(Guida engages the UFC on FOX: Johnson vs. Dodson audience in the ancient Native American dance known as the “Iwannanothadrinka.” Photo via Combat Lifestyle.)

We’ve thrown the word “curse” around a lot here at CagePotato in the past year or so (as in “injury curse,” “cursed from birth,” and “curse you Dana for setting this up!”), but featherweight contender Chad Mendes is one of the few fighters who might actually be able to stake a claim to that title. In his past three scheduled fights, all of his original opponents have pulled out due to a last minute injury, leaving Mendes to face off against late replacement opponents on two occasions and cancelling his fight altogether in the third. Then again, any curse that ends in you collecting two quick knockouts and upwards of eighty thousand dollars is a hell of a lot better than the festering boils and dead first born I’ve been stuck with.

Anyway, the last man to pull out of a fight with Mendes was none other than recently-converted featherweight Clay “N-Pray” [*rimshot*] Guida, who was replaced by Darren Elkins just as quickly as Darren Elkins was defeated by Chad Mendes when the two eventually met at UFC on FOX: Henderson vs. Diaz. According to Ariel Helwani, the UFC is considering rebooking Mendes vs. Guida for the August 31st-scheduled UFC 164 card, which will also feature the beginning of Brandon Vera’s second attempt to become the UFC’s first two-division champ when he returns to the heavyweight division to face…Ben Rothwell. Baby steps, folks.

Despite being fresh off of a nineteen-second knockout victory over Philip De Fries at last weekend’s UFC on FUEL TV 9, it may be a while before we see Matt Mitrione in the Octagon again.

Earlier today, Mitrione was a guest on The MMA Hour, where he wrapped up his appearance with some jokes he had prepared for host Ariel Helwani. He started off with a joke about Aleksander Emelianenko’s unretirement, a joke about how he considered finishing De Fries – a Llyod Irvin student – with a rape choke, and a joke about how transgender MMA fighter Fallon Fox should call herself “The Queen of the Buffaloes” in reference to “Silence of the Lambs.”

If he just stopped there, we probably wouldn’t even be talking about his appearance on the show, but he wasn’t done making jokes at Fallon’s expense just yet.

“Holy shit, I have not seen a man beat a woman like that since Chris Brown beat Rihanna. That is exceptional how he just beats innocent, unknowing women like that. Incredible,” Mitrione continued. “Since he’s obviously looking for any way to break or avoid the rules regarding fighting, if he ever fights again – which I hope he doesn’t – but if he ever fights again and loses to a woman, is he going to charge that woman with a hate crime because she imposing on his freedom as a tranny.”

At this point, Ariel Helwani intervened to ask Mitrione why he kept referring to Fallon Fox as a man. This resulted on a fairly heated rant from Meathead, which we have video of after the jump.

Answer: Helwani’s shoes, because at least Koch gets paid to wear that shit. (“Shout out to Sun Seekers Milwaukee.”) Videos courtesy of YouTube.com/MMAFighting.

(I’m going to avoid an obvious nose-joke here. Instead, I’ll just link to this picture of an adorable puppy.)

You know what? Screw what Tim Kennedy said about Strikeforce’s fighters being a bunch of little vaginas. When Gilbert Melendez and Luke Rockhold withdrew from their scheduled matches at Strikeforce’s final event, they were looking out for their best interests. And if Pat Healy does the same, we’re not going to blame the guy.

Healy, as you might recall, was originally slated to face Melendez in their long-delayed matchup on the January 12th “Marquardt vs. Saffiedine” card, then he was booked to face Jorge Masvidal when Melendez pulled out, then he was booked to face nobody when Masvidal pulled out. [Ed. note: CagePotato would like to clarify that Healy was probably not a Nazi guard or serial killer in a past life, despite suggestions to the contrary. There. Feel better, Chris?]. Now, the former/sort-of lightweight title-contender will be facing undefeated Strikeforce-newcomer Kurt Holobaugh, according to a recent report from MMAWeekly.

A little about Kurt: He’s compiled a perfect 8-0 professional record, competing against regional talent in such regionally-named promotions as Karnival Karnage and Nightmare On The Northshore. He is best known for taking a fight on his wedding day and almost being selected for TUF 15. The fight with Healy will be the biggest opportunity of his career. Unfortunately, the booking officially drags Healy down to the Showtime Extreme portion of the “Marquardt vs. Saffiedine” card.

(You see, kids, this is why we don’t break the fourth rule of Project Mayhem. Photo via Complex)

By Jason Moles

As is customary, nay tradition, around these parts, we’re hitting the eggnog early and often this week — thus, the obligatory Top 10 list to close out another year in the world of mixed martial arts. It’s not all fluff, though: Last year we predicted a champion would test positive for a banned substance and Brock Lesnar would retire. Not bad, huh? So grab a seat while we break out the crystal ball and see what 2013 has in store for us.

1.) Showtime stays in the MMA biz, will announce deal with Invicta FC and others.

MMA is just too popular to completely wash your hands of. Showtime may finally be done with Strikeforce, but that only means they’re now free to partner up with the likes of all-female Invicta FC or the World Series of Fighting, both of which could be looking for more permanent homes after their early success in 2012. Don’t let the Invicta PPV news fool you; they can’t win that battle. No matter who inks the deal, expect Showtime to counter-program at least one UFC event.

2.) A Ronda Rousey loss brings about the swift execution of women’s MMA in the UFC.

We reacted the same way.

It wasn’t surprising to see Cesar Gracie fire Caio Terra for helping nemesis Carlos Condit, but it was sort of odd that Gracie had so little to say about it. Never one to shy away from calling someone out, it was strange to see Cesar post a half-assed rant on Facebook about the firing and be done with it. Fortunately, he was asked to address the firing on this week’s edition of The MMA Hour, and by the time he shows up on the show, he does not disappoint.

The segment started off with Areil Helwani asking some pretty standard questions about Nate Diaz’s upcoming title fight, but things get interesting when he plays Terra’s explanation for his decision to train Condit and then asks Gracie for a reaction. Believe it or not, Cesar Gracie does not threaten to slap Helwani for instigating fights, but instead opts to give an articulate response detailing the finer points of Caio Terra’s bitchassness. Via MMAFighting.com:

“He must be happy, because this is literally the most publicity he’s ever received. ” Gracie remarked. “He a jiu-jitsu guy, he doesn’t have any kind of MMA anything.”

(We can’t be the only ones seeing the metaphorical connection here, right?) 

Less than a week ago, Hurricane Sandy blew through the Northeast like the seventh plague of Egypt, leaving over 40,000 New Yorkers alone without a home to go back to. One of the people we originally reported to be among the homeless was UFC middleweight contender Chris Weidman, whose house was “lost in the storm” according to a tweet sent out by UFC light heavyweight Ryan Bader.

And although it turns out that the damage wasn’t as bad as we reported (his house is still standing for starters), it will still be weeks, if not months, before Weidman’s home is deemed livable again. Luckily for us, Weidman was generous enough to give MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani a tour of his home and the surrounding damage and even managed to capture some footage of his house as the storm was progressing. Pretty captivating stuff.

Video after the jump. 

(Kirk Lazarus gave this performance five out of five crab apples.) 

I have never met Jason Miller before. Like most of you, the only perception I have of “Mayhem” as a person has been constructed through interview snippets, heavily-edited reality shows, Twitter ramblings, and the occasional MMA fight. And while this criteria alone may be enough for me to declare my dislike for certain fighters, I have always found it difficult to assess just who exactly this Miller character is — especially in light of recent events — let alone render a verdict on the guy. Because that’s what Mayhem is: a character. And for people to believe that he is truly this completely bonkers, attention-starved individual at every waking moment seemed as ridiculous to me as believing that Chael Sonnen truly is the character he plays on TV. Yet in both instances, there is a strong majority of people who seem to feel this way.

What am I going on about? Well, it just so happens that Mayhem recently agreed to partake in a lengthy interview with Ariel Helwani, having finally shed the “Lucky Patrick” alter-alter-ego that saw him storm off Helwani’s show just a few weeks ago. In the interview that awaits you after the jump, Miller discusses everything from the Twitter war he and Dana White engaged in shortly after his firing to his bizarre arrest in a San Viejo church. And while I was happy to see that Miller appeared to be in sound mental shape for the time being, I couldn’t help but feel as if his explanation for those events was a little fishy.

If you’ve got the time, check out the video and let us know if you agree.

(Trust us, when this moment arrives you will be doing anything but laughing.) 

When Jason “Mayhem” Miller was fired from the UFC, he was basically left with two career paths to follow. He could follow the path of guys like Joey Beltran or — to a lesser degree — Anthony Johnson, which is to say, recognizing his mistakes/flaws and trying to earn his way back into the promotion through hard work, a couple decent wins, and in his case, probably some begging. Or, he could take a page out of someone like Rampage Jackson’s book, which consists of complaining a lot, going on nonsensical Twitter rants, and acting like a delusional pyschopath at every possible turn.

It saddens us to inform you that Miller has apparently chosen the path of Charlie Sheen.

There are simply no words that aptly describe Miller’s recent appearance on The MMA Hour, but I’ll try to use a few: batshit, kerfuffle, delirium, wantwit, rudesby. Like sharting in a hot tub while on a blind date.

In a terribly misguided attempt to plug his upcoming film, Here Comes the Boom, Miller appeared on the radio show as his character from the movie, Lucky Patrick. But what began as a simple ruse quickly devolved into one of the most bizarre and outright sad things we have witnessed in the continually depressing downfall of “Mayhem” Miller. He referred to “Arius Heelwani” as a “Jew,” refused to break character or answer questions as to his current mental state (or perhaps answered them all, really), and vehemently stormed off the set 45 minutes short of its expected run time. As Helwani noted, Miller was clearly attempting to channel Andy Kaufman, but unfortunately came off looking a lot more like Crispin Glover.

Video after the jump. 

(Video via MMAFighting.com)

Considering all the shit he’s taken over the past couple weeks from UFC fans and his boss since the cancelation of UFC 151, it’s actually good to see that light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones is relaxed and in good-spirits during this interview yesterday with Ariel Helwani. Jones has put the ugly recent past behind him, and when he finally gets the chance to have a one-on-one conversation with Dana White — because he hasn’t yet, if you can believe it — he plans to look DW dead in his beet-red face and forgive him. Here’s the transcription via FightOpinion:

JON JONES: “I’m going to say, Dana… you know, I’m just going to tell him that I forgive him, pretty much. I have a general intention of what I want to happen and basically it’s going to based on forgiveness. I’m not expecting him to apologize but I’m moving forward, you know, I’m moving forward and Dana… spoke his mind and, you know, ultimately he can’t take back what happened, I can’t take back what happened. I don’t think he wants to and I don’t want to, so, we’re just going to be men and keep this great journey that we have going. You know, we’re both ambassadors for the UFC and as for not being on the same page, as I said (Tuesday) on Sportscenter it makes no sense for us MMA fans, MMA nation so, uh, you know, I want to do great things and I think having them on my side or working with them and not being known as like, you know, a troublemaker with him will be beneficial for both of us.

ARIEL HELWANI: “How do you forgive someone who hasn’t apologized?”

JON JONES: “You know, I don’t know. I don’t know how that works but I want to try it.”

(Unfortunately, Ishanguly Meretnyyazov was the referee for this bout, and Velasquez ended up winning 13-11 on points.) 

Sorry, Alistair, it looks like you’ll just have to wait your turn.

In an interview with MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani that followed the UFC 150 post-fight press conference, Dana White was asked to answer a series of questions with simple “yes” or “no” answers. And although it seemed implausible that The Baldfather could ever go more than thirty seconds without uttering a certain curse word, he kindly obliged Helwani and spilled the beans in regards to several big questions currently circulating in the MMA world. Simply put, bullshit was cut through in record time.

And among the questions present in the back of Ariel’s (and everyone’s) mind was that of heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos and who would be the next man to get viciously mauled to death  bravely sacrifice himself for the good of The Colony ”challenge” him for the title. To put it in the words of DW: Overeem – No, Velasquez – Yes. Although an event has yet to be named, White said in a seperate interview that the pair would likely collide on the annually stacked New Year’s Eve card, also known as the card that Overeem will totally be fighting on.

After the jump: A full video interview, which details everything from the future of the BJ Penn/Rory MacDonald match to the specifics of Jon Jones’ Nike deal, and more.

They see me trollinnnnnn’. They hatinnnnnn’. Props: Sherdog.

Those of you who have been clinging to the notion that Anderson Silva’s manager Jorge Guimaraes would change his mind about Chris Weidman being an “amateur kid” can officially let that ship sail. Ariel Helwani caught up with Guimaraes yesterday, and even though he clarified that the “amateur kids” comment was a translation error, he still does not see any value in an Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman fight for the time being. Via MMAFighting:

When specifically asked about the “amateur kids” comment:

JG: Well, there was a little lack of communication. I spoke to Tatame Magazine in Brazil and it got lost in translation. I have a lot of respect for Weidman. He’s a great fighter, but what I meant is that the fight doesn’t make sense. He has nine fights – impressive fights – but it’s half of the number of fights that Anderson has in the UFC. I think he’s just a little not ripe enough, but it’s up to the organization to tell [us] who is a good opponent for Anderson.

Check after the jump for the full quote and interview

(Well said.)

Twitter holds an interesting place in the MMA landscape. On one hand, it often comes across as little more than a medium for fighters to vent their frustrations with the foresight and competency of a middle school dropout, or to aid in the ongoing series of endless, needless arguments that constitute 90% of the internet nowadays. Seriously, I was on one of those porn sites that allow comments the other day and stumbled across a heated argument concerning what the woman fellating the donkey onscreen was probably thinking. My guess was that she was reconsidering her choice to forgo those online courses for some quick cash and a shot at Fame (which coincidentally was the horse’s name), but the two (probable) gentlemen involved in said dispute seemed to think she was trying to determine the ethnicity of said horse (if that’s a thing), and which race she likely decided upon. Did I mention she was blindfolded? She was blindfolded.

On the other hand, “The Twitter” has shown on several occasions that it can serve as more than a battleground for our petty arguments, and can actually be used as a tool to unite people from opposite ends of the planet over a given cause. Although it failed in the end, Twitter was almost solely responsible for giving Mark Hunt the opportunity of a lifetime, or bringing Tim Sylvia back to the UFC to dominate 85% of the promotion’s heavyweights like we all know he would (I mean, have you even seen his workout regimen?).

And one thing that the collective minds of Twitter seemed to reach an agreement on was that UFC 149, to put it professionally, sucked major donkey dick (see how I brought that all together? I’m less a writer, more a prophet). So in order to bid what will ultimately go down as one of the most disappointing main cards in UFC history adieu, we’ve collected some of the funniest tweets from around the Twittersphere, some from actual fighters, others from random jagoffs with the simple ability to hashtag UFC 149 after their comment, for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.

In one final outburst of senseless violence, the UFC 149 Injury Curse claimed multiple victims on fight night, before receding back to the haunted ground that spawned it. We already mentioned that Tim Boetsch broke his foot during the second round of his fight against Hector Lombard, and yesterday Urijah Faber confirmed that he broke a rib during his main event meeting with Renan Barao. The California Kid tweeted out the x-ray above, writing “Congrats 2 @RenanBaraoUFC. He’s a tough dude. Broke my rib in the 1st with a great knee. Thank u 4 all the support.”

So if you were wondering why Boetsch wasn’t quite as active as you expected him to be on Saturday, or why Faber consistently looked a half-step behind his Brazilian opponent, blame the broken bones. And if you were wondering why Cheick Kongo‘s bout with Shawn Jordan turned out to be a hopelessly dull clinching-competition, there’s a similar explanation for that too…

(Props: fueltv)

After spending the night screaming himself hoarse, an “amped-up” (read: sweaty and half-drunk) Michael Bisping spent a few minutes with Ariel Helwani lobbying for a fight against Anderson Silva, on the grounds that he’d do a lot better against Silva than Chael Sonnen did on Saturday night. Why? Because he can wrestle and strike. And that’s pretty much it. The secret to beating Anderson Silva is basic well-roundedness, I guess. But Bisping’s greater motivation is simply to see how he’d stack up against the best in the world. Here’s how the Count broke down Silva vs. Sonnen 2, and his hopes for a future meeting with the Spider:

“Chael is an amazing wrestler, you know, he went to the Olympics I think. Not everybody can do that. I’m not that level of wrestler. I can wrestle a little bit, but I’m not like Chael Sonnen. But, I can kickbox a damn sight better than Chael Sonnen can. I won’t get knocked out in the second round like Chael Sonnen did. That’s a fact. [Silva] got wrestled to death in the first round, it was a massively dominant round for Chael Sonnen in the first round. But [Silva] does it every time, he proves why he’s the best. It doesn’t matter what happens in round one. It’s how the fight ends. And Anderson Silva, he pulled it off again. You’re a fool to bet against Anderson. He’s amazing.

“And for me, personally, I want to fight the guy because I want to see how I can do against him. I’ve beat a lot of guys, but I want to fight that guy. I think I can do better. And I’m never going to know that until I get in there with him. Yes, I want to fight him. Yes, I want to get paid for a title shot. I want the main event, I want all that. But for me, personally, for my mind and soul, I want to fight the guy to know how I would do. Because I think I can do better than Chael Sonnen did. In fact, I know I can do better than what Chael Sonnen did.”

(Props: FilmDrunk)

I know what you’ve all been thinking this week. You’ve been thinking “This whole pissed off and angry Anderson Silva is a frightening change of pace, and the press conference was fun I guess, but damn it, I need to know how Steven Seagal will take credit for all of this!” Well don’t worry, person who doesn’t exist – you won’t have to wait until after the fight to find that out.

Ariel Helwani caught up with Cockpuncher to discuss Anderson Silva’s upcoming rematch with Chael Sonnen. After appearing reluctant to give the mere mortal an interview, Seagal explained how Silva’s intense new attitude is entirely his doing. And those concerns you may be having over The Spider’s emotions affecting his performance? Don’t worry, Seagal has an answer for that, too.

Videos (Yes, multiple) after the jump.

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

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

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

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

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

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

MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani recently took some time away from interviewing mentally handicapped freakshows to get back to his roots as MMA’s top correspondent, questioning UFC 146′s headliners, Frank Mir and Junior dos Santos, on everything from Nick Diaz’s recent suspension to whether or not Daniel Cormier should be the man to face the winner of their Saturday night title fight.

When asked his opinion on the NSAC’s aforementioned ruling in the case of Mr. Diaz, Mir seemed to side with the “what kind of bullshit is this?” crowd, stating that “…obviously just having metabolites in his system means that he was not under the influence of marijuana in contest the night they tested him, but I guess that’s why they wear suits and I wear no shirt when I go to work.” I hear you there, bro. Mir also discussed his plans for dos Santos, mainly, that he will pull guard on the champ if need be, because shooting on “Cigano” will likely not be a viable option.

Join us after the jump for Helwani’s interview with dos Santos, who makes some pretty ballsy claims to say the least. 

(Seen here: Bob Sapp’s most legit fight in the past five years.) 

If you’ve followed this thing we call MMA for even a couple years now, then you’ve undoubtedly heard of the travesty to the sport that is Bob Sapp. If he were a band, the boys over at MetalSucks would refer to him as “A Shitstain on the Ass of the Universe,” which is perhaps the most appropriate label to place on someone who seems to be doing his damnedest to soil the metaphorical trousers of the sport we hold dear.

Possibly sent on a mission of mercy by the fellas over at Mitch and Murray, Ariel Helwani decided to bring Sapp onto his show, “The MMA Hour,” to dispel or confirm the general consensus that he has thrown most, if not all of his fights over the past four or five years. What started off as at least a coherent defense on Sapp’s part quickly spiraled into a smorgasbord of nonsensical rants and accusations punctuated by creepy, baritone laughter, before concluding with several futile attempts by “The Beast” to justify his pathetic existence through Youtube hits, or something like that. In other words, it was typical Bob Sapp.

Just take this gem, for instance, which actually came before Sapp decided to go full retard:

I will receive no damage to my body that will be long lasting for a small insignificant amount of cash. I think we’ve seen that now with examples with the NFL and the fact that some of these guys are coming back and saying, “Hey we want some money, we have brain damage.” I’m getting paid well underneath what a professional boxer would, or Manny Pacquiao. So I will, in no means ever, will I sustain long-lasting damage for a small paycheck. Never will that happen, never will “The Beast” ever have that happen.

Join us after the jump for the whole interview.

(“You and I were long friends; you are now my enemy, and I am yours. – Ben Franklin)

By Jason Moles

Friendship is, and always will be, one of life’s trickiest puzzles. It is also one of the most rewarding and enriching experiences a person will ever have. But despite all of the wonderful joys that come from having a friend, not all friendships are made to last the sands of time like Fred and Barney. How could they? Ego, pride, and the opposite sex often reduce the strongest of bonds to mere ashes. And we wouldn’t want it any other way because some guys make good friends, but much better enemies. Here’s a look at five classic friendships gone awry…

Jon Jones – Rashad Evans

In a time when instant gratification is king, the world is still awaiting the showdown between former friends and training partners, ‘Suga’ Rashad Evans and Jon ‘Bones’ Jones. Jackson’s MMA used to be a place where the two sweat and bled together, side by side, day after day — as friends. These two were more like brothers than Ken and Frank, so much so that they vowed never to fight each other, suggesting someone would fake an injury to avoid the confrontation at all costs.

We’ve had multiple in-cage showdowns, a twitter beef or two, and a minor club incident since the moment the young rising star confirmed that he would indeed fight the former TUF 2 winner if Dana White really wanted him to. Fast forward a year and the two have still yet to fight thanks to injuries, both real and imagined. Some would argue that “Good things come to those who wait,” but patience is not a virtue most of us possess. We want to see these dudes throw down now! All we are concerned with at this point is who the teacher is and who is the student.

(It was like this, but smellier.) 

Whether you are a man of religion or a man of science, there are those few urban legends out there that, despite their lack of physical evidence or confirmation, are universally accepted as truth. So goes the story of illustrious judo champion Gene Lebell’s confrontation with the true Godfather of mixed martial arts, Sensei Steven Seagal.

The story goes like this: while on the set of Out for Justice, Seagal happened to mention that, as a result of his Aikido training and extensive blues guitar playing, his Senseiness was impervious to chokes. LeBell, who at 58, happened to be a stunt coordinator on set at the time, opted to take Seagal up on his boisterous claim. Seagal accepted, was choked out, and proceeded to pee and/or poop his pants. Due to an alleged gag order placed on everyone from LeBell to the cast and crew who happened to witness the event, no one has come forth in the time since to confirm or deny this story. John Leguizamo brought it up once, and was promptly beaten to a pulp.

Well let today, March 12th, forever be known as a triumph for the human race, as LeBell has finally broken his silence. And according to him, even if Seagal did in fact poop himself, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

Join us after the jump for the full video interview, complements of MMAFighting, along with a transcription of some of the highlights. 

There’s a lot to like about this new 45-minute video feature from MMAFighting.com. First of all, it’s nice to see that Quinton Jackson and Ariel Helwani have squashed their beef. Also, it’s nice to see Rampage out in public in Japan without humiliating the locals.

So here we have Quinton and Ariel on the streets of Tokyo four days before UFC 144, walking and talking, and walking and talking, and walking and talking until they finally arrive at an arcade to play Tekken Tag. Along the way, they discuss Rampage’s first trip to Japan fighting Kazushi Sakuraba, the different kind of racism in Japan, the unmatched atmosphere of PRIDE in its heyday, how a person’s personality is determined by their blood type, fight fixing, his betrayal by you-know-who and subsequent reckless driving arrest. Then they walk some more, and Quinton talks about parenting, matchmaking, his greatest career triumph, privacy, retirement, and how he won’t be fully appreciated until he’s gone.

It’s probably the most in-depth interview with Rampage you’ll ever see. Give it a look.

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.

(“Welcome my friends to the show that never ends. I’m serious. I’m gonna ride this money train until the wheels fall off.”)

Even when it’s someone else’s turn in the spotlight, it seems that Chael Sonnen has a way of stealing some of their thunder.

Take yesterday’s open workouts for Saturday night’s UFC on Fox 1 event in Chicago. Though Sonnen wasn’t in front of the camera delivering his best Ric Flair impersonation, he was still attracting most of the attention behind the scenes.

The Sonnen Circus was in full gear as MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani interviewed Chicago-based heavyweight Mike Russow. Putting on a tumbling clinic for the media, who lapped it up while snapping photos and rolling camera to catch the display for posterity, Sonnen demonstrated why he’s one of the most polarizing personalities in MMA.

Check out the GIF goodness after the jump.

Announcement comes at roughly the 6:25 mark. Props: MMAFighting.com

We can end the speculation. After last night’s UFC 140, Dana White announced that flyweight MMA will debut in the UFC on March 3, 2012. The event is going to be broadcast on FX and take place in the land where people ride around in their kangaroos all day, Australia. Details, such as a specific venue and fights possible for the card, have yet to be officially released, though we’re willing to bet it’ll be at Sydney’s Acer Arena (just a wild guess).

The UFC is unveiling their newest roster editions with a bang. A four man flyweight tournament is set to begin on March 3, presumably in order to crown the inaugural flyweight champion, and will feature Ian McCall vs. Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani. Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez should both be fresh in your mind, as they have had successful runs in the UFC at bantamweight yet are better suited for flyweight competition. As for McCall and Urushitani, we’ve got them profiled after the jump.

(Props: MMAFighting)

Despite Jason Miller‘s basic-cable cred, Michael Bisping will be the biggest UFC star to compete at the TUF 14 Finale on Saturday night. He’s also one of the biggest villains on the UFC roster — a fighter who fans love to hate. To some extent, you can blame that on reality show editing, which Bisping in fact does, starting at the 10:18 mark of this video interview. But he’s also been responsible for some real-life behavior that’s just nasty and wrong. Like Josh Koscheck, the villain persona that has been hoisted on Bisping seems to be an exaggerated version of what’s already there.

In this 20-minute pre-fight chat, Ariel Helwani gets the Count’s thoughts on his fight with Mayhem Miller, and attempts to reconcile Michael Bisping the bully character with Michael Bisping the human being. Here’s a cheat sheet…

REPORTER CONFUSED BY SONNEN INTERVIEW - Watch MoreFunny Videos

The Canadian reporter who conducted the highly-publicized Q&A with with Chael Sonnen last week in which the “Gangster from America” questioned his credentials and berated him for ten minutes before walking off the set says that he still isn’t quite sure what the hell happened in the interview.

Michael Lansberg, the longtime host of “Off the Record,” got the goat of the UFC middleweight early in the interview when he asked why he rescinded his loser leaves town fight offer to Anderson Silva, prompting an agitated Sonnen to to fire back with a few barbs of his own. The interview went downhill from there, at least in terms of Lansberg maintaining control.

Oh, great, vengeful God (or Zorp), please let this happen. If you can allow Razor Ramone to be assisted off his wheelchair, only to be repeatedly kicked and hit with steel chairs in front of an audience of less than 500 people, then surely you can allow this to happen. In a recent interview with MMAfighting.com, none other than Art Jimmerson, the man behind the most embarrassing loss in UFC History, challenged the former Youtube sensation, MoneyTalks star, UFC fighter, and 2-0 boxer Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson to a boxing match, stating:

(Props: MMAFighting)

MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani took to the streets of Los Angeles to find out what the general public thought of the UFC’s network television debut on Saturday — or if they were even aware of it. But since it’s L.A., the “general public” includes a lot of fictional characters and crazy people. Here’s what we learn:

- Every Cookie Monster or Spiderman you see walking around Los Angeles is just a guy with a funny accent trying to make a living.

- You can trace Mr. Muscles’s MMA lineage all the way back to the famous UFC fighter who went to Russia and got the belts. (It wasn’t Niko. It was his partner.)

(Time will tell what changes are in store for MMAFighting)

Well, apparently the rumor that MMAFighting.com’s time as an AOL property was ticking down had some teeth to it.

CagePotato has learned that the popular MMA website has been bought by Vox Media Inc.

Vox Media, formerly SB Nation, is a web media company whose properties include SBNation.com, BloodyElbow.com, MMAMania.com, BadLeftHook.com, CagesideSeats.com, GalsGuidetoMMA.com and HeadKickLegend.com. The company owns more than 300 sports-based blog sites — the majority of which are staffed by part-time editors and are largely based around stories and posts submitted by fans.