Well, here it is — your main event from Strikeforce: At the Dome. Watch as Sapp starts running for his life at the 3:37 mark. By the way, Nortje’s “14-12 MMA record” is a complete fabrication. But then again, Bob Sapp was never an “NFL star.”

So Gary Goodridge will be taking on Butterbean in April, and tomorrow’s Strikeforce event will feature Bob Sapp against 1-5 Euro-can Jan Nortje. If you’re curious about Goodridge and Nortje’s current skill level, just watch this sad match from K-1 HERO’s 8 (3/12/07), where Goodridge takes piles of abuse in one of the roughest, stupidest rope-a-dopes ever, then pounds back when Nortje is completely gassed. Again, Sapp is a -600 favorite in tomorrow’s match, even though his usual game plan (slug away all your energy then fall over) is exactly the same as Nortje’s. Anyway.

And because commenter “fightfan” asked for it, here’s Goodridge’s November 2005 loss against Glaube Feitosa in a K-1 kickboxing championship match. Watch as Feitosa knocks out Gary’s front teeth at 3:44, and recoil in horror during the slo-mo replay at 5:08.

(“I see you can ‘andle my riddum.”)

In an interview with Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, Dana White confirmed that BJ Penn and George St. Pierre would have their rematch at the UFC’s Super Bowl weekend event on January 31st, 2009, in Las Vegas. GSP’s welterweight belt will be on the line.

White also confirmed that UFC 91 will be held November 15th in Portland, Oregon, and will indeed feature a lightweight bout between Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson. (We can safely infer now that BJ Penn won’t be fighting again at the end of the year.) When asked about Wanderlei Silva’s next Octagon appearance, White would only say that the Axe Murderer probably wouldn’t be part of their December 27th event in Las Vegas — which could mean they’re still pushing for him to headline the Portland card against Quinton Jackson, or that they’re extending his hiatus until early ’09.

“We have nothing but big fights left for the rest of the year, but this is so crazy because there are so many of them,” White said. “We’re going to have a retreat on Monday to figure this all out.” Here’s what’s on the dry-erase board at this point…

UFC 88 (September 6th, Atlanta): Liddell/Evans, Franklin/Hamill, Parisyan/Yoshida, Henderson/Palhares

UFC Fight Night 15 (September 17th, Omaha): Diaz/Neer, Danzig/Guida, Alexander/Schafer, Lauzon/Bradley

UFC 89 (October 18th; Birmingham, England): Bisping/Leben, Machida/T. Silva, Jardine/Vera, Sokoudjou/Cane, Carwin/Wain

UFC 90 (October 25th, Chicago): A. Silva/Cote, Sanchez/Alves, Sherk/Griffin, Franca/Tibau

UFC 91 (November 15th, Portland): Florian/Stevenson

The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale (December 13th, Las Vegas): no fights announced yet

UFC 92 (December 27th, Las Vegas): Nogueira/Mir

UFC 93 (January 31st, Las Vegas): Penn/St. Pierre

(P-p-please, Ben! Don’t knock me out! You’re making a big mistake!)

Although none of the bouts have been officially confirmed by the UFC as of this writing, it looks like the UFC will be sticking with their time-tested method of stacking its foreign cards with local fighters, as Brazilian’s Gabriel Gonzaga, Diego Nunes, Milton Viera, and Iuri Alcantara have been booked to face Ben Rothwell, Nik Lentz, Godofredo Castro, and Johnny Eduardo, respectively, at an unnamed event scheduled for Janurary 19th in Brazil.

Rothwell vs. Gonzaga is probably the biggest fight out of the four that us non-Brazilians can get excited about. Both men are big heavyweights who aren’t afraid to throw leather and have knockout power when they choose to do so. Although Gonzaga has relied heavily upon his grappling base (and rightfully so) since un-retiring and returning to the UFC, it’s only a matter of time before we see “Napao” revert to the whimsically hopeful striker that we came to know and love in his victories over Mirko Cro Cop and Chris Tuschsererererer’s balls and his losses to Shane Carwin and Junior dos Santos. Speaking of dos Santos, Gonzaga was scheduled to square off against Geronimo dos Santos at UFC 153, but the bout was cancelled when “Mondragon” failed his medical exam due to Hepatitis B (Author’s note: Brazilian prostitutes, they’ll get you every time.). Rothwell, on the other hand, recently saved his UFC career by knocking out Brendan Schaub in hilarious fashion at UFC 145.

(To add more intrigue, winner should get to shave the loser’s head and beard. They can call the show, “Someone’s fro has to go.”)

It looks like former backyard brawlers-turned-MMA-fighters and Team Kimbo teammates Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson and Dhafir “Dada 5000″ Harris are going to put dough before bros when they step in the cage opposite one another in Florida in January 2012.

According to a report by our friend The Fight Nerd, Dada 5000, who is 2-0 against a pair of opponents with a combined 1-8 record,  broke the news of the yet-to-be-signed fight that is penciled in for January 12 under the World Fighting Organization (creative, huh?) banner during a recent appearance on the Rodolfo Roman Show. He also said that the bout will be a five-round heavyweight title fight, which is curious considering the WFO already has a heavyweight champ, by the name of Marcio Cruz.

Harris says that one possible venue for the show is Universal Studios in Orlando, which makes sense since both he and Ferguson came up through the backyard fighting circuit in the Sunshine State. Another possible location that has been discussed he says is the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but the promotion might have to run that by a couple Italian brothers who own a casino in the city first.

Check out some videos of Dada in action after the jump.

Yeah, just put a bucket in that one hand, sponge there, maybe some Mr. Clean and boom, you got yourself an entry.

Heads up, Potato Nation, we wanted to turn you on to an opportunity to lay in to some cool free stuff from Vladimir Matyushenko, just between us. Now, don’t tell nobody but a friend of the Potato dropped us a line about a contest running on everybody’s favorite social networks to hate on, and it sounded like it might be right up our alley.

Vladdy and his friends have been amusing themselves with #JanitorTips on Twitter, and they’ve decided to issue an open challenge for the most hilarious/memorable/violently amusing tips. Some examples thus far:

- Janitors don’t tell jokes, they deliver punchlines. #janitortips

- Breaking news: Toronto’s garbage collectors will be going on strike April 30th because @vladthejanitor is taking out the trash #janitortips

-Every janitor should be able to sweep, mop, and ankle pick. #janitortips

(Just another day at the office for Jan Finney. The terrifying, potentially life-threatening office. PicProps: Strikeforce)

When staring down the barrel of your own imminent demise, there are a couple of different ways you can play it. You can dig your heels in and fight every step of the way as the guards physically drag you out of your cell and down the hall to the execution chamber, or you can handle things a little more like Gary Gilmore: Grinning into the scowling faces of the poor bastards on the firing squad and shouting, “Let’s do it!”

Jan Finney, to her credit, seems to be opting for the latter approach.

Finney doesn’t appear the least bit bothered by the fact she’s jumping up in weight to take on the most dominant female fighter on the planet, that the oddsmakers see her as a near-historic underdog or that Strikeforce says she’ll likely be fired if she doesn’t have a “good showing” against Cris “Cyborg” Santos tonight. In fact, Finney – whose nickname, by comparison, is “Cuddles” – thinks it’s hilarious.

(Remember this face — because it might not look the same after next month. Props: MMABigShow.com)

As we mentioned this weekend, Cris Cyborg will be returning to the cage next month against Jan "Cuddles" Finney. You may be asking yourself, "Why is Strikeforce making their 145-pound women’s champ fight some broad named Cuddles who I’ve never heard of?" Fair enough. So let’s run through the checklist…

– Is she a natural 145-pounder? Of course not. Finney has competed around 135 pounds for most of her career, which would make her a more logical opponent for Strikeforce’s 135-pound champ Sarah Kaufman, who could also use a fight.

– Does she have a winning record? Just barely! Finney’s record stands at a shaky 8-7, though she has won her last four fights.

– Has she faced top competition? Definitely. She’s gone toe-to-toe with Miesha Tate, Erin Toughill, Shayna Baszler, and Julie Kedzie (three times), and has lost to all of them. She was scheduled to face Gina Carano at Dynamite!! USA in June 2007, but Carano had to withdraw from the fight due to illness.

– So wait, why is this fight happening? [shrugs]

Videos of Finney in action are after the jump…

(Photo courtesy of ajc.com. Tie courtesy of Elton John.)

Heisman Trophy winner, two-time NFL Pro Bowl selection, Olympic bobsledder, Dissociative Identity Disorder sufferer, Celebrity Apprentice contestant, Tae Kwon Do black belt, and American Kickboxing Academy student Herschel Walker will make his MMA debut on January 30th at a Strikeforce event to be held at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. The news was announced yesterday via press release, though Walker’s opponent has yet to be named. The only other match tied to the card at this point is Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos‘s 145-pound title defense against Marloes Coenen.

As Dana White pondered when Walker’s Strikeforce signing was first announced: "Which athletic commission is going to let this guy fight? Who the fuck are they going to find to fight Herschel Walker? A guy in a wheelchair?” We now know the answer to the first question is "Florida," the state that previously signed off on Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock at the same venue last October. As for Dana’s other hypotheticals, we hope that Herschel Walker’s opponent has some kind of disability, considering that Walker has only been training in MMA since last month, and it wouldn’t really be fair to make him fight a guy who has both fighting experience and the use of all of his limbs. I mean, if Strikeforce really wants to put Walker against Fedor Emelianenko in the spring, they’d better give him a beatable first opponent.

Shane Carwin has updated his Twitter page with some info from his manager, and now it seems as if his heavyweight title bout with Brock Lesnar could take place on the UFC’s January 2 event.  Carwin also seems to be under the impression that Lesnar is suffering from H1N1, also known as the Swine Flu, which Carwin has apparently had (and which he presumably beat the hell out of).  I’ve spent all weekend telling myself that what I have is just the regular flu, so I find all this H1N1 talk a little discomforting, but as long as Lesnar doesn’t turn out to have the immune system of a ninety-pound pipsqueak he should pull through this thing and provide the UFC with a huge event to kick off 2010. 

Now can we all just agree to stop talking about the Swine Flu and instead go shiver under a quilt while watching old episodes of "Law & Order" for the rest of the afternoon?  

(Even in the off-season, the dude stays in killer shape. Props: @ryanbader)

We’ve got four new UFC fight announcements for you this morning. If you begin to feel overwhelmed, just remember your safe word, and pray that I have mercy on you, you worthless little dung beetle.

- As first reported by ESPN, light-heavyweights Ryan Bader and Vladimir Matyushenko will meet at UFC on FOX 6: Johnson vs. Dodson, January 26th in Chicago. Both guys are returning from being smashed in their last fights: Bader suffered a knockout loss to Lyoto Machida in August, while the Janitor has been sidelined due to injury since being TKO’d by Alexander Gustafsson last December.

- MMAWeekly reports that streaking heavyweights Stefan Struve and Mark Hunt will meet at the UFC’s next Japan event — UFC on Fuel 8, March 2nd at the Saitama Super Arena. The beanpole Dutchman and stocky Kiwi were originally scheduled to meet at UFC 146 back in May, but Hunt was forced to pull out of the fight on short notice with a knee injury.

A proven fight-finisher, Struve has stopped his last four opponents in the Octagon (Pat Barry, Dave Herman, Lavar Johnson, and Stipe Miocic), while Hunt has earned victories over his last three (Chris Tuchscherer, Ben Rothwell, and Cheick Kongo). Though Hunt will enjoy a sort of home-field advantage — he’s had nine previous MMA fights at the Saitama Super Arena, while Struve will be making his Japanese debut — he will also be giving up 13 inches (!) in height.

(Alternate titles for the event include “Strikeforce: All’s Well That Enswell” and ”Strikeforce: Operation Frequent Wind. / Photo via Showtime Sports.)

Strikeforce continues to blow its talent wad for what might be the last event of its existence. As MMAJunkie reported on Friday, a compelling lightweight battle between KJ Noons vs. Ryan Couture has been added to January 12th lineup, and will likely take place on the Showtime Extreme-televised preliminary card.

Since coming up short against Nick Diaz during their Strikeforce welterweight title fight in October 2010, Noons has gone 1-2 at lightweight, most recently dropping a unanimous decision to Josh Thomson at the Tate vs. Rousey card in March. Still, his sharp boxing and significant experience edge could make him a very tough match for Couture, who is riding a three-fight win streak. Couture won a split-decision over Joe Duarte in his last Strikeforce appearance at Rockhold vs. Kennedy, and was most recently spotted looking at a paint-clad Natasha Wicks with an expression that seemed to say, “You’re hot and everything, but my dad’s already manhandled you, so I don’t know.”

Fightlinker gives us the heads-up that Australian models Kahili Blundell and Kristie Jane McKeon have been hired as ring girls for the UFC’s upcoming Australia vs. U.K. season of The Ultimate Fighter (aka “The Smashes“). As it turns out, Kristie McKeon is the girlfriend of Smashes coach Ross Pearson, which means that on-set hooting directed at the blonde fitness instructor will probably be kept to a minimum.

In honor of Pearson’s impressive accomplishment, we’ve rounded up 16 great photos of Kristie, which you can check out in the gallery after the jump. If you like what you see, follow Kristie on twitter for more. The Smashes debuts this Wednesday on FX Australia and ESPN UK.

(“How much will you gimme fo this crown? What about if I throw in the gloves?.” PicProps: Sherdog)

TATAME recently caught up with Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal while he was in Belem, Brazil helping former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida prepare for his upcoming UFC 140 championship bout with Jon Jones and according to the former Strikeforce 205-pound champ, he still has at least one fight scheduled under the SF banner.

If he could choose his opponent for the card, he says it would be the man who handed him his sole loss.

“I wanna fight [Rafael 'Feijao' Cavalcante] again because now I’m healthier. Before, when I fought him I had no meniscus, I had no stability on my knees. I fought him, I was winning, he caught me with a knee, and then that’s it, and elbows. But now, I’m ready,” Mo says. “[I'd fight him] he same. Because now I’m not injured, I can use both legs. Last time, only one leg. This time, two legs.Hopefully [I'm fighting him in January]. I heard he’s hurt, but we’ll see.”

As far as his future with Strikeforce goes, Lawal says he isn’t wasting time thinking about all of the “what ifs,” because as he puts it, whatever happens is going to happen and worrying won’t do anything to change it.

 
(Seriously, any excuse to run this photo…)

Gina Carano‘s upcoming star turn in Steven Soderbergh’s next action flick will reportedly hit theaters in January, and early impressions are very positive. The movie, now titled Haywire instead of Knockout, had its first test screening earlier this week, and Hollywood Elsewhere passed along a rundown of the plot and Carano’s surprisingly compelling performance:

Mallory Kane (Carano) is young, tough, beautiful, determined, and a freelance covert operative. She is hired out by her handler, Kenneth (Ewan McGregor), to various global entities, to perform jobs which governments can’t authorize and heads of state would rather not know about.

For all her looks and youth, Mallory is still the best in her field, and her skills are in constant demand. But when one of her operations goes awry, Mallory needs to use all her skills, tricks and abilities to escape an international manhunt, make it back to the United States, protect her family, and exact revenge on those that have betrayed her.

(Dude, we know. We know.)

Now that Strikeforce’s future is looking brighter, the promotion has gone ahead and officially announced their January 7th card in Las Vegas, which will be headlined by Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine, fighting for the middleweight title. Two more Strikeforce stars have been added to the lineup, against opponents with significantly less name value.

First up, former light-heavyweight champion Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal will face off against undefeated up-and-comer Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin, whose 12-0 record includes three wins at Strikeforce Challengers events. Mo last competed in September, when he scored a first-round knockout against Roger Gracie. The winner of this fight could very well earn a shot at TBA for Strikeforce’s vacant 205-pound strap.

(Let’s just hope this fight doesn’t affect their friendship.)

Sources have confirmed to ESPN.com that a light-heavyweight meeting between former champion Rashad Evans and undefeated contender Phil Davis is slated to headline the UFC’s return to FOX, which will take place January 28th at the United Center in Chicago. The two fighters were originally supposed to meet at UFC 133 in August, but Davis was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury.

Evans is currently riding a three-fight win streak, including decisions over Thiago Silva and Quinton Jackson, and a second-round TKO of Tito Ortiz, who came in as Davis’s short-notice injury replacement. Davis has gone 5-0 in the Octagon, most recently out-pointing Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in March. You’d have to assume that if Evans manages to deal “Mr. Wonderful” his first loss, he’ll be awarded a title shot against the winner of Jones vs. Machida — but considering Suga’s run of bad luck when it comes to that sort of thing, anything’s possible.

In other UFC on FOX 2 booking news…

(Jimmo will trade his precious metal to finally test his mettle in the UFC)

The UFC announced today that it has signed Maximum Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion and CagePotato guest blogger Ryan Jimmo to face Czech wrestler Karlos Vemola on the inaugural UFC on FX 1 card January 20 in Nashville, Tennessee.

“The Big Deal” will put his 16-fight undefeated streak on the line as he steps into the Octagon for the first time against Vemola, who is 1-1 in two UFC starts.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/TeflonMaster)

If you’ve followed MMA for more than a few years, you know who Jose “Pele” Landi-Jons is.

Anderson Silva — a longtime training partner of “Pele,” who lost to the Cuban-born fighter twice in muay thai competition — credits the original Chuteboxe team fighter with helping make him the dangerous fighter he is today.

Well, it appears that Pele is back to form after suffering a career threatening leg break back in 2008 and now the 38-year-old, who is undefeated in his four bouts since returning from the grisly injury, will take on Jorge “Macaco” Patino for the third time at MMA Combat 2 Kumite on January 20 in Brazil.

Of course, you wouldn’t expect us to make inappropriate jokes about the UFC in the first place. Props: ufcundisputed.com

As a gamer, it sometimes confuses me that I get so excited about the release of new sports games. Other than updated rosters and an occasional gimmick that actually pans out, I’m essentially buying the exact same game every year. Not to mention that for every new feature that I’ll actually use, such as the truck stick in Madden games, there are two or three that I’ll either ignore or downright loathe. So for me to actually be excited about the newest edition of UFC Undisputed is sort of an accomplishment.

Earlier this week, THQ and the UFC released details regarding the game’s development. Set to be released in January of 2012, UFC Undisputed 3 will be available for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 gaming consoles. Obviously, UFC Undisputed 3 will feature the addition of featherweights and bantamweights, improved graphics and new camera angles, just like every other sequel to a sports game. For those of you looking to get in touch with your inner Mayhems, the game will also have fighter entrances. What is especially noteworthy though is that the game will also allow players to play in Pride mode.

For those of you thinking that this just means players will get to use soccer kicks in the Octagon, prepare to be pleasantly surprised. The game will not only feature authentic Pride environments (read: a ring), but also Bas Rutten and Stephen Quadros doing commentary. That alone has potential to be an awesome gaming experience, although the competition for best video game announcer is pretty stiff. Naturally, you will also be allowed to use soccer kicks, knees to a downed opponent and head stomps.

Official trailer, courtesy of the UFCTHQ YouTube page, after the jump.

(It’s the kind of moment that makes you wish competitive judo used the same commentator as NBA Jam. Photoprops: AlumniRoundup.com)

Rhadi Ferguson — four-time Judo national champion, 2004 Olympic Judo competitor, BJJ black belt, American Top Team strength-and-conditioning coach, Doctor of education, and cousin of Kimbo Slice — is about to make his televised MMA debut. After picking up two first-round TKO victories this year in southern regional leagues, Ferguson has been signed to the Strikeforce light-heavyweight roster, and will make his first appearance on the main card of Strikeforce Challengers: Woodley vs. Saffiedine, January 7th in Nashville. His opponent will be 1-0 Canadian rookie Ion Cherdivara, whose list of credentials isn’t nearly as long as Dr. Rhadi’s.

(Uh-oh, I think we’ve got a workout video on our hands. Somebody get Jay Glazer on the horn, STAT. PicProps: Connect.in)

If you looked at yesterday’s reports that a bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva was being considered for Strikeforce’s Jan. 29 show and thought to yourself, “Self, that seems awfully soon. Almost too soon,” well, you were right. We hate it when you’re right. Anyway, it turns out the aforementioned January date is “not on the table” for Fedor’s next yawn-worthy matchup in the Strikeforce cage, M-1 Global spokeshipster Evgeni Kogan said on Friday. As reported by MMA Junkie, Kogan wouldn’t elaborate further on the matter except to say that everybody involved has “been steadily working toward an agreement.”

The Junkie also notes that a couple months back M-1 boss Vadim Finkelstein said the rent-a-Fedor outfit was “negotiating primarily with Showtime to secure Emelianenko’s return.” Not to read too much into that, but it pretty much makes it sound like Strikeforce itself is the least important party in these talks. It also indicates that maybe Kogan wasn’t just blowing smoke recently when he said M-1 was trying leverage its own live fight events onto Showtime. If they can pull that off, well, I wonder if they could also speak to my mortgage lender.

(Nipmoua’s old poster design has become eerily prescient. Except for the ’200′ thing, obviously. I mean, do the math bro.)

In what’s expected to be an official announcement of the UFC’s return to Brazil in 2011, UFC president Dana White and Chairman/CEO Lorenzo Fertitta will be making a special announcement at Rio De Janeiro’s City Hall today at 11 a.m. ET, 2 p.m. local time. White and Fertitta will be joined by UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie, middleweight champion Anderson Silva, light-heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, featherweight champion Jose Aldo, #1 middleweight contender Vitor Belfort, and Eduardo Paes, the mayor of Rio. You can watch the announcement live in the video player after the jump. 

(Diaz insists all negotiations be handled through the proper channels. PicProps: CombatLifestyle.)

Don’t fret homies, Nick Diaz is totally down to fight Jason “Mayhem” Miller in the Strikeforce cage just as soon as that organization actually gets around to offering him the fight. So said Diaz mentor and trainer-to-the-stars (seriously, any stars) Cesar Gracie during an appearance on MMA Junkie Radio this week. One problem: Gracie said Mayhem can’t make welterweight and Diaz damn sure isn’t going all the way up to 185-pounds to fight him, so CEO Scott Coker (or maybe somebody who really wears the pants in Strikeforce) is going to have to figure out a catchweight. Any implication to the contrary is just Miller running his mouth, Gracie said.

"If that fight was offered, yeah, we’d probably take that fight," Gracie said. "We’d just have to look at what weight class it’s going to be in and apparently, Mayhem can’t make 170. We’re not going to accommodate going to 185 … That fight just hasn’t been offered to us in an official manner yet. I know Mayhem goes on his websites and (says) Nick is ducking him and everything.  It’s kind of hard to duck someone when you haven’t even been offered the fight. It’s just Mayhem talking about that. Until it’s been offered, you can’t say yes or no."

(Guillard prepares for battle at UFC 109. Believe it or not, there’s a shriveled-up old white man under that mask. Photo courtesy of URDirt.com)

Coming off a split-decision victory over Jeremy Stephens at UFC 119 last month — his third straight victory in the Octagon — UFC lightweight contender Melvin Guillard already has his next fight booked. As the Young Assassin tweeted last night: "Ok world an @Young__assassin fans the next fight is set for JAN 22,2011. FORT HOOD ,FIGHT FOR THE TROOPS."

Though he didn’t name an opponent, MMA Junkie claims that Guillard will be meeting well-traveled veteran Yves Edwards, who won a decision over John Gunderson last month in his UFC return fight, following a four-year absence from the organization. Junkie also pegs Charlie Brenneman vs. Amilcar Alves to the event.

If Guillard’s announcement turns out to be accurate, the January 22nd show at Fort Hood will be the UFC’s second "Fight for the Troops" event, following their December 2008 visit to Fort Bragg, which left Corey Hill with a broken leg, Razak Al Hassan with a broken arm, and Brandon Wolff with a cartoonishly lumped-up head. Talk about setting the bar high…

(If he can handle that, he can handle anything.)

According to a new report by MMA Weekly, former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber will return to action for the first time since his decision loss to Mike Brown in June, when he takes on top contender Raphael Assuncao at WEC 46 (January 11th, Sacramento). Faber has spent the last few months rehabbing the hand injuries he suffered against Brown, but described the January event as "perfect timing for me."

Though Assuncao may not be a household name yet, the 14-1 submission specialist has won both of his appearances in the WEC (decisions over Jameel Massouh and Yves Jabouin) and we consider him to be one of the ten best featherweights in the world right now. Faber vs. Assuncao is slated to be WEC 46′s co-main event, supporting the lightweight title unification bout between Jamie Varner and Benson Henderson — unless Henderson needs more time to recover from his own injuries, in which case it’ll be up to the California Kid to carry the card. Will Faber be able to re-establish himself in the division he ruled for almost three years, or will Assuncao put himself on that map as the WEC’s next featherweight star?

Cris Cyborg post-fight interview – Watch more Funny Videos

Our buddy Brian D’Souza was on the scene at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum, and got us this exclusive video interview with 145-pound women’s champ Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos, who put on another vicious striking performance en route to a 2nd-round KO against Jan Finney. Cyborg explains that she thought the fight should have been stopped earlier, and wasn’t troubled by Finney’s strikes because she used to training with men. She plans to get back into training and prepare for her next opponent — possibly Erin Toughill according to Scott Coker, even though Erin shot down that idea in March. But will anybody be prepared for Cyborg?

(“Don’t worry, Mo, we’re pretty sure your belt just got lost in the mail.”)

On the heels of his first successful title defense over Rick Hawn at Bellator 85, Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler has officially been booked to take on his next challenger at Bellator 96, which goes down from the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma on June 19th.

Chandler will face grappling savant Dave “The Fugitive” Jansen, a 19-2 (6-0 Bellator) product out of Oregon who earned his shot at Chandler with a unanimous decision victory over Marcin Held at Bellator 93 in March.

Undefeated in his mixed martial arts career, Chandler has won eight straight fights under the Bellator banner, including victories over Akihiro Gono, Patricky Freire, and a 4th round submission over Eddie Alvarez in an absolute war back in November of 2011 that secured him the title.

Also set for the June 19th card will be a clash between former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal and UFC/EliteXC veteran Seth Petruzelli that will in no way draw comparisons to Petruzelli’s infamous knockout of Kimbo Slice, we assure you (ROCKY! ROCKY IS HERE!! THE MOST INCREDIBLE…VICTORY…IN THE HISTORY OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS!).

And barring any arrests, War Machine will be there too. Should be fun.

-J. Jones

The original title of this post was going to be something along the lines of “F’n A, Cotton! Some G Just J’d Into a RT at HFC, SOTY?” However, feeling that it didn’t hold up to the high standard of journalistic integrity you’re used to seeing on CagePotato, I thought I’d go with a more straightforward title. In either case, here’s some Guy named Wolfgang Janssen Jumping into a Reverse Triangle at last weekend’s Havoc Fighting Championship 1 card. He may have used a little help from the fence to do so, but damn, that is a Submission of the Year nominee if I’ve ever seen one. Agree or disagree?

Props to our buddies at MiddleEasy for stumbling upon this beautiful piece of footage.

-J. Jones