If you missed Manny Pacquiao‘s latest performance on Saturday night, well, you didn’t miss much. The boxing megastar defended his WBO welterweight title by unanimous decision against “Sugar” Shane Mosley, in a bout that was marked by a disappointing lack of action. It’s not suprising that this CBS Sports highlight reel starts at the end of the 10th round. The only notable moments before that were a knockdown that Pacquiao scored in the 3rd frame — which seemed to convince Mosley to quit engaging altogether — and a trip/shove by Mosley earlier in the tenth that the referee decided to rule a knockdown, just to keep things interesting. Nevertheless, two of the judges ignored the ref’s bad call and gave every round to Pacquiao.

As we told y’all on Friday, the Pacquaio/Mosley match was Gus Johnson’s final play-by-play gig for Showtime, and he made sure to trot out his diverse range of knowledge. At the 0:52 mark: “He kinda throws, in the MMA world, it’s a version of the ‘Superman’ punch.” GuJo‘s just keeping the chops sharp until the UFC comes calling, I guess.

After every mechanical victory by Pacquiao over an outmatched opponent, our thoughts always turn to Floyd Mayweather Jr., and what he might be up to right now. Well, get a load of this…

(“Must…not…show…joy.” Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas.)

Nick Diaz came one step closer to his grumpy transition toward a boxing career today, as a press release was distributed claiming that Jeff Lacy has officially signed to box Diaz this fall. A former IBF super-middleweight champion, Lacy was one of the guys who Gary Shaw dismissed as an irrelevant opponent for Diaz, but when you have a 1-0 record in boxing (as Diaz does), beggars can’t be choosers. In fact, Diaz is just as irrelevant an opponent for Lacy when you think about it, but whatever.

No date or venue has been named yet, although the event will be titled “Breaking History.” (Good. As long as we have the important stuff locked down, everything else should fall into place on its own.) Said promoter Don Chargin in the press release: “This is a very dangerous fight for both men. Not only is this fight dangerous but stylistically it is very intriguing. I expected more resistance from fight fans and media in regards to this match-up but it’s amazing as to the hundreds of calls and e-mails I’ve received from fans on both sides wanting to see this match-up take place. I’ve received more than a few inquiries from some other very high-profile boxers that want to step up and fight Nick. Its been a real whirlwind…

(“What, that bright light? It shines down on us from heaven. Come see how it feels, Scott. Nice, right?”)

Despite everybody’s continued claims that things have never been better inside Strikeforce, we know the UFC has already taken over the company’s relations with the media and begun poaching its biggest stars. Now, it seems UFC executives are also neck deep in Strikeforce’s business, reportedly working (at least for the time being) to make sure the smaller fight promotion’s top remaining draws are happy. That’s the word out of Toronto on Thursday, where multiple reports say Dana White will meet with Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz after UFC 129 and that co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta is already seeing to the task of making the proposed superfight between Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson become a reality.

First and foremost, White seems understandably concerned with Diaz’s apparent designs on bolting MMA for boxing. As quickly as plans to have the Stockton bad boy fight Fernando Vargas fell apart a couple weeks back, new reports surfaced saying former super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy might be interested. Perhaps most interestingly, White said this week Diaz’s contract actually does allow for such foolishness – which is another good example of why UFC people need to be up in SF’s business – but he’s obviously not crazy about the idea.

(Man, I can’t wait until Diaz lays into Larry Merchant for being an instigating little bitch.)

Nick Diaz‘s quest to leave MMA for boxing because his life is a living hell has already hit a minor speed-bump. Though Diaz’s trainer/manager Cesar Gracie revealed that they’d already “signed on the dotted line” for a match against veteran pugilist Fernando Vargas, Gracie updated his story yesterday evening, telling MMAJunkie that Vargas is a no-go:

“We were talking about Vargas, but the thing is, I just came under some information that Vargas apparently has some kind of medical issue where he’s not able to pass the test any more, and he could be retiring. Vargas was very interested, but unfortunately, if he can’t pass the test, he can’t pass the test.”

The Gracie camp is now trying to set up a match with Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy, a 33-year-old former IBF super middleweight champion who has lost three out of his last four outings. Meanwhile, boxing promoter Lou DiBella is jockeying for a match between Diaz and Sergio Martinez, the Ring World Middleweight Champion who’s considered one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world. Like Diaz, Martinez has more talent than credible opponents at the moment — but it’s hard to imagine that fight being sanctioned anywhere outside of Poland.

(Video courtesy of Sportsnet)

Heading into Ontario’s inaugural MMA show at Casino Rama in Orillia this weekend, the event’s head official “Big” John McCarthy, who will also work UFC 129 later next month in Toronto, made a few media appearances in the Canadian province to help educate fans and the general public about the rules and regulations of the sport.

McCarthy made a stop at Sportsnet for a taping of Primetime Sports where he spoke at length about the differences between refereeing boxing and MMA.

“I also referee boxing. [In both sports] you’re in there for the safety of the fighters and you’re in there to enforce the rules. The safety of the fighters is number one. Your whole job is to try to make sure that both fighters come in and are able to perform at an even platform as far as there’s no advantage to one fighter over the other and get them both out of that ring or that cage in a safe way so they can go back and do it again if they want. That’s what you’re looking for,” McCarthy explained. In MMA you’re making split-second decisions much more than you are in boxing. Boxing gives the referee time, based upon the rules, to make decisions and come up with, ‘This is what I’m going to do in this scenario.’”

Last night in Albuquerque, Keith Jardine picked up a TKO victory over Austin native Aron Lofton at Double Impact. Jardine dominated Lofton throughout the fight before slamming him and punching him out three and a half minutes into the fight. The fight marks Jardine’s second straight victory since being bounced from the UFC back in June. Granted, a victory over an 8-4 prospect who hasn’t fought anyone we’ve heard of doesn’t exactly prove much. But at least he’ll probably get paid for this, which is an improvement from his last fight.

Also victorious last night was professional boxer turned mixed martial artist Holly Holm, who made her MMA debut against Christina Domke. Domke managed to take down and mount Holm early, but once Holm got back on her feet this one wasn’t close. As expected, the decorated boxer outstruck Domke, punctuating her combinations with hard leg kicks. Holm knocked down Domke with a leg kick at almost four minutes into the second, giving her the stoppage. Apparently, Holm turned around after flooring Domke expecting a mandatory eight count. Isn’t that adorable?

Highlights of Holm’s victory from the local news after the jump:

Interview starts @ 8:30, but why hurry past Arianny’s cleavage?

With Anderson’s Seagal-inspired KO of Vitor Belfort last week, we are officially halfway toward the long awaited GSP-Silva super fight. Only Jake Shields stands in the way of this epic battle, and since we don’t even want to think about him fucking this up for us, let’s get ahead of ourselves and listen in on renowned boxing trainer Freddie Roach as he chats with Joe Rogan about GSP’s progression in boxing and his take on the potential match-up between GSP and Silva.

(Props: ix3623vault)

At this point, emotional post-fight breakdowns are the norm for Phil Baroni. (Remember this old classic?) Since each loss seems like it could represent the end of the road for the veteran slugger, we understand why he takes them so hard. But as the above clip demonstrates, Baroni has always had a difficult time coping with losses, even the ones that came before he really had a professional career.

Prior to making his MMA debut in 2000, Phil Baroni was a standout on the Toughman amateur boxing circuit. Though he won most of his fights, he lost a decision to a dude named Sam Rodriguez (date of fight unknown), and reacted by storming out of the ring and beating up every inanimate object in sight, including a defenseless fire hose door. His longtime training partner Mark Coleman would later pay tribute to the incident in the acclaimed short film "FUUUUUUUUCK!"

And now that we have this bit of footage, we’re only missing one thing: A clip of Baroni throwing a tantrum after a loss at one of his old bodybuilding competitions. Make it happen, Internet.

("What’s so hard to remember about ‘Hold the anchovies?’" PicProps: Connect.in)

Man, why are we totally not surprised that Frankie Edgar’s boxing coach owns a pizzeria? When you’re talking about a bunch of guys from New Jersey it might sound culturally insensitive to make that assumption but at least according to MMA Weekly, it’s also true. The man responsible for Edgar reaching zenith of his stand-up game in recent fights is one Mark Henry – no, not that Mark Henry – a former member of the US Boxing team who has also owned and operated a place called Pino’s Pizza in the Jerz for nearly two decades. Frankly, it sounds like a bad place to try to rob unless you’re bringing a gang of homies and a whole lot of firepower.

Henry has been working with Edgar for some time, but says they only really got serious about pugilism after he watched Edgar suffer his lone career loss to Gray Maynard in April, 2008. Coincidentally, this interview comes to us just as Edgar is preparing to defend his 155-pound title in a rematch against Maynard at UFC 125 on Jan. 1. See, that’s just good storytelling from the Gray Lady of MMA Journalism. But we digress …

(Shaq has always been a sucker for a guy in a Santa suit. PicProps: MMA Digest)

It was with bated breath a few months back that we brought you news that sleazebag promoter and World’s Greatest Dad Gary Shaw would soon be exploring new and interesting ways to get Kimbo Slice knocked the fuck out by transitioning the internet legend/UFC washout to professional boxing. Obviously, that has not happened yet and this week ESPN’s Dan Rafael got tired of waiting. Rafael reached out to Shaw with a courtesy “WTF” call this week and learned that The Sliceman’s pro punching debut has been pushed back to “the beginning of next year” because Kimbo is, uh, on vacation. Also, (and we hope we’re not reading too much into this) it sounds like Shaw is just a little bit pissed off about it.

"Right now he’s vacationing in Florida. He went home for Thanksgiving. His pro debut will be put off until at least the beginning of next year," Shaw says. "He needs more work and more sparring …  I had him in California sparring and in real training … He was given all the tools, but he continues to get offers from MMA and offers to be in movies and it’s hard to keep him focused on training camp. That’s the story more than anything else."

(“What you don’t seem to understand, *Pat*, is that our reliance on Lockean liberalism is precisely what’s allowed America to live under this guise of exceptionality that leads us to deny our own history in the name of social order. Look, go read some Louis Hartz and then we’ll talk.” PicProps: @DCBrockLesnar)

Those of you who’ve been keeping up with “UFC Primetime” have likely already noticed two things: 1) Visiting sparring partner Pat Barry is far and away the most engaging and interesting (read: smartest) personality inside Brock Lesnar’s DeathClutch gym. 2) Yeah, it’s a little weird for Barry to be training with Lesnar leading up to his UFC 121 clash with Cain Velasquez. Somehow I just don’t see those two guys having compatible personalities. Nonetheless, Barry’s status as an invited guest at DeathClutch is another clear indicator that The Dark Lord is making an effort to get his leather together in the striking department. That endeavor, according to a recent article in the Boston Herald, has also included a second straight training camp with noted boxing coach Peter Welch.

“I never learned just the basics in boxing,” Lesnar explains. “I wanted to go get a grassroots boxing coach to get my feet underneath me, to try to combine my wrestling positions and mold into a boxing stance, and just lower myself and learn to punch from my feet to my hands. And so he’s been a huge help — just being able to understand the fundamentals of punching.”

Also, this is yet another situation that underscores how totally awesome it is to be Brock Lesnar. Here’s a guy who was already UFC heavyweight champion by the time he thought to himself, “Hey, you know what? I should learn a little bit of this crazy boxing stuff that everybody else is doing.” Must be nice.

(Vitor Belfort is so badass that Mike Tyson wears his t-shirt. Meanwhile, James Toney’s shirt has been discounted from $49.98 to "free with any purchase at the Salvation Army.")

Since James Toney allowed himself to be humiliated (for a large paycheck) in a cage-fight at UFC 118, it’s only fair that a representative from the UFC should let Toney try to redeem himself in a boxing ring. Could an MMA star hang with a boxing champ with 12-ounce gloves, no leg kicks, no takedowns, player? If Vitor Belfort gets his way — and we sincerely hope he does — the MMA vs. boxing freak show timeline may get a unique new chapter. As the Phenom tweeted this weekend:

"Dana let me fight James Tony on 6 round boxe Mach I think I can catch him with my speed…Dana will be the 1 boxing match in Ufc I promise he will fell my power and we will show the world the a Ufc fighter can do better"

Okay, we all know that the UFC isn’t in the business of putting on six-round boxing matches, historically speaking. But giving Vitor a day-pass to box James Toney outside of his UFC contract sounds like great publicity to me. I know the dude has a #2 middleweight contender’s match lined up for November, but come on, Belfort wins this fight nine times out of ten and goes home to his nude model wife completely unscathed. And it shouldn’t surprise you that the Dark Emperor is down with the idea…

(“Go ahead and strap that black belt on right here, Deano.”)

Amid concerns this week that James Toney may not yet have signed his formal bout agreement to face Randy Couture at UFC 118, reports surfaced that the former boxing champion had tabbed one-time Xtreme Couture affiliate Dean Lister and Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed Lawal to help shore up his ground game. To this, I say: Bullshit. Toney might be rolling with Lister and Lawal a bit just to keep up appearances, but there’s no way he’s making an honest effort to learn to grapple.

Look, in his day James Toney was nothing short of an unmitigated badass. He was a guy who took on all-comers in numerous weight classes and more often than not came out on top. Even at his advanced age he can still hit very, very hard. But Toney has never, especially in recent years, been overly committed to training. The idea that he would suddenly attempt to augment his skill-set three months before his MMA debut is far-fetched. The notion that – even if he did – he could close the grappling gap on Couture in that short amount of time is, well, ludicrous.

(After talking it over with Art Jimmerson, Ricardo Mayorga opts for a very traditional game plan against Din Thomas. PicProps: Sherdog.com)

UPDATE: SI.com’s Josh Gross reports via Twitter that a judge actually did rule in favor of Don King Productions on Saturday, but further updates indicate Shine Fights might say "damn the man" and move forward with Ricardo Mayorga vs. Din Thomas anyway. More as it develops …

Lest James Toney get too comfortable in his standing as mixed martial arts’ resident crazy-mouthed pugilist, former boxing champ and all-around maniac Ricardo Mayorga also makes his MMA debut tonight. Or at least we think he will.

Mayorga, who is best known for his public beer drinking, cigarette smoking and across-the-board not-giving-a-fuck, is slated to face Din Thomas in the independent Shine Fights promotion in Fayetteville, NC. The company remains steadfast that the show – available on PPV for a mere $29.95, if you’re interested – will go on despite some last-minute legal wrangling by Don King. The hirsute boxing promoter was seeking granted an injunction this week to stop Mayorga from appearing, claiming it would violate King’s exclusive contract with the fighter. As of this moment that request – which sounds suspiciously like legalese for: "Break me off a piece, homie," – has not been granted.

("You’ve got some schmutz on your face. Let me get it for you.")

Fast-rising UFC heavyweight contender Junior Dos Santos is considering following in the footsteps of his training partner and South American boxing champion Antonio Rogerio Nogueira by stepping into the boxing ring in the near future to compete.

Dos Santos, who is currently stuck in a holding pattern waiting to find out who he will be matched up against next, may try his hands at the sweet science in the interim. A report by Tatame today reveals that "Cigano" was slated to make his boxing debut in early 2010, but the bout was postponed due to his back-to-back UFC bouts against Gilbert Yvel and Gabriel Gonzaga.

(Props: BloodyElbow)

Who’s watching tonight? Got any specific predictions? Check back here for all the latest MMA news!

Previously: Floyd Mayweather Jr. Expertly Brings Race Into the Boxing vs. MMA Debate

(Props: Fightlinker)

If you skipped Pacquiao vs. Clottey because you don’t have the patience to watch a lopsided 12-round boxing match — you and us both, brother — this is really the only thing you missed: Jim Lampley having a stroke in the eighth round and shouting like Emeril Lagasse on a crack binge. Who needs CompuBox when we have this loud jackass?

After the jump: Frank Mir describes the motorcycle wreck that nearly ended his career/life, and Georges St. Pierre gets fruity.

(Image courtesy of twitter.com/Randy_Couture)

Guys, we had the craziest dream last night. We dreamed that the UFC signed James Toney to a multi-fight deal and he was actually training with…HOLY SHIT, NOOOOOOOOO! This isn’t happening! This isn’t happening!

Anyway, here’s some more notes about the aspiring porn star known as Dark Gable…

— Toney’s UFC contract would still allow him to box. Said Dana White: "If we promote him and he does well and that raises his profile and he gets a [Vitali] Klitschko fight and makes a lot of money for himself…I’d be cool with that."

— Randy Couture wants to fight Toney first. Seriously, he mentioned it twice on Twitter. Putting a UFC legend against somebody who’s 0-0 in MMA would definitely fall under the category of "almost criminal, not to mention impossible to get sanctioned in the U.S." Not that the UFC would need to set up the fight in the states… 

— What’s more, this is the caliber of fight that Toney expects to get during his run in the Octagon. As he told Yahoo!, “I’m a main event fighter and I’ve been a main event fighter since before a lot of these punk-(expletive) fighters were out of the crib. Don’t give me that (expletive) about fighting on the undercard. People want to see James Toney and I’m going to give them what they want.”

(Jones vs. Danny Green, 12/2/09)

Roy Jones Jr. fought in Australia last night — or, technically, today — against 36-year-old Australian boxer Danny Green.  It did not go well for Roy.  Though Jones was a -350 favorite with oddsmakers, he got dropped early on in the first round and never really recovered.  The old hand speed, the head that never stayed in one place long enough for opponents to even get a good look at it, all of that was gone as Green poured on the punishment for a first-round TKO victory.  Said Green afterwards: "I almost felt bad doing that.  It almost hurt me to do that to someone I look up to as a professional inside and outside the ring."

When they start talking about you like that, it’s time to hang them up.  Looks like that Anderson Silva fight would be a mismatch now after all, only not in the way some previously thought. 

(Props: MMA Hits. Fight starts at the 9:06 mark.)

By now, you probably know that Manny Pacquiao dominated Miguel Cotto on Saturday night en route to a 12th-round TKO victory, becoming the first boxer to win world titles in seven different weight classes, and solidifying his position as best pound-for-pound pugilist on the planet. Cotto was as game as advertised, and kept the contest competitive early on. But the knockdowns that Pacquiao scored in the third round (right hook) and fourth round (left uppercut) turned the tide of the fight for good, and Cotto spent most of the remainder of the match playing defense.

Cotto’s camp nearly threw in the towel after a demoralizing 11th frame, but the fight was allowed to continue to the last round, in which referee Kenny Bayless seized on the first opportunity to stop the fight; the official time was 0:55 of round 12. Immediately after the fight, the MGM Grand Garden Arena began to chant "We want Floyd!" Ah, but does Money Mayweather want Manny? The video is above; watch and be inspired.

(24/7 Pacquiao-Cotto, Episode 1. Props to HBO.)

Being obsessed with MMA doesn’t mean we can’t mark out for Manny Pacquiao once in a while. It’s hard not to love the guy. He’s a brilliant fighter who’s somehow managed to stay humble, he has a lovely singing voice, and he’s never publicly referred to our favorite sport as panty-wrestling porno for beer-drinkers. It’s almost too bad that we’ll be dutifully liveblogging UFC 105 tomorrow (Spike TV, 8 p.m. ET/PT), because we’re curious to see how Pac-Man does against WBO welterweight champ Miguel Cotto in their 145-pound contest at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. The Pacquiao/Cotto broadcast starts at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. on HBO PPV, so hopefully you live near a kickass sports bar that will be showing both fight cards at the same time. Check out the first installment of HBO’s 24/7: Pacquiao-Cotto above; Pacquiao fans, show some love in the comments section below.

Yeah, we know.  You only like seeing dudes get knocked out when they’re wearing little gloves.  But just give this one a chance and I think you’ll be pleased.  5’10" stick of boxing dynamite David Tua stepped back in the ring for the first time in over two years recently, and after taking a minute or two to find his range against Shane Cameron, he exploded with the same old ferocity to end things just seven seconds into round number two.  Don’t ask us to explain why the ref did everything he could think of to save Cameron at the end of the first, only so he could take more punishment as soon as the bell rang for the second.  Instead, just sit back and enjoy a different brand of violence for a change.  A little variety is good for you. 

It’s good to see Tua back.  Now if only he could sharpen up his "Wheel of Fortune" skills. 

(Apologies for the pop-up. Video courtesy of MMALinker.)

Floyd Mayweather defeated Juan Manuel Marquez last night in a one-sided unanimous decision that saw Money control every round and score a knockdown in the second frame. Mayweather landed 290 of 493 (59%) of his punches, compared to Marquez’s 69 of 583 (12%). At UFC 103 in Dallas, Dana White had the boxing match playing on a monitor near him. His verdict? "It sucked. It sucked just like I said it would and knew it would."

(Props: youtube.com/UFC)

"What made Floyd Mayweather a pay-per-view star was Oscar De La Hoya. I know Floyd can’t sell tickets without Oscar but what’s happening here is, boxing is doing it to you again. They’re giving you the fight that you don’t want. Nobody asked for this fight with, ah, with Mayweather and, ah, what’s his name? What’s his name? Nobody even knows, nobody in this room even knows who Floyd’s fighting! I should know, I’m a big boxing guy and I respect the guy that he’s fighting, I know his name but I can’t think of it right now. But that’s my point, nobody gives a shit! Boxing is trying to sell you the fight that nobody cares about. People wanna see Mayweather/Pacquiao. But they’re not giving you that fight…

You show up to see Floyd Mayweather not fight. This guy will run around in circles. Everybody wants to know why the UFC is becoming so popular? It’s because they’re sick of boxers not fighting…basically you get to see ‘Dancing With the Stars’ again with Floyd Mayweather, except you have to pay for it this time…On that same night, on that UFC card, you guys can all tune in and you can watch not one fight, you guys can watch five great fights that night, for ten dollars less than what Floyd wants you to pay to see him run around in circles and lay on the ropes and move around and not fight."

Dana White may have muzzled his video blogs, but he won’t hesitate to lay down some verbal bitchsmack recorded against a green-screen when the situation calls for it. And Floyd Mayweather’s anti-MMA rhetoric has clearly gotten under his skin. Dana may have a point about Mayweather not setting up the matchup that fans want to see, but he should be careful about banging that drum too hard. After all, which fight did MMA fans ask for: Lesnar vs. Carwin or Lesnar vs. Fedor? When did we start clamoring for Franklin vs. Belfort? And by the way, Dana, Floyd’s opponent is Juan Manuel Marquez, and he’s fabulous.

Get your tickets, Philly fight fans: The world’s most famous police brutality victim is set to square off against a half-crazy ex-cop. According to Zimbio, reality TV star Rodney King will be involved in a Celebrity Boxing Federation match this Friday night at the Philadelphia Airport Ramada Inn. (Swanky!) His opponent is former police officer Simon "The Renegade" Aouad, whose biggest claim to fame is his celebrity boxing match against Rodney King this Friday. Okay, so the term "celebrity" is being used veeeeeerrrrrrryyyyy loosely here, but the hook behind this matchup doesn’t need to be spelled out. You can get a look at the maniac cop‘s training methods above. The two amateur pugilists appeared on the Howard Stern Show yesterday morning to plug the event. Some highlights:

(Kimbo poses with five of the college students he tutors. Photo courtesy of sobehot.com.)

As you’ve surely noticed, Kimbo Slice has been laying low since his embarassing loss to Seth Petruzelli at EliteXC: Heat. And though he would have been an excellent addition to DREAM’s Super Hulk Tournament, Kimbo’s days as an MMA fighter might be over for good. Last week, MMA Fanhouse reported that the YouTube-brawler-turned-MMA-sideshow is no longer contractually tied to Strikeforce, and now the Sun Sentinel is passing along this bit of news about Slice’s athletic future:

Punch-Out Rap – Watch more Other Funny Stuff
(Props: Break via Screen Junkies)

25 years after Punch-Out!! first hit arcades, the beloved boxing series is having a bizarre rebirth via Internet videos. Two days ago, we saw the documentary style clip of Little Mac preparing to make his comeback — a viral ad for the title’s upcoming Wii relaunch. Now, there’s this completely-unrelated rap tribute to the game, which ScreenJunkies tells us is "the first installment in a series of old-school Nintendo-based music videos entitled ‘Gamerjamz’." Damn…I can’t wait for the Double Dragon tribute done in the style of DragonForce. (By the way, Gamerjamz, if you actually use that idea you have to credit me.)

And the Punch-Out!! love doesn’t stop there…

All that hype, and it only came down to six minutes of utter domination. If you caught the light-welterweight title fight between Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton last night, you saw more proof that Pac-Man is one of the best boxers to have ever lived. The video is above; watch as Pacquiao opens with a 10-7 first round on the strength of two knockdowns, then delivers the finishing blow at the end of the second. Pac’s trainer Freddie Roach had predicted a third-round knockout via left hook, explaining later that Hatton tends to leave himself open when he throws his jab. Turns out, Pacquiao is even better than he thought. Could Money Mayweather be next?

So yeah, this is really happening. In the above promo for Adrenaline MMA’s "Bragging Rights" event (June 13th; Birmingham, Alabama), Tim Sylvia and Ray Mercer have a very dramatic face-off, and man is Ray fat and slow. You have to imagine the betting odds will start to favor the Maine-iac after this one, particularly because their boxing match will be held in a cage. No word yet on any of the other matchups on the card or how to watch it at home, and Adrenaline’s website still needs work; we’ll probably have other things on our mind that day anyway. But you gotta love Mercer’s trash-talk at 0:14-0:18. For some reason, his delivery reminds me of a Maury Povich guest…

(Nick Diaz: His style is impetuous, his defense is impregnable.)

When Nick Diaz says he’ll fight anybody, anywhere, at any time, he ain’t bullshittin’. Buried in GracieFighter.com’s news section is this little gem about Diaz’s future ambitions (props to BloodyElbow for the tip):

To which RJJ probably responded, "Nick who?" Okay, so it may not quite be the marquee fight that Jones vs. Silva would be, but it’s a pretty decent substitute. I know I’d be curious to see how Nick’s pitty-pat-punches-in-bunches routine would fare against a great boxer (he’s already 1-0 in the sport), and he’s a natural at fight-promotion. Why let Tim Sylvia and Ray Mercer hog all the crossover fun? Don’t be scared, Jonesy!

GracieFighter also had another update on their site that should calm some of the outrage caused by yesterday’s official Strikeforce payouts post: