(Photo via Bellator.com)

By Elias Cepeda

Last month, former Strikeforce champion Muhammad Lawal was scheduled to take his next academic step towards the Bellator light-heavyweight tournament title. Sure, he had to fight someone, but no one seemed to give much credit to his opponent, Emanuel Newton.

The two had traveled and trained in the same circles, even together, but their careers couldn’t have been more different. Lawal was a former top international wrestler that entered high-level MMA with great fanfare and quickly became one of the most dangerous 205-pound fighters in the world.

Newton, instead, had toiled on mostly the regional circuits for nearly ten years. He had fought, and sometimes beaten, guys who would go on to fight and win in the UFC, but Newton’s own shot at the big time had yet to come.

Fighting in the Bellator tournament, however, gave him his chance. Both Newton and Lawal won their first-round fights in January and advanced to face one another. All the attention, including from this writer and site, was on Lawal.

With his pedigree, brash public persona, and world class skills, “King Mo” was the story. The world took for granted that he had taken a step down to fight in Bellator after being fired by Zuffa (the parent company of Strikeforce and the UFC) and that Lawal would easily stomp through every one of his opponents in the tournament, Newton included.

He might only be a few days removed from his shocking Bellator 90 upset at the hands of Emanuel Newton, but it doesn’t appear as if Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal has learned a damn thing from it yet. Mo has been training with renowned boxing instructor Jeff Mayweather ever since signing his groundbreaking Bellator/TNA double contract last May, and has even knocked out the occasional training partner or two in his time there. But King Mo is not Floyd Mayweather, and this fact was never made more obvious than in the moments leading up to his KO loss last Thursday.

In an attempt to mimic Mayweather’s “shoulder roll” technique, Mo’s hands could be spotted closer to his waist than his face for the majority of the fight, which would have been fine had Mo counterbalanced that disadvantage with sharp combinations and head movement. Since Mo did nothing of the sort, he wound up losing his spot in the light heavyweight tourney finals and costing me over 2200 dollars on a eight-fight parlay yousonofabitchbastardWHYGODWHY. But if you were to ask Mo, the knockout was not the result of his own arrogance and was in fact quite the opposite:

I didn’t even see the shot. A lot of people saying that I was fighting cocky and with my hands down, but if you watch it, when he missed with his right hand, I threw a right hand and then he came with the spinning backfist.

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(The Emanuel Newton vs. King Mo spinning-backfist falling-tree knockout, via RockOwnsPunk.)

When you’re watching a Bellator event, you can only hope that a memorable finish or two will make up for the general lack of star power compared to those other guys. And oh man, did last night’s Bellator 90 event in West Valley City, Utah, deliver the goods, with all four fights on the Spike TV main card ending within the first two rounds, and three more stoppages featured on the prelims.

But the card’s generous helping of violence was a mixed blessing, since the list of victims included Bellator’s light-heavyweight marquee attraction, and their marketable featherweight inspirational figure. If you didn’t tune in last night, here’s what you missed:

Season 8 Welterweight Semi-Finals: Ben Saunders faced Raul Amaya for the second time in his Bellator stint, and while Killa B completely dominated their first meeting en route to a unanimous decision win, he didn’t even let Amaya out of the first round this time. Amaya was aggressive from the opening bell, but wasn’t able to find his range against the lanky Saunders, who landed counter-punches and body-kicks at will, before putting Amaya’s lights out with a left high kick. (GIF here, via ZombieProphet/BloodyElbow)

The fight on the other side of the 170-bracket was just as quick and one-sided. Douglas Lima didn’t give Bryan Baker a chance to get in the fight, abusing Baker’s legs with low kicks for a couple minutes, then firing a devastating right hand that crumpled “The Beast” to the mat. Lima will now face Saunders in the Season 8 Welterweight Tournament Final at Bellator 93, in a rematch of their Season 5 Welterweight Tournament Final in November 2011, which Lima won by knockout.

(Lawal and Newton square off at yesterday’s weigh-ins. Photo via Sherdog)

By Elias Cepeda

After a year marked by a steroid suspension, a life-threatening staph infection, a firing from Zuffa, and then a quick hire by Bellator, Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal finally got back in the ring in January. The former amateur collegiate and international wrestler fought and beat the aggressive (and consonant-heavy) Przemyslaw Mysiala at Bellator 86, ending the match by first-round KO.

Lawal is back in action tonight at Bellator 90, where he and Emanuel Newton will meet in the semi-finals of the promotion’s Season 8 light-heavyweight tournament. We caught up with Mo recently to discuss getting back in the ring and his training for the peculiar tournament structure. Check out our conversation below, and be sure to tune in to the Spike TV broadcast of Bellator 90 at 10 p.m. ET, which will also feature the Season 8 welterweight tournament finals, and the delayed featherweight tournament final between Shahbulat Shamhalaev and Rad Martinez.

CagePotato: What was it like getting back in the cage last month after such a long layoff?

Muhammed Lawal: The weird thing is. It didn’t feel any different. I had [agent] Mike Kogan, my brother Bull who is fighting in Legacy Fighting Championships in April and Jeff Mayweather with me like usual. I had all my friends and family and coaches around me, so it felt normal.

But I also felt relieved and I felt rejuvenated to see blood and sweat on you, to step into the cage. Seeing my opponent on the other side made me realize what I really missed. It’s like when you are dating a girl. When she’s gone you think, ‘damn, I really miss this or that about her.’

I wanted to get a feel for things in the cage when I got in there but the dude [Mysiala] came forward with haymakers and I knew this might happen, so luckily Jeff Mayweahter trained me well. He trained me to slip, slip, catch, block and roll, and that’s what I tried to do. I hit him with a check hook while he was trying to land a big shot.

CP: Your semi-final fight is just four weeks after the last one. Do you have any injuries left over that you’ll have to fight with?

By Elias Cepeda

With how often former Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion Muhammed Lawal talks about money, one might think it is his only motivation. He can go on and on about how cash motivates him during fights and how he invests wisely so as not to have to depend solely on professional fighting for income.

Lawal’s financial focus fits in well with the namesake of the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas, where Lawal does much of his training these days. (San Jose, CA, the home of the American Kickboxing Academy where he has previously trained during fight camps, got “too expensive,” according to Mo.) But just as with Floyd Mayweather Jr., there is a lot more substance behind the former wrestler’s style and talk.

The fighter known as “King Mo” has not been able to fight professionally for over a year because of a suspension stemming from a positive steroid test after his last fight against Lorenz Larkin. So, for the past year Mo has not gotten paid a red cent to fight — yet he says his motivation to train hard never waned.

“I never had a problem [staying motivated]. Never,” he tells CagePotato. “I love being in the gym, I love working out. My mind is always on fighting of some sort.”

Sheesh, Randy and Chuck have really been hitting the Centrum Silver since they retired, huh?

Ever since the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act was passed in 1994, athletes have been aware that there may be more than just protein in the tubs of powder and bottles of pills found in their local grocery stores. The supplement industry isn’t exactly known for its history of ethical practices, and the deregulation of it has unsurprisingly caused manufacturers to push the limits of what can be snuck into their products. It’s widely been accepted that any supplement one purchases — be it the pre-workout stimulant that a personal trainer recommended or the “hardcore” testosterone booster that the local meathead swears is responsible for his 300+ pound frame — can result in a failed drug test, and that any athlete who uses supplements does so at his or her own risk.

Yet if you’ve followed this sport — or any sport, for that matter — for at least one week, you’re already sick of what’s been dubbed The Tainted Supplements Defense. You know the story by heart, and can recite it word-for-word before the athlete even issues a statement on the failed test: An athlete gets busted with a banned substance in his or her system, claims that an over-the-counter product is responsible for the failed drug test, swears that he or she would never resort to taking steroids, wishes that he or she never took the supplements before the fight and promises that it will never happen again. It’s just likely enough to be true, yet just unfalsifiable enough for a reasonable fan to reject.

Which is just one of many reasons why I am cordially inviting anyone blaming a failed drug test on an over-the-counter supplement to fucking stop doing so from this point forward. No matter what variation of the excuse you’re using, your excuse is bad, and you should feel bad. Let’s start off with the most popular variation:

(Yeah, we’re not really stoked for this one either, Mo.)

Not too long ago, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal signed a — I guess you’d call it groundbreaking — deal with both Bellator and TNA Wrestling after being released from Strikeforce following a positive test for steroids and an epic Twitter meltdown, a decision he is probably patting himself on the back for in light of recent events. Ever since, we have been quietly waiting to see which one of Bellator’s remaining light heavyweights Mo would square off against first, whether it was…what’s his face, or, uhh…*snaps fingers*…uh…God, I know this…

…

…Turns out, Bellator is going the Josh Barnett route for King Mo’s big debut, bringing in a complete outsider named *checks glasses* Przemyslaw Mysiala to conveniently get squashed just before confetti falls from the ceiling and Mo is declared the next challenger to whomever emerges victorious from the Christian M’Pumbu/Attila Veigh fight. And you better believe that some form of energy drink will be used to hose bitches down at some point in this ceremony, because it sooo will.

(“I don’t give a damn about some Bellator fighter that goes by the name of King Mo.” Well, that makes two of you. Video via TNAWrestling)

When Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal signed a dual-contract with Bellator and TNA Wrestling earlier this year, fans wondered how he’d be able to straddle the often-opposing worlds of real fighting and show fighting — a rare trick to pull off outside of Japan. But Lawal’s one-year suspension for steroids has allowed him to focus the majority of his energies on learning the pro wrestling game, and we’re starting to get the feeling that we might lose him altogether. Call it hunch, based on the fact that Mo thinks MMA is a fad, and can’t stand you people. Here’s what he told BleacherReport in an interview published yesterday:

“It starts with the way the fans don’t think for themselves,” Lawal stated. “They have to look to certain people for approval on how they think. They bash the fighters and think fighting is easier than it really is. A lot of people didn’t grow up fighting. They grew up playing football and basketball. So they can relate to missing a pass, a layup, free throws and dropping a pass, an interception or kicking a field goal.

“MMA fans never grew up fighting. They just put on their Affliction or Tapout shirts and say, ‘Hey I’m a fighter or hey I’m going to a fight.’ To me, its a joke. It is a certain demographic that’s involved and I’m not with that.“

I managed to catch up with Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney after Bellator 69 at the L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana on Friday night. Bjorn touched on issues such as fighters who stuck out on the undercard, why the Asplund vs. Sparks fight didn’t happen, MMA in New York and much more. Come inside after the jump for the full interview, as well as fight videos from the fighters that Bjorn Rebney mentions.

(Like this, Stone Cold?)

MMA Weekly is reporting that former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal has signed with MMA promotion Bellator Fighting Championships and professional wrestling organization Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Lawal was fired from Strikeforce after testing positive for a banned steroid and is currently serving out a nine-month suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Because of that suspension, Lawal will have to wait to be able to compete under the Bellator banner — but since he’s also signed with TNA, he can conceivably begin making some money much sooner since professional wrestling is not regulated as a competitive sport by athletic commissions. Lawal signing with both organizations fuels rumors that Bellator and TNA  — both of which air on Viacom-owned television channels and, starting in 2013, will appear on Spike TV — will somehow collaborate or cross-promote.

No way I’m not using this picture again.

What up, Potato Nation, it’s your boy ReX13 here at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Kansas City, ready to watch some ladies fight. I realize some of you have dirty-ass opinions about women’s MMA, and to you assholes I say this: I think there’s an NBA game on or something. Is the NFL draft still on? How’d my Carolina Panthers do? Actually, don’t answer that, just exit stage left. For the rest of you, let’s party: we got a badass card to watch.

Since the whole thing is streaming for free right here, I’m going to forego an actual play-by-play and just drop observations as the night goes on. I’m also ready to grab snapshots and video of the things you can’t see, so expect butt shots of Natasha Wicks. I’m all for girl power, but I also know what my Nation likes.

One more note: they are trying to disable the media with a light show and deafening dubstep. Pray for me.

Come on in, the show starts at 8pm ET. Until then, feel free to tweet your best #BadPickUpLinesAtInvictaFC at me, because I’m immature.

(Muhammed Lawal in happier times.)

Remember two days ago when Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal went before the Nevada State Athletic Commission for a hearing on his for a positive drug test, got asked if he understood and could read English, was suspended and fined and then went on twitter to call the commissioner who asked about his literacy a racist? Well, her boss seems to disagree with that assessment.

We wrote NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer to ask him if he felt Commissioner Pat Lundvall’s line of questioning was offensive, racially or otherwise, or if her questions represented standard procedure in Nevada’s ongoing quest to emphasize fighters taking personal responsibility. Kizer was direct and concise in his response:

By Crooklyn

(C’mon, son.You don’t watch Breaking Bad or SOA?)

Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal — avid Twitterer, occasional forum poster and all around social media force, has been noticeably absent from the ever-probing eye of the MMA world. Recently, it came to light that Lawal had some life threatening health concerns, and had been in the hospital for an extended period of time. A call to action has been issued on his behalf via concerned fans on various forums and Twitter. Prayer groups, emergency PayPal funding and several other good intentions have been proposed as possibilities for fans to render their own brand of help and good will. In an exclusive interview yesterday that will put your worried minds at ease, Mo gave us the 411 on his injuries, current health and financial status, and even an update of what shows he’s currently watching.

Check out the interview after the jump.

(“Don’t look yet, but tell me if she’s looking at me.”)

It looks like Muhammed Lawal’s positive  steroid test  may have netted him a much bigger punishment than the fine and one-year timeout levied on him by the Nevada State Athletic Commission; he may also have missed out on a chance at redemption against the only fighter to beat him as well as a chance to regain the Strikeforce light heavyweight title.

(“This? This is Crystal Pepsi. I saved a case from when I was a kid.”)

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal was on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani today and he (sort of) came clean about what the cause of his positive drug test was.

According to Lawal, he was taking a supplement called “S-Mass,” which contains the active ingredient 4-Chloro-17a-Methyl-a-andro4-ene3 – a methylated form of the steroid he tested positive for following his win over Lorenz Larkin earlier this month at the Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine event in Las Vegas.

The supplement, which was also sold by other companies under the names “Superdrol” and “Halodrol-50″ among others,  is well known in bodybuilding circles as a “designer steroid” as it tok a while for the government to realize what the compound was. The problem is, the supplement isn’t readily available in your typical GNC, so either Mo had some lying around the house since it was pulled from the shelves a five years ago following an FDA ban, or he ordered the pills from a shady internet site that sells banned supplements. Either that or the supplement was simply an excuse that was a step up from saying, “Yeah, I took steroids, but I screwed up my cycle and got caught.” The difference is, taking the latter approach wouldn’t allow you to barter for a lesser suspension like ignorance does.

(We’ll reserve judgment until we hear what Mo has to say about the allegations.)

According to a report by MMAMania, former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal has tested positive for the anabolic steroid drostanalone, a popular weight-cutting aid used by bodybuilders that has also been proven to speed the healing of certain cartilage and soft tissue injuries. Other fighters who have tested positive for the drug in the past include Bill Mahood, Dennis Hallman and Hermes Franca — all of whom admitted to using it for its recovery properties after sustaining serious training injuries.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission allegedly found traces of the drug during his post-Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine fight drug screening after the results came back today.

(“Really? That’s it?”)

The Nevada State Athletic Commission  released the salary amounts from Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine event at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and it appears that Robbie Lawler was the big winner of the night, taking home more than a quarter of the night’s $566,000 in total purses.

Lawler was paid a flat rate of $150,000 for his first-round TKO over Adian Amagov.

To put things into perspective, the total purse for UFC 141 was $1369714.28, or nearly two-and-a-half times as much.

Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal picked up the second highest paycheck of the night with $95,000 for his second round KO of Lorenz Larkin, while middleweight champ Luke Rockhold netted the night’s third highest amount with $90,000, including a $25,000 win bonus, for his first-round drubbing of Keith Jardine.

Tyron Woodley, whose conservative lay and pray victory over Canadian Jordan Mein, took home $60,000 for his non-performance — half of which was made up of a win bonus.

Check out what the other fighters on the card were paid after the jump.

(Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine full fight video via mmanewsdog)

In case you missed the show on Saturday night, take a look at the main card’s three knockouts. More after the jump…

Related:
- ‘Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine’ — Live Results + Commentary
- ‘Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine’ Aftermath: Going through the Motions, as Usual

(Worst. Charity bachelor auction. Ever. / Photo via Strikeforce)

Okay, let’s go through this one more time: Luke Rockhold is Strikeforce’s middleweight champion. Keith Jardine is the former UFC light-heavyweight contender who Rousey’d his way into a title shot at 185. They’ll be fighting in the main event of tonight’s Strikeforce card on Showtime. Also, King Mo returns against Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin, Robbie Lawler faces off against Russkie McFancykicks, and Jordan Mein will try to snap Tyron Woodley’s undefeated record with those bionic elbows of his.

I fully expect tonight’s liveblog turnout to be more of an “intimate” affair, but that doesn’t mean we won’t do our best to give you a good show. Round-by-round results from the “Rockhold vs. Jardine” main card broadcast will be piling up after the jump starting at 10 p.m. ET, courtesy of CagePotato liveblog up-and-comer Steve Silverman. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for coming, guys.

(Props: YouTube.com/Strikeforce)

Strikeforce held a press conference yesterday plugging this weekend’s “Rockhold vs. Jardine” card at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Some highlights…

- Keith Jardine hasn’t weighed 185 pounds since the ninth grade.

- King Mo plans to “put them thangs” on Lorenz Larkin. Man, I hope that doesn’t mean what we think it means.

- Scott Coker thinks Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov won’t make it out of the second round. As usual, Lawler is as silent as a cigar-store Indian.

After the jump: A highlight reel of the fighters in action. The editor wisely chose to use a clip of Jardine’s TKO of Forrest Griffin from 2006 rather than his sole appearance in Strikeforce.

In honor of this Saturday’s Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine event, here are 10 of our favorite GIFs of co-headliner Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal kickin’ ass and struttin’ like royalty. Lawal will face undefeated prospect Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin in his first match since knocking out Roger Gracie in September. More amazing King Mo GIFs await you after the jump…

(Video courtesy of YouTube/FreeFightsForYou)

Besides Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, everyone I know who watched GI Joe as a kid looked forward to the “Knowing is Half the Battle” segments that taught us how to escape a house fire, avoid being kidnapped and molested and how to camp safely. If you watched the show on Saturday mornings or have seen any of the scores of parodies that have popped up the past few years, you’re going to enjoy the short fan-made spot above.

“Mo” used to enjoy the popular PSAs until the day he found out they were all a lie.

(Dude, we know. We know.)

Now that Strikeforce’s future is looking brighter, the promotion has gone ahead and officially announced their January 7th card in Las Vegas, which will be headlined by Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine, fighting for the middleweight title. Two more Strikeforce stars have been added to the lineup, against opponents with significantly less name value.

First up, former light-heavyweight champion Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal will face off against undefeated up-and-comer Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin, whose 12-0 record includes three wins at Strikeforce Challengers events. Mo last competed in September, when he scored a first-round knockout against Roger Gracie. The winner of this fight could very well earn a shot at TBA for Strikeforce’s vacant 205-pound strap.

(“How much will you gimme fo this crown? What about if I throw in the gloves?.” PicProps: Sherdog)

TATAME recently caught up with Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal while he was in Belem, Brazil helping former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida prepare for his upcoming UFC 140 championship bout with Jon Jones and according to the former Strikeforce 205-pound champ, he still has at least one fight scheduled under the SF banner.

If he could choose his opponent for the card, he says it would be the man who handed him his sole loss.

“I wanna fight [Rafael 'Feijao' Cavalcante] again because now I’m healthier. Before, when I fought him I had no meniscus, I had no stability on my knees. I fought him, I was winning, he caught me with a knee, and then that’s it, and elbows. But now, I’m ready,” Mo says. “[I'd fight him] he same. Because now I’m not injured, I can use both legs. Last time, only one leg. This time, two legs.Hopefully [I'm fighting him in January]. I heard he’s hurt, but we’ll see.”

As far as his future with Strikeforce goes, Lawal says he isn’t wasting time thinking about all of the “what ifs,” because as he puts it, whatever happens is going to happen and worrying won’t do anything to change it.

(“I got your marketing and PR right here, King Whatever the Fuck Your Name Is. Come and get it.”)

When Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal was asked last week about the lack of media turnout for last weekend’s Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event in Cincinnati, the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ admitted that he was put off by the situation, but there wasn’t much he or anyone else in the promotion could do about it.

“I was hoping there would be more people out here, more media, more questions, but really I guess ya’ll don’t care about us that much because everybody’s worried about other issues instead of the fights this weekend — I’m just being real,” Lawal said, referring to the fact that the media and fans were more enamoured by the soap opera Nick Diaz was involved in during the week leading up to Strikeforce event, than they were the event itself.  ”[Luke Rockhold]‘s fighting for a title, you got two fights in the heavyweight tournament. …It’s not to me, but it’s a slap in the face to them [that there isn't more coverage of the event]. I don’t know what happened [with Diaz] but it’s not like he was speaking his mind, saying ‘I think this press conference is dumb.’ He just didn’t show up. Now, speaking out and telling the truth is a different story than not doing something that helps the fight. That’s on Diaz. I think he’s a hell of a fighter, but like I said, here we are talking about Diaz instead of this event.”

(“Cormier has been fighting how long and he made how much?!” -Photo courtesy of Ric Fogel/ESPN.com)

Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix finalist Josh Barnett’s $150,000 salary accounted for 16 percent of the $942,150 payroll of Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event in Cincinnati. The man Barnett defeated, Sergei Kharitonov and his fellow HWGP finalist Daniel Cormier both tied for the second best paid fighters of the night with $100,000 a piece for their efforts, followed closely by Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal who received a flat fee of $85,000 for his win over Roger Gracie, who got $80,000.

Newly-crowned Strikeforce middleweight champ Luke Rockhold netted $50,000 for his win over Ronaldo Souza, who took home $70,000 and no belt.

(Dan Cormier does a dead-on impression of how his face is going to look after he gets hit with one of those fists. / Photo via MMAFighting.com)

Tonight, four big-ass dudes become two, and we mean that in the straightest way possible. Strikeforce’s lovably meaningless heavyweight tournament reaches its semi-final phase tonight at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cicinnati, Ohio, supported by a middleweight title fight and a compelling light-heavyweight feature between Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal and Roger Gracie.

Round-by-round results for the “Barnett vs. Kharitonov” Showtime main card will be piling up after the jump starting at 10:30 p.m. ET. CagePotato liveblog-mercenary Matt Kaplan will be handling business tonight, so please make him feel welcome, and refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest.

Man, it’s been a crazy week, huh? Between the UFC 137 lineup shuffle and the announcement of Alistair Overeem’s entry into the UFC, you may have forgotten that the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals are going down tomorrow night at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati. We’ll be liveblogging the action starting at 10:30 p.m. ET, so don’t be a stranger.

MMAFighting was on the scene yesterday for the “Barnett vs. Kharitonov” press conference, and released the above highlight video. Skip to the 1:33 mark to see Daniel Cormier give away his gameplan against Antonio Silva; lots of laughs there. Later, King Mo says what everybody’s thinking: “I was hoping more people [would be] out here, more media, and more questions, but really I guess y’all don’t care about us that much. I’m just keeping it real. Me and Roger [Gracie] gonna put on a good fight, it’s gonna be a good card. I think people are gonna miss out on it because everybody’s worried about other issues instead of the fights this weekend. I’m just being real.”

Also on the card, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza defends his middleweight belt against Luke Rockhold — who hasn’t competed since February 2010 due to injuries — and Maximo Blanco makes his promotional debut against Pat Healy. The complete lineup is after the jump.

(All in favor of seeing Anderson attempt to improve his moneyweight record, say ‘I.’”)

Since Anderson Silva has effectively cleared out the UFC’s middleweight division and will likely eventually start a string of rematches against the likes of Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson, we figured why not come up with a list of fights he could take in the interim that stoke the fires of fans.

Check them out, in no particular order after the jump.

(Tyron Woodley vs. Andre Galvao, 10/9/10)

In the wake of Evangelista Santos’s recent injury withdrawal, undefeated welterweight contender Tyron Woodley will step up to replace him against Paul Daley at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson, July 30th in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Despite our impassioned pleas to give Woodley a shot at the gold, the fight will reportedly be a non-title affair.

That shouldn’t come as a big surprise, considering Zuffa’s hatred of Paul Daley; the company likely wants to avoid any situation in which they might have to refer to him as a “champion.” So maybe Woodley will get a shot at Strikeforce’s now-vacant welterweight title if he wins this fight. And at that point, Strikeforce’s 170-pound division will be so thin and cleaned out that their welterweight belt will have about as much prestige as a goddamned Burger King crown.