(Our boy Chucky shows up around the 1 minute mark.)

Between you, me, and the wall, I had a doozy of a dream last night, Potato Nation. Get this: a corn fed harvest mouse, a hooker, a nun, a Flemish peasant woman, whips, chains, whistles, yo-yo’s, a circus midget, my grandmother riding by on a bicycle giving me the finger, and a duck.

You think that’s crazy? Well it pales in comparison to the Super Bowl ad Kia managed to dream up, which features supermodel Adriana Lima, former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell, Motley Crue performing “Kickstart My Heart,” a legion of bikini-clad women, a magical dwarf (so close!!), and a cowboy riding a giant rhinoceros. Check out the video above, even if it isn’t related to MMA whatsoever. Did we mention it has Adriana Lima in a skimpy outfit? Yeah, that’s what we thought.

-J. Jones

(Video courtesy of FightArtsFandom)

If you need a reminder how Saturday night’s main event between Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz came to be, “FightArtsFandom” AKA, Will Banh has crafted this succinct little animated video to refresh your memory.

After the jump, he gives us a glimpse of who, besides the Nevada penal system, might stand a chance against Alistair Overeem.

By Mike Russell

If you didn’t know any better, you would assume by looking at the odds for Saturday night’s UFC 143 main event interim welterweight title fight between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit that betting on Diaz would earn you some easy money.

Fortunately this isn’t pro-wrestling and bout outcomes aren’t pre-determined, because Condit hasn’t followed the scripts written for him by the bookies for most of his fights and he doesn’t plan on starting at this point of his career.

“I’m probably the underdog as far as the betting lines go, but that’s where I’ve been my whole career,” he explains with a shrug. “I’m excited for this fight. I know I have all of the tools to come out on top. I’m motivated and am in shape. I’ve been training since July for this fight. I had some cancellations and some change-ups, but I stayed focus on making sure I’m ready.”

After rattling off four straight wins under the Strikeforce banner, including a title earning UD over Tim Kennedy at Strikeforce: Houston, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza was gaining a lot of praise throughout the MMA blogosphere; some sites even went as far as to claim that he was one of the last challengers out there with a chance of beating Anderson Silva. Many of us thought this hype was a bit inflated, and following his rather uninspiring (not to mention title losing) effort against current champ Luke Rockhold, it seemed that  ”Jacare” was all but completely written off, destined to be the number two fighter in a promotion that was quickly running out of potential, not to mention challenging, match-ups.

Well, it looks like Souza will not be given an easy fight to begin his climb back to the top, as he has been booked to take on tough undefeated prospect Derek Brunson on the main card of the upcoming Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey event, which goes down March 3rd from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Brunson, who has compiled 3 straight in Strikeforce, is a well rounded fighter out of Team Jackson who has notched 4 TKO victories alongside 3 submissions in his 9 fight career, most recently scoring a unanimous decision over Nate James at Strikeforce Challengers 20.

In other fight booking news…

(Click all images for larger versions.)

In honor of the Super Bowl this Sunday, TheChive just published a photo-shoot featuring UFC ring girls Arianny Celeste, Brittney Palmer, and Chandella Powell putting their own sexy spin on football penalties. Five more photos (and one awesome gif) are below. Enjoy, and check out the complete gallery here.

(We should have known that Harold Howard would be snubbed. It’s politics, man. It’s all politics.)

This Saturday at UFC 143, the UFC will unveil the broadcast intro that has replaced our fallen gladiator. Known as “Evolution,” the 60-second clip will “pay tribute to all the guys who have helped build this company and helped build this sport over the last 10 years during the Zuffa era,” as Dana White put it. Basically, it’s the most elaborate, big-budget MMA highlight reel ever produced. Read on, and you won’t be shocked when you see it tomorrow…

1) With the exception of Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock at UFC 1, “Evolution” doesn’t include anything before UFC 30.
Here’s a list of the 18 fights featured in the intro, via MMAFighting: Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock (UFC 1), Tito Ortiz vs. Evan Tanner (UFC 30), Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg (UFC 52), Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz (UFC 47), BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk (UFC 84), Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Hughes (UFC 65), Randy Couture vs. Tim Sylvia (UFC 68), Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva (UFC 92), Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring (UFC 87), Rich Franklin vs. Nate Quarry (UFC 56), Junior dos Santos vs. Gilbert Yvel (UFC 108), Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson (UFC on VS 6), Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar (TUF 1 Finale), Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar (UFC 121), Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard (UFC 125), Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick (UFC 129), Jon Jones vs. Stephan Bonnar (UFC 94), Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort (UFC 126).

The UFC made a point to include all seven current UFC champions, as well as “the guys, almost in chronological order, who have helped us get here,” White said. Of course, the UFC’s SEG-era champions and stars are conspicuously absent. No Frank Shamrock, no Pat Miletich, no Tank Abbott.

2) The intro cost “an obscene amount of money,” and was delayed because of Rich Franklin.

By CagePotato Boxing Correspondent Steve Silverman

Angelo Dundee understood the game of boxing perhaps more than any trainer the sport has ever known.

He trained Muhammad Ali and “Sugar” Ray Leonard, and his influence on their careers was significant. Dundee died Thursday night after complications from blood clots at the age of 90.

There is no doubt that Ali was among the most talented fighters in the history of boxing. But Ali was different than most great heavyweights. He had lightning speed and quickness and he used his ability to motor around the ring as if he were a lightweight or a welterweight.

Dundee began training Ali, who was then still known as Cassius Clay, shortly after he won the Olympic gold medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics. A trainer who did not have Angelo’s foresight would have immediately tried to change Ali’s style and take the movement out of the equation. Instead, Dundee embraced Ali’s athleticism and his ability to move around the ring.

“Why would I have ever changed that,” Dundee asked during a 1989 interview. “There were a lot of old timers who would say that’s not how a heavyweight is supposed to fight and that he only moved around so much because he wasn’t a real puncher. They didn’t have a clue about my guy. He was great from the time he started and all they wanted to do was criticize him.”

Dundee almost always referred to Ali as ‘my guy.’”

The sentiment was mutual.

(Covering up that neck tattoo before going to court would have been a good idea.)

If you’ve been missing War Machine’s acclaimed Big House Blogs, you’re probably the only group that is going to be happy about this news.

According to the fighter formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver, he has been sentenced to another year in jail in Las Vegas for an old charge, forcing him to withdraw from Bellator’s season six welterweight tournament that gets underway in March. He indicated on Twitter that he will begin serving his sentence in two weeks and that, as per usual, he isn’t happy with the system.

(Aoki/Alvarez 1, from K1 Dynamite 2008. THIS is how men fight.) 

A lot has happened in the four years since Eddie Alvarez was heel-hooked by Shinya Aoki in the first round of their inaugural lightweight championship match back in December of 2008. Aoki has fought a remarkable 13 times since then, picking up notable wins over Marcus Aurelio and Rich Clementi as well as evening the score with DREAM rival Joachim Hansen. He has only gone 1-1 in the States, however, dropping a humiliating unanimous decision to current Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez and notching a quick neck crank submission over Lyle Beerbohm.

Alvarez, on the other hand, went on to become the Bellator lightweight champion after defeating Toby Imada at Bellator 12 in June of ’09, but defended the belt only once in the five fights that succeeded it. We last saw the Philadelphia Fight Factory standout lose said title via fourth round submission in an absolute war with Michael Chandler at Bellator 58 that was my personal pick for 2011′s Fight of the Year.

Well now it seems that these two are destined to collide ONCE AGAIN, in what will surely be…an absolute war (isn’t it funny how you can impersonate Mike Goldberg without even talking?).

(Be careful, Josh! If you eat all of those sour grapes too fast, you might choke!) 

It’s been a while since we’ve heard Josh Koscheck make an offhand remark that has in turn reminded us of his decreasing necessity amongst the welterweight division. Most of us assumed his recent quiescence was possibly linked to an inability to digest the five course serving of humble pie that Georges St. Pierre stuffed down his throat (and eye socket) back at UFC 124, and it appears we were correct. In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Koscheck discussed everything from his upcoming UFC 143 fight with Mike Pierce to his dislike for the media and his thoughts on GSP’s recent injuries. And wouldn’t you know it, Koscheck doesn’t want the man who beat him twice to ever come back. Here’s what he had to say:

I’m interested in the outcome of the Diaz vs. Condit fight on Saturday night. Should be a good fight. Hopefully Georges is out for more than 10 months and they can make that Interim titleholder fight twice. Hopefully he never comes back. ACL surgeries can take a lot out of you. They say you truly don’t recover after those. I’ve had friends who have had those and they say they’re not the same so hopefully it equals out the playing field and we can get another crack at Georges. 

Let’s get this straight, you don’t want St. Pierre to return, so you can fight for a future shot against him? To quote Ignignokt, “your logic is flawless.”

By CagePotato contributor Shawn Smith

Miesha Tate has been turning heads in mixed martial arts for as long as she’s been fighting. She has always received attention for her stunning good looks, but now she’s turning heads for another reason. The focus has switched from her looks to her skills, and there’s no denying that Tate is amongst the most talented women in the sport.

Few gave Tate a chance against submission phenomenon Marloes Coenen when they met last July, and ever fewer thought she`d be able to tap the 11 year veteran. This didn’t deter “Takedown” from dominating Coenen before getting the submission via arm-triangle choke in the fourth round, capturing the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship, and cementing her spot as an elite level mixed martial artist.

Next up for Tate is the outspoken, abrasive, and ultra-talented Ronda Rousey. These two women don’t get along and the tension is sure to continue building heading into their March 3 bout.

CagePotato recently talked with Tate about her upcoming bout with “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey.
Check out the interview after the jump.

(“Medium rare? What the f*ck is that supposed to mean and why is that your answer to every one of my questions?”)

With all of his WWE-esque posturing the past few years it’s been tough to discern who the real “Chael P. Sonnen” is. Thankfully we have Dr. Phil to get to the bottom of things.

Check out Chael in his most candid interview like you’ve never seen him before being open and honest with Oprah’s BFF after the jump.

As with the double KO and the “lawn chair” KO, we were the first to discover the “falling tree” KO before it began to spread across the MMA blogosphere faster than the Motaba virus. Today’s case study comes to us from the Mohawk Valley Community College Gym in Utica, NY of all places, at an event dubbed “CNY Battle Ground 5.” According to the ticket purchasing site, the event saw “MMA fighters from around the state square off in the cage,” because as we all know, MMA is kinda sorta legal in New York.

Although the heavy gloves, head gear, and shin pads lead us to believe this was some sort of kickboxing exhibition, the extra gear does make the eight second knockout seem all the more impressive. The man behind the vicious, Cro Copian head kick is Bob Reese, otherwise known the baddest man to ever walk out to a Rihanna song. Come on Bob, throw on some Chris Brown if you want to do some REAL damage.

-J. Jones

Nick Diaz is unquestionably the most gangster fighter in MMA history. This Saturday at UFC 143, Diaz will face Carlos Condit for the UFC’s interim welterweight title. It’s safe to assume that Condit will be body-shotted and called a “bitch” at least once. Here’s a tribute to some of Diaz’s most gangsterish moments, in animated GIF form. Enjoy.

Related: Lock Your Car Door When You See This Crazy Shirtless Mofo

(Dude. Don’t even get me started about mustard water. / Props: hypeordie)

After knocking out Christian Morecraft at UFC on FX 1 last month, Pat Barry has booked his next fight. The heavyweight kickboxer will face Lavar Johnson on the main card of UFC on FOX 3, May 5th in New Jersey, which will officially be headlined by a five-round lightweight contest between Nate Diaz and Jim Miller.

Lavar Johnson scored the Knockout of the Night during last weekend’s UFC on FOX 2 card, by smashing Joey Beltran in the first round of their preliminary card meeting. The win snapped a two-fight losing streak that Johnson had carried over from his stint in Strikeforce. His upcoming scrap with Barry seems like a way for the UFC to guarantee some much-needed excitement for their next FOX broadcast. As for Barry, it’s an opportunity to bump his UFC record over .500 and secure back-to-back victories for the first time in his UFC career.

In other May booking news…

(The party is always always popping when Paul Harris is fighting.)

Astute reader Johnnyozone22 sent us a link today that officially confirms our suspicions that the gruesome photo of an alleged Rousimar Palhares leg break victim that made the rounds this week was a fake.

Well, the photo itself is real, it’s just that the unnamed man in the pic isn’t purported former Palhares heel hook victim Isaiah Ordiz. It’s actually a triage photo of an injured Mexican police officer who was injured in a gun fight outside of a Matamoros, Tamaulipas police station last week.

One bit of evidence that helped propel the manufactured story was the name of the alleged injury victim. According to reports, the dude in the photo is Isaiah Ordiz, who actually is a jiu-jitsu competitor. The problem is, Ordiz was a white belt back in 2010, so it’s very unlikely that he competed with Paul Harris last week in a random grappling competition.

It’s okay, Toquinho. We still think you’re a badass. Props to your PR team for arguing your case for a title shot. *slow clap*

If you have the stomach for it, you can check out the photo in question after the jump.

(Is that Brazilian Walnut I am standing on? Classy.) 

Called it.

As told to FightersOnly magazine by none other than Joey Beltran himself, it appears that the UFC has released “The Mexicutioner” following his first round “kickstand KO” (Props to Stak40 for coining the term) loss to Lavar Johnson at UFC on Fox 2. The loss was Beltran’s fourth in his last five outings but his first ever to come via form of (T)KO. In regards to his release, Beltran stated the following:

I am truly grateful for all the opportunities that I have received from the UFC/Zuffa. I am not sad or hurt by their decision as I know that winning is the name of the game. Posting  a 1-4 record my last 5 fights is unacceptable regardless of how entertaining the fights were. So this is the next chapter of my career, and one that I am excited for. You will definitely see my ugly face again so fans don’t worry and haters keep on hating. 

We know the Internet is a cold, harsh place, but what person claiming to be a fan of MMA would hate Joey Beltran?

(You see? People were doing this WAY before MMA was ever popular.)

*facepalm*

Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently a former MMA fighter named Harold Finger III (seriously) viciously assaulted a woman before setting himself on fire, nearly taking a six year old child with him in the process. This bizarre story comes to us courtesy of KTUU.com out of Anchorage, Alaska, whose “report” is so shockingly inept that we feel the need to post it verbatim:

A former mixed martial arts fighter set himself on fire on Tuesday night and faces assault charges for striking a woman, according to Anchorage Police.

Police said 28-year-old Harold Finger III lit himself on fire during a disturbance around 8:33 p.m. Tuesday. Officers found him badly burned at an apartment on the 200 block of N. Klevin Street.

According to witnesses, APD said Finger became angry while speaking on the phone with an acquaintance after getting out of jail for one week.

Police allege Finger then punched and kicked a 34-year-old woman in the face and head while wearing leather gloves with hard plastic knuckles. The victim and two other women living at the apartment took refuge in a bedroom with one of the women holding her 6-year-old son.

Finger said he was not going back to jail and took a can of Prestone starting fluid and doused the door frame and his upper body and then grabbed the child. The women were able to free the boy before Finger used a lighter to ignite himself, bursting into flames. One of the women extinguished the flames with a jacket.

Finger was taken to a local hospital for severe burns on his upper torso, face, and head. He faces charges of assault in the first and second degree and reckless endangerment with a no-bail warrant.

Anchorage Police said Finger will be served when he is physically able to be taken into custody.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/THQ)

OK, we lied. THQ just let a couple of its interns fight each other in UFC: Undisputed 3 and the one using Nick Diaz won against Carlos Condit. There’s nothing scientific about their method that they claim is a result of a computer simulated formula, but in their defense they have been pretty damn accurate with their last few picks.

(Video courtesy of YOuTube/IronForgesIron)

If you missed the UFC 143 countdown show last night, don’t worry, we got you.

The more I hear Nick Diaz speak honestly and candidly, the more I’m a fan. This is a very tough fight to pick, but it will probably more than make up for last weekend’s snoozefest of a main event. I almost forgot that the rest of the card is as good as it is. Roy Nelson versus Fabricio Werdum and Josh Koscheck versus Mike Pierce both have “Fight of the Night” potential as well.

By now, you know the deal when it comes to Dana White’s videoblogs, and today’s “episode” is no different. Taking a behind-the-scenes look at the aftermath of the UFC’s second Fox event, the UFC 143 videoblog contains the familiar mix of upper and downer moments, with an emphasis on the downer. Especially tough to watch is Joey Beltran’s realization that his Zuffa career may have reached a temporary standstill in the wake of his first round KO loss to Lavar Johnson. Keep your chin up, “Mexicutioner.”

Let’s get right to the highlights.

(0:45) - Jon Jones, seen here for the last time before disappearing into a thicket of notes from which he has yet to emerge.

(1:22) – God damn it, will someone give Beltran a hug and tell him that everything is going to be alright?

(1:40) – Eric Wisely, still in awe of the calf-slicer Charles Oliveira was able to pull on him. The pain was apparently so incredible that Wisely has trouble explaining to the backstage physician where exactly the strain was.

(2:48) – Jon Jones explains how Cub Swanson is one of the “nastiest dudes” on Team Jackson. He makes a good point.

(Hey, I keep tons of random trash in *my* car too! SOUL MATES. / Photo via @RondaRousey)

On March 3rd, red-hot women’s MMA prospect Ronda Rousey will drop to 135 pounds for the first time to challenge Miesha Tate for her Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title. Rousey’s pro MMA career isn’t even a year old yet, and she’s already facing the world’s top-ranked 135′er, a woman who holds victories over such big names as Marloes Coenen and Zoila Gurgel.

And according to oddsmakers, Miesha Tate is dead meat.

Props to MiddleEasy for alerting us to the current betting odds for next month’s Tate vs. Rousey showdown in Columbus, Ohio. Due to her string of armbar victories within the first minute of her fights, Ronda Rousey is as high as a -375 favorite in the matchup, with Tate slated as a +275 ‘dog. That, my friends, is insane.

(TUF 3 finalist Josh Haynes resurfaces on an episode of Cops — as a police officer, thank God. / Props: ko 86)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere…

- Jon Jones: Rashad Evans Hasn’t Progressed, Phil Davis Looked ‘Like a Sheep’ (MMA Fighting)

- Tony Ferguson Fights Dennis Hallman at ‘UFC on FOX 3′ (5th Round)

- Nick Diaz vs Carlos Condit Will Save Us After UFC on FOX 2 Dud (MMA Mania)

- FTC Ends UFC Investigation Regarding Strikeforce Purchase (MMA Payout)

- Brian Ebersole Took Our Camera, Got in a Rickshaw and Gave Away Leftover Pizza at the United Center (MiddleEasy)

- UFC 143: Roy Nelson vs. Fabricio Werdum Breakdown (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Lyoto Machida Eyes Jon Jones Rematch, Wants Dan Henderson Next (Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com)

- Memo to the UFC/Dana White: Try Solving Piracy Instead of Just Fighting It (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Fight Video: Badr Hari Knocks Out Gokhan Saki In Retirement Bout (MMA Convert)

- State Attorney General Admits Amateur MMA Is Not Banned in New York (The Fight Nerd)

- The Japanese Scene Is Facing Increasingly Dangerous Waters (Fight Opinion)

- Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson’s UFC 143 Blog: Week 2 (FightLine)