(Props: 2112neto)

UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones goes down March 19th at the Prudential Center in Newark, and we’ve got the extended trailer for your viewing pleasure. Personally, I’m already a little burned out on watching the main eventers’ fight highlights and hearing the crusty old “youth vs. experience” debate. If you are too, just skip to the 4:51 mark to hear more about two other fights that aren’t getting nearly enough attention.

("Herb, thank God it’s you. I had the worst dream." PicProps: MMA Crazed)

Brendan Schaub is scared, you guys. Not just a little nervous, but borderline terrified. He’s afraid of what Mirko CroCop might do to him during their upcoming fight at UFC 128. He’s afraid of losing – this fight, the money, the momentum in the heavyweight division – and he’s afraid of what people will say about him if he does lose. The last thing Schaub wants is to have to spend another three months moping around the house like he did after getting KTFOed by Roy Nelson at the “TUF 10” finale. He doesn’t want to have to listen to the haters say “I told you so,” and he damn sure doesn’t want to face his teammates at Grudge Training Center on the heels of another defeat. That’s why Schaub tells MMA Fighting.com on Wednesday that he makes a point of scaring the bejesus out of himself before every fight.

"Every guy I fight, I create just this monster out of him,” Schaub says. “It doesn’t matter who it is – (Chris) Tuchscherer, Chase Gormley – I just make them into these nightmares. It makes me train harder and makes me so much sharper in the cage. It gets me focused."

(Somehow we see this tournament going down before Strikeforce’s HW GP.)

With the current buzz surrounding the recently announced Strikeforce 2011 heavyweight grand prix, we figured we’d take a look at what kind of tournament the UFC could put on if they were so inclined.

Contrary to popular opinion, the calibre of the UFC’s HW GP would be just as good, if not better than Strikeforce’s. The only noticeable difference is that there really wouldn’t be any mismatches in Zuffa’s heavyweightpalooza.

Even if Joe Silva decided not to put the matches together that we hypothesized in order to save some of the more anticipated pairings for the sem-final and final rounds, shuffling the card around would not cause a great disparity in the calibre of opponents.

(A fella could get used to this. PicProps: MMAFix.com)

Don’t know about you, but a world where Frank Mir no longer harbors troubling fantasies about murdering Brock Lesnar inside the cage is a world I’m not terribly psyched about. Like death, taxes and Phil Baroni constantly tweeting inspirational sayings (Seriously. Fucking constantly.) I thought Mir’s unhealthy and unquenchable blood feud with Lesnar was one of the only things I could really count on about our nation’s increasingly unstable future. Not so apparently, as Mir allegedly tells something called MMASucka.com this week that he no longer lusts after a fight with the recently dethroned Dark Lord.

"Honestly right now, probably (not),” Mir is quoted as saying on the topic of a third meeting with Lesnar. “Just because (in) the Carwin fight, (Lesnar) didn’t look all that spectacular. I think a lot of people might have thought that he lost that fight. And then the Velasquez fight, obviously. Velasquez made (Lesnar) basically shout ‘Stop, enough, enough!’ before he tapped due to strikes and that looked really bad."

Huh. Not sure where exactly Mir gets off suddenly turning his nose up at a guy because he didn’t look great in his most recent loss and/or most recent win. Seems like a classic throwing-stones-while-living-in-glass-houses situation. Anyway, Mir has apparently set his sights on what he considers a more deserving next opponent. Someone a little less, you know, big and dangerous …

(Don’t worry Gabe, the world will always need drinking instructors… / Props: gonzagabjj)

Following two consecutive losses to Junior Dos Santos and Brendan Schaub (at UFC 121), former heavyweight title contender Gabriel Gonzaga has been released by the UFC. "Napao" confirmed the news via Twitter today, writing: "Official now – Out of UFC – Thanks for all your support – back to normal life and BJJ forever." Could Gonzaga really be retiring from MMA altogether? Come on bro, all you need is a new camp and a strategy that doesn’t focus on the absolute weakest part of your game…

(The greatest exchange of the entire event, from round two of Sanchez vs. Thiago. You’ll have to provide your own "aaaaahhhhhhh!!!" Props: CampizonE MMA)

(Brock Lesnar doesn’t need police protection, bitch. Props: Caposa)

(Worst ‘America’s Got Talent’ audition ever. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

Cain Velasquez has a date with Junior Dos Santos, and Jake Shields — God help us — is still likely to face the winner of GSP vs. Koscheck. But the fates of UFC 121‘s other winners and losers are yet to be determined. As usual, we have some brilliant suggestions…

Brock Lesnar: Assuming that nobody really wants to see a Lesnar vs. Mir rubber match, there are a surprising lack of options for the new ex-champ. If Roy Nelson beats Shane Carwin at UFC 125, Lesnar vs. Big Country would make perfect sense. (Lesnar vs. Carwin II is also an option for down the road, considering Carwin never felt like Brock beat him fair and square.) But at the moment, the best available opponent for Lesnar is Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who’s coming off his own nasty loss to Velasquez. The fading Big Nog would likely take a beating, but the UFC needs to re-build their most bankable star against a credible name, and letting Lesnar whale on a legend is an effective way to do it.

Martin Kampmann: The first name that comes to mind is Dan Hardy, though the UFC probably wants to avoid the possibility of one of their British stars dropping three straight. So how ’bout this: Nate Diaz. The TUF 5 winner and moneyweight contender is facing Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 125. If Diaz wins, Diaz vs. Kampmann is a great matchup between two guys who are on the same upper-middle region of the welterweight ladder. If Diaz gets outgrappled by DHK, then Kampmann gets a rebound against an "easier" opponent. Either way, it’s a scrap.

(Above: "Look, everybody in Minnesota grows a beard in the winter, and most of us use deer urine to keep it soft and shiny. I’m sorry if the smell is unfamiliar to you." Below: It’s nice to see that someone else appreciates the long and brave career of Dana Delany. / Photos courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)

With Brock Lesnar gunning for a historic third-consecutive heavyweight title defense against Mexican-American upstart Cain Velasquez, belt-collector Jake Shields making his first appearance in the Octagon, and Tito Ortiz possibly making his last appearance in the Octagon, there’s a lot on the line tonight in Anaheim. Round-by-round results from UFC 121 can be found after the jump, starting with the Spike prelims at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all latest, and please let your voice be heard in the comments section.

("Time it was and what a time it was…")

Contradicting earlier reports that had Tito Ortiz facing Forrest Griffin in a meaningless rubber match, MMAFighting.com has confirmed that Ortiz will instead face off against Matt Hamill at UFC 121 (October 23rd; Anaheim, CA). The Huntington Beach Blah Blah hasn’t competed since his split decision loss to Griffin at UFC 106, and hasn’t won a fight since his third TKO victory over Ken Shamrock in October 2006. Hamill is coming off his majority decision over Keith Jardine at the TUF 11 Finale, which got the Dean of Mean bounced out of the UFC. Technically, Hamill has won his last four fights, including the Jon Jones DQ. If you’ll recall, Hamill was a member of Team Punishment on TUF 3, so this fight will have extra significance when Hamill beats Tito’s ass. In other UFC 121 booking news…

(SPOILER ALERT: At some point in the fight Guida comes charging in with his mane of hair flowing wildly about him. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

Those of you who were bummed about not seeing your favorite RV-dwelling lightweight on the Versus broadcast of Sunday’s UFC event can now turn those frowns back into smug grimaces, because Spike TV has you covered. The cable network sent out an email this morning to let us all know that on Wednesday night they’ll be showing the Clay Guida-Shannon Gugerty and Brendan Schaub-Chase Gormley bouts from ‘UFC Live,’ as well as two other previously unaired fights (Dennis Siver-Paul Kelly from UFC 105, and Jeremy Stephens-Justin Buchholz from Fight Night 19).

The plan is to air this special episode of “UFC Unleashed” at 9 pm EST as a lead-in to the final installment of “UFC Primetime.” At the risk of lavishing too much praise on the same people who are behind “Blue Mountain State,” we’re going to go ahead and call this move a brilliant one for all parties involved.

(Ben Saunders’s clinch: Not where you want to be. Photo courtesy of ESPN.)

According to MMA Weekly, welterweight contenders Martin Kampmann and Ben Saunders have agreed to meet at UFC 111 (March 27th, Newark). Both fighters recently bounced back to the win column after suffering knockouts in previous fights: Kampmann scored a first-round submission over Jacob Volkmann earlier this month after getting smoked by Paul Daley at UFC 103, while Saunders is coming off his first-round knockout of Marcus Davis at UFC 106, after being on the wrong end of a TKO against Mike Swick in June. UFC 111 will be headlined by the championship doubleheader of Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy and Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin. In other UFC fight-booking news…

— Speaking of Marcus Davis, the Irish Hand Grenade will look to snap his two-fight losing streak at UFC 113 (May 1st, Montreal) against Canadian welterweight Jonathan Goulet, who returns to the Octagon for the first time since his 33-second knockout loss to Mike Swick at Fight for the Troops in December 2008.

(Top: Kimbo and Roy demonstrate the difference between "built like a black man" and "built like a polar bear." Directly above: The Amanda Knox verdict affected some fighters more than others.)

Okay, so "Heavyweights" wasn’t the best season of The Ultimate Fighter we’ve seen. Let’s be honest: Project Runway had a more talented group of fighters this year, and there weren’t as many divas. But tonight’s finale card will still give us a very entertaining night of fights, with two worthy TUF finalists, Kimbo Slice’s (possibly) last stand, and the always exciting Jon Jones looking to launch to the next level against Matt Hamill. Round-by-round updates from the TUF 10 Finale are after the jump; refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest. We begin our evening’s entertainment with a grudge match between two ex-football players…

After his latest “Do you wanna be an [expletive] fighter” speech on the last episode, Dana White is surprised that nobody is stepping over Matt Mitrione to take his spot, which is strange because Scott Junk made it very clear that he’d just do that, wrecked eye notwithstanding. One guy who definitely isn’t down to fight is (wait for it) Kimbo Slice, who’s concerned about his arthritis-stricken knee and starts throwing out excuses. Bottom line is, he won’t be able to perform at full strength, and he can’t stomach another loss, so he’d just rather not fight, if that’s cool.

“I am in no position to fight a kickboxer like James McSweeney at this point,” he says, adding that it would “demise” him a little bit taking the fight knowing he wasn’t healthy. Dana White is a little taken back; he didn’t expect this from Kimbo, whose gameness was supposed to be his best quality. But that’s the situation. The season’s poster boy turns out to be a total bust. I demand a refund.

Luckily, Matt Mitrione feels healthy again. He tells Rashad that he’s been cleared to fight, and Rashad tells us "I bet he called the doctor and the doctor said ‘listen kid, I told you two days ago you could fight,’” which is hilarious because that’s pretty much exactly how it went down. Finally, Mitrione admits that his head injury story was exaggerated to mess with James McSweeney and keep himself entertained. Ohhhhh, now it all makes sense…

(Schaub vs. Madsen stoppage, via bothmiddlefingers)

Matt Mitrione is still bitching about his alleged brain damage. He says a doctor’s visit revealed that he has some minor swelling in the brain, which turned into a migraine. As a result, he’s a little slow and it’s taking a little longer for him to say things. Trevor Wittman calls horseshit — swelling of the brain is life-threatening, and the doctor wouldn’t just send him back to the house. Coach Rashad still can’t get a clear read on if Mitrione really wants to continue fighting; he has to want it for himself more than his coaches want it for him. James McSweeney — who’s scheduled to fight Mitrione in the third quarterfinal match — feels that Mitrione is just playing games, and in his book, Meathead just went from "rat" to "two faced little bitch without a heart."

While rolling with Demico Rogers, Kimbo Slice tweaks his knee. He’d obviously be the first fighter to return if Mitrione has to withdraw from the competition, but Coach Rampage is worried that McSweeney would focus on the bum joint with kicks. (In Kimbo’s charming personal dialect, McSweeney is a "tree chopper.") Later, a doctor tells Kimbo that he’s missing some cartilage, but Kimbo won’t get a cortisone shot because big needles freak him out. He suffers through an ice bath outside the TUF house, while his housemates laugh at his agony.

(Props: CagePotato reader Pete V.R.)

Now that TUF 10‘s round-of-16 is in the books, we all have a better sense of who these guys are and how far they’ll go in the competition. So, it’s time to rank the Elite 8 based on their performances. Going from valedictorian to dunce…

JUSTIN WREN

Wren put an MMA veteran to sleep, took zero damage in the fight, and made it look easy. You couldn’t ask for a more successful first match than that. Few people knew who this guy was when he came into the house, but suddenly he’s a front-runner. Grade: A

ROY NELSON

Like Wren, Nelson used a methodical grappling attack to take his opponent completely out of the game. The only difference is, Wren finished his fight, while Nelson was content to pile on pitty-pat punches until the ref stopped it for him. Not taking any undue risks is a smart strategy when you’re looking at three fights in six weeks, but hopefully he’ll show some killer instinct in his next fights. Grade: A-

(The end of Schaub vs. Rogers.)

Last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights opened with some analysis of the Kimbo Slice vs. Roy Nelson fight, which was described rather generously as a "classic striker vs. wrestler/grappler matchup" by Scott Junk, who gives props to Slice for not gassing out. Titties Schoonover was also very impressed by Kimbo’s performance. Roy Nelson was impressed by Roy Nelson’s performance. After the fight, we see Big Country needling Rampage, thanking him for helping Roy count strikes to Kimbo’s dome. "I lost count after ten," Roy says, coming in for a bro-clinch. "Get the fuck off me," says Jackson. "I can’t stand that fat motherfucker," he tells Tiki.

Rampage and his assistants do their best to encourage Kimbo after the fight. Rampage vows to keep working with Slice and turn him into one of the best fighters out there. Kimbo doesn’t feel he’s out of the competition yet, and that with another two or three weeks of instruction, he’ll be untouchable. Abe Wagner tells him — to his face, amazingly — that he’s using denial as a coping mechanism. But for a moment, it does look like Kimbo might return. Marcus Jones has a "sweat attack," and has to sit down for a while after getting lightheaded back at the house. His teammates think he’s physically cracking under the demands of the show. Kimbo sees it as his opportunity to squeeze his way back in, but Marcus quickly recovers.