(Video courtesy YouTube/Fight!Mag)

- Sonnen says he took pity on Silva’s injured ribs (fighthubtv)

-A chat with David Cross (bullz-eye)

- UFC tweets of the week (ufc)

- Every little step with Mike Tyson and Wayne Brady (funnyordie)

- K-1 Grand Prix final 16 preview and predicitions (mmafighting)

- "Girl Directions" music video (break)

- BJJ champ vouches for Rolles Gracie’s promotion of Rashad Evans to black belt (tatame)

- How bar fights start (mademan)

- Mark Hominick fought Leonard Garcia with a broken hand (mmajunkie)

- 7 reasons the lingerie football league is better than the NFL (holytaco)

- Dana White says Anderson is a pain in the ass, but still the best (csncalif)

- Human Target actress Emmanuelle Vaugier (screenjunkies)

- Top 5 trash talkers in the UFC (bleacherreport)

-10 things learned from UFC 119 (scoresreport)

- WTF is wrong with this guy? (doubleviking)

(Video courtesy TheMMAFix)

It looks like Dana White wasn’t thrilled with Jon Fitch’s less than enthralling performance in his win over Thiago Alves at UFC 118 last month, since the UFC president has now rescinded an earlier assertion that the winner of the bout would be next in line for a title shot at the winner of December’s Georges St-Pierre-Josh Koscheck showdown.

During an appearance on Comcast Sportsnet Washington’s The MMA Fix, White said the welterweight title picture is a bit murkier than it seemed a few weeks ago, which may be partially a result of Fitch’s conservative stall and brawl tactics he employed to decision Alves.

"I want to wait for Koscheck and St-Perre to happen and we’ll figure out who gets the next shot," White explained noncommittally.  "By then Jake Shields will have fought…Kampmann…you know…we’ll see what happens. A lot of it is timing too."

(Either of of these guys could potentially win the opportunity Saturday night to have GSP rearrange their faces again in the New Year.)

Apparently Dana White Sides with me on my opinion that Jake Shields should have to win at least two fights in the UFC before earning a title shot.

The UFC president announced today during the pre-fight press conference for UFC 117 that the winner of Saturday night’s welterweight showdown between Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves will garner a title shot early next year.

Nicknames are like tattoos — badass when you first pick them out, generally embarrassing ten years later. And yet for some reason, they’re often the only things that MMA fighters keep forever, even as they change camps, change fighting styles, and change their hair. And while every fighter sends a message with their choice of nickname, it may not always be the message that they’re trying to send. For example, let’s say your nickname is…

A RHYME

Notable examples: Mike “Quick” Swick, “Bad” Brad Blackburn, Shannon “The Cannon” Ritch, Marvin “Beastman” Eastman
What you think it says: You’re straightforward and to-the-point. You want your nickname to stick in people’s heads.
What it really says: You spent no more than five seconds coming up with that weak bullshit.

A REFERENCE TO YOUR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

Notable examples: Kamal “Prince of Persia” Shalorus, Efrain “Hecho en Mexico” Escudero, Sako “The Armenian Psycho” Chivitchian, “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung
What you think it says: You’re proud of your heritage and want to represent the fighting spirit of your people.
What it really says: You will be met with boos and “U.S.A.!” chants every time you fight, even though you’ve lived in Glendale your entire life.

We feel just awful that we don’t do this every week, but you guys deserve some CagePotato t-shirts for all the hard work you’ve been putting in lately. The first honoree is Brooklyn-based artist Patrick Francisco, who e-mailed us some MMA-themed highlights from his body of work, including the above interpretation of Chuck Liddell painted onto a vinyl toy. We thought it was worth sharing, so thanks Patrick.

As for the rest of the winners, we’ll just pick a few of the recent comments about how boring Jake Shields is. (Ed. Note: CagePotato.com doesn’t necessarily agree that Jake Shields is a boring fighter, but we can appreciate a good one-liner.) Here we go…

("I am the greatest.")

Well, it looks like Jake Shields has been brainwashed by Strikeforce’s whimsical title-shot contention decisions.

In an appearance on MMAWeekly Radio this week, the former Strikeforce middleweight champ says that he wouldn’t be surprised if his UFC 121 bout with Martin Kampmann will decide who gets the next shot at current welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre.

"Obviously if I’m close to getting a title shot it’s a huge factor [in my decision to go back to 170]," Shields said. "I’m not really sure if this is going to be a number one contender’s fight or not, it hasn’t been mentioned to me, but there’s a good chance if I go out there and look really good doing it, it’s definitely a possibility."

(Look at you with your exciting style and appropriately fitting nickname. You make me sick.)

Jake Shields confirmed via his Twitter account today that he has officially signed with the UFC and said that he will indeed face Martin Kampmann in his Octagon debut at UFC 121, October 23 in his home state of California.

"UFC contract officially signed. Fighting Kampmann in CA in a few months. Thanks to @danawhite and everyone for their support," the former Strikeforce middleweight champion tweeted this afternoon.

(Jake initially felt some trepidations about it, but Dana assured him that everyone who signs a UFC contract takes pictures like this. PicProps: Sherdog, obviously.)

It must add a certain amount of insult to injury for Strikeforce that the UFC is taking its sweet time signing Jake Shields. It’s almost like Dana White wants to remind Scott Coker (and everybody else) that the MMA world starts and stops at his convenience, not theirs. Yeah, just as soon as he rolls out of bed around 11 o’clock this morning, hits the gym, lunches at Delmonico’s, spends the requisite few minutes berating Marty Cordova and swings by Pinkberry for his snack, he might – if nothing else comes up – get around to locking down the excommunicated Strikeforce champ. Why be so leisurely about it? Because he can, motherfucker. Where else is Shields really going to go?

Despite reports this week from Shields’ own team that he’d finally slapped his John Hancock on one of the UFC’s notoriously draconian legal agreements, the company itself continues to deny it has formally come to terms with the Cesar Gracie Jiu Jitsu product. According to an MMA Fighting.com story published late Friday night however, Shields’ signing actually is looming and once it goes down, he could be looking at facing Martin Kampmann at welterweight in his promotional debut.

(Time to make the donuts. / Photo courtesy of Strikeforce.)

GracieFighter.com makes it official — and we can forget this nonsense about Jake staying at middleweight:

Jake Shields will be debuting at the 170lbs weight division in the UFC. After careful consideration and consulting with UFC representatives it was determined Jake would be finally going back to his original fighting weight. Jake’s opponent is one of the UFC’s top contenders and will be announced shortly.

It’s obviously the best way to go. If Shields can run through one or two prominent welterweights by the time Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck finish their little lover’s spat on TUF 12 (and subsequent title fight), he’ll be nicely set up for a shot at the belt. Any guesses as to who he’ll draw first?

(Shields was pleasantly surprised to find his locker at the UFC training centre stuffed with the "respect" Strikeforce failed to show him.)

When Jake Shields announced that he would be testing the free agent waters when his Strikeforce contract ended this summer, every MMA fan and journalist collectively thought, "He’s going to the UFC." Strikeforce must have been thinking the same thing, considering they let Shields, who is their middleweight champ, go without a fight by releasing him without tendering a final offer before he began the open negotiation period with other promotions.

Even if a company like the UFC made an offer, Strikeforce, by rights could have matched any offer on the table, but by releasing him from his contract, the only thing they did was possibly prevent a bidding war resulting salary increase for Shields.

He told BJPenn.com that the release was totally unexpected.

“It came as kind of a surprise. I hadn’t really been talking to Strikeforce and pretty much everyone knows that I want to go to the UFC. We got our negotiations going with the UFC and they (Strikeforce) dropped me without any warning and it came out of nowhere. It is what it is and I’m moving ahead with the UFC contract and hopefully that will be worked out soon.”

("So long, losers!" / Photo courtesy of sports.sho.com)

By CagePotato Comment-Section "Godfatehre" [sic] Old, Bald and Irish

I was recently greeted with the news that Strikeforce would not only be releasing current Middleweight Champion Jake Shields (25-4-1), but they are not even going to bother negotiating with him or making counter-offers.

W.T.F.?

This latest thumb-in-the-eye just adds to the disrespectful treatment that Shields has received at the hands of Coker and Company. Since when does a committed professional fighter who is a former Rumble on the Rock champ, SHOOTO Middleweight champ, EliteXC’s first and only welterweight champ, who just happens to be on a 14 fight win streak, become an unwanted commodity?

We all saw the CBS ads for Strikeforce: Nashville. You know, the flashy ones showing DAN HENDERSON punching! DAN HENDERSON kicking a bag! DAN HENDERSON standing there, making no expression, yet at the same time, being a living legend! And he’s gonna fight outside of the UFC! And it’s for the CHAMPIONSHIP BELT! Yeah, bitch…that’s right! And he’s gonna fight some guy! Some "Shileds" fella….but we don’t have time to talk about him because we just spent all the time in this commercial talking about how wickedly awesome DAN HENDERSON is!

If you were Jake Shields, how could you not feel insulted?

("Tell ‘em you want a $125,000 base salary to start, increasing $25,000 with every win."
"And a custom Hummer, like the ones they give to Ultimate Fighter coaches."
"And an immediate shot at Anderson Silva."
"And a percentage of the…wait, what?")

After a difficult bidding period in which Jake Shields was asking for more money than Scott Coker thought he was worth, Strikeforce released their middleweight champion yesterday, putting Shields on the open market. Shields’s Strikeforce contract ended after his April title defense against Dan Henderson, which allowed other organizations to make bids on his services. Strikeforce was in the matching stage of the process, and had the option to meet any competing offers, but ultimately decided that letting Shields walk was their best option.

As Scott Coker said on MMA Weekly radio, "The numbers, there was a big gap between what we thought was real, and what we thought was going to work, and I call that the numbers dance. It is what it is, and we’re going to probably be moving forward with that tournament."

Tensions between Shields and Strikeforce have reportedly been strained since he appeared at WEC 48, sitting next to UFC president Dana White, who mouthed "he’s mine" at the camera. Strikeforce may have even tried to block Shields from attending Saturday’s Fedor vs. Werdum show. 

(Jason "Mayhem" Miller, shown here with two of the countless enemies he’s made over the years.)

Losing your middleweight champ to the UFC after his contract runs out? Disaster. But Strikeforce plans to turn their lemons into lemonade with an upcoming eight-man tournament that will crown a new champion in their deepest division. Here’s what King Coker had to say about the MWGP he’ll put together if Jake Shields splits the scene:

A two-event tournament means that the semi-finals and finals could potentially be held on the same night, Japan-style. And looking at that lineup, we see a lot of potential for sick matchups and serious grudge-settling. Think about it…

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAFighting)

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker did a Q&A with reporters following last night’s Strikeforce: Los Angeles event and touched on a variety of subjects including Herschel Walker, Nick Diaz, Renato Sobral and Jake Shields’ future in the promotion and the fact that Strikeforce has zero interest in signing Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson.

Surprisingly, Coker is still pushing for the Sobral-Lawal fight, despite both fighters repeated assertions that they won’t fight each other. 

Personally, I think Babalu should stay at middleweight and enter in the proposed 185-pound tournament Coker said the promotion will be putting on in two to three months.

(Maybe now I can get some RE$PECT!)

I just got back from the MMA Expo in Toronto and will have a bunch of interesting video, audio and text versions of interviews I did with Forrest Griffin, Karo Parisyan, King Mo’, Bibiano Fernandes, Firas Zahabi, Shonie Carter, Ryan Ford and Dan Miller up on the site this week.

Unfortunately, I was unable to land one with Jake Shields, as, immediately following his teaching session at the Paradise Warrior Retreat, he was whisked away in a car to catch a plane to Vancouver to attend tonight’s UFC show.

I had a small window of time for a brief exchange as he walked to the parking lot, so I handed him the Photoshop I did of him outside the pawn shop after selling the Strikeforce belt and questioned why it was so important that he be at the show tonight. I asked him if we can expect an announcement at the show that he was Octagon-bound, to which he replied, "Not yet," but what else could he say if an announcement is forthcoming?

I’d say there’s a pretty good chance we’ll hear something tonight.

*FYI, he had already seen the picture as a someone had sent him a copy.

"Yeah, I’ve seen that one. It’s funny, but it isn’t real," he said. "Somebody Photoshopped it."

(Let me get this straight…Catchweight bouts have title implications, now?)

Strikeforce held a media conference call today ahead of its mid-week June 16 show next Wednesday. On the call were Renato "Babalu" Sobral, his manager, Richard Welner, his opponent on the card, Robbie Lawler and Strikeforce president, Scott Coker. 

(Photo courtesy of Tim’s official Facebook fan page.)

by CagePotato contributor Matt Kaplan

Tim Kennedy is a family man, a rising MMA star, and a war hero. He is guided by a strong moral compass and upholds what he thinks is right. As a result, he will no doubt rub some of you the wrong way.

He is unapologetically pro-military. He thinks that too many high-profile fighters are irresponsible, and that your favorite scary MMA t-shirt is lame. His shorts will never promote alcohol, tobacco, gambling, or pornography, and he snickers at nicknames that have “Killer” or “Assassin” in them. He takes seriously his role as a professional athlete and would like to see more of the MMA community follow his lead.

For some of you, Tim’s patriotism and wholesome principles are breaths of fresh air. Others, however, might be wondering if his high horse actually has a name. Either way, there’s no denying that Tim is one of MMA’s most quintessential warriors (for real).

A U.S. Army Staff Sergeant with the 19th Special Forces Group, Tim is a trained sniper and combatives instructor whose combat heroism has earned him the Bronze Star. Now, with an already impressive military record to his credit, Tim is preparing for just his second fight as a full-time fighter and has already lined up in his crosshairs the Strikeforce middleweight championship belt.

On June 16 at Strikeforce: Los Angeles, Tim Kennedy (11-2) will climb into the cage with rugged South African veteran Trevor Prangley (22-5-1), his biggest test to date. Tim has yet to fight someone with the combination of size, strength, toughness, and experience that is Prangley, so he’s keeping to a basic plan of attack: dominate the fight in every possible way. Why get fancy, right?

CAGEPOTATO.COM: Your last fight was against Zak Cummings back in September. Why the long lay-off?

(Pretty sure we know who these "unnamed" individuals are)

Loretta Hunt from Sherdog is reporting that the Tennessee State Athletic Commission has recommended that five "unnamed" individuals involved in the April 17 post-fight Strikeforce: Nashville brawl face stiff punishments to the tune of a $20,000 fine and nine-month suspension from competing and cornering fighters at MMA events sanctioned by the Association of Boxing Commission partnering agencies.

According to Hunt, a sixth person was also identified and will also be cited for his part in the brawl, although the party was not licensed by the TAC for the event.

(Props: Johnny B. Submit your MMA fighter t-shirt designs by Sunday night, or regret it forever!)

It’s Friday afternoon, which means it’s time to give away some subscriptions to everybody’s favorite monthly MMA rag, Fight! Magazine. (By the way, the cover interview with Chael Sonnen in the May issue is worth the price of admission, so pick it up.) Three brave members of Potato Nation went above the call of duty this week…

Almost North on "Jake Shields Doesn’t Remember Most of First Round Against Hendo": 
So he missed the good part of the fight?

MoTropolis on "‘UFC Primetime: Rampage vs. Evans’ — Episode 3 Video": 
"I got him a snuggie since after I beat him retarded he is gonna be putting his clothes on backwards anyway."

(Don’t worry, Scott. Jake has it on 21-day buy-back)

According to Josh Gross’ latest column for SportsIllustrated.com, Strikeforce 185-pound champ Jake Shields’ manager and father, Jack Shields says that the promotion has yet to bother to contact them to attempt to negotiate a new contract.

"The time is ticking. We’d like to move forward as soon as possible,"the elder Shields told Gross on Monday. "I’d like to be negotiating right now."

Strikeforce reps blamed their busy event schedule for the delay, but a source told Gross that they have actually considered releasing Shields before an exclusive negotiating period expires in three weeks. Even after that period ends, the promotion still has the right to match any offer made by any other promotion, but the fact that they are pretending Shields doesn’t exist and discussing life after he leaves the organization essentially all but says they are conceding he will not be back.

(Video courtesy YouTube/FightHubTV.com)

Just when we thought we’d heard the last of his creepy lecherous sweatpant-wearing ass when it came to MMA, Gary Shaw has wriggled his way into a new interview with Fight Hub TV and shared his thoughts on the return of EliteXC, Gina, Jake Shields, Kimbo and whether or not he sees himself back in the MMA business in the future.

(Chan Sung Jung reacts to his decision loss to Leonard Garcia on Saturday night. We feel your pain, buddy. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.)

— WEC’s fighters are already seeing some benefits from their promotion’s first foray into pay-per-view. Though performance bonuses have totaled just $10,000 for recent WEC events, Zuffa handed out end-of-night bumps worth $65,000 following WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber. Picking up the hefty checks were: Leonard Garcia and Chan Sung Jung for their epic Fight of the Night brawl that ended in a controversial decision win for Garcia; Manny Gamburyan for shocking the world with his first-round Knockout of the Night against Mike Brown; and reigning lightweight champ Ben Henderson, for his quick guillotine choke Submission of the Night over Donald Cerrone.

— Only one bout from the 11-fight card didn’t get airtime on Saturday night: Former bantamweight title challenger Takeya Mizugaki handed Rani Yahya his second straight loss during the prelims, edging out the Brazilian by unanimous decision (29-28 x 2, 30-27).

— Dana White was so hot on Jose Aldo after Saturday night’s main event that he’s already talking about a three-title reign. "I had heard that he wants to move down a weight class, win that belt and then go to 155 to fight BJ in the UFC," White said during the post-event press conference. "If he can do that, I don’t know if he can cut that weight and make that light a weight division, but he’d be the first guy to win three titles in three different weight divisions." We’re all for ludicrously overblown hype, but can we wait until Aldo makes a couple more title defenses in his own division first?

(The signs were everywhere, including Jake’s FB and MySpace pages. How did we miss them?)

In an interview with All Headline News today, UFC president Dana White asserted that Strikeforce middleweight champ Jake Shields will be on his way to the Octagon sooner than later. Shields technically has one fight remaining on his SF contract, but it will likely expire before he has the opportunity to fulfill the obligation. White is confident that Shields, who definitely exited the promotion on a high note Saturday night with his dominant win over former PRIDE champion and UFC castaway Dan Henderson, will not be long testing free agent waters.

Although the wheels to add the 31-year-old Californian to the UFC’s stacked welterweight roster are not yet in motion, as soon as Strikeforce exercises its rights to re-sign Shields (something White is confident will likely not happen) he says the UFC will make an offer to the Cesar Gracie black belt.

“Jake Shields is definitely going to leave Strikeforce and he’s definitely coming to the UFC," White told AHN’s Shawn Krest.

(Props: TSGIGOR)

You see, guys? You see how easy it is to not turn a friendly interview-interruption into a goddamned Royal Rumble? More alternate realities here…

So here it is — the moment that might have sunk Strikeforce’s chances at getting on network television ever again. (As if the monotonous fights didn’t do enough damage to their stock.) When the video cuts away at the 0:15 mark, you miss two things: Jake Shields shoving Jason Miller for getting too close, and Gilbert Melendez shoving Miller immediately afterwards when it looks like Mayhem might retaliate. And then it’s time for the shit to have its blind date with the fan. At this point, Scott Coker’s only hope is that the post-event brawl creates enough heat that CBS wants to give them another chance, selling Strikeforce as the fight club where Anything Can Happen! More likely, CBS will simply want to cut ties with a volatile sport where anything that can go wrong often does.

So how much of the blame for the incident should lie with Miller, and how much should be put on the Scrap Pack? Should Melendez and the Diaz brothers et al. be charged with assault as some are suggesting? After the jump: Nick Diaz, Jason Miller, and Jake Shields give their sides of the story.

("You believe this guy? No towel between his head and hat. I will never understand some people as long as I live." Photo courtesy of the Strikeforce Weigh In Pics gallery on CombatLifestyle.com.)

A note before we get started: The CBS broadcast of tonight’s Strikeforce event may not be live in all areas, so please check your local listings before you run headlong into spoilerville. Now then, we’ve got a short but sweet lineup of fights in store for us, with three titles on the line: Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez defends his belt against invading DREAM champ Shinya Aoki, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal attempts to steal the crown from reigning light-heavyweight ruler Gegard Mousasi, and middleweight champ Jake Shields faces off against PRIDE/UFC legend Dan Henderson in the biggest fight of his career. Live Strikeforce: Nashville results await you after the jump, beginning at 9 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for round-by-round updates and the usual jokes about Frank Shamrock’s braces and Stephen Quadros’s clown-makeup. 

Tango & Cash. Pancho & Lefty. Lee Harvey Oswald and the CIA. All great duos, and yet none can last forever. So it is with Cage Potato’s own Ben & Ben. But before we break up the team for good, we’re getting together one last time to go head-to-head on Strikeforce: Nashville picks in this week’s MMA FightPicker (Heavy Hitter Pool 10 #1517, stand up!). If you haven’t made your picks yet, get to it. Time waits for no man, and neither does the UFC/Pride prize pack.

Henderson vs. Shields @ Strikeforce: Nashville…
BG: I don’t think he’ll run away with it, but Dan Henderson clearly holds more advantages in this matchup and should be able to take the victory. Hendo has serious knockout power, and unlike Shields’s past opponents, he won’t be manhandled on the ground.
BF: Agreed. Shields isn’t going to submit him and definitely can’t hold him down for five rounds. It’s a bad, bad matchup for him.

(Nice, playa.)

by Cage Potato contributor Matt Kaplan

Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields is starting to see his April 17 title defense against Dan Henderson for what it is: a win-win. Shields is heading into the last fight of his Strikeforce deal, and if he wins, he not only will have beaten a personal MMA hero, but he also will have UFC president Dana White knocking on his door. And if he loses, well, the UFC will still be knocking. Win or lose, the free agent Shields is getting paid.

In an exclusive Cage Potato interview, Shields spoke about exploring free agency, what he has that Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira does not, “definitely” wanting to fight Georges St-Pierre, and a Strikeforce 170- and 185-pound talent pool that, as far as he is concerned, is all but drained. Oh yeah, and he does not like Frank Shamrock.

Dana White recently claimed that you are being fed to Dan Henderson for the last fight of your contract. He suggested that Strikeforce and/or Showtime might be doing this so that if you lose, they won’t have to pay up for both you and Henderson.

Yeah, I don’t know. I’m not really sure what the motives are. Obviously it’s a really tough fight for the last fight on my contract. It’s not something I really want to push, but it’s a good fight for me as well. It’s a good opportunity to prove myself against a top fighter, so their motives aren’t really that big a deal to me. I’m just trying to go out there and do my thing and win a fight.

Have you and your management begun talks with Strikeforce about a new contract?

 
(Image courtesy of Jimbo Jones, who will probably not be winning the Six Deuce MMA poster contest.)

The non-stop wave of MMA action continues this coming Saturday in Nashville, as Strikeforce presents three title fights (and Jason Miller) at the Bridgestone Arena. Head over to fightpicker.cagepotato.com right now to start making your pool selections, or play the game on Facebook if you’re so inclined.

Unfortunately we can’t give away stolen televisions every week — congrats to TheDemon, by the way — but we still think the current FightPicker prize pool is worth checking out. A reasonable 500-chip buy-in will allow you access to the "MMA Fan Pack Pool 25 #1476." The winner of this pool will receive the following:

– A PRIDE T-Shirt
– A PRIDE 33 DVD
– A UFC "Best of 2009" DVD

Only 25 players are allowed entry, so look sharp. Now let’s take a look at the questions you’ll need to ace to score the loot…