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Ben vs. Jared: UFC 160 Edition

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Friday Link Dump: Gina Carano Talks ‘Fast & Furious 6′, Kim Couture Makes Serious Allegations Against Brett Atchley, The Dana White Pull-Up Challenge + More


(Sooooo…any big plans for this weekend? / Check out lots more “That’s Enough Internet For Today” pictures at WorldWideInterweb)

Gina Carano Talks Fighting, Fast & Furious 6 (MadeMan)

Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson Trade Shots on Twitter (BleacherReport)

More Women’s MMA Fighters Accuse Manager Atchley of Misconduct; Atchley Continues Denials (BloodyElbow)

Be honest: Can you do more pull-ups than Dana White? (Facebook.com/CagePotato)

It Looks Like Fallon Fox’s Weight Cut Went Well, Check Out This Pic of Her in a Bikini (MiddleEasy)

Cain Velasquez: Top 10 Facts You Need to Know (FightDay)

Happy 34th Birthday to Frank Mir! (FamousBirthdays)

10 Random Thoughts About The Impact Wrestling Scratch Off Game (WithLeather)

The 25 Smartest Athlete Purchases in Sports History (Complex)

Military Made: The Fit for Combat Workout (MensFitness)

14-Year-Old Girl OWNS Van Halen’s “Eruption” Solo (Break)

Five Weird Facts About Game of Thrones (DoubleViking)

Arrested Godfather Is the Greatest Mashup of All Time (TurdFergusonBlog)

20 Models in Really Awkward Poses (EgoTV)

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Ben vs. Jared: UFC 160 Edition


(Cain doesn’t see an enormous head. He sees a big, beautiful, blood-piñata, just waiting to burst open and spill its bounty. / Photo via MMAFighting.com)

BG and Danga are back mahfuckas, baaaaaaaaaaaaam! [*cough*] Excuse me. What I meant to say was, UFC 160 goes down tomorrow night in Las Vegas, so CagePotato founding editor Ben Goldstein and staff writer Jared Jones have teamed up once again to discuss all the important themes surrounding the event. Which heavyweight fight on the main card is more likely to end in an upset? Should we write off KJ Noons as nothing more than UFC shark-bait? What’s a Nurmagomedov gotta do to get some respect around here? Read on, and throw down your own opinions in the comments section.

It seems pretty obvious that the UFC is trying to set up Dos Santos vs. Velasquez III, but who stands the better chance of throwing a wrench in their plans, Hunt or Silva?

Jared: ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS. The last I checked, Mark Hunt was riding high on the most unexpected win streak in UFC history, turned his last opponent’s jaw into mashed potatoes, and will now be harboring the kind of silent-but-deadly rage that can only be brought about by jet lag. “Bigfoot” is coming off an upset win over a sans testosterone-abusing Overeem, sure, but picking him over the man, the myth, the pseudo-Mexican who reenacted the rock scene from Cannibal Holocaust on him almost a year ago to the day? No thanks, my dude.

Ben: I hate to agree with this jackass — and how dare you try to persuade me by linking to a track from Primus’s underrated Rhinoplasty EP, Jared — so for the sake of argument, I’ll go ahead and say ARE *YOU* KIDDING *ME* WITH THIS?? Mark Hunt has built up a dubious win streak slinging haymakers against guys who allowed him to do so. Junior Dos Santos is far too disciplined to become another victim of the same old rock-’em-sock-’em Super Samoan routine. In a brawl, Hunt has a chance against anybody. But this won’t be a brawl — it’ll be boxing match, and JDS is about as good as they come in that department.

And sure, Hunt has scored a string of upsets against guys like Cheick Kongo and Stefan Struve. Meanwhile, Antonio Silva has scored far more unexpected and dramatic upsets against guys like Fedor Emelianenko and the aforementioned ‘Reem. Bigfoot has heart for days, and fists big enough to dummy up anybody in the heavyweight division on any given night, including the current champion. How many times are you gonna sleep on this guy? #BigfootEra

Gray Maynard vs. T.J. Grant: Who will earn the right to suffer a narrow split decision loss to Ben Henderson next?

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[VIDEOS] Countdown to UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Bigfoot 2


(Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva II)

This Saturday night, you can join us for all the action during our UFC 160 liveblog, but today you can prep for the pay-per-view card with these “Countdown to UFC 160” documentary hype videos, broken up into three segments for the ADD-afflicted among you.

At the top, we’ve got the low-down on the night’s main event rematch — Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva for the UFC heavyweight title. After the jump, check out the story of MMA’s own Cinderella Man, Mark Hunt, as he heads into his number one contender’s bout with former champion Junior Dos Santos. Plus, Glover “Lil’ Iceman” Teixeira continues his path up the light-heavyweight ladder against streaking Kiwi James Te Huna.

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Ok, So No One Really Knows What’s Up With Jon Jones’s Toe Yet


(Thursday’s media scrum with Dana White, via MMA Heat)

Just a couple days after floating the possibility that middleweight champion Anderson Silva and light-heavyweight king Jon Jones could meet in a super fight within the year, UFC President Dana White gave the media another tantalizingly qualified statement pertaining to the matchup.

“[Jones and I] talked [Wednesday],” White told assembled media during a scrum Thursday after the UFC 160 press conference. ”His thing is, he says he feels great and the toe’s healing good. But the problem was that ligament. That ligament popped. Anywhere you tear a ligament, blood flow helps the thing repair itself and heal, and you don’t get a lot of blood flow at the toe.”

Jones injured his toe in his successful title defense over Chael Sonnen last month. He is currently in Russia but White says that when Jones returns, he’ll get an MRI to get a sense of how soon his toe might be ready for training and fighting again.

“Who knows – this thing could be six weeks, or it could be six months,” White said. “It’s a pain in the ass. It’s always some crazy little thing. He’s in Russia, and when he gets back he’s getting an MRI done on his toe again.”

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Booking Alert: Erik Koch vs. Dustin Poirier Added to UFC 164, ‘Jacare’ vs. Okami Targeted for Future Event


(Ricardo Lamas helps Erik Koch re-enact the fire-extinguisher scene from Irreversible, which I will not be linking to, because it’s way too early in the morning, and it’s freaking horrible. / Photo via Getty Images)

We’d forgive you for getting Dustin Poirier and Erik Koch confused. Both are 24-year-old 5’9″ white guys with shaved heads, interesting tattoos, and nearly identical MMA records. Both were considered future title threats in the UFC featherweight division until recent losses set them back. The only real differences between the two men are Poirier’s three-inch reach advantage and Koch’s three-shade tan advantage. And logically, they’ll be meeting each other at UFC 164 (August 31st, Milwaukee) in the greatest “this guy looks like that guy” matchup since Miller vs. Healy.

A product of the Roufusport MMA Academy, Koch will enjoy hometown advantage, and will try to rebound from his first UFC loss in January, a TKO-via-elbows mauling by Ricardo Lamas at the UFC on FOX: Johnson vs. Dodson card. Meanwhile, Poirier most recently suffered a unanimous decision loss to Cub Swanson in February, which dropped his Octagon record to 5-2. So who will bounce back to contendership, and who will fall further down the featherweight ladder?

In other booking news…

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Freak Show Alert: Sean “Big Sexy” McCorkle to Face Mariusz Pudzianowski at KSW 23 in June


(McCorkle’s most recent performance: A first round submission via kimura loss to Satoshi Ishii at IGF – Genome 24 via Youtube user Sohc Honda.)

Ladies and gentlemen of the Potato Nation, the creme de la creme of freak show MMA fights has just been booked. No, we’re not talking about Canseco vs. O’Neal or Zimmer vs. Martinez II (the latter of which is as elusive as the great white buffalo). We’re talking about McCorkle vs. Pudzianowski, the SHW showdown years in the making that has finally become a reality. Now, you might be asking yourself, “Danga, how is this the aforementioned pinnacle of freak show fights, you good for nothing piece of hyperbolic human garbage?” Well first ask yourself the three prerequisite questions necessary to determine any great freak show fight, you cold-hearted son of a bitch.

1. Does it feature a crossover MMA fighter who comes from a flamboyant, unknown, or completely fictitious background? Yes…yes it does.

2. Will at least one of the participants show up to the fight weighing no less than 300 pounds? You bet your fat ass!

3. How about the organization; is it shady bordering on incompetent? Brother, don’t even get me started.

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CagePotato Presents: MMA Impressions, With Jade Bryce [VIDEO]


(Props: YouTube.com/CagePotato. Please subscribe!)

Jade Bryce was our favorite MMA ring girl even before she agreed to do this video with us. Now, she’s officially reached CagePotato Hall of Fame status.

Watch as the Bellator beauty does her most faithful renditions of Rashad Evans‘s infamous knockout face, “Just Bleed” guy, drunk dancing mom at UFC 150, Ryan Jimmo‘s celebratory robot, “Rising Douchebag,” and the nose-smushing face-off between Don Frye and James Thompson at PRIDE 34. We had a blast putting this together, and we hope you enjoy it too.

Follow Jade on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and keep an eye out for her new website, coming soon. And if you want to see a sequel to “MMA Impressions With Jade Bryce,” please throw some impression-suggestions into the comments section…

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And Now He’s (Basically) Retired: Former UFC Champion Matt Serra Walks Away from MMA

Fifteen years after starting his professional MMA career, and six years after becoming the UFC welterweight champion in one of the greatest upsets of all time, veteran fighter Matt Serra has told Newsday that he is “walking away” from the sport after a life-threatening health scare.

“I really think I’m walking away,” Serra said. ”I’m going to be 39, I just had my rib taken out. I’m having my third kid. My schools are doing well. What am I doing, looking for another pay day? It’s not really for that. I mean, it doesn’t stink, but it’s not really for that. Am I still trying to hold on for the glory? Glory is a drug, dude. I’m telling you, that’s the problem. It really is. I know why guys can’t walk away. I absolutely get it.”

Serra developed three blood clots that hospitalized him — two in an arm and one more in a lung. “Then I got freaked out,” the Long Island native said. “You don’t catch that [and] after the lung, that stops your heart or your brain. Then you’re done. I’m very fortunate to, basically, be here. Sounds kind of morbid. If I didn’t catch that — I was about to go to bed. I’m like, man, something’s not feeling right.”

Serra now takes blood thinners and has to receive injections of an anticoagulant per day for the next three months. The blood clots in his arm caused another serious health condition, which required surgery. According to Newsday, Serra’s collarbone and first rib on his left side were compressing a blood vessel and restricting blood flow — a condition known as thoracic outlet syndrome — which forced him to have the rib removed in early May.

Despite not having fought since 2010 and now dealing with these serious health issues, Serra cannot bring himself to shut the door completely on fighting in the future or even to use the word “retirement.”

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This Bigfoot Silva/Taylor Swift Mashup is the Greatest Thing You Will Ever Witness Today [VIDEO]

It’s pretty much known by anyone who possesses a working set of ears that Taylor Swift has the vocal range of a walrus being strangled to death by a vibrating belt machine (as opposed to say, Warbringer, who are basically the Three Tenors of our generation). Still, that fact hasn’t stopped her from snatching up damn near every Billboard, CMT, MTV, BET, or Grammy award out there, because musical talent is something that is apparently determined by how many lovestruck 12 year-old girls buy your relationship-prostituting albums nowadays.

In any case, Ms. Swift and her voice have become quite the subject of parody on the Twitters and Youtubes lately, with her hit song “I Knew You Were Trouble” taking the brunt of it. While her duet with a screaming goat might be the most notorious of these parodies, Youtube user FreeFights4You has offered an alternative, MMA-themed take on the song that will surely ascend to the top of the Taylor Swift-based parodies for at least a week.

Featuring none other than UFC 160′s Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva on guest vocals, this parody might just be the greatest thing you will ever witness today. I mean, it’s no “baby monkey riding on a pig,” but what will ever top that slice of fried gold, honestly?

Now if only the UFC would quit being so stubborn and start accepting fan-made promos like “Nick Diaz: Crazy, Shirtless Mofo” and “Knowing About Horse Meat is Half the Battle,” we guaran-damn-tee that they would see their pay-per-view sales increased tenfold. TENFOLD WE TELLS YOU.

-J. Jones

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Gambling Addiction Enabler: ‘UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Silva II’ Edition


(Looks like this year’s harvest will be even better. Sanguis Bibimus! Corpus Edimus! Photo via Getty Images.) 

By Dan “Get Off Me” George

This Saturday night, Cain Velasquez will attempt to make WILL MAKE the first title defense of his career in his second term as UFC heavyweight champion when he rematches Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, Mark Hunt will look to continue WILL CONTINUE his Cinderella run in the co-main event against former HW champ Junior Dos Santos, and a possible #1 contender the next lightweight title contender WILL BE DECIDED in the sure-to-be-brawl between Gray Maynard and T.J. Grant. Whew.

With one of the strongests undercards (on paper) in what feels like an eternity, UFC 160 is primed to become, at the very least, a night chock full of wild finishes and entertaining scraps that will leave *no fan* unsatisfied. I really hope I’m not overselling it. Anyway, join us now as we try to underline the right favorites and highlight some possible underdogs in the hopes of finding that ever-elusive payout for UFC 160. The gambling lines, as always, come courtesy of BestFightOdds.

Undercard bouts:

Brian Bowles (-280) vs. George Roop (+240)

Having only lost twice, to Urijah Faber and injuryweight world champion Dominick Cruz, Bowles comes in as a healthy -280 favorite (and rightfully so) against the woefully inconsistent George Roop. Roop is coming off a less than convincing win over Reuben Duran in his return to bantamweight, whereas his opponent is looking to get back on the short list of top contenders in the division. Bowles should be able to close the distance on Roop and get this fight to the mat, where we may see a submission victory for the former WEC champion. Bowles makes the parlay at -140 and the prop bet that he is able to end things before the final bell.

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MMA Meme of the Day: The Vile Declarations of Count Bisping

Bisping's trash-talk sounds a lot more charming when you translate it into old-timey-speak.

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Bellator Signs Top British Talents Paul Sass, Rob Sinclair, and Martin Stapleton; Promotion Gunning for U.K. TV Deal

"With these three signings, along with a roster already featuring the likes of Paul 'Semtex' Daley, Ronnie Mann and Michael Page, we are setting the table for making Bellator an every week televised occurrence in the U.K."

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‘WTF?!’ of the Day: Waylon Lowe Suing Philly Sex Shop After Gel Permanently Disfigures His Junk

Horrific penis injuries: They're the new injured foot of MMA injuries.

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Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne Booked for ‘UFC on FOX Sports 1 1′ Non-Headliner

Overeem vs. Browne will not be the main event, which gives credence to Dana White's bold claim that UFC on Fox Sports 1 1 will be "the best television card we've ever done."

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Rumor: Chad Mendes vs. Clay Guida Being Rebooked, Possibly for UFC 164

The bar brawler or the Geico caveman: Who takes it?

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Hot Potato: 19 Photos of EFC Africa Ring Girl Naomi Das

Originally hailing from North Wales, Naomi currently resides in Johannesburg where she spends her time as a model, hostess, and bikini competitor when she's not circling the cage.

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Jacob Volkmann Opens Fire at the UFC’s Low Pay, Crappy Health Insurance, and Preferential Treatment of Stand-and-Bangers

"This last year, I made $50,000 and paid $8,000 in taxes. That leaves me with $42,000 — that’s barely above poverty. I have three kids and a wife I’m supporting."

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It Begins (Again (For Serious This Time)): Josh Barnett Inks Multi-Fight Deal With the UFC

You tell him! TELL DANA I'M FUCKING COMING!!!

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A Brief Recap of All the Horrible Things MMA Manager Brett Atchley Has Allegedly Done to Female Fighters (So Far)

"It's like some Harry Potter situation. Like everybody's afraid to say Voldemort's name. What the hell? He's Brett Atchley! He's fuckin' nobody! What's he gonna do to you? Cast a spell?"

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Roy Nelson vs. Stipe Miocic Added to UFC 161; Soa Palelei Gets the Boot

It's an unexpected booking, to say the least — and not just because it gives Nelson a speedy seven-week turnaround between fights.

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Update: Dan Henderson vs. Rashad Evans Now Headlines UFC 161, MMA Fans Trapped in 2011 Rejoice

A classic matchup of old school wrestling vs. old-old school wrestling now finds itself center stage.

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[VIDEO] Fallon Fox Says She is at a Disadvantage Competing in Women’s MMA

Is Fox pushing it a bit OR HAS THE WHOLE WORLD GONE CRAZY?!

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Vitor Belfort Issues Apology for Suggesting That John Morgan Should Be Beaten for Asking Him About TRT

"Can somebody beat him up for me please? Can somebody beat him up? You’re boring, get out of here...Talk to my hand.”

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“Fight” of the Day: Pretty Much the Most Pathetic Goddamn Thing You Will Ever Witness

"Personal stoppage" is the new "Wouldn't get up from butt scoot."

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Nate Diaz Manager Mike Kogan Won’t Stop, Can’t Stop, Making His Client Look Bad

Because lashing out at others and not taking responsibility for hurtful actions is kind of a bitch move, you know?

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Fed Up With The Culinary Union’s Bullshit, The UFC Launches an Attack Website of Its Own

The UFC has launched their own counter-website, TheTruthAboutCulinary226.com, to expose the Culinary Union for the dissembling moralists that they truly are.

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In Honor of Mark Hunt’s UFC 160 Return, Let’s All Watch Him Turn Stefan Struve’s Jaw Into Mush

Will Hunt be able to pull off another dramatic upset on Saturday? And considering that he was previously on a losing streak that lasted nearly five years before his current run of success, would a win against Dos Santos mark the greatest career comeback in MMA history?

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MMA Promoters Diego Hernandez and Craig Silva Missing for Two Weeks After Organizing Event in Mexico

"[Hernandez's mother] said she has seen surveillance footage of an unknown man withdrawing money at a bank using Silva's card. There is also apparently another surveillance video that shows Hernandez withdrawing cash at an ATM while being flanked by two masked people."

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Bellator Buys Out Matt Riddle’s LFC Contract [UH-OH], “Deep Waters” Joins Season 9 Welterweight Tournament

No word yet on whether or not Riddle will be joining Eddie Alvarez on the Miami underground street fighting circuit as well.

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CagePotato Exclusive Interview: Ryan Hall Looks For a Fight at Metamoris II

"Techniques are not magic tricks, they are for different situations. If a situation on the ground calls for a certain guard, use that guard."

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