(There can only be one Baldfather around here.) 

Proving the belief that if you want to make an omelet, you gotta break a couple million eggs, Lorenzo Fertitta gave full disclosure as to exactly what the UFC’s monumental debut on Fox would be costing Zuffa in a recent interview with Sports Business Journal:

When we were on Spike TV, that was a launching pad. We look at Fox as a bigger and better platform that could elevate the brand. We’re flat out going to lose money on this fight. But that’s the investment we’re making. Those are the steps we’ve got to take to make Cain and Junior pay-per-view stars and lift up the whole thing. Maybe we think a little funny here, but that’s well worth forgoing $16 million. Take that out over the next 10 years and we get a healthy return.

Hot Damn!

Now, though it may seem like pocket change to Zuffa, Dana White has stated that he is incredibly nervous leading into the event, mainly due to this whole “Brazilian Jiu Jitsu” thing, which he feels some of the more casual fans out there may have a hard time dealing with:

When we mentioned earlier that Mark Munoz had perhaps jumped the gun when he called out Anderson Silva in his post-fight interview, we had no idea how much the execs at Spike TV agreed with us. Turns out, most of you probably never even knew this had happened, because despite the amount of time Spike had to compose the event following it’s actual occurrence, Munoz’s call out of “The Spider” was cut off before we even had the time to process how ridiculous it was. Perhaps this is one of the many reasons that Dana White & Co. are no longer putting up with Spike TV’s bullshit.

But where the geniuses behind such programs as Manswers, 1000 Ways to Die, and Blue Mountain State *shudder* failed, ZombieProphet and our buddies over at IronForgesIron succeeded.

In the above video, Munoz states that “I’ve paid my dues in this weight class” and that “I consider [Anderson] a friend, but right now I’d love to get a title shot.” Apparently Munoz believes that if threatening the champ’s wife with sexual harassment and calling him a coward doesn’t work, then maybe a little ass kissing will. And at this point, it’s hard telling what you have to do to get a fight with A. Silva.

So what do you guys think? Is Munoz drinking the wrong Kool-Aid or does he have a point here?

Speaking of Munoz, join us after the jump to see how Leben congratulated “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” on his victory:

(Video courtesy of YouTube/westfesttv)

Just like with everything else in life, celebrities seem to all be copping a move right out of Justin Bieber’s playbook when it comes to cross-promotion by publicly calling for a piece of UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s time.

You may recall that Anderson joined the alleged 17-year-old baby-maker (the infant type, not the song) onstage during a recent concert and followed up the appearance with a head-scratching choreographed dance routine he performed on a Brazilian television show. Well, Snoop recognized the potential marketing cash cow of the team-up and has extended an offer for Anderson to join him on tour.

“Wat up, though? This is big Snoop Dogg. Anderson Silva, man, come hang out with yo’ boy Snoop Dogg, man. You just won a new championship belt,” Snoop explained. “Come bring it to the show so I can show you mine and we can mix and match and put some of that….in the air.”

Sticking with the low key feel of UFC 138, the event’s pre-fight press conference skipped the flashy fighter introductions, swapped Dana White with Marshall Zelaznik, and got right to business. Zelaznik informs us that UFC 138 is a couple hundred seats shy of selling out and has already broken the all-time revenue record for the LG Arena in Birmingham, England. Pretty crazy considering that this is a place that has hosted the likes of Queen, Iron Maiden, David Bowie, and most importantly The Spice Girls. Remember to stop by tomorrow night and check in on our liveblog of the event, and of course thank us for filling up your pockets like they were laundry bags. And have a good weekend, Potato Nation.

-Danga 

(Video courtesy of IronForgesIron)

When Dana White’s mom released a “tell-all” book a few months back, we all figured that it was a result of sour grapes for not being cut a check when Dana started making stacks of cash.

Now we’re pretty sure we were right and that this crazy woman has some sort of vendetta against her son, considering she’s teamed up with one of Dana’s most bitter enemies, Jerry Millen for the scathing interview above. Millen posted the video on YouTube under the pseudonym “louisthompson90010,” but it’s clear that it’s him posing some of the questions. It’s sad really that he would travel on his own dime to interview this spiteful woman in an effort to make Dana look bad.

Millen’s motives become clear from the get go and you can see that through choppy editing and leading questions that he was able to make June White seem like an even more bitter estranged parent than she already did when she called Dana Rosemary’s Baby and claimed he had no soul.

Some highlights of the combined douchebaggery of JW and JM after the jump.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/MMAHEAT)

The UFC held a conference call today in which Dana White and both main event competitors for the promotion’s inaugural Fox broadcast, Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos, fielded questions from the MMA media.

Among other topics, White addressed the possible scenario that the Velasquez-JDS fight could be over faster then the planned pre-fight extravaganza and said that if it is, then there won’t be any other fights shown on Fox, period.

“There’s only gonna be one fight. The heavyweight championship is the only fight that’s gonna be on Fox, [even if] it goes 10 seconds.”

Check out the highlights of the call after the jump.

(Don’t worry Bob, it can only get better from here. That has to be true at least once in a while.) 

Imagine this scenario; you’re an up and coming fighter in the cut-throat world of MMA who’s finally earned his shot at the big time. The packed stadium, the camera crews, the ring girls, they’re all there. And best of all, your fight is about to be broadcast for the world to see. “I’ve made it,” you think as you bathe in the bright lights shining down on you.

But then, before you know what hit you, you’re looking up at a large, possibly Rastafarian man, who’s asking if you know where you are. And for the rest of your life, you are dubbed “that guy who got destroyed by ______ .” No matter what you accomplish, you will always be known for one bump in the road that just about everyone happened to witness. Well, here at CP, we know this story all too well, so we decided to check up on a few of these poor suckers, VH1 style, and find out what they were up to. Because knowing is half the battle. Enjoy.

Dos Caras Jr.

What (most of us) know him for: As one of the victims of the greatest MMA technique of 2003.

What he’s been up to: As it turns out, Dos Caras Jr. has actually had a rather successful career since nearly being decapitated by Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic back at PRIDE – Bushido 1. His real name is Alberto Rodriguez, and he actually wasn’t that bad of a fighter. Honestly, considering he both wore a mask and went by a fake name, he was a pretty damn awesome fighter, and easily the most successful. After dropping a unanimous decision to Kazuhiro Nakamura at Pride 27, “Two Faces” went 6-1, with all wins coming by way of stoppage. He even managed to pull out a head kick KO of his own back in 2010 against 3-8 fighter Arthur Bart.

Where he is now:

If you thought something smelled fishy when Carlos Condit simply stepped aside from his title shot with Georges St. Pierre for Nick Diaz, then perhaps it’s time you used that nose to fight crime. On a very special Halloween episode of Inside MMA, it was revealed by “The Natural Born Killer’s” agent and President of First Round Management, Malki Kawa, that Condit was not given an option to back out of his welterweight championship bout, saying:

Contrary to what has been stated, Carlos did not step aside and allow this to happen, and would not just hand over an opportunity for him to achieve his greatest career goal, one that he has earned through his strong performances in the octagon. No option was given to him. 

(“…and one more for that dude who plays Spock.” Photo via Zimbio)

During yesterday’s UFC 137 press conference, UFC president Dana White made his stance known on a controversial subject in pro sports (via MMA Mania):

“I’ll tell you right now, if there was a gay fighter in UFC, I wish he would come out. I could care less if there’s a gay fighter in the UFC. There probably is and there’s probably more than one. I mean, it’s 2012. Give me a break. But you’re going to have guys like Nogueira who come from Brazil, who’s got that macho, Latino — doesn’t want to roll with a gay guy. People are going to say stuff like this. But that’s the best answer I can give you is, give me a (freaking) break and be honest. Come on. We’re all human beings. We all make mistakes sometimes. It doesn’t mean that the UFC is bad and we’re unfit for children and all this other stuff. Tell you what: Out of the 375 guys, we’ve got a few lunatics, some guys that are nutty, and then we’ve got 300 and something that are incredible, awesome human beings who are inspirational to kids and adults and whoever else is a human being.”

(“Viacom paid WHAT for Bellator?” I got PRIDE, WEC, Strikeforce and Chandella for less than that.”)

Dana White put out an unprecedented second video blog today for the first time in a long time. In this instalment of his UFC 137 video diary, White admires the venue for the pre-fight press conference, pokes fun at Nick Diaz for being Nick Diaz and gives out a bunch of free tickets to whoever asks.

A word of advice: If you’re ever needing tickets to a certain event, stand in line at the weigh-ins or press conference and have a friend point a camera at Dana while you shamelessly beg the UFC president for some freebies. Works every time.

Of note is Diaz’s revelation that they brought him to the presser an hour early to make sure he was there. He missed his flight from Stockton this week and the UFC had to rebook, so it looks like they aren’t taking any chances. Reed Harris has been appointed as Nick’s official babysitter so there’s little or no chance that he’s going to sleep through his fight Saturday night.

Check out the video after the jump.

(I can already hear her voice, caressing me like a newborn and telling me that everything will be OK.) 

When Dana White first announced that the UFC planned to hold both a live event in Japan and Las Vegas on the same night, many of us sat back and scratched our heads, wondering what in the hell “The Baldfather” was hoping to achieve with such a maneuver and more importantly, how he would pull it off. When we found out we would be treated to a free Japan card followed by a Vegas PPV card, most of us rejoiced, but still found ourselves doubting the likelihood of such a exorbitant event actually coming to fruition. Well, we hate to say we told you so, but as it turns out, you won’t have to roll out of bed at 10 a.m. to catch the free Japan card. Matter of fact, you won’t be getting a free card at all.

UFC on Fox Primetime: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos is an upcoming special to be aired on October 30th, and features an in-depth look at the Nov. 12 showdown between UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and challenger Junior Dos Santos. And to get you hyped for that, here is a brief preview of the special, which includes some press conference snipets ala Creed vs. Drago, some behind-the-scenes training footage ala Marciano vs. Lewis, and even squeezes in some of the lovable, rags-to-riches story of Junior Dos Santos in just over 3 minutes. Enjoy.

-Danga 

(The Interweb never lies)

We can be pretty critical sometimes, but it’s that snarky candour that prompts most of the Potato Nation to navigate over to our site several dozen times a day. As harsh as our observations may be at times, they are nothing compared to the frank and biting results returned from Google search’s autofill.

Check out our gallery of 14 UFC 137-related searches after the jump, and if you’re Cheick Kongo remember: it wasn’t us this time; it was the Internet. Tell JayT to call off the hit.

Dana White’s video blogs, though sporadic, have taken an increasingly interesting turn in that they are now largely made up of post-fight footage from UFC events rather than the day-to-day extravagance that is “The Baldfather’s” life. As with his UFC 136 vlog, Dana gives us a brief introduction and wishes us a happy Halloween before throwing us behind the scenes of UFC 136 to witness the agony of defeat firsthand.

Particularly tough to watch is that of Melvin Guillard, who, after having his lightweight title aspirations choked out of him by Joe Lauzon, completely loses his shit backstage, throwing a chair across the room before breaking down on his hands and knees as the doctor’s try to attend to him. Even Joe Warren had to look away.

Join us after the jump for some other musings from this week’s vlog:

(Video courtesy of YouTube/MMAWeekly)

- Aaron Rodgers is the best at photobombing (WithLeather)

- CP contributor Brian D’Souza talks about why GSP has gotten boring to watch (Fan960)

- Marquardt on Daley, Free Agency and BAMMA (BleacherReport)

- Real life superhero and amateur MMA fighter appeared in court this week (Complex)

- ProElite readies for second life (SportsIllustrated)

- Ex Showtime honcho, Hershman heads to HBO (MMAPayout)

-My First Fight: Rich Franklin  (MMAFighting)

- LeBron James to the NFL? (TheBigLead)

- 12 photos of sexy zombie women (MTVClutch)

- Candace Swanepool in Victoria’s Secret lingerie because it’s Friday (Guyism)

- Approaching different “types” (Bullz-Eye)

- Torrentfreak’s top 10 most downloaded movies of all time (Filmdrunk)

- Looney Tunes: the porn audition script (HolyTaco)

- Hilarious comedian Fred Durst gets sitcom on CBS (ScreenJunkies)

- How to cozy up the man cave (MadeMan)

- Little kid loves Iron Maiden (TuVez)

- Dangerous ‘how-to” by a terrible electrician (Break)

By Jason Moles

As soon as Joe Rogan put the mic in Chael Sonnen’s face for the customary post-fight comments at UFC 136, it hit us; Sonnen is clearly the best trash talker in the history of the sport.

Everyone watching went bananas as the American Gangster challenged the pound-for-pound king, Anderson Silva, to a ‘Loser Leaves Town’ match. At that point in time there is nothing MMA fans wanted more* than to see that fight happen, Dana White included.

USA Today recently caught a word with UFC President Dana White where he told them that he “would be pretty f*cking stupid not to book Silva vs. Sonnen 2.” It seems that Captain Obvious has reared his head once again to the delight of almost everyone.

This got me thinking about other things that, if left undone, would make Dana White pretty f*cking stupid. Keep on reading below and put me on blast for being a TUF Noob in the comments.

During today’s UFC 140 press conference in Toronto, Dana White was asked about a potential superfight between UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva, “once Jones goes through Machida and Evans” and the UFC president revealed that one of the variables that stands in the way of the bout happening is a likely second meeting between “The Spider” and Chael Sonnen.

“[Jones] just whispered, ‘You can’t look past these guys.’ He’s got two tough fights ahead of him and then Anderson’s gonna continue to fight. He’ll probably end up fighting Chael Sonnen [next]. They’ve got a lot of tough guys in front of them.”

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

Just a friendly reminder that the UFC will be holding a press conference in Toronto today at the Air Canada — the site of UFC 140 in December — and we will have the live feed for you right here starting at 1:00 pm ET.

(Props to MMAWeekly.) 

You can say what you want about Dana White when it comes to title fights, but the man never beats around the bush when it comes to his fighters. In a recent interview, “The Baldfather” spoke in typically frank fashion when asked about former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s claims to pursue boxing at the end of his UFC contract on the heels of his fourth round submission loss to current champ Jon Jones at UFC 135. A few highlights from the interview:

On boxing promoter Bob Arum’s claims that the UFC underpays their fighters: “You hear [boxing promoter] Bob [Arum] out there: ‘Yeah, they don’t pay their guys anything.’ Rampage got paid for his last fight, trust me. A lot of money. Bob Arum pays guys $600 on his cards. We’ve never paid a guy that, ever. We’ve only been around ten years, Bob’s been promoting fights for 120 years”

(Kenny chose brown and blue to match his face at the presser.)

When Kenny Florian fell short in his third UFC title bid Saturday night against featherweight champion Jose Aldo at UFC 136, fans and the media immediately began inexplicably asking “The Ultimate Fighter 1″ finalist if perhaps it would be a good time for him to call it a career. Seems a bit harsh, but everyone loves  winner.

Even UFC president Dana White seemed to hint at the post-fight press conference that Florian’s future with the promotion might be behind the microphone as opposed to in the Octagon.

“I’ve got nothing but respect for him, and Kenny Florian will be with us no matter what.
“Kenny Florian’s awesome. He commentated our last show. I think he’s great on camera. I think he’s great on the mic,” White gushed. “He’s a talented guy with a lot of options, and he’s always been a solid guy with us and always been a team player. I love Kenny Florian. There’s a lot of things that could happen with Kenny Florian.”The thing about Kenny is he’s smart. He’s talented. He’s got other options. He’s got things going on outside of fighting, too. It’s just one of those things he needs to sit down and really figure out on his own.”

(Video courtesy of YouTube/Heavy)

Heavy.com’s Megan Olivi caught up with Dana White following the UFC 136 press conference today and picked the UFC president’s brain about a few hot topics that have been swirling around MMA blogs and messageboards as of late.

White gave some insight into how he expects the UFC’s first dual event to go down, logistically, and shared his thoughts on what title implications certain bouts from UFC 136 might have including Stann versus Sonnen and Lauzon versus Guillard. He also mentioned that the future of Strikeforce could be determined this week as Showtime will likely announce whether or not it intends to re-up with the now Zuffa-owned promotion.

(Jon Jones buys his first new car — a $190,000 2012 Bentley. For more pics of the UFC light-heavyweight champ’s new ride, head to MMAConvert.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. Starting today, we’ll be giving you guys short previews of each article we link to. We vouch for this stuff, so click, okay?

- My First Fight: Kenny Florian (MMA Fighting)
“Looking back, it’s crazy. The way that I trained, the way I ate, it was terrible. It was so far from what I do now…Ignorance is bliss, I guess, even when I was fighting on The Ultimate Fighter, weighing in at a chubby 178 pounds for a [185-pound fight], it was all kind of like I was just too dumb to know better.”

- Culinary Workers Union Creates Anti-UFC Website (The Fight Nerd)
“Maintained by the Culinary Workers Union, Local 226, the website uses the acronym of UFC to stand for “Unfit For Children” instead of the “Ultimate Fighting Championship.” Dana White’s many rants are listed in detail on this page across a series of sub-categories, including “Obscenities,” “Slurs” which features many of the comments DFW directed at Loretta Hunt among others, “Cheap Shots” which focuses on remarks about random people involved in entertainment and sports, and “Other $#@%!!!” which documents rude comments that UFC fighters have said about others, including Chael Sonnen’s negative thoughts on Brazil.”

- Hired Hero: An Interview Exclusive With UFC 136 Fighter Brian Stann, Part Two (MMA Mania)
“The fact of the matter is, I don’t care who you are. If I hit you on the chin, there’s a good chance you’re going out. Anderson possesses that same ability. He’s only a man. I don’t put any fighter on a pedestal of being unbeatable. I train with guys like Jon Jones every day who is every bit as devastating.”

DW’s infamous vlog’s are back ladies and gentlemen, and it seems his aforementioned pattern of showing loads of footage from the previous UFC event is holding true, this time with UFC 135. It’s hard to even call these Danavlog’s anymore because besides his introduction, The Baldfather doesn’t even make an appearance until 7 minutes into the video. Though I must admit, it is pretty interesting to see the post fight medical examinations, especially Aaron Riley’s, who, after spitting up as much blood as he can manage, declares he’d rather not have his jaw wired shut again. As a fan of solid food, I can’t really blame the guy.

If you’re too busy to watch the entire video, come check out a few of our notes after the jump:

(“Look at me damn it.  I said I’m sorry. I even sent you a brownie basket.”)

Somebody should have warned Lyoto Machida that playing hardball with Dana White never ends well.

Now, either the UFC is teaching him a lesson for wanting “Anderson Silva Money” for stepping in on short notice to face Rashad Evans at UFC 133 or they want to save the Japanese-Brazilian fighter for its February 26 return to Japan. Either way, Lyoto, who only fought once in 2011 at UFC 129 in April, won’t even be making Strikeforce Challengers money the rest of the year. Lucky for him he has the Knockout of the Night bonus he got for retiring Randy Couture and knocking out his tooth.

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

Dana White breaks the news around the six minute mark. Props to NBCsports.com for the video.

When the news first broke that the UFC was going to hold an event in Japan on the same day as an event in Las Vegas in 2012, many of us were confused as to how this was going to work. Some of us pictured a Flintstones-esque scenario where Dana White and Burt Watson frantically try to be in two places at once, leading to various shenanigans. Even though specifics are still up in the air at this point, last night Dana White cleared the air a bit with how the UFC intends on handling the situation.

According to Dana White, the UFC event in Japan will take place on February 26, while the PPV card in Las Vegas will take place on February 25. Due to time zone differences, the plan is that the UFC Japan card will air live for free (presumably on Fox) immediately before the PPV broadcast in Las Vegas. So for those of you who guessed that that was going to happen, feel free to gloat in the comments section.

(“Dust in the wind / All we are is dust in the wind.” Photo via MMAFighting)

When Dana White first attempted to end Chuck Liddell’s MMA career in 2009, the move was met with mixed feelings by the MMA community. Though it was admirable to see a fight promoter put his friend’s health before profits, it seemed unfair that Liddell had no say in his own retirement. After all he gave to the sport, didn’t he deserve to go out on his own terms?

At the time, Liddell was riding back-to-back knockout losses against Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua. He had reached the end of the line as a top competitor, and didn’t need any more concussions in his life. And yet, he convinced White to give him one last dance against Tito Ortiz. Then, Ortiz pulled out of their fight, and Rich Franklin stepped in and knocked Chuck out again.

In a way, it was the saddest knockout of Chuck’s career because of how well he was doing up until he lost consciousness. He was clearly motivated and in great shape — but after 12 years of standing and banging, it only took a single off-balance hook to shut his brain off.

I’m sure Dana White regretted the way the situation turned out, and the role he played in allowing Liddell to suffer another head-trauma. And I hope he learned a lesson that he can now use in dealing with Matt Hughes.

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

UFC 139 goes down November 19th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, and the major players are convening at the San Pedro Square Market right now for a little press-conference action. Click “play” on the live YouTube player above to see Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, Cung Le, and UFC president Dana White field questions from the media in attendance beginning at 1 p.m. local time.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/ClinchGear)

In a recent interview Dana White did with 5thRound.com, the UFC president clarified that Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson will now be fighting exclusively for the UFC, which has led to even more speculation about the future of the promotion that was bought by Zuffa earlier this year. Since acquiring Strikeforce the UFC has picked clean the lion’s share of the promotion’s marquee talent, including Henderson and two of its other six remaining champions, Nick Diaz and Alistair Overeem.

(You know who’s lucky I don’t have a time machine? Those damn kids with their skateboards on my sidewalks!) 

When he’s not harassing fighters inside the ring or making up false claims about MMA promotions paying him 5 million dollars to attend an event, I’d like to imagine that Larry Merchant is playing Parcheesi in Boca Vista somewhere, just enjoying the fact that time travel doesn’t exist so he wouldn’t have to follow through on some of his outrageous claims. Well, I would be wrong in that assessment, because it turns out Merchant is far too busy talking out his ass at every possible opportunity to even have time for table based games of mental aptitude. In a recent interview with Boxing Scene, Merchant responded to Dana White’s claims that he was “senile” and “an embarrassment to HBO” with the following statement, which I can only assume took a fortnight to spit out:

(Video courtesy of YouTube/bisonkhan/CP Reader and retired fighter Dave Green)

- Five reasons why MMA is better than boxing right now (Complex)

- The Boardwalk Empire board game (ScreenJunkies)

- MMA Notebook: Dana White presser notes (NBC Sports)

- Damm signs with Bellator, expected to face Frausto-Gurgel in October in Canada (Tatame)

- 20 things every new UFC fans should know about MMA (BleacherReport)

- How to cozy up the man cave (MadeMan)

- Sgt. Slaughter plays bud guitar, defeats monster truck, is 1980s awesome (WithLeather)

- 11-year-old with MS bullied into committing suicide (TorontoSun)

- Jeff Monson asks Pat Miletich, “How can you not consider America a terror organization?” (FightOpinion)

- Simon Pegg continues to be awesome (FilmDrunk)

- Jon Jones vs. Rampage Jackson: Who has the statistical advantage at UFC 135? (MMAMania)

- Joe Warren and Alexis Vila headline Bellator’s Bantamweight tourney opening round (Clutch.MTV)

- Malcolm Brenner had  sexual relationship with a dolphin, then wrote a book about it (HolyTaco)

- DREAM 17 breakdown and predictions (MMAFighting)

- Guyism After Dark: Susie, Monika, or Filippa??? (Guyism)

- DNA from spit links fighter to rapes (9News)

- Supremacy MMA Video Game Review (The Fight Nerd)