Can crushing: You’re both doing it wrong.

With Jon Jones fighting Quinton Jackson at UFC 135, and the winner of that fight more than likely fighting Rashad Evans, the light-heavyweight title is not without challengers. Based on a report being passed along by MMAMania.com, the winner of Jones/Jackson vs. Evans may already have a challenger in line as well. Rumor has it that Lyoto Machida vs. Phil Davis is in the works for a future card.

As you may remember, when Phil Davis was forced to withdraw from his fight with Rashad Evans at UFC 133 due to a knee injury, Lyoto Machida was originally set to replace him. However, Machida felt he was worth that “Anderson Silva money” and declined the bout. So having the two potential Rashad Evans opponents fight each other for the right to potentially fight Rashad Evans sort of makes sense, I guess.

(You’re gonna want to put some ice on that, Phil. Props: UFC.com)

We can forgive Phil Davis a moment of hubris. At 7-0, dude hasn’t encountered a ton of adversity so far in his fighting career, so when somebody asks him what surprised him the most about transitioning from amateur wrestling to MMA it’s actually sort of cute that his response is essentially: “Man, beating people up? That shit hurts.”

Davis breaks it down for our man Ben Fowlkes over at MMA Fighting thusly:

"When you’re at home watching the UFC and you see a guy get elbowed in the face, you think, Oooh, that poor guy, he just got elbowed in the face," Davis says. "But I’m here to tell you, that hurts your elbow. You don’t think it would, but it hurts your elbow. When you calm down, stop sweating, get your shower and change, you will think, Man, my elbow really hurts. I’m telling you. It’s surprising."

Maybe there will come a day when MMA fighters appearing and being mentioned by name in ad campaigns for major brands is so common that we won’t feel compelled to mention it but we aren’t there yet. MMA is still so young, so close to the days where it was banned in most states and kept off cable, that, gosh darn it, we get a lil teary eyed anytime we see a fighter like Anderson Silva (Burger King) or Georges St. Pierre (Gatorade) get picked to be a spokesman for for a major brand. That’s good money in their pockets and an indication of MMA knocking on the door to mainstream acceptance each time out.

The latest fighter getting such an opportunity is Mr. Wonderful himself, UFC light heavyweight Phil Davis. Davis, who fights August 4th on the UFC on Fox card in Los Angeles, appears in a new Sprite television commercial, twisting an actor into knots.

(It’s good to see that someone finally gave Starvin Marvin something to eat.) 

According to a tweet sent out by UFC Brazil, light heavyweight grappling whiz Phil Davis will be the man to replace Chael Sonnen against Forrest Griffin at UFC 155. When Sonnen passed over Griffin for a TUF coaching gig and light heavyweight title shot against Jon Jones, everyone from Stephan Bonnar to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira were being rumored as potential opponents for Griffin, who is coming off a unanimous decision victory over longtime rival Tito Ortiz in their trilogy match at UFC 148.

After coming up short in a tedious affair against Rashad Evans in the headlining match of UFC on FOX 2, Davis was looking to rebound against Wagner Prado at UFC on FOX 4, but an unfortunate eye poke resulted in an unsatisfying no-contest being declared. Davis and Prado met again at UFC 153, where Davis was able to secure a brilliant second round submission via anaconda choke victory. It was the same submission Davis used to defeat top light heavyweight prospect Alexander Gustafsson back at UFC 112 in April of 2010. If you’re keeping track, the current record for fighters who were the victims of a fight-ending eye poke in immediate rematches is now 1-3 (Scott Smith, Waachiim Spiritwolf, and Prado all came up short, with only Anthony Johnson managing to earn some revenge).

(“My knee should be OK next week. I’ll take Tito when they match Rashad up with Lyoto.”)

According to MMAFighting, Phil Davis suffered a knee injury and as such has been forced to pull out of his UFC 133 main event bout with Rashad Evans. Although no replacement opponent has been named, sources say the UFC will be announcing Davis injury and Evans’ new opponent for the August 6 event soon.

Two prime candidates would be Lyoto Machida and Tito Ortiz — both of whom Evans has faced before. He lost in his very first title defense against Machida by second-round KO at UFC 98, five months after TKO’ing Forrest Griffin at UFC 92 to win the strap. Evans battled to a draw with Tito Ortiz at UFC 73, but would have likely lost the bout had “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” not been deducted a point for grabbing the fence.

Machida is on the sidelines awaiting word of his next bout and Ortiz could likely be ready in time to fight on the card.

(“Tell us again how you chased down that robber and held him until the cops came. That was awesome.”)

An undisclosed injury he is currently rehabbing coupled with a desire to get bigger, better, stronger and faster the next time he steps into the Octagon has prompted UFC light heavyweight prospect Phil Davis to take a brief hiatus from fighting until late 2011.

“Mr. Wonderful” told MMAJunkie recently that besides the nagging injury he is nursing, the other reason why he is stepping away from competing for the time being is to take a look at his last performance — a win over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira last month at UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis — and figure out how he could have performed better.

“I really want to make some huge gains inside the gym before I step back in. I’m ready to take one step back,” Davis said. “I’ve got three steps ahead of me. I’ve got one step back, then two forward. That might sound like the cha-cha. But pow – there it is.”

Way to make us all look like underachievers, Phil.

(I mean, seriously. Y’know?)

The UFC Injury Curse of 2012 has another big-name trophy to hang on its wall — Forrest Griffin, who will miss his UFC 155 main card match against Phil Davis on December 29th due to a wrecked knee. UFC president Dana White passes along the sad (but at this point completely unsurprising) news:

Forrest Has MCL tear and ACL strain. 20 cc’s of blood removed from his knee and the saga continues at the UFC!!

No word yet on whether Davis will be getting a replacement opponent at the “Dos Santos vs. Velasquez II” event, or if he’ll be pulled from the lineup. Keep in mind that Davis was himself a replacement for Chael Sonnen, who ditched his matchup against Forrest when his TUF 17 coaching opportunity came up.

We’ll update you when we hear more.

(I gotta admit, the man knows how to fill out a singlet.)

Due to an undisclosed injury, Chad Griggs won’t be making his light-heavyweight debut against Phil Davis at UFC on FOX 4 in August, which is probably for the best. (Not trying to hate on you, Grave Digger; it was just a bad matchup, that’s all). Coming in for Davis is an Octagon newcomer who will probably be an even heavier underdog than Griggs would have been — undefeated Team Nogueira product Wagner “Caldeirao” Prado.

Prado’s 8-0 record (seven by KO/TKO) looks good on paper, but his competition has been entry-level at best; his last three opponents had a combined record of 1-4 at the time of their fights. Taking on a world-class fighter in your UFC debut after a couple years spent beating on local yokels is rarely a recipe for success. So, barring any Dos Santos vs. Werdum-caliber world-shocking, Mr. Wonderful should have this one in the bag.

After the jump: The full lineup of UFC on FOX 4, plus two videos of Prado doing work.

(Chad’s the dead guy in the background.)

After getting utterly demolished by the much-larger Travis Browne during his Octagon debut at UFC 145, heavyweight prospect Chad Griggs has decided to drop to 205 pounds for his follow-up UFC appearance. Griggs was only 228 pounds when he hit the scales before his UFC debut — about as heavy as Jon Jones’s walking weight — making this a wise career choice on paper. The question is: Will Chad’s decision turn out to be good, bad, or ugly?

The Grave Digger certainly won’t be getting an easy welcome in his new division. According to MMA Weekly, Griggs will be returning at UFC on FOX 4 (August 4th, Los Angeles) against light-heavyweight contender Phil Davis, who suffered the first loss of his career in a decision against Rashad Evans in January. Before that, Davis had used his wrestling and grappling skills to dominate such tough competition as Brian Stann, Alexander Gustafsson, Tim Boetsch, and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. In other words, Griggs’s takedown defense had better be airtight if he wants his puncher’s chance to be worth the fist it’s printed on.

UFC on FOX 4 is shaping up to be a real crowd-pleaser; the current lineup is after the jump…

(If Rashad tests positive for anything after this fight it will likely be Prozac.)

A torn tendon in his hand that he suffered in his UFC 128 light heavyweight championship win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has forced Jon Jones to bow out of his August UFC 133 grudge match against former training partner Rashad Evans. Stepping in for the injured champion in the bout will be Phil Davis.

The news was first reported this morning by Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press and was later announced by the UFC.

It seems like Rashad can’t get a break these days.

(Damn, a Penn State alum *and* a blue belt under Lloyd Irvin? This is not looking good, Phil…) 

I’m no The Mentalist (although I often get confused for him on the street. YOU DON’T KNOW.), but I always saw light heavyweight contender Phil Davis as a kind of introverted, dare I say “nerdy” guy who happens to be a freakishly gifted athlete. Despite the fact that he, you know, chokes dudes unconscious for a living, “Mr. Wonderful” always came off (to me, at least) as a guy who was ultimately harmless when he wasn’t locked in a cage with a dude trying to beat him within an inch of his life.

Well once again, it appears that I don’t know shit about shit. Just one day out from his UFC 159 battle with Vinny Magalhaes, Davis not only finds himself in the middle of a custody battle over his child, but refuting allegations of “crazy brutality, including violent sex” that said child’s mother believes stemmed from his martial arts career. TMZ reports:

According to legal docs — obtained by TMZ — Vantris Patterson claims Davis body slammed her on a couch with such force … when the couch slid into the wall paint came off. And Patterson says, Davis — aka Mr. Wonderful — would often choke her during intercourse, and when she’d plead with him to stop he’d respond, “Shut the f*** up, bitch.” She says Davis has threatened to kill her numerous times if she ever slept with another man.

Now here’s the hook — Patterson claims Davis’ alleged propensity for violence has escalated because of his involvement in the UFC.  She says, “I am afraid that the numerous fights have negatively impacted his mental stability,” and she can’t defend herself because of his “increased strength and attacking ability.”

And if you think that’s crazy, just wait until you hear the allegations Davis lobbed back at Patterson in response…

Future champ? Pffff…Davis didn’t even have the courage to challenge a teammate after his victory.

Oh, fans, why do we do this to ourselves? We’ve been here so many times before, yet we never learn our lesson. We’ve declared the Brock Era, the Machida Era, and the Bones Era, but the only era we’re really in is one of unrealistic expectations. With his win over Lil’ Nog last night, Phil Davis extends his record to a perfect 9-0, with five of those victories coming in the past thirteen months, but it isn’t enough, is it? No, not when some of the most recognizable faces in the sport are created in 12 short episodes of reality tv. Not when Jon Jones violently takes the belt at the age of 23. Last night Phil Davis struggled with his takedowns. His standup still needs work. He failed to rag doll Nogueira and put him away with a freshly minted submission. He looked {gasp} like an evolving fighter.

Not long ago it would have been enough for an up and coming prospect just over two years into his career to take out a highly respected MMA veteran on the sport’s biggest stage, but that’s not the world we live in. Maybe there were just too many similarities between Davis and Jones to let the comparisons slide. They’re both young fighters with very impressive wrestling. They were both undefeated (yeah, screw that Hamill thing) headed into their last fight on short notice against a far more experienced Brazilian legend. Yeah, they even kind of look alike too. What we saw last night is that there’s only one Jon Jones, but that doesn’t mean “Mr. Wonderful” didn’t display the qualities that make a champion.

“Is it too soon to talk about Sandusky, or should I wait ten years, like Paterno?” Props: MMAJunkie.com

“The House that Jordan Built” is sold out for the UFC’s return to Fox, which features three times as many televised fights as its Fox debut. Can Chris Weidman make a name for himself against Demian Maia? Will Chael Sonnen challenge Anderson Silva to a casket match after tonight’s fight? Does Phil Davis establish himself as a contender at light-heavyweight, or does Rashad Evans set himself up to get overlooked for yet another title shot? We’ll answer all this and more as it unfolds.

Handling liveblogging duties tonight is Seth Falvo, who will be watching the event with some old friends. Please direct all complaints about spelling and grammar, comments about the liveblogger’s sexual preference and unrelated conspiracy theories directly at him. Spoilers after the jump.

(“Get a clue, Rashad. It’s not happening.”)

Within an hour today UFC president Dana White announced and then promptly recanted the news that Lyoto Machida would be squaring off with Phil Davis at UFC 140 in Toronto in December. According to White, the announcement was premature since, unbeknownst to him, Davis is still recuperating from knee surgery to fix the injury that forced him out out of his scheduled UFC 133 bout with Rashad Evans.

Luckily for Dana and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, we have three viable replacements lined up for Machida and we won’t even charge our usual finder’s fee.

Agree or disagree with our line-up after the jump.

Swanson vs. Roop provided an early candidate for Side-Punchface of the Year. Props: UFC.com

Remember how last night, you invited your non-MMA fan friends over to introduce them to our sport? You spent the past week talking about how Chael Sonnen is one of the best trash talkers in professional sports, and how technical and talented these fighters were. You figured that after three fights that were guaranteed to be exceptional, your friends would be won over to MMA fandom. Then you’d continue to drink and be merry all night, and we’d all meet up here today for our traditional post-UFC event GIF party where we all high five over how awesome the fights were.

Well, it didn’t quite work out that way. Instead, you found yourself doing damage control as you watched three fights worth of sloppy brawling, wall and stall and Chael Sonnen’s blatant swaggerjacking of homage to “Superstar” Billy Graham. You tried to convince them that the fights are usually nothing like this, and that these guys gassing out and the end of the first round are world class athletes. Eventually, one of your friends said “I bet Pacquiao would destroy ANY of these guys” as the rest of your friends grabbed their coats and said they’d call you next time they wanted to watch the fights.

Okay, so last night sucked. But we’ve been planning this party all week, and we’ll be damned if we cancel it at this point. So grab an alcoholic beverage, put on your gaudiest Affliction shirt and join us for our traditional post-UFC event GIF Party.

As always, praise be to Zombie Prophet at IronForgesIron.com for the GIFS.

(Phil Davis’s latest video blog from kimura.se. Check out that river of sweat at 2:20. Nasty.)

Couple things to make y’all aware of. First of all, CagePotato.com will be providing live results from the Spike TV broadcast of UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis, this Saturday night beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Please come by and bring snacks.

Also, before the main card kicks off on television, Facebook.com/UFC will be hosting another live streaming broadcast from the prelims. This time, we’re getting a full five fights beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT. They will be:

“Forget all about that belt tomorrow, son.” (Video: YouTube/UFC)

Last night’s weigh-ins in the bag and we are officially one step closer to go-time. While these events are a mere formality in the fight business—I mean, who would show up unprepared, right?–they do give one more opportunity for fans to cheer or boo the fighters of their choice, and one more opportunity for fighters to win the mental war. With those assignments in mind, the men on stage and those in the bleachers made the most of the evening.

Though Michael Bisping and Chael Sonnen have taken second billing on this evening’s card, they’ve more than pulled their own weight in the promotions department. While Chael has drawn plenty of hype for this bout, he’s largely focused the spotlight on himself with little attention paid to his opponent whatsoever. Bisping on the other hand has been in full heel mode in recent interviews, embracing his role as the bad guy and verbally attacking his foe whenever possible. Last night he responded to a chorus of boos by brandishing the ‘Stockton Heybuddy‘, a move that seemed to cost him a sponsor, at least momentarily. If these two jawing in the staredown didn’t get you amped for their bout, there’s little I can do for you.

Despite the main event being a mixed martial arts bout, much of the back-and-forth between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis has centered on wrestling credentials. “Mr. Wonderful” was undoubtedly the more decorated of the two during their NCAA careers, though Evans feels his in-cage ability will expose Davis’s “trash technique”. Upping the ante once more before they glove up, Davis sported a Penn State singlet as he hit the scales. Face to face, both men exuded incredible confidence and not a shred of intimidation.

Full weigh-in results and a video of the Evans-Davis face-off after the jump.

Just one week after the UFC blew through Newark, the big show lands at the Key Arena in Seattle for UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis. Besides the four-fight main card, which kicks off at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Spike TV, UFC Fight Night 24 boasts a compelling undercard that features heavyweight contenders, exciting young prospects, TUF vets, and at least one Internet forum superstar. I’m not saying this is a better event than UFC 128 — but if you ask me, there are more reasons to be genuinely curious. For example…

Will Phil Davis break out? “Mr. Wonderful” is a perfect 4-0 in the Octagon, and is coming off a wicked Submission of the Night performance over Tim Boetsch at UFC 123. But let’s be honest — Lil’ Nog is a huge step up in competition, especially on relatively short notice. Nogueira was most recently outpointed by Ryan Bader, another young fighter with a strong wrestling base, which has to be encouraging for Davis coming into this fight. If Davis can avoid getting torn up by Nogueira’s superior striking and leave with a victory, it launches him into title-contender territory. Not bad for a guy who made his pro debut two-and-a-half years ago.

Will Anthony Johnson make weight? Both Johnson and Dan Hardy are promising a stand-up bash fest with none of that lovey-dovey stuff on the ground. Yawn. I’m more interested in the recent rumors that the notoriously oversized Rumble was walking around at 235 pounds before his training camp for this fight. Will he be drained by yet another brutal cut to 170? Following a botched weigh-in against Yoshiyuki Yoshida and an ugly loss to Josh Koscheck, Johnson needs to avoid repeating either of those scenarios if he wants to keep his job. Or, you know, just move up to middleweight so we don’t have to keep bringing this up.

The weigh-in official found Davis’s ticklish spot. Pic: MMA Junkie

Heading into tonight’s bouts, it feels strangely like we’ve been here before… we’ve got drama surrounding Anthony Johnson’s weight, fighters promising to eschew their full range of talent in favor of standing and banging, and of course the redo of Garcia and Jung’s epic battle. With all of the variables that unfold in a fight it’s practically impossible to predict how a fight will go down, but that doesn’t mean we won’t irresponsibly try. Here’s a look at some of tonight’s fights and how history may play a role in their outcome.

Just a friendly reminder that the weigh-ins tomorrow night’s UFC on Fox 2: Evans vs. Davis event will go live at 5:00 pm ET and we’ll have the stream of the festivities for you right here.

Will Chael Sonnen weigh in with his belt on? Will Arianny go bananas over Phil Davis and Rashad Evans like she did Alistair Overeem? Will Dana White wear an “I Love Nerds” t-shirt?

All of these questions and more will be answered soon.
Check out the stream after the jump.

("I’ll take Gilbert Godfried for the win, Joe." PicProps: UFC.com)

Those of you who were paying attention to Phil Davis’ Twitter account this week (and really, why wouldn’t you be?) already knew that the light heavyweight up-and-comer recently inked a bout agreement he was just dying to tell us all about. Now, it seems he won’t have to. Those damned internet websites are at it again, citing “sources close to the event” saying that Davis will take on Matt Hamill at the already stacked UFC 129 in Toronto. And why not? Hamill’s the dude the UFC traditionally likes to run up against its 205-pound prospects (and sometimes, its 205-pound graybeards) to see what they’ve really got in the tank. Makes sense to us.

Also on the horizon, it’s reported that fresh off showing his lack of social skills against Brandon Vera at UFC 125, Thiago Silva will step in the cage against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 130. Both guys are coming off wins and it’s conceivable that the winner of that bout could be added to an ever-growing list of title contenders at 205-pounds.  But wait, that’s not all. After the jump some other alleged upcoming dates in the Octagon.

(“I’M BACK!” has been downgraded to “Just give me a minute, okay?”)

Update, 11:07 a.m. ET: Yahoo!’s Kevin Iole tweets that Lyoto Machida is in vs. Rashad Evans. Source is a text-message from Dana White.

The race is on to salvage UFC 133‘s main event, in the wake of Phil Davis’s knee injury withdrawal. One fighter who won’t be stepping up against Rashad Evans on short notice is Tito Ortiz, who’s coming off his career-restoring submission of Ryan Bader at UFC 132. According to an MMAFighting report, Ortiz was the first man the UFC turned to when Davis bowed out, but the Huntington Beach Bad Boy declined the offer. As he explained via twitter:

I have a life and things to take care of. The fight game is about making the right choices of my career. If you knew what I have been going through you all would understand. Peaking for a fight is what makes a fighter unstoppable! Timing is everything in life. This is a rebuild year for me not do or die. The time will come again!

Just a friendly reminder that Spike TV will be running the Countdown to UFC 133 show tonight at 11:00 pm ET. If you don’t have Spike and are in Canada, you can check it out tomorrow night at 8:00 pm ET on Sportsnet or you can have a look back here and I’m sure we’ll have other resources available for you to check out the show.

The card has undergone a lot of changes, which also force the UFC to reshoot portions of the preview episode, so hopefully it isn’t noticeable. The first time we catch them overdubbing the audio of Rashad talking about Phil Davis with a clip of him saying “Tito Ortiz,” we’re tuning out.

Check out a clip of Vitor Belfort doing some filming on the set of the show ahead of his fight with Yoshihiro Akiyama Saturday night after the jump.

Barring something completely crazy and unexpected, the fight card for UFC 133 on August 6 in Philadelphia is set in place. Yesterday, the UFC officially announced the addition of a middleweight clash between Rafael Natal and Constantinos Philippou to the prelims. Rafael Natal is coming off of a majority draw against Jesse Bongfeldt at UFC 124, while Constantinos Philippou lost his UFC debut against Nick Catone at UFC 128.

Even though both middleweights are still searching for their first UFC victories, this bout is likely to appeal to the local fans. Both fighters are veterans of Atlantic City’s Ring of Combat, amassing a combined record of 10-2, with one no contest within the promotion.

UFC 133 will be headlined by a light heavyweight fight between Phil Davis and Rashad Evans. Also set for this card is throwback between Rich Franklin and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the return of Vitor Belfort against Yoshihiro Akiyama and another attempt at the ill-fated Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara scrap. Not to mention the other seven fights listed after the jump.

Totally illegal in NCAA competition. (Photo: UFC.com)

“It’s usually not like this.” With that text I found myself apologizing to a UFC-virgin for the first time in a long time. My friend had just told me that she was at home watching the the show on FOX, without any provocation from me mind you. “This is that fighting you like, right???”. I assured her that the event had yet to capture the energy and excitement indicative of the sport. “I’m going back and forth between this and figure skating,” she replied. I can’t really say I blame her, either.

While we expected plenty of grappling in the bouts themselves, the wrestling theme seemed to carry on throughout the production at large. The usually-charismatic Jon Jones wrestled with his notes, relying on them not just for in-depth fight analysis but for simple things like his thoughts on fighting Rashad. The opening act wrestled with fatigue, leading to a performance as exhausting for fans as it was for the competitors in the cage. And once again, FOX wrestled with an underwhelming broadcast that left the most exciting action behind in the prelims.

Enough belly aching about the show itself, let’s take a look at what made such a promising event so forgettable for the masses.

(Above: Brandon Vera gets smashed up by Jon Jones in March. Below: Marcus Davis does his best Abobo impression during his fight with Nate Diaz.)

It’s not like we didn’t see this coming. After Phil Baroni and Antonio McKee lost their jobs, there was no way that the axe wasn’t going to drop again on UFC 125‘s other repeat-losers. Here’s the latest…

Brandon Vera: The Truth has been released from his UFC contract after his shutout decision loss to Thiago Silva, which represented Vera’s third consecutive defeat, and sixth loss in his last nine outings. Due to the nasty broken nose he suffered last weekend, Vera won’t be able to compete anywhere until March 3rd at the earliest.

Marcus Davis: The Irish Hand Grenade has also been bounced out of the Octagon. Davis’s knockout loss against Jeremy Stephens was his fifth loss in his last eight attempts, and second-straight defeat by stoppage. The TUF 2 vet was hoping to re-invent himself as a lightweight, and had controlled Stephens in the first two rounds before having his lights put out in the third. Davis is one of only eight UFC fighters who have earned five or more performance bonuses.

Instead of piling on the abuse, let’s remember Vera and Davis for the dangerous, exciting fighters they used to be before their luck abruptly ran out. Video proof is after the jump…

*Disclaimer: If you are at all squeamish or faint at the sight of blood, don’t click the video below.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/Drfrankstile)

Besides hindering your breathing and making you look like a stereotypical MMA fighter, having your nose broken several times also makes it way more likely that the injury will reoccur. With this in mind, Phil “The New York Badass” Baroni headed to the plastic surgeon responsible for belt-sanding down the sharp brow bones of Marcus Davis and Nick Diaz to see about getting his problematic proboscis taken care of.

(Dan Henderson vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira highlights, via DJIL PROD)

Fun fact: Alexander Gustafsson only got the UFC on FUEL 2 headlining spot against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira because Dan Henderson turned the fight down first. As Ariel Helwani reported on UFC Tonight and via Twitter, ”the original plan was if [Rashad] Evans beat [Phil] Davis, he would face [Jon] Jones. The winner of Hendo/Nog would then fight for the #1 contender. Now, since Hendo turned down the Nog fight, his status is unclear.”

Henderson says he had several good reasons for passing on Lil’ Nog, who previously submitted him by armbar at Pride Total Elimination 2005. As he explained on Clinch Gear Radio:

“I was under the impression that [UFC President Dana White] still kind of was on the fence whether he was going to put me in front of Rashad or not, that’s assuming Rashad wins. [White] did offer me a fight with ‘Little Nogueira.’ I didn’t think the fans would be interested in that fight, and not as much time as I would like to prepare for a five-round fight. So I told him I would wait to see what happened with the Rashad fight. I would like to fight Jones now rather than if I took that fight with ‘Little Nog,’ I wouldn’t be fighting Jones until another eight-nine months…

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

Nothing groundbreaking this time around, but I’m starting to agree with Nick Diaz about how it’s strange that the UFC expects fighters to be cordial and play nice before an event.

(We’ll give you an A for effort, Rashad, but we don’t think you have the..ahem… skin tone to pull off Sloth from The Goonies this Halloween.) 

For those of you who were hoping to see Rashad Evans test the waters at middleweight, it looks like you’ll have to keep waiting, because it has been reported by the Brazilian outlet SporTV that Evans will be facing off against Antonio Rogerio Nogueria at a TBD event planned for Super Bowl weekend in Las Vegas.

Prior to his failed light heavyweight title bid at UFC 145, the TUF 2 winner scored big victories over Phil Davis — who trounced Nogueira back at Ultimate Fight Night 24 — and Tito Ortiz — who was defeated by Lil’ Nog in December of last year. Following hsi win over Ortiz, Nogueira recently called out Forrest Griffin — who lost his title to Evans at UFC 92 and defeated Ortiz in his last appearance — but was beat out for the spot by the last man to defeat him: Phil Davis. So according to MMA math…I’m illiterate.