(Sometimes purple lipstick happens in MMA commentating.)

According to a Sports Illustrated report, MMA’s most maligned play-by-play commentator Gus Johnson is leaving CBS to work for Fox.

Not sure if this has anything to do with the fact that the UFC bought Strikeforce and UFC president Dana White has made no secret of the fact that he doesn’t care for Johnson’s fight calling abilities and as such it seemed unlikely that GuJo would be included in their vision of business as usual .

(“Hey you guys!!! Can I get a Baby Ruth?”)

UFC featherweight Mark Hominick was on The Fan 590 RadioMonday morning where he spoke with host Andrew Krystal about his gutsy fight at UFC 129 against Jose Aldo this past weekend.

According to “The Machine,” who says the gruesome hematoma he incurred during the bout was “merely a flesh wound,” the UFC brass were so impressed with his performance Saturday night that they have assured him that if he can put together a couple more wins, he’ll get another crack at the the promotion’s 145-pound strap.

Check out what Hominick had to say after the jump.

(“Minimum wage, child labor laws, eight-hour work day – that stuff’s for pussies.”)

For a couple of years now word has been percolating that the real reason MMA can’t seem to successfully find its way through the New York State Assembly might have less to do with the sport itself than with Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta’s purported anti-union business practices back home in Nevada. The Spark Notes version is this: The Fertittas’ Station Casinos group is reportedly the largest non-union company in Las Vegas and has a longstanding beef with a powerful nationwide hotel and restaurant workers’ union called Unite Here, which claims Vegas’ Culinary Union Local 226 as its largest chapter. That relationship turned even more icy in 2000, when the brothers allegedly fired 850 of 1,000 union employees working at a casino they’d just acquired. Ever since then the union has done everything it can to put political pressure on the Fertittas’ various business ventures, including bringing its considerable lobbying clout to bear in opposition to the UFC operating in New York.

Anybody who’s ever seen a Martin Scorsese movie knows you can’t piss off one of the country’s biggest labor unions and expect to do business in the Empire State, right? That’d be like publishing nude photos of one of the UFC’s ring girls on your website and expecting to still get press credentials. Just wrong-headed and crazy. Anyway, UFC Prez Dana White has long stayed mum about the Fertitta’s feud with big labor, but this week White mustered his usual political savvy and velvet-glove oratory skills to break down MMA’s New York legalization efforts thusly …

(Mendes thinks he can expose Aldo on the ground using his wrestling prowess)

Number one UFC featherweight contender Chad Mendes watched Jose Aldo grind out a decision win over Mark Hominick live at the Rogers Centre in Toronto and walked away from the event with the confidence that he can beat the previously thought invincible UFC featherweight champion.

Mendes told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto yesterday that he isn’t buying the excuse that the Aldo was sick going into the bout or that the strain of cutting weight after adding muscle the past several months left him in a weakened state strength and conditioning-wise.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/GroundandPoundTV1)

Nick Diaz was interviewed Saturday night by a vampire following a disappointing 0-3 showing by his Team Cesar Gracie teammates at UFC 129 in Toronto.

When asked by the sunlight-fearing interviewer if a bout with Georges St-Pierre is on the horizon since his training partner Jake Shields lost to the UFC 170-pound kingpin over the weekend, the Strikeforce welterweight champ didn’t beat around the bush.

“I didn’t know if they’d be talking about [a fight between me and Georges] or what, but you should let me get in there with that guy, you know? They had him in there with my partner and look what happened. to him. What do you think’s gonna happen if they put him in there with me? I don’t know. I’d like to start gettin’ paid up here,” Nick says. “I’d like to get that fight or I’d like to make somethin’ happen here — somethin’ different, somethin’ big, you know? I’m tired of the same thing over and over again. It’s gettin’ old. This is gettin’ old for me. That’s just how I feel.”

(Props: MMAWeeklyVideos)

…and here’s why. More proof that Dana White at UFC Fan Expo Q+As — much like a mafioso on the day of his daughter’s wedding — is highly receptive to outlandish requests.

Speaking of Fan Expos, the UFC has officially announced that their next one will take place October 7th and 8th at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. The two-day event will coincide with a yet-to-be-announced UFC pay-per-view card on 10/8, which will likely be hosted at the Toyota Center.

(“What, that bright light? It shines down on us from heaven. Come see how it feels, Scott. Nice, right?”)

Despite everybody’s continued claims that things have never been better inside Strikeforce, we know the UFC has already taken over the company’s relations with the media and begun poaching its biggest stars. Now, it seems UFC executives are also neck deep in Strikeforce’s business, reportedly working (at least for the time being) to make sure the smaller fight promotion’s top remaining draws are happy. That’s the word out of Toronto on Thursday, where multiple reports say Dana White will meet with Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz after UFC 129 and that co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta is already seeing to the task of making the proposed superfight between Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson become a reality.

First and foremost, White seems understandably concerned with Diaz’s apparent designs on bolting MMA for boxing. As quickly as plans to have the Stockton bad boy fight Fernando Vargas fell apart a couple weeks back, new reports surfaced saying former super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy might be interested. Perhaps most interestingly, White said this week Diaz’s contract actually does allow for such foolishness – which is another good example of why UFC people need to be up in SF’s business – but he’s obviously not crazy about the idea.

(You’re lucky you’re not a fat ugly bully, Jake. PicProps: Tracy Lee/CombatLifestyle.com)

If you missed the UFC 129 press conference, have no fear, we’ve got you covered with the short and sweet version of what went down today in Toronto.

If you want to waste 45 minutes watching the whole shebang, we will have the video up within the hour. Alternatively, you can watch it on UFC.com.

For the rest of us that have shit to do tonight, the Cliff’s Notes are after the jump.

(As if we need an excuse to use this picture. Props: ESPN)

Remember earlier this week when we discussed our worries that Randy Couture was already making qualifying statements about his planned retirement? Turns out, Dana White also has his doubts. To hear DW tell it, it sounds like Ol’ Captain America is starting to get more and more salty with all the questions he’s facing about his future this week and – true to form – during the official UFC 129 pre-fight presser the UFC Prez didn’t shy away from telling us how he really feels about Couture’s plan to make Saturday’s bout with Lyoto Machida his last. Props to MMA Fighting for the somewhat exhaustive quotes, which we trimmed down a bit.

“No,” White responded when asked if he believed Couture’s talk about hanging up his gloves. “I’m going to go out there and say it again. I know he was chirping, he was mad at me earlier, but … Randy Couture, I’ve been saying it and you guys have been standing in front of me when I said it. This guy is one of the top 10 best in the world … Who knows with this guy? I’m not saying it’s not time for him to retire but who knows? He’s such a competitor that every time there’s something out there and he says, ‘You know what? I think I can beat this guy,’ I think he’s going to come out and try to do it.”

Jobbi.com announced today that it has formed a partnership with Zuffa to help the parent company of the UFC and Strikeforce recruit fighters.

According to the company’s co-founder Lawrence Vaughan, applicants will receive feedback from members of the job search hub which will help improve their standing on the site and may lead to them gaining the attention of UFC brass.

“Together with the UFC, we’ve created a streamlined process that makes it simple for new fighters and UFC management to connect with each other. There is also a social component that makes it easy for general public to get involved. People can talk with fighters, watch videos of applicants, and show their support for their favorite fighters,” explained Vaughan. “It is an exciting, ongoing process to determine who will ultimately get their dream job fighting for the UFC.”

(If Rashad tests positive for anything after this fight it will likely be Prozac.)

A torn tendon in his hand that he suffered in his UFC 128 light heavyweight championship win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has forced Jon Jones to bow out of his August UFC 133 grudge match against former training partner Rashad Evans. Stepping in for the injured champion in the bout will be Phil Davis.

The news was first reported this morning by Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press and was later announced by the UFC.

It seems like Rashad can’t get a break these days.

(“That’s a great question, Fabricio. Actually, Chuck and I have found that through careful investment research it’s possible to locate dependable mutual funds that can average as much as 12 percent annual growth over the long term.”)

Look, we gotta believe there are a limited number of fake jobs that Zuffa, LLC can possibly make up for aging former fighters as the company’s way of saying, “Thanks for getting punched in the head for so many years so Dana could buy a new Ferrari.” Chuck already has one, Matt Hughes obviously wants one and now MMA grandpa Randy Couture is making noise about wanting one too. Not for nothing, but if we were Liddell we might be getting a little nervous right now. I mean, if you could choose to have Couture as your phony Vice President of Business Development instead of THIS GUY, you’d do it in a heartbeat, right? Office politics can be a bitch that way.

(“I kill a communist for fun, but for a green card, I gonna carve him up real nice.” Pic: Underhooks.com)

It took a while for Dana White and the always capable Sergio Non to really get down to business during the UFC boss’ Wednesday interview with USA Today. Both guys spent a lot of time making the obligatory small talk about UFC 129, Silva vs. Okami and which weight class Frankie Edgar should be fighting in before the actual questions came out of the quiver. Once they began in earnest, White characteristically did not shy away from giving us The Full Dana on any number of topics.

Among them, DW expresses his belief that the UFC didn’t really have any competition in the MMA marketplace, even before the acquisition of Strikeforce. Now, we’re not totally sure how that jives with his claims last month that the UFC is not a monopoly, but whatevs. Moving on … Non also becomes (as far as we know) the first “mainstream” reporter to personally ask White about his company’s denial of media credentials to several high-profile MMA reporters during last weekend’s Strikeforce event. White responds by saying those people he’s banned are “dirty, dirty, dirty” and they’ll never be credentialed until somebody pries the UFC from his cold, dead hands. Throughout it all White lists back and forth between sounding totally likable (which kind of kills us to admit, but it’s true) and sounding a little like Tony Montana from Scarface.

If we had to pick one quote to serve as a microcosm for the whole interview – which we present here admittedly totally out of context – it would be this one: “Listen, I own the fucking thing,” Dana says. “At some point, you’ve got to get over it, you know what I mean?”

(My God, the muckraking! Pic: Strikeforce)

After being denied media access to cover last weekend’s Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley for CBS Sports (and apparently buying a ticket and going anyway), longtime reporter Loretta Hunt conducted a video chat with fellow scribe Jason Probst on Monday to discuss the ongoing banishment of many of the sport’s best-known journalists from events controlled by the UFC. We missed it, but since Zuffa, LLC’s brazen efforts to marginalize media it doesn’t deem friendly enough to its own interests is perhaps the biggest story consistently ignored by “credentialed” MMA sites (for obvious reasons, right?), we figure some of it needs repeating.

For starters, Hunt claims the honchos at CBS Sports are not impressed that Zuffa continues to conduct media relationships like a 13-year-old girl deciding who can ride the pony at her birthday party. It appears that heavy-hitters like CBS are used to a certain amount of professionalism from the entities they cover and the UFC obviously sorely lacks in that department. Zuffa has been such a pain in the ass that Hunt says CBS might just chuck it the fuck-it bucket and stop covering MMA entirely. So, that seems counterproductive. Her quotes – with props to Fight Opinion for the original transcriptions — and some of our own musings are after the jump …

Dana White’s long-held opinion of Nick Diaz goes something like this: He’s a talented kid, but he won’t be welcome back in the UFC until he learns how to “play the game.” Just before Diaz’s first-round TKO victory over Paul Daley on Saturday, White spoke to Ariel Helwani in more detail about Strikeforce’s anti-social welterweight champion (discussion starts at the 3:24 mark, translation via FightOpinion):

“When I listen to Nick Diaz talk, you know, this kid’s talented, he’s well-rounded, I like his attitude and the way that he carries himself…to a point. He always crosses the line every time he gets out there and talks publicly and…he can be such a big star. This kid could be a big star if he would just calm down a little bit and not so be so angry with everybody. I mean, seriously, who the fuck wants to beat up Ariel Helwani, man? Other than other reporters, who wants to beat up Ariel Helwani? Nick has this talent and he talks about the big money and all the other things. He can make this big money. He can do that. He can be that guy. He could fight GSP. He could have all these opportunities. He’s got to tone it down a little bit, you know, and I don’t think that many people out there would disagree with me and I’m not asking Nick Diaz not to be Nick Diaz. I like Nick Diaz. I like the way he is and it’s part of the appeal of him, you know. But you gotta tone it down just a little bit…if we could get Nick to a point where he doesn’t cross the line and he doesn’t get so crazy all the time, he could be a big star. People like him. And people dislike him, too. That’s not a bad thing.”

To this, we would ask: Tone what down, exactly? It’s been three years since the last time Diaz let weed affect his MMA career, and one year since the last time he participated in an in-cage brawl on national television; he’s actually been on his best behavior for a long damn time. Is a tense interview with Ariel Helwani really evidence that the UFC can’t work with one of the most talented fighters in the world? Can’t we just let Nick be Nick? And then you see Diaz’s post-fight interview with Helwani, and you’re like, “oh, right.” See what we mean after the jump…

(Wrap your fucking head around THAT….and no, it isn’t a Photoshop.)

When UFC president Dana White said he probably wouldn’t attend any Strikeforce events because of the enemies he had made who are associated with the promotion and its broadcast partner, Showtime, nobody seemed very surprised, but when the Balfather showed up at the Valley View Casino Center a couple hours ago for tonight’s SF event in San Diego people nearly lost their shit.

We gotta admit, seeing Dana with his arms around Strikeforce and UFC CEOs Scott Coker and Lorenzo Fertitta is pretty fucking bizarre, kinda like when he french-kissed Tito. Hopefully he’s there to enjoy the show, not to hand out pink slips to Strikeforce employees (unless we’re talking Gus Johnson) and to have reporters he doesn’t like escorted from the premises.

We want to believe that he isn’t going to get rid of Strikeforce like he did PRIDE, the WFA and the WEC.

Here’s hoping his tune hasn’t changed from November when he said:

“We couldn’t care less [what Strikeforce is doing], but we don’t want them to blow their brains out and go away. We need these guys to exist. Listen, whether they want to believe it or not, they’re the small show. They’re a feeder show. Whether they want to believe it, that’s what they are. We need them.”

Strikeforce has consistently put on quality fights and solid events the past handful of shows and tonight’s event is no exception.

Enough about business as usual, let’s talk Strikeforce.

(“Look mom, no future!” Pic: Las Vegas Sun)

If 13 seasons of “The Ultimate Fighter” have taught us anything, it’s that we will never see Keon Caldwell again. Truth is, you can get away with a lot of things on “TUF” and very little of it really has anything to do with being a professional fighter. You can piss in somebody’s fruit tray. You can piss in somebody’s bed. You can piss in somebody’s workout gear. Hell, you can even get drunk and piss in your own pants and as long as you don’t cause an embarrassing public scene at a casino later, you’ll probably be fine. After approximately 160 episodes however, one thing we know you absolutely can not do is quit the UFC’s popular reality show.

In choosing to leave “TUF” of his own free will this week, Caldwell essentially committed career suicide. Of all the bullshit UFC fighters can do and be forgiven — Steroids? Fine. Federal crimes? Whatever. High speed chases with the cops? No problem – it’s strange to think that quitting a TV program is a sin that simply can’t be absolved. It’s true though, leave “TUF” and you might as well be a child molester. You’re done. Finito. Dead to them. Time to start thinking about community college.

More than any of the ridiculous “made for TV” aspects of the show – more than the editing designed to bury him or his coach’s cartoonish disappointment or Dana White’s self-righteous fuming — that’s what made Caldwell’s exit from the show so hard to watch this week. As fake as the rest of “TUF” may be, one fact is very real: We just saw a 22-year-old kid euthanize his own dream on national television, seemingly without fully grasping the consequences.

(‘Diaz vs. Daley’ video hype, via ESPN)

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…

- Gegard Mousasi Speaks About Upcoming Fight with Keith Jardine (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- 40 of the Greatest Dana White F-Bombs in the History of the UFC (MiddleEasy)

- From Heavyweight to Bantamweight: Seven Future UFC Champions (LowKick)

- Paul Daley: “I’m Not a Kiss-Ass, I’m Not Really a Company Guy” (5thRound)

- Mayhem Miller Moves Past Nick Diaz Feud, Vows to ‘Beat the Brakes Off’ UFC Middleweights (MMA Fighting)

- The Tragedy of the Murder of Sergio Salcido (MMA Convert)

- Fabricio Werdum Eyeing UFC Title-Shot After Strikeforce Grand Prix (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Georges St. Pierre Pretty Damn Confident He’s Going to Beat Jake Shields (MMA-Scraps)

- ‘TUF’ Talk: How Important is Lesnar’s Stint on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’? (Versus MMA Beat)

- MMA Rankings: Alvarez & Wilcox Stay Put At Lightweight (Fight Magazine)

(“Tap? That wasn’t a tap. It was Morse code for ‘You’re dead!’”)

Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer is undecided about whether or not Michael Bisping or Chael Sonnen would be approved as coaching candidates for The Ultimate Fighter if either UFC middleweight applied for a coaching license.

Kizer revealed today MMAJunkie today that Sonnen met with NSAC and UFC officials three weeks ago to discuss remarks he made during his California State Athletic Commission hearing in December to appeal a suspension for high levels of testosterone found in his system in a urine test administered prior to his UFC 117 championship bout with Anderson Silva. During the CSAC hearing, Sonnen testified that he had asked for and received verbal approval for the his prescribed use of synthetic testosterone by Kizer — a claim Kizer flatly denies.

(Three seasons later, the ‘Innerme‘ still looms large…)

With a big-name crossover star like Brock Lesnar as one of the coaches for this season of The Ultimate Fighter, we wondered if TUF 13‘s viewership ratings would land anywhere near TUF 10‘s — the heavyweight season featuring Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans as coaches and Kimbo Slice as one of the heavyweight hopefuls. According to the numbers released by Spike, TUF 13‘s premiere ratings couldn’t hold a candle to Kimbo.

Wednesday’s show attracted an average of 1.5 million viewers and a 1.0 household rating, and earned the highest viewership numbers for men 18-34 and 18-49 in its new 9 p.m. time slot, with ratings of 1.93 and 1.51, respectively. Still, that’s a far cry from the 4.1 million average viewers that TUF 10 earned in its premiere. It’s also a slight decline from last season’s Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck premiere, which attracted 1.6 million viewers — which was itself a decline from the 1.9 million viewers brought in by the TUF 11: Liddell vs. Ortiz premiere. In fact, the TUF 13 premiere was the least successful debut episode in series history, in terms of household rating.

Responding to the news, UFC president Dana White was in full-on hater-hurtin’ mode, posting the following on the UG: “SINCE WHEN IS 1.5 MILLIONS VIEWERS BAD? People have been saying it is dead since season 4. Sit back and watch bitches or don’t. TUF isnt going anywhere!!!! deal with it.“ Fair enough. But the downward trend can’t be ignored. So what went wrong?

Well, apparently our Free CagePotato campaign finally broke through the seemingly impenetrable armor around Dana White’s heart that only a handful of people including Stephan Bonnar, Forrest Griffin and Chuck Liddell have been able to breach.

(Sub Scott Coker in for Mase and Dana White in for Diddy and you’ll have a winning formula, guaranteed.)

If there’s anything MMA history has shown, it’s that to be a successful promotion, you need to have a hype man. That’s why some promotions never make it past the plateau of mediocrity they are stuck on.

Don’t believe me? Check out the evidence.

Before Zuffa purchased the UFC back in 2001, the company really didn’t have a face like professional wrestling and boxing did with Vince McMahon and Don King, which is what was holding the promotion back from mainstream success.

Reinventing himself with a Headblade, a vintage t-shirt and a “Do you want to be a fucking fighter?” speech, a bell boy-turned-boxercise instructor from Boston  cracked the code giving MMA promoters the formula for how to be successful: reinvent yourself and become a bigger enigma than your fighters or your promotion.

The break down of how The Baldfather became THE quintessential MMA promoter in the game is after the jump.

(Mike V., representing at WWE Raw)

Yeeeaaaaahhh buddy! Time to give away some more Free CagePotato t-shirts to those of you who posted “Free CagePotato” signs on our Facebook wall, or sent a unique and persuasive tweet @danawhite with the #freecagepotato tag. If we ran your photo or tweet this week, please e-mail your name, shirt-size, and address to contest@cagepotato.com, and we’ll hook you up…as soon as the shirts come in. (Be patient, guys.) Thanks for the support, and please continue to submit your entries for a chance to be recognized next week. More good stuff after the jump…

(Mike S., doing his Jake Shields impression. Damn, how’d you get all those Hall of Fame shirts?)

(Props: mmachiro)

So here’s how we’ll do this: Every week, we’ll announce a handful of our favorite #freecapotato Twitter messages and Facebook photos. As promised, those people will all get “Free CagePotato” t-shirts; if we run your photo or tweet, please e-mail your name, shirt-size, and address to contest@cagepotato.com, and we’ll hook you up. Lots more after the jump…

(Props: Miles B.)

During an online live chat this afternoon for The Seattle Times to promote Saturday’s UFC Fight Night show, Dana White answered a question that’s been on the minds of many fans recently: Who is Shane Carwin fighting next? Wrote DW:

“As for Shane Carwin: Jon Olav Einemo. That’s his next opponent. He’s from Norway. He’s 6 foot 6, and he’s the Abu Dabi submission champion.”

The matchup has not yet been tied to a specific date or event. [Update: MMAJunkie says it's happening at UFC 131, June 11th in Vancouver]. A member of Team Golden Glory, Einemo (6-1) signed with the UFC earlier this month, and last competed in June 2010 when he defeated Kresimir Bogdanovic in Bosnia. (At least according to MMAFighting.com; none of the major MMA databases have a record of that fight actually happening.) Before that, Einemo’s most recent appearance was an armbar victory over James Thompson in November 2006. The only loss on his record came at the hands of Fabricio Werdum, who outpointed him at PRIDE 31 earlier that year.

(Vid: MMA Fighting)

For being one of MMA’s more tried-and-true institutions, there is always something a little awkward about those postfight confrontations in the cage between champion and challenger. Emotions are running high and the heat of the moment has a way of testing fighters’ grasp of the English language, spawning hilarious internet memes and sometimes even sparking enormous, embarrassing brawls. Still, we’re not sure our sport has ever seen an in-ring altercation as hard-to-watch as Jon Jones and Rashad Evans at UFC 128. Both dudes looked more like they were entering into a suicide pact than agreeing to face-off in a professional sporting contest as they mumbled halfhearted “trash” talk into Joe Rogan’s microphone and then sealed their impending friend-vs.-friend fight with the world’s least enthusiastic handshake.

We’re talking second-season-of-the-British-“Office” levels of discomfort here, like The Situation bombing at Donald Trump’s roast or Carl Lewis singing the anthem at that Bulls game. Everybody involved (including us) couldn’t wait for it to be over. Immediately afterward, when Evans cut the above interview with Ariel Helwani where he declares he’s “done” working with Greg Jackson’s camp and then Jackson himself had to think of five or six different ways to explain how badly this situation sucks for him, we realized: We’re just getting started here. In Jones vs. Rashad, we may be poised on the brink of the most uncomfortable feud in UFC history.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/Tatame)

- Jackson Resizing Jones’ Mountain to Climb at UFC 128 (TheRugged)

- Enter MiddleEasy’s ‘Design a Shirt, Save Japan’ Contest! 100% profit going to the ‘Save The Children’ charity (MiddleEasy)

- Find out why 81 movies are called that in two minutes (ScreenJunkies)

- Dana White debates the MMA in NY issue (MMAConvert)

- The 7 douchiest super heroes of all time (Clutch.MTV)

- UFC 128 weigh-in video (MMAFightVideosOnline)

- Jerry Millen alleges M-1 Global is in massive debt (FightersOnly)

- A vagina like a clown car (HolyTaco)

- ‘Jon Jones: In the moment’ outdraws UFC 128 countdown show (MMAJunkie)

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

Damn, New Yorkers are crazy for the UFC — that and free shit. I can’t imagine begging Dana and the fighters for their clothes, tickets or autographs. Maybe it’s just me.

The Cliffs Notes of this episode are after the jump.

(Who says you can’t go home? Pic: SB Nation)

Sometimes it feels like nearly every middleweight fighter not crippled, crazy or comatose has gone on record in the last few months expressing a desire to fight Wanderlei Silva. At the risk of turning this post into a glorified game of MMA telephone, the reconstructed timeline looks something like this … buckle up, because this is going to get complicated …

Chael Sonnen called out Wanderlei a while back – and the two were briefly rumored as “TUF” coaches – before it turned out Sonnen had a little something-something he had to take care of first. That left Chris Leben to call out Wanderlei following his win over Yoshihiro Akiyama, only to fall to Brian Stann and then see Stann steal his idea. A bout between Stann and Silva was even fleetingly confirmed, before it seemed like Wanderlei begged off, saying he didn’t want to play the heel against an American Hero. Silva himself then turned around and called out Vitor Belfort, but Belfort ignored that come-on and said he wanted to fight Michael Bisping. (Bisping being the guy you call out if you haven’t already called out Wanderlei Silva, we guess.) OK, deep breath. You with us so far?

This week Leben reiterated his desire to fight Wanderlei and then Wanderlei supporters allegedly launched a Twitter revolution directed at Dana White, urging him to make the fight between the two sluggers. Guess what, though? White ain’t even trying to hear that, see. He wants Wanderlei to fight Belfort, maybe in a big money fight at UFC Rio later this year. But NOW guess who may not want to fight Vitor? That’s right, Wanderlei. Wait, what? An attempt to make sense of it all after the jump …

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

It’s UFC fight week, which means Dana White is back with another video blog giving us mortal men a small behind-the-scenes glimpse of his life as a multi-millionaire jet-setter.