The CompuStrike LIVE App will be available once again on LowKick.com, this time throughout the anticipated UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch main card bouts. The app will be your source for live statistics and commentary, which will provide you a unique view on what’s going on inside the Octagon at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia…

Learn more, and check out the CompuStrike Live App during UFC 127 at LowKick.com…

(One man’s “rock bottom” is another man’s awesome Saturday night. Pic: MMA Mania)

Diego Sanchez sort of unexpectedly dominated the action on Tuesday during the official media conference call for the Versus Network’s upcoming UFC Live broadcast. The newly nickname-free fighter talked openly about the hard times he suffered in the midst of back-to-back losses to BJ Penn and John Hathaway, said a return to lightweight is currently impossible (owing to a new weightlifting regimen courtesy of Olympic-wrestler-turned-Team-Jackson-middleweight Willie Parks) and explained why he recently decided to ditch his longtime moniker as “The Nightmare.” Turns out, it just wasn’t positive enough for him.

“I let the ‘Nightmare’ go,” Sanchez told reporters. “A nightmare is something that is negative and kind of evil. I don’t want to represent that. I want to represent positivity and I want to represent the good. I look back on my whole career (as) the ‘Nightmare’ (and) the nightmare was myself. I was my own nightmare. All the times I fell off track and got into drinking, got into smoking weed, the things that brought me down, the partying. That was my nightmare. I was my own nightmare. I’m grown up (now). I’m going to let that name go … I thought about changing it to ‘The Dream’ but I thought that would be a little bit out there, so I’m just going to stick with Diego Sanchez.”

Oddly, Sanchez also made vague mention of getting swindled out of $175,000 during that dark period he spent training away from Greg Jackson’s team. Details, such as they are, after the jump.

BJ Penn Brings in Matt Hughes to Train for Jon Fitch – Watch more Funny Videos

It looks like Matt Hughes and BJ Penn have been trolling us all along by making everyone think they can’t stand each other.

“The Prodigy” has brought in “Country Breakfast” to help him train for his upcoming UFC 127 fight with Jon Fitch, and according to Hughes, despite the fact that they have both beaten the shit out of each other and have slung a shit ton of verbal jabs over the years, there’s no hard feelings between them.

“I’ve been in the sport a long time — a lot longer than some other guys in the UFC. We respect each other and we’ve never really not got along and never had a falling out of any type. We’re competitors, so when we had a fight coming up, we always came in with the attitude that we were gonna beat the other one,” Hughes told Hawaii’s KHON2 news. “We fought, I think a week before Thanksgiving or something and he beat me pretty good…pretty quick. That was a match and he’s got his next fight and I’m tryin’ to help him out.”

(Video courtesy BJPenn.com)

Former UFC welterweight and lightweight champ BJ Penn suffered a bizarre injury recently.

Apparently "The Prodigy" was bitten by a spider on the back of the head while doing some promo in Australia and the sore became so infected that it caused some of his hair around the affected area to fall out. Hopefully for his sake, Jon Fitch doesn’t take him down and mop the canvas with his dome at UFC 127 like he usually does with opponents or else we may see BJ featured on popthatzit.com.

On a side note, what the hell is up with BJ’s coke nails?  Does he practice the ukelele in his spare time?

Maybe this explains why GSP’s eyes looked like they’d gone through a cheese grater the first time they fought.

(This guy knows what I’m talking about.)

The first week of 2011 is coming to an end, and it seems like a good time to give away a few t-shirts. Fun fact: This is the third "Comments of the Week" post that we’ve published in the last three months. It almost seems like we should change the name to something…I don’t know…more fitting somehow. If you have any suggestions, we’d love to hear ‘em, because we’re absolutely stumped.

Anyway, three commenters stood out from the pack this week, setting a standard for the new year that ALL of you should be living up to. If your name is called, please send your real name, address, and shirt-size to contest@cagepotato.com and we’ll hook you up…

("Minced martial arts is great. I watch it all the time.")

It looks like former UFC lightweight and welterweight champ BJ Penn has brought in a new secret weapon to help him prepare for upcoming UFC 127 bout with perennial contender Jon Fitch in Australia.

Fight Hype is reporting that “The Prodigy” has spent some time in Las Vegas honing his pugilistic skills with acclaimed boxing trainer Floyd Mayweather Senior.

The father of IBO, IBA, IBF and WBC welterweight and WBC super welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Junior, Senior has trained several top boxers including his son, Oscar De La Hoya, Leila Ali, Ricky Hatton, Joan Guzman and Chad Dawson.

“Joy” says that when “The Prodigy” first showed up at his gym, his nickname didn’t seem to be an accurate description of the Hilo, Hawaii native’s fighting prowess, but with a few days of his tutelage, Penn picked up a lot.

“BJ Penn is a cool dude, man. I’ll be honest, at first, it didn’t seem like he could fight that good. I mean, I don’t know about his ground game and all of that stuff, but he’s got some pop and in just the three days I’ve been working with him, he has improved, man,” he says. “In his words, man, he told me, ‘I ain’t never seen some of this stuff you’re showing me, man.’ And that’s only after three days. BJ is learning fast, man. He’s a good guy.”

(Someone is coming out of this fight with new war wounds.)

It looks like Diego Sanchez broke his promise and will be staying at welterweight, at least for the time being.

Sanchez will take on Martin Kampmann in the main event on March 3 on the next UFC on Versus card. CagePotato.com was able to confirm the initial report with sources close to the fight who indicated that bout agreements have been received and they are in the process of signing.

Coming off of a decisive unanimous decision victory over Paulo Thiago at UFC 121 in October, Sanchez, who alongside Forrest Griffin was one of the two winners of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter as a middleweight, dropped down to lightweight in 2009. After running through the division and securing a title shot against then-champion, BJ Penn, Sanchez was dominated for five rounds by "The Prodigy" before being stopped via a cut at the midway point of the final frame.

After the bout, Sanchez decided that a move up to welterweight would likely be a more expedient route to a second shot at UFC gold considering the lineup forming behind Penn, so he took a tune-up fight against up-and-coming undefeated Brit, John Hathaway. The fight proved to be tougher than Sanchez anticipated as he was handed a loss by "The Hitman" who threw a wrench into his welterweight plans.

Now "The Nightmare" will have to avoid the crosshairs of another "Hitman" looking to climb the welterweight ranks by beating him.

("The Promise" and "Killer Bee" will clash down under.)

CagePotato.com has learned from a source close to the fight that a middleweight bout between The Ultimate Fighter 11 standout Nick Ring (10-0) and Kazuo Misaki’s Grabaka teammate, Riki Fukuda (17-4) has been signed for UFC 127 February 27 in Sydney, Australia.

The fight will be the first for Ring since the undefeated Canadian notched a majority decision win over eventual TUF 11 winner Court McGee while filming the show in January. After the bout, Ring, who had been competing with a lingering knee injury, was forced to pull out of the competition due to a torn ACL which would require surgery. The favorite to win the competition, the 30-year-old has been rehabbing the joint since having it surgically repaired in April and has been training in Montreal at Tristar Gym with fellow UFC fighters, welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and longtime training partner Rory MacDonald.

Fukuda, who, like Ring,  will also be making his Octagon debut at the event down under, is the DEEP middleweight champion and has not lost since 2008. An EliteXC and DREAM veteran, his most notable victory is a unanimous decision he won over Murilo "Ninja" Rua at DREAM 8 in 2009. The 29-year-old native of Tokyo who has only been finished once in his career surprised many when he took veteran Joe Doerksen to a decision in his first bout in 2004.

(Well, it could be worse, I guess; my kid could be a Brock fan.")

Well, it looks like Matt Hughes may be taking his KO loss to BJ Penn at UFC 123 a bit harder than we thought.

The former UFC welterweight champ wrote on his blog this week that the outcome of the fight has him more closely considering retirement.

Here what Hughes’ thoughts are on the situation:

"A lot of people have been asking about the fight and how I am doing. Of course, the fight didn’t go like I had planned it. I knew BJ was going to be in shape, but I didn’t know he was going to come in with a game plan and really look for my tendencies. I think BJ knew I was going to come in throwing my jab and I think he had a game plan for that," Hughes explains. "He hit me with a hard right hand that I never saw coming. It’s funny how styles make fights and I’m not at all like Frankie Edgar. So it just kind of stinks that BJ came off two losses and then ended up beating me in less than 30 seconds. I knew BJ was going to be tough that first round. I was trying to get him into the second and the third round where I could wear on him, slow him down and soften him up a little bit; but it just didn’t go that way."

(Jeez, Georges, casual Friday? Vid courtesy of ESPN.)

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…

– Helwani vs. Dundas: MMA Awards Edition (Versus MMA Beat)

– ‘Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu’ Media Conference Call Highlights (LowKick)

– UFC-WEC Merger Brings Excitement, Warning About Jobs on the Line (MMA Fighting)

– CSAC’s George Dodd Pokes Holes In Chael Sonnen’s Rumored Testosterone Defense (MMA Convert)

– Prodigimon: Which BJ Penn Will You Get on Fight Night? (MiddleEasy)

– Mike Swick and Frank Shamrock Engage in Online War of Words (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Anthony Pettis Discusses ‘Fast Track to a UFC Title’ (FIGHT! Magazine)

– Alistair Overeem Discusses Steroid Accusations With Michael "The Voice" Schiavello" (MMA Scraps)

– Sean McCorkle Addresses Internet Fame, Trash Talk, and Stefan Struve (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Joe Rogan Calls MMA Writer a ‘F*ggot’, Internet Explodes (SBNation.com/MMA)

(We should all be that fired up, at least once in our lives. Props: UFC.com)

When BJ Penn knocked out Matt Hughes at UFC 123, one of the greatest rivalries in MMA history finally got its conclusion. And while not every two-fight series needs an immediate tie-breaker — the Internet has already informed Dana White what we think of Lesnar vs. Mir III — there’s something incredibly dramatic and satisfying about a good rubber-match. Off the top of our heads, here’s a few others we’d like to see…

Jason "Mayhem" Miller vs. Tim Kennedy

History: Kennedy def. Miller via decision @ Extreme Challenge 50 (2/23/03), Miller def. Kennedy via decision @ HDNet Fights: Reckless Abandon (12/15/07)
Why it needs to happen again: Look, I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for Jason Miller to agree to a catchweight fight with Nick Diaz under 185 pounds. Mayhem hasn’t even fought for Strikeforce since he squashed Tim Stout in April, and Kennedy is still without an opponent himself after dropping a decision to Jacare Souza in August — and he’s already mentioned that he wants another go-round with Mayhem. Strikeforce has two talented, unattached middleweights at their disposal with a storyline already in place. It doesn’t take rocket appliances to figure this out, guys.

(Rampage really needs to get some sun.)

Fair warning: If you’re epileptic, you may not want to make the jump to check out the gifs of the best of action of Saturday’s UFC 123 show.

(Same time tomorrow? Same time tomorrow. PicProps: UFC.com)

OK, three things: 1) Did Rampage deserve to win? Yes. 2) Was it a great fight? No. 3) After spending much of the last couple years making movies and generally acting disinterested in the fight game, did we think Jackson had it in him to beat Lyoto Machida leading up to UFC 123? No we did not, but we were wrong. Look, we’re not going to try to sell you a bill of goods that says Rampage looked outstanding out there on Saturday night. He didn’t, but he looked better than he has in some time and he implemented a solid, if unexciting game plan. Props to the much maligned Lance Gibson for cooking up a strategy (controlling the distance, punching off the break, trying to mix in some takedowns) that on this night was good enough to win two rounds against a suddenly very ordinary seeming Machida. Do we need to see them do it again? Meh … not really, so we’re glad UFC President Dana White is also opposed to the idea. Feels nice to agree with Dana for once.

BJ Penn is the real story here. Pretty much everyone on the planet said leading up to his third bout with Matt Hughes that the key for the former lightweight and welterweight champion was to come in motivated and in shape. Well, Penn proved very motivated this weekend. Crazy-eyed, mumbling-to-himself motivated. Unintelligible-after-the-fight motivated. So motivated that we had no time at all to see what kind of shape he was in after he came out of his corner like a house of fire and knocked Hughes cold in just 21 seconds. Now, if you thought Penn-Hughes III was a weird booking for Penn following his back-to-back losses to Frankie Edgar at 155-pounds, just wait to hear who Big DW says he’s got next …

(“So then I said, ‘Hey Tim, Dana told me if you beat Rizzo he might let you back in the UFC.’ Man, you should’ve seen his face. I think the poor fucker believed me.” PicProps: CombatLifestyle)

I went to Detroit once. During the summer of 1998 my band played at a bar called the Old Miami in the city’s Cass Corridor neighborhood. It was the kind of place where Vietnam veterans hung their actual purple hearts on the wall and tacked up fading snapshots of fallen fellow soldiers with the letters “KIA” scrawled above their heads in ballpoint pen. I kept expecting Dennis Hopper to wander in and say something like, “This is a heavy scene, man.” In fact, the whole town was like a living embodiment of every Bruce Springsteen song ever written. It was kind of cool, in an anthropological sort of way. Needless to say, the middle-aged ex-grunts who hung out at that bar didn’t seem to appreciate our particular brand of balls-to-the-wall, angsty hardcore music. Weird, I know.

I imagine not much has changed. In a lot of ways, war-torn old Detroit is the perfect setting  for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to stage a comeback fight. Both are getting on in years and still carry an aura of unpredictable violence despite the fact that their best days are probably behind them. I don’t even know what city Machida is like. Where do they drink the most piss? Santa Barbara? Probably Santa Barbara. Anyway,  we’ll be going live at 10 p.m. Eastern. As always, be sure to hit refresh early and often to keep up with the latest happenings.

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC.com)

- KahLOne presents: Legend of Dragon and Tiger (thegarv)

– 7 celebrity TSA body scans (holytaco)

– Penn changing things up with new coaches for UFC 123 (mmafighting)

– What her Facebook photos say about her (mademan)

– Joe Lauzon seems really concerned about Sotiropoulos’ legwear (fightersonly)

– New Green Hornet trailer busts out Kato-Vision (screenjunkies)

– Like Velasquez, Swick won’t commit to picking Koscheck to beat GSP (Tatame)

– Martha Higareda gallery (tuvez)

– Yankees to offer Jeter more than fair (scoresreport)

– Forrest Griffin & Michigan football (youtube)

– Don Frye calls Brock an embarrassment (hurtsbad)

– Machida’s brother weighs in on Rampage match-up (gustavoblat)

– Yesterday’s episode of MMA Live (espn)

Just a reminder that we’ll be streaming the UFC 123 weigh-ins today live from the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Check out the main card preview videos while you wait and the UFC media player of the weigh-ins after the jump.

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC.com)

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC.com)

(Video courtesy AOL)

MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani caught up with Dana White following today’s UFC 123 pre-fight press conference in Auburn Hills, Michigan and the UFC president shared his thoughts on a number of topics, including whether or not he thinks Quinton Jackson is motivated for his fight with Lyoto Machida, why he had a change of heart about letting Karo Parisyan fight for his organization again, what will happen to BJ Penn if he loses his third straight fight and Roy Nelson’s contract status.

(Props: GollyIE)

UFC 123 may not feature any title fights, but it does feature four hungry ex-champions. Headliner Rampage Jackson says he’s seen it all in his long career, and he’s not expecting any surprises from Lyoto Machida. Tiki Ghosn chimes in, predictably: "It’s Karate. Karate we found out sucked years ago. I think everybody got mesmerized with [Machida's] movement. Nobody cuts him off, nobody tries to cut him off." We hear more about Rampage’s decision to move his camp closer to home in Orange County, but no real explanation for the specific presence of Lance Gibson. Coincidentally, Machida has been preparing not too far away in San Diego, at Team Nogueria Gym. He says this fight is all about who imposes their gameplan. As opposed to other fights, where gameplans don’t really matter.

After the jump: ’Countdown’ continues, with a nice history of the rivalry between Matt Hughes and BJ Penn — from Matt’s "big man on campus" prime, to the loss that threw him into a Sin City tailspin, to his rematch redemption. Hughes has now eaten up three-consecutive Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts, and is looking to make Penn #4. Meanwhile, Penn is in Honolulu, with a head full of smoking needles, trying to clear his head after two upset losses to Frankie Edgar. To see the segment on Sotiropoulos vs. Lauzon, head to UFC.com.

Will "Rampage" finally pull out the "stank piss breff" joke he’s been dying to use on Machida?

Will Lyoto praise Steven Seagal for bringing back the old "Dragon?"

Has BJ Penn given up conventional training and gone back to carrying rocks under water and diving off of cliffs?

Will Matt Hughes ever be humble?

These questions and more will be answered within the hour as the UFC 123 pre-fight presser from Auburn Hills, Michigan hits the web via the UFC streaming web player after the jump.

(The Rampage Jackson Diaries, vol. 1: A quick look at Rampage’s secret training camp for UFC 123.)

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…

– A Lean BJ Penn Already on Weight For UFC 123 (MMA Convert)

– Tim Boetsch Talks Davis Fight, Learning From Past Losses (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Five Lessons: UFC 122 & WEC 52 (Versus MMA Beat)

– My First Fight: Dennis Hallman (MMA Fighting)

– Aleksander Emelianenko Is Singing in Front of a Live Audience and No One Knows Why (MiddleEasy)

– Strikeforce Cuts Ties With Roxanne Modafferi (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Why Brock Lesnar Should Fight Nogueira Next (LowKick)

– FIGHT! Rankings: Okami is the #2 middleweight in the world, Marquardt drops to #12 (FIGHT! Magazine)

– Jean-Claude Van Damme Gets Emotional While Discussing his Upcoming Fight (MMA Scraps)

– Fabricio Werdum’s Tune-Up Fight Plan Causes Needless Worry By Fans (SBNation.com/MMA)

Oh man, you thought last week’s Rumor Funhouse was grossly irresponsible? You guys have no idea what’s in store for you. Today’s installment features five warm ‘n fuzzy tales, all about the romantic bond. Four of them have been completely made up, either by us or by other people. One of them is actually legit. Can you separate the bullshit from the chicken salad? (That’s what they say down South, right?) Read on if you dare. Actually, don’t. Just move along. You’ll be a lot better off for it…

(Video courtesy YouTube/tjc231/UFC.com)

If you were to ask a room full of MMA fans and reporters if they think that BJ Penn’s best days as a fighter are behind him, many, if not most would say they were, but as The Prodigy told Joe Rogan on the most recent episode of UFC Ultimate Insider, he doesn’t feel that he has reached his full potential and he that with the right training and mindset he will one day be one of the best fighters in the sport.

When asked by Rogan if he would change anything he did during his career, Penn said that he would do it all over again without doing anything differently as he has learned from everything he has done.

"I wouldn’t do anything different. I woulda did it just like that. I wish I could look back and say, ‘I wish how I was gonna train right now for the Matt Hughes fight I trained like this when I was 20 years old,’ but it wouldn’t have worked then," BJ explains. "It wouldn’t have worked that way. You gotta find what works for you. That’s what I believe. I believe once I do [find what works best for me] I’ll be able to hit that peak. We’re just getting started."

(Video courtesy YouTube/TurismoGTR all rights reserved ZuffaLLC/SPIKETV)

If you missed episode one of UFC Primetime – Lesnar vs. Velasquez last night, we got you covered, playa.

The first segment shed some light on the background of Velasquez beyond the topical info we already know about his pop being an illegal immigrant and him being a hard worker. I was pretty surprised to hear Javier Mendez say that Cain has more talent than anyone he has ever trained including Frank Shamrock, Cung Le or BJ Penn. I could have sworn I heard Josh Koscheck mutter, "Javier. I’m right here and I can hear you," off camera.

Another interesting tidbit that kind of flew under the radar was that Pat Barry is in Minnesota helping Brock do something about his stand-up. Honestly, he might be about two years too late to make any marked improvement in Brock’s hands, but I may be wrong. Just ask James Toney how much can be learned in a few months.

Part two is after the jump.

(VidProps: YouTube/FightersOnlyMagazine)

Good news and bad news for people who were worried about how BJ Penn might react after demoralizing, back-to-back losses to Frankie Edgar this year: On the positive side, Penn’s not hanging it up. In fact, he says in the above vid with Fighters Only Magazine that he’s intent on fighting even more often and actually sounds like a 22-year-old “TUF” rookie just embarking on his UFC career when he starts talking about how he’s still tweaking his training and trying to figure out what works best for him. For a dude who in times past appeared cripplingly preoccupied with his place in the history of the sport, that renewed sense of himself has to be a good thing.

So, the bad news? Well, he and Matt Hughes are cool now, which pretty much takes all the fun out of the pair’s upcoming third meeting at UFC 123. Frankly, if this fight isn’t a grudge match, then it’s not immediately clear why anyone is supposed to care about it, let alone watch.

(Loser pays for the pig roast at the afterparty.)

CagePotato has learned through a source close to the situation that discussions are underway between Matt Hughes,  BJ Penn and the UFC to set up a rubbermatch between the pair at UFC 123 on  November 20.

The event, which is scheduled for The Palace of Auburn Hills in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan will feature a main card match-up between former UFC light heavyweight champions Lyoto Machida and Quinton Jackson.

We first learned of the possible match-up last week, and although we were unable to confirm with Hughes’ or Penn’s camps as of time of writing, both men have since confirmed that they could possibly compete in November, so it seems like the tip was legit and that the bout is in fact a plausibility.

(Here’s a quarter pal, call Michael Schiavello. PicProps: All Elbows)

MMA’s pathetic collective bitch session about the current trend of wrestlers kicking everybody’s asses reached its shrill and whiny fever pitch this week. With the UFC considering pulling Jon Fitch’s title shot off the table, Dan Hardy’s hilariously bad anti-wrestling column appearing in the Nottingham World Observer (or whatever it’s called) and people publicly worrying themselves sick about the marketability of Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard, the wrestling store must be all sold out of Haterade.

Add to the list of the aggrieved the already insufferable Shinya Aoki, who tells MMA Fighting.com that – in the wake of his own soul-crushing defeat by Gilbert Melendez and idol BJ Penn’s second straight loss to Edgar – he’s not too down with all this wrestling stuff.

Find more videos like this on BJPENN.COM

BJ Penn‘s post-UFC 118 layoff won’t be a long one. After getting the business end of a five-round shutout at the hands of Frankie Edgar, Penn expects to return to the Octagon "in November sometime," against an opponent he’s not ready to name yet. But you can tell he’s excited about the matchup by the way his chair-rocking gradually increases in speed.

"November" could mean UFC 122: Belfort vs. Okami (11/13; Oberhausen, Germany) or UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida (11/20; Auburn Hills, Michigan), both of which lack strong co-main events at this point. We’re still holding out hope that Penn gets his rematch with Takanori Gomi, even though Clay Guida’s recent tweets seem to hint at a Guida vs. Gomi meeting. In the words of BJ, we’ll "keep you guys posted…it’s gonna be good…nah."

(VidProps: BJPenn.com, "The, uh, Home of MMA")

Fear not, those of you who thought you sniffed a subtle hint of finality in BJ Penn’s initial melancholy video statement after his UFC 118 loss to Frankie Edgar. “The Prodigy” says he ain’t done. Sure, it sounded bad when Penn started “thanking the fans for their support over the years” in that first vid – and the depressing elevator music didn’t help, either – but according to Penn’s latest melancholy video statement he wants another fight ASAP and plans on “jumping back in the gym” as early as tomorrow. Or, is it today? Beats me. What time is it in Hawaii, anyway?

“I’ve just been hanging out these last couple of days,” Penn says here. “But I’m going to stick to what I said about being as active as I can … Let me try to contact the UFC (to) get a fight as soon as possible. Luckily, I didn’t get any injuries (against Edgar) … I can still build off my last camp. I didn’t go out, I didn’t party or anything (Ed. Note: I should hope not). So, that’s it. I’m going to jump in the gym tomorrow and go full blast, back training again.”

So that sounds encouraging. Make no mistake though, these are dark times in Hilo.

(Video courtesy YouTube/GregoryBayne)

If you’re like me, seeing Jens Pulver go from being a Tasmanian Devil-like dominant fighter, tearing through guys like John Lewis, Caol Uno, Dennis Hallman and BJ Penn, to being on the brink of retirement after losing eight of his last nine fights gives you a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach.

For those of you who don’t recognize the feeling, it’s called empathy.

Imagine being raised by an abusive father who other abusive fathers would hear stories of and say "Holy shit. That guy was an asshole," and rising above the problems in your life,  escaping by wrestling, then fighting in mixed martial arts, only to have your career go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.

THAT’S what Jens has gone and is going through in his life.

(There he goes again, trying to steal the victory. Photo courtesy of CageWriter)

Here’s what we know: Frank Edgar will make his next title defense against Gray Maynard, who routed Kenny Florian on Saturday night. Dana White is done with James Toney, even though James Toney might not be done with MMA. Nick Osipczak, John Salter, and Gabe Ruediger could very well be receiving "Dear John" letters from the UFC as we speak. As for UFC 118‘s other winners and losers, their fates are yet to be decided. But as usual, we have a few opinions on the subject…

BJ Penn: The Prodigy spent 2007-2009 destroying all the top talent in the UFC’s lightweight division, then looked completely uninspired in two consecutive fights against Frankie Edgar. Either Penn has fallen off his game dramatically or Edgar is just a terrible style matchup for him — and we won’t really know the answer until Penn’s next fight. What’s obvious is that lightweight has been Penn’s most effective weight class in general, and going back up to 170 would be a terrible idea, especially while Georges St. Pierre still rules the roost. The UFC should give Penn a rebound fight against a name opponent who’s a little further down the ladder, but will test BJ’s desire to fight. That’s right, folks, it’s time for BJ Penn vs. Takanori Gomi II. Gomi is born-again after starching Tyson Griffin; add in Gomi’s history with Penn, and you have a co-headliner that any pay-per-view card would be lucky to have.