(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…

Well, apparently our Free CagePotato campaign finally broke through the seemingly impenetrable armor around Dana White’s heart that only a handful of people including Stephan Bonnar, Forrest Griffin and Chuck Liddell have been able to breach.

(UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste is matched up against former WWE diva Stacy Keibler in the first round of Esquire’s Sexiest Woman Alive 2011 tournament. As much as we love Arianny, we gotta go with our heart on this one…)

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…

- Almost Heaven: West Virginia Legalizes MMA (MMA-Scraps)

- UFC 128 Rumor: 50 Cent to Accompany Jon Jones to Cage vs. Shogun Rua (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- How Zuffa’s Purchase of Strikeforce is Not a Monopoly (MMA Convert)

- Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva: I’d Love to Send Brock Lesnar Back to Pro Wrestling (LowKick)

- Mark Pavelich Fires a Verbal Bazooka to all Other Canadian MMA Organizations (MiddleEasy)

- Zuffa-Strikeforce Deal Could Mean Uncertain Future for Women’s MMA (MMA Fighting)

- Video: Georges St-Pierre Graces Cover of Men’s Health (Versus MMA Beat)

- Undefeated Sambo Champion Blagoi Ivanoc Signs With Bellator (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Alistair Overeem Discusses UFC’s Purchase of Strikeforce (5thRound)

- Why Zuffa Purchased Strikeforce and What It Means (FightMagazine)

(Click for larger versions. Trust me.)

From CombatLifestyle‘s wonderful new UFC 127: The UFC hits the Beach set. Good lord, I wish I was there today instead of dreary-ass Brooklyn. Lots more highlights after the jump…

("You are in luck. There’s a town about three miles that way, I’m sure you’ll find a couple guys there.")

 …at least according to AskMen.com’s just-released Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2011 list, their annual ranking of attractive famous chicks. It’s good news for the UFC’s alpha ring-girl, who creeps up three spots from her position last year. At this rate, she’ll officially be hotter than Kristen Stewart in 2013.

AskMen collected more than 5 million reader votes for the latest edition of the list, and as is usually the case when you leave it up to the public, the results are all over the map. Blake Lively is #1 for some reason — way ahead of Christina Hendricks (#21), Brooklyn Decker (#36), and Arianny’s TV doppelganger Olivia Munn (#47) — which suggests that AskMen’s masculine readership contains a whole lot of closeted Gossip Girl fans.

One notable omission: Gina Carano didn’t make the cut at all, despite landing at the #68 spot in 2010. Out of sight, out of mind, huh guys? We’ll see if her budding action movie career puts her back in the spotlight next year. You can check out the entire Top 99 list right here. As always, feel free to post your own top ten lists in the comments section…

(My God, that’s the worst sunburn I’ve ever seen. Images courtesy of missariannyceleste.fantegrate.com via CageWriter)
  

In case your Brock Lesnar and Georges St. Pierre Fatheads need company, Arianny Celeste is now selling a "Super Lifesized Wallsticker" on her store page. For just $49.99, a 5’7" two-dimensional representation of the UFC Octagon Girl can be yours to slap onto any flat surface. Check out that first thumbnail image, in which the Arianny wallsticker is displayed in what appears to be an Ikea model-bedroom — so unlike any bedroom that this sticker would actually be displayed in. Where are the bags of Cheetos? The TapouT-brand bed-sheets? The bottle of hand lotion on the end-table? A little truth in advertising would be nice, that’s all I’m saying…

Chicks dig fighters — even the ones who talk funny. But even with the natural advantages that come with muscles, scars, and fame, we’re still occasionally surprised by the lady-killing ability of some mixed martial artists. Of all the MMA PUA‘s, these six are the most accomplished…

DEAN LISTER

  
Notable conquests: WWE star Milena Roucka (aka ‘Rosa Mendes’), model Flavia Mazoni
Notes: ‘The Boogeyman’ is semi-retired from the sport these days, choosing instead to spend his time training hopeless cases. But in his prime, Dean Lister was just as notable for his ability to attract exotic beauties as he was for his in-cage exploits. Grappling ability plus a cartoonishly strong-looking jawline is a combination that women can’t resist, apparently.

MATT HAMILL

  
Notable conquests: Bikini model Wendy Foster, a super-hot former fiance named Brittany, an old girlfriend that was apparently down for whatever.
Notes: Snagging a Hooters Girl of the Year would be an accomplishment for any man. But to do it without the use of one of your five senses? Bro, that’s legendary. (Then again, deafness is probably an asset when you’re pretending to be interested in your girlfriend’s stories.) Matt Hamill’s ex-fiance, a bartender from upstate New York, was just as hot, and of course there were those rumors of Hamill’s partner-swappin’ lifestyle with a freaky old flame. Respect the Hammer.

(Props: Versus.com)

So, anybody watch those World MMA Awards last night? Jesus Christ, you’ll find better jokes at a CSAC board meeting. For an idea of how ugly things got, check out the above clip of "comedian" Bobby Lee and former UFC Octagon Girl Amber Nichole Miller presenting the Ring Girl of the Year award (to Arianny Celeste, naturally), which somehow required Lee to strip down and humiliate himself. Even Tiki Ghosn is disgusted. But at least Arianny saved the day with her dynamic personality. After the jump, Steve-O gets a guest-pass out of rehab to proposition Brittney Palmer for sex. 

Apologies to those of you who patiently waited all day yesterday for our weekly rumor feature, which has been making us tons of new friends in the industry, believe me. After the jump, you’ll find five juicy items, mostly pertaining to guys getting screwed out of money. As usual, four are complete fabrications, and one is 100% on the level. Can you solve the mystery? Can we avoid getting sued for one more week? Time will tell!

(Ortiz and Liddell will settle their grudge once and for all on New Year’s Eve…OR WILL THEY?? / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle)

One of my weekly MMA must-reads is the "Sunday Morning Rumor Mill" column on MiddleEasy, which features a bunch of juicy stories that just might be true. In homage to our pals, we’d like to start a similar feature on CagePotato — except ours will work a little differently. Of the eight items you see below, seven have been pulled directly out of our asses. The other one is absolutely, positively, 100% true, and has been confirmed by inside sources. Which one is it? We’d rather not say, due to legal reasons. You’ll have to figure it out yourself…

– Vinicius Quieroz wasn’t the only fighter who was caught by the UFC’s independent drug-testing at UFC 120. There was a second guy who pissed hot for the same steroid, but the company decided to let him off with a private (but very stern) warning. Hint: Main card, but not main event.

– Arianny Celeste has been dating a former UFC fighter for the past year, but has kept the relationship hidden from the public, in order to protect the fantasy that she’s "available" to her fans. We can’t reveal her boyfriend’s name, but his initials are Tiki Ghosn.

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMA30)

For all of you worrywarts who upon hearing about the pending UFC-WEC merger immediately became concerned about the future of WEC Octagon Girl^tm Brittney Palmer, you can sleep well tonight knowing that she too will become a UFC employee as of January 2011.

Fighters Only confirmed the news today with UFC president Dana White that Palmer will join the UFC’s current duo, UFC  Playboy Playmate Arianny Celeste and Roger Murtaugh Chandella Powell as the promotion’s female presence at events.

White stated during today’s press conference that the outside apron of the Octagon will be as close as any females will get to being inside the UFC cage as there aren’t enough good female fighters to make any decent division for them in his organization.

For those of you who don’t know who Palmer is, what the hell is wrong with you?

For everyone else, here are some photos and a video to remind you after the jump.

(The "Yes We Cain" limited edition t-shirt, just $20 at dethroneroyalty.com.)

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…

– As of Today, Fedor Emelianenko Is a Russian Politician and He Plans to Enforce the People’s Rights (MiddleEasy)

- Cain Velasquez Gets Mobbed by Fans Who Are Not Impressed with Brock Lesnar (MMA Scraps)

- Jake Shields: If Kampmann Doesn’t Tap, I’ll Snap His Arm In Half (MMA Convert)

- Matt Hamill: Friendship Out the Door vs. Tito Ortiz at UFC 121 (MMA Fighting)

– Gabriel Gonzaga Discusses His UFC 121 Opponent and the Current Depth in the Heavyweight Division (LowKick)

– Sam Stout Ready To Welcome Paul Taylor To The Lightweight Division (Heavy.com/MMA)

– The Eight-Point Stance: UFC 120 (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Exclusive: Mike Pyle – ‘I Just Absolutely Handled The Kid’ (SBNation.com/MMA)

– Frank Shamrock is On A Mission to Legalize MMA in New York (FightMagazine)

– Arianny Celeste Promotes Playboy Appearance on TMZ (Versus MMA Beat)

Sure, we tune in for the fights at the end of each episode, the trash-talk between the coaches, and Dana White occasionally showing up to kick somebody’s ass out of the house. But over 12 seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, it’s the peripheral characters that are responsible for the show’s best moments. Take this season, for example — would it be nearly as interesting if Coach GSP didn’t bring in a special guest every week to shake up his team? With that in mind, here’s our tribute to the under-appreciated minor players that have kept TUF on its toes for the last six years…

#9: Willa Ford

In an effort to inject some eye candy into their new reality show, the UFC cast model/singer/actress Willa Ford as the host of The Ultimate Fighter‘s first season. (Her main duty was to introduce those weird elimination challenges that marked the show’s early days.) Willa was gone by season two, leaving us with fond memories of a time when TUF‘s non-stop sweaty dudeness was occasionally broken up by a pretty face.

#8: Jean-Charles Skarbowsky

Dude flies in from Paris, shows up to the TUF gym drunk, and gives GSP’s entire team the worst beating of their lives. What’s not to like?

(Props: twitter.com/tikighosn)

UPDATE: The pics are right here! Unfortunately, we were asked to take the pics down, so that’s that. Feel free to mourn in the comments section. 

About five hours ago, Rampage Jackson entourage-member Tiki Ghosn tweeted the above photo of himself posing with — dare we say it out loud? — the new Arianny Celeste issue of Playboy. As he wrote: "Hey @nicolerichie fuck J-Lo I’d rather go home and rub one out to @AriannyCeleste !!!!" 

Tiki hasn’t been heard from since, suggesting that Arianny‘s pictorial may have literally killed him. You know what this means? The issue is out there, people. It exists, and it’s available for purchase. Potato Nation Street Team, ASSEMBLE! We need you guys to check every convenience store, bookstore, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse, and doghouse in your area until you find this issue. You will then purchase it, scan the photos from Arianny Celeste’s pictorial, and send them to contest@cagepotato.com so that we can post them here. We will reward your efforts to the best of our ability.

Go get ‘em.