(“Yeah, I have a question for the group: Is anybody *not* getting too old for this shit?” / Photo via Sherdog)

A pair of former PRIDE champions will be anchoring the UFC’s return to Japan. As confirmed by the promotion yesterday, UFC on FUEL 8 is slated for Sunday, March 3rd, at the Saitama Super Arena, with Wanderlei Silva vs. Brian Stann booked for the main event. [Update: The fight will take place at light-heavyweight.] Both men are coming off of decision losses, with Silva dropping his rematch to Rich Franklin at UFC 147 in June, and Stann losing to Michael Bisping in September.

Though Silva probably has little recollection of the last time he competed in Saitama, the Axe Murderer became an MMA superstar in Japan, where he went undefeated through his first 20 fights in PRIDE and held the middleweight title for over five years. But his current stint in the UFC — where he’s won just three of eight fights since 2007 — has suggested that Silva is nearing the end of the road, and his next bad loss could be his last. Can he come up with another heroic effort against the All American?

Speaking of PRIDE legends, longtime lightweight champ Takanori Gomi will be welcoming Diego Sanchez back to the lightweight division at UFC on FUEL 8. Gomi has won his last two UFC fights against Eiji Mitsuoka and Mac Danzig, while Sanchez is coming off a decision defeat against Jake Ellenberger in February. Sanchez hasn’t competed at 155 pounds since being utterly shredded by BJ Penn during their lightweight title fight three years ago.

Pretty damn good for a free card, right? Keep in mind that the event will also feature the heavyweight battle between Mark Hunt and Stefan Struve, plus the following newly-announced supporting bouts…

(It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, with one lucky winner picking up a six-figure UFC contract and an immediate shot at Aaron Riley. / Photo courtesy of Facebook.com/TUF)

In case you weren’t able to watch Friday night’s marathon premiere of The Ultimate Fighter Live — or read our thoroughly detailed recap — here’s the short version: The porn-star will not be moving into the house, Jon Tuck nearly got his toe ripped off, and half of the 16 one-round fights ended via stoppage. Follow us after the jump, and we’ll show you every single one of those stoppages, in a series of GIFs courtesy of IronForgesIron. Enjoy, and let us know who you think will go all the way…

(Video courtesy of  YouTube/MrKidKhaos)

Charles Bennett emerged last week from wherever he’s been hiding since being choked out by Drew Fickett during the Shine Fights lightweight tournament just long enough to film himself sipping on a Mountain Dew and puffing on a Black & Mild while calling out a handful of fighters he has beefs with.

(Props: max power)

One of the great urban legends of MMA comes from PRIDE Shockwave 2005, where Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett was supposedly jumped by six members of Chute Boxe in a locker room after the event. As Krazy Horse tells it, he knocked out Wanderlei Silva after he regained consciousness.

Finally, someone has come up with video evidence of the fracas, and it turns out Horse’s version of the story has some holes in it. The clip above shows Bennett doing the “jumping,” as he tackles Cristiano Marcello after some trash-talk from the Brazilian. Rather than gang-stomping Krazy Horse, the Chute Boxe team displays remarkable restraint in letting the pair settle their beef one-on-one, which eventually leads to Marcello choking Horse into unconsciousness. (Now that is just high-level locker room jiu-jitsu.)

As for that bit about Bennett knocking out the Axe Murderer? Well, apparently, that moment wasn’t captured on tape. But hey, we’ll take Krazy Horse’s word for it…

(Gilbert Melendez pounds Tatsuya Kawajiri.)

Another late March cancelled fight is now back on, but a mid-March battle is off. We’re just trying to keep up. Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez was originally scheduled to fight Jorge Masvidal at the Strikeforce/EliteXC March 29th event. That match was called off when Masvidal had to drop out because of a shin injury. It looked like Melendez was going to skip the event as he was rumored to be competing in the Lightweight Grand Prix at Dream 1 on March 15th.

MMAWeekly reports that Chute Boxe jiu-jitsu coach Cristiano Marcello has stepped in to fight Melendez, so Gilby is on the March 29th fight card. Marcello confirmed the fight:

“Melendez is an excellent fighter and I am very happy to face him, especially on Strikeforce, which is a great event. We are going to travel together, me, (Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos), Master Rafael (Cordeiro) and Rudimar (Fedrigo). Cyborg will fight at the same event and we are going to make a huge presentation for the fans.”

Melendez spoke on why he is defending his belt on the 29th instead of going to Japan for Dream 1, and that he’s going to defend the belt “ferociously”.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to fight in the Dream tournament. I love fighting in Japan, but right now I have a commitment with Strikeforce. I’m looking to just put my focus on Strikeforce; I’ve got a contract there and want to fulfill it.”

“More than anyone, fans, people, my family, it’s important to me to come out ferocious, mean and show people I’m here to stay,” he exclaimed. “I’m focused and it means a lot to me to not only win, but win with bad intentions and put on a good show for the fans.”

Both Melendez and Marcello are vets of PRIDE, but also share the fact that their last loss was to Mitsuhiro Ishida. You can check out the first part of Melendez battling Ishida after the jump. For parts two and three of the fight, go here and here.