(I got blood on my hands and there’s no remorse, I got blood on my…well, you get the point.) 

We’ll be completely honest, folks, it has been awhile since the official CagePotato Parlay has shown us a return worth getting excited about, or any return for that matter. Bill collectors were ignored, drugs were peddled, and we even had to turn a trick or two to solve our gambling debts, but as they say, it is always darkest before the dawn. Last week, we actually managed to end up in the green, so what better opportunity to keep the ball rolling than the UFC’s debut on FX tomorrow? Check out the betting lines, courtesy of BestFightOdds, along with our advice below.

Main Card
Pat Barry (-165) vs. Christian Morecraft (+145)
Mike Easton (-340) vs. Jared Papazian (+280)
Duane Ludwig (-110) vs. Josh Neer (-110)
Jim Miller (-170) vs. Melvin Guillard (+150)

Undercard
Nick Denis (-240) vs. Joseph Sandoval (+200)
Daniel Pineda (-120) vs. Pat Schilling (EV)
Fabricio Camoes (-325) vs. Tom Hayden (+265)
Kamal Shalorus (-135) vs. Habib Nurmagomedov (+115)
Charlie Brenneman (-300) vs. Daniel Roberts (+250)
Eric Schafer (-155) vs. Jorge Rivera (+135)

Thoughts…

(You’ve given us a lot to think about, weird yoga girl. Props: EpicTunaMan via Fightlinker)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere…

- Chris Weidman to Face Demian Maia at UFC on FOX 2 (MMA Fighting)

- MiddleEasy.com Is Against SOPA/PIPA (MiddleEasy)

- Kenny Florian to Provide Color Commentary for UFC’s Second Team (5th Round)

- Big Bang: Duane Ludwig UFC on FX Interview Exclusive (MMA Mania)

- Prince of Persia: Kamal Shalorus talks UFC on FX 1 (Exclusive) (Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com)

- First Look at ‘UFC Undisputed 3′ Video Game — Videos & Photos Dump (The Fight Nerd)

- What Did the Fighters Do After UFC 1? (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Jim Miller on Melvin Guillard: ‘I’m a Fan of the Way He Fights’ (FightLine)

- DREAM and ProElite Announce New Partnership (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Georges St. Pierre Would Rather Fight Nick Diaz Than Carlos Condit (MMA Convert)

- WWE Head Nixes Punk-Sonnen Entrance (MMA Payout)

- Zuffa’s IQ Test (Fight Opinion)

(Guillard is relishing the opportunity to bounce back from his disappointing loss to Joe Lauzon by beating Jim Miller Saturday night.)

We caught up with Melvin Guillard last month in Toronto at the MMA Expo and we had the opportunity to speak with “The Young Assassin” about a variety of topics, including his insane amount of fights, his loss to Joe Lauzon and his upcoming fight this weekend against Jim Miller at UFC on FX 1.

As always, Melvin had a lot to say, but it’s obvious that he has become a much more mature and humble fighter the past few years thanks to the support of his former coaches and teammates at Jackson’s MMA. The newest member of Imperial Athletics’ “Blackzilian” team is confident that he’ll one day be the UFC lightweight champ and he foresees himself being a coach on one of the upcoming seasons of The Ultimate Fighter.

Check out the video interview after the jump.

( The Millers and the toughest fighter in the family, Danny Jr.)

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting Dan Miller, you’d know that he is one of the nicest and most accommodating fighters on the UFC roster. What many of you may not know is that Dan and his wife Kristin have been on a rollercoaster the past two years, having lost their daughter Alexis shortly after she was born and learning soon after that their infant son, Danny Jr. has a rare, and often fatal disorder known as autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease.

Danny is on daily dialysis and is awaiting  a kidney transplant from his aunt as his are more than triple the size that they should be and are filled with cysts. The surgery will allow Danny to live a much more normal life, but the procedure and aftercare are not cheap. His medication after the operation, the Millers were told by Danny’s specialist, will cost upwards of $10,000 per month, and will only be partially covered by their insurance provider. To top it all off, only part of his operation will be covered by their HMO.

(Look into my crystal ball Kenny, and ye shall see thine future.) 

There is a lot on the line at UFC 136. Not just the two titles and the future title match implications, but a chance for two men to finally capture the gold that has long eluded them. I’m speaking of Kenny Florian and Gray Maynard of course, who’ve both been chasing UFC gold for the better part of their careers, only to fall inches short of the finish line. For Gray, who many people felt deserved a title shot over current champion Frankie Edgar in the first place, it was the resilience of the champ that proved to be his undoing. And for Florian, it was just a terribly unlucky spell when it came to title fights. But come Saturday, both men will have a chance to erase our doubts and finally move up to that deluxe apartment in the sky.

Unfortunately, Florian and Maynard are not the only men who have felt the repercussions of looking directly into the belt. There are a few guys out there who just seem destined to be number 2 in a company that loves to fuck with the number 2. Anyway, we thought we would awkwardly point out six of them, excluding “Kenflo” and “The Bully,” from across the room for your reading pleasure. And we’re going by Brock Lesnar rules here, so interim belts don’t count. Enjoy.

Full betting lines for this Sunday’s UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle event have been released, which means it’s time to steal some money from your old lady’s purse and tell her you’re going for a walk. And if you follow our gambling advice very carefully, you’ll be able to return the cash before she notices and earn some extra cigarette-money in the process. (Ed. note: You’ll probably lose everything like usual. Are things ever going to change with you, Jim?) Check out the juiciest lines, via bestfightodds.com:

Main Card (Versus, 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT)
Chris Lytle (-107) vs. Dan Hardy (even)
Jim Miller (-145) vs. Ben Henderson (+145)
Charles Oliveira (-130) vs. Donald Cerrone (+130)
Amir Sadollah (-310) vs. Duane Ludwig (+273)

Preliminary Card (Facebook.com, 5:45 p.m. ET / 2:45 p.m. PT)
C.B. Dollaway (-250) vs. Jared Hamman (+222)
Joseph Benavidez (-231) vs. Eddie Wineland (+225)
Kyle Noke (-144) vs. Ed Herman (+145)
Karlos Vemola (-210) vs. Ronny Markes (+201)
Jimy Hettes (-350) vs. Alex Caceres (+313)
Cole Miller (-387) vs. T.J. O’Brien (+335)
Danny Castillo (-118) vs. Jacob Volkmann (+107)
Edwin Figueroa (-300) vs. Jason Reinhardt (+288)

Let’s get that money…

(Unlike the rest of us, the eye candy in the back decided to open her eyes for Cyborg.)

By Jason Moles

While suffering through The Change-Up this weekend, I started thinking about the hypothetical situation of MMA fighters switching bodies. Obviously, one fighter would get the short end of the stick, like in all relationships, but other than that, it’s all good news from there. Imagine the man with a warrior spirit and broken body upgrading for a newer model. Imagine the heavy-duty gas-guzzler being replaced by a tiny, eco-friendly, electric car. Imagine experience and youth joining forces to reign terror on anything that steps in its way. So who most deserves a cinematic body-swap? Read on and find out…

BJ Penn and Brock Lesnar

Advantage: Baby Jay

For years, Penn has been criticized for his lack of self-discipline and willingness to stay in shape. Switching bodies would solve that problem and create what might be the best heavyweight in UFC history. A Nova Uniao Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with explosive striking and a granite chin, Penn has everything that Lesnar wishes he had. The Prodigy would be a wrecking ball at heavyweight if he had Brock’s body — as long as the viking took the diverticulitis thing with him. If he had to keep the illness during the switch, then I guess we could all agree that we’d like to see Josh Koscheck trade bodies with Brock.

Don’t drink and:  drive, dial, text, facebook, or photoshop. -Anonymous

Let’s face it, Nation.  The lightweight field in the UFC  is a hopeless clusterfoxtrot.  Half of the names in the top ten last summer are either not at 155 anymore, or suddenly non-factors.  Six months ago, the WEC-UFC roster merger was supposed to clear up, once and for all, who the best fighters were.

Well….

The UFC title fight between Gray Maynard and champ Frankie Edgar was supposed to coincide nicely with the WEC’s own lightweight title fight at the December 16th event, the last by the promotion.  Anthony “Showtime Kick” Pettis defeated champion Ben Henderson by a close (but stupifyingly impressive) decision, something you would assume gives Henderson some legitimate claim to a title shot, or at least a number to get in line.

Two weeks later, Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar go have themselves a fun little match in which they both manage to kick the other’s ass, but nobody wins.  Seriously, it’s a draw.

(The pink-shirted gangster and the Canadian cover-boy have compiled the two longest win streaks in UFC history. Props: fightworld.com.br)

If Jim Miller can sock away his eighth consecutive UFC victory in August, he’ll become just the seventh fighter in the promotion’s history to accomplish that feat [ed. note: oh well]; Cain Velasquez also has a chance to join the club in November. [ed. note: He didn't, but Junior Dos Santos did.] With that in mind, we figured it would be a good time to publish a stats list of the UFC’s greatest win streaks — both all-time, and ongoing.

For the purposes of these lists, we only included fighters whose UFC win streaks were unbroken by draws or no-contests. However, if a fighter competed for different promotions between stints in the UFC, only the UFC fights are counted. If we’ve accidentally omitted somebody, please let us know in the comments section. And as with our previous stats lists, timelines, and leaderboards, we’ll periodically update this page when there are changes. Now let’s get to the numbers…

(Jim Miller viciously gnaws on Mac Danzig’s nipple at UFC 100.)

Following his seventh-straight Octagon victory — a third-round TKO over Kamal Shalorus at UFC 128 — Jim Miller will continue his arduous climb up the lightweight ladder at UFC on Versus 5 (August 14th, Milwaukee), where he’ll meet former WEC champ Ben Henderson. Henderson had his Octagon debut last month at UFC 129, scoring a unanimous decision victory over Mark Bocek, which helped wash away some of the shame from being one of MMA’s all-time greatest highlight-reel victims.

Fun fact: No fighter in the UFC has ever won eight fights in a row without earning a title shot. That would be an encouraging statistic for Miller, but the lightweight division is so clogged at the top right now — especially considering the delayed rematch between Edgar and Maynard, and Anthony Pettis being set up for a title shot if he beats Clay Guida in June — that Miller might have to keep winning for another full year before he gets the call.

(Video courtesy YouTube/TruPlya777)

- Top 25 moments in MMA history (BleacherReport/MMA)

- 25 ridiculous Jesus tattoos (HolyTaco)

- Rich Franklin vs. Lil’ Nog slated for UFC 133 in Philly (Twitter)

- Jim Carrey to guest star on “The Office” (ScreenJunkies)

- The 10 Most Fearsome Sets Of Quads In MMA (Clutch.MTV)

- Who’s the NBA’s greatest road warrior? (ScoresReport)

- Lightweight Jim Miller Wants to fight UFC welterweight champ GSP (LowKick)

- 5 Secrets Women Keep From Men (TheRugged)

- How to build a survival kit (MadeMan)

- Ken Shamrock sidelined with staph infection (MMAFighting)

- Elmo is a pervert (TuVez)

- Brittney Palmer is so nice to us, we really should get her flowers (MMAFix)

(A few more fights and Melendez will finally realize his dream of owning matching gloves. Pic: ESPN)

In the weeks since the UFC seized control of Strikeforce, there has understandably been a ton of talk about the potential for cross-promotional superfights. Even as honchos from both companies hold firm that it these dream fights won’t happen right away, the fanboy in all of us can’t help but titter a bit over the thought of Overeem vs. Velasquez, Diaz vs. St. Pierre or Fedor vs. Couture. Fine, maybe that last one would’ve been better had it gone down back in the ’70s, but you see our point. With apologies to the abovementioned dudes however, in the wake of last weekend’s “Diaz vs. Daley” show we can’t help but feel the most valuable commodity the UFC acquired with Strikeforce may well be Gilbert Melendez.

And we mean, like, right now. Immediately. As long as we can all agree that Strikeforce is just beginning its trudge toward the slow, painful death of the dinosaur, dodo and WEC (which we do, right?) there is simply no reason to confine Melendez to a terminally ill roster where he is essentially the only legitimate lightweight. Especially when the UFC lightweight division – arguably the best, most competitive weight class on the planet – has so many current problems. Problems that the abrupt addition of Melendez might solve right away. We explain, after the jump …

(Video Courtesy of YouTube/TheGarv)

Kevin Garvey from TheGarv.com caught up with Frankie Edgar over the weekend at Lou Neglia’s Ring of Combat and he touched on a number of topics with the UFC lightweight champ.

One of the most interesting tidbits came when “The Garv” asked the New Jersey native if he has ever thought of dropping down to featherweight considering he’s a relatively small 155-pounder. Edgar replied that he would probably have no problem making the 145-pound weight limit as he typically walks around at 160, but his focus is on clearing out the lightweight division right now.

(“Us Californians have a pretty chill attitude about the law of gravity, brah.” Photo courtesy of MMAFighting)

Jon Jones will be defending his new belt against former teammate Rashad Evans, Urijah Faber will be rematching Dominick Cruz in another title fight (this time at bantamweight), and we probably won’t be seeing Mirko Cro Cop around these parts again. But what’s in store for the other winners and losers from UFC 128‘s main card? Allow us to offer a few suggestions…

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua: The obvious matchup is Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Rampage is fighting Matt Hamill at UFC 130 in May, but I think Shogun vs. Rampage 2 is worth booking for this fall no matter what happens in the Hamill fight. Rua and Jackson’s history in PRIDE creates an easy-to-promote storyline, and to be honest, Shogun could probably use a few more months to get in shape. Not to take anything away from Jon Jones’s brilliant performance on Saturday night, but Shogun looked like he usually does when coming back from knee surgery — a little soft, and with questionable conditioning.

Eddie Wineland: With Miguel Torres also booked at UFC 130, the only other option that makes sense is former bantamweight title contender Joseph Benavidez, who deserves a higher-profile fight after being buried in a dark match against Ian Loveland this weekend. I’ll even go one step further and suggest the event where this match should take place: UFC on Versus 4, main card.

(“’I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.’ Walt Whitman, bitches! What!” Pic: UFC.com)

If you believe Jon Jones’ personal Twitter feed, it sounds like he, Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn chased down and subdued a criminal crackhead this afternoon after they witnessed said crackhead stealing a GPS navigation system out of some lady’s car. That’s Jersey for you. Seriously though, can you even imagine the poor, unlucky-ass vagrant who’s just out for his Saturday afternoon smash-and-grab when he suddenly finds himself involved in a foot pursuit with this fucking guy? That’s one race you are not going to win, son. Yahoo’s Steve Cofield has the story, though to get the gist you really only have to read the following two sentences, which sound like they came out of a goddamned Joseph Wambaugh novel or some shit: “In the scuffle, the robber was bloodied. The trainers said some blood got on their pants.” Pure Poetry, Cofield, for real.

Now, if Jones manages to follow up his citizen’s arrest by winning the UFC light heavyweight title tonight against Shogun Rua at UFC 128? That’ll make for a pretty epic day, man. Speaking of epic, our live blog of the PPV event kicks off at 10 p.m. EST. Prior to that, we’ll probably shoot you some short recaps of the SpikeTV prelims, too, if we feel like it. Don’t be afraid to hit refresh early and often. You won’t want to miss this …

(Damn you, Tom Petty. The waiting *is* the hardest part. Pic: Rotoexperts.com)

Crazy times at lightweight right now, no? With Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard drawing even at UFC 125, top contenders Evan Dunham and George Sotiropoulos soiling their drawers in recent intended tune-up fights and the UFC playing a carnival shell game with Anthony Pettis’ future, the whole division looks like the end of a bad episode of Monday Night Raw – 20 guys brawling senselessly in the ring while the announcers yell unintelligible shit into their microphones and the screen fades to black. Not to mention, as soon as Zuffa, LLC realizes that Strikeforce has become nothing more than a vestigial organ and folds it into the UFC, Gilbert Melendez will likely show up claiming instant No. 1 contender status. Probably just a day or two after Dana White promises a title shot to somebody else.

God willing and the creek don’t rise, we’ll get some answers over the next couple of months. Edgar and Maynard will (fingers crossed) settle their differences for good at UFC 130, the Pettis Hypothesis will be proved or disproved against Clay Guida in June and either Dunham or Sotiropoulos will get back on track after their newly-announced bout at UFC 132. Until then though, it’s just a goddamn schmazz. When you read our latest rankings after the jump, you’ll see that the top three spots in the lightweight division are pretty self-explanatory. After that, we’re really just picking names out of a hat.

(Something’s different here. I just can’t put my finger on it)

It kind of snuck up on you there, didn’t it? Don’t worry, us too. Funny, we must’ve had other stuff on our minds this week because it feels like we haven’t given UFC 128 the attention it probably deserves. Without the UFC’s historic acquisition of that other company whose name already escapes us, this weekend’s main event featuring largely overlooked champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and insanely hyped challenger Jon Jones would be one of the most hotly anticipated fights of the year. Instead, it feels as if it’s already on top of us and we haven’t even figured out if Jones and Rashad Evans are still boys yet.

Anyway, you know what you came here for. As always, the odds for this week’s event come to us from Sportsbook.com and our picks are presented for entertainment purposes only. Also, for the purposes of WINNING MAJOR WADS OF CASH! What! … yeah … ahem … you’ll have to excuse us, we’re pretty jacked about this one. After the jump find our foolproof scheme for checking major bank at UFC 128, all without leaving your couch.

("This big horsemeat-eating motherf*cker is next.")

There’s been a veritable orgy of UFC fight-bookings happening over the last couple days, and we might as well throw them all at you in one lump sum. We’ll start with one that might not be the biggest of the bunch, but definitely struck us as the strangest…

Jim Miller vs. Kamal Shalorus - UFC 128:
When Dana White proclaimed that Miller’s impressive kneebar submission win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 124 put him in the mix of  lightweight contenders, nobody figured that would mean that he’d be paired with an Octagon newcomer in his next bout. But this is the UFC, and sometimes the organization’s MMA math just doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense. The Sparta, New Jersey native will attempt to increase his winning streak to seven when he takes on  (7-0-2) WEC veteran Shalorus at UFC 128 in his backyard in New Jersey.

Dan Miller vs. David Branch - UFC 128:
Considering that his brother is on the card and they can save on cornermen hotel rooms and plane tickets, it’s a no-brainer that the UFC would have another local fighter like Miller on the card for UFC 128. The fact that they now have to pay Chuck Liddell’s seven-figure salary,  bar and strip club tabs has not been lost on the accounting department who have undoubtedly suggested some cost cutting measures that will be implemented in 2011. Wait until you see the beat-up budget ex-strippers they bring in to replace Arianny and Chandella.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Brendan Schaub – UFC 128:
It turned out that reports earlier this week that a rumored bout between Schaub and Stephan Struve had been verbally agreed to by both fighters were incorrect. Instead, Schaub will look to climb over former PRIDE wrecking machine, Cro Cop on his way to a top five opponent in 2011.

Filipovic will attempt to prolong his rapidly shortening career by defeating the up-and-coming fighter who is riding a three-fight winning streak which includes a "W" over Gabriel Gonzaga — the last man to put Cro Cop to sleep prior to Frank Mir turning his lights out in his last outing at UFC 119.

(Video courtesy YouTube/GracieBreakdown)

If you were blitzed out of your mind on Zima Saturday night at Dave and Buster’s and you couldn’t wrap your head around how two solid black belts like Dustin Hazelett and Charles Oliveira were seemingly effortlessly submitted within the first three minutes of their respective UFC 124 lightweight bouts, the video above should shed some light on the subject for you.

As part of their ongoing "Gracie Breakdown" series, Rener and Ryron Gracie sat down and dissected how Mark Bocek set up the triangle-armlock he tapped Hazelett out with and the ankle lock-to-kneebar transition Jim Miller used to submit Oliveira with to hand the up-and-coming Brazilian his first MMA loss.

They also outline how both losers could have potentially defended and escaped the submissions.

Check out more Gracie Breakdowns after the jump.

(Pierson and Riddle’s three-round battle wasn’t enough to win FOTN, but Riddle did go home with the $100 Snot Rocket of the Night bonus. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com.)

The performance bonus payouts for Saturday’s UFC 124 event were notable for several reasons: For the first time ever, the UFC allowed fans to choose the "Fight of the Night" in an online vote. Update: The FOTN and Knockout bonuses were $100,000 apiece — the largest bumps since UFC 100 — and two separate [$50,000] Submission of the Night awards were handed out, which meant the total bonus money added up to $400,000, half of which arguably went to the wrong guys. Here’s how the UFC 124 bonuses shook out, in order of most deserving to least deserving…

Submission of the Night #1: Jim Miller, for surviving the relentless grappling offensive of Charles Oliveira, then ending the fight himself with a kneebar just shy of the two-minute mark. Submitting the young, formerly undefeated jiu-jitsu phenom is a major accomplishment for Miller, and should hopefully earn him a fight with a big name in his next outing.

Submission of the Night #2: Mark Bocek, for his first-round triangle choke of Dustin Hazelett (who’s no slouch on the ground either). The way that Bocek set up the triangle from the top then rolled underneath Hazelett to secure it was pretty freakin’ brilliant.

("This thing used to be alive! LMFAO!" More Brock Lesnar hunting photos at Sherdog.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- Five Lessons: Strikeforce vs. UFC (Versus MMA Beat)

- Georges St. Pierre: Emphasis in Camp Was on Finishing Josh Koscheck (MMA Fighting)

– "When the Pitbull Bites" – Thiago Alves Documentary/Highlight Video From KahL-One (MMA Scraps)

- Jim Miller Is Patiently Waiting For His Shot (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Maia, Bonnar Lead TUF 12 Finale Salary List (MMA Convert)

– James Toney Calls Out Rampage Jackson by Claiming He’s a ‘Black Redneck’ (MiddleEasy)

– Exclusive Interview: George Sotiropoulos ‘Moving in the Right Direction’ Heading Into Fight With Dennis Siver (LowKick)

– Season-Winner Jonathan Brookins Tops List of TUF 12 Finale Suspensions (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Behind the Lens: Vitor Belfort (FightMagazine)

– SB Nation Exclusive: Stefan Struve Talks Path To UFC, Sean McCorkle And St. Pierre vs. Koscheck (SBNation.com/MMA)

("Tough loss against CB." "Yeah. How’s your leg doing?"

The card for UFC 124 is filling in nicely with the addition of four fights reported by various sources today.

MMAFighting reports that Jason MacDonald will return to action following one of the most gruesome leg-break injuries in UFC history he incurred in his UFC 113 bout seven months ago in Montreal against John Salter.

MacDonald (24-14), who is on his second go-around in the UFC will be looking to make this stay in the Octagon a permanent one when he takes on Gracie jiu-jitsu black belt,  Rafael Natal (12-3) who lost by decision in his Octagon debut against Rich Attonito at UFN 22 in September.

Also on the card, according to MMAJunkie and MMADiehards will be MacDonald’s fellow Canadians Joe Doerksen and TJ Grant who will take on Dan Miller and Ricardo Almeida, respectively.

By Cage Potato contributor Matt Kaplan

Like fellow New Jersey native Frank Sinatra, UFC lightweight Jim Miller has been doing things his way. A former Cage Fury Fighting Championship and Reality Fighting title holder, Miller has used his ferocious style to catapult himself to the bright lights of the UFC Octagon, but the fire in Miller’s belly is not lit by the prospect of championship gold or the adulation of the masses. Instead, he maintains a deep commitment to his own personal standard of excellence and is poised to fulfill his own destiny, win or lose.

With a dominating win over the heavy-handed Duane “Bang” Ludwig at UFC 108 just two months ago, the New Jersey native is set to take on submission maven Mark Bocek at UFC 111 on March 27. I caught up and talked with Miller about his upcoming match, personifying a Creedence Clearwater Revival song, and a few of New Jersey’s finest exports.

So have you let the excitement of fighting Mark Bocek at UFC 111 in front of your hometown New Jersey crowd get to you, or have you been keeping it business as usual?

For me it really is business as usual. You know, it really doesn’t matter where I’m fighting. It’s cool that I’m going to have a lot more fans there, and that I don’t have to fly, but other than that, I’m stepping into the Octagon against a tough opponent, and that’s really what I’m focused on. Fortunately, the UFC fans have been great wherever I’ve been.

("…and I better not catch you standing up peeing. You sit down when you pee, you got that?" Photo courtesy of USA Today.)

What, you thought the UFC 108 curse had taken a break for the holidays? Bitch it’s just getting started. NWITimes.com broke the news last night that Sean Sherk has been forced to withdraw from his January 2nd bout against Jim Miller, becoming the eighth fighter to drop off the card. According to MMA Weekly, Sherk sustained a cut over his right eye in training that required several stitches, and his replacement will be UFC/Strikeforce vet Duane "Bang" Ludwig (19-9). Ludwig most recently scored a first-round submission-via-punches victory over Ryan Roberts two weeks ago at a Ring of Fire event in Denver, and picked up consecutive wins against Sammy Morgan and Yves Edwards before that; he’s also responsible for the fastest unofficial knockout in UFC history.

Sean Sherk hasn’t competed since his decision loss to Frankie Edgar in May. He was scheduled to face Gleison Tibau on the UFC 104 card in October, but had to pull out due to a shoulder injury. UFC 108′s current (but by no means permanent) lineup is after the jump.

Previously: The 10 Most Cursed MMA Events of All Time. Where would you rank UFC 108?

(Now all he needs to do is fight CB Dollaway with one boxing glove. Photo courtesy of the UFC 100: Weigh Ins set on Combat Lifestyle.)

Spoilers after the jump…

(Miller plays a fun little game of ‘got you first!’ with Matt Wiman.)

When we interviewed Josh Koscheck before his now-infamous bout with Paulo Thiago and he admitted that he hadn’t watched any video of Thiago’s previous fights, and in fact didn’t even know what Thiago looked like, a few of you noted that this seemed a little strange and probably like a bad idea.  Then he went and got knocked out and we couldn’t help but wonder, what if he’d taken ten minutes to do a little YouTube search?  Would it have helped?

Apparently not interested in finding out is Jim Miller, who tells Ariel Helwani that he also doesn’t watch tape on opponents and hasn’t really studied film on Gray Maynard to prepare for their UFC 96 bout:

Yeah, I am one of those guys who doesn’t watch tape. That’s when I get nervous, when I’m watching tape. I just also think that I am going to go out there and make him fight my fight. I am not going to be worried about what he does and what might work against him. I just try to focus on what I am going to do him.

Far be it for me to tell you how to prepare for a fight, but wouldn’t you like to know what to expect out there?
It is good to know what somebody brings to the table, but I just don’t study tape. I have seen Gray fight a couple of times, and I know the gist of how he fights. But I feel like I need to improve in every aspect of my game. So, I try to just train the way I always train, and get better at everything because I feel like I have just so much more room to improve at everything.

(The grisly submission and the nasty knockout. Props: DW)

Broken bones, savage KOs, and Ben Saunders in full-on BEAST MODE — "UFC Fight for the Troops" was truly a night for America. Besides the money they raked in for the Fallen Heroes Fund, the UFC made some charitiable donations to four fighters who helped the night transcend its whatevs lineup, to the tune of $30,000 apiece. Here’s who got the extra helpings of bread:

Submission of the Night: Former WEC light-heavyweight champ Steve Cantwell, for snapping the arm of Razak al-Hassan. (Note to al-Hassan: We can understand coming into the Octagon without any ground game whatsoever, but are we really to believe that you were never instructed on how to tap?) Shockingly, this wasn’t the only broken bone of the night. One of Corey Hill’s skinny legs snapped like a twig in the second round of his fight against Dale Hartt. Looking for a picture of the injury? Have an especially strong stomach? Then please, click here. Amazingly, video of the ill-fated fight is available for free on UFC.com.

Knockout of the Night: Josh Koscheck, for punching Yoshiyuki Yoshida into the fifth fucking dimension.

Fight of the Night: Jim Miller and Matt Wiman for their broadcast-opening three-rounder, which Miller took in a unanimous decision. It was a good fight and all, but we think those two bonuses could have gone to worthier recipients — namely, Ben Saunders for his Anderson Silva-like evisceration of Brandon Wolff, and Justin McCully for making sure we never have to see Eddie Sanchez fight in the UFC ever again.

Full results from last night are after the jump…

(Lytle vs. Taylor)

The UFC released its customary end-of-night bonuses for yesterday’s event in Birmingham. $40,000 bumps went to the following fighters:

Fight of the Night: Chris Lytle and Paul Taylor for their three-round throwdown, which was even brawlier than the main event.

Knockout of the Night: Luis Cane for his TKO-via-punches victory over Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

Submission of the Night: As Fowlkes predicted, Jim Miller gets it for tapping David Baron via Millerplata — which is just a fancy name for a rear-naked-choke.

More vids after the jump…

(Dan Miller. Kneebar. Get some.)

When news dropped that the UFC was indeed buying the IFL’s video library and some fighter contracts, the logical next question was, which contracts? Surely the champs were a good bet, but what of Wojtek Kaszowski? While Wojtek might have missed the boat, the dynamic brotherly duo of Dan and Jim Miller are on their way to the big show.

The two have signed with the UFC, making them two of the biggest prospects yet to make the leap. Dan Miller won the IFL’s middleweight title with a submission victory over Ryan McGivern in May, but the company went in the tank before he could defend it.

Jim Miller, a promising lightweight, debuted with a decision victory over Bart Palaszewski and has since been waiting in the wings for another fight. Of course it’s been crowded in those IFL wings of late.

Check out clips of both of them in action after the jump, including an insane guillotine choke by Dan. Also enjoy the journey into the IFL’s yesteryear with all the fun “Battleground” features, like ringside correspondent/obligatory hot chick Tiffany Fallon. Wonder if the UFC bought the entire video library, including the IFL coaches rap song. We can only hope.