Josh Koscheck isn’t letting a shocking upset slow down his brisk competition schedule. MMA Mania reports that the UFC welterweight sorta-contender will attempt to rebound from his knockout loss against Paulo "Seriously?" Thiago at UFC 98 (May 23rd, Las Vegas), where he’s scheduled to take on Team Quest fighter Chris Wilson; it will be Kos’s fourth fight in six months.

A veteran of the IFL and the Oregon-based SportFight league, Wilson has gone 1-2 since entering the UFC in 2008 and likely needs a win to keep his contract. Wilson lost his Octagon debut against Jon Fitch last March (where he was a short-notice replacement for Akihiro Gono), then won a unanimous decision over Steve Bruno in August, and most recently dropped a split-decision to John Howard in UFC 94′s "Fight of the Night." Six of Wilson’s last eight fights have gone to the judges.

As for Koscheck, he’d better do his research this time. And bringing back some of the wrestling that used to work so well for him in the past wouldn’t be such a terrible idea either.

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Chris Wilson‘s month just went from incredibly awful to unbelievably terrible. As if getting home-invaded and robbed of all his valuables by Brazilian marauders wasn’t bad enough, the Team Quest welterweight now can’t even earn the money to replace what he lost. Bad, bad tidings from his blog:

(At least now fighting unarmed people seems easy by comparison. Photo courtesy of ChrisWilsonMMA.com)

UFC welterweight fighter Chris Wilson is, for the most part, a pretty laid back guy.  But even for him it sounds like he’s a little too nonplussed about this home invasion robbery/kidnapping at gunpoint that happened to him recently.  Wilson, who’s lived in Brazil on and off ever since his parents were Baptist missionaries there, was recently in Brazil with his wife and two kids training for his fight with Brock Larson at UFC 98.  Everything was going fine, and then this happened:

(“I’m ready to go in there and shock the world.”)

By CagePotato Special Contributor Ben Fowlkes

Chris Wilson is in a difficult spot. The Team Quest welterweight and former member of the IFL’s Portland Wolfpack was offered his first UFC fight just a few weeks ago, against one of their toughest, most highly touted 170-pound contenders: Jon Fitch. Of course he accepted, but now oddsmakers have him as one of the biggest underdogs going into UFC 82. In this exclusive interview he indulges in a little straight-talk about taking a pay cut to fight in the Octagon, training with Dan Henderson, and how he plans to prove everyone wrong on Saturday night.

CagePotato: Jon Fitch is obviously a tough fighter, and he’s riding a fourteen-fight win streak. What are you expecting from him and how are you planning to deal with it?
Chris Wilson: I expect him to come in and do the things he does best, which is throw hard punches, try to get you in a corner, and get on top. That’s his game plan. That’s where he’s most comfortable and that’s what’s worked for him, and I don’t see him trying to change that now. If he were looking to come in and show how good his striking is, I think he would try and do it against someone with much less chance of knocking him out. But if he’s going to stand in front of me it will make his night a lot harder.

A lot of people talk about Octagon jitters when a guy has his first UFC fight. You’ve fought in front of big crowds before in several different organizations, so how do you think your first UFC fight will affect you?
It’s hard for me to say that I won’t be affected by it because I haven’t been there yet. But like you said, I have fought in front of crowds of many thousands of people. Maybe not as many as the UFC brings in, but I know what that kind of pressure feels like. There are certain things that I think will help me deal with it. Being an underdog helps take some of the pressure off me. Also, it helps that I’ve been to UFC events and cornered my teammates there. I’ve walked through that tunnel and out into the arena with the screaming fans. Even if it wasn’t me who was fighting that night, at least I know what to expect. I guess I just have to wait and see.

(‘Khaaaaaaannn!’)

Wilson Gouveia’s rise through the UFC middleweight ranks was slowed last May when Octagon newcomer Goran Reljic staged a come-from-behind victory via second-round TKO.  For Gouveia the loss was the direct result of a very specific mistake on his part, and one he’s vowed to learn from but never to repeat as he heads into his UFC 95 bout with Nate Marquardt.

CagePotato.com: Thanks for talking with me, Wilson.  How is your preparation coming for the fight with Nate Marquardt?

The training has been very intense.  I’m taking this fight very seriously.  I think it’s going to be the most important fight of my career so far.  Right now I feel very good.  I’m in great condition, no injuries, just ready to go.

Are you doing anything specifically to prepare for him?

Not really, to tell the truth.  In all my fights I try to be prepared for everything.  With Nate it’s no different.  He’s a pretty well-rounded fighter.  He’s good at everything.  I have to try and be prepared for the worst-case scenario.  He’s a good wrestler.  He’s got better takedowns than me.  I’ve been training a lot of jiu-jitsu off my back, a lot of stand-up.  

I think he’s good in everything, but I don’t think he’s great in anything.  I think his jiu-jitsu is good, but it’s not amazing.  His wrestling, I think, is his greatest strength.  But even with that, I don’t think he’s the best wrestler in the UFC.  His striking is good, but if you watch his last fight with [Martin] Kampmann, he spent like ten or more punches to put him away.  I really don’t need ten punches to put someone away.  I just need one.

You were on a good roll in the UFC until your loss to Goran Reljic.  What do you think went wrong for you in that fight?

“Good morning, parents. My name is Chris, and I’ll be watching over your children.”

In between putting out fires and collecting bonus checks, fan-favorite Chris Lytle has been working with the Indianapolis Police Department to establish an MMA Training program for at-risk youth and veterans suffering from PTSD. Their “Police Athletic League” is seeking a $50,000 grant from Pepsi’s Refresh Everything project.

Programs like this give children self-esteem and support through positive mentoring and can have a huge impact on a child’s life, but more importantly they make it less likely that we’d have to suffer through piss poor YouTube scraps in the near future. Give “Lights Out” some support- you can vote for his program online or by texting 106352 to “Pepsi” (73774) daily now through the end of the month. Lytle’s PAL program is falling behind many others, including an initiative to buy a youth photography club more cameras—BORING!–so do your part and vote.

You know how a prank goes too far on tonight’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter? Well, MMA Junkie has revealed that the prank in question is the dreaded “upper-decker.” I’ve changed my mind about these MMA fighters — they’re nothing but mindless animals.

The Junkie has also learned that “for unexplained reasons, and not necessarily health-related reasons…one semifinal qualifier will not be able to compete in next week’s fights, which allows one of the eliminated cast members to step in for a shot at the finals.” I’m putting my money on John Kolosci to come back, based on the fact that TUF.UFC.com originally forgot to put his headshot in black-and-white (it was in color as of Monday). Tune in tomorrow morning for the episode recap…

(I know what you’re wondering, and yes, the carpet matches the drapes. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

God damn this economy. After some hard decisions, the UFC has been forced to cut four members of its workforce. MMA Survival has noticed that the following fighters have been removed from the UFC.com Fighters section…

Hermes Franca: Franca’s TKO loss to Tyson Griffin at UFC 103 was his third defeat in four fights. Franca missed weight for the contest by an embarassing four pounds, and put in an uninspired performance while sporting some seriously jacked-up hair. Franca previously served a one-year suspension for steroids. It was only a matter of time.

Chris Wilson: The Professor kicked off 2009 by losing to John Howard at UFC 94. Then, he was the victim of a terifying robbery in Brazil, was forced to drop out of UFC 98 due to incomplete paperwork, and was finally choked out by Mike Pyle at UFC Fight Night 19. It was Wilson’s third Octagon loss in four attempts, and now he’s been released by the organization. So, not the greatest year for Chris, really.

(Wilson Reis vs. Henry Martinez)

If you’re one of the proud, multi-lingual subscribers of ESPN Deportes, this is old news to you, but the second weekly installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships went down Friday night (and was broadcast on Saturday), with former EliteXC 140-pound champ Wilson Reis extending his record to 7-0 with a decision win over Henry Martinez, and IFL/Ring of Combat vet Lyman Good scoring his eighth consecutive win after choking out Hector Urbina. Also on the card was Jorge Ortiz (aka "The Naked Man"), who scored a decision win over Aaron Romero. You can watch the entire broadcast (in English!) starting this Wednesday on Bellator.com. Full results are below…

TOURNAMENT BOUTS
Wilson Reis def. Henry Martinez via unanimous decision (bantamweights)
Eric Reynolds def. Thomas Schulte via TKO, 4:18 of round 1 (lightweights)
Lyman Good def. Hector Urbina via submission (rear-naked choke), 3:22 of round 2 (welterweights)
Omar de la Cruz def. Victor Meza via unanimous decision (welterweights)
Jorge Ortiz def. Aaron Romero via unanimous decision (welterweights)

NON-TOURNAMENT BOUTS
Jesse Juarez def. Mikey Gomez via TKO, 4:23 of round one (welterweights)
Matt Makowksi def. Aaron Tregear via unanimous decision (lightweights)
Jimmie Rivera def. Willie Gates via submission (triangle choke), 3:17 of round 3 (bantamweights)
Josh Laberge def. Chris Simmons via unanimous decision (lightweights)

Bellator’s staggered four-weight-class tournament system may seem confusing at first, but basically here’s what’s going to happen…

CagePotato.com: What do you think of Wilson Gouveia as a fighter?  What do you think his strengths are?

I think he’s a tough guy, pretty well-rounded.  He’s got good stand-up and good ground.  He hits hard.  But I think I’m better in all areas.

Is there one aspect that you think will make the difference, or is this fight going to go all over the place?

Definitely it’s going to go all over.  If I get the opportunity to take him down and pound him, I’ll do that.  Otherwise I’ll beat him up on the feet.

Do you think a win here puts you in line for a title shot?

(It’s a Christmas miracle! Nah playa, it’s just a Jonathan Brookins video blog. Propers: JonathanBrookins.com)

 – Told You So: K-1 standout Gokhan Saki says he’s headed to Strikeforce (Twitter)

– Tatsuya Kawajiri, Hiroyuki Takaya Pre-Dynamite!! open workout video (MMA Fighting)

– Cody McKenzie shows you around his "crib." (YouTube)

– Clay Guida talks Gomi (Yahoo)

– "Lesnar to Wrestlemania" rumors still alive and well (Bloody Elbow)

– Thiago Alves vs. Rick Story targeted for May. (MMA Weekly)

– Mike Brown ready to roll against Diego Nunes at UFC 125 (MMA Junkie)

– GSP wins Canadian athlete of the year (Heavy)

– What your favorite pro MMA fighters really do want for Christmas. (Sherdog)

– Top 10 Xmas videos to share with friends and family (Gawker)

– 25 sexy celebrity Santas. Don’t worry, they’re girls. (Made Men)

– How to survive the Zombie Christmas Apocalypse. (Break)

– Hot chick pickle eating contest! (Break)

(Here comes the pain, Whoville.)

Yeah, that’s Randy and Kim Couture enjoying the hell out of themselves at their Christmas costume party.  Combat Lifestyle was there and captured the magic in a photo album you really should take a look at. 

While there is absolutely no way I can go to sleep tonight without having a nightmare about Randy the Grinch up there, I do have to admire his willingness to go all out and his attention to detail.  Not only did he do the whiskers, he did the creepy long eyelashes too.  That’s a man who is committed to his costume.  We also gotta give respect to Shawn Tompkins, who nailed the "dick in a box" thing perfectly…

(UFC Girls via MMA Fever)

(Clements v. Travis Briere, end comes at the 2:44 mark.)

Aside from The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale, December 3rd also features an interesting welterweight battle between UFC veteran Rich Clementi and up and coming KO artist Chris Clements under the Score Fighting Series promotion. And after doing a quick check-up on Clements, we thought he was a guy that was worth talking about, so let’s, shall we?

“The Menace” is a 9-4 product fighting out of Ontario, Canada who has collected all 9 of those wins by way of KO or TKO inside the first two rounds. He often trains with the likes of Mark Hominick and Sam Stout, because there can only be so many MMA gyms in that tundra known as Canada, am I right or am I right? *High fives self*

A little known fact about Clements: he is the man responsible for retiring UFC vet Jonathan Goulet back at Rinside MMA-Payback in November of 2010, the video of which is after the jump.

(There may be only one man on earth who can make the Santa hat look cool.)

I don’t want much this holiday season.  Well, besides that Red Ryder BB Gun I ask for every year.  And a pony.  But there are some fights I’d like to see in 2009, and while I don’t think that mall Santa I tried to talk to is going to be any help (let’s just say it got heated and we both said some things we didn’t really mean), I’m holding out hope that the powers that be will hear my pleas and make some of these happen.  

Here’s my wish list of ten fights for 2009.  Some are very likely.  Some are just barely feasible.  But I tried to stay away from the downright impossible, hence the absence of Fedor vs. The Highlander.  Feel free to let me know all about what’s on your list in the comments section:

1. Anderson Silva vs. Georges St. Pierre: Whether GSP beats Penn or not (magic eight ball says, “all signs point to yes,”) this has the potential to be the UFC’s biggest superfight ever.  They have precious few opportunities to settle pound-for-pound debates, but this is their best shot.  If MMA becomes legal in New York this year, as it probably will, this fight could do a Jay-Z and sell out the Garden in a day.

2. B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian: Perhaps no fighter in the UFC has improved so much by sheer force of will as KenFlo.  Penn is the lightweight champ, and he deserves to be, which is why I really wish he’d stop chasing fights in other weight classes and set his sights on defending that title.  Winning a belt is great, but defending it is how you cement your status as a dominant champ.  Penn probably beats Florian in a tough fight, but there’s only one way to find out.

3. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett: If he beats Arlovski, this is the only realistically possible bout for Fedor that would still be compelling.  I know they’re friends and all, but Affliction is starting to feel like a narrowing path leading only to this fight.  Hopefully all parties concerned – Affliction, Barnett, Fedor, Fedor’s management team – can hold it together long enough to make it happen.

(Props to MMA Mania)

We like to rag on fuckups like Junie Browning and Jesse Taylor for their ridiculous drunken antics, lack of impulse control, and apparent urge to piss away every chance that’s given to them in an endless quest toward self-destruction. But in general, being a violent, alcoholic jackass is a result of some kind of unresolved psychic torment that booze temporarily erases. Monday’s UFC 89 Countdown: Bisping vs. Leben special detailed the upbringing of TUF‘s original hard-drinking hothead, Chris Leben. It seems that everybody in Chris’s family was a drinker, from the father who abandoned him to the mother who tried to support him and his two siblings with her bartending job — and the lack of supervision, stability, and positive role models through his childhood didn’t exactly shape him into the world’s most balanced person.

Other things we learn about Chris Leben in this video: He couldn’t read or write when he graduated high school. He went AWOL from the Army after being convinced by a recruiter — falsely, it turned out — that he could enlist just to be on their wrestling team. Losing to Anderson Silva sent him on a two-week bender. Excluding boot camp and jail, he’d never been sober for more than a week or two straight since he was 13, but at the time of Leben’s interview for the special, he was 89 days sober. And finally, he ain’t goin’ all the way to England to lose.

(The people’s philosopher.)

When it comes to getting drunk and going crazy on The Ultimate Fighter, Chris Leben is sort of like the Neil Armstrong of the field. He did it first, when no one even knew whether it could be done, and so forever after people wanted to know what his thoughts were when other people did it. The difference is that while Armstrong stayed pretty involved and interested in the space program (God, this is a terrible analogy), Leben says he doesn’t really keep up with new installments of TUF. Which is why he might be forgiven for getting a little frustrated when asked about Junie Browning’s drunken freakouts during a media conference call to promote UFC 89:

You know, every time someone gets drunk on that show I get called by one of my friends who says, ‘You know, this guy reminds me of you. He was drunk and out of hand.’ You know, a house full of fighters…I got a saying, fighters are like strippers, they ain’t paying their way through college. What I mean by that is we all got a bunch of problems and skeletons in the closet.

Here’s my question: does Chris Leben have any sayings that don’t involve strippers? This is the same guy who, during the first season, coined the phrase, “I’ll come in smelling like booze and dirty strippers and still put the stamp on kids!”

Not that it wasn’t awesome, and not that his stripper/fighter analogy isn’t many times better than my Leben/Armstrong analogy, but dammit, comparing fighters and strippers seems like it isn’t doing either group too many favors.

(Props: Bloody Elbow)

Not long ago we wrote about the surprisingly well-done Chris Leben video from Icon Sport. Now the first episode is out, and while Leben himself is no Aristotle he does seem to be more mature than the Leben who KO’d doors on “The Ultimate Fighter”. Around the 4:00 mark talk turns to Michael Bisping, and then Leben describes it as “the fight that needs to happen”. That might be overstating it a bit, but at the very least it’s a fight that would be cool if it really happened this time.

(‘These walls are funny. First you hate ‘em, then you get used to ‘em…’)

Chris Leben’s time in jail may have cost him a big time bout with Michael Bisping, but it does seem to have forced him to reflect on the state of his life. It also gave him the opportunity to choke out a convicted felon. Which is, you know, good to have on your resume.

He tells the story to MMA Weekly, describing what happened when his attempts to train in jail drew the curiosity of fellow inmates, who asked Leben to teach them a choke.

“I told the guys it’s a blood choke, so you don’t have to squeeze hard,” he said. “So I was just kind of choking him with one arm while he’s standing up. And I told him just tap when you start to feel like you’re going to pass out. Well, he didn’t tap, and at the time I’m going wow, this guy’s pretty tough, I’m surprised he hasn’t tapped yet. He just drops to the floor in the cell.

“Now I’m standing there with 20 prisoners around and they’re freaking out. This guy’s laying there, snoring like crazy. I’m like ‘it’s all right, it’s all right,’ then I realize they have cameras in here. I’ve just choked this guy out in jail – I could get in trouble for this. I kept telling them, ‘he’s fine, he’s fine,’ and it took this guy a minute to wake up. Finally he woke up and we had a laugh, and luckily I didn’t get in any trouble for it. That was beginning and the ending of my inmate coaching career.”

Two things here: 1) That’s awesome, and 2) The moment where Chris chokes out an inmate and then thinks it through long enough to realize that it was probably a bad idea is, I’m going to say, emblematic of the kind of approach to life that landed him there in the first place.

To his credit, Leben seems to have enough self-awareness to admit that:

Here’s a fun fact: Matt Serra’s Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale match against Chris Lytle (11/11/06) was his sixth-consecutive pro fight to end in a decision. “The Terror” went 3-3 during that stretch, suffering notable losses to B.J. Penn and Karo Parisyan, but turned his career around by edging out Lytle in a split decision — in which two of the judges scored it 30-27 for Serra and the other scored it an equally plausible 30-27 for Lytle — and earning his title shot.

(R.I.P Mike in Brazil.) 

Fearection: 1) Sexual arousal combined with a feeling of intimidation and uncertainty, generally provoked by powerful/forceful women who are physically attractive. 2) The act of God himself striking fear into your erection. 3) An erection rooted in an unexpected response to the fight or flight mechanism.

One of these definitions, or perhaps a little bit of each of them, best described our reaction when we came upon these recent pictures of former Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion Christiane “Cyborg” Santos Justino. Because, although our immediate reaction to hearing that the newly single Cyborg was snapped by Globo.com in a series of bikini shots was to shut down our computers, throw them from the top of the highest building in town, and renounce the Internet for life, after actually taking a look at them, we must say that she is looking rather…healthy (?) these days. Sure, it’s not going to get your engine revving like a Gina Carano GQ shoot, but dare we say that Cyborg almost looks doable in a couple of these (Ed note: We know, that statement is now committed to the Internet archives forever). Looks like you done fucked up, Evangelista.

Check out a full gallery of her photos after the jump. Don’t worry, it’s not with our picture viewer. 

(“A new make-up set, a ring girl outfit and the new Maroon 5 CD…Gus Johnson, you are a strange little man.”)

With Christmas around the corner, we figured it would be a good time to share some of the letters we got our hands on from fighters to Santa.

From Wanderlei to Alistair, Nick  to Chael, it’s interesting to hear what these guys want from St. Nick this holiday season.

“Are you not entertained? ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?!?” (Pic: MMARocks.pl)

Chris Lytle’s career has been something of an enigma. He’s a fan favorite that largely flies under the radar. He has a go-for-broke style that’s measured with solid technique and an enviable ground game. He sports a losing record in an organization that has awarded him a record number of post-fight performance bonuses. It’s the kind of engrossing tale that deserves a captivating, in depth interview to truly appreciate. But for a man who’s entire life is a lesson in self-sacrifice, there’s still much to give outside of the cage, and Lytle’s ready to turn the lights out on his fighting career.

Ariel Helwani broke the news in an interview with Lytle last night. Despite his participation in a sport where hype and self-promotion can help raise you to the top, it’s no surprise to hear “Lights Out” speaking only of others. “I’ve been fighting since ’98, fighting forever, a lot of it is just that I’m not doing my responsibilities like I need to at home. I feel like I’m not being the type of dad I want to. I got four kids and lots of times I feel just an immense sense of guilt for not being there in times when I should.””

More on Lytle’s plans for life outside of the cage after the jump.

For your sake, I hope you’ve been good this year.

The year is half way over. Days are longer, flip-flops and shorts have replaced boots and pants and yet, the smell of chestnuts roasting on an open fire remains as strong as ever. That can only mean one thing – Christmas in July! Most of you couldn’t care less about another holiday you don’t get off from work, but what if I told you this one was special in that you can make a wish list for Wandy Claus and he’ll give you what you want if you’ve been good all year? You have been good this year, right?

On behalf of MMA fans across the globe, I’ve complied a Christmas in July wish list that, if fulfilled, would bring peace on Earth and good will toward man – or at least would appease a large majority of fans of a fringe sport. Click below to see what made the cut and bash me in the comments for not including your idea.

(It looks like child and actor labor laws finally bit Zuffa in the ass.)

What a difference a year can make in the life of a fighter.

In the past 365 days, Chris Horodecki (16-3)  rebounded from his WEC highlight reel knockout loss to Anthony Njokuani to win two in a row against Danny Downes and Ed Ratcliffe. The wins earned the former IFL posterboy a step up in competition — namely former number one WEC lightweight contender Donald Cerrone.

Following a disappointing showing against "Cowboy" earlier this month, "The Polish Hammer" has now been dropped by Zuffa and will not be joining his Team Tompkins stablemate Sam Stout in the UFC as part of the WEC merger. 

"One door closes and another one opens," the 23-year-old Canadian told MMAjunkie today. "I’ll be back sooner than later. [I'll] get back in it. We’ll get a couple fights and do what we do."

Joining Horodecki on the unemployment line to start 2011 will be former WEC lightweight champ Jamie Varner (16-5, 2NC) who was also dropped by the Vegas-based promotion today following his less-than-stellar compilation of three losses and one draw in 2010.

(No, really, I love it. It’s much better than something practical like a new hoodie or pair of glasses.")

Since it’s the holidays and we haven’t been spitting out as many Photoshops as we used to, we figured it would be appropriate to put together a collection of illustrations depicting what a handful of fighters and MMA luminaries are angling for this Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa or putting up with obnoxious relatives just so you can get a crappy token gift day.

The possibilities were pretty much endless, but these are the best we could come up with on an hour’s notice.

Enjoy.

(Props: NickDiaz209)

Back in July 2002, when Nick Diaz was an 18-year-old rookie with a pro record of 1-0, and Chris Lytle was a 9-6-5 journeyman Pancrase vet trying to hit his stride, the two welterweights met at an IFC Warriors Challenge event in Porterville, California. It was a gritty scrap, with the momentum going back and forth, Nick’s forehead getting slashed open, and one of the bikini-clad ring girls freaking out about a heel-hook attempt at the 13:46 mark. (That’s our kind of chick.) Diaz wound up taking a narrow split decision. Both fighters would make their UFC debuts the following year, but never crossed paths in the cage again.

(Well, this mug shot represents a vast improvement over the old one. At least Leben’s learning *something* from all this. PicProps: HawaiiNewsNow.com)

We were half joking earlier this year when we compared Chris Leben to that screw-up brother of yours who borrows your car, gets high and then crashes it. Right now however, that assessment seems sadly apt after Leben wrecked his truck on a Hawaii freeway earlier this week and was arrested on suspicion of DUI. Again.

Here’s the word straight from the document of record, by which we mean a story from a local television station in HI:  “Officers arrested Christian Leben, 30, a middleweight fighter known as the Crippler, on suspicion of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant Tuesday. He was released from custody after posting $1,000 bail. Police say Leben was driving on the west-bound side of the H1 Freeway just before 2 AM, when he lost control of his pickup and crashed into a wall near the Kapiolani Boulevard off ramp. He was allegedly driving without a license and without insurance.”

At this point, there seems to be no appropriate response to this news aside from a resigned sigh and a disappointed shake of the head. Let’s just hope this latest brush with the law doesn’t upset Leben’s scheduled meeting with Brian Stann at UFC 125. We’d hate for this to go down like it did last time.

It’s Christmas today, Potato Nation.  If you’re somehow unfamiliar with the day, think of it as the Fedor Emelianenko of holidays, only slightly less grim.  Today we indulge in crass materialism while calling it ‘holiday spirit,’ and then we drink spiked egg nog and watch "Robocop" until we pass out on the couch.  Your traditions may vary, but it doesn’t matter.  The important thing is that today we stop mocking one another long enough to feel like family.  Or at least, you know, we try to.

From all of us at the Potato to all of you, Merry freaking Christmas.  May all your yuletide wishes come true, and may all your family squabbles be resolved without serious injury or police intervention.

(Images courtesy of facebook.com/ginacarano, twitter.com/ginacarano)

Gina Carano has been spending most of her time on a movie set lately, but she took a moment earlier today to make sure that everybody is in the holiday spirit. To be honest, I wasn’t until I saw that picture of Gina Carano. Now I’m ready to put some muhfuckin’ ornaments on a tree, y’feel me? Though Gina has kept quiet about her return to MMA, Scott Coker hopes to see her back in a Strikeforce cage next summer. In the meantime, we have enough MMA sex symbols to keep us busy…