(For just three cents a day, you can help provide this child with everything he needs to earn a title shot.) 

You’ve got to understand Anthony “Showtime” Pettis‘ frustration. After winning the final WEC Lighweight Championship by defeating current UFC Lightweight Champion Ben “Smooth” Henderson back at WEC 53, many believed he would be on the short list of contenders to face then UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar. When Edgar fought to a draw with Gray Maynard less than a month after WEC 53, Pettis’ title hopes would be put on the backburner. A UD loss via dry humping and shoulder-strikes to Clay Guida at the TUF 13 Finale in June of 2011 would all but completely derail those championship aspirations.

Cut to February of 2012. After defeating Maynard via fourth round TKO in their rematch, Edgar would face off against arguably his toughest challenge to date, former WEC champion Ben Henderson, who was riding a four fight win streak since losing to Pettis. The event was UFC 144, and kicking off the main card would be an intriguing match-up between Pettis and Joe Lauzon. “Showtime” would live up to his nickname, steamrolling Lauzon with a head kick knockout in just under two minutes, and Henderson would clearly defeat Edgar by unanimous decision. Though Pettis had only scored two straight in the octagon, Dana was damn near forcing Edgar to drop to 145 and face Jose Aldo, so it seemed as if we were destined for Pettis/Henderson II.

But then, it happened. Out of nowhere, Edgar was granted a rematch with Henderson, and Pettis once again found himself screwed out of yet another title shot, against a man he had beaten in a title fight nonetheless. So perhaps the recent comments made by “Showtime’s” manager are not without merit. Here’s what Ariel Helwani said during an episode of UFC tonight after speaking with Pettis’ manager:

(Video courtesy of YouTube/RootsofFight)

After some careful consideration by Helio Gracie’s grandson and one of the co-creators of The Gracie Breakdown series, Rener Gracie, we have a winner from last week’s Roots of Fight ‘What the Gracies Mean to Fighting’ Contest. Amazingly, none of the entries we sent in from our troll Twitter accounts won.

(Props: Amazon.com, via CP reader “joe sons balls,” who claims that he randomly came upon one of Phil Baroni‘s old fetish-modeling gigs while searching for XTC t-shirts. Sure, buddy. Your secret’s safe with us.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere…

- Sean Sherk Planning UFC Return in 2012, But Won’t Fight ‘Some Chump Who Needs Some Fame’ (MMA Mania)

- Report: UFC Beginning to Target Consumers in Online Piracy War (MMA Convert)

- Pat Curran Talks Title Win Over Joe Warren at Bellator 60 (The Fight Nerd)

- Trouble Already Brewing on Set of TUF 15 (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Nick Diaz Might Be Retired From MMA, But His Career as a Ninja Has Just Begun (MiddleEasy)

- Jon Jones Wants Anderson Silva as a “Mentor,” Not an Opponent (Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com)

- Odds Stacked Against Frank Mir at UFC 146 (5th Round)

- Cesar Gracie Wants Penn or Pettis for Gilbert Melendez’s Next Fight (FightLine)

- Tim Sylvia Deserves Another Shot in the UFC (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- UFC Threatens Lawsuit Against Oklahoma (MMA Payout)

- Testosterone Capitulation: The UFC, Rampage, & Fighters Only (Fight Opinion)

(The calm before the soccer kicks.)

Quinton Jackson will be getting his wish to leave the UFC — but not before fulfilling the final fight on his contract. It was announced on last night’s episode of UFC Tonight that Jackson will be facing Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at an event to be named later. A follow-up statement on UFC.com described Jackson as “disgruntled,” and confirmed that the bout is the last of Jackson’s UFC contract and that he and the UFC are expected to part ways afterwards.

Jackson and Rua’s upcoming meeting will be a rematch of their PRIDE Total Elimination 2005 fight, which Shogun won by vicious first-round knockout. Jackson has lobbied for a rematch ever since, and Rua recently expressed interest in the matchup as well. Rua most recently competed at UFC 139, losing a decision to Dan Henderson in what was widely considered to be the 2011 Fight of the Year, while Jackson is riding the first two-fight losing streak of his career, with losses to Jon Jones and Ryan Bader.

After the jump: The full fight video of Rampage vs. Shogun 1.

(“When people started asking me if I was going to fight someone other than Georges, I was like…”)

(“…and then I was like…”)

UFC interim welterweight champ Carlos Condit made a stop by HDNet’s Inside MMA last night and revealed his intention to wait on his Team Jackson stablemate Georges St-Pierre to return from knee surgery, instead of taking a bout in the interim.

“The bottom line is, I have my heart set on fighting Georges St-Pierre. If George is back this year, even if it’s…later…even if it’s November, which is what’s being thrown out there, I’m waiting for Georges and that would be my next opponent,” Condit told hosts Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice. If, perhaps he’s not ready to fight this year — not ready to fight until 2013, I will entertain the idea of taking on somebody else.”

Some will complain that he should be rematching Nick Diaz, but unless the Stockton native comes out of the other side of his suspension appeal in Nevada without any sanctions against him, he likely won’t be fighting any time this year.

(Once again, we must turn to Rowdy Roddy Piper to lead by example.) 

Although moments were tense in the aftermath of “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey’s brutal first round, title-earning armbar over Miesha Tate, it seemed as if the two competitors had finally found, at the minimum, a newfound respect for one another. Sure, Ronda still referred to Miesha as “fake,” but it seemed like these two had perhaps found a common ground. A close friendship and some drunk photos of them making out seemed to be on the horizon, at least to us.

How optimistic ignorant we were.

It all started when Miesha, who may still have to undergo surgery for the damaged ligaments she suffered in the fight, mind you, requested a rematch with the newly crowned 135 lb. champion, stating the following:

I, personally, would love the opportunity to have a rematch. I think at a high level, it takes one mistake. Anyone can make a mistake at any moment and someone’s able to capitalize on that. I don’t feel that Ronda proved anything other than what she’s already (proved) — that she has one thing that she’s great at. Really phenomenal at. But everything else, I could beat her. Give me another shot. I think it was competitive. I think for the most part I was probably winning. And I think at a competitive high level, one day one person could beat the one person, and the other day the other person would beat the other person.

This statement is…let’s call it ballsy, to say the least. And let’s not get into the fact that, “I think for the most part I was probably winning,” just surpassed Judo Gene LeBell’s “nice big dinner” line as the most hilariously confusing sentence in the history of the English language. A hell of a lot of conviction there.

Well believe it or not, Ronda caught wind of Miesha’s statements, because the Internet is a surprisingly crowded place. And wouldn’t you know, she was not too pleased by them.

Hear what she had to say after the jump.

(U mad?)

If you bought a ticket to see Kimbo Slice attempt to extend his professional boxing record to 4-0 with a win over Mike Glenn on March 24, you might want to get yourself a refund — that is unless you want to watch him fight a lesser opponent instead.

CagePotato.com has learned from a source close to Glenn who contacted us Tuesday afternoon that Slice, whose real name is Kevin Ferguson, has bowed out of the bout. According to the source the former UFC fighter allegedly told the promoter that he would still participate in the event if they found him another opponent, but explicitly stated that he did not want to fight Glenn.

(“You know how to see the full gallery, don’t you? Just put your cursor over the Read More link, and…click.”)

Thanks, as usual, to BabesofMMA for introducing us to Abbie Goodwin, a 20-year-old model and dancer from Essex, England, who is one of the regular ring girls for the UK’s Ultimate Warrior Challenge promotion. Abbie has been featured in such respectable British news outlets as The Sun and Zoo, and her all-girl dance crew Xposed recently took first place in their category at the British Street Dance Championships. Last year, she appeared on the fourth season of Snog Marry Avoid?, which is polite Brit-speak for you know what. Get to know Abbie better on Facebook and Twitter, and check out a whole bunch of our favorite Abbie Goodwin photos in the gallery below…

(Busto vs. Anjo at UFC 25, or, before the UFC’s commentating team knew what an arm-triangle choke was.) 

Former UFC Middleweight Champion Murilo Bustamante will be returning to action for the first time since 2010 on March 31st when he headlines Amazon Forest Combat 2. And if that sentiment alone doesn’t give you a fearection, then get this: the man he will meet across the cage is none other than the same one he took the UFC Middleweight title from, Dave Menne.

Not since Abbott/Ferrozzo II have we been so excited.

One of the founding member of Brazilian Top Team and a twenty year MMA veteran, Bustamante’s grappling accolades are extensive to say the least, including four Brazilian National BJJ Championships, a 1999 Mundials World Championship, and several appearances in the ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships. After defeating Menne back in January of 2002 at UFC 35 by second round TKO, Bustamante would defend the belt once, submitting Matt Lindland with a guillotine in the third round of their UFC 37 title fight. Financial disputes with the UFC, however, would force Bustamante to vacate the title shortly thereafter and sign with PRIDE FC, where he would go 4-5 against the likes of Dan Henderson, Ikuhisa Minowa, and Quinton Jackson. Bustamante will be looking to erase the memory of his last performance, an abysmal second round TKO due to retirement loss to TUF 7 alumnus Jesse Taylor at Impact FC 2 in July of 2010.

Join us after the jump to hear Bustamante’s thoughts on his upcoming rematch with Menne, as well as his pick for a future opponent that will make the PRIDE fan within you channel Lenne Hardt. 

(We may look odd, but at least we know a little bit about MMA.)

In our ongoing effort to provide the Potato Nation with the best interactive reader experience in the MMA blogosphere, we’re happy to announce a new addition to the site.

Starting this Thursday, we’ll be streaming a weekly live video edition of  ”Ask the Potato” and we’d love for you guys to get involved. If it catches on, we may even start doing “Ask the Potato Live” shows on a regular basis with actual guests. No promises though. We know how disappointed kids are when their parents let them down.

More details after the jump.

Like with most other major sports, fantasy games are becoming integral to the MMA fan experience.  Fantasy MMA adds to the enjoyment experienced while watching MMA events by enabling fans to compare their knowledge against others — either for bragging rights or for cash prizes.  In addition to adding more enjoyment to the fan experience, fantasy games promote the sport in general by engaging fans with fighters they may otherwise ignore.

As a coach on season one of The Ultimate Fighter, Randy Couture recognized the similar multi-faceted promotional value that the show had, which prompted him to partner with Kountermove,  the newest fantasy MMA website on the block that has grown immensely in popularity since going live four months ago.

“The great thing about The Ultimate Fighter is that it drives fan interest to lesser-known fighters,” Couture explains. “I got involved in Kountermove for that reason.”

Kountermove boasts more than 5,000 players, has paid out over $50,000 in cash prizes thus far and has steadily increased its prize pools to keep up with its membership boon. Since launching in November of last year, Kountermove has quickly become one of the most popular of the MMA fantasy sites and one of a select few that allows play for cash prizes. The site is neither a “pick ‘em game,” nor a “betting simulation,” unlike the other major fantasy sites, as it uses actual fight data, such as strikes landed and takedowns, to determine the winner.

Find out how the Kountermove is hooking up the Potato Nation after the jump.

(In Stockton, even the superheroes are on drugs.) 

Considering that Nick Diaz has stated he is done fighting MMA, a notion that his own brother believes he will hold true to, perhaps this news is ultimately a moot point. Regardless, after Diaz tested positive for marijuana metabolites following his unanimous decision loss to Carlos Condit at UFC 143, he was handed a one year suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, probably to give him some time to think about this whole retirement issue.

Well if Diaz’s lawyer, Ross Goodman, has his way, Diaz could have the option to return to MMA sooner than he thinks, should he decide to. Yes, it appears Goodman filed a response challenging the commission’s ruling yesterday, claiming that since Diaz tested positive for “marijuana metabolites” and not marijuana, he should therefore be exempt from any punishment, as marijuana metabolites are not on the NSAC’s list of banned substances: Here’s what he told ESPN.com in a recent interview:

Marijuana is the only substance that is prohibited; not marijuana metabolites. The basis to discipline Mr. Diaz is that he tested positive for a prohibited substance. We know he didn’t test positive for marijuana. So, you look to see at WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] whether marijuana metabolites are prohibited. They do not prohibit it in any category. You have to test positive for marijuana, as opposed to this inactive ingredient Nick did.

If there’s nothing in the rules prohibiting marijuana metabolites, why are we here?

(We’ll start designing the poster for “Nemesis Fighting: Rampage vs. Jardine 2.”)

After some frustrated tweeting over the last week, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson took his anti-UFC campaign to Inside MMA, telling Bas Rutten that he wants to part ways with the promotion due to the way he’s been treated. Plus, Joe Silva needs to get slapped in his smart little mouth. You can listen to the full interview at the end of this post. Here are some highlights…

On the fans and his soon-to-be-ex-employers: “I don’t want to fight for the UFC no more. I think the fans don’t understand. They think that just because I make a lot of money, I should be happy because I’ve got a nice house. I’ve always stated that I fight for money because it’s my career, but I think a lot of fans are sheep, and they don’t understand…I wish I didn’t have one more fight for [the UFC]. I’m trying to get out of this one fight…In my opinion, I think they’re trying to make me lose my fanbase. Because they don’t want me to be bigger than the UFC, because the movie I did was bigger than the UFC…I don’t want to be part of the UFC. If Dana doesn’t want me to be bigger than the UFC, then let me go.”

On disrespect: “After my fight with Jon Jones they told my manager that I was losing my appeal — that rappers don’t come and watch me fight no more, that the fans really don’t like me no more. Cause it was getting close to time for me to renegotiate and PRIDE did the same thing to me. To me my respect is more than money so I’ll go fight for some other show for free and I’ll prove it to fans that I’m not all about money.”

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Following career setbacks due to alcohol and steroids, a one-year suspension due to unapproved painkillers was the last thing that Chris Leben needed in his life. But in a recent appearance on MMAFighting.com’s The MMA Hour, Leben spoke publicly for the first time since the incident last November, saying that getting caught following his loss to Mark Munoz at UFC 138 was the best thing to ever happen to him:

“I’ve battled drugs and alcohol. I’ve battled with those for my entire life. I’ve had an issue with being addicted to painkillers for years now. I had some issues with my camp and it was almost a cry for help. I knew I was going to get caught and I just didn’t care at the time. I’m extremely embarrassed, I feel like I let down the UFC, but at the same time I think getting caught is probably the best thing to ever happen to me. The UFC has been unbelievable, they sent me to a rehab facility and they really took care of me.”

As Leben tells it, he had hoped to go cold-turkey off the painkillers before the fight, but his addiction was too powerful:

(“Higher or lower than 200? Higher?”)

It looks like Anthony Johnson has found a promotion willing to overlook his chronic habit of coming in overweight for contracted bouts.

Titan Fighting Championship announced today that it has signed “Rumble” to an unspecified contract and that the 10-4 former UFC welterweight-turned-light heavyweight will be headlining its May 25 card, which will be broadcast live on HDNet. No opponent has been named for AJ, and it has yet to be determined if the former welterweight, who came in 13 pounds over for his middleweight debut at UFC 142 against Vitor Belfort in his last bout, will be fighting at 185 or at a catchweight. One thing’s for certain: his days at 170 are likely behind him.

“I’m back, and I’m fighting May 25 with Titan Fighting Championship, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to headline this event for all the fans in Kansas City and watching that night live on HDNet,” Johnson confirmed with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s MMA Hour. “I am so pumped to be fighting again, and I’m ready to take on whatever 185-pounder they put in front of me. I received offers from all over the world, and after a lot of consideration, my manager Glenn Robinson and I settled on Titan because it’s a good promotion, but more importantly it’s run by really good people.”

(Pictured: Wyoming’s remaining residents react to the great news.) 

After becoming the 45th state (we’re looking at you, New York) to regulate mixed martial arts last Thursday, when current Governor Matt Mead signed House Bill 87 into law, Wyoming will become the first state to assemble a commission focused entirely on MMA. As we know, boxing and athletic commissions carry this responsibility in many of the states that have legalized MMA, and this is where Wyoming ran into trouble in the first place. In the past ten years, state lawmakers have attempted to reinstate the position of State Boxing Commissioner, who would then be placed in charge of MMA regulation, five separate times, but were met with overwhelming opposition from the state’s boxing industry.

The bill to legalize the sport was unanimously approved on Thursday by Wyoming State Senate and House of Representatives, and though MMA was never dubbed “illegal” in Wyoming, all fights held within the state until this point were not recognized on fighter’s records due to a lack of a sanctioning body to regulate the sport.

Now here’s where things get interesting: the committee will consist of three individuals appointed by Gov. Mead and will be funded by a five percent tax on gross receipts from all MMA events. This stipulation apparently has local promoters and fighters up in arms, fearing that the tax will discourage big name promotions like the UFC from visiting the state. Because, you know, Wyoming was next on Dana White’s agenda after he figured out this whole “international takeover” thing. Wyoming hosts an average of 20 mixed martial arts events a year, with the average crowd holding strong at around 500-700 attendees. Local fight promoter Stephen Alley told the Casper Star-Tribune that he believes this additional fee will crush the already depleted MMA scene, telling the publication in an interview that, “If they bring in a commission, most of the people that you see operating right now, they won’t be around.”

(But there *will* be subtitles at some point, right?)

The full cast of 16 featherweights and 16 middleweights for the first international edition of The Ultimate Fighter has just been released. I’m not as well-versed in the Brazilian prospect scene as I should be, but two names definitely jump out here: Rodrigo Damm, the Sengoku/Strikeforce veteran (and brother of Carina), and former IFL standout Delson Helano, who has won 10 of his last 11 fights.

You can check out the full cast list after the jump. TUF Brazil is set for a March 25th debut on the Globo channel in Brazil, and will also be streamed on UFC.com and broadcast on FUEL via tape-delay. Tune in, and find out which two fighters will be buying their mothers a house…

Add this upcoming documentary to the pile of must-see soon-to-be-released MMA movies along with “Once I was a Champion” and “Fightville.”

“Fight Spirit Pride” looks back on former UFC featherweight contender Mark Hominick’s crossover period from Canadian MMA standout to popular Octagon veteran five years ago. Though it should have been one of the most exciting and happy times of his life, it was one of the most stressful and painful for Hominick as his father was also dying from cancer.

Featuring a number of the sport’s most recognizable faces including Dana White, Eddie Bravo, Joe Rogan, Sam Stout, Georges St-Pierre, Bas Rutten and Kevin James, the emotional film also touches on the untimely death of “The Machine’s” longtime mentor, trainer and friend, Shawn Tompkins last year.

Here’s a description from the film’s producers:

“This is a Documentary film about a UFC fighter’s struggle between being there for his dying father, and his career. This documentary is a very raw uncensored microscopic look into the life of a fighter; it has two deaths and two births.”

Check out the trailer after the jump.

A million arigatos to our friends at TerezOwens for sending us actual footage of the rap concert that Quinton Jackson did in Tokyo immediately following his loss to Ryan Bader at UFC 144. We can’t tell if this clip is an excerpt from Rampage’s new “doggy style” tribute, but either way, the lyrics are $kala-caliber. FYI, the performance went down at a club called Vanity in Tokyo’s Roppongi district. (As in, “vanity project.” As in, “My God this vanity project.”) Allow us to half-assedly transcribe:

Rampage:
Get on sowaggichain
Get down with Rampage
We party like we paid
Move! Yo ass, like you wanna get laid
Now shake it, *you* shake it
I wanna see that ass butt-naked

Rampage’s Asian hype-man:
Yo, whassup?
Everybody get down on the floor wuhsay
HALT! Sup?
New York [Ed. note: You're in Tokyo, idiot.]

The video was uploaded to the YouTube account ShuHirata1968; Hirata is like the Ed Soares of Japan, and he always seems to have his video camera with him. For example, here’s another recent clip from Shu’s account that made us even more uncomfortable than Rampage’s rap show…

(Tom couldn’t handle constantly being asked if the guy he was with was the dude that f*cked Kimbo)

As fans and pundits of the sport, sometimes we forget that the fighters we love and hate to watch in the ring and cage are normal human beings like we are. They have bills to pay, mouths to feed and wives and girlfriends that *most* of them go home to every night.

We’ve been introduced to many of the W.A.Gs of fighters by UFC countdown shows, porno movies, arrest reports and through their own contributions to the sport as managers and fighters in their own right. Regardless of what they do, they support their men through the good and the bad and keep the home front running smoothly while their husbands and boyfriends are away for training camps or competing.

They don’t get a lot of mention by us media types, so we figured we would pay them tribute by posting a gallery of some of the lesser-known ladies behind the well-known fighters in the sport.

(It was like this, but smellier.) 

Whether you are a man of religion or a man of science, there are those few urban legends out there that, despite their lack of physical evidence or confirmation, are universally accepted as truth. So goes the story of illustrious judo champion Gene Lebell’s confrontation with the true Godfather of mixed martial arts, Sensei Steven Seagal.

The story goes like this: while on the set of Out for Justice, Seagal happened to mention that, as a result of his Aikido training and extensive blues guitar playing, his Senseiness was impervious to chokes. LeBell, who at 58, happened to be a stunt coordinator on set at the time, opted to take Seagal up on his boisterous claim. Seagal accepted, was choked out, and proceeded to pee and/or poop his pants. Due to an alleged gag order placed on everyone from LeBell to the cast and crew who happened to witness the event, no one has come forth in the time since to confirm or deny this story. John Leguizamo brought it up once, and was promptly beaten to a pulp.

Well let today, March 12th, forever be known as a triumph for the human race, as LeBell has finally broken his silence. And according to him, even if Seagal did in fact poop himself, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

Join us after the jump for the full video interview, complements of MMAFighting, along with a transcription of some of the highlights. 

(It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, with one lucky winner picking up a six-figure UFC contract and an immediate shot at Aaron Riley. / Photo courtesy of Facebook.com/TUF)

In case you weren’t able to watch Friday night’s marathon premiere of The Ultimate Fighter Live — or read our thoroughly detailed recap — here’s the short version: The porn-star will not be moving into the house, Jon Tuck nearly got his toe ripped off, and half of the 16 one-round fights ended via stoppage. Follow us after the jump, and we’ll show you every single one of those stoppages, in a series of GIFs courtesy of IronForgesIron. Enjoy, and let us know who you think will go all the way…

Perhaps it is appropriate that we are kicking off the disappointment and pent up frustration of another work week with none other than Bob Sapp, the most disappointing and utterly frustrating figure in the history of MMA. After landing his most devastating punch in his last ten fights career against Bill Mahood at Saturday’s weigh ins, Sapp’s headlining bout against James Thompson at Super Fight League 1 would end, go figure, in the abrupt, anticlimactic fashion of Sapp’s signature move, the Sapp Tapp, the Sappmission, or whatever variation of the term you prefer to use. Sapp has become so famous for quitting when the going gets tough that it appears Tiger Woods has adopted a similar strategy.

But, believe it or not, some fighters actually came to fight yesterday, and thankfully, the gents over at SFL have been nice enough to grant us a full playback of the event on their Youtube page. Check out the video above, and honor “The Beast” in Sappian fashion, by prematurely stopping it when the main event comes around.

Join us after the jump for some more great videos from around the MMA blogosphere, including an eight second KO that can only be described as “adorable,” a trailer for an upcoming documentary on Charles “Mask” Lewis, and more.

Spoiler alert: It was a better punch than this one, and twice as effective. Props: Getty Images via MMAFighting.com

I guess it goes without saying, but today has been a pretty slow news day. But even if it wasn’t, I like to imagine we’d still give this our attention. When something as rare as Bob Sapp being involved in a competitive fight happens, it’s worth a few cheap laughs seconds.

Sapp headlined Super Fight League 1, which was live on Youtube earlier this morning, against robbery victim James Thompson. While weighing in for his fight against “The Colossus”, Bob Sapp landed one of the most beautiful backfists I’ve ever seen. His technique was flawless, like it was a something he had actually been practicing. Even Phil Baroni, who was on hand to introduce fighters, seemed shocked at the technique on display from “The Beast”.

Of course, it would have been far more impressive if it actually landed on James Thompson. Or if it, you know, was intentional. But it’s probably for the best that the move was an accident. If he had been trying to do that, he probably would have missed, taken a dive and immediately started tapping.

Never forget.

It’s not like Cro Cop has never pondered retirement before, but if last night’s K-1 bout against fellow kickboxing legend Ray Sefo truly marked the end of the road for Mirko Filipovic, then Cro Cop is going out on the highest note possible.

Last night at the Arena Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia, Mirko Filipovic defeated Ray Sefo by unanimous decision in the main event of “Final Fight”. While both men fatigued in the latter rounds, Cro Cop utilized a diverse striking attack and didn’t take too much damage from the heavy handed Sefo on his way to the victory. Was it the most inspiring performance ever? Not quite. Still, it’s nice to see a legend like Cro Cop go out on a victory over a legitimate opponent.

Video after the jump.

Source: @Rampage4real

Looks like Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is back on the energy drinks.

When he took to his Twitter page earlier this week to blast the UFC, many of us assumed he was just venting after a difficult loss to Ryan Bader at UFC 144. Well, Rampage is still venting, except now he’s asking for his release from the UFC. In a bizarre twist to an already strange situation, Rampage blames the UFC for the reason he’s lost his desire to fight. And he implies that the desire to keep fighting will somehow come back to him once he walks away from the biggest stage in MMA.

And if you thought that that was strange, consider his next two tweets, both of which in response to fans’ reactions to his initial announcement:

By Elias Cepeda

Over the better part of a decade, The Ultimate Fighter reality fighting competition show has seen a number of different format changes and gimmicks, from coaches set to fight for titles and nominally famous singer eye candy hosts, to veterans given a second chance in the UFC with title shots as the prizes. But three things have always stayed constant – the show airing on Spike, seasons being taped months before airing, and fighters in the house being treated to all you could drink liquor buffets while simultaneously being asked to maintain the UFC’s high standards of sober living.

We can only hope that the last item doesn’t change this year, but the first two already have. With the new season of TUF being aired on FX, the UFC has decided to try something new and air all fights live every Friday night. Friday night 32 UFC hopefuls, TUF head coaches Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber, Prez Dana White and a variety of other Nevada judges, referees and oddly placed celebrities in the crowd, gathered in the UFC training center in Las Vegas for 16 fights to determine who got to be in the TUF house for the next three months.

Here’s the action, tater nation, in the present tense, as fast as we could type it all.

Say what you want about how bitter SPIKE is acting towards the UFC ever since acquiring rights to Bellator. But after watching Bellator 60 last night in Hammond, Indiana on MTV2, it’s not hard to understand what SPIKE sees in the promotion. Season Six kicked off with a bang, with a new featherweight champion and four men advancing in the season’s featherweight tournament.

Even without considering Joe Warren’s Greco-Roman background, it’s no surprise that Warren’s gameplan would consist of attempting takedowns early and often after the brutal knockout loss to Alexis Vila he suffered in his last fight at Bellator 51. And while Warren found success with his takedowns, he was completely unable to keep Pat Curran on the mat. Curran landed some hard shots throughout the fight, but a hard right knee in the third round put Warren out on his feet. But since the referee didn’t stop the fight, Curran then landed a flurry of punches and knees that caused Joe Warren to turn his back to the challenger. And when the referee still didn’t stop the fight, Pat Curran landed two huge uppercuts that floored Warren, finally ending the fight one minute and twenty five seconds into the third round. With the victory, Curran improves to 17-4 in his MMA career, including a 7-1 run in Bellator.

Video After the jump.

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(When Stephan Bonnar says he will do anything to get his hands on some Mad Dog, he means ANYTHING.) 

Though Chael Sonnen claims to be “The Most Interesting Man in the World,” the title could very well go to long time UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. The man can turn an ice spill into comedy gold. He will put any referee with a last name sounding like Maserati on the spot without a seconds notice. And God forbid you try and diss him during one of his stand up routines. When he turns his hat backwards, it gives him a feeling of super strength that would make Lincoln Hawk piss his pants. Simply put, the man is a DMT tripping, BJJ grappling, spin kick throwing force that rarely fails to entertain when placed in front of a camera.

With the first ever live season of The Ultimate Fighter kicking off tonight, Rogan sat down and shared some of his favorite moments in the show’s history. Go figure, Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar‘s war at the TUF 1 Finale was the first thing to be discussed. Here’s what he had to say:

The first season was the first time reality television was integrated with such an exciting and intense growing sport, and it came together in the most beautiful and poetic way possible with the finals … The estimations were that there were as many as eight million people watching this fight. That’s unfathomable! People are at home, and they were calling their friends up, and they’re like, ‘Dude! You’ve gotta watch this. There is a crazy fight going on and these two white guys are beating the fuck out of each other!’ And that was the birth of modern mixed martial arts. That was the fight that put it on the map.

Join us after the jump for the full video.