference, via MMAMania and MMAFighting…

By CagePotato Guest Contributor Mike Schmitz

For over a year and a half, Matt Mitrione has been all smiles.

After debuting against Marcus Jones at the Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale on December 5, 2009, he has racked up five wins – with four knockouts – while becoming a fan-favorite along the way. Despite the football mileage on his 32-year-old once injury-riddled body, Meathead is on the rise in the world of mixed martial arts. Mitrione will finally face his first big test at UFC 137 where he’ll take on 6-foot-4, 230-pound juggernaut Cheick Kongo.

Like Meathead, Kongo is coming off of a knockout victory at UFC on Versus 4 where he pulled off one of the most stunning comebacks in UFC history by knocking out Mitrione’s training partner Pat Barry. Although both fighters won their last respective bouts and will be riding the momentum into their match-up, Mitrione isn’t nearly as experienced or tested as Kongo, which could play a factor.