(FYI: If you shine this signal into the sky, Bruce Buffer shows up at your door with a carload of chicks and some party favors.)

It looks like the UFC may be saving Toronto for big money superfights in the future based on the record sellout of April’s upcoming UFC 129 event — the promotion’s first in the Canadian province of Ontario.

With a pre-estimated 55,000+ attendance and more than $11-million live gate that blows away the previous record of $8-million set by a 2008 regular season Buffalo Bills game, it’s no surprise that Dana White and co. would want to bring their marquee fights back to the city’s Rogers Centre in the future.

White told Yahoo’s Dave Meltzer that “Hogtown” has hopped to the front of the line of go-to stadium venue locations ahead of Dallas, Texas where Zuffa will likely host superfights like the proposed Georges St-Pierre-Anderson Silva bout that the promotion is hoping to make before the end of 2011.

(Gina Carano announces her return to MMA during last weekend’s ‘Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva‘ broadcast. To be honest, I could have used more energy. Props: shosports)

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…

- Rashad Evans Says Absent Priest Messed Up Fedor’s Mental Preparation Before Silva Bout (MMA Convert)

- Dana White: First International “The Ultimate Fighter” Could be in Philippines by Late 2011 (5thRound)

- ‘Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva’ Breaks Showtime MMA Viewership Records (SBNation.com/MMA)

- Jorge Rivera: I Got Under Michael Bisping’s Skin [Exclusive Interview] (LowKick)

- And Now He’s Fired…Again: Gabe Ruediger (Five Ounces of Pain)

- What Might Have Been: Fedor Emelianenko in the UFC (MMA Fighting)

- Dada 5000′s Second Professional MMA Bout Took Place Last Weekend, and We Have the Video (MiddleEasy)

- Rafael Natal Out, UFC Newcomer Chris Weidman In Against Alessio Sakara at ‘UFC on Versus 3′ (Versus MMA Beat)

- Natasha Wicks Hangs Out Half-Naked with Urijah Faber In FORM Athletics Video (FightMagazine)

- Dana White Meets with New Yorker Who Used MMA to Subdue Serial Stabber (MMA-Scraps)

(Video courtesy of YouTube/MMADigest)

Dana White was in Toronto yesterday with a handful of the fighters from the UFC 129 card and although he didn’t drop any remarkable news during the press conference, a few interesting tidbits came out during the fan Q&A session they did at Rogers Centre.

(“No, I am not kidding you.” PicProps: YahooSports)

Well, the last few seconds were outstanding. Most of the rest of the televised portion of UFC 126 was extremely middle-of-the-road, but in the end no hyperbole was needed: Anderson Silva – that magnificent bastard — front kicked Vitor Belfort in the face and knocked him out. No, we’ve never, ever seen anything like it before and probably never, ever will again. It was, in a word, awesome and underscored why (no matter how lackluster the rest of a UFC PPV seems) you absolutely must watch until the bitter end. Just in case something amazing happens. Because sometimes it does. So amazing in fact that all across the country on Saturday night, aging karate masters and mail-order blackbelts jumped out of their seats and shouted, “See? I told you that shit worked!”

As for the rest of us, our abusive relationship with the UFC middleweight champion goes on. Let’s be honest here, through the first three minutes, 20 seconds, it appeared as if Silva and Belfort were conspiring to make Dana White’s nightmare of “the worst staring contest in the history of mankind” come true. Silva came out and circled, and shucked, and even did some stupid dancing just like he did against Demian Maia last April. The initial physical contact of the fight didn’t come until 1:40 into the first, when Belfort nicked Silva with a leg kick. Then, just as the grim reality of his suckiness started to set in all over again – just as we started to think of all the other things we could’ve spent that $50 on – boom, front kick to the face. Game over. And we love him again.

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC)

The best part of Dana White’s most recent video blog was getting to re-watch the UFC’s new Portuguese translator fail miserably at his job and basically get shit-canned on the spot by the company’s president within a few minutes of starting his new role with Zuffa at yesterday’s UFC 126 press conference. Seriously, we figured it was going to be tough for anyone to beat James Toney’s mark of 3:19, but this dude did it, and did it in style.

First the guy finishes one of his suspiciously brief translations of a long-winded response by Anderson Silva with, "That’s the essence of [what he said]," then he admitted that he wasn’t paying attention to one of the Brazilian reporter’s questions, which is odd considering it’s, I don’t know….HIS JOB to translate the questions and answers for the press conference.

White didn’t pull any punches with the disinterested translator who was hired in response to criticism that the UFC’s former translator, Ed Soares, was guilty of sugar coating and sometimes purposely mistranslating some of the less complimentary statements his fighters like Silva and Junior dos Santos made during post-fight interviews. When his latest hire screwed up, White snapped and told the guy, who seemed out of place in a room full of fight fans and reporters (to say the least) to hand the microphone to Soares.

Note to future applicants: Wait until your probation period is up before getting fired. That way you can at least walk away with benefits and a 401K. This dude barely had UFC entered as his employer on Facebook and now he has to explain to all the people in his book club and birdwatching society that he is unemployed again.

 
("This one. Right up your ass.")

Despite a high-profile appearance at Madison Square Garden last month in which the UFC announced its intentions to bring MMA to New York State — as well as a reported $75,000 in palm-grease to Andrew Cuomo’s gubernatorial campaign — MMA Payout broke the news last night that Governor Cuomo neglected to include a provision in the state’s 2011-2012 budget that would sanction MMA in New York. In fact, Cuomo’s Executive Budget actually proposes eliminating the chairperson of the state athletic commission altogether. So not only is the Governor not backing MMA as Zuffa had hoped, he doesn’t seem to have a high opinion of combat sports in general. 

At this point, the MMA ban in New York can still be lifted through the more traditional route of a legislative bill — of which there are currently two in the assembly and one in the senate, all awaiting review — but we saw how well that worked last time. Making MMA part of the state budget was supposed to be the easy way in, and it just ain’t happening. If I were Dana White, I’d be furious right now. Money has been donated. Big press conferences have been held. And now, the current timetable of MMA regulation in New York is: Who freakin’ knows?

(“Give it up for Detlef Schrempf, everbody.” PicProps: The MMA Space)

You get the impression that Dana White still wakes up screaming about Abu Dhabi. Clearly, though White is holding white-knuckle tight to his belief that Anderson Silva is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, “The Spider” hasn’t totally worked his way out of the boss’ doghouse after that debacle against Demian Maia … and Thales Leites before that … and Patrick Cote before that. For that reason, White tells USA Today’s Sergio Non this week that he’s taking an “expect the best, prepare for the worst” approach to Silva’s middleweight title defense against Vitor Belfort this Saturday at UFC 126.

Check it out after the jump, where we’ve taken the liberty of changing all of White’s swears back to the words he intended since – you know – this isn’t an edited-for-television movie and none of us are six years old. And dear God, if you are six years old, log off at once. Where are your parents?

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC)

Watching the most recent edition of Dana White’s video blog series, one thing becomes abundantly clear: the dude is fucking rich.

When he isn’t sitting courtside in L.A. at the end of the Celtics bench with his kids during an NBA game, The Baldfather is throwing around cash like it’s confetti on things like souping up his SUVs with Corvette engines.

Ah, to be a multi-millionaire…

I still pick up change when I find it on the street.

(Video courtesy YouTube/currierj21)

Either Dana White made it his New Year’s resolution this year to not attack rival promotions or he saw the figures from Saturday night’s Strikeforce event — either way, he actually compliments Scott Coker and co. and their planned heavyweight grand prix in this interview with Fighters.com.

The UFC president has remained conspicuously silent on the subject and it was somewhat surprising that neither Kevin Iole or Ariel Helwani were the first to report The Baldfather’s feelings about Strikeforce’s eight-man tournament.

Here’s what he had to say:

"No, [I do] not [feel that the grand prix is competition for the UFC] at all. You know how I feel about Strikeforce and the smaller leagues. Listen, putting on a heavyweight tournament that’s going to draw some interest for those guys and then they end up with someone at the end who is perceived as one of the top guys  – I love that shit… love it. I honestly havent thought about it all, but good for them."

(“What can I say? My life is an embarrassment of riches.” PicProps: Las Vegas Sun)

UFC President Dana White said on Friday that the time might finally be right to promote the much-talked-about, long-debated superfight between middleweight champion Anderson Silva and welterweight titlist Georges St. Pierre, provided both guys take care of business in their upcoming fights. White reportedly made the admission as part of a private Q&A session with small group of soldiers at Fort Hood in Tex., the site of tonight’s Fight For the Troops show. The rap sesh was not open to the public, but MMA Fighting got one of its guys in. 

"If (Silva) wins that fight (against Vitor Belfort at UFC 126), then Georges St-Pierre needs to beat Jake Shields in Toronto (at UFC 129)," White told the guys in uniform. "If that happens, then we’re probably going to do that fight (between St-Pierre and Silva). If they both win, that fight makes all the sense in the world."

(Now smile and tell everyone I’m the TUF coach and that it was an easy decision to make.)

By Cage Potato contributor Jason Moles

The second Dana White announced that Brock Lesnar would be taking the reins of one of next season’s The Ultimate Fighter teams, it seems that everyone with a keyboard immediately began furiously typing out their manifestos explaining why, in their "professional opinion" the  former UFC heavyweight champ will suck as a coach.

Well, not everyone agrees with the popular assertion that the ironically seemingly reluctant UFC star who owned the camera while cashing paychecks from the WWE will sink the TUF ship.

We may not necessarily agree with White’s opinion that anyone who thinks it’s possible that Brock might not deliver as a coach is basically a stupid f*cking idiot, as he so eloquently inferred MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani was for asking about the plausibility during a press conference last week, but we are part of the minority who think it may not be so bad.

Check out contributor Jason Moles’ breakdown of why Brock will do TUF some good after the jump.

Video courtesy TMZ. Josh Barnett Does Karaoke – Watch more Funny Videos

Recently signed Strikeforce heavyweight Josh Barnett may be way too busy to attend his next California State Athletic Commission license reinstatement hearing in February, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have time to belt out a few karaoke tunes.

Judging by the video above that was taken of Barnett last week at a bar in Los Angeles, it’s probably safe to say that the Babyfaced Assassin won’t be releasing an album anytime soon, but if he does, he might want to consider hiring a better hype man.

("Well…I’m not much of a foot guy, but I guess they’re alright, Mrs. Ryan." / Photo via MMAWeekly)

At 2 p.m. ET today, the UFC will hold a press conference at New York’s Madison Square Garden to formally announce their intent to bring MMA to the Big Apple as soon as possible. In attendance will be UFC president Dana White, Zuffa co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, light-heavyweight contender Rashad Evans, and Madison Square Garden Sports president Scott O’Neill.

A new economic impact study is scheduled to be released in the hopes that New York will join the 44 other U.S. states that currently regulate the sport — even though cash doesn’t seem to be a big motivator among MMA’s stubborn critics.

Despite our long history of promoting the "MMA in NY" cause, CagePotato has unfortunately been barred from attending the event due to the whole Arianny Celeste Playboy leak fiasco. Their loss. When the first media question is from some spaz asking if he can sit in Dana’s lap, they’re gonna wish they had some real freakin’ journalists in the building…

The video player is after the jump.

(Props: Fightlinker)

WTF? I don’t mean to alarm you, Snoop, but there appears to be a bald, middle-aged white man directly behind you. The source of this ridiculous gif is after the jump. Warning: Turn down your speakers.

(And the first nomination for 2011′s Corey Hill Award is… / Photo courtesy of the DREAM Dynamite!! Photo Gallery on FightMagazine.com)

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…

– Five Lessons: UFC 125 (Versus MMA Beat)

– Antonio McKee: Loss in UFC Debut Was a ‘Humbling Experience’ (MMA Fighting)

– UFC 125 Aftermath: Clay Guida’s Enthusiasm For Fighting Is A Draw For New MMA Fans (SBNation.com/MMA)

– 11 Fighters The UFC Should Sign In 2011 (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Video: Hatsu Hioki vs. Marlon Sandro Featherweight Title Fight From Sengoku ‘Soul of Fight’ (MMA Scraps)

– Watch Dana White Give Snoop Dogg $20,000 in Unmarked Bills (MiddleEasy)

– UFC 126: Silva vs Belfort Official Trailer (LowKick)

– Miesha Tate Targeting March 5 in Ohio for Welterweight Title-Shot (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Brock Lesnar Wants You to Read His New Book (MMA Convert)

("Whaddya mean we got four more rounds? I thought this fight was supposed to be a boring wrestlefest.")

Well, UFC 125 is in the books and to say fans got a few surprises from the card that many had written off as being an inevitable snoozefest would be an understatement.

The main event lightweight championship bout between champ Frankie Edgar and apt challenger Gray Maynard, which ended in a hotly debated split draw, delivered the goods earning well-deserved Fight of the Night honors.

According to UFC president Dana White, because the fight, which he admitted could have been stopped in the opening frame, was so close and because so many fans want to see the rubber match, he reversed the announcement made by UFC vice president Craig Borsari at the post-fight press conference that Anthony Pettis is next in line for a shot at Edgar’s crown and says he will instead be slotting in Edgar-Maynard III for some time in early 2011.

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAFighting)

 
FEG announced last night during the weigh-ins for this morning’s Dynamite!! show that the impromptu heavyweight match-up between testosterone deficient UFC castaway Todd Duffee and 2010 K-1 OWGP winner and Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem will be for the interim heavyweight belt.

Not sure why it’s for the "interim" strap considering DREAM has never had a heavyweight title holder unless of course they’re planning on putting together a heavyweight tournament in 2011. Whatever the reason, it’s pretty crazy to think that Duffee could experience a career-changing moment a la Fabricio Werdum *if* he can pull off the impossible and beat Overeem.

If that happens, expect Scott Coker to be put on suicide watch after receiving multiple "LOL!" texts from Dana White.

(Video courtesy Vimeo/MMANews.se)

Our Swedish friends from MMANews.se caught up with Chuck Liddell following the UFC’s announcement yesterday that "The Iceman" retired and effective immediately would be taking on the role of Executive Vice President of Business Development with Zuffa LLC and it seems that the former UFC light heavyweight champion is unsure about what his job will entail.

Chuck attempted to explain his role as diplomatically as he could from what little details he had been given about the job, but the iconic UFC fighter admitted he wasn’t quite sure what he would be doing from day to day.

"Well, we’re gonna get more into the details of it, but it’s business development, so I’m gonna be working with all the new projects and different things trying to help and promote the sport and the UFC. I’m gonna be doing that. I need something. I’m competitive and I need something to keep me driven. I need something to go after and do. I think this is probably the best way that I can keep continuing to grow the sport."

(Video courtesy YouTube/Heavy)

Heavy.com’s Megan Olivi yesterday got out of Dana White the magic equation that we’ve all been trying to figure out: the method behind the madness of Zuffa’s firing formula.

According to the UFC president, who was asked whether or not Brandon Vera was on the bubble if he loses against Thiago Silva Saturday night at UFC 125, job security in the Octagon isn’t necessarily contingent on wins and losses.

"It’s a big fight for him, no doubt, and it’s a big fight for Thiago. Nobody wants to be in this sport and lose. Everybody wants to win. People always ask me, ‘Is this a do or die for this guy?’ Everybody’s gonna lose here and there. All I ask from guys is that you come out and you perform on Saturday night. I can’t stand the guys who come out and talk all the smack, ‘I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do that," and then go out and they don’t do anything," White explains. "Those are the guys who are gonna get cut. The guys that stick around are the guys that go out and perform. I don’t see how [the Vera-Silva] fight isn’t a great fight. Brandon’s head is back, he’s very talented, well-rounded and Thiago Silva comes in to finish people."

("Two can play at this Mexican voodoo bullshit.")

According to a report by MMAFighting’s Mike Chiappetta, recently-crowned UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has sustained a shoulder injury that will prevent him from training and competing for the next six to eight months.

The story was confirmed by Dana White, although the UFC president would not say how Velasquez, who won the title two months ago by defeating Brock Lesnar at UFC 121, sustained the injury or whether or not it would require surgery to repair. White says he is optimistic that the Mexican-American fighter will be able to return by summer to face number one contender Junior Dos Santos who has been promised the first crack at the new champion and has been in holding pattern waiting for his shot since August after he earned his shot by beating Roy Nelson at UFC 117.

Although a date for the heavyweight bout had not yet been confirmed prior to Velasquez’s injury, the clash was rumored to be penciled in for some this spring.

(That shouldn’t be a problem, Todd. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting)

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…

- Helwani VS Dundas: UFC 125 Edition (Versus MMA Beat)

- Our Top UFC Photos of 2010 (MMA Fighting)

- Tim Sylvia replacing Todd Duffee at Titan Fighting Championships 16 (Five Ounces of Pain)

- The Best of Japanese MMA in 2010 (MMA Scraps)

- Brock Lesnar Looking For A Way Out Of MMA And Back To Pro-Wrestling? (SBNation.com/MMA)

- Sean McCorkle Returns Against Christian Morecraft at Fight Night 24 (Heavy.com/MMA)

- Pat Miletich Has Sold His Miletich Fighting Systems Gym (MiddleEasy)

- Exclusive Interview: Daniel Gracie talks Bellator, Georges St. Pierre and Frankie Edgar (LowKick)

- Dana White’s UFC 125 Video Blog, Part 1 (MMA Convert)

- Behind the Lens: Rich Franklin (FightMagazine)

 
(Marcus Davis and Ion: A match made in…convenience?)

Less than a week before UFC 125 goes down in Las Vegas, UFC president Dana White has revealed that there will be a "Prelims" broadcast before the pay-per-view card – good news, since it’s one of the most interesting undercards in recent memory. But it won’t be aired on Spike TV. For the first time, the UFC will put a broadcast on Ion Television, which is apparently cause for celebration, even though we only had a vague knowledge of the channel’s existence until this morning. Said Dana White: "These guys are considered a network. The FCC calls them a network. This is the first time we’ve ever been on network television, and the prelims are going to be aired. It’s a big deal. It’s in over 100 million homes."

Three fights will be scheduled for the broadcast – Marcus Davis vs. Jeremy Stephens, Josh Grispi vs. Dustin Poirier, and Phil Baroni vs. Brad Tavares – which is unprecedented in itself. "The prelims we do air, there’s only supposed to be two," White said. "Time-wise, it’s impossible to pull off three if they all go to the distance. I’m going to roll the dice on this thing. Not only are we going to bring the prelims to the fans, but everybody has been hammering me for the Phil Baroni-Brad Tavares fight, so I’m going to do three fights. I’m going to give them that fight, too."

If 2010 was a cold beer, we’d be down to the backwash. December puts all of us MMA-pundit types in a reflective mood, and this year gave us a double-crapload of big stories, insane fights, rising stars, and utter embarrassments to wrap our heads around. And so, we’d like to pay tribute to 2010 in the best way we know how — sarcasm and insults, mostly. Without further ado, here are 15 things we felt were worthy of some end-of-year recognition, Potato-style…

The Giant Silva Freak Show Award, presented each year to the match that’s made strictly for gruesome entertainment value; fighters should ideally exhibit a tremendous difference in either size or experience level.
Winner: Randy Couture vs. James Toney at UFC 118, in which a tubby boxing champ trash-talked his way into a co-headling bout against an MMA legend, and got choked out before he was able to land a single punch. This marks the first time in eleven years that the Giant Silva Award hasn’t been granted to a fight held in Japan.
Also receiving votes this year: Herschel Walker vs. Greg Nagy

The Wanderlei Silva Unintentionally Homoerotic Smack Talk Award, known as "The Wandy" is presented each year to the fighter who, when trying to hype a fight, inadvertently makes reference to having gay sex with his (or her) opponent.
Winner: Josh Koscheck, for the utterly disturbing wild-eyed, tongue-waving description above of what he was planning to do to UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre during this season of The Ultimate Fighter. 
Also receiving votes this year: Matt Horwich, for his cringeworthy rant about how he was going to Mike Tyson 10th Planet protagonist Renato Laranja.

The Natasha Wicks Memorial Best Female Newcomer Award, presented each year to the up-and-coming MMA ring girl — preferably blonde, as per the bylaws — who gets us to forget about Arianny Celeste and Brittney Palmer, if only for a moment.
Winner: Rhian Sugden, the stunning (and frequently-nude) star of the U.K.’s BAMMA promotion.
Also receiving votes this year: Kelli Hutcherson, Stephanie Ann Cook, Brittany Ward, Melissa Jo

("…three…two…one…Happy New Year! Damn, take it again, Brock had another stroke.")

By CagePotato.com contributor Jason Moles

2010 is in the books, and MMA fans and fighters alike have endured tremendous highs and lows. Who would have guessed that The Last Emperor, Brock Lesnar, BJ Penn and the WEC would all collapse this year? Who could imagine that Chael Sonnen would accuse Lance Armstrong of giving himself cancer, then test positive for a banned substance? Ironic? You bet. But enough about last year — a new decade is upon us. Here are ten predicitions that will sound ridiculous until they actually happen in 2011…

1. MMA will be sanctioned in New York.
While watching WEC bid adieu, I couldn’t help but notice the commercials for the PBR (Professional Bull Riding) at MSG (Madison Square Garden). Pro bull riding averages 1 to 2 deaths per year — that’s not including amateurs, sometimes children, participating at the county fair. Regardless of what Bob Reilly has to say, this is a no-brainer that only the likes of the M-1 management team could foul up. MMA will be sanctioned in New York in ’11, even if we have to blackmail a senator to make it happen.

2. GSP will relinquish his Welterweight title to change weight classes.
Jake Shields blah, blah, blah — Georges St. Pierre is indestructible and will wipe the floor with him, or at least dry hump him to death. With his ‘le-gacy’ secured, he can bump weight classes and test the waters in the process in becoming the best mixed martial artist from Canada with an extra ‘s’ in his name OF ALL TIME.

3. Dana White will coin a new phrase. 
"You want to be a %^&@$#! fighter?" and "Never leave it in the hands of the judges." will be replaced by something catchy like "Don’t cross the boss." Oh, wait, that one’s already taken. How about "Go big or go home," or "Suns out, guns out"? I never said it would be original — just catchy.

(Yeah, kind of!)

Everybody likes to be recognized for their work — even if it’s the "work" they do on MMA-blog comment sections when they should be actually, you know, working. And so, our first order of business: The winners of Wednesday’s impromptu Rampage-on-Dr.-Phil caption contest.

hotsaucemonster [winner]: and i guess at that moment i realized that perhaps it was me that had the nasty ass stank breff the whole time

Dana_Plight [first runner-up]: "Every guy I went to high school with, except for one, is dead. Someone poisoned the grape soda at the high school reunion. The one survivor was diabetic, he couldn’t drink grape soda…and that’s why you shouldn’t join a gang."

Maine Blazer [second runner-up]: James Toney sees two rednecks.

hotsauce, please shoot me your address and I’ll send you something nice. Dana and Maine, you guys are eligible for some CP shirts (see the end of this post). We’d also like to take some time to pay tribute to some of the week’s other comment-section power-players…

Although calling the announcement  "a monumental one" may have been a bit of an overstatement, the UFC announced today at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro today that it would be returning to Brazil for the first time since Zuffa bought the organization in 2000 and only the second time ever August 27, 2011.

UFC president Dana White made the announcement of the yet-to-be named event in Rio city hall alongside Zuffa CEO Lorenzo Fertitta,  mayor Eduardo Paes and Brazilian UFC luminaries Royce Gracie, Anderson Silva, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Vitor Belfort and Jose Aldo.

Although he would not commit to naming names of Brazilian fighters who will likely appear on the card because the event is more than eight months away and injuries may change the planned card several times between now and then, White intimated that all of the currently contracted fighters at the presser and guys like Demian Maia, Junior Dos Santos and Wanderlei Silva are all being considered for the card.

(Nipmoua’s old poster design has become eerily prescient. Except for the ’200′ thing, obviously. I mean, do the math bro.)

In what’s expected to be an official announcement of the UFC’s return to Brazil in 2011, UFC president Dana White and Chairman/CEO Lorenzo Fertitta will be making a special announcement at Rio De Janeiro’s City Hall today at 11 a.m. ET, 2 p.m. local time. White and Fertitta will be joined by UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie, middleweight champion Anderson Silva, light-heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, featherweight champion Jose Aldo, #1 middleweight contender Vitor Belfort, and Eduardo Paes, the mayor of Rio. You can watch the announcement live in the video player after the jump. 

Just a reminder that we will have the stream of the UFC 124 post-fight presser here after tonight’s event. It should be live around 1:00 am ET, but check in after the broadcast ends as it may start a few minutes early.

Will Koscheck get Tito next?

Will GSP fight Jake Shields in Toronto in March?

Will the UFC finally match up Thiago Alves with Dan Hardy?

Did Dana try poutine?

All of these questions and more will be answered after the jump.

(
(Wait, you guys FIGHT in this thing?)

Earlier this week, Dana White mentioned that his promotion was in talks to add Japanese featherweight Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto to the mix of the UFC’s top notch 145-pound class.

Well, according to the UFC president, the popular 33-year-old Japanese fighter has come to terms with the Zuffa-owned organization.

White tweeted the news last night.

("Just a backpack full of shit I killed. No big deal." PicProps: Sherdog)

In the immediate aftermath of Brock Lesnar’s soul-shattering beatdown at the hands of Cain Velasquez at UFC 121, Dana White went on TV and wagered that Lesnar might call off much of his previously scheduled vacation time in favor of getting back in the cage. That’s just the kind of no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners SOB that Brock Lesnar is, Our Fearless Leader told us, sounding certain the big guy would want to wash the taste of defeat out of his mouth as soon as possible.

Instead … cue the crickets … because aside from some pics of him posing alongside a freshly smote whitetail, we haven’t heard boo from Brock since then. What with the UFC’s 2011 cards already filling up into March and the heavyweight division devolving into chaos around our very ears, our pals at MMA Fighting.com got a little antsy and decided to start asking the tough questions. Turns out Big DW hasn’t heard from Lesnar lately.