(Sean Salmon getting finished in the first round? You don’t say…)

Jorge Santiago has had perhaps the most disappointing UFC career of any top-tier import out there. While that statement may sound rather contradictory, Santiago’s accolades in any promotion not named the UFC (or King of the Cage) are pretty incredible. Not only is he a two-time defending Sengoku middleweight champion, but one of those defenses, which came at World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 14 back in August of 2010, was a “Fight of the Year” earning performance over Kazuo Misaki. The man can fight is all we’re saying.

If you were to look at his record inside DW’s playground, however, you would see that all but one of his four losses (out of five performances) have ended by way of violent knockout. The Chris Leben left hook. The Alan Belcher head kick. And who could forget the Brian Stann beatdown. Thankfully, Santiago was able to bounce back from his most recent UFC run with a nasty first round knockout of 14-7 Leonardo Pecanha at Titan Fighting Championship 21 last March.

Check out the video after the jump. 

UFC President Dana White says that Bellator import, Hector Lombard, might just get a middleweight title shot if he beats Brian Stann in his UFC debut. “When you talk about cleaning out a division, there’s always another guy who comes up, even for a guy like Anderson…We just brought in Lombard. (If) Lombard beats Stann. … that (title) fight makes sense,” Sergio Non reports White as saying, for USA Today.

And, oh yeah, Stann vs. Lombard will headline UFC on Fox 4, according to MMA Fighting ace Mike Chiappetta. When a fan asked Chiappetta, via twitter, if the fight was set to be the main event for Fox’ fourth UFC installment, he replied in the affirmative.

(Pictured above: Nate Diaz and a pre-beard Johny Hendricks.) 

Yesterday, the UFC and FOX held an open media conference call, which featured UFC President Dana White, middleweight contender and FOX analyst Brian Stann, and Fox Sports Media Group Co-President Eric Shanks taking questions prior to this weekend’s UFC on FOX event. Among the questions to come up was one regarding the likelihood of the Nate Diaz/Jim Miller winner receiving the next title shot at 155 pounds. True to form, Dana White did not beat around the bush, declaring that to be true for at least half of the participants involved:

Should Diaz win, Diaz is definitely getting a title shot. Should Miller win, Miller’s probably going to be a fight or two away.

White when on to state that the same applied for Johny Hendricks should he get past Josh Koscheck on Saturday, whereas our boy Fraggle would have to get a couple more wins under his belt. Considering that both Koscheck and Miller recently suffered losses to the current champions of their respective weight classes (twice over if your Koscheck), this seems to make sense.

(“Oh no, I wasn’t laughing at you. I was just remembering this funny joke I heard about a guy who got punched in the head really hard.”)

The UFC has confirmed that their new middleweight signee Hector Lombard — best known as Bellator’s Angel of Death — will be making his first Octagon appearance against Brian Stann. UFC.com reports that the matchup will take place this August in Los Angeles, suggesting that it will go down at UFC on FOX 4.

Known for his inhuman power and massive physique, Lombard took to twitter last night to make a rather unique request: “Can we make a random drug test before my fight???” Lombard clearly wants to prove that his muscles are all natural — though once you request a random test, it’s not exactly random anymore. Ah well, he’ll get the hang of it.

(Just call him Jon “Bjönes” Jones. / Photo courtesy of Josh Hedges)

By Jack Saladino

With the UFC’s Swedish debut in the books, it’s time for us to make Joe Silva‘s life easier and suggest the next matchups for a few of the notable fighters coming out of UFC on FUEL: Silva vs. Gustafsson. Read on, and let us know if you agree or disagree with these picks…

Alexander Gustafsson: Rocking Thiago Silva early, Gustafsson was able to pick apart the aggressive Brazilian with an array of uber-accurate strikes to coast his way to a UD victory, and cement his position as a top-tier light-heavyweight. Can you say title eliminator? Gustafsson vs. Dan Henderson sounds good to me. I know Dan is waiting for his guaranteed title shot, but Jon Jones and Rashad Evans both have a history of post-fight injuries, and to assume that the winner will be healthy after their title fight might be unrealistic. So unless Hendo doesn’t mind a year-long break to challenge the title-holder, a battle against the Mauler could be the next best thing.

Thiago Silva: Silva’s suspension gave him a year off to think about what he’s done and rehab a plethora of injuries that have kept him performing at less than 100%. Judging by his performance on Saturday, his comeback still has a long way to go. Though Silva could use a fight against a UFC newcomer to rebound in the 205-pound division, I’d give him a good dose of reality and slate him against Phil Davis, who’s coming off his own loss to Rashad Evans. Two big, well-known scrappers with a lot to lose — promoting this one should be a no-brainer.

By Elias Cepeda

(I have seen the future of Swedish MMA and it is pale, polite and packs a nasty uppercut)

No one really disappointed in the UFC’s first ever event in Sweden Saturday. Swedish headliner Alexander Gustafsson won an entertaining and technical stand-up striking battle against Thiago Silva. For his part, Silva was coming off of a one-year suspension from a failed drug test and was a late replacement for Antonio Rogerio Nogueira but found success in spots throughout the fight and never stopped pushing the pace and coming forward, no matter how much damage he took.

It’s always fun to see what crowds in new UFC territory are like and the Swedish fans proved to be a pleasing combination. Think the soccer chants of British and Brazilian fans with the polite appreciation of Japanese fans (but slightly louder). When one of their own won, they roared. When one of theirs lost, they applauded the victor for their honest effort. Old dad was on the scene last week and did a great job writing about Swedish attitudes.

As he wrote, Silva was initially one of the few people to get booed in Sweden. But that had more to do with his assumed steroid use than his nationality. And by the end of his strong-willed battle against Gustafsson, the Swedish fans cheered Silva for his aggression.

After what has been a long six weeks, a UFC event is finally on the horizon, Potato Nation. And thank Allah, because we were starting to get desperate. Like a Jencum addict without a balloon desperate. In either case, tomorrow night’s UFC on FUEL event provides the perfect opportunity for us to regret ever becoming gambling addicts in the first place, so let’s skip the bullshit and get right to it. Check out the betting lines, courtesy of BestFightOdds, and join us after the jump for our advice on where to place your hard-earned cash. .

Main Card
Alexander Gustafsson (-220) vs. Thiago Silva (+180)
Brian Stann (-400) vs. Alessio Sakara (+325)
Paulo Thiago (-145) vs. Siyar Bahadurzada (+125)
Dennis Siver (+150) vs. Diego Nunes (-170)
DaMarques Johnson (+140) vs. John Maguire (-160)
Brad Pickett (-230) vs. Damacio Page (+190)

Preliminary Card (Facebook)
James Head (+200) vs. Papy Abedi (-240)
Tom DeBlass (-200) vs. Cyrille Diabate (+170)
Magnus Cedenblad (+225) vs. Francis Carmont (-265)
Yoislandy Izquierdo (+190) vs. Reza Madadi (-230)
Besam Yousef (+250) vs. Simeon Thoresen (-300)
Jason Young (-185) vs. Eric Wisely (+160)

Here we go…

(Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly)

By Jonathan Shrager

Brian Stann‘s accomplishments in MMA and military heroism are matters of public record. But what about the man himself? As the UFC middleweight contender heads into his pivotal co-main-event against Alessio Sakara at UFC on Fuel TV: Gustafsson vs. Silva this weekend, we spoke to the All-American about everything from his childhood to his intense training to his various pursuits outside of fighting. Enjoy, and follow Brian Stann on twitter @BrianStann.

CAGEPOTATO.COM Hi Brian, many thanks for the opportunity to conduct this interview. I read that you played football as middle linebacker at the Naval Academy. How good were you at football? Do you think you could have made the NFL?
BRIAN STANN: No, not even close. When I played football in college, I was recruited to play quarterback. My style was more to pass than run the option. Quarterback didn’t really work out, so I got moved around to a lot of different positions before finding a home at linebacker. It was a position I had only played sparingly at high school, so I had to learn the position while actually playing at a competitive level. I was always a good athlete, but quarterback was my primary position, and I never really had the stuff to play in the NFL.

Going back even further, you were actually born in Japan, at Yokota Airbase. Were your parents in the armed forces?
Yes that’s true. My father was in the air force, so my family was stationed at the airbase. My mom left with me and my sister when I was two years old, and we moved back to Scranton, Pennsylvania. I pretty much lived there until I left for college.

Obviously you were very young so you might not remember, but being born there, do you feel any affinity with Japan at all?
Yes I do. When I was young, The Karate Kid was big, and I always thought it was really cool that I was born there. My mother and I made this promise that one day in the future we would return to visit Yokota and that she would show me all the different spots, and reminisce, since I don’t remember anything. So there’s certainly an affinity there, and when my fight career is over and I’m not constantly in training, my mom and I will make that trip.

So, you were born in Japan, raised in Pennsylvania, currently live in Georgia, train out in New Mexico, and fight everywhere. Where do you consider home now? You must feel a little displaced at times with all the traveling.

(Phil Davis: The UFC’s leading producer of new middleweights.)

By Ben Goldstein

“When in doubt, drop a weight class” — that’s been the mantra for many MMA fighters who have hit rough patches in their careers. Of course, shaving 10-20 pounds off your body is no guarantee of future success, and it occasionally leaves fighters worse off than when they started. Following a week that saw Demian Maia, Dan Miller, and Nik Lentz all decide to seek their fortunes against smaller opponents, we decided to round up a few notable fighters who revitalized themselves at a lighter weight, and a few that became cautionary tales for weight-dropping. Read on, and let us know which UFC fighters should consider taking the weight-class plunge…

The Good

Dominick Cruz

After racking up a 9-0 record — not to mention belts at lightweight and featherweight for the Total Combat promotion — Dominick Cruz challenged Urijah Faber for the WEC featherweight title in March 2007. Unfortunately, Cruz fell into a guillotine choke and tapped at the 1:38 mark of round 1. Cruz addressed the setback by dropping to bantamweight the following year, and has since gone on another 9-0 run at 135, collected the WEC and UFC bantamweight belts, and exacted revenge against his arch-nemesis, the California Kid. We’ll see if he can make it two in a row against Faber in June, but for now, it seems that dropping to bantamweight was the best move of Dominick’s career.

(Marine Corps Captain Brian Stann receiving his Silver Star in March 2006 for bravery and leadership in battle following Operation Matador.)

If you haven’t heard Brian Stann recall his harrowing tale of his platoon’s six-day firefight in Iraq during Operation Matador, put aside a few minutes today and watch this.

I’m not sure why Brian gets as much flack as he does for being proud of his fellow Marines, but as he explains it, serving his country wasn’t a cakewalk and he says he constantly recalls the horrors he saw during his two tours in Iraq and that it aged him 15 years in the three-years he spent over there.

(Seconds after becoming the world’s first active-duty UFC Champion, Brian Stann happened to witness a gang of streetwise thugs kidnapping WWE superstar John Cena’s wife. And now he won’t stop until until the streets…are safe again. Brian Stann IS The Marine 2: The Actual Marine .)

We’re not going to suggest that Brian Stann might be looking past his upcoming UFC on FUEL TV 2 bout with Italian striker Alessio Sakara, because here at CP, we don’t just jump to conclusions. But granted Stann is successful come April 14th, he already has his next opponent in mind. And believe it or not, it’s Michael Bisping. When asked on the subject of dream opponents by EsNewsReporting, Stann was quick to reply:

Michael Bisping. I wouldn’t try to do anything but walk straight through him with a right hand. Here’s the deal: I don’t know Michael personally, sometimes I think he gets a bum rap and I’ve learned not to judge people off the media and things of that nature. After my last fight he had a few comments about my technique and who I was as a fighter that I thought were a little odd. He called me a ‘white belt’ and said that I was ‘exposed’ so I’d love to see him put his money where his mouth is. We can fight and we can solve that. He may be a great guy, I don’t know, and maybe he is, but I would just like to compete against him since he made those comments. 

Props: @BrianStann

If nothing else, at least the commentary will be much better for UFC on FOX 3 than the organization’s previous attempts on the network.

Those of you who tuned in for UFC on FUEL: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger more than likely left impressed by Brian Stann’s commentary throughout the evening. Already known for his ability to produce the most professional responses during interviews at will, Brian Stann seamlessly transitioned to the role of analyst. Stann was very confident while analyzing the fights, handling his first commentary gig like it was just another day at the office. Needless to say, the impressive showing granted him a role as an analyst for future UFC on FOX events.

The UFC’s attempts to give fighters active roles as commentators during UFC on FOX broadcasts have seen mixed results. The organization’s debut on FOX saw Brock Lesnar do a great job in both analyzing the fights and promoting his upcoming bout with Overeem. However, when Lesnar lost that fight and subsequently retired, the UFC could not continue to use him. It attempted to fill the void he left with UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and Light-Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones.

(Ain’t that the truth.) 

Yesterday, the UFC announced that its second UFC on FUELTV event was set to transpire in Stockholm, Sweden, prompting fight booking rumors to materialize faster than an Ikea entertainment center. First off, a clash between middleweight strikers Brian Stann and Alessio Sakara is apparently in the works, and promises to be what JR would call, “a good old fashioned slobber knocker.”

After putting together a three fight win streak between 2008 and 2010, “Legionarius” has not fought since dropping a unanimous decision to last minute replacement and fast rising middleweight contender Chris Weidman at UFC Live 3. Sakara was set to face Jorge Rivera on two separate occasions, at UFC 118 and 133, but was forced to pull out from both fights due to some bad fish and a torn ACL, respectively. Stann similarly saw a three fight streak snapped at UFC 136, when he was dominated on the mat by Chael Sonnen en route to a second round arm triangle submission. Given Sakara’s somewhat suspect chin, you gotta imagine this match is Stann’s to lose.

When the UFC first announced the location of this event, there were a couple of names, mainly Alexander Gustafsson and Papy Abedi, that most figured would have to be included on the card. Though “The Mauler” has yet to be given an opponent, Abedi has already been booked to take on James Head. Abedi will be looking to rebound from a first round submission(!) loss to Thiago Alves in his UFC debut back at UFC 138 when he takes on Head, who is also coming off an unsuccessful octagon debut. The Oklahoma native was choked out by Nick Ring in the third round of their UFC 131 battle.

(And here we have some lovely fan art of Minowaman doing battle with Godzilla and Ghidorah, while a rocket blasts out of his crotch. / Props: mma-core)

So this is weird: Coming off his submission loss to Chael Sonnen last month, Brian Stann was briefly under the impression that he’d be getting a rebound fight against a mulleted giant-killer in the Land of the Rising Sun. As Stann told MMA Sucka (tip via MiddleEasy):

“I thought I was fighting on the UFC card in Tokyo. I thought I was going to fight a gentleman by the name of Ikuhisa Minowa or ‘Minowaman’ and unfortunately, you know, the fight didn’t happen. He actually asked to fight me. I agreed and then for some reason it just didn’t materialize…From what I was told by the UFC, I think they already filled the main card for that one, so there’s not really any room for me anymore.”

By Mike Russell

(Marine Corps Captain Brian Stann receiving his Silver Star in March 2006 for bravery and leadership in battle)

Today marks the 236th birthday of the United States Marines, and as such, I thought it would be fitting to print an outtake quote from an interview I did with Brian Stann earlier this month for a recent Fighters Only Magazine story.

When talk turned to the growing contingent of MMA fans who have publicly blasted “All American” for memorializing his fallen military brothers and sisters, Stann, a decorated retired  Marine said that he makes no apologies for paying them tribute whenever he has a public forum to do so.

Read Brian’s take on the subject after the jump.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/FightHubTV)

When Mark Munoz politely mentioned that he wouldn’t be opposed to fighting his friend and sometimes training partner, UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva Saturday following his impressive win over Chris Leben in Birmingham, England, many of us were surprised, given the fact that the majority of fighters in the UFC seem reluctant to fight their pals.

Then he recanted and said that, actually he’d like to fight Michael Bisping instead, which made a lot more sense considering that a few fights ago Yushin Okami made us forget that Munoz was a top-tier wrestler.

Well, he’s back at it again.

In an interview “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” did with FightHubTV.com’s Marcos Villegas yesterday, the dangerous UFC middleweight touched on a number of topics, including why he’d take the fight, what it would mean to his friendship with Silva and why he doesn’t think Chael Sonnen deserves the next crack at the belt.

Brass tacks after the jump.

Dana White’s video blogs, though sporadic, have taken an increasingly interesting turn in that they are now largely made up of post-fight footage from UFC events rather than the day-to-day extravagance that is “The Baldfather’s” life. As with his UFC 136 vlog, Dana gives us a brief introduction and wishes us a happy Halloween before throwing us behind the scenes of UFC 136 to witness the agony of defeat firsthand.

Particularly tough to watch is that of Melvin Guillard, who, after having his lightweight title aspirations choked out of him by Joe Lauzon, completely loses his shit backstage, throwing a chair across the room before breaking down on his hands and knees as the doctor’s try to attend to him. Even Joe Warren had to look away.

Join us after the jump for some other musings from this week’s vlog:

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Ryron and Rener Gracie break down the action from a UFC card, so we decided to give you guys a double dose of knowledge to kick-start your weekend. Above, we have their take on Chael Sonnen’s ever improving Jiu-Jitsu game, which capped off with a second round arm triangle submission of Brian Stann at UFC 136.

Now, moving past how “gentle” Chael was in his victory, the Gracie’s demonstrate and analyze the transitions, guard passes, and remount techniques Sonnen used to defeat Stann with their usual competency, breaking down both the first and second rounds of their middleweight fight. Being a guy trained primarily in the ground game, I can’t say enough how valuable these break downs are.

Check out the Gracie’s breakdown of Jon Jones’ 4th round rear-naked choke over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 135 after the jump.

-Danga 

(Punch-face: Where ‘herp’ meets ‘derp’. Photo via Cagewriter.)

Of the 11 bouts hosted at UFC 136, eight went to the judges — which made the other three seem even more special by comparison. In case you missed ‘em on Saturday, take a look back at the two dramatic submissions and one classic knockout from “Edgar vs. Maynard III.”

GIFs are after the jump, via IronForgesIron.

Dana White post-event interview with Ariel Helwani. Props: MMAFighting.com

It’s no stretch to say that UFC 136 was, on paper, the most stacked UFC card since UFC 100. It featured two title fights, the return of the only middleweight to make Anderson Silva look human, a rematch from one of the most controversial decisions of 2010 and a lightweight contender looking to keep his winning streak alive. Add on the UFC Fan Expo being held on the same weekend, and it would seem impossible for UFC 136 to live up to the hype. Yet, impressively enough, it did.

If you’re a fan of “zombie style” fighting, then Frankie Edgar absolutely has to be one of your favorite fighters after last night. In a performance that caused more than a few of us to experience déjà vu, Edgar seemed like he was one punch away from being knocked out throughout Gray Maynard’s early onslaught. But Edgar hung on and managed to take the next two rounds en route to a fourth round TKO. It’s an impressive accomplishment, especially considering that Frankie Edgar is a natural featherweight while Gray Maynard is pretty big for a lightweight, if Mike Goldberg is to be trusted. Any questions about Frankie Edgar’s ability to finish seem to have been answered last night. Especially in the eyes of Dana White, who awarded Frankie Edgar the 75k Knockout of the Night honors.

(Props: carloscub104)

Chael Sonnen might be the greatest pro-wrestler in MMA history. After his thrilling arm-triangle submission of Brian Stann at UFC 136 last night, Sonnen got on the mic, channeled his inner Ric Flair, and cut a promo directed at a single person — his arch-rival, Anderson Silva:

“Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck. Super Bowl weekend, the biggest rematch in the history of the business, I’m calling you out Silva, but we’re upping the stakes. I beat you, you leave the division. You beat me, I will leave the UFC forever.”

Gotta love the Charles Barkley cameo at the end. So will the Spider take the bait? And how did you feel about Sonnen’s WWE-style hype-routine?

(“I’m so sick of your friggin’ face.” “No, I’m so sick of *your* friggin’ face.”)

Well, we’re finally going to sort out this lightweight championship mess. Thanks for joining us for the ride. Bear with us as we try a slightly different format to appease the complaints we’ve had about spoilers and such. If you want to read about certain fight, click  ”next page.”

Preliminary results after the jump.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

Just a friendly reminder that we will have the live stream of today’s UFC 136 weigh-ins from Houston, Texas starting at 5:00 pm ET.

There’s a pretty good chance that at least one fighter is getting shoved during the festivities. Unfortunately we likely won’t hear from Stann or Sonnen since Joe Rogan typically only interviews the main event participants, so we’l have to settle for listening to Maynard say that Frankie has his belt and to Edgar say he’s sick of fighting Gray.

Time for a few friendly wagers in the comment section.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/MrUFCTrailers)

Just a couple of videos to make your Friday fly by a bit more quickly.

Between “The Most Interesting Man in the World” and “The Fly Trap,” we could have tomorrow night’s “Fight of the Night.”

Remember to get your picks in for our “UFC 136 Fight-Picking Contest” and to check back in with us at 5:00 pm ET today for the weigh ins and tomorrow night at 9:00 pm ET for our liveblog of the pay-per-view.

Have a great weekend, Potato Nation.

Check out “The Fly Trap” after the jump.

(Stock-trader vs. Wall Street protester — who ya got? Photo via MMA Mania)

Want to make some real money this weekend? Then come over to my place on Saturday afternoon and be prepared to clean some toilets. Want to make some hypothetical, for-entertainment-purposes-only money this weekend? Then check out the latest UFC 136 betting lines (via BestFightOdds) and read our gambling advice after the jump.

PPV Main Card
Frankie Edgar (-125) vs. Gray Maynard (+120)
Jose Aldo (-320) vs. Kenny Florian (+301)
Chael Sonnen (-255) vs. Brian Stann (+227)
Nam Phan (-210) vs. Leonard Garcia (+208)
Melvin Guillard (-312) vs. Joe Lauzon (+310)

Spike TV Prelims
Demian Maia (-275) vs. Jorge Santiago (+245)
Anthony Pettis (-277) vs. Jeremy Stephens (+250)

Facebook Prelims
Joey Beltran (+190) vs. Stipe Miocic (-210)
Tiequan Zhang (-120) vs. Darren Elkins (+115)
Aaron Simpson (-313) vs. Eric Schafer (+300)
Steve Cantwell (-135) vs. Mike Massenzio (+130)

We’ll begin…at the beginning:

(Who honestly wouldn’t want to see this again?) 

Dana White is like a walking, talking, movie trailer. He reveals just enough to get his audience hot with anticipation, only to deny them with the necessary answers as to why they were watching him in the first place. During the UFC 136 pre-fight press conference, and in accordance with multiple sources, “The Baldfather” apparently revealed that the winner of the upcoming bout between Brian Stann and submission savant Chael Sonnen at UFC 136 would be next in line for a chance to dethrone Anderson Silva. Sort of. Maybe.

The question that sparked all the fuss was as follows: ”How could you feel that if Sonnen wins, he deserves a shot at the title but if not Stann doesn’t?”

To which DW responded:

Zuffa Editorial Director Thomas Gerbasi has just given us a stack of his upcoming book UFC Encyclopedia, a slick and meticulously detailed reference guide to the promotion’s 18-year history — perfect for your coffee table or the crapper. And we want to give away three copies to the savviest fight-pickers in the Potato Nation.

This Saturday, UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III goes down at the Toyota Center in Houston, featuring the conclusion (we hope) of MMA’s grittiest lightweight rivalry, Jose Aldo‘s latest title featherweight defense against Kenny Florian, and Chael Sonnen‘s love-fest with Brian Stann. Submit your predictions for these three fights in the comments section below, including the winner’s name, the method of victory, and the time/round of stoppage, if any. Your entry should be in this format:

(Video courtesy of YouTube/Heavy)

Heavy.com’s Megan Olivi caught up with Dana White following the UFC 136 press conference today and picked the UFC president’s brain about a few hot topics that have been swirling around MMA blogs and messageboards as of late.

White gave some insight into how he expects the UFC’s first dual event to go down, logistically, and shared his thoughts on what title implications certain bouts from UFC 136 might have including Stann versus Sonnen and Lauzon versus Guillard. He also mentioned that the future of Strikeforce could be determined this week as Showtime will likely announce whether or not it intends to re-up with the now Zuffa-owned promotion.

Just a friendly reminder that we will be streaming today’s UFC 136 press conference live starting at 12:00 pm ET.

The event will feature main card fighters Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard, Jose Aldo, Kenny Florian, Brian Stann and Chael Sonnen.

If nothing else, it’s worth tuning into to see what yarns Chael will spin.

Check out the player after the jump.

(Jon Jones buys his first new car — a $190,000 2012 Bentley. For more pics of the UFC light-heavyweight champ’s new ride, head to MMAConvert.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. Starting today, we’ll be giving you guys short previews of each article we link to. We vouch for this stuff, so click, okay?

- My First Fight: Kenny Florian (MMA Fighting)
“Looking back, it’s crazy. The way that I trained, the way I ate, it was terrible. It was so far from what I do now…Ignorance is bliss, I guess, even when I was fighting on The Ultimate Fighter, weighing in at a chubby 178 pounds for a [185-pound fight], it was all kind of like I was just too dumb to know better.”

- Culinary Workers Union Creates Anti-UFC Website (The Fight Nerd)
“Maintained by the Culinary Workers Union, Local 226, the website uses the acronym of UFC to stand for “Unfit For Children” instead of the “Ultimate Fighting Championship.” Dana White’s many rants are listed in detail on this page across a series of sub-categories, including “Obscenities,” “Slurs” which features many of the comments DFW directed at Loretta Hunt among others, “Cheap Shots” which focuses on remarks about random people involved in entertainment and sports, and “Other $#@%!!!” which documents rude comments that UFC fighters have said about others, including Chael Sonnen’s negative thoughts on Brazil.”

- Hired Hero: An Interview Exclusive With UFC 136 Fighter Brian Stann, Part Two (MMA Mania)
“The fact of the matter is, I don’t care who you are. If I hit you on the chin, there’s a good chance you’re going out. Anderson possesses that same ability. He’s only a man. I don’t put any fighter on a pedestal of being unbeatable. I train with guys like Jon Jones every day who is every bit as devastating.”