Joe Stevenson

(Photo courtesy of Newsday.)

— TUF 3 finalist Ed Herman, who broke a two-fight skid in April with a unanimous decision win over David Loiseau, has been tapped to replace James "Job" Irvin against Wilson Gouveia at UFC 102, according to Sherdog. Irvin was forced to withdraw from the fight this week due to yet another serious knee injury. Herman was previously scheduled to face Aaron Simpson at UFC Fight Night 19 (September 16th, Oklahoma City).

— UFC 104 (October 24th, Los Angeles) will reportedly host a lightweight battle between Joe Stevenson and Spencer Fisher. "Joe Daddy" broke a two-fight losing streak of his own when he scored a decision win over Nate Diaz at the TUF 9 finale in June. Fisher is riding a three fight win-streak and most recently outpointed Caol Uno at UFC 99. The match will likely be on the main card, supporting the light-heavyweight title fight between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

Last weekend, Grapplers Quest hosted a two-day submission grappling tournament at the UFC Fan Expo. Videos of the event's headlining "superfights" were posted to their YouTube channel yesterday, and if you're a fan of crazy, high-level, top-of-the-food chain jiu-jitsu, you need to check them out. Above: Shooto legend Rumina "Moon Wolf" Sato ties Cobra Kai instructor Ulysses Gomez into a knot. After the jump: UFC lightweight Joe Stevenson falls short against Bill "The Grill" Cooper, and EliteXC/Bellator vet Wilson Reis can't quite figure out 22-time Grapplers Quest champ Jeff "Pipelayer" Glover. Also, a 49-pound feature that's surely a Superfight in the eyes of their parents.

(Photos courtesy of UFC.com.)

The UFC paid out $630,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses for Saturday night's Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, according to figures released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Leading the list are Diego Sanchez — who took home an event-high $115,000 thanks to his Fight of the Night bonus and pack-leading to-show salary — and Joe Stevenson, who came in second place with $95,000. The numbers are below...

- Diego Sanchez: $115,000 (includes $45,000 win bonus and $25,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
- Joe Stevenson: $95,000 (includes $35,000 win bonus and $25,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
- Chris Lytle: $61,000 (includes $18,000 win bonus and $25,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
- Clay Guida: $48,000 (includes $25,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
- Nate Diaz: $45,000 (includes $25,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
- Jason Dent: $41,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus and $25,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
- Tomasz Drwal: $40,600 (includes $7,000 win bonus, $25,000 Knockout of the Night bonus, and 20% of Mike Ciesnolevicz's to-show money [$1,600])
- Kevin Burns: $34,000 (includes $25,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Joe Stevenson began his UFC career on the second season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”  On Saturday night he returns to fight another TUF alum, Nate Diaz, on the season nine finale in what might prove to be a make-or-break outing for him.  In our exclusive talk with him, Joe “Daddy” tells us why he changed training camps after his decision loss to Diego Sanchez, whether he’s worried about being cut, and why he might be hesitant to appear on a new season of TUF if he were coming up through the ranks today.

CagePotato.com: So you’ve been in New Mexico with Greg Jackson’s team preparing for this fight.  What made you decide that it was time for a change of training camps?

JS: Honestly, I’ve been here for going on seven weeks now and it’s been great.  I was feeling a little stagnant and I knew that if I didn’t try something different I would regret it.  If you don’t try all your avenues you’re going to end up when your fifty wishing you’d done something different and I don’t want to be that person.  On top of that, there’s great coaching here, great strategy, and they’ve given me a different outlook on the way I fight.  I’m just excited to let people see it now.

You mentioned strategy and that’s something a lot of people talk about when it comes to Greg Jackson.  How is his way of strategizing for a fight different from what you’ve been exposed to in the past?

(Sonnen gives Paulo Filho an intervention, Team Quest-style. Photo courtesy of BaltimoreSun.com.)

Although initial reports claimed that Ed Herman would be stepping in for the injured Yushin Okami against Dan Miller at UFC 98 (May 23rd, Las Vegas), there's been another change in plans. It seems that Herman has declined the fight — likely because he just competed at UFC 97 and the five-week turnaround would be too short — and Okami's actual replacement will be Herman's Team Quest teammate Chael Sonnen.

Sonnen was most recently submitted by Demian Maia in his UFC return fight in February, which dropped his overall Octagon record to 1-3. The WEC/Bodog vet was slated to face Wilson Gouveia at UFC 102 (August 29th; Portland, Oregon) and still hopes to take that fight if his scrap with Dan Miller goes well. Though considering Miller's skill with submissions (and Sonnen's tendency to get submitted), Sonnen may be out of a job by this summer.

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