(Cain Velasquez really knows how to spoil a good nap. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

Spike TV sent out a press release this morning to announce that they’d be showing a free encore presentation of UFC 110, the event that saw Cain Velasquez hammer Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira into a senseless oblivion, and – wouldn’t you know it? – it airs right at the same time as Strikeforce’s event on CBS on April 17.

Obviously, your hardcore fans are not going to miss a free live showing of Dan Henderson "coming for that belt" against Jake Shields just so they can see some fights that they probably already saw. As great as Ryan Bader’s knockout of Keith Jardine was, it’s not worth missing the Gilbert Melendez-Shinya Aoki fight just to see it again.

But just maybe the UFC is hoping to snag a couple of directionless remote control jockeys who feel like watching some fights but don’t realize it until they happen to stumble upon some. If they come across Spike TV first, maybe they’ll be sucked in without ever realizing/caring that they’re missing live action on CBS. Maybe they live their lives in much the same way, marring the first woman who said yes to a date with them and buying the first car they saw when they flipped open a copy of Auto Trader. Maybe this is a sad, yet oddly satisfying existence. Or maybe Spike TV just doesn’t have much else to offer on a Saturday night.

You know that show "NCIS: Los Angeles," right? No, it’s not the one where David Caruso takes off his sunglasses over and over. That’s "CSI: Miami." And it’s not the one with Lt. Dan from “Forrest Gump.” That’s "CSI: NY." And it definitely isn’t the one with Scott Baio and the chick from "Baywatch." That was "Charles in Charge" and sadly it’s been gone for some time now. No, "NCIS" is the one with LL Cool J and a bunch of cameos from Strikeforce fighters who mostly mill around in the background. At least, that’s what this promo would have me believe.

CBS’s latest genius idea (let’s not forget this work of art) to promote the upcoming Strikeforce event in Nashville on April 17 is to take a bunch of fighters and stick them in a show that’s normally about, I don’t know, solving crimes or something. But hey, if "News Radio" could work in an MMA storyline, any show can.

(Props: MMA Payout) 

Last week, CBS started airing TV spots like this one during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament to promote Strikeforce: Nashville. While it’s good that they’re getting some visibility among sports fans, the ads themselves leave a little to be desired. Let’s break it down:

— Does the ad look like it was filmed in one location in less than a half-hour? Check.

— Is Dan Henderson introduced as "one of the most decorated fighters in MMA history," while Jake Shields is simply introduced as "Jake Shields"? That’s a bingo.

— Are cheesy sound effects added when the fighters are hitting the heavy bag? Indeed.

— Does the swooping edit of Dan Henderson entering the frame at 0:12 make you laugh? LOL, yes.

— Is Dan’s delivery of "I’m comin’ for that belt" strangely passionless? Unfortunately so.

— Are the other two title fights on the card mentioned anywhere? Nah, son.

— Does it end with a Chad Kroeger-esque singer going "yeaaaaaah"? Man, does it ever.

("When I find out who did this to my window, I am going to Randleplex the shit out of them." Photo courtesy of flickr.com/photos/shosports.)

Strikeforce’s May 15th event in St. Louis — which is slated to feature the heavyweight clashes between Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers and Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva — picked up two more notable matchups this week. First off, BJJ prodigy Roger Gracie (2-0) is set to face off against explosive UFC/PRIDE veteran Kevin Randleman (17-14). Gracie’s grappling credentials include eight titles at the Mundials and sweeps of the 98kg and Absolute divisions at the 2005 ADCCs; his last MMA fight was two years ago, when he choked out Yuki Kondo at Sengoku 2. Randleman has suffered decision losses in his last two bouts against Mike Whitehead and Stanislav Nedkov, and has dropped nine of his last 12.

Meanwhile in the lightweight division, fast-rising prospect Lyle "Fancy Pants" Beerbohm (13-0, 12 wins by stoppage) will get his next test against former top 10 lightweight Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro. After a long period of injury-related inactivity, Ribeiro returned to MMA competition last year in DREAM, defeating Katsuhiko Nagata by TKO, but then losing a decision to Shinya Aoki. Beerbohm’s last two Strikeforce appearances saw him choke out Duane "Bang" Ludwig and score a doctor’s-stoppage TKO over Rafaello Oliveira.

Speaking of Strikeforce, their middleweight champ Jake Shields may not be sticking around after his next fight. As he told Graciemag:

Behold the sparse, no-bullshit poster for Strikeforce: Nashville, which clearly takes its design cues from this. Tickets for the April 17th event — priced from $25 to $195 — go on sale to the general public on Friday. Pre-sale begins today at 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT for Strikeforce Insider members.

Speaking of Strikeforce, Mauro Ranallo passes along the rumor that the Overeem vs. Rogers fight in May could be for Strikeforce’s heavyweight title, as Fedor Emelianenko’s status with the organization grows hazier. Facepalm, bro. If Fedor can’t make it work with Strikeforce, his only available option is to track down Josh Barnett in Dream. And after that? Is Zuluzinho available for a rematch?

("These barbarian Americans," Fedor thought to himself. "Worshipping laminated rectangles with names on them.")

Strikeforce has been laying suspiciously low lately, leading some to wonder if they’re having behind-the-scenes problems with Fedor Emelianenko or their broadcast partners; Gegard Mousasi‘s departure from M-1 two weeks ago added another wrinkle to the mystery. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker tried to shed what light he could yesterday, telling reporters that the organization would hold an event in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 17th, and that more announcements would come next week. No, it’s not much to work on. But recent reports have also clued us in on the following…

— The middleweight title fight between Jake Shields and Dan Henderson is a done deal for April. Said Shields: "I have a date (and) venue, but they told me to hold that back. Hopefully CBS. I think it’s CBS. There’s a slight possibility of Showtime because they’re still (working it out). I don’t know the rest of the card or any of that yet. But me and Dan’s on, and I’m hoping it’s on CBS."

10. Tom Lawlor sings CB Dollaway a lullaby

(UFC 100, 7/11/09)

Tom Lawlor was a 2-1 underdog in his bout with C.B. Dollaway at UFC 100. Conventional wisdom said that he’d be an entertaining guy to have on the card prior to the opening horn, but wouldn’t stand much of a chance against Dollaway’s dominant wrestling and smirking self-assurance. The entertaining part turned out to be true. Lawlor painted himself in homage to the infamous Just Bleed Guy for the weigh-in, and then used man-dog Seth Petruzelli as a prop in his entrance. That’s where the fun was supposed to stop, but just seconds into the first round he locked up an arm-in guillotine choke off a Dollaway takedown attempt and held on to it until his opponent’s lip uncurled and his eyes rolled back in his head. Maybe it wasn’t the most technically brilliant move, but he did choke C.B. Dollaway unconscious, which meant we didn’t have to listen to him talk for a little while. That ought to be worth something.

9. Jake Rosholt ruins Chris Leben’s hometown party

(UFC 102, 8/29/09)

UFC 102 in Portland, Oregon was supposed to be Chris Leben’s homecoming. Coming off a long steroid suspension following his loss against Michael Bisping, he drew the relatively inexperienced Jake Rosholt in his return. But early on in the fight it became apparent that Leben came to throw wild, looping bombs, while Rosholt came to fight a mixed martial arts bout. After trading on the feet for a little while Rosholt finally got smart and put Leben on his back long enough to lock up an arm-triangle choke. Leben considered tapping, but didn’t get around to it before his brain called it quits. Somehow, Rosholt got cut after losing his next bout, while Leben still has a job with the UFC. This crazy world.

(Props: Sherdog)

No longer a free agent, MMA living legend Dan Henderson is slated to challenge Jake Shields for Strikeforce’s middleweight belt at the organization’s next CBS card in April. Dana White may take full responsibility for Hendo’s exit from the UFC, but according to Henderson in the video interview above, the signing was the best thing for him, really: "The opportunity to fight on CBS is huge…and you just don’t get that elsewhere. To have the opportunities to still be able to fight the top guys in the world, that was one of my main concerns, and they have that here as well. There’s no red tape to go through with sponsorships. Clinch Gear‘s not banned from the organization. I’m just happy all the way around."

Responding to White’s recent claims that he’s permanently "done" with Henderson, Dan was his usual respectful self: "I think the fans know Dana White. Personally, as far as our relationship, he’s still gonna be alright with me, but business-wise maybe he has to put on a certain front for certain things. And either way I’ll say that he’s still fat and he needs to diet down a little bit. I’ve been telling him for a long time. Hes spending a lot of money on expanding those suits."

As for his next opponent, Henderson described Jake Shields as "bigger than me…I think he does cut quite a bit of weight to get to ’85" — which seems like an odd claim based on information he probably made up. And sure, it’s no Henderson vs. Silva II, or even Henderson vs. Marquardt, but whaddya gonna do: "I don’t know how excited the fans are gonna be about that fight," Henderson said. "But I think it’s a good matchup and I’m excited about it."

(On the next episode of Hoarders…)

According to a new report on FiveKnuckles.com, recent Strikeforce signee Dan Henderson is in "end stage" negotiations to face Strikeforce middleweight champ Jake Shields at the organization’s next CBS event in April. Bout agreements have yet to be signed, but the fight is reportedly in the process of being finalized.

Since his submission loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 82 last March, Henderson has gone 3-0, scoring victories over Rousimar Palhares, Rich Franklin, and Michael Bisping. Shields most recently picked up his 13th straight victory with a workmanlike decision over Jason Miller, but finished his eight previous fights, which included submission wins over Nick Thompson, Paul Daley, and Robbie Lawler. Compared to Shields, Henderson is larger, has fought more elite-level opponents, and has an obvious power advatange with his punches, but it’s hard to count Jake out when you look at the dominant run he’s had over the last four years. At any rate, it’s a great matchup, and it only makes sense for Strikeforce to put their new star into a title fight right away.

The only other fight on the April card at this point is Fedor Emelianenko vs. TBA. Sure, you’d think that would be a perfect time for Emelianenko to take on Alistair Overeem for Strikeforce’s heavyweight title, right? Wrong. Alistair Overeem has one more fight on on his K-1 contract, which he plans to take in the spring, meaning that he won’t be available to Strikeforce until later in the year. Though his manager, Bas Boon, promises that the Demolition Man will return to Strikeforce sometime in 2010, it’s very likely that he’ll be stripped of his title before that happens.

Fedor vs. Rogers post-event press conference – Watch more Funny Videos

Here’s some footage I took at the Strikeforce post-event presser on Saturday night, which all the main event fighters showed up for. You’ve already heard what Fedor had to say, but check out the reactions from everybody else…

— Fabricio Werdum says he’s earned a shot at Fedor, who Werdum believes is the best fighter in the world. After a week of rest, he’ll be back to training hard.

— Gegard Mousasi says people underestimated Sokoudjou, and called the fight a learning experience.

— Jason Miller blames himself for not capitalizing on the chances he had in his fight against Jake Shields, and for not training his wrestling enough; he was not expecting a "grapplefest."

— Shields still thinks that his best weight is welterweight. Scott Coker would like to put him against Marius Zaromskis or Hayato Sakurai at 170.

— Shields thinks Cung Le is avoiding him. "That’s why he vacated the belt, obviously, and fights a month later."

(The two pictures above contain 246 differences. Can you find them all? Photo courtesy of Esther Lin / Strikeforce)

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Fedor night in America. The Last Emperor show has come to the Chicagoland Area, and his dance partner for this evening will be lead-fisted work-doer Brett "The Grim" Rogers, who’s just itching for a chance to snatch that king spot. Also: MTV personality Jason "Mayhem" Miller fights Jake Shields for Strikeforce’s first middleweight title, large-skulled bruiser Antonio Silva squares off with grappling ace Fabricio Werdum, and Gegard Mousasi will toy with Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou for a while before damn near ending his life.

My name is BG, and I’ll be your guide for the evening. I’m currently chillin’ in the press pen at the Sears Centre, and I can already tell you that Fedor’s entrance music will be unbelievably Russian. Live results from the CBS broadcast can be found after the jump, beginning at 8 p.m. CT. Refresh the page every few minutes to get all the latest. Warning: The show may not be broadcast live in your area, so check your local listings before you go running headlong into spoilers.

On Saturday night Jason “Mayhem” Miller will get his chance to fight for a title on network TV in front of an American audience that might only recognize him as the “Bully Beatdown” guy.  He’s just fine with that, but damn if he can figure out why Jake Shields is the betting favorite in this fight.  I spoke with Miller for an SI.com feature earlier this week, and, as usual, he was at no loss for words.  On every topic from Shields’ stand-up game to medication and cliff notes, “Mayhem” has an opinion.  He’d like to go ahead and share them with you, if you don’t mind.

BF: First off, I have a bone to pick with you.

JM: What did you just call me?

We met this summer at UFC 100 when the whole Fight Magazine crew was hanging out in Vegas, and you and I had what I thought was a pleasant conversation.  Then I read your column in Fight the next month and you referred to that specific conversation while referring to me as a “chisel-faced zombie.”

Well, are you?

I guess I have kind of a square head, but zombie?

Hell man, I don’t know.  Maybe.  If the shoe fits.

Okay, fair enough.  Let’s talk about your fight.  Last time I checked, Shields was a pretty heavy favorite against you.   

Yeah, I know.  I’m shocked.  I really am.  But he’s on a pretty good streak, so I guess I understand.

…and Brett Rogers can appreciate an attractive woman. Photo courtesy of the Strikeforce Fedor vs. Rogers: Press Conference Pics set on CombatLifestyle. A few more good ones after the jump.

(Props: M1mixfight)

Letting Jerry Millen and his D-bag friend Ron introduce this footage of Fedor Emelianenko kickin’ it in Stary Oskol may be an immediate buzzkill, but stick with it and you’ll catch the Glorious Sweater of Absolute Victory paying its respects at church and settling down for a nice cup of tea. Hopefully tonight’s episode of Fight Camp 360 will shed a little more insight on where the sweater came from and what it might want from us.

Remember when "Mayhem" Miller and Jake Shields vowed to hype the hell out of their Strikeforce title fight to make sure fans tuned in to CBS on November 7?  Yeah, well, that hasn’t really happened.  They exchanged some barbs over Miller’s stated goal to "beat the piss" out of Shields, but since the fight’s been signed the trash talk has really stayed at a simmer.  We can only assume that Shields’ recent Twitter post is an attempt to kick things up a notch.  It simply can’t be a legitimate possibility that Shields would replace Miller as "Bully Beatdown" host, because no MTV executive not currently trying to bring the company down from the inside would trade Miller’s lower-primate-on-crack persona for Shields’ stoic hard-ass routine.  Don’t get us wrong, Shields is great as a bully-beater, but the only thing that guy could host is a tapeworm.  Dude just doesn’t have the panache.

According to oddsmakers, however, he does have the better chance to bring home the belt.  Shields is currently going off at about a 3-1 favorite, with Miller at +220.  Whaddaya say, anyone in the Potato Nation have the grapefruits to take a chance on an underdog with a severe chemical imbalance? 

(It’s not a damn library, Mayhem. For the last time, buy something or get out.)

Strikeforce put Jake Shields and “Mayhem” Miller on a media conference call today in order to get one thing straight: you’d have to be a real jerk to miss their fight on the Nov. 7 Chicago event on CBS.  Okay, so they didn’t word it exactly like that, but Miller came close, saying that he can’t be blamed if MMA fans don’t watch because, “I’m Twittering, MySpacing and Facebooking. I’m out there. I might as well be spray painting about it on walls.”  When reached for comment about that last remark, Jeff Monson issued a prolonged, cold stare before slowly shaking his head and then disappearing into the night. 

This card also has that whole Fedor Emelianenko/Brett Rogers thing going on, but Strikeforce is drawing the heat where it can for right now.  Something about Fedor’s blank facial expressions and cryptic Russian phrases don’t translate well on conference calls, and Rogers is most likely trying not to give away any more vital parts of his game plan.  Instead, Scott Coker had to answer some hard questions about what’s going on with Strikeforce’s contracts, particularly with their champions (looking at you, Overeem).

(Hey, don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it. Image courtesy of kamipro.)

Strikeforce’s "Fedor vs. Rogers" card on 11/7 has locked down a co-headliner. According to MMA Weekly, Jake Shields and Jason "Mayhem" Miller will fight for the organization’s undisputed middleweight title — not one of those weak-ass "interim" belts. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker explains the situation:

(Photo courtesy of MTV. Yes, Jake was a two-time bully-beater.)

Yesterday we ran an interview with Jason "Mayhem" Miller, in which the Bully Beatdown host vowed to "beat the piss out of Jake Shields" and "smash him" when they fight, and claimed that he does "everything better than him." Well, word got back to Shields, and he’s not too happy about it. The former EliteXC welterweight champ, who’s no stranger to telling fighters that it is in fact they who suck, had this to say to GracieFighter in response (tip via TheGarv):

(Don’t look him in the eyes unless you want two handfuls of poop thrown at you. Photo courtesy of MTV.)

A year ago, Jason Miller was just another fighter with colorful hair and ridiculous ring entrances. Now, he’s the host of a hit MTV series, a video game character, a budding actor, and a frequent target of loose women. We chatted with Mayhem yesterday about his vida loca, as well as his (possibly) upcoming fight with Jake Shields in Strikeforce. As usual, Mayhem did not disappoint…

*****

CAGEPOTATO.COM: Hey Jason, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with me. What have you been up to this week?
MILLER: Come on man, check my Twitter, what’s wrong with you! I’ve been at EA Sports in Orlando getting bitmapped into their machine so that I appear as myself in their video game, doing the moves that I do and making the sounds that I make when I get hit, which was really funny.

Why do you love Twitter so much? You seem to be obsessed with it.
Yeah, Twitter kicks ass because it gives me an outlet for all the crazy thoughts that constantly pop into my head, and if I can share those and get the rest of America on my wavelength, then I guess I’m doing my part.

Bully Beatdown is now in its second season. I love the show, but do you ever want to say to these bullied people, “Hey, grow a pair, and learn to defend yourself instead of going to a reality show to solve your problems”?
You want me to bully the victims into getting tougher? Some of these people just aren’t tough. It’s just the way of the world, and they have a right to not be bullied and picked on constantly. I’m happy to entertain the masses with the fact that there’s always somebody out there who’s tougher than you, and can kick your ass.

(Photo courtesy of 411mania.)

According to Graciemag.com, Brazilian middleweight standout Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza has signed a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce, and will make his debut at an October 25th event in Fresno, California — reportedly the same event that will see Fedor Emelianenko‘s Strikeforce debut. Souza has spent the last five fights of his career competing for DREAM in Japan, where he made it to the finals of their middleweight grand prix before succumbing to a Gegard Mousasi upkick, and had two contentious fights with Jason Miller. After their last match ended in a no-contest due to an illegal kick, Jacare and Mayhem were scheduled to fight for a third time at DREAM.11 (October 6th, Yokohama) for DREAM’s middleweight belt. It’s unclear if that fight will still be happening, though Japan MMA hears a rumor that Paulo Filho will be stepping in for Souza against Miller.
 
Souza’s Strikeforce signing is particularly interesting because Scott Coker recently announced that Jake Shields will fight for the organization’s interim middleweight title in October. Shields’s opponent hasn’t yet been announced, and Souza’s first opponent hasn’t been named either. You don’t have to be a genius to figure this one out. The winner of the interim middleweight title fight will face Cung Le whenever Le feels like taking a break from his action movie career and stepping back into the cage.

(You know, Cub, in bull riding this would have been considered a victory. Photo courtesy of Newsday.)

— According to an interview on intheguard.tv, WEC featherweight/human highlight-reel Jose Aldo says he’ll be getting a much-deserved shot at Mike Brown‘s belt at WEC 45 (November 11th, location TBA). Aldo has racked up five consecutive TKO/KO victories during his stint in the WEC, most recently slicing Cub Swanson’s head wide open in 8 seconds at WEC 41 last month. Brown made his second successful title-defense at the same event, out-pointing Urijah Faber in a classic five-rounder to pick up his tenth straight win. 

— With Strikeforce middleweight champ Cung Le out of action due to a blossoming acting career, Scott Coker has announced that Jake Shields will fight for the organization’s interim middleweight title in October; the exact date, location, and Shields’s opponent will all be announced later. Shields has long been known as one of the best welterweights in the world, but his first-round choke-out of Robbie Lawler last month proved that he could be very competitive at a higher weight. Plus, his homey’s already got the welterweight division on lock…

(Man, wouldn’t it be ironic if they were actually related?)

Jake Shields to Fight! Magazine following "Lawler vs. Shields" (via OMA):

(How’s taste this career-shattering loss? Photo by Esther Lin for Showtime Sports.)

What a weekend of fights, and amazingly, all without the benefit of the initials “UFC.”  Instead we had Strikeforce and the WEC (okay, a Zuffa property, but still) teaming up to blow our minds without charging us fifty bucks for a pay-per-view.  Now we begin the difficult task of using the Potato Index’s completely arbitrary numerical rankings system to see who’s up and who’s down after the eventful weekend.

Mike Brown +209
He beat Faber fair and square, no flukes needed, and he also proved he can last through five tough rounds.  Instead of making broken hand-related excuses for Faber, let’s finally all give Brown the unqualified props he clearly deserves.

Urijah Faber -37
We can play the ‘what if?’ game with his broken hand all we want, but that’s the fight game.  That he still fought well and fought hard afterwards, even in a losing effort, deserves to be mentioned.  But he’s not the world’s best featherweight as long as Brownie is around, and that deserves mentioning too.

Strikeforce Press Conference Lighting Round – Watch more Funny Videos

Following the Strikeforce post-show press conference on Saturday night (which I’ll post highlights from later today, as well as some other goodies), I ran around the room interrogating as many fighters as I could before we were all kicked out of the Scottrade Center. The results are above: The Grim talks wall-punching, Gilbert Melendez talks redemption, Jake Shields rants about his hatred of Joe Riggs, and Nick Diaz says he wants an important opponent — like Georges St. Pierre. More to come…

(Props: MMA Scraps)

("Guys, you can get some of those cupcakes *after* we take this face-off picture, okay? Guys?" Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Hello, and welcome to a special "From Press Row" edition of the CagePotato liveblog. That’s right – I’m typing to you from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis tonight, not from my usual spot on my couch in Brooklyn. The good part? I’m about 25 feet from the cage and wedged between some of the brightest minds in MMA journalism. The bad part? Slamming beers, eating wings, and loudly showing bias towards my favorite fighters is frowned upon here, apparently. But we’re gonna try to have a good time anyway. Live round-by-round results are after the jump, starting at 9 p.m. CT. Hit that "read more" link and refresh the page every few minutes to get all the latest. Time to do work, son.

(Kevin Randleman is athletic *and* explosive! Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

All fighters successfully weighed in today for Saturday’s Strikeforce event, which will be held at the Scottrade Center and broadcast on Showtime. CageWriter passes along this little detail from the weigh-in:

Yeah, that sounds about right. The numbers are after the jump. Don’t forget to swing by tomorrow night starting at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT as we liveblog the televised card. Fire up, Potato Nation!

(My God, the animosity between these two. It’s like the entire room could burst into flames at any moment.)

MMA fans have a full dance-card this weekend, with Strikeforce putting on a stacked Showtime event on Saturday night (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT), and the WEC following it up on Sunday night with a show on Versus headlined by featherweight champion Mike Brown’s second meeting with Urijah Faber (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT). Be sure to come back here Saturday night for the Strikeforce liveblog — and get psyched for the whole shebang by reading the latest installment of the longest-running MMA argument on the Internet. Ben vs. Ben starts right now…

Brett Rogers says he wants to stand and bang with Andrei Arlovski on Saturday. That sounds like a horrible idea for "The Grimm," given that Arlovski is just as big and strong as he is but with much more technical striking. Does Rogers stand a chance with that strategy, or is he an unconscious man walking at this point?

BG: WTF? Is Rogers supposed to take Arlovski down and sub him out with his battle-tested Grimjitsu? I’m not trying to hate on Brett’s ground game, because none of us have actually seen it; he’s a brawler, and thus far he’s only had to face other brawlers. Arlovski, on the other hand, actually has some submission skills in his back pocket. So while we know that Rogers will be fighting an uphill battle on Saturday night, I’d say his odds decrease even further if the fight goes anywhere else besides stand-and-bangville.

Brett’s only shot is to stick to his bread-and-butter and swing those hamhocks. The fact that Arlovski’s hands are far more technical means that the Grimm will probably get picked apart. But Arlovski’s unreliable chin makes him vulnerable to what Rogers brings into the cage. That’s what makes this fight compelling for me: Brett Rogers definitely should not be able to beat Andrei Arlovski — but he just might.

BF: With regard to the submission skills in Arlovski’s back pocket, I hope your finger slipped and you really meant to type ‘submission skill.’ As in, his straight achilles lock. That’s all the dude’s got on the mat and he goes to it like it’s his signature killer move, so let’s not pretend that there any Arlovski-platas in the near future.

(If Arlovski comes in with the same game plan as that big-ass tire, at least we know Rogers will be ready for him.)

There are exactly two indicators that something is important in contemporary American society: 1) there is a commemorative plate about it, and 2) you can bet on it.  Don’t believe me?  Then just consider two of the most important things happening in MMA this week – the Strikeforce event on Showtime this Saturday night, and the “Ultimate Fighter” Kimbo-mania that has set the internets on fire. Kimbo Slice is currently a +275 underdog to make it into the final two on this season of TUF.  The fact that there’s even a line this early on tells you what a big deal it is.  Still waiting on that commemorative plate, though.

Of course, if you like something closer to immediate gratification, you can just choose from these lines on Saturday’s Strikeforce fights, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com:

Jake Shields (-115) vs. Robbie Lawler (-105)
Brett Rogers (+300) vs. Andrei Arlovski (-340)
Joe Riggs (+105) vs. Phil Baroni (-115)
Scott Smith (+300) vs. Nick Diaz (-310)
Kevin Randleman (-110) vs. Mike Whitehead (+105)
Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante (-370) vs. Mike Kyle (+300)

The breakdown…

(Some say Goldberg had a legit sexual harassment claim after what happens in the 0:49 mark in this interview, but clearly he was asking for it walking in there dressed like that.)

The war of words between Strikeforce fighters Joe Riggs and Phil Baroni this week seemed to promise an interesting encounter on today’s media conference call to promote Saturday night’s Strikeforce event on Showtime.  The only problem is that Riggs failed to pick up a phone in time, so Baroni was left alone with Jake Shields and the notoriously tight-lipped Robbie Lawler to do all the talking.  Fortunately Baroni had prepared all his life for just such a moment.

Some highlights from the NYBA: