(Not bad, but it doesn’t quite stack up to the original. / Props: MMAFighting)

I’ll start with the good news: Tonight’s UFC 173: Barao vs. Dillashaw pay-per-view features two of the UFC’s greatest talents — bantamweight champion Renan Barao and undefeated light-heavyweight contender Daniel Cormier — and seeing those guys in action might be worth the PPV cost in itself. True, Barao and Cormier are both competing in lopsided odds-mismatches that are bordering on indefensible, but why focus on the negative?

In addition to “The Baron” defending his 135-pound title against Team Alpha Male standout TJ Dillashaw, and Cormier looking to earn a title shot with a win over legendary slugger Dan Henderson, tonight’s card will feature a high-level welterweight bout between Robbie Lawler and Jake Ellenberger (who are both coming off losses). Plus, Takeya “Teriyaki” Mizugaki and Francisco Rivera will attempt to build on their win streaks in the bantamweight division, and Jamie Varner kicks off the broadcast against fellow fan-friendly lightweight James Krause.

BG will be sticking round-by-round updates from the UFC 173 main card after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for the latest updates, and follow us on twitter for extra analysis and yuk-yuks. Thanks for coming.

We really wish we had more to say about this week’s Martial Arts Fail, PotatoNation. But the video and the headline sort of speak for themselves. It’s a ninja who happens to be a witch, a pagan, and an escort (according to her extremely NSFW twitter). In the above video she does some cool ninja moves of dubious real life effectiveness and teaches you how to make a smokescreen.

The below video has some more intense ninja training (sword fights, fire, scaling buildings, throwing stars, and even an arm-bar) and it can be seen after the jump.

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

All 24 fighters competing at tomorrow night’s UFC 173: Barao vs. Dillashaw event in Las Vegas successfully made weight earlier today, and everyone managed to keep their hands to themselves. The only noteworthy moment was co-headliner Dan Henderson coming in at 199 pounds — a full six pounds below the light-heavyweight limit — for his fight against Daniel Cormier. Is he shrinking without TRT, or has he finally cut all carbs out of his life? A little of both, maybe?

Full UFC 173 weigh-in results are after the jump, via MMAWeekly. Be sure to come back tomorrow night for our liveblog of the main card.

(Damn it, TJ. You’re supposed to hold the imaginary title belt above your head.)

UFC 173 may not be heavy on star power, but it presents some interesting opportunities for the MMA fan with a crippling gambling addiction looking to make a few bucks this weekend. Join staff writers Jared Jones and Seth Falvo as they break down their favorite fights, underdogs and the most creative ways to flush your hard earned cash down the crapper in a “versus” style edition of the gambling addiction enabler. Will Renan Barao extend his winning streak? Is Daniel Cormier a lock against the aging Dan Henderson? Read on for our picks – with odds courtesy of 5Dimes.eu- and may the winnings be yours.

The Good Dogs

Jared: I’d like to start by preemptively shaming you, Seth, as well as the Potato Nation, and truly, every last so-called “MMA fan” who isn’t giving Dan Henderson a smidgen of hope against Daniel Cormier tomorrow night. Seriously, you guys are the worst.

I don’t care if he’s fighting Fedor on Zeus’ shoulders and both can punch but only Zeus can kick, Dan Henderson should *never* be listed at anything worse than even odds. He’s defeated heavyweights, light heavyweights, middleweights, supposed Emperors, and more legends of the sport than pugilistic dementia. That he’s currently hovering around the +600 mark is not only an insult to the man, the myth, the psuedo-Native American that is “Hollywood,” but a disgrace to this sport on par with YAMMA Pit Fighting. TRT, SchmeeRT, Dan Henderson will walk through Cormier’s punches before delivering his greatest H-Bomb to date, at 2:03 of the second round, amen. Say it with me, folks: Dan. F*cking. Henderson.

(That Elliott dude is basically Spider from Goodfellas. He’s going to snap back at Dana one day and get shot for it. / Props: TheMMAMoguls)

UFC Embedded: In Which Dana White Is Banned From Gambling at the Palms (MMAFighting)

Josh Burkman vs. Jon Fitch III booked for WSOF 11 co-headliner (MMAJunkie)

Dan Henderson Feeling ‘Pretty Good’ Off TRT, But Doesn’t Think Banning It Solved the Real Problem (MMAWeekly)

Dana White Says Ronda Rousey Beat Up Two Huge Men so Badly They Filed Charges (BleacherReport)

UFC on FOX 12: Daron Cruickshank vs. Jorge Masvidal Booked for July 26 in San Jose (MMAMania)

When Road Rage Turns Into Street Fighting (Break)

Patrick Cummins Gets His Next UFC Fight Booked (Sherdog)

The Most Hilarious Things About the Lawsuit Filed Against Johnny Manziel (EveryJoe)

Disney Princesses With Steve Buscemi Eyes (PopHangover)

A Brief History of NBA Teammates Yelling at One Another (Complex)

Classic Crush: Betsy Russell, ‘Private School’ Superbabe of the ’80s (HolyTaco)

The 20 Most Amazing Railway Stations in the World (HiConsumption)

Every Face Punch From ‘Road House’ (FilmDrunk)

(Bagautinov apparently tested positive for over four times the legal limit of AWESOME. Photo via Getty.)

While details are scarce at the moment, it would appear as if Dagestani flyweight Ali Bagautinov, who is currently scheduled to challenge Demetrious Johnson for the flyweight title at UFC 174 in June, has been banned from the International Sambo Federation following a positive test for Methylhexaneamine in 2012. Again, how this news was only recently discovered is anyone’s guess, but here’s the gist of it (via a report on MMABoxing.ru translated by Bloody Elbow):

Report on Anti-Doping (Mr. Ali Bagautinov Shamil’evich)
In accordance with Art. 14.2.2 Doping provisions FIAS report that athlete Mr. Ali Bagautinov Shamil’evich violated Art. 2.1 Anti-Doping regulations FIAS (presence of a prohibited substance methylhexaneamine in an athlete’s sample). Commission Hearing doping cases FIAS has adopted the following sanctions against the athlete:
- 2 years ineligibility from 9 November 2012 to November 8, 2014
- Cancellation of the athlete received during the FIFA World Sambo 2012, which held in Minsk (Belarus), including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes.
- Part or all of the financial support that is associated with sports activities, or other related activities, grants ever recieved by an athlete will be withheld and FIAS it’s national federations in accordance with Art. 10.10.3 Doping provisions FIAS

Methylhexaneamine is a banned substance most often found in nasal sprays that has also been marketed as an energy-boosting dietary supplement in recent years. It has been banned by several sports commissions due to safety concerns (having been linked to the deaths of at least 5 people), and was brought into the public eye last year when Toronto Blue Jays prospect Marcus Stroman tested positive for it. Additionally, boxer Brandon Rios was suspended by the China Professional Boxing Association after testing positive for the drug following his loss to Manny Pacquiao in December of 2013.

Our friends at WorldWideInterweb have just published an incredible photo/GIF list on the 50 Funniest Moments in Referee History, and we feel obligated to share some of the LOL’s with the Potato Nation. Unlike our previous GIF roundup that focused on MMA referees being awesome/terrible, today’s gallery includes some great moments from pro-wrestling, kickboxing, and more respectable sports like basketball and hockey. Check ‘em out after the jump…

(I love the serious, half-bored expressions on the Japanese fans’ faces, as if Giant Silva vs. James Thompson is something totally normal that happens all the time. / Photo via Sherdog)

If Bellator’s “Rampage vs. King Mo” pay-per-view proved one thing, it’s that the promotion could have a future as the world’s premiere home for high-profile freak show MMA. Sure, they’ll never be able to compete with the UFC in terms of talent, but who else is going to throw together open-weight fights featuring broken-down legends or allow furious losing fighters to grab the mic and insult high-ranking executives in profanity-filled tirades?

To put it another way — Bellator isn’t the best MMA league in the world, but it has the potential to be the craziest, and that makes it undeniably compelling. The promotion surely recognizes this, which could help explain the new signings of MMA freak-show veterans Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and James Thompson. Both fighters have been added to the main card of Bellator 121, June 6th at the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma (aka, the event that just lost its legitimate headliner).

Sokoudjou’s career highlights include knocking out Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the #1 greatest betting-odds upset in MMA history, then putting together a disappointing 1-2 run in the UFC’s light-heavyweight division, then making it to the finals of DREAM’s 2009 Super Hulk Grand Prix, where he was knocked out by Ikuhisa Minowa, of all people. Sokoudjou has gone 7-6 since then, and has lost his two most recent fights by KO/TKO. He’ll be making his Bellator debut against Terry Davinney, a 10-6 journeyman from Grand Rapids, Michigan who scored a 15-second KO of Matt Van Buren in his sole Bellator appearance.

James Thompson, of course, is best known for the angry faces he was making before getting dummied up by Aleksander Emelianenko at PRIDE 28, smushing noses with Don Frye before beating him to death, suffering a questionable stoppage loss against Kimbo Slice, and an even more questionable decision loss against Mariusz Pudzianowski. He’s won his last three fights, most recently submitting Colin Robinson at something called Underdog Xtreme Championships 2 in Belfast back in March. At Bellator 121, he’ll be facing former heavyweight title contender Eric Prindle, who has suffered defeats in his last four Bellator appearances.

After the jump: Videos of Sokoudjou and Thompson beating the crap out of Bob Sapp.

(Props: jonnybones)

Is he a heel? A hero? A joker? A smoker? My daughter, my sister, my daughter, my sister? What’s really going on here, Jon Jones?

(Yep, that about sums it up. Via bojanelezovic)

By Jared Jones

Throwback Thursday is a new recurring column that pays tribute to the stars of an upcoming UFC PPV by taking a look back at some of their earliest defining moments. For our inaugural edition, we focus on Dan Henderson’s middleweight tournament-winning effort at UFC 17 (in his promotional debut, no less) ahead of his UFC 173 co-main event clash with Daniel Cormier this weekend. 

What can be said about Dan Henderson that hasn’t already been said about Bill Brasky, or Chuck Norris? A poor way to start a retrospective, I know, but the fact is, the inventor and sole proprietor of the “H-Bomb” has one of the most well-documented yet somehow mythologized careers in MMA. From his back-to-back Olympic runs in ’92 and ’96 to his reign as the one and only concurrent double-title holder in PRIDE, everything about Dan Henderson is simply, legendary. He’s a credit to mixed martial arts, the human race, and perhaps most importantly, ‘Murica. Dan Henderson could kick a bald eagle in its little bird balls while waving a burning flag atop Mt. Rushmore and receive a Good Samaritan Award for doing so.

But every legend has to have an origin story, and for Henderson, it was the night he took out Alan Goes and Carlos Newton in back-to-back fights to win the UFC Middleweight Tournament at UFC 17: Redemption.

Relive Hendo’s epic one-night performance, complete with full videos of both fights, after the jump.