(‘Whatever, bro.’ Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle.  Check out the full weigh-in gallery.)

So it’s not the greatest fight card ever assembled.  That much is obvious.  But it’s on Spike TV, we’ll be liveblogging it, and you don’t have anything else happening in your life on Wednesday night besides some old “Roseanne” re-runs and a couple Hot Pockets that you’ll be too lazy to heat up all the way.  Given those grim prospects, this is actually a bright spot in your week, plus it’s for a good cause.

To see how the betting odds are shaping up, we turn to BestFightOdds.com.  For help figuring out what these numbers mean, you should turn here.   

Josh Koscheck (-215) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (+220)
Jonathan Goulet (+328) vs. Mike Swick (-358)
Razak Al-Hassan (+275) vs. Steve Cantwell (-294)
Matt Wiman (+117) vs. Jim Miller (-125)
Brodie Farber (+308) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (-325)
Johnny Rees (-109) vs. Steve Bruno (+105)
Brandon Wolff (+326) vs. Ben Saunders (-355)
Nate Loughran (+145) vs. Tim Credeur (-131)
Dale Hartt (+265) vs. Corey Hill (-277)
Justin McCully (+161) vs. Eddie Sanchez (-170)

Thoughts…

(Great fighter, but he’s absolutely terrible at rock-paper-scissors.)

During a Q & A session in Fayetteville, N.C. to hype up tonight’s “Fight for the Troops” card, Dana White revealed that Thiago Alves is going to get the next crack at the welterweight strap after the Georges St. Pierre-B.J. Penn bout at UFC 94, and it doesn’t matter who’s got it around their waist at the time:

"He’s next in line for a title shot. If GSP beats B.J. Penn, then (Alves) fights GSP. If B.J. Penn wins, then he fights B.J. And then he’d have to defend that title for a while before I let him move up and try to fight Anderson."

Sounds like we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves.  The first thing Alves would have to do before any of this can happen is make weight for a 170-pound title fight.  That means no one-pound allowance, so he might as well start weaning himself off the Creamsicles right now (but OMG they’re so good!!!!).

This also means that a potential GSP-Anderson Silva bout is but a very distant dream, as St. Pierre would have to beat Penn, then beat Alves a few months later before we could even talk about that superfight.  If Penn wins, it will continue to screw up the lightweight division, as he’ll be expected to fight Alves and poor, patient Kenny Florian – that is, if the UFC allows him to try and defend both titles, which they shouldn’t.

I’m just saying, a lightweight tournament for a vacant 155-pound title sure sounds fun, doesn’t it?

 
(Look out, "The Manic Hispanic" is off his meds again.)

You might not have noticed this – and no one would blame you if you didn’t – but way down on the bottom of tomorrow night’s “UFC Fight For The Troops” card is a wacky little match-up between Justin “The Insane 1” McCully and Eddie “The Manic Hispanic” Sanchez.  And I swear to you I am not making those nicknames up. 

Neither of these guys has set the UFC heavyweight division on fire, with Sanchez going 3-2 and McCully going 1-1 in the organization.  Considering that they’re both about as marketable as mud gum, in addition to being two heavyweights who can’t even get on the televised portion of Wednesday night Spike TV card, I smell a good old-fashioned loser-gets-fired match. 

What’s weird is, they may not even realize it. Our friends at Fightlinker kicked themselves for missing this article on McCully, wherein he talks as if he’s just one or two victories away from a title shot.  He even tries to tell himself that coming in and fighting first Antoni Hardonk and then Gabriel Gonzaga was “probably the two toughest fights I’ve ever seen anybody have in the UFC.”

Sanchez similarly told UFC.com that he hopes to be in title contention by the middle of 2009.  Which means at some point between now and then he’d have to jump ahead of guys like Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez and, hell, even Cheick Kongo.

I’m not saying it can’t happen for one of these guys, but they can’t both be contenders.  Whoever loses here is going to have a really hard time justifying his continued employment.  The only question is, who’s it gonna be?

(Simpler times.)

The fighters weighed in for tomorrow night’s “Fight For The Troops” event (I’m really starting to wish there was a good abbreviation for that) this afternoon, and it was so close to being flawless until Luigi Fioravanti and Brodie Farber both came in over the limit for their welterweight bout.  Farber was 174 and Fioravanti was 173.5, so they’ll fight at a catch weight of 173.  Real nice, fellas.

The important thing is that headliners Josh Koscheck and Yoshiyuki Yoshida both made weight — barely — for their fight.  I hope Yoshida is ready to struggle through a good "U.S.A.!" chant.  Pro wrestling has led me to believe that it really demoralizes foreign fighters, and can sometimes even help an American get out of a sleeper hold. 

The full results from today’s weigh-in, courtesy of UFC.com, are after the jump.  Be sure to keep it locked in on the Potato tomorrow night beginning at 9 pm EST, because we’ll be liveblogging the shit out of this thing.  And if you aren’t here to make clever quips in the comments section, who will?  Not Jon Lovitz.  Man, is he ever pissed at us.

(Top of the freakin’ world.)

Good news, Roger Huerta fans.  “El Matador” is out of the doghouse and back in good graces with the UFC, having just signed a new five-fight contract.  MMA Weekly reports that Huerta signed the deal on Monday, so hopefully this means he can start appearing on broadcasts once again and Dana White will stop spitting on the floor every time his name is mentioned.  That just doesn’t go over at all when he’s hanging at Fiddy Cent’s crib.

In case you’ve already forgotten and moved on with your life, Huerta was on the outs with the UFC back in August when he aired some grievances to our friend Neal Taflinger at Fight! Magazine, complaining about his per diem during PR tours and later asking for ridiculous sums of money to resign.  Then he lost to Kenny Florian and saw himself becoming persona non grata with the UFC, and since then we haven’t really heard much from him at all.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past year or so about the way the UFC does business, it’s that fences can be mended as easily as they are destroyed if only you agree to do everything they want.  At least it means Huerta is sticking around.  Sorry, Bellator Fighting Championships. 

(It was totally worth kicking Bill Cosby’s ass to get that sweater.  Photo courtesy of K-1 Fans.)

Just when he thought he had safely escaped to the glorious city of Japan, Kimbo Slice may be finding out that Brett Rogers isn’t the only one who thinks it’d be fun to beat him up.  Nightmare of Battle is passing along a rumor that Melvin Manhoef spotted Kimbo backstage at last weekend’s K-1 2008 Grand Prix and wasted no time shouting out his appeal for Kimbo to, "Fight with me!”

Reportedly some K-1 officials got in between them before anything more happened.  Again, this is firmly in the rumor category at this point, but man would it ever be a fight I’d like to see.  Remember the punch from Seth Petruzelli that dropped Kimbo?  Manhoef throws harder punches in his sleep.  Seriously, he does.  As a kid he was banned from attending any and all slumber parties.  Plus, he uses those “Thai-style kicks” that Kimbo would rather just avoid altogether. 

My guess is that after seeing what he did to Paul Slowinski – who knows a thing or two about this kickboxing stuff – Kimbo wants no part of Manhoef.  Watch it for yourself after the jump, then see if you blame him: 

(‘Sup. You chicks party?’)

Marcus Davis just won’t quit with this master plan he and Chris Lytle have concocted.  While it seems to be Davis who’s always talking about it, the agreement is that they will both stand and bang it out at UFC 93, and Davis is confident that this will result in a fight of epic proportions:

"Chris and I have spoken a number of times about this fight and we know the opportunity that it gives us," Davis told Eurosport-Yahoo! "That’s why we were so desperate to get it organised."

"We’re aiming for more than just Fight of the Night," Davis went on. "We think our styles and the way we fight match up really, really well and that this fight could potentially project us into a sort of legendary status. …I want to be remembered in this sport, and this fight is my chance to make sure that happens."

Badr Hari discusses his DQ loss in K-1 – Watch more free videos

Badr Hari doesn’t seem too concerned about his disqualification loss in the finals of this weekend’s K-1 World GP.  In case you missed it, Hari took Remy Bonjasky down, which is already illegal in K-1, but then he decided that as long as he was down there he might as well punch him a couple of times and then stomp on his face.  When the interviewer here points out to him that this is “prohibited,” Hari responds: “Yeah, but cycling on the pavement is prohibited too.”

Seriously?  That’s his response to illegally attacking an opponent who was under the referee’s care?  Apparently Hari didn’t feel that his actions in the fight made him unlikeable enough.  No, better go ahead and follow that up with a dismissive statement that reveals your amoral thought process to the world, just to be sure.

The argument that I absolutely don’t buy in this case is that he let his emotions get the better of him because Bonjasky didn’t come to fight.  First of all, when Bonjasky dropped him in the first, that seemed an awful lot like fighting.  Second, if you get mad in a kickboxing match, why not kick or punch the other guy in the head, torso, or leg region while you’re both standing?  It’s an effective expression of anger, and it’s legal!

Then again, if you fight only within the scope of the rules, how is everyone supposed to know what an asshole you are?

(Photo courtesy of Daniel Herbertson Photography.)

Many American fans may only know Yoshiyuki Yoshida as the guy who barely broke a sweat choking out the man now legally known as War Machine back at UFC 84, but on Wednesday the Japanese welterweight enters into his second UFC fight against Josh Koscheck at “Fight for the Troops” on Spike TV.  Not only is it a significant step up in level of competition, it’s also bound to be hostile territory for Yoshida, considering he’s facing an American (okay, it’s Koscheck, but still) in front of an audience of American military personnel.

In this exclusive Cage Potato interview, Yoshida (with the help of a translator) talks about what he’s expecting from Koscheck on Wednesday night, and where he sees himself in the UFC’s welterweight division.

CagePotato.com: Thank you for taking the time to talk with us.  Against a guy like Koscheck, who’s known for having great wrestling skills and good conditioning, how have you been preparing yourself for this fight?

I began training for this fight about two months ago.  I’ve been doing a lot of sparring and running in the mornings, and at night I usually work on my boxing, hitting mitts, and trying to improve my technical skills and my strength.  I’m in great shape for this fight, probably the best shape I’ve ever been in, and I’ll be ready for him.

What’s your strategy for dealing with Koscheck’s wrestling ability?

I understand he is a very good wrestler.  There is no question about that.  I’m not going to try and beat him that way, by outwrestling him.  But one of my strengths is my judo, so I plan on using his aggressiveness against him by implementing my judo skills when he looks for a clinch or a takedown.

Since the fight is a benefit for American soldiers, it’s probably safe to say that you will not be the crowd favorite in this one.  Does that enter into your mind at all, and what are your feelings on that?

(‘Pay no attention to my brother. He is idiot.’ Photo courtesy of afightgallery.com)

Aleks and Fedor Emelianenko don’t seem to have the warmest of sibling relationships.  They don’t train together, don’t speak especially well of one another, and when they were both at the Affliction press conference in July they barely acknowledged one another’s presence.  It’s tempting to blame this on the fact that both of them often appear to be emotionless cyborgs, but then you see that picture of Fedor happily eating two ice cream cones at once, and damn if it doesn’t just melt your heart.  

But Aleks is taking issue with some comments his brother made to a Russian newspaper, where Fedor suggested that his little bro lacks a serious work ethic, even going so far as to claim that as kids, “Aleksander looked for adventures on his rear end…I wouldn’t come out of the gym.”

Aleks, as you might imagine, disagrees:

Last week, Aleks was interviewed by the same newspaper and Fedor “is definitely not correct on that. I don’t know why [he] said that. Probably was overcome by some ambitions.

“My brother sometimes gets overwhelmed. He says something stupid, and then he’s sorry about it afterwards.”

Something tells me Fedor is not terribly sorry about those remarks.  As for him being "overcome by some ambitions," perhaps that’s what Aleks has been telling himself all these years when Fedor’s in the gym becoming the world’s best heavyweight, and he’s been off doing…whatever it is that Aleks does besides getting tattoos.

Watch DIAMOND DAVE KAPLAN VS. JUNIE BROWNING IN TUF 8 FINALE on RawVegas.tv

I don’t know what it is about Dave Kaplan, but he’s got that special ability where the more he talks, the more you kind of want to see him get his face bashed in.  If only he could be knocked out!  In this video he insists on inserting his nickname, which is “Diamond”, in front of his name at every opportunity.  He also discusses his upcoming bout with Junie Browning and says he’d like to train with Ric Flair.  Okay, so he redeemed himself a little there.  But there’s still a long way to go.

Wanderlei Silva works out with the same pudgy British dude from FHM who Sean Sherk beat up a while back, and the result here is mostly the same.  The best part is the look on Wanderlei’s face while the dude is talking.  He seems like he’s trying to figure out whether this guy is making fun of him or not, then says screw it and stomps his head inside the TUF Octagon anyway.

After the jump, we see what kind of shenanigans "Rampage" Jackson is getting into over on the other side of the pond.

(What a range of honest facial expressions.)

When I first heard that Kimbo Slice would be helping with commentating duties at this weekend’s K-1 World Grand Prix, I immediately wondered where he would fall on the scale of fighters-turned-broadcasters.  Obviously he’s not going to be a Randy Couture or Kenny Florian.  Anyone who saw his dour appearance on Jimmy Kimmel knows that.  But could he maybe be as inept, yet hilarious as the “Rampage” Jackson/Don Frye duo was?

Then I read the official press release and realized one of his broadcast partners will be Michael “The Voice” Schiavello.  Suddenly, it seems like Kimbo is going to be far from the worst sportscaster at the table on Saturday night.   If you don’t know, Schiavello’s an Australian commentator who’s done K-1, Dream, even the Beijing Olympics, and has never shied away from an unfunny quip in any of those jobs.  Check out some of his favorite lines.  As in, his favorite lines that he said, which he was kind enough to compile for us on his official website:

"There are two things I know for sure: Britney Spears will never win Mother of The Year and Albert Kraus didn’t win that fight!"

"Two things I know for sure: we will never beat Amy Winehouse in a drinking contest, and Texeira definitely won that fight."

"He’s been on his back more than my ex-girlfriend."

"He wears more hair product than Bon Jovi."

"He’s proving harder to catch than Osama Bin Laden!"

(I love to see a man so bald and yet so happy.)

The Ultimate Fighter‘s Krzysztof Soszynski (known around these parts as K-Sos) came up short in his semifinals match-up with Vinny Magalhaes on last night’s show, but his skills certainly caught Dana White’s eye enough to land him a fight against Shane Primm on next weekend’s finale.

In this exclusive interview, K-Sos recounts his experience, discusses life with Junie Browning, and what we can expect when he gets in the Octagon next Saturday night and fights to keep his dream alive.

CagePotato.com: Thanks for talking with me Krzysztof.  Watching the show, it seemed like you were one of the few guys who didn’t get too bothered by being in the house.  Did it ever get to you like it did with some of the other guys?

Oh, absolutely.  To be honest, it’s a mental game more than anything while you’re there.  It’s a six-week mental challenge.  That’s what it is.  The physical part was easy.  You’re only training about four hours a day.  You can go when you want, you can miss practice if you need to rest, but you’re in that house for twenty hours a day no matter what.  That was the real challenge.  Those who passed will probably go on to do well.  Those who didn’t, they might have some problems down the road.  

It sounds like we’re talking about Junie there, so I’ll just ask, did you think he should have been kicked off?  Did you guys really want him to stay, or did Dana White kind of talk everybody into that?

To be honest, everybody expected him to get kicked off.  We expected him to get kicked off the first day he got in when he became the crazy drunk kid.  But when he threw that glass, we thought for sure that one of the other guys was going to get a shot at Efrain.  So it was very surprising that Dana didn’t kick him off.  

We kind of understood that the kid wanted to be gone, he wanted to leave on a good note so he could say, ‘I didn’t lose.  I would have been the best fighter, but Dana White kicked me off.’  So I see Dana White’s point.  And, we all wanted to see him lose.  I think everyone in that house wanted to see him lose.  Justice was served.

In this video interview with Fighters Only, Chuck Liddell shoots down rumors that he may face Anderson Silva in February or Randy Couture in June, saying that a potential fourth fight with Couture, “doesn’t make sense.”  He seems to have his sights set on a fight some time in March or April.  The opponent sounds less important to him than the date, but then that story could change once he sits down with Dana White and looks at his options.

Liddell also makes the case for continuing his career after the knockout loss to Rashad Evans, pointing out that he was winning the fight (technically true, since not much had happened) before getting caught with Evans’ brutal right hand.

Fair enough, but he has to realize that the situation will only become more desperate if he can’t notch a win in this mystery bout in the spring.  As long as he’s turning down interesting possible fights for himself, he might as well throw out a name or two of someone he would like to fight.   And don’t say James Irvin.  Just please, don’t.

(You can bet that one of these two men went to bed reeking of Bengay and whiskey after this. Click the image to view the video, courtesy of Spike.com)

At long last, the video has surfaced.  Al “Stankie” Stankiewicz and Efrain Escudero lace up the gloves and step in the Octagon.  It starts with a little good-natured ribbing, followed by a very credible Stankie impression by Kyle Kingsbury, and then Efrain finds out the hard way that Stankie isn’t joking about his strong desire to kick some ass one more time.

Say what you will about Stankie’s skills in the cage, but if I can move and punch like that when I’m sixty-seven, I’ll be happy.  Actually, if I’m still alive by then, and if the world has not deteriorated into a post-apocalyptic wasteland where we do battle over watering holes and run from roving packs of wild dogs, that will be enough for me.  

Way to show these young punks what it means to have an enduring warrior spirit, Stankie.  I’d be proud to call you my crazy grandfather figure, if only my actual crazy grandfather wasn’t always banging around up in the attic, yelling about how the neighborhood has gone to hell ever since the Irish moved in.

Related: Stankie, In His Own Words

(‘Sup.  Can we talk?)

Hey Ken.  Do you mind if I call you Ken?  Awesome.  Look, Ken, it’s about this Tim Sylvia stuff.  I’m concerned.  I know, I know.  Your management said you weren’t interested, and I was glad to hear it.  But then I heard that these Xp3 people are pressing the issue, planning to put you two into a pay-per-view bout in the spring of ’09.  Pay-per-view, Ken.  

The reason I’m concerned is because I think I know how this will play out.  First you’ll say no, then Big Tim will launch some half-assed personal assault against you in the media, and that’s when, easily infuriated as you are, you’ll give in.  Also, there’s money involved.  You know how you get when you’re mad and there’s money.  It isn’t pretty.

But Ken, I’m here to tell you that no matter how much you’re tempted – and you will be tempted – you can’t take this fight.  It’s like the sirens’ song: you’ve just got to tie yourself down and resist it, because it will only result in ruin.  Don’t believe me?  Well here are five good reasons why it’s a horrible idea.  Please, take a look.

1. You’ll lose…again.

I know everyone said the same thing about the Kimbo Slice fight that you had to pull out of.  And while I think they were probably right then, they’re definitely right now.  With Kimbo you had a reasonable shot to get him down and submit him.  You have much less of a shot against Sylvia.  His takedown defense is good and his jiu-jitsu is solidly in the ‘aiiiight’ range.  So he’ll just stand at a distance and hit you with those weird, lanky arms of his until you fall down.  Then he’ll act like he’s the king of the world and you’ll complain to the ref that it was an early stoppage.  It will be a huge mess.

It’s going to be nice to have Chael Sonnen back in the UFC.  He’s a certain type of asshole.  The type who prefers the cutting remark to the overtly insulting one.  The type who will sell your house and/or beat you up.  The type who might ask you what time you got up this morning, just so he can tell you, no matter how you respond, that he had already been up for hours at that point.  In other words, he’s totally sweet.

From the sound of things, he isn’t interested in just dipping his toe in the UFC middleweight waters, either.  He’s doing a cannonball aimed straight at Anderson Silva:

I’m not going to the UFC with a white flag. My flag is red, I’m declaring war. It’s always like that, all fighters when he grabs the microphone says the same thing, they challenge every fighter in the world, except Anderson Silva. A lot of folks don’t have what it takes, before even fighting they’re all ready yellow. I’m not going to do that, it would really disappointing to my fans. I’m the only fighter who wants to fight him, and the only one who has what it takes to beat him.

(A snapshot of a culture with confused priorities.)

Yahoo! Buzz has an article on the top ten most influential women of 2008, and not only did Gina Carano, who is described as an “undefeated kickboxing champ,” make the list, she somehow landed just behind Hillary Clinton.  You remember her, the first woman to have a legitimate shot at becoming President of the United States!?  Also known as Barack Obama’s future Secretary of State!!?!  Apparently that makes you slightly more influential than a female MMA fighter who beat a few opponents she was supposed to beat and struggled to make weight every single time.

Look, I love Carano as much as anyone, except perhaps the creepy dudes or Jared Shaw, though that’s redundant.  I think it’s great what she’s done for female MMA.  Her contributions to the sport through the CBS fights are immeasurable, and if stuff like this helps her get signed by Zuffa, while simultaneously upping the credibility of female MMA (also known as kickboxing, apparently), then great.

But ranking her #5, when you don’t even know what sport she actually participates in?  That’s just indefensible.  Not that we should take this list that seriously.  Angelina Jolie is #1, after all, because apparently being an actress and having/adopting a bunch of children is more important than almost becoming president or commanding an army of willing women followers, as Oprah, who’s #3, has done.  Hell, Sarah Palin is #2, and she’s just a step up from an especially charming contestant on "America’s Got Talent."   In other words, the list is pretty bullshit to begin with.

Maybe I’d be more amenable to Carano getting a spot on this list if she had consistently made weight for her fights.  Or if she had faced a tough opponent, like “Cyborg” Santos.  I realize only one of those two things is under her control, but my point is she’s not exactly a female Jackie Robinson.  Though, if you don’t account for inflation, I’ll bet she and Robinson got paid about the same.

(Props: MMA Mania)

(Aww, just wait till you get older and can grow a real mustache!)

Depending on how you look at it, betting on WEC fights is usually either a sign that you know something about a small-time, up-and-comer that the bookies don’t, or else it’s an indicator that you have a real gambling problem.  As in a Pete Rose kind of problem.  And that ain’t cool.  Just ask Pete Rose, who will still tell you he doesn’t have a problem, but will also tell you that he is not in the baseball Hall of Fame.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.  If you know the fighters you can have plenty of fun putting down an educated wager on a WEC fight.  Plus, it’s on free TV, so you can take that money that in the future you’ll have to spend on WEC pay-per-views and gamble it away!  Nah, that was a joke.  If you think like that then you really do have a problem.  

Here are the odds on tonight’s action, courtesy of BestFightOdds.

Miguel Torres (-525) vs. Manny Tapia (+400)
Brian Bowles (-145) vs. Will Ribeiro (+140)
Akitoshi Tamura (+300) vs. Wagnney Fabiano (-360)
Joseph Benavidez (-290) vs. Danny Martinez (+250)
Johnny Hendricks (-430) vs. Justin Haskins (+350)
Mark Munoz (-600) vs. Ricardo Barros (+525)
Diego Nunes (-175) vs. Cole Province (+160)
Bart Palaszewski (-260) vs. Alex Karalexis (+220)
Hiroyuki Takaya (+180) vs. Cub Swanson (-185)
Shane Roller (-255) vs. Mike Budnik (+220)

Thoughts…

(If that’s not a man ready to be kissed, then everything I’ve learned watching "The Pick-Up Artist" is wrong.)

Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva seems intent on proclaiming his innocence on the steroid charge all the way to Japan, where he faces Yoshihiro “Kiss” Nakao on January’s Sengoku card.  But don’t think he isn’t focused on his opponent’s not-so secret weapon.  If Nakao tries to put a little love on Silva’s lips, he’ll be in trouble.  At least I think that’s what this bizarre quote is meant to insinuate:

You need to be careful with the kisses too, huh?

Man, we are training this too. We’re training Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling and that too (laughter), maintain a certain distance not to take that risk. My hands are kind of big and I’ll always take care not to get close. Who did once can do twice, I don’t want to have problems, I want to get there and fight. I don’t like jokes, I have no disinclination to any professional who I’d fought, and thank God I like all of them and they all liked me.

His hands are big?  This is related to kissing?  Did he mean lips or, I’ll just say it, head?  Who knows, but these translated interviews from Tatame are always fun to decipher.  I am a little disappointed to hear that Bigfoot doesn’t like jokes, though.  Has he heard the one about the boy who cried ‘false positive’?  You know what, nevermind.  I don’t think he’s in the mood for it.

As for whether Nakau will try and kiss him, the only advice I can offer is if you feel it, don’t be afraid to show it, man.  You don’t want to go through life wondering, ‘what if I had tried to kiss that big, weird-looking Brazilian guy?’  Trust me, it’s the worst kind of regret there is.

(‘Looks like we won’t be eating boiled down wallpaper this year, after all.’)

Tanking economy, you say?  Not in San Jose, brother.  The official fighter payouts for Strikeforce: Destruction tell a tale of a local MMA promoter that’s doing just fine, even if some of the figures are a little strange.  At least most of the Strikeforce fighters will be able to afford a Christmas now.  And not one of those shitty Christmases where you make homemade gifts and write each other poems and everyone has to pretend like a haiku about a mother’s love is just as cool as an Xbox.  No, a real Christmas.  With material goods and stuff!

Thanks, Strikeforce.  Go to hell, haiku.

Scott Smith: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
Terry Martin: $20,000
Renato “Babalu” Sobral: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus)
Bobby Southworth: $20,000
Duane Ludwig: $32,500 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
Yves Edwards: $12,000
Kim Couture: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
Lina Kvokov: $1,500
Joe Riggs: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
Luke Stewart: $10,000
Bobby Stack: $5,000 (includes $1,500 win bonus)
Cyrillo Padilha: $2,000
Eric Lawson: $9,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus)
Tony Johnson: $2,000
Kurt Osiander: $9,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus)
Josh Neal: $1,550
Brian Schwartz: $28,000 (no win bonus)
Lamont Davis: $5,000
Luke Rockhold: $4,000 (includes $2,000 win bonus)
Nik Theotikos: $2,000
Darren Uyenoyama: $5,000 (includes $2,5000 win bonus)
Brad Royster: $1,500
Alvin Cacdac: $3,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus)
Jose Palacios: $3,000
Zakary Bucia: $2,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus)
Adam Steele: $1,000

Analysis…

(‘Affliction…nope, sorry, doesn’t ring a bell.’)

Remember when Affliction trumpeted a huge announcement, which was mostly a ploy to detract attention from the “rescheduling” of their second event?  And remember when that huge announcement was that they would be partnering with Golden Boy Promotions, thus bringing the feuding cousins of MMA and boxing together?  And then Golden Boy said, ‘screw that,’ and decided to promote a competing boxing match on the same night?  

Well on today’s conference call to promote the upcoming De La Hoya-Pacquiao fight, the ever-intrepid Michael David Smith (or MDS, if you’re nasty) of MMA Fanhouse hit Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer with a question about whether they’d really be promoting both the Affliction: Day of Reckoning card and the Mosley-Margarito bout on the same night.  His answer was the equivalent of when you asked your mom if you could stop for ice cream after soccer practice and she responded with, ‘We’ll see.’

"I don’t want to talk about it right now," Schaefer said. "We’re still trying to finalize it. The one thing I know for sure is that Antonio Margarito and Sugar Shane Mosley will be fighting on January 24."

I don’t know about you, but to me that does not sound like a man who is involved in a solid partnership that he is genuinely excited about.  Granted, Schaefer’s first order of business on this call was to promote the upcoming fight, not one in January, but he stopped just short of saying that he does not know, nor does he care what Affliction does on Jan. 24.  Will they have a show at all?  Your guess is probably as good as Schaefer’s, with the difference being that you might actually give a damn.

(What the hell, let’s do it again.)

Urijah Faber may have to wait a while for Mike Brown to heal up before he can get a crack at reclaiming his featherweight title, but in the meantime he can keep himself sharp with another go at former UFC lightweight champ Jens Pulver.  MMA Weekly says the two will meet again at WEC 38 in San Diego on January 25, though it’s not yet officially signed.  

You might recall that both men fought on the last WEC card, and both lost via TKO.  The difference is that Faber’s loss was a major shock, and most people were generous enough to attribute it to him simply “getting caught” as we say in the business when we want to be nice.  Pulver, on the other hand, got beat down by Leonard Garcia in a fight that seemed to signal that he might be approaching the twilight of his fine career.

It’s not surprising that the WEC would want to run Faber-Pulver II, given the success of the first fight, but there’s also not much reason to think this one will turn out any differently.  Pulver hung in there for five rounds and took a unanimous decision loss in what turned out to be one hell of a fight the first time.  Now Faber has a little more to prove, and Pulver looks even further from his prime.  If he drops his third straight in the 145-pound division, you have to wonder what’s left.

At least the WEC can probably squeeze one more sell-out from this matchup, and hopefully we’ll be treated to another solid fight.

The Xtreme Couture blog posted this video of Kim Couture training (and looking surprisingly sharp) along with an interview in which they discuss her kind of sad fight against Lina Kvokov.  Sounds like Kim was as weirded out by the whole thing as we were:

K. Couture: "I trained hard and really wanted to show the MMA fans a good show and let them know I was a 100% and ready to fight, I have the utmost respect for anyone who steps into the cage but felt disappointed that she just wouldn’t engage with me and turned her back on me. I was just dumbfounded.”

XC: “Do you think she shouldn’t of been matched up with you?”

K. Couture: “On paper it looked like a good match-up. We both had 1 professional fight with a loss. She was training with Matt Lindlands Team Quest so I expected she would be ready and I was ready for a stand-up brawl.”

XC: “Did you have a chance to watch the fight yet?”

K. Couture: “Yes, Lina just looked nervous from the moment she tripped coming out to the cage, she just looked like she didn’t want to fight that night.”

Ouch.  Kim goes on to say she’d like to fight three or four times a year.  Hopefully better opponents lay ahead, since Couture is bound to attract more attention than more experienced/talented female fighters simply because of who her husband is.  That fight did nothing good for the credibility of women’s MMA.  Probably didn’t help Kvokov’s reputation around Team Quest either.  

(Photo courtesy of Arianny’s official website.  The rest of her Hawaii photos are, shall we say, bikini-tastic.)

While we wait patiently to hear just how many pay-per-views UFC 91 sold and whether it lived up to Dana White’s optimistic prediction of 1.2 million, White is already off and running with his next oversized claim.  This one,  not surprisingly, revolves around UFC 94’s B.J. Penn-Georges St. Pierre superfight:

"I’m just coming off a promotion where I got done saying it’s the biggest fight in UFC history in terms of most pay-per-view buys," White said. "I truly believe this fight has the potential to break that. BJ and Georges are heavyweights when it comes to star power."

Is this what we’re going to do every time now?  Has Dana White become a boxing promoter, calling every fight the biggest fight ever, until the next fight?  I realize he’s talking to a Honolulu paper so he has to say some of this stuff, but words mean things.

MMA Payout sees this as an opportunity for us to find out whether the sport of MMA (two established champions, both pound-for-pound greats, neither of whom have been in the WWE) sells as well as the “spectacle” of MMA (Brock Lesnar against that other guy).  You’d like to say that it does, but then again you’d also like to believe that the cute waitress is being so nice because she actually likes you and not just because she works in the service industry and her kids need new shoes.

(Wanderlei Silva makes the most of his recess time.  Check out the full gallery from "The Axe Murderer’s" training session at Combat Lifestyle.)

Ricky Hatton’s conditioning coach says "Rampage" Jackson will be in the best shape of his life for UFC 92, but get a look at Wanderlei Silva, who also seems to have upped his game since relocating to Las Vegas.  Could the third meeting between these two old foes be the best one yet?

Well, some of that will depend on whether Rampage decides to fast before the fight or not (personally, I recommend eating food), and whether Silva still has his number in the Thai clinch.  But seeing both these guys revolutionize their training and diet before their third fight just goes to show how far the sport has come in the last few years: from guys known only to hardcore fans, training at obscure gyms, to TMZ-caliber celebrities and world class athletes with the best coaches and playground equipment money can buy.

Rampage had better be training just as hard as Silva is.  Beyond just showing up in good shape, he’ll need some extra help to get over the psychological hurdles if he’s going to beat the man who put him face-first through the ropes four years ago.  Something tells me "The Secret" just ain’t gonna do it.

I can’t help but wonder whose idea it was to have new WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown on Inside MMA and then ask the panel — which consisted of Brown, Dave "Pee Wee" Herman, and oddsmaker Nick Kalikas — who the best fighter in the WEC is.  You know Brown’s going to say it’s him, and you also know the other two guys are going to want to say it’s Urijah Faber, thus implying that Brown got lucky when he beat Faber for the belt at WEC 36.  And you know that when this happens it will create a palpably uncomfortable situation for everyone.  And yet they do it anyway.

Say what you will, I have no choice but to admire that move.  It’s kind of a mini ethics test, because we’d know if one of them said Brown it would only be because he was sitting a few feet away and not because they really believed it.  But honesty ruled the day, and as usually happens in real life, awkwardness followed with it. 

Gina Carano Interview – Watch more free videos

Our good friend Ariel Helwani of MMA Rated was kind enough to supply us with these exclusive video interviews that he conducted over the weekend. Above the lovely Gina Carano discusses her future, why she can’t run off to the WEC just yet even if Dana White decides he’d like her to, and what exactly was going on between her and Tonya Evinger in those infamous photographs we all enjoyed so much.

Randy Couture Interview – Watch more free videos

Randy Couture talks about his loss to Brock Lesnar, whether he’d consider heading back down to light heavyweight to get away from such beasts, and what’s next for “The Natural.”

After the jump, movie star Cung Le…

(‘A contract with the UFC? I’m set for life! What could possibly go wrong now?’)

Former UFC heavyweight Fabricio Werdum didn’t appear to realize he’d been fired from the organization even after several media outlets reported the news. At first we thought maybe his manager (also known as his sister) hadn’t told him for fear that he’d finally realize what a mistake it had been to hire her. Or perhaps he was just in denial. But now Werdum is facing the difficult realities of the situation, and judging by what he told Tatame, the UFC didn’t make much of an effort to come to terms with him:

“When I first heard the rumours, I didn’t know anything. I had four more fights left with them on my contract, which ran to 2010. But they demanded to renegotiate my existing contract by cutting my pay in half” revealed the heavyweight. Adding also that his departure had nothing to do with the video game licensing dispute. “No that wasn’t an issue but its not something that benefit’s the fighters”

“I‘m a free agent now. One of the advantages of leaving the UFC is the freedom of contract, which allows fighters to work with more than one event without any problems. That’s very beneficial. There are several possibilities now including fighting in multiple organizations. Affliction, Sengoku and Dream are big events, but I think the possibility of fighting for Affliction in particular will give me the best chance to fight the best in the world, Fedor, in addition to (Andrei) Arlovski, Josh Barnett and several other big names …That would be a great opportunity for me.”