(You call ‘at a breedge? Check out old Albert and get back at me, you tosser.) 

And go figure, the British Team is already being called “cocky.” In case you had already forgotten, the “hit” reality show recently announced its coaches for both the 16th season of the show here in America and the second international season. Pitting the United Kingdom against Australia, TUF: Smashes began filming today, according to a report by yourmmatv.com. When asked how the first stages of shooting were going, UFC President Dana White told the Herald Sun that the British team, going against everything we have ever learned about them, are acting unnecessarily arrogant in the presence of their Aussie opponents:

Because MMA is newer here than it is to the United States and the UK, and this happened when the US fought the UK, the US were very cocky and that they felt like you know, `there’s not enough good guys over there.’ Well that’s the way the UK is acting right now and when you underestimate your opponent, that’s when you get your ass kicked.

(This is what I get for offering them a ticket to The Gun Show.) 

Oh, those wacky Brits. It appears that, while touring the UK as part of a MMA seminar tour, former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk was accidentally pegged in connection with a well known crime boss (our guess would be Salvatore Riina) when the vehicle he was riding in was stopped at a roadblock.

After a small misunderstanding, machine gun toting bobbies descended upon Sherk and forcefully removed him from the car, which they believed to be loaded with illegal firearms. Fighters Only has the exclusive:

As he was being ferried into the area, the car he was travelling in was stopped by a roadblock and armed police swooped on the vehicle. Police had the vehicle on their database as being linked to a local man who they believe to be a key gangland figure. 

Sherk thought the car was being subjected to a routine stop until it turned out to involve several carloads of police officers carrying automatic weapons, including Hechler and Koch MP5 machine guns – the UK police do not normally carry guns. 

Having remained sat in his passenger seat because he had not understood an instruction to exit the vehicle, Sherk was dragged out by tense officers. They cuffed his hands behind his back and pulled him away where he was none too gently searched before being dumped on the floor.

(“One Punch” may be a catchy moniker for the roguish bantamweight, but it could very well be the thing that stands between Pickett and a shot at the title. / Gruesome photo via Brad’s Facebook page.)

By CagePotato contributor Ben Cartlidge

This Saturday’s UFC 138 event in Birmingham, England, marks the organization’s sole stop in the UK this year and, as expected, the anticipation is already at a feverish level. The card is a mixture of home-grown talent and international mainstays, and is headlined by the first five-round non-title main event in the promotion’s history between Chris Leben and Mark Munoz.

The co-main event features one of the most dynamic fighters to come out of the UK who, after a career spanning twenty-five fights with multiple appearances in the WEC and Cage Rage, is finally making his UFC debut. Brad “One Punch” Pickett meets Nova Uniao prospect Renan Barao, after a back injury forced Pickett to withdraw from his UFC 130 bout with Miguel Torres, in a potentially incendiary affair at 135lbs.

Brad took the time to chat with CagePotato.com about his preparations for this fight and his plan to snap the insane win-streak of his dangerous opponent…

CAGEPOTATO.COM: Renan Barao has twenty-six straight wins, and his only loss was a split-decision in his professional debut, six years ago. Do you think you’ve got the skills to be the first one to finish him?

BRAD PICKETT: Stats are stats. Everyone loves them but I don’t care about them. I’m going to go in there and throw hard and try to knock him out. If I can knock him out then I’ll be the first person to do that which would be brilliant, or the same if I was to submit him. I don’t look at his record and go “look at how many fights he’s won.” There’s no point in breaking it down like that because you just go into it all too much.

I honestly think I’ve fought a lot higher competition than this kid has. I’m not saying that he’s not good because you beat the people that are put in front of you but I don’t think he’s fought someone of my calibre yet. Honestly I believe I’m a better athlete and I’ve got the tools to win it. It’s my fight to throw away.

(Video courtesy of SunNews)

We’ve been getting a ton of emails about this story out of the UK this weekend about the “nine-year-olds cage fighting,” so we figured we should weigh in on the controversy.

During a small local MMA event held at the Greenlands Labour Club in Lancashire, England Saturday night, two nine-year-old boys competed in a 10-minute grappling exhibition in which one of the boys defeated the other when the officials called an end to the bout after the opening round after a kneebar sub attempt appeared to injure one of the kids. Doctors checked both contestants afterwards, and besides a bruised ego sustained by the loser, his leg was fine.

Since the bout, the media has been on a heyday blasting everyone involved in what they’ve termed a “spectacle” including the show’s promoters, the boys’ parents and those who cheered them on from the crowd.