Bellator’s eighth season ended much like it began — with featherweight champion Pat Curran putting his belt on the line and emerging victorious. His opponent in the main event of last night’s Bellator 95 card in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was Shahbulat Shamhalaev, the Dagestan-bred knockout artist who clinched his title shot with his KO of Rad Martinez in February. Unlike his 25-minute squeaker against Patricio Freire in January, Curran only needed half a round to take Shamhalaev down and put him to sleep with an arm-in guillotine, earning his second successful title defense.

Depending on availability, Curran’s next opponent could be Season 6 winner Daniel Straus — who was forced to withdraw from Bellator 95 due to a broken hand — or Bellator’s latest featherweight tournament winner, Magomedrasul “Frodo” Khasbulaev, who defeated Mike Richman in a 15-minute dogfight last night. Though Richman was game through all three rounds, opening up some cuts on the Russian’s face in round two, Frodo clearly had the advantages in striking, takedowns, and overall aggression. Khasbulaev was awarded 30-27 scores from all three judges, and a $100,000 check from his employer.

In the night’s other Season 8 tournament final, middleweight Doug “The Rhino” Marshall continued his improbable career comeback by knocking out Brett Cooper in the first round. Cooper had some success early in putting Marshall on his back, but once Marshall regained his footing, it was Rhino Time. A hard right hand from Marshall sent Cooper to the canvas, and some follow-up bombs sealed the deal. The win increased Marshall’s Bellator record to 4-0, with three of those wins by first-round KO/TKO.

“Man, I hope he’s OK,” Marshall said afterwards. “I was trying to knock his beard off, but it didn’t come off. Maybe next time.”

(Karo Parisyan: A beast when he wins, a Hollywood cliche when he loses.)

Did someone say King of the mountain?

It may be a long time before we see Karo Parisyan competing in a top level promotion again, but he took one step closer by utterly destroying Anonymous Tatted-up Opponent #237 (known professionally as, we shit you not, Tiger Bonds) at Gladiator Challenge: King of the Mountain over the weekend. It was Parisyan’s second victory in his past three contests, which is only made less than impressive when you consider that his other win came over Thomas Denny. And that he had dropped four of his past five before that. But hey, we’re taking the optimistic approach today, so all you haters can suck a bag of dicks.

Video after the jump.

It’s easy- perhaps even a bit lazy- to compare the embattled MMA fighter Drew Fickett to the similarly troubled Scott Hall. In their primes, both men performed on their respective sport’s biggest stages against recognizable names. In Fickett’s case, this meant a run in the UFC and notable victories over Dennis Hallman, Kenny Florian, Josh Neer, Josh Koscheck and Kurt Pellegrino.

Yet it’s arguable that both men are more famous for their self-destructive, chaotic lifestyles outside of sport than they are for their accomplishments. Both men have well documented struggles with addiction, have been fired from major promotions over their drunken antics and have attempted to stay relevant in their respective sports with increasingly tragic results.

Case in point: Last night’s ShoFIGHT 20, which took place on the campus of Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. The show was essentially a who’s who of washouts from bigger promotions, which included (aside from Fickett) John Gunderson, Karo Parisyan, Kendall Grove, Lyle Beerbohm, Marcus Aurelio, Charles Bennett, “Smilin’” Sam Alvey and Roli Delgado. This card saw Fickett matched up against submission specialist Jonatas Novaes.

(McCorkle vs. Heden round 1; round 2 is after the jump. Props: PVTHansen16)

Notably stacked for a regional card, Worldwide Mixed Martial Arts‘ debut event went down Saturday night in El Paso, Texas, and was highlighted by an upset in the main event and a handful of UFC vets smashing their way into the win column.

At this point, when Sean McCorkle gets booked against a smaller, doughier opponent with a journeyman’s record, we just assume that “Big Sexy” will bully his way to a first-round stoppage without much difficulty. But WMMA 1′s super-heavyweight main event didn’t go down like that. Though McCorkle (who tipped the scales at 312 pounds) came very close to finishing the 287-pound Brian Heden near the end of the first round, he blew his cardio wad in the process. With McCorkle barely able to lift his arms in round two, Heden was able to reverse a takedown, trap McCorkle’s left arm, and slug his way to a TKO victory. According to Danga, the announcer referred to the win as “the upset of the century.” (Somewhere, Gus Johnson is masturbating.) In a follow-up post on the UG, McCorkle lamented the cardio problems that have plagued his entire athletic career, credited Heden for showing up in “decent shape”* and vowed to retire if his cardio ever contributed to another loss.

In the co-main event, Karo Parisyan snapped a three-fight losing streak when he scored a unanimous decision over veteran Thomas Denny. Even more impressive, Drew Fickett snapped a four-fight losing streak when he choked out WEC/Bellator vet Kevin Knabjian, despite reports that Fickett was pretty well sauced throughout fight week. (Obviously, it could have been worse.)

(Video courtesy of YouTube/WMMASPORTS1)

If you’re looking for an MMA fix to get you through until UFC 145, Worldwide Mixed Martial Arts is holding its inaugural show on Saturday in El Paso, Texas.

The promotion put together the pretty slick looking promo above for its McCorkle vs. Heden: Fighting For A Better World event that will see a portion of the proceeds from the show donated to the Wounded Warriors project.

In the main and co-main event of the evening, former UFC heavyweight Sean McCorkle will take on a somewhat unknown fighter by the name of Brian Heden and onetime UFC welterweight contender Karo Parisyan will face King of the Cage, EliteXC and MFC vet Thomas “Wildman” Denny. The event will be available for rent via pay-per-view.

During the promo, clips were shown of Parisyan’s first fight — a bare-knuckle scrap he had in Mexico when he was 14 against a 20-something local champion.

Check out the entire impressive fight by young Karo and the complete WMMA fight card after the jump.

(These two bouts alone beat most Strikeforce Challengers events.)

CagePotato.com has learned that a trio of bouts featuring UFC veterans has been added to Worldwide MMA’s debut card in El Paso, Texas.

Karo Parisyan (19-8-4 1 NC) versus Dave Menne (45-16-2), Lyle Beerbohm (16-2) versus Jamie Varner (18-6-1 2 NC) as well as Drew Fickett (41-16) versus Kevin Knabjian (12-6) will all take place at the March 31 event.

(Before she became MMA’s sweetheart, Ronda battled through some tough personal bouts growing up.)

We’ve all read stories about how Ronda Rousey became a beast on the mats training with the tough Armenians like Karo Parisyan and Manny Gamburyan as a girl at Gokor Chivichyan’s gym, but few actually know the real battles the bubbly Strikeforce number one bantamweight contender has gone through in her life.

In a recent feature by SI’s Loretta Hunt, Rousey revealed that her precarious life path began early in life as she could not speak until she was six due to complications at birth.

Of any fighter, it’s fitting that Rousey knows the value of making her voice be heard — she couldn’t put together coherent sentences until the age of six.

Rousey was born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck; her body was blue and she wasn’t breathing. She was revived in the delivery room, but when her communicative skills quickly fell behind the norm, the doctors thought she’d suffered brain damage or that she might be deaf.

When she began to talk, Rousey’s words were jumbled and she was sent to speech therapy classes. Frustration was a daily occurrence, as nobody could understand her.

(And now, two useless MMA commentators miss a fantastic standing heel-hook finish while trying to figure out how to pronounce “Vovchanchyn.” Props: EliteMMA)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere…

- UFC 145: Brendan Schaub vs. Ben Rothwell Booked for March 24 in Montreal (MMA Mania)

- Frank Mir Says Alistair Overeem’s Cardio Will “Suck” Against Brock Lesnar (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Top 10 Worst New Year’s Eve MMA Fights in Japan (The Fight Nerd)

- Nate Diaz Denies October Run-In With Donald Cerrone (5th Round)

- The $8.18 UFC 141 Parlay That Will Literally Make You a Millionaire (MiddleEasy)

- As He Reflects on Loss to Michael Bisping, ‘Mayhem’ Miller Focuses on Uncertain Future (MMA Fighting)

- NYE Storylines: Who Retires First After a Loss, Fedor or Lesnar? (Fight Opinion)

- Moving Past ‘Worst Time Ever,’ Karo Parisyan Rediscovering Fire To Compete (FightLine)

- Gabriel Gonzaga: ‘The UFC Is My Home’ (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Countdown to UFC 141 Attracts Just 15,000 Viewers on FUEL (MMA Payout)

- Inside MMA: The 2011 Bazzie Awards (MMA Convert)

- Jon Fitch Says He Should Fight the Winner of Condit-Diaz if Victorious Against Johny Hendricks (Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com)

(And here we have Ronda Rousey dumping Karo Parisyan on his head. Props: DantheWolfman)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere…

- The Great ‘Must Retire’ List of 2011 (MMA Convert)

- Bellator’s 10 Best Fights of 2011 (The Fight Nerd)

- Photo Gallery: Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos Training for Hiroko Yamanaka (Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com)

- The 25 Most Outrageous MMA-Related Videos on YouTube (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Spike TV to Counter-Program ‘UFC on FOX 2′ With ‘UFC Unleashed: Evans vs. Davis’ (MMA Payout)

- Arianny Celeste: Chael Sonnen Is Very Polite To Me Backstage (FightLine)

- Keith Kizer: Urine Is ‘Obviously’ Better Than Blood for Steroid Testing (Fight Opinion)

- Dana White Sees Jon Jones as #2 Pound-for-Pound Fighter in the World (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Joseph Benavidez Inspired to Become a Great Champion in New UFC Flyweight Division (MMA Mania)

- Demian Maia: I Know I Can Submit Michael Bisping (MMAFighting)

- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Avoids Surgery on Broken Arm (5th Round)

- Can Someone Please Help Felice Herrig With Her Wardrobe Malfunction? (MiddleEasy)

(Leben might need to pray that MMA fans and the UFC don’t turn their backs on him in the next year while he serves his latest suspension. Ask Karo Parisyan.)

Anyone who says that the UFC isn’t policing its own athletes when it comes to drug use needs to talk to Chris Leben.

The troubled UFC middleweight, who blamed a massive weight cut on his sluggish performance, tested positive for Oxymorphone and Oxycodone in tests administered by the promotion following his UFC 138 loss on November 5 to Mark Munoz. As a result, he has been suspended by Zuffa for a year.

For those keeping track, this is the second time “The Crippler” has been popped for pissing dirty by the UFC. The first time was after his UFC 89 decision loss to Michael back in October 2008 when he tested positive for Stanozolol. Between these incidents, he also got picked up for DUI for the second time in October 2010, which clearly reveals a pattern of someone who needs help for a substance abuse problem or someone who really needs a hobby during the winter months.

CagePotatos Cage Cameo Contest – Watch MoreFunny Videos

We had several entries in what was likely our toughest contest to date. As always, you guys showed that you’re passionate fans of our site and the sport — either that or you just like free stuff.

Anyway,  before we get into announcing who the winner is, here are the official correct answers:

1. Don Frye in “Big Stan” (2007)

2. Acclaimed coach Shawn Tompkins (hitting the bag), Frank “Johnny Cage” Colcher and Trevor “Hollywood” Harris (both sparring in ring) in “Sons of Anarchy” (2010)

3. UFC 1 tooth loser Teila Tuli AKA Taylor Wily in “Forgetting “Sarah Marshall” (2008)

4. Maurice Smith (the fatherless bastard) in “Miami Connection” (1987)

5. Cage Potato reporter molester Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in “The Midnight Meat Train” (2008)

6. UFC founder Rorian Gracie (Mexican restaurant maitre d’) in “Hart to Hart” 1983

7. Cunning linguist Tito Ortiz in “The Crow: Wicked Prayer” (2005)

8. Rapist and murderer Joe Son (fighting Bolo Yeung) and Mike Bernardo (cornerman shouting encouragement to Yeung) in Shootfighter 2 (1996)

9. MMA legend and all around good guy (unless you accost his wife in a bar) Bas Rutten  in Zookeeper (2011)

10. MMA trainer extraordinaire Steven Seagal, Randy Couture (answers door and gets KO’d by Seagal) and Karo Parisyan (thug number two that Seagal KOs) in “Today You Die” (2005)

11. UFC Hall-of-Famer Ken Shamrock in “That 70′s Show” (1999)

12. Raving lunatic Harold Howard (wild-eyed murderous gladiator) in “Gladiator Cop” (1995)

13. Rickson Gracie in “The Incredible Hulk” (2008)

14.Stephen Quadros (dude with the animated facial expressions) in “Demon Wind” (1990)

15. Patrick Smith’s first UFC 2 victim Ray Wizard (gang leader) in “The Master” AKA “Long Xing Tian Xia” (1992)

16. Joe Rogan in “Zookeeper” (2011

17. Chuck Liddell (Boy Scout catching orange) in “The Postman Always Rings Twice” (1981)

Those of you who caught the middleweight match-up between Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch and Nick “The Promise” Ring on the UFC 135 Live Prelims last Saturday were likely transfixed by the gorgeous judo throw Boetsch pulled off in the third round known as the Harai-Goshi, or Sweeping Hip Throw.

The Harai-Goshi is one of the forty fundamental throws created by the founder of Judo, Kano Jigoro. The above video, though not demonstrated in English, most properly demonstrates the necessity of foot placement in both the initial attack and sweep stages of the throw. From there, the throw trades in power for momentum, a basic principle of Judo.

We can’t embed the stream since we don’t have the flash plug-in installed to our site, but you can check out the last half of the card HERE.

Make sure you click the “Full Screen” button.

(Main event, huh? Interesting choice.)

Just a friendly reminder that the inaugural Amazon Forest Combat show is tonight and for those of you who want to watch it, we’ll have a stream Thursday afternoon. Sorry for the inconvenience, but we’re told that there was a scheduling issue and even the networks in Brazil who were to carry the event live are not airing it until tomorrow and this weekend, respectively.

Fair warning: Chael Sonnen tells us the Internet quality in Brazil is slightly better than dial-up, so the quality may be a bit less than 720p.

Anyway, the card for this show is a good one and definitely worth watching.  It should be live around 4:00 pm ET Thursday, we’re told.

(“Can’t….stop….giggling.”)

According to UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, he injured his shoulder while sparring with Junior dos Santos prior to his UFC 134 bout with Yushin Okami and was put on painkillers for the injury. Silva revealed to the Brazilian magazine Veja that he was in pain the day of the bout and that he took some painkillers to ensure he could fight, but says that unlike guys like Bas Rutten and Karo Parisyan who failed to reveal their use of analgesics to their respective athletic commissions prior to bouts, he did tell the group in charge of overseeing the event that he took the unnamed drug prior to the bout.

“A month before the fight I injured my shoulder while training with Junior dos Santos and I was feeling a lot of pain in Rio. I had to take some medicine and warn the athletic commission about it. I’ve talked to my doctors. I had an MRI and then I started feeling pains in my shoulder but the doctors let me go and said it was not that serious,” Silva says. “It’s a small injury, but I guess it’s on the [rotator] cuff and bothers me. I’ll rest for a while and get healed.”

VidProps: ijfchannel/YouTube

Funny thing about literal translations: they’re rarely very good at saying exactly what you mean, rather they tend to sort-of-in-a-general-way communicate a rough idea. And sometimes, they’re downright misleading. Take judo, for example. The Japanese translates into English imprecisely to begin with: ju translates literally as “gentle” or “soft”, while do is “way” or “path”. Both of these concepts relate more to the philosophy of judo — conservation of energy and an emphasis on technique — than a description of the style and action. Ask anyone who’s ever tried a few classes in the “gentle way“, and they’ll tell you that it’s anything but. Any class that begins with learning how to fall down with minimal pain runs a significant risk of being brutal.

Judo was born in the late 19th Century by a Japanese jujitsu fella by the name of Jiguro Kano, known to his brodogs as “Da Jigumon”. Kano had begun training as a result of being bullied growing up –a story that still rings true through time. At the time, “jujitsu” was something of a generic term for unarmed fighting, and schools varied wildy in technique, training methods, and instruction.

By Mike Russell

(Parisyan says he’s motivated to beat Smith and get back on the winning track.)
Karo “The Heat” Parisyan (19-7) will take on Jordan “Mata Ele” Smith (15-2-1) September 14 at the upstart Amazon Forest Combat promotion’s first event in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.

Parisyan informed CagePotato.com last night that the bout agreements for the fight have been signed and said that he’s excited to get back out and put on an even better performance than he did in his last outing in May at MMA Live 1 against Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford in London, Ontario, Canada. He was winning the fight heading into the third round, having controlled the action using takedowns and his trademark judo throws, but was caught with a well-timed knee by the Canadian welterweight standout who recently signed with Bellator and the bout was stopped due to a cut. The heartbreaking loss left a bad taste in Parisyan’s mouth and motivated him to up his training intensity while awaiting word of his next bout.

(Ford will finally get his shot with a top three promotion.)

Canada’s number 5 ranked welterweight Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford has signed on with his first major U.S. promotion. According to the Edmonton, Alberta fighter, he has come to terms with Bellator Fighting Championships and will make his debut with the Chicago-based promotion in October during season 5 at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario against a yet-to-be determined opponent in a non-tournament bout and will then participate in next season’t welterweight bracket that begins in January 2012.

Ford posted the following on his Facebook page this afternoon:

“The Real Deal Will Be Keepin It GDUP For Bellator Fighting Championships. Debut In October @ Casino Rama Then The 170lb 100k Tournament In January 2012 Representing E-Town And Canada!!!!”

(Irony, how does it work? PicProps MMAJunkie)

CagePotato.com has learned that former UFC welterweight contender Karo “The Heat” Parisyan contacted the UFC to offer to step in for Nate Marquardt to face Rick Story on last night’s UFC Live on Versus 4 card.

According to a source close to Parisyan, the Armenian Judoka texted UFC president Dana White moments after the news broke that Marquardt was unable to compete on the card because he not met the medical testing requirements of the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission and would immediately be let go from the remainder of his Zuffa contract as a result, to let him know that he was in shape, his medicals were up to date and he could make the 170-pound welterweight limit in about in an hour or two. White, who chose instead to give Charlie Brenneman the fight, simply texted back, “:).”

We’ve been off for a few weeks mainly due to logistical reasons, but we’re finally back with another episode of Ben’s mom’s favorite MMA podcast.

On this week’s episode weekend writer Seth Falvo joins us as we break down this weekend’s UFC 130 event and next weekend’s The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale. We also sit down with embattled former UFC welterweight contender Karo “The Heat” Parisyan, who talks about his heartbreaking loss to Ryan Ford at MMA Live 1 last week in Canada, his haters, his thoughts on the media and his plans for the future.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/MMA Live/CagePotato)

The production company that filmed and produced the videos for last week’s MMA Live 1 event in London, Ontario, Canada are Cage Potato fans, and as such, they sent along the full video above of Thursday’s main event between Karo “The Heat” Parisyan and Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford for us to post exclusively on the site.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/CP)

Ahead of his MMA Live 1 main event bout with Canadian standout Ryan Ford, Karo Parisyan said he wanted to prove to himself and to his fans that he turned a corner in his personal and professional life.

In spite of the fact that message boards have been abuzz with how impressive the 28-year-old’s performance was Thursday night in London, Ontario, Canada, in spite of a disappointing doctor’s stoppage loss, after watching the fight Parisyan wants another crack at Ford.

“I did say I wanted a rematch. First and foremost going into the fight I felt great and everything was fine and I was controlling the fight until the last moment [when] I caught an unfortunate knee. Wherever they can put together this fight, hopefully he takes the rematch and I would love to take it and fight him again,” Parisyan told CagePotato.com Sunday. “And I will prove to everyone that Ryan Ford didn’t beat me and the knee and the cut didn’t beat me either. I’m so upset. Let Ryan come out and take a rematch. He told me he’d give me a rematch when I was getting into the back [after the fight]. I said, ‘Give me a rematch. You know you lost this fight. You were losing the fight and nothing was going to change.’ I’ve been in these wars all my life and I’ve always been able to pull out every freaking fight whether I was cut or tired or whatever it was or whether I was rocked. I wasn’t hurt and I wanted to keep fighting.”

(Video courtesy of YouTube/CagePotato.com)

If there was any question as to whether or not Karo Parisyan has turned a corner from his highly publicized battle with anxiety and painkiller abuse, he answered it with his showing against Ryan Ford at MMA Live 1 in London, Ontario Canada last night.

Logging what was arguably his best performance of the past three years, Parisyan took the two opening rounds of the bout utilizing his flashy judo and ground control and was looking good in the opening minute of the third when Ford connected with a stiff knee to the crown of the Armenian judoka that opened up a nasty cut and left the mat soaked in blood. When Parisyan slipped in the puddle of blood, veteran referee Yves Lavigne called in the ringside physician who, after a few moments of deliberation, called the fight off, giving Ford the win via TKO at 1:26 of round 3.

(Jon Jones photobombs the staredown – Video courtesy of YouTube/MCLHEA)

All of the fighters scheduled to compete on Thursday night’s MMA Live 1 card set for the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario, Canada made their respective contracted weight limits except for two, who hit their marks the second time after an hour in the sauna.

Main event participants Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford (169.4) and Karo “The Heat” Parisyan (171) shared a private conversation during an intense staredown, which concluded with the two welterweights exchanging a pat on the back and a smile,  breaking the tension in the room.

(Having proven his colorful past is behind him, Ford wants the opportunity to prove he’s a future UFC welterweight contender – PicProps GUHDAR photography)

Heading into the stiffest test of his young MMA career – a main event tilt with embattled former UFC welterweight contender Karo Parisyan Thursday night at MMA Live 1 in London, Ontario, Canada, Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford is remarkably calm and focused at the challenging task that lies ahead.

In spite of the fact that he has another bout booked a few weeks after his fight with Parisyan, Ford says it isn’t because he’s taking “The Heat” lightly, it’s because he wants to keep putting in work until certain promoters can’t ignore him any longer.

“It just came up the way it did. I haven’t even been thinking about my other fight, the only fight that I’ve been thinking about for the last eight weeks is Karo Parisyan, and I could care less about the next fight I have coming up right now. Karo Parisyan’s been on my mind when I go to bed, when I wake up, and even when I’m sleeping. I never take any of my opponents lightly, especially Karo Parisyan. I’ve seen what he’s done in the sport, so obviously I’m not coming in thinking I’m just going to walk through him,” Ford explains. “I’ve been training my ass off, every day. What I’m looking to do is run through him, so it is what it is. My overall goal is for Mr. Dana White to give me a call, and give me my shot. I’m going to keep putting the work in and do what I can for him to realize that I’m ready for the UFC. And you know, he’s the boss, so it’s up to him and the Fertitta brothers, so it’s up to them to want me to be a part of their organization.”

(Parisyan says although his demons are behind him, they’ll always be chasing him. PicProps: Sherdog)

Karo Parisyan is ready to turn the page.

With the last chapter of his life and his career behind him, the 28-year-old who overcame a highly publicized battle with painkiller abuse and anxiety is hoping that the headlines about his personal and professional struggles the past three years will eventually become footnotes in his life story rather than the main subject.

“When I put my life story out about all of the sh*t I’ve been through and everything that’s happened to me, even my parents will be like, ‘Oh my God,’ when they read it. They don’t even know the half of it.”

Page one of the new chapter of Parisyan’s story starts Thursday night in London, Ontario when he squares off with highly regarded Canadian welterweight Ryan Ford at MMA Live 1 and he says the main difference this time around is that he’s writing the story for himself and not for others like he’s been doing his whole life.

“I’ve been through hell and I’m still on the way back home. I hope people can understand and not judge me for the mistakes I made. I’m doing this for myself. I’m tired of worrying about this person or that person. My family always has my back, but I need to look after myself. I want to get out there and do this for me so I can feel good about myself again. I used to think a lot about what everybody thought about me and now I don’t care. I’ve been training since I was eight years old and competing as long as I can remember and I got burnt out,” Parisyan recalls. “I let the pressure get to me. I had the pressure of representing my friends, my family, Armenians, judo etc…etc. What I realize now is that except your age, what goes up must come down, so you need to not let every little thing get to you because that’s when the pressure will eat at you until you break.”

(Aurelio teaching Dunham to keep his hands up.)

Heading into his MMA Live 1 welterweight bout with Matt MacGrath on May 19, Marcus Aurelio says he has a lot to prove to a lot of people, most notably himself.

The seasoned 37-year-old PRIDE, DREAM and UFC vet who is 4-2 in his last six outings is unhappy with the two blemishes he incurred on his record and is looking to erase them from the minds of fans with an impressive showing against MacGrath.

Although a hard-fought split decision loss to top tier UFC prospect Evan Dunham at UFC 102 back in 2009 left him with a bad taste in his mouth and without a job, his last loss against Shinya Aoki at DREAM 16 last September upset him more.

Aoki refused to engage on the feet and seemed content to take the decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt down and hold him there before washing, rinsing and repeating the process the whenever Aurelio would get back up. Although he relishes the opportunity to avenge both losses, he says that he would rather do so in North America.

“I want to fight Evan Dunham again. I respect that kid a lot. The fight was so close. I almost had him in a choke. If I held it a little bit more, I would have had him. At the end of the fight, they gave him the decision and I respect that and I respect him a lot, but I definitely want to fight him again for sure. The fight with Aoki was frustrating. He got me in a good position and he stole the fight. He never tried to strike or exchange jiu-jitsu with me. I only had one chance in the fight when he shot and I sprawled and I almost took his back and after that I almost got his arm. The rest of the fight was boring,” Aurelio points out. “I hope I can fight him again and maybe we can do a better fight. The way I see it, if the fight was in America like in the UFC, after a minute [of stalling on the ground] they would say, ‘Okay guys, time to stand up.’ They should have stood us up, but in Japan Aoki is the big kid and they would never do that. He’s the biggest name in Japan so they wouldn’t risk him losing on the feet where he is the weakest. He was avoiding striking with me. The rules and the referees over there are always going to help him for sure.”

(MacGrath could raise his stock immensely with a win over a veteran like Aurelio.)

Cory MacDonald was hoping that his fight at MMA Live 1 against Marcus Aurelio would be his coming out party of sorts that would propel the highly-touted Kingston, Ontario native up the Canadian welterweight rankings. Unfortunately for MacDonald, he will have to wait for his opportunity to open the eyes of fans, pundits and possibly the powers that be at the UFC, as he has been forced to pull out of the May 19 London, Ontario show for undisclosed medical reasons.

Stepping in for McDonald on just over one week’s notice to face Aurelio (20-9) will be always game Halifax, Nova Scotia native Matt MacGrath (10-5). Although he is just 2-3 in his last five outings, each of his losses in that span came against UFC veterans in Kalib Starnes, Jonathan Goulet and Claude Patrick. MacGrath defeated TUF 9 quarter finalist Dean Amasinger at MMA: The Reckoning in Orillia, Ontario April 2.

Jobbi.com announced today that it has formed a partnership with Zuffa to help the parent company of the UFC and Strikeforce recruit fighters.

According to the company’s co-founder Lawrence Vaughan, applicants will receive feedback from members of the job search hub which will help improve their standing on the site and may lead to them gaining the attention of UFC brass.

“Together with the UFC, we’ve created a streamlined process that makes it simple for new fighters and UFC management to connect with each other. There is also a social component that makes it easy for general public to get involved. People can talk with fighters, watch videos of applicants, and show their support for their favorite fighters,” explained Vaughan. “It is an exciting, ongoing process to determine who will ultimately get their dream job fighting for the UFC.”

(Tattoo advantage: Ford)

A welterweight bout between UFC vet Karo “The Heat” Parisyan and Canadian prospect Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford has been submitted to the Ontario Athletic Commission for approval for MMA Live’s inaugural card May 19 at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario, Canada.