We’re big fans of Masato Toys’ MMA action figure series, so when we saw his latest work on the first issue of MMAtional Enquirer, we knew our readers would dig it too.

Besides Roger Huerta and Tito on TMZ, we haven’t really had any MMA luminaries who have gotten much attention from the tabloids. Not sure that’s a bad thing, but it’s likely to change as the sport grows and gets more mainstream.

We had our suspicions about Roy, but the Arianny-Ariel affair surprised the hell out of us us since you’ve got to fight to love her.

Check out the inside of the rag after the jump.

(Click all images for larger versions.)

In honor of the Super Bowl this Sunday, TheChive just published a photo-shoot featuring UFC ring girls Arianny Celeste, Brittney Palmer, and Chandella Powell putting their own sexy spin on football penalties. Five more photos (and one awesome gif) are below. Enjoy, and check out the complete gallery here.

(Full gallery is after the jump.)

Arianny Celeste is one of the most prolific professional hot chicks of our generation. Just a week after her lovely shoot for EGO, the UFC’s alpha ring girl returns in an even sexier set for Zoo magazine. (Props to TerezOwens for the find.) Check out more great pics from the shoot below, and if you’ll be in Chicago for the fights this week, say hi to Ms. Celeste at the Fight Chix Pre-Party at Proof Chicago!

(The staph infection threat-level has been raised to orange.)

Brazilian entertainment outlet EGO just published a massive shoot with UFC ring girls Arianny Celeste and Chandella Powell for their “Paparazzo” section — which is especially hot if you’re into hand-wraps and heavy bags. Check out some highlights in the gallery after the jump, and go here to see the rest.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/FightHubTV)

When we asked UFC Octagon Girl Brittney Palmer at the MMA Expo what the creepiest request she’s ever gotten from a fan was, she told us she really didn’t get any strange ones.

Apparently Arianny Celeste isn’t so lucky.

(“I make this look good.”)

If you didn’t get a chance to watch the replay of the number two best MMA awards – The Fighters Only World MMA Awards Sunday night, don’t worry, we got you.

The highlight of the show were Chael Sonnen’s (likely scripted) one-liners. From poking fun at himself, to taking shots at Wand and Anderson, “The Gangster from America” was on his game.

(That puppy dog act won’t work this time…that’s enough of that…ok we forgive you.) 

HOW COULD HE DO THIS TO THE POOR GIRL?!

During a recent interview with the Las Vegas Weekly Review, otherworldly trash talker Chael Sonnen had some less than positive things to say about long time UFC ring girl and 2011 Hottest Woman in MMA Runner-up Arianny Celeste. When asked who his pick would be for Ring Girl of the Year at the upcoming 2011 Fighter’s Only World MMA Awards, yes, those Fighter’s Only World MMA Awards, Sonnen had the following to say:

We only had one and that was Chandella [Powell]. The other was the IQ card girl. Arianny [Celeste] kind of walks around and holds up her latest test score. One time when there was a title fight, she got all the way up to five and we were very proud of her.

Holy King of all that is zing.

And believe it or not, when Arianny got wind of these comments, she was less than pleased. But our girl managed to respond in the most adult, professional manner possible, a tweet, which read:

Hey what’s ur name.. after @spideranderson kicks your ass..u won’t even be able to count to 5!! Get ready to kiss brazils ass!

Not bad Arianny, not bad. She’s clearly referencing the 1954 Marlon Brando classic On the Waterfront with the whole “counting” rebuttal. It’s honestly a better comeback than most of us would have expected from someone who usually responds to awkward situations like this. But prepare yourselves for Sonnen’s comeback:

It’s good to be back.

After days of anticipation, Ask the Potato is finally back and as credible as ever. The deepest thinkers among us have emerged with a series of questions- some of which even came in the form of complete sentences, with question marks and everything. The rest of you? Well, you at least tried to have a coherent thought, right? And even though the thought doesn’t count, you’re still special to us. So, without further delay, the triumphant return of Ask the Potato awaits after the jump.

(Full video of yesterday’s UFC on FOX: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos press conference, via YouTube.com/UFC)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- UFC 141: Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem Winner on Dec. 30 Earns Heavyweight Title Shot (MMA Mania)

- We Know You Want to Watch This Video of The Korean Zombie and Arianny Celeste on a Korean Game Show (MiddleEasy)

- Dana White: Dan Henderson Signed Exclusive UFC Contract, Unsure About Strikeforce Belt (5thRound)

- 4 Reasons Jon Jones Will Destroy Rampage Jackson at UFC 135 (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Gegard Mousasi vs. Ovince St. Preux Set for Dec. 17 Strikeforce Card (MMA Fighting)

- Exclusive UFC on FOX Press Conference Photo Gallery (LowKick)

- A Summary of Bas Rutten’s Excellent Interview With Rampage Jackson (FightOpinion)

- Will UFC 135 Be the Last Fight for Matt Hughes? (NBC Sports MMA)

- Diaz Reportedly Losing Seven Figures Due to UFC 137 Re-Booking (MMA Payout)

- Worst MMA Foul Ever – Takeo Shiina Shows Floyd Mayweather How It’s Done (TheFightNerd)

- Kenny Florian: “I Think I Do Everything Well” (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Greatest TUF Contributions of All Time (MMA Convert)

As expected, one little picture of Arianny Celeste kissing a genital/fruit statue really seemed to fire your imaginations. And yet, there were zero Mark Coleman references. Hmm. We’ve decided to award CagePotato t-shirts to the three best captions this photo produced. But first, some honorable mentions:

gpop727: I’m sure her father is so proud of his daughter and her healthy food choices

RWilsonR: This picture goes against all stereotypes I’ve heard about yellow penises.

OneMorePunchFujita: Brock Lesnar’s original tattoo choice.

Bob Reilly: That’s Lexington Peele right there.

Bob Reilly (again): Orange you glad she didn’t fuck banana?

And now the winners…

(Never let your chick go on vacation by herself. Am I right, Tiki? Props: Twitter.com/AriannyCeleste)

And here we have UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste on a beach in Saint-Tropez, giving a peck to the kind of surrealist phallic symbol that passes for public art in France. AVERT YOUR EYES, CHILDREN! There’s so much wrong with this picture — which is why it’s so perfect for a caption contest on a slow news day. Do your worst in the comments section; we’ll pick out some winners later this week and award some CagePotato t-shirts. Good luck…

(You don’t get to 10,000 friends without making a few enemies. / Images courtesy of 5thRound, Playboy.)

All month, it’s been taunting me — watching the fan count on our Facebook page creep slowly, steadily toward 10,000.  At the time of this writing, we’re sitting at 9,977 fans, just a stone’s throw away from the Promised Land. Well I’m not going to let this affect my sleep any longer. We’re passing 10,000 fans today, damn it, with or without you bastards.

If you’re reading this now and you have a Facebook account, but aren’t a follower of facebook.com/CagePotato for some reason, please head there and “Like” our page. It’ll keep you up-to-date with all the top stories on CagePotato, and provide you with bonus content that we didn’t have room for on the site.

Plus, it’ll give you another outlet to share feedback, post your own links and photos, and complain about our captcha system — all at no cost to you. So please, do us a favor, just this once. Thank you.

(Bruce Buffer and Wanderlei Silva)

One of our favorite online obsessions over the last month has been awesome people hanging out together, a tumblr photo blog devoted to celebrities mingling in unexpected combinations. (I mean, seriously: Dylan and Ali? Alice Cooper and Colonel Sanders? Epic.) Since there are aren’t any MMA fighters represented on the site, we decided to do some online crate-digging of our own and put together a CagePotato version of the “awesome people” photo-phenomenon. Enjoy these rare and classic MMA photos, which continue after the jump, and shoot us some links in the comments section if we’ve left out any of your favorites.

(Royce Gracie and Mirko Cro Cop)

(Matt Serra, Frankie Edgar, Jerry Springer, and Kimbo Slice. See also: Fighters and Random-Ass Celebrities)

(Photo courtesy of Round 5/Facebook)

I know we’ve been hard on Round 5 in the past, but it looks like the Markham, Ontario-based MMA action figure manufacturer has stepped up its game. The Rebecca Black Octagon Girl figure is a near perfect match and should be a hot seller when it hits store shelves in the fall. I know what Ben’s getting for Christmas.

(You know, there probably is a dude out there whose ‘ultimate fantasy’ involves Arianny Celeste and a few thousand limes, and when he sees this video he’s going to absolutely lose his shit. Props: officialbudlight)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum Head to Head: Who Will Win This Saturday? (LowKick)

- TUF 12 Winner Jonathan Brookins Returns to Featherweight This September Against Eric Koch (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Shane Carwin: “I Can’t Recall Much of the Fight” (5thRound)

- What’s Next for UFC 131′s Winners? (NBC Sports MMA)

- UFC May Enlist Retired NBA Superstar Shaquille O’Neal as Ambassador (MMA Fighting)

- Brendan Schaub: ‘A Win Over Nogueira Puts Me Right In The Number One Contender’s Spot’ (MMA Convert)

- Shane Del Rosario Discusses His Injury, Recovery, and the ‘Supremacy MMA’ Video Game (TheFightNerd)

- Is the Lightweight Division Really the Toughest in MMA? (MMA Mania)

- The 25 Greatest “Changing of the Guard” Fights in MMA History (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Jorge Masvidal Talks to Us About Streetfighting, Machetes and Making KJ Noons Shoot on Him (MiddleEasy)

(The full gallery is after the jump.)

We’ve been burned by these “guest Octagon Girl” reports in the past, but this one seems to be coming from a higher authority:

UFC 131 in Vancouver will have a guest Octagon Girl by the name of Leah Dizon according to Arianny Celeste on Facebook yesterday. Leah, a singer and model was born and raised in Las Vegas but now resides in Tokyo, Japan. [via babesofmma]

Well, at least she did live in Tokyo until she divorced her husband and moved to New York. And hey, fun fact? She also went to the same high school as Arianny. For more of what you might be seeing this Saturday, check out our handy photo gallery below…

(When did Rampage learn to kick? – Video courtesy of YouTube/TATAMETV)

- Bout Agreements Distributed to Hendo and Fedor (Sherdog)

- Brazilian Dude Does Soundtrack for Street Fighter II With His Mouth (TuVez)

- Made Babe: Arianny Celeste (MadeMan)

- Let’s Make This Clear: Urine is Not Perfume (HolyTaco)

- Bruce Leroy vs. Leonard Garcia targeted for UFC on Versus 5 (MMAJunkie)

- Laugh in the Face of Cancer With the 50/50 Trailer (ScreenJunkies)

- Noons vs. Masvidal fighting for shot at Melendez (MMAMania)

- The Best of Bulls-Heat Game 5 in Slo-Mo (ScoresReport)

- Spiffy Cat Kitten Profile: Ashton Taylor (SpiffyCats)

- Sportsbook says MMA has passed boxing on the Betting Front (CageWriter)

- FEG, DREAM ‘Sold’ to Investor; It’s Showtime Declares War (FightersOnlyMag)

(The “Ace”: Coming soon from Trash Talkin’ Kids.)

Thanks so much to everybody who sent in submissions for last week’s Trash Talkin’ Kids t-shirt design contest. We were overwhelmed by the number — and sheer stupidity! — of your designs, and we honestly had a blast going through them. With the help of our friends at Trash Talkin’ Kids, we picked out eight finalists based on humor, creativity, and effort. To see all of the submissions, head over to facebook.com/trashtalkinkids, where they’ve uploaded the finalists plus a bunch more entries that didn’t quite make the cut.

And now we need your votes to make this thing official. Please check out the Elite 8 after the jump, and vote for your favorite in the poll at the bottom of the page. The two highest-voted designs will both be receiving actual TTK shirts. Winners will be announced Thursday. Aaaaaand go!

(The UFC legend known as ‘Rising Douchebag’.)

(Mickey Rourke shares an awkward moment with a lady-friend.)

Arranged on two pages to prevent browser-meltdown; hit the “next page” link at the bottom for the rest. For even more giffy goodness, click here.

(“No matter what happens, I hope we can still pretend to be friends.”)

Let’s not drag this thing out any longer than we already have. After four rounds of voting, over 50,000 votes cast, and one fairly-awkward video featuring the two finalists, you’ve made it very clear who your hearts belong to.

And so, the winner of 2011′s Hottest Women in MMA Grand Prix, taking a full 77.4% of the popular vote in the finals, is…

(John Makdessi vs. Kyle Watson)

Props to IronForgesIron.com. More after the jump…

(Wow! They just seem so thrilled by the honor!)

This is it, folks — the final round in the greatest MMA tournament since PRIDE’s 2000 Open-Weight Grand Prix. After nearly a month of voting, you’ve whittled our 16-woman field down to two finalists. UFC Octagon Girls Arianny Celeste and Brittney Palmer are the lone survivors, and will be competing for your votes starting right now.

Check out more photos of the two ferocious competitors after the jump, and cast your final vote in the poll at the end of this post. (As usual, if you don’t see it, refresh the page or try a different browser.) We’ll announce the results on Friday. Man, this is really happening. Finish strong, people…

(Video courtesy of YouTube/StocktonHeyBuddy)

Well, that was fast.

A week after Arianny Celeste released a video sneak peek of her new original song “Fight to Love Me,” the UFC Octagon girl has been accused of ripping off another artist.

(Hint: As many as two and as few as none of these women have made it into the finals.)

After five days of voting, the Final Four in our “2011 Hottest Women in MMA Grand Prix” have been reduced to the Terrific Two. Since I’ll be in Toronto tomorrow and Friday, let’s plan on kicking off the finals voting on Monday. Just one more week, and this whole dirty business will be put to bed. But first, see who you’ll be voting for after the jump…

For round-of-16 results, click here.

For quarterfinal results, click here.

(To see the original round-of-16 bracket, click here.)

After your 40,000+ votes eliminated all the blondes, foreigners, and blonde foreigners, we’re left with four semi-finalists in our quest to crown this year’s Hottest Woman in MMA — all of them belonging to that sub-species of hot chick known as the American Brunette. But which two will advance to the finals? Starting today, it is your obligation to determine just that.

Once again, the instructions are as follows: Cast a vote for your favorite MMA hottie in each of the two polls, with the help of the photographic evidence we’ve provided. (Hit the “next page” link when you’re done with Arianny vs. Mercedes.) If you don’t see the poll widget under each pairing of girls, please refresh your browser or try a different one. Any questions, let us know in the comments section. We’ll collect the results and announce the winners next week.

Okay? So let’s do the damn thing…

(This bracket ain’t big enough for the both of ‘em. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)

Ladies and gentlemen — but mostly gentlemen, we’re assuming — your votes have been tabulated, and we’re proud to announce the winners of our “2011 Hottest Women in MMA Grand Prix” quarterfinals. Read on to see who has advanced to the Final Four, and come back tomorrow afternoon to start voting on the semi-finals.

For round-of-16 results, click here.

(Vid: YouTube/DEMusicGroup)

Alright, we take back all those jokes we made about people who think the world will end in 2012. The apocalypse is clearly upon us, as it has just come to our attention that Arianny Celeste apparently fancies herself some kind of singer now. Just let that news sink in for a moment before reading on … We knew she dabbled, but surely these new apparently professional aspirations can only mean the end of western civilization as we know it, right? I mean there are bad ideas, and then there is the fucking Titanic. There is the Hindenburg. There is leading your army into Russia in the dead of winter. Allowing this attractive, halfway famous girl who has no doubt always considered herself pretty good at karaoke to think she can try her hand at making actual “music” ranks right up there with the worst of them.

Nonetheless, there’s our beloved AC starring in the above video, introducing a “sneak peek” of her “debut single” titled “Fight to Love Me” (Get it? Because she’s a UFC Octagon girl …) which she promises will be out soon with the help of something called the DE Music Group. At first, we thought it must be a joke. The lyrics here are (naturally) cartoonishly bad, the “beat” sounds like somebody made it on a hacked version of some Russian production software from the 80s and if you don’t squint a little bit and lean away from the computer every time she tries to hit a high note, well, you don’t have your speakers turned up loud enough.

(To see the original round-of-16 bracket, click here.)

It’s true — we lost a lot of good women on Tuesday. But thanks to your votes, eight lovely ladies remain, and they need your help to advance to the semi-finals.

In case you’re new here, the instructions are simple: Cast a vote for your favorite MMA hottie in each of the four polls, with the help of the photographic evidence we’ve provided. Hit the “next page” link when you’re done with each poll. If you don’t see the poll widget under each pairing of girls, please refresh your browser or try a different one. Any questions, let us know in the comments section. We’ll collect the results and announce the winners next Thursday.

You ready? Then let’s get it on…

(ReX13 would like to sincerely apologize for any awkwardness our thoughtless Pool B seeding may have caused.)

After collecting nearly 25,000 (!) votes over the last week, we’re ready to reveal the winners of our “Hottest Women in MMA Grand Prix” round-of-16. Read on to see the results for the four Pool A matchups, then hit the “next page” link to see which four ladies survived Pool B. And please come back on Thursday for the start of the quarterfinal round!

(Who’s in the mood for a popularity contest based on the most superficial criteria possible?)

The big dance begins today, ladies and gentlemen. Our quest to crown 2011′s Hottest Woman in MMA kicks off after the jump with the first half of the round-of-16, plus a bonus vote to determine the Wild Card spot in Pool B. (We won’t ruin the surprise, but let’s just say that one of the competitors has an adorable South African accent, one of them is occasionally referred to as “the beautiful” by Mike Goldberg, and one has a cartoonishly huge ass.)

Here’s what to do: With the help of the photographic aids we’ve provided below, cast your vote for your favorite lady in each of the five polls; hit that ”next page” link when you’re done with each one. Any questions, let us know in the comments section, and be sure to come back on Friday to decide the other half of the Grand Prix round-of-16.

Note: If you don’t see the poll widget under each pairing of girls, please refresh your browser, or switch to one that doesn’t suck. And please forgive the janky formatting on pages 2 and 4; not sure what’s up with that. Now let’s go to work…