(Chuck Liddell and Heidi Northcott pose with what appears to be a wax figure of the dude who killed John Lennon. Photoprops: Fightlinker)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– Opinion: Jon Fitch Has Earned His Title Shot (Watch Kalib Run)

– Randy Couture Isn’t Buying James Toney’s Tales of Gym Submissions (MMA Fighting)

– MMA Legend/Pop Star Genki Sudo Invades New York (MiddleEasy)

– King Mo: "I’m the Underdog Even Though I’m the Champ" (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Brock Lesnar & Mirko Cro Cop Recruit Pat Barry For Their Training Camps (MMA Convert)

– Top 10 Young Prospects in MMA (LowKick)

– Cain Velasquez Explains His "Brown Pride" Tattoo (MMA Scraps)

– Anderson Silva replaces Chael Sonnen as the world’s #1 middleweight following UFC 117. Wait, what? (FIGHT! Magazine)

– Bellator Fires Back, Counter-Sues UFC Over Jonathan Brookins’s Contract (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Reed Harris Previews WEC 50, Expects Brian Bowles to Return in November (Versus MMA Beat)

(Video courtesy YouTube/ESPN)

Number one UFC heavyweight contender Cain Velasquez was on Friday night’s episode of MMA Live to talk about his upcoming UFC 121 showdown with heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar in October in Anaheim, California.

In the interview, the undefeated American Kickboxing Academy product, who has been sitting out since February waiting for his shot at Lesnar, weighed in on the champ’s win over Shane Carwin at UFC 116, the biggest hurdles he will face going up against a guy of Brock’s size,  strength and wrestling pedigree and the advantages he feels he needs to utilize to pull out a win in the fall.

(They don’t like smiling. Put that in your little notebook.)

Dana White confirmed with MMAFighting.com over the weekend that Brock Lesnar‘s expected title defense against Cain Velasquez will come at UFC 121, slated for October 23rd at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The meeting will come nearly four months after Lesnar’s comeback submission win over Shane Carwin at UFC 116, and eight months after Velasquez stormed through Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 110.

Though betting odds for the fight opened with Lesnar as a minor favorite (-125 to Cain’s -105), Lesnar has already moved as high as -160, due to money flooding in on the champ. At this point, the only other matchup reported for UFC 121 is a lightweight scrap between Sam Stout and Paul Taylor. In other booking news…

(VidProps: MMA Fighting)

Heavyweight contender Cain Velasquez brings a lot of excitement to his fights from bell to bell. In an interview setting? Not so much. Velasquez is a great guy but let’s face it, it’s almost impossible to get him to say anything interesting. Just ask Ariel Helwani, who does about all he can to pry something, anything good out of Velasquez in this video.

In the wake of UFC President Dana White reconfirming this week that Velasquez has got dibs on the winner of Shane Carwin vs. Brock Lesnar, Helwani asks Velasquez who he’d rather fight. Either guy, Velasquez says. Who does he think will win on Saturday, Helwani asks. Depends, Velasquez says. Would the businessman in him rather chase the bigger payday of a fight with Lesnar than Carwin? No, he just wants to fight the best, Velasquez contends. What will we see from him in his next fight? He just wants to get better in all aspects of MMA.

So yeah, pretty much sticking to the script.

Unless your name is Phillip Miller, you can’t expect to go through a career in cage-fighting without losing at least once. So in honor of Fedor Emelianenko’s first legitimate defeat, we decided to take a look at the best MMA fighters who still have flawless records. Whose “0” will be the next to go? And whose win streak is just getting started? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section…

#1: SHANE CARWIN (12-0, all wins by first-round stoppage)

Notable victories: Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 96 (TKO R1), Frank Mir at UFC 111 (TKO R1, won UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship)

Next fight: Brock Lesnar at UFC 116, 7/3/10

He may very well take his first loss this Saturday, but right now, Shane Carwin is the most dangerous undefeated fighter in MMA — as evidenced by the fact that no opponent has made it to the second round against him, and only two have lasted past the second minute. As he immediately showed in his UFC debut against Christian Wellisch at UFC 84, Carwin has a near-supernatural ability to generate power with his 4XL fists. Though he’s backed by impressive wrestling credentials, he’s only needed those hands to achieve victory in the UFC, knocking out top contenders Gabriel Gonzaga and Frank Mir in his last two fights. Brock, get ready to have your chin tested.

#2: MEGUMI FUJII (20-0, 16 wins by submission)

Notable victories: Lisa Ward at Bodog Fight: Vancouver (SUB R1), Mika Nagano at Smackgirl: Starting Over (SUB R1)

Next fight: Bellator women’s 115-pound tournament quarterfinals, opponent TBA

One of the most effective submission artists in the history of MMA, “Mega Megu” owns the longest active win streak in the sport, but suffers from the same problem that Cris Cyborg is facing in the States — a scarcity of legitimate challengers. Now that she’s signed on for Bellator’s 115-pound tourney later this year, she can prove her reputation as a living legend who can do more than armbar pint-sized scrubettes in Japan.

(Junior "The Dream Crusher" Dos Santos)

According to a report by Guilherme Cruz on Tatame.com, fast-rising UFC heavyweight contender Junior Dos Santos made a request to UFC brass to face Cain Velasquez in his next fight, and was flatly denied.

Feeling that a bout between himself and his American championship contender counterpart would help to clarify which of the pair is first in line at a shot at the winner of the July tilt between Shane Carwin and current heavyweight kingpin Brock Lesnar, Cigano figured the UFC would agree with his view that the fight made  sense and would ensure they both stayed busy in the interim.

Apparently the UFC didn’t agree, and now both fighters sit in holding pattens waiting for the promotion to sort out their somewhat blurry heavyweight title picture, unsure when they will fight again.

(Video courtesy THQ.com)

You’d think that, as a director for THQ’s latest promo spot for UFC Undisputed 2010 featuring Cain Velasquez, the last thing you would want to do would be to draw attention to the large script "Brown Pride" tattoo that is emblazoned across Mexican-American heavyweight’s chest. Apparently, that’s why you’re sitting at home surfing the Internet on a Tuesday night while the future Francis Ford Coppola is likely ballin’ around Cali making "Girls Gone Wild" videos on the regular.

Judging by his performance in the future TV spot, Velasquez isn’t going to be the token MMA fighter in a Sylvester Stallone movie any time soon.
THQ  also posted this Wikipedia-style fighting techniques video on their site, featuring Mark Laimon doing his monotone, uninspired best to explain  the differences between Greco-Roman versus freestyle wrestling as well as muay thai versus karate.

(Cain Velasquez really knows how to spoil a good nap. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

Spike TV sent out a press release this morning to announce that they’d be showing a free encore presentation of UFC 110, the event that saw Cain Velasquez hammer Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira into a senseless oblivion, and – wouldn’t you know it? – it airs right at the same time as Strikeforce’s event on CBS on April 17.

Obviously, your hardcore fans are not going to miss a free live showing of Dan Henderson "coming for that belt" against Jake Shields just so they can see some fights that they probably already saw. As great as Ryan Bader’s knockout of Keith Jardine was, it’s not worth missing the Gilbert Melendez-Shinya Aoki fight just to see it again.

But just maybe the UFC is hoping to snag a couple of directionless remote control jockeys who feel like watching some fights but don’t realize it until they happen to stumble upon some. If they come across Spike TV first, maybe they’ll be sucked in without ever realizing/caring that they’re missing live action on CBS. Maybe they live their lives in much the same way, marring the first woman who said yes to a date with them and buying the first car they saw when they flipped open a copy of Auto Trader. Maybe this is a sad, yet oddly satisfying existence. Or maybe Spike TV just doesn’t have much else to offer on a Saturday night.

(Props: MMAFighting.com)

No sooner do we get pumped up about Junior Dos Santos’s suggestion that he take on Cain Velasquez in a heavyweight title contender eliminator match than the idea gets shot down from the man at the top. As much as we hate to admit it, Dana White’s reasoning for refusing to make the fight are sound. The UFC knows as well as anyone that injuries, illnesses, and easy movie roles can wreak havoc on the best laid plans, so why take a chance on knocking down an established contender like Velasquez just to give him something to do while he waits for his title shot? It’s sensible, it’s prudent, and it’s somewhat disappointing. Can’t say we didn’t see it coming, though.

So who will Dos Santos get instead while he waits around for the top heavyweights to fight it out? Well, the guy in the crowd who suggested Cheick Kongo is obviously a sick individual who’s trying to get the Frenchman killed, so let’s table that idea right now. Instead, the loser of Shane Carwin-Frank Mir is a very attractive option, or perhaps even Todd Duffee if he posts a win in his next bout.

Or we could get really crazy and match Dos Santos up against the winner of Roy Nelson-Stefan Struve, meaning we either get a rematch between the Dutch beanpole and the guy who gave him a rude welcome to the UFC, or we get “Big Country” vs. “Big Scary Brazilian.” What, too crazy for you guys?

(Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com.)

After his first-round TKO of Gabriel Gonzaga on Sunday, Junior Dos Santos boldly announced that he was ready for a title shot. But there are some timing-related realities he has to deal with: The interim title fight between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin, Brock Lesnar‘s return this summer (hopefully), and Cain Velasquez‘s equally high standing in the heavyweight pecking order. So instead of pleading for a title shot, Dos Santos is angling for the next best thing:

Well, we’re already sold. Not only would Dos Santos vs. Velasquez establish a legitimate title contender after the Mir/Carwin winner fights Brock Lesnar, there’s already a "you killed my master" storyline in place, considering that Velasquez is fresh off his drubbing of JDS’s mentor, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Though to hear Dos Santos tell it, payback is not what he’s after:

(The UFC’s bloody Sunday, courtesy of MMA-Core.)

We know, the Index is a little late this week. We could say it has something to do with UFC 110 taking place in Australia, maybe make up some transparent lie about it taking longer to crunch the numbers when the fights happen in the Southern Hemisphere. But you’d never believe that…or would you?

Cain Velasquez +167
Even if Big Nog may be on the decline, beating him still means something. Finishing him means even more, and doing it in the first round, via brutal KO, means you just might be the next big thing. Suddenly the UFC’s heavyweight class has more viable challengers than they know what to do with. Talk about a good problem to have.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira -101
Seeing Nogueira get knocked out cold is a little like seeing a unicorn die of a heart attack. You never thought you’d ever live to see it, and afterwards you kind of wish you never had.

Cain Velasquez and Wanderlei Silva weren’t the only big winners over the weekend. Some of you managed to parlay the goings-on in Australia at UFC 110 into personal success with our MMA FightPicker, and unlike those poor suckers you were able to do it without ever leaving the comforting glow of your computer screen.

But before we get to shouting out some winners, we must answer the question, who was the superior Ben in this weekend’s FightPicker action? The answer is me (BF). I finished sixth in Journeyman Pool 30 #390 with 160 points, which doesn’t sound very impressive until you note that BG finished fifteenth with 130 points, coming in just ahead of Joe Bananas, who we can only assume is the owner of a discount electronics store known for its certifiably insane deals on everything from digital cameras to personal computers.

(When you know you’ve won a fight, you don’t have to run around with your arms raised, making a big show for the judges. You can just lay on the mat, drooling like a champion. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Following a successful debut in Australia this weekend, the UFC handed out $50,000 performance bonuses to the following lucky bastards:

Fight of the Night: George Sotiropoulos and Joe Stevenson, for their main-card three-rounder. Silva/Bisping might have been a closer battle, but Sotiropoulos gave the Sydney crowd what they paid for — 15 minutes of Aussie domination.

Knockout of the Night: Cain Velasquez, for his first-round smashing of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the headlining bout.

Submission of the Night: Chris Lytle, for scoring UFC 110′s only sub, a kneebar of Brian Foster during the prelims. Amazingly, Lytle has won seven end-of-night bonuses in his last eight UFC appearances.

In other news…

(Some Silva vs. Bisping hype, courtesy of nicktheface.)

Update: In light of the Rothwell/Cro Cop/Perosh situation, which will henceforth be referred to as the saga of Mirko and "The Hippo," just for laughs, we’ve updated the FightPicker questions. We’ve also replaced Sinosic/Haseman with Lytle/Foster, so there’s that too. You should probably go update your picks accordingly. Picks can be changed until 11 pm PST tonight. If, after that point, any more changes happen to make our existing questions obsolete, we’ll just declare those a tie. Sound good?

It’s the Friday before a big MMA event, and as new tradition dictates, it’s time for BF and I to make our MMA FightPicker picks public so that we can bust each other’s balls on Monday morning. Before we get to it, have you made your own picks yet? And have you considered entering one of the prize pools to win an iPod Touch? Not trying to nag or anything, it’s just that we regret the things we don’t do in this life, you know? Anyway…

1. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez at UFC 110: Who will win?
BG: Nogueira. He’ll handle Velasquez standing, and he’s strong enough on the ground to avoid being squashed.
BF: Strong enough to avoid being squashed, yes. But strong enough to avoid being put there again and again and worked over for three rounds? I have my doubts. Velasquez via decision. Maybe then you’ll realize that it is not 2006 anymore.

(Joe Stevenson and George Sotiropoulos break down their main-card matchup. Props: YouTube.com/UFC.)

— During a UFC 110 press conference held yesterday in Sydney, UFC president Dana White announced that the winner of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez could potentially get the next shot at Brock Lesnar‘s heavyweight belt. "Mir and Carwin are going to fight for the interim title because that fight was already made before Brock said he was coming back," White explained, "[but] the winner of this fight [between Nogueira and Velasquez] puts them right in the mix because something could happen to either Shane or Mir in that fight where they couldn’t fight Brock, so the winner of this fight would fight Brock."

— After the UFC’s first trip to Australia sold out the first day, White stated that Australia could be an annual stop for the UFC. Also, a season of TUF hosted Down Under is "absolutely possible."

— Wanderlei Silva and Michael Bisping‘s professional rivalry is getting personal. At yesterday’s press conference, Silva said "We’re going to have a great show, and I’m going to kick your ass." Bisping took it in stride, but later needled Silva about his recent losses. Silva told Bisping to shut up, and said "100 percent of the guys that talk to him, (talk to me and say) kick him…Everybody don’t like him." To which Bisping responded, "That’s nice. Fortunately, I couldn’t give a [expletive]." In an earlier interview, Silva said that seeing Quinton Jackson in Bisping’s corner will only make him more motivated to beat The Count: "Maybe I’ll beat the one and then after, the other. Two for the price of one."

(Props: UFC.com via Card)

"The guy who won’t stop ’til you’re done, and the guy who can’t be stopped" — so says Dana White in the latest installment of Countdown when describing the UFC 110 main event between Cain Velasquez and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. It’s a matchup that seems to hit almost all the buttons. Besides the Irresistible Force/Immovable Object dichotomy, you’ve got the young up-and-comer vs. the war-weathered veteran, the ground-and-pounder vs. the submission artist, the American vs. the Brazilian. Nogueira is feeling as strong as ever thanks to his new S&C coach and his training at the stacked Black House gym. Velasquez is ready to fight the big names he’s watched since the sport was young. But is he ready to beat them?

Meanwhile, another Brazilian legend, Wanderlei Silva, faces a must-win situation against British star Michael Bisping. Bisping and his camp respect Silva, but Wandy’s UFC bonus checks and BJJ black belt don’t mean shit to them. We learn a few things about Silva in this show: He’s back with his original trainer Rafael Cordeiro, and looking to recapture the "old" Wanderlei Silva. He started his own gym partly because nobody wanted to train with him at Xtreme Couture. His fans are really his friends, and the fighters he develops are really his family. He snores, which is something his funny little manager knows all about.

(Proof that being a bad-ass does not prevent you from looking like a stereotypical tourist in a foreign country. Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle.)

This weekend’s UFC event down under is a tricky one for your old pal the Enabler. You see, years ago I promised my sponsor that I wouldn’t bet on any more Australian sporting events. It’s a long story that I’d rather not get into right now, so let’s just say that it involved a high-stakes netball match and a ’92 Pontiac that wasn’t exactly mine to lose.

But this is different. This is the UFC. Surely I can make an exception here, right? Not even that lot of criminals can fix a fight in the UFC. Not like those crooked netball games. The tastiest betting lines on the internet come to us courtesy of BestFightOdds.com:

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (+105) vs. Cain Velasquez (-110)
Wanderlei Silva (-130) vs. Michael Bisping (+130)
Joe Stevenson (-240) vs. George Sotiropoulos (+218)
Keith Jardine (+140) vs. Ryan Bader (-135)
Mirko Filipovic (-135) vs. Ben Rothwell (+130)

(Props: Bloody Elbow)

As the story goes, Thomas Edison was once asked about his thousands of failed experiments in developing the storage battery, to which he replied: "I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work." That quote has always reminded me of the cinematic output of action-movie auteur Hector Echavarria, who has directed, written, and/or starred in such movies as Confessions of a Pit Fighter, Never Surrender, and Death Warrior, all of which are about retired martial artists forced to compete in underground fighting leagues.

Hector’s latest effort is Unrivaled, which goes directly to DVD later this year. As you can see from the trailer above, there’s the requisite mob-shakedown angle, the cameos by UFC stars, and the Superman punches — my God, so many Superman punches — but Unrivaled breaks with tradition by being about an above-ground fighting league that the main character enters by choice. Has Echavarria finally created an MMA movie that’s actually worth renting? Much like the desperate fighters he plays in his movies, the odds are stacked against him…

(‘Thanks for the workout, chummmmmmmp.’ Photo courtesy of Fight Magazine.)

Because the MMA gods would never be content to allow the UFC’s heavyweight division be both intriguing and problem-free, Brock Lesnar’s illness just happens to have coincided with a number of potential challengers rising up all at once. You’ve got Shane Carwin, who was originally slated for the next shot at Lesnar. You’ve got Cain Velasquez, who’s been running through everyone the UFC puts in front of him. And after UFC 107 on Saturday night you’ve got Frank Mir, who would like to smugly point out that he almost knocked out and then submitted a guy who Velasquez couldn’t finish. You know, just saying.

With Lesnar’s future still uncertain, what will become of these three able heavyweight contenders? If you ask Carwin, he’ll tell you that he wouldn’t mind fighting Mir while all this other stuff gets sorted out:

A win like Frank had last night surely propels him to share the top of the division with Nog, Cain and myself. If beating Kongo was enough to propel Cain to number two contender status, destroying Kongo might edge Cain out. What is more compelling is that Mir made it our of that fight injury free so not only is he at the top of the division he is likely ready to fight sooner then later.

(If you’re trying to find the pro fighter in this picture, look for the guy who is not wearing sunglasses at night.)

As part of their effort to make Cain Velasquez the MMA ambassador to the Hispanic community that Roger Huerta never quite became, the UFC sent out a press release today touting Velasquez’s appearance at tonight’s Latin Grammy Awards (8 pm EST on Univision).  Velasquez also filmed a short video segment with Puerto Rican reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel (I had to do some googling to confirm that these are actual musical artists; the story checks out) that will lead off the broadcast.  So if you don’t want to watch the whole thing, but you want to see Cain riding around in a Porsche with the two slicksters in the above photo, you can get in and get out even if you have no idea what’s being said (hint: they’re probably all talking about you, and you have no idea).

In related news, recent Velasquez-victim Ben Rothwell is rumored to be taking on Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at the UFC’s inaugural event in Australia on February 21.  We know, we know, didn’t Cro Cop retire because he didn’t have the game in him no more?  Turns out he wants another trip through the meat grinder, and Rothwell would be a pretty perfect opponent to give him one.  Both guys are fond of kicking and punching people, and both still need to prove themselves in the UFC.  And what the hell, the Australians have behaved themselves lately, so they deserve a little Rothwell-Cro Cop action.  We have to forgive those poor bastards for Men at Work some time.  They suffered just as much as we did.

(Let’s all take one last look at Shogun and then call it a day. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

So you missed Dana White by ten minutes when he was giving away tickets at the mall, and now you’re desperate for UFC 104 results coupled with pithy commentary?  We’ve got you covered.  From Lyoto Machida and "Shogun" Rua squaring off to determine which Brazilian guy with poor English skills is on the top of the 205-pound heap, to Ben Rothwell and Cain Velasquez‘s heavyweight tilt and maybe even the Yushin Okami/Chael Sonnen bout that the UFC is intent on protecting us from, we’ll be rolling right along and typing about what we see.  Won’t you join us and accuse one another of being gay, newbs, or both in the comments section?

The action gets underway at 6 pm PST/9 pm EST.  Remember to hit refresh often.

The 10/20 edition of the Danavlog is full of bad omens. After getting a bullshit ticket from some douchebag traffic cop, DW and his crew stop by Cold Stone Creamery — not Pinkberry — and Dana winds up paying the price with a tummy ache. And the Cold Stone workers didn’t even sing to him! Can this day get any worse? WHAT HAS HE DONE TO OFFEND YOU, GOD?

As if he doesn’t have enough problems, Dana has an Esquire writer following him around for a profile. So obviously he’s going to try out the bomb bag again. It fails so incredibly hard. Seriously, listen to that barely audible pop at the 3:13 mark. "Something’s bursting," Mike says. Hilarious. Then, it’s time to play video games and air hockey at Dave & Buster’s. Are you getting all this, Esquire guy?

Finally, around the 5:40 mark, Cain Velasquez and Mauricio Rua show up, and it isn’t long before Dana bomb-bags them. Suck it, Bellator — this is how you harness the power of the Internet to promote fighters. Also, future Celebrity Rehab star Chuck Liddell shows up drunk and belligerent, and lifts Dana off the ground as he’s trying to give out some UFC 104 tickets. All in a day’s work, I guess, if you can legitimately call it that.

— Shogun‘s trainer thinks that the fact that Rua has never been knocked out will somehow protect him from getting knocked out by Machida.

Cain Velasquez is a man of few words.  Like, very few.  Maybe no more than fifteen or twenty throughout this entire six-minute video blog.  Actually, that’s not completely true.  He does a phone interview at the end and it really jacks up his word count, but those of us who have done writing jobs where we get paid by the word know that trick.  You just go back through and add ‘that’ or ‘just’ to every sentence, and before you know it you made yourself an extra thirty bucks. 

Really, all we learn about Cain here is that AKA is a non-stop ball-bust-a-thon when Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch around, he likes to train while listening to the Mexican radio station, and he has an infant daughter who he appears to love.  Looks like you’re going to have to do the talking on this one, Ben Rothwell…

(Brown Pride vs. White Beef.)

With the Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin rumor now widely confirmed, multiple sources are reporting that Cain Velasquez will now take on new UFC acquisition Ben Rothwell at UFC 104. Unfortunately, this means Chase Gormley has been left without an opponent. On the other hand, who cares about Chase Gormley? The battle between the young juggernaut (Velasquez) and the big, hardy veteran (Rothwell) may determine the UFC’s next heavyweight contender after Carwin. Who ya got?

In other UFC news…

— That rumor about Gilbert Yvel being picked up by the UFC is probably bullshit.

(Will the pain from Shane fall mainly on the Cain? Photos courtesy of Sherdog.)

During an appearance on the Opie and Anthony show, Dana White had this to say about the UFC’s heavyweight title picture: "We’ve got Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez fighting and probably the winner of that fight will fight Brock Lesnar."

Are Carwin and Velasquez worthy of the honor? Sure, in the sense that they’re both incredibly talented, exciting to watch, and undefeated. But like many #1 contenders matches, timing is everything. From my angle, the winner of Carwin/Velasquez would have to fight the winner of Cro Cop/Dos Santos to truly determine who’s worthy of the next heavyweight title shot. Unfortunately, that would take too long, and the UFC needs to strike the Brock-iron while it’s hot.

Perhaps someone should explain the concept of Twitter to Shane Carwin because he seems surprised that people are reading what he writes on his page, despite the fact that this is the sole reason for the existence of Twitter.  The heavyweight contender posted some news about his next fight (October 24 in L.A., which puts it at UFC 104) on the social networking website, and apparently he wasn’t supposed to since it hasn’t been officially agreed to by both sides.  Carwin and Cain Velasquez seemed to be on a collision course following Velasquez’s win over Cheick Kongo at UFC 99, so it’s not like he revealed the combination to the safe where Lorenzo Fertitta keeps his getaway money.  Still, he did put Cain on the spot.  If the bout doesn’t happen now, we’ll all know whose bitchassness is to blame. 

(Yep, that’s the face you make when you realize that you’re now famous enough to get laid without making any effort at all.)

No one is more eager to find out what awaits heavyweight contenders Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez than we are, but from the sound of things some people may be jumping the gun a bit regarding rumors that the two are headed for a clash at UFC 103.  Inside Fights says sources have told them that Carwin and Velasquez could be the co-main event for the September event in Dallas, Texas, right alongside Mike Swick vs. Matt Hughes.  And yeah, they clarify that the bout has not been agreed to, but Carwin says it hasn’t even been discussed:

(Props: Genghis Con)

MMA highlight film whiz Genghis Con is back with a two-part tribute to Randy Couture called "The Father of Time." The first installment, shown above, covers Couture’s UFC career from his debut choke-out of Tony Halme at UFC 13 to his "retirement" after losing to Chuck Liddell for the second time at UFC 57; we’ll let you know when part two hits the ‘net.

After the jump: The second segment from Spike’s "Countdown to UFC 99" sepcial, which gives us a closer at the beast that is Cain Velasquez, and Cheick Kongo‘s scrappy path to contender status. Could this heavyweight brawl be a dark horse for Fight of the Night? Parts 1 and 3 are here.

(Kongo dodges Al-Turk’s ferocious breakdancing attack at UFC 92. Photo courtesy of boxinginlasvegas.com.)

From a new update on UFC.com: