(“It kind of feels like my nose might be shoved into my brain. Oh God, is that bad? That’s bad, isn’t it.”)

The UFC confirmed yesterday that TUF 6 winner Mac Danzig and TUF 8 winner Efrain Escudero will meet in a lightweight bout at UFC 145 (March 24th, Montreal). Danzig has lost five of his last seven outings, most recently dropping a unanimous decision to Matt Wiman in a rematch of their controversial first fight. Meanwhile, Escudero just lost a decision to #1 Obama-fan Jacob Volkmann at UFC 141, coming in as a short-notice replacement for TJ Grant. It was Escudero’s first UFC appearance since getting booted from the promotion last September.

It goes without saying that contracts are on the line here. If Danzig loses, he might become the fifth Ultimate Fighter winner to be cut by the UFC, following Travis Lutter, Escudero (the first time), Kendall Grove, and Joe Stevenson. If Efrain Escudero loses, he might become the first Ultimate Fighter winner to be fired twice.

UFC 145 still lacks a main event; for more details on the supporting card, go here.

(Ah, 2007 — when picking up a draw against Tito Ortiz could be the greatest accomplishment of a fighter’s career.)

By Jared ‘DangadaDang” Jones

In a sport where upsets come as easily as a lone, well placed punch, the rematch has become not only commonplace, but a huge commodity for the UFC as well. Fight fans worldwide have embraced the rematch because they offer a chance to witness a fighter’s redemption first-hand. Sometimes these matches provide us with instant classics, and set in place the even more lucrative Trilogy, while others serve only to confirm what we already knew.

Tito Ortiz, the man behind some of the UFC’s most profitable rematches and trilogies, is looking to continue his path to redemption and possibly contendership (!) when he takes on Rashad Evans at UFC 133. Though the odds are against him, his recent win over Ryan Bader proved to us that he can still choke someone out when it’s called for. (No Brett, you’re doing it wrong.) And since Ortiz stepped up to the plate, so shall I. Here are four upcoming UFC rematches and how I believe they will go down…

Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans – UFC 133

(Click image to watch video.)

What happened the first time: Ortiz was able to secure a takedown within the opening minute of the fight, giving him the edge in a grappling-and-clinch-heavy first round, but after repeatedly grabbing the fence in the second frame, referee Big John McCarthy deducted one point from Ortiz, nullifying a round he would have won. Rashad was able to mount some offense in the third and secure a takedown of his own, resulting in a draw across the board.

Not content with merely adding fights to their roster this weekend, the UFC has added an entire event to its lineup. Welterweights Charlie Brenneman and Anthony Johnson have signed to duke it out on October 1st. Joining them on the card will be the very necessary rematch between Matt Wiman and Mac Danzig.

Brenneman was the only real winner of the sordid Marquardt TRT saga last month. “The Spaniard” snuck onto the UFC Live 4 card the day before the event, when Marquardt was pulled from his match with Rick Story due to unacceptably elevated testosterone levels. Brenneman had been toiling away on the undercard prior to scoring the upset victory over Story. Anthony Johnson was originally slated to take on Marquardt in that bout, but he was sidelined by rotator cuff injury. After a long injury lay-off, Rumble returned to action last March with a win over Dan Hardy.

A bit about Wiman-Danzig, and more details of the event, are after the jump.

Ariel is *still* asking fighters about beefs. Some guys never learn. VidProps: Ariel Helwani

Donald Cerrone is one of those guys that will apologize for not kicking a guy’s ass thoroughly enough, even when no drunk frat guys are booing in the crowd. After failing to put away a one-legged Vagner Rocha, Cerrone was visibly disappointed with his performance. Knowing Cowboy, though, no one is in a hurry to give him a hard time about it, including our boy Ariel Helwani.

Helwani caught up with Cerrone to ask him about the fight, his feuds with Mac Danzig and Cole Miller, and who he’d like to fight next. Pretty standard stuff that we’ve covered before, until they start talking matchups. Cerrone hasn’t forgotten about Danzig, whom Cowboy had previously insinuated faked an injury to get out of fighting him. “I’m just talking shit, that’s what I do.” Cerrone says of Danzig. “I hope he’s not injured, I hope he can fight.”

“…and I call this here the ‘cattle prod’.”

Donald Cerrone faces UFC newcomer Vagner Rocha this weekend at UFC 131, but to hear him tell it, he knows next to nothing about the guy. “I haven’t watched any video on him and I haven’t watched any tape on him, I don’t care,” Cerrone told UFC.com, “I’m going in there to fight him like I’m going in there to fight anyone else.”

Of course, “fighting him like anyone else” means that we could well have a Fight of the Night on our hands, an award that Cerrone has picked up five times in four years. His first fight with Ben Henderson in 2009 was a five round war that was Sherdog’s pick for Fight of the Year. Now 14-3 (1 NC), Cerrone has racked up 12 submissions wins, but he’s not interested in going to the ground. Speaking of his opponent, a noted grappler with four of six wins coming via submission, Cerrone lets it be known that he wants a damn fight. “I hope he doesn’t come wanting to make this a jiu-jitsu match,” Cowboy says.

(The UFC Fighter Summit has a storybook ending. Congrats, Janitor.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- BJ Penn and Jake Shields Want to Fight Each Other (LowKick)

- Shane Carwin’s Cardio Under Microscope at UFC 131 (NBC Sports MMA)

- Rashad Evans Explains His Nightclub Altercation With Jon Jones; Insists ‘Bones’ Ducked Him (MMA Mania)

- Mac Danzig Out of Next Month’s Anticipated Clash With Donald Cerrone, Vagner Rocha to Replace (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Matt Mitrione: If Ortiz Is Still Upset After Confrontation, ‘Then We Can Scrap’ (MMA Fighting)

- Your Favorite Hooters Girl to Serve Ring Cards at ‘UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber II’ (5thRound)

- This Will Be the Strangest Seven-Second Knockout You Will See This Year (MiddleEasy)

- Mark Coleman ‘Would Drop Everything’ To Fight Herschel Walker (MMA Convert)

- Video: Hector Lombard Gets Pissed at Reporter After Bellator 44 (TheFightNerd)

- Going Medieval: MMA’s 20 Worst Beatdowns (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

(Vidprops: teezme420)

After suffering a first-round knockout at the hands of Mac Danzig at UFC 124, Joe Stevenson is once again riding back-to-back losses, and in desperate need of a victory. While a few UFC fighters (including Danzig himself) have been able to drop three straight without losing their jobs, it’s just not something you’d want to leave to chance these days.

According to MMA Mania, "Joe Daddy" will return at UFC on Versus 3 (March 3rd; Louisville, KY) where he’ll face former WEC lightweight contender Danny "Last Call" Castillo. With an overall record of 10-3, Castillo has eaten stoppage losses against Donald Cerrone, Shane Roller, and Anthony Pettis. But after defeating Dustin Poirier and Will Kerr in his two most recent fights, he’ll be coming into his next bout with some momentum. It’s one of those "nothing to lose, everything to gain" situations for the Team Alpha Male member, who is looking to make a dramatic entrance in the UFC. As for Stevenson? Well, he’d better not lose this one.

Semi-related: Despite dropping an unexpected decision to Rani Yahya on the preliminary card of UFC Fight for the Troops 2, former featherweight champion Mike Brown will be getting another shot in the Octagon. Brown’s most recent loss was his fourth in his last six outings.

(Pierson and Riddle’s three-round battle wasn’t enough to win FOTN, but Riddle did go home with the $100 Snot Rocket of the Night bonus. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com.)

The performance bonus payouts for Saturday’s UFC 124 event were notable for several reasons: For the first time ever, the UFC allowed fans to choose the "Fight of the Night" in an online vote. Update: The FOTN and Knockout bonuses were $100,000 apiece — the largest bumps since UFC 100 — and two separate [$50,000] Submission of the Night awards were handed out, which meant the total bonus money added up to $400,000, half of which arguably went to the wrong guys. Here’s how the UFC 124 bonuses shook out, in order of most deserving to least deserving…

Submission of the Night #1: Jim Miller, for surviving the relentless grappling offensive of Charles Oliveira, then ending the fight himself with a kneebar just shy of the two-minute mark. Submitting the young, formerly undefeated jiu-jitsu phenom is a major accomplishment for Miller, and should hopefully earn him a fight with a big name in his next outing.

Submission of the Night #2: Mark Bocek, for his first-round triangle choke of Dustin Hazelett (who’s no slouch on the ground either). The way that Bocek set up the triangle from the top then rolled underneath Hazelett to secure it was pretty freakin’ brilliant.

(Lentil mash and tofu-rhubarb scramble for everybody! PicProps: UFC.com)

Mac Danzig came to the cage at UFC 124 bumping the Misfits – Ironic? Or just apropos? Hard to say – and looking like his face had aged a decade since the last time we saw him. Maybe it was just the new haircut or maybe the stresses of losing four of his last five while maintaining a sustainable and socially conscious lifestyle were finally getting to him. In any case, the most disappointing “TUF” champion this side of Kendall Grove bought his UFC career some bonus time on Saturday night, stupefying Joe Stevenson with a backpedalling left hook straight to the off switch just under two minutes into the first round. In the immediate aftermath, nobody looked more shocked that Danzig, who ran around the cage showing off the kind of genuine outpouring of emotion we’re not used to seeing from progressive yet earnestly straight-laced vegans.  

He’d pulled himself together by the time Joe Rogan tracked him down, claiming the knockout came via good old-fashioned videotape analysis of Stevenson’s striking attack. Danzig also credited the win to the fact that he’d “finally learned” how to throw his left hook with power. It’s always a little weird when a guy who’s been a pro-fighter for, oh, nine years says something like that. Anyway, we’re happy for the kid and, suffice it to say, there were some legitimate surprises on last night’s supporting card.

(Video courtesy BREAK/UFC.com)

If you missed the Countdown to UFC 124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck show on Monday, we got you covered.

One of the most intriguing parts of the St-Pierre-Koscheck segment of the show came courtesy of Kos’ ex-college wrestling coach who said that the American Kickboxing Academy-trained fighter’s assholish persona is not an act. According to the coach, Koscheck who was not well-liked by his college teammates once nearly came to blows with a fellow wrestler in the change rooms and was known as a bit of a loner. He said that he didn’t bat an eye at the way his former charge was portrayed on The Ultimate Fighter, because he remembers him being a bit of a dick.

We’ll have more on Koscheck’s abrasive personality from his AKA teammate, Phil Baroni on tomorrow’s UFC 124 edition of The Bum Rush. 

It’s also worth noting from the countdown show that Koscheck, who was involved with Bobby Southworth in taunting that "fatherless bastard" Chris Leben on TUF 1 was raised very modestly by a single mother and seems very bitter as a result. Maybe Josh just needs a good hug to make him stop being such a prick. Too bad he says he’ll never fight Jon Fitch.

Check out the rest of the countdown videos after the jump.

(Props: GollyIE)

…and just to get the taste of vomit out of your mouths, here’s the extended trailer for UFC 124: St. Pierre vs. Koscheck II (December 11th, Montreal). The supporting card looks very promising, but it’s sort of unfortunate that the other two fights being featured here are Thiago Alves vs. John Howard and Mac Danzig vs. Joe Stevenson — considering all four fighters are coming off losses. Meanwhile, UFC 124 will also host two fights featuring guys on the upswing: Jim Miller (five-fight win streak) vs. Charles Oliveira (undefeated wunderkind) and Sean McCorkle (mouthy Internet celebrity) vs. young veteran Stefan Struve, who he’s been beefing with for months.

Still, Thiago Alves gets the best line of the video: "When you’re fighting the Pitbull, it’s over. No afterparty for you." And GSP guarantees a stoppage victory. "Get in, get out, and leave," he says. "That’s what the crowd wanna see, and that’s what I wanna do."

(This is allegedly a picture of a pre-MMA Mac Danzig. Shame on Roy Nelson for biting his style.)

As first reported by MMA Mania, a lightweight meeting between Ultimate Fighter winners Mac Danzig and Joe Stevenson is likely for UFC 124: St. Pierre vs. Koscheck II (December 11; Montreal, Quebec, Canada).

After cruising through the sixth season of TUF as a welterweight, Danzig immediately dropped to lightweight and took out Mark Bocek at UFC 83. Since then, he’s gone 1-4 in the Octagon, most recently losing to Matt Wiman by a controversial technical decision. Danzig was scheduled to have a rematch with Wiman at UFC Fight Night 22, but had to withdraw due to injury. 

As for Joe Daddy, the TUF 2 welterweight winner could also use a ‘W’, as he’s coming off his unanimous decision loss to George Sotiropoulos at UFC 110. Stevenson was slated to take on Takanori Gomi at Jones vs. Matyushenko, but dropped out due to an injury of his own and was replaced by Tyson Griffin. Time for one TUF winner to get his shit together, and another to board the slow boat to palookaville…

(Where’s your glass trophy now, playboy? Props: thesun.co.uk)

By CagePotato contributor Jim Genia

In a perfect world, The Ultimate Fighter would give us an up close and personal look at some of the most promising mixed martial artists out there, vying for greatness in the crucible of combat. But in reality, it’s become a perversion of manufactured drama and prefabricated stars — stars made bright not by the depth of the competition they must face but by the trouncing of whatever hapless wannabes a SpikeTV producer chose at the tryouts. You see, it stopped being about “who’s the best” a long time ago, and was twisted into “who makes for the best TV,” so what we get now is more Jersey Shore than Ultimate Fighting Championship, only instead of Snooki and JWoww’s cleavage we get an IFL champ or Sengoku veteran beating the ever-loving crap out of people with maybe a handful (if that) of fights.

That’s why, when a TUF winner loses in Octagon — sometimes after facing real UFC-level competition for the first time — it’s totally awesome! Because, sure, Michael Bisping, Joe Stevenson and Mac Danzig are tough, likeable guys, but don’t try to fool us into thinking they’re the definition of “badass” just because they defeated a personal trainer from New Orleans, a boxer from Maine and some kid who should be working on a farm. We’re not the ignorant general public flicking through the channels, we’re knowledgeable MMA fans. We know better!

Therefore, here, in no particular order, is a list of the ten greatest TUF winner fails of all time. It’s a list based not on animosity towards any particular fighter, but on animosity towards the Spike TV executive who skipped over the few hundred fighter hopefuls with real talent and real skill, and instead chose the clown with the funky hair, the drinking problem and the propensity for trashing houses…

Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson, UFC 100
British fighter Michael Bisping was a stud in the UK MMA scene (which is a lot like saying you’re a gold medalist in the Special Olympics) when he got the call to compete on TUF, and he took Season 3 top honors after beating, well, pretty much no one of note. But he continued to rack up wins on the pay-per-views, defeating such marginables as Elvis Sinosic, Charles McCarthy and Jason Day. However, TUF 9 saw him pitted against Dan Henderson as an opposing coach, and we were supposed to believe the inevitable Octagon conflict between them would be competitive. It wasn’t, and fans everywhere rejoiced over a knockout so devastating Bisping has no recollection of anything to do with the weekend of July 11, 2009 and about nine days before and after.

(Poor vegan son-of-a-bitch can’t catch a break. Photo courtesy of MMABay)

Due to a chest injury suffered in training, TUF 6 winner Mac Danzig has withdrawn from his co-headlining rematch against Matt Wiman at UFC Fight Night 22 (September 15th, Austin). Danzig and Wiman previously met at UFC 115 in June, with Danzig losing by a controversial first-round technical decision; the referee stopped the fight due to a guillotine choke despite the fact that Danzig didn’t tap and wasn’t out, leading to an unfortunate "WTFIYP?" moment in the cage. It was Danzig’s fourth loss in his last five fights, and he’ll now have to wait a little longer to redeem himself.

Stepping up against Wiman at the Austin event will be TUF 8 lightweight winner Efrain Escudero, who’s coming off his unanimous decision victory over Dan Lauzon at UFC 114, and was originally supposed to face John Gunderson on the prelims. Now, Gunderson is expected to face returning UFC vet Yves Edwards (38-16-1, 6-4 UFC), who hasn’t competed in the Octagon since his TKO loss to Joe Stevenson at UFC 61. Since then, he’s made appearances in Bodog Fight, EliteXC, Strikeforce, and Shine Fights, and most recently scored a decision over Luis Palomino at last week’s Bellator event.

(Photo courtesy Zuffa)

Heavy.com is reporting that the automatic rematch Dana White promised Mac Danzig after a questionable stoppage in his fight with Matt Wiman at UFC 115 will take place September 15 at UFC Fight Night 22 in Austin, TX.

The controversy arose when Danzig, caught in a guillotine, seemed to be unresponsive to referee Yves Lavigne’s inquiries about whether he was okay or not, prompting Wiman to inform the experienced French-Canadian official that Mac was indeed unconscious.

The problem was, Danzig was still wide awake; he just didn’t want to shift his position as it may have closed the space he had made between Wiman’s forearm and his corotid artery, causing him to fall asleep. 

(Video courtesy of AmoebaMusic)

UFC lightweight Mac Danzig stopped by Amoeba Music in Hollywood, CA to pick up a few items recently and while he was there he filmed a segment of their What’s in my Bag? interview series.

It’s no surprise that the fighter, photographer, philosopher and devout vegan has some eclectic taste in music and films.

Every guy is guilty at one time or another of pretending to like something they don’t to impress the girl they’re dating, but Danzig takes the term "taking one for the team" to a whole new level by faking a genuine love of Grace Jones’ "music."

If you are too young to remember Jones, she was an amazonian-like model-turned avant-garde singer and actress whose popularity peaked in the 80s with film roles such as Zula in Conan the Destroyer and Bond Girl May Day in A View to a Kill. 

("See? I am friend. Now get in van, please." Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Four months after he put Mike Swick to sleep at UFC 109 — thereby going up 2-1 in his one-man assault on the American Kickboxing Academy — welterweight rising star Paulo Thiago will step into the cage at UFC 115 (June 12th, tentatively in Vancouver) against highly regarded contender Martin Kampmann. "The Hitman" is coming off a first-round submission victory over Jacob Volkmann in January, and was slated to take on Ben Saunders at UFC 111, but lost a large piece of his face during training. Coincidentally, Thiago also holds a win over Volkmann, who has been absolutely thrown to the wolves during his brief time with the UFC. (FYI, "Christmas" Volkmann will have his win-or-GTFO match against Ronnys Torres at UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Gomi on March 31st.)

UFC 115 will be headlined by Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz, and is expected to feature Mirko Cro Cop vs. Pat Barry, Ben Rothwell vs. Gilbert Yvel, Tyson Griffin vs. Evan Dunham, and Mac Danzig continuing his slow road back to contendership against Matt Wiman.

(Now all he needs to do is fight CB Dollaway with one boxing glove. Photo courtesy of the UFC 100: Weigh Ins set on Combat Lifestyle.)

Spoilers after the jump…

#7: MAC DANZIG

A five-time King of the Cage lightweight champion with appearances in PRIDE and the WEC, Mac Danzig was one of the most seasoned mixed martial artists to ever appear on The Ultimate Fighter, and few were surprised when he blazed past guys like Ben Saunders, War Machine, and George Sotiropoulos to make it to the sixth season’s finals. After choking out Tommy Speer to win the contract and doing the same to Mark Bocek in his next outing at UFC 83, it seemed that Mac was on the fast-track to success in the UFC lightweight division.

Then, disaster struck — in the form of Clay “Energizer Blanket” Guida, who laid on top of Danzig en route to a unanimous decision last September. It was a frustrating setback, but we still thought the TUF winner would bounce back against Josh Neer at UFC Fight Night 17 in February. Unfortunately, Mac would fall short again, succumbing to a second-round triangle choke. Now, the once-promising fighter is just another scrapper at the bottom of the UFC’s lightweight ladder, and one more loss could spell the end of his run in the Octagon.

#6: BRANDON VERA

How’s this for a return-on-investment: The UFC paid “The Truth” a total of $76,000 in contracted salary for his first four wins against Fabiano Scherner, Justin Eilers, Assuerio Silva, and Frank Mir — all of them by brutal stoppage, mind you — then paid him $500,000 for his subsequent 1-3 stretch against Tim Sylvia, Fabricio Werdum, Reese Andy, and Keith Jardine. Did the fat paychecks make him soft? Did his long legal dispute with his manager throw off his mental game? It’s hard to know for sure, but by the end of 2008 it was clear that this wasn’t the same Brandon Vera who entered the UFC’s heavyweight division three years before and rocked it like a hurricane.

After Vera’s split-decision loss to Jardine, Dana White lamented the disappearance of Vera’s killer instinct and passionate cockiness. But instead of firing him, the UFC gave Vera a chance to regain his confidence against an outmatched, out-of-shape Mike Patt at UFC 96 — at a drastically reduced pay-rate, of course. Luckily, Vera chopped Patt down and saved his job. The Truth is slated to return in August against Matt Hamill at UFC 102, in a fight that will either re-establish him as a rising star at light-heavyweight, or forever define him as an overpaid can-crusher.

(Photo courtesy of NewMexicoBoxing.com.)

The UFC has officially announced five bouts for the supporting card of their historic UFC 100 event, which goes down July 11th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas; tickets go on sale to the general public tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT. Here’s what the lineup looks like so far, according to UFC 100′s fight card page on UFC.com:

Main Card
Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir (for unified heavyweight championship)
Georges St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves (for welterweight championship)
Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping (MW)
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Alan Belcher (MW)

"May not be broadcast"
Jon Jones vs. Jake O’Brien (LHW)
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Jonathan Goulet (WW)
CB Dollaway vs. Tom Lawlor (MW)
Matt Grice vs. Shannon Gugerty (LW)

For some reason, the light-heavyweight match between Mark Coleman and Stephan Bonnar isn’t listed on UFC.com, even though Amir Sadollah confirmed the fight during an "Inside the Octagon" segment on Wednesday’s installment of The Ultimate Fighter. In addition, welterweights Jon Fitch and Paulo Thiago have reportedly agreed to meet at UFC 100, while a new report from MMA Weekly claims that a lightweight bout between Mac Danzig and Jim Miller will also be added to the card.

(There’s gotta be an easier way to earn five grand. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

$424,000 in official salaries and bonuses were paid out to the fighters who competed at Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night event in Tampa, Florida — a pittance compared to what the guys on pay-per-view cards tend to get, but when you consider that the live gate was only $428,000 it seems downright charitable. The numbers are below. Keep in mind that these figures don’t include income from sponsorships or undisclosed "locker room bonuses."

Cain Velasquez: $60,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus and $30,000 “Knockout of the Night” bonus)
Joe Lauzon: $50,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus and $30,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus)
Josh Neer: $48,000 (includes $9,000 win bonus and $30,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus)
Mac Danzig: $45,000 (includes $30,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus)
Kurt Pellegrino: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus)
Anthony Johnson: $26,000 (includes $13,000 win bonus)
Gleison Tibau: $26,000 (includes $13,000 win bonus)
Rich Clementi: $23,000
Dan Miller: $18,000 (includes $9,000 win bonus)
Matthew Riddle: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)

Props to MMA Scraps and MMA Linker…

(Lauzon/Stephens)

(Neer/Danzig)

(Josh, this isn’t really the best time to tell your fishing stories. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)
 
Last night’s UFC Fight Night show hosted 7,596 fans at the University of South Florida Sun Dome in Tampa, for an approximate gate of $428,000. A nice-sized chunk of that was re-distributed to the fighters in $30,000 end-of-night bonuses. Taking home the extra chedda were…

Fight of the Night: Josh Neer and Mac Danzig for their breakneck-paced two-round brawl, which saw the Dentist get in Mac’s head with his constant taunting and eventually end the match with a triangle choke.

Submission of the Night: Headliner Joe Lauzon for locking in a brutal armbar on Jeremy Stephens at the end of the second round of their fight, seemingly motivated by the blood that had begun spurting out of his head.

Knockout of the Night: Cain Velasquez, apparently. Though his fight against Denis "The Body" Stojnic was a one-sided drubbing, the stoppage by ref Jorge Ortiz was a bit confusing to the fighters as well as the fans. Stojnic wasn’t exactly "knocked out"; he was just turtled for a little too long as Velasquez pawed at him, and initially mistook the stoppage for a referee standup. Still, it was enough to get Velasquez another win, and increase his record to 5-0.

Full results from the event are after the jump.

(Props: MMA Mania)

The UFC has confirmed the lineup for UFC Fight Night 17, which will go down February 7th at the University of Southern Florida Sun Dome in Tampa; tickets can be purchased here. Notably, the recently arrested Josh Neer still has the green light to compete in a lightweight feature against Mac Danzig. Also on the televised main card, TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah finally has his first post-TUF match against undefeated Ring of Combat vet Nick Catone, Cain Velasquez welcomes Golden Glory striker Denis Stojnic to the Octagon, and Joe Lauzon and Hermes Franca try to build a win streak in the main event. The full lineup is below…

Main card
Joe Lauzon vs. Hermes Franca  (LW)
Cain Velasquez vs. Denis Stojnic (HW)
Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer (LW)
Amir Sadollah vs. Nick Catone (MW)

Undercard
Kurt Pellegrino vs. Rob Emerson (LW)
Alessio Sakara vs. Jake Rosholt (MW)
George Sotiropoulos vs. Matt Grice (LW)
Gleison Tibau vs. Rich Clementi (LW)
Luigi Fioravanti vs. Anthony Johnson (WW)

(Props: MMA Mania)

According to a new press release sent out by SpikeTV, the UFC’s 17th "Fight Night" card will go down February 7th at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida. Headlining the action will be a lightweight scrap between Joe Lauzon and Hermes Franca. Both men are coming off wins, with Lauzon most recently defeating Kyle Bradley via TKO at UFC Fight Night 15 in September, and Franca taking a unanimous decision over Marcus Aurelio at UFC 90 in October. Also on the card…

Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer (LW): The Ultimate Fighter 6 winner looks to get back on track after being smothered by a demon-possessed Clay Guida at Fight Night 15. Neer could also use a win, as he lost a tough decision to Nate Diaz at the same event.

Amir Sadollah vs. Nick Catone (MW): This fight was originally supposed to go down at UFC 91, but Sadollah picked up some kind of leg infection and had to pull out. The match has been pushed to February, and the TUF 7 winner will finally get to test out newcomer Catone, a 5-0 Ring of Combat vet with four first-round stoppages under his belt. Sadollah is still just 1-0 as a pro.

Cain Velasquez vs. Denis Stojnic (HW): We didn’t even hear this one rumored until it was announced. Now that Mustapha Al-Turk has been re-assigned to UFC 92, they needed to find another patsy for Velasquez to eat up. Stojnic is just some random dude from Sarajevo who’s 5-1 in Europe. He is, however, a member of the Golden Glory team, which means he works out alongside Alistair Overeem, Sergei Kharitonov, and Semmy Schilt. How bad could he be?

MMA Weekly also hears that a lightweight bout between Kurt Pellegrino and Rob Emerson is possible; the entire fight card will be announced shortly.

(Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

Coming off a disappointing decision loss to Clay Guida at UFC Fight Night 15 in September, TUF 6 winner Mac Danzig will reportedly face Josh Neer at UFC Fight Night 17, which will likely go down February 7th in Las Vegas. Josh Neer is himself coming off a loss at Fight Night 15 (to Nate Diaz), which tipped his UFC record to 3-4. MMA Weekly also reports that TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah will face Nick Catone on the UFC Fight Night 17 card; Sadollah was supposed to face Catone at UFC 91, but had to pull out of the match due to a leg infection.

Both of these matches are expected to be featured on the televised portion of the broadcast, which will air for free on Spike TV. The event will come just one week after UFC 94 (St. Pierre vs. Penn), and two weeks before UFC 95 (Anderson Silva vs. TBA).

(Why you so mad, Nate? By Stockton standards, you rich!)

Official salaries for last week’s Ultimate Fight Night 15 were released today by the Nebraska State Athletic Commission, and not surprisingly it was Nate Diaz who made off with the most cheddar (that’s what the kids call money these days, right?). Here’s the full breakdown. Each winning fighter’s salary represents a doubling of his base pay:

Nate Diaz: $40,000
Josh Neer: $9,000
Clay Guida: $26,000
Mac Danzig: $15,000
Alan Belcher: $26,000
Ed Herman: $16,000
Eric Schafer: $12,000
Houston Alexander: $13,000
Alessio Sakara: $34,000
Joe Vedepo: $3,000
Wilson Gouveia: $36,000
Ryan Jensen: $4,000
Joe Lauzon: $20,000
Kyle Bradley: $4,000
Jason Brilz: $6,000
Brad Morris: $4,000
Mike Massenzio: $6,000
Drew McFedries: $16,000
Dan Miller: $10,000
Rob Kimmons: $5,000

Some quick thoughts…

Alex Trujillo — Clay Guida’s coach and owner of the Midwest Training Center — does the best Mike Goldberg impersonation I’ve ever heard. He has it all just right. The hyperbolic enthusiasm, the local news weatherman voice inflection, the whole package.

“Coming up next!” Trujillo shouts in his Goldberg voice, and it’s enough to get the whole dressing room cracking up. You can see how it helps to have guy like Trujillo around when you’re trying to stay relaxed before a fight. Soon the talk turns to what it would be like if Goldberg did commentary for porn movies. The consensus opinion? It would be awesome.

This is just part of what I was treated to last night as I shadowed Guida before and after his fight for this Si.com article. It was, to say the least, a unique experience. There are the guys who say that they just love to fight, and then there are the guys for whom it is obviously true. Clay Guida is the latter. Throughout his preparation there was never a hint of anxiety. Little leaguers have more nerves stepping up to bat.

As Guida sat in his dressing room having his hands taped referee Yves Lavigne came by to go over some basics. Just to clarify, Lavigne took out a sheet of paper that he had folded into thirds and held it up against the back of his own head to show Guida where not to strike. Through it all Guida could barely keep from smiling.

(For those about to get knocked the eff out, we salute you. Photo courtesy of MMAWeekly.)

FUCKIN’ HUSKERS!!! Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get down to business. “Ultimate Fight Night: Diaz vs. Neer” is going down in Omaha as we speak. But since it’s airing on tape-delay in most of the country, there might be some spoilers after the jump; feel free to come back when it’s 8 p.m. in your time zone. And please leave plenty o’comments now that leaving comments on this site isn’t such a pain in the ass. Click the “More” link when you’re mentally prepared, and refresh the page every few minutes to get all the latest from the Omaha Civic Center.

(P.S.: Stockton, son. Stockton California.)

(Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle.)

The BF half of the Cage Potato duo is in Omaha for tonight’s Ultimate Fight Night event. If you’re headed to the Civic Auditorium later this afternoon for the event, keep an eye out for the handsome devil with the laptop. I’ll be sitting behind that guy, scribbling my thoughts on a wax tablet. What? I just think all this new technology is a fad. It’ll blow over.

But if you can’t get to the fights tonight but want to find a way to make yourself sweat over the results anyway, allow me to suggest gambling. BestFightOdds.com has compiled all the lines for tonight’s event, and here’s what it’s looking like at the moment:

Nathan Diaz (-200) vs. Josh Neer (+200)
Clay Guida (-121) vs. Mac Danzig (+125)
Houston Alexander (-212) vs. Eric Schafer (+215)
Ed Herman (-220) vs. Alan Belcher (+215)
Joe Lauzon (-675) vs. Kyle Bradley (+500)
Drew McFedries (-200) vs. Mike Massenzio (+210)
Wilson Gouveia (-350) vs. Ryan Jensen (+326)
Alessio Sakara (-115) vs. Joe Vedepo (+128)
Jason Brilz (-209) vs. Brad Morris (+215)
Dan Miller (-110) vs. Rob Kimmons (+105)

Some thoughts…