(Props: BloodyElbow)

Though it won’t be televised in the U.S. for some inexplicable reason, the UFC taped a "Countdown" special for #93 that is airing in the U.K. on Setanta Sports and on UFC.com. Here’s part one, which covers the long-awaited meeting of Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson. 8:56-9:33 is pretty priceless; Ace seems to be taking interview cues from the Forrest Griffin school of deadpan humor. You can check out parts 2-5 on the UFC Direct Videos YouTube channel for more pre-fight trash-talk, as well as the origin story of Mauricio Rua and the improbable comeback story of Mark Coleman.   

(Props: TheGARV)

Even though TUF 9 still hasn’t locked down their Team U.S. coach, Dana White reveals in his new video blog that taping of the first two episodes is already kicking off at Wolfslair Academy. Also, this Wednesday will see the premiere of UFC Primetime, the hype-show for St. Pierre vs. Penn 2. (Also known as "The Baddest Motherfucking Countdown Show You Will Ever See.") Now that that’s out of the way, we can focus on the action — a wild, driving vs. walking race through the streets of Manhattan, Dana making an appearance at a SpikeTV conference (notice how unamused he looks when he’s introduced to the crowd with a highlight reel of him dropping F-bombs), editing of the aforementioned Primetime special, a visit to Pinkberry, and a glimpse inside Wolfslair before the elimination fights.

Bonus, after the jump: Mike Tyson’s ill-fated appearance as an MMA ref at a World Cage Fighting Championships event in March 2006. I have to say, that first stand-up due to inactivity on the ground might have been a little premature… 

(It was going fine until the 1:57 mark. Then things get really uncomfortable.)

- Affliction can’t stop talking about how awesome they are. (Yahoo!)

- Thiago Silva is expecting a track meet against Lyoto Machida. (Tatame)

- Is the UFC phoning it in for UFC 93? (Fightlinker)

- Neil Grove to make UFC debut against Justin McCully. (Fighters Only)

- Tim Kennedy talks war and MMA. (Five Ounces of Pain)

- HIT Squad Dodgeball.  (Matt-Hughes.com)

- Rich Franklin trains for Dan Henderson. (MMA Mania)

- Gina Carano says she doesn’t get paid what you think. (AskMen.com)

- This is why you don’t run from the cops. (Break.com)

- 7 TV shows that really need to exist. (Screen Junkies)

- 10 things Tim Tebow should have put on his eye black. (Holy Taco)

- Skater owns bully. (Nothing Toxic)

- This is too adorable to ignore. (Hip to Code)

(Honestly, what’s not to love?)

During today’s media conference call for UFC 93 the talk inevitably turned to the perceived stakes of the Dan Henderson-Rich Franklin bout on January 17 and whether the winner would really end up as a coach opposite Michael Bisping on season nine of The Ultimate Fighter, as has been discussed.  The answer, it seems, is that nobody knows for sure.  But Rich Franklin sure didn’t sound excited about the idea:

"I have not personally spoken to Dana, the UFC or any of the production people about the show," Franklin said. "Six weeks in Vegas, I’ve gotten to the point where I could care less for staying in Vegas for that period of time. It’s time away from my family and time away from doing the things I can do to make money. The show doesn’t pay very well. … But anything the UFC asks me to do, I’m always on board for."

Franklin also pointed out the absurdity of taking two former middleweights, like he and Henderson, and having them fight at light heavyweight to see who will take on Bisping at middleweight.  But Franklin’s main gripe seems to be that coaching the show isn’t such a good deal for a fighter – and he would know, seeing as he’s done it before. 

But is coaching the show really that bad?  So it doesn’t pay much (how much is not much, anyway?  Ten grand for six weeks?  Less?  More?), and it keeps Franklin from other lucrative opportunities, such as making movies with former Saved By The Bell stars, but it is publicity and the chance to build back up to a big main event bout.  That’s all good stuff, right? 

UFC 93 goes down January 17th in Dublin, Ireland, and while most people are understandably psyched about the Rich Franklin/Dan Henderson light-heavyweight main event, I’m just as interested to see what happens between Mark Coleman and Mauricio Rua. Who will be rustier after their long layoff? The injury-prone Shogun, whose last cage appearance was his choke-out loss to Forrest Griffin in September 2007? Or Hall-of-Famer Mark Coleman, who hasn’t notched a victory since his TKO-via-broken-arm win over Rua almost three years ago? Will Coleman really try to turn their grudge match into a stand-up war? Will Phil Baroni and Wanderlei Silva jump in and start brawling after the fight is stopped, like last time? You gotta admit, the match has potential.

Also at UFC 93, Denis Kang makes his UFC debut against Alan Belcher, and Marcus Davis and Chris Lytle have their long-awaited "takedowns are for pussies" match.

 
(Props: MMA Mania)

Nine bouts have been officially confirmed for UFC 93 (January 17th; Dublin, Ireland) — though there are some surprises in the card’s arrangement. Here’s what we have so far:

MAIN CARD
Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson
Mark Coleman vs. Mauricio Rua  
Alan Belcher  vs. Denis Kang 
Antonio Mendes vs. Andre Gusmao
Dennis Siver vs. Nate Mohr 

UNDERCARD
Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle
Jeremy Horn vs. Rousimar Palhares 
Tomasz Drwal vs. Ivan Serati  
Thomas Egan vs. John Hathaway

How you gonna leave the Irish Hand Grenade off the main card in Dublin? It’s blasphemy, especially when he’s already promised the fans a pussy-free slugfest with Chris Lytle. It’s also strange to see Horn/Palhares on the untelevised card, when you consider who actually did make the cut.

First off, Antonio Mendes vs. Andre Gusmao. Both of these guys got owned in their UFC debuts; Mendes was steamrolled by Thiago Silva at UFC 84, and Gusmao was overwhelmed by Jon Jones’s explosive athleticism at UFC 87 and lost a unanimous decision. So we’re letting them fight each other on the main card? No, this has to be some kind of mistake.

(How ’bout a nice Hawaiian Punch? Image courtesy of ko.susumug.com.)

"After holding the welterweight title once, I was like, I need it again, I need that welterweight title one more time, and look, I get to beat one of the best fighters of all time to do it. The opportunity is just trememdous…I’m going to crush him, don’t worry guys." — The ever-confident BJ Penn predicts the outcome of his UFC 94 superfight against Georges St. Pierre during a couple of recent Hawaiian TV appearances.

"Sean Sherk, that’s a fight I would love to take. That fight is one of the ones I really want to show everyone how far I’ve come. My wrestling’s a lot better than that and I’m going to continue to get better at it…[A rematch] would be ten times better and I believe with a different result." — Kenny Florian gives MMA Weekly the old "I’m not the same fighter I was back then" line. Ken-Flo is content to wait for BJ Penn as he chases his welterweight championship dream, but if Penn’s hiatus goes on for too long, Florian would be open to avenging a past defeat.

"A [Rich] Franklin vs. [Michael] Bisping fight would be amazing. I’d love to fight him. But I’d love to fight Henderson too. They’re household names and legends of the sport and it would be an honour and a privilege to fight one of them. I think I stack up well against them…I think I can beat both of them. It wouldn’t be easy, but my confidence is growing with every fight." — Michael Bisping talks to The Sun about who he’s eyeing for his next match. For the record, Bisping thinks Franklin will have the edge on Henderson during their fight in January. 

After the jump: The gloves come off and the talk gets trashy.

(Props: Bloody Elbow)

Here’s a short preview clip of Virtual Mike and Joe discussing Brock Lesnar in the upcoming UFC 2009 Undisputed video game. For more sample clips of Lesnar, click here. A promo video for UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson is below, and grainy, hand-held footage of Fedor Emelianenko’s Sambo loss to Blagoi Ivanov awaits you after the jump.

(Props: Fightlinker)

(Let’s try this again, “Ace”, this time with a little enthusiasm.)

Despite the fact that UFC 93 and 95 are taking place in Dublin and London respectively, they will not air for free on Spike TV, reports MMA Rated. Does that mean you’re going to have to pay more of your rapidly dwindling cash to see an event that goes live in the middle of the afternoon? Either that or wait until the videos hit the internet, and for some reason it’s considered “troubling behavior” for me to drink in front of my computer at ten o’clock on a Sunday morning, even though it’s perfectly acceptable to do it in front of the TV on a Saturday. I blame this Puritanical society.

The explanation for why this is happening centers around Spike TV’s production budget. Broadcasting these overseas events is costly, and since both UFC 93 and 95 take place within the first two months of 2009, that would mean blowing a big portion of their budget in the first quarter. This, my friends, is a side effect of the UFC going global.

So now we’re looking at three pay-per-views in the first sixty days of the new year from the UFC, plus another one on January 24 from Affliction. I don’t know what your disposable income looks like these days, but it sure seems like someone’s got to lose in this scenario. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you could only afford two of these events without being forced to make extra money by letting your creepy neighbor install that webcam he keeps talking about. What’s it gonna be: Fedor-Arlovski (Affliction), Franklin-Henderson (UFC 93, with a side order of Coleman-Rua), Penn-St. Pierre (UFC 94), or Liddell-Silva (UFC 95, hopefully)? As a bonus question, how important will the undercards of said events be in your decision-making?

(They don’t call him “Handsome Dan” for nothing. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

Sherdog has confirmed that Michael Bisping’s next opponent — and his rival coach on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter — will be the winner of the Rich Franklin/Dan Henderson fight at UFC 93 (January 17th; Dublin, Ireland). TUF‘s “U.S. vs. U.K.” season will feature middleweights and welterweights, and is slated to premiere in April ’09.

Though a win against either Ace or Hendo could qualify Bisping for an immediate title shot against Anderson Silva (or Patrick Cote, LOL) — and wins against Franklin and Bisping could earn Henderson a rematch with the Spider — you have to wonder what’s in it for Rich Franklin. Let’s say he becomes the U.S. coach for TUF 9. He’ll have to drop back down to middleweight to fight Michael Bisping at the end of the season, but if he beats Bisping, it’s not like he’ll move any closer to a third middleweight title shot against Silva. He’ll just return to 205, with his standing in that division no higher than it was in the first place. Could it be that Ace just needs another Hummer to auction off?

(Damn it feels good to be a gangsta.)

I’ve always assumed that the worlds of professional fighting and organized crime came into contact more often than we know. I’ve also assumed that if you’re involved in either industry, it’s probably better not to talk about that contact. But Dana White, being the UFC president and the producer of an upcoming Spike TV Irish mob drama, is just putting it in the streets anyway.

Fighters Only quotes White as blaming the Yakuza for Zuffa’s inability to do anything with Pride. This is no big shock, since the Japanese mafia’s involvement with Pride was rumored to be a big part of their downfall. It is a little surprising that White is so willing to talk about it, however, and apparently it’s not just Japan where the mob is an issue:

The UFC has also long had its eye on staging events in Mexico because, as White puts it, “when we first bought this company, we said there are three no-brainers: the US, Mexico and the UK. They are big fight countries.”

However, what he terms “The Mexican initiative” is taking “a lot longer than we though it would, basically because five families control all of Mexico”.

“A lot of these places are tough, you just have to work your way around it. The corruption in Japan, the way things are in Mexico, you know? In every country you go to there are different ways of doing business.”

Ain’t that the truth. Friend of mine went to the Netherlands over the summer, my hand to God, they sell marijuana over there. Like legally, in coffee shops and stuff. This crazy world, am I right?

Dana White must be in a talkative mood these days, because he also let it slip to Fighters Only that no matter what happens tomorrow night, Michael Bisping will be coaching on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, as we suspected.

MMA Rated is floating the rumor that UFC 93 from Dublin, Ireland will be shown on a delayed free broadcast on Spike TV on January 17. This makes sense when you consider the UFC’s increasingly consistent practice of using UK cards on Spike as a way to pump up forthcoming pay-per-views, such as they’re doing later this month with UFC 89 airing for free from England just a week before UFC 90 in Chicago, which you’re going to have to pay for.

The only thing that might make us wonder if we won’t end up paying $45 for this one is the fact that the main event for 93 is slated to be a light heavyweight clash between Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin. The card is also said to include Mark Coleman and “Shogun” Rua reprising their meeting in Pride, hopefully this time without the freakish injury and ensuing Hammer House-Chute Boxe brawl (Okay, they can brawl again, but only if they have another uncomfortable “apology” backstage afterwards).

Oddly, January 17 is also the date that Affliction was originally rumored to be considering for their second show. That’s before Tom Atencio said they had no date and admitted he wanted no part of any direct competition with the UFC, which is perfectly understandable. A free show of that magnitude on the same night would have really put Affliction in a bind, but as of right now it looks like they’ll squeak in between the free show from Dublin and a January 31 pay-per-view with (God willing) a Georges St. Pierre-BJ Penn superfight main event.

If this all holds true, UFC 93 might be the best UFC event in a very long time to air for free. And yes, I know Spike TV isn’t technically free since it’s on cable, but come on. You have internet access but no cable? Dude, you gotta move out of your mom’s house.

(A legendary PRIDE rivalry will be settled in the Octagon in January.)

Confirming rumors that were circulating yesterday, the UFC announced via UFC.com that Dublin would indeed be playing host to UFC 93 on January 17th; the event will be held at the O2 Dublin.

Only two matches have been announced so far — but they’re worth the price of admission by themselves. The main event will be a light-heavyweight fight between Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson, a long-awaited pairing that seemed to be in jeopardy when Franklin moved up to 205. Does this mean that Hendo will be hanging around at light-heavyweight for a while? And would the fight interfere with him being a coach on the upcoming US vs. UK season of TUF? We’ll get those answers to you as soon as we can.

Here’s where the matchmaking gets kind of brilliant. The co-main event will be another light-heavyweight contest, between UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. If you’re up on your MMA lore, you’ll remember that Coleman handed Shogun his only loss in PRIDE — a TKO due to broken arm at PRIDE 31 in February ’06 — which led to the infamous Chute Boxe/Hammer House brawl (the entire incident can be seen here). Now Rua will get a chance to settle the score, once and for all. Sure, Coleman hasn’t fought since getting armbarred by Fedor Emelianenko at PRIDE 32 in October ’06, and Rua has been battling injuries since his loss to Forrest Griffin at UFC 76, but you can’t beat that storyline…

(Will Michael Bisping follow in Forrest Griffin’s footsteps? Photo courtesy of daylife.com)

From TheSun.co.uk:

Michael Bisping is hot favourite to be named as one of the coaches on the new series of The Ultimate Fighter…

The UFC have not yet offered Bisping the coach’s role on TUF 9 because he is scheduled to fight Chris Leben at UFC 89 at the Birmingham National Indoor Arena on October 18.

But SunSport understands Dana White will immediately hand the British star a contract to appear on the show if he overcomes Leben next month.

It is believed Dan Henderson will coach the US team, with the TUF 9 finale featuring him in a clash for the #1 middleweight contender’s spot against Bisping, which could take place in December next year.

As the UFC’s only British star, it makes sense that the TUF 3 winner would be chosen as a coach for the “U.S. vs. U.K.” season of The Ultimate Fighter. But it also makes you wonder who will be picked to lead the British team if Bisping loses to Leben. We’re assuming it would still be Bisping — but then would a fight between him and Hendo really be a #1 contender match? When contacted by MMA Weekly, The Count confirmed that he hadn’t been made an offer yet, but he’d certainly be open to one:

(Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

Saturday’s UFC 88 card took in $2.6 million in ticket revenue, making it the second-highest-grossing event ever held at Atlanta’s Philips Arena, next to a Barbara Streisand concert in 2006. The fighters at “Breakthrough” pulled in $1,510,000 in disclosed payouts, with a third of that going to knockout recipient Chuck Liddell. The numbers are below. Unless otherwise noted, each winning fighter’s salary represents a doubling of his base pay.

Chuck Liddell: $500,000
Dan Henderson: $250,000 (win bonus was $150,000)
Rashad Evans: $180,000 (including $60,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
Jason MacDonald: $104,000 (including $60,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
Rich Franklin: $100,000
Kurt Pellegrino: $84,000 (including $60,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Thiago Tavares: $73,000 (including $60,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Nate Marquardt: $56,000
Dong Hyun Kim: $46,000
Ryo Chonan: $30,000
Jason Lambert: $17,000
Tim Boetsch: $16,000
Martin Kampmann: $15,000
Matt Hamill: $10,000
Roan Carneiro: $9,000
Matt Brown: $8,000
Rousimar Palhares: $7,000
Michael Patt: $5,000

Underpaid: Not that the dude’s going broke, but it’s surprising that Rich Franklin’s base salary is only $50,000; Rashad Evans makes more than he does (which makes sense now, I suppose). It’s also too bad that someone as talented as Rousimar Palhares couldn’t negotiate better terms when he joined the UFC.

Overpaid: I’d let Evans knock me the eff out for half of what Chuck got for his little two-round appearance. Seriously. Get in touch with my people, Rashad.

(Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans)

(Nate Marquardt vs. Martin Kampmann)

(Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares)

(Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle.)

- Do some UFC 88 pre-partying with Randy Couture. (Xtreme Couture)

- Mario Sperry betting on a Palhares victory, literally. (Tatame)

- Stone Cold Steve Austin breaks down Kimbo Slice-Ken Shamrock. (YouTube)

- Arguing over UFC 88, Randy’s return, and more. (MMA Rated)

- Martin Kampmann is ready to “kick ass.” (MMA Mania)

- Brock Lesnar got jokes. (Steve Cofield)

- One punch KO’s bully. (Nothing Toxic)

- Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates team up to produce something…strange. (Wall Street Fighter)

- Sarah Palin steps up to the mic. (Holy Taco)

- 11 craziest Ann Coulter moments. (Screen Junkies)

(Totes BFFs 4-evs.)

Weigh-ins for “Breakthrough” just went down at the Philips Arena in Atlanta. The numbers are below; props to MMA Mania.

Chuck Liddell (204) vs. Rashad Evans (205)
Rich Franklin (204.5) vs. Matt Hamill (205)
Dan Henderson (185) vs. Rousimar Palhares (184.5)
Nate Marquardt (185) vs. Martin Kampmann (184.5)
Thiago Tavares (155) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (156)
Tim Boetsch (205.25) vs. Mike Patt (205.25)
Matt Brown (170) vs. Dong Hyun “Stun Gun” Kim (170)
Jason Lambert (185) vs. Jason MacDonald (185)
Roan Carneiro (170) vs. Ryo Chonan (170)

IMPORTANT: CagePotato.com will be liveblogging tomorrow night’s pay-per-view broadcast beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Come early, come often.

(The good, not-so-old days…)

The way Dan Henderson sees it, this fight with Rousimar Palhares is just a step he has to take in order to get that rematch with Anderson Silva. In a recent interview with Yahoo! Sports he admitted to not knowing who Palhares was when he accepted the fight — though he did some internet research and figured it out — and then went on to diagnose what went wrong for him against “The Spider” and how he plans to remedy that the next go-round:

“He’s got holes in his game,” said Henderson, who won the first round of the fight, before getting tired and being submitted in the second round. “He’s very athletic and can get away with it. I felt my conditioning was off. I got a little tired and didn’t push the takedown in the second round. If I’d have gotten it, I’d have won the round. I should have been more aggressive when I had him down in the first round. I didn’t expect to finish him so I didn’t try. I was looking to win the round.”

First off, it’s pretty generous to go ahead and attribute the loss entirely to fatigue in the second round. It’s true that Henderson did look to have Silva somewhat figured out in that first round. Trouble is, championship fights go five rounds, and if you don’t plan to finish someone, you’d damn well better be ready to go all five.

But it does remind us that Hendo is still a credible middleweight title challenger at a time when the UFC is desperate for them (no offense, Patrick Cote…okay, a little offense). When viewed through that prism, Henderson-Palhares is suddenly a lot more interesting. Can Henderson show that he’s got his cardio act together, and is thus deserving of another shot at Silva? Will fans give a damn if he does, or is Silva too far out in the stratosphere of pound-for-pound brilliance for the UFC to drum up sufficient interest in rematches with people he’s already beaten?

We’ll have to wait and see, but if Henderson goes out on Saturday and throttles Palhares, don’t be surprised if it’s followed by Mike Goldberg doing the old UFC hard sell on Henderson as number one contender. First he has to win the fight though, and preferably look for a finish this time.

Courtesy of BestFightOdds, here are the juiciest lines for UFC 88, reflecting the lowest numbers for the favorites (i.e., the dollar amounts you’d have to put up to win $100), and the highest numbers for the underdogs (i.e., the dollar amounts you’d win if you put up $100). If you’re confused, go here first. Click on each line to go to the wagering site that’s offering it. And now the numbers…

MAIN CARD
Chuck Liddell (-241) vs. Rashad Evans (+230)
Rich Franklin (-221) vs. Matt Hamill (+210)
Dan Henderson (-200) vs. Rousimar Palhares (+190)
Karo Parisyan (-210) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (+203)
Nate Marquardt (-130) vs. Martin Kampmann (+140)

UNDERCARD
Thiago Tavares (-252) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (+250)
Tim Boetsch (-375) vs. Michael Patt (+326)
Dong Hyun Kim (-350) vs. Matt Brown (+300)
Jason MacDonald (-157) vs. Jason Lambert (+160)
Ryo Chonan (-113) vs. Roan Carneiro (+103)

Notes…

— UFC 88′s “I Can’t Believe the Odds Are That Close” match is MacDonald/Lambert. When a fighter drops a weight class, it usually means he’ll have a size advantage against his opponent. In Jason Lambert’s case, he’s just cutting some topmeat. The Punisher might look a little faster in the cage, but MacDonald is still the far more talented fighter here, and you won’t regret putting some money down on the favorite.

(Dan Henderson and Rousimar Palhares)

(Martin Kampmann and Nate Marquardt)

Courtesy of ESPN video. After the jump: The latest episode of MMA Live, where Dana White discusses Randy Couture’s return to the UFC (and calls Fedor “irrelevant” again), Randy and Brock have an in-studio face-off, and Frank Mir teaches us the armbar that broke Tim Sylvia’s arm.

(‘Sup, pussies.)

It’s that time again, Potato Nation. Cage Potato’s two Bens square off on a host of issues swirling around UFC 88, including what’s to become of Rich Franklin as a light heavyweight, who has the best chances to score an upset on Saturday night, and more. Let’s get it, as they say, on.

Does Chuck Liddell really deserve a title shot if he beats Rashad Evans?

Goldstein: A two-fight win streak isn’t much, but it’ll be more than any other top-tier UFC light-heavyweight contender can boast on Sunday morning, with the exception of Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva — and one of those guys is going to take his first loss next month. The question really is: Who deserves it more, Chuck or the winner of that all-Brazilian eliminator match?

In terms of creating a title fight that fans want to see, Liddell has to be at the front of the line. Chuck vs. Forrest will get fans insanely fired up. The alternative is watching Forrest and (probably) Machida dance around each other for five rounds — I have my doubts about the entertainment value of that matchup. And not to play the race card, but I understand why an American MMA organization is hesitant to create a situation where three of its five champions, as Mike Goldberg would say, “speak the Portuguesa.” (I’m counting Big Nog as one of them, of course; he’s my pick to come out on top of the imminent four-man heavyweight “tournament,” but that’s another debate.)

Chuck’s been unwaveringly loyal to the UFC during his career, and he deserves to be treated well in his final years with the company. If that means jumping ahead of someone who may deserve it more in terms of merit, so be it. Though if they want to put Liddell against Anderson Silva in December before he gets a shot at the belt, well, that’s cool too.

Fowlkes: When it comes to the UFC and title shots, I like to remind myself of a line from the movie Unforgiven: deserve’s got nothing to do with it. In a perfect fighting world, the fight would be set up so that the winner gets a title shot, regardless of who that is. But we both know that even if “Sugar” wins he’s not shooting to the top of the list. So the question is, would beating Evans be enough to reasonably justify putting Liddell up against Forrest Griffin next, which is the fight the UFC really wants to make?

When James Irvin was asked about the four guys who turned down a match with Anderson Silva before he accepted it, he refused to name names. When Lyoto Machida was asked about the fighters who have reportedly been turning down fights against him, he refused to name names. Luckily there are straight shooters like Brandon Vera.

“They offered me Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Lyoto Machida and then Reese Andy,” Vera told The Baltimore Sun. As Vera explains, Henderson, Silva, and Sokoudjou all said no to the matchup, and Vera himself wanted no part of Machida. Wanderlei Silva has said repeatedly that he has no interest in fighting anyone before the end of the year, so he gets a pass — but Hendo and Soko just got their spots blown up, so to speak.

We’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they probably balked at the short notice of the fight, and didn’t refuse it due to any sort of fear of the matchup. Whatever the case, Vera’s frank soundbite probably won’t win him many friends in the UFC. But what else would you expect from a guy nicknamed “The Truth”?

In an attempt to dispel the rumors that he may be a punk for avoiding Lyoto Machida, Brandon Vera claims he had good reasons for turning that fight down (he needs time to train with awkward kung fu enthusiasts) and insists that Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson both turned down fights against him. So now who’s the punk? Answer: everyone but Machida.

It’s all here in this MMA Rated video, where Vera goes on to say that he moved down to light heavyweight to take the fight against Reese Andy as “a favor”.

Seems like a lot of UFC fighters are doing favors in order to get this July 19 Anti-Affliction card off the ground. And you know what they say, fighters are like the mob when it comes to favors. One day — and that day may never come — they’ll call upon you and ask for a favor in return. That is what they say, right? If not, they should.

(Photo courtesy of DanHenderson.com)

MMA Weekly reports that Dan Henderson’s next Octagon appearance will be a middleweight bout against Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88 (September 6th, Atlanta). Palhares (8-1) is the Brazilian Top Team rising star who pwned Ivan Salaverry so hardcore during his Octagon debut at UFC 84 that Salaverry retired from fighting. Henderson is coming off of back-to-back title fight losses, to Quinton Jackson at UFC 75 and Anderson Silva at UFC 82. Palhares has serious potential, to be sure, but his relative lack of experience puts him at a great disadvantage against one of the most accomplished fighters in the world. Still, if Palhares can pull off an upset, he’ll put himself in the mix for a middleweight title shot.

In other UFC fight-booking news…

— Joe Lauzon has agreed to fight Kyle Bradley at UFC Fight Night 15 (September 17th; Omaha, Nebraska). Bradley, a Team Voodoo product and veteran of various regional leagues, made his Octagon debut as a welterweight at UFC 81, where he was destroyed by Chris Lytle in 33 seconds. He’ll now be fighting at his natural weight of 155.

— Rory Markham, a Bettendorf-based IFL standout who most recently submitted Jay Ellis at Adrenaline 1 on June 14th, will be making his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 14 (July 19th, Las Vegas). His opponent will be Brodie Farber, a former Rage in the Cage middleweight champion who’s won his last six fights in the MMA Xtreme organization.

— Thomasz Drwal, the Polish light-heavyweight whose 13-fight win streak was snapped by Thiago Silva at UFC 75, will make his second Octagon appearance at UFC 87 (August 9th, Minneapolis) against 5-0 IFL veteran Andre Gusmao. Drwal was slated to fight David Heath in February, but was forced to pull out of the bout with a knee injury.

(The Crippler was rewarded handsomely for his blood-loss.)

The UFC paid out a chunky $932,000 in official salaries and bonuses on Saturday night, with Anderson Silva unsurprisingly coming out the big winner. The amounts are below; these figures don’t include any undisclosed “locker room bonuses” that are often given out to headliners and other fighters who put on noteworthy performances.

Anderson Silva — $260,000 ($70,000 to show, $70,000 to win, plus $120,000 in bonuses)
Dan Henderson — $160,000 ($100,000 to show, $60,000 for Fight of the Night bonus)
Andrei Arlovski — $170,000 ($105,000 to show, $65,000 to win)
Heath Herring — $140,000 ($70,000 to show, $70,000 to win)
Chris Leben — $110,000 ($25,000 to show, $25,000 to win, $60,000 for Knockout of the Night bonus)
Jon Fitch — $60,000 ($30,000 to show, $30,000 to win)
Diego Sanchez — $60,000 ($30,000 to show, $30,000 to win)
Cheick Kongo — $30,000
Yushin Okami — $28,000 ($14,000 to show, $14,000 to win)
Evan Tanner — $25,000
Josh Koscheck — $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Alessio Sakara — $17,000
Luigi Fioravanti — $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Luke Cummo — $16,000
Jorge Gurgel — $14,000 ($7,000 to show, $7,000 to win)
Dustin Hazelett — $12,000
Chris Wilson — $12,000
Jake O’Brien — $11,000
David Bielkheden — $8,000
John Halverson — $3,000

Underpaid: Josh Koscheck, who is still finishing out the indentured servitude of his Ultimate Fighter contract.
Overpaid: Luke Cummo, who didn’t do much that resembled work during his 15 minute grabass with Luigi Fioravanti.

(Props: MMA Mania)

Anderson Silva left the Nationwide Arena on Saturday night with the bank account of a champion, pulling in $120,000 in bonuses on top of his usual salary and win bonus (which were $60,000 each for his previous title defense at UFC 77). As announced in a press conference following the event, the UFC distributed its customary end-of-night bonuses like this:

Fight of the Night: $60,000 each for Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson.

Submission of the Night: $60,000 for Anderson Silva. It was the night’s only submission, unless you count the tapout-by-strikes that Diego Sanchez scored at the expense of David Bielkheden.

Knockout of the Night: $60,000 for Chris Leben.

So, another 1-for-3 performance on our bonus predictions, though we did call Arlovski for a KO/TKO in the second round. And Diego did technically win by submission. You know, I think we’ll just start predicting the outcomes from now on; we’d sound a lot smarter that way.

Take a look before it’s pulled…

Guest Liveblogger Ben Fowlkes of The Fighting Life here, all set and ready to go for UFC 82. I’m looking forward to a good night of fights, which I’m warming up for by watching Dana White swear through the countdown show. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Click the “MORE” link and refresh the page every few minutes for round-by-round updates.

(Rampage, Randy, Hendo, and Trigg at the day job.)

— On the BetUS Radio show, Damon and I debated which news story was bigger: Kimbo Slice on CBS or Spuds McKenzie on the center of the Octagon.

— Bob Sapp defended his crown as the worst pound-for-pound fighter in MMA history.

— Joe Riggs busted his back and played a piss-prank on a paraplegic.

— A simple, innocent video list on illegal knockouts turned into a total fucking fiasco. In retrospect, we should have replaced Huerta/Halvorsen with Herring/Nakao/”I’m not gay.” Commenter Matt Tatt sincerely hoped we die for publishing such an inaccurate feature. Sounds like my last editor!

— Taking a last-minute fight against Jon Fitch at a reduced pay rate? Chris Wilson is crazy like a fox.

— During our UFC 82 preview coverage, we explained why Anderson Silva is still going to be the champion on Sunday morning, wondered if Josh Koscheck’s Octagon days are numbered, and took wild guesses at who’ll be walking around with a little more spending money.

— We saluted MMA’s style pioneers.

— Bill Goldberg currently leads Mike Goldberg 62% to 38% in our current poll on which Goldberg should never be allowed near a microphone again.

Don’t forget to watch the IFL’s season opener tonight, and come back here tomorrow night at 10 p.m. for our rip-roarin’ UFC 82 liveblog. Our prediction? PAIN.

(Andrei Arlovski could be one paid motherfucker tomorrow.)

Our monthly roundup in which we express fight predictions via the UFC’s customary “Of the Night” payouts. Last time didn’t go so hot, but we have a good feeling about UFC 82. Again, here’s the lineup:

MAIN CARD
Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson
Heath Herring vs. Cheick Kongo
Chris Leben vs. Alessio Sakara
Yushin Okami vs. Evan Tanner
Jon Fitch vs. Chris Wilson

PRELIMINARY CARD
Andrei Arlovski vs. Jake O’Brien
Luke Cummo vs. Luigi Fioravanti
Josh Koscheck vs. Dustin Hazelett
Diego Sanchez vs. David Bielkheden
Jorge Gurgel vs. John Halverson

Fight of the Night: How could it not be Silva vs. Henderson? It’s rare that the Octagon hosts this much combined talent. We see this one going into the championship rounds, with both men pounding the hell out of each other along the way. As you know, we’re leaning toward Silva.

Knockout of the Night: Andrei Arlovski. Other MMA pundits have said that the undefeated O’Brien will grind his way to a lay-and-pray victory, but Arlovski is coming into this fight with the combined rage of 10,000 insulted Soviets, and he’ll be looking to prove that undercards are beneath him. There’s a chance this could be his last fight for the UFC, so putting an exclamation point at the end of his Octagon career would be a priority; we’ll say KO/TKO, round 2. Dark horse: Jon Fitch. His fight against Chris Wilson may look like a mismatch, but Wilson’s ground skills are underrated. Still, we see Fitch putting Wilson out on his feet early.

Submission of the Night: Josh Koscheck. Speaking of mismatches…Koscheck’s recent performances haven’t been awe-inspiring, and he knows he needs a dramatic win against the gift-wrapped Dustin Hazelett, who’s never faced an opponent as skilled as Kos; it’s looking like a first-round armbar. Dark horse: Sanchez over Bielkheden. Same deal as with Koscheck — Bielkheden is being brought in for his UFC debut to build Sanchez’s confidence, and on paper, Sanchez’s ground game scores much higher. But if Ali Sonoma is still fucking with his concentration, we’ll stop short of saying this is a guaranteed win for Nightmare…

See it differently? Let us know in the comments…