(Did you know that "MMA Fix" from RawVegas.tv is on actual TV in Canada via The Fight Network?  Well you do now.)

UFC president Dana White joined Forrest Griffin and Kenny Florian on an episode of “Dr. Phil” that will air next Thursday, May 14.  They were apparently there to talk to people about good types of MMA and bad types of MMA.  For example, fighting in a sanctioned MMA event after diligent training at a respected gym: good.  Superman-punching your little brother while he watches cartoons: bad (but hilarious).  Dana White will presumably drive this point home by telling them to “knock it off, you fuckers.”  Then Griffin and Florian will break down in tears and admit that all they’ve wanted was Dana’s approval.  Group hug!   

In other news…

(Pain don’t hurt. Image courtesy of udothedishes.com.)

Like James Irvin and Patrick Cote before him, Forrest Griffin is pretty sure he knows what Anderson Silva’s past opponents have been doing wrong, and doesn’t plan on making the same mistakes when he takes on the Spider in August. As Griffin told MMA Mania:

Demian Maia’s camp may have been expecting a middleweight title shot in August, but instead they’re getting what can only be considered a number one contender match with Nate Marquardt.  Maia confirmed the news on his official website, saying the fight is on for UFC 102 in Portland, Oregon.  Obviously it’s one hell of an interesting bout on paper, but the timing of this announcement begs the question, did Anderson Silva screw Maia out of a title shot with his performance against Thales Leites at UFC 97?

(What has two thumbs and hates to engage during title fights? Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

Judging from the comments in our last few posts, many of you already know this, but yes, the rumored light-heavyweight showdown between Anderson Silva and Forrest Griffin quickly became official last night; the fight will support the BJ Penn/Kenny Florian lightweight title fight at UFC 101, which will take place at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia on August 8th. And both fighters are pretty psyched about it. As Dana White told Yahoo!’s Kevin Iole, "Forrest loved the idea and said he’d do it right away, and Anderson told me he would fight anyone I wanted him to fight, no matter who it is." Silva’s manager Ed Soares added:

(Forrest Griffin’s July 2008 interview with StrictlyFighting is suddenly relevant again. Skip to the 0:30 mark for Griffin’s thoughts on the Spider moving up to light-heavy.)

Both MMA Junkie and MMA Bay are independently reporting that UFC 101 (August 8th, Philadelphia) will host a semi-superfight between middleweight champ Anderson Silva and former light-heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin. It would be Silva’s first match at 205 pounds since his 61-second knockout of James Irvin last July — which also happened to be the last time Anderson was entertaining. If this rumor holds up, it would mean the following:

Nothing against Forrest Griffin here.  He seems like a genuinely good guy and hard-working fighter.  But he is 29 years old.  He held the UFC light heavyweight title for about five minutes.  Why would I want to read his book Got Fight? at this particular point in time?  Its clichéd title notwithstanding (how long did it take to think of that, about eight seconds?), I’m not sure I see the appeal.

Maybe this is just a pet peeve of mine, but I hate when fairly young people without an especially amazing story to tell put a book out.  At least Tori Spelling was in her mid-thirties when she released sTori Telling.  I realize the rules are a little different in this field, so let me go ahead and list what I see as the five scenarios under which you may release a book if you’re a pro fighter.  Hopefully this will clear up some confusion.

1) You’re a Legend of the Sport
Randy Couture?  Yeah, he gets to put a book out.  He’s old enough and has been in the sport long enough to have some interesting insights.  Chuck Liddell?  It’s a little bit of a stretch, but sure.  Tito Ortiz?  Okay, I guess.  But guys who are still in the middle of their careers, why?  Wouldn’t we rather wait and get your perspective once it’s all over, or at least close to over?

(It was either this or another picture of Bader. Photos courtesy of twitpic.com/photos/ariannyceleste.)

— TUF 8 winner Ryan Bader may have suffered serious knee damage during his unanimous decision win over Carmelo Marrero on Wednesday. As Bader told MMA Weekly, "The doctor said I blew my MCL out and maybe the ACL…One of the first takedowns, I was passing from half-guard trying to pass to side control and I just heard my knee pop, which isn’t a big deal because they pop every once in a while. I stood back up and I felt that it was really, really loose. It didn’t really do too much as far as impeding me in the fight or anything like that, but it was starting to swell up a little bit. Hopefully the ACL is fine. I don’t really want to deal with that." In a worst-case scenario, the injury would require surgery and a long recovery period.

— Bader’s Arizona Combat Sports teammate Steve Steinbeiss was reportedly paid his to-show money as well as his win bonus for Wednesday’s event, even though his opponent Ryan Jensen was yanked from the fight following a positive test for Adderall.

— I think I got up to take a piss during this particular commercial break, but during a Burger King-sponsored/Amir Sadollah-hosted segment in the season premierewww.cagepotato.com/tuf-91-quick-recap-team-uk-gets-its-elite-8, TUF 9Forrest Griffin confirmed that he’ll be coming back to face Thiago Silva at UFC 101 (August 8th, Philadelphia). Griffin hasn’t fought since his UFC 92 title fight against Rashad Evans in December, in which he lost his belt and broke his hand. Sadollah also revealed that he’ll be making his first post-TUF appearance (as a welterweight) at the August event, though an opponent was not named.

(Forrest Griffin‘s entrance at UFC 72)

(Marcus Davis‘s entrance at UFC 93)

No, we can’t all be cool enough to party with Dana and Everlast at the Roxy tonight — but that doesn’t mean we can’t still have a good time. Holler at us in the comments section if you have anything special planned for St. Patrick’s Day. As for me, it’s looking like the usual — drink for six hours, release some festive-colored vomit at some point, and end the night getting slapped by a strange colleen. Celebrate semi-responsibly, and watch out for Leprechauns!

(Dana White does the hard sell on TUF 9.  Props: Cage Writer)

– Forrest Griffin and Thiago Silva are expected to get back in action against one another at the still officially unannounced UFC 101 event in August that will feature a Randy Couture/Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira main event.  With both Griffin and Silva coming off losses this is one of those wonderful situations where somebody has to turn things around while someone else has to drop two straight and then reevaluate his life and career.  All signs point to the event taking place in Portland, OR. – also known as the town with best strip clubs in America.  Count us in.

– Since he apparently thinks he’s a boxer now, I suppose it’s only fitting that Gray Maynard inked a sponsorship deal with Everlast MMA.  Maynard’s pounded-flat mug is even going to be the focal point for an ad campaign, so I guess it pays to abandon all your wrestling training and beat guys up on the feet.  Does it pay to make a decision-machine like Maynard your poster boy?  Everlast will find out, possibly the hard way.

– Sean Sherk thinks he’s in line for the next lightweight title shot if he beats Frankie Edgar at UFC 98, and he expects that the belt will still be around B.J. Penn’s waist after he faces Kenny Florian.  Drawing on his experience fighting both men, Sherk says Penn “has pretty much every advantage” in a bout with Florian.  That might be whitewashing Penn’s conditioning issues a little too much, but what do you expect from Sherk, who just assumes everybody is out there doing caveman training every day.

(Props: THQ, via MMA Mania)

Advanced primate/UFC light heavyweight Forrest Griffin graces the cover of the UFC’s new video game, due out later this year.  It sure looks cool, but will it result in an MMA version of The Madden Curse?  At least you can’t blame it for making him lose his belt.  See?  There’s always a bright side.

(I know, Joe.  I have the same reaction when I get too close to the Cage Potato logo.)

It’s hard to be the Cage Potato sometimes.  Partying with MMA royalty like Forrest Griffin and Urijah Faber.  Drinking for free at an open bar while chicks in bikinis gyrate beneath a giant flashing sign that says “SEXY.”  Giving out free Hall of Fame t-shirts to the pleading masses.  Oh, wait a minute.  That isn’t hard.  That was just my Friday night.

If you can’t tell from the above paragraph, last night’s Fight Magazine/Cage Potato VIP Party was a complete success.  I arrived with an all-star blogging crew that featured Fightlinker’s Ryan Harkness and MMA Frenzy’s Kris Karkoski precisely at 8:30 pm.  It might seem a little lame of us to show up exactly when the party was scheduled to start, but in our defense: a) that’s when the open bar started, and b) Joe Stevenson had already been there for ten minutes by then.  That’s right, “Daddy” knows how to party.

(Not his finest moment. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

Following UFC 92, deposed light-heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin received a medical suspension for a left hand injury, blocking him from competition until late June unless the hand was cleared by an orthopedic doctor. But according to The Sun, the situation has become a little more serious:

Tough break. But on the bright side, this makes a championship bout between Evans and Quinton Jackson even more likely. Though Rampage originally said he wanted to avenge his UFC 86 loss to Griffin before taking another shot at the title, he has since changed his mind, and it’s highly unlikely that he’d want to wait 9+ months for Griffin to heal up anyway. But who knows, maybe Lyoto Machida can pull off some insane finish against Thiago Silva at UFC 94 and convince Dana White than his 14-fight win streak is more title-shot-worthy than Jackson’s one-fight win streak. Unfortunately, Machida will likely be passed over again if he picks up another decision win.

(Photo courtesy of JacksonsMMA.com)

Greg Jackson wants to get one thing straight: he did not start the nipple tweak.  He doesn’t endorse it and doesn’t seem to understand it any more than the rest of us, and frankly he’s getting a little tired of being associated with the idea of grown men pinching their own nipples on TV.  And yet, as long as his fighters keep winning with it, he’s resigned to the fact that it may not be going anywhere.

This is just one of the fascinating topics we covered in our exclusive talk with trainer Greg Jackson.  Read on and see what else he had to say.

CagePotato.com: Thanks for talking with me Greg.  I know you must be busy with so many different guys fighting in different organizations.  Tell me, what’s a typical month like for you?  Like the next thirty days, who have you got fighting?

Well let’s see, in the next thirty days we’ve got Donald Cerrone fighting in the WEC in San Diego, and then immediately after that we’ve got Georges St. Pierre defending his title against BJ Penn in Vegas on the 31st, and the after that I don’t have anyone until Nate Marquardt fighting in England on February 21st.  After that it heats up again in March.

Does it ever get hard to keep track of so many different guys and their different game plans and strategies?

It’s my job.  It’s like anything.  If you’ve got a long day ahead of you, you’ve got a long day.  I don’t do anything else.  I don’t manage.  I just train guys and make sure they’re following their own personal growth plan and at the same time that they’re training specifically for their opponent.  That’s all I do all day long.  Sometimes it seems overwhelming, like when I step back and realize I’ve got eleven different game plans working, but as long as I take it one at a time it’s not a big deal.

B.J. Penn keeps insisting that the only reason he lost to GSP the first time was because he gassed out, and says that won’t happen again.  What do you think when you hear some of the stuff he says?

 
Our highlight-video-making buddy Facey has launched a new site called FightFace, where he’ll be compiling the best MMA moments of every month into a single convenient clip. As far as source material is concerned, it doesn’t get much better than December 2008, which is the subject of Facey’s first installment. See above for the craziest stoppages from the TUF 8 finale, UFC’s "Fight for the Troops," WEC 37, UFC 92, and Fields Dynamite!! 2008. It’s an awesome project so keep your eye on it and show some support.

Also: If you don’t think it’s too early in the day to watch bikini-clad chicks gyrate at an MMA ring girl competition, you may want to watch the clip after the jump.

#5: Affliction: Banned, 7/19/08

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog)

Sure, the pacing was a little shaky, and the picture quality for the pay-per-view broadcast was kind of dark, and apparently some of you don’t think that Megadeth’s Rust in Peace is one of the most kickass records ever released. But you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Affliction’s debut MMA show gave us a supernova of heavyweight star power, featuring Fedor Emelianenko’s 36-second destruction of Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski’s beatdown of Ben Rothwell, and Josh Barnett’s redemptive KO of Pedro Rizzo; elsewhere on the card, we got to see Matt Lindland, Babalu Sobral, Vitor Belfort and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in action. The organization has since turned into a bit of a shit-show, but with Banned, they gave us nearly everything we could have hoped for.

#4: UFC 87: Seek and Destroy, 8/9/08

(Photo courtesy of ESPN)

The UFC’s visit to Minneapolis proved the following…
— Brock Lesnar is an absolute beast. His takedowns can’t be stopped, and his punches tend to break facial bones. He will mock you after he beats you.
— Kenny Florian is a fantastic fighter, and worthy of a title shot; Roger Huerta maybe had a little more hype than substance.
— Demian Maia is one of the most talented submission specialists in MMA, in any organization, in any weight class. His choke-out of Jason MacDonald gave him his third-consecutive Submission of the Night bonus.
— Ben Saunders might actually be a contender one day.
— Jon Jones is athletic and explosive. I’m sorry, but the clichés are true sometimes.
— Jon Fitch is one tough son-of-a-bitch.
— If you’re fighting Georges St. Pierre, tough ain’t enough.

5. Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le (3/29/08)

Someone had to shut Frank Shamrock up.  Thank God for Cung Le.  Shamrock stayed true to his promise to stand and trade with the San Shou sensation, though maybe it would have been a better idea if he didn’t.  He got kicked in ways he never imagined until a broken arm forced him to give in after three rounds of action, just when it was starting to get really good.  Watching these highlights just makes you mad at Cung Le for running off to be a movie star instead of sticking around in MMA for a while.  It also makes you wonder what would happen to Frank’s new braces if he got kicked in the face like that now.  Perhaps we’ll never know.

4. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin (7/5/08)

They don’t get much closer than this light heavyweight championship fight at UFC 86.  Simply mentioning who you think won the bout (cough*Griffin*cough) is enough to start a message board argument that will produce countless personal attacks and ultimately accomplish nothing, but that just proves what a close battle it was.  Five rounds of back-and-forth action led to a unanimous, though oddly scored decision victory for Griffin, and a few sleepless nights for Jackson.  “Rampage” says he’d like to run it back in ’09.  We’d rather see him fight Evans for the title, but we also wouldn’t complain about seeing a repeat of this scrap.

(Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

The UFC handed out $1,561,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses for Saturday’s "Ultimate 2008" card, with the fighters in the three main events taking home the lion’s share. Quinton Jackson came out on top, adding a $100,000 win bonus and $60,000 Knockout of the Night bonus to his $225,000 base salary, while Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira came in second place simply on the basis of his meaty quarter-million-to-show payout. Complete figures are below: 

Quinton Jackson: $385,000 (includes $100,000 win bonus, $60,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: $250,000
Wanderlei Silva: $200,000
Rashad Evans: $190,000 (includes $65,000 win bonus, $60,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Forrest Griffin: $160,000 (includes $60,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Frank Mir: $90,000 (includes $45,000 win bonus)
Cheick Kongo: $90,000 (includes $45,000 win bonus)
Yushin Okami: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus)
Antoni Hardonk: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus)
CB Dollaway: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)

(Sonic Boooom!  Photo courtesy of NBC Sports.)

On my way through the MGM Grand to the arena on Saturday night I stopped near the food court to drink my coffee and affix my press credential.  A twenty-something guy saw the UFC logo around my neck and started talking to me about the fights, telling me what a huge Frank Mir fan he was and how he thought Mir was going to kill Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

“I don’t think so,” I said.  “I think Mir’s got the least chance to win of all the guys on the main card.”

“Really?” he said.

“Really,” I told him.  “But hey, if you think he’s going to win, put a bet down.  He’s going off at 3-1.  Although there’s a reason the odds are so high.”

“Yeah, no,” he said, making a face like I’d just told him Santa Claus wasn’t real.  “That’s okay.  Thanks.”

I don’t know who that guy was, or whether he reads Cage Potato (I assume he does, being both an English-speaker and an MMA fan), but I want to apologize to him.  My friend, I’m sorry.  Really, really, sorry.  I hope you, and to a lesser extent, Frank Mir, will forgive me.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s see who’s up and who’s down after UFC 92 via the enjoyably arbitrary numerical ratings of the Potato Index.

(Rampage mean-mugs his way back to #2. Photo courtesy of the Las Vegas Sun.)

In the wake of UFC 92′s wild string of upsets, we’ve updated the light-heavyweight and heavyweight top ten lists in our Power Rankings section. Some notes:

— Rashad Evans takes the #1 spot at 205 pounds. The UFC’s light-heavyweight division is still a shark tank where almost any fighter could be the best on a given day, but I think Sugar has the skills to defend his belt at least once. Evans/Rampage could be epic; let’s hope it happens soon.

—Frank Mir jumps to #4 following back-to-back wins over the UFC’s two best heavyweights. That is just craaaaaazy. If Mir can beat Brock Lesnar a second time and unify the heavyweight title, it’ll be one of the most miraculous career comebacks in MMA history.

— I’d love to get some new blood into the bottom of the heavyweight list, but it’ll have to wait until Shane Carwin and Gabriel Gonzaga have their fight in March, or until Dave Herman, Antonio Silva, Alistair Overeem, or Sergei Kharitonov beat a highly-ranked opponent.

Head over to the rankings page to toss in your own opinions, and keep an eye on the lightweight list this week, as four of the top ten fighters will be competing in MMA matches at Fields Dynamite!! 2008 on New Year’s Eve.

(In some cultures, that’s considered a compliment. Props to IrishLew)

Following a shocking night of fights in which Quinton Jackson exacted revenge against his arch-nemesis, two new champions were crowned, and my sure-thing parlay bet was shit all over, the UFC handed out $60k bonuses to the following fighters…

Knockout of the Night: Quinton Jackson, obviously. Though eight of the Ultimate 2008′s ten fights ended in stoppages due to strikes (seven within the first two rounds), Rampage’s left-hook stiffening of Wanderlei Silva was a picture-perfect one-punch KO, and represented a dramatic return to form. Will Jackson/Griffin 2 be next?

Fight of the Night: Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans for their light-heavyweight championship main event. After an even first round, Griffin found his groove, landing strikes with regularity and ending the second frame with an on-the-button superman punch. But Evans proved just how "athletic and explosive" he really is when he knocked Forrest to the ground in the third and finished him off with some devastating punches from the top — becoming the second consecutive TUF winner to hold the 205-pound strap.

Submission of the Night: Nobody, since no fight ended in a tapout. But hey, you don’t like that gay foreplay stuff anyway.

UFC 92 drew 14,103 spectators for an impressive (though not record-setting) live gate of $3.47 million.

(Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

The MGM Grand is abuzz as the start time for UFC 92 closes in.  Tapout t-shirts flood the casino floor and bored girlfriends in halter-tops linger near the slot machines, popping their gum and sipping Michelob Ultras as part of their continued vigilance against carbs.  Truly, it is a magnificent scene.  And though it may not be officially the main event, all over town you can hear people talking about Wanderlei Silva and “Rampage” Jackson.  The consensus seems to be that short of one man growing wings and flying out of the Octagon, nothing that happens in this fight will be too great a surprise.  That’s how volatile and unpredictable it is.

Your favorite liveblogger is live and on the scene at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, so stick with me all night for news, results, wisecracks and analysis.  Prelims are scheduled to get started at around 5:15 PST.  If you’re holding out hope of seeing Antoni Hardonk and Mike Wessel broadcasted tonight, you might want to skip over that so as not to have it spoiled for you.  Or not.  Your choice.

I would remind you to hit refresh often, but you already know to do that.  You sharp devil, you.

Wanderlei Silva and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson couldn’t just get up on the scales and call it a night.  Nope, there had to be a little extra curricular activity, just to further steal the show with their third fight.

It was an intense staredown to begin with after each man made weight at the MGM Grand this afternoon.  The two were nose to nose when Jackson said something that the microphones didn’t pick up, but it must have been naughty because Silva shoved him immediately.  If you want my guess, Rampage was pulling out one of his old bad breath jokes.  Silva has struggled long and hard with gingivitis, and dental stuff in general is a sensitive topic for him.  

Dana White quickly got between them, followed by almost everyone else on the stage, just to play up the drama.  I tell you, it was enough to make you miss Pride.

The rest of the weigh-in went smoothly and predictably.  Frank Mir got booed.  Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Forrest Griffin both got very warm welcomes.  And all fighters made weight (though Dean Lister did have to strip down to hit 186).  The only other excitement was Cheick Kongo pulling the seventh-grade bully move of faking a lunge at Mostapha Al Turk during their staredown.  To his credit, Al Turk didn’t flinch.  Looks like Kongo won’t get those two free punches he was hoping for.

Full weigh-in results are after the jump.  Don’t forget that we’ll be liveblogging all the action Saturday night, so tune in early and often.

(‘You seem like a nice boy.  It’s a shame what Rashad is going to do to you.’)

Merry Christmas, Potato Nation.  In the spirit of giving, we present to you our customary pre-event face-off.  It was either this or a gift card to The Pottery Barn.  So, you know, you’re welcome.  Enjoy the holiday, and all the best to you and yours.  Don’t forget that we’re back on schedule tomorrow and liveblogging UFC 92 on Saturday.  Doin’ work, son.  

Exactly when and how will the three marquee fights end?

BG: Let’s start with the easy one. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira subs Frank Mir via armbar at 2:52 of round 3. And it’s not just because he has better jiu-jitsu and can absorb more damage. He will win because that’s how the TUF 8 story ends. It is written: Big Nog represents everything that is good and pure about this sport, while Mir is the cocky John Kreese–like asshole who didn’t care that the house pranks were interrupting Efrain Escudero’s sleep. (Monster!) Minotauro is going to beat Mir standing for the first two-and-a-half rounds, and then an ill-advised takedown attempt from Mir during the third will blow up in his face, leading to the submission win for Nogueira. We need this to happen, just like we need Lesnar vs. Nog for the real heavyweight title.

If Forrest Griffin can stick to the game plan he had against Rampage — playing it smart and safe, but pouncing when there are opportunities — he’ll beat Rashad Evans in a split decision. Here’s a fun stat: Evans has never won a unanimous decision in the UFC, even though five of his eight Octagon appearances have gone the distance. I’m not saying that judges don’t like him (although who knows, maybe they don’t), but it may suggest that if a fight goes to the scorecards, it’s because he wasn’t able to dominate his opponent. Also, Rashad’s never gone five rounds — Griffin has been there before.

Finally, Wanderlei Silva beats Quinton Jackson via unanimous decision in UFC 92’s Fight of the Night. It’s a difficult outcome to predict because of all the variables separating Silva/Jackson III from the previous two installments but Silva definitely has the advantage. I’m going to give Rampage the benefit of the doubt and say he’s eating normally this week, rather than following his occasional fasting/hallucinating routine. And while Wolfslair might not be the most acclaimed MMA camp in the world, the friendly and nurturing environment he’s found there will give him the confidence he needs to not perform like a shambling wreck. Jackson might get beaten to a pulp, but he won’t be knocked out.

BF: I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of some way Mir might win, just to be contrary, and I’ve got nothing.  He definitely won’t sub Big Nog.  He doesn’t have the cardio or the faith in himself to outpoint him over the course of five rounds.  And if Mir becomes the first person to knock Nogueira out there’s simply nothing left for me to believe in.  Nog submits Mir via rear naked choke at 3:55 of round two.  That’s that.

(Strictly business, baby. Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle’s UFC 92 press conference album.)

Important: With the holidays now upon us, our posting will be lighter than usual as we pause to get reacquainted with our estranged families.  But have no fear, Potato Nation, as we have some Christmas Eve and Christmas Day treats planned, then we’re back to semi-normal on Friday.  Naturally, we’ll also be liveblogging UFC 92 on Saturday night, so don’t wander off.

And now, some betting odds for your gambling pleasure, courtesy of the Venetian sportsbook (via Yahoo!).

Rashad Evans +110 v. Forrest Griffin -140
Frank Mir +300 v. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira -400
Quinton Jackson +110 v. Wanderlei Silva -140
Mike Massenzio +150 v. C.B. Dollaway -180
Mostapha Al Turk +250 v. Cheick Kongo -330
Dean Lister +220 v. Yushin Okami -300
Mike Wessel +300 v. Antoni Hardonk -400
Reese Andy +180 v. Matt Hamill -220
Brad Blackburn +130 v. Ryo Chonan -160
Dan Evensen +130 v. Pat Barry -160

Thoughts…

Dana White’s UFC 92 Video Blog, Ep. 1 – Watch more free videos

The Dana White pre-event video blog returns…kind of.  As White breathlessly explains at the onset, he’s been busy.  So instead of a real video blog covering his event week activities, he’s starting us off with some behind-the-scenes stuff from the Spike TV video game awards.

Highlights here include a meet and greet with Mike Tyson, who almost seems ready to say something to Nogueira about Frank Mir until he’s alerted that Mir is standing right behind him.  Then it’s on to that awkward portion of the evening when an LL Cool J performance turns into a UFC 92 promo.  In case you were wondering whether it was as weird and stilted live as it was on TV, this video clearly answers that question from one of the worst seats in the house — right behind the guy who really loves LL Cool J. 

It’s like it doesn’t matter where you go, whether it’s the movies or an awards show, that guy is always there, standing just in front of you and shouting "Mama said knock you out!"

(Yeah, that’s a dragon on his t-shirt. Go ahead and say something and get your ass whipped right here in baggage claim.)

Rashad Evans is a unique case among UFC fighters.  He’s undefeated, a former Ultimate Fighter winner, and now stands one victory away from claiming UFC gold.  And yet he’s still far from a fan favorite, despite his recent brutal knockout of Chuck Liddell and his rise through the light heavyweight ranks.

With his title shot just a few days away, Evans talks with us about dealing with the criticism, gameplanning for Forrest Griffin, and yes, even the Greg Jackson camp nipple tweak.

CagePotato.com: Thanks for talking with us, Rashad.  Now that fight night is closing in, how has your training camp been?

Training has been good.  I feel really strong and I’ve had a great camp.  I’ve had guys like James McSweeney, Georges St. Pierre, Nate Marquardt, Joey Villasenor and lots of others in here helping me.  With guys like that you can’t help but have a good training camp.

Your fight with Forrest is being billed as the explosive athlete (you), against the hard worker (Forrest).  What do you think of that characterization?

I can see how people would say that, yeah.  But I think there’s aspects of both those things in each of us.  I think I might be a little better natural athlete, but he can also be a real explosive fighter.  And it’s not like I don’t work hard, either.  I’m not going in there with any expectations of him in that regard.  He’s the champ right now, and you don’t get to be the champ if you’re not a good, explosive fighter.

In our recent talk with him, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson said it wasn’t his idea to take on Wanderlei Silva in his first fight back in the UFC since losing his title in July.  The fight he asked for?  A rematch with Forrest Griffin.  The UFC, apparently, had other plans for him.

“Fighting is my job.  That’s how I look at it. I didn’t ask for Wanderlei.  I wanted a rematch with Forrest.  But I don’t get to pick my fights.  I fight the ones they give me, and they’re giving me Wanderlei.”

After everything that’s happened, Rampage seems more convinced than ever that he deserved to win the fight against Griffin.

“I still think I won that fight.  I was the champ, and I think I did enough in that fight to stay the champ.  You’re supposed to have to take the title away from the champion, and he didn’t do that.  Even though it goes down on my record as a loss, I feel like I won that fight.

“I don’t see how anyone could give him that first round.  I don’t know how a guy can get dropped and win the round.  The judges must have been picking their noses or something, but I still feel like I won.”

(Looks like things are about to get rough for digital Forrest.)

Rashad Evans is really excited about being in the UFC 2009 Undisputed video game.  Maybe part of it is because they released some nice little screen shots showing him getting his dominate on against Forrest Griffin, or maybe he just wanted to seem extra-enthusiastic so as not to risk a Jon Fitch-like predicament at any point in the future.

Either way, check out what Evans had to say to IGN.com about what being in the game means to him:

"I never thought I’d be in a videogame, and I’m happy about that. To be a part of the whole organization and to be a part of the videogame, that’s my immortality right there. I may die next year, or in the next couple of days or whatever, but I’ll always be in that videogame."

Whoa, take it easy.  I can understand being pretty pumped about having your mug in a video game (the closest I ever came was making a character who looked kind of almost like me in the old Pride game – he specialized in Thug Jitsu, naturally), but it does not make you immortal.  I mean, look at Danny Sullivan, of Danny Sullivan’s Indy Heat.  He’s not immortal, and it was his game!  You’re a character in the game, and even Doink the Clown can say that.

To be honest, though, the screenshots do look pretty sweet, so I can almost understand why Evans is so happy he thinks he can die now.  Check out  a couple more after the jump.  Looks like the THQ people see Forrest spending a lot of time on his back at UFC 92.

(Wandy stays ready, so he ain’t got to get ready.)

Now that we’re done with The Ultimate Fighter for a little while we can finally turn our attention to the stacked UFC 92 card at the end of the month.  With two titles (okay, one title and one “interim” thing) up for grabs, as well as the return of “Rampage” Jackson against arch-nemesis Wanderlei Silva, I’m looking forward to this event the way I used to look forward to Christmas until a couple years ago when I found out there was no Santa Claus.  It was my dad, all along.  You believe that shit?  No wonder my presents were always stained with bourbon and tears.    

UFC light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin made a rare prediction for the event in an interview with MMA Fanhouse.  No, not a prediction for his own fight.  The way Griffin talks sometimes, he seems to think everyone’s a better fighter than he is (when asked if he thinks he deserves to mentioned along with guys like Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko, he responded, “Fuck no,” which is accurate but still a little sad). But he did make a prediction for the Wanderlei-Rampage fight:

Oddsmakers would seem to kind of agree with Griffin, but with some picking Wanderlei as a slight favorite and some pegging it even, nobody seems entirely sure of anything in this fight.  Just to make things even more interesting, I suggest the UFC officially dub this a loser-goes-crazy bout.  Either that or a loser-grows-hair fight, and that just doesn’t offer the same immediate payoff.

CagePotato reader Facey sent us this rather sick-ass highlight video that he made, featuring some of the greatest MMA submissions ever, starring Shinya Aoki, Dustin Hazelett, "Jacare" Souza, Frank Mir, Rumina Sato, Anderson Silva (both giving and receiving), and both Diaz brothers. Easy-breezy soundtrack provided by Donavan. 

 
(Props: Bloody Elbow)

In this promo clip for UFC 92, light-heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin discusses his opponent Rashad Evans and what challenges he might present. It’s clear that Griff isn’t underestimating Sugar whatsoever. As he says, "He’s got more knockouts than I do. And his knockouts have been impressive. Like, people-don’t-get-up-right-away knockouts." Speaking of Forrest Griffin, his September 2003 IFC fight with Chael Sonnen is after the jump, courtesy of MMA Scraps.