(You think it would be damn near impossible to sum up an 18-fight UFC career in one image, yet here we are.) 

Wow.

When we announced just hours ago that Jacob Volkmann had been cut from the UFC as part of a vast, government-led ploy to disarm the public following a 1-2 run in his last 3 fights, little did we know that his termination was just the precursor for one of the largest mass firings in UFC history. But that appears to be the case, as it was recently made public that Volkmann was but one of 16 fighters to be cut from the UFC today.

Among the dead are a few guys you probably wont recognize (C.J. Keith, Motonobu Tezuka (?), Simeon Thoresen), a few guys who probably had it coming (Vladimir Matyushenko, Mike Russow, Mike Stumpf) and a couple of guys who couldn’t find a win in the UFC if they sold their souls to Dana White Satan (the continuously underwhelming Jorge Santiago and poor, poor Jay Hieron).

However, if you were to continue looking over said list, you would find a couple inclusions that would not only make you scratch your head, but possibly shave your head, eyebrows, body hair, and nipples off in a hallucinogenic stupor. After the jump, we’ve compiled our own list of the most shocking entries.

(It’s kind of offensive that the UFC promos keep referring to Barao as a “monster.” He’s a human being, okay? An aggressive, scary human being whose mother just happens to be half-cthulhu / Photo via MMAJunkie.)

Today at the Wembley Arena in London, UFC interim bantamweight champ Renan Barao and 22-year-old phenom Michael McDonald will do battle to determine who’s truly the greatest 135-pound fighter in the world, at least until Dominick Cruz finally heals up and puts an end to this ridiculous charade. Alright, so an interim title might not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but it’s still a damn good fight, and the rest of the card features a crowd-pleasing assortment of slugfests and future stars.

Leading us through today’s UFC on FUEL 7 liveblog is Alex Giardini, who will be laying down round-by-round results from the main card broadcast after the jump beginning at 3 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and please share your own thoughts in the comments section.

(Jorge and Bigfoot: They run Bartertown. / Photo via Sherdog)

Arguably the most talented fighter to be included in our 50 Worst Fighters in UFC History list, Jorge Santiago‘s undeniable abilities as a knockout artist and BJJ practitioner have mysteriously failed him inside the Octagon. The former Sengoku champion and Strikeforce Middleweight Grand Prix winner has already burned through two stints with the UFC, which both ended in back-to-back losses. But thanks to an injury withdrawal on the UFC on FUEL 7: Barao vs. McDonald card, Santiago is getting a third chance to prove himself.

The UFC has confirmed that TUF 13 castmember Justin Edwards has pulled out of his February 16th welterweight match against undefeated Icelandic phenom Gunnar Nelson due to an undisclosed injury, and will be replaced by Santiago. On paper, this is a much better matchup than the original one — Nelson vs. Edwards felt like somewhat of a mismatch, while Santiago is certainly on Nelson’s level in terms of talent, and has far more fight experience. Then again, Santiago has been straight-up cursed inside the UFC. The most we can say is that it’ll be a much better gauge of how good Gunnar really is, and if he deserves the hype that has followed him into the UFC.

Santiago won two fights last year under the Titan FC banner, both by first round stoppage, and he currently trains with the Blackzilians. For a complete lineup of the UFC on FUEL 7 card, follow us after the jump…

(Alessio prays for forgiveness (and another shot) after coming up short in a snoozer against Shane Roller at UFC 148.) 

We don’t mean to disrespect a grizzled veteran of the sport like John Alessio, but simply put, if you are shocked to learn that “The Natural” was released from the UFC following an 0-2 stint in the octagon, you are either John Alessio or Lloyd Christmas. Having compiled an 0-5 lifetime record in the promotion, Alessio not only received one of the most undeserved title shots of all time under the Zuffa banner, but will live in CagePotato infamy for his placement amongst the “50 Worst Fighters in UFC History” and “The Ten Most Ironic Nicknames in MMA”. While he might be upset to learn of his placement on one of those lists, the other was more or less just a means of wasting time on our part.

Based purely on comparative success in other promotions, Alessio was/is basically the Canadian version of Jorge Santiago — a man capable of crushing 95% of the fighters he faces outside of the promotion, but one who simply couldn’t put it together under the bright lights — scoring impressive wins over fellow UFC veterans Chris Clements, War Machine, and Sean Pierson among others. Of his five losses, four came by way of unanimous decision, against superior strikers (Thiago Alves, Diego Sanchez), superior grapplers (Mark Bocek, Shane Roller) and superior superiors (Pat Militech). In an interview with MMAJunkie, Alessio discussed how his most recent loss to Roller was the hardest to swallow:

 I’m super upset. I worked so long and so hard to get back, and the UFC always puts all this pressure on you about being exciting, so I tried to change my style up to be crowd-pleasing. But then I get an opponent in my last fight, where he just chose to hold me down to win the fight, and it’s just depressing that that gets rewarded when all they talk about is exciting fights.

I really thought that I’d be spending more than a couple of months of 2012 in the UFC. I thought I’d get one more shot. I don’t know where I should go or what my options are.

Though we are sure that Alessio will find success wherever he lands, his hope of getting a win in the UFC before he retires is a long shot at best at this point in his career. The 33 year-old Xtreme Couture products record currently stands at 34-16.

A tribute to Alessio’s finest UFC moments is after the jump. 

Every great sport has been built on the backs of men who absolutely sucked at it — athletes whose hapless failures made the champions’ triumphs look even more outstanding by comparison. Baseball has its Mario Mendozas, its Bob Kammeyers, its Pete Rose Jrs. We have our Joe Sons, our Tiki Ghosns, our James Toneys. So in honor of the brave competitors who proved that MMA is even harder than it looks, we humbly present this “tribute” to the worst UFC fighters of all time.

A couple of notes to start: 1) We chose fighters solely based on their performances inside the Octagon. Some of these fighters achieved great things in other organizations, before or after their time in the UFC; for the purposes of this feature, we’re not really interested in that. 2) Instead of ranking one form of suckitude against another, we’ll group the 50 fighters into sections and arrange them chronologically. Use the links below to navigate, and if we omitted anybody notable, please let us know in the comments section.

- Ben Goldstein

Page 1: The Pre-Zuffa Punchlines
Page 2: The One-and-Done Wonders
Page 3: The Repeat Offenders
Page 4: The Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time TUF Guys
Page 5: The Barely-Worth-Mentioning Washouts

(How much of a gentlemen is Brian Stann? He tried to break Santiago’s UFC curse the only way he knew how; with a kiss on bended knee.) 

Woe is Jorge Santiago. “The Sandman” has been put to sleep in three out of his five performances in his two runs with the UFC, and was released a second time after dropping a unanimous decision to Demian Maia at UFC 136. But whenever we catch a glimpse of him in a smaller promotion, you’d think you were watching some up and coming prospect that the UFC  must be overlooking. As Tim McCarver would say, as good as Santiago has looked outside the UFC, that’s how as bad he’s looked inside of it. Since exiting the promotion, Santiago has scored a devastating first round knockout of his own over Leonardo Pecanha last March, and tried to make it two in a row when he squared off against 16-5 Justin Guthrie in the main event of last weekend’s TFC 23 card in Fort Riley, Kansas.

Spoiler alert: Santiago picked up another first round finish, this time by reverse heel hook. Unfortunately for “The Sandman,” he was knocked unconscious by the phone call he received from Joe Silva shortly thereafter.

Video after the jump.

(Khalidov’s most recent bit of UFC-washout dispatching handiwork at KSW 19.) 

If you’ve even been a semi-regular reader of this site over the past few months, then you are probably familiar with our nuthuggery when it comes to Polish powerhouse Mamed Khalidov. With a record that currently stands at 25-4, Khalidov has made a name for himself as of late by quickly and violently decimating any challenge placed before him under the KSW banner. His diet has consisted mainly of ex-UFC talent including James Irvin, Jesse Taylor, Jorge Santiago, and Matt Lindland, and he has not lost a fight since March of 2010 (in a rematch with Santiago). In those fights, Khalidov has proven to be as dynamic and powerful a striker as he is a lethal submission savant, and with the Biblical-scale plague of injuries currently sweeping through the UFC’s roster, now seems like a better time than any for Khalidov to test himself in the sport’s highest promotion, don’t you think?

Well, even though it is being reported that Khalidov has in fact been offered a contract by Dana & Co, the jury is still out on whether or not we’ll actually be seeing him stateside anytime soon. The reason, as it always is, boils down to simple dollars and cents. Or lack thereof.

(Sean Salmon getting finished in the first round? You don’t say…)

Jorge Santiago has had perhaps the most disappointing UFC career of any top-tier import out there. While that statement may sound rather contradictory, Santiago’s accolades in any promotion not named the UFC (or King of the Cage) are pretty incredible. Not only is he a two-time defending Sengoku middleweight champion, but one of those defenses, which came at World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 14 back in August of 2010, was a “Fight of the Year” earning performance over Kazuo Misaki. The man can fight is all we’re saying.

If you were to look at his record inside DW’s playground, however, you would see that all but one of his four losses (out of five performances) have ended by way of violent knockout. The Chris Leben left hook. The Alan Belcher head kick. And who could forget the Brian Stann beatdown. Thankfully, Santiago was able to bounce back from his most recent UFC run with a nasty first round knockout of 14-7 Leonardo Pecanha at Titan Fighting Championship 21 last March.

Check out the video after the jump. 

On this day three years ago, this epic first meeting between Kazuo Misaki and Jorge Santiago took place at Sengoku no Ran 2009 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

The-back-and-forth battle that saw Santiago win the Sengoku middleweight strap after catching Misaki with a rear naked choke at 3:26 of the fifth round would set up arguably one of the top five MMA bouts of all time when the pair met again 19 months later at Sengoku Raiden Championships 14.

File this one under “least surprising info of the day.” Following back-to-back losses to Brian Stann and Demian Maia at UFC 130 and 136, repectively, word has it that Jorge Santiago has been released by the UFC for the second time. The American Top Team standout’s original run took place back in 2006, where he scored a quick knockout over the now deceased Justin Levens before ending up on the highlight reels of Chris Leben and Alan Belcher for all eternity.

(“What is it I’m supposed to do with these things again?”)

Joey Beltran: If Beltran loses against UFC newcomer Stipe Miocic, the loss would put him at 1-3 in his last four fights. For a journeyman like Beltran, a slide like that would likely mean a pink slip with his check. A Golden Gloves champ and NCAA Division I wrestler, Miocic is no slouch, which could play into the favor of “The Mexicutioner” if he gets called to the boss’ office.

Steve Cantwell: Heading into his UFC middleweight debut bout with Mike Massenzio,Cantwell is 0-3 in his last three outings. A loss Saturday night would likely land him on the cut list, or at the very least in the margin with a circle around and a question mark beside his name. The UFC might take into account that there was a year-and-a-half gap between his last two losses in which the former WEC light heavyweight champ battled an unnamed illness that UFC president Dana White mentioned was “career-threatening.” Since he doesn’t quite have a memorable personality like Dan Hardy or Pat Barry, that may be the only card he has to play.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/GenghisConFilms)

Oftentimes the best artists are self-taught ones who become masters of their respective crafts because of their love of their art and a constant desire to be better at it.

Genghis Con (AKA Isaac Kesington) is the epitome of such an artist.

Genghis polished his filmmaking chops by making incredible MMA highlight reels and eventually after doing work for MMA promotions like the MFC, branched out into the web-documentary genre.

(Photo courtesy of UFC.com. Rampage’s victory reaction gif is now after the jump.)

When the anticipated rematch between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard was scrapped from this card, we were left with a few big names and a lot of hope. Despite a few stellar knockouts earlier in the evening, UFC 130 ended much like my date to see “No Strings Attached”: a lot of booing, a disappointing 15 minute fight, and I was out $50.

Every UFC card has to be about something, and with no gold up for grabs the storyline for this event became Quinton Jackson’s climb back up to the top of the Light Heavyweight division. Dana White declared and Rogan and Goldberg echoed that an impressive, entertaining victory over Matt Hamill would land Rampage a title fight with champ Jon Jones. Rampage secured the win, but his shot at the belt is still up in the air.

(Come back at 7:00 and see what these two guy look like in their underwear.)

Just a friendly reminder that we will be streaming the UFC 130 weigh-ins live here at 7:00 pm ET.

Will Roy Nelson have a six-pack or a keg?

Will Thiago Alves make weight thanks again to Mike Dolce?

Will Frank Mir come out wearing Whopper boxers?

These pressing questions and more will be answered after the jump.

(Video courtesy of VideoObb/IronForgesIron)

If you missed the Countdown to UFC 130 show this week, not to worry, we have you covered. During the show both Matt Hammil and Quinton Jackson’s camps give some interesting insight into their fighter’s respective opponents and we learn a bit more about some of the lesser-known fighters on the card like Rick Story and Jorge Santiago.

(Stann’s weekend just got a whole lot more interesting.)

According to a report by Dave Meltzer from his F4WOnline.com insider newsletter, there’s more than just a win bonus at stake for former WEC light heavyweight champion Brian Stann when he squares off against former Sengoku middleweight champion Jorge Santiago. He’ll earn a TUF coaching gig opposite Michael Bisping if he has his hand raised Saturday night.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/MMADigest)

Rashad Evans was in Toronto over the weekend to watch his friend and former training partner Georges St-Pierre’s UFC 129 bout against Jake Shields Saturday night at Rogers Centre.

The night before the event, Evans spoke to MMADigest at a pre-party at Muzik nightclub and touched on his recent break from Team Jackson as a result of Jon Jones becoming UFC light heavyweight champ.

For those of you who can’t watch the video at work, the meat and potatoes of the interview are transcribed after the jump.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/GenghisConFilms)

If you’ve been reading the site for a while, you know we’re big fans of Genghis Con’s work. The dude has put together some of the slickest MMA highlights and recently began filming, editing and producing some incredible web documentaries including Miami Hustle, which follows the trials, tribulations and triumphs of former Sengoku champ Jorge Santiago.

The latest short from the series by GC follows Santiago on a typical day relaxing and training in Miami for his upcoming UFC 130 bout with Brian Stann in May. Making a special appearance in the episode is Santiago’s new training partner, former Team Jackson fighter and ex-UFC light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans.

If you missed the prequel to Miami Hustle, check out “The Sengoku King” after the jump. If you enjoy Genghis Con’t work, you’ll thoroughly enjoy it.

(Eddie Jackson shows you how to end a fight with one punch. Props: MadeMan.com)

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…

- Does Jon Fitch really need the UFC Welterweight Title to be considered an MMA legend? (LowKick)

- Siver Seeks to Spoil Sotiropoulos’ Contender Status at UFC 127 (Versus MMA Beat)

- Aussie Gold: The Top MMA Fighters Down Under (FightMagazine)

- Former Power Ranger Gets Into a Backstage Fight at an MMA Event (MiddleEasy)

- Black House Has a YouTube Channel and It’s Great (MMA-Scraps)

- Cain Velasquez Offers Simple Solution to Great Heavyweight Debate (5thRound)

- Hector Lombard Likely Facing Niko Vitale in Non-Title Bout at Bellator 44 (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Now Jorge Santiago Says He Signed With The UFC, Meets Brian Stann At UFC 130 (MMA Convert)

- Karlos Vemola Out of UFC 128, Luiz Cane In Need of New Opponent (MMA Fighting)

(“Hi. My name’s Pee-Wee. I’m here for the orgy.”)

It looks like the UFC scooped up its second Sengoku Raiden Championship fighter in a week.

As we reported last week, the promotion’s middleweight champion Jorge Santiago walked away from the promotion in the hopes of signing with either the UFC or Strikeforce. Although the Amercian Top Team fighter says he has not inked a deal with either promotion, several sources have confirmed that he has signed with the UFC and will face Brian Stann in his first outing at UFC 130 May 28 in Las Vegas.

Now reports have surfaced that Dave Herman has also received a requested release by the struggling Japanese organization. Although his manager, Shu Hirata confirmed today that his client had parted ways with the promotion, he would not commit to substantiating a handful of anonymously sourced reports that “Pee-Wee” has signed with the UFC.

(Hatsu Hioki vs. Jeff Lawson; video courtesy of ZombieProphetMMA)

A year and a half after Jorge Santiago scored a fifth-round comeback submission against Kazuo Misaki to win Sengoku’s middleweight title, the two fighters met again in the main event of yesterday’s Sengoku Raiden Championships 14 in Tokyo. And once again, Santiago managed to pull out a stoppage in the final round, forcing Misaki’s corner to throw in the towel with just 29 seconds left in the fight — a fortunate outcome indeed, considering that Santiago was down on the scorecards.

"The Grabaka Hitman" controlled the first two rounds thanks in large part to his grappling, scoring two takedowns in the opening frame, and threatening with a guillotine choke and full mount in the second. The bout entered "Fight of the Year" territory beginning in the third. Santiago surged back, dropping Misaki with a head kick and smashing him with strikes from the top. It looked grim for the Japanese fighter, but Misaki survived and turned the tables once again in the fourth round, flooring Santiago with punches then working some knees to the head; Santiago intentionally rolled under the ropes to escape the abuse and was slapped with a red card. When the action was re-started, Santiago scored another knockdown of his own during a fierce striking exchange and pounded on Misaki to the bell.

The final round began with another knockdown by Santiago. After a couple of submission attempts from the reigning champ didn’t pan out, Misaki swept Santiago, then Santiago swept Misaki. Santiago seized his moment, firing down hammerfists and punches until Misaki was turtled and helpless. The referee wasn’t quite convinced, but Misaki’s corner had seen enough, and threw in the towel at 4:31 of round 5. Santiago retains his Sengoku middleweight belt in another dramatic performance, while Misaki suffers his third defeat in four fights.

In other action, Akihiro Gono took a suprising decision loss against Mongolian K-1 vet Jadamba Narantungalag, top-ten featherweight Hatsu Hioki notched a first-round submission over a very game Jeff Lawson, and former top-ten welterweight Nick Thompson ate his third consecutive stoppage loss against Sengoku newcomer Taisuke Okuno. Full event results and video of the Santiago/Misaki battle are after the jump…

(Maximo Blanco vs. Chang Hyun Kim; brutal finish @ 1:33. Props to WatchKalibRun)

From yesterday’s Sengoku Raiden Championships show in Tokyo…

– Jorge Santiago def. Mamed Khalidov via unanimous decision
– Akihiro Gono def. Diego Gonzalez via unanimous decision
– Maximo Blanco def. Chang Hyun Kim via KO, 1:10 of round 1
– Marlon Sandro def. Tomonari Kanomata via KO, 0:09 of round 1
– Yoshihiro "Kiss" Nakao def. Henry "Sentoryu" Miller via TKO, 3:27 of round 2
– Yuji Hoshino def. Nick Denis via submission (guillotine choke), 0:47 of round 2
– Leonardo Santos def. Kiuma Kunioku via submission (rear-naked choke), 3:06 of round 1
– Shigeki Osawa def. Kyung Ho Kang via unanimous decision

Two more fight videos after the jump…

(Yoshihiro "Kiss" Nakao — still pretty creepy. Photos courtesy of src-official.com.)

A day after WEC 47 pops off in Columbus, Sengoku will be holding their latest event at the Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Unfortunately the card won’t be broadcast live on HDNet — they’ll be airing it next Friday at 8 p.m. — but we’ll be sure to put up videos of the best fights by Monday. Check out the complete eight-match lineup, via japan-mma.com:

8. Jorge Santiago (21-8-0, champion) vs. Mamed Khalidov (20-3-1, challenger), for SRC Middleweight Title
7. Akihiro Gono (31-15-7) vs. Diego Gonzalez (13-3-0), welterweight
6. Maximo Blanco (4-2-1) vs. Chang Hyun Kim (15-5-0), lightweight
5. Marlon Sandro (15-1-0) vs. Tomonari Kanomata (15-4-5), featherweight
4. Yoshihiro “Kiss” Nakao (8-2-0) vs. Henry "Sentoryu" Miller (6-9-0), heavyweight
3. Yuji Hoshino (16-7-7) vs. Nick Denis (9-1-0), featherweight
2. Kiuma Kunioku (34-22-9) vs. Leonardo Santos (6-3-0), lightweight
1. Shigeki Osawa (4-1-0) vs. Kyung Ho Kang (4-2-0), featherweight

Some important points…

(Khalidov vs. Santiago)

Apologies for the delay/lack of attention on this, but Sengoku’s eleventh event took place early Saturday in Tokyo. Some highlights/lowlights…

— The headlining featherweight match between Hatsu Hioki and Michihiro Omigawa featured two things that have become common in Sengoku: A shocking upset for perennial underdog Omigawa, and an inexplicably bad judges’ decision. Hioki controlled the fight with his grappling in the first round, and dominated the standup in the second. Though Omigawa rallied in the final frame, few expected him to take the split decision victory. Afterwards, even Omigawa disagreed with the scoring.

— Chechen-Polish upstart Mamed "Cannibal" Khalidov scored a surprise first-round knockout of Sengoku middleweight champ Jorge Santiago. After a takedown by Santiago, Khalidov was able to stun Santiago with a punch from the bottom, then scrambled to top position and quickly finished the fight. Because it was a non-title bout, Santiago remains the champion. Love it when that happens.

— Kevin Randleman and undefeated Bulgarian prospect Stanislav Nedkov put on a three-round wrestling match that ended with one judge scoring it for Nedkov and the other two calling it a draw. In keeping with Sengoku’s ridiculous traditions, the two judges who didn’t pick a winner were required to cast "must decision" votes, and Nedkov walked away with a split-decision victory. Full results plus more fight videos can be found after the jump.

(Jorge Santiago gets to his feet after choking out Kazuo Misaki in the fifth round of their title fight at Sengoku no Ran 2009, while UFC superfan Satoshi Ishii [bottom left] tries to comprehend what the hell he just witnessed. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

After racking up five-straight wins in Sengoku and earning the promotion’s middleweight belt, American Top Team fighter Jorge Santiago will be making his U.S. return at Affliction’s third event on August 1st. MMA Weekly has confirmed that the top-ten-ranked 185′er — who has gone 9-0 since leaving the UFC in 2006 — will collide with Vitor Belfort in a match that’s expected to be on "Trilogy"’s main card.

Formerly a light-heavyweight competitor in the UFC, PRIDE, and Cage Rage, Belfort has gone 2-0 as a middleweight in Affliction, with knockout victories over Terry Martin (at "Banned" last July) and Matt Lindland (at "Day of Reckoning" in January). With this bout in place, the pay-per-view lineup for Affliction’s third and not final MMA event is looking pretty kickass. Get caught up after the jump…

(Kitaoka vs. Gomi)

Not that Sengoku lightweight grand prix winner Satoru Kitaoka was some scrub that Takanori Gomi was going to run over, but few people expected Kitaoka to give the Fireball Kid the quickest loss of his career. Yet that’s what happened today at Sengoku’s "Rebellion 2009" card in Saitama, Japan, as Gomi found himself on the painful end of a heel-hook before the two-minute mark. That makes it five impressive wins in a row for rising star Kitaoka — who is now Sengoku’s lightweight champion — and the third loss in five fights for Gomi, whose legendary reputation takes another tough hit.

In the event’s middleweight championship bout, Jorge Santiago put Kazuo Misaki to sleep with a rear-naked choke at the 3:26 mark of the fifth round; if Misaki made it to the bell, he would have likely won the decision after a grueling war that saw the "Grabaka Hitman" dominate Santiago with his striking.

In heavyweight action, Antonio Silva’s suspension-defying matchup with Yoshihiro "Kiss" Nakao ended in disappointing fashion, as Nakao’s knee gave out early in the first round after a couple of brief exchanges. Also, heralded up-and-comer Dave Herman took his first loss after being overwhelmed by punches in the second round of his match against Korean PRIDE vet Mu Bae Choi. Full results and more videos are after the jump…