(“To: Rashad. Some glass trinkets to go with your jaw. Merry Xmas! From: Dana.” PicProps: Sherdog)

We could spend all day debating the wisdom of Rashad Evans sitting out the last nine months while waiting for his title shot against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. In retrospect, that probably wasn’t the greatest move. Evans – who ain’t no spring chicken at 31 years old — essentially squandered what otherwise might have been one of the most lucrative years of his MMA career trying to preserve a fight that now may never happen at all. In the process, he pissed off his notoriously erratic boss and (to hear the fighter himself tell it) put his entire future in the light heavyweight division at risk.

Even though the decision seemed justified at the time, deep down Evans might wish he could take that one back. At least publicly however, he’s holding the line. As the great poet Coolio once said, wishing is for suckers, and Rashad? Well, a few weeks after seeing his next chance at that 205-pound strap evaporate when he got his knee rolled up during a freak accident in the training room, he still says he wouldn’t change a thing …

(We just can’t stay mad at this guy. PicProps: MMA Space)
Not to distract you from your busy morning of eulogizing Fedor Emelianenko, but we feel compelled to remind everyone that Scott Coker isn’t the only MMA impresario who woke up Monday with a pounding headache. Remember that when we left the UFC last Friday, the butterfly effect from Rashad Evans’ knee injury was causing near-seismic shifts in the vaunted light heavyweight division? Yeah, we don’t think that got solved over the weekend.

Let’s see if we can get this goddamned soap opera straight: Evans tweaked his knee a couple weeks ago and instead of pushing his scheduled title bout with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua back a few months to give Rashad time to rehab, Dana White took a flamethrower to the entire 205-pound title picture. In one fell swoop he gave Evans’ title shot to Jon Jones, pulled Quinton “Rampage” Jackson out of a scheduled fight with Thiago Silva at UFC 130 and quashed entirely the idea of having Matt Hamill fight Phil Davis at UFC 129. Smooth move, guy. Now the matchup merry-go-round is whirling out of control and everybody is pissed.

(“Left kick, Brock Lesnar’s Canadian hospital.”)

Undefeated in the past four years, at 13-1 Ryan Jimmo is one of Canada’s most promising MMA prospects. The Big Deal is in the thick of training camp for a championship bout with fellow Canadian Dwayne Lewis at MFC 28 — a fight Sherdog.com has deservingly named one of this month’s 10 Tussles Worth Watching — on February 25 in Edmonton Alberta and has offered to write about his preparations for the biggest fight of his career via a weekly training blog published every week leading up to the fight here at CagePotato.com.

Check out Ryan’s latest entry after the jump.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/wallenrichard)

Tatame is reporting that Jon Jones was not the UFC’s first choice as Mauricio "Shogun" Rua’s replacement opponent for UFC 128. According to the UFC light heavyweight champion, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was offered the title shot in place Rashad Evans, who injured his knee training last week in Albuquerque, but the A-Team star declined the fight for undisclosed reasons.

“The UFC had another opponent in mind, but it didn’t work out. For some reason [Qinton Jackson] didn’t accept the title shot," Shogun explained. “I’ll have to change my training because [Jon Jones] is a lot different than Rashad. He’s much taller, which will present a great challenge. He’s been surprising everybody in the UFC — defeating everybody with ease, and it’ll be a tough fight for me."

"Smell it!"

Maybe Rampage is still waking up in cold sweats from the recurring nightmare of getting his head soccer-kicked into the fifth row by Shogun.

(Two very different ends of the agony/compensation spectrum. Images courtesy of MMAFighting.com)

The UFC shelled out over $1.6 million in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the fighters who competed at UFC 126, and damn, some of these dudes are making bank. Good to see it. The numbers are below, courtesy of MMAJunkie. Keep in mind that these salary totals don’t include additional income from sponsorships, undisclosed "locker room" bonuses, and (potentially, for some headliners) percentages of the pay-per-view revenue, or deductions for taxes, licensing fees, and insurance.

Anderson Silva: $275,000 (includes $75,000 Knockout of the Night bonus; no disclosed win bonus)
def. Vitor Belfort: $275,000

Forrest Griffin: $275,000 (includes $150,000 win bonus)
def. Rich Franklin: $75,000

Jon Jones: $215,000 (includes $70,000 win bonus, $75,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. Ryan Bader: $20,000

("I just want y’all to know that this shit is not awkward whatsoever.")

Rashad Evans‘s unexpected knee injury may be a career-altering nightmare scenario, but the former light-heavyweight champion is doing his best to put on a brave public face. After the bad news was dropped at UFC 126, Sugar posted the following on RashadEvans.tv:

"Hey my ppl! Last night most of u heard the news. If not here is the latest. I have 2 pull out of my Shogun fight because of injury. I severely sprained my MCL in practice. While in practice I got blindsided by another group of partners right into the side of my knee like football lineman style.. Since I’m hurt my teammate young phenom Bones Jones is gonna step in 4 me! I’m gonna recover & then see what happens next 4 me! Thank all u 4 the encouragement! I love my supports & my haters! Go get that belt brudda Jones!"

(Above: "…and I’m gonna wear one of those stupid jester-hats in the Octagon. And you’re not going to do a damn thing about it." 
Below: Jon Jones knows that the best way to deal with a bully is to ignore him, Michihiro Omigawa does that ridiculous duck-face thing, and Miguel Torres and Antonio Banuelos face off for the unofficial Mexican Bantamweight Championship. All photos courtesy of the UFC 126: Weigh In Pics gallery on CombatLifestyle.com)
  

Fuck football. Unless you were cursed enough to grow up in Green Bay, or you’re a supporter of dudes who get accused of rape a lot, you know as well as I do that this weekend belongs to cage-fighting. And if you don’t, you can piss off right now. Seriously. The rest of us will wait. 

Now then. Tonight’s ultra-stacked lineup features the longest-reigning champion in UFC history defending his middleweight title for the eighth time against a power-punching dynamo who used to be a UFC champion himself, seven years and one weight-class ago. Supporting the main event will be a scrap between two Octagon icons and former belt-holders (Franklin vs. Griffin), a fight that could produce the future of the 205-pound division (Jones vs. Bader), Miguel Torres’s breathtaking mullet, and the UFC debuts of some exciting imported talent from Japan.

Live UFC 126 results will be stacking up after the jump, beginning with a quick recap of the Yamamoto/Johnson Facebook match at 8:25 p.m. ET, leading into the Spike TV prelims broadcast at 9 p.m., and finally the pay-per-view broadcast at 10 p.m. So we’ve got a long night of fighting in front of us — but hey, nobody ever said being an MMA fan would be easy.

(VidProps: ESPN)

If you’re not already pumped for UFC 126, there isn’t much we (or modern medicine) can do for you at this point. The card is stacked, the matchups are stellar and the UFC middleweight champion showed up at the weigh-in looking like he just stepped out of the orgy scene in “Eyes Wide Shut” and damn near started a brawl. What more do you want? Fine, we’ve got a couple more tidbits for you, but after this we’re done until tonight’s live blog and tomorrow’s aftermath retrospectives.

First, some interesting stuff came out of ESPN’s MMA Live weigh-in special (video at top) on Friday. Most notably, Franklin McNeil makes the wild, barely attributable claim that estranged trainer Shawn Tompkins has been leaking secrets to Anderson Silva’s camp since splitting with Vitor Belfort a couple weeks ago. Basically McNeil quotes “several” anonymous sources telling him hazy things about Tompkins “being in contact with Team Silva” and he “assumes” that it means Tompkins is stabbing Vitor in the back. Dude, and people call us rumor mongers? He also refers to Shawn Tompkins as “Thompson” at least once here, but that’s really beside the point.

Also, we’ve got quotes from Jon Jones that make him sound either totally prepared for Ryan Bader, or not prepared at all. It’s all after the jump …

(Props: Neon Bar Fights via MiddleEasy)

Not only does UFC light-heavyweight contender Jon Jones have a lot of hype, his hype has a lot of hype. By that I mean, Jones’s lofty reputation has become a major talking point in itself. Ryan Bader wants to end that hype at UFC 126; Jones wants to transcend it. On Sunday morning, Bones could be living with his first real defeat, while keyboard warriors claim he was never that great in the first place.

That’s because hype is fragile. Legacy, on the other hand, can never be taken away — and if Jones slashes through Bader tomorrow night, he’ll be one step closer to securing his own. What really makes Jon Jones interesting is that his journey in the sport is just beginning. His pro debut was in April 2008, less than three years ago. The path in front of him is limitless.

Anyway, check out this highlight reel, because it’s honestly one of the best we’ve ever seen.

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC)

The best part of Dana White’s most recent video blog was getting to re-watch the UFC’s new Portuguese translator fail miserably at his job and basically get shit-canned on the spot by the company’s president within a few minutes of starting his new role with Zuffa at yesterday’s UFC 126 press conference. Seriously, we figured it was going to be tough for anyone to beat James Toney’s mark of 3:19, but this dude did it, and did it in style.

First the guy finishes one of his suspiciously brief translations of a long-winded response by Anderson Silva with, "That’s the essence of [what he said]," then he admitted that he wasn’t paying attention to one of the Brazilian reporter’s questions, which is odd considering it’s, I don’t know….HIS JOB to translate the questions and answers for the press conference.

White didn’t pull any punches with the disinterested translator who was hired in response to criticism that the UFC’s former translator, Ed Soares, was guilty of sugar coating and sometimes purposely mistranslating some of the less complimentary statements his fighters like Silva and Junior dos Santos made during post-fight interviews. When his latest hire screwed up, White snapped and told the guy, who seemed out of place in a room full of fight fans and reporters (to say the least) to hand the microphone to Soares.

Note to future applicants: Wait until your probation period is up before getting fired. That way you can at least walk away with benefits and a 401K. This dude barely had UFC entered as his employer on Facebook and now he has to explain to all the people in his book club and birdwatching society that he is unemployed again.

("Come at me, bro.")

Will Anderson try to answer questions in English?

Will Vitor talk about how training with Jesus has helped him prepare for this fight?

Will "Bones" Jones talk about how awesome he is?

Will Rich Franklin reveal the tattoo he has chosen for Forrest to get if he beats him?

All of these questions and more will be answered at the UFC 126 press conference at 4:00 pm ET.

As always, the UFC video player is after the jump.

Super Bowl weekend. For America’s degenerate gamblers it’s like Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day and the Day of Eternal Judgment all rolled into one. The so-called experts estimate that over $100 million wordwide could change hands in bets on the Super Bowl this year. Slightly less than that will probably be wagered on Saturday night’s UFC 126, but as long as some of it winds up in your pocket, who’s complaining? To help you in that quest for the rich stuff, the Gambling Addiction Enabler is back.

See below for fight odds as of this writing (they appear to be changing pretty fast, more evidence that there are lot of bored gamblers playing out the string until Sunday’s kickoff). An explanation of what it all means is right here, though if you need that right now might not be the best time to jump into this thing with both feet. For the rest of you, let’s start earning, shall we?

(Video courtesy DailyMotion/Spike/UFC)

If you don’t have the time or couldn’t be bothered to watch the show, we got you covered.

Here are the CP Notes of this edition:

- Anderson doesn’t like Vitor and says whoever God wants to win will win Saturday.

- Vitor believes Jesus loves him more and will help him beat Anderson.

- Ed Soares respects Vitor  and seems somewhat nervous about this fight.

- Vitor  respects Anderson, but says he isn’t afraid of him.

- Vitor says he’s not there to dance around (like Anderson), he’s there to fight.

- Rich seems to be training seriously ahead of this fight, both in the gym and the tanning beds.

- Forrest seems to be doing lots of book promo ahead of this fight.

- Forrest might rely on his new BJJ black belt for this fight.

- Both Franklin and Griffin say they are pretty much the same fighter, only Rich says Forrest is much bigger.

- Forrest doesn’t like being asked questions about Anderson.

-  Jones has a lot of hype to live up to and seems to be buying into it himself.

- Jones wasn’t impressed by Bader’s win over Lil’ Nog, even though Nogueira is widely considered a better calibre fighter than any "Bones" has beaten.

- Jones doesn’t think Bader is very good because he "doesn’t knee, spin or jump."

- Jones doesn’t plan on toning down his cockiness flashiness for the fight.

- CB Dollaway is a weird looking dude.

Parts two and three are after the jump.

(Midwest snow storm, you just got served. Props: twitter.com/hypeordie)

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…

– Unorthodox Ways Front and Center for Jon Jones (Versus MMA Beat)

- After Losing $3.2 Million Lawsuit, Another Former Employee Sues TapouT (MMA Convert)

– Why Vitor Belfort is Fighting Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Title this Weekend (LowKick)

– Four Fight Main Card Official for Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Hendo (FightMagazine)

– The Japanese Comic Book Version of Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez Is Far Cooler Than the Real Thing (MiddleEasy)

– Bellator Finalizes Featherweight Tournament Field With Addition of 19-0 Newcomer Malegariet (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Sengoku 17 Postponed in Response to Media Negativity (MMA Fighting)

– Outside the Ring: Fedor Emelianenko (MMA-Scraps)

– Boredom Overcomes American Kickboxing Academy (5thRound)

– Strikeforce Champion Nick Diaz Talks Contenders Daley, Woodley (SBNation.com/MMA)

("Blog about *this*, motherfucker." PicProps: Us?)

We’re already on record with our belief that Twitter is great for us media types and not so great for the MMA fighters who think they are using it to establish a personal “brand” but are really just broadcasting the worst parts of themselves to the public on a regular basis. We also already told you that Jon Jones is not only obsessively following upcoming opponent Ryan Bader on Twitter, but he’s also shadowing many of his friends, training partners and followers. You know what we love? We love when two seeminlgy unrelated stories from the past come together to make a new story in the present, like this …

UFC middleweight Aaron Simpson – who is currently training with Bader – sent a fairly innocuous tweet earlier this week essentially saying he thought Bader was ready to go against Jones at UFC 126. Naturally, Jones saw it and he did not appreciate it.

(VidProps: You Tube/UFC)

If you’re anything like us, you got your first good look at the official trailer for UFC 126 on Saturday night during the Fight for the Troops show on SpikeTV and thought, “Wow, almost everything said during that 31 seconds is extremely debatable.” Granted, the UFC is known for its revisionist history and these promotional spots are typically designed to bend the truth however much is necessary to get dudes who don’t really know that much about MMA interested in dropping 50 bones on the per-per-view. Even considering that, this particular commercial seems pretty, uh, erroneous. Anyway, watch it, then follow the jump for our picks of the five most questionable assertions made here …  

(Couple hours later, the owner of an Albuquerque body shop tweeted: “Affluent fighter dude needs complete rebuild on front driver’s side of Chrysler 300. GOD IS GOOD!” PicProps: @JonnyBones)

What is with these young people today and crashing their cars just before big fights? UFC light heavyweight prospect Jon Jones smashed up his Chrysler 300 on Wednesday afternoon while he and a carload of teammates were on their way to a dog park in between training sessions, according to the fighter’s own Twitter account. Jones was uninjured and his upcoming fight with Ryan Bader will reportedly not be effected. One partly hilarious, partly dreadful but altogether telling side note to this is that Jones immediately jumped on his Twitter after the wreck to declare “GOD IS GOOD” … even though he later admitted a woman in the other car left the scene on a stretcher.

(The government later debunked Jon Jones’ claims of seeing a UFO, saying the object in the upper left was just a weather balloon doing routine analysis. PicProps: Heavy)

We already know that Jon Jones is a compulsive game planner. We also know that his methods are sometimes unorthodox, trending toward crazy. Remember that one time he taped off Stephan Bonnar’s physical dimensions on his wall at home in preparation for their bout at UFC 94? Yeah, that seemed to work. Well, as he gets ready for his UFC 126 clash with Ryan Bader, it appears that Jonny Bones’ OCD is reaching new heights. Jones tells Old Dad this week that he’s not only studying tape of Bader’s fights, he’s also watching and re-watching his interviews, shadowing him on Twitter and reading the tweets of his friends, coaches and followers.

("Here Brandon, I’ll play you out of the UFC with a drum solo.")

When Thiago Silva decided to showboat a little by playing the bongos on Brandon Vera’s back during their UFC 125 bout, UFC light heavyweight contender Jon Jones took to Twitter to voice his disapproval.

"Wow that slapping was so disrespectful.. id love to give him a slap in the face," Jones wrote.

During an interview with MMAFighting.com, "Bones" explained his reaction to Silva’s grandstanding.

"It kind of bugged me, only because we all fight, and just losing alone is humiliating enough. It’s embarrassing. … Think about all the people who watched those fights. All [the Brandon Vera] fans, all the members at his school, all the kids that look up to him. Man, it just kind of rubbed me the wrong way," he explained. "It’s not something I would ever want done to me and it’s not something I would ever do to someone else. … There’s ways of looking for an opening besides playing pattycake on a guy’s back."

In a recent Q&A with Tatame, Silva attempted to explain why he pulled the seemingly disrespectful stunt.

(Oh man. 1:00-1:10 is just too much. Props: ix3623vault)

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…

– Manager: “Chael Sonnen’s Career is Far From Over” (5thRound. Welcome to the club, guys!)

– UFC to Announce Formal Intent to Bring Event to New York (MMA Fighting)

– MMA Hot List: Fights Booked, Careers Put on Hold (Versus MMA Beat)

– Watch Nam Phan’s Guide to Judging in MMA (MiddleEasy)

– Jacob Volkmann on Fox News. You Figure Out the Rest. (the all-new MMA-Scraps.com)

– Bellator Signs Top 50 Middleweight Joe Riggs (FightMagazine)

– Dan Henderson In Talks For Title Shot Against Rafael Feijao On March 5 (MMA Convert)

– Jon Jones: I Would Definitely Take a "Right Fight" at Heavyweight (LowKick)

– Chad Griggs Taking on Regional Prospect in Final Strikeforce Grand Prix Reserve Bout (Five Ounces of Pain)

– UFC And Strikeforce Situations Make Heavyweight The Division To Watch In 2011 (SBNation.com/MMA)

(Props: Cyberplex)

"Ryan’s mentioning that he thinks that I’ll cut down on my flashiness? That’s what he’s afraid of. So that’s exactly what I’ll probably give him the most, is a lot of weird, unorthodox techniques that he’s never seen, even in wrestling."

So says light-heavyweight contender Jon Jones, who’s set to face off against Ryan Bader in a high-profile matchup at UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort on Super Bowl weekend. In his most recent fights against Vladimir Matyushenko, Brandon Vera, and Matt Hamill, Jones simplified his gameplan so that he was pretty much just taking guys down with his Greco throws then smashing them with elbows and punches until the ref pulled him off. Bader will be expecting that, which may be why Jones is promising brand-new techniques. But what can he throw that he hasn’t shown us already? Is there such a thing as a spinning-flying-knee?  

After the jump: Chuck Liddell‘s guest-spot on Blue Mountain State (damn right it’s horrible!), Michael Schiavello repeats his catch-phrase over and over again, and MMA makes it onto Comedy Central’s brand-new Sportsdome series. Sort of.

("Look, Brandon, I’m sorry. If you take your hand away, I promise I won’t slap you in the face again." / Photo courtesy of MMAFighting)

UPDATE: A clip of Silva playing Vera like a bongo has been added to the end of this post…check it out while it lasts.

The third round of Thiago Silva vs. Brandon Vera at UFC 125 represented one of the most humiliating beat-downs in recent MMA history, as Silva seemingly got tired of punching Vera about midway through the round and just started slapping him in the face until the fight was over. With Vera’s job likely on the line that night, it was the worst possible final impression to leave with his bosses — as if that mangled schnozz wasn’t enough.

After the fight, top light-heavyweight contender Jon Jones fired up Twitter and posted the following: "Wow that slapping was so disrespectful.. id love to give him a slap in the face…Dominating someone in a fight is 1 thing, looking to simply humiliate them is another..Traditional martial artist always seemed to show honor and respect.. Anyways what’s done is done, I’m headed to the gym to make sure nothing like that ever happens to me."

We say: Eff the haters, Thiago. You’ve just joined a very select group of MMA fighters who have demonstrated their dominance through slapping and spanking. The other members of the MMA Bitch-Slap Hall of Fame are after the jump…

(There’s an ad for a sports drink if I ever saw one.)

Lyoto Machida isn’t taking anything for granted in preparing for his upcoming bout with Quinton Jackson at UFC 123 November 20.

The former UFC light heavyweight champ says he’s preparing for every scenario that "Rampage" may present him with during the fight — even the unlikelihood that Jackson may demonstrate some newly developed kickboxing skills.

"Well, I always think for a MMA fight, despite the specialties of each fighter, you have to be prepared for anything, because we can never know what the guy is up to. A guy who doesn’t know how to kick may be kicking on the following fight, you can’t tell for sure. The need leads the frog to a jump. We have many examples of people who are good on areas that aren’t theirs specialties: Georges St. Pierre has improved a lot his Wrestling, people that didn’t kick are now kicking and so it goes… I don’t underestimate any fighter," Machida told Tatame.com. "I think that, just as I’m prepared for anything during the fight, so are they: the stand-up game, the takedowns and the ground game. Of course we have our game plan set, our strong point is Karate and the exchanges, but if we need to use the other skills, we will do the takedowns and the ground game that I train here with Valter Broca, who’s a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, graduated by De La Riva, who always help me on this area."

As far as Jackson’s gameplan, Machida doesn’t think Quinton will shy away from standing with him, despite his tough to defend against unorthodox karate striking prowess.

("I’m sorry, what were you saying?" PicProps: MMAConvert)

Despite some brief reports to the contrary and recent scenes of the two acting a bit too chummy for a couple of guys about to fight in a cage, Jon Jones and Ryan Bader are now a lock to do battle at UFC 126 in February, the company confirmed on Friday during its “Ultimate Insider” web show. And here you thought the internet was just for scumbags and for-profit axe-grinders trying to further their own agendas.

Confirmation of Jones vs. Bader is good news on a lot of fronts, but especially because (even though no one wants to admit it) the once vaunted light heavyweight division needs some serious help right now. The champ continues to be hampered by his own fragility. Chuck is done. Tito is so done he doesn’t even know it yet. Randy is opting for a soft retirement in order to avoid becoming the next Brett Favre. During the last three years the belt has been passed around like HPV at a barbecue at Whitehead’s. Frankly it ain’t pretty down at light heavy right now. This division desperately needs somebody to come along and put the belt on lockdown and the two guys with the best chance to do that just might be Jonny Bones and Bader. It ain’t gonna be Roger Nog, we know that much.

(You like it? I’m having this airbrushed onto the hood of my Impala.)

As you’re all aware by now, Cain Velasquez became The First Mexican Heavyweight Champion in Fighting History™ on Saturday when he destroyed Brock Lesnar at UFC 121. The crowning of Velasquez should hopefully usher in a new wave of interest in the UFC from the Latino community — but the promotion still has a long way to go until it appeals to all demographics. If the UFC wants to achieve true mass appeal, they should work as hard as possible to check these categories off their list as well…

An African-American Lightweight Champion
Over the years, the UFC has awarded title belts to Maurice Smith and Kevin Randleman in the heavyweight division, and Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans at 205. And even though former welterweight champ Carlos Newton and middleweight king Anderson Silva aren’t American, they would certainly be described by my mother as "people of soul." But the history of the UFC’s lightweight division has been that of white dudes (see: Pulver, Sherk, Edgar) and a fiery Hawaiian warrior (come on, son.) What the division needs is an athletic and explosive champion at 155, who can serve as a role model for kids who are too short to make the basketball team. Do I have to spell it out for you? Okay, fine: A-N-T-O-N-I-O M-c-K-E-E, P-L-A-Y-E-R.

(Well, they found the shortest guy at the Palms Pool. Next on the photo scavenger hunt list? A pair of real breasts. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)

Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader was supposed to be the badass Super Bowl Weekend co-headliner that established a top-dog 205-pound contender in the UFC. Turns out, it might not happen at all. As Dana White told fans earlier today in London, "I don’t know if Jones is going to fight Bader. We tried to put that fight together, but Bader has some stuff going on. Jon Jones might be fighting somebody else, I don’t know how that’s going to go…[Jones is] going to have to go through a couple of guys before he gets a title shot, but at the rate Jon Jones is going he could be fighting for the title next year."

BloodyElbow points out that the "stuff" Bader has going on includes his wedding at the end of this month and a gym-opening later this year. According to Jones’s agent, Bones vs. Darth is still a go at this point, so all hope isn’t lost. It would be a shame if a fight as important and logical as this one doesn’t happen because Bader has to nurse a honeymoon hangover and attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony. In other words, would you mind sacking up, bro?

UFC Ultimate Insider Best of Joe Rogan – Watch more Funny Videos (Vid courtesy UFC.com)

Two of the most overlooked redeeming qualities of great interviewers are that they they are comfortable and that they make their subjects comfortable enough that they will open up to them.

Joe Rogan does both.

Thanks to his years of television and stand-up comedy experience, Rogan has been able to transition into the role of interviewer with relative ease, without coming off on the mic or behind the camera as a gushing 12-year-old fan like many MMA reporters do today.

("…but you know me, I never like to look past my opponents.")

As we mentioned over the weekend, UFC hype-magnet Jon Jones is likely to take on fellow light-heavyweight rising star Ryan Bader early next year. You’d think Bones would be psyched to rumble with the undefeated TUF 8 winner, in a fight that could potentially produce a title contender at 205 pounds, or at the very least establish a pecking order in the division. As it turns out, he’s not too impressed with the matchup, telling Inside MMA:

"I’m actually really sick of fighting this type of style. Matt Hamill, Matyushenko, Jake O’Brien…they all have that similar kind of style. Their main focus is that double leg dive and [they have] sub-par boxing…I’m ready to fight some strikers, I’m ready to fight some south paws, I’m ready to really mix it up…I’m trying to secure a respect level with my wrestling. I’m sure Ryan Bader, the advantage he’ll have going in is to be the better wrestler and I’m going to try and prove the UFC wrong again."

 
Just a reminder that the UFC 119 post-fight presser is live and can be watched right here.

Will Mirko retire? Will Dunham swallow the loss to Sherk? Does Bader get to be killed by Jon Jones Next? 

All this an more will be answered. Giddy up!

UFC video player is after the jump.

(“Yeah, I get it, ‘UFC 124: ‘Expendable,’ that’s really funny … no, seriously, I’m laughing on the inside.” PicProps: Sherdog)

Look, I didn’t mean to get you all in a tizzy with that crazy stuff I said earlier. Rest assured, gentle reader, odds are very good that Randy Couture applies one of his world-renowned Brazilian Joint Locks to James Toney tonight and takes home an easy victory, probably sometime in the first round. After that, we’ll all have our fun with Toney, figuratively poking him in his airbrushed belly as we ship him off to wherever it is old boxers go to die. We’ll all probably act very smug and superior on our Twitter accounts for a few days, too.

Deep down, though, Couture’s victory will not cure my unease. For some while now, I’ve been wondering if the worst thing that could happen to Randy Couture at this stage in his career would be for him to beat James Toney at UFC 118. This is all just conjecture mind you, but I can’t escape the notion that whoever wins tonight might ride a groundswell of mainstream publicity right into a fight with Jon Jones, probably at the UFC’s end-of-the-year (or maybe Super Bowl weekend) pay-per-view.