(The word you’re looking for is, Daaaamn! Props: MMA TKO)

Last night’s UFC event in Manchester, England sure drew the locals out of their pubs, setting a new UFC record for attendance at a European event with 16,693 attendees for a live gate of more than $2 million.  That means the UFC had plenty of spare cash for bonuses, and they gave out $40,000 bumps to Michael Bisping and Denis Kang (Fight of the Night), Terry Etim (Submission of the Night), and Denis Siver (KO of the Night).  Etim was the easy choice, since he had the night’s only submission, but we would have thought that Andre Winner earned a KO bonus with the memory-eraser you see above.  Siver’s must have been truly spectacular, or else the UFC is using him as part of a money laundering scheme.  It’s definitely one of those two.

Of course, the decision that handed Randy Couture the win over Brandon Vera at UFC 105 is already being called "controversial," though it was such a close three-round fight that we’d probably be hearing the same gripes if it had gone the other way.  Sure, Vera came the closest to finishing the fight, but that one burst of offense in the econd round was the most significant action of the fight.  Aside from that, it was a lot of Couture pressing Vera up against the fence, stifling any attempts at offense.  That’s never going to be easy to score or even all that satisfying to watch.  One thing we can all agree on, though….

(When Logan saw the scarf, a chill went through her body. The beaten, bloodied man she saw in the alley — suddenly it all made sense. / Photo courtesy of the UFC 105: Weigh in Pics set on CombatLifestyle.)

By now, Randy Couture and Brandon Vera have already headlined UFC 105 in Manchester, England. Either Mike Swick or Dan Hardy has earned a title shot against Georges St. Pierre. Michael Bisping could have put on a heroic performance against Denis Kang in front of his fellow Brits, or he could have been exposed again. Maybe I already know what happened in these fights; if so, I’m not telling, at least not yet. Maybe you know as well, in which case we’re flattered that you’re here, but we’re a little curious as to what you’re doing on CagePotato on a Saturday night, reading descriptions of fights that you’ve already seen live in England or via an Internet feed, or at the very least spoiled for yourself on another website, especially when they’re being shown right now on Spike TV, though if you live on the West Coast, the show won’t even begin for another three hours. It’s all a little mind-bending when you stop to think about it, so don’t. Don’t think. Simply flow, and flow simply. Exist only in this moment. Round-by-round updates from the UFC 105 Spike TV broadcast are after the jump. Refresh the page every few minutes to see the latest, and please leave your thoughts in the comments section. Now, let us watch fights…

I spoke with Brandon Vera for an SI.com article this week about his fight with Randy Couture at UFC 105 and what it would mean for him to beat a legend.  To hear Vera tell it, he realizes that he got a little too full of himself early in his career, but his new training partners have brought him back down to earth.  He says he’s never trained harder for a fight in his life, but he still had some trouble trying to figure out how he’s going to throw anything at Couture that the guy hasn’t already seen:

"I was thinking, what can I do to Randy that he’s never experienced before? I thought long and hard about it and it’s tough because of who he is and how long he’s been in the sport. But Randy’s never fought anybody with kicks and shins like me. I only have to hit him three or four times each round with my shin, and it could change the fight. I’m going to hit Randy like he’s never been hit before."

In other words, he’s going to try to do to Couture what he did to Mike Patt.  But this begs the question, if Vera is so confident in his ability to break opponents down and put them away with his kicks, why didn’t he try to do more of that in his last fight with K-Sos, which he won via a very narrow decision?  His answer might surprise you:

(Couture was under the impression that everyone would be wearing scarves in England, but now he just feels like a jerk. Thanks for nothing, Tim Gunn. Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle.)

First, let’s set aside a couple ugly rumors regarding betting on UK UFC cards.  There is no truth to the suggestion that your money, once you inevitably lose it by betting big on Shannon Gugerty, will go to Buckingham Palace’s “moat fund.”  Even if the event is in England, your squandered cash still goes to the same off-shore betting establishments as usual.  And no, those off-shore bookies aren’t going to then use the money to hire models to do bikini jiu-jitsu.  That’s old hat to them by now.  At this point the only way they can still feel alive is by renting that cabin in Canada where all the online bookmakers gather each year to hunt the ultimate prey: man!

Now that that’s out of the way, here are the most favorable UFC 105 odds on the internet, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com:

Randy Couture (-105) vs. Brandon Vera (-103)
Mike Swick (-210) vs. Dan Hardy (+199)
Michael Bisping (+112) vs. Denis Kang (-117)
James Wilks (+138) vs. Matt Brown (-151)
Ross Pearson (+180) vs. Aaron Riley (-200)
Paul Taylor (+210) vs. John Hathaway (-240)
Terry Etim (-325) vs. Shannon Gugerty (+300)
Nick Osipczak (+265) vs. Matt Riddle (-290)
Paul Kelly (-320) vs. Dennis Siver (+300)
Alexander Gustafsson (+135) vs. Jared Hamman (-139)
Andre Winner (-325) vs. Roli Delgado (+325)

The breakdown…

(Props: wec)

Heads up: WEC 44 goes down next Wednesday in Las Vegas, with featherweight champ Mike Brown defending his belt against terrifying knockout artist Jose Aldo, who has ended all five of his appearences in the WEC via highlight-reel stoppage; his last opponent, Cub Swanson, lasted all of eight seconds. But is Mike Brown scared? Nah. "He’s never faced the caliber of fighter that I am," Brownie says. "It’s not gonna be an easy fight of course, but if I do my thing, I’m gonna win the fight." Check out the full lineup here.

(Props: MMAVIDS09 via Bloody Elbow)

After the controversial ending to Machida vs. Rua, the UFC is looking to bounce back hard in their next event (November 14th; Manchester, England), which features three very compelling bouts on the main card. Headlining UFC 105 will be Randy Couture‘s return to the light-heavyweight division against Brandon Vera, who describes the match as "what we’ve been training for since day one." A win for Vera may finally establish his legitimacy at 205; a win for Couture staves off retirement for at least one more fight and puts him on the path to a title shot.

Supporting the main event will be Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang. Bisping is looking to erase the memory of his knockout loss to Dan Henderson in July, while Kang wants to introduce himself to UFC fans in this fight (despite the fact that he’s already fought in the Octagon twice) and feels he can do everything better than the Count. Also, Mike Swick and Dan Hardy meet up in a classic U.S. vs. U.K. battle. Hardy has been training his boxing with Freddie Roach — could it be the advantage he needs to survive Quick’s onslaught?

The full UFC 105 lineup is after the jump…

(Props: TheRyanLoco via MMA Mania)

Good news for all us po’ folks: UFC 105 (November 14th; Manchester, England) will be broadcast via tape delay on Spike. In the main event, Randy Couture kicks off one last title run when he takes on light-heavyweight Brandon Vera, who has won his last two bouts against Mike Patt and Krzysztof Soszynski. According to Vera in the interview above, the prospect of fighting a living legend like Randy was the only thing that would make him want to fight in England so soon after his last fight. Couture was an early influence an him, and he describes the matchup as "an honor and a blessing and a punishment, all at the same time." Vera also says his underutilized wrestling is "retarded" (as in, retarded-awesome), though he’ll be standin’ and bangin’ as much as possible. Will the Truth finally silence the haters by conquering the 46-year-old Hall of Famer? Your predictions, please.

UFC 105′s current lineup is after the jump…

From UFC.com:

In his first fight outside the USA in nearly nine years, legendary five-time UFC champion Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture will headline UFC 105 at the MEN Arena, Manchester, in a fascinating* light heavyweight collision with Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera on November 14. Tickets go on general public release this morning (Monday September 14) and are available via ticketmaster.co.uk and the MEN Arena box office from 10AM. Both Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy will be signing autographs at the MEN Arena box office from 5:30pm on this evening.

The most successful division-jumper in the history of mixed martial arts, Couture, 16-10** in MMA, has already reigned twice as light heavyweight champion of the world in addition to his three triumphs in the heavyweight category. Now the Hall of Famer will storm into Manchester to renew his quest for an unprecedented sixth world championship.

“I would love to be a six-time UFC champion, to set the bar very high in that regard, and that’s what I want to accomplish at 205lbs,” said the Natural. “That is my immediate goal. I am very intrigued by the current light heavyweight division, there are some great matchups for me here, and I believe I have to tools to win back the 205lbs title.”***

(Sometimes it takes a caricature artist to see a person for who they really are. In Randy’s case, a kind and joyful champion who suffers from Proteus syndrome. Image courtesy of Ron Chan.)

As negotiations for Henderson/Marquardt remain stalled, the UFC is working on a backup plan for the headliner of UFC 105 (November 14, Manchester). According to Bloody Elbow, reliable sources indicate that Randy Couture will return to the Octagon two-and-a-half months after his decision loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 102, to take on Brandon Vera in a light-heavyweight bout. As BE writes:

We’re guessing that Rashad refused the fight against Randy because they’re now part of the same unified monolithlic MMA camp, Xtreme Greg’s, and everybody knows that Xtreme Greg fighters don’t fight each other unless there’s a title on the line; it’s more than a team, it’s a brotherhood.

Like Couture, Vera last competed at UFC 102, where he scratched out an unimpressive decision victory over Krzysztof Soszynski. If this fight comes together, it will be Couture’s first match at 205 pounds since his knockout loss to Chuck Liddell at UFC 57. Any predictions on the outcome?

(Props: CageWriter)

In the above interview with Steve Cofield, Brandon Vera says he sees little difference between his UFC 102 opponent Krzysztof Soszynski and his original opponent, Matt Hamill, aside from their records, their stance, and the fact that K-Sos’s name is much harder to pronounce. Vera respects Soszynski’s clinch game and strength, but hopes the fight will stay standing: "If somebody decides that they want to stand in front of me and bang, it’s gonna be a show. You’ll be able to see some stuff that I haven’t pulled out of the closet yet, because I haven’t had the chance. So if you got somebody that’s willing just to stand there and trade with me, it’s gonna be some good times." Unfortunately for Vera, Soszynski is no Mike Patt.

After the jump: K-Sos talks about his experience on The Ultimate Fighter, his gameplan for Vera, and the UFC’s stacked 205-pound division.

The light-heavyweight match between Matt Hamill and Brandon Vera — which was scheduled to open the broadcast of UFC 102 (August 29th, Portland) — has been canceled, as Hamill was forced to pull out of the fight due to a torn meniscus in his knee. Luckily, TUF 8 standout Krzysztof Soszynski was available to fill in, and he’ll be taking on Vera in Hamill’s place.

It’ll be gut-check time for both fighters. K-Sos has looked fantastic in his current 3-0 run in the UFC, taking out Shane Primm and Brian Stann by kimura and knocking out Andre Gusmao at UFC 98, but he needs a win over a bigger-name opponent to establish himself as a true contender in the division. Meanwhile, Brandon Vera has gone from hot heavyweight prospect to 205-pound question mark during his time in the Octagon. He most recently chopped down Mike Patt with leg kicks at UFC 96, which got him back to the W column after a previous split-decision loss against Keith Jardine. A win against Soszynski would prove that the Truth is still a factor; a loss solidifies his status as a gatekeeping can-crusher.

(Kerry’s muay thai fight in Thailand for the Oxygen network’s "Fight Girls" show.  Check out Brandon being all supportive.  Awww.)

As we told you earlier, Kerry Vera, the wife of UFC fighter Brandon Vera, is making her MMA debut at tonight’s Bellator event.  We decided to find out if this is just some Kim Couture situation or if Vera is really serious about kicking ass and possibly even taking names.  Here’s how the conversation went.

This is your first MMA fight, but you’ve done some kickboxing in the past.  What made you decide to do MMA now?

I just wanted to do something more.  I figured, I’m probably not going to be fighting for too much longer so I wanted to try MMA and see what would happen.  It’s fun.  It’s a whole new challenge for me.

What do you know about your opponent?  I hear she’s undefeated.

I don’t know much.  I know she’s from Colorado (laughs).  That, and she’s had a few MMA fights.  That’s all I really know.

#7: MAC DANZIG

A five-time King of the Cage lightweight champion with appearances in PRIDE and the WEC, Mac Danzig was one of the most seasoned mixed martial artists to ever appear on The Ultimate Fighter, and few were surprised when he blazed past guys like Ben Saunders, War Machine, and George Sotiropoulos to make it to the sixth season’s finals. After choking out Tommy Speer to win the contract and doing the same to Mark Bocek in his next outing at UFC 83, it seemed that Mac was on the fast-track to success in the UFC lightweight division.

Then, disaster struck — in the form of Clay “Energizer Blanket” Guida, who laid on top of Danzig en route to a unanimous decision last September. It was a frustrating setback, but we still thought the TUF winner would bounce back against Josh Neer at UFC Fight Night 17 in February. Unfortunately, Mac would fall short again, succumbing to a second-round triangle choke. Now, the once-promising fighter is just another scrapper at the bottom of the UFC’s lightweight ladder, and one more loss could spell the end of his run in the Octagon.

#6: BRANDON VERA

How’s this for a return-on-investment: The UFC paid “The Truth” a total of $76,000 in contracted salary for his first four wins against Fabiano Scherner, Justin Eilers, Assuerio Silva, and Frank Mir — all of them by brutal stoppage, mind you — then paid him $500,000 for his subsequent 1-3 stretch against Tim Sylvia, Fabricio Werdum, Reese Andy, and Keith Jardine. Did the fat paychecks make him soft? Did his long legal dispute with his manager throw off his mental game? It’s hard to know for sure, but by the end of 2008 it was clear that this wasn’t the same Brandon Vera who entered the UFC’s heavyweight division three years before and rocked it like a hurricane.

After Vera’s split-decision loss to Jardine, Dana White lamented the disappearance of Vera’s killer instinct and passionate cockiness. But instead of firing him, the UFC gave Vera a chance to regain his confidence against an outmatched, out-of-shape Mike Patt at UFC 96 — at a drastically reduced pay-rate, of course. Luckily, Vera chopped Patt down and saved his job. The Truth is slated to return in August against Matt Hamill at UFC 102, in a fight that will either re-establish him as a rising star at light-heavyweight, or forever define him as an overpaid can-crusher.

(‘Okay, quit messing around now.  Where’s the rest of my paycheck?’)

Give the UFC credit, they can spot a nascent, kind-of-but-not-really grudge match in the making a mile away.  MMA Madness reports that Matt Hamill will meet Brandon Vera at UFC 101 in Philadelphia to see who has the chops to make it in the light heavyweight division and who will end up on the receiving end of an assholish celebration.

As you probably recall, Hamill head-kicked Vera’s friend and training partner, Mark Munoz, into a briefly frightening unconscious state, then paraded around the Octagon like he’d just hit a walk-off homerun in the last World Series game ever.  Hamill would later explain the celebration by pointing out that a) he’s deaf, so vibrations from an excited crowd get him really pumped, and b) he doesn’t head kick that many people, and this one was pretty sweet.

Watch Steve Cofield’s video interview with Brandon Vera and see if you aren’t suddenly glad that “The Truth’s” formerly-overpaid ass is sticking around in the UFC.  The best part is when he addresses Matt Hamill’s post-fight celebration after knocking out Vera’s friend and training partner, Mark Munoz, at UFC 96.  Hamill caught some flack for acting like he just made a half-court shot worth a million bucks during halftime at a Laker game, when all the while his opponent was still crumpled in a motionless heap against the cage.

As Vera explains at the 3:30 mark, winning a fight in the UFC (particularly by bonus-worthy KO) is actually a lot like winning the lottery:

Props to UFC.com, MMAWeekly, Sherdog, and CombatLifestyle.

(Props: MMA Mania) 

The UFC has released the official fight order for UFC 96 (March 7th; Columbus, OH). Here’s what we’re looking at:

MAIN CARD
Quinton Jackson vs. Keith Jardine (LHW)
Matt Hamill vs. Mark Munoz (LHW)
Pete Sell vs. Matt Brown (WW)
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Shane Carwin (HW)
Gray Maynard vs. Jim Miller (LW)

UNDERCARD 
Tamdan McCrory vs. Ryan Madigan (WW)
Kendall Grove vs. Jason Day (MW)
Tim Boetsch vs. Jason Brilz (LHW)
Brandon Vera vs. Mike Patt (LHW)
Aaron Riley vs. Shane Nelson (LW)

Your eyes do not deceive you: Brandon Vera is deeeeep on the dark card, fighting a dude who got wrecked by Tim Boetsch in his UFC debut last September. If this isn’t a your-last-chance kind of situation, I don’t know what is. But while I understand that match’s placement — losing three of your last four fights will generally earn you some sort of punishment from the UFC — I don’t see how Sell vs. Brown is a PPV-main-card-caliber fight, especially when a promising bout like Grove vs. Day is on the undercard. Ah well. Weak lineups have surprised us before, and as long as the main event and Gonzaga vs. Carwin deliver, how bad can it be? 

Discussion topic for your MMA study groups: Who will remain conscious longer, Jardine or Gonzaga?

("My career went that-a-way.")

It looks like all those weak performances are finally catching up with Brandon Vera. The Truth — who has gone 1-3 in his last four fights, most recently dropping a split decision to Keith Jardine at UFC 89 — is reportedly finalizing a new contract extension with the UFC. I’d be willing to bet that he was forced to take a pay cut, as his $100,000 to show/$100,000 to win salary made him unquestionably the most overpaid fighter on the UFC’s roster. But even more painful than the possible money issue is who he’s fighting next. According to 5oz., Vera will be taking on Michael Patt at UFC 96 (March 6th; Columbus, Ohio).

So basically, the former top heavyweight contender is now at the bottom of the light-heavyweight ladder, taking on a guy who was trounced by Tim Boetsch in his UFC debut. Vera has gone from prospect, to star, back to prospect again. He’s one train stop away from Palookaville. As long as the UFC continues to pursue expansion into the Philippines, they’ll want to keep Vera around, even if it’s just to beat up unknown caucasians. But it’s not like he’ll be headlining a card anytime soon.

Of course if Vera loses to Patt, he’s done. We’ll have witnessed one of the most dramatic rises-and-falls in recent MMA history. It’s not a very likely scenario, but this is MMA — and this is Brandon Vera — so anything can happen.

(Luis Cane’s pimp-slap, straight left combo. No one ever expects it. Props, UG.)

- Apparently the hip new trend for youngsters on the internet is to film themselves making UFC predictions and then throw it up on YouTube. Fightlinker spotted the very enthusiastic WishKid12 doing her thing, and decided to see how her picks matched up against those made by professionals like us. We’re proud to report that both Bens (weirdly, we made the exact same picks) soundly defeated this precocious prognosticator. While she went 2-3 on the night, we went 4-1 (curse you Cane, and your bitch-slapping awesomeness). The only one in this impromptu contest to beat us was Fightlinker, with a perfect 5-0. So basically we’re smarter than a twelve-year-old girl but dumber than drunk Canadians. That’s still better than either of our families ever expected.

- Patrick Cote tells MMA Mania that the UFC did not have him sign a contract extension prior to his title fight against Anderson Silva at UFC 90 this Saturday night. That’s notable since he’s at or near the end of his current contract, and typically the UFC makes sure they have a guy locked up before they take a chance on him becoming a belt-holder. At least, that’s what they do when they think the challenger has a chance in hell of winning.

- In case you were wondering, Dana White says he will reward Josh Koscheck with a shot at the welterweight title if he beats Thiago Alves this weekend. We all know how much White loves guys who are willing to step in on short notice, and Koscheck has a chance to turn Diego Sanchez’s misfortune into a big break for himself. Not that anyone’s really clamoring for GSP-Koscheck II at this point.

- MMA Payout takes issue with the UFC’s insinuation that Brandon Vera voluntarily sat out a year and then returned a different fighter. They point out that Vera was an early victim of the “Zuffa Freeze Out” and that by running around comparing the old Vera to the new one, Dana White may be unwittingly calling the wrong kind of attention to his own negotiation practices. Damn revisionist history.

(Mo’ money, mo’ unfulfilled expectations.)

You can’t say Dana White didn’t warn Brandon Vera. His comments before UFC 89 suggested that it was time for “The Truth” to justify his high price tag. He didn’t, and so White is turning up the heat on him with remarks like these:

“I’m not seeing what I expected from Brandon Vera. It’s like he’s lost something. He doesn’t have that killer instinct since he took that year off. He doesn’t go after people. He used to be so cocky. He wanted to fight everybody.

“We tried to get him on one of the seasons of The Ultimate Fighter and he turned that down and said he wanted to fight Chuck Liddell and that he would knock him out. I hear that seven days a week so I told him to go on TUF and we’d find out how good he was.

“He was good. He used to walk through heavyweights earlier in his career. But he took a year off and we had all the issues with his contract and he hasn’t been the same since. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”

It’s not exactly shocking to hear Dana White go after a guy who held him over the coals in contract negotiations and has since failed to live up to expectations. In a way, it seems justified. The UFC agreed to his six-figure demands based on his past performances and what they saw as his future potential. Lately he’s looked like a bad investment.

But being badmouthed in public by your boss, both before and after the fight, that’s got to sting. Especially when he goes on to compare you unfavorably to other guys who lost on the same night:

(Carwin looked impressive, but how about a tough opponent next?)

You’re wondering who’s up and who’s down after UFC 89. The Potato Index’s system of arbitrary numbers devoid of any unit of measurement will tell you. It’s kind of like the stock market, only less depressing. We spent all weekend doing the math and here’s what we came up with. You’re welcome.

Michael Bisping +16

“The Count” won a fight he was supposed to win. Via decision. He never took any chances, didn’t show anything extra special, but he fought smart and he got the win. As a reward, he gets the TUF coaching job and the fight with the Hendo/Ace winner that was already his anyway. At least he didn’t screw it up.

Brandon Vera -132

Once upon a time Vera was the heir apparent in the heavyweight division. Now he’s a mediocre light heavyweight who doesn’t even put on much of a show anymore. What happened? He’s no longer exciting or effective, and he’s far too conservative. He’s making too much money to be doing so little.

Chris Leben -8 1/2

Leben chased Michael Bisping for three rounds and only got a little frustrated and reckless toward the end. A sign of his maturity? Sure, but also a sign that middleweight gatekeeper is about as high as he can hope to climb. He’s still exciting, so he’s not going anywhere. He also won’t be back in the main event any time soon.

Joe Rogan’s tribute beard +18

Sounded a little hokey at first, but it turns out that facial hair can be an effective homage to a fallen champion.

Luis Cane +284

The biggest win of Cane’s career, by far, and one that should get him noticed by the UFC brass. We called his record padded before, but he added some meat to it on Saturday night.

Props to TheSun, Sherdog, MMAWeekly, and UFC.com. If you missed Saturday’s liveblog, click here.

(Leben fits Bisping for a right hook. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

The weigh-ins for UFC 89 went off without a hitch today. Everyone hit their target weight, or at least fell within the one-pound allowance of it, and nobody had to strip naked while their dad held a towel in front of them. There was a terse exchange between the main eventers, with Chris Leben offering an apology in advance to the British fans, and Michael Bisping getting all Rodney Dangerfield about Leben showing him no respect:

Said Leben:

“I’m sorry for coming over and ruining your guys’ big hope and dream. I know you love him, but I didn’t come all this way to lose. One of us will take a step back and the other a step forward; there isn’t too many ahead of us now.”

Replied Bisping:

“You’re right, one forward and one down. I am moving forward. You underestimate me and I think that is a mistake. May the best man win and I will see you tomorrow night.”

As weigh-in disagreements go, that’s downright gentlemanly. Guess that’s what you get in jolly old England. Full scale-tipping results are after the jump:

With one day to go before UFC 89 (which we’ll be liveblogging, naturally), it’s time for everyone’s favorite self-indulgent exercise: Ben versus Ben. This time around we argue bonuses, the UK-centric undercard, and the mysterious/as-of-yet fictional Millerplata, among other stuff.

How exactly will Bisping/Leben end?

Fowlkes: As much as we’ve heard about Leben’s transformation from immature brawler to well-rounded tactician, a part of me (the part located in the brain region) isn’t totally buying it. Leben may be a more seasoned fighter, but he still knows one way to win a fight when things get hectic and it’s throwing big, looping bombs and hoping one catches his opponent on the chin.

This has worked at times. He hits hard and he can take enough punishment to make that strategy effective. But as strategies go, it’s relatively easy to prepare for, especially for a more cerebral fighter like Bisping. “The Count” is smart enough to avoid a street fight with Leben. He’ll accumulate points and damage but won’t dive in for the illusion of a quick finish, and this will frustrate Leben.

Leben knows he doesn’t want to go to a decision against a Brit in Britain, so the closer to the final horn he gets the more desperate he will become. This is where Bisping will find an opening, drop him with a straight shot, then pour on some ground-and-pound that looks worse than it is, causing the referee to stop it at 4:02 of round three. And Leben is going to be pissed.

Goldstein: I concur. Bisping is a more talented, complete fighter than Leben, and this business about the Crippler maturing is more manufactured narrative than reality. But I don’t think it’ll take Bisping until the third frame to get the stoppage win. As a middleweight, his kickboxing has looked razor-sharp — his last two opponents didn’t make it to the second bell — and his ground capabilities are underrated in general.

The headliners will give the crowd what they paid for in round one, slugging it out like a couple of drunken soccer hooligans, and Bisping will go about finishing the fight in round two, engaging the killer instinct that we’ve seen from him lately. If Leben starts to land more shots in that second round, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bisping clinch with Leben, bully him to the ground and finish him from the top. Either way, it’ll be a stoppage due to strikes at exactly the 4:15 mark of round two.

Who will win the Vera/Jardine and Sokoudjou/Cane fights?

(Keep dreaming. Photo courtesy of brandonverablog.com.)

Cripes, quote of the day from MMA Weekly via Mike C. at MMA Eruption

“Of course fighters are gonna always want more money. You’re an employee of a company, you’re always gonna want more money, you’re always gonna be asking for a raise. So hopefully after Saturday I’m in a position where I can ask for a raise, so let’s see what happens.” — Brandon Vera

If I was Keith Jardine, I’d be fucking furious right now. Brandon Vera’s current contract — which began with his UFC 77 loss to Tim Sylvia — gives him a $100,000 base salary with a $100,000 win bonus, making him one of the highest paid fighters in the UFC. And what has Vera’s employer (and the fans) gotten in return? Well, there was that sad decision loss to Timmy, then the sadder first-round TKO loss to Fabricio Werdum at UFC 85, then his light-heavyweight debut fight against Reese Andy in July, where The Truth couldn’t even finish the UFC newcomer. Brandon’s total take: $400,000.

Meanwhile, Jardine remains one of the most underpaid fighters in the sport. His loss to Wanderlei Silva was the first fight on a new contract that pays him $10,000 to show; before that, he was getting only $7,000. In other words, if Jardine wins on Saturday, he’ll still make five times less than Vera — and Vera still wants more money.

As we learned yesterday, Dana White doesn’t care much for this new, cautious, wealthy Brandon Vera. A raise has to be out of the question at this point, regardless of the UFC’s plans for Filipino expansion. Is it too late to tell people that Kenny Florian is actually a proud Pinoy?

(‘Yeah, real cute. Now please knock someone out.’)

When it comes to fighters facing win-or-get-fired matches, no one loves to speculate as to who might be on the hot seat more than we do. But rarely does Dana White make it this easy. Speaking with the Canadian Press, White called into question Brandon Vera‘s motivation as a fighter and said in no uncertain terms that he needs to see the old “Truth” back in the Octagon:

“As soon as he had a few wins and all the money got involved and his new contract and his ex-manager and all that bullshit, he’s changed,” White lamented. “He’s not the same fighter he was. He needs to put all that shit behind him and he’s needs to come back and be the cocky, crazy Brandon Vera that I met a few years ago. That kid needs to come back.

“It seems that now the money’s involved, he doesn’t take chances like he used to, he doesn’t let his hands go like he used to. He’s got to come back and be the old Brandon Vera.”

That’s not what you want to hear from your boss a couple days before a big fight against someone as tough as Keith Jardine. So would White really consider cutting Vera is he loses at UFC 89? Naw, son. With the UFC looking to expand into the Phillipines, Vera’s too valuable right now. Plus he’s earned a little leeway. He’ll get at least a couple more chances to fuck up, but the message ought to be very clear nonetheless.

White wants the explosive, shit-talking Vera. The cautious, grind-out-a-boring-decision Vera? They’re all stocked up in the light heavyweight division. After all, they’ve already got one Lyoto Machida.

Inside MMA welcomes “Sugar” Rashad Evans, Bobby Lashley, and Dave Meltzer. Here’s a quick taste in this preview video. Right off we’re talking about “evisceration,” which is a fun start, and Bas Rutten asks Kenny Rice, “Did you see that movie Braveheart?” This prompted me to ask, is there anyone on earth who hasn’t seen it by now? It’s more ubiquitous on TV than Remember the Titans.

Below we’ve got Brandon Vera basking in the glory of his fame in the Phillipines. Looks like Dana White wasn’t joking when he said that the UFC was even more mainstream there than they are in the U.S. Props to MMA Payout.

After the jump, Nevada State Athletic Commissioner Keith Kizer gives his thoughts of the EliteXC controversy.

(Bisping challenges another poor bloke to high-stakes Rock, Paper, Scissors.)

As our collective faith in the health of the economy deteriorates, the online gambling market is looking better and better. The more I think about it, the more I’m surprised it didn’t come up in last night’s debates. But once again neither candidate speaks to my issues. Looks like this is one more election year where I’ll end up scrawling “Wanderlei” in crayon across my ballot and then handing it to the overweight woman at the desk, who will inevitably respond by insisting that “this is not a polling place.” Goddamn bureaucracy.

Anyway, if you’re like me and are ready to bet your foreclosed home on UFC 89 this Saturday, here are the sweetest lines around, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com. If you don’t understand how betting odds work, read this. If you still don’t get it, stop sniffing glue.

Chris Leben (+191) vs. Michael Bisping (-211)
Luiz Cane (+104) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (-114)
Dan Hardy (+285) vs. Akihiro Gono (-308)
Neil Wann (+600) vs. Shane Carwin (-675)
Keith Jardine (+155) vs. Brandon Vera (-165)
Jess Liaudin (+141) vs. David Bielkheden (-135)
Marcus Davis (+230) vs. Paul Kelly (+285)
Paul Taylor (+300) vs. Chris Lytle (-328)
Samy Schiavo (+166) vs. Per Eklund (-180)
Terry Etim (+275) vs. Sam Stout (-291)
David Baron (+155) vs. Jim Miller (-172)

Thoughts…

In the official UFC 89 hype video we continue to hear about Chris Leben‘s transformation as a fighter, which has quickly become one of the main storylines heading into this event. Oddly, with all the talk about Leben’s transition from brawler to technically sound MMA fighter, whenever anyone talks about his strengths they inevitably end up talking mostly about the characteristics of a brawler (hard-hitting, looping punches, good chin, etc.) while ascribing to Michael Bisping the characteristics of a technical fighter (straight punches, apparently, which is laughable to Chris Wilson). Not saying Leben isn’t a different fighter these days, just saying the whole thing is interesting.

Anyway, give it a look and you won’t be disappointed. Despite burning through all the stock footage of British landmarks in existence, it’s another solid effort from the Countdown crew.

(Photo courtesy of MeanStyle.com)

Several times Keith Jardine has seemed on the verge of breaking into the top echelon of the UFC’s light heavyweight division. His unexpected victories over current 205-pound champ Forrest Griffin and former champ Chuck Liddell showed flashes of his ability, but after each triumph he was brought back down by subsequent knockout losses against Houston Alexander and Wanderlei Silva, respectively.

Now “The Dean of Mean” has another chance to get back in the win column against Brandon Vera at UFC 89 this Saturday. In this exclusive Cage Potato interview, Jardine discusses his next test, his prior losses, and how they all blend together.

***

CagePotato.com: Hey Keith, thanks for talking with me. With fight night creeping up on us, how has your training been for this one?
KEITH JARDINE: Training has been going great. I’ve had Rashad Evans to work with and then Georges St. Pierre’s been through here. It doesn’t get much better than that. You’ve got to have guys who are going to push you. You can’t just go against people you can beat up. You should be a little nervous to go to practice every day. If you aren’t, then you probably aren’t getting better.

It does sound like you always have lots of great guys coming through Greg Jackson’s to help you prepare. But tell me about Greg himself. I saw a video after your loss to Wanderlei where he said he took full responsibility for the loss. What did he mean by that?
That’s just Greg. That’s just how he is. He takes everything on himself. The truth is it was my fault. I’m the one who lost my focus for a second. You can’t do that against a guy like [Silva].

Well next up you’ve got Brandon Vera, who’s pretty tough as well. What are you expecting out of him on October 18?
He’s one of the most accomplished kickboxers around, plus he’s got great ground skills, so he’s not weak in any area. His muay thai is great and it would really mean a lot to beat him.

Since he is such an accomplished kickboxer do you think you’ll want to stand and trade with him, or would you rather get him to the ground?
No, I’m not worried about any of that. He’s one of the top guys in the weight class and one of the top guys in the world, so I’m just excited to go out there and get a chance to fight him.

After your fight with Liddell, a lot of people remarked on the sizable difference in pay between you. Obviously he’s a big star for the UFC, but he made half a million for losing and you made fourteen grand for winning. That’s got to be a little aggravating, right?