*sigh*

Sometimes, there’s no shame in being a can crusher. As much as we love watching close fights between our sport’s top fighters, some of our sport’s most entertaining finishes came to fruition because a fighter of reasonable competence was locked in the cage with an utterly hopeless ham-n-egger. There’s nothing wrong with pounding the bejesus out of a hapless jobber every once in a while, which is exactly what Mariusz Pudzianowski, Jan Blachowicz and Dusan Panajotovic did yesterday. Fortunately for us, they filmed it for posterity as well.

At thirty-five years old, “can crusher” is probably the ceiling for five-time World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski’s MMA career. The odds of him ending up in the big leagues outside of his home country are pretty slim- which is perfect, because he seems more than content to smash freaks and nobodies in front of enthusiastic Polish fans. At yesterday’s KSW 20, Pudzianowski faced 4-1 Greek American prospect Christos Piliafas. All of Piliafas’ fights have ended by TKO- four of which in the first round. A technical grappling clinic this would not be, as Pudzianowski scored takedowns and eventually punched out Piliafas 3:48 seconds into round one. Unfortunately, videos of this scrap have quickly been taken off of YouTube. We know, we’re just as heartbroken as you are.

But as a consolation prize, we’re going to offer you KSW Light Heavyweight Champion Jan Blachowicz’s successful title defense against Houston Alexander from the same card. A win over Alexander may not mean too much anymore, yet Blachowicz never appeared in trouble throughout the fight. Unfortunately, save for an armbar at the end of round one and a triangle choke at the end of round two, neither did Alexander. Okay, so it’s a pretty lousy consolation prize. Whaddayagonnado?

(“Call me Aldo Montoya again, bitch!”)

By Seth Falvo (@SethFalvo)

When Nick Ring walked to the cage on Saturday accompanied by professional wrestling legend Bret “The Hitman” Hart, it was one more example of mixed martial arts’ quirky love affair with professional wrestling. Oh sure, we like to pretend that we have nothing in common with those peculiar Puroresu practitioners because our sport is real, both in terms of the violence and the personalities associated with it. Nonsense. With fake fighters crossing over to the real stuff, real fighters crossing over to the fake stuff, fake matches “borrowing” their outcomes from real fights, real promos “borrowing” from the classic fake stuff and multiple guys dabbling in both sports, the line between the two is arguably blurrier now than it was back when Ken Shamrock was ankle locking fools in the World Wrestling Federation.

It should come as no surprise then that we’ve seen our share of professional fighters attempting honest-to-God professional wrestling moves in real fights. We know, we know: We’re totally not supposed to be trying this stuff at home. But fortunately for us, the following brave men have ignored the countless warnings, the advice of their trainers and their own common sense to provide us with the most entertainingly reckless ways to injure their fellow men.

But before we break out the face paint and spandex, let’s establish how I’ll be ranking such absurd maneuvers. The moves will be ranked based on their immediate effectiveness, how true to form they stay to their kayfabe counterparts, and the competence of their opponents. Let’s face it: Even if you do something insanely cool and difficult from professional wrestling in an MMA fight, if you then get knocked out, you still look like a chump. Let’s also acknowledge that a punch to a downed opponent has no business being called The Worm without the accompanying theatrics. Finally, it’s a lot easier to pull off a complex move in a fight when your opponent totally sucks at fighting. Those are my rules, and if you’re not down with that, I got two words for ya: LET’S BEGIN!

(This pretty much says it all.) 

Whenever I am involved in a discussion regarding crime and punishment, I am often dubbed a “sociopathic”, a “loony”, or a “stay the fuck away from me and my family” kind of guy as a result of my extreme view on how people should be disciplined. Society is overpopulated and ever-increasing, so it is my belief that we should take everyone from the convicted pedophiles and murders of the world down to the sue happy whackjobs, load them into a jumbo jet, and crash it into a mountain. Those whom I have these conversations with often retort that I should have more faith in humanity, that people are inherently good and are capable of change.

And then a story like this surfaces and drags them deeper into the murky cesspool of human existence in which my faith currently lies.

Today’s story comes to us out of St. Louis, where a local woman recently released an abhorring video on Facebook (a.k.a society’s douche) in which she not only prods her infant daughter into fighting another local girl, but gives her a few pointers while she carries out the despicable act. Unfortunately, no charges have been filed at this point, so the woman’s name has yet to be released, likely out of fear that her neighbors would tie her to a fence post and take turns kicking her in the vagina with steel-toed boots in order to ensure that she never reproduces again, as they so rightfully should.

Video after the jump. 

Yvel vs Alexander (spoiler: no flying triangles)

We may be in the midst of a Zuffa drought, but that doesn’t mean we must thirst for knockouts. Last night Resurrection Fighting Alliance hooked up with Sherdog to bring you a live stream of their second card, which featured a pair of heavy hitters and a pioneer of the sport. Jens Pulver also returned to action for the promotion, though thankfully it was in the announcer’s booth this time.

The evening’s main event promised brain damage, and it lived up to our expectations. Houston Alexander displayed the one-strike power that launched his UFC-career, stammering Gilbert Yvel with an overhand right before knocking him down with a leg kick all in the opening thirty seconds of the bout. Yvel looked reserved in his second bout as a light-heavyweight, though against a brawler like Alexander pretty much everyone looks passive. “The Hurricane” started to open up in the latter half of the first round, and with just over a minute remaining on the clock he connected with a left hook that rocked Alexander followed by a big right hand that dropped him face first to the canvas–time to update our planking homage. That’s two straight wins for the recently re-invented 205′er and the second consecutive knockout loss for “The Assassin”.

Join us after the jump for videos and recaps of the Maurice Smith-Jorge Cordoba and Tara LaRosa-Kelly Warren bouts.

(Change our Facebook status to scared shitless.) 

Coming off a DQ (illegal strikes) loss to his 16 year old son (too soon?), it has been announced that notorious brawler Houston Alexander has already been booked for another fight, and will be taking on referee aficionado Gilbert Yvel under a regional Nebraska promotion named Resurrection Fighting Alliance on March 30th. The fight will be contested at 205 lbs.

Aside from that unsanctioned bout with his kin, Alexander also recently suffered a second round Falling Tree KO at the elbows of former hockey enforcer Steve Bosse, which snapped a four fight win streak that included wins over UFC veterans Razak Al-Hassan and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

(Admire it, Potato Nation. Admire it like a beautiful April morning.) 

Alexander will be taking on fellow UFC washout Gilbert Yvel, who made the drop to light heavyweight in his last bout and scored a first round submission via strikes win over Damian Dantibo. The victory was his first since dropping three straight to Junior Dos Santos, Ben Rothwell, and John Madsen in his short lived UFC run. We managed to find a video of the fight and added it below. Warning: turn down your speakers.

(Watch out for that metal thing? / Props: Maury Povich via ScreenJunkies)

God damn you, ReX13. His running gag this week inspired us to revive an old, dead CagePotato feature, in which we take a moment to recognize some of your efforts in the comments section. Will we forget about this by next Friday? Maybe. Maybe not. All we have is this moment. And now, the eight greatest comments of the week…

ReX13 on “Report: Miesha Tate to Defend Strikeforce Title Against Ronda Rousey on March 3rd” [selected highlights]:
- “If you weren’t pretty, it wouldn’t matter what you said or didn’t say. That’s why you’re getting this attention.” – Miesha Tate
- “Man, Stalin was a real asshole, killing his own people like that.” – Pol Pot
- “Wow, that Bachmann chick is stuck on turbo-crazy. The only reason people are giving her the time of day is because she’s a relatively attractive woman in the Republican party. Does she hear the words that are coming out of her mouth?” – Sarah Palin
- “Goddammit, I’ve spent fifteen years in this neighborhood trying to increase property vaules, and a whole fucking passel of kettles just moved in next door. With their hippity hop music and Tyler Perry movies…..we better get a dog, honey.” – Pot
- “Bobby Flay is kinda a douche, you guys.” – Guy Fieri
- “The Duggars should stop having children. Can they even handle the children they already have?” – Nadya “Octomom” Suleman
- “That Octomom is such an attention whore.” – Kate Gosselin
- “Fuck you, bitch.” – Nadya Suleman

ElDandy on “Video of the Day: Fabricio Werdum Is as Inappropriate as We Are and Fedor Isn’t Impressed“
Fedor’s high priest looks like every dude I’ve ever seen at a Widespread concert.

Fried Taco on “Aw Geez, Now BJ Penn is Calling Nick Diaz a Cheater“:
At least BJ is right about one thing. No one will ever accuse him of being the bigger man.

“Back up, homie: What the hell is ‘Face Book’?”

As MMA fans, we’ve seen our fair share of “WTF” moments. From freak show fights to flashy knockouts to Jon Fitch partying like a rockstar to freaking Jose Canseco, you would think that we’ve seen it all and nothing could surprise us. Yet sometimes a story comes along that is so bizarre that even we are unable to make sense of it.

Houston Alexander returned to the spotlight this weekend. When we last checked in on the former UFC light heavyweight, he was getting his lights turned out by ex-hockey enforcer Steve Bosse. If you thought that was as low as things could get for Alexander, then prepare to flabbergasted.

Here is the latest update on Alexander, courtesy of KMTV News Omaha, via MiddleEasy:

Video courtest of allthebestfights.com.

Last night’s MFC 31 wasn’t the only MMA card our friends north of the border were treated to. Astute readers may have also remembered that Instinct MMA made its promotional debut in Quebec, Canada last night as well. The night’s main event pitted ex-hockey enforcer Steve Bosse against UFC veteran Houston Alexander. With a combined fourteen knockouts in twenty victories for the pair, you probably guessed that someone was going to get knocked out. And my God did these two deliver.

GIFs are after the jump.

Instinct Mixed Martial Arts today announced most of the main card line-up of it’s upcoming inaugural MMA event set for October 7 at the Rousseau Centre of Sports Excellence in Boisbriand, Quebec and the card is shaping up nicely.

The main event of the evening will see former UFC light heavyweight Houston Alexander take on hockey enforcer-turned-MMA-fighter Steve Bosse. In the night’s co-main event former number one UFC middleweight contender Patrick Cote will look to improve his post-Octagon record to 3-0 with a win over muay thai specialist Crafton Wallace. The third fight on the card will feature a heavyweight tilt between king of the four-rounders and  reality television  star Eric “Butterbean” Esch and undefeated 5-0 Quebec boxer Eric Barrak who will make his MMA debut that night.

Pulver vs. Wheeler, from last night’s Co-Main Event

Yesterday, you may have looked at the name of Houston Alexander’s opponent, Razak Al-Hassan, and thought “Where have I heard of him before?”. Spoiler alert: He’s the guy who got his arm snapped by Steve Cantwell at Fight for the Troops because tapping is for bitches. It probably won’t come as too much of a surprise to you to find out that he had another fight stopped by injury. It may surprise you to find out that this time, the injury that prevented him from continuing was a dislocated finger. You read that correctly, Urijah. Not to make any accusations of bitchassness, but how did the doctor even realize that Al-Hassan had dislocated his finger without someone telling him?

The stoppage to this fight was almost as odd as watching Junie Browning give up during the first round of his fight with Jacob Clark. Granted, you could argue that Junie Browning gave up on this fight well before yesterday’s weigh-ins. Junie Browning came out quickly, earning an early takedown and nearly submitting Jacob Clark with a twister. However, once the ref stood the fighters back up and Clark stuffed an attempted takedown, Junie Browning gave up. Browning allowed Clark to gain side control, and immediately tapped once Clark started throwing elbows. Given Browning’s loss coupled with the fact that he has to forfeit an undisclosed sum of money per pound over 155, there is a possibility that Browning essentially fought for free (or rather, whatever his sponsors paid him) last night.

(Wonder if he’ll blame Ken Shamrock for this one too…)

You know, at a certain point you’re just creating your own bad luck. It was reported yesterday that famously cursed MMA fighter James Irvin will not be meeting Houston Alexander in the co-main event of Shark Fights 14, as he was flagged by the California State Athletic Commission for the steroid epitrenbolone following his December 2 loss against Jorge Oliveira. Irvin faces a fine as well as a one-year suspension that would retroactively begin on December 3rd. In 2008, Irvin caught a nine-month suspension for the use of unapproved painkillers following his loss to Anderson Silva.

As it so happens, the Irvin/Alexander rematch wouldn’t have happened anyway, since Alexander has apparently suffered an undisclosed injury in training. Shark Fights is currently booking a replacement for the match, and plans to re-schedule the fight when the Sandman and the Assassin are available again. I guess it’s as good a time as any to update the James Irvin “Why Me?” Timeline…

(“And now *you* are cursed with my bad luck! And now I am free! Hahahahahaaaaaa!!!)

Things were different back in April 2008. Houston Alexander was still a scary up-and-comer in the UFC light-heavyweight division, trying to rebound from a TKO loss to Thiago Silva, and James Irvin was known as only a mildly cursed fighter. The two strikers first met at UFC Fight Night 13, and Irvin stunned the crowd by scoring an eight-second knockout via superman punch. The match represented Irvin’s high-point in the Octagon, as well as the beginning of the end for Alexander as a UFC fighter.

These days, they’re both trying to scrape together a career in smaller promotions. Irvin is coming off his controversial no-contest against Mike Crisman, while Alexander is riding a two-fight win streak, including a TKO victory over Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at Shark Fights 13. And according to the Assassin via Twitter, the two will meet again in the co-main event of Shark Fights 14 (March 11 at the Fair Park Coliseum in Lubbock, TX).

(Video courtesy ESPN/SportScience)

Cain Velasquez recently filmed an episode of Sport Science in which his cardio, lactic acid tolerance and punching and takedown power were measured.

Velasquez’s results were off the charts.

His conditioning levels were comparable to that of an endurance athlete, but the most shocking stat came from Cain’s left hand in the form of a left hook.

According to stats compiled by the accelerometers in the Sport Science heavy bag, Velasquez’s body shot was the hardest punch ever thrown on the show which has hosted professional boxers like James Toney as well as Cain’s fellow MMA fighters Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Houston Alexander and UFC Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture.

(Alexander vs. Sokoudjou, where it appears the referee briefly considers letting Soko get beaten to death before finally stepping in to stop the fight. VidProps: ZombieProphetMMA)

Early reviews of last night’s Shark Fights 13 broadcast seem mostly positive, after Trevor Prangley, Houston Alexander and Paul Daley all notched wins. Also, “broadcasters” Don Frye and Bas Rutten said a bunch of crazy stuff live on pay-per-view. Especially Frye, who — after claiming that he threatened Shark Fights promoters with death if they didn’t put him on the show — reportedly dropped at least one F-bomb, made jokes about beating his wife and then compared the whole thing to an extended session of violent and satisfying coitus.

Basically, it was the kind of performance that, in any other sport, would cause a major scandal, Frye’s immediate firing and the issuing of a vague and halfhearted apology on Sunday morning. In independent MMA, it’s just par for the course.

"That was like two hours of hard, rough sex,” Frye reportedly said to close out the PPV. “I need a shot of tequila and a cigarette now."

C’mon Don, like you weren’t doing shots of tequila the whole time.

(Props: picturelab1)

Whether or not Shark Fights 13 is worth $29.99 of your pay-per-view budget is up to you to decide. But you have to admit, the prospect of Keith Jardine, Sokoudjou, Houston Alexander, and Paul Daley on the same card is pretty damn compelling, especially on a weekend when nothing else is going on. After four straight losses in the UFC, Jardine calls his fight with Trevor Prangley this Saturday the beginning of his comeback. A strong performance from Paul Daley against veteran Jorge Masvidal might help Semtex get back in the UFC’s good graces as well. (Yeah, we know he was banned from the Octagon for life, but so was Karo Parisyan, and all Karo had to do was agree not to screw Dana White any more.) And sure, the Assassin vs. the African Assassin? Should be a classic banger, unless Houston decides to dance around in circles again.

Check out the extended video trailer for "Shark Fights 13: Jardine vs. Prangley" above, in which a cast of fighters and analysts (and Don Frye) break down the event. And if you’re an MMA FightPicker supporter, please head on over to fightpicker.cagepotato.com or apps.facebook.com/fightpicker to make your picks for the ten-fight card. The pool questions are after the jump. Note: Due to injuries, Drew McFedries and Marcus Hicks have dropped off the card and have been replaced by Danillo Villefort and Daniel Straus. The event’s preliminary card will be streamed on Sherdog.

(The locals are going to be pissed when they realize that it’s just a bunch of dudes fighting, and not actual sharks. Buyer beware! Props: SharkFights.com)

Helping Keith Jardine transition into post-UFC life will be a familiar cast of characters who couldn’t quite hack it in the Octagon either. It was announced last week that a light-heavyweight battle between "The African Assassin" Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Houston "The Assassin of Non-Specific Origin" Alexander would co-headline Shark Fights 13: Jardine vs. Prangley (September 11th; Amarillo, TX).

Sokoudjou has gone 4-3 since being released by the UFC in 2008, and most recently scored a quick TKO over Joaquim Ferreira at Impact FC Brisbane. Alexander was cut by the UFC after dropping a decision to Kimbo Slice at the TUF 10 Finale, and has gone 1-1 in 2010 so far, suffering a TKO loss to Joey Beltran and notching a decision win over David Griffin. Also on the Shark Fights 13 card…

We knew this was coming.  Talking with Fanhouse’s Ariel Helwani, UFC president Dana White confirms that Houston Alexander does not have a future in the UFC after his dismal performance against Kimbo Slice at last weekend’s TUF 10 Finale.  Hardly surprising, right?  Alexander had already been run out of the UFC once, and was only brought back because he seemed like a beatable opponent for Kimbo (which he was) with a modicum of name value.  He lost, he looked bad doing it, and so he’s fired again.  Everything here is going according to script.

But remember when Roy Nelson jokingly referred to himself as the UFC’s official suckmeter?  Remember when he said that he was going to be the guy who, if you couldn’t beat him, it meant you didn’t belong in the UFC?  You thinking what I’m thinking here, dog?    

(Jon Jones doesn’t know what to tell you. Sometimes you eat the bear and, well, sometimes you get disqualified for hitting him with illegal elbows. Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle’s after-party set.)

A bizarre night in Las Vegas brought the latest heavyweight experiment of “The Ultimate Fighter” to an end, and not a moment too soon. Now we break down the results to see who’s up and who’s down according to the patent-pending technology of the Potato Index’s arbitrary numerical rankings.

Roy Nelson +87
We get it, his physique is unimpressive. But a KO win showed he can fight on the feet and on the mat. Funny that Burger King doesn’t seem more pleased with a free endorsement from an athlete who’s known for his unappealing body.

Brendan Schaub -21
As we’ve seen in the past, losing in the TUF Finale isn’t any more a condemnation than winning is a guarantee of future success. Once he gets some experience under his belt, he could turn out to be an exciting fighter to watch. Why not give him Kimbo next, just for fun?

(Props: MMA Fanhouse)

At the post-fight press conference following the TUF 10 Finale, Kimbo Slice was as pleased as you could reasonably expect considering he’d just narrowly scratched out a victory against a guy who all but refused to fight him. Though fans and pundits expected Slice and Houston Alexander to put on a one-round war — a backyard brawl brought to the Octagon — we instead got Minowaman vs. Zuluzinho part 2. "We were prepared for somewhat of his attacks, but I wasn’t prepared for the ring-riding that he did," Kimbo said. Still, he wasn’t going to let Alexander bait him into making a mistake:

(Roy Nelson gives Ariel Helwani the obligatory belly rub.)

Roy Nelson became the newest/fattest "Ultimate Fighter" winner with his knockout of Brendan Schaub at last night’s TUF 10 Finale.  Dana White must have been at least a little impressed this time, because he awarded "Big Country" the Knockout of the Night bonus, worth a cool $25,000.  Mark Bocek took home the Submission of the Night bonus for the rear naked choke on Joe Brammer that came at the end of an absolute grappling clinic.  Fight of the Night went to Frankie Edgar and Matt Veach for a spirited two round battle that ended with a submission victory for Edgar.

(Top: Kimbo and Roy demonstrate the difference between "built like a black man" and "built like a polar bear." Directly above: The Amanda Knox verdict affected some fighters more than others.)

Okay, so "Heavyweights" wasn’t the best season of The Ultimate Fighter we’ve seen. Let’s be honest: Project Runway had a more talented group of fighters this year, and there weren’t as many divas. But tonight’s finale card will still give us a very entertaining night of fights, with two worthy TUF finalists, Kimbo Slice’s (possibly) last stand, and the always exciting Jon Jones looking to launch to the next level against Matt Hamill. Round-by-round updates from the TUF 10 Finale are after the jump; refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest. We begin our evening’s entertainment with a grudge match between two ex-football players…

(Kimbo, if the diet plan includes cocaine, cigarettes, and vomiting, it’s possible that you may be getting weight cutting advice from the wrong people.)

As the only fighter from season ten of "The Ultimate Fighter" to get a spot on the finale without winning a single fight in the tournament, you might think Kimbo Slice would be stoked simply to be getting the opportunity to show what he can do.  Considering the fact that he’s a heavyweight who is being handed a custom-made catchweight bout with a non-grappler from the weight class below his, you might even expect him to be damn near chipper about the whole thing.  You’d be wrong. 

On a media conference call to discuss this weekend’s finale fights, Slice revealed that he’s been struggling to make the roughly twenty-pound weight cut.  Though he only has to get down to 215 pounds, Slice said that so far the pound-shedding experience has been "not good," adding that the struggle has left him "moody" and generally mentally distressed. 

(You don’t dress for the job you have, you dress for the job you want: manager of an inner-city Boot Barn location. Everybody has a dream.)

The final episode of "The Ultimate Fighter" season ten, is just a few hours away, and the boys at Spike TV seem like they may be worried that there isn’t enough at stake to make you tune in for the full two-hour show.  To remedy that, they sent out a teaser email promising that Kimbo Slice‘s future will be "revealed" tonight, prompting us to wonder whether this is finally going to be the TUF episode where the guys encounter a gypsy woman on the road during the drive home from the gym and she tells everyone’s fortune by looking at globules of their spit on the pavement (bad news for Wes Sims, he drowns in the Bering Sea this March). 

To further pique our interest on the matter, Ferg himself had this to say:

"Now it’s time for the next step in my career. Everyone will see what that is tonight on Spike. …It’s gonna be good.  Watch the show tonight. You’ll see what’s next for me. All I can say is that somebody’s getting knocked out. …Everybody knows what my stronghold is.  People will be able to see me and judge for themselves."

The weird part is, we pretty much already know what Kimbo’s immediate future holds; he’s fighting Houston Alexander.  So what’s all this next step stuff?  Unless something else happens in tonight’s episode to guide Slice’s life down a dramatically different path.  Something totally insane… 

(‘Look dog, I spent five hours baking this loaf of bread. Now you eatin’ it one way or another.’)

Spike TV and the UFC are still trying to play it close to the vest when it comes to who Kimbo Slice will be facing in his official Octagon debut at next weekend’s “Ultimate Fighter” finale. Too bad they’re the only ones concerned with keeping it under wraps. Slice already removed the element of surprise somewhat with a recent Twitter posting, but in an appearance on the “Todd N Tyler” radio show (via Bloody Elbow), Houston Alexander said several times that he’ll be taking on someone named Kevin Ferguson at the event. The hosts of the show naturally follow this statement up with a bunch of lame puns about Kimbo’s name, because they’re radio hosts and a certain number of lame puns per hour is required by their contracts.

In addition to telling us that he is the undisclosed first UFC opponent for Ferg, Alexander also insists that he’s “practicing boxing, takedown defense, it’s just crazy.” Man, that is crazy. It’s almost like he’s preparing for a fight with both stand-up and ground aspects. Though, Mr. Alexander, allow us to make a suggestion: kick him in the leg. Over and over again. The TUF editors have basically begged you to.

("Which hand’s the penny in, motherfucker? WHICH HAND?!?")

From nwitimes.com via MMA Junkie:

(Props: twitter.com/realkimboslice)

When we asked Dana White if there was any truth to the rumors that Kimbo Slice‘s first post-TUF fight would be against Houston Alexander, he expertly dodged the question. (This is why he gets the paid the big bucks, and why we have to moonlight as night managers at Family Dollar in order to make rent.) But a couple of tweets Kimbo posted yesterday seem to support the theory that Slice will soon be thrown into the Octagon with another ground-game-challenged puncher. The "I Accept" line suggests that he won’t be fighting a fellow castmember at the TUF 10 finale. (Does he not get another chance to bang on the show after all? Does he lose again?) And yeah, the whole "HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM!" thing is pretty much a dead-giveaway. 

Alexander, who recently broke his three-fight losing streak with a first-round TKO over Sherman Pendergarst at Adrenaline 4, is reportedly applying for a fighter license with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, so all signs are pointing to "oh God, this is actually happening." Could it be the Kimbo Slice slobberknocker that we’ve all been waiting for?

(Sherman’s the guy on the left. Get used to that face, you’ll be seeing it again next month. Photo courtesy of osirisshoes.)

MMA Mania passes along the full lineup for Adrenaline MMA IV (September 18th; Council Bluffs, Iowa) and while we’ve already covered the Tim Sylvia/Jason Riley main event, we now know that UFC light-heavyweight Houston Alexander will be taking on Sherman "The Tank" Pendergarst (11-14) in the co-main event. Alexander’s three-fight losing streak may be a major bummer — and the reason he has to take a tune-up fight outside of the UFC — but Pendergarst has lost his last five matches, and has only won two of his last twelve. Competing mostly as a heavyweight, the Tank has suffered KO/TKO losses against such notables as Shane Carwin, Antoni Hardonk (at UFC 65, Pendergarst’s only Octagon appearance), Justin EIlers, and Tim Hague, and was one of the unfortunate fighters to experience the YAMMA pit first-hand; he lost to Alexey Oleinik by submission.

In other words, this could be just the sacrifical lamb that heavy-handed Houston needs to get his confidence back. Then again, eight of Pendergarst’s 11 wins have come by submission, meaning that Alexander should still be on high alert. So, dude with no ground game (Houston) vs. a guy who gets knocked out a lot (Sherman) — who will be able to impose their gameplan?

The full lineup for Adrenaline IV is after the jump…

With the cobwebs finally clearing from his devastating knockout loss against Ray Mercer, Tim Sylvia will try to regain some semblance of respect against Jason Riley at Adrenaline MMA’s fourth event on September 18. Riley holds a 6-1 professional record, and went 4-0 as an amateur. All of his fights have taken place in Ohio, and he became the NAAFS heavyweight champion after knocking out Justin Black in April.

In other words, he has nowhere near the kind of high-profile, big-show experience that Tim Sylvia does. But you’ll never go broke underestimating the Maine-iac. After all, this is a a guy who weighed in at a morbidly obese 310.6 pounds for his last fight in June, and will now have to get back into legitimate fighting shape just one month from now. Will Sylvia snap his three-fight losing streak, or will Riley make his name off of the former UFC heavyweight champ?

According to NWI.com, Adrenaline IV will go down at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and is likely to feature former UFC vets Jeremy Horn and Houston Alexander — even though Alexander hasn’t been officially released from his UFC contract yet.

#7: MAC DANZIG

A five-time King of the Cage lightweight champion with appearances in PRIDE and the WEC, Mac Danzig was one of the most seasoned mixed martial artists to ever appear on The Ultimate Fighter, and few were surprised when he blazed past guys like Ben Saunders, War Machine, and George Sotiropoulos to make it to the sixth season’s finals. After choking out Tommy Speer to win the contract and doing the same to Mark Bocek in his next outing at UFC 83, it seemed that Mac was on the fast-track to success in the UFC lightweight division.

Then, disaster struck — in the form of Clay “Energizer Blanket” Guida, who laid on top of Danzig en route to a unanimous decision last September. It was a frustrating setback, but we still thought the TUF winner would bounce back against Josh Neer at UFC Fight Night 17 in February. Unfortunately, Mac would fall short again, succumbing to a second-round triangle choke. Now, the once-promising fighter is just another scrapper at the bottom of the UFC’s lightweight ladder, and one more loss could spell the end of his run in the Octagon.

#6: BRANDON VERA

How’s this for a return-on-investment: The UFC paid “The Truth” a total of $76,000 in contracted salary for his first four wins against Fabiano Scherner, Justin Eilers, Assuerio Silva, and Frank Mir — all of them by brutal stoppage, mind you — then paid him $500,000 for his subsequent 1-3 stretch against Tim Sylvia, Fabricio Werdum, Reese Andy, and Keith Jardine. Did the fat paychecks make him soft? Did his long legal dispute with his manager throw off his mental game? It’s hard to know for sure, but by the end of 2008 it was clear that this wasn’t the same Brandon Vera who entered the UFC’s heavyweight division three years before and rocked it like a hurricane.

After Vera’s split-decision loss to Jardine, Dana White lamented the disappearance of Vera’s killer instinct and passionate cockiness. But instead of firing him, the UFC gave Vera a chance to regain his confidence against an outmatched, out-of-shape Mike Patt at UFC 96 — at a drastically reduced pay-rate, of course. Luckily, Vera chopped Patt down and saved his job. The Truth is slated to return in August against Matt Hamill at UFC 102, in a fight that will either re-establish him as a rising star at light-heavyweight, or forever define him as an overpaid can-crusher.

(Does Houston’s abdomen remind anybody else of Kuato? Photo courtesy of jhiner.)

Bad news for fans who wanted to see Houston Alexander‘s do-or-die, for-real-this-time fight against Andre Gusmao at UFC 98 (May 23rd, Las Vegas). As confirmed on UFC.com, the Assassin has suffered a broken hand and has withdrawn from the match, making him the sixth big-name fighter to be scratched from the event. According to Fightlinker’s records, "Evans vs. Machida" is just one injury away from tying the all-time UFC record for unfortunate pull-outs, which is currently held by UFC 85. To recap the black cloud that has been hanging over UFC 98…