By Jason Moles

Before I dig in, let’s take a look at what Amazon has to say about this ingenious idea:

“Once friends, now bitter enemies, UFC superstars Chuck ”The Iceman” Liddell and ”The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz waged intense battles inside and outside of the Octagon. UFC Bad Blood: Liddell vs. Ortiz gives an all access look at the epic feud forged in heated competition over the UFC Championship, and fueled by personal conflict that often boiled over. Through exclusive new interviews, rare behind-the-scenes footage, and hard hitting action from their historic fights, you can re-live the rivalry that helped launch the Ultimate Fighting Championship into the mainstream, and make Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz household names that will be forever linked.

Special Features: Countdown to UFC 66, UFC 66: Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz, and UFC 47: Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz”

Well it’s about time that massive video library is being put to use. One of the most well-known and publicly talked about feuds in mixed martial arts will live forever on DVD and Blu-ray come August 30th, you know, in case you ever want to show your grandkids what human cock fighting looked like. Not sure about you, but wouldn’t this have been a bigger seller last year when Chuck Liddell coached opposite Tito Ortiz on The Ultimate Fighter 11? Rumor has it the DVD was supposed to be released much earlier but had to withdraw from stores due to a bulging disc and a cracked case.

To bring a few of you up to speed…

(Condit’s recent knockout of Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 132: I give it a 10 for brutality, and a 4 for originality.)

According to Carlos Condit’s manager Malki Kawa, the UFC is in the process of setting up a match between Condit and former lightweight/welterweight champ BJ Penn. It was assumed that Penn’s next fight would be a rematch with Jon Fitch, who he drew with at UFC 127 — if you’ll recall, the two were already scheduled for a second meeting at UFC 132 before Fitch pulled out due to injury — but it appears that the UFC has soured on the idea altogether. Or at least that’s how BJ tells it.

Yesterday, Penn tweeted at Fitch, “tried to make it happen but Joe Silva said ‘the fans don’t want it & I’m not interested’. Not much more I can do on my end.” Carlos Condit then swooped in, writing “The people have spoken @bjpenndotcom, they want to see us scrap, let’s give em what they asked for,” to which Penn replied, ”Yup. Let’s do it! October 29th.”

For the record, 10/29 is the date of UFC 137: St. Pierre vs. Diaz in Las Vegas, although the date of the Penn vs. Condit scrap hasn’t actually been confirmed for that event yet. So where does this leave Jon Fitch? In a word: Butthurt.

(Someone was jealous of the attention her fighter friend was getting…Unfortunately she didn’t realize it had nothing to do with fighting.)

Well Kim Couture’s fight Saturday night just got even more controversial.

According to a report by MMAJunkie, representatives from both the Association of Boxing Commissions and the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board say that Couture shouldn’t have been allowed to fight by the Calgary Combative Sports Commission as she still has not been cleared from an indefinite suspension levied by an NJSACB physician after her unanimous decision loss to Munah Holland at Ring of Combat 32 in Atlantic City in October.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/FightHype)

Okay, maybe he didn’t name us specifically, but the aging veteran who used to be known as “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” told FightHype.com that any reporters who think he should walk away from the sport are idiots.

Using an odd analogy that reporters who had never stepped into the cage saying he should call it a career are like if when we’re old the doctors refuse us medicine because they’re saving it for some younger patients. So because doctors have never been old or had a disease like cancer, they aren’t qualified to treat someone who is or diagnose someone who has it? Makes perfect sense.

Instead of proving him right by responding in typical CP style, instead I’ve written an open letter to Ken Shamrock.

Check it out after the jump.

(James Toney, shown above with one boxing glove, one MMA glove, and an artist’s depiction of what he might look like if he lost 85 pounds.)

By Jared “DangadaDang” Jones

During its rise to popularity, Mixed Martial Arts has become known for the incredible physical conditioning, talent, and (depending whose side you’re on) heart of its athletes. It is a sport built on dedication; simply put, no amount of pink gloves and flirting with overweight TUF alums will make you an MMA fighter.

But as with any sport’s increase in mass appeal, MMA has seen its share of hacks, wannabes, scallywags and jabronis attempting to grab 15 more minutes of fame through a career in “that Ultimate Fighting stuff.” In light of James Toney’s continuing efforts to shake the MMA world with the use of side check kicks, I give you the five worst instances of C-to-D-list celebrities giving MMA the old community-college try.

5. Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson

The phrase “meteoric rise” comes to mind — one minute you were watching Kimbo smoke blunts in the background of semi-public orgies and the next he was being touted as the most formidable opponent to take Brock Lesnar’s crown. Mr. Ferguson landed on our radars through a series of brutal street fight videos in which he fought guys named “Afro Puff,” “Byrd,” “Chico,” and “Mayor McCheese.” These internet videos went viral so ferociously that the now-defunct EliteXC built him up to be their marquee star by feeding him other hopeless big lugs like “Bo” and “Tank.”

Kimbo was given his first “legitimate” opponent in James Thompson as the headlining bout of EliteXC: Primetime in May 2008. Despite possibly tapping to a guillotine in the first round and being on the receiving end of over 1,000 elbows in the second, Kimbo was able to pull off a rare standing-TKO of Thompson late in the third. (Good lookin’ out, Dan.)

(A week later, that thing hatched and about 30 baby spiders came pouring out. True story.)

When it comes to getting fired by the UFC, three is a magic number — as in, that’s usually the number of consecutive losses you’re allowed before they tell you to hit the bricks. Case in point, welterweight contender John “Doomsday” Howard, who was just released from his contract after seven fights in the promotion.

Howard began his UFC campaign in promising fashion, picking up split-decision wins over Chris Wilson and Tamdan McCrory, followed by knockouts of Dennis Hallman and Daniel Roberts. Then, shit fell apart. Howard got dominated by Jake Ellenberger en route to a doctor’s stoppage TKO (due to the gnarly swelling of his left eye), then caught decision losses against Thiago Alves and Matt Brown. The loss to Brown was unforgivable, considering Brown was on a three-fight skid himself.

If you booked the day off work this morning to celebrate after reading the announcement on the Strikeforce website today that former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko was officially UFC-bound and that an eventual fight with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva was in early discussions with the Russian fighter’s management, you’re going to have to call your work back and tell them that the mystery illness that forced you out of the office today is miraculously cured. That way, you can save your sick day for a really momentous occasion, like the day Never Back Down 2 arrives on DVD.

It turns out that the story was a hoax reportedly posted by hackers, though it seems more likely that it was the clever work of a disgruntled former Strikeforce employee who still has access to the company’s servers.

If you didn’t read the story, we’ve got a screenshot and transcription of it after the jump.

(Why doesn’t the UFC allow pre-fight staredowns?)

How did we not know Josh Barnett vs. Bobby Lashley was happening last night in Japan under the Inoki Genome Federation Banner? Thankfully SportsNavi had proof that the fight went down and that it was actually closer than we would have assumed it would be.

Barnett demonstrated some uncharacteristic stand-up skills by punishing Lashley’s legs with leg kicks before he was picked up the former UFC heavyweight champion and slammed to the canvas. But in the end it was the submission skills of the fighter formerly known as “The Babyfaced Assassin” that proved the difference. Barnett caught Lashley in an armbar and the former WWE champ was forced to tap out in the opening frame.

Oh, did we forget to mention that it was a pro wrestling bout? Our bad.

Check out the photos of the “fight” after the jump.

ATTENTION PAUL BUENTELLO: Please do this at Bellator 48.  PLEASE.

“The only great failure in life is the failure to try.” -Some old wise man, probably with a large beard

Fail is sort of like porn. You can’t really define it properly, but you know it when you see it. And brother, we’ve seen some fail watching our favorite sport. It can happen anytime, from walking out to the ring, to celebrating your victory (see above), and anytime between. We here at CagePotato hold MMA and fighters in our highest regard … but we still like to point and laugh every once in a while. Allow us to present to you our first (in what we assume will be many) installment of MMA Fails.

Special thanks go out to anyone and everyone who ever GIF’d a video, including the fine people at UpstandingCitizens, MMA-Core, IronForgesIron, and MMATKO.  Props.

Now let’s get it on!

(Props: Valmirfernando28 via MMAMania)

Maiquel Falcao‘s brief UFC career began with a controversial, much-criticized fight against Gerald Harris last November, and ended with his subsequent release due to an old assault charge. But on Saturday, “Big Rig” returned to doing what he does best — beating the crap out of Brazilian opponents who you’ve never heard of.

Falcao (27-3, 1 no-contest) met journeyman Julio Cesar Bilik (10-7) in the main event of a Centurion Mixed Martial Arts show in Itajai, Santa Catarina, Brazil, and went home with the 22nd knockout victory of his career. Watch as Falcao drops Bilik with a stiff jab, then smashes him with strikes from the top until the referee puts a stop to the action.

After the fight, Falcao said…something. I don’t speak Portuguese, so I’m absolutely no help to you in that department. Anybody care to translate?

Sorry, edwhitesell, we really wanted to embed this. So props, Steve Rattlesnake.

Whenever we get the chance, we like to remind everyone that Pat Barry is one of our home boys. After all, he hung out with us for like twelve minutes once at the Boston Fan Expo — that has to make us BFFs, right? He hasn’t really called us to hang out since then, but he’s really busy, you know? Training, touring, doing TapouT commercials, it eats into a guy’s time. We’ll just enjoy his comic goodness, and be here whenever he decides we’re cool again.

Anyways, like all of you, we dropped our jaws when Barry got KTFO’d out of nowhere by Cheick Kongo, but then we worried if perhaps such an impact would affect him permanently. Would he learn to walk again, and feed himself? Would he be able to recognize loved ones (like us)? Would he still be funny?

Barring something completely crazy and unexpected, the fight card for UFC 133 on August 6 in Philadelphia is set in place. Yesterday, the UFC officially announced the addition of a middleweight clash between Rafael Natal and Constantinos Philippou to the prelims. Rafael Natal is coming off of a majority draw against Jesse Bongfeldt at UFC 124, while Constantinos Philippou lost his UFC debut against Nick Catone at UFC 128.

Even though both middleweights are still searching for their first UFC victories, this bout is likely to appeal to the local fans. Both fighters are veterans of Atlantic City’s Ring of Combat, amassing a combined record of 10-2, with one no contest within the promotion.

UFC 133 will be headlined by a light heavyweight fight between Phil Davis and Rashad Evans. Also set for this card is throwback between Rich Franklin and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the return of Vitor Belfort against Yoshihiro Akiyama and another attempt at the ill-fated Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara scrap. Not to mention the other seven fights listed after the jump.

“…and were it not for my testosterone deficiency, your honor, I would have thrown him completely out of the Octagon. Case closed?” (Pic: NBCSports.com)

A series of events that unfolded quickly and ended with Nate Marquardt’s exile from the UFC could see an equally swift ruling by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission later this week. Marquardt and his representatives are on the docket for a July 13th appearance, during which time they hope to plead their case for his use of Testosterone Replacement Therapy.

As in the cases with Sean Sherk, Josh Barnett, and most recently Chael Sonnen, it’s not uncommon for hearings like these to be delayed for months after a failed drug test, but maybe that’s just due to California’s ‘totally chilled out’ approach to legal proceedings. Unlike the Sonnen case, this one shouldn’t be marred by a possible multiple personality disorder nor probable pseudologia fantastica. Instead, we may get to hear some key decision makers weighing in on the facts of TRT at an important crossroads in our sport.

On a slow Sunday, we’ll often loosen the strict criteria we normally use to separate the wheat from the chaff. A short list of some of the “freakish” things that will often make their way to the site once we’ve lowered our usually-high standards: Kim Couture getting beat up; video of a rarely seen submission; a failure of referring so severe that it would make Cecil Peoples blush. Today, however, you won’t have to settle on any one of those things. Behold, we bring you all three in one incredible video.

Kim Couture took on Sheila Bird in the “co-main event” of Friday night’s AX Combat 1 card. Few punches were thrown and even fewer landed in the opening minute of the bout before Bird attempted to throw Couture from the clinch. It’s not clear if the throw was ill-performed or if Kim has been working on her Judo, but either way they end up on the ground with Sheila in guard and Kim working for a triangle. Bird worked her way to north-south where she rained down multiple heavy hammerfists en route to locking in a leg scissor choke. This choke was in deep from the onset, and Kim had hardly any time or ability to work for an escape before passing out. Although this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this choke in MMA, it still seems more at home in a professional wrestling match. Perhaps also feeling nostalgic for the WWF’s heyday, the official for this bout–Len Cloivisto–does his best impression of a pro wrestling referee.

Well, don’t act too excited.

When Japanese featherweight Hatsu Hioki officially joined the UFC, we all felt pretty cool for calling that one. We even suggested a first opponent for him in Kenny Florian. Well, turns out the UFC brass doesn’t see things the same way that we do. I’ll pause for you to add your own sarcastic comments.

Rather, Sherdog is reporting that George Roop will be Hioki’s first opponent in the UFC. This fight is scheduled to take place at UFC 137 in Las Vegas. So far, the only other fight to be announced for UFC 137 is the welterweight showdown between Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz and UFC champion Georges St. Pierre. George Roop is 2-1-1 under Zuffa as a featherweight, most recently punching out Josh Grispi at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale back in June.

Cancel the Summer 2011 XXL Awards, we found the winner.

The concept of a music label sponsoring fighters is nothing new. However, one ambitious label has decided to sponsor an entire team. According to MMAMania.com, Coalition Fight Music will be sponsoring Team Cesar Gracie, providing entrance music for the fighters. The deal is expected to begin with Nick Diaz’s entrance music for his upcoming superfight with GSP at UFC 137.

Hopefully unrelated is Nick Diaz’s cameo in Stockton rapper Ben Kaos’ music video for “In It 2 Win It (Remix)”. In the video, Nick Diaz is shown training, throwing up a Stockton Heybuddy… you know, just being Nick Diaz. As for the actual song, let’s just say that Ben Kaos is no Miilkbone. And that’s not exactly a compliment for Miilkbone.

M-1 Challenge 26 was in Costa Mesa, California and on Showtime last night, but we forgot to mention it yesterday so you probably didn’t watch. That’s our bad; allow us to make it up to you. The promotion known chiefly for being the only negative thing most people can say about Fedor Ememlianenko has a roster full of names that are virtually unknown in the western hemisphere, but damn if they don’t produce some exciting fights.

The first video is a quick fight featuring Russian middleweight Arthur Guseinov versus American Team Quest product Tyson Jeffries. Things start out well for Jeffries; he easily takes the first ninety seconds of the fight. After that, Guseinov gets in touch with his inner Shlemenko for a second, AND IT’S AAAALLLLLL OVER!!1!!!!1!!one1!

Come on in past the jump and we’ll run down the rest of the broadcast; we’ve lined up the videos just like you like them.  Thanks to MrSfc16 for doing all the capture work.

Can we just call it even now?  We love you, Nation.

Even you, Sodak.

I’m not going near this caption. If you want one, you supply it.

It took nearly two years for Ed Herman to bounce back from the knee injury he sustained in his loss to Aaron Simpson, but following his KO win over Tim Credeur last month he’ll return to the cage in short order. The UFC has announced that “Short Fuse” will step up to replace the injured Tom Lawlor at next month’s “UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle”.

Standing across the cage from Herman will be fellow TUF alumnus Kyle Noke. The Australian is on a five-fight tear, stopping all three of his UFC opponents and handing two their walking papers in the process. While Herman was undoubtedly happy with the quick return to the win column against Credeur, we’ll see if 48-seconds was enough to shake off two years of ring rust. This fight will tip Herman toward a winning or losing UFC record; he is currently perched at an uncomfortable 5-5 in his Zuffa career.

(Video courtesy of BREAK)

- Tito’s BJJ coach expected him so submit Ryan Bader (Tatame)

- 66 most underrated women of 2011 (Guyism)

- Chad Ochocinco wants to fight Tito Ortiz (Yahoo!Sports)

- How Greg Jackson builds MMA champions (MMAMania)

- ‘Warrior’ star and Shia Le Beouf got into a scrap on the set of their new movie (TorontoSun)

- 18 famous women covering their vaginas with things that are metaphors for their vaginas (ClutchMTV)

- Marquardt in rumored talks with Bellator (ESPN)

- Screen Junkies cast the inevitable Casey Antony movie (ScreenJunkies)

- Zoila and Jorge Gurgel talk MMA and marriage (TheFightNerd)

- 25 Bull goring fools (HolyTaco)

- Ben Askren hops on the Nate Marquardt bash bus (LowKick)

- James Toney has been given the boot from one of his gyms (MiddleEasy)

- Nice trick dunk (ScoresReport)

- Swedish sweater swap paralyzes German news, creeps, weirdos (WithLeather)

- Fistful of geek: The Rugged breaks down the DC changes (TheRugged)

(Video courtesy of YouTube/LegalForLess)

Add UFC lightweight Clay Guida to the list of MMA fighters who have acted in television commercials. With the guest spot above he did in the latest Safe Auto Ad, “The Carpenter” joins the ranks of the likes of Kurt Pellegrino, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, Bob Sapp, Wanderlei Silva, Mirko Cro Cop and Mark Coleman.

Check out some of our other amesomely cheesy favorites after the jump.

(How the hell could a Michael Jai White joint go straight to DVD?)

The world will have to wait a little longer for the big screen debuts of Todd Duffee, Lyoto Machida, Eddie Bravo and Scott Epstein.

Apparently the production company for Never Back Down 2, Baumgarten Management and Productions were unable to secure the backing of a major studio and as a result the sequel to the 2008 MMA-themed movie that grossed just south of $24,000,000 will be released straight to DVD September 13.

(Simple solution: Have Cris arm-wrestle Dana for her desired contract)

In spite of a report released yesterday that quoted Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos’ longtime Chuteboxe trainer Master Rudimar Fedrigo as saying that the Strikeforce Women’s Middleweight champion has re-upped with the now Zuffa-owned promotion, a source with knowledge of the situation informed CagePotato.com today that there is in fact no deal in place at this time.

VidProps: The Jorge Gurgel MMA Academy

Sometimes, the less that is said about something, the better. At least, that’s what my wife tells me, usually after i make a joke she doesn’t like. Come to think of it, you bastards here at CagePotato remind me of her sometimes. And before you ask: no, i will not cuddle with you. I’ll get all hot and sweaty and i won’t sleep well, and then all my writing the next day will suck.

Well, suck worse.

Speaking of cuddling, here’s a video of Jorge Gurgel insinuating himself into Rich Franklin’s post-workout ice bath. Taking my wife’s oft-repeated advice, i’ll say as little as possible and let the video speak for itself, even though i’m dying to make an “Ace in the hole” joke.

[RX]

For your sake, I hope you’ve been good this year.

The year is half way over. Days are longer, flip-flops and shorts have replaced boots and pants and yet, the smell of chestnuts roasting on an open fire remains as strong as ever. That can only mean one thing – Christmas in July! Most of you couldn’t care less about another holiday you don’t get off from work, but what if I told you this one was special in that you can make a wish list for Wandy Claus and he’ll give you what you want if you’ve been good all year? You have been good this year, right?

On behalf of MMA fans across the globe, I’ve complied a Christmas in July wish list that, if fulfilled, would bring peace on Earth and good will toward man – or at least would appease a large majority of fans of a fringe sport. Click below to see what made the cut and bash me in the comments for not including your idea.

Toughest fight for Crisitane Cyborg so far? Contract negotiations.

Many, many, many moons ago, movie makers were looking to make a sequel to the live action Masters of the Universe movie starring Dolph Lundgren, and film it in North Carolina. Auditions were held for childrens’ roles in Wilmington, and i was one of many (i assume) kids who tried out to be in a movie with He-Man. Alas, the film company had some financial difficulties and the project was scrapped; i never got another chance to be Macaulay Culkin before Macaulay Culkin. The film company had already spent something like 2 milllion dollars producing costumes and sets for the movie, and wanted to re-purpose them to recoup some of the cash they’d put up, so they banged out a script about a dystopian future of plague and anarchy, hired Jean-Claude Van Damme, and that’s how the movie Cyborg came about. All that is 100% true, by the way.

I tell you that because i have no idea how Cristiane Justino Venancio Santos came into existence, although if you told me 2 million dollars, He-Man, surgical bionics augmentation, and JCVD were involved, i’d believe you. Cyborg is just that scary.

Josh Koscheck posted a series of cryptic message on his Twitter page today explaining that he asked the UFC to let him have just one fight at middleweight at UFC 138 in November before he returns to compete at 170, however he didn’t name who the opponent is that he asked for.

In an interview I did with Kos a couple months ago for the latest issue of Fighters Only Magazine prior to him gaining clearance from his doctors to resume training following a serious eye injury he sustained in his last bout against UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre in December, the outspoken 33-year-old expressed his desire to become a moneyweight fighter. He named two potential opponents he’s like to face if he moved up in weight, and one of them happened to be a 185′er.

“I think I still have all the tools to compete at the highest level and I believe I have the toughness necessary to be successful and to become champion one day. I want the toughest fights. I’ll fight anybody, any time, any place,” he asserted. “Anybody who wants to fight me I’ll take on. Whether it’s Bisping at 185, Tito Ortiz at 205 — bring it on. I’m a money fighter. Show me the money and I’ll fight.”

(Video courtesy of YouTube/ConorHeun)

Remember the grisly photo we posted of Conor Heun’s broken arm he suffered in his win over Magno Almeida? Well, it turns out Conor’s elbow was merely dislocated by one of the numerous armbars Almeida caught him in and is now back to normal, but according to “Hurricane,” he wouldn’t have tapped even if his arm snapped.

Jason Miller clearly knows what’s expected of him in this quickie promo for The Ultimate Fighter 14. Put a camera in front of the dude, and suddenly he hates Michael Bisping‘s stupid accent and funny-looking face. Fair enough. Meanwhile, the Count calls Mayhem the class clown. Yep. Not exactly Sonnen-level eloquence, but it’ll surely be a step up from last season, in which Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos managed to make it through ten episodes without ever speaking to each other. Man, remember how awful that season was? So awful.

After the jump: The Brazilian trailer for UFC 134, which manages to be understated and evocative despite what apppears to be a very random F-bomb at the 0:09 mark.

(Bruce Buffer and Wanderlei Silva)

One of our favorite online obsessions over the last month has been awesome people hanging out together, a tumblr photo blog devoted to celebrities mingling in unexpected combinations. (I mean, seriously: Dylan and Ali? Alice Cooper and Colonel Sanders? Epic.) Since there are aren’t any MMA fighters represented on the site, we decided to do some online crate-digging of our own and put together a CagePotato version of the “awesome people” photo-phenomenon. Enjoy these rare and classic MMA photos, which continue after the jump, and shoot us some links in the comments section if we’ve left out any of your favorites.

(Royce Gracie and Mirko Cro Cop)

(Matt Serra, Frankie Edgar, Jerry Springer, and Kimbo Slice. See also: Fighters and Random-Ass Celebrities)

(Video courtesy of YouTube/JoeRoganDotNet)

One way of gauging the popularity of something is the growing influence it has on stand-up comedy. Case in point, the next few weeks we’ll likely see an influx of Casey Anthony jokes like we did Rep. Anthony Weiner ones the past month. If you watch much stand-up comedy, you’ll notice that more and more comedians (besides Joe Rogan) are mentioning MMA and the UFC in their routines.

That’s a pretty good indication that the sport has stepped out of the “fringe” category and into the mainstream. I can’t help but get excited every time I hear a comedian mention MMA, even if they call it, “Ultimate Fighting” and wrongly describe it as “no-holds-barred fighting.” Exposure is exposure and it means MMA is relevant in society.

Check out some of our other favorite MMA-related bits after the jump.