Nick Diaz is unquestionably the most gangster fighter in MMA history. This Saturday at UFC 143, Diaz will face Carlos Condit for the UFC’s interim welterweight title. It’s safe to assume that Condit will be body-shotted and called a “bitch” at least once. Here’s a tribute to some of Diaz’s most gangsterish moments, in animated GIF form. Enjoy.

Related: Lock Your Car Door When You See This Crazy Shirtless Mofo

(Video courtesy of YouTube/THQ)

OK, we lied. THQ just let a couple of its interns fight each other in UFC: Undisputed 3 and the one using Nick Diaz won against Carlos Condit. There’s nothing scientific about their method that they claim is a result of a computer simulated formula, but in their defense they have been pretty damn accurate with their last few picks.

(Georges is so pumped to fight Diaz, he wears his fight gear while he hobbles around outside all of the local Stockton head shops.)

With all of the criticism Georges St-Pierre has gotten the past few years for his conservative style of fighting, sometimes people overlook just how much the dominant UFC welterweight kingpin purveys the blueprint of how a champion should act both inside and outside of the Octagon.

In a recent interview he did for UFC.com, St-Pierre said that because he hasn’t been active lately due to a pair of knee injuries, he doesn’t consider himself to be the UFC welterweight title holder anymore and that he will need to beat the winner of the interim title bout between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit Saturday night to once again become the champ.

(In Stockton THIS IS style.)

The UFC’s marketing department Some random fan not at all affiliated with Zuffa released another one of his clever movie mash-ups today – this time featuring a clip of Nick Diaz from the latest UFC Primetime episode and and one from Office Space. We figured it was worthy of posting to make the reality of your Monday seem a little bit less harsh. We laughed.

Swanson vs. Roop provided an early candidate for Side-Punchface of the Year. Props: UFC.com

Remember how last night, you invited your non-MMA fan friends over to introduce them to our sport? You spent the past week talking about how Chael Sonnen is one of the best trash talkers in professional sports, and how technical and talented these fighters were. You figured that after three fights that were guaranteed to be exceptional, your friends would be won over to MMA fandom. Then you’d continue to drink and be merry all night, and we’d all meet up here today for our traditional post-UFC event GIF party where we all high five over how awesome the fights were.

Well, it didn’t quite work out that way. Instead, you found yourself doing damage control as you watched three fights worth of sloppy brawling, wall and stall and Chael Sonnen’s blatant swaggerjacking of homage to “Superstar” Billy Graham. You tried to convince them that the fights are usually nothing like this, and that these guys gassing out and the end of the first round are world class athletes. Eventually, one of your friends said “I bet Pacquiao would destroy ANY of these guys” as the rest of your friends grabbed their coats and said they’d call you next time they wanted to watch the fights.

Okay, so last night sucked. But we’ve been planning this party all week, and we’ll be damned if we cancel it at this point. So grab an alcoholic beverage, put on your gaudiest Affliction shirt and join us for our traditional post-UFC event GIF Party.

As always, praise be to Zombie Prophet at IronForgesIron.com for the GIFS.

Totally illegal in NCAA competition. (Photo: UFC.com)

“It’s usually not like this.” With that text I found myself apologizing to a UFC-virgin for the first time in a long time. My friend had just told me that she was at home watching the the show on FOX, without any provocation from me mind you. “This is that fighting you like, right???”. I assured her that the event had yet to capture the energy and excitement indicative of the sport. “I’m going back and forth between this and figure skating,” she replied. I can’t really say I blame her, either.

While we expected plenty of grappling in the bouts themselves, the wrestling theme seemed to carry on throughout the production at large. The usually-charismatic Jon Jones wrestled with his notes, relying on them not just for in-depth fight analysis but for simple things like his thoughts on fighting Rashad. The opening act wrestled with fatigue, leading to a performance as exhausting for fans as it was for the competitors in the cage. And once again, FOX wrestled with an underwhelming broadcast that left the most exciting action behind in the prelims.

Enough belly aching about the show itself, let’s take a look at what made such a promising event so forgettable for the masses.

“Is it too soon to talk about Sandusky, or should I wait ten years, like Paterno?” Props: MMAJunkie.com

“The House that Jordan Built” is sold out for the UFC’s return to Fox, which features three times as many televised fights as its Fox debut. Can Chris Weidman make a name for himself against Demian Maia? Will Chael Sonnen challenge Anderson Silva to a casket match after tonight’s fight? Does Phil Davis establish himself as a contender at light-heavyweight, or does Rashad Evans set himself up to get overlooked for yet another title shot? We’ll answer all this and more as it unfolds.

Handling liveblogging duties tonight is Seth Falvo, who will be watching the event with some old friends. Please direct all complaints about spelling and grammar, comments about the liveblogger’s sexual preference and unrelated conspiracy theories directly at him. Spoilers after the jump.

Part II after the jump (Video: YouTube/RandomCoolStuffHD)

We’ll be treated to a free night of exciting fights on FOX in just a few hours, but there’s still plenty of time to discuss next weekend’s battle for the interim Welterweight title. The second episode of ‘UFC Primetime: Diaz vs Condit‘ hit the air last night. As if the video wasn’t enough, we’ve got your breakdown of the show just after the jump.

(“Welcome my friends to the show that never ends. I’m serious. I’m gonna ride this money train until the wheels fall off.”)

Even when it’s someone else’s turn in the spotlight, it seems that Chael Sonnen has a way of stealing some of their thunder.

Take yesterday’s open workouts for Saturday night’s UFC on Fox 1 event in Chicago. Though Sonnen wasn’t in front of the camera delivering his best Ric Flair impersonation, he was still attracting most of the attention behind the scenes.

The Sonnen Circus was in full gear as MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani interviewed Chicago-based heavyweight Mike Russow. Putting on a tumbling clinic for the media, who lapped it up while snapping photos and rolling camera to catch the display for posterity, Sonnen demonstrated why he’s one of the most polarizing personalities in MMA.

Check out the GIF goodness after the jump.

Well, it’s official. Chael Sonnen’s smack talk has officially gotten dangerous for the West Linn, Oregon native outside of Brazil.

While making an appearance on the Dan Le Batard is… Highly Questionable show on ESPN today, complete with a UFC replica belt, “The Gangster from America” reiterated his claim that Mike Tyson was a fraud just like he asserts Anderson Silva is.

“[The first thing I think of when I think of Anderson is] fraud. Phony. Third thing that comes to mind: paint your face up like Mike Tyson, gain a hundred pounds, sit in the second row and talk about when you meant something to the world, ‘cos your time has passed,” Chael quipped. “Welcome to two thousand and Chael.”

(Video courtesy of Zombie Prophet)

Before the dust had even settled from the organization’s debut on FX, the push began for UFC 143‘s headliner. The battle for the interim Welterweight belt is getting the full “Primetime” treatment with an in depth, behind-the-scenes look at Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit. If you were too busy to catch the first installment of the series, bully for you. We’ve got the video above and some notes after the jump for the soft-headed.

Barry didn’t check on Morecraft, but it’s safe to say he got some fans. Props: UFC.com

Overall, the UFC’s fourth biggest debut on a television network, which showcased two of the best lightweights coming off of losses and the organization’s second best announcing team, was as successful as it could have been. Sure, there were some long pauses in between the fights, but that’s to be expected when you draw out 60 minutes of actual fighting into a five hour television broadcast. The rattling punches and tapping hands that signaled an early end to many of last night’s fights kept a perfect rhythm with a drum we’ve been beating on CagePotato for quite some time now: The key to victory in mixed martial arts is evolution, not regression. If a fighter wants to stay relevant- or even employed- within the UFC, he needs to develop himself into the most complete fighter he can.

For an example of this, look no further than Melvin Guillard. Both fans and pundits were calling his performance “Vintage Melvin” while the dynamic striker aggressively pursued Jim Miller, arguably coming closer to knocking out the submission specialist than anyone else has. However, after one flying knee attempt too many saw Miller putting Guillard on his back, “Vintage Melvin” demonstrated the same ground game that has always been his kryptonite. An impatient Melvin Guillard did everything he could to get back to his feet, which resulted in Jim Miller taking his back and sinking in the fight ending choke. “The Young Assassin” is now 10-6 in the UFC, with all of his losses coming by submission. While permanently relegating Guillard to the undercards may be a bit drastic, it’s obvious that Guillard will never be a contender unless he fixes those holes in his ground game- something far easier said than done at this point in his career.

Jim Miller did exactly what we knew he needed to do to win. He weathered the storm against Guillard’s attack, he was persistent with his takedown attempts and he kept the fight on the ground once it went there. While a quick submission wasn’t exactly unexpected, it was still impressive enough to earn him Submission of the Night honors.

UFC 143 Diaz vs. Condit: Video Interview Carlos Condit – Watch More MMA Videos

We’re about two weeks away from UFC 143‘s interim welterweight title bout between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit, a fight that will mark Condit’s first Octagon appearance since he wrecked Dong Hyun Kim in July. In the ensuing months, Condit has had to remain focused while big opportunities appeared and disappeared with maddening regularity. Finally, his wait is over, and the Natural Born Killer will be able to test his skills against a man who many MMA pundits consider to be the #2 welterweight behind Georges St. Pierre. Our buddy Sal Mora caught up to Condit recently to get his thoughts about Nick Diaz and the challenges of balancing fighting with the rest of his life. Thanks so much to Carlos for the time; visit CampCondit.com for more. Some highlights from our interview…

On Diaz’s attitude and antics: “I’ve never met the guy, so honestly I don’t have much of an opinion. I think that we’re fortunate to be doing what we’re doing for a living. We get paid to train, we get paid to fight, and we get paid to do what we like to do. I think he’s got kind of a bad attitude when it comes to being grateful for the position he’s in. But other than that, like I said, I don’t really know the guy.”

On fighters who create a persona to attract more attention: ”When I was younger, I felt like I wasn’t getting the notoriety or the exposure that some of these other guys were getting. But ultimately, when it came down to it, I just gotta be myself, and that’s carried me as far and got me as much exposure and notoriety as somebody acting a fool.”

Behold: a shining example of “kick face“. (Photo: UFC.com)

Brazilian fans are credited with being the most raucous audience in the world, and last night’s fighters gave them plenty to cheer about. Six of the nine bouts ended via knock out or submission*, with five of those stoppages coming in the first round.

Chokes, knees, and even a spinning wheel kick punctuated last night’s fights (*as did a controversial referee stoppage). Pop on in for a motion picture tribute to UFC 142.

As always, praise be to Zombie Prophet.

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“And if you think *I’m* upset, young man, you just WAIT until your father gets home!” (Pic: MMAMania.com)

Sometimes a fighter gets cut under bizarre circumstances that no one saw coming, and sometimes the writing is on the wall.

There was very little Anthony Johnson could have done last night to preserve his job in the UFC, and “losing” wasn’t on the short list. Every facet of Johnson’s battle with gravity has been a spectacle. On Friday night, he missed weight for the third time in his UFC career—that’s a first for the promotion. And when he stepped on the scales, he didn’t miss by a slim margin, either. He was closer to the light heavyweight limit than he was the middleweight. The eleven extra pounds he was sporting? That sets a UFC record as well.

Now we’ve already belabored Johnson’s lack of professionalism over the last two days, and whether it’s through a dinner invitation or a dismissive laugh, “Rumble” has made it clear that he doesn’t care what we the fans think. One person that does matter, however, is his boss. Here’s what Dana White had to say on the issue.

“I’m not even kidding you, man! It must have been four feet of linguiça. And ‘Humble’ ate the whole thing, just now backstage!” (Photo: UFC.com)

It’s 1 AM in Rio De Janeiro and and the locals have turned out in droves to cheer on their countrymen and wish death upon foreigners. It may not be very sporting of them, but we’ve pretty much thrown professionalism out the window this weekend.

Is Mendes the right Alpha Male to topple Aldo in his own backyard? Does Belfort have enough power to put away one of the UFC’s top heavyweights? And will Palhares’s overwhelming desire to tear limbs apart overcome his instinct to stop fighting in the middle of a bout?

Come join me, Chris Colemon, inside for the answers to these questions and more.

(From L-R: Gabriel Gonzaga, UFC president Dana White, Squidward Q. Tentacles, and the guy who totally isn’t Dana White’s bodyguard. Photo via MMAJunkie)

Before the UFC 142 pay-per-view card kicks off from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, FX will be airing four fights from the preliminary card, featuring the return of veteran lightweight striker Sam Stout as well as formerly-retired heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga. Follow us after the jump for round-by-round results from the live prelims broadcast starting at 8 p.m., courtesy of rookie CagePotato liveblogger Anthony Gannon. Porra, you guys!

(Video courtesy of YouTube.com/UFC)

Dana White’s latest vlog walks us through the behind the scenes drama at yesterday’s weigh-ins. Before the action unfolds we get to tag along with the multimillionaire fight baron as he soars over the slums of Rio in a private helicopter. Poetry.

Things get interesting when Vitor Belfort checks in at the arena. Watching “The Phenom” gnaw away on a towel of crushed ice like a starved animal as he learns that “Rumble” is nowhere in the vicinity of 185lbs makes Johnson’s massive failure all the more unforgivable. Vitor had the option of stopping his cut and fighting at a catchweight, but ultimately chose the path of the professional and made the contracted weight. That 20% of Johnson’s purse probably didn’t hurt his decision.

Join us back here this evening as we kick off our Liveblog with the prelims on FX!

He has a black belt in intensity, a complete disregard for his opponents’ ankle-bones, more muscles than a seafood platter, and an unpredictable streak that borders on the insane. He is middleweight contender Rousimar Palhares, and he’ll be fighting Mike Massenzio on the main card of UFC 142 in Rio this Saturday night. Re-discover Toquinho’s body of work with some hand-picked animated GIFs, which continue after the jump…

(UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo pictured with his summer intern, Chad.)

UPDATE: Yes, Anthony Johnson came in at 197 pounds. Gory details after the jump.

Weigh-ins for tomorrow night’s UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes event are scheduled to begin today at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT in Rio. You can watch the action right here on CagePotato.com, in either of the video players after the jump. We’ll also be posting the full weigh-in results after all 20 fighters have hit the scale. Will there be any disrespectful hat-smacking this time? How terrifying will Anthony Johnson look as a middleweight light-heavyweight? And will the huge broad on the right be replacing Chandella permanently? Stay tuned…

UFC 142 goes down this Saturday from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and though it doesn’t feature quite as epic a lineup as the UFC’s return to Brazil at UFC 134, the fact that the card has still maintained its two marquee match-ups is something to brag about, if only due to how cursed a card this has been. So if you, like Siyar Bahadurzada, Paulo Thiago, Stanislav Nedkov, and Fabio Maldanado, find yourself watching the action from the sidelines on Saturday night and suddenly in need of some extra dough, then we are here to help. Check out the betting lines below, courtesy of BestFightOdds, and join us after the jump for some sound betting advice.

Main Card
Erick Silva (-525) vs. Carlo Prater (+415)
Edson Barboza (-270) vs. Terry Etim (+230)
Rousimar Palhares (-525) vs. Mike Massenzio (+415)
Anthony Johnson (-110) vs. Vitor Belfort (-110)
Jose Aldo (-240) vs. Chad Mendes (+200)

Preliminary Card
Antonio Carvalho (-225) vs. Felipe Arantes (+175)
Mike Pyle (-460) vs. Ricardo Funch (+340)
Yuri Alcantara (-195) vs. Michihiro Omigawa (+160)
Sam Stout (EV) vs. Thiago Tavares (-140)
Gabriel Gonzaga (-120) vs. Edinaldo Oliveira (-110)

(Edson Barboza uglies up Ross Pearson during his split-decision victory over the TUF 9 winner at UFC 134.)

By Anton Gurevich

This Saturday night, Edson Barboza will head to his native country of Brazil to take on English submission specialist Terry Etim at UFC 142 from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Quickly emerging as one of the lightweight division’s brightest young prospects, Barboza will look to extend his current undefeated streak to 10-0, with hopes of solidifying his place in the UFC’s stacked 155-pound title mix.

A product of The Armory Training Center in Florida, Barboza made his professional debut in 2009, reeling off six consecutive victories and capturing the Ring of Combat lightweight title before signing with the UFC in 2010. Utilizing crippling leg-kicks and precision striking, the Brazilian dispatched of Mike Lullo via TKO in his Octagon debut, which he followed up with back-to-back “Fight of the Night” performances against Anthony Njokuani and Ross Pearson to improve his UFC mark to 3-0.

Now just days ahead of what will be his second homecoming in less than six-months, LowKick.com had an opportunity to speak with Barboza about this weekend’s match-up. Here’s what he had to say about his training at The Armory, his title aspirations, and how his striking stacks up against other UFC lightweights.

READ THE INTERVIEW ON LOWKICK.BLITZCORNER.COM!

(Video courtesy of Sapo/IFI)

If you missed the premiere of the UFC 142 countdown show yesterday, not to worry brohams. We got you covered.

In perhaps the most interesting segment on the show, we get to know undefeated Team Alpha Male featherweight Chad Mendes, who is set to challenge Jose Aldo on Saturday. “Money” has a decent shot at taking the belt from Aldo. Mendes’ doppelganger Urijah Faber has nothing but good things to say about his teammate and points out that he can roll with anybody and submit BJJ black belts and that “no one can match his wrestling.”

(Anthony Johnson vs. Charlie Brenneman)

With knockout power in all four limbs, Anthony Johnson is one of the most athletic and explosive fighters in the UFC. (He said it, so it’s okay for us to say it too.) Now testing his fate at middleweight — arguably a much more natural weight class for him — Rumble will face Vitor Belfort in the co-main event of UFC 142 this Saturday. Will his power be even scarier at 185? Check out some animated highlights from his UFC career, which continue after the jump, and let us know what you think.

(Edinaldo Oliveira vs. Jair Goncalves, 9/16/11; two more videos are after the jump.)

A longtime friend and training partner of Junior Dos Santos, undefeated heavyweight prospect Edinaldo Oliveira will be making his UFC debut on the preliminary card of this Saturday’s UFC 142 show, taking on the returning Gabriel Gonzaga. The 27-year-old jiu-jitsu black belt hails from Bahia, Brazil, and carries a record of 13-0-1 (with one no-contest) including eight knockouts and two submissions.

Oliveira’s nickname, “Lula Molusco,” is the name of the Squidward character in the Brazilian version of Spongebob Squarepants. You can’t make this stuff up, folks. We’re hoping that’s due to his lanky 6’7″ frame, and not his voice. After securing free education through a security guard job at a Brazilian college, Oliveira studied criminal law, hoping to become an attorney, but had to suspend his studies to devote more attention to his fight career.

Fight journals are an interesting batch of film. More often than not, they are a simple collection of offhand moments in a fighter’s life, usually preempting/hyping an upcoming fight. They are of varying interest levels, but usually reside somewhere between “been there, done that” and “would rather watch new Meisha Tate interview.” However, every now again, we are treated to a stylized, slickly edited piece of film that, regardless of it’s content, is able to pique our interest. We’ve seen it before with the fantastic web series The Reem, and today we’ve managed to stumble over another exceptional fight journal, that of Anthony Johnson, who maybe be looking at a future title shot if he gets past Vitor Belfort at UFC 142, which goes down in less than a week in Rio De Janerio, Brazil.

(I’m still convinced that ‘Reem ate one of those Pit Fighter power-pills before the match.)

MMA Weekly passes along the news that 19 of the 20 fighters who competed on December 30th’s UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem card were tested for drugs of abuse and performance enhancing substances by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, with all 19 testing clean. (Congrats, guys; way to not fuck it up like some people we know.) That includes new UFC heavyweight #1 contender Alistair Overeem, who continues to prove the legitimacy of his beast-like physique. Still, Overeem has to pass two more random drug tests over the next six months to satisfy the conditions of his conditional license.

Only Jon Fitch managed to avoid a post-fight drug test at UFC 141. The only explanation that NSAC executive director Keith Kizer gave for this omission was that “he lost” Which begs the question — why were those nine other losers tested, then? Do you think Brock Lesnar and Nam Phan felt like pissing into cups after the beatings they took?

(“Go on. Tell me my tie is uneven. I fucking dare you.”)

Before his fight against Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 on Friday, Alistair Overeem‘s former management team convinced a Nevada District Court to issue an order that would garnish Overeem’s fight purse pending an ongoing legal battle. (Short version: Overeem and Golden Glory both claim that the other side owes them money.) Luckily for the ‘Reem, the Nevada State Athletic Commission chose to ignore that order:

Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer told ESPN.com it was his understanding that the bond was not posted, therefore Overeem received a check for $385,714.28 — his bout fee and win bonus. Overeem will also earn a signficiant portion of UFC 141′s pay-per-view proceeds.

Golden Glory’s legal representation released a statement in response saying that they won’t give up so easily:

“This was a short-term possibility that KOI and Golden Glory were prepared for. Seeking the initial writ was merely the first step in a long-term litigation strategy that KOI and Golden Glory will prosecute in Nevada. The writ of attachment remedy remains fully available to my clients and will be sought as to Mr. Overeem’s future pay-per-view payout, which we expect will be more lucrative than his initial fight purse. Rest assured, now that we have had the opportunity to troubleshoot complex international hurdles – and without a long holiday weekend to contend with – future writs of attachment will be utilized to ensure that Mr. Overeem makes good on the commissions owed to my clients and his Golden Glory training team, who helped him achieve the success he now enjoys.”

UFC 141′s full list of disclosed salaries and bonuses is after the jump…

(Video via YouTube.com/UFC)

Just five months after their last visit to the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the UFC returns with another card headlined by native heroes. In UFC 142‘s main event, featherweight champion Jose Aldo — who has now won ten straight fights in the WEC/UFC — looks to make another belt defense against undefeated Team Alpha Male wrestling specialist Chad “Money” Mendes, who will be hoping to put Aldo on his back as much as possible and score some revenge for Urijah Faber’s leg.

In the co-main event, middleweight contender Vitor Belfort returns from his latest injury layoff to welcome Anthony Johnson to the middleweight division, in a matchup that contains too much explosive athleticism for its own damn good.

All 11 fights on the “Aldo vs. Mendes” card feature at least one Brazilian, with Rousimar Palhares, Edson Barboza, and Gabriel Gonzaga making return appearances. The full UFC 142 lineup is after the jump…

(Come on, Fitch wasn’t out. He was just resting his arms.)

On Friday night, Alistair Overeem successfully gut-shotted his way to a title shot against reigning UFC heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos — and his larger-than-life opponent Brock Lesnar will likely never set foot inside of an Octagon again. But the fates of the other winners and losers from UFC 141 are still up in the air. So let’s put on our Joe Silva skin-suit and see if we can make some thoughtful matchmaking suggestions for these guys, shall we?

Nate Diaz: As ferocious as he looked against Donald Cerrone, part of me thinks that Nate is going to get rudely decisioned as soon as he goes back to facing wrestlers; guys like Clay Guida, Joe Stevenson, and Gray Maynard have already proved that putting Diaz on his back is his kryptonite. But I don’t want to see that happen, at least not right away. Next month’s UFC 144 event provides two compelling options for Nate’s next opponent — either the winner of the Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon scrap, or Ben Henderson if he loses his title challenge to Frankie Edgar. Either matchup would give Diaz an ideal dance partner for another guaranteed Fight of the Night.

Donald Cerrone: Not to steal the thunder from Diaz’s masterful performance, but Cerrone looked like shit on Friday. Sorry, it needed to be said. The highly technical fight-finisher that we’ve come to know and love was M.I.A., replaced by an outgunned cowpoke who was as sloppy as he was tentative. Cerrone needs a rebound fight to find his mojo again. Setting him up against fast-rising Ultimate Fighter 13 winner Tony Ferguson would be a great test for both fighters. Either Cowboy gets back on track against a solid opponent, or Ferguson continues to prove that he’s more than just a TUF-guy.