(Props: Co0lie5terFunKzit. Wow, seriously? That’s your YouTube user name?)

CagePotato reader ‘destinationblood’ sent us this footage of last weekend’s James Irvin vs. Mike Crisman fight at Gladiator Challenge so that we could see for ourselves what all the fuss was about. And despite the shaky, long-distance quality of the video, two things are clear:

1) Crisman knocks Irvin onto his ass with a left hook, right off the bell. (So yes, "The Fresh One," you were right.)

2) That controversial knee that came in the finishing sequence (skip to about 2:03) was freakin’ brutal, and it did look rather questionable. Did celebrity referee Ken Shamrock actually make the right call?

Irvin and Crisman are slated to have their rematch in May. Fun fact: This is Irvin’s ninth-consecutive fight that has ended in the first round.

(props: burchfootball3)

CagePotato reader Stephen B. writes:

"Not sure who I should send this to, but I thought you would like to see a video from an MMA seminar I went to this past weekend in Charleston, WV. Wandy was in attendance and after demonstrating various techniques, he began sparring with individuals. This was all going pretty well, being that most people understood that he was an animal and respected that at any moment he could destroy their ability to operate their limbs. That is, until a young upstart at the age of 16 chose to show off in front of everyone. It turned out less than favorable for him…Enjoy."

That 16-year-old kid is lucky to be alive after disrespecting Master Silva with his insolent turning side kick. The ensuing bear-slap is pretty epic, and you gotta love how the entire class groans when the kid starts into his Royce Gracie-style heel-chops at the 0:37 mark. I think everyone there learned a valuable lesson at that seminar — when Wanderlei Silva asks you to spar with him, don’t. A reverse angle of the video is after the jump.

(I guess you had to be there. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

Originally slated to go down this month, the long-awaited (at least by us) rubber match between middleweights Jason Miller and Tim Kennedy is now expected for Strikeforce: Columbus, which takes place March 5th at the Nationwide Arena. It’s great news for Kennedy, who has been ducked by everybody in the universe since his decision loss to Ronaldo Souza in August. Miller has won his last two fights, scoring a first-round TKO over local yokel Tim Stout at Strikeforce: Nashville last April, and choking out creaky legend Kazushi Sakuraba at DREAM.16 in September.

For the second year in a row, the UFC has decided not to hold an event during the annual Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, and Strikeforce is swooping in to take full advantage. Along with Miller/Kennedy, the event is rumored to feature Rafael Cavalcante vs. Dan Henderson in the main event, a 135-pound women’s title fight between Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate, the possible return of Paul Daley, and maybe (maybe!) even Werdum vs. Overeem. 

Speaking of Jason Miller, did you know that he once fought a 360-pound man at an Icon Sport event, and held onto a choke for so long that even Babalu Sobral would be disgusted? I just learned that over the weekend, and I’m still confused. Video proof after the jump…

(Remember when Sergei Kharitonov sent Alistair Overeem‘s lifeless body through the ropes at K-1 Hero’s 10? No? Then you really need to watch these videos…)

In our excitement for Strikeforce’s potentially insane heavyweight tournament, one point seems to be getting lost in the narrative — namely, that these guys have already fought each other many, many times before. Five of the eight competitors (Werdum, Arlovski, Overeem, Emelianenko, Rogers) have previously faced at least three other fighters in the tournament field. Fabricio Werdum has actually fought everyone except Brett Rogers and Josh Barnett, and only Barnett himself has managed to go his entire career without bumping up against anybody else in this year’s bracket.

All told, there’s eleven twelve fights worth of shared history among the Strikeforce HWGP competitors, dating back over five years. To help you study for the quarterfinals next month, we’ve posted them all below in chronological order…

UPDATE: We originally forgot to include Fabricio Werdum’s decision win over Antonio Silva. So actually, there have been 12 previous meetings, not 11. The video has now been added. 

(Sergei Kharitonov def. Fabricio Werdum via split decision; PRIDE 30, 10/23/05)

(Alistair Overeem def. Sergei Kharitonov via TKO, 5:13 of round 1; PRIDE 31, 2/26/06)

(Above: Brandon Vera gets smashed up by Jon Jones in March. Below: Marcus Davis does his best Abobo impression during his fight with Nate Diaz.)

It’s not like we didn’t see this coming. After Phil Baroni and Antonio McKee lost their jobs, there was no way that the axe wasn’t going to drop again on UFC 125‘s other repeat-losers. Here’s the latest…

Brandon Vera: The Truth has been released from his UFC contract after his shutout decision loss to Thiago Silva, which represented Vera’s third consecutive defeat, and sixth loss in his last nine outings. Due to the nasty broken nose he suffered last weekend, Vera won’t be able to compete anywhere until March 3rd at the earliest.

Marcus Davis: The Irish Hand Grenade has also been bounced out of the Octagon. Davis’s knockout loss against Jeremy Stephens was his fifth loss in his last eight attempts, and second-straight defeat by stoppage. The TUF 2 vet was hoping to re-invent himself as a lightweight, and had controlled Stephens in the first two rounds before having his lights put out in the third. Davis is one of only eight UFC fighters who have earned five or more performance bonuses.

Instead of piling on the abuse, let’s remember Vera and Davis for the dangerous, exciting fighters they used to be before their luck abruptly ran out. Video proof is after the jump…

(Props: russinapanzer)

The 1980 Miracle on Ice still gets more recognition, but Rulon Gardner‘s legendary Greco-Roman triumph over Alexander Karelin at the 2000 Summer Olympics was just as unlikely. One of the most intimidating figures in sports history, Karelin had been undefeated for 13 years, and hadn’t even given up a point in six when he met Gardner in Sydney. The American managed to shake loose a point from the Russian Experiment while shutting down Karelin’s offense, and went home with a gold medal. It was just one of many brushes with death that the former farm-boy managed to survive.

Gardener retired from wrestling four years later after taking a bronze medal in Athens, but he wasn’t done competing. On New Year’s Eve 2004, Gardner competed in his first and only MMA match at PRIDE Shockwave 2004, where he won a unanimous decision against 1992 Judo gold-medalist (and PRIDE/Sengoku veteran) Hidehiko Yoshida. The second round of that fight is above. Gardner never competed in another MMA match.

Somehow, Rulon has managed to gain 200 pounds since then. That’s the bad news. The good news is, he can currently be seen as a contestant on the eleventh season of The Biggest Loser, which premiered last night on NBC. Hey, if it worked for Fat Gina Carano, why not an Olympic legend? After the jump: A video feature on the historic Gardner vs. Karelin match, and Gardner’s intro package from TBL…

(Alistair Overeem vs. Todd Duffee. Fight starts at the 3:41 mark and ends 19 seconds later. Good night Ireeeene.)

Full results from today’s New Year’s Eve event in Saitama, Japan, are after the jump, along with a few must-see videos courtesy of ZP420MMA. Note: Bob Sapp apparently backed out of his IGF slap-fight-rules bout with Shinichi Suzukawa at the last minute.

(Taisuke Okuno vs. Ryo Chonan. Fight starts at the 1:30 mark. Props: DJSexStyle via MiddleEasy)

Some highlights from today’s stoppage-heavy Sengoku show. Above, Ryo Chonan gets put to bed in just 19 seconds. After the jump: The brief but ferocious slugfest between Yoshiro Maeda and Masanori Kanehara, which ended in an unfortunate early stoppage, and the welterweight GP final match between Keita Nakamura and Yasubey Enomoto.

(Props: 187872 via MMAScraps. Fight starts at the one-minute mark.)

Aleksander Emelianenko was back in action Saturday night in Khabarovsk, Russia, where he faced Australian K-1/Sengoku vet Peter Graham in the main event of Draka: Governor’s Cup 2010. Despite Graham’s decorated kickboxing background, he came into the fight with an underwhelming MMA record of 3-5, with notable losses to Kazuyuki Fujita, Rolles Gracie, and Jim York (all by first-round choke).

But this was no ordinary MMA match — special rules were in place so that fighters would be stood up after just 30 seconds. Not that it would matter to Aleks, who hasn’t needed much more than his fists lately. In fact, The Other Emelianenko had finished all of his previous eight opponents in the first round. True, most of those opponents were no-name punching bags who looked like they didn’t belong in the ring with him, and his April win against Eddy Bengtsson was one of the dive-iest dives in diving history. Would Graham be another conquest on Alek’s can-crushing streak? As the headline of this post should have already informed you, no, not at all.

EMBED-3 seconds head kick knockout – Watch more free videos

Usually we only see knockouts this fast when one of the competitors fakes the glove tap or rushes in like an animal/moron. During a bout at last week’s Desert Force Championship 1 — the first MMA event held in Amman, Jordan — the fighters come out normally, touch gloves, and then the knockout victim just kind of hangs out in concussion-range with his hands down. The sound of the impact is just ridiculous. Great show of respect from the winning fighter, who comes back to…kiss the loser’s ankle? Hmm. Well, it’s a different culture and we must not judge.

(Props: volton via MMA Scraps)

From dramatic come-from-behind victories to face-plant knockouts to completely unexpected upsets, MMA in 2010 was as entertaining as it was shocking. This brand-new new highlight video serves as a good reminder of how crazy things got, even if it seems to focus only on stoppages. (Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung, Megumi Fujii vs. Zoila Frausto, and the Penn vs. Edgar double-header were as notable as any other fights this year, but they don’t get any screen time here.) Let us know your favorite moment from the compilation — and what else you think should have been included.

(Props: TachiPalaceFights. Fight starts at the 2:03 mark.)

Two months after he barely survived his first post-UFC outing against Angel DeAnda, James Irvin was back in action last night at "Tachi Palace Fights 7: Deck the Halls" in Lemoore, California — and he wasn’t so lucky this time. In the main event of the evening, Irvin took on 5-2-1 Chute Boxe product Jorge "Van Damme" Oliveira, who holds victories over Shonie Carter and Mike Van Arsdale. After failing on a takedown attempt, Oliveira wound up on his back, and did his best to defend Irvin’s ground-and-pound. At the video’s 3:24 mark, Irvin’s gets enough space to rain down some nasty blows, and Oliveira kicks him off. Irvin dives back in, and is immediately caught in a triangle/armbar. Fun fact: Irvin hasn’t been out of the first round in over four years.

Maybe Oliveira is just an affectionate guy in general, but the dude lays it on a little thick in his post-fight show of respect, hugging and kissing Irvin on the mat, raising the Sandman’s arm in faux-victory, bowing to him in a "we’re not worthy" pose (dude, it’s James Irvin, you’re worthy), getting up to hug him some more, then hugging him again after a brief visit with his corner. Now we know why they call him "Van Damme."

The Tachi Palace event also featured an insane bout between TUF 11 castmember Seth Baczynski and WEC/UFC vet Tim McKenzie, which ended with Baczynski getting his left arm snapped in an armbar, then elbowing McKenzie into unconsciousness with his non-broken arm. 2010 Finish of the Year candidate, for sure. Check it out after the jump…

(Props: Gofightlive via Fightlinker)

Since nobody likes to get right back to work after a four-day weekend, we figured we’d ease you back into your time-wasting routine with a few ridiculous MMA videos. First up, a three-second KO at an Evolution AMMA event that’s notable for what happens after the knockout. The losing fighter is so dazed that not only does he grab onto the referee in confusion, he manages to successfully score mount. Early stoppage, if you ask me.

After the jump: During a 2007 bout in Brazil, new UFC acquisition Maiquel Falcao continues to beat on his opponent long after the fight is stopped. Could this be a bad omen for his UFC career? (And where was that intensity at UFC 123?) Also, video of Bob Sapp‘s latest sad kickboxing match, Saturday night in Sweden, in which the Beast takes a dive at the absolute earliest opportunity.

(Props: jgreff2)

As you may recall, UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock scored a rare victory over Jonathan Ivey last month at a USA MMA event in Lousiana. If you’d like to see the full 15-minute battle, the video is currently in our "Fight of the Week" section over on the right. (Scroll down a bit. Yeah, there it is.) The above highlights package from Inside MMA saves you a lot of time by rounding up the important moments, like when Ivey knocks Shammy down, and later when he slaps his own titties and shouts at Ken to bring it on, like an enraged, diabetic Nick Diaz.

But the best moment comes right before the end of the fight when Ivey does a pair of somersaults for no apparent reason; we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was rolling for a kneebar, then dodged out of the way when he couldn’t catch it. Kenny Rice describes it both as a "Rerun impression" and "the dreidel defense." Oy vey, Ivey!

Bonus, after the jump: Jonathan Ivey gets beat up by "very internet savvy" UFC heavyweight Sean McCorkle, at an LFC event in May.

(Props: NickDiaz209)

Back in July 2002, when Nick Diaz was an 18-year-old rookie with a pro record of 1-0, and Chris Lytle was a 9-6-5 journeyman Pancrase vet trying to hit his stride, the two welterweights met at an IFC Warriors Challenge event in Porterville, California. It was a gritty scrap, with the momentum going back and forth, Nick’s forehead getting slashed open, and one of the bikini-clad ring girls freaking out about a heel-hook attempt at the 13:46 mark. (That’s our kind of chick.) Diaz wound up taking a narrow split decision. Both fighters would make their UFC debuts the following year, but never crossed paths in the cage again.

Guy In Wheelchair Stops Robber – Watch more Funny Videos

Word to the wise — before you try to start trouble at a convenience store, make sure there isn’t a paraplegic BJJ specialist waiting in line to buy scratch-off tickets. The above video was taken Saturday night in Vancouver, after a man tried to pass off a suspicious-looking $50 bill. When the clerk refused to accept it, the dude in black lurched awkwardly behind the counter, clearly up to no good.

That’s when Epic Wheelchair Man (real name: Larry Skopnik) rolls up and grabs a rear-naked choke. The robber twists away, and Skopnik transitions to the same kind of guillotine that Dan Miller tapped Jake Rosholt with. And he would have sunk it if those other dudes hadn’t started meddling. (How ’bout that pussy swinging the "Wet Floor" sign?) The gang was able to subdue the bad guy until police arrived. As Skopnik said later, "I don’t feel like a hero and I’m not really comfortable with this limelight. What made me do that is inside of me. It has nothing to do with disability." In other words, you can take a man’s legs, but you can never take his balls.

Thanks to CagePotato reader Paul B. for the tip!

(Fight begins at the 1:12 mark. Props: ZProphet420 via Fightlinker)

During his long and storied career, Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa has made his reputation off fighting much larger opponents. The reigning Super Hulk champ‘s list of victims includes  Eric "Butterbean" Esch (400+ pounds), Giant Silva (385 pounds), Bob Sapp (340 pounds), Imani Lee (330 pounds), Hong Man Choi (320 pounds) and Jimmy Ambriz (285 pounds). On October 24th at Deep 50 Impact, Minowa was able to add another pudgy pelt to his collection — Chang Hee Kim, a South Korean 300-pounder who came into the fight with an 0-1 record. Would Minowa be able to overcome his opponent’s tremendous size and utter lack of skill, as he has so many times in the past?

Short answer: Yep. Kim shows a hint of capability in the beginning, defending a takedown attempt and sneaking in a knee from clinch. But once Minowa flips that big body over — very impressively, we might add — it’s pretty much a wrap. Minowa goes from mount, to side-control, to a slick little armbar-variation that he sets up with a kind of leg-crucifix. Proving once again, Minowaman ain’t gonna lose to no guy with titties.

Getting trapped in a submission is a panic-inducing experience for any fighter. But what happens when you’re put in a position that you’ve never even seen before? In honor of next week’s DVD/Blu-ray release of Locked Down (which co-stars Rashad Evans, Kimbo Slice, and Cheick Kongo), we’re taking a look back at MMA matches where fighters were "locked down" for real — caught in off-the-wall subs that offered no chance of escape. Enjoy the list, and come back next Thursday for a chance to win a Locked Down combo pack in our next caption contest…

#10: Alexander Otsuka’s double-armbar vs. Mike Bourke
PRIDE 11, 10/31/00

Dusting himself off after a pathetically botched dropkick attempt early in the fight (see the video’s 0:38 mark), Otsuka begins working his jiu-jitsu against the tank-topped American brawler. When Bourke starts to hang out with one arm posted and the other throwing down telegraphed punches, the "Diet Butcher" seizes the moment, snapping his legs over Bourke’s head and torquing both of his arms simultaneously. Bourke is so screwed he has to tap with his knee.

#9: Ivan Salaverry’s anaconda body lock vs. Tony Fryklund
UFC 50, 10/22/04

We usually think of the body-triangle as a technique used to soften up an opponent before or during a rear-naked choke. It takes real talent to actually finish somebody with it. After taking Tony Fryklund’s back, Salaverry passes up the neck and instead wrenches his arms around Fryklund’s body, driving his hips forward to exert maximum pressure on the spine and ribs. Fryklund has two options at this point: Allow himself to be cracked like a walnut, or scream for mercy. Fortunately, he makes the right choice.

(Bryan Caraway and Miesha Tate as Dexter and some chick who’s about to get murdered. For more MMA fighter Halloween costume photos, hit up FiveOuncesofPain.)

– The Korean Zombie Vows Never To Fight ‘Zombie Style’ Again (MMA Convert)

– Must-See: Front Kick to the Chin Knockout (MMA Scraps)

– Faber The Key To Bantamweight Success In The UFC (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Manny Gamburyan: ‘WEC Fighters Deserve To Be In The UFC’ (SBNation.com/MMA)

– Scott Coker: Melendez vs. Aoki 2 in Works for New Years Eve in Japan (LowKick)

– The Top Ten Audience Reactions in MMA, Vol. 2 (MiddleEasy)

– Mike Brown Campaigning for WEC 53 Fight (Versus MMA Beat)

– The Method to Our Madness: FIGHT! Rankings Explained (FightMagazine)

– Keith Jardine’s Next Fight Postponed by Tropical Storm Tomas (MMA Fighting)

(Props: swift1125 via MiddleEasy. Don’t worry, the camera flips around at the 0:20 mark.)

So, the dude in the black trunks is an 18-year-old kid by the name of Charlie Ontiveros, who picked up East Texas MMA‘s highly-coveted amateur welterweight championship on October 16th by starching his hapless opponent with a single punch. As for the goofball in the camo board-shorts, well, we don’t have a name for him yet. But from the moment the fight starts, you just know something bad’s going to happen. See, it’s not enough to just "keep your hands up." You also have to keep them in the general area of your chin. Poor guy must have been out sick when they taught that lesson at his MMA gym…

(Props: barochoc)

While cruising YouTube for Muay Thai knockout videos last night — hey, it’s my life and I can waste it any way I want — I came across this gem, filmed in Thailand a couple years ago. When you keep up a pace like that, it’s only a matter of time before one guy catches a bad one. Watch as Mr. Red Shorts lands one of the nastiest cobra punches ever recorded, then knocks Blue out again with a head kick as soon as the poor bastard gets to his feet. Two questions: 1) Did that referee graduate from the Yves Lavigne School of Letting Fighters Suffer Multiple Concussions? and 2) Who would be watching soccer at a time like this? Anyway, good morning everybody…

(Stanislav Nedkov highlight reel, courtesy of BGMMAFIGHTER. Check out 0:50-0:59 for yet another example of a guy wearing a t-shirt during an MMA fight and getting absolutely ruined.)

Now that you’ve met Curt, Fabio, and Paul, let’s continue along the UFC 120 preliminary card and see who else will be making their Octagon debuts on Saturday night…

STANISLAV NEDKOV (LHW)
Experience: 11-0 record (8 wins by first-round stoppage), with appearances in Sengoku, Pancrase, and Shooto Bulgaria. Holds wins over Kevin Randleman and Travis Wiuff.
Will be facing: Steve Cantwell (7-3 record, 1-2 UFC)
Lowdown: Nedkov was slated to make his UFC debut against Rodney Wallace at UFC 117, but had to withdraw due to injury. The Bulgarian native comes from a decorated grappling background, and is experienced in freestyle wrestling, sumo, and BJJ. Judging from his fights, he seems to love a good brawl just as much as a ground battle. Causes for concern: At 5’11", he’ll be one of the shortest 205-pounders in the UFC, and his Sengoku fights against Randleman and Wiuff raised questions about his stamina.

(Props: graciefighterz)

This Saturday in San Jose, Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz will defend his belt against KJ Noons, the last fighter to defeat him. Diaz vs. Noons 1 took place at EliteXC: Renegade in November 2007; the fight was stopped due to cuts after the first round. Since their first meeting, Diaz has gone 7-0 (all wins by stoppage), with notable victories over Frank Shamrock, Scott Smith, Marius Zaromskis, and Hayato Sakurai. Noons has gone 4-0 since his win over Diaz, scoring knockouts against Yves Edwards and Jorge Gurgel.

It’s a rematch that needed to happen eventually, and most oddsmakers currently have Diaz at more than a 2-1 favorite, apparently based on Nick’s reputation and the fact that Noons is fighting in an unfamiliar weight class. The question is, will it look anything like their first meeting? In case you haven’t lately, check out the above video of their first fight. Let’s try to break it down…

(Photo courtesy of the exclusive WEC 51 gallery at CageWriter.com)

Due to a number of factors — including the broadcast starting nearly 10 minutes late thanks to a goddamned arena football game — we never got a chance to see the WEC 51 preliminary bout between former featherweight champion Mike Brown and Cole Province, even though it was the shortest fight of the night at just 78 seconds. Thankfully, Versus has made it up to y’all by posting the fight online; you can check it out after the jump. Watch as Brown drops Province with a well-timed uppercut, then smashes him from the top as Province turtles. The ref steps in, and Cole immediately goes into ‘WTFIYP’? mode. Was he just about to spring into action when the fight was called? Who knows. Who cares. Enjoy.

(Coulda been worse, I guess…)

Just two months after bouncing out of the UFC following his third-straight loss at UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko, notoriously cursed striker James Irvin began his climb back to the big leagues at a Rebel Fights event in Roseville, California, on Saturday. As you’ll see in the video after the jump, it must have been a humbling experience from the get-go. Instead of a deafening, appropriately lit arena, Irvin squared off with a dude named Angel DeAnda for the entertainment of a couple hundred folks in a cinder-blocked space that was as small as it was bright.

It would have been especially depressing if Irvin lost — and he was a ball-hair away of doing just that. DeAnda starts the fight bombing out on Irvin with left hooks, but is floored by a patented Sandman Superman Punch. DeAnda pops back up, quickly scores a knockdown of his own, and starts pouring on the pain from the top. Check the vid’s 1:35 mark to see just how close Josh Rosenthal was to stopping the fight; he basically changes his mind at the last possible moment, which allows Irvin to get his bearings, work his way up, and put the stamp on DeAnda. 

(He’s just a dude, holding a belt, asking it to love him.)

On Thursday, Zhang Tie Quan will become the first fighter from mainland China to compete in the WEC. The China Top Team featherweight product will close out the preliminary portion of WEC 51 against Pablo Garza — who just made a brief appearance on TUF 12 as a lightweight hopeful — after being originally scheduled to face Alex Karalexis (out, injury) and then Jason Reinhardt (out, bad vision). It’s a big moment for Chinese MMA, as well as for Zuffa, which has been angling toward expansion in Asia, but is generally short on Asian rising stars in its promotions. With "The Mongolian Wolf," they couldn’t have picked up a better prospect.

Competing primarily in China’s Art of War promotion and the Philippines’ URCC outfit, Quan has racked up an 11-0 record, all wins by stoppage, with at least 10 of those victories coming in the first round. (The stoppage time of Quan’s pro debut isn’t listed on any MMA databases, or even AOW’s official site.) Quan’s last six wins have come via six different submissions, most recently a 30-second neck crank win against Daniel Digby, at a June event in Hong Kong. Quan holds a knockout victory over a guy named, I shit you not, De Gi Ji Ri Hu. For the last week, he’s been acclimating to Colorado time (and American training partners) at the red-hot Grudge Training Center.

Notable quote, from this WEC profile: "I always admired the wolf because he was so ferocious and majestic. We saw a lot of wild wolves where I grew up and we all heard stories that if a wolf bites you on the arm for example, even if you kill it, its jaw will remain closed…I look at a fight with that same ferociousness…If there is any opportunity to finish, I finish. I won’t quit, I do my best and try to end things as quickly as possible."

After the jump: The Wolf in action.

(Props: ix3623vault)

After a laughably transparent hype-up, Mariusz Pudzianowski and Eric "Butterbean" Esch squared off Saturday night at KSW 14 in Lodz, Poland. The main event was a disaster before the fight even started. Check out the above video, in which an underprepared Polish soul-singer named Mateusz Krauwurst absolutely murders "The Star Spangled Banner" in a botched tribute to Esch’s homeland/shorts. For reference, here’s a quick phonetic transcript:

"Ohhh say can you see
Mah’downse, duh-early lied
Were so proudly behaaaaaaved
Byyyyy the twilight’s that leaving
[pause, scattered laughter]
Hair the rockets were glare
And the rockets were glurrrrrr…
[singer nervously hums, then quits]"

It didn’t bode well for the 450-pound American power-puncher. And unfortunately, the fight was just as embarassing… 

(Props: SOULJAHBOY1219)

We’ve already gotten a glimpse of TUF 12 castmember Alex Caceres, the afro’d cut-up who brought his own Bruce Lee costume to the set. Alex sports an MMA record of 4-2 — not including the unsanctioned backyard brawls he had in Perrine, Florida back in the day, hosted by Kimbo-esque fighter/promoter DaDa 5000 (of Dawg Fight fame). UG’er joe bruce found the above video of Caceres in one of those fights, scrapping with a gentleman named Chocolate in a 12-foot-square patch of grass. Chocolate is a handful at first, throwing wild punches and slamming Caceres on more than one occasion, but once Alex sets up the triangle choke, it’s only a matter of time before he gets the chill-dog tap. Afterwards, "Bruce" informs us that he takes slams all day, and basks in his instant celebrity. Not bad for a guy whose fight skills come from a delinquency prevention program.

Alex’s path to UFC glory begins this Wednesday night after UFC Fight Night 22 (which we’ll be liveblogging, FYI), when he does battle in the elimination round of TUF 12. For more of Bruce Leroy, check out his extended Ultimate Fighter video profile.

(Photo courtesy of k-1.co.jp/en)

We probably won’t see Alistair Overeem compete again in Strikeforce until Fabricio Werdum recovers from his elbow injury — but the man’s gotta make a living somehow. K-1 confirmed yesterday that Overeem would be part of the K-1 World GP 2010 championship tournament, which kicks off October 3rd in Seoul with the Final 16 round. The Demolition Man’s opponent will be Ben "The Guvner" Edwards, a 25-year-old Bulldog Gym product who’s been building a fierce reputation in Australia. In July, Edwards won the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Canberra by scoring three consecutive first-round knockouts, with a total fight time of just 3:28. It was the fastest tournament win in K-1 history, smashing Jerome LeBanner’s previous record of 4:04, which LeBanner posted in Osaka nine years ago. Will Edwards make his name off an upset of Overeem? Check out some videos of the Guvner in action after the jump and let us know what you think…

Going into his UFC 118 title rematch against Frankie Edgar, BJ Penn is carrying a title that he hasn’t had since before UFC 80 — former champion. We’re willing to believe that the Prodigy had an off night in Abu Dhabi, but if he wants his belt back he’ll have to relocate the kind of violent aggression that got him to the top in the first place. With that in mind, let’s take a look back at four of Penn’s early fights that set him up as a star in the UFC, and laid the groundwork for the legend that was to come…

BJ Penn vs. Joey Gilbert, UFC 31, 5/4/01

As the first non-Brazilian to win the black belt division at the Mundials, Penn entered the UFC with a reputation to uphold. But he wasn’t looking to become the next Royce Gracie. Even from the beginning, the Prodigy was a true hybrid fighter, whose grappling and striking worked in tandem. His Octagon debut was against another UFC newbie, Joey Gilbert (1-1 MMA record at the time), and though Gilbert showed impressive ground defense in neutralizing Penn’s attacks and positions, Penn was finally able to flatten Gilbert out on his stomach and whale him in the head until the ref stopped the fight with three seconds left of the first round. It looked like there might be something to this BJ Penn kid after all.

BJ Penn vs. Din Thomas, UFC 32, 6/29/01

Penn returned to action just eight weeks later to take on another fighter who was making his UFC debut. But even though Din Thomas was new to the Octagon, he’d already been around the block, compiling a 12-1 record with all victories by stoppage and a notable win over future champ Jens Pulver. Penn plays guard for a while (and shows off his famous leg flexibility at the vid’s 2:13 mark), but once Thomas starts to threaten with ground-and-pound, Penn escapes to his feet and turns Din off with a perfectly-placed knee to the jaw. The Prodigy was no fluke, and the UFC’s fledgling lightweight division was officially on notice.