(Props: YouTube.com/wec)

Judging from the utter lack of promotion they’ve done for Cerrone vs. Henderson, it seems like the WEC is already treating this show as a tax write-off. And that’s unfortunate, because Sunday’s event has more than its share of potential barn-burners. Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Benson Henderson meet in the main event to determine the league’s interim lightweight champion, while top featherweights Rafael Assuncao and Wagnney Fabiano and undefeated lightweight Dave Jansen will also be in action. The above promo clip introduces us to Yves Jabouin, a 14-4 striker who trains with Georges St. Pierre at Tri Star gym in Montreal; he’ll be facing Assuncao on WEC 43′s main card. According to GSP, Jabouin is incredibly fast, and will bring things that MMA fans have never seen before. After the jump, Ben Henderson takes us around his gym and gets savagely armbarred by a four-year-old.

("I took care of that thing for you, Godfather. Let’s just say the Hawaiian won’t be jumping out of any more pools." Photo courtesy of ESPN.)

After a month-long voting period that drew over 500,000 ballots, AskMen.com released its Top 49 Most Influential Men of 2009 list today, and it turns out that a shocking number of AskMen’s readers want to be Dana White when they grow up. Coming in at #10, the UFC president managed to beat out such heavy hitters as Jay-Z (#11), Jon Stewart (#13), Quentin Tarantino (#15), Conan O’Brien (#16), Brad Pitt (#21), Manny Pacquiao (#24), and Kanye West (#26). He also came in ahead of one of his star employees, welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, who made the list at a very respectable #36, right between Andy Roddick and Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Said Dana of his impressively high placement on the Top 49:

Oddly enough, the list’s #1 spot was taken by a fictional character — Don Draper, the smooth-talking, scotch-drinking, stewardess-banging superhero of AMC’s Mad Men. (Sorry, Jon Hamm, you’ll get ‘em next year.) You can check out the rest of the list right here.

Previously: Gina Carano is the 73rd Hottest Woman in the World

(Images courtesy of Dan Hardy’s Facebook page and Mike Swick’s Twitter feed, via BloodyElbow.)

UFC president Dana White has confirmed to MMA Fanhouse that a welterweight fight between Mike Swick and Dan Hardy is in the works, with the winner potentially getting the next shot at Georges St. Pierre’s belt. Though the bout hasn’t yet been tied to a specific event, UFC 105 (November 14th, Manchester) seems likely, as British fan-favorite Hardy was already rumored to face Dong Hyun Kim on the card, while Swick has expressed a desire to return to action quickly after a concussion suffered in training scrapped his scheduled fight against Martin Kampmann at UFC 103.

Mike Swick (14-2) has been a perfect 4-0 since dropping to the welterweight division, winning decisions over Josh Burkman and Marcus Davis, and impressive stoppage victories over Jonathan Goulet and Ben Saunders. Dan Hardy (22-6, 1 no contest) has also been on a tear since he signed with the UFC last year, earning split-decisions against Akihiro Gono and Marcus Davis, and knocking the daylights out of Rory Markham at UFC 95.

Though Georges St. Pierre is still rehabbing the groin injury he suffered in his decision win against Thiago Alves in July, he expects to be ready for action by early next year.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned during our travels through this crazy world of mixed martial arts, it’s that you are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. There are only a few different types of MMA fans, and they tend to gravitate towards certain fighters. For example, let’s say your favorite fighter is…

ANDERSON SILVA

(That’s you on the left.)
You are without a doubt the hippest dude you know.  You were the first to start wearing skinny jeans and also the first to stop, proving your bona fides as a trendsetter.  You like to think that you appreciate the finer elements of striking technique more than most MMA fans, but really you just parrot things Joe Rogan has said (“ballet of violence”) while listing off all the ways that Silva is like a modern-day Bruce Lee.  You sometimes wear glasses you don’t really need and you pretend to like jazz.  You think of yourself as a good dancer.
Your favorite fight: Silva vs. Rich Franklin I

FEDOR EMELIANENKO

You’ve been watching MMA for years, and it’s important to you that people know that.  You have an extensive collection of ironic t-shirts and Pride DVD’s.  You work in the IT department of a moderately-sized company, where you used to feel bad for the people who pester you for help all day because, honestly, how did anyone even get that clueless?  Now you despise them and don’t go to very much trouble to hide it.  You are probably overweight, but you’re quick to tell people that it doesn’t necessarily mean you are out of shape or aren’t a good athlete.  You don’t date much but there’s this girl in Illinois who you have a thing with over the internet, which you refer to as ‘the web.’  Someone in a bar once asked you if you thought Fedor would stand a chance against Brock Lesnar.  You laughed out loud.  Okay, so they were talking to someone else and you overheard them, and when they noticed you laughing you pretended to be coughing, but still.  The ignorance of some people.
Your favorite fight: Fedor vs. Mirko Filipovic

(Props: flexwheelR via CRE)

Some heart-pumpin’ MMA compilations to chase away the Monday blues. Above is a tribute to GSP that’s so cool it almost makes us forgive the use of French rap music. After the jump, #4-ranked featherweight Jose Aldo‘s greatest hits; Aldo takes on WEC champ Mike Brown in November. Also, a Gegard Mousasi career overview that features a bunch of early fights that you probably haven’t seen before.

(Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida)

The moment of impact is never flattering. Here are 21 examples of the special look a just-punched fighter gets that says "I may have suffered a minor stroke, please help." (Not to be confused with bitter beer face.) Lots more after the jump…

(Victor Valimaki vs. Alessio Sakara)

(Georges St. Pierre vs. Thaigo Alves)

(Demian Maia won’t be going for his second-straight 87kg tournament sweep at this year’s ADCCs. Photo courtesy of GracieMag.)

On Monday, we oohed and aahed over the lineup for the 2009 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championships, which, according to its official website, was slated to feature a horde of MMA stars. (Urijah Faber is now listed in the under 65.9kg category, by the way.) Well, it’s time to debunk some rumors. First off, Demian Maia:

Then, more bubble-bursting from a couple of our twitter-buddies…

(Highlights from the 2007 ADCC tourney. For part 2, click here.)

The ultra-prestigious invitation-only Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Fighting World Championships — which takes place every two years — kicks off September 26th in Barcelona, with a host of familiar names in the brackets. Read on to see who will be battling for the biggest bragging rights in the grappling world during the upcoming 2009 edition. Props to Fightlinker and Japan MMA for the tips…

Female -60kg:
Kyra Gracie, Brazil (2007 women’s -59kg winner)
Sayaka Shioda, Japan (2007 women’s -55kg winner)
Megumi Fujii, Japan
Michelle Tavares, Brazil
Laurence Cousin, France
Ina Steffensen, Denmark
Hillary Williams, USA
Luanna Alzuguir, Brazil

Female 60kg+:
Hannette Staack, USA (2007 women’s Absolute and -67kg winner)
Penny Thomas, USA (2007 women’s 67kg+ winner)
Hitomi Hiraiwa, Japan
Rosângela Conceição, Brazil
Ida Hansson, Sweden
Shanti Abelha, Denmark
Lana Stephanac, USA
Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos, Brazil

(How do you say "Don’t be scared, homey" in Armenian? Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Following recent action in the UFC, Strikeforce, and Sengoku, we’ve updated the lightweight, welterweight, light-heavyweight, heavyweight, and pound-for-pound lists in our Power Rankings section. First, a word about the P4P top ten…

Can we all agree that Anderson Silva, Fedor Emelianenko, and Georges St. Pierre are the three best fighters in the world right now, and any attempt to rank them is completely subjective, and therefore meaningless? Instead of creating a three-way tie at the top (which I briefly considered), we’re going to do it like this until further notice: Whoever has the most recent awe-inspiring, damn-near-inhuman performance gets to be #1.

("All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, the blood of my opponents, and I’m fine." Photo courtesy of Fight!)

BJ Penn isn’t exactly the most prolific fighter in the world; over the last three years, the Prodigy has only made six appearances in the Octagon. But now that he’s entered his 30s, the UFC lightweight king has vowed that his long layoffs are over, and he’s ready to get back in the cage sooner rather than later. As he told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald:

(Props: solidsnakebite via Reggadi)

And all this time, we thought Fedor Emelianenko was a humble dude, without a bad word to say about anybody. Well, this is what happens when you push him too far. In the above clip, Fedor and his M-1 cronies tell us how they really feel about the UFC’s paper champion. But at least they can keep a sense of humor about it. If only Hitler shared the same attitude…

(GSP’s fists later tested positive for Asskickazolol and 4-Hydroxyawesome. Photo courtesy of LA Times.)

His greasing crusade never amounted to much, but UFC lightweight champ BJ Penn won’t rest until arch-rival Georges St. Pierre is busted for something. In a new interview with Yahoo! Sports, the Prodigy launched yet another explosive accusation:

("I’m Something St. Something, bitches." Photos courtesy of this set on Combat Lifestyle.)

Just a little visual counterpoint to yesterday’s post about Georges St. Pierre’s post-UFC 100 drinking binge. Pics of Shonie Carter‘s gold speedo await you after the jump.

(For Pete’s sake, the guy’s a world champion. Either get him a proper drink or at least put some tequila and an umbrella in that bad boy.)

Georges St. Pierre has updated his Yardbarker blog with tons of fun info about his UFC 100 experience, including a description of what it felt like to tear his groin all up trying to submit Thiago Alves, and how, despite the pain, he insisted that John Danaher demonstrate what he did wrong in the fight as soon as they got backstage (still think Vaseline is the secret to this guy’s success?).  But the best part is when he tells us how he celebrated the victory:

The next day I went at a pool party at Rehab with all my friends who came to support me. We had a booth (cabana) and it was great spot in the place. I drank so much that I forgot my whole name. It was very cool because at one time, Thiago Alves showed up with his entourage and came in my booth (cabana) and drinking with me and congratulate me for the fight. I thought he was a class act and that prove that he was a real professional athlete and a real good person and a gentleman. I really appreciated it, he’s a great fighter and also a great gentleman, and we had a good time drinking together.

Photos courtesy of The Las Vegas Sun, UFC.com, Sherdog, and MMA Weekly. Click all for larger images; lots more after the jump.

("And I’ll be taking your lunch money every morning, got it geek?")

The UFC paid out $2,190,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses for Saturday’s UFC 100 show, with the victorious Brock Lesnar, Georges St. Pierre, and Dan Henderson taking home just over half of the total. Lesnar and St. Pierre also earn a percentage of the pay-per-view revenue, which isn’t reflected in the list below; according to MMA Junkie, Lesnar will make about $3 million from the fight even before the majority of his sponsorship money is tallied. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. The salary figures are below:

– Brock Lesnar: $400,000 (no win bonus)

– Georges St. Pierre: $400,000 (includes $200,000 win bonus)

– Dan Henderson: $350,000 (includes $150,000 win bonus, $100,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)

– Yoshihiro Akiyama: $160,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus, $100,000 Fight of the Night Bonus)

– Michael Bisping: $150,000

– Alan Belcher: $119,000 (includes $100,000 Fight of the Night Bonus)

– Tom Lawlor: $116,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus, $100,000 Submission of the Night bonus)

– Mark Coleman: $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus)

(Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

In the wake of UFC 100 — and UFC 99, the TUF 9 finale, the Bellator finals, and the last Strikeforce show — we’ve updated the heavyweight, light-heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, and pound-for-pound lists in our Power Rankings section. Some notable changes:

— Due to recent accomplishments, Georges St. Pierre supplants Fedor Emelianenko as the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Over the last two years, GSP has taken out Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, Matt Serra, Jon Fitch, BJ Penn, and Thiago Alves. In the same time frame, Fedor has beaten Matt Lindland (middleweight), Hong Man Choi (freak), Tim Sylvia (fat slob), and Andrei Arlovski (glass chin).

— Urijah Faber and Thiago Alves fall out of the P4P top ten, while Jake Shields and Dan Henderson come in. I’d still give the #11 spot to Faber, with Gegard Mousasi directly behind him.

— Diego Sanchez, Rich Franklin, Hector Lombard, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Nick Diaz enter the rankings, either for the first time or in new weight-classes. You’re welcome, guys.

Give ‘em a look and let us know what you think.
(BG)

(Lesnar-Mir provides a chilling preview of Lesnar-Sable later on that same night. Photo courtesy of USA Today.)

It’s time to see who’s up and who’s down after an epic weekend, and the Potato Index’s arbitrary numerical rankings system is here to help.  It’s like the stock market, only dumber.

Brock Lesnar (the fighter) +117
Sure, it was all brute force and not a lot of flashy technique.  And yes, he resembled a schoolyard bully more than a martial artist.  But the fact is Lesnar got the job done, and in convincing fashion.  Now the question is, could he beat someone his own size?

Brock Lesnar (the person) -56
We honestly didn’t think it was possible for Lesnar to hurt his own image so much even in victory.  But disrespecting everyone you can think of, from your opponent to a UFC sponsor, and then ending by suggesting that you might “get on top of” your wife (that really sounds like a satisfying sexual experience for her, BTW) is a good way to go about it.  Press conference apology was a good idea, but way too half-assed to make a dent.

(Uncontrollable giggling is probably not the reaction Brock had in mind when he got that tattoo. Photo courtesy of MMA Junkie.)

Maybe you’ve been a fan since Gerard Gordeau kicked Teila Tuli’s teeth into the second row. Maybe you’ve been a fan since Griffin and Bonnar threw down at the first TUF finale. Maybe you’re here because "UFC 100" has been a Trending Topic on Twitter all day. Whoever you are, we welcome you.

The menu for tonight: Brock Lesnar seeks Ultimate Validation against the man who humiliated him in his UFC debut. Georges St. Pierre meets the strongest, hungriest, scariest challenger of his title reign. Dan Henderson defends his country’s reputation against the British Invasion. A semi-famous blonde will hold a ring card and blow kisses to the camera. Smart-ass fans may or may not chant "Fedor!" after the final match. Minds will be blown, hearts will be broken, pants will be shat. Are you ready? Are you ready?

Round-by-round updates from the pay-per-view broadcast are after the jump. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest. Start stretching, Bruce…

(Props: "ultimate tapout")

(Props: This set on Combat Lifestyle)

Not to alarm any of you Georges St. Pierre fans, but Rush has been looking rather lumpy lately. Though he’s made no mention of it in the run up to his UFC 100 fight against Thiago Alves, GSP has been walking around with a cartoonishly swollen elbow — possibly due to bursitis, an inflammation caused by repetitive movement and trauma that may have previously played a role in Marcus Davis’s loss to Mike Swick. Will the injury slow down the welterweight champ, or will GSP use that nasty thing as a club to bash Alves’s teeth down his throat?

(No, B.J.  That does not count as working on your clinch game.)

There are any number of concerns one might have about B.J. Penn’s readiness when he shows up to fight.  That he might be suffering from ‘overtraining’ is typically not one of them.  And yet, without a hint of irony, that’s what Penn says he is effectively guarding against for his UFC lightweight title fight with Kenny Florian at UFC 101.  As he tells AroundHawaii.com (via MMA Mania):

“The training’s going great for UFC 101. I’m making sure not to overtrain. And, you know we started a couple months ago, and I’m training with Marv Marinovich, and we’ll be spending our last 8 weeks in California with a bunch of good training partners, with Marv Marinovich there, Jason Parillo will be there, Rudy Valentino’s gonna fly up, so I feel VERY good about this training camp.”

Well, that’s a load off our minds.  In a related story, Thiago Alves assured reporters that he wouldn’t come in underweight for his fight with Georges St. Pierre at UFC 100, while Mark Coleman vowed not to be too young and vivacious for his bout with Stephan Bonnar.

(Props: genghiscon.wordpress.com)

Genghis Con injects some soul into the upcoming welterweight title fight at UFC 100 with this highlight of Georges St. Pierre and Thiago Alves‘s recent history. It’s a good reminder of how utterly dominant both men have been in the Octagon over the last two years. On Saturday night, the unstoppable force will meet the other unstoppable force. Time to do the man dance.

Speaking of GSP vs. Alves, Spike’s "Countdown to UFC 100" special debuts tomorrow night at 10 p.m. Check out the preview after the jump…

(Props: BerlinFC via Fightlinker)

It’s like someone set our Eras of MMA and Greatest UFC Events of All Time features to music; the above compilation summarizes the UFC’s entire history from November ’93 until now, in just four-and-a-half minutes. If this doesn’t get you amped up for UFC 100 — T-minus five days, by the way — either you’re not a UFC fan, or you have something personal against David Bowie.

(Props: MMA Mania)

"It’s finding what’s called a ‘safety zone’, and that’s a place that when he’s in trouble he goes to. It could be a clinch, it could be a takedown, it could be kickboxing, wherever he feels comfortable and safe. And then you have three ways of getting around it, you can either avoid it, nullify it, or smash it…hopefully we’ll be able to exploit [Thiago Alves's safety zone] and move around it."

In this FOX Fight Game interview, Georges St. Pierre‘s trainer Greg Jackson discusses one of the most important elements of his famous game-plans — attacking an opponent not where he’s strongest or weakest, but what he falls back on when things get rough. He wouldn’t name what he thinks Alves’s safety zone is, though he does admit that Alves’s left knee and left hook are weapons to be feared. Also in the interview, Jackson describes game-planning as a structure that "the artist" has to be able to work within, and talks about the crucial balance between cooperation and competition that exists at his gym. GSP and Pitbull are scheduled to get it on in 11 days at UFC 100.

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC via MMA Mania)

Man, don’t you hate it when you’re partying at Rehab, just minding your own business, and you see your next opponent by the pool and you need a bunch of hot bikini models to hold you back? Such is the concept behind one of the photoshoots in the UFC’s new magazine (on newsstands now), and we have a feeling that Georges St. Pierre and Thiago Alves won’t be complaining about this particular promotional assignment. To be honest, GSP doesn’t seem too worked up during his staged run-in with Alves — he remains seated in his deck chair, and only requires one model to kind of half-heartedly restrain him — but the brief nipple tweak at 0:48-0:50 tells the real story: It’s time for war, mon ami.

Speaking of the UFC’s welterweight champ and #1 contender, these guys are seriously huge right now. During a UFC media conference call yesterday, Alves said he’s walking around at 191-192 pounds, and could be as much as 195 pounds when he steps into the Octagon on July 11th. GSP currently weighs about 188-190 pounds, and expects to weigh the same on fight day. Said St. Pierre: "I truly believe that in our sport, skill and technique always beat strength and size, so the guy who will win the fight is the better fighter, not the bigger guy."

After the jump: Michael "GQ Smoov" Bisping and Dan "They Made Me Put On This Sweater" Henderson have a tense staredown of their own.

(Props: MMA Mania)

What: UFC 100
When/Where: July 11th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Why: Because it’s one of the most stacked UFC cards ever. In the above trailer, Joe Rogan calls the event "fucking insane," then implies that Steve Mazzagatti screwed up Brock Lesnar‘s first fight against Frank Mir. For Brock, this fight is all about revenge. Mir thinks that if Big Nog couldn’t last two rounds with him, Brock’s chances aren’t very good.

In the night’s other title fight, Georges St. Pierre battles for his legacy against the biggest, strongest, toughest test of his career — Thiago Alves, who wants to knock out GSP, take his belt, and become "the man." Also, Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping move out of the reality show set and into the Octagon. Hendo wants to beat Bisping up and shut his mouth a little bit; Bisping wants to be responsible for the first KO loss on Dan’s record. Only on pay-per-viewwww…

(The July issue, with a cover story written by one of Cage Potato’s own.)

The first thing I learned about Thiago Alves when Fight! Magazine sent me down to south Florida to write this month’s cover story on the UFC’s top welterweight contender, is that is he doesn’t exactly have the same concept of time that most people do.   At first I was willing to chalk it up to “Brazilian time.”  Then I talked to some of his friends and training partners, who were also Brazilians, and even they thought Thiago had a problem.  To them it was a running joke.  Brazilian time gave way to “Thiago’s time.”  For me, the guy trying to learn as much as possible about him in only a few days, it was a little more stressful.

If you missed it, check out parts 1 and 2 of this series.

The Fedor Emelianenko Era: 3/03-present

Fedor’s dominance over MMA’s heavyweight division is such that, had he been born a few hundred years ago, they might have burned him for being a witch.  At least they might have tried, though he would certainly have armbarred the entire mob and then calmly collected their pitchforks.  Fedor is the rare fighter with devastating one-punch knockout power on the feet and deft submission skills off his back.  In other words, you are never really winning against Fedor; you’re just temporarily not losing. 

Fedor’s run through Pride’s heavyweight class was like Sherman’s March to the Sea, only much more efficient.  He beat everyone there was to beat and he did it convincingly.  His list of victims includes former UFC champs like Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski, as well as Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mark Coleman, and even Hong Man Choi.  In fact, the only barrier to Fedor’s continued reign of terror is his own refusal to sign with the UFC, where more heavyweights are waiting to be conquered.  Will he ever cave in and do to the UFC’s big men what he did to Pride’s?  It’s doubtful, though until he loses you really can’t begrudge him the title of the world’s best heavyweight.

With UFC 2009 Undisputed an unqualified success both here and abroad, we won’t be seeing five year gaps between UFC video games anymore. Dana White announced at last night’s 2009 Video Game Awards on Spike that next year would see the release of UFC 2010 Undisputed — which gives THQ one year to add heel-hooks and gogoplatas to the game and figure out how to animate Clay Guida’s hair. Of course, there should be a new crop of fighters in the 2010 edition as well. For those of you who have been furiously playing UFC 2009 Undisputed since its release, what other improvements would you like to see?

If you’re curious, the video after the jump shows you how to construct Fedor Emelianenko in the game’s "Create a Fighter" mode — though maybe he’ll be an official playable character one of these years…

In B.J. Penn’s latest video blog he answers some fan mail and discusses his ongoing case against Georges St. Pierre that the Nevada State Athletic Commission has basically decided to hear, but do absolutely nothing in response to.  Penn seems to be blaming the NSAC’s Keith Kizer, saying he “can’t be trusted” and insisting that he has “no interest in fighting in Nevada or Las Vegas ever again.”

Just to clarify, that’s the UFC’s home base that he’s talking about – the city where the majority of their events are held.  And here the UFC lightweight champ says he doesn’t want to fight there ever again because the commission is made up of a bunch of shady ne’er-do-wells.  This could be a problem.