(Two best middleweights, or just Demian Maia and some dude in a track suit?  Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle’s UFC 95 presser gallery.)

As UFC 95 approaches you may find yourself itching to do some prognosticating, but whither the pick –em contest?  Have no fear, Potato Nation.  Thanks to user Contraband, bragging rights are on the line in the (Un)Official Cage Potato UFC 95 Pick-em Contest, now jumping off in the forums.

Why not head over there and prove to the rest of us newbs how much you know about MMA by slamming down your picks for Saturday night’s event?  While you’re there, might as well comment on your favorite and least favorite MMA techniques, and take a look at Edith’s ass.  I mean, it’s right there.

If you’re curious as to how we see UFC 95 going down, our picks are after the jump.  And don’t forget about the liveblog on Saturday night.  Seriously, just don’t.

(Photo courtesy of DaviRusso.com)

Chael Sonnen returns to the UFC this Saturday night after an eventful stay in the WEC.  After outpointing a seemingly confused Paulo Filho in his last WEC bout, Sonnen now takes on submissions ace Demian Maia at UFC 95, in a fight Sonnen swears will determine who the world’s best middleweight is.  That other guy, the one wearing the belt?  He’s not bad either, according to Sonnen, but whoever wins this fight is the real top dog.  At least, that’s the story Sonnen’s telling in our exclusive talk with him, which is sometimes surprising, but never boring.

CagePotato.com: Thanks for talking with me, Chael.  What’s it like to come back to the UFC again?  Does it feel like it did the first time you fought in the big show?

No, it doesn’t, and thank goodness.  The first time I was in the UFC I really felt that weight on me, and I think it had a negative effect.  It was exciting, but I think in a negative way.  It might have created an atmosphere that made me a little apprehensive, but it’s not like that this time, and I’m very glad.

Leaving the WEC as you did after that strange fight with Paulo Filho, do you feel like you went out on a bad note?

(You call that a mean face?  Shiiieeeet.)

Betting odds are out for this Saturday’s UFC event on Spike TV, which we’ll be liveblogging as usual.  If you’ve still got the disposable cash and the devil-may-care attitude necessary for online gambling in this bleak economic climate, allow us to steer you in the right direction for this one.  

The juiciest lines on the internets come to us courtesy of BestFightOdds.com:

Joe Stevenson (+281) vs. Diego Sanchez (-295)
Dan Hardy (even) vs. Rory Markham (-108)
Nate Marquardt (-258) vs. Wilson Gouveia (+250)
Demian Maia (-256) vs. Chael Sonnen (+236)
Josh Koscheck (-450) vs. Paulo Thiago (+450)
Terry Etim (-220) vs. Brian Cobb (+205)
Junior Dos Santos (-260) vs. Stefan Struve (+240)
Mike Ciesnolevicz (-115) vs. Neil Grove (-105)
Per Eklund (-160) vs. Evan Dunham (+140)
Paul Kelly (-290) vs. Troy Mandaloniz (+290)

Thoughts…

(Props: Sherdog)

We’ve already shown you the epic Ken Shamrock/Shamu the Whale match from last Friday’s Wargods event, and at long last, here’s the night’s other headlining bout, Tank Abbott vs. Mike Bourke. The comedy starts even before the bell rings. Even though Bourke was 8-11-1 coming into the fight, the ring announcer, perhaps thinking that what he was seeing on his notecards was a typo, declared The Rhino’s record to be 18-11-1. And you gotta love the lady-commentator’s mock-enthusiasm at the 4:00 mark: "I wanna see it go the distance! I wanna see it go the distance! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" The fight itself ends after just 29 seconds, following two point-blank rabbit punches from Tank. Awesome. Speaking of which, here’s how Ken Shamrock‘s weaselly little brother Frank described the Wargods show on his Yardbarker.com blog:

What, and rob us of the Ken/Tank superfight we’ve been waiting for since 1995?

After the jump: FranklyWashedUp on the UG unearthed this enlightening 2006 video of Chael Sonnen’s training and his life outside the cage, which includes real estate, a proud mother, and a hot girlfriend. Money line: "Even if I thought I could get a submission, I’m not laying underneath a grown man with my legs spread on worldwide TV. Some guys subscribe to that theory, but I’m a Republican, and we don’t do that." Hear that you jiu-jitsu faggots?!

(‘It’s not a skirt, you assholes.  The Romans wore these. Read a book.’)

The surprises just keep coming for the New Year’s Eve K-1 Dynamite show.  Jerome Le Banner is sick with the flu and has been forced to pull out of his fight with Mark Hunt, and Melvin Manhoef has agreed to take his place.  Despite the incredible weight difference between the heavyweight Hunt and the sort of middleweight Manhoef, the two will fight an MMA bout under “Dream rules” for three five-minute rounds.  

Is it a good idea for Manhoef, a vicious striker with an almost non-existent ground game to face a much heavier and damn near impossible to knock out fighter like Hunt, who also packs a serious wallop of his own?  Short answer: no.  No, it is probably not a good idea.  Especially on short notice.  But unlike many of the other bad ideas on the Dynamite NYE show, this one I’d actually love to see. 

Dammit, Japan.  Just when I want to curse your lack of rules and regulations, you go and do something like this to leave me more conflicted than ever.  I just can’t quit you.

In other news…

It’s going to be nice to have Chael Sonnen back in the UFC.  He’s a certain type of asshole.  The type who prefers the cutting remark to the overtly insulting one.  The type who will sell your house and/or beat you up.  The type who might ask you what time you got up this morning, just so he can tell you, no matter how you respond, that he had already been up for hours at that point.  In other words, he’s totally sweet.

From the sound of things, he isn’t interested in just dipping his toe in the UFC middleweight waters, either.  He’s doing a cannonball aimed straight at Anderson Silva:

I’m not going to the UFC with a white flag. My flag is red, I’m declaring war. It’s always like that, all fighters when he grabs the microphone says the same thing, they challenge every fighter in the world, except Anderson Silva. A lot of folks don’t have what it takes, before even fighting they’re all ready yellow. I’m not going to do that, it would really disappointing to my fans. I’m the only fighter who wants to fight him, and the only one who has what it takes to beat him.

CagePotato reader Facey sent us this rather sick-ass highlight video that he made, featuring some of the greatest MMA submissions ever, starring Shinya Aoki, Dustin Hazelett, "Jacare" Souza, Frank Mir, Rumina Sato, Anderson Silva (both giving and receiving), and both Diaz brothers. Easy-breezy soundtrack provided by Donavan. 

 
(Props: Bloody Elbow)

In this promo clip for UFC 92, light-heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin discusses his opponent Rashad Evans and what challenges he might present. It’s clear that Griff isn’t underestimating Sugar whatsoever. As he says, "He’s got more knockouts than I do. And his knockouts have been impressive. Like, people-don’t-get-up-right-away knockouts." Speaking of Forrest Griffin, his September 2003 IFC fight with Chael Sonnen is after the jump, courtesy of MMA Scraps.

(A chubby Filho tries to muster the interest to block a jab. Photo courtesy of WEC.tv)

True to their word, Paulo Filho’s camp will be sending Chael Sonnen the WEC middleweight title belt that he wants so badly, according to Josh Gross. Sonnen didn’t officially win the championship, what with Filho not making weight, and he may not have looked dazzling in his decision victory but he still clearly deserves the strap more than Filho. Ed Soares, Filho’s manager, said he’d be shipping Sonnen the belt “as soon as he could.”

What’s perhaps more interesting is Soares’ description of Filho after the bizarre fight. Apparently, he didn’t even seem to realize what had happened, which is sort of odd for a guy who made it all the way through three rounds:

Having returned to his locker room after refusing to engage for 15 minutes, Filho (16-1), told several times he’d lost, reacted as if he was unaware the fight had even reached its conclusion, Soares said.

Soon, Filho drew attention from doctors when the dilation of his pupils didn’t match. Later that evening, however, the 30-year-old grappler was released from a local hospital, his eyes functioning as close to normal as they’d done all night.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get weirder. The confusion on Filho’s part might help explain his performance, though. If he was unaware the fight had ended, perhaps he was also unaware it had ever started. Wait until he sees the tape of the fight. Boy, is his face going to be unemployed. I mean red.

(Either on his way to corner a fighter or commit a break-in. You just never know.)

All day long I’ve been waiting to hear details on exactly what combination of prescription drugs, nachos, and crippling depression was responsible for Paulo Filho showing up seven pounds overweight and then fighting like a bored schizophrenic at last night’s WEC. Judging by his remarks to Tatame, however, it sounds as if Filho is going to try and play this one off as nothing more than a bad night after a bad training camp:

“What can I do, it’s sad… The fact is that I have no excuses, he (Sonnen) went there and did his job to neutralize me and that’s what happened, he did the right job and he has all merits… It was good to give me a new spirit.”

A new spirit? I guess that’s a start. The old one looked pretty worn out, if not non-existent. As far as how he’s planning to turn things around, Filho seems to think the answer consists of moving to Los Angeles and eventually going up a weight class.

Urijah Faber wasn’t kidding when he said he was a happy person who loved life. Even as he admits that he doesn’t really remember what happened in his loss to Mike Brown on account of all the punches to his head, he still seems to be in a pretty pleasant mood in the post-fight press conference, captured here by ESPN.

Chael Sonnen, however, describes his fight with Paulo Filho as “like being in a dance with a partner who doesn’t know how to dance.” He also says he hasn’t received Filho’s belt, as promised, and he’s absolutely not above accepting it should they offer it, despite the weird circumstances.

After the jump, a couple special treats.

(Paulo Filho hears the ghost voice from Field of Dreams at the worst possible time.)

Paulo Filho’s performance at last night’s WEC was, in a word, bizarre. Not even the interesting kind of bizarre, either. He managed to be both incredibly tedious to watch as well as completely inscrutable, particularly toward the end of the fight when his attention seemed to wander. What is Paulo looking at here? Was he as bored with the fight as we were? Was he having hallucinatory visions of a half-naked Indian spirit guide?

After what we’ve seen of Filho in the last couple of days, you have to think he hasn’t truly recovered from the multitude of “personal problems” that kept him out of action for most of 2008. It’s one thing to show up overweight. It’s another thing to show up overweight and then fight like you’re on mescaline. After all the talk about pride and how personal this was for him, Filho embarrassed himself last night. Coming into a fight that unprepared and uninterested is insulting to your opponent, your employer, and the fans.

The loss brings up another question: where is Filho’s mostly-meaningless WEC middleweight title belt? His corner told Matt Lindland they’d give it to Sonnen if he won the fight, and Lindland’s not the type of guy to forget about something like that. Filho might as well give it up, because he proved last night that he’s not deserving of any title other than ‘fighter most likely to slip into a spontaneous trance at any moment.’

Give up the belt, Paulo. That is, if you haven’t pawned it already. Then go back to rehab and get your head together.

(Urijah Faber vs. Mike Brown; props to MMA Scraps.)

Last night’s WEC show drew 5,227 fans for a live gate of $563,578, according to MMA Weekly. $7,500 bonuses were awarded to the following fighters:

Fight of the Night: Donald Cerrone and Rob McCullough for their three-round undercard war that some are calling a fight-of-the-year candidate; too bad we had to see the Filho/Sonnen debacle instead. Cerrone took home the unanimous decision win.

Knockout of the Night: Mike Brown for his beating of Urijah Faber. Which was nice and all, though Aaron Simpson kinda got robbed.

Submission of the Night: Rani Yahya for his first-round guillotine choke of Yoshiro Maeda, also from the undercard.

TKO of the Night?: Leonard Garcia reportedly got an extra $7,500 for steamrolling Jens Pulver.

Full results can be found here. More videos after the jump…

(“Boys, please, can’t you settle your differences with words?” Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

The California Kid invades Hollywood (Florida), Chael “RE/MAX” Sonnen aims to do a bit of closing on Paulo Filho’s middleweight title reign, and Leonard Garcia will be smuggling nothing but his fists and feet across the border that is Jens Pulver’s face. I’m coked-out Mauro Ranallo and I’ll be your liveblogger tonight — the specials are honor, glory, pumpkin crème brûlée, and maybe some championship gold?

Just kidding, it’s only me, BG. Hit that “More” link and refresh the page every few minutes to get all the latest from tonight’s live event on Versus. Should be a monster.

(Filho declares: “The Americans’ method of cutting weight is much better than ours.” No shit. Video courtesy of Sherdog.)

Paulo Filho apparently takes some of Chael Sonnen’s post-fight and pre-rematch remarks very personally. What’s ironic is that he talks in this video about what a difficult time he had cutting weight for their first fight, which resulted in him being somewhat off his game, but says he is in much better shape this time around. That’s an unfortunate choice of words, considering the way things worked out.

It’s also ironic that while Filho criticizes Sonnen for not acting like a professional after their first bout, he shows up seven pounds overweight for a title defense. As talented as Filho is, how does he expect to be taken seriously if he can’t make weight to defend his own belt? It’s piss-poor timing, considering the WEC middleweight division is set to be absorbed into the UFC soon. And what’s Dana White’s stated position on guys who can’t make weight, especially for title fights? He’s against it. Really against it.

Besides the embarrassment of the whole charade, there’s also the financial cost to Filho, who’ll be giving up 25% of his purse to Sonnen. He isn’t happy about that either, telling Tatame:

“That guy (Sonnen) will pay dearly my 25% (purse) inside that octagon on those three rounds: 10% on the first, 10% on the second and the rest at the third.”

Sounds like Filho’s got it all figured out, mathematically speaking. But what if the fight ends in the first? Then Sonnen gets away with that last 15% for nothing. Didn’t think of that, did you Paulo?

(September 10? Middleweight championship? Oh, the best laid plans.)

Despite Paulo Filho’s inability to even pretend like he was trying to make weight yesterday, the bout with Chael Sonnen is still on and Filho (hereafter referred to as ‘Fatty Filho’) is still the favorite with oddsmakers. Fatty Filho might want to think about trying to profit with a little side action, because he had to give up 25% of his purse to Sonnen as a penalty for loving food too much. His corner also said, according to Matt Lindland, that despite the bout’s non-title status they would physically give Sonnen the belt if he wins tonight.

Said the gruff-but-lovable Lindland: “When Chael whoops his ass, I expect them to live up to their word.” See what kind of straight-talking awesomeness you’re going to be missing out on, Oregon voters?

The betting odds for tonight’s WEC event come from our friends at BestFightOdds.com. As always, you should read this if you’re too “special” to understand what these numbers mean.

Chael Sonnen (+155) vs. Paulo Filho (-130)
Mike Brown (+400) vs. Urijah Faber (-416)
Rob McCullough (+136) vs. Donald Cerrone (-145)
Leonard Garcia (+170) vs. Jens Pulver (-170)
Jonathan Brookins (+350) vs. Jose Aldo (-430)
Rani Yahya (-104) vs. Yoshiro Maeda (-106)
Nissen Osterneck (+260) vs. Jake Rosholt (-256)
David Avellan (+135) vs. Aaron Simpson (-165)
Steve Steinbeiss (+265) vs. Carmelo Marrero (-320)
Danny Castillo (+170) vs. Rafael Dias (-210)

Thoughts…

(Chubby Paulo. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

If missing weight was the cool thing to do at today’s WEC weigh-ins, you can just call Paulo Filho the Brazilian Fonzie. Filho was a full seven pounds over the limit for tomorrow night’s event, coming in at 192 pounds. This is his first fight back after a nearly ten-month layoff due to problems with depression and drugs, and coming in ridiculously overweight is not typically how you want to return to action. He needs to drop the seven pounds within the two-hour limit given by the Florida Commission, otherwise there will be no title on the line and maybe no fight at all.

Update: On his second attempt, Filho weighed in at 189 pounds, still four pounds over. The fight will go forward as a non-title affair.

Just for kicks, Mike Brown also weighed in over the limit, but thankfully he only missed his mark by a half-pound. Brown weighed in at 145.5, which would have been fine for a non-title affair, but what with Urijah Faber‘s WEC featherweight title on the line he had to go spit in a cup for an hour or so. On his second attempt, Brown hit the 145 pound mark.

Rani Yahya also missed weight for his bout with Yoshiro Maeda. Maeda did him a solid and let him have the extra pound rather than force him to cut it and weigh in again. What a guy, that Maeda.

Full WEC weigh-in results are after the jump.

Randy Couture Trains for Brock Lesnar – Watch more free videos

In preparation for his bout with Brock Lesnar at UFC 91 on Nov. 15, Randy Couture is doing just about the only thing you can: tussling with big wrestler-types. He looks to be handling them pretty well in this video. Then again, none of these dudes is Brock Lesnar. Just saying.

Below, Chael Sonnen absolutely refuses to complain about his somewhat controversial loss to Paulo Filho and talks about his plan for this Wednesday’s WEC rematch.

Chael Sonnen Talks Paulo Filho Rematch – Watch more free videos

(Posing for a quick photo before heading into surgery.)

In a new interview with Tatame, WEC middleweight champ Paulo Filho swears that he’s over his depression and better than ever heading into a rematch with Chael Sonnen. As you might recall, Filho struggled with the blues and the drugs a while back before pulling out of a Sonnen rematch and checking himself into rehab. To hear him tell it, the treatment took, but he’s none too happy with Sonnen running his mouth to the press, even suggesting that the fight would never actually happen:

American people has big mouths… Sonnen should have said it to me, and not put this things in media, I think he doesn’t wanna fight me again, lose another arm…

All right, Paulo, let’s get something straight. I don’t appreciate you disparaging a whole nation of people based solely on Chael Sonnen. That’s like us saying the Brazilian people have trouble with drugs and depression. When in fact, they are actually a very jovial people and their drug use is for the most part purely recreational. See? So it wouldn’t be fair.

That said, it was a pretty sweet burn about him losing another arm. And I guess we do have big mouths. Then again, aren’t you the same guy who, later in the same interview, said this about Anderson Silva’s upcoming fight with Patrick Cote:

Anderson will win, and I know it’ll be easy and fast. Cote isn’t fight for Anderson Silva, he’s a level above.

Not saying I disagree, but that sounds like something a guy with a big mouth might say. Once more, it’s those nice Canadians who end up getting treated the worst.

(Mike Brown better be preparing for Tropical Storm Faber.)

WEC 36 — which was scheduled to go down this Wednesday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida — has been rescheduled to November 5th due to safety concerns related to Hurricane Ike. From an official statement released by the WEC on Saturday:

“Due to the potential of a major hurricane hitting the South Florida area on Wednesday we were compelled to postpone the event,” said Vice President of Operations and Production Peter Dropick. “For the safety of our fans, the fighters and our staff we felt it was in the best interest to make this decision.”

Hurricane Ike is currently a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 120 MPH and is moving west/southwest toward South Florida according to the National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory. The storm is on track to have impact on the Florida Keys and South Florida on Tuesday (9/9) into Wednesday (9/10).

“With Hurricane Ike approaching our area we have concern for the fans, fighters, our employees and the South Florida community in general,” said Bernie Dillon, Sr. Vice President of Entertainment for the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. “We felt like it would be prudent and in everyone’s best interest to postpone the event. We certainly don’t want to cause any travelers or employees to get stranded here should we have a major storm.”

Unfortunately, the WEC may have jumped the gun a bit, as it now looks like Ike will miss Florida entirely, and make landfall somewhere between Alabama and Texas. Tickets purchased for the September 10th date remain valid and will be honored on 11/5; refunds can be obtained at the point of purchase. After the jump is the card you won’t be seeing on Wednesday…

(Urijah Faber talks upcoming title defense with ESPN)

The WEC has announced the full fight card for their September 10 event in Florida, and once again it’s a fairly stacked show from Zuffa’s minor leagues. Most notable is the official announcement that former UFC lightweight champ Jens Pulver will be taking on Leonard “Just Try and Make Those Charges Stick” Garcia. It also includes Urijah Faber defending his title against Mike Brown, and Paulo Filho making his return to action in a rematch against Chael Sonnen.

Making their WEC debuts are two Team Takedown members — Jake Rosholt and Johny Hendricks — who are definitely worth keeping an eye on in the future.

Here’s the full lineup:

Urijah Faber vs. Mike Brown
Paulo Filho vs. Chael Sonnen
Jens Pulver vs. Leonard Garcia
Danillo Villefort vs. Jake Rosholt
Rob McCullough vs. Donald Cerrone
Rani Yahya vs. Yoshihiro Maeda
David Avellan vs. Tim McKenzie
Johny Hendricks vs. Alex Serdyukov
Ed Ratcliff vs. Danny Castillo

From Sherdog — for the first time since checking into a Brazilian rehab facility last month, undefeated WEC middleweight champ Paulo Filho speaks about his condition and his delayed rematch with Chael Sonnen. Apparently, Filho was addicted to “Rupinal” (possibly referring to Rohypnol, aka “the date rape drug”), and had been suffering from depression even before his first fight in America. As far as Sonnen, “What I have to say is the lion does not deal with men.” Wait a minute Paulo…are you high right now?!

(Mark Miller (L) will attempt to knock Jay Hieron’s shades off.)

Quiet out on the MMA plains this evening, but here are a couple of news pieces to check out:

— The official weigh-in for tomorrow night’s IFL show in Jersey came and went today, and all went smooth. The show kicks off at 7:30 pm (ET) and goes live on HDNet at 8:30 pm (ET).

Here are the weigh-in results:

Title Fights
Jay Hieron (170) vs. Mark Miller (170.4)
Wagnney Fabiano (145.4) vs. Shad Lierley (145.8)
Vladimir Matyushenko (205.4) vs. Jamal Patterson (205.6)

Non-Title and Team Fights
Delson Heleno (170.8) vs. Brad Blackburn (171)
Jim Miller (155) vs. Bart Palaszewski (155.5)
Nate Lamotte (155.8) vs. Chris Horodecki (154.6)
Mike Ciesnolevicz (206) vs. Carmelo Marrero (205.8)
Emyr Bussade (170) vs. Jesse Lennox (170)
Rafael Dias (145.6) vs. L.C. Davis (145.6)
Alex Schoenauer (204) vs. Brendan Barrett (205.5)

We would post video of the weigh-ins, but it was just too intense for a Thursday.

— Keith Kizer and his NSAC boys weren’t able to bust any of the fighters from WEC 33. Fighters were tested for the normal perf-enhancing drugs and those of abuse. Brian Stann, Doug Marshall, Logan Clark, Alex Serdyukov, Richard Crunkilton, Chael Sonnen, Bryan Baker, Steve Cantwell, and Marcus Hicks were given a pass for their piss. Kizer said that the state of Nevada has had “no positive tests yet this year, although we have tested way more fighters in January through March 2008 than in any other January through March period of years past.” Brag, much?

We would post video of the piss — and other — tests, but it’s too early on a Thursday for that sort of thing.

(Chael Sonnen, pre-WEC.)

Chael Sonnen earned some real estate commission-sized dough this week at WEC 33, raking in $34k. The official payouts for all 20 of the event’s participants have been released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and Sonnen was the night’s big money winner. The event saw Chael easily handle Bryan Baker, and also saw the light heavyweight title switch from Doug Marshall to Brian Stann. The total payout for the night hit $213k, or about what Kimbo makes for winning a fight. After looking at the WEC’s payments, the phrase “salary commensurate with experience” comes to mind.

Here’s the dish:

– Brian Stann ($18,000) over Doug Marshall ($10,000)
– Chael Sonnen ($34,000) over Bryan Baker ($5,000)
– Marcus Hicks ($10,000) over Ed Ratcliff ($7,000)
– Steve Cantwell ($8,000) over Tim McKenzie ($6,000)
– Hiromitsu Miura ($8,000) over Blas Avena ($6,O00)
– Brock Larson ($24,000) over John Alessio ($15,000)
– Richard Crunkilton Jr. ($20,000) over Sergio Gomez ($4,000)
– Alex Serdyukov ($12,000) over Ryan Stonitsch ($3,000)
– Chris Manuel ($3,000) in a draw with Kenji Osawa ($5,000)
– Logan Clark ($12,000) over J. Scott Harper ($3,000)

Fighters in the win column got 50% of their haul as base and the other half as a win bonus. Sucks to be Kenji Osawa and Chris Manuel, who fought to a draw and got stuck with only their “to show” money. NSAC head Keith Kizer confirmed to MMAJunkie that the fighters are not given a bonus if a draw happens. That fine print will get you every time.

As always, none of this includes subtractions for insurance, taxes, etc. Let’s just hope the fighters had some healthy sponsors to help off-set this brand of payday. We’re talkin’ Chael Sonnen style sponsorship.

(Sergio Gomez swings at Rich Crunkilton in the goriest fight of the night. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Doug Marshall’s light-heavyweight belt ended up around another guy’s waist last night, as Brian Stann got the better of the Rhino in a brief but wild brawl at WEC 33. Marshall took it to the Marine early and seemed to have him in trouble after landing some power punches, but in the midst of the barrage Stann fired off a left hook that connected perfectly, sending Marshall to the mat. Stann threw up his hands in victory before realizing the fight hadn’t been stopped yet; after Stann landed a couple of finishing blows from the top, Herb Dean stepped in and called the match at the 1:35 mark. Afterwards, an emotional Stann told the crowd, “All my Marines came with me in this ring. You’re all here. This belt represents all of my Marines that were with me, that couldn’t be here, that died in combat with me.” The win brings Stann’s record to 6-0, with all six of his victories coming via first-round TKO.

Chael Sonnen was also dominant in his match with Bryan Baker, spending most of the fight brutalizing Baker with ground-and-pound, and scoring some dramatic takedowns. Though Sonnen wasn’t able to earn a victory by stoppage, the judges’ scores reflected how lopsided the action was: 30-26, 30-25, and 30-25.

Also notable was the three-round war between Richard Crunkilton Jr. and Sergio Gomez. An elbow from Crunkilton slashed the back of Gomez’s head in the first round, opening a gash that spit blood for the remainder of the fight. Though Gomez had his moments during the standup exchanges, Crunkilton’s takedowns, GnP, and submission attempts were too much for Gomez to handle, and the judges awarded Crunkilton a unanimous decision.

Full results are below…

— Brian Stann def. Doug Marshall via TKO, 1:35 of round 1
— Chael Sonnen def. Bryan Baker via unanimous decision
— Marcus Hicks def. Ed Ratcliff via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:42 of round 1
— Steve Cantwell def. Tim McKenzie via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:13 of round 1
— Hiromitsu Miura def. Blas Avena via TKO at 2:35 of round 1
— Brock Larson def. John Alessio via disqualification (illegal knee) at 1:50 of round 1
— Rich Crunkilton def. Sergio Gomez via unanimous decision
— Alex Serdyukov def. Ryan Stonitsch via submission (triangle choke) at 1:35 of round 1
— Kenji Osawa and Chris Manuel fought to a draw
— Logan Clark def. Scott Harper via TKO at 4:37 of round 1

UPDATE: Here’s the video of the main event. Notice the opening staredown, where Marshall seemed unable to maintain eye contact with Stann.

(Doug Marshall will be hunting for his third title defense.)

WEC 33 goes down tonight at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas; if you have Versus, you can watch the action live starting at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m PT. Unlike the last two WEC events which featured three title fights each, only the light heavyweight belt is on the line at #33, with champ Doug “Rhino” Marshall — 7-2, and coming off a 55-second tapout victory over Ariel Gandulla at WEC 31 — facing Brian Stann, who has ended all five of his professional fights by first-round TKO. The complete fight card is below:

MAIN CARD
Doug Marshall vs. Brian Stann (light heavyweights)
Chael Sonnen vs. Bryan Baker (middleweights)
Ed Ratcliff vs. Marcus Hicks (lightweights)
Steve Cantwell vs. Tim McKenzie (light heavyweights)
Hiromitsu Miura vs. Blas Avena (middleweights)

UNDERCARD
John Alessio vs. Brock Larson (welterweights)
Sergio Gomez vs. Richard Crunkilton Jr. (lightweights)
Ryan Stonitsch vs. Alex Serdyukov (welterweights)
Chris Manuel vs. Kenji Osawa (bantamweights)
Logan Clark vs. Scott Harper (middleweights)

— BloodyElbow has weigh-in results and photos here.

— MMA Analyst posted (and yes, analyzed) WEC 33′s betting odds yesterday. Unsurprisingly, Chael Sonnen is the night’s biggest favorite, at -355 to Bryan Baker’s +285. Somewhat surprisingly, Doug Marshall is a +130 ‘dog, compared to Brian Stann’s -160 line.

— Websites that care a lot more than we do ran down the matchups here and here.

— While describing Doug Marshall, Sherdog dropped a David Draiman reference without any sort of explanatory clause or link. But I suppose if you’re reading Sherdog you’re already pretty well-versed in nu-metal singers.

(Sonnen: $250k richer.)

Real Estate hawker Chael Sonnen just picked up 250k. Not for a commission on a house sell, but on a soon-to-be-unveiled clothing line, Nasty Threads. The organization has signed Sonnen as their first sponsored fighter — to the tune of $250,000 for six fights, in a conditional contract. InsideFighting reports:

The money amount, exclusivity, accountability and organization seem to separate this endorsement contract from the typical MMA fighter sponsor deals, according to Sonnen.

“All of the athletes will be exclusive, from the shirts, shorts and hats they wear whereas a lot of guys now a days are like NASCAR drivers [with sponsors all over them],” Sonnen says.

“They are expecting things out of you. You realize that you are working with a professional and that this is a business deal and that does two things for me. One, there is a lot of clarity and a lot of confidence in them and two; I understand that they are expecting things from me. Certain things like I have to be a good person. If you are out in the world being a bad person you lose your contract. Usually that type of thing is exclusive to companies like Nike and more recognized athletes,” Sonnen says.

“Being a bad person?” What does that constitute? Because now my mind is racing and I think I just might be a bad person in Chael Sonnen’s eyes. But in my defense, that old lady could walk her self across the street. Anyway, the irony is not lost on his “bad person” comment since he is reppin’ a company called Nasty Threads.

On the good-humanitarian-side, the company will give some of every buck earned to support Autism.com and research for the condition. Sonnen will also donate 10% of his purses to the Autism cause. Chael believes this type of contract will change how sponsors deal with fighters from here on out. The company is really pushing him, too — he was given the keys to an office at Nasty’s HQ in Lake Oswego (reportedly somewhere in Oregon, but I don’t have an Altas handy).

Amazing for a guy of Sonnen’s level to score this type of deal. I wish we could watch the contract signing, just because…oh, wait, we have the video! Check out Chael Sonnen signing the contract below. Almost certainly made by the amazing team of Fred and smokin’-hot Sharon.

(Fisher…out!)

First, a blown-out knee threw a monkey wrench into what was going to be the most interesting fight of UFC 85. Now it’s Ultimate Fight Night 13‘s turn to lose a highly anticipated bout, as a shoulder injury has forced Spencer Fisher to withdraw from his match against Marcus Aurelio on April 2nd. Said Fisher’s manager Monte Cox:

“Marcus Aurelio is not the kind of fighter you want to fight at 80 percent. [Fisher] was willing to fight but we decided it just was not a smart decision.”

Aurelio is now expected to face Jim Miller, a 10-1 lightweight who has never set foot in the Octagon, and whose sole loss came at the hands of Frankie Edgar at a Reality Fighting event in 2006. Should be a……………….ah, sorry, nodded off for a second there.

In related news, 6-0 middleweight Bryan “The Beast” Baker has stepped in to face Chael Sonnen next Wednesday at WEC 33, which will be headlined by a light-heavyweight title fight between Doug Marshall and Brian Stann. Paulo Filho is still drying out in a Brazilian rehab facility, working the program and taking it one day at a time.

(“Depressed? I was just clownin’, Dawg!”)

We told you yesterday that Paulo Filho went all Britney Spears and pulled out of the WEC event on March 26th where he was to fight Chael Sonnen. That fight had reportedly been pushed to June, provided Filho could stay on his happy pills. Well, scratch that. If Filho’s manager, Ed Soares, is to be believed, the fight is now back on for March 26th.

Via Sherdog:

“He went through some personal issues, and he basically pulled everything together,” Soares said.

Training at the Black House gym in Rio de Janeiro, Filho has been preparing with Ricardo Arona (Pictures) and Rafael Feijao. Soares said UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will join the training camp on March 17.

Said Soares: “During difficult times you get to see who your true friends are, and everyone is coming together to help him get ready for this fight.”

So for now the rematch we thought we had to wait for is back on for later this month. One has to wonder how much pressure the WEC was putting on him to fight since their event card was looking weak at best. Sherdog is also saying that 5-0 middleweight Nissen Osterneck has also pulled out of the March gig. The fighter was set to battle 6-0 Bryan Baker, even though the fight had never been officially announced by the WEC. The withdrawal was due to a shoulder injury that will keep the fighter out for eight months after surgery.

(Filho: Rainy days and Mondays always bring him down.)

Paulo Filho was supposed to have a rematch with Chael Sonnen at WEC’s March 26th event, but the middleweight champion has pulled out of the fight, citing depression and a lack of motivation. As he said in a Tatame.com interview:

“I wasn’t on a good moment, had depression but I’m rising now and the Americans forced me to fight now. I’m not afraid of winning or losing, but I wasn’t motivated to train, wasn’t training well, so I decided to do what the contract says and transferred the fight to June.”

Though the Filho/Sonnen rematch will be a great supporting fight for the featherweight championship bout between Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver in June, it leaves the March card looking mighty thin. That event will feature only one title match — a light-heavyweight contest between Doug “The Rhino” Marshall and Brian Stann, and its next-biggest draw is Brock Larson vs. John Alessio.

Pulling out of a title fight for lack of motivation is some truly weak bullshit, and I hope that the WEC at least fines Filho for this. We feel bad that Sonnen won’t be seeing a fight check for another three months — but if you live in Portland area, you could always support him by buying a house.

(“Do I look like a junkie?”)

Tatame.com is quoting Paulo Filho‘s boxing coach, Josuel Distak, as saying that the WEC middleweight champ will next fight real estate agent Chael Sonnen in a rematch of their December ’07 fight (WEC 31). The last fight ended with Chael Sonnen submitting and claiming he didn’t. Distak claims Paulo “wasn’t well” in that fight and “Sonnen asked for a revenge and we accepted.” We’ll get to see if Chael really has turned a corner – since he was bitch-slapping Paulo for two rounds until the submission – or if Paulo truly “wasn’t well”. That fight made us look a little closer at Filho and the rematch will be very telling.

The excuse coming out of the champ’s camp for his ass-dragging at WEC 31 is that he had some difficulty making the 185 lbs for the fight. Distak is saying they’ll remedy this by moving the fighter up to a light heavy.

“Thanks God this will be Paulão’s last fight at 84 category. After this fight he’ll go up to 93kg category.”

For all you non-metric system Americans, 93kg is 205 pounds. And at light heavyweight, Filho might be a little outsized. Nothing a little juice won’t cure, according to Dan Henderson in a recent MMANews interview.

MMANews.com:What are your thoughts on Paulo Filho?

Dan Henderson: I don’t think he has been very impressive in his last two performances since coming to the US but I think that’s what not being able to use Steroids will do to you.

MMANews.com:Are you saying Filho may be a juicer?

Dan Henderson: Well that’s my opinion anyway. He hasn’t looked good since he left Pride.

MMANews.com: Was steroid abuse a problem in Pride?

Dan Henderson: People didn’t get tested.

MMANews.com: So I suppose if you can get away with it why not.

Dan Henderson: Exactly.