(Who did this to my brother? I WANT HIS NAME!!) 

Another pair of interesting matches at 170 lbs. have recently been added to UFC 143′s already welterweight-stacked card. If you are anything like us, then you likely expected Matt Brown would receive his walking papers after dropping his fourth loss via submission (and second via guillotine) in his past five fights to Seth Baczynski at UFC 139. Well, it turns out Brown will be given another shot at UFC glory, and will be fighting for not only his Zuffa contract, but the chance to keep his record above .500 when he takes on TUF 13 cast member Chris Cope.

Cope will be looking to rebound from the devastating 40 second TKO loss he suffered at the hands (and more specifically, knees) of Che Mills in Mills’ UFC debut back at UFC 138.

(Kampmann does some of his best thinking on the streets, right around dusk, wearing his UFC sweatshirt.  You wouldn’t understand, man.)

You have to love it when an MMA fighter explains why he turned down a fight that the UFC offered him and begins with the phrase, ‘No disrespect to [name of fighter he is disrespecting], but…’  It’s as smooth a move as saying, ‘Don’t take this the wrong way,’ right before you say something that you know will be taken the wrong way.  That’s basically what Martin Kampmann is doing while explaining to Versus.com why he turned down a fight with T.J. Grant that has been all over the internets the last couple days as if were totally official:

“No disrespect to T.J. Grant, but I don’t think it’s a fight that makes any sense for me at the moment,” Kampmann said. “I want to fight some higher ranked guys. I never even knew who the guy was, and he’s probably a tough guy. But I want to fight guys who make sense for me and who can escalate me up the ladder more, so I didn’t accept that fight. I don’t know what happened, but apparently some miscommunication somewhere because I saw it all over the internet.”

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

We know it’s confusing, so we’ll try to make this as clear as possible…

- The weigh-ins for tomorrow night’s TUF 16 Finale are scheduled for today at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT, and you can watch them live in the player above. We’ll be liveblogging the FX main card broadcast tomorrow night beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

- The weigh-ins for tonight‘s UFC on FX: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson card went down yesterday in Australia, and we’ll be liveblogging the main card tonight beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

- The TUF 16 Finale, which features Roy Nelson vs. Matt Mitrione, Pat Barry vs. Shane Del Rosario, Melvin Guillard vs. Jamie Varner, and Dustin Poirier vs. Jonathan Brookins, is a pretty badass card. Honestly, if you only have time to watch one UFC event this weekend, make it this one — by which I mean tomorrow’s.

- Fun fact: Melvin Guillard plans on getting the lightweight title when he’s 35 or 40, so that he can retire shortly afterwards, rather than fade into obscurity like other guys who have fought for the title. It all makes sense now.

- We’ll be putting today’s weigh-in results after the jump. You’re welcome.

(Damn it, if you’d only told us this 15 minutes ago, we wouldn’t have eaten that Hot Pocket. Photo courtesy of the UFC Fight Night 24 Weigh In Pics gallery on CombatLifestyle.com)

All fighters hit their marks last night at the weigh-ins for UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis, which goes down this evening at the Key Arena in Seattle. Despite the recent rumors of Anthony Johnson swelling up to 230 pounds before his training camp, Johnson arrived at 171 pounds and looked perfectly healthy in the process. Afterwards, an elated Rumble jumped on Twitter to share the good news: “I made weight so all u fuckin haterz can eat a mutha fuckin dick. Never doubt ME!!!”

Thanks for thinking of us, AJ! Full UFC Fight Night 24 weigh-in results are after the jump…

(If this is what’s going on inside a T.J. Maxx, why would you even need to go out back to get into a fight?)

Several of you alerted us to this story from the Kitsap Sun in Washington about a twenty-two-year-old man who provoked a fight with a group of people because he was “preparing for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and ‘he needed to practice getting knocked out so he could prepare.’”  Normally we’d just point and laugh and move on, but this story has so many terrific details that you simply couldn’t make up.

For instance:

- The man started this fight by throwing rocks at a group of men who “ranged in age from 15 to 50,” who were all, for some reason or another, hanging out behind a T.J. Maxx at 7:40 pm on a weeknight.  Guess their fathers never told them that nothing good happens behind a T.J. Maxx, ever, to anyone.

Did that title totally blow your freakin minds?! We know it did, but for those of you who still remain on the planet Earth after reading it, prepare yourselves for a double dose of down and dirty gambling advice. Thanks to a pair of back-to-back cards and an injury curse the likes of which we’ve never seen before, this weekend’s UFC on FX 4 and UFC 147 events have just enough interesting matchups between them to help you prosper during the greatest American depression since the last great American depression, so lets do some (betting) lines!

UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida
Gray Maynard (-305) vs. Clay Guida (+275)
Spencer Fisher (+260) vs. Sam Stout (-290)
Brian Ebersole (-240) vs. T.J. Waldburger (+200)
Ross Pearson (-180) vs. Cub Swanson (+165)
Hatsu Hioki (-185) vs. Ricardo Lamas (+155)
C.J. Keith (+225) vs. Ramsey Nijem (-285)
Joey Gambino (-115 ) vs. Steven Siler (-115)
Rick Story (-380) vs. Brock Jardine (+290)
Luis Ramos (+145) vs. Matt Brown (-175)
Chris Camozzi (+175) vs. Nick Catone (-245)
Ricardo Funch (+375) vs. Dan Miller (-515)

UFC 147 
Rich Frankin (-170) vs. Wanderlei Silva (+150)
Cezar Ferreira (-260) vs. Sergio Moraes (+200)
Rony Mariano Bezerra (-280) vs. Godofredo de Oliveira (+220)
Mike Russow (+400) vs. Fabricio Werdum (-500)
Yuri Alcantara (+220) vs. Hacran Dias (-280)
(all figures courtesy of BestFightOdds) 

Thoughts…

(I tell you what, if Maynard is able to catch Grant in his patented Indian rug burn, this shit is gonna be all over.) 

Figuratively speaking, Gray Maynard has not been involved in a UFC fight since he came up short against Frankie Edgar at UFC 136 in October of 2011. Sure, he did his best to nullify the “offense” of Clay Guida at UFC on FX 4 last June, but that exercise in tedium was less a fight and more like watching your cataract-stricken friend try to wrangle up all the cuccos in Kakariko Village on The Legend of Zelda. Although ”The Bully” was expected to face Joe Lauzon at UFC 155 last December, he was forced out of the bout with a knee injury that has sidelined him ever since.

But if the above gif is any indication, Maynard has been staying quite active on the sidelines and will be more than ready for his return to the octagon on May 25th at UFC 160, where he will face the streaking veteran T.J. Grant in a battle of top contenders. Grant has been on something resembling a killing spree lately, collecting four straight wins including a first round annihilation of Matt Wiman at UFC on Fox 6 last month. The far-and-away most impressive aspect of Grant’s recent wins has been the drastic improvement to his stand up game, an attribute he credits to the time he spent training in Thailand.

In a way, this fight is kind of a lose-lose for Maynard, at least by Ed Soares’ concept of the term.

(Meanwhile, Christian Morecraft picked up $500 for “Freakishly Long Tongue of the Night.” / Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

The competitors at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 24: Nogueira vs. Davis card earned a total of $757,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses, according to figures released by the Washington State Department of Licensing. Preliminary card fighter Johny Hendricks actually walked away with the biggest check of the night, earning $99,000 for 95 seconds of work against TJ Waldburger. Check out the full salary list below; keep in mind that the figures don’t include deductions for taxes, licensing fees, or insurance, or additional revenue from sponsorships and undisclosed “locker room bonuses.”

Phil Davis: $34,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus)
def. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: $90,000

Anthony Johnson: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
def. Dan Hardy: $25,000

Amir Sadollah: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
def. DaMarques Johnson: $14,000

(Ah, the Rumbleweight Diet, or as it’s known to the general public, the Fatkins diet. Well, played, Mr. Guida.) 

Just a reminder to make sure and swing by CagePotato at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT to catch the live weigh-ins and results for tomorrow night’s UFC on FX 4: Maynard vs. Guida event, which goes down from the Revel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Although the card may be somewhat lacking in terms of drawing power, it does feature some top to bottom great matchups that are sure to entertain. And let’s be honest, it’s more stacked than any pay-per-view event you’ll be purchasing stealing this weekend. Aside from the five round main event between perennial lightweight contenders Clay Guida and Gray Maynard, we will be treated to the anticipated trilogy bout between Spencer Fisher and Sam Stout, which may very well be Fisher’s last in the octagon, as well as a pair of great contests between Muay Thai “Bad Boy” Brian Ebersole and submission whiz T.J. Walburger and featherweight sluggers Ross Pearson and Cub Swanson. The undercard kicks off with the long-awaited return of our boy Dan Miller, who will be taking on Brazilian Ricardo Funch.

We will be liveblogging all of the action starting tomorrow at 9 p.m ET, so if your Friday is looking less than spectacular, why not spend an evening with your favorite drunken slobs?

Video and full results after the jump. 

(“My favorite Jean-Claude Van Damme movie? Isn’t it obvious?”) 

You know, it really speaks volumes about what The Ultimate Fighter has become when the greatest display of MMA from the past season came during an event that featured next to none of the show’s participants. Add in the fact that the Ricci/Smith “finale” was the MMA equivalent of watching two illiterates play Scrabble (BRYNDEX is so a word!) and that should give you a good indication of the Tijuana back-alley abortion that TUF 16 truly was. Hell, 12 of the show’s 16 contestants have already been cut from the UFC’s roster and even the coaches couldn’t care less.

What does this all add up to? Mainly, a payout that is as abysmal as the show itself, save a few exceptions. Granted, the money almost seems fair considering the talent levels of the guys involved, but we’ll be damned if it isn’t semi-depressing to look at all the same. So check out the salaries along with our thoughts after the jump and let us know who you think got royally screwed.

(Yeah, Matt, we’re all pissed about the Giants last performance.) 

When we last heard from Matt Mitrione, he had placed himself in Dana White’s crosshairs by committing the #1 sin a UFC fighter can commit. No, not failing a drug test that eventually cancels the biggest fight of the year — that sort of thing can easily be forgiven. The man known by many as simply “Meathead” did something much, much worse: he refused to bail the UFC out by taking a fight against Daniel Cormier when Frank Mir got injured. THE AUDACITY.

Out of action since October of 2011 and coming off a hype-derailing performance against Cheick Kongo, Mitrione needed to step up for the UFC in one way or another ASAP, lest he find himself Attonito’d. The perfect opportunity arose when Shane Carwin became the sixth coach in the last eight TUF seasons to pull out of his scheduled fight due to injury. So bada boom bada bing, Mitrione will now be squaring off against fellow TUF 10 castmate Roy Nelson at the TUF 16 Finale in December.

By George Shunick

Our thoughts exactly. Props: MMAMania

Gray Maynard has never been the most popular UFC fighter. Maybe it’s because it’s almost impossible to picture him as an underdog; he’s an enormous lightweight who lives up his “Bully” moniker. (His choice of entrance music probably doesn’t do him any favors, either.) He’s always Goliath, and in our society we’re conditioned to root for David. That attitude was epitomized in Frankie Edgar’s back-to-back comebacks against him, with the crowd firmly in favor of the smaller fighter who seemed to rely on his will and technique, while Maynard relied on his size and power. As long as Maynard’s achievements were contextualized within that narrative, he would always be the villain.

Clay Guida won the first two rounds of their main event last night by constantly remaining out of Maynard’s reach, dictating the pace, occasionally landing jabs, and landing a solid head kick in the latter half of the second round. The action had been sparse throughout, but it seemed understandable; Guida obviously didn’t want to engage Maynard head on at first, he’d tire him out and then wear him down. Well, that didn’t happen. For the majority of the third round, Guida squandered whatever momentum he may have built by circling, dancing, and circling some more. It was UFC 112 Anderson Silva on meth. By the end of the round, Maynard was flailing with power punches, frustrated by Guida’s unwillingness to engage.

Midway through the fourth round, Maynard had enough. With Guida still circling and refusing to engage, Maynard finally grabbed a hold of him, landed some knees and then proceeding to embody the audience’s frustrations by dropping his hands and bellowing epithets, daring Guida to just stop running and hit him. Guida proceeded to oblige him, only to have Maynard walk through a hard overhand right, stuff a takedown and almost secure an arm-in guillotine in an unprecedented display of attitude and badassery that it actually caused fans to cheer him. Round 5 was unfortunately more of the same, which is to say, not much at all.

For Jake Ellenberger, the best part about his victory last night has to be his arrival in the UFC’s welterweight division. With a quick, convincing victory over Jake Shields, Ellenberger has set himself up for better opponents, more attention from the fans and the media and the better paydays that accompany those things. The second best part? The 55k Knockout of the Night bonus he picked up in the process, of course.

Submission of the Night honors went to T.J. Waldburger for his first round triangle choke against Mike Stumpf. Initially, Waldburger appeared to have Stumpf caught in an armbar. When Stumpf managed to escape, Waldburger pulled off a textbook transition to a triangle choke. The win gives T.J. Waldburger his 11^th victory by submission.

(I don’t see any braids, homeboy.) 

Tonight, the UFC makes its ever glorious return to FX, and if the undercard is any indication, we are in for a night of action packed goodness, Potato Nation. Clay Guida and Gray Maynard will battle for a spot amongst the endless string of lightweight contenders, and Spencer Fisher will be battling for his dignity against Sam Stout. Our very own Jared Jones will be liveblogging everything as it goes down, so join him as he recaps all the action as it plays out, won’t you?

(“I ain’t Leonard Garcia, pal.”)

Another New Jersey native has been added to the UFC’s upcoming FX 4 card set for this summer in Atlantic City.

Jimy Hettes (10-0), the undefeated 24-year-old featherweight phenom who impressed us all in his first two UFC bouts, trouncing TUF veterans Alex Caceres and Nam Phan, will join fellow New Jerseyans Dan Miller, Nick Catone and Rich Attonito on the June 22 card.

Going somewhere with “Mayhem” Miller is in many ways like going somewhere with a live chimpanzee.  He can act human-like for extended periods of time, but there’s always a chance that he’s going to throw his poop at someone, probably at the exact worst moment.  The designers of the EA Sports game must have been feeling that way when they showed Mayhem his character in their video game.  Turns out they didn’t give him a very high skill rating, and he’s not going to be content to just boycott the game like T.J. Houshmandzadeh.  AllElbows.com captures his reaction in this video (for the full video of Mayhem and King Mo hanging out at EA Sports, go here) which is fun if only because it’s probably going to provide these video game designers with interesting stories to tell over dinner for the next six months.  Then their friends will all get tired of them again and everyone will go back to talking about TV shows in between bouts of uncomfortable silence and chewing.

Just a friendly reminder that the UFC on Fox 2: Alves vs. Kampmann press conference will be live at 7:00 pm ET and that we’ll have the live stream right here for you.

Besides the main event between Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann, perhaps the most interesting bouts of the card are the opening round flyweight tournament match-ups between Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall versus Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benevidez versus Yasuhiro Urushitani.

Since the card is made up of mostly polite fighters, we don’t expect much drama at the weigh-ins, but there’s a pretty good chance someone at the presser will ask someone about Dakota Cochrane, since it’s such a hot-button topic.

Check out the stream after the jump.

Just a quick follow-up to yesterday’s news of Jack Shields’s passing: MMAFighting has confirmed that Jake Shields will still face Jake Ellenberger in the main event of UFC Fight Night 25 (aka “Battle on the Bayou”), which takes place September 17th in New Orleans.

However, the event’s preliminary card has suffered a setback, as DaMarques Johnson and Mackens Semerzier have both withdrawn due to injuries. Johnson has already been replaced by returning TUF 11 vet Seth Baczynski. UFC Fight Night 25′s current lineup is after the jump…

(“I’ll [troll] you ’til you love me, [buddy].” #famousmiketysonquotes / Photo courtesy of the UFC Fight Night 24 Weigh In Pics gallery on CombatLifestyle.com)

Possible spoilers after the jump. Read on if you dare…

Don’t forget to check out the feed for today’s UFC 124 press conference live from Montreal here at 1:00 pm ET.

Scheduled to be in attendance are UFC welterweight champ, Georges St-Pierre, number one welterweight contender, Josh Koscheck, UFC Director of Canadian Operations, Tom Wright,  and UFC president, Dana White.

They will likely be announcing the remainder of the card that is rumored for the December 11 show.

UFC 124
December 11, 2010 7:00 pm ET
Bell Centre – Montreal, Quebec

Welterweight Championship Bout
Georges St-Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck

Thiago Alves vs. John Howard
Jim Miller vs. Charles Oliveira
Dan Miller vs. Joe Doerksen
Ricardo Almeida vs. TJ Grant
Mark Bocek vs. Dustin Hazelett
Jason MacDonald vs. Rafael Natal
Stefan Struve vs. Sean McCorkle
Matt Riddle vs. Anthony Waldburger

UFC media player is after the jump.

 
(Okay, Nate Diaz is somewhat recognizable other than the fact that he’s as big as Carwin, but the others aren’t even close.)

If your only job was to create plastic facsimiles of MMA fighters for the action figure company you worked for, you’d think you might want to do it with at least *some* accuracy.

I’m guilty of owning a vintage Ken Shamrock WWF and a handful of Zakks Pacific figures that I bought spruce up my office a bit, but I’ve never seen a Round 5 model that I’ve had the desire to purchase.

They just seem like the design team is just phoning them in. The fact that they advertise them with a photo of the real fighter in the background which doesn’t even look a little bit like the toy version is somewhat odd.

(Beltran, as re-imagined by Sega.)

Last weekend’s Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman card was easily one of the most entertaining top-to-bottom cards in recent memory, providing us with a lightning quick (also, completely predictable) finish in the main event and an even quicker knockout in the co-main. But as is typical for a Strikeforce event, the night was not without controversy and a few judgmental errors. Herb Dean went completely against character when he botched the call in the Adlan Amagov/Keith Barry fight, and the decision to place former title challenger Meisha Tate’s comeback bout against Julie Kedzie on the prelims was nothing short of baffling.

But greater than witnessing Ronda Rousey‘s sixth straight first round armbar, greater even than OSP’s one-punch knockout of T.J. Cook, was that of referee Mike Beltran’s epic mustache. An “epistache” if you will. Why Beltran decided to become a referee instead of claiming his place atop the Whisker Wars podium is beyond us, but his hard work and dedication can not and will not be overlooked by us here at CagePotato. So join us after the jump for a brief GIF tribute to Beltran’s glorious stache, along with several gifs from the night’s fights, courtesy of the UG.

(Where’s a chaperone when you need one?)

Preliminary results from UFC 107 in Memphis, TN await you after the jump.  If you need someone to tell you that these may be spoilers, you should probably go ahead and let yourself freeze to death outside the Greyhound station right now.  No one will miss you.

Two dudes known for throwing bombs, and the only guy trying to look tough is the promoter in the background. (Pic: @danawhite)

Tomorrow night Dan Hardy could be fighting for his spot in the UFC, but he came up just a little short in his battle with the scales. Ditching the shorts brought him within a half pound of the 171lb Welterweight limit, but additional time will be needed to shed the excess weight. A quick rinse should take at least a few ounces of mousse out of his mohawk. (Update- the rinse worked! Hardy made weight).

Ben Henderson was the only other fighter to make use of the towel, though he made weight without the need for additional time. The only real heat from the event surfaced when Cole Miller and T.J. O’brien got to jawing during their tense staredown. Based solely on the weigh-ins, I’m going to make a bold prediction for the Jason Reinhardt-Edwin Figueroa bout: Reinhardt will piss hot for crystal meth.

Gifs of those two staredowns and full weigh-in results are after the jump.

(One day left to wait, folks. Just one day. Photo courtesy of MMAMania.)

The UFC 158 weigh-ins have just finished wrapping up from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. And since we’ve…you know, recently been inspired to cut through the bullshit for once in our lives, we’ll skip the bullshit introduction or whatever and get right to the bullshitty video and pampered, bullshit results, which await you after the jump. WHERE YOU AT, GEORGES?!

(From L-R: Claude Patrick, political kiss of death Dana White, Brian Ebersole)

Is this kind of thing even newsworthy anymore? The UFC 149 injury curse has gone from eerie to apocalyptic to as dependable as the rising sun. The latest victim: Canadian welterweight Claude Patrick, who has pulled out of his bout with James Head due to an undisclosed injury. Patrick will be replaced on less than three weeks’ notice by chest-hair artist Brian Ebersole, who just increased his UFC record to 4-0 with a decision win over TJ Waldburger at UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida last month. Coincidentally, Ebersole also holds a win over Claude Patrick, in a split-decision at UFC 140.

The latest withdrawal pushes UFC 149′s injury body-count to nine: Yoshihiro Akiyama, Thiago Silva, Thiago Alves, Michael Bisping, Jose Aldo, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, George Roop, Siyar Bahadurzada, and now Claude Patrick. If you include fighters who were moved off the card when their opponents came down with injuries (Mauricio Rua, Erik Koch), we’ve entered double-digit territory in terms of lineup changes. To paraphrase Tom Wright, the UFC’s director of operations for Canada, shit happens.

UFC 149 goes down July 21st at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary. Urijah Faber vs. Renano Barao is still the headliner, and Hector Lombard vs. Tim Boetsch is still the co-main event. We’ll let you know as soon as that changes.

(What’s creepier: Ian McCall‘s mustache or Joseph Benavidez‘s pierced nipples? Video courtesy of YouTube.com/UFC)

UFC on FX 2 weigh-ins were held yesterday at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia, with all 22 fighters successfully hitting their marks. No real surprises, although the bad blood between Cole Miller and Steven Siler was palpable. If you’ll recall, Siler scored a surprising submission against Cole’s brother Micah in the preliminary round of TUF 14, and it was clear yesterday that Cole — who’s making his UFC featherweight debut — is still upset about that. The two talked smack and got in each other’s faces until they had to be restrained by Joe Silva and Burt Watson. Also, Thiago Alves gained back nearly 30 pounds just three hours after hitting the scale, which is insane, but at least he made weight this time. The full weigh-in results are below…

Main Card
Thiago Alves (170.5) vs. Martin Kampmann (170.5)
Joseph Benavidez (125.5) vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani (125.5)
Demetrious Johnson (125.5) vs. Ian McCall (125.5)
Constantinos Philippou (185.5) vs. Court McGee (184.5)

Preliminary Card
Aaron Rosa (205.5) vs. James Te Huna (206)
Nick Penner (203.5) vs. Anthony Perosh (205)
Cole Miller (146) vs. Steven Siler (146)
Kyle Noke (185) vs. Andrew Craig (185)
Jake Hecht (171) vs. T.J. Waldburger (170)
Mackens Semerzier (146) vs. Daniel Pineda (146)
Shawn Jordan (245.5) vs. Oli Thompson (235)

After the jump: FUEL TV’s “UFC on FX 2″ weigh-in special, hosted by Jay Glazer and Stephan Bonnar.

(Props: AllTheBestFights)

Ronaldo Souza‘s recent fights have proven that his standup skills are catching up with his tremendous ability on the mat — and his striking improvement reached an important milestone on Saturday night, when he scored the first lights-out K.O. of his nine-year fight career.

“Jacare” faced 9-1 Jackson’s MMA product Derek Brunson on the main card of Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman, and in Liddell-esque fashion, Souza found his opponent’s chin with a back-pedaling counter-right that dumped Brunson on his face. A few more follow-up shots, and it was all over. Even more impressive than Souza’s finishing power was the fact that he stopped throwing as soon as he saw that Brunson was unconscious — even if referee Mike “Stache God” Beltran clearly wanted the fight to keep going.

But Souza vs. Brunson wasn’t the only great knockout from this weekend’s Strikeforce card. After the jump: Ovince St. Preux’s one-punch shutoff of T.J. Cook.

(Poor vegan son-of-a-bitch can’t catch a break. Photo courtesy of MMABay)

Due to a chest injury suffered in training, TUF 6 winner Mac Danzig has withdrawn from his co-headlining rematch against Matt Wiman at UFC Fight Night 22 (September 15th, Austin). Danzig and Wiman previously met at UFC 115 in June, with Danzig losing by a controversial first-round technical decision; the referee stopped the fight due to a guillotine choke despite the fact that Danzig didn’t tap and wasn’t out, leading to an unfortunate "WTFIYP?" moment in the cage. It was Danzig’s fourth loss in his last five fights, and he’ll now have to wait a little longer to redeem himself.

Stepping up against Wiman at the Austin event will be TUF 8 lightweight winner Efrain Escudero, who’s coming off his unanimous decision victory over Dan Lauzon at UFC 114, and was originally supposed to face John Gunderson on the prelims. Now, Gunderson is expected to face returning UFC vet Yves Edwards (38-16-1, 6-4 UFC), who hasn’t competed in the Octagon since his TKO loss to Joe Stevenson at UFC 61. Since then, he’s made appearances in Bodog Fight, EliteXC, Strikeforce, and Shine Fights, and most recently scored a decision over Luis Palomino at last week’s Bellator event.

("That’s it, go to sleeeeeeep." Alan Belcher and his little friend Johnny gang up on Patrick Cote at UFC 113. Photo courtesy of ESPN.)

UFC middleweight contender (and unapologetic baby-choker) Alan Belcher confirmed yesterday that he won’t be able to headline UFC Fight Night 22 against Demian Maia, due to a detached retina. As he wrote:

While I was in brazil I started losing my vision in my right eye. I saw a dr that told me to go back to u.s. immediately. My friend/surgeon from biloxi got me an emergency surgery scheduled in alabama now just trying to recover. No contact for 6 weeks. Sorry to my trainers. Sorry to ufc & demian Maia, I know he has been training specifically for me. Sorry to my fans as well. As long as I get released from dr I will try to make ufn 22 to see my fans and watch the fights

In response, Demian Maia tweeted: "I dont know who will be my oponent. I think I still in the UFN 22 main event, but Im not sure. Ill let you guys know…"

In other words, Chris Leben should probably start warming up. The current lineup of UFN 22 (September 15th, Austin) is after the jump.