(Sherk’s hoping to get off the sidelines next year)

Sean Sherk has been noticeably absent from competition the past year since his UFC 119 split decision win over Evan Dunham, but it hasn’t been by choice.

The 38-year-old former UFC lightweight champ, who has only fought twice since 2009, has had a rocky road the past three years with injuries forcing him out of fights with Gleison Tibau, Josh Neer and Jim Miller.

MMAHQ caught up with Sherk (36-4-1) during a recent seminar tour in the UK and “The Muscle Shark” said that he is planning on getting back in the Octagon next year and that he would like to take one final run at the lightweight strap before hanging up his four ounce gloves for good.

“It’s a goal definitely and I’ve still got the skills and abilities to get back there up at the top. I’ve got to get back in there and get back to action as soon as I can. I know that next year will be very important to my career and to how I’m remembered in the sport and I’m ready to get back in there and start making a big difference in that division,” Sherk says. “I need to get in the Octagon once or twice in the next year, get some wins and work my way back up to the lightweight title.”

(Video courtesy of YouTube/HDNetFights)

Proving Ground winner and Potato Nation member in good standing Nick Newell appeared on Inside MMA on Monday with Ron Kruck to talk about his upcoming XFC fight and the tragic passing of his good friend Abi Mestre back in April.

“Notorious” Nick’s XFC debut will be a bittersweet one as Abi won the XFC contest for a slot on the promotion’s roster and Nick came second. After Mestre was killed in a motorcycle accident in the spring, the XFC reached out to Nick and offered him the contract in Abi’s place and he accepted with the blessing of Abi’s family.

The TUF 14 Finale is just a few days away, and unless you overheard Michael Bisping’s spoiler fail on Inside MMA, then this season’s participants in that finale are still a mystery to you. That being said, Team Mayhem coach Jason Miller has released the first of several video journals leading into his upcoming scrap with opposing coach and global pandemic, Michael Bisping, which goes down this Saturday at the Palms Casino.

Though not much is revealed in the first installment (other than Miller admitting Nick Diaz to be one of his favorite fighters), we do get a sneak peak at Mayhem’s diet and weight cutting method from nutritionist and Team Mayhem assistant coach Ryan Parsons. Turns out, Parsons is a strong believer in the power of romance in a fighter’s life. Tom Lawlor concurs.

(Props: BushidoAristotle7 via MiddleEasy)

After the way Lyoto Machida finished Randy Couture in his last fight, the Daniel LaRusso references were inevitable. But this UFC 140/Karate Kid mashup is one of the greatest parody videos we’ve seen yet, thanks to all the amazing cameos. (LMAO @ Rashad Evans jumping into Machida’s arms at the 0:20-021 mark.) So, will life imitate YouTube on December 10th? Keep in mind that BushidoArtistotle7 is clearly biased against the champ, judging by the fact that his only other video also ends with Jon Jones getting beat up.

(Yep. Just a couple of total badasses, right there.)

Do you know what today is, gentlemen? It’s the last day of Movember, which means that tomorrow you can finally shave your upper lip and return to a somewhat normal life. To celebrate, we’re proud to present the fourth and final installment of Dan Severn’s mailbag column, in which the famously-moustached UFC Hall of Famer shares his wisdom on worked fights, steroids, the death penalty, Chuck Norris’s beard, getting buck-ass naked in a parking lot, and more hot-button issues. Our deepest gratitude goes to Dan for gracing this website with his sense of humor and weird stories for the last month. Show him some love at DanSevern.com and his Facebook page.

But before we get into that, a couple parting notes about Movember. If you grew out an impressive mo’ this year, we encourage you to enter Break.com’s Show Off Your Mo contest for a chance to win a Samsung HD camera, and feel free to post a moustache pic on CagePotato’s Facebook wall. And if you still have some money left to donate, please consider doing it on KarmaAteMyCat’s CagePotato Mo Bro page. Karma’s tireless efforts have already raised $664 at the time of this writing — amazing work, bro — and he’s trying to break the $800 mark by the end of the day. Need more incentive than helping to fight testicular and prostate cancer? How ’bout this: Today’s biggest donor will receive a CagePotato t-shirt and, if you want it, a chance to write your own contributor column on CagePotato.

And now, the stunning conclusion of “Ask Dan”…

RwilsonR asks: Have you ever seen/been involved in/know anyone involved in any worked fights? Was this ever common practice with any promotions you have fought for?

(Sam’s Club will have to wait, since Rogers’ fighting services are still surprisingly in demand)

It looks like Brett Rogers got off easy for beating the shit out of assaulting his wife last summer.

According to TwinCities.com, the former Strikeforce heavyweight, who proclaimed his innocence and said he was confident he would be found innocent a few months back was sentenced to 60 days in jail for beating his wife, Tiuana back on June 28. During the argument that spilled out on the side lawn of their Apple Valley, MN home as shocked neighbors looked on,  he knocked out Tiuana’s tooth and choked her unconscious in between  barrages of vicious ground and pound that left her face bruised and battered.

Rogers will get credit for his 26 days served prior to his sentencing, even though some of those days were tacked on as a result of a breach of a court order that explicably stated that he was not to have contact with his family or to set foot in their residence. He will have to serve an additional 14 days, which, combined with the 26 already served, will account for 2/3 of his actual sentence.

Michigan Head Coach Brady Hoke Says He Would Have Been an MMA Fi – Watch MoreFunny Videos

We’ve all met a guy at the gym or local watering hole who “would have” or “could have” dominated as an MMA fighter if his damn bum knee hadn’t ended his flourishing career before it even started. Back at Polk high he was a wrestling superstar, so why wouldn’t he have cleaned up at UFC 1?

Well, it’s not just the random out of shape dude at the bar who does play-by-play during UFC pay-per-views that could have been a contender anymore. Pseudo-celebrities are getting in on the action too, and we’re not talking about Steven Seagal or Wesley Snipes.

While making an appearance on the Dan Patrick radio show this week University of Michigan head football coach Brady Hoke was asked by the host who would win in a fight between him and longtime nemesis and recently-named Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer.

Some sad news out of California today, as it was recently reported that former WEC champion and current #1 bantamweight contender Urijah Faber‘s sister was in a car accident late Friday night and has had to undergo major surgery which has left her in a medically induced coma as a result. Sacbee.com was the first to break the story:

Michaella Tastad, 19, was driving home Friday with a friend at 3 a.m. when she rear ended a vehicle slowing down near the site of a single-car accident, according to California Highway Patrol Officer David Martinez. A few minutes later, three more cars collided. Three people were taken to the hospital, but only Tastad suffered major injuries, Martinez said.

Faber said his sister received life-threatening head trauma and is in a medically induced coma at Sutter Roseville Medical Center. He said Tastad also has a collapsed lung, spleen damage and several other injuries. Part of Tastad’s skull was removed and she underwent a second surgery to insert a shunt to help drain fluid, Faber said.

On Monday, Faber said his family received their first good news when doctors briefly took his sister off medicine that induces the coma.

“She gave a peace sign and wiggled her toes,” Faber said. “Then they put her back under … We are done being scared and now it’s about having the recovery we all want.”

(Classy son-of-a-bitch Anderson Silva has been named Brazilian GQ’s “Man of the Year” in the Sports category. If you can read Portuguese, you can learn more about it here.)

Some selected highlights from our eBros around the MMA blogosphere…

- Carlos Condit vs. Josh Koscheck CONFIRMED for UFC 143 (5th Round)

- Video: Who’s the Best Trash Talker In MMA? (FightLine)

- Would a Confidential Drug Testing Program Help Out UFC Fighters? (Fight Opinion)

- Diego Brandao: I Came in Here to Destroy Everyone (MMAFighting)

- Ultimate Fighter 14 Finalist TJ Dillashaw Felt Like a Prisoner in TUF House, Brands Michael Bisping a Hypocrite (MMA Mania)

- Building the 2011 MMA All-Star Team (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Holiday Shopping Guide for MMA Fans (The Fight Nerd)

- Jeff Monson Shares Unsettling Details About His Trip to a Russian Hospital (Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com)

- The Mayhem Miller Primer (MMA Convert)

- Georges St. Pierre Not Fazed by Nick Diaz’s Trash-Talking (Five Ounces of Pain)

- So It’s Official, ONE FC and DREAM Join Forces Like Voltron (MiddleEasy)

- ION Television to Air UFC 140 Prelims (MMA Payout)

(Let’s just hope this fight doesn’t affect their friendship.)

Sources have confirmed to ESPN.com that a light-heavyweight meeting between former champion Rashad Evans and undefeated contender Phil Davis is slated to headline the UFC’s return to FOX, which will take place January 28th at the United Center in Chicago. The two fighters were originally supposed to meet at UFC 133 in August, but Davis was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury.

Evans is currently riding a three-fight win streak, including decisions over Thiago Silva and Quinton Jackson, and a second-round TKO of Tito Ortiz, who came in as Davis’s short-notice injury replacement. Davis has gone 5-0 in the Octagon, most recently out-pointing Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in March. You’d have to assume that if Evans manages to deal “Mr. Wonderful” his first loss, he’ll be awarded a title shot against the winner of Jones vs. Machida — but considering Suga’s run of bad luck when it comes to that sort of thing, anything’s possible.

In other UFC on FOX 2 booking news…

(Jimmo will trade his precious metal to finally test his mettle in the UFC)

The UFC announced today that it has signed Maximum Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion and CagePotato guest blogger Ryan Jimmo to face Czech wrestler Karlos Vemola on the inaugural UFC on FX 1 card January 20 in Nashville, Tennessee.

“The Big Deal” will put his 16-fight undefeated streak on the line as he steps into the Octagon for the first time against Vemola, who is 1-1 in two UFC starts.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/DiggedyDrake)

Somewhere Steven Seagal is claiming he invented this knockout.

(That puppy dog act won’t work this time…that’s enough of that…ok we forgive you.) 

HOW COULD HE DO THIS TO THE POOR GIRL?!

During a recent interview with the Las Vegas Weekly Review, otherworldly trash talker Chael Sonnen had some less than positive things to say about long time UFC ring girl and 2011 Hottest Woman in MMA Runner-up Arianny Celeste. When asked who his pick would be for Ring Girl of the Year at the upcoming 2011 Fighter’s Only World MMA Awards, yes, those Fighter’s Only World MMA Awards, Sonnen had the following to say:

We only had one and that was Chandella [Powell]. The other was the IQ card girl. Arianny [Celeste] kind of walks around and holds up her latest test score. One time when there was a title fight, she got all the way up to five and we were very proud of her.

Holy King of all that is zing.

And believe it or not, when Arianny got wind of these comments, she was less than pleased. But our girl managed to respond in the most adult, professional manner possible, a tweet, which read:

Hey what’s ur name.. after @spideranderson kicks your ass..u won’t even be able to count to 5!! Get ready to kiss brazils ass!

Not bad Arianny, not bad. She’s clearly referencing the 1954 Marlon Brando classic On the Waterfront with the whole “counting” rebuttal. It’s honestly a better comeback than most of us would have expected from someone who usually responds to awkward situations like this. But prepare yourselves for Sonnen’s comeback:

(By the end of his war with Kampmann, Diego Sanchez had suffered a split lip, two slashed-up eyes, and a complete loss of body hair.)

According to reports on MMAJunkie and Heavy, the UFC will be holding an event in Omaha, Nebraska, on February 15th, headlined by a promising welterweight contest between Diego Sanchez and Jake Ellenberger. It will be the UFC’s first broadcast on the cable channel FUEL TV as part of the promotion’s new television deal with FOX Networks.

Sanchez has scored decision wins in his last two fights against Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann, both of which earned him Fight of the Night awards. Though his matchup with Ellenberger was originally rumored to take place at UFC 141 on December 30th, Sanchez needed a little more time to recover from a broken hand, which he sustained shortly before his scheduled UFC 135 meeting with Matt Hughes.

Heads up, Potato Nation. In honor of UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida (December 10th, Air Canada Centre, Toronto), we’ve launched a new page called Main Event, which will collect all our news, features, galleries, live coverage, and podcasts related to the event. You can check it out at CagePotato.com/main-event-channel, or just click the “Main Event” button up there at the top of our site, under the search bar. (If you don’t see it, try clearing your cache and reloading your browser. We promise it’s there.)

Keep your eye on the Main Event page over the next two weeks to stay updated on all the latest breaking news on UFC 140 as well as our always-insightful analysis. And thanks to Alienware for making this possible!

(Photo courtesy of Maxim. Lots more after the jump.)

Thanks to BabesofMMA.com for introducing us to Shannon Ihrke, a 23-year-old model who made her MMA ring girl debut at ProElite: Big Guns earlier this month, and will be appearing at the King of the Cage “Winter Warriors” event in her hometown of Walker, Minnesota, on December 10th. Much more importantly, she’s been enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps for the last four years, and currently holds the rank of Sergeant E-5, which means you should salute every time you see her. (Ed. note: Don’t actually do that.)

Shannon is currently drawing attention as a finalist for Maxim’s 2011 Hometown Hotties competition; you can vote for her and watch some fantastic behind-the-scenes videos right here. Get to know her better on Facebook and Twitter, and check out a bunch of our favorite Shannon Ihrke photos in the gallery after the jump.

We got the following snapshot of one of the judge’s scorecards from Saturday night’s KSW 17 show from a reader today and we’re still trying to decipher what the hell it means.

(Whether it’s because of horsemeat, hard work or good genetics, these guys don’t get sand kicked in their faces at the beach.)

A few months ago, our friends over at MuscleProdigy.com put together an extensive and widely popular list of The Top 100 Most Jacked NFL Players. Since then, they have been barraged with requests to assemble a similar list with MMA fighters, so to keep the masses happy, they did just that.

The judging criteria they used was similar to the one employed in bodybuilding competition and included points for muscular size, vascularity, leanness, proportionality, aesthetics, and rarity of body type.

All of these factors contributed equally in determining the final order of the list.

For example, a 230 pound heavyweight who has huge arms, but no abs did not score as high as a ripped 155 pound lightweight.

A sliding scale was used to allow for weight variances and the typically increased body fat percentages in fighters at larger weights. For fighters who compete in more than one weight class, they used the weight they typically fight at the most.

If you’re looking for a hard to find workout programs used by your favorite fighter, you can find many of them at Muscle Prodigy.

In the meantime, check out numbers 100 to 91 after the jump.

(Clements v. Travis Briere, end comes at the 2:44 mark.)

Aside from The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale, December 3rd also features an interesting welterweight battle between UFC veteran Rich Clementi and up and coming KO artist Chris Clements under the Score Fighting Series promotion. And after doing a quick check-up on Clements, we thought he was a guy that was worth talking about, so let’s, shall we?

“The Menace” is a 9-4 product fighting out of Ontario, Canada who has collected all 9 of those wins by way of KO or TKO inside the first two rounds. He often trains with the likes of Mark Hominick and Sam Stout, because there can only be so many MMA gyms in that tundra known as Canada, am I right or am I right? *High fives self*

A little known fact about Clements: he is the man responsible for retiring UFC vet Jonathan Goulet back at Rinside MMA-Payback in November of 2010, the video of which is after the jump.

(More proof that being on the right side of any photo immediately makes Bisping fall asleep. / Photo via CombatLifestyle)

While preparing for this Saturday’s TUF 14 Finale grudge match against Michael Bisping, Jason Miller recently wrote the following on his website:

“I just want everyone to understand how fricken hard I am training. I have never trained this hard or smart for a fight in my life. In ironic twist news- I’m totally getting reimbursed for John Dodson’s insubordination. I’m not even asking about Michael’s training, but for some reason all the friends that I’ve had for years that are working with him seem to be inclined to tell me about his camp and what he’s doing. I don’t want or need this info, I’m going to beat him regardless, just found it interesting. Pretty karmic.”

Hmm. Michael Bisping’s TUF 14 assistant coaches Tiki Ghosn and Rob McCullough train in the same Huntington Beach circles as Miller — could they be moles infiltrating the Brit’s camp in the name of American patriotism? Or is Mayhem just trying to get in the Count’s head? Bisping is convinced that it’s the latter, telling InsideMMA:

(Smiling in the presence of a woman? Automatic one-point deduction. / Photo via Sherdog)

As sort-of hazily defined by Nick Diaz back in January 2010, the Unified Rules of Stockton is an alternate MMA scoring system in which the winner of the fight is the guy who would have won if the match had continued indefinitely, and the loser is the guy who looks more fucked up afterwards. Under Stockton Rules, only the final round is scored, and holding onto top position without doing damage actually counts for negative points.

The more commonly used ten-point-must system keeps things nice and uniform, and doesn’t require judges to predict the future. But as we’ve seen time and time again, the fighter who has more points on the scorecards isn’t always who you would call the “winner.” So which notable UFC fights would have different results if the scoring system was a little more gangster? Let’s get an obvious one out of the way first…

DAN HENDERSON vs. MAURICIO “SHOGUN” RUA
UFC 139, 11/19/11

By Mike Russell

If you recall, we posted a story last week about UFC middleweight Dan Miller’s son, Danny Jr. needing a kidney transplant which is going to cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000 plus an additional $10,000 per month in medication for at least the first year.

With the help of a few kind individuals in the MMA community and with the permission of my daughter Abby who created the meme, we will be selling “Chocolate Al” shirts to help raise money for the cause for one week. If you don’t know who Al is, do yourself a favor and read this first.

After factoring in the cost of the shirts, which will be printed for free by Josh from www.truefightco.com/, and the price of shipping, we came up with a highly affordable price of $23 for the shirt with free shipping in Canada and the U.S. and an additional $2 per item shipped internationally.

From each shirt sold, we expect to make between $14 and $17 and we got word today that “Chocolate Al” himself, Chuck Liddell, has offered to sign a bunch of shirts that will be auctioned off to raise more for the Millers.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/CombateMMA)

Ricco Rodriguez fought last night in Brazil against Glover Texeira and unfortunately it was over in less time than it took for “Suave” to board the plane for his 10.5 hour flight to Duque de Caxias.

(Leben might need to pray that MMA fans and the UFC don’t turn their backs on him in the next year while he serves his latest suspension. Ask Karo Parisyan.)

Anyone who says that the UFC isn’t policing its own athletes when it comes to drug use needs to talk to Chris Leben.

The troubled UFC middleweight, who blamed a massive weight cut on his sluggish performance, tested positive for Oxymorphone and Oxycodone in tests administered by the promotion following his UFC 138 loss on November 5 to Mark Munoz. As a result, he has been suspended by Zuffa for a year.

For those keeping track, this is the second time “The Crippler” has been popped for pissing dirty by the UFC. The first time was after his UFC 89 decision loss to Michael back in October 2008 when he tested positive for Stanozolol. Between these incidents, he also got picked up for DUI for the second time in October 2010, which clearly reveals a pattern of someone who needs help for a substance abuse problem or someone who really needs a hobby during the winter months.

[VIDEO REMOVED BY REQUEST.]

After a year in the pokey, War Machine finally returned to competition Saturday night at Ultimate Warrior Fighting 1 in Pharr, Texas, where he faced off against former UFC lightweight darling Roger Huerta in the event’s welterweight headliner. And even though prison ring-rust has to be the worst kind of ring-rust — nutraloaf and sandwich masturbation don’t exactly make for an ideal fighter lifestyle — Mr. Machine handled himself admirably, out-hustling Huerta in a gritty back-and-forth scrap.

Unfortunately, Huerta broke his rib during a scramble in round three, seemingly when War sneaks in that knee at the video’s 15:10 mark. War Machine took advantage of Huerta’s weakened state and laid on punches from the top until the match was stopped. And so, War Machine writes the first chapter of his unlikely comeback story, while Huerta picks up the fifth loss in his last six attempts.

(Props, I guess: Fightlinker on Vimeo)

…because Tom Lawlor and Kyle Kingsbury have. Boy, have they ever. This regrettable booze-fueled moment is the latest example of what I’ve started calling the “Nick Ring Theory” (previously known as the “Seth Petruzelli Theory“): At a certain point, pretending to be gay to get a rise out of people becomes a lifestyle choice in itself. But they seem happy, so who am I to judge?

Related:
- Dana White to Gay UFC Fighters: It’s Safe to Come Out Now
- Strangely Arousing Photos of the Day: Natasha Wicks’s Nasty Road-Rash

(Video courtesy of YouTube/blackknight101066)

You would assume that a much-heated football rivalry from nearly 50 years ago would have fizzled by now, but apparently old habits die hard.

During a luncheon Friday for the Canadian Football League alumni in Vancouver, BC, former BC Lions’ quarterback Joe Kapp and former Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ defensive tackle Angelo Mosca proved that there was no love lost between them when the 73 year olds came to blows on the dais.

(Oh Kyle, if only you knew how ironic that tattoo is about to look.) 

There is a Russian proverb that roughly goes, “He that is afraid of bad luck will never know good.” And it is a rare bit of good sense from our Russki comrades; we should not live in fear of things beyond our control like luck, but rather have the confidence in ourselves to believe that our hard work will eventually pay off, be it in fame, fortune, or fiine women. But for every bit of good luck we have, some poor sap out there has a much, much worse day because of it. Like the Mortal Kombat tournaments, these gentlemen’s misfortunes are necessary to maintain the order between realms, so it is to these brave souls that we pay tribute.

We’re talking about those guys who just happened to be on the losing side of a future champion’s debut, or got crushed before they could even get their footing. We’re talking about guys who put their hearts and souls into a sport for years, only to have their debut in the sport’s highest promotion be overshadowed by someone that was just on another level.

So, without further ado, here are the six unluckiest sons of bitches that the UFC has ever seen.

#6 – Alex Soto

Who he drew: 20 year old bantamweight phenom Michael “Mayday” McDonald at UFC 139

How it went down: Let us start with the most recent. Before entering the octagon, Alex Soto was 6-0-1 over local to mid-level competition. Mcdonald, on the other hand, was a 13-1 fighter out of California that had split a pair of contests with former WEC featherweight champion Cole Escovedo, and had scored wins over legitimate UFC competition in Edwin Figueroa and Chris Cariaso. On paper, it was going to be a tough debut for Mr. Soto. In the flesh, it was actually much, much tougher.

McDonald swarmed Soto with a barrage of technically proficient and perfectly placed punches that had him looking for a way out early. And McDonald was kind enough to offer that way out, via Soto’s consciousness. Turns out, there wasn’t a mountain high enough, a valley low enough, or a river wide enough to keep McDonald from getting to Soto, and a series of particularly brutal uppercuts later sealed the deal. The end came just 56 seconds into the first round. Soto is more than likely still dusting out the cobwebs to this day, whereas Michael McDonald has taken up a career singing backup vocals for everyday conversations.

Join us after the jump to hear the stories of five other guys who had their wings broken before they could even learn to fly. 

(Video courtesy of YouTube/RangerUpVideo)

We’ve considered inviting the think lab at Ranger Up Clothing if they’d consider coming to work for us, but we didn’t for fear that they’d laugh at us and punch us in the face just for asking.

At least we’ve still got their hilarious pre-fight smack talk videos.

(Gomi Head approves of this matchup. Props: Dallas Winston.)

Takanori Gomi‘s run in the UFC has resulted in an underwhelming 1-3 record, marked by submission losses to Kenny Florian, Clay Guida, and Nate Diaz. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the UFC is giving the Fireball Kid one more try in front of his home country’s fans — or at least the ones who will be dragging ass to the Saitama Super Arena early enough to catch the prelims.

The UFC has confirmed that Gomi will return at UFC 144 on February 26th, against Aussie grappling specialist George Sotiropoulos, who’s also had a rough go of it lately. After going 7-0 in the Octagon following his stint on TUF 6, Sotiropoulos is now riding back-to-back losses against Dennis Siver and Rafael Dos Anjos. In other words, jobs could be on the line here.

Gomi vs. GSots brings the UFC 144 card up to 12 star-studded fights, including the lightweight title headliner between Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson, and bouts featuring Quinton Jackson, Cheick Kongo, Jake Shields, Joe Lauzon, and Yushin Okami. Check out the current lineup after the jump, before injuries blow it all to hell.