You can always count on a local morning radio DJ to give you hard-hitting interviews. Richmond, Virginia’s “Morning Sludge” on Y101 (new rock!) has done it here with an exclusive Dana White interview the day before UFC 86. It doesn’t take long before they begin talking Affliction, and White rips right into them for selling “fucking t-shirts for a living.”

The radio host, however, seems more bothered by the people “in the club” who wear Affliction gear and inevitably end up “c-blocking” him. Our condolences, sir.

Other highlights of the interview include Dana White saying that the internet is “where the pussies live” and claiming that the UFC has been in business for twenty years. So, it began in 1988? I had no idea.

In other radio news, Ariel Helwani and I interviewed Jake O’Brien on MMA Rated Radio to talk about his upcoming bout against Cain Velasquez, and let’s just say that the outcome was…uncomfortable. I don’t know if he just didn’t want to do the interview or if O’Brien is some kind of narcoleptic, but it was certainly unique. Give it a listen and bask in the awkwardness.

(Get ready for war, kind of.)

With Elite XC’s next CBS show planned for July 26, the UFC is once again putting on its counter-programming hat (which one assumes looks a lot like a viking helmet) to try and screw with their ratings. So what is it this time? Anderson Silva fighting a pack of wolves live on Spike TV? The debut of the long-awaited Chuck Liddell-Girl Scout Troop 104 sex tape?

Not quite. Try a rebroadcast of UFC 84: Ill Will, featuring B.J. Penn and Sean Sherk. Spike TV will be running it all night, beginning at 9 pm EST, to be preceded at 4 pm by a rebroadcast of the Silva vs. Irvin Fight Night from a week before, just in time to match main events with the Showtime portion of the Elite XC card, which begins at 8 pm.

Oh, the indignity.

Realistically, the UFC couldn’t be expected to do much more than this just one week after their frantically thrown together anti-Affliction show, but it’s still got to sting a bit to know the UFC thinks reruns are all it takes to draw attention away from your live event on network TV.

Five Ounces of Pain is reporting that Dana White has his own network deal close to finalized. While we’ve all heard this siren’s song before, this time there’s a time frame involved:

“We’re real close to a network,” said Dana White, “I’m going to say in three months.”

As for which network, the smart money’s on Fox, though we’ll believe it when we see it. We’ve been burned too many times before and we just don’t know if we can go through that hurt again.

UFC Fight Night 14 – Watch more free videos

Here’s the UFC’s ad for their anti-Affliction show on July 19, which is now being billed as “UFC: Silva vs. Irvin”. If you think it’s purely a coincidence that they’ve opted to use language like “best fighter on the planet” with reference to a free event featuring Anderson Silva, while meanwhile Fedor Emelianenko fights elsewhere on the same night, then you haven’t been paying attention.

In politics, this would be a great example of using code words to send a message to certain demographics without alienating others. In this scenario, that demographic is hardcore fans, and the message is clear: Anderson Silva is a better pound-for-pound fighter than Fedor, plus our show is free.

For the more casual fans, they also manage to justify showing Chuck Liddell, “Rampage” Jackson, and light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin (still feels weird to type that) simply by mentioning the “stacked” 205-pound division. Well-played, UFC.

Unless the Affliction pay-per-view numbers exceed all expectations, the UFC can also take credit for torpedoing their event once it’s all over. Something tells me Dana White has his ‘I told you so’ speech ready to go.

(Be careful what you wish for…)

His split decision victory over Ricardo Almeida at UFC 86 may not have been electrifying to watch, but it was enough to get Patrick Cote a shot at the middleweight title. At least, that’s what the UFC is saying.

“He’s getting a title shot,” Dana White said following Cote’s victory.

The question now is, when? The Canadian Press says that after his fight with James Irvin, Silva will most likely defend his middleweight strap against Yushin Okami at UFC 88 in Atlanta, which would mean less than two months between bouts for Silva. Two months after that, they say, is when Cote is likely to get his chance.

Apparently not everyone was happy with Cote’s performance, though:

There was some drama outside the cage after the fight. Manager Stephane Patry said a UFC official — not White — had berated his fighter for the lacklustre bout. Patry said he promptly complained to UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, who assured him Cote would be treated right.

“Obviously it wasn’t the most exciting fight but Lorenzo’s a good guy, he understands,” Patry said.

Now we get to play everyone’s favorite game, “Guess That Mystery UFC Official”. My money’s on Wilder Valderrama. He’s an official, right?

Barring any unexpected defeats or freak injuries, Anderson Silva will fight at least three more times by the year’s end, Dana White said in a press conference held yesterday. First, of course, is his light-heavyweight debut against James Irvin at UFN 14 on July 19th. Said White:

“If everything goes well, he wants to move back to 185 and fight Sept. 6 in Atlanta [at UFC 88], probably against Yushin Okami, then he wants to fight again two months later.”

And who might that next opponent be?

“(Ricardo Almeida) and Patrick Cote are going to fight on Saturday night and see who’s next in line for Anderson Silva’s 185-pound title,” said White.

The long-term plan is for Silva to keep testing the waters at 205, in preparation for an eventual run at the title. And for the first time in the UFC’s history, one of its champions would be allowed to hold two titles at the same time. “Normally I won’t let guys do stuff like that because it’s just…stupid,” White said. “I’ll let Anderson Silva do it.”

Anyway, this has to be bittersweet for Almeida and Cote. The good news is that the winner of their fight is getting an immediate title shot; the bad news, of course, is that the winner is slated to get the worst beating of his life in November. I’m not saying that throwing the fight intentionally and leaving the country for a while would be the best idea, but it’s probably not the worst either.

(Props: MMA Weekly)

(You’re doing a heckuva job, Brownie.)

MMA Mania is passing along a rumor that Urijah Faber could make his next featherweight title defense against Mike Brown at WEC 36 on September 10th. Brown (17-4) is an American Top Team fighter who you may remember from his spot-on parody video of teammate Jeff Monson calling out Kimbo Slice; he’s riding a seven-fight win-streak and holds notable victories over Mark Hominick, Yves Edwards, and most recently Jeff Curran in his WEC debut last month. Brown is a credible challenge to Urijah Faber, though not an ideal one — why the WEC hasn’t rescued Wagnney Fabiano from the IFL yet is anyone’s guess, and the featherweight fantasy fight between Faber and Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto probably won’t happen in our lifetimes.

Speaking of the WEC, Dana White has again voiced his intention of folding the middleweight and light-heavyweight divisions of the Zuffa-owned league and bringing the best fighters over to the UFC. There aren’t many standout 185- and 205-pounders under contract with the WEC, but middleweight champ Paulo Filho (who is slated to defend his title in a rematch against Chael Sonnen at WEC 36) immediately comes to mind. If Anderson Silva decides to leave the UFC’s middleweight division for good, there’d be room for another star at the top, and the fact that Filho has never had his ass kicked by Silva would make him an attractive contender for the UFC’s 185-pound title should it ever become vacant; Filho and Silva are close friends, and have vowed not to fight each other. Still, Dana White might need a little more convincing: “[Filho]‘s a great fighter, but he has a lot of personal problems to overcome,” White told Kevin Iole. Luckily, that doesn’t seem to be a deal-breaker for employment in the UFC these days…

Chris Leben: The Evolution of an Icon – Watch more free videos

Somebody over at Icon knows what they’re doing. This mini-documentary on Chris Leben promises to be not only entertaining, but also very well done and effective at driving up interest in his bout with Michael Bisping at UFC 89.

On a related note, am I the only one who thinks that body surfing next to cliffs with sharks in the water is a bad idea for a pro athlete? Imagine Leben getting hurt and then trying to explain that one to Dana White.

Click for larger image!

This weekend, I decided to go through all 13,768 comments that CagePotato has received from readers since we launched seven-ish months ago, and classify them into a multi-colored pie-chart. (I also did some totally crazy, badass stuff this weekend. I swear.) The results are above. It’s possible — though very unlikely — that I left out some significant categories, so if you notice any omissions, holler in the comments section.

(Look who’s back.)

When Dana White kicked Jesse Taylor off “The Ultimate Fighter” Finale for being a drunken knucklehead, he also told Taylor to call him when he matured and got his act together. Apparently that only takes a few months, because Fight Hype is reporting that Taylor will be added to the July 19 event on Spike TV, and guess who he may be up against:

Despite being kicked out of The Ultimate Fighter Finale, it appears that Jesse Taylor is set to make his return to the UFC. Sources close to the situation have informed us that, less than one month after he was supposed to face Amir Sadollah in the finale, Taylor will be entering the Octagon on the July 19th card headlined by Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin. Although an opponent has yet to be named, it’s rumored that CB Dolloway, who replaced Taylor in the finale and ultimately lost a second time to Sadollah via first round submission, could be the frontrunner to land the fight.

Well isn’t this a twisted little scenario. At least we know Dollaway is relatively unscathed after his fight with Sadollah, and probably also pretty eager to get back in the Octagon to erase the painful memory of his one-tap defeat. It just goes to show that opportunity knocks more often for everyone when the UFC has a competitor they need to crush.

Now maybe if the AFL would hurry up and get huge Kalib Starnes might even find his way back into the Octagon. Probably not, though.

(A little cheap heat never hurt anyone.)

Dana White spoke with Si.com recently. As usual, the phrase “[deleted expletive]” appeared throughout the interview. He also found time to say this:

“When we came in, we shook up the entire industry. We rebuilt this industry, we rebuilt the fight business. And we think we have the right plan and the right strategy over the next five years, and I think mixed martial arts and the UFC is going to be the biggest sport in the world. Bigger than soccer, bigger than football, bigger than anything.

[...]

The announcement I [made June 18] is so [deleted expletive] huge in terms of what it means to the business side of this thing, what it means to the fighters and where we’re going to take this thing in five years. Everyone’s looking at “right now.” I’m working on things that are going to happen two, three, five years down the road. We’re in this thing for the long haul. Remember that I told you this: in the next five to eight years, this thing’s going to be the biggest sport in the world — bigger than the [freakin'] NFL, bigger than Major League Soccer, bigger than World Cup soccer or whatever the hell they call it. Bigger than anything. So remember I told you that.”

Bigger than anything? Wow, okay. In a few years, when the UFC is so big it has planets and stuff orbiting around it, I will at first be very surprised but then I will remember that Dana White made this vow, and I’ll be like, ‘Huh, guess he was right. And here I dismissed his claim the moment he said “World Cup soccer or whatever the hell they call it.”‘

In the latest installment of the half-hour MMA web show, Dana White stops by to chat about Anderson Silva, the UFC’s July SpikeTV event going up against Affliction’s PPV, and Lorenzo Fertitta’s new role in the company. On the UFC’s global expansion, White says: “In eight years, this will be the biggest sport in the world. Bigger than the NFL, bigger than soccer (!!!), it’s gonna be the biggest.” Later in the show, Kenny Florian talks about avenging his losses as well as punishments for missing weight, and Josh Barnett calls in to analyze the ongoing DREAM tournaments and his Affliction debut against Pedro Rizzo. In the “MMA for Dummies” segment, Ken-Flo demonstrates the Muay Thai clinch.

(‘This shirt, she is…how you say…totally sick, yes?’)

In case you were wondering how the people at Affliction are feeling about the UFC’s all out counter-programming assault, USA Today’s Sergio Non has an article that looks at where the clothier/MMA organization stands right now. Turns out that with a month still to go, they aren’t in bad shape.

VP Tom Atencio claims they’ve sold between 7,000 and 8,000 tickets so far, which is good news this far from the event if it’s true. Anaheim’s Honda Center holds around 17,000. That’s about on par with the Prudential Center in New Jersey, where Elite XC sold just over 8,000 tickets when all was said and done.

Affliction’s big marketing push is planned for two weeks before the show, and as for the impact of UFC Fight Night 14, Atencio is planning on the miracle of modern technology to protect him:

“As far as I’m concerned, people are going to Tivo (the UFC show) and watch our fight, and then go back to (watch UFC) later,” he said. “Obviously you’re going to get those people who are going to watch something for free (rather) than pay. … But our card is definitely stacked. I don’t know anybody that can say it’s not a great card.”

That’s a valid strategy as it relates to hardcore fans. We’ll see whether it will work on those people we always hear about who only know the UFC.

Atencio is right when he says the card is stacked, though it’s stacked largely with fighters who appeal to that hardcore fan base and much less so to the casual fan, who may or may not have heard the name Fedor at any time in his life. Their success with this show — particularly with the UFC going up against them on Spike TV — could tell us a lot about the actual interest level in MMA as a sport, rather than simply the UFC as a brand.

(Props: MMA Payout)

(Ah, crap: Spike.com embed is currently down…click the image to see the video.)

For all the debate we’ve had on the Jesse Taylor situation, it might be good to hear Mongo tell his side of the story. In this three-part interview from Spike.com, Jesse doesn’t shed any light on Dana White’s accusation that he terrorized the female guests of Palace Station, but he does admit hitting a slot machine. (Wait a minute, was Mongo so drunk that he mistook a woman for a slot machine? Uh-oh.) Later, he reveals that he’s entered AA, he’s been trying (and failing) to contact Dana White, and he thinks CB is going to take Amir in the finale re-match.

(‘Oh bicep, you’re the only one I can truly depend on.’)

Watching Dana White drop the hammer on Jesse Taylor during last night’s super-shocking episode of “The Ultimate Fighter”, I have to say I was filled with mixed emotions.

On one hand, everything White said to him seemed justified. He can’t have someone representing the UFC who is incapable of controlling himself after downing a few drinks. Not only does it create a bad image, but as White pointed out, this is what Jesse is like after merely fighting his way into the finals. If he’s out of control without really even winning anything yet, what’s he going to be like in six months?

Aside from Dana’s assertion that Las Vegas is “his town”, his admonition of Jesse and the punishment he handed down seemed completely appropriate.

But then I had a flashback to earlier episodes. I recalled images of Jesse drinking and breaking things, peeing his pants, and generally acting up. That’s when I had to wonder, what’s the fundamental difference between destroying a house that doesn’t belong to you and kicking out a limousine window? Hadn’t they been content to show Jesse’s antics — which you could also argue reflect poorly on the UFC and its fighters — for weeks?

(Amir gets all “Rocky” on us.)

I’m assuming that most of you watched last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter — which, hype aside, was easily one of the greatest episodes in the show’s history — so I won’t bore you with extraneous details. But here’s a quick recap:

— CB Dollaway and Amir Sadollah square off in the last semi-final fight. Aside from a couple of hard body kicks and a close armbar attempt from Amir, the first two rounds are all CB, who controls the action from the top, and delivers a Rampage-style body slam as well as some brutal elbows that open up a large gash under Amir’s right eye. CB nearly locks in a rear-naked choke in the third round, but Amir spins out, momentarily tries to figure out a toe-hold, then catches CB in another armbar that immediately causes him to tap. With his professional MMA record still 0-0, Amir Sadollah has battled his way to the TUF 7 finale.

(Afterwards, getting sewn up.)

(Lorenzo Fertitta, second from the right.)

UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, who made $113.8 million last year as president of Station Casinos is resigning from his position in the family business in order to work full-time to expand the UFC, develop the brand internationally, and secure more big-name sponsors. He and Dana White will now be “co-heads” of the company; Lorenzo’s brother Frank Fertitta III will become Station Casinos’ CEO while retaining his 45% ownership in the UFC.

White and L. Fertitta made the announcement to their employees today at Palace Station (a Station Casinos property), and the news broke via Yahoo!’s Kevin Iole, who acknowledged that Dana White’s “long-awaited announcement, which had many in the industry in a lather speculating about what it might be, may turn out to be ho-hum news to the sport’s hard-core fans.” Said Lorenzo Fertitta:

“The problem, if there is a problem, is that the business has gotten so successful, it’s requiring more time, focus and attention. Station Casinos is a business my family and I have built and now it’s a multi-billion dollar company. But the reality is, the UFC has gone through so much growth in the last eight years, my brother and I felt we’d be better in divide and conquer mode…

Think about this for a second: India has 350 million men between the ages of 18 and 34, and that’s our key demographic. The magnitude of these markets is staggering…The UFC is going to have a global footprint in the not-too-distant future. We’re already working on furthering our position in Brazil. This is getting so big that it demanded I spend more time with it.”

Drop whatever it is you’re pretending to do and watch this highlight reel (props: KingAtRock), which covers the year’s best knockouts from the UFC and EliteXC, starring Kala Kolohe Hose, Wilson Gouveia, Tim Boetsch, Chris Leben, Brett Rogers, Yves Edwards, and Kimbo Slice.

Also: If you need proof of Dana White’s rumored iron-pumping prowess, check out the wacky video after the jump.

(‘Who shall I beat up for you, my friend?’)

Every company should be lucky enough to have a team player like Anderson Silva in their employ. You ask him to move up in weight and fight on short notice just to help you stick it to a competitor, and he doesn’t complain about overtime pay or make up an excuse about needing to go to his kid’s piano recital — he just does what needs doing.

In fact, he seems pretty unconcerned about the whole thing. He told Si.com’s Josh Gross recently that he’s walking around at 212 pounds and is ready to pitch in and do his part for the UFC’s global domination efforts:

“If the UFC asks me to do something, and it’s within my capability to do so, I’m going to do it,” he said. “I feel like I’m part of the UFC family and the head of the family asked me to fight. I’m in condition to fight, my coaches say I can fight — I’m going to fight. I want to do whatever I can to help make UFC the No. 1 event around the world like it is.”

Keep talking like that, Anderson, and Dana White’s going to show up at your house with flowers and an engagement ring.

Silva’s manager, Ed Soares, has a realistic though mathematically hazy take on the champ’s move up in weight.

(Who can you count on in a jam? This guy.)

Remember that UFC event they’ve been planning for July 19? You know, the one they only started putting together recently, and which is purely by coincidence on the same day as Affliction’s MMA debut? Yeah, well, looks like it may actually happen. And it looks like the UFC is pulling out all the stops.

MMA Rated is now calling the July 19 event on Spike TV “official” and says it will be headlined by Anderson Silva making his light heavyweight debut against James Irvin.

What’s that you say? It’s totally insane for one of the sport’s pound-for-pound best to be pushed into moving up a weight class to face, of all people, James Irvin, on a show that is being thrown together a month in advance just to screw with Affliction? Yes, you’re right. Deal with it.

The initial story had Wanderlei Silva taking on Brandon Vera, who is said to be dropping to light heavyweight after his loss to Fabricio Werdum. And MMA Rated also reports that a rematch between Silva and Dan Henderson was considered. But Silva has reportedly turned down the fight because — get this — he doesn’t have enough time to prepare.

What? A last-minute offer to fight in a month on a hastily thrown together show doesn’t appeal to you, Wanderlei? Man, don’t make Dana White question your heart in the press again. He’s not above it.

Cain Velasquez is also said to be a candidate to fight on this show, which is expected to take place at the Palms in Vegas. The UFC is still looking for someone to face Brandon Vera at the time of this report, though the way this thing is going he could be signed to face BJ Penn by tomorrow morning.

Well, it’s Tuesday, which means you’ve probably been biting your nails all day wondering when Dana White is going to drop his huge, mind-blowing announcement that may or may not define the future of the sport. Dave Meltzer, who broke some news earlier about EliteXC’s next CBS show — which has the working title of “Unfinished Business,” by the way — now has this to say via f4wonline.com:

Dana White has moved the meeting for UFC employees to Noon tomorrow (Wednesday) for the big announcement. So word should break shortly after that time.

MMA Mania points out that the New York Tourism, Arts and Sports Development Committee is slated to vote again tomorrow on legislation to legalize MMA in NY. That could just be a coincidence — White previously denied that his announcement was related to New York MMA regulation — but we’ll update you when we know more.

And hey, just so this post isn’t a total waste of your time, here’s a rather-awesome UFC 86 hype video, running down the matchups between Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson, as well as Cote vs. Almeida. By the way, if you tell Rampage he’s not going to win this fight, you can kiss his natural black ass.

UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin Preview

Clad in a gay-friendly rainbow t-shirt, Dana White pumps up the 90-minute final episode of The Ultimate Fighter: “In seven seasons of doing this show, there has never been a bigger twist.” Bold words considering that the TUF series has had a history of monumental twists, like when Anthony Torres turned out to be a woman who was only posing as a man to compete on the show, and the crazy TUF 5 finale, where it was revealed that the entire season was just a dream Jens Pulver had while he was in a coma.

Personally, I hope the twist is that Jesse Taylor gets kicked off the show for breaking a limo window and killing Jeremy May, and the semi-final match between Amir and CB is so exciting and close that Dana White decides to have them fight again on the finale for the contract. That’s kind of an “everybody wins” type of scenario. Between the pissing, the puking, and the laying-and-praying, I think I’ve had my fill of Mongo…

(Props: Fightlinker)

(Photo courtesy of myspace.com/nathandiazmma.)

The UFC’s next “Fight Night” card on SpikeTV will reportedly go down September 17th at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska, and matchups are beginning to be sorted out. TUF 5 winner and Stockton-repper Nate Diaz has agreed to fight Josh “The Dentist” Neer in a lightweight bout on the main card; Diaz has gone 4-0 in the UFC since his reality show stint, including a legendary no-hands triangle choke victory over Kurt Pellegrino at UFN 13, while Neer (24-6-1, 3-3 UFC) last defeated Din Thomas by decision at the same event, and holds notable wins over Joe Stevenson and Melvin Guillard.

Omaha’s own Houston Alexander is also expected to appear, taking on Eric Schafer. The fight marks Schafer’s return to the Octagon after picking up a couple of wins in the Gladiators Fighting Series organization; he’d previously dropped two in a row to Michael Bisping and Stephan Bonnar. A middleweight fight between Ed Herman and Alan Belcher has been rumored as well.

In other UFC news…

— Dana White has denied that his mind-blowing announcement is related to New York MMA regulation. Epic Fail averted, for now.

— BloodyElbow is floating a rumor that Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami could fight in October, at the UFC’s next U.K. show. We’d rather see the Spider in a light-heavyweight super-fight, but sure, why not, clean out the division once and for all.

— French welterweight David Baron has reportedly signed with the UFC. Baron is the former 168-pound champion of Shooto Europe who most recently pulled off a huge upset at Shooto Tradition 1 by submitting Hayato Sakurai in the first round.

(Don’t uncork the champagne bottles just yet…)

Sam Caplan at FiveOuncesofPain says an anonymous source let the cat out of the bag regarding the big-time UFC announcement that we’ve been frothing about for the last couple of days. Here’s the story, as he hears it:

[T]he committee for Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development of New York recently held a vote on Wednesday to decide whether the state should regulate Mixed Martial Arts…According to the source, the bill was voted down in overwhelming fashion…

This web site has also learned that the possible legalization of Mixed Martial Arts in the state of New York was the planned announcement that UFC president Dana White had hinted at during an interview that was published on ESPN.com last week.

According to a source, White was confident that the vote was going to pass and believed he had assurances that the proposed bill would be approved by the committee for Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development of New York. However, the proposal was unexpectedly voted down for reasons that are not yet clear. In a strange turn of events, it is believed that the chair of the committee, Assemblyman Steve Englebright, who introduced the proposal, ended up voting against it…

(Props: MMAMania)

Above is the first video promo for UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin (July 5th, Las Vegas). The main event should be fantastic, but it doesn’t bode well that Cote vs. Almeida is the only other match that warrants a mention in the clip. And even if the winner will technically be “moving up the ranks toward a middleweight title shot,” it’s not like they won’t have to beat 2-4 more guys to get there. The current lineup is below; is it better or worse than UFC 85′s?

MAIN CARD
Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin
Patrick Cote vs. Ricardo Almeida
Joe Stevenson vs. Gleison Tibau
Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Lytle
Tyson Griffin vs. Marcus Aurelio

UNDERCARD
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Justin McCully
Jorge Gurgel vs. Cole Miller
Melvin Guillard vs. Dennis Siver
Corey Hill vs. Justin Buchholz

Unrelated, but important: The earth-shattering news that Dana White was promising to deliver tomorrow has been pushed back to this coming Tuesday. My guess? The UFC needs a little more time to obtain rights to “The Hex”…

(Satan and his minions.)

From UFC.com:

Dana White and heavyweight sensation Brock Lesnar will appear live on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” today to announce an exciting new UFC deal. The show airs at 12:40pm ET.

Previously, White promised a major announcement to come this Thursday that “is going to blow people’s minds.” Could he be spilling the beans early? And what’s Lesnar’s role in all this, unless the major deal is somehow WWE-related?

Which is a distinct possibility, of course. MMAPayout had this to say:

[F]inancial giant Morgan Stanley has reportedly been working on a collaborative/financial deal between Zuffa and another party…

Sources have told MMAPayout.com that a significant licensing deal may be part of the planned announcement. Licensing and merchandising has long been identified as a major untapped revenue stream for the UFC. Adding even more intrigue is WWE’s rumored involvement in the deal. The WWE also has a press conference scheduled for Thursday.

Last night a poster on the Underground Forums added the following rumor “from a reliable source” to the mix: “a group of investors led by Dana White have agreed in principle to purchase the UFC from Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta for an undisclosed amount. Included in this investment group is WWE’s Vince McMahon who will now own a minority stake in the company. They also have plans on taking the company public by years end.”

It’s possible that today’s announcement will be about a licensing deal with a tangential relationship to the WWE, and White’s saving the real mind-blower — which he said would require the renting out of a separate venue for his employees — for Thursday. We’ll let you know what comes of it…

(The cover of ESPN: The Magazine’s new issue.)

“I’m a streetfighter and I love streetfighters. It’s great to have other leagues. UFC can’t have everyone. There’s thousands of fighters out there and they need a chance to make a living. Me, I’m a Kimbo Slice fan. I like fighting. I see where Dana is coming from and I respect his opinion, but I like streetfighting.” — B.J. Penn

“The amount of talent and fights we put on are second to none. Think about it, the CBS fight that they are coming up with, who gives a crap about Kimbo Slice? This guy can’t fight MMA. You know what would happen if he fought in the UFC? I’d put him in against BJ Penn and (Slice) would get annihilated. The guy he is fighting, James Thompson, might get knocked out before he gets into the cage. Kimbo has no credibility at all in MMA. … I am telling you, BJ Penn would beat him.” — Dana White

“I still consider myself a baby at this game…Those guys probably know how to run circles around me, but I can bang with the best. And I’m not a one-dimensional fighter anymore. I used to have just a hammer. But now I’ve got a hammer, a tape measure, a screwdriver, a glue gun. Now I’ve got some tools in the belt.” — Kimbo Slice

(Props: BloodyElbow)

Here’s the latest video of Tito Ortiz talking and talking and talking. Along the way, he calls Dana White a “money hungry, tryin’ to be superstar,” a “wannabe gangster,” and a “jazzercise trainer,” calls Chuck Liddell a “puppet,” and denies that he’s a moron and a retard. You’ll have to judge for yourself.

(Props: Sherdog via MMA Fever)

If you’re planning on attending UFC 84 in person, there are at least two after parties scheduled with big names attached as hosts: You’ve got the UFC’s #1 ring girl Arianny Celeste making an appearance at Hawaiian Tropic Zone, and Dana White (no photo available) hosting the official “Ill Will” jammy-jam at Privé. In case you’re having trouble deciding, we’ll run it down for you.

Arianny’s party has an open vodka-bar for ladies until midnight (i.e., awesomely drunk girls); Privé offers no such hookup. Both clubs will surely feature hot bartenders, but the ones at Hawaiian Tropic Zone will all be wearing bikinis. When Arianny eventually shows up and makes her way to the velvet-roped VIP section, she’ll probably be rolling in with Edith Labelle, and their hot friends, and any fighters they’re friendly with (and Ariel Helwani, probably!). When Dana shows up just before closing time, he’ll be in a sour mood from whatever Tito’s post-fight t-shirt slogan is, and he’ll be trailed by the TUF 7 castoffs who followed him in just to kiss his ass. On the other hand, everybody wearing an Affliction shirt will be denied entrance at the UFC’s official afterparty, which could significantly decrease the douchebag ratio.

Questions?

Just…wow. Did anybody else involuntarily dry-heave at the 0:45-0:48 mark?

(For the pimpin’ original, click here.)

(“Oh, hello poor people.” — philanthropist Calvin Ayre.)

“The only organization that wasn’t willing to make me an offer was the UFC. They don’t want the best fighters; they want the best fighters that they can control.”
— Matt Lindland on his new deal with Affliction. Lindland also revealed that EliteXC approached him with an offer, but was outbid by the t-shirt company turned MMA-promoter.

“We’re going to make the WEC the smaller weights and the UFC will be the heavier weights. We’ll probably take some of the guys in the higher weights, the champions over there and bring them into UFC. We’re still trying to figure that out.”
— Dana White on further distinguishing Zuffa’s MMA properties. He told the Canadian Press that the UFC has no plans to install a 145-pound division or a women’s division.

“While I know I can win against any lightweight in the world on a given day, I fell twice in a row [to Kenny Florian and Josh Neer]. Therefore, I’m going to bow out. Good luck to those guys. I’m going to drop down to 145 lbs and see if those guys down there will embrace me.”
— Din Thomas on his future plans, which will hopefully include the WEC’s featherweight division.

“You’ve likely heard the rumblings and rumors… and for once…. it’s true… I’m packing it in! Well, who am I kidding? I was really more of a brand ambassador for Bodog the past while anyway – but it was fun while it lasted.”
— Calvin Ayre announcing his retirement from Bodog, which will be restructuring and returning its focus to gaming, and not so much on money-losing fight promotions.

“I was asked by the UFC to help with security when the 2 fighters entered the ring area. They where more worried about Matt than GSP. Next thing I know some wack job is jumping over the barriers and charging the ring. I didn’t want to hurt the guy so I was just going to put him to sleep and then help get him out of there before he hurt someone or himself.”
— UFC ref Dan Miragliotta (who comes in at 6’4”, 296 pounds) on his rear-naked-choke of Joe Asshole at UFC 83.