(Tyson in MMA? Two words: Sprawl training.)

Given the amount of painful memories that are packed into his times as a boxer, Mike Tyson doesn’t always seem to have the same glee in discussing his days as a heavyweight terror as we do as fans. That’s why a recent interview he did with This is 50, stands out.

In the third part of the interview “Iron Mike” discusses mixed martial arts and who would have won if he and Muhammad Ali had fought one another in their primes. As he talks about both topics Tyson is full of emotion and obvious glee. The interview is a great glimpse at Tyson. Highlights below and video after the jump.

Would he have fought MMA if it was around when he was in his prime?

“If they had big pay days, yes. No doubt about it.”

“I want to slam, I want to hold ‘em, I want to choke. That’s what you want to do anyway if you’re in a street fight, right? You want to hit him but you want to get him too. You want to get him real good, get him down, get on top of him. So, you’ve got more aspects, you know? If it’s not working this way you can kick him in the fucking head, you know? (laughs)”

(Photo courtesy of FundaFighter’s Facebook page.)

On June 22nd, 2012, Dan Miller returned to the octagon for the first time in nearly a year against Ricardo Funch at UFC on FX 4. Winless since 2010, it looked like Miller’s UFC future could possibly be hanging in the balance if he did not turn in a successful performance in front of his hometown crowd. But as is the typical attitude of the Miller family when approaching any fight, Dan left it all in the octagon, battering and blistering Funch en route to a third round guillotine choke win.

As it turns out, the victory was more than just a step in the right direction for Dan’s MMA career, it was an indication of where things were headed in his personal life as well.

As you all know, the reason for Miller’s prolonged absence from the octagon last year was that of his infant son, Danny Jr., who had been diagnosed with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease, a condition that would require a $100,000 surgery and $10,000 a month in medication for at least the first year in order for Danny to stand any chance at recovery. The response from the MMA community was almost immediate, with everyone from the Firas Zahabi-founded FundaFighter program to former CP Sergeant-at-Arms Mike Russell establishing avenues for MMA fans around the world to contribute to Danny Jr.’s cause. Unsurprisingly, the most significant donations to the Daniel James Miller Foundation came from UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta and president Dana White.

Well, Potato Nation, we are proud to report that not only was Danny Jr.’s surgery a success, but he is recovering smoothly as well, and has regained kidney function for the first time in over two years.

The Miller family’s reactions are after the jump.

(Oh! So topical!)

From Rousimar Failhares to Scumbag Dana, we at CagePotato love a good MMA-themed image meme. And the jokers on the UG have been working on a great one this week: “Good Guy Junior Dos Santos,” a kind-hearted and honest heavyweight who is always there to help, and never gets nasty taint-sweat on your training tires. We’ve compiled a bunch of our favorites from that Underground thread, which continue after the jump. Enjoy!

(Somewhere in Manhattan, there’s a dumb bastard with the phrase “IFL Pitbulls” reverse-imprinted in his forehead.)

Late last night in New York, legendary fighter/trainer Renzo Gracie was accosted by two men with obvious bad intentions. And since Renzo is one of the gamest S.O.B.s of all time, he wound up beating the shit out of them. Actually, let me re-phrase that: He beat the shit out of one of them, tracked down mugger #2 after he went running off into the night, “raccooned” mugger #2 (explanation below), and tweeted out a live play-by-play of the whole experience including photos. Are you kidding me? Renzo Gracie is like a prime Steven Seagal with an iPhone.

Now, did all this really happen, or was this entire situation just a staged social media infomercial for Gracie Jiu-Jitsu? I don’t know. But I want to believe. Here’s the entire story, from beginning to end, as taken from @RenzoGracieBJJ:

3:11 AM: 22nd street and 10th ave right now two guys following me, can’t help but have a big smile upon my face Im talking about a happy one )))

3:12 AM: Waiting for them… Are they really thinking I’m drunk??? They have to be kidding. Hahahaha

3:13 AM: 25th and 10ave they are getting closer lol

3:16 AM: I just stop to take a pic, they pretend they are looking at the window, can’t lie… My blood runs in a different speed, man I miss Brazil

(If that kick had been thrown in the UFC, there’s a 99% chance it would have knocked Santiago out.) 

According to Swedish news source mmanytt, Polish middleweight phenom Mamed Khalidov has supposedly reached an agreement with Strikeforce and will make his debut in early 2013. Khalidov, whom you may recall was offered a contract with the UFC a few months ago that was plain laughable, has won his last five fights by way of stoppage, with all of those wins coming within the first three minutes of action. It appears that his desire to get, get, get, get get, get that paper has actually paid off, as he has not only been offered a much higher payrate per fight with Strikeforce, but will also be free of the contract exclusivity that UFC fighters face. As long as he does not become champion, that is.

A skilled submission fighter with equally as deadly striking, we have sang the praises of Khalidov for some time now here at CP, and it’s good to see that he may finally be getting the chance to show off his skills to a wider audience. Let’s hope he doesn’t blow it (we’re looking at you, Mr. Lombard.)

We will have more on this possible signing as it develops.

After the jump: A trio of fight videos that sees Khalidov wipe the floor with UFC veterans James Irvin, Rodney Wallace, and Jesse Taylor.

(Often misunderstood and unappreciated.)

By Elias Cepeda

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been derided as immature, arrogant and selfish for much of his career, especially since turning down a short-notice replacement fight against Chael Sonnen at UFC 151 after Dan Henderson dropped out due to injury. But in a recent interview with the Associated Press, Jones sounded calm, collected and measured, especially in comparison to organization president Dana White‘s comments on the situation, as he spoke about what he’s learned. He also publicly criticized White for the first time, which probably won’t help his reputation among the fans who already despise him.

“I had to do what’s right for myself by turning down that fight, Dana had to do what was right for himself by putting the blame on everyone else except for himself,” Jones told Dan Gelston of the AP. “The lesson to be learned is, at the end of the day, you have to protect yourself and your family.”

Jones told the AP that he has not yet spoken with his boss about the comments, but appears to have had his eyes opened to how quickly UFC brass and fans can turn on him. ”I think in the future, this can make me and Dana even better off,” Jones said. ”For him to get out how he felt about me in that situation, it will help me look at things more business-oriented. A lot of good can come out of it. Fighters can learn the lesson of doing what’s best for themselves and not feeling like puppets. I think the UFC has learned a lesson of making sure they stay loyal to the fans and give them full cards.”

(I’ll just sit here and be quiet, just in case they do… suspect me. They’re probably watching me. Well, let them. Let them see what kind of a person I am. I’m not even going to swat that fly. I hope they are watching… they’ll see. They’ll see and they’ll know, and they’ll say, “Why, he wouldn’t even harm a fly…”)

After suffering the greatest loss of his storied mixed martial arts career last month — that of his dignity — when he was found nude inside a Mission Viejo church he had destroyed and doused with a fire extinguisher, it appears that charges are finally being pressed against former UFC/Strikeforce fighter and MTV psuedo-reality show host Jason Miller. And they are relatively modest considering both the circumstances of his arrest and the fact that this wasn’t Miller’s first rodeo, if you know what we mean; Miller is being charged with just one count of misdemeanor vandalism for his actions, and is set to appear in court on November 21st.

“Mayhem,” who was released from jail following a brief psychological evaluation, promised to his fans and those concerned that “everything was fine” and that he was “with people that love me, and hope that you will join me. If I ever hurt anyone, I am sorry,” in his first public statement, but hasn’t been heard from since. Fun fact: Miller was arrested almost one year to the day after his aforementioned arrest for putting his sister in a headlock. Apparently that August heat really does drive some people crazy.

Elsewhere on the MMA blotter…

(Photo via FUEL TV)

A near-mythological figure in the world of combat sports, Bas Rutten‘s achievements include three King of Pancrase titles, a UFC heavyweight championship, broadcasting gigs for PRIDE and Inside MMA, various movie cameos, and a starring role in the greatest instructional video of all time. “El Guapo” was kind enough to give us a few minutes of his time this week to discuss his legendary fight career, and the opponents who stood out across a number of categories. Show your appreciation by following Bas on Twitter and Facebook, and watch out for his latest big-screen appearance in the MMA comedy flick Here Comes the Boom next month.

Toughest chin: That has to be Masakatsu Funaki and my last opponent Ruben Villareal. Funaki I hit and kneed so hard that my palms and knee were bruised, until the final knee where I grabbed Funaki’s hair and drilled the knee in his face, but boy, every time he got back up, it was crazy. Villareal, although I had a rib out and couldn’t hit a bag the last two weeks [of training], I still hit him hard, and right on his chin every time. First he said to me, “Damn, you’re fast.” I said “Thank you,” then I hit him again and he said, “And you hit hard.” I told him, “Apparently not hard enough!” It was funny.

Heaviest hands: I was very fortunate never to have anybody connecting full. I have pretty good defense. So I honestly can’t tell you; I’ve never been hit hard. Though I guess in training I have. Pedro Rizzo has very heavy hands.

(The hardest thing to believe about this poster is that the photos of Johnson and Benavidez have not been scaled down whatsoever. True story though.) 

Ever since it was announced that Vitor Belfort would be stepping up to face Jon Jones at UFC 152, the MMA world responded with a mixture of confused apprehension and the outright fear of knowing that Belfort might very well get beaten into a living death before our very eyes. The bookies seemed to agree, listing Bones as high as -1500 over the former heavyweight and light heavyweight champ, which likely had something to do with the fact that Belfort had defected to The Blackzilians in preparation for the bout.

But putting aside the fact that Jon Jones is bigger, younger, and actually manages to show up for the majority of his fights uninjured, the UFC has steamrolled ahead with their promos for UFC 152, trying to convince us that this fight will be closely contested in any way, shape, or form (I really hope I eat crow for this statement), because what other options do they have at this point? Check out the first official promo for UFC 152 after the jump, and let us know if you have taken the bait.

(Hey Bjorn, can you switch the big screen over to MTV 2? This fight is boring the shit out of meheywaitaminute!) 

You know, with all the talk of “fakeness”, “arrogance”, and “haters” that has utterly dominated any Jon Jones/UFC 151-related article we have posted since the infamous event occurred, perhaps we should be thankful that there are still a few guys out there who will tell it the way it is with little to no regard for their “brand,” their fanbase, or any fight promoters that might be interested in them. Honesty appears to be a fleeting quality in MMA fighters — and athletes in general — and is often swept under the rug in favor of the kind of politically correct, sponsor-gaining rhetoric that has been carbon-copied from athlete to athlete to the point of delirium. It’s an unfortunate side effect of a culture insistent on turning everyone who can throw a ball, a punch, or a kick into a “role model.”

So, like we said, maybe we should take more time to appreciate the select guys in the MMA biz who couldn’t care less about extravagance or endorsement in an ever-popularizing sport, and would rather just speak their mind when asked to do so. We’re referring of course, to Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren, who has shown in the past that he gives not a shit what MMA fans, writers, or even certain UFC presidents think about his…let’s call it “routine” style of fighting.

Askren has seen his fair share of haters since exploding army-crawling onto the MMA scene back in 2009, mainly as a result of his seemingly carefree attitude in regards to finishing a fight. Although his record stands at a perfect 10-0, Askren has only finished two of his fights, and only one if you take into account that his submission victory over Ryan Thomas at Bellator 14 was the product of a referee blunder. Whereas most of Askren’s “lay-n-pray” counterparts would likely insist that they are at the minimum always looking for a finish in a fight that simply hasn’t present itself, Askren outwardly stated in an interview with MMAJunkie that he will probably never even look for a knockout in a fight no matter how long he is in the game.

OK, maybe honesty is an overrated quality.

Full story after the jump. 

We still don’t know if we’ll get a super fight between welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and middleweight champion Anderson Silva one day, but at least it seems that UFC President Dana White is on our side with this thing. “I think we’re pretty close,” White told Ariel Helwani on Fuel TV’s UFC Tonight. “I mean if Georges St. Pierre beats [Carlos] Condit, that could be the next fight.”

In other words, St. Pierre vs. Condit isn’t “meaningless” after all. And if GSP vs. Anderson does happen, White told Helwani that it would likely be held at a 180-pound catch weight.

“At one point it sounded like Anderson wanted to go to 170 and take Georges’ welterweight title,” White said. “That was what he was talking at one point. Then it was 180 as a catchweight, because Georges doesn’t want to go to 185, he’s going to stay at ’70. He said if ‘I had to make the move to go to ’85, I’d have to stay at ’85.’ We figured that a 180-pound catchweight makes sense.”

Sounds good to us, and Silva has seemed to do everything he could to signal that he wants that fight (from insulting the entire middleweight division to expressing a willingness to drop down in weight) but there’s a lot standing in the way of that dream match-up from happening. First of all, Condit could beat St. Pierre in November.

(We’ll give Anderson this, he has an ability to facially express himself that not even Ernest P. Worrell could hold a candle to.) 

Good afternoon, Potato Nation, Danga here. As many of you may or may not have realized/elated over, I have been out of the office since last Thursday, first taking a trip down to New York City, then heading out to Boston to move into the apartment at which I currently reside. Aside from being called a “fahkin retahd” by nearly every citizen who shared the road with me, it was a relatively painless move, but one that left me without Internet access for a good three or four days, which in Internet time is roughly 6 months.

At least that was what it felt like. When I fired up my computer this morning to peruse over CagePotato and see what the MMA world had been up to in my absence, I expected to find a couple sweet knockout videos and maybe a Labor Day-themed article or two. Suffice it to say, I was shocked to find that not only had CP managed to snag a “fight scientist” to impress us with his “graphs” and “numbers” and “empirical data,” but we were even granted access to a behind-the-scenes look at a local New Jersey-based event. And elsewhere, not only had Erik Koch been replaced by Frankie Edgar against Jose Aldo at UFC 153, but Aldo had been hit by a car (which I imagined looked something like this) and promptly told the injury curse of 2012 to go fuck itself. I was less surprised to learn, however, that Arlovski/Sylvia IV ended in controversy and bitter disappointment for those involved, but the fact that Tim Sylvia was even partly responsible for actual progress in the MMA world nearly made up for all the pain and suffering he has brought upon both himself and the sport in the past few years.

Of course, today is a new day, and with it comes a bit of mixed news. Regardless of who you feel deserves the next shot at Anderson Silva, the fact that “The Spider” is turning down fights in the weight class he resides over in favor of a possible superfight against GSP is a frustrating, if not equally intriguing prospect for MMA fans to digest. But as it turns out, Silva’s absence from the octagon in the near future may also be linked to something a little harder to swallow. Mainly, movie stardom. Because according to a report from metronews.ca, Silva may be heading to Canada down the line to promote and star in a major-budget MMA film called Tapped.

Details after the jump.

(Step 1: Find a lawyer. Step 2: Explain that your ear didn’t look like that before the accident. Step 3: Collect large settlement. Step 4: Celebrate.)

If one more Brazilian UFC champion becomes involved in a car accident this month, we can officially start calling this a trend. Just a day after we reported that Jose Aldo was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle in Rio de Janeiro, MMA Convert passed along word that heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos was the victim of a hit-and-run while driving in Salvador, Brazil, last week. As JDS explained on his twitter (which was helpfully translated into Broken English by MMAConvert):

“The transit of Salvador giving this fear. They just hit my car and did not stop, continued to follow the path as if it were normal. Please let us be more aware and respect others. You win nothing with violence and disrespect. Crossing and follow in peace.”

Dos Santos escaped the incident without injury, and is still scheduled to defend his title against Cain Velasquez at UFC 155 on December 29th.

Speaking of dangerous drivers…

(“Great to have you aboard, Sara! Now what size latex bodysuit do you wear?”)

By George Shunick

In a press release distributed yesterday, upstart women’s MMA promotion Invicta FC announced that they were sending bantamweight contender Sara McMann to Strikeforce. McMann is a perfect 6-0 in MMA — including wins over Shayna Baszler, Hitomi Akano, and Tonya Evinger — and won a silver medal in women’s freestyle wrestling at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. McMann was originally slated to fight for Invicta’s bantamweight title in her next appearance, but now that she is in Strikeforce, a title shot against Ronda Rousey seems quite plausible if she can make it through her first fight. Neither the date nor opponent for McMann’s Strikeforce debut have been announced yet.

It’s not every day that a fight promotion willingly sends one of its top contenders and budding stars to a competing promotion. However, according to President Shannon Knapp, Invicta’s goals aren’t based on hanging on to specific fighters:

(Frankie Edgar and Chris Liguori, backstage at CFFC 16.)

By Jim Genia

I arrive at the venue at 5:00 p.m., waiting with the fighters to pick up the credentials that will allow me access to all areas. For the sixteenth installment of the New Jersey-based regional promotion Cage Fury Fighting Championships, there are UFC veterans taking on up-and-comers, rising stars facing local tough guys, and a pair of female competitors ready to throw down. But I’m not there to watch them all fight — not this time, at least. No, this time, I’m wandering around the bowels of the Borgata Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City with the singular purpose of shadowing an inspector with the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board. There are countless articles on the fight night perspective as seen by the fighters themselves, and last year I sat beside venerable cageside judge Jeff Blatnick to get his take on things. But on this Friday night in August, I wanted something different. I wanted to know what the inspector saw.

Of all the moving parts of a sanctioned fight show — whether it be MMA or kickboxing or boxing — none are more prevalent than the inspector. They are there backstage, watching over the fighters as medicals are done, hands are wrapped, and warm-ups are undertaken. When it’s time to head to the cage, they’re there too, walking the fighter out, and standing beside them before and after the bout and in between rounds. The inspector is the ubiquitous lubricant that greases the gears. Without them, the engine wouldn’t run.

Aaron Davis may be the commissioner of the NJSACB, but Nick Lembo is grand poobah when it comes to MMA, and he wastes no time in introducing me to Vincent Dudley, the man I’ll be shadowing. Dudley is burly and solid and built like a lifelong martial artist, and when he folds his arms across his chest (a common stance adopted throughout the night), he’s a figure of authority and appears every bit the retired New York City Department of Corrections officer he professes to be. He’s friendly, yet there’s no mistaking feeling that if you screw up, he’ll let you know. Dudley has been working for the commission in New Jersey for years now, as an inspector but sometimes as a judge and referee, too. He knows the job.

And apparently, the job begins with getting all the fighters squared away in terms of paperwork, a doctor examination, and a urine sample for the pre-fight drug screening.

(“Hey girl, you must be a comb because you’re been running through my hair all day. Wait, no, I fucked that up.”)

The previously reported UFC/Strikeforce crossover bout between Frank Mir and Daniel Cormier finally has a date and location. According to new reports from MMAFighting and USA Today, the fight will headline a November 3rd Strikeforce card at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Barring some bizarre post-fight fiasco, both fighters are expected to head (back) to the UFC after the event, no matter the outcome of the match.

As Cormier told USA Today, “I am excited to be going back to Oklahoma for this fight because it’s been like my second home. My first fight was in Oklahoma, and the biggest fight of my Strikeforce career will be there…Fighting Frank Mir is an honor, as I’ve always viewed him as a great warrior and champion of the sport. This matchup shows that Zuffa is committed to putting me in big fights, and for that I thank them.”

Cormier is a perfect 10-0 in his MMA career, most recently outpointing Josh Barnett in the finals of Strikeforce’s heavyweight grand prix. Cormier broke his right hand during the fight and was forced to undergo surgery. Mir’s last performance was a TKO loss to Junior Dos Santos at UFC 146, which snapped a three-fight winning streak in the Octagon.

Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is also expected to be on the 11/3 card, against an opponent to be named later. Update: Rockhold will defend his belt against former light-heavyweight contender Lorenz Larkin, whose middleweight debut in July resulted in a unanimous decision victory over Robbie Lawler.

(Great, so now he’s swagger-jacking Isaac the Bartender?)

If you can put down your haterade and suspend your disdain for just a bit today, we suggest listening to UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones discuss his decision to not fight Chael Sonnen on short notice at UFC 151, in a full-length interview with The MMA Hour. The full interview is after the jump.

Having had a week to reflect on it, and despite all the criticism that has come his way since he “murdered” this weekend’s scheduled event, Jones does not regret his choice to not fight Sonnen. “I actually think it was a really smart personal career decision,” the champ said.

Jones said that immediately after he got the offer he assembled all of his coaches to get their opinions. Jones said that while they all told him that they had “no doubt” that the light-heavyweight champ could win a fight against Sonnen, they also let it be known that the trash-talking middleweight was a totally different fighter than his original UFC 151 opponent Dan Henderson.

“They honestly believed I could win the fight. They also said, ‘I want you to be aware of the fact that you prepared for a complete opposite style.’”

(Props: TuffNUffTV via MiddleEasy)

Rule #63 of MMA showboating: Don’t extend your arms in a Diaz-salute during a fight unless you’re absolutely, positively sure that your opponent lacks the power to knock you out; otherwise you could potentially look like a fool when your opponent leaves you sleeping. (Rule #63b: This rule counts double if you have a stupid fucking haircut.)

The wonderful knockout above comes to us from Sunday’s Tuff N Uff show in Las Vegas, where Shai Lindsey tried to be a cage-gangster, but instead fell prey to a very slick switch-front-kick right to the chin from Carlo Junio. Since this knockout happened at the very end of round 2, an inept referee might have woken Lindsey up and given him a chance to get his revenge in round 3. Luckily, the ref on that night was consummate professional Mike “Am I Hallucinating That Mustache?” Beltran, who handles his business properly.

(Photo via CagedInsider.com)

Ed. note: Reed “The Fight Scientist” Kuhn is a Washington D.C.-based strategy consultant whose pioneering work in MMA stats analysis earned him a position as Strategic Advisor for Alchemist Management, as well as contributing gigs for the UFC, Sherdog, and Fight! Magazine. Using the information available to him as a research fellow with FightMetric, Reed examines historical trends and data to uncover new ways of looking at the sport — and predict what’s most likely to happen in a given matchup. In the coming weeks, Reed will begin providing exclusive columns and analysis to CagePotato.com. The following was originally published on his site, FightNomics. For further reading, check out “Small Fish, Bigger Pond: The UFC/WEC Merger’s Hidden Secret” and “Diamond in the Rough: Is Nate Diaz Built for a UFC Championship?” Follow Fightnomics on Twitter and Facebook.

At UFC 129 Randy Couture entered the Octagon for the last time to the cheers of over 55,000 fans in Toronto’s Rogers Centre, a massive venue normally reserved for major league baseball and Canadian football games. From a dimmed broadcast platform set up in the cheap sets, I watched alongside the cast and crew of the one-time, live pre-show experiment known as “UFC Central.” As Lyoto Machida lined up across the cage, I pointed to my analysis of the matchup, noting specifically that Machida’s evasiveness and striking ability was the key here, as was Couture’s age. Randy Couture was 47 years old and a veteran at grinding out victories. But his only hope was to neutralize Machida’s laser-like strikes via clinching and dirty boxing, possibly even ground and pound. And that wasn’t in the cards. Even from our distant vantage point, we all knew it.

Analysis of Machida showed extremely accurate striking and similarly excellent striking defense. His takedown defense was also strong, a result if his uncanny ability to maintain distance, which would eliminate any advantage a wrestler might have over him. Couture on the other hand, was a decent striker, but allowed his opponents to land their own strikes with better than average success, indicating poor striking defense. His wrestling acumen led to a good shooting takedown success rate, though surprisingly little success from the clinch. The fight’s outcome was right there in front of us on the paper. At -325, Machida was a strong but not overwhelming favorite, and yet that betting line failed to capture how much of an advantage he really had. The “Dragon” was 15 years younger than the “Natural,” a spread that generally leads to an 80% win rate for the younger fighter. On top of that, it was clear that he was going to keep his distance, meaning he could send his strikes through Couture’s loose defense at will.

As the fight began, Kenny Florian and Stephan Bonnar watched with slight grimaces while Couture pressed forward and tried desperately to get a hold of the elusive Machida. During these scrambles Machida landed punches out of nowhere with his typical blazing speed and accuracy. When the first round ended, it was almost a relief that Couture was still standing – a small victory for Father Time. But that relief was short lived, and the now famous crane kick that ended the illustrious MMA career of Randy Couture connected with his chin barely a minute into the second round. Couture’s head snapped with the impact of the surprise kick, and his body immediately crumpled to the mat before the kick was even retracted. Moments after recovering, as Randy stood flashing his Hollywood grin and confirming the retirement we were all expecting, one of his teeth fell out in his hand.

We’re not in favor of overly restrictive contracts for fighters but we wouldn’t be surprised if the UFC started prohibiting their guys from riding motorcycles. In the latest scary “fighter on a motorcycle” episode, UOL Esporte reports that UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo was riding a motorcycle in Rio de Janeiro when he was hit by a passing car.

Thankfully, Aldo said that he was uninjured and that his traffic accident would not affect his October 13th UFC 153 title defense against Frankie Edgar in Rio. According to MMA Junkie, Aldo told UOL Esporte, “Yes, I had a motorcycle accident, but it was no big deal.”

(Will it ever get old?)

Here at CagePotato we don’t mind doing things by the book if we can still have a good time doing it. So, we didn’t mind enjoying a few modern classics when the UFC made them available through youtube.

After the jump you can too. Full fight videos of Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II, Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping: Comeuppance, and Jon Jones vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

These are all good’uns so if you’re in America, enjoy part of your day off by watching some of the world’s best fighters get after it. And if you don’t have the day off, get back at your employer passive aggressively by wasting a couple hours watching these on the job.

(The match up that launched a thousand rematches)

Last Friday we (and the rest of the known cyber MMA world) complained about Singapore MMA promotion One FC botching an otherwise solid event in the Philippines with convoluted rules relating to kicks to the heads of downed opponents. Referees somehow had to give fighters “permission” in the moment to throw kicks to the heads of their fallen opponents.

You might remember that Phil Baroni won his fight with a barrage of punches and kicks to the head of his opponent Rodrigo Ribeiro while Andrei Arlovski was penalized for kicking the head of the dropped Tim Sylvia. When the “Mainiac” could not continue, their fight was ruled a no-contest (GIFS of both fight endings here, full fight videos here).

Sunday night, a message was sent out from the OneFCMMA twitter account, hoping to set things right.

Effective immediately, ONE FC has adopted full PRIDE rules for soccer kicks.Catch ONE FC: Rise of Kings on Oct 6!

— ONE FC (@ONEFCMMA) September 3, 2012

Pound for pound boxing champ Manny Pacquiao‘s next fight has been scheduled for December 8th, the same night as the UFC’s next Fox network show. In the recent past when the UFC has had big shows scheduled the same night as major boxing events they’ve has hoped that earlier telecasts on would catch many viewers who were planning on watching boxing later in the evening.

Things may not have worked out that way for the UFC and this development of Pacquiao fighting on a date that the UFC had already set as a Fox event might end up taking away viewers from the MMA programming. Last May, the UFC on Fox 3 featured an exciting card headlined by a spectacular title contender’s fight between lightweights Nate Diaz and Jim Miller. The free to watch event was also followed, on pay per view, by Floyd Mayweather Jr. fighting Miguel Cotto.

The UFC’s numbers ended up going down from their prior two Fox shows, while Mayweather’s win had an excellent buy-rate on pay per view. The UFC’s “come pre-game with us before boxing,” strategy might be more successful this time around if Fox promotes the heck out of the event during football telecasts as it did last year for the Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos heavyweight title telecast.

Otherwise, the UFC had better hope that Fox is taking a qualitative and long-view of things because dropping ratings on network television are never good.

(What a nice-looking young man.)

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones spends a lot of time on twitter. These days, it takes a lot of guts for him to do so.

When would be-challenger Dan Henderson pulled out of his scheduled UFC 151 engagement with the champ and Jones turned down a short-notice replacement fight with Chael Sonnen, Jones was thrown under the bus by UFC President Dana White and fighters and fans alike joined in on the hate-a-thon, bashing Jones in interviews and on twitter. Jones has been all over the map since then.

First, he sequestered himself away with no comments, then he was defensive. Eventually he was apologetic. Last night he jokingly set on blaming Henderson on Twitter for their not fighting last night as he had planned.

When a fan tweeted Saturday that thanks to Jones, “he had no plans tonight,” Jones retorted with a Hemingway reference. “Thanks to the old man and his knee I don’t either,” Jones replied.

The good news is that we’ve got topless photos of Natasha Wicks for you. The better news is that since she sorta went the topless/body paint route in order to support an organization that helps people with cancer, so you don’t have to feel like a complete creep for checking these out on a Sunday morning.

It Ain’t Chemo “provides cancer patients with comfort and care supplies, advice and emotional support,” according to its website. It was founded by a firefighter and cancer survivor named Kevin Hoyt and enlists the help of celebrity endorsers like Wicks and athletes like Ryan Couture to raise awareness of its organization.

The idea behind the organization’s name and tagline is that we should remember those that are struggling more than we are. Ie. Had a crappy week at work? Well, at least it ain’t chemo therapy. They sell some dope apparel on their site to raise money for their services. Check them out.

Also feel free to check out photos of Wicks wearing very little other than some It Ain’t Chemo-themed body paint at a recent fundraiser party after the jump.

For an event that was to be headlined by two of the sports all-time greats, and a supporting cast that was pretty much garbage-ass, it’s disappointing that tonight you have no PPV to watch, no excuse to spend even more time at Hooters, and no good reason not to attend the wedding your girlfriend has been nagging you about going to. But if you thought that was going to stop us from milking this thing for everything its got, you are severely wrong, my friend.

Taking the reigns tonight is longtime CagePotato contributor/Twitter pseudo celebrity Jason Moles. This card will either be a smashing success thanks to the main event or a failure of epic proportions thanks to everything else. Stick around, insult him in the comments section, and be sure to tell all of your friends about the only UFC 151 liveblog on the internet (EVER!) can be found. Now let’s get to it.

Plenty of fighters publicly criticized UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones for not accepting a last-minute change-of-opponent fight with Chael Sonnen after Dan Henderson pulled out of their scheduled Sep. 1st UFC 151 title fight because of a knee injury but Daniel Cormier added a lil something extra to his. In a recent interview with BJPenn.com, the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix champion said that Jones owed it to the UFC to fight Sonnen and help keep UFC 151 together and also mentioned that he’d be happy to take Jones on himself.

“Right now no one wants to fight Jon Jones, but shit, I’ll do it. I’ll fight Jon Jones,” Cormier said.

“Guys are turning down the fight; you have to go to an old school fighter like Vitor Belfort to step up to the plate. That’s no knock on Machida or Shogun, but if those guys want to coach on The Ultimate Fighter and move off to the side and let me fight Jones, I’ll do it. If no one wants the title shot then give it to Daniel!”

Hmm…do we count Tim Sylvia’s weight as a high or a low?

If you didn’t get to catch One FC’s fifth event yesterday, you more than likely are under the impression that it was an event crushed by its completely preposterous stance on soccer kicks. While the soccer kick fiasco brought the sort-of anticipated fourth bout between Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski to new heights of freak show ridiculousness, the show gave fans plenty of reasons to cheer and a few things to jeer as well. With videos beginning to surface from yesterday’s bouts, and no other televised MMA to look forward to tonight, let’s take some time to re-watch some of the better fights.

Unfortunately, the best fight from yesterday’s card – a lightweight slugfest between Eduard Folayang and Felipe Enomoto – isn’t available as of now. We’ll keep you posted if a video surfaces, but if one doesn’t, you’ll only have to wait until October 6 to see Folayang battle Zorobabel Moreira for the promotion’s lightweight title. Videos from the rest of the card available after the jump.

(UFC champ Anderson Silva has been married with kids for a decade and a half but says that as a youth many people assumed he was gay)

Fighters Only Mag‘s John Joe O’Regan reports that in an interview for the September issue of the Brazilian monthly magazine Tatame, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva said that “a lot of people thought I was gay,” growing up. We’re not sure of the context in the interview or Silva’s tone when he said it, but it is nice that he isn’t ashamed to talk about it.

Just like Mike Tyson before him, Silva is an in-ring killer that happens to have a relatively high-pitched voice. Because of baseless notions of masculinity such a voice in a man can often be seen in societies as not incongruent with being a tough guy. That was prejudice that Silva ran into as a youth, he says.

That he allowed his sister to dress him up in her clothes until he was about fourteen also contributed to people judging him, according to Silva. “We would wear a dress, put on her shoes,” he said.