Whoever’s in charge of video editing at Triumph United has incredible taste in music (though we would have probably chosen this jam for the soundtrack instead). If you’re not interested in seeing Kimbo Slice and Bas Rutten do some synchronized striking drills during a recent meet-and-greet at Elite MMA, we’d suggest skipping to the 1:54 mark to get your first taste of Kimbo workin’ it on the ground. Props to BloodyElbow. Also…

(James Irvin prepares for his UFC 85 fight against Rashad Evans at Fairtex Bangplee in Thailand. Props to MMAMania.)

(James Irvin: Fighting his way off of the C-list.)

“He’s lost his last two fights now, against Franklin and Anderson Silva, so the UFC’s decision makes sense. No fighter can guarantee winning a fight but you can go into a bout in shape. If you can’t go the distance then you’re not preparing well enough and you’re not taking your job seriously. We work for the UFC and it’s our job to get off our a**es and train and be in shape. That’s what we get paid for and if we don’t do that then we’re not doing our job. That’s the way I look at it.”
— Michael Bisping on the recent sacking of Travis Lutter.

“I just decided to make light of the situation and be like, hey man, this is what I’m seeing. I’m seeing a running man. That just came to me out of nowhere. When there were ten seconds left I just said to myself, all right, I’m calling the technique the ‘rock-hammer.’ I don’t know if that name will stick or not.”
— Nate Quarry on the instant-classic ending of his fight with Kalib Starnes.

“I’m just so happy that he would even take the fight against me. I consider him an ‘A’ level fighter, and I consider myself a ‘C’ level fighter, maybe a ‘B’ level because I just beat Houston trying to claw my way up to the top. So for him to take a step down and fight me, I’m greatly appreciative of the guy, who is someone I look up to as one of those top tier fighters.”
— James Irvin on his UFC 85 opponent, Rashad Evans.

“Mentally I think BJ has some quit in him. I’ve seen it, I’ve seen it in the past. If you push him, he’ll quit.”
— Sean Sherk on his UFC 84 grudge match with BJ Penn.

“Now that the K1 thing is out of the way it’s all good baby: all MMA and MMA only. These guys (DREAM) want me to fight Aleksander (Emelianeko) in about three weeks time on May 11th! I was like no way because it’s too short a time with no training. I don’t want to risk fighting like that. But if they compensate me enough for taking that risk then it’s all good and I’ll fight. DREAM’s plan was to see how Fedor (Emelianeko) goes and when and if he wins the DREAM title, and then I will fight him…First time I fought him, my wrestling wasn’t great — actually it was pretty shit but I did alright with him. This time I will be ready.”
— Mark Hunt, who may eventually be battling the Emelianenko brothers in DREAM. Hunt was submitted by Fedor via armbar at PRIDE Shockwave on New Year’s Eve 2006.

BJ Penn, God bless him, has not given up on the blood-licking thing — and he vows to do it again when he fights Sean Sherk. Check out the pre-fight hype in these new UFC 84 promo videos, which run down the matchups between Penn and Sherk, as well as Silva vs. Jardine and Oritz vs. Machida.

(Dana White: “BJ Penn is a fucking *fighter*.”)

(Dana White on Wanderlei Silva: “This guy, loves, to fucking, *fight*.”)

(Dana White on Tito Ortiz: “I think he has the will and desire to be successful. He doesn’t have the will and desire to be the best fighter in the world.”)

(Props: BloodyElbow)

(“Disrespect me again and I snap the kid’s neck!”)

In our chat with Kenny Florian, he kinda’, sorta’ hinted that feels he’s being disrespected by BJ Penn and the Lauzons. He flat out says it in an interview with MMAWeekly:

“But now here’s a kid looking past me. He’s training with B.J. Penn and apparently he’s become B.J. or whatever it is and they’re looking past me. You know what? If they do that, B.J.’s going to end up sending Joe Lauzon to the slaughter, because I’m not going to have anyone disrespect me like that or anyone going into a fight thinking they’re just going to run right by me.”

And a similar statement from a Sprawl.tv interview:

I think he has been very disrespectful. I think Joe has been hanging out with B.J to much, and now he thinks he’s little B.J. Well little B.J is going to get taken care of on April 2nd.

Joe Lauzon didn’t do any disrespectin’ when we talked to him and judging by the video the Lauzons shot and posted over at Joe’s official site, they’re full of respect.

A lamp shade on a head — when not creepy — is comedy gold, no matter how you slice it. Lightweights Ken-Flo and J-Lau will battle it out in the main event on Wednesday during UFC Fight Night 13.

By CagePotato Guest Contributor Ben Fowlkes

On April 2nd, Kenny Florian headlines the next edition of Spike TV’s “UFC Fight Night,” where he’ll take on lightweight up-and-comer Joe Lauzon. While most fans know that Florian, like Lauzon, got his start in the UFC with The Ultimate Fighter, what they don’t know is that his journey really began with a near-death experience that changed his outlook on life.

Florian took a trip to Brazil in the summer of 2003 with the goal of improving his jiu-jitsu. While hiking down a mountain with some friends, Florian slipped on the wet, mossy rocks and began sliding off a precipice. Friends tried to grab him, but Florian plummeted over the edge and fell “for what seemed like an eternity.” He landed on a rounded rock that stopped his fall and ultimately saved his life. The experience was an eye-opening one for Florian, and it prompted him to abandon the safety of his white-collar life and pursue his dreams.

In this exclusive interview, Florian talks about the ramifications of that incident, about being haunted and motivated by defeat, and about his impending showdown with Lauzon and what it means for his career.

CagePotato: You came into the UFC by way of The Ultimate Fighter, and you’d only had a few professional fights at that point. What’s the major difference between that Kenny Florian and the one we see in the Octagon now?
Kenny Florian: That last Kenny Florian’s a punk. No, the Kenny Florian on The Ultimate Fighter was a guy who was trying to test his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He was a guy who really wasn’t sure if he wanted to become a fighter. It was just an opportunity that was presented to him at the time.

Now you’re seeing a guy who wants to learn it all and who wants to be a master of it all, and who sees the beauty in any technique that works. Whether it’s striking or wrestling or expanding my jiu-jitsu game for MMA, I’m trying to not only get good at the individual arts but find a circle of techniques that flow into each other and compliment each other. It’s an art in itself, just finding what works for MMA.

Now that you’re fighting at lightweight and having success, do you ever look back and wonder, “What was I thinking trying to be a middleweight?”
I was fat, that’s the main thing that comes to my mind. I had no concept of nutrition, of strength and conditioning. Not until after the Sherk fight did I have any concept of those things like the way I do now. I was definitely a work in progress, but I was crazy then. I was really a natural 155’er who was given an opportunity to compete at 185 and I thought, why not? I had nothing to lose.

I had no idea it would become this big, running show. I thought it could have been my only opportunity to fight for the UFC or fight on TV and help bring this sport to the masses. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, and on top of that, week after week, I became more confident. I thought, with the skills I have now I’m doing well against all these experienced mixed martial artists, I may have a chance at winning this thing.

It was really one of my first experiences with mixed martial arts and it was a great chance to work out with great coaches like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell and find out what it takes to get to that next level. Those are the guys that planted the seed in my head for what I’m doing now.

Reading past interviews with you, it seems like you’re really motivated by your losses. What’s it like after a big loss, when you get back to the dressing room and have to face that dark moment? How do you move past it?
It’s a terrible, terrible feeling. My loss to Sean Sherk haunts me to this day. At the same time it motivates me, and I can look at it as a positive experience. You can let things like that defeat you, or you put them behind you and learn from them and get better. That’s what I tried to do. There’s no such thing as a setback in life. There are only lessons. We’re made to evolve and get better and faster and stronger. You can do that within your own life.

It’s like pushing weights for the first time and your body’s sore and it sucks and it’s really hard, but after a while your muscles and your nervous system and everything gets stronger. Your muscle memory gets better. That’s the way it is with certain things in fighting. If you have a loss, you need to look at it and learn from it. What technical mistakes did I make? What strategic mistakes did I make? What mental mistakes did I make?

You cover all those bases and, if you need to, write it down and start working on patching those holes up. You can only look at it as a positive and live in the present day. If you live in the past, you’re dead.

Urijah Faber keeps the look alive…

(Props: CombatLifestyle via BloodyElbow)

(It’s his party, and he’ll cry if he wants to!)

The usual UFC event parties hosted by fighters are being planned, one for tonight and another for Saturday when UFC 81 blows up in Vegas. Of course, you actually have to be in Vegas to join in the merriment.

Joe Daddy Stevenson – who fought at UFC 80, losing to BJ Penn – will be the man of the hour this evening at TAO, which is in the Venetian. On Da Strip, no less. It is open to the public and Joe Daddy will be there signing autographs with his blood and posing for pics starting at 10 p.m. (PST). Luckily, you’ll have two days to get rid of the hangover before the next par-tee.

On Saturday, Frank Mir will host a post UFC 81 party at Rum Jungle, which is in the Mandalay Bay. How convenient since that is where he will be fighting Brock Lesnar. This will be the party to be at since a lot of fighters and MMA execs usually attend the closest after-party. It’s being sponsored by Xyience Warrior Wear and MMA Warehouse. If you have trouble finding Rum Jungle, just follow the pieces of the penis tattoo that Frank Mir ripped off of Lesnar during the fight.

If trying to find Joe Daddy’s party, follow the blood trail.

(From ESPN via BloodyElbow)

Holy, freakin’, crap. Looks like we already have a top contender for this year’s “10 Best MMA Photos” list.

By the way, Joe wants you to know that he was totally not crying at the end of that fight.

(Props to Fightlinker for the zoom on Stevenson’s red geyser.)

Joe Stevenson recently chatted with FightHype about his uber-bloody loss (via submission to BJ Penn) at last weekend’s UFC 80. When asked how he thought he did, Joe Daddy had this to say:

I think I did good. I just got cut. I think it was getting better and better for me and sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.

Or sometimes the bear just kicks your ass. And shame on all of you who thought Joe Daddy was crying like Bob Sapp after the loss. Here’s what he has to say to you:

I saw the tape and it looked like I was crying, but I had something in my eye…my blood (laughing).

I know every time something gets in my eye, I look like an eight-year-old who just witnessed his dog getting hit by a car. Come on! Admit you were crying! We believe you weren’t crying as much as we believe when you said the elbow from BJ “didn’t hurt”.

Regardless if he’s a crier or not, Joe Daddy seems to have gained even more fans and support on the MMA message boards since his showing against “The Prodigy”. Frank Trigg has even said Joe Daddy is the second best lightweight after Penn. Thanks for weighing-in “Twinkle Toes”, you’ve obviously been swimming in bourbon.

After moving up to 185 pounds to defeat Rodrigo Gracie at Rumble on the Rock 6, B.J. Penn had a revelation — why don’t I just keep eating? Four months later, he competed in his first and only 205-pound match, facing off against Lyoto Machida at K-1 HERO’s 1 (3/26/05). Machida was only 5-0 at the time, but he had already disposed of Stephan Bonnar and Rich Franklin in his second and third fights, respectively. Though Penn threatened from the top in the first round, he had no answer for Lyoto’s size advantage and defensive skills, and lost the decision. Boring? Sure, maybe a little. But it was a significant moment in the careers of both fighters; Penn would drop back down to welterweight immediately after.

(Fight starts at the 5:10 mark.)

(Paul Taylor bashes Paul Kelly during their “Fight of the Night.”)

Things are tough all over, I guess. The UFC released its customary bonuses after UFC 80, but each one was only $35,000, a full $20,000 less than the bonuses handed out after UFC 79. This is the first time we can recall that the bonuses actually went down from one event to the next. We knew European expansion was a bitch, financially speaking, but it’s unfortunate that the fighters had to tighten their belts to recoup some of the costs. Anyway, here’s who got the extra cash:

Fight of the Night: Paul Kelly and Paul Taylor. Each Brit got $35k, primarily for the insane brawl that kicked off the first round; after that, it was fairly dull GnP domination from Paul Kelly, who won a unanimous decision.

Knockout of the Night: Wilson Gouveia earned $35k for his out-of-nowhere comeback blast of Jason Lambert.

Submission of the Night: B.J. Penn collected $35k by default for his rear-naked-choke of Joe Stevenson, UFC 80′s only tap-out.

Thus, I went 1-3 in my predictions. And commenter MattyLight owes commenter Olie $5. (Sorry buddy!) Feel free to work out the exchange in the comments section.

MAIN CARD
BJ Penn def. Joe Stevenson via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:02 of round 2
Fabricio Werdum def. Gabriel Gonzaga via TKO (punches), 4:34 of round 2
Marcus Davis def. Jess Liaudin via KO (punch), 1:04 of round 1
Wilson Gouveia def. Jason Lambert via KO (punch), 0:37 of round 2
Jorge Rivera def. Kendall Grove via TKO (punches), 1:20 of round 1

PRELIMINARY CARD
Sam Stout def. Per Eklund via unanimous decision — this was the only untelevised fight
Alessio Sakara def. James Lee via TKO (punches), 1:30 of round 1
Paul Kelly def. Paul Taylor via unanimous decision
Antoni Hardonk def. Colin Robinson via TKO (punch), 0:17 of round 1

I just have to know — CAN, YOU, *FEEEEEEL* IT!!!!!!!(?)

You know how this works. Click the “MORE” link and refresh the page every few minutes to get the latest updates on UFC 80: “Rapid Fire,” which comes to us live from Newcastle, England. All times ET.

This liveblog is brought to you by Negra Modelo and Debbie’s Killer Wings.

On Monday we gave BJ Penn some space on CagePotato. Now it’s time to do the same for Joe “Daddy” Stevenson. Props to MMA on Tap for the bit they did on the fighter today. The posting mentions how Joe Daddy was already a professional fighter by the age of 16. At that age, I was just concentrated on how to lay the seats back in my parents’ station wagon so I could bang my girlfriend. Joe Daddy is poised to fight BJ Penn in England on Saturday for the UFC lightweight crown at UFC 80: Rapid Fire.

The reason the two fighters will be going head-to-head for the title is because Sean “The Muscle Shark” Sherk got stripped of the title when he was busted for juicing last year. The Muscle Shark will have to try and win his belt back against the winner of Saturday’s fight. Both Penn and Stevenson agree that Sherk should fight the winner of their fight, per their words at the press conference.

More from Stevenson:

“The fight being for a title, it definitely has a lot of meaning behind it,” Stevenson said during a recent interview session. “It’s something that I’ve aspired to have ever since I started watching and following this sport.”

And when the term ‘underdog’ is thrown out in reference to Joe Daddy?

Many of you have weighed in on who BJ Penn might have been talking about when he said he has already found the Frazier to his Ali. Here’s a bit from The Sun that might shed some more light:

“Fighting GSP is all I think about every day. A rematch would be very good and I’ll make sure that I will 100 per cent guarantee victory if we fight again.” Penn also claimed he would be happy to face former welterweight champion Matt Hughes in a rubber match, but fears the veteran could walk away from mixed martial arts.

He added: “I’d love to fight Matt Hughes again but I think he could walk away after his loss to St Pierre. If he does walk away from the sport, I wouldn’t be surprised after what happened the other night. Before his fight with Georges, I was really hoping I’d get another shot at Matt Hughes but after that fight, that was so embarrassing for him I don’t know how he’s going to rebound from that. I’d love to fight him again. If we can put the fight together somehow I’d love it but he’s also getting older so I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Is is GSP, then? Or maybe it’s Matt Hughes and he’s just hoping to fight him again. Matt Hughes claims he’s not done, so it could happen if BJ moves up. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open for ya’.

And for what it’s worth, BJ has also said he thought Matt Hughes fought like a pussy against GSP. We just think Hughes got his ass kicked.

Today on the UFC’s website is a lengthy article about BJ Penn. The Prodigy was apparently in a joking mood and even suggested headlines for the article. I guess he’s staying loose for UFC 80 when he will battle Joe Stevenson (January 19th) for the vacant UFC lightweight title belt.

Some snippets:

“I’m training a lot harder,” admits Penn, who hasn’t always been known for his Spartan work ethic. “Back in the day I used to pride myself on how little I could do and get away with it; now I try to pride myself on how much I do. I try to work real hard, train as much as I can, eat healthy food, and I want to see how far I can take it.

”For most fighters, a realization like this comes after a series of crippling setbacks or when reaching a milestone age like 30 or 35 and realizing that what you’ve been doing for years just isn’t working. Penn though, is more popular than ever after his stint as a coach on season five of The Ultimate Fighter and a dominant win over Jens Pulver in the show’s season finale. As for his previous two losses, he dropped a close nod to interim welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre and then lost to Matt Hughes in the third round after dominating the first two rounds and then breaking his rib – not exactly a call for panic, but for Penn when he turned 28 in December of 2006, he decided that just being among the best in the world wasn’t enough.

“I guess the wakeup call was December 13, 2006, when I turned 28,” said Penn, 29. “I said ‘what am I doing, why am I messing around? This is the biggest sport in the world, it’s gonna overtake everything, I’m at the forefront. Why am I playing games?’”

Penn then discusses how he saw the move from flabby 170 to 155 as a chance to make things right after starting to struggle at 170.

Dana White, Joe Rogan, BJ Penn, Joe Stevenson, and Gabriel Gonzaga get us hyped for UFC 80:

(Props: MMA Fever)

Manny Gamburyan performing the leg lock that blew-out Nate Mohr’s knee at UFC 79:

And finally, here’s Japanese MMA star Genki “Neo-Samurai” Sudo competing on the Most Extreme Elimination Challenge-esque TV show Ninja Warrior. So close!

(Props: Bloody Elbow)

Honorable Mention: Pat Miletich 

10. Frank Trigg 

9. Matt Hughes

8. Fedor Emelianenko vs Josh Barnett
As Emelianenko climbed to the top of the PRIDE heavyweight ranks, the only fighter who eluded one of his signature ass-whippings was the one big name he never fought: the Baby Faced Assassin, Josh Barnett. When his name came up as a possible opponent for Fedor at Yarennoka!, our heart skipped a beat. Then, reality set in. Fedor would most likely do to Barnett what he does to everyone else — turn him into a human punching-bag for 2-15 minutes depending on how hard his skull is — but Barnett is an A-level fighter and it wouldn’t be fair to count him out against anybody (even though we just did).

7. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Andrei Arlofski
While every other heavyweight match the UFC books seems to feature Tim “Xanax” Sylvia, the organization’s two most exciting stars are sitting on the bench. Anytime you put two offensive powerhouses — neither of whom has much of a chin — in a cage together, you’re guaranteed to see fireworks. It doesn’t matter that Cro Cop is coming off of back-to-back losses and there really wouldn’t be anything on the line; fans would kill to see these guys bash it out.

By CagePotato contributor Kipp Tribble

Yesterday, BJ “The Prodigy” Penn received a sentence of one year’s probation and was ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution for hitting a Honolulu police officer during a melee outside of a Waikiki bar in 2005. As part of the no-contest plea to 3rd-degree assault charges, Penn must also abstain from alcohol, perform 50 hours of community service and submit to a substance abuse treatment program and random drug and alcohol tests. (Ed. note: Abstain from alcohol? Personally, we’d take the jail time — and we think Don Frye would agree.) Penn was also ordered to not travel outside the United States — well, unless it’s to fight in England next month at UFC 80 and make some scratch, then it’s okay. But otherwise, they’re cracking down!

This comes on the same day as Fighthype’s interview with Sean Sherk, where the Anabolic Muscle Shark had some not-so-nice things to say about Penn:

“I think BJ Penn is a punk. Who the hell is he? He’s won one fight in a couple of years now and it’s just whatever man. He wants to make all of these rules and regulations, but who the hell is he? I’m the champ in my eyes so I don’t care if he fights me or not, there’s a whole bunch of guys that could fight me right now. It’s his loss, not mine. He needs me more than I need him.”

Forget all this “interim” bullshit — according to an article posted yesterday night on UFC.com, BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson will fight for the true, undisputed lightweight championship at UFC 80: Rapid Fire on January 19th. Before the Ultimate Fighter 6 finale on Saturday, UFC officials confirmed that Sean Sherk had been stripped of the lightweight title after his suspension for steroid use was upheld (sort of) by the California State Athletic Commission. Says Dana White: “I have nothing but respect for Sean Sherk and I believe he’s been honest throughout this whole process. But BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson will be fighting for the lightweight title at UFC 80 on January 19th and Sean Sherk will fight the winner for the title.”

Penn’s fight against Stevenson will be his third attempt at securing the UFC’s lightweight belt, and fifth title fight overall; he was briefly the UFC’s welterweight champion after defeating Matt Hughes at UFC 46 (1/31/04). UFC 80 represents the first title shot for Stevenson, who has been fighting professionally since he was 16. Though initial reports suggested that “Rapid Fire” — which is being held in Newcastle, England — might be presented to American audiences as a taped prime-time special on CBS, Fightlinker.com is now floating a rumor that the first UFC/CBS collabo will actually be UFC 81. So if you plan on watching the Penn/Stevenson bout next month, be prepared to roll out of bed at the ungodly hour of 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET and start your Saturday with a steaming bowl of bloodshed.