Like with most other major sports, fantasy games are becoming integral to the MMA fan experience.  Fantasy MMA adds to the enjoyment experienced while watching MMA events by enabling fans to compare their knowledge against others — either for bragging rights or for cash prizes.  In addition to adding more enjoyment to the fan experience, fantasy games promote the sport in general by engaging fans with fighters they may otherwise ignore.

As a coach on season one of The Ultimate Fighter, Randy Couture recognized the similar multi-faceted promotional value that the show had, which prompted him to partner with Kountermove,  the newest fantasy MMA website on the block that has grown immensely in popularity since going live four months ago.

“The great thing about The Ultimate Fighter is that it drives fan interest to lesser-known fighters,” Couture explains. “I got involved in Kountermove for that reason.”

Kountermove boasts more than 5,000 players, has paid out over $50,000 in cash prizes thus far and has steadily increased its prize pools to keep up with its membership boon. Since launching in November of last year, Kountermove has quickly become one of the most popular of the MMA fantasy sites and one of a select few that allows play for cash prizes. The site is neither a “pick ‘em game,” nor a “betting simulation,” unlike the other major fantasy sites, as it uses actual fight data, such as strikes landed and takedowns, to determine the winner.

Find out how the Kountermove is hooking up the Potato Nation after the jump.

(Remember them.)

It’s true. Our year-old MMA FightPicker game — which was played so passionately by so few of you — has just become too costly to keep around, and we’re taking it to live on a farm upstate where it’ll be cared for by a nice man. So if you’ve had problems lately joining pools or getting your PotatoChips paid out, that’s why. Sincere apologies to everyone who grew to love the poor thing, and congrats to those who actually did well on it (Rampey, finland, et al.).

It’s a sad day, to be sure, but this doesn’t have to be the end of CagePotato’s foray into gaming. If you have ideas for other MMA-related games you’d like to see on CP, please let us know in the comments section. Thanks for understanding.

("Sorry I screwed up your pools, guys. LOL, no I’m not!" Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

Between Chael Sonnen‘s domination of Nate Marquardt and Paulo Thiago picking up the Sub of the Night over Mike Swick, UFC 109 threw some serious curveballs at us. Most people who participated in MMA FightPicker this week whiffed hard at those curveballs. But some of you dinged ‘em out the park. After the first official week of FightPicker play, we’d like to shout out the current point-leaders:

1) Ciarán Parnell: 350 PotatoChips
2) Andrew Palmer: 255 PotatoChips
3) OctoAbortion: 250 PotatoChips

Please, Ciarán, e-mail us at feedback@cagepotato.com and tell us how exactly you have a hundred-point lead on the next closest competitor, this early in the game. There might be a free t-shirt in it for you.

And now for the shameless gloating part of this post. After BG and BF went head-to-head in a Palooka Pool, I (BG) am proud to say my picks were on-point enough to tie for first-place (!!!), while dickface over there tied for fourth. The other winners of Palooka Pool 30 #173 were: nine one siccness, Steve Rowbotham, James Cowley, Michael Aitken, GSPs Swollen Elbow and Torn Groin and Tim Prothero. Take an e-bow, fellas. And I should mention that there was one genius in the pool named James Berberich who managed to get every question wrong. I feel sorry for your mother, bro.

For those who fell short with their UFC 109 picks, you just have to dust yourself off and get back on the horse. Here’s what’s going on in FightPicker this week…