Yves Edwards knocks out Edson Berto via one-legged hopping-knee with four seconds left in round one:

James Thompson adds to another fighter’s highlight reel with his predictable knockout loss to Brett Rogers:

Bonus: Kimbo Slice and Bas Rutten give their thoughts on the Tank fight and what might be next:

Inside MMA is promising a must-see show tonight with “HUGE breaking news” (according to their press release) and a panel that includes Randy Couture, Kim Couture, and Gina Carano. They’ve also released a clip of tonight’s show where Kim Couture discusses training for her first MMA match and the sparring session in which Gina Carano broke her nose. We gotta say, Randy’s wife is lookin’ good — she kinda has a Speed-era Sandra Bullock thing going on. Meanwhile, Gina kinda has a tough-but-warmhearted-lesbian-who-rides-in-an-otherwise-all-male-motorcycle-club-on-the-weekends thing going on. And that’s why we love her.

Inside MMA‘s breaking news will most likely involve Couture’s escalating legal battle with Zuffa. This could be unrelated, but MMAPayout‘s Adam Swift has an article on Sherdog today about HDNet Fights’ new suit against the UFC parent company, which seeks “a declaratory judgment concerning the contractual status of Couture under his Zuffa promotional contract. In an ironic twist, Zuffa’s co-defendant in the suit is technically none other than Couture himself.” Inside MMA airs on HDNet tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET.

(“I’m back, Bitches!”)

The IFL sent out a press release today detailing their second event in 2008. And true to the organization’s word, multiple titles will be on the line. Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko, Jay “The Thorobred” Hieron, and Wagnney Fabiano will all be defending their belts at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. during a nine-bout event on Friday, April 4th. The three championship bouts will be accompanied by match-ups between camps including Renzo Gracie Academy, Midwest Combat, Miletich Fighting Systems, and American Top Team. No word if Kyra Gracie will be among the RG Academy’s fighters.

What did Bas Rutten, IFL Vice President of Fighter Operations, have to say about the event, you might ask?

“I like the local feel of this card,” said Bas Rutten, IFL Vice President, Fighter Operations. “In addition to three outstanding championship matchups, featuring fighters from New York and New Jersey, you have Renzo Gracie’s camp, which was the champion last year, Midwest Combat, which features our top fighters from the Chicago area, and great battles with the Miletich camp and American Top Team, which we are very excited to have on board.”

American Top Team – based out of Florida – is considered outside of the core IFL camps and is one of the first to compete under the new IFL format.

“The Janitor” defected to the U.S. when he was a member of the Belarus wrestling team in the 90′s and became the IFL’s first individual champion when he won the light heavyweight title against Alex Schoenauer in November. He will face Jamal “The Suit” Patterson (God, these fucking nicknames), a sales manager for an orthodontics company. That’s even worse than being a real estate agent – not that we’re judging.

(Kim Couture has a long way to go before she’s in Gina’s league.)

HDNet Fights has announced in a press release that they will air an event featuring The Natural’s third wife, Kim Couture, on February 29th, exclusively on HDNet. “HDNet Fights Presents: The Debut of Kim Couture” was the title we were handed down. Here’s the lead-in to the announcement:

DALLAS (February 11, 2007) – Andrew Simon, CEO of HDNet Fights, announced today that HDNet will feature exclusive coverage of Kim Couture’s debut fight. Kim is the wife of MMA legend Randy “The Natural” Couture. Her debut will occur in a Boxing/Muay Thai Smoker, a mixed martial arts event, to be held at the Xtreme Couture Gym in Las Vegas, NV.

Talk about home field advantage. Might as well have held it in the Couture’s bedroom. Hmm, that just gave me an idea for my next reality show pitch. Anyway, the event will air after HDNet’s coverage of the network’s LIVE IFL show. There are to be eight fights, each consisting of three two-minute rounds. The event was originally announced as a February 23rd event against an unnamed opponent. The date has changed, but the name of the opponent is still a mystery.

(Tiffany Fallon and Bas: Best Friends 4-Eva!!)

The IFL held a media conference call this afternoon to announce that Bas Rutten would be taking the newly created position of Vice President, Fighter Operations (the press release is here). We only caught the first few minutes of the call before they started having technical difficulties — after which we tried calling back again, heard nothing, then gave up when the delivery guy came with lunch — but here’s what we gathered:

— Rutten’s duties will include “identifying talent, and working to get the best matchups possible.” He will report directly to IFL CEO Jay Larkin. Said Larkin, “For us to be successful, we need an icon in that leadership position.”

— Rutten will still work as the color commentator on IFL Battleground, and will remain the co-host of HDNet’s Inside MMA.

— Larkin reiterated the IFL’s geographical approach in 2008, stating that rather than hold each event in a different city (which sucked up marketing dollars that weren’t being reflected in ticket sales), the league would focus on the markets where they’ve had the greatest success.

— The second event in the IFL’s 2008 season will take place April 4th at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and will feature title defenses by Wagnney Fabiano (featherweight), Jay Hieron (welterweight), and Vladimir Matyushenko (light heavyweight). Details on the first event are here.

— Bas defended the IFL’s banning of elbow strikes, saying that while he’s only seen about five fighters who’ve ever been knocked out by elbow strikes, the use of elbows create cuts that lead to early stoppages. “It’s a cheat,” he said.

— Total MMA asked Jay Larkin to respond to claims made by Roy Nelson in our interview that the IFL treats fighters unfairly. We thank them for that. Larkin called the claims “inaccurate,” stating that the IFL’s fighters still get medical coverage and other benefits, though the pay structure needed to be changed somewhat. Conveniently, that’s when things went FUBAR, but the complete audio recording from the call can be downloaded here.

We discussed the upcoming Fight Science series before, but now we have the promo video, which plugs the premiere episode; it airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on the National Geographic channel. Watch as Tito Ortiz demonstrates an elbow strike from the clinch, and how it might eff up a dude’s equilibrium. Huge boobs at 0:19! Bas Rutten saying “hooWoOO!” at 3:20!

Following up their beloved “Dear Don” feature, IFL.tv has given Bas Rutten his own column called “Who’s the Bas?” (Clever!) In the first installment, Rutten tries his hand at Seinfeld-esque observational humor. Here’s what he has to say about airports:

For some reason, there are people – even after all these years – who still don’t know that you have to take all the metal out of your pockets, take your laptop out of the bag, take off your shoes, etc. How can they not know? Is this their first time on an airport in the last five years?

And hotels:

I never like the pillows in hotels. I don’t know what it is. I always bring my own pillow. That’s a travel tip I recommend for everyone. Having your own pillow with you is never a bad idea, trust me. You’d be surprised what a difference it makes.

And avoiding contact with other people’s filthy hands:

One of the reasons I stay in my room, though, is that I prefer to eat up there. It’s not that I don’t want to be around anyone (I don’t want you to think I’m some kind of jerk), but if I’m eating in a hotel people will want to come up to me and shake hands. I don’t mind, but that’s one of the easiest ways to pass germs from one person to another, and here I am eating. This, my friends, is why I recommend the fist bump. It’s the same kind of physical gesture, but it’s hygienic! People tell me sometimes that they think it’s strange. Maybe, but it’s no more strange than shaking hands. What, I’m going to hold another person’s hand in mine and move it up and down for a few seconds and that’s not strange? No, thanks. I’d rather do the fist bump. It may be strange, but at least I can go back to eating my meal without worrying about the germs I’ve just picked up from holding another person’s hand.

Did we say Seinfeld? We meant Rooney.

And speaking of Bas, click here for the funkiest jam you’ve ever heard. Who knew El Guapo had such a sick flow?

Potent — a new documentary about MMA co-produced by Bas Rutten — is now available for purchase at PotentTheMovie.com. Peep the trailer below; though the film’s angle seems to be that MMA is an arduous though ultimately rewarding way to make a living, it could probably use some gritty Smashing Machine-style pathos to appeal to a broader audience. Or, at the very least, a few crowd-pleasing kicks to the groin…

Bas Rutten had been away from fighting for over seven years when he stepped back into the cage with Ruben “Warpath” Villareal on 7/22/2006 at WFA – King of the Streets. Always a great kicker, Bas took over two minutes before he finally unloaded his tree trunk of a leg. Before that, he methodically circles Warpath and lands an array of well-placed and jarring shots to his victim’s face make-up. Bas could have flown in and crushed Warpath with brute strength, but instead used a lumberjack technique: keep chopping away at the base and eventually the tree will fall. Warpath tries to limp his way back into contention but Bas isn’t having it. The last kick sends the chubby giant to his knees where he’s in so much pain he can barely tap out. And we’d all like to thank Kevin James for showing up.

Courtesy of ProElite.com. Holy crap, this fight is only five days away!

Since Bas Rutten is the former coach of the IFL’s L.A. Anacondas team, Kimbo Slice’s trainer, and a personal hero of CagePotato, you’ll be seeing a lot of him on this site, and it would behoove you to get acquainted with his work. A good place to start is this video of Rutten taking on Frank Shamrock in a 1996 Pancrase match. For those of you who grew up on the UFC, the Pancrase rules might throw you off — wikipedia has a decent overview here.

The fight was so theatrical that some have accused it of being a work. Check out Rutten and Shamrock toppling out of the ring at 5:00-5:06; Shamrock’s backward somersault at 7:14-7:18; the exchange at 9:02-9:18 that I won’t even try to explain; and Bas’s celebratory “Rutten Jump” beginning at 11:50, after the fight was stopped due to a cut near Shamrock’s eye.

EliteXC held a conference call yesterday to discuss their upcoming “Renegade” event, with live events president Gary Shaw and fighters Kimbo Slice, KJ Noons and Jake Shields in attendance. (The audio is here; dig that funky hold music.)

Obviously, the call belonged to Kimbo. Give this guy a few years and he’ll be operating on Tyson-esque levels of verbal entertainment/insanity. Some of his highlights:

[On training with Bas Rutten]: “Every aspect of my training has improved. My whole life has improved. I don’t even smoke any more. I haven’t had sex in four months. I haven’t had a cocktail in five, six months. So I’m pretty pure and backed up, and I’m ready to fight. My focus is on point. I’m accurate. I know how to use my power. My wind is outstanding. I’m ready for anything coming my way. My groundwork is superb. I’m an all?around fighter. I’m no longer one?dimensional. I’m not going to stand there and bang. Working with Bas, that’s like, man, he’s like the Jimmy Johnson, the John Madden of [MMA].”