(Click chart for full-size version. For previous Databombs, click here.)

By Reed Kuhn, @Fightnomics

Last week we broke down the UFC Featherweight division in key striking metrics. This week we’ll look at the largest (numerically) UFC division, the Lightweights. A full explanation of the chart and variables is included at the end of this post.

The Winners

Sniper Award: Daron Cruickshank finally showed off his striking skills in his second UFC appearance against Henry Martinez on the UFC on FOX 5 card in Seattle. With nearly 50% accuracy, he looked like he was practicing on a heavy bag before mercifully dropping an iron-chinned Martinez with a head kick KO. Interestingly, the “Detroit Superstar” is set to face another division sniper, John Makdessi, in March at UFC 158.

Energizer Bunny Award: Tim Means is two wins into his UFC career, and has almost doubled the standing output of his two opponents. He also maintained good accuracy and scored two knockdowns in those performances.

Biggest Ball(s) Award: Melvin Guillard has been punching above his weight for a long time in the UFC. To date Guillard has 12 knockdowns, putting him 3^rd all-time in the UFC behind Anderson Silva and Chuck Liddell. Not bad for a lightweight.

(And there was much rejoicing…)

If any of you were questioning Gilbert Melendez’s decision to remain off Strikeforce’s final card in January, maybe now you can see his motivation. In a recent interview with MMAJunkie, Dana White revealed that “El Nino” would “probably” receive an immediate title shot when he makes the trip over to the UFC, a statement that will more than likely be responsible for hundreds of conspiracy theories regarding the legitimacy of Melendez’s recent injuries. Of course, this came just before The Baldfather lamented about how bad Strikeforce fighters have had it since the UFC absorbed the promotion (presumably while mimicking Shooter McGavin), so perhaps we should take his statement with a grain of salt:

(Melendez will) probably come right in and get a title shot. Again, we’ll see.

What has happened to the fighters in Strikeforce is horrible. The way this thing went down is horrible, and they’ve been very patient. What’s happened over there has been completely s—ty.

Right, and we’re sure Hitler felt awfully bad about the living conditions at Auschwitz as well. “No veigh? Zey don’t even get a nice cot to szleep on? Zose bastards!” We’re not comparing Dana White to Hitler, we’re just saying.

(Video via AXSTV)

Former CagePotato Proving Grounds winner Nick Newell kicked, suplex-slammed and choked his way to victory in Nashville, TN last night, earning the XFC 155 pound title in the process. As you can see in the fight video above, Newell took out Bellator veteran Eric Reynolds quickly and improved his unblemished record to 9-0.

Reynolds himself has before gone the distance with both Jorge Masvidal and maybe UFC-bound Eddie Alvarez. Newell beating Reynolds in such dominating fashion, then, has to put him one step closer to consideration for the big leagues.

The southpaw Newell began his attack against Reynolds with rear and and lead kicks, both low and high, before closing the distance and getting behind Reynolds with a body lock. From there, Newell maintained control and bided his time before lifting his opponent high up into the air and slamming him face down onto the mat. Newell quickly spun around to get his legs around Reynolds and took his back.

By Elias Cepeda

Being proactive paid off for Joe Lauzon last week. The UFC lightweight contender signed on to fight Gray Maynard and says he was the one pushing for the tough match up.

“I saw Gray say in an interview that he wanted to coach the next season of TUF against Nate Diaz,” Joe explains.

“He’s banking on Diaz beating [Ben] Henderson [when the two face off for Henderson’s title] and wants that title shot and, I guess, a third fight between him and Nate. So I contacted [UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva and said that I thought Gray and I could be a cool angle as coaches of TUF. They didn’t do that but later I got a call asking if I wanted to fight Gray on December 29th. Its on the main card of a huge card.”

Lauzon is coming off of a record-setting submission of the night and fight of the night performance in beating Jamie Varner earlier this month. Maynard is coming off of a controversially-close split decision win over Clay Guida. Before that, Maynard fought then-champion Frankie Edgar twice in a row, first drawing with him and then losing via TKO.

Lauzon doesn’t know if a win over Maynard would put him in the #1 contender’s spot for the lightweight title for certain, but he says it would be a “step in the right direction.” “Gray is a monster. He’s only lost to Frankie. He’s super tough. Me beating Gray would make a big statement because he’s smashed everyone except for the champ at the time. Even in those fights he had the champ hurt badly at times,” Lauzon says.

(Jesus Christ, Joe, are you playing for the other team?! You don’t snipe in Carentan, saboteur!)  

Of all the seasons of The Ultimate Fighter to have produced upper-echelon fighters and title challengers at 155 lbs., who would’ve guessed that the season that coined the phrase “Wang and Bang” would one day rule them all? Not only is Nate Diaz next in line for a shot at Ben Henderson, but former title challenger Gray Maynard has just been booked to take on perennial contender Joe Lauzon in a battle that will easily launch the victor onto the short list of contenders at lightweight.

Then again, Sir Isaac Newton did state that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, which might explain why Gabe Ruediger is getting his ass kicked by skateboarders these days.

After spending the entirety of 2011 feuding with former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, which ended in his first career defeat, Maynard recently bounced back into the win column with a controversial split decision win over Clay Guida in the main event of UFC on FX 4. Although Maynard was thoroughly out-hustled for the majority of the fight, the significance of his offense in the latter rounds combined with Guida’s lack thereof was enough to earn him the nod.

Maynard will be facing the always entertaining Lauzon, who is currently 3-2 in his past five and most recently scored a third round triangle submission victory against former WEC champion Jamie Varner in their classic scrap at UFC on FOX 4. Lauzon has struggled in the past when facing top contenders, having dropped fights to Kenny Florian and Anthony Pettis in the past, but has also finished his opponents in all 22 of his victories. And although his cardio looked the best against Varner that it arguably ever has, there is no doubt that Maynard’s experience in the championship rounds will pay huge dividends if Lauzon isn’t able to put him away earlier.

After the jump: An update on Matt Hamill’s return to the octagon. Spoiler: His opponent just got a lot tougher.

(And here we thought Canadians were afraid of a good old fashioned war.)  

It seems that lately it has become harder and harder to gauge what an MMA fighter means exactly by the word “retirement.” UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture has finally come to terms with his, whereas Jamie Varner apparently retired as part of an elaborate heist that involved almost immediately coming out of said retirement, picking up a couple quick wins in a small promotion, filling in as a late injury replacement against a huge favorite, and promptly screwing millions of people out of their hard earned money. And to think, George Clooney need the help of more than a dozen people to rob some measly casino. Chump.

According to the man himself, we might just see long time UFC lightweight Spencer Fisher add his name to the list of recently retired MMA fighters come Friday night, as he told Ariel Helwani that he’s “pretty sure” it will be his last fight as a professional. His reasoning was similar to that of Chris Lytle’s — desire to spend more time with his family:

I’ve been missing a lot of stuff with my family. It gets tougher and tougher as they get older.

Although “The King” has flown under the radar for the past few years, dropping four of his past five contests, he is without a doubt one of the more exciting guys that helped the UFC’s lightweight division rise to popularity following its reinstatement in the promotion at UFC 58, which coincidentally was where Fisher made his lightweight debut against none other than his opponent on Friday, Sam Stout.

It is perhaps the most fitting end to a career that one could ask for.

(Don’t worry, Frankie, there will be plenty more where that came from.) 

We know, we know, Frankie Edgar has already convinced Dana White to give him his rematch with newly crowned champ Ben Henderson sometime this summer, but hear us out. DW stated at the Silva/Sonnen II press conference earlier today that the UFC was looking for a way to move UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo from his bout against a to-be-determined opponent at UFC 149 to UFC 147. Combine that notion with the fact that White has long been rallying for Edgar to drop to 145 for an immediate title shot, and things start to get interesting, Potato Nation. Very interesting.

Take this tidbit from Edgar’s interview with MMAFighting, for instance, in which he says that the drop to 145 is “inevitable”, especially if Aldo’s name comes up:

We’ll see what the future holds, but I think it’s inevitable that I’ll eventually get down there. I just don’t know when. I’m all about fighting big fights, and fighting the best guys, and Jose Aldo’s one of them. We’ll see where it’s at, whether it’s at 145 or 155.

Considering that Edgar has never even shown a slight interest in dropping to 145, that’s all the confirmation we’re going to need. Start making your picks, ’cause this shit is going down.

More from the interview awaits you after the jump. 

(“Next!” Pic: Bellator)

And then there was one. It’s been almost three weeks since the news broke that Zuffa, LLC. had purchased Strikeforce – this week Our Octagon Overlords allegedly began signing SF fighters to their own airtight contractual arrangements – and it just now dawns on us what this means for Eddie Alvarez. Put simply, the continued Dana-fication of the MMA landscape means Alvarez is the only US-based 155-pound fighter anywhere near the Top 10 (or, hell, Top 20) not currently owned in a roundabout way by Big DW and the Fertitta Bros. God, that must be lonely.

As if on cue, and just a few days before he’s set to put his Bellator title on the line against tournament winner Pat Curran at an event we all keep forgetting about, Alvarez made some fairly stock claims this week to SI.com’s Jeff Waggenheim about how a lot of UFC lightweights would be “nobodies” without the promotion’s PR muscle behind them. Boy, we’ve heard this one before, right?

(Finally, some competition. PicProps: MMA Core)

From yesterday’s conference call where Nick Diaz accused Josh Koscheck and Georges St. Pierre of fighting lesser competition as Diaz himself prepares to defend his Strikeforce title against, uh, Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos to Cesar Gracie telling Ariel Helwani that he doesn’t think Greg Jackson is actually that good of a coach, things are just getting bizarre with the Scrap Pack these days. Whatever planet these dudes are living on, it’s clear that they own the place, while the rest of us are just visiting.

Enter Gilbert Melendez, who tells RingsideReport.com this week that he’s the man to beat at 155-pounds right now. All this noise about Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard? Melendez ain’t trying to hear that, see. But just in case you’re wondering if Melendez might be interested in proving his point, of signing with the UFC so he can actually fight the other top contenders in his weight class: Forget it. It’s those guys who should be coming to him.

Spike has revealed the full cast of 28 lightweights who will be appearing on The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck, which premieres September 15th at 10 p.m., following UFC Fight Night 22. Of course, 14 of these guys will be eliminated in the first episode, so watch this trailer and get to know them while you still can. Some of the competitors jumped out at us, for various reasons…

The guys we’ve actually heard of: Nam Phan is a nine-year veteran of the sport who has competed for Strikeforce and Sengoku. Mike Budnik has already had a stint as a 155′er in the WEC, but was released after three straight losses to Shane Roller, John Franchi, and Rafael Dias.

The guy with the horrible nickname: Paul "The Wheel" Barrow. Christ. That’s even worse than Nick "The Promise" Ring.

Impressive stat alert: Cody McKenzie has finished his last nine opponents via first-round guillotine choke. That does indeed make him the #2 guillotine-choker in the world, among active fighters; only Travis Fulton (12) owns more.

The inevitable "crazy hair" guys: Jason Brenton (green hair), Alex Caceres (Yagerfro), Jeff Lentz (red hair), Marc Stevens (mohawk), Dane Sayers (red mohawk).

Full cast list is after the jump…

(Props: YouTube.com/BellatorMMA)

Bellator’s long-awaited second season kicks off this Thursday in Hollywood, Florida, featuring Roger Huerta‘s promotional debut against undefeated Cincinnati native Chad Hinton, and Joe Warren‘s debut against Eric Marriott. To promote the tournament series, Bellator has put together preview shows for each of their four weight classes, which originally aired on Fox Sports Network, but have also been made available on YouTube. The lightweight tourney preview covers such participants as Huerta, Toby Imada, Ferrid Kheder, and Mike Ricci, as well as the reigning champion Eddie Alvarez; part one is above, parts two and three are after the jump. To see the featherweight, welterweight, and middleweight episodes, go here.

(Eh, it was mostly plastic anyway. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Following Benson Henderson and Donald Cerrone‘s five-round war at WEC 43, lightweight champ Jamie Varner said he’d be down to take on Henderson in December, which seemed a little selfish considering Varner had spent the last nine months recuperating from his Cerrone-related injuries, while Henderson had just sustained his. Certainly Varner and the WEC would allow their new interim lightweight champ at least a three-month turnaround before putting him in another tough battle, right? Well, if Rashad Evans has the correct information, that’s not the plan, and Bendo is about to get screwed:

(Bibiano Fernandes reacts after submitting Joe Warren at DREAM.11. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Following recent events in the UFC, WEC, DREAM, and Sengoku, we’ve updated the featherweight and lightweight pages in our Power Rankings section. To summarize…

FW: Bibiano Fernandes enters for the first time. Hatsu Hioki and Raphael Assuncao rise slightly, while Wagnney Fabiano plummets. WEC 44‘s scrap between Mike Brown and Jose Aldo could alter the top 5. Josh Grispi and L.C. Davis lie just outside the top 10.

LW: Gray Maynard enters for the first time. Shinya Aoki solidifies his place at #2, while Joachim Hansen and Gesias Cavalcante fall. Josh Thomson officially drops off the list due to inactivity, but if he can make it through a training camp without injuring himself, the winner of the rematch between him and Gilbert Melendez could potentially re-enter. Mizuto Hirota and Tyson Griffin are also close. UFC 107‘s match between BJ Penn and Diego Sanchez could alter the top 5.

Give ‘em a look and let us know how you feel…

(Time to "kill that master"? Photos courtesy of GrapplingStore and MMASplatter.)

According to a new posting on BJPenn.com, the UFC lightweight champ will defend his lightweight title against #1 contender Kenny Florian in the headlining bout of UFC 101 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 8th. The report states that Florian has already signed the bout agreement, and Penn’s own signing was imminent. It will be the first time the UFC’s lightweight title has been contested in 15 months, since BJ Penn defeated Sean Sherk by TKO at UFC 84 last May. Florian has won his last six fights (five by stoppage), but hasn’t competed since his first-round submission of Joe Stevenson at UFC 91 in November.

If the Penn/Florian report is accurate, it would mean that two of the UFC’s five championship titles could potentially be on the line in the month of August. As we previously reported, a middleweight title scrap between Anderson Silva the winner of Anderson Silva/Thales Leites [Ed. note: Ha! Sorry, Thales!] and Demian Maia may be added to UFC 102 (August 29th; Portland, Ore.).

Even though it never made it onto the broadcast of WEC 36 — a gross oversight that actually led to people getting demoted — the lightweight war between "Razor" Rob McCullough and Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone still managed to make it onto many MMA pundits’ fights-of-the-year lists. But unless you caught the WEC’s "Best of 2008" special last month, this may be the first time you’ll see it in its entirety. Part one is above, and part two is after the jump; major props to MMA Scraps.

The tone is set in the first round round as McCullough drops the much-taller Cerrone with punches twice, but Cowboy manages to keep his shit together, score a knockdown of his own, then pounce on Razor and nail him with some heavy ground-and-pound. A bloodied and mouthpiece-less McCullough reverses the position, but finds himself knocked to the mat two more times before the bell rings. And that’s just the first five minutes. Enjoy… 

(Shinya Aoki: Always prepared for a chilly afternoon.)

Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki were supposed to have their showdown in the finals of DREAM’s lightweight GP in July — instead, Alvarez was declared unfit to advance after getting his right eye messed up during his thrilling quarterfinal bomb-fest against Tatsuya Kawajiri, which allowed alternate Joachim Hansen to step in and whip the already-exhausted Aoki. Now the two top-five fighters may finally get a chance to test themselves against each other, as a fight between Alvarez and Aoki is in the works for "Fields Dynamite!! 2008" on New Year’s Eve.

Cross your fingers that it actually comes together. Simply put, Aoki vs. Alvarez would be the most important lightweight fight you’d find outside of the UFC, as well as one of the best grappler vs. striker showcases in any weight class, in any organization. Though Alvarez hasn’t competed since the DREAM tournament, Aoki snuck in a quick submission victory over Todd Moore at DREAM 6 in September; his loss to Hansen snapped a three-year-long undefeated streak that saw him go 12-0 with one no-contest.

Hansen is slated to appear in a headlining bout at Dynamite!! against JZ Calvancante, alongside bouts between Kazushi Sakuraba and Kiyoshi Tamura, and Mousasi vs. Musashi. According to MMA Weekly, other rumored participants include Tatsuya Kawajiri, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Masakazu Imanari, Nick Diaz, Hayato Sakurai, and Ikuhisa Minowa.

Every Thursday morning, Team Nogueira member Efrain Escudero will give his reactions to each new episode of The Ultimate Fighter on CagePotato.com. Here’s what he had to say about last night’s installment, from the team-picking to the drunken drama.

***

After Dana sent the losing fighters home, we piled into the vans and made our first trip into the house. This was a great moment not only for me but also for the other 15 guys. When we walked into the house we were jacked. This isn’t some ordinary house — this place is LEGIT. We all took a look around and then rushed to pick our beds. I must say we were pretty slick to get a room on the bottom floor so when we’re tired from training or a night of boozing we don’t need to be struggling up a bunch of stairs. At this point I was still very happy, because I was a big fan of The Ultimate Fighter from the beginning and now I’m in the house where it all started. At this point we start bonding with one another — people start talking shit, joking around, just trying to break the ice and get a feel for each other.

After touring the house we go to the training center where Dana kicks Karn and Brian out due to injury. Brian’s injury was unexpected; on the other hand Karn was an idiot because he wanted to go to the doctor after they told him “Hey, your hand is ok!” He asked for a second opinion, and now he gets kicked out. GOOD JOB BUDDY, NEXT TIME THEY SAY IT’S OK THEN THAT MEANS IT’S OK. After that they brought back Kyle Kingsbury, and I was glad because he had a tough fight to get into the house. I really like Kyle — he’s a nice guy who loves to have fun, so why wouldn’t I like him? Now I have to thank Karn because if it wasn’t for him and his second opinion Kyle wouldn’t be with us in the house.

The second time we went to the training center for the team picks, Frank Mir was talking to Bader and I, telling us that he’ll be taking his team out to the river to go shooting and all these cool things, so at that point I wanted to be in his team; it sounded like fun. Ryan and I ended up getting picked by Nogueira, but I really didn’t care because I was ready to get after it.

(Click image to go to the video.)

Spike.com has released a teaser clip from The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir (which premieres next Wednesday), introducing two lightweights, Junie Brown and Jose Aguilar. Assuming he doesn’t get bounced out of the opening round, Aguilar may be setting himself up as the asshole of the house, greeting viewers with these soon-to-be-immortal words:

“To be honest, dude? I belong with Napoleon, dog. Alexander, dude. Hitler. That’s what I belong with, dog. I be conquering motherfuckers, dude, period. You know what I mean? Pillaging, shit like that, that’s where I belong, bro. Criminal, dog, straight-up criminal.”

It’s strange — if you were to put Junie and Jose next to each other and ask me which fighter is more likely to have respect for the Third Reich, I might have gone with the other guy. Personally, I can’t wait for the interviews Aguilar does when he leaves the show, with his inevitable complaints that the editors portrayed him differently than he actually was: “Nah, dude, I didn’t mean the shit Hitler did during World War II, dog. I meant when he was younger, dog, how he used to beat down punk bitches outside of his gym, bro, and jump motherfuckers outside of gas stations with his homeys, dude. That, specifically, is what I was trying to say I belonged with, dog. Public nuisance type shit, bro. I got mad respect for it, dog. But they want to hate on Freddie, dude, know what I mean dude buddy homey bro dog?”

(In Trigg’s defense, he had just gotten out of the pool.)

Sengoku’s “Fourth Battle” went down today in Saitama, Japan, featuring the long-awaited returns of Takanori Gomi and Frank Trigg, and the first round of their lightweight grand prix. In a non-tourney main event bout, Gomi faced 5-1 Korean DEEP vet Seung Hwan Bang — who should have been steamrolled by the legendary “Fireball Kid” — but Bang hung in for all three rounds. Eventually, Gomi’s accurate striking and control of the fight’s pace convinced the judges to unanimously give him the win. Trigg’s opponent was Makoto Takimoto, a judoka and PRIDE vet who came into the fight with a 4-4 MMA record, and as with Gomi, the fight was a little more difficult than it should have been. Trigg dominated the standup and inflicted major damage from top positions on the ground, but Takimoto nearly caught Twinkle Toes in a kimura in the second round, and spent a lot of the third on top; still, it wasn’t enough to prevent the judges from giving Trigg the decision after the fight went the distance.

The first round of Sengoku’s lightweight tournament held some surprises as three big names were unceremoniously bounced out of the competition. The HIT Squad’s Clay French was tapped in 31 seconds via achilles lock by former Pancrase mainstay Satoru Kitaoka, and jiu-jitsu ace Rodrigo Damm also suffered a first-round submission at the hands of Eiji Mitsuoka. Former IFL lightweight champ Ryan Schultz, who was the biggest favorite to win his first GP match, got his lights put out by a superman-punch from Cage Force champ Mizuto Hirota in the second round of their fight. Full results after the jump; videos to come.

The best highlight video of the week, featuring the world’s greatest lightweights (and Melvin Guillard) laying waste to their opponents. Watch it and take pride in your naturally petite frame. Props to Chris Keller via “CRE” on the UG.

Here’s the PRIDE Bushido 9 fight between Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett and Dokonjonosuke Mishima, in which the Horse quotes Forrest Gump, extolls the virtues of masturbation, tears apart a stuffed animal, and gets subbed with a heel-hook. Props to MMAScraps.

We’ve called it “a Fight of the Year waiting to happen” — and luckily, it’s happening. Sources have confirmed that top UFC lightweight contenders Roger Huerta and Kenny Florian will face each other at UFC 87 (August 9th; Minneapolis, MN), with the winner all but guaranteed an immediate shot at the 155-pound belt.

Huerta is 16-0 with one no-contest in his last 17 fights (22-1-1 +1 NC overall), including six consecutive victories in the UFC; by UFC 87, he will have been inactive for eight months. Kenny Florian most recently dispatched Joe Lauzon at UFC Fight Night 13, and hasn’t suffered a defeat since his title fight against Sean Sherk in October 2006. As Florian told MMAWeekly:

“[Huerta is] a game opponent, and he’s never going to quit. It doesn’t matter how tired he gets, he’s gonna keep going, and those are the kind of guys that I want to fight. He’s on a roll, he’s very confident right now. And I like the kid. I know him personally. He’s a good kid, and we get along great. He has a bright future, regardless of what happens in the fight with me.”

See, when Florian talks trash, it’s so subtle that you barely notice it.

Huerta/Florian is such an outstanding matchup because it seems like both fighters’ career trajectories have been pushing them towards each other. It’s not a title fight, but it has all the importance of one, and will help to establish a clear ranking order in the UFC’s lightweight division. (For the same reasons, Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson is also one of those fights that needs to happen.) Let us know your early predictions in the comments section and in our new poll. For those of you who have bought into the “Roger Huerta is overhyped and hasn’t faced tough competition” line, here’s my rebuttal: Winning 16 straight fights is an amazing achievement no matter who you’ve fought, because 1) every opponent represents a different style challenge that may cause problems for you, even if they’re a lesser fighter on paper, and 2) everybody gets caught once in a while. An undefeated record or a monstrous win streak like Huerta’s shows that a fighter is well-rounded enough to handle whatever he encounters in the cage, and doesn’t make the minor errors in judgment that lead to eating an unexpected right hook.

I’m not saying he’ll win; I’m just sayin’.

(Photo courtesy of MMAWeekly.)

DREAM announced today that Gesias “JZ” Calvancante and Shinya Aoki will face each other again at DREAM.2 (April 29th; Saitama, Japan), to decide which fighter will proceed to the second round of its all-star lightweight grand prix. Calvancante and Aoki’s first match, at last month’s DREAM.1, ended in a no-contest after Calvancante landed a series of illegal elbow strikes to the back of Aoki’s neck, and Aoki wasn’t able to continue fighting; Calvancante had been dominating the action up to that point, and many fans speculated that Aoki overplayed his injury in order to escape the fight and avoid a loss.

DREAM.2 will also feature the opening round of a middleweight grand prix that will feature bouts between Denis Kang and Gegard Mousasi, Kiyoshi Tamura and Masakatsu Funaki, and (possibly) Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Andrews Nakahara; Yoshihiro Akiyama and Ikuhisa Minowa are also expected to participate. The winner of the JZ/Aoki battle will have to compete again just two weeks later at DREAM.3 (May 11th; Saitama, Japan) against Katsuhiko Nagata, who defeated Artur Oumakhanov by unanimous decision in the lightweight tourney’s first round. The rest of the lightweight GP’s second-round matchups look like this:

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luis “Buscape” Firmino (note: Kawajiri and Firmino previously met at PRIDE Bushido 8 in July 2005, where Kawajiri won by unanimous decision.)

Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Caol Uno (note: Uno, a UFC/K-1 Hero’s vet, didn’t compete in the lightweight GP’s first round, and is getting an automatic bye into the second.)

Joachim Hansen vs. Eddie Alvarez (note: Joachim Hansen is a freakin’ beast.)

Many of you wanted the underdog to pull this one out, but it’s hard not to be impressed by Kenny Florian, who faced another tough opponent last night and walked away without so much as a scratch. The match certainly lived up to the hype, with a wild first round and decisive finish. Unfortunately, Lauzon was completely lost under Florian’s mount, and did very little to control Florian’s body. The better fighter won; simple as that. Let’s hope the UFC grants Ken-Flo’s wish and gives him a fight with Huerta to decide the 155-pound division’s next lightweight title contender…

By CagePotato Special Contributor Brian Knapp

Clay Guida had Roger Huerta reeling. Up two rounds to none in their main event showdown at the Ultimate Fighter 6 live finale in December, Guida could have taken his foot off the gas and coasted to a decision victory. No one would have blamed him. Instead, he hit the throttle.

Early in round three, Huerta rocked a shooting Guida with a jarring left knee, and the pendulum swung in his favor. Huerta took his dazed opponent’s back soon after and secured a rear-naked choke for the tapout. Their memorable bout — a strong candidate for best fight of the year — ended 10:31 after it began. Huerta was reduced to tears afterwards. Guida went back to the drawing board.

“It was an honor to be a part of that fight; Roger’s a warrior,” Guida says. “I think he and I are very similar. He fights with a lot of heart and passion, and people know when they come to watch us, they’re not going to see a lackluster fight.”

As has been his custom, Guida made certain he had nothing left to give inside the cage. The free-spirited Chicagoan vows to learn from the mistakes he made.

“I was up 2-0 and got clipped,” he says. “I learned from every exchange, from every opportunity I missed. It’s not always about the outcome. I missed six or seven chances to end that fight.”

Guida returns to the Octagon on Wednesday, when he meets French UFC newcomer Samy Schiavo at Ultimate Fight Night 13 at the Broomfield Event Center in Broomfield, Colo. The lightweight tilt will take place on the preliminary portion of the 12-fight card, which airs on Spike TV (7pm ET/PT) and leads into the season premiere of The Ultimate Fighter 7.

“I want to start off the year right with a decisive victory,” Guida says. “He’s coming into my cage, and I’m going to send him back to the doghouse. We’ll see how I bounce back. We’ll see on Wednesday what I learned from my fight with Roger.”

By CagePotato Guest Contributor Ben Fowlkes

On April 2nd, Kenny Florian headlines the next edition of Spike TV’s “UFC Fight Night,” where he’ll take on lightweight up-and-comer Joe Lauzon. While most fans know that Florian, like Lauzon, got his start in the UFC with The Ultimate Fighter, what they don’t know is that his journey really began with a near-death experience that changed his outlook on life.

Florian took a trip to Brazil in the summer of 2003 with the goal of improving his jiu-jitsu. While hiking down a mountain with some friends, Florian slipped on the wet, mossy rocks and began sliding off a precipice. Friends tried to grab him, but Florian plummeted over the edge and fell “for what seemed like an eternity.” He landed on a rounded rock that stopped his fall and ultimately saved his life. The experience was an eye-opening one for Florian, and it prompted him to abandon the safety of his white-collar life and pursue his dreams.

In this exclusive interview, Florian talks about the ramifications of that incident, about being haunted and motivated by defeat, and about his impending showdown with Lauzon and what it means for his career.

CagePotato: You came into the UFC by way of The Ultimate Fighter, and you’d only had a few professional fights at that point. What’s the major difference between that Kenny Florian and the one we see in the Octagon now?
Kenny Florian: That last Kenny Florian’s a punk. No, the Kenny Florian on The Ultimate Fighter was a guy who was trying to test his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He was a guy who really wasn’t sure if he wanted to become a fighter. It was just an opportunity that was presented to him at the time.

Now you’re seeing a guy who wants to learn it all and who wants to be a master of it all, and who sees the beauty in any technique that works. Whether it’s striking or wrestling or expanding my jiu-jitsu game for MMA, I’m trying to not only get good at the individual arts but find a circle of techniques that flow into each other and compliment each other. It’s an art in itself, just finding what works for MMA.

Now that you’re fighting at lightweight and having success, do you ever look back and wonder, “What was I thinking trying to be a middleweight?”
I was fat, that’s the main thing that comes to my mind. I had no concept of nutrition, of strength and conditioning. Not until after the Sherk fight did I have any concept of those things like the way I do now. I was definitely a work in progress, but I was crazy then. I was really a natural 155’er who was given an opportunity to compete at 185 and I thought, why not? I had nothing to lose.

I had no idea it would become this big, running show. I thought it could have been my only opportunity to fight for the UFC or fight on TV and help bring this sport to the masses. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, and on top of that, week after week, I became more confident. I thought, with the skills I have now I’m doing well against all these experienced mixed martial artists, I may have a chance at winning this thing.

It was really one of my first experiences with mixed martial arts and it was a great chance to work out with great coaches like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell and find out what it takes to get to that next level. Those are the guys that planted the seed in my head for what I’m doing now.

Reading past interviews with you, it seems like you’re really motivated by your losses. What’s it like after a big loss, when you get back to the dressing room and have to face that dark moment? How do you move past it?
It’s a terrible, terrible feeling. My loss to Sean Sherk haunts me to this day. At the same time it motivates me, and I can look at it as a positive experience. You can let things like that defeat you, or you put them behind you and learn from them and get better. That’s what I tried to do. There’s no such thing as a setback in life. There are only lessons. We’re made to evolve and get better and faster and stronger. You can do that within your own life.

It’s like pushing weights for the first time and your body’s sore and it sucks and it’s really hard, but after a while your muscles and your nervous system and everything gets stronger. Your muscle memory gets better. That’s the way it is with certain things in fighting. If you have a loss, you need to look at it and learn from it. What technical mistakes did I make? What strategic mistakes did I make? What mental mistakes did I make?

You cover all those bases and, if you need to, write it down and start working on patching those holes up. You can only look at it as a positive and live in the present day. If you live in the past, you’re dead.

(“Do it, Roger! Choke that old bag out!”)

MMAWeekly posted an article today summarizing Roger Huerta’s recent appearance on MMAWeekly Radio, in which El Matador declared that he’d be taking up to eight months off from fighting in order to rest, finish his degree in business management, and develop his takedown defense. Said Huerta:

“I’m not fighting for 6, 7, 8 months. I did everything I could this year, I tried to keep helping promote the sport, keep making it grow, but I think I didn’t get a lot of R&R. I trained through Thanksgiving for this fight, I didn’t even go home to Texas to spend time with my family…You know the truth is I need to finish school too. I fought 5 times this year and I think that’s the most anybody’s ever done in the UFC and I think I’m going to take some time off.”

Translation: “There’s no way I’m going to fight again — and potentially lose my shot at the UFC lightweight belt — until after Sean Sherk fights the winner of Penn/Stevenson, when I’ll obviously be the next in line to challenge for the title. What am I, a schmuck on wheels?”

Since the dude went 5-0 in 2007 and just proved that his pristine record is no joke, Huerta deserves a break as much as he deserves a chance to win the lightweight championship. So big ups to Roger for playing it smart and not immediately setting up a meaningless fight. On that note, here’s how I’d rank the UFC’s lightweight division, in terms of ability:

1) BJ Penn
2) Roger Huerta
3) Sean Sherk (w/o ‘roids)
4) Mac Danzig
5) Joe Stevenson

If you see things differently, by all means, post your own list in the comments section. I just can’t wait to hear you try to explain why Frankie Edgar and Ken-Flo are, like, the sickest fighters ever.

Two days after the IFL announced that Shad Lierley broke his toe during practice and would be replaced at the IFL World Grand Prix by John Gunderson, we’re now getting word that John Gunderson has aggravated a hand injury in training, and will be replaced by Portland Wolfpack member Ryan “The Lion” Schultz. With a record of 17-9-1 (4-2 IFL), Schultz is just as credible an opponent for lightweight favorite Chris Horodecki as Gunderson was, but Horodecki beat Schultz via TKO when they fought last year, and their rematch will likely turn out the same way.

Can the IFL please just give Horodecki the title already? He’s clearly cast a Polish-voodoo curse on their lightweight division, bringing injury to those who would dare compete against him. And what’s going to happen when Schultz mysteriously blows out his knee? Do they just give the next mediocre fighter on the list a shot at the belt? I say bring in Hard Gay and be done with it. Word on the street is, he’s impervious to spells…

UPDATE: Ryan Schultz is the guy who gave Roger Huerta his only professional loss, way back in June 2004 at SuperBrawl 36. And because I didn’t mention it before, I’d just like to point out that this is actually the third time Chris Horodecki’s opponent for the IFL Grand Prix has been swapped; he was originally scheduled to fight Wagnney Fabiano, who dropped down in weight class when the IFL decided to offer a featherweight title.

(Shad Lierley falls against Chris Horodecki, 6/1/07)

So much for the “Fight of the Year” rematch. The IFL just sent out a bummer of a press release stating that lightweight contender Shad Lierley broke a toe during practice, and won’t be able to compete at the IFL’s World Grand Prix on December 29. Lierley was scheduled to face Chris Horodecki for the league’s lightweight title. Filling in for Lierley will be John “Guns” Gunderson, a member of Ken Shamrock’s Nevada Lions team who has gone 2-2 during his time with the IFL.

Ah well — Horodecki would have whipped his ass anyway. I’m going to find out who was responsible for breaking Lierley’s toe, so we can put him on CagePotato’s official “Do Not Train With!” list along with Matt Arroyo, Richie Hightower and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

Following in the footsteps of past Ultimate Fighter finalists like Rashad Evans, Joe Stevenson, and Diego Sanchez, Mac Danzig plans to drop down in weight class after Saturday’s TUF finale — no matter what the outcome of his fight against Tommy Speer. As he says in a profile on UFC.com:

“I decided that before I even went on the show. I really have no business fighting the top five guys at 170, or even the top ten when it comes down to it. It’s not that I can’t beat them, but if you put me in with Matt Hughes or Georges St-Pierre ten times, I’m gonna win a number of those times, but realistically, with all skills being the same, those guys are extremely skilled and much bigger than me. I walk around at 170, those guys walk around at 190, so it’s not a good idea for me. I really want to make a run for a title, and 155 is my weight class. I feel that within a couple of years I can be a world champion at 155.”

Danzig has shown tremendous balls in moving up from from his natural weight to compete on The Ultimate Fighter — and for saying that he could beat Matt Hughes on a good day — and dropping down to lightweight is clearly the right move for his career. But God damn, the UFC really needs to put the brakes on this tradition of finalists dropping down in weight as soon as the show ends. The second season of TUF was partly intended to inject fresh blood into the heavyweight division; of the two finalists, one (Rashad Evans) immediately dropped down to light-heavyweight and the other (Brad Imes) doesn’t even compete in the UFC anymore. The next season of the show will feature middleweights in an attempt to get some new names in the hat for the UFC’s second-weakest division, but the finalists could easily drop down to 170 pounds afterwards, adding to the welterweight division’s gridlock. Many suggestions have been offered to aid The Ultimate Fighter‘s sinking ratings — would it hurt to have the competitors sign an agreement stating that the weight class they competed at on the show is the one they’ll stay at for the length of their initial UFC contract? At this point, I feel that anything that would make the seasons’ results matter more in the long run could help maintain the interest of fans, who are jumping the TUF ship in droves due to its predictability.

Thoughts?

Yahoo! Sports has reported that Sean “Muscle Shark” Sherk — who tested positive for an anabolic steroid in July after his title defense against Hermes Franca at UFC 73 — will remain the UFC’s lightweight champion. Dana White had originally planned to strip Sherk of his title, but changed his mind due to his frustration with the California Athletic Commission. Sherk has denied taking steroids, and appealed his one-year suspension, but had his hearing postponed until November 13 when members of the CAC realized they had not received a 17-page brief that Sherk’s attorney had submitted on his behalf. “The way this whole thing has been handled has been a mess,” White said.

UFC lightweights BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson will fight for an interim title at UFC 80, with the winner potentially facing Sherk after the case is settled. We at CagePotato wish Sean the best in his fight against the California Bureau of Whatever; just because a guy looks like he’s on every steroid under the sun, doesn’t necessarily mean he is. Let’s give the man a fair shake, people.