(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

Hopefully everyone had a nice little Saturday. Maybe you went to Home Depot to pick out some wallpaper, or maybe you hit Bed Bath and Beyond with your significant other if you had enough time. Chances are you didn’t do anything too crazy like take your kids to skate with Tony Hawk and Shaun White or go to the Rage Against the Machine concert for your birthday.

Well, Dana White did, and proves he isn’t afraid to brag about his good fortune a little bit in his most recent video blog. His mom isn’t going to like this one bit.

(“…and then, we’ll have events every hour of every day…”)

In a recent interview he did with Sports Illustrated, UFC president Dana White touched on several hot button topics including his organization’s pay-per-view aspirations, the future of the Strikeforce brand, the fact that Paul Daley will still never be invited back to the UFC, Fedor being a sub-top ten heavyweight, his feelings about fighters like Jon Fitch and much, much more.

Check out what The Baldfather had to say after the jump.

(You don’t get to 10,000 friends without making a few enemies. / Images courtesy of 5thRound, Playboy.)

All month, it’s been taunting me — watching the fan count on our Facebook page creep slowly, steadily toward 10,000.  At the time of this writing, we’re sitting at 9,977 fans, just a stone’s throw away from the Promised Land. Well I’m not going to let this affect my sleep any longer. We’re passing 10,000 fans today, damn it, with or without you bastards.

If you’re reading this now and you have a Facebook account, but aren’t a follower of facebook.com/CagePotato for some reason, please head there and “Like” our page. It’ll keep you up-to-date with all the top stories on CagePotato, and provide you with bonus content that we didn’t have room for on the site.

Plus, it’ll give you another outlet to share feedback, post your own links and photos, and complain about our captcha system — all at no cost to you. So please, do us a favor, just this once. Thank you.

(Above: The book cover, via Smashwords.com. Below: Proof that Dana White was born to a human mother and father. Click both to enlarge.)

In a Frank Sorrentino-esque attempt to remind her big-time son where he came from, Dana White‘s mother June White has self-published a book called Dana White: King of MMA, which details how the Baldfather’s personality changed for the worse as he became wealthy and powerful through the success of the UFC. You can buy the 92-page volume for $8.99 at Smashwords.com — or you can just do what we did and read the 13-page sample, in which the author debunks the DW “mythology,” describes how Dana cursed her out as if she were any other uncooperative fighter or reporter, and yes, even compares him to Rosemary’s Baby. (That part’s my favorite. Kudos, June) Here are the best bits…

There are many articles written about Dana, where he came from, and the hard life he had growing up. I have heard him referred to as a Southie tuff, but that is not who Dana is and does not accurately reflect the life he has led. It is hard for me to hear the many myths about Dana, and the way he is portrayed to the public. It is difficult for me to see how, as the popularity of the UFC evolved, the person I once knew changed into someone who is egotistical, self-centered, arrogant, and cruel. I liken Dana’s transformation to that of Precious in Lord of the Rings. Just as the ring of power changed that fictional character, Dana’s power and wealth have changed him into someone I do not recognize.

(A pretty solid metaphor for their respective careers right now.)

With the UFC still in the lurch after Phil Davis’s injury wrecked yet another UFC main event, Tito Ortiz has done the unthinkable — he’s decided to become a team player. After initially refusing to step up as Rashad Evans‘s replacement opponent at UFC 133, Ortiz has now agreed to take the fight, which will come just five weeks after his shock upset of Ryan Bader at UFC 132. Oddly enough, Tito’s change-of-heart came after Lyoto Machida accepted the fight, then lost the opportunity during negotiations. We’ll let Dana White tell the story, via MMAJunkie:

“Machida accepted the fight. We knew for a couple days this was going down, and Machida accepted the fight. Then when we called back and said, ‘OK, we’re going to make this fight,’ Machida’s people came back and said, ‘We’ll tell you what. You pay us what you pay Anderson Silva, and we’ll take the fight.’ This was after they had already agreed to take the fight.

I said, ‘Are you [expletive] kidding me? I’ll tell you what. You tell Machida he achieves what [expletive] Anderson Silva has achieved, then maybe he’ll make Anderson Silva money. Have a nice day.’…

(Video courtesy of YouTube/NCAASteve)

- Oh, Geez….Siver Wants Title Shot if He Beats Wiman (FightersOnly)

- Sean O’Hair Saves Fan’s Life by Being Crappy at Golf (WithLeather)

- Eddie Bravo Sets July 10 Cut-Off for Royler Gracie to Pick Up Gauntlet and Accept ADCC Match (BJPenn)

- RuggedMMA: Arianny Celeste and UFC 132 (TheRugged)

- Bader Isn’t Going to Lay Down So Tito Can Keep His Job With the UFC (MMAWeekly)

- MadeMan of the Moment Interview: Urijah Faber (MadeMan)

- Eddie Goldman Talks HRT Therapy With Expert Doctor/Former NSAC Consultant (NHBRadio)

- Experiencing Love, Sex and Parenthood Through Creepy Japanese Robots (HolyTaco)

- Stripped MFC LW Champ Antonio McKee Given Belt Back by Promotion (Sportsnet)

- The ‘Jackass’ Crew Pays Tribute to Ryan Dunn (ScreenJunkies)

- Joe Rogan Says Decision to Return As Fear Factor Host Was Partially “Big Paper” Related (TMZ)

- “Warrior” Badmouths Michael Schiavello (YouTube)

(“What do you mean this is the judge and jury?)

Well, it didn’t take long for the other shoe to drop for Brett Rogers.

Hours after being arrested on multiple felonious domestic assault-related charges, former tire-changer Brett Rogers may have to go back to Sam’s Club to beg for his job back after he gets out of jail as Zuffa has terminated his Strikeforce contract.

According to MMAJunkie, UFC president Dana White announced the firing following today’s UFC 132 press conference. Usually when charges like this are laid, we wait to pass judgment until the facts of the case come out, but considering the fact that Rogers kids have told police that he hit them as well and that they witnessed the entire assault on their mother, knowing that young children rarely lie to authority figures to GET their parents into trouble, the case seems pretty cut and dry.

(Irony, how does it work? PicProps MMAJunkie)

CagePotato.com has learned that former UFC welterweight contender Karo “The Heat” Parisyan contacted the UFC to offer to step in for Nate Marquardt to face Rick Story on last night’s UFC Live on Versus 4 card.

According to a source close to Parisyan, the Armenian Judoka texted UFC president Dana White moments after the news broke that Marquardt was unable to compete on the card because he not met the medical testing requirements of the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission and would immediately be let go from the remainder of his Zuffa contract as a result, to let him know that he was in shape, his medicals were up to date and he could make the 170-pound welterweight limit in about in an hour or two. White, who chose instead to give Charlie Brenneman the fight, simply texted back, “:).”

If you missed Keyboard Warriors Monday, hey thanks. Nice to know someone actually appreciates all I do to entertain you jerkfaces. For the rest of you: hey guess what i did?

Yup, prepare yourselves for KBW #3! In the aftermath of the weekend’s Strikeforce action, Dana takes the time to address the heavyweights, evaluate their performances, and fill them in on his short terms plans. And his long term plans. Say what you will, but Big Daddy White dreams big, son.

If you are interested in 100% made up conversations between characters that are mostly fabrications, come on in and enjoy. Feel free to comment your little hands off. If you don’t like comedy … well, i’ve got nothing for you.

Why do you keep coming here again?

As always, thanks to Christopher and those jokers at WithLeather.

[RX]

(M-Bone is Dougie’ing in his grave right now. Props: Ariel Helwani)

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…

- Team Gina Carano Updates Strikeforce on Health Condition via Vague Email (5thRound)

- Pete Sell Returns to Competition After Two-Year Absence, Wins Ring of Combat Welterweight Title (TheFightNerd)

- The New CEO of ProElite Explains to Us How the Company Plans to Be the Number Two MMA Organization in the World (MiddleEasy)

- Werdum and Gloom: The Politics of Pulling Guard (NBC Sports MMA)

- Chad Griggs vs. Daniel Cormier Could Be ‘Logical Next Step’ for Strikeforce (MMA Fighting)

- Ring Girls Round-Up: Ashleigh Marley (LowKick)

- 28 Reasons We’d Love to Have Dana White’s Job (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- ‘UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber 2′ Conference Call Highlights (Five Ounces of Pain)

- UFC 133: Jorge Rivera Is Too Old to Keep Getting Punched in the Head (MMA Mania)

- Fedor Emelianenko: ‘Two Mistakes In A Row Cannot Be Coincidence’ (MMA Convert)

(The exact moment Tito’s fighting career jumped the shark.)

It’s amazing that with the UFC’s longtime policy of cutting fighters who lose three fights in a row, that Tito Ortiz, who is 0-3-1 in his past four fights hasn’t been fired yet. One would assume that “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” was being kept around because of his past merits and pay-per-view sales, but apparently his job isn’t as secure as we assumed.

According to Ortiz, the UFC was ready to let him go after his UFC 121 loss to Matt Hamill, but instead urged the former UFC light heavyweight champion to follow in the footsteps of longtime nemesis Chuck Liddell and retire to save them the trouble of sending him to the unemployment line. Tito says he basically begged Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta for one more kick at the cat and they begrudgingly agreed, throwing him in against a young lion in Ryan Bader at UFC 132.

“Dana White and Joe Silva [the UFC's matchmaker] told me they wanted me to retire, but I knew I still had the fight inside me.  I pretty much begged for my job, to show how much I want to fight, but I still have it in my heart to compete, to fight,” he told the UK Telegraph. I told them I want to still fight against the top guys, I want to put on a show. I’ve just turned 36, but when they put me against the top guys, I think I can still compete.”

Props to TheGarv for digging up these ’70s/’80s-era photos of UFC president Dana White. Obviously the money shot is that pic in the top right, in which a young DW does his best to smile through the pain of a Prince Valiant haircut and some obvious facial trauma. “Damn you, hair,” we imagine Young Dana saying. “I wish you would disappear…forever!” And now you know the rest of the story.

Previously: Even as a Baby, Brock Lesnar Would Swallow You Without Chewing

(“What about the Craftmatic adjustable bed we bought you,  Bob?!!”)

Well, the MMA legalization bill in New York just passed through yet another hoop today. A04146A was approved by a vote of 17-1 by the State Assembly’s Codes Committee. Insiders estimate that’s as close as it will get to becoming a law, however, since the next vote will be chaired by vehement MMA opposer, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in the Ways & Means Committee.

(Video courtesy of Videobb/fightvideomma)

If you listened to The Bum Rush Radio Show this week (and we’re pretty sure at least some of you did, right mom?) you would know our collective feelings on the inevitability that Kenny Florian would be handed another undeserved title shot if he beat Diego Nunes at UFC 131. Well, according to UFC president Dana White, KenFlo “pretty much” has dibs on Jose Aldo when the champ returns from nursing a nagging shoulder injury.

When asked at the post-UFC 131 press conference if Florian’s win earned him a shot at Aldo, White answered succinctly, “More than likely. How’s that for confirmation?” before adding “I’ve got a lot of respect for him. He deserves a shot at the title. No doubt about it.”

Happy Monday, Nation. We hope you had a good weekend. No, really, we hope you’re in a good mood, since we’re presenting the second installment of Keyboard Warrior. Hopefully everyone had naked funtime last night, slept like a baby, and had a great breakfast this morning. Otherwise, we imagine there will be lots of very not-nice things in the comments.

We’ve changed up the appearance of KBW, making it look more like a typical MMA forum, complete with the kind of critical information any Keyboard Warrior should have for important discussion, like join date and number of posts. Maybe now it won’t seem like we’re blatantly ripping off other peoples’ ideas.

You can read the first episode here (all two pages of it), check out number two, and then you’re welcome to leave suggestions, ideas, and odes to our greatness below.

Thanks again to WithLeather and @MrBrandonStroud for letting us blatantly rip off their ideas.

[RX]

There seems to be a growing trend of fighters getting dazzled by the bright lights of Hollywood, and thus far it hasn’t exactly been a wonderful experience for fight fans. In this interview with MMA H.E.A.T.’s Karyn Bryant, Jon Jones talks about his recent meeting with top execs at Warner Brothers to discuss potential movie roles.

There are two main reasons that one might be opposed to films starring MMA fighters. First off, by and large, they suck. Until very recently, fighters were relegated to roles in ‘C’ and ‘D’ list films, basically anything that was the third or fourth straight-to-video sequel to a hit from twenty years ago or a straight-to-video knockoff of a hit from twenty years ago. But even if the movie is a summer blockbuster, we’re stuck with reason two: these films will interfere with fights. Filming a movie takes a lot of time, and timing is everything in the fight game. If Hollywood takes a shining to Jones, it’s terrific for him and it would undoubtedly raise some mainstream awareness for our sport, but as a greedy fan I don’t want to see important fights delayed any longer than they absolutely must be.

Dana’s thoughts on thespian Jones and a small taste of his acting chops after the jump.

(Dana White runs down some current events with Ariel Helwani following the press conference. Props: MMAFighting)

The UFC hosted a press conference in Vancouver yesterday in advance of UFC 131, but the most interesting announcements had nothing to do with Saturday’s “Dos Santos vs. Carwin” event. Here’s a recap…

Five-round non-title fights: UFC president Dana White announced that the UFC will make non-title main event fights five rounds from now on; previously, only title fights were worthy of the five-round distinction. The rule doesn’t apply to non-title main events that are already booked — Dos Santos vs. Carwin, or Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis at UFC 133, for example — but it will apply to every non-title main event signed in the future, even for UFC Fight Night and UFC Live events.

Flyweight division in the works: According to White, the UFC will be adding a 125-pound division “really soon,” possibly by the end of 2011. He expected that some of the UFC’s current bantamweights would make the drop.

(Round 5′s new Talking Dana White action figure says eight phrases. All of them are “Fuck you.” / Photo courtesy of liverkick.)

The rules of Make It/Take It are simple. Two MMA writers face off on opposite sides of a hot-button topic, and make their case to the Potato Nation. The “winning” writer — based on number of votes cast in the poll on page 3 — returns next time to battle a different MMA pundit.

This week, “Writer X” from Parts Unknown (aka, a friend of ours from a different site who has chosen to remain anonymous*) goes up against CagePotato’s own Ben Goldstein. Read on, and let us know your thoughts…

* No, it’s not Maggie Hendricks. Or Chad Dundas.

“The UFC Needs a Businessman at the Helm, Not a Character”

By Writer X

Dana White and the Fertitta brothers have taken a sport that was once referred to as “human cockfighting” and built it into a business worth billions of dollars and for that they should be commended.

On its website, the UFC claims that it is the fastest growing sports organization in the world and while that very well be 100 percent true, is there really that much competition out there for them? NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, FIFA, these are all established organizations that have put in their time and gone through their growing pains. They all have been where the UFC is now.

The dilemma the UFC now faces is how does it grow beyond a niche sport into a major league sport like those mentioned above? To start, the promotion needs to move Dana White out of the spotlight and replace him with a new president that is more acceptable to the masses.

(Legal Disclaimer: Actual Bud Light contest winners will not be nearly as attractive as the people featured in this commercial. Props: officialbudlight)

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…

- Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza to Defend Strikeforce Title Against Luke Rockhold (5thRound)

- UFC 131 Tickets ‘Cannibalized’ by Vancouver Canucks NHL Finals Run and More (MMA Mania)

- Shane Carwin on Dos Santos: I’m Going to Knock Him Out or Tap Him Out and Feel No Remorse For It (LowKick)

- UFC 131 ‘Dos Santos vs. Carwin’ Pre-Fight Interview: Kenny Florian (MMA Convert)

- The 13 Strangest Fighting Styles to Ever Grace UFC’s Octagon (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Five Lessons: ‘TUF 13′ (NBC Sports MMA)

- Downes, Cope, and Kingsbury Top TUF 13 Finale Medical Suspensions (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Fight Journal: ‘Mayhem’ Miller Edition (MMA Fighting)

- Now You Can Watch Hector Lombard Give Joe Doerksen a Harry Potter Scar (MiddleEasy)

- “Combate Extremo” CEO Michael Shoffner talks about MMA in Mexico (TheFightNerd)

By CagePotato contributor Jason Moles

During the illustrious eighteen-year history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, we’ve witnessed countless brutal beatings, killer knockouts, and spectacular submissions. Simply put, we’ve witnessed a ton of holy $&*% moments!

I’m sure you have your favorites that you’ll share with your grandkids when you’re sitting in the old man’s chair. But have you ever stopped and asked yourself which moments in the past two decades were the biggest on a large scale? Well I did and I went to the largest scale imaginable: the almighty Google and here’s what I found. Remember, Google doesn’t have emotional or monetary interest at stake here. These moments are the ones that have generated the most web traffic via searches, not which ones impacted the sport the most.

5.) St. Pierre Beats Shields at UFC 129 – 04/30/2011

Why it’s ranked: Jake Shields left Strikeforce as champion so essentially casual fans and mainstream media alike viewed this as the first major inter-promotional, champion vs. champion fight. Georges St. Pierre, reigning UFC Welterweight champion and winner of nine straight came out on top of Shields who was riding a fifteen-fight win streak over the past five years.

The UFC went all in on this one hyping this event with the normal Countdown shows in addition to a pretty sweet commercial, the Primetime series, and a flyer in my mailbox reminding me to order the PPV. It was a huge moment in both men’s career primarily because it was the first tough competition either had faced in quite some time up to that point.  The underlying reason this mattered so much is that we all wanted to see the GSP vs. Silva super fight.

(“This damn knucklehead. Always saying what the rest of us are thinking. Ah, well.“)

If you read Kevin Iole’s follow-up on the Rogan/Hendricks situation that we linked on Friday, you’d know that Dana White initially did his best to avoid the topic altogether. Said DW: “Joe Rogan is an independent contractor and he wrote his opinion. And you are free to write your opinion of Joe Rogan’s opinion.”

White also released a statement on UFC.com clarifying that Rogan’s UG posts were not sanctioned by anybody but Joe himself, and they weren’t particularly appreciated by the company:

Joe Rogan recently made an offensive statement reflecting a personal opinion that does not represent the UFC in any way. I have addressed this directly with Joe.

UFC president Dana White made an otherwise slow news day into an exciting one that fight fans have been waiting for for a long time with a simple tweet that was succinct and to the point.

“U wanted it! U GOT IT!!!”

What we will get will be a welterweight showdown between UFC champ Georges St-Pierre and Strikeforce champ Nick Diaz at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Although he didn’t say whether or not both (or any of the two for that matter) titles will be on the line, does it really matter?

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

In this episode of his UFC 130 vlog, Dana  spends some time with his son, attends the UFC Fighter Summit and gears up for this weekend’s event.

If you don’t have time to watch it or your boss is a tight ass who banned YouTube in your workplace, the key points in a nutshell are after the jump.

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s nine-fight UFC career has been one of can-crushing highs and head-rattling lows. After suffering consecutive knockout loses against Frank Mir and Brendan Schaub, Dana White claimed that we’d seen the last of Cro Cop in the UFC. But DW had a change of heart yesterday, telling reporters that he owes Filipovic another fight, and the 36-year-old Croatian veteran will be returning to the Octagon. As he explained:

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

Dana White’s fight week video blogs are back for UFC 130 this weekend, but the most interesting part of this edition is something that happened at UFC 129 last month in Toronto.

At around the 1:00 mark, White has a brief interaction in the locker room with Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz and to say it was awkward would be a major understatement. Dana tries to make smalltalk with Nick and it seems like he’s trying to talk to a child.

(Props: Heavy.com)

Despite recent rumors that Georges St. Pierre and Nick Diaz are slated to face off at UFC 140 — and were the most likely candidates to coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter — UFC president Dana White wants to make it clear that it ain’t happening. As he tells travel-size interviewer Megan Olivi in a new interview (quotes via FightOpinion):

“That fight is not a done deal and I guarantee you that those two will not be coaches, not even close. All this stuff that’s out there about that fight and the meeting that we had here is all bullshit.”

Asked if GSP vs. Diaz would be happening at the UFC’s return to Montreal in December, DW responded with a simple “no.” Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time that the UFC has denied a report just so they could announce it themselves later — but at the very least, relying on Nick Diaz to coach TUF for an entire season seems like way too much to ask, when he can’t even get through an eight-minute interview without threatening to slap somebody.

1 by Zuffaforce

Dana White was interviewed by Forbes $ports Money while he was in Toronto for UFC 129 last month and as always the UFC president had a lot to say.

Among other items, The Baldfather touched on some hot button topics like the UFC’s plans for Strikeforce, whether or not women’s MMA will survive the merger and what prompted the minority stake sale of 10 percent of the company to Flash Entertainment.

Check out the transcription of some of the key quotes from the show after the jump.

(You need how much? Damn. OK, but I want some new XXL leather headrests for my G6.)

The Las Vegas Review Journal reported today that former UFC light heavyweight champ Tito Ortiz has been tied to a murder conspiracy court case that involves a father who is accused of hiring a hitman to kill his son.

According to court documents, Keith Herriman is alleged to have hired an unidentified person to shoot his son, Dominick, who is said to have slept with both his father’s ex-wife and ex-girlfriend and who testified in February that his old man had used $160,000 he fraudulently obtained through an insurance scam to buy crack.

You know a family is dysfunctional if it make’s Tito’s seem like the Cleavers.

(Hell in the ring, silent on elevators.)

Any time two heavyweights with a history of testing positive get into a bi-lingual war of words, you can book us for a ringside seat. Such was the case this week when Josh Barnett and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva launched into the now nearly obligatory online fighter beef session. Silva got the ball rolling during an interview with Sherdog, wherein (apparently apropos of nothing) he lashed out at Barnett for – among other things – ignoring Brazilian fighters on elevators. So … that was weird.

If we had to guess, we’d say Bigfoot is feeling a little lonely and cranky after being kind of overlooked in all the hype, speculation and gratuitous match-up fantasizing that’s gone on since the UFC-Strikeforce merger. After all, Bigfoot became the latest dude to slay the unslayable Fedor Emelianenko back in February. You’d think that was worth something, right? And then pictures of Barnett exchanging bro-grabs with Dana White show up on the Internet? Why, that’d be enough to set any giant’s blood to a boilin’. His attacks, along with Barnett’s response are after the jump.

(Parisyan says although his demons are behind him, they’ll always be chasing him. PicProps: Sherdog)

Karo Parisyan is ready to turn the page.

With the last chapter of his life and his career behind him, the 28-year-old who overcame a highly publicized battle with painkiller abuse and anxiety is hoping that the headlines about his personal and professional struggles the past three years will eventually become footnotes in his life story rather than the main subject.

“When I put my life story out about all of the sh*t I’ve been through and everything that’s happened to me, even my parents will be like, ‘Oh my God,’ when they read it. They don’t even know the half of it.”

Page one of the new chapter of Parisyan’s story starts Thursday night in London, Ontario when he squares off with highly regarded Canadian welterweight Ryan Ford at MMA Live 1 and he says the main difference this time around is that he’s writing the story for himself and not for others like he’s been doing his whole life.

“I’ve been through hell and I’m still on the way back home. I hope people can understand and not judge me for the mistakes I made. I’m doing this for myself. I’m tired of worrying about this person or that person. My family always has my back, but I need to look after myself. I want to get out there and do this for me so I can feel good about myself again. I used to think a lot about what everybody thought about me and now I don’t care. I’ve been training since I was eight years old and competing as long as I can remember and I got burnt out,” Parisyan recalls. “I let the pressure get to me. I had the pressure of representing my friends, my family, Armenians, judo etc…etc. What I realize now is that except your age, what goes up must come down, so you need to not let every little thing get to you because that’s when the pressure will eat at you until you break.”