(Photo via MMA Weekly)

As you know, Dennis Hallman was cut from the UFC after missing weight for Friday’s UFC on FX 5 event. He missed weight by, like, a lot, but still received his show and win money from the UFC.

Quite interesting because the UFC don’t play like that with fighters repeatedly missing weight as Hallman has. Perhaps, we wondered, Hallman had some extenuating circumstances that contributed to his messing up and the UFC was doing what it could to be understanding.

According to the fighter, that’s exactly what happen.

In an interview with former UFC title challenger, television personality and no stranger to personal problems himself, Frank Trigg, Hallman says that he went through a psychological meltdown while cutting weight last week. The lightweight veteran says he’s currently going through an ugly custody dispute with his wife, who he claims is addicted to drugs.

Though he wasn’t in a healthy state to fight, Hallman says that he tried to make weight and fight to get money to cover legal costs to try and get custody of his daughter from his wife. Apparently Hallman was told by the UFC to move down to smaller promotions, make weight and pick up a few wins and then he would be brought back.

We don’t have a punch line for this. Whatever is going with Hallman and his family, its clearly sad and taking a toll on those involved.

We’re glad he got show and win money and we wish he and his family all the best.

Hallman’s video interview with Trigg after the jump.

(You’ve earned this.) 

After we took a test run with last week’s Comment of the Week survey, we weren’t really sure how you all would react when given even the smallest bit of power. Because let’s be honest, most of you (at least those who comment) come across as a “unique in a Ted Bundy way” kind of crowd. You know, the kind of people that cross names off their hitlists with lipstick and cry themselves to sleep…in a good way.

Thankfully, you managed to pick the comment that we had originally voted for as your winner, and completely validated yourselves in the process. Don’t get used to us patting you on the back, because the only thing that happens less than us writers giving you readers your due credit is you readers giving us writers ours. That being said, this week’s competition looks like it’s going to be fierce, with everything from our “If UFC Fighters Were in the Olympics” post to the downfall of Frank Trigg providing opportunities for several brilliant, if not politically incorrect and relentlessly dark, comments.

Going with the idea that one of you suggested, the comment that won last week will be carried over to see how long it can reign supreme. We are also only going to take one comment from each reader, as to keep this poll from turning into a full blown clusterfuck. On that note, join us after the jump for the best of the best, and vote on which comment you think takes the blood-flavored cake this week.

Let me get this straight: You come to me empty-handed, and you want my help?

Earlier this year, we passed along a rather disturbing story regarding former UFC fighter and HDNet commentator, Frank Trigg. For those of you who don’t remember: In October 2011, Trigg allegedly choked his wife unconscious in front of their children. TheDirty.com posted a graphic picture of his wife’s throat following the incident, and one affair with a twenty-three year old assistant producer later, Trigg was out of work with HDNet.

Today, ProMMANow.com is reporting that Trigg was arrested yesterday on charges of battery over the incident. He’s currently being held at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas on a $15,000 bond, and will be appearing in court tomorrow.

I’m not a lawyer, and I realize you’re innocent until proven guilty, but I’m not liking Trigg’s odds of (ahem) beating this case.

(One of these days, Alice, RIGHT TO THE MOON!) 

Well this is interesting. According to BJPenn.com, former UFC welterweight contender Frank Trigg has recently been released from his HDNet contract, where he served as a commentator for such promotions as Dream and Legacy Fighting Championships. Now, we know you’re asking yourself, “How could the man behind such classic phrases as ‘OH, OH NO, OHHHH!!‘ and ‘Fedor is going to dispatch this man very quickly‘ possibly be let go as a commentator?!” At first, we would have agreed with you. Until we found out why he is being let go, that is. Mainly, the reasons appear that be beat, then cheated, on his soon to be ex-wife.

Yikes.

Here’s the alleged story:

Former UFC fighter, Frank Trigg has been relieved of his duties as a commentator for HDNet for alleged domestic violence and having an improper relationship with a co-worker.

Trigg allegedly choked his wife unconscious in front of their children back in October of 2011, and is now in the middle of a very messy divorce. 

As if that wasn’t enough, he was also found to be having an affair with a 23 year old assistant producer for HDNet. The company did not approve of the improper relationship he was having or the allegations of abuse, and in turn they have fired him from his job as a commentator.

You think that’s bad? Check out a disturbing photo of the bruises left on his wife’s throat after the 2011 incident below, first posted on TheDirty.com:

CagePotato Roundtable is a new recurring column in which the CagePotato writing staff (and some of our friends) share their opinions on an MMA-related topic, and hopefully inspire some discussion among our readers as well. For the inaugural installment, we took inspiration from Joe Rogan’s enthusiastic crowning of last weekend’s Tim Boetch vs. Yushin Okami fight as “the greatest comeback in the history of the UFC.” That’s debatable, to say the least — but isn’t everything? So what *was* the greatest comeback fight in MMA history?

Seth Falvo
When Joe Rogan first called The Barbarian’s victory the greatest comeback in UFC history, my first thought was “Come on, Joe, are you seriously the only MMA fan who hasn’t seen Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Bob Sapp?” That comeback exposed Sapp for the overhyped freak that he was while establishing the legend of Big Nog and his ability to come from behind to win fights. Hell, we at Cagepotato consider it to be the best freak show fight to ever come out of Japan. But in fairness to Joe Rogan, that fight didn’t take place in the UFC. So my second thought was “Come on, Joe, are you seriously the only UFC fan who hasn’t seen Mike Russow vs. Todd Duffee?”

What makes this comeback so great was the fact that Todd Duffee and Mike Russow were essentially photo negatives of each other. Before this fight, Duffee was destined to be the next big thing in the UFC’s heavyweight division, having just tied the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history in his promotional debut against Tim Hague. Duffee was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness, the poster boy for Muscletech and seemingly in every men’s magazine on the planet — no matter how loosely the content was related to sports. Meanwhile, Russow was quietly coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Justin McCully in his UFC debut and had more fat in his left bicep than Todd Duffee had in his entire body. Everything about this fight seemed like it was a squash match.

By Mark Dorsey

(Yeah, yeah, yeah…WE KNOW you guys want a CP app. We’re working on it. And your t-shirts are in the mail.)

Anybody who has searched MMA apps knows that there are dozens of products on the market. This may be a stretch for some of our readers, but let’s assume we all have interests outside of  the MMA world. In a scenario like this, where we don’t all have the time to spend our days and nights trolling the comment section here like Xenophon, it is necessary to sort through the clutter and find the essential apps.

Not to worry, Potato Nation; we have you covered.

Cage Potato and Boost Mobile have teamed up to save you money, time and memory space by providing you with this Comprehensive 2012 MMA App Buyer’s Guide. While the odd gem may have slipped through the cracks, most of the best apps for your hard earned money are listed and reviewed after the jump.

(Props to HDNetFights for the vid. Fight starts at the 4:20 mark.) 

I’m going to come right out and say it; Jim Wallhead may be the pound-for-pound scariest looking dude in mixed martial arts today. Say what you want about Keith Jardine, Tank Abbott, or even Ruben “Nightwolf” Villareal (lolz!), but none of them hold a candle to Wallhead, who looks like the bastard love child of General Vogel and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. All the more terrifying is the fact that Wallhead actually has the skills to back up his grizzled demeanor. Currently 9-1 in his past ten fights, including wins over Frank Trigg, Che Mills, and Ryan Thomas, Wallhead’s career furthers the theory that anyone nicknamed “Judo” is one bad mofo who should not be tested.

Amidst the rubble left behind in the MMA world this weekend, one event that might have flown under the radar was that of BAMMA 7, which went down yesterday at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England. Featuring the likes of former UFC title contenders Frank Trigg, Paul Daley, and TUF 9 finalist Andre Winner, the card certainly had its fair share of fireworks.

The headliner saw Trigg’s two fight win streak since leaving the UFC snapped by journeyman “Judo” Jim Wallhead, who was able to repeatedly wobble Trigg on the feet en route to a split decision win. The win was particularly heartbreaking for “Twinkle Toes”, whose most recent wins showcased a newfound revitalization since his consecutive KO losses to Josh Koscheck and Matt Serra.

Elsewhere on the card, Paul Daley scored his own decision win over fellow UFC castaway Jordan Radev. The bout saw Daley easily handle Radev in the striking department but unable to finish the resilient Bulgarian, who was similarly frustrated after taking Daley’s back in the third frame and failing to secure a submission. The bout ended Daley’s two fight skid but continued to showcase his inability to make weight, which has become so notorious that even the hometown crowd was unusually silent during his entrance.

Here’s a interesting little piece of video that we haven’t seen circulating in a while: a wrestler and a judoka mix it up at a style vs style martial arts event from 1995. Taking place at something called “ACE World Series of Martial Arts” promoted by Dale Cook, it was something of a precursor to the rise of MMA.

At the time of the video, Trigg was a collegiate wrestler at the University of Oklahoma, still four years away from his MMA debut. It’s also worth noting that Trigg started training in judo in 1995 under Patrick Burris, a two-time Judo Olympian, although whether Twinkle Toes had already started training, or this fight inspired him to start, is unclear.

Either way, it’s an interesting little tidbit of history that isn’t usually included in Frank’s bio (but for some reason, his appearance on the VH1 show “Kept” is mentioned, which is just bizarre), so you may have missed it.

Now you know.

[RX]

(Tom Watson vs. Murilo Rua)

If you’re here to read about Murilo Rua running through Tom Watson to claim the Bamma Middleweight strap, have a seat, we need to talk. “Ninja” looked content to stand and bang with Watson early on, but he was clearly getting the worst of the exchanges. By round two, the damage from Watson’s leg kick assault showed in every step Rua took. From there the hobbled fighter served as target practice for “Kong”, whose time at Tristar and Greg Jackson’s has clearly paid off. To his credit Ninja never stopped fighting, at least not until that head kick from Watson put him out on his feet. Following the third round TKO loss, Rua took to twitter to thank his family and friends for their support and to announce his retirement from MMA.

Video of the Trigg-Phillips fight, and full results, after the jump.

(Frank’s the guy in the background who is being assured by Josh Rosenthal that everything is going to be all right.  Well, not everything, but you get the point. Photo courtesy of Fight Magazine.)

We left one name out of yesterday’s recap of the post-UFC 109 contract-cutting bloodbath, and it is perhaps the least surprising one of all.  Frank Trigg, who suffered his second KO loss in as many fights after being brought back to the UFC in 2009, was also invited to seek other opportunities/paychecks this week.  One has to think that Trigg saw the firing coming after his poor showing against Matt Serra last Saturday.  Not only did he get knocked out, but this fight had loser-leaves-town written all over it from the start.  Why Trigg would dare show up for a fight of that importance with hair is beyond us.

Unlike Mark Coleman, Trigg says he’s not sure yet whether he’ll try to land a gig fighting outside the UFC.  He has some on-camera experience and can probably land a job of some sort in broadcasting, or maybe he’s had enough of working for other people and will resurrect the Triggonomics brand as MMA’s next clothing giant.  Changing the name so it no longer "sounds like a lemonade stand" might be a good first step.    

In this talk with Fox News’s "Fight Game" it’s difficult to tell whether Phil Baroni is drunk or just on the downward slope of a career spent getting punched in the head.  It’s like that time you did a terrible karaoke rendition of "Little Red Corvette" before throwing up all over your girlfriend’s shoes.  There’s only one acceptable explanation, and it’s ‘I was drunk.’  Let’s hope the seven-dollar beers at the Mandalay Bay were to blame for how this interview turned out, and not ten years worth of abuse in the cage.   

The catalyst for this particular discussion is the UFC 109 victory by fellow New Yorker Matt Serra over one of Baroni’s Xtreme Couture training partners, Frank Trigg.  Apparently, gym loyalties are nothing compared to regional ones.  Plus, Serra goes into the Starbucks where Baroni’s mom works and gives her good tips, while all Trigg has ever done is make an awkward pass at her at Baroni’s wedding.  Yet another situation where ‘I was drunk’ is the only explanation that will suffice.   

After the jump, Eddie Bravo discusses his path to jiu-jitsu, and subtly overstates his own importance.

(Chael Sonnen explains that it’s the Ultimate *Fighting* Championship, not the Ultimate Mitt-Hitting, High-Altitude Training, Flipping a Tire Around, Screaming the Word "Yes" Championship. Props: MMA Fighting)

Following an expectation-exceeding night of action at UFC 109, the UFC handed out $60,000 pay-bumps to the following competitors:

Fight of the Night: Chael Sonnen and Nate Marquardt, for their bloody 15-minute grind, in which Sonnen survived a nasty choke attempt in the third round to secure the decision victory and earn a middleweight title shot.

Knockout of the Night: Matt Serra, for beating down Frank Trigg and proving that his hands are always dangerous, even if they’re on the end of very short arms.

Submission of the Night: Paulo Thiago, for putting Mike Swick to sleep with a D’Arce choke after knocking him to the mat in the second round of their fight. Thiago: 2, AKA: 1.

In other news…

(Couture vs. Coleman hype video by Genghis Con. Respect your elders, son.)

ATTENTION, POTATO NATION: It’s Friday afternoon, which means there’s still time to join MMA FightPicker and submit your predictions for tomorrow night’s UFC 109 card. For the thousands of players who have already signed up, we thank you, and we want you to know that we’ll be battling alongside you. In fact, BF and BG have both joined "Palooka Pool 30 #173" in an effort to determine a house champion. (Ed. note: The loser of this challenge will have to get a tattoo on his ass that says "Ben owns this. Not me, the other Ben.") So please join a FightPicker pool if you haven’t already, then take a look at how we’re answering the questions this week…

1. Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman at UFC 109: Who will win?
BF: Randy Couture. If Couture can only beat one type of fighter on the UFC roster, it’s the type that Coleman happens to be: old, a little bit slow, and too dependent on his wrestling ability.
BG: Randy Couture. Couture is the master of the gameplan. Coleman drives around Vegas for two days with his low-fuel light on because he’s always late to practice, and runs out of gas on the 215 even though he "put that little extra in there" to begin with. Difference in mental preparation, is what I’m saying.

2. Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman: Who will score the first takedown?
BF: Randy Couture. This is a little tougher to call, because sometimes the first takedown is determined in part by who’s gunning for takedowns right out of the gate, which should be Coleman. I still think Couture can stifle him until he’s ready to work for something out of the clinch, maybe early in the second round.
BG: Randy Couture. Ditto to all that. You might see these two guys try to prove a point by slugging for a couple rounds, but the Natural will eventually put Coleman on his back from the clinch.

3. Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen: Who will win?
BF: Nate Marquardt. Chael Sonnen says he doesn’t know what tools he has to beat Marquardt with. It might be the most sensible thing he’s said in weeks.
BG: Nate Marquardt. Okay, agreeing with you is starting to get very boring. I’d better start making some ridiculous picks to liven things up around here…

(Looking good, Matty! Photo courtesy of Tokyo Five.)

Long Island’s Matt Serra may love to crack jokes, but he wants you to know that it’s not all he’s doing as his fight with Frank Trigg at UFC 109 grows closer. In our exclusive interview, Serra gives us his thoughts on his opponent, his career in the UFC, and why he spends so much time in the barbership.

This fight comes at a time when you and Frank Trigg are both coming off losses and both in your mid-thirties. Where do you think this is going to leave you if you win or if you lose?

I don’t really know, and I don’t care. That’s up to whoever does those rankings or whatever. Technically, I’m coming off two losses. Do I feel like that? No, because I don’t even feel I lost my last fight. They offered me Frank Trigg, and I don’t look at as my chance to move up or anything like that. I see this as an entertaining fight and an exciting fight, on paper, and a good match-up. That’s basically how I look at it. I had the belt, and if my career leads back there then great. If it doesn’t, I’m looking for exciting fights.

Since you are coming off two losses, even though, as you said, the fight with Matt Hughes could have gone either way, do you worry about your job security if you lose this fight?

(Three out of four former PRIDE announcers agree: Jerry Millen is an opportunistic douchebag.)

By Cagepotato.com contributor Mike Russell

Nearly two years have passed since the collapse of PRIDE Fighting Championships and although the future of the organization most assumed to be dead is somewhat foggy, one fact that has been made crystal clear is that a growing number of ex-employees of the beloved Japanese promotion despise the show’s former American producer, Jerry Millen.

If you recall, Bas Rutten was the first to open up about Millen’s lack of professionalism and knowledge of mixed martial arts as well as his abusive treatment of former commentators Stephen Quadros and Mauro Ranallo. Here’s the quote from Bas’ original post from the Sherdog forums:

Ranallo, who like Rutten worked for the promotion prior to Millen being hired, quit PRIDE in 2006 citing his differences with Millen as his primary reason for leaving:

Now Ranallo’s former broadcast partner Frank Trigg has entered the fray to add his account of Millen’s evil ways in an exclusive and candid interview with Cagepotato.com.

(Photo courtesy of round5mma.com.)

Colorful Long Island resident Matt "The Terror" Serra — who has competed at a blistering pace of one fight per year since 2005 — may have already booked his 2010 UFC appearance. According to MMA Fanhouse, Serra has verbally agreed to a bout in Las Vegas on February 6th. Though Serra wouldn’t confirm who his opponent will be, Fanhouse says Frank Trigg is a strong possibility. Which makes sense, since they’re both in their mid-30s and coming off losses and not really factors in the division anymore. The loser of that fight would probably be retired by Joe Rogan in the post-fight interview, while the winner would pretty much have to take a rematch with Matt Hughes, considering that Hughes doesn’t have any better ideas.

(Whaddaya say, Royce. Wanna do it again?)

Matt Hughes may not know exactly what he wants to do with the new four-fight contract that he signed with the UFC, but he definitely knows what he doesn’t want to do.  Fights with young welterweight up-and-comers like Josh Koscheck and Mike Swick?  Not interested.  A third chance at getting his first victory over Denis Hallman?  No thanks.  How about simply completing the entire four-fight deal?  No guarantees there, either.  So what the hell does Hughes want to do with the remainder of his career?  I don’t know, you got any more washed-up legends laying around?

As far as who I fight next? You know, looking at these younger kids who are wanting to come in and be the next world champion or be the next contender, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t know if I’ll take on those guys.  There are plenty of older guys out there with big names who can fight, too. I like to take fights where I’ve got something to win. If I take a fight against Mike Swick or Josh Kosheck, I’ve really got nothing to gain from that fight besides a paycheck and beating somebody up. They’ve got more to win than I do. Those aren’t the kinds of fights that interest me.

Royce Gracie was a big fight, you know? It was a huge name, a guy that had won the old tournaments in the beginning. Those are the fights I like, the ones I can really get revved up for and get motivated. Those are the kinds of fights that gets me into the gym ready to train and work.

An upbeat Rashad Evans took some time out of his busy schedule to talk to “Inside MMA’s” robot-programmed-to-simulate-human-emotions Ron Kruck about the “Rampage” Jackson beef and what he thinks of Jackson’s obviously disingenuous offer to do this fight underground gym style, ala Kimbo Slice/Sean Gannon.  Evans seems to think that Jackson is moving on to the world of acting because he simply doesn’t love fighting any more.  And when you think about it?  He might be right.  Just like he’s probably right when he says that if ‘Page wouldn’t show up for a contracted fight in his hometown, there’s a good chance he wouldn’t show up for this free fight either.  For the interview’s most unintentionally hilarious moment, skip to the 6:35 mark to hear Evans take a question about Jackson walking into his house a little too literally.

After the jump, Frank Trigg explains why he thought he was getting cut by the UFC (and yeah, the story begins with a ‘what had happened was’ explanation), and a video of a little kid we’re actually a little scared of.

Sources have confirmed to MMA Junkie that the rumored bout between returning welterweight contender Frank Trigg and perennial threat Josh Koscheck will indeed take place at UFC 103 (September 19th, Dallas); bout agreements have been sent out are expected to be signed shortly. Though his last two UFC appearances resulted in first-round rear-naked choke losses to Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre, Trigg is now on a four-fight win streak, including wins over Edwin Dewees and Falaniko Vitale. Koscheck is coming off an upset knockout loss against Paulo Thiago to UFC 95 in February, and needs a win to still be considered one of the best 170-pounders in the division.

UFC 103 will come just three days after UFC Fight Night 19 (September 16th, Oklahoma City), which will serve as a lead-in to the season premiere of For the Love of Kimbo.

In other fight-booking news…

(Props: YouTube.com/TRIGGZINC via TheGarv)

When it was announced that Triggonomics brand-manager Frank Trigg was returning to the UFC after a four-year absence, we had a lot of questions — like who his first opponent would be, and when exactly he’d be fighting, and had he picked out his next weigh-in outfit yet. Well, we still don’t have specifics, but in this enlightening video blog recorded Sunday, Twinkle Toes tells us the following:

— He’d rather crash and burn against top-ranked opponents then face lesser-known guys, and he decided to return to the UFC because every top welterweight other than Jake Shields fights there.

#10: Frank Trigg‘s stunned disbelief
Affliction: Banned, 7/19/08

It’s not that Trigg’s reaction when Fedor started landing bombs on Tim was inappropriate; in fact, this was pretty much how we reacted during the fight. But when you’re being paid actual money to give insightful commentary about a sporting event, the viewers at home deserve a little better than "OH! OH-HO! OH-HO! OH-HO-NO-HO! OH!" Especially when you consider that this is a recurring trend with Trigg — when crazy shit goes down, the eloquence-train flies off the tracks, so to speak.

#9: Mike Goldberg tells us how precise Anderson Silva‘s precision is

The answer: Really. It’s really precise. Man, sometimes Mike is better off keeping his mouth shut until it’s time to ask Joe Rogan whether or not a fighter’s arm is in trouble. By the way, if you can watch that video for all ten minutes, we’ll send you a t-shirt.

#8: Kimbo Slice fails third-grade geography 
K-1′s World Grand Prix 2008 Final, 12/6/08

(Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a working video of this moment. Hopefully this Esther Lin/Lolcats mashup will be sufficient.)

Okay, give Kimbo a break. The man was extremely jet-lagged, and he clearly meant "the prefecture of Japan known as Kanagawa, which has Yokohama as its capital, where we are right now." It’s not like he asked co-commentator Michael Schiavello what the fuck up with all the Chinese people in the building. That would have been embarrassing. And speaking of which…

(Props: KingAtRock1)

Okay, this is pretty sweet.  Video highlight-maker KingAtRock1 has put together a look at the five best pound-for-pound fighters in MMA.  Sure, you could say he whitewashes Urijah Faber’s recent history in the cage, but overall it’s a solid list and I had a good time watching it.  Just good, clean fun.

I was just flipping through this month’s copy of Fight! Magazine, which features a photo spread on the UFC’s newest Octagon girl, Logan Stanton, and then lo and behold here’s Yahoo’s Steve Cofield doing a video interview with her at the Arnold Classic.  You have to admit Logan’s pretty damn adorable, and her dorky, "Revenge of the Nerds" laugh somehow only makes her more so.  Leave it to that classy son of a bitch Cofield to ask her if she’s going to get a boob job.  Nice, Steve.

After the jump, Frank Trigg remembers TapouT’s "Mask."

Finland took on South Korea in the third installment of the M-1 Challenge on HDNet, and the one who really shines in this highlight video recap is the announcer who’s tasked with pronouncing the plethora of difficult names. That guy is a pro. Finland turns out to have some tough bastards on their team from the looks of it. South Korea, on the other hand, has one totally awesome and very happy ass-kicker in the form of Hyun-Gyu Lim. That one guy might not be enough to win the M-1 Challenge for them, but dammit, his enthusiasm is downright infectious.

After the jump check out Inside MMA from Strikeforce: Payback in Colorado. A little after the ten-minute mark they talk with Frank Trigg. I dare you to watch it and pay attention to anything other than his ear. No, fuck that. I double dare you.

(P.S. Bas Rutten also interviews Kimbo Slice before his fight with Ken Shamrock, or so he thought. Ever the seer, Kimbo advises us not to blink. Oh, irony. You cruel bitch.)

(Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson puts Tyra Parker to sleep in 80 seconds.)

Main Card:
Duane Ludwig def. Sam Morgan via submission (strikes), 2:01 of round 1
Frank Trigg def. Falaniko Vitale via unanimous decision
Donnie Liles def. Pete Spratt via submission (rear naked choke), 1:59 of round 3
Billy Evangelista def. Luke Caudillo via unanimous decision
Carlos Zevallos def. Andre Walker via TKO, 4:48 of round 1
Michelle Waterson def. Tyra Parker via submission (rear naked choke), 1:20 of round 1
Tyler Toner def. Ricky Johnson via TKO, 3:44 of round 2

Undercard:
Drew Dober def. Lumumba Sawyers via KO (punch), 0:16 of round 1
Alan Gomez def. Jordan Goodwin via unanimous decisio
Eric Galvin def. Jeremy Malaterre via split decision
Turrell Galloway def. Brett Tillis via submission (rear naked choke), 1:21 of round 1
Aaron Trujillo def. Haven Torres via TKO, 2:59 of round 1

And the award for Best Vagina-Ear goes to:

(Tyra Parker and Michelle Watterson, reppin’ hard for the females. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

Just two weeks after holding their second show at the Playboy Mansion, Strikeforce is putting on another exciting MMA card, this time at the Broomfield Event Center in Broomfield, Colorado; you can watch the action live tonight on HDNet beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Headlining the festivities is a rematch between UFC/KOTC/Strikeforce vets Duane “Bang” Ludwig (16-8) and Sam “The Squeeze” Morgan (19-11). Morgan, who has lost four out of his last five fights, scored a first-round knockout of Ludwig at a Ring of Fire event in 2005. Ludwig hasn’t competed since losing to Takanori Gomi at Sengoku 1 in March.

The co-main event will be a middleweight brawl between broadcaster/t-shirt designer/fighter Frank Trigg (17-6) and Hawaiian grappler Falaniko Vitale (26-8), who has been inactive since winning a four-man X-1 tournament in January. Also notable is the Strikeforce debut of Denver’s own Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Watterson (3-2), a former castmember of Fight Girls who also spent time as a swimsuit model. She’ll be facing Tyra Parker (0-1), who came in a full four pounds over the 112-pound weight limit during yesterday’s weigh-ins, and will have to pay a portion of her fight salary to Watterson. The full lineup for Strikeforce: Payback is as follows:

MAIN CARD (Professional Bouts)
Duane Ludwig (165) vs. Sam Morgan (164.8)
Frank Trigg (183.8) vs. Falaniko Vitale (185.6)
Donnie Liles (170.8) vs. Pete Spratt (170.8)
Luke Caudillo (155) vs. Billy Evangelista (155)
Michelle Waterson (111.4) vs. Tyra Parker (116)
Andre Walker (202.4) vs. Carlos Zevallos (205.4)
Tyler Toner (146) vs. Ricky Johnson (143.6)

UNDERCARD (Amateur Bouts)
Lumumba Sawyers (171.2) vs. Drew Dober (167.8)
Jordan Goodwin (157.6) vs. Alan Gomez (155.6)
Jeremy Malaterre (159.4) vs. Eric Galvin (160)
Brett Tillis (141.8) vs. Turrell Galloway (139.2)
Aaron Trujillo (122.8) vs. Haven Torres (126.4)

Gina Carano, her form-fitting yoga pants, and an extremely drowsy dog hang out with Shape magazine. Remember, girls — it’s okay to be you! Props to Showtime Sports.

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Courtesy of FiveOuncesofPain, here’s the new trailer for M-1 Challenge, which premieres on HDNet this Friday at 8 p.m. ET. Ten MMA teams from eight different countries competed against each other in a series of tournaments held around the world over the last year; the TV series shows how it all went down. Friday’s episode showcases the battle between Team France and Team Russia (Red Devil).

Something truly awful awaits you after the jump…

(In Trigg’s defense, he had just gotten out of the pool.)

Sengoku’s “Fourth Battle” went down today in Saitama, Japan, featuring the long-awaited returns of Takanori Gomi and Frank Trigg, and the first round of their lightweight grand prix. In a non-tourney main event bout, Gomi faced 5-1 Korean DEEP vet Seung Hwan Bang — who should have been steamrolled by the legendary “Fireball Kid” — but Bang hung in for all three rounds. Eventually, Gomi’s accurate striking and control of the fight’s pace convinced the judges to unanimously give him the win. Trigg’s opponent was Makoto Takimoto, a judoka and PRIDE vet who came into the fight with a 4-4 MMA record, and as with Gomi, the fight was a little more difficult than it should have been. Trigg dominated the standup and inflicted major damage from top positions on the ground, but Takimoto nearly caught Twinkle Toes in a kimura in the second round, and spent a lot of the third on top; still, it wasn’t enough to prevent the judges from giving Trigg the decision after the fight went the distance.

The first round of Sengoku’s lightweight tournament held some surprises as three big names were unceremoniously bounced out of the competition. The HIT Squad’s Clay French was tapped in 31 seconds via achilles lock by former Pancrase mainstay Satoru Kitaoka, and jiu-jitsu ace Rodrigo Damm also suffered a first-round submission at the hands of Eiji Mitsuoka. Former IFL lightweight champ Ryan Schultz, who was the biggest favorite to win his first GP match, got his lights put out by a superman-punch from Cage Force champ Mizuto Hirota in the second round of their fight. Full results after the jump; videos to come.

(Grow some bushido, y’pansy.)

“I guess they were trying to get Aoki, but he’s got no bushido. I don’t think Aoki wants to fight me. He’s got no warrior spirit. He’s from Japan, who would have thought?” — Jake Shields issues his own “Don’t be scared, homey” to Shinya Aoki, who allegedly turned down an offer to fight EliteXC’s welterweight champ.

“This is the flaw with American fans. On the one hand, the American fan is incredibly intelligent and gets the game and understands what’s going on, but literally the other hand is, the other 50 percent of them are morons who have no idea what the fuck they’re talking about.” — Frank Trigg on the superiority of Japanese MMA fans.

“To be honest he was really slippery and I don’t mean that like technically-wise, he was really slippery. I don’t know, I don’t want to speculate and say that something was used or whatever but he was just hard to hang on to and that was from all the positions. Even when I had him in like a headlock or a guillotine everything was just really slippery…all I know is I’m good at keeping those positions and I know the difference between sweat and something else and it felt like something else but who knows. (Jokingly) Maybe it’s Albolene left over from the day before from the weight cut!” — Kenny Florian politely accuses Roger Huerta of being a filthy, greasy cheater.

“I would say the only guarantee K.J. has is to pull up a chair and watch the event and get comfortable on that chair because he’ll be sitting for a little bit.” — EliteXC VP Jared Shaw on K.J. Noons’s options if he declines the fight with Nick Diaz.

(“Conviction” returns in October.)

— Thales Leites and Dean Lister will reportedly meet in a middleweight bout at UFC Fight Night 15 (September 17th; Omaha, NE), while lightweights Thiago Tavares and Kurt Pellegrino are slated to fight at UFC 88 (September 6th, Atlanta); both Tavares and Pellegrino are coming off losses in their last fights, to Matt Wiman and Nate Diaz, respectively. The UFC has also confirmed widely rumored UFC 88 matches between Rich Franklin and Matt Hamill, Dan Henderson and Rousimar Palhares, and Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

— Gina Carano will fight next at an EliteXC event on October 4th. According to Sherdog, the event is likely to be televised on CBS, and her opponent may be Kelly Kobald, a Minnesota Martial Arts Academy product who started her career on a 16-0-1 tear before dropping her last two fights to Tara LaRosa and Julie Kedzie.

— This may help explain why Affliction’s attendance was so good: All tickets in all sections were discounted to $39.95 on the day of the show.

— Sengoku’s lightweight grand prix — which will go down August 24th in Saitama, Japan — will include IFL lightweight champion Ryan Schultz, King of the Cage lightweight champion Clay French, Cage Force lightweight champion Mizuto Hirota, and former DEEP lightweight champion Kazunori Yokota. Takanori Gomi and Frank Trigg will also be fighting, in separate non-GP bouts.