(Chad Griggs: Funkiest white man alive. / Photo by Esther)

Two of Strikeforce’s hardest-hitting heavyweight prospects are getting some good news this Christmas* season. According to new reports, Chad Griggs and Lavar “Big” Johnson have inked contracts with the UFC, meaning that they’ll still have jobs after Strikeforce disbands its big-man division next year.

Though he’s perhaps best known for his incredible muttonchops, Chad “The Grave Digger” Griggs (11-1) has gone on a three-fight tear under the Strikeforce banner, beating up Bobby Lashley last August at Strikeforce: Houston, then scoring back-to-back first-round stoppages against Gianpiero Villante and Valentijn Overeem in Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix reserve bouts this year. The Arizona native hasn’t lost a fight since April 2007. The date and opponent for his next fight are still TBA, but Griggs is expected to make his Octagon debut in early 2012.

(Chick vs. dude grappling match ends badly for the dude. Props: nate53202)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere…

- Strikeforce ‘Melendez vs. Masvidal’ Fighter Salaries (MMA Convert)

- The Outlaw and the Losing Streak (MMA Fighting)

- Top 10 Biggest MMA Upsets in 2011 (The Fight Nerd)

- Meet the Flyweights: Interview With Debuting UFC 125-Pounder Ian McCall (MMA Mania)

- Photo Gallery: Satoshi Ishii Trains at Black House for Fedor Emelianenko Fight (Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com)

- Jordan Breen: People Wouldn’t Intensely Hate Jon Jones if He Was White (Fight Opinion)

- Josh Barnett Booked for Pro Wrestling Match in Dream’s NYE Event (5th Round)

- Why There Will Never Be a Dominant UFC Heavyweight Champion (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Cooking With Tim Kennedy: Killer Texas Chili (MiddleEasy)

- Update on Zuffa vs. New York Lawsuit (MMA Payout)

- Fourth Time’s a Charm: Kenny Florian Back at Lightweight Seeking UFC Gold (FightLine)

- Jorge Masvidal Fought With an Injured Right Hand Against Gilbert Melendez (Five Ounces of Pain)

(Video courtesy of YouTube/NoGiGrappling)

If you’ve ever wondered how 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu founder Eddie Bravo would do against a UFC fighter on the mats, your wait is over.

The video above should quell a few of the naysayers who hypothesize that Eddie’s guard-centric style is an ineffective one. He makes Takeya Mizugaki look like a blue belt during the six-minute roll and that’s no small feat considering the UFC bantamweight has only been submitted once in 23 fights.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/FederalPremiumAmmo)

Brock Lesnar had a lawyer in Manitoba plead guilty on his behalf for a hunting infraction he was charged with in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada stemming from an incident that occurred back in December, 2010.

Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers charged Lesnar and his guide, Chad Styker with three counts each of contravening the Alberta Fish and Wildlife Act, including improper affixation of tags, spoilage of skin and edible flesh and possession of a controlled animal.

(“What, this officer? No, it’s just a deer mask I wear when I hunt to fool the little buggers.”)

(I see trouble a brewin’ on the horizon.) 

Given their frequency within the sport, we oft discuss the rematch here at CagePotato: we’ve mentioned a few that we’d like to see, we’ve mocked the possible occurence of others, and we’ve even gone as far as to predict how future ones would go down. And with 2011 featuring over 10 in the UFC alone, we decided to take a look back at at a year that both showcased and disgraced the awesomeness that is the rematch. Join us on this trip down memory lane, won’t you?

The Ones We Needed to See 

#5 – Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami at UFC 134

(Silva v. Okami, though this image could be from just about any of Silva’s fights.) 

Why it had to happen: Because the first fight marked the last time Silva had lost…at anything, and even if it was by way of illegal upkick DQ, it was enough to convince some people that Okami had his number. Plus, Okami had earned his shot by this point, and we were getting pretty damned tired of debating this old issue.

How it happened: Absolute. Domination. In typical fashion, Silva toyed with Okami like he was wrestling with his 4 year old nephew, letting the audience know that the fight would end when he decided it would. A head kick that rocked Okami at the end of the first round reinforced this belief, and Silva mercifully finished him off in the second. Cut. Print. TKO.

What it proved: That, outside of Chael Sonnen, there are no threats left in the UFC’s middleweight division for Anderson Silva. As with Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion Christiane “Cyborg” Santos, Silva must journey to another weight class if he desires a true challenge. Even DW is coming around to the idea, sort of.

(“Fuck it, I’m calling in the air strike.”)

This week in “not honoring the spirit of the deal” news: Spike TV is upping the ante on their UFC counter-programming efforts, launching a new best-of-TUF series that would compete directly against season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter. “The Ultimate Fighter Fridays” will be a three-hour programming block debuting on Friday, March 2nd, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, featuring the best episodes from the first 14 seasons of the reality show. According to the press release, Spike will air special-themed editions of “The Ultimate Fighter Fridays” with input from fans via Facebook and Twitter.

Meanwhile on FX, The Ultimate Fighter LIVE is scheduled to kick off March 9th at 9 p.m. ET/PT, helmed by coaches Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz. Moving the show to a different network on a different night of the week will surely leave some fans confused if they haven’t been paying attention, and Spike’s new programming block just throws a few more tacks on the road, so to speak. But wait, there’s more…

Alistair Overeem has met the first of three required stipulations of his conditional licensing in Nevada today as he passed his pre-fight urine test administered a few weeks ago in Holland.

UFC president Dana White tweeted the news today.

No, that’s not a photo of Stephen Hawking in bed, it’s actually Georges St-Pierre already rehabbing his reconstructed knee just five days removed from ACL surgery.

(Fuckin’ amateurs.) 

Props to CP reader Frndlylion for the find, which involves yet another criminal getting his comeuppance at the hands of a mixed martial artist. We’ve seen them get rubber-guarded by some 10th Planet boys in a hotel lobby, we’ve seen them get beat to hell by an unnamed UFC champ, and we’ve even seen them get chased down by a current UFC champ. The latest story comes to us from Davenport, Iowa, where a 23 year old local by the name of Justin Tincher not only thwarted a robbery attempt on his girlfriend’s car, but managed to chase down the robber, bare foot and shirtless, and pin him to the pavement until the police came. The QCTimes explains:

Bishop Thornton allegedly jiggled the handles of several locked cars in the 700 block of Franklin Avenue, Davenport, last weekend before he came to an unlocked one belonging to Justin Tincher’s girlfriend. The 2002 Ford Focus was parked in front of Tincher’s house.

When Tincher saw the attempted theft in progress, he bolted out of his house without socks, shoes or a shirt, chased Thornton down Franklin Avenue, tackled the 19-year-old East Moline man and had him pinned until police arrived.

Tincher, 23, is a former mixed martial arts fighter.

“I don’t take kindly to people messing with my house, my girlfriend or my family,” Tincher said last week while still recovering at home after the ordeal.

He claims Thornton punched and kicked him while he had the suspect pinned. He also claims Thornton bit him on the left side of his torso after police arrived. The bite mark still was visible Friday afternoon.

(Props: Punch Buddies via FighterXFashion)

The madmen who brought us the most violent MMA t-shirt of all time have gone a little more subtle with their latest design. Punch Buddies’ new “I Want You Anderson Silva” t-shirt features Chael Sonnen as Uncle Sam (obviously), jabbing his index finger into the bird-like chests of pink-polo’d cowards everywhere. It’s an ideal holiday gift for the MMA fan in your life, and a perfect addition to your collection of Anderson Silva taunt-related apparel.

Swing by NGAUGEinc.com to pick up the Chael Sonnen t-shirt for $32.99, and while you’re there, take a look at their Furious Forrest and American Psycho shirts, and their line of UFC regional tees.

(She’s the blonde one. Watch your back, Kelli. Image via BabesofMMA; full gallery is after the jump.)

Jessica Harbour is a 21-year-old model from San Diego whose list of print and promo credits include Maxim, Sullen Clothing, Famous Stars and Straps, American Apparel, Blackberry, and WWE Magazine. As a Rockstar Energy Girl, she’s also done gigs for Strikeforce, and was featured at this weekend’s Melendez vs. Masvidal event. Follow Jessica on Twitter @JessHarbour, and check out more great photos — and a must-see photoshoot video — of Jessica below…

(“So do they make horse jerky, too?”)

During today’s UFC 141 conference call, Alistair Overeem was asked to address the steroid allegations that have plagued him for most of his career and have intensified since his latest incident with NSAC, in which the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion failed to submit to a pre-fight drug testing when requested by the Nevada commission. His answer to the question was basically the same reason why he turned in his urine and blood samples more than two weeks late for his upcoming December 30 bout with Brock Lesnar: he’s simply too busy to deal with them.

“Everybody has a right to ask whatever they want and I have a right to respond or to ignore. The thing is, I’m very busy with my career — it’s not only just training, it’s a lot of other stuff on top of it, which is assembling the team, PR, doing all these interviews — so I’m very occupied with that,” Overeem explained matter-of-factly. “I simply don’t have the time to get into all these allegations. Usually they’re done over [the] Internet, [by] people I don’t even know and have never even met.”

(“A new make-up set, a ring girl outfit and the new Maroon 5 CD…Gus Johnson, you are a strange little man.”)

With Christmas around the corner, we figured it would be a good time to share some of the letters we got our hands on from fighters to Santa.

From Wanderlei to Alistair, Nick  to Chael, it’s interesting to hear what these guys want from St. Nick this holiday season.

(Props: NBC.com via IFI)

Joe Rogan appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on Friday to promote the re-booted Fear Factor, and kicked off the segment by making his support known for fellow guest Ron Paul. “Every single thing that comes out of his mouth, I go ‘yeah, yeah, finally’,” Rogan said, rocking a Ron Paul 2012 sweatshirt. “When he talks about the gold standard, when he talks about civil liberties, everything he says.” The Republican presidential hopeful seems flattered, until he learns just how disgusting Fear Factor is, and then things get sort of awkward.

Part two of the Rogan/Leno segment is after the jump. Trust me, you’re gonna want to see how this “crappuccino” thing plays out. Joe also describes a “nightmare gig” from his early comedy career in which he played at a couples’ strip club. Like, a woman and a man stripping on stage at the same time. (“It was an idea that never really caught on, for some strange reason.”)

(Human speed-chess: Kazushi Sakuraba and Kiyoshi Tamura put in work at a UWFi show in March 1996. Video via theperfectone)

If you’re a student of Japanese MMA history like we are, you know that legendary fighter Kazushi Sakuraba got his start as a professional wrestler in the 1990s, honing his grappling chops in the UWFi and Kingdom Pro Wrestling leagues. But once he tasted success at the UFC Japan tournament in December 1997, Saku’s career shifted away from worked matches, and he soon became PRIDE’s most beloved native hero.

Now 42 years old and riding a four-fight losing streak — the last three losses by stoppage — Sakuraba has agreed to re-capture some of his lost youth in a tag-team wrestling match at Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011, the New Year’s Eve show promoted by DREAM and IGF at the Saitama Super Arena. Sakuraba will team up with fellow wrestling/MMA crossover star Katsuyori Shibata, against Shinichi Suzukawa and Atsushi Sawada. (I’ve never heard of the second guy, but Suzukawa is that dude who beat Mark Coleman even though he wasn’t supposed to.)

(“St-Pierre it is, then.”)

Dana White spoke with Brazilian website Alpha recently, and according to the UFC president, in spite of middleweight Anderson Silva’s recent re-assertion that he isn’t interested in a fight with light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, the fight may happen before “The Spider” calls it a career.

“He’s probably the greatest fighter in history. He hasn’t lost and has been champion since 2006. I think he has two more title defenses and I do not know what he’ll do next or if he will retire,” he said. “He could end his career with a super fight against Jon Jones or George St-Pierre. He could end his career like that — fight in a different weight class. I would be happy with that. Then he could take a boat and sail into the sunset.”

Although he doesn’t think Jones’ youth would play a major factor in the fight, “The Baldfather” says Father Time and his effect on fighting skills is one of the leading causes of retirement in the sport, even amongst the sport’s best.

We got an email from Junie Browning over the weekend in our “tips” account in which the embattled former UFC fighter gives his full account of what went un last weekend in Thailand. We figured we would post it in full and let you decide for yourself what the truth is.

To recap, Thai police were looking for “The Lunatik” after he was involved in a brawl in a bar in Phuket last Sunday that spilled over into the hospital where several of the participants were being treated for injuries sustained during the raucous fight.

According to reports out of Thailand, Browning punched out a woman and then attacked a handful of patients in the hospital — a fact he vehemently denies. He is now on the run and hoping that he can get help from the U.S. Embassy in the case, which he says has been twisted and spun due to police corruption by the Mafia.

Check out the rest of the photos and Junie’s longhand version of events after the jump.

(Props, as always, go to our buddies over at IronForgesIron.) 

There are two kinds of fighters in this world; those who take their sweet time in between fights, either to mend their wounds or simply because everyone is afraid to fight them, and then there are those like Alexander Shlemenko, who, after handling Vitor Vianna just a month ago at Bellator Fighting Championships 57 and earning a rematch with Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard, decided not to wait around for our puny brained American system to determine a rematch date. Instead, Alex risked life and limb to take on UFC vet Julio Paulino last night in Mother Russia under possibly the longest named promotion of all time, Far Eastern Federation of Modern Pankration, the result of which we can only spoil if you join us after the jump…

(I’m just gonna pull this dude’s turd-cutter directly over my neck, brb. / Props: ZombieProphet via Crooklyn)

Whether you’re drinking Tom Erikson’s sweat or staring into the abyss of Dennis Hallman’s balls, MMA can put its competitors in some rather uncomfortable positions. This horrifying clip comes to us from Legacy Fighting Championship 9 on Friday night, during which Rakim Cleveland accidentally came face-to-face with Derrick Lewis’s bare ass. Not cool, bro. Lewis went on to win the fight by third round TKO.

(Props: 1tSurge)

Jefferey “Karmaatemycat” Watts continues to let his haters be his motivators. The CagePotato Fight Team captain and fundraising superstar increased his amateur record to 4-1 on Saturday night in a featherweight bout at Raging Wolf XII in Irving, New York.

Jeff’s opponent Josh Lange entered the fight with a 6-0 ammy record, but had no answer to the riddle of Karma. After doing a Jon Jones impression for the first minute, Jeff stands and fires some leg kicks. Lange shoots and takes Karma down (BIG MISTAKE) but can’t do much with the position. Jeff calmly starts working his guard, and before long, he sinks a triangle choke. Sorry, judges.

It was an especially meaningful win for Karma, who spent the last month suffering through a fight cancellation and a knee injury, and was fighting in front of his friends and family for the first time. When Jeff finally goes pro and starts kicking asses in major organizations, remember where you saw him first.

After the jump: Video of Karma’s entrance. How many CagePotato t-shirts can you count?

(If you never saw the thread on Sherdog, do yourself a favor…)

It’s been an eventful week to say the least. Strikeforce Heavyweights are all but done, Overeem went before the NSAC, and Jon Jones choked Machida out cold. Too bad you didn’t ask us any questions about those things. That would have been cool. You did manage to pull some decent questions out of your asses, however, and we’ll take a few moments to address them now.

EnemyofReality asks: Dear, dear, Dear, DEAR Cage Potato. How I look forward to your wise words. Do tell me, what would your top 3 list of MMA refs look like?

It would like a lot like any other list, EnemyofReality, only it would have referee names instead of groceries, chores, and people to kill.

We actually covered this subject a couple of years ago, but times change and you’re asking now, so here we go. There are a lot of refs to choose from, but not necessarily a lot of great refs to choose from. If we were climbing into the cage—and we’re starting to warm up to the idea–we’d like to have Herb Dean, Big John McCarthy, or Josh Rosenthal in there to save our ass.

(Video: YouTube/Trailerstraduzidos)

It may not have been one of the weekend’s fastest knockouts, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t the fanciest. Cairo Rocha took on Fracisco Neves Friday night on the Brazilian Fighting Championship’s “Desafio dos Imortais” card. We don’t know what transpired in the two minutes, twenty five seconds leading up to this strike, but if it’s anything like that kick we’d like to see it.

Capoeira, it’s the new missionary.

Previously: Must-See: Insane Capoeira Knockout

Yeah, she spent more time on the cage than in it. (Photo: Las Vegas Sun)

Since the late 90′s I’ve seen the same assertion rear its head on MMA email lists, usenet groups, and internet forums from time to time: The best fighter in the world isn’t in the cage or the ring. He’s toiling away in a South American coal mine or defending his land in Sub-Saharan Africa. His legend will never extend beyond the shores of his remote Pacific island and he’ll never be able to prove his abilities to the world. To a certain degree, this must be what life is like for Gilbert Melendez.

Finding out that your company is staying afloat and that your job is secure would normally be terrific news, but despite his admirable towing of the company line, you have to know that “El Niño” was gutted when he realized that Strikeforce wasn’t going anywhere and neither was he. The bright lights, big networks, and top paydays of the UFC will not be his. More importantly, neither is the opportunity to prove himself against the best in the world.

It was the only stoppage from last night’s Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal card, and it was a nasty one. With no 145-pound contenders in sight, Cris Cyborg plans to shed some muscle and dominate at bantamweight in the future.

(Oh man. This is not going to end well. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com. For more photos from this set, click here.)

Can you believe it’s been over three months since Strikeforce put on a legit non-Challengers card? The promotion finally gets back to business tonight with two title fights — Gilbert Melendez vs. Jorge Masvidal in the lightweight division and Cris Cyborg vs. Hiroko Yamanaka at women’s featherweight — plus a light-heavyweight bout between Gegard Mousasi and Ovince St. Preux that could produce a contender to the vacant belt.

Round-by-round results from the “Melendez vs. Masvidal” main card broadcast on Showtime will be collecting after the jump beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET, courtesy of CagePotato liveblog rookie Steve Silverman; please do your best to make him feel welcome. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest.

(Click here for the glorious full-size version. Props: GQ via Fightlinker)

Actress/fighter Gina Carano is featured in the January 2012 issue of GQ, plugging her movie Haywire, and we’re finding it hard to concentrate on anything else today. Granted, we’ve seen some amazing photos of this woman over the years, but this is some next-level shit right here. Okay, Hollywood, you can have her. It’s for the greater good.

Ueda & Nakamura. Photos not exactly to scale. (Pics: Sherdog.com)

While some MMA promotions are culling their divisions, Bellator is steadily adding depth to its ranks. The Spike-bound organization has announced the addition of two new fighters to their roster. Japanese standouts Masakatsu Ueda and Hiroshi Nakamura will make their Bellator debuts in the Season 6 Bantamweight tournament.

Nakamura went 3-1 in 2011 and comes into the tourney riding a pair of wins over Seiji Akao and Yoshiro Maeda. With his last six fights going the distance, “Iron” seems to have the sort of Fitch-level durability one needs to survive the grueling tournament format.

Ueda has only fallen once in his six-year career. The top-10 ranked bantamweight has also only fought outside of the Shooto organization on one occasion, picking up a win over Royler Gracie at AFC 1 last September. Ueda also holds wins over Rumina Sato and Bellator Season 5 Bantamweight Tournament Champion Eduardo Dantas. He still has an upcoming bout against Kyoji Horiguchi before making his way stateside.

The pair join a nearly-completed tournament line-up of Alexis Vila, Marcos Galvao, Ed West, Rodrigo Lima, Luis Nogueira. Any favorites going in?

(Video: YouTube/KSWfights)

I don’t know what it is about Slavic nations, but they seem to share a rich appreciation for the musclebound and untalented. We’re assuming that’s how Bob Sapp found himself in Croatia last night competing against Maro Perak on the Noc Gladijatora 6 card.

The bout begins with Sapp standing in the center of the ring in full defensive mode, performing a killer impression of that big, hairy orange thing from Looney Tunes. As soon as he opened up with a punch, Sapp was taken to the canvas where he nearly ended the fight by triangle choke before seamlessly transitioning to an omaplata. Nah, just kidding–he wildly kicked at the air and looked as if he’d never trained from his back before. After absorbing a few punches, hammerfists and knees to the dome (legal, we assume?), the big man decided he’d earned his paycheck and stopped moving until the referee intervened.

Tough loss, but I’m sure he’ll bounce back soon. In fact, I hear there’s an opening in Japan…

(Video props: YouTube/Vadge99. Catch Round 1 here)

We’re going to accept some of the blame for this one, fellas. After taking a clear stance on the former UFC champion hanging up his gloves, we celebrated a couple of relatively unimpressive victories and practically encouraged Jens along. Well, no more.

Last night Pulver looked to get back on the winning track at regional start-up Resurrection Fighting Alliance against the 6-2-1 Tim Elliott. “Little Eagle Evil” got dropped halfway through the first round, but survived the ensuing torrent of punches which left both men visibly tired. Neither fighter looked recovered from the break as they headed into round two. Elliott backed a weary Pulver against the cage with a combination before reaching for a thai clinch. As Jens shot in, a well-timed knee put him down and out.

Pulver is a grown man and the decision to call it quits belongs to him alone, certainly not to an MMA website, and certainly not to a moderately irresponsible one. That being said, when you see an aging fighter get laid out like that and then see him admit that he didn’t train seriously for the fight, you’ve got to question his decision making ability.

After the jump, a beautiful 26-second head kick KO from last night’s event.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/Kaokor)

- Column: Wrestling is Fake (TheRugged)

-  The 12 Days of Latino Christmas (TuVez)

-  5 Online Bachelor Degrees You’d Be Ashamed Of (Guyism)

-  5 Scathing Obituaries Written By Christopher Hitchens (ScreenJunkies)

- How to Make Last-Minute Gifts from Crap You Have Around the House (MadeMan)

-  15 Biggest Fails in MMA History (BleacherReport)

-  How to Remain Ethical at Your Office Christmas Holiday (HolyTaco)

-  Shogun’s Top 5 Career Fights (FightersOnly)

- Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal Weigh-In Results and Video (LowKick)

-  Barry Bonds Sentenced to House Arrest and Probation for Perjury (Complex)

-  David Cross Calls ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ ‘the Most Unpleasant Experience of His Career’ (FilmDrunk)

-  Superset Variations that Develop Rapid Muscle Mass and Definition (MuscleProdigy)

-  Penn State Update: Mike McQueary is Testifying Like Ralph Wiggum (WithLeather)

-  The Worst Original Names for Popular Music Groups (Clutch.MTV)

-  How to Break Up Over the Holidays  (AskMen)

- Arianny’s Most Awkward Interview Ever + Bonus Calendar Pics (TerezOwens)