Fighters

(Look, Roy, we’re all big Harry Potter fans, but this Rubeus Hagrid obsession of yours is going a little far.) 

Like that of current light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, former UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar seems to be the subject of much debate amongst the MMA community. Not only was his heart called into question following his UFC 141 loss to Alistair Overeem, but in light of recent events, even the legitimacy of his title reign has seemingly been written off by some fans of the sport and wiped from the collective memories of others. Meanwhile, the hardcore conspiracy theorists claim that Lesnar’s run was nothing more than a genius ploy by Vince McMahon to boost Lesnar’s popularity before looping him back into the WWE. He’s a polarizing figure to say the least.

And when questions began to arise about the possibility of Lesnar becoming a future inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame, some of us nearly blew a fucking gasket. Among those detractors was that of Roy “Big Country” Nelson, who is scheduled to face Dave Herman on tomorrow night’s main card. A professional fighter for over seven years, Nelson was none too happy to hear all of this blasphemy, and when interviewed by Ariel Helwani, let his feelings be known about Lesnar’s chances:

You know what? If Brock belongs in the hall of fame, so do I. It’s not that hard to win the title when it’s set up that way for you. Pretty much [a silver platter]. After Dave Herman, I guess I get a title shot. Interim! Because someone’s gonna get hurt.

It’s pretty hard to deny the truth in Nelson’s words. Yes, Lesnar did win a title (and defend it), and all Nelson has done lately is get his face smashed in spectacular/gruesome fashion, but the fact that Lesnar got a shot after going 1-1 is pretty…you know what, we’ve already discussed this. I’m not going to retread any old ground.

Anyway, join us after the jump for Nelson’s full interview with Helwani, in which he also discusses his diet (of course), returning to his Kung-Fu roots, as well as his (and every fighters) gripes with his pay rate.

(Word has it JDS hits so hard that Frank Mir fainted shortly after this photo was snapped.)

Just a reminder, Potato Nation, that the weigh-ins for tomorrow’s UFC 146 card are going down tonight starting at 7 p.m. ET. Because we “love” you the way a man “loves” the prostitute he just kicked out of his hotel room, we’ll be hosting a live stream of the event below. At least one of us will be trolling the comment section and looking for a fight, so be sure to join us if you’re into that sort of thing.

Will Roy Nelson don some sort of hilarious costume/facial hair combination? Will Jamie Varner go back into retirement and no-show for his fight against Edson Barboza out of fear for his life? Will Junior dos Santos break out his patented victory dance upon making weight?

All of these questions will be answered, via a few intense staredowns, in just a few short hours. 

(How awesome was the retro promo that preceded the conference? Finally, the UFC’s marketing department is making an effort.) 

We’re not going to insult anyone’s intelligence; you all know what’s going down this Saturday at UFC 146. There may have been endless change ups, Twitter campaigns, and even change ups involving members of the aforementioned Twitter campaigns, but this weekend promises to be an, excuse the overused term, epic night of fights based on body mass alone.

(Sean Salmon getting finished in the first round? You don’t say…)

Jorge Santiago has had perhaps the most disappointing UFC career of any top-tier import out there. While that statement may sound rather contradictory, Santiago’s accolades in any promotion not named the UFC (or King of the Cage) are pretty incredible. Not only is he a two-time defending Sengoku middleweight champion, but one of those defenses, which came at World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 14 back in August of 2010, was a “Fight of the Year” earning performance over Kazuo Misaki. The man can fight is all we’re saying.

If you were to look at his record inside DW’s playground, however, you would see that all but one of his four losses (out of five performances) have ended by way of violent knockout. The Chris Leben left hook. The Alan Belcher head kick. And who could forget the Brian Stann beatdown. Thankfully, Santiago was able to bounce back from his most recent UFC run with a nasty first round knockout of 14-7 Leonardo Pecanha at Titan Fighting Championship 21 last March.

Check out the video after the jump. 

(All he needed was a little convincing.) 

It takes one to know one, we guess, because according to UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, former UFC Heavyweight Champion and current WWE superstar Brock Lesnar should be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Yes, on last night’s episode of UFC Tonight, Couture sat down alongside Kenny Florian and Todd Harris to answer questions from all around the Twittersphere, because apparently that’s something which happens now. Among the questions asked were, “Do you have any up and comers in [Team Couture] that have a chance to make an impact in the next two years?” Couture was quick to point out Martin Kampmann, but also commended welterweight contender Mike Pyle, who he stated was “one of the most talented guys I’ve had the privilege of training with the last seven years.”

But Couture’s most interesting comment came after he was asked whether or not Lesnar deserved a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame. Considering Lesnar’s brief run in the sport, which totaled just over four years in its entirety, combined with his mediocre 5-3 record, one would not expect that Couture would be quick to jump on the “yes” bandwagon. Then again, Lesnar was able to capture the Heavyweight title by pummeling Couture into masturbatory hammerfist oblivion at UFC 91, so perhaps it made sense for Couture to declare that Lesnar did in fact deserve a spot alongside such names as Chuck Liddell, Royce Gracie, and Matt Hughes. Oh, and let’s not forget Tito Ortiz and B.J. Penn.

Anyway, check out the video after the jump, and let us know what you think of Couture’s assessment in the comments section. Not that we need to remind you, but be sure to be as scathing with your criticisms as humanly possible.

(Needing to decide upon his future in the UFC, Swick galloped into a wooded glen, and after punch-dancing out his rage and suffering an extremely long and very painful fall, he realized what had to be done.)

To quote David After Dentist, “Is this real life?”

Outdated reference? Sure, but to give you some perspective, the last time anyone saw UFC welterweight Mike Swick in action, that little SOB’s anesthesia adventure was the biggest Youtube sensation going. It has really been that long.

But it seems the man known as “Quick” will finally step back into the octagon before his mid-life crisis hits him, as he has been scheduled to take on TUF 9 alum Damarques “Darkness” Johnson at UFC on FOX 4, which goes down at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on August 4th.

(Who’s got at least one thumb and is going to royally screw me over in the future? THIS GUY.)

Ever since Alistair Overeem cost the UFC one of the biggest fights of the year by pissing dirty at his surprise UFC 146 drug test, it seems like Dana White has been a lot more adamant about the necessity of drug testing fighters on a regular basis. Whereas his attitude toward testing could previously be construed along the lines of “we’re doing the best we can, but we can only do so much,” it seems that The Baldfather has really begun to step up his game, so to speak. In fact, during a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, White made a promise that before too long, the UFC will be drug testing fighters themselves in order to try and limit the amount of positive tests per year:

The steroid, [performance-enhancing drug] thing affects the whole sport. The key is to make sure these guys never get on it, because once they do, they change. The problem with Overeem is that I want to sit in a room with him man to man and believe him. He told me before he ever fought for us, ‘Don’t worry, I’m the most tested athlete in sports.’ But I think we have about 42 fights a year … you have a guy or two popping [positive tests] here and there, that’s a pretty good ratio…. Yes, we’re going to do our own testing, order these guys into [a lab]; we’re sorting it out now. You have to do this to save the sport. You can’t have these guys fighting on this stuff.

So there you have it, Potato Nation. It looks like a day may finally come where we don’t have to worry about the Ubereem’s of the world spoiling our mid-summer blockbuster cards. Then again, illegal steroids were sooo last year, nowadays fighter’s just call it “therapy” and we collectively put our heads in the sand.

(At least we’ll always have the memories…) 

British lightweight Paul Taylor is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining fighters in the UFC…when he actually manages to make it into the cage. His ability to do so has become less and less frequent over the past few years, and it’s truly a shame for fans of a good old fashioned throwdown. Taylor was scheduled to return to action for the first time in over a year against Anthony Njokuani at UFC on FUEL 4, which goes down from the HP Pavillion in San Jose on July 11th, but word just broke that he has been forced to withdraw from the bout yet again, and will be replaced by Rafael Dos Anjos.

Although Taylor is an unspectacular 4-5 thus far in his UFC career, his victories include a most recent trouncing of Gabe Ruediger at 126, as well as entertaining victories over Peter Sobatta, Jess Liaudin, and Edilberto de Oliveira. Oddly enough, Taylor has earned his reputation and “Relentless” moniker by managing to be even more captivating in defeat, with his high-profile losses to Marcus Davis, Paul Kelly, and Chris Lytle all earning him Fight of the Night bonuses at UFC 75, 80, and 89, respectively.

But ever since dropping to lightweight, Taylor has spent so much time nursing various injuries that even James Irvin is beginning to look like the picture of health in comparison. OK, that might be an exaggeration, but if you were to peruse over Taylor’s Wikipedia page, you would find that the phrase “was expected to face” appears more times than the phrase “won by.” Sad but true, folks.

Check out the full history of Taylor’s troubles after the jump. 

(Negative side effects of TRT: Bacne. Positive side effects: Falcon Punch.) 

My God, today’s NSAC meeting, which determined both Chael Sonnen’s future ability to continue legal injecting steroids testosterone replacement therapy and Nick Diaz’s minimum retirement length was like watching Lawrence of Arabia, twice, minus all of the train explosions and shots of interesting desert landscapes. To describe the six hour hearing in a word: humdrum. Thankfully, we’ll be much briefer in summing up what went down.

To kick off the afternoon, Sonnen was successful in achieving a therapeutic use exemption for testosterone replacement therapy, and now joins the like of Dan Henderson, Todd Duffee, and Shane Roller in the select group of MMA fighters to receive an exemption from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. As far as interesting developments go, Sonnen admitted that he injected himself with testosterone, stating, ”I administer two times a week, every Sunday and Thursday. It’s self-injected intermusculatory and [I] consider it to be a prescription.” When Commissioner Pat Lundvall asked why Sonnen had never listed using testosterone on his medical forms over the past few years, Sonnen stated that he was under the impression that it wasn’t something that needed to be disclosed. He also stated under oath that he “has never taken anabolic steroids.”

In another interesting moment, which took place before the hearing truly began, Keith Kizer likened TRT to “the new Viagra” as doctors continue to push it on the population and that “Therapuetic Use Exemptions do not allow you to test outside of normal ranges. It only allows for presence of synthetics.” Does this make Sonnen TRT’s Smiling Bob? Only time will tell.

By Jared Jones

I’m going to level with you for a second, Potato Nation. Last Friday, around 1 p.m. EST, I sat down for a twenty minute phone interview with none other than former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. As you may or may not know, Rampage has a series of IPhone/Android video games coming out, the first of which is aptly named “Rampage Punch.” You can learn all you need to know about the game in the above video, and you can download the apps for IPhone here and for Android here.

Much to my chagrin, when I tried to pry into Quinton’s beefs with everyone from the UFC to Chael Sonnen, I was pretty much denied any worthwhile answers, and told by MEDL Mobile’s publicist, who was also on the line, to keep the questions within the realm of video games. I’m not sure how many of you consider yourselves “gamers,” or care to hear what Rampage has to say about video games, but needless to say, I was at a loss for words. I do not own a smart phone, and the last console I ever purchased was an N64, because there is no point trying to find a console that will top perfection. I understand that Mr. Jackson is a busy guy, and probably has to do hundreds of interviews with low-level bloggers/writers like myself, but considering how vocal he has been about all of the goings-on in his MMA career as of late (ie. the stuff you’d actually be interested in), the fact that I was more or less relegated to a puff piece on a video games, for an MMA blog nonetheless, was disappointing to say the least.

This is in no way a jab at Quinton, because I was more than appreciative to be able to talk to him, but rather a truthful statement of how the interview went down. So it is with this fair warning that I present to you my conversation with Mr. Jackson as it played out, and allow you to decide upon it’s merit. There are definitely some interesting things to take away from this interview, but if you are not a gamer, most of it will likely not be your cup of tea.

CAGEPOTATO.COM: So I’ve been playing your Rampage Punch app for the past few days and I was wondering, could this game actually help the keyboard warriors of the world improve their punching power?

Rampage: “I’m sure it will help a lot of people. It’s just basically a game showing you where [your punching power is] at. You might need to go back and work on it some more if you’re not getting high numbers.”