(Sit back there and say Clay Guida’s hair ain’t luxurious, when you know it is, bitch. / Photo courtesy of MMAFighting)

The Nevada State Athletic Commission has released the payout list for UFC 125, with the total fighter payroll topping out at $1,112,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses. MMA Junkie reports that despite the main event ending in a draw, both Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard were given their win bonus money — which insured that they were two of the night’s top earners, since they also picked up the event’s Fight of the Night bonuses.

Other six-figure earners included Clay Guida ($122,000) and Thiago Silva ($110,000). The complete UFC 125 salary list is below, and continues after the jump. Keep in mind that the figures do not include additional income from sponsorships or undisclosed "locker room bonuses," or deductions for taxes, insurance, and licensing fees.

Frankie Edgar: $162,000 (includes $51,000 win bonus, $60,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
vs. Gray Maynard: $112,000 (includes $26,000 win bonus, $60,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Brian Stann: $42,000 (includes $21,000 win bonus)
def. Chris Leben: $46,000

Thiago Silva: $110,000 (includes $55,000 win bonus)
def. Brandon Vera: $60,000

("Whaddya mean we got four more rounds? I thought this fight was supposed to be a boring wrestlefest.")

Well, UFC 125 is in the books and to say fans got a few surprises from the card that many had written off as being an inevitable snoozefest would be an understatement.

The main event lightweight championship bout between champ Frankie Edgar and apt challenger Gray Maynard, which ended in a hotly debated split draw, delivered the goods earning well-deserved Fight of the Night honors.

According to UFC president Dana White, because the fight, which he admitted could have been stopped in the opening frame, was so close and because so many fans want to see the rubber match, he reversed the announcement made by UFC vice president Craig Borsari at the post-fight press conference that Anthony Pettis is next in line for a shot at Edgar’s crown and says he will instead be slotting in Edgar-Maynard III for some time in early 2011.

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAFighting)

(Above: "You’re lucky our dads are here, dweeb. I’ll just take that fancy little belt of yours next time." Below: Something old, something new… / Photos courtesy of the UFC 125 Weigh In Pics gallery on CombatLifestyle.com)

Good lord, is it really 2011 already? I’m still writing "PRIDE NEVA DIE" on all my checks! Another unpredictable year of MMA begins tonight in Las Vegas, as lightweight underdog-champion Frankie Edgar attempts to make title defense #2 against old rival Gray Maynard. Plus: Chris Leben and Nate Diaz try to keep their streaks going, Brandon Vera fights for his job, and a lightweight smash-up between Clay Guida and Takanori Gomi. Click through for round-by-round UFC 125 updates — beginning at 9 p.m. ET with the live prelims broadcast on ION — and remember to refresh the page every few minutes for the latest results. Let’s all try to be the best keyboard warriors we can be this year, okay guys?

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

UFC 125 goes down tonight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and CagePotato will be posting live results beginning with the ION prelims at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. I’m sure most of you are still nursing crippling hangovers, so let’s ease into the New Year gently: Above, some of tonight’s fighters share their resolutions for 2011, and Dong Hyun Kim re-invents himself as a trash-talker. (Ed. note: KEEP THE 209 OUT OF YOUR MOUTH, SON.) After the jump, the very same dudes warm up and discuss their matchups at Thursday’s open workout.

Just a friendly reminder that you can blow off a couple hours of work or time with your family on this New Year’s Eve day by watching the UFC 125 fan Q&A with UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez at 3:00 pm ET followed by the weigh-ins at 5:00.

Cross your fingers that someone asks Cain what he thinks about Junior Dos Santos questioning the legitimacy of his torn rotator cuff injury. We might actually get to see "Sugar" Cain (as he’s known by at AKA) show some emotion for once if they do.

Hopefully you all have more planned for tonight than sitting in your underwear and CP shirt watching K-1 Dynamite!! videos from last night, eating cold pizza and drinking beer. *Apparently* that’s not a cool way to ring in New Year’s. Women…

Anyway, as always, the UFC media player is after the jump.

Happy New Year’s, Potato Nation.

("Sorry about the fit, Frankie. We had it ready to go for BJ to wear home.")

You would think that at the very least, besides winning the UFC 155-pound strap, beating continual top five lightweight BJ Penn twice would raise Frankie Edgar’s stock in the eyes of oddsmakers.

Apparently they just can’t seem to get past the UFN 13 loss the UFC lightweight champ suffered against Gray Maynard and it seems that the only thing that will erase the blemish from his record would be for the Toms River, New Jersey native to beat the only man to ever beat him.

He’ll get his chance Saturday night at UFC 125 in Las Vegas as he attempts to retain his belt in his second title defense, but the 5’6" perennial underdog says he isn’t put off by the fact that he’s rarely the favorite and that Maynard is the odds-on fighter to walk away with the belt this weekend.

“[Being the underdog has] been working good for me, so why change it?" Edgar recently asked the hosts of MMAWeekly Radio. "I’m assuming sooner or later I’ll not be the underdog, but I’ll take it. It makes sense [that Gray is the favorite]. Heads-up he beat me, so he should be the favorite.”

("What’s so hard to remember about ‘Hold the anchovies?’" PicProps: Connect.in)

Man, why are we totally not surprised that Frankie Edgar’s boxing coach owns a pizzeria? When you’re talking about a bunch of guys from New Jersey it might sound culturally insensitive to make that assumption but at least according to MMA Weekly, it’s also true. The man responsible for Edgar reaching zenith of his stand-up game in recent fights is one Mark Henry – no, not that Mark Henry – a former member of the US Boxing team who has also owned and operated a place called Pino’s Pizza in the Jerz for nearly two decades. Frankly, it sounds like a bad place to try to rob unless you’re bringing a gang of homies and a whole lot of firepower.

Henry has been working with Edgar for some time, but says they only really got serious about pugilism after he watched Edgar suffer his lone career loss to Gray Maynard in April, 2008. Coincidentally, this interview comes to us just as Edgar is preparing to defend his 155-pound title in a rematch against Maynard at UFC 125 on Jan. 1. See, that’s just good storytelling from the Gray Lady of MMA Journalism. But we digress …

(Propers: YouTube/UFC)

Would it surprise you much if we told you Gray Maynard’s UFC 125 video blog wasn’t – how do we put this – the most exciting thing in the world? Nope, the No. 1 contender for the UFC lightweight title just kind of grinds this one out. Give Maynard some credit for tooling around Vegas in a black-on-black Caddy with dark tinted windows and retiring to what appears to be his very sweet condo to play with his dogs, but that’s about as exhilarating as this one gets. At one point, dude makes a sandwich. Open-face. Peanut butter and banana on a rice cake. In a four-minute video, it takes about a minute. And that’s sort of a metaphor for the whole thing.

Anyway, we know it’s still officially the holiday weekend and you’re still trying to ease back into this thing, so after the jump you’ll find a smattering of weekend videos to keep you entertained. Think of it as like our Xmas gift to you. Our Xmas gift for you that we stole from other places without so much as a tremor of good conscience. Hey, we never said we were nice guys.

The first UFC title fight of 2011 is just eleven days away, which means it’s time to drag out some stats and see who holds the advantages in the Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard rematch — on paper, at least. As we all know, anything can happen in the cage. Seriously. This one could end in a unanimous decision, it could end in a split decision, a majority decision…you just never know.

BIGGEST CAREER WIN
Edgar: Defended his lightweight title in a 50-45 x 3 shutout against BJ Penn at UFC 118.
Maynard: Routed Kenny Florian the same night to win the #1 lightweight contender spot.
Advantage: Edgar

MOST PAINFUL LOSS
Edgar: His UFC Fight Night 13 decision loss against, you guessed it, Gray Maynard. It’s still the only loss on Edgar’s record.
Maynard: He’s never lost in professional competition, though he was submitted by Nate Diaz on TUF 5 (a loss he avenged later at UFC Fight Night 20) and accidentally knocked himself out in a no-contest against Rob Emerson.
Advantage: Maynard

UFC FINISHING RATIO
Edgar: 22% (2 stoppage wins in 9 fights)
Maynard: 11% (1 stoppage win in 9 fights)
Advantage: Edgar

("I’ve been doing this too long to take things for granted. I’ve seen it happen too often where a guy loses and then comes back and wins." Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

By CagePotato.com contributor Elias Cepeda

There’s a fun game you can play with undefeated UFC lightweight Gray Maynard: Ask him to name, let alone talk about, someone he’s beaten. He can’t do it.

It should be easy for the #1 title contender — he’s had just eleven fights in his four-and-a-half year MMA career, and hasn’t lost a single one. He has many more wins to choose from if you include his entire amateur wrestling career that dates back to his childhood.

Still, as he sits during some downtime between training on the Saturday exactly two weeks before he will face UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar at UFC 125 in Las Vegas, Maynard’s brain freezes when asked about his wins. Gray isn’t difficult to speak with, and his mind is sound. It just works a bit differently than most of ours.

Ask Maynard who he’s lost to and he can rattle ten names off in a row. “People say, ‘oh, you’ve never lost.’ Sure I have. I’ve been in combat sports since I was a kid and have lost lots of times from when I was three all the way through college.”

Gray seems to remember every time he’s come up short on the mats — recalling even grade-school losses with gritted teeth. “They still irk me today,” he says.

(Props: WorldMMAawards)

Remember when we told you that the Fighters Only World MMA Awards were last Wednesday on Versus? Well, what we meant was that the live online broadcast was happening on Versus.com, and the actual Versus television broadcast is this Thursday at 10 p.m. ET. (I know, we’ve done a great job of promoting it so far.) Even if you have no intention of tuning in, you may want to check out these sort-of-funny promo skits starring MMA fighters, which has become an annual tradition for the show. In the above clip, Randy Couture visits the Pawn Stars gang to get rid of some used property. Yeah, it’s kind of awkward when he sells Natasha Wicks into white slavery at the end, but come on, "eight year abs" is a good one. Ah, what do you know from funny, ya bastards.

After the jump: Find out what happens when a guy known for a hilariously thick New York accent tries to play a Texan. Plus: Amber Nichole Miller‘s heaving chest saves a "Shake Weight" parody from total failure, and Wanderlei Silva gets in touch with his warm-hearted bow-tied side.

By CagePotato contributor Dan “siksik6” Teague

#8: Gray Maynard

When fans and fighters complain about wrestlers in MMA, they’re talking about Gray Maynard. He takes fighters down because that’s what he’s good at. In Maynard’s nine-fight UFC career, he has just one stoppage, a KO of Joe Veres over three years ago. He’s earned his title shot not because of his performances, but rather because what the hell else do you do with a guy who’s undefeated and has won eight straight fights, including one over the current champ? Cole Miller said it best: Taking people down should be a means to an end. Gray needs to start having some refs pull him off of people if he’s ever going to have any drawing power.

#7: Ben Askren

Ben Askren is just starting to make his way into mainstream MMA discussions. However, it’s not exactly a heralded arrival. The kid makes picking strawberries look like it belongs in the X Games. His last “stoppage” was a controversial sub over Ryan Thomas, who promptly and correctly displayed his best WTFIYP face. Before that it was a north-south choke over some guy you’ve never heard of in some organization you’ve never heard of back in August of ’09. For his last fight, in which he won the Bellator welterweight strap, he came about as close to finishing Lyman Good as I did. I was on the couch eating Mayfield Butter Pecan ice cream. It was delicious. As a title holder for an up-and-coming organization, Askren needs to show more of a killer instinct if he ever wants his fights to be broadcast by anyone other than Fox Sports South.

(Man, that is some crazy, high-level, top-of-the-food-chain…uh, what exactly am I looking at here? Photo courtesy of MMAWeekly.)

As first reported by MMAFighting, UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar will attempt to make his second belt defense against Gray Maynard at UFC 125, which is slated to go down New Year’s Day 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Both fighters are coming off big decision wins at UFC 118, with Edgar shutting down BJ Penn in a rematch of their first title bout, and Maynard outpointing Kenny Florian. Edgar and Maynard previously met at UFC Fight Night 13 in April 2008, with Maynard scoring a unanimous decision victory and handing Edgar his only career loss to date. Both fighters are tied on the UFC decision-fight leaderboard.

As Chael Sonnen so eloquently put it, "From a business standpoint, acting as though Maynard versus Edgar is going to sell out an arena is about as optimistic as holding onto Jim Morrison’s mail." Which is why the potential loss of Silva vs. Belfort on the card is such a bummer. Plus, Chris Leben is penciled in to fight Brian Stann at the event, not Wanderlei Silva, as we (and Silva himself) had hoped. UFC 125 could really use a solid co-headliner, especially considering it’s a New Year’s card. Any bright ideas?

(Here’s a quarter pal, call Michael Schiavello. PicProps: All Elbows)

MMA’s pathetic collective bitch session about the current trend of wrestlers kicking everybody’s asses reached its shrill and whiny fever pitch this week. With the UFC considering pulling Jon Fitch’s title shot off the table, Dan Hardy’s hilariously bad anti-wrestling column appearing in the Nottingham World Observer (or whatever it’s called) and people publicly worrying themselves sick about the marketability of Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard, the wrestling store must be all sold out of Haterade.

Add to the list of the aggrieved the already insufferable Shinya Aoki, who tells MMA Fighting.com that – in the wake of his own soul-crushing defeat by Gilbert Melendez and idol BJ Penn’s second straight loss to Edgar – he’s not too down with all this wrestling stuff.

(Who’s the tough guy? PicProps: Fight! Magazine)

File this under Least Surprising News of the Week: In the wake of getting thoroughly outwrestled by Gray Maynard at UFC 118 last month, Kenny Florian is vowing to make some wholesale changes in his training. Florian says he’s hired a wrestling coach from Boston University to help him with his grappling, so that he won’t get held down en route to a unanimous decision loss again anytime soon.

And frankly, this is a good example of yet another reason why KenFlo is one of the more likable fighters in all of MMA. Rather than taking the Dan Hardy approach — where you respond to your team’s multiple wrestling-based losses by publishing a screed in the local newspaper where you insist that (and, yes, this is an exact quote): “The problem is there’s beginning to be too much wrestling in the UFC Octagon, not too little of it in the (Team Roughouse) gym,” – Florian is opting to actually do something about it, trying to get better and keeping his dream of one day holding a UFC title alive.

(Video courtesy MMALive)

Chael Sonnen replaced Franklin McNeil as John Anik’s other wingman alongside Kenny Florian on the latest episode of MMA Live and the trio proved itself a major improvement over the traditional line-up. Not only did he come off as a seasoned vet on camera, Chael also added to his vast depth of knowledge with a plethora of Sonnenisms like the one he used when describing the pending  match-up between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard.

"Well, listen, the fight has to happen. It’s already happened once and Maynard got the edge on him. I think Frankie’s better now. I like it from a competitive standpoint. It needs to take place," Sonnen said. "It’s the right fight. From a business standpoint, acting as though Maynard versus Edgar is going to sell out an arena is about as optimistic as holding onto Jim Morrison’s mail."

During the segment, which originally aired on Thursday, the durable UFC middleweight confirmed that if Anderson Silva’s injured ribs heal in time, they will square off at UFC 125 which is being planned for Saturday, January 1 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

(Mr. Excitement. PicProps: Peace Magazine, Canada’s "Street Style" Magazine. No, seriously.)

There seems to be quite a bit of electronic hand-wringing going on this week about the prospect of Frankie Edgar’s first post-BJ Penn title defense coming against Gray Maynard. Reactions range from sheer disbelief that Edgar handled Penn in two straight fights, to pundits wondering aloud if Edgar and Maynard are really the best 155-pounders in the world to a palpable feeling of dread about watching these two match their respective styles for five rounds. While both guys are too classy to say what really needs to be said to these detractors — we’d probably go with something along the lines of "Tough shit, assholes," but that’s just us — you can’t expect them to change their fighting styles just to please the fans, either.

For his part, Edgar said at the UFC 118 post-fight press conference that he plans to just keep winning fights until the haters stop hating. Now Maynard is also on-record saying he will just keep on keeping on, at least until someone can stop the takedowns.

Unless your name is Phillip Miller, you can’t expect to go through a career in cage-fighting without losing at least once. So in honor of Fedor Emelianenko’s first legitimate defeat, we decided to take a look at the best MMA fighters who still have flawless records. Whose “0” will be the next to go? And whose win streak is just getting started? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section…

#1: SHANE CARWIN (12-0, all wins by first-round stoppage)

Notable victories: Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 96 (TKO R1), Frank Mir at UFC 111 (TKO R1, won UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship)

Next fight: Brock Lesnar at UFC 116, 7/3/10

He may very well take his first loss this Saturday, but right now, Shane Carwin is the most dangerous undefeated fighter in MMA — as evidenced by the fact that no opponent has made it to the second round against him, and only two have lasted past the second minute. As he immediately showed in his UFC debut against Christian Wellisch at UFC 84, Carwin has a near-supernatural ability to generate power with his 4XL fists. Though he’s backed by impressive wrestling credentials, he’s only needed those hands to achieve victory in the UFC, knocking out top contenders Gabriel Gonzaga and Frank Mir in his last two fights. Brock, get ready to have your chin tested.

#2: MEGUMI FUJII (20-0, 16 wins by submission)

Notable victories: Lisa Ward at Bodog Fight: Vancouver (SUB R1), Mika Nagano at Smackgirl: Starting Over (SUB R1)

Next fight: Bellator women’s 115-pound tournament quarterfinals, opponent TBA

One of the most effective submission artists in the history of MMA, “Mega Megu” owns the longest active win streak in the sport, but suffers from the same problem that Cris Cyborg is facing in the States — a scarcity of legitimate challengers. Now that she’s signed on for Bellator’s 115-pound tourney later this year, she can prove her reputation as a living legend who can do more than armbar pint-sized scrubettes in Japan.

("All summer, they begged us to take them to Ferrari World. And now that we’re here? Forget it, they just want to stay in the hotel room all day. I’m telling you, Helen, don’t have boys. They will drain years off your life.")

Fighters Only breaks it:

Former UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn will get his rematch with Frankie Edgar on August 28th, Fighters Only can reveal after speaking with several key sources. The fight will headline UFC 118, the UFC’s first card in Boston, Massachusetts.

When this rumor first emerged, we weren’t sure if Penn should get an immediate rematch with Edgar simply by virtue of being BJ Penn. But the more we think about it, the more it makes sense. Penn may still be the #1-ranked lightweight in world at this point — judging from the poll on our homepage, 65% of you agree with that assessment — and making him whoop another contender to "earn" his shot is kind of a waste of everybody’s time. Besides, Penn vs. Edgar II is the only logical fight from a promotional standpoint. When you’re headlining a card with a title fight, at least one of the participants should be a star. Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard II doesn’t really fit that criteria.

As for Maynard, the Boston Globe published a report that he’ll be facing Kenny Florian at the same event, but they quickly retracted it, possibly after getting smacked down by the UFC. It would be a great matchup, though we’d hate to see Maynard lose his top-contender spot to a guy who’s already had two shots at the belt. Still, it’s Boston, and Ken-Flo is going to have to beat up somebody in his hometown…

(Take it easy, Gray. The bag didn’t know she was your girlfriend.)

by Cage Potato contributor Elias Cepeda

Despite being undefeated, Gray Maynard (10-0) was overlooked earlier this year for a title shot in favor of a man who he had recently beat handily, Frankie Edgar. Now that Edgar has made good and won the UFC lightweight title from BJ Penn, Maynard discusses still wanting a title shot and the possibility that he may get passed over again.

Gray, there was a great case for you deserving the next title shot against BJ Penn, being undefeated and having dominated Frankie Edgar when you fought him in April of 2008. Yet, Edgar got the shot and ended up beating Penn to win the title. How closely were you watching the fight Saturday?

I was kind of checking it out of course. It didn’t really hit me until the calls were coming in and I got a ton of texts that I did really have a chance to go for the belt. Then, of course I got pumped up.

(Props: BJPenn.com)

While on a media tour promoting his new book Why I Fight, former (!) UFC lightweight champ BJ Penn took 18 seconds out of his day to announce that an immediate rematch with Frankie Edgar is in the works. Nothing is set in stone yet, but the UFC wants the fight, and BJ wants the fight, and all of BJ’s fans want the fight, so there you go.

Of course, this opens up a debate about whether BJ Penn deserves a chance to reclaim his belt right away. Immediate title rematches are a tricky thing. When Machida vs. Rua II was set up directly after their first meeting, it made sense because there was a general uproar about the decision unfairly going to Lyoto, who seemingly only won because leg kicks don’t count. But what can you really say about Penn vs. Edgar at UFC 112, other than it was a close fight that was difficult to score (particularly for the judges)? Edgar was never put in serious danger, and he would actually be the clear winner under the Unified Rules of Stockton, in which the loser is the guy who looks more fucked up afterwards, and the winner is the guy who was kicking more ass at the end.

BJ Penn is a more popular star than Frankie Edgar, so the UFC is using the "close fight" angle to try and get one of their golden boys back on his throne, rather than sending in Gray Maynard as Edgar’s first belt defense. (Admittedly, Edgar vs. Maynard sounds like pay-per-view poison.) Do you accept this as just part of the fight business, or should BJ have to knock off another contender first to prove that he’s still the same old killer, and his passionless performance last Saturday really was due to illness?

(Supernanny choke: no can defend)

(Nate Diaz never gets tired of doing his impression of that scene in "Conan the Barbarian" where Thulsa Doom turns into a snake.)

Though Nate Diaz would have us believe that he hardly even got touched in three dominant rounds against Gray Maynard at UFC Fight Night 20, Maynard’s website features a few photos that tell a different story.  He has several nice shots of him laying hands upon Diaz, though strangely enough, not a single one of him getting hit.  There’s some of him dodging blows, or slipping and countering, but none of him actually taking a shot.  If only there were a more impartial photo source that could set the record straight…

(Via Nate Diaz’s Twitter)

Say you lost a decision in a close fight that you feel you deserved to win.  You really have only two possible ways to respond: 1) Shrug, say you did your best, and remind everyone that this is why you don’t leave it in the hands of the judges, or 2) make a video of yourself in the parking lot of a 24-Hour Fitness showing off the remarkable lack of facial damage that you sustained in the fight, proving unequivocally that you got straight-up screwed, homey.

If you know anything at all about Nate Diaz, you know which option he decided to go with.  Nate posted this video to his Twitter today, following an earlier message stating that he’s watched the fight three times since Monday and has come to the conclusion that he won — get this — all three rounds.  Added Diaz: "fuck the haters…"

(Frankie Edgar is looking into your soul, and he is not impressed.)

We can’t say we didn’t see this coming.  After Gray Maynard‘s lackluster win over Nate Diaz on last night’s UFC Fight Night 20, Dana White tells MMAFighting.com that Frankie Edgar will get the next shot at lightweight champ B.J. Penn, tentatively scheduled for UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi this April.  Edgar last fought at the TUF 10 Finale on December 10, where he submitted Matt Veach with a rear naked choke in the second round.  Funny, we don’t recall a chorus of voices rising up in the wake of that victory to declare Edgar the consensus number one contender, but maybe that’s just because we didn’t watch the fight in New Jersey.

But seriously, you don’t have to be a genius to figure out that Edgar earned this shot primarily by process of elimination.  After Penn smoked Diego Sanchez, it came down to Edgar or Maynard.  Fortunately for Edgar, "The Bully" managed to win in the least impressive fashion possible, so he gets the shot by default, even though Maynard ran through him with relative ease at UFC Fight Night 13. 

Is it kind of unfair that a guy Maynard beat, who’s coming off a win over a relative UFC novice, is getting the shot just because his own win wasn’t quite exciting enough?  No, it’s not kind of unfair.  It’s totally unfair.  But that’s life in the fight game.  Video of Dana White explaining the thin rationale behind the fight, as well as why he decided to sell 10% of his company essentially to the government of Abu Dhabi, is after the jump.

(Believe it or not, Nate’s biceps are the pride of the 209. They don’t have that much to be proud of.)

Ah, the post-defeat talk of changing weight classes. Or, as we like to call it, the fighter’s false friend. Usually, unless a guy is getting on in years, his answer to a difficult patch in his career is to go down in weight, maybe fight some of those pipsqueaks in the division below his. Nate Diaz however, has a different idea. According to post on GracieFighter.com in which he apologized for fighting “like garbage” and suggested that Gray Maynard’s face was too bloody to really deserve the decision, Diaz outlined a plan to go up to welterweight, explaining:

“I really don’t think I’m going to stay at 155lbs. I don’t make enough money to have to drop this much weight so I’d like to fight at 170 and only go to 55′s every once in awhile.”

Forgetting for the moment that his reasoning is completely flawed (seriously? you acknowledge that you can cut the weight, but don’t get paid enough to do it?), here’s why that’s a terrible idea:

(Gray Maynard discusses his fight against Nate Diaz, and the prospects of a future title shot against BJ Penn. Props: Sherdog.)

Since we only got to see the four main card fights on last night’s UFC Fight Night 20 broadcast, here’s a recap of the prelims…

– Chris Leben def. Jay Silva via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Rick Story def. Jesse Lennox via split decision (30-27 x 2, 28-29. Due to a scoring error, the bout was initially declared a majority draw.)
– Thiago Tavares and Nik Lentz fought to a majority draw (29-27 Lentz, 28-28 x 2. Tavares was deducted a point for low blows.)
– Rory MacDonald def. Mike Guymon via submission (armbar), 4:27 of round 1
– Rafael dos Anjos def. Kyle Bradley via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Gerald Harris def. John Salter via TKO (strikes), 3:24 of round 3
– Nick Catone def. Jesse Forbes via split decision (28-29, 29-28 x 2)

For scoring the night’s only stoppage via strikes, Gerald Harris pocketed a $30,000 Knockout of the Night bonus. Evan Dunham picked up the $30,000 Submission of the Night bonus for his horrible-looking armbar on Efrain Escudero (don’t worry, Effy’s fine). $30k Fight of the Night bumps went to Tom Lawlor and Aaron Simpson for their memorable three-round battle, which saw Simpson get battered half to death in the first round before edging out Lawlor in rounds two and three (according to two judges, at least).

(Is it me, or did it just get way too real in here? Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

What happens when you get one fighter who has the nickname "The Bully" and another fighter who simply has the attitude of one together in the same building at the same time?  It becomes a very bad night to be a geek and/or a poser in Fairfax, Virginia.  That’s what.  Nate Diaz and Gray Maynard are set to go at it in the main event of UFC Fight Night 20 tonight, and we’ll be bringing you all the live results and priceless commentary you can stand.  Some of it will be spelled right, and at least 50% of the subjects and verbs will be in agreement, but other than that there’s really no telling what might happen. 

Will we accidentally hit upon a brilliant idea for a screenplay?  Will we suffer a crisis of conscience midway through an inappropriate joke about Mike Goldberg’s sister?  Only one way to find out, and it’s by joining us after the jump and hitting refresh often.  Things will get under way at around 9 p.m. EST, and it will be a laugh a minute after that. But only if you read very, very slowly.  And are very, very easily amused.

(It’s such a thin line between a genuine mean-mug and a pouty little kid on the verge of a tantrum-mug. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

UFC Fight Night 20, which we’ll be liveblogging, is coming at you on Spike TV from Fairfax, Virginia tonight.  It’s free MMA and you’re not one to pass that up, obviously, but you don’t want to go in cold, do you?  Best to cover all your bases by reading our half-ass predictions and petty bickering first.  This is Ben vs. Ben. 

Nate Diaz is a sizable betting underdog in his fight against Gray Maynard, due to the problems he’s had with wrestlers in the past. Are you giving Nate any chance to submit Gray like he did during TUF 5, or is this a guaranteed smothering?

BG: All signs point to smothering. Both guys have improved a great deal since their time on TUF 5, but it’s worth noting that Maynard was a green 2-0 coming into the show, and simply didn’t have enough experience to deal with a sharp submission game like Diaz’s. Three years later, submission defense is no longer a visible hole in Gray’s armor; seasoned grapplers like Jim Miller and Rich Clementi were absolutely helpless from their backs during their fights against him. Arguably, Diaz’s jiu-jitsu is on a higher level than Miller and Clementi’s, but after those losses to Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson last year, do we really need any more proof that wrestlers are Nate’s kryptonite?

(Now that we’ve seen Gray’s sparring partners, his boast about having never lost a round in training seems a little less impressive.)

By Elias Cepeda for CagePotato.com

When Gray Maynard (9-0-1) got matched up with Roger Huerta last September, many picked the former Michigan State Wrestler to steamroll the cover boy and aspiring movie actor. And though Maynard clearly and cleanly won, it was a tough-fought decision victory.

Fortunately for the Xtreme Couture team member, he fully expected a hard fight from Huerta, even if others did not. “He can scramble really well, he’s good inside and he can box,” Maynard says. “You’ve got to give him more credit. He doesn’t quit so you know it’s going to be a tough one.”

The win was the undefeated lightweight’s sixth consecutive in the UFC and observers wonder how close Maynard is to getting a title shot. Despite one of the most impressive runs in the division and wins over other top guys like Frankie Edgar, the timing hasn’t quite worked out for Maynard yet and he’s yet to be booked for a championship bout.