If you’re one of the multitudes who doesn’t have FUEL in their cable package — or if you simply had no idea that there was a UFC event going on this weekend — you’ll want to check out this FOX Sports recap of UFC on FUEL 10: Nogueira vs. Werdum, in which Chael Sonnen, Brian Stann, and Jay Glazer take us through four of the fights on the main card, none of which made it out of the second round. Some notes…

- Even in the replay, it’s still not entirely clear where or how Big Nog tapped. But he did, and Anderson Silva has a sad.
- “Seeing Werdum do what Werdum does” is a hell of a tongue-twister, and Brian Stann almost pulls it off.
- We’re still doing that thing where we call the black guy “the explosive athlete”? Really?
- Note to self: When you’re fighting Thiago Silva, the worst thing to do is drop your hands and just stand there.
- It’s not shown in this video, but Rony Jason has the best Rony Jason tattoo on earth.

(Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

If what we saw last night was truly the end of the UFC’s experiment with hosting events on FUEL TV (remember, FUEL becomes Fox Sports 2 this August, and no, preliminary cards don’t count), it ended in one of the strangest ways imaginable. A UFC record eight fights ended in submission; four of which ended in less than three minutes. None of the bouts on the main card went the distance, which helped contribute to what felt like an eternity of watching old footage and staring at Kenny Florian’s magnificent hair in between fights. And, of course, there was Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira surrendering to an armbar from Fabricio Werdum in the main event of the evening, marking the first time that Nogueira has opted to submit instead of letting something break.

It would be easy to write about how the once-invincible Nogueira looked like a fighter who should strongly consider retirement, but I can’t help but feel that doing so would be misleading. For starters, focusing on how beatable Big Nog looked would make it seem like the fight was a lopsided, painful to watch beatdown. Although Werdum was in clear control throughout the fight, it was still a pretty close and entertaining scrap between two of the UFC’s best heavyweights.

Perhaps more importantly, attributing Big Nog’s loss solely to Father Time would be an insult to the performance that Fabricio Werdum put forward last night. Right from the start of the fight, Werdum was able to mount Nogueira and began to work for submissions. When Nogueira made his way back to his feet, Werdum got the better of the stand-up exchanges. Rinse, wash, repeat, until Nogueira realized that he wasn’t going to escape the armbar that Werdum locked up in the second round and tapped out.

(Alright, let’s get this shit over with. / Photo via MMAJunkie)

Tonight’s UFC event is, without question, the most highly-anticipated FUEL TV card since Mousasi vs. Latifi. In the main event, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum — who served as coaches on a show that you probably didn’t watch — will put on a repeat performance of their battle from the 2006 Pride Openweight Grand Prix. Plus, Thiago Silva slugs it out with Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante, Erick Silva returns against the streaking Jason High, and the TUF Brazil 2 finalists square off. (Well, not both of the finalists, because once again, one of the finalists was injured before he could make it to the big dance, but look, there will be a fight between two guys on the show, and we were planning on walking our dog during that match anyway.)

Handling CagePotato’s main card liveblog for this evening is Matt Kaplan, who will be sticking round-by-round results after the jump beginning at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and if anybody’s actually reading this, please let your voices be heard in the comments section.

(Fight starts at the 1:27 mark. Major props to MMAFighting for the find.) 

And now, it’s time for your daily dose of “Minotauro.”

With Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira set to face off against opposing TUF: Brazil 2 coach Fabricio Werdum (how neither of them went down with an injury over the course of the season is simply remarkable) in a rematch of their 2006 Pride: Critical Countdown Absolute showdown this weekend, the classic Big Nog footage continues to roll out.

Today’s history lesson comes courtesy of the official Team Nogueira Youtube page and depicts Nogueira’s second professional fight, which took place all the way back in October of 1999. He was a younger Minotauro, a faster Minotauro, a Minotauro who had no idea of the horrors that awaited him in his life’s pursuit. Despite holding a 13 pound weight advantage (or as Tim Sylvia would call it “no weight advantage”), Nog’s opponent, Nate Schroeder, similarly had no idea that he would be stepping into the cage against a future legend of the sport and human boa constrictor. The result was as you’d expect: Nogueira by armbar in under two minutes. Sorry, I forgot to mention the obligatory **SPOILER ALERT**.

Nogueira would win his next four fights (before bumping into Dan Henderson at the 1999 King of Kings Tournament Semifinal), eventually sign with Pride, and yadda yadda yadda LEGEND. To his credit, Schroeder would go on to compile an 11-10 record in MMA, including a notable victory over Paul Buentello and a lone UFC appearance at UFC 26: Ultimate Field of Dreams. He would end up tapping to the strikes of Ian Freeman in the second round of said octagon appearance, but hey, what the hell have any of YOU done with YOUR lives?

-J. Jones

These days, UFC on FUEL cards are like that son in the family who shows up to Thanksgiving dinner bragging about the “big shot writing job” he got for a “legitimate mixed martial arts publication,” which is to say that no one ever really notices them or pays them any mind until they are forced to deal with them face-to-face. For instance, did any of you realize that UFC on FUEL 10 goes down this Saturday and features not only the finals of TUF: Brazil 2 but a rematch between coaches Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum? Neither did I, and being aware of upcoming MMA events is, like, half of what my big shot writing job entails.

Anyway, in an effort to stir up some last-minute interest for the event, the fine folks over at FUEL TV have made the first meeting between Big Nog and “Vai Cavalo” available for viewing. The fight originally went down at Pride: Critical Countdown Absolute Fun Time Bang-Bang! (part of that title might be stolen from the Japanese laundromat across the street from me) and constituted the quarterfinals of the 2006 Pride Openweight Grand Prix. In a hard fought battle between two of the sport’s best grapplers, Nogueira emerged victorious by way of unanimous decision.

However, Werdum’s career resurgence in the UFC has convinced oddsmakers that Big Nog will enjoy no such victory when the two clash this weekend. Will Nogueira prove us all wrong once again? Tune in this Saturday starting at 8 p.m. EST to find out.

-J. Jones

(Video via YouTube.com/CagePotato)

Last week, we released a video of Bellator ring girl Jade Bryce busting out some impressions of famous MMA moments. But not all of her footage made it into the clip. To keep “MMA Impressions With Jade Bryce” to a tight two minutes, we left a couple shots on the cutting room floor. And like the frugal Native Americans who used every part of the buffalo, we’ve decided to use that extra footage for this bonus outtakes video, in which Jade tries her damn best to imitate Fabricio Werdum‘s creepy smile and Chuck Liddell‘s cageside freakout. A for effort!

Visit the newly-launched OfficialJadeBryce.com for more videos and news from Ms. Bryce, and please subscribe to our YouTube channel.

P.S.: The first person to identify the source of the audio clip at the very end gets a CagePotato t-shirt. Difficulty: CP Fanatic.

(If the UFC really wanted to save TUF: Brazil, perhaps they could start by firing the 8 year-old responsible for photoshopping their promo posters.) 

Although the seventeenth season of the original The Ultimate Fighter marked a much-needed improvement in the reality show over that of previous seasons (and saw a substantial climb in ratings as a result), apparently the same cannot be said about its international counterpart, TUF: Brazil. Apparently.

Yes, despite pulling in nearly 8 million viewers during its first season, TUF: Brazil 2 — which features Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum as opposing coaches – is crashing and burning. According to a report by Brazilian outlet Ataque Total, the reality show has not been renewed for a third season as a result of continually waning fan interest:

With near 1-million viewers per episode, the season two of TUF Brazil don’t had the success of the first and is airing on 23h50 of Sundays. The second season has 16 welterweights in only one weight class and Minotauro Nogueira divides the coaching with Fabricio Werdum.

A huge team rivalry, lots of injuries and some boring fights is almost a trademark in the season. It’s a huge news for the brazilian MMA, with the sport losing its only weekly program in the biggest TV channels of Brazil. Alongside TUF Brazil, Rede Globo also shows 3 UFCs per year (usually Anderson Silva and Jose Aldo ones) and other channels like Bandeirantes, Record and RedeTV aren’t into the MMA world yet. 

As one would expect, the UFC has already taken to the interwebs to dispute these reports…

(This belt means as much as the one Carlos Condit is carrying around. It’s funny how that works.)

By Jason Moles

In what comes as absolutely no surprise to anyone with a double-digit I.Q. or higher, Strikeforce will reportedly put the final nail in the coffin after their next event, which is currently scheduled for January 2013. Like any good friend, we tried to talk them out of their appointment with Dr. Kevorkian. Sadly, our friend just could not be reasoned with, leaving us no other options — we have to prepare for the funeral.

Here at CagePotato HQ (read: my desk at work when the boss is in the crapper), we feel it only necessary to start writing the eulogy now, while the memories are still vivid, in an attempt to bring comfort to the grieving family and friends when the time comes. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane, shall we, and look back fondly at the most memorable moments in Strikeforce’s storied mixed martial arts history.

Frank Shamrock Gets a Friendly Stockton Greeting From Nick Diaz

In the spring of 2009, Strikeforce served up a hot matchup between former UFC champion and MMA legend Frank Shamrock and the future Strikeforce Welterweight champion and world-renowned trash talker Nick Diaz. As you can glean from the above photo and the ensuing nut grab you can see on YouTube at roughly the 3:23 mark, these two were about as cordial as a Kentucky Derby winner who had just spotted Alistair Overeem waiting in the stable with a knife and fork.

The remarkable thing about the whole ordeal was that Diaz remained true to himself at the risk of coming across as a disrespectful punk, not willing to play nice simply to placate other people, even if they did sign his paycheck. In all of the press conferences that have been held over the years, fighters have generally been pretty calm and polite — so much so that you have to wonder if they realize that the guy they’re shaking hands with is the same guy who’s getting paid to cave his face in come fight night. Not the Stockton, Calif. native, though, whoe’s about as subtle as he is media friendly. You’ll never have to guess what the Cesar Gracie product is thinking. This classic photo by Esther Lin is a reminder of just that.

(Photo via MMAWeekly)

The UFC hasn’t yet made an official announcement, but several outlets are reporting that former Pride and UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira and contender Fabricio Werdum are set to coach against one another on the next edition of TUF Brazil and then fight one another. The first season of TUF Brazil featured Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort as opposing coaches, and was a ratings success, although Belfort had to bow out of his beef-settling fight with Wandy due to a broken hand.

Brazil’s GloboEsporte reports that TUF Brazil will begin airing in March and that the two fighters have verbally agreed to take part as coaches. Nogueira and Werdum previously fought one another in the quarterfinals of PRIDE’s 2006 Openweight Grand Prix, with “Minotauro” earning a unanimous decision. Werdum is currently on a two-fight win streak in his latest stint in the UFC, with impressive victories over Roy Nelson and Mike Russow. Nogueira has lost three out of his last six fights but got back on the winning track this month at UFC 153 with a dominating submission win over Dave Herman.

- Elias Cepeda

(“You look very familiar, bro. Verrrrry familiar.” / Image via buzzbox.com)

The UFC makes its first stop in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, tonight for an extraordinarily cursed card that, let’s face it, we probably wouldn’t be watching if it wasn’t our job. Wanderlei Silva is fighting Rich Franklin again, this time at a 190-pound catchweight. (Also known as “middleweight plus.”) Fabricio Werdum is battling fellow big-man Mike Russow. And some guys from TUF Brazil are fighting too, although not all of the ones who should be. It is what it is. I’m guessing that very few of you will be buying this card, but if you’re out doing something more interesting tonight, please use your smart phones to follow along when you can.

Handling the thankless liveblog duties for this evening is Anthony Gannon, who will be layin’ down round-by-round updates from the UFC 147 pay-per-view main card after the jump, beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest. And to prevent this from becoming the least-commented CagePotato liveblog of all time, I encourage you to use the comments section to discuss anything that comes to mind. Seriously, it doesn’t have to be UFC related. I’ll give you a topic to start off with: Germany invaded Poland earlier today. Do you think America should get involved?

(Props: @ewillphoto via ThePeoplesCecil)

Perhaps “cluttered” is the best word to describe this weekend’s action. After all, that’s the same word that you would also use for your bedroom floor: There’s a lot of stuff on it, but there’s not much there that you couldn’t live without. This weekend, we have a lot of MMA available to us, such as UFC on FX 4, UFC 147 and Bellator 71. But despite the quantity of the fights available to us, there seems to be very little in terms of fights with immediate significance. It’s one thing when ratings are slipping, it’s another thing when your promotion has to offer full refunds for an injury plagued card, and it’s yet another thing when the only attention your promotion gets for an upcoming card revolves around the wife beater you recently inked a deal with.

But have no fear; this floor isn’t entirely covered in dirty socks, empty bottles and condom wrappers. There are some interesting tussles worth watching (notice we didn’t say pay for), which we’ll make the argument for after the jump. Or you can just join us later for our liveblogs of UFC on FX 4 and UFC 147. That works, too.

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

UFC 147′s replacement main event may seem like a re-tread of an old classic, but it’s the little differences, y’know? First off, Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva will be fighting a five-rounder this time, which could affect their pace and game-plans, and allows each man more time to secure a finish.

Second, unlike their first meeting at 195 pounds, this one will happen slightly lower down the catchweight scale at 190. While that won’t matter much to Silva, who’s been competing at middleweight for the last two years, it’ll be the first time Franklin has had to fight below 195 pounds since he beat up Travis Lutter in 2008.

And of course, Silva vs. Franklin 2 will go down in Silva’s home country of Brazil, whereas their first fight at UFC 99 took place in the neutral territory of Cologne, Germany. Add up enough minor differences, and the tenor of the fight could change drastically. Franklin is a slightly heavier favorite over Wandy going into this fight (-155) as he was going into their last one (-140). Should he be?

As for the other fight on this card that you halfway-care about…

In advance of this weekend’s UFC 146 headlining match between Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir, FuelTV has released video of JDS’s Octagon debut at UFC 90 in October 2008. At the time, Dos Santos was 6-1 prospect, completely unknown outside of Brazil, facing a seasoned grappling expert and PRIDE/UFC vet whose list of victims included Alistair Overeem, Alexander Emelianenko, Gabriel Gonzaga (twice) and Brandon Vera, all of whom Werdum beat by stoppage. We gave Junior zero chance to win — and he shocked us all with a earth-shaking uppercut that permanently altered the power-balance in the UFC’s heavyweight division.

Following the fight, the UFC cut Werdum after he refused to re-sign for less money, and JDS went on the greatest contender run in UFC history, culminating in a 64-second knockout of champion Cain Velasquez. Watch the video above to see how it all started, two and a half years ago.

Let the speculation over UFC 147′s location end.

After a United Nations convention in Rio forced the UFC to change the original venue, the UFC announced that UFC 147 will still take place on June 23 in Brazil. Specifically, Estádio Jornalista Felipe Drumond – commonly refered to as the “Mineirinho” Arena – in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais will house the event.

Mineirinho Arena is the largest indoor arena in Brazil, capable of holding 25,000 people at full capacity.

Needless to say, the UFC is pretty excited about booking the venue. In a press release sent out by the UFC, UFC Managing Director of International Development Marshall Zelaznik issued the following statement: “It is great for our fans and for the UFC to be able to stage events in new parts of Brazil. The UFC is exploding everywhere in the country and Minas Gerais, being the third biggest state in the country, seemed like the perfect place for this.”

UFC 147 will mark the first time that the promotion held an event in Brazil outside of Rio de Janeiro since UFC Brazil was held in Sao Paulo on October 16, 1998.

(Matt Serra: MMA’s patron saint of lost causes.)

With tomorrow night’s UFC 145 main event slated as a 4-1 squash match, the CP gang is talking upsets for today’s installment of the CagePotato Roundtable. If you have a topic-suggestion for a future Roundtable column, please send it to tips@cagepotato.com, and share your own MMA-upset testimonials in the comments section…

Doug “ReX13″ Richardson

This wasn’t a hard decision for me: My personal “greatest upset” would have to be Fabricio Werdum vs. Fedor Emelianenko.

While I normally disagree with that crazy fanboy (hey Sodak) explaining to me how Fedor is an intelligent machine, sent back in time to destroy craniums and assassinate Andrei Arlovski, I completely wrote off Werdum here. Like, no way a guy who hung out in Minotauro Nogueira’s guard for six days is going to get tapped by a dude who calls himself “Go Horse” and smiles like this, right? So yeah, I gave him no chance of pulling out a victory. I could be on tape somewhere saying that he had no chance, in an obnoxiously opinionated manner. I may also be credited with one of the worst predictions in CP history.

So yeah, that one stung a little bit.

It’s still real to us, damn it. Props to @ZeusJupiterMMAO

Pay attention, Tim Sylvia: It turns out that a Twitter campaign, no matter how popular, is not the best way to manipulate Dana White.

Even though we here at Cagepotato have known this to be true for a while, we still couldn’t help but get behind #RallyForMarkHunt. The online campaign to have “Super Samoan” fill in for Overeem at UFC 146 quickly took off among tech-savvy MMA fans, and even gained the approval of UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. For a second there, it looked as though the unlikely challenger would actually be getting a shot at ‘Cigano’; especially when Dana White announced that former champions Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez were not being considered but was silent about Mark Hunt.

Well, you can now officially stop getting your hopes up. At the post-event press conference for UFC on FUEL 2, Dana White issued the following statement about the online rally (as transcribed by BJPenn.com):

(John Einemo, the only man to ever truly smell what The Rock was cookin’.)

Norwegian news site VG.no is reporting that former UFC heavyweight John Olav Einemo has decided to call it a career after being cut from the promotion following his loss to Mike Russow at UFC on Fox 2.

Although Einemo told reporters that the UFC had left the proverbial door open for his return if he was able to put a couple wins together in smaller promotions, Einemo felt that the time he had to spend away from his family during the training process was simply too much to handle. Apparently his wife and kids didn’t drive him crazy. For those of you who are suddenly overwhelmed with panic as to when you’ll see J.O.E again, fret not, for he plans to help build upon Norway’s ever-growing MMA scene as a coach somewhere down the line.

Nevermind, this is likely the last we’ll see of Einemo before the trolls get him.

(Seriously, if you have any shred of humanity, you’ll “like” Roy’s Facebook page to help convince him to drop to light-heavyweight. Otherwise, be prepared for a lot more of this.)

After dispatching Roy Nelson in straight-sets during his triumphant Octagon return at UFC 143, Fabricio Werdum has his next opponent close to finalized, and once again, it’ll be against a white dude with a deceivingly husky physique. MMAFighting reports that Werdum is slated to be on the UFC’s next card in Brazil, against Mike Russow. Though the event hasn’t been officially announced yet, it is expected to take place on June 16th in Sao Paulo, and will likely be headlined by a pair of long-awaited rematches in Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva.

Carrying a 4-0 UFC record, and producer of one of the greatest comebacks in UFC history, Russow last competed on the UFC on FOX 2 card, taking a rather uninspiring unanimous decision win over John-Olav Einemo. Werdum represents a massive step up in competition for the full-time Chicago police officer, but then again, Russow always seems to find a way to win. His last defeat came five years ago, against Sergei Kharitonov at Pride 33.

(The battle of the chins, ladies and gentlemen. One figurative, and the other literal. Which will reign supreme?) 

It looks like Mayor McCheese has granted Roy Nelson a temporary reprieve from his Facebook sponsored drop to light heavyweight, as it is being reported that the TUF 10 winner has been booked to square off against former EliteXC heavyweight champion Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC 146 in May.

Continuing the UFC’s ongoing trend of purging Strikeforce of any remaining talent, it was rumored a couple months ago that Silva would be facing Cain Velasquez for his UFC debut, which was tentatively set for April. Rumors quickly shifted to a possible Velasquez/Frank Mir matchup, and “Bigfoot” was all but forgotten about in the mix of things. After shocking the world by handing Fedor Emelianenko his first (T)KO loss since December of 2000 at last year’s Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva card, “Bigfoot” would find himself on the wrong end of a slightly less shocking KO loss to Daniel Cormier in the semifinals of Strikeforce’s long running heavyweight tournament in his last contest.

(And if enough of you follow him on Twitter, he will fight this dog to the death on live television.) 

Talk about an odd method of motivation. UFC President Dana White has long lamented over the extra baggage UFC heavyweight Roy Nelson has been carrying around over the course of his career, and it appeared to have some impact, as Nelson showed up at a slim and trim 246 pounds for his most recent UFC 143 battle with Fabricio Werdum. Though the results were less than successful, it seemed as if “Big Country” had actually begun to make a commitment to shedding the unnecessary pounds that were holding him back from being a truly elite fighter. After his loss to Werdum, many were calling for the rotund Burger King enthusiast to consider a drop to light heavyweight, regardless of how long it took. Though it would undoubtedly be a mountainous task, it would ultimately benefit Nelson, who is a mere 3-3 as a heavyweight in his UFC career.

Well according to Roy, we won’t be seeing him even attempt the cut unless he gets a few more people to “like” him on Facebook. In a recent interview with BloodyElbow, Nelson managed to set aside his order of baby back ribs long enough to make a pledge to transform his body, but if and only if he added 100,000 friends/likes/whogivesafucks to his profile:

The reason is my friend and I had a discussion about what was better? I think twitter just because of use and for fans interaction, but Facebook is 20x bigger. So we decided to bet. I said if it so easy and great I should be able add 100K fans in 2 weeks because I have that on twitter. Facebook is bigger and better so this should be easy. Right?

Bet is I will try to get to 205 if I can add 100k to Facebook.com/RoyNelsonUFC in two weeks. I love to win bets. Plus he will have to give me a part in his next movie.

You know the deal by now, Potato Nation. Dana White’s first video blog for UFC 144 takes a look back at the aftermath of UFC 143, as has become the norm. So we’re going to skip the fancy introduction and get right into it.

(1:43) -  Matt Riddle has to be one of the nicest guys in the UFC, bar none. Talk about a guy that loves his job. And a metaphorical fist bump is due to Henry Martinez for putting on a hell of a fight on such short notice. DW states that he originally thought this match-up was “the worst mismatch in UFC History.” How quickly we all forgot Silva/Leites.

(2:36) - Poor Edwin Figueroa‘s testicles.

(2:44) - Apparently Bruce Leroy kicked Figueroa so hard in the balls that he forgot how many times he kicked Figueroa in the balls. Irony? Either way, we agree that a two point deduction seemed a little harsh. Then again, Caceres likely destroyed any of Figueroa’s future plans to have children, so we’ll call it even.

(Apparently after this loss, Max Holloway decided to change his nickname from “Lil’ Evil” to “Blessed,” likely because taking Jens Pulver’s nickname REALLY lets opponents know where your weakness lies.) 

Aside from bitterly dividing fans on what exactly constitutes a fight, UFC 143 left us with a lot of unanswered questions. Should Carlos Condit consider a nickname change?* Will Dustin Poirier get the next shot at Jose Aldo?** Is Nick Diaz really calling it quits?*** Though only time will truly calm our concerns, we’re going to make some bold predictions for Saturday’s winners and losers nonetheless, because that’s how we do things ’round here. Check out our matchmaking picks below, and let us know what you think in the comments section.

Nick Diaz: Perhaps the most impressive thing about Nick Diaz is that, despite his intellectual shortcomings, he maintains an ability to instill fear into whomever he fights. His cardio, striking attack, and Jiu Jitsu are second to none and just plain SCARY, but it is the man’s confidence, his willingness to relentlessly pursue and trade with anyone, that breaks even the strongest of competitors. Going into a fight with Diaz, you know you aren’t going to submit him, and you know it’s damn near impossible to knock the SOB out, so what the fuck are you supposed to do?

(“If you’re gonna tease me, at least let me shove this down your shorts, homie.”)

The Nevada State Athletic Commission today released the salaries for Saturday night’s UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit event at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

The entire payroll for the show, which was attended by 10,040 fans and earned a reported live gate of $2.3 million, was $880,500.

Nick Diaz took home the biggest paycheck out of the night’s combatants with $200,000, not including discretionary back room bonuses which are rumored to have brought Diaz’s payday to the $1 million range. The next highest payout went to Josh Koscheck, who doubled up on his $73,000 base salary with his razor-close win over Mike Pierce, bringing him to $146,000. In third was Carlos Condit, who took home $110,000 for his win over Diaz including a $55,000 win bonus.

Fabricio Werdum’s UFC salary remained the same as his Strikeforce one as he netted his customary $100,000 flat rate for his win over Roy Nelson, who is still at the lower end of the pay scale of the UFC’s upper-echelon of fighters thanks to his TUF contract. To put it in perspective, Scott Jorgensen took home $500 more than “Big Country” for his loss to Renan Barao, while Mike Pierce matched salaries with the former heavyweight IFL champ.

(The shirt says it all.) 

Roy Nelson’s UFC 143 scrap with Fabricio Werdum was truly an exercise in futility for “Big Country,” because it more or less showcased what we already knew about him (the man can take a beating like no other), while at the same time reinforcing the idea that Nelson has damn near refused to evolve as a MMA fighter. Yes, he has recently shown a commitment to slimming down and yes, not many of us expected him to try and submit Werdum on Saturday, but if Roy doesn’t start switching up his striking routine (aka looking for anything but a big overhand right), he can expect several more axe wounds like the one above in his future.

We love you Roy, but it might be time to depart from The Country Club for a while, because you can only change the tee box and hole locations for so long until you just get sick of playing the same course over and over again.

Speaking of axe wounds, join us after the jump for a brief look back at some of MMA’s nastiest cuts…

Two kicks + two mangled testes = two points? (Photo: UFC.com)

Controversial decisions weren’t limited to the feature bout at UFC 143, my friends. From scrotum to scorecard, there’s much to break down from the undercard action.

Fabricio Werdum put on a striking clinic against the slightly less-hefty Roy Nelson. Werdum put together crisp, powerful combinations and launched a torrent of knees from the clinch to bloody “Big Country” up. It was a welcome rebound from his performance against Overeem and a promising re-introduction to the Octagon. Nelson has an incredibly tough chin—proven by the sheer number of bombs he takes fight after fight—and a heart as big as they come—what else could pump that much blood out of his face?–but that’s not enough to make it in the UFC’s heavyweight division. He’s served as a very game punching bag for much of his post-TUF career, and it’s not a good look. On the positive side, his refusal to die in the cage did help the duo score the evening’s $65k ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus.

(Don’t be a hero. Just throw your lunch money onto the stage with everybody else’s. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com For more photos from this set, click here.)

Tonight, the UFC is putting an interim welterweight belt on the line, to be decided by two gamebred sons-of-bitches who go out to take scalps, not win points. If Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit isn’t a thrilling fight, I’ll eat my hat. Plus: Roy Nelson welcomes Fabricio Werdum back to the Octagon, Josh Koscheck slugs it out with his evil twin Mike Pierce, and Scott Jorgenson does his best to snap the 27-fight win streak of Renan Barao.

Handling play-by-play for tonight’s action is interim liveblog champion Aaron Mandel. Follow us after the jump for live results from the UFC 143 pay-per-view card, beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and please use the comments section to let us know how we can better serve you.

Don’t blink- someone’s getting their ass motorboated tonight. (Video: YouTube/UFC)

Though reported to have gone down in Las Vegas, last night’s weigh-ins clearly took place in Bizarro World. How else could you explain a slim(mer) Roy Nelson, Josh Koscheck being the victim of bullying, and Nick Diaz comporting himself like a true gentleman?

We were denied a glimpse of “Big Medium Country” at the memorable UFC 137 weigh-ins back in October, but last night he tipped the scales some fourteen pounds lighter than he did when squaring off against Frank Mir last May. Could it be he’s serious about that drop to light heavyweight?

Koscheck hasn’t had much to say about his foe—aside from having to look him up after the fight was signed—but Mike Pierce provoked him further by donning a pretty accurate wig during their staredown. Considering that Pierce called him out in the first place, he either knows something we don’t or is setting himself up for a lesson in humility this evening.

And as for Diaz, there’s not much to say beyond how civilized he looked. No, he didn’t bro hug ‘Conduit‘ after the face-off, but the ruffian we know and love was nowhere to be seen. First a handshake at the presser, and now no mean mug? Could it be that the ‘Pride of Stockton’ has failed to muster up the hatred for his opponent that usually fuels his fights, and if so, does it even matter?

Full weigh-in results, and a closer look at the Diaz-Condit stare-down after the jump.

(“Hey, my eyes are up here, asshole.”)

Discussing MMA is a lot like discussing politics; what starts off as a friendly difference of opinion more than often spirals into an alcohol-fueled debate, rife with personal insults and name calling, before ending in a sloppy wrestling match that gets both parties banned from their boss’s wine tasting parties for life. Luckily, we have Doug “ReX13″ Richardson and Jared Jones here to dispute all things UFC 143, because frankly, we can’t make heads or tails outta this card.

Let’s kick things off how we normally do, with a completely offhand topic. Who wins the Super Bowl?

RX: Me, if the commercials are good and Bane blows up the stadium.  Let me guess, you’re a-

JJ: GO GIANTS!

RX: I hate you so hard, man.

JJ: First off, I’m not your buddy.

RX: But I never-

JJ: Eli Manning is to the Patriots what Dylan Klebold was to Columbine High School; he cannot be defeated, unless by that of his own doing. Giants 35-27.

RX: Wow…this has gotten off to a rough start. Can we just move on?

(Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit exchange a respectful handshake at Gladiator Man‘s funeral.)

Weigh-ins for tomorrow night’s UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit event are scheduled to get rollin’ today at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT in Las Vegas. You can watch the action right here on CagePotato.com, in the video player after the jump. Will Nick Diaz start talking shit during the staredown? What can Roy Nelson possibly do to top his last weigh-in appearance? And will the Fabricio Werdum smirk of insanity make its UFC debut? Keep your browser parked right here to find out, and be sure to come back tomorrow night at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT for our liveblog of the UFC 143 main card.

(Video courtesy of YOuTube/IronForgesIron)

If you missed the UFC 143 countdown show last night, don’t worry, we got you.

The more I hear Nick Diaz speak honestly and candidly, the more I’m a fan. This is a very tough fight to pick, but it will probably more than make up for last weekend’s snoozefest of a main event. I almost forgot that the rest of the card is as good as it is. Roy Nelson versus Fabricio Werdum and Josh Koscheck versus Mike Pierce both have “Fight of the Night” potential as well.