Following up on yesterday’s interview excerpt where he discussed Anderson Silva’s problematic tools, James Irvin tells MSNBC.com that he’s going to beat Silva in the clinch (!!!!!1!!). Shock the world, Sandman. (Props: MMA Mania)

Remember when Bruce Buffer was announcing the result of the Rampage/Forrest fight, and he was like “the winner, aaaaaand…” — like he was going to say “still champion” — and everyone, including Forrest Griffin, was like “OMFG Rampage won!”? In this RawVegas.tv clip, Griffin confronts Buffer about it, who admits to using the strange syntax intentionally to amp up the drama of the moment. And man is he pleased with himself.

(Courtesy of HDNet Fights.)

If you happen to do your social networking on Facebook, heads up: HDNet Fights’ Facebook page now features a “Fight of the Week,” presented in a high-quality, wide-screen format. The latest joint (above) is a three-round gem from last year’s “Reckless Abandon” event — the rematch between Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Tim Kennedy, which contained the classic Kenny Rice line “It would look like Rob Zombie has stepped in and started directing this fight.” To keep on top of the latest HDNet Fights news and to see more fights of the week, swing by their Facebook page and become a fan.

Our friend and content partner Ariel Helwani at MMARated just put up a great interview with Forrest Griffin, where the Ultimate Fighter coach and light heavyweight contender reveals that he’s been eating a lot of french toast lately, popping tons of valium, he really doesn’t care about TUF, and he digs Nick Cave, but not enough to actually pay for his music.

The official UFC 85: Bedlam trailer clip, featuring Matt Hughes, Thiago Alves, Michael Bisping, Jason Day, Brandon Vera, Fabricio Werdum, Nate Marquardt, Thales Leites, Marcus Davis, and Mike Swick.

HDNet Fights’ 86-minute “Best of 2008″ video; props to MMAScraps.

And also? You’re going to want to click that “More” link…

(Kim Couture has a long way to go before she’s in Gina’s league.)

HDNet Fights has announced in a press release that they will air an event featuring The Natural’s third wife, Kim Couture, on February 29th, exclusively on HDNet. “HDNet Fights Presents: The Debut of Kim Couture” was the title we were handed down. Here’s the lead-in to the announcement:

DALLAS (February 11, 2007) – Andrew Simon, CEO of HDNet Fights, announced today that HDNet will feature exclusive coverage of Kim Couture’s debut fight. Kim is the wife of MMA legend Randy “The Natural” Couture. Her debut will occur in a Boxing/Muay Thai Smoker, a mixed martial arts event, to be held at the Xtreme Couture Gym in Las Vegas, NV.

Talk about home field advantage. Might as well have held it in the Couture’s bedroom. Hmm, that just gave me an idea for my next reality show pitch. Anyway, the event will air after HDNet’s coverage of the network’s LIVE IFL show. There are to be eight fights, each consisting of three two-minute rounds. The event was originally announced as a February 23rd event against an unnamed opponent. The date has changed, but the name of the opponent is still a mystery.

Fedor vs. Hong is what got us to wake up at 6 a.m. on our day off — but the real highlight of “Yarennoka!”/”Fedor Returns” was easily the 8-minute battle between 187-pounders Kazuo Misaki (black trunks) and Yoshihiro Akiyama (red trunks). Misaki’s wild jumping-bean dance can’t save him from being floored by a punch from Akiyama, who nearly pounds him out on the ground, but Misaki rallies back toward a spectacular finish. Still, there was more behind this fight than the action. Yeo Jong-Hoon gives some historical and political context to the matchup in this article on FightOpinion, and clarifies that what we thought was Misaki paying tribute to Akiyama after the fight was actually him chastising the Korean-born fighter in front of a packed arena. Harsh! A must-read article and a must-see video.

It’s early as hell, so you bloodsuckers better appreciate this. If you’re awake too, reload the page every couple minutes and check out our commentary on this sad freak show historic event after the jump. If not, do me a favor and read this when you do wake up. I need to feel like my life has a purpose.

After surviving a few scary moments in the first round where Tim Kennedy was close to sinking in a rear-naked choke, Jason “Mayhem” Miller dominated the main event match at HDNet’s “Reckless Abandon,” nailing his opponent with punches and forearms that opened cuts on Kennedy’s face and kept the momentum in Mayhem’s favor. All three judges scored the bout 29-28. With the win, Miller avenges his February 2003 loss to Kennedy, and retains the confidence necessary to attempt ridiculous ring entrances like this.

Edwin “Babyface” Dewees looked sharp at the start of HDNet Fights’ co-headlining match on Saturday, throwing some hard kicks and forcing a takedown when Frank Trigg tried to throw a kick of his own. Unfortunately, the ground-fighting was quickly dominated by Twinkle Toes, who snapped onto Dewees’s unprotected left arm and cranked out a particularly painful-looking kimura, giving poor Babyface his third-consecutive loss.

Big ups to HDNet (and Mark Cuban’s enormous wallet) for landing Michael “The Better” Buffer to announce the event, and making the UFC look like a bunch of suckers for continuing to use the Fredo Corleone-esque Bruce.

(Jason Miller, not a fan of looking conventionally tough.)

By CagePotato contributor Kipp Tribble

Oh, it is on. HDNet Fights’s second MMA event (“Reckless Abandon” [!!!]) goes down tomorrow night in Dallas. As mentioned earlier, Frank “Twinkle Toes” Trigg (15-6-0) and Jason “Mayhem” Miller (19-5-0) share top billing in separate fights, and if both fighters win we could be looking at a rematch of their 2006 Icon Sport fight that saw Trigg drop Mr. Mayhem in round 2.

But first they have to get through tomorrow. Frank Trigg is going up against Edwin Dewees (34-10-0, best known for bleeding all over Gideon Ray in TUF 4) and is heavily favored to kick ass. While “Babyface” Dewees isn’t a push-over, many of his wins have come against suspect fighters. He’s coming off two losses in a row, and he hasn’t fought since the Ultimate Fighter 4 finale in November ’06. Look for Trigg to win, and win early.

Meanwhile, the night’s other headliner will be going toe-to-toe with Tim Kennedy (8-1-0). You may be aware that Kennedy won a 2003 Extreme Challenge bout against Jason Miller, and he’s been undefeated since. Kennedy is a replacement for the medically suspended Sean Salmon, and the move gives Miller a chance to avenge his loss. This one is almost a toss-up, but something tells me Tim Kennedy might crawl out of the fight less battered than Jason Miller; we’ll give it to Kennedy by decision.

The rest of the card looks like this:

As you may have already heard/seen, Sean Salmon found himself on the wrong end of a brutal flying-knee knockout at last week’s Strikeforce middleweight tournament. Though he denied reports that he had a seizure in the ring, Salmon was given a 45-day medical suspension after the fight, making him ineligible for a scheduled match against Jason “Mayhem” Miller at the HDNet Fights “Reckless Abandon” (!) event on December 15.

Taking Salmon’s place is Tim Kennedy, a member of the IFL’s Chicago Red Bears who previously defeated Miller at an Extreme Challenge event in 2003. Kennedy is scheduled to fight in the IFL World Grand Prix only two weeks later, so let’s hope he isn’t slapped with a medical suspension himself.

The “Reckless Abandon” card also features Frank Trigg vs. Edwin Dewees, Yves Edwards vs. Alonzo Martinez, and Pete Spratt vs. Tristan Yunker. Our best wishes go out to Sean Salmon, who should really learn how to protect his head…