(Markham starches Brodie Farber during his Octagon debut last July.)

Following withdrawals by Anderson Silva, Brock Lesnar, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Gabriel Gonzaga, Carlos Condit, and Tyson Griffin, MMA Weekly reports that the latest fighter to pull out of UFC 108 (January 2, Las Vegas) is Rory Markham, who recently aggravated an old achilles tendon injury, and may be out of action for up to a year. Markham, who hasn’t competed since his first-round knockout loss against Dan Hardy at UFC 95, was slated to take on fellow welterweight Martin Kampmann, who is coming off his own loss against Paul Daley; Kampmann is still expected to compete on the card against an opponent to be named later.

Though not all of the matchups have been officially confirmed, UFC 108′s lineup is currently looking like this:

(Sometimes you play the cards, and sometimes the cards play you. Photo courtesy of FullTiltPoker.)

Mike Swick has confirmed to CagePotato.com that he suffered an injury in training, and has been forced to pull out of his #1 welterweight contender match against Martin Kampmann at UFC 103 (September 19th, Dallas). As Swick explained on Twitter, "I got foot swept while sparring this week and lost my legs. Landed on back of my head and neck and suffered a pretty bad concussion."

Replacing him will be Paul Daley, the well-regarded British striker who was slated to make his Octagon debut on the same card against Brian Foster. As Daley allegedly told our least-favorite tabloid: "I came to the UFC to fight the best, and that’s what I am going to do. Kampmann is on a roll with the UFC, but I will roll over him. Semtex is going to explode onto the UFC’s welterweight scene at UFC 103."

Unfortunately for the UFC, they needed the Swick/Kampmann fight to produce a legitimate contender for Georges St. Pierre. Though GSP has no desire to return to action before January, he could be looking at an even longer layoff as the welterweight contender picture gets sorted out. (Logically, Swick would fight the winner of Kampmann vs. Daley, and the winner of that fight would take on GSP sometime in the spring.) The UFC 103 lineup currently looks like this:

(Photos courtesy of UFC.com.)

According to a new report on FiveOuncesofPain, a welterweight rematch between Nick Diaz and Joe Riggs has been added to the undercard of Strikeforce’s "Carano vs. Cyborg" event (August 15th, San Jose). Due to the show’s main card featuring as many as three 25-minute matches — the historic headliner, the lightweight championship rematch between Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez, and the still-unconfirmed heavyweight title fight between Alistair Overeem and Brett Rogers — Diaz vs. Riggs II may not make the televised Showtime broadcast.

The two fighters first met at UFC 57 in February 2006, where Riggs won a unanimous decision; infamously, they continued their fight later that night at a hospital. Bad Boy and Diesel were both successful at "Lawler vs. Shields" earlier this month, with Diaz choking out Scott Smith and Riggs outlasting Phil Baroni. Considering their tense history and shared love of trash-talk, this should be a great one. No other matches have been confirmed for "Carano vs. Cyborg" besides the ones mentioned above, though Roger Gracie and Erin Toughill are expected to participate.

(Kampmann does some of his best thinking on the streets, right around dusk, wearing his UFC sweatshirt.  You wouldn’t understand, man.)

You have to love it when an MMA fighter explains why he turned down a fight that the UFC offered him and begins with the phrase, ‘No disrespect to [name of fighter he is disrespecting], but…’  It’s as smooth a move as saying, ‘Don’t take this the wrong way,’ right before you say something that you know will be taken the wrong way.  That’s basically what Martin Kampmann is doing while explaining to Versus.com why he turned down a fight with T.J. Grant that has been all over the internets the last couple days as if were totally official:

“No disrespect to T.J. Grant, but I don’t think it’s a fight that makes any sense for me at the moment,” Kampmann said. “I want to fight some higher ranked guys. I never even knew who the guy was, and he’s probably a tough guy. But I want to fight guys who make sense for me and who can escalate me up the ladder more, so I didn’t accept that fight. I don’t know what happened, but apparently some miscommunication somewhere because I saw it all over the internet.”

(This is the point where I may have uttered, ‘Oh no.’ Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

It was not a bad night for the Gambling Addiction Enabler.  If not for Jorge Rivera pulling out a decision victory over Nissen Osterneck, it would have been absolutely perfect.  Alas, it wasn’t to be, though I can’t really complain.

The Bet: $20 on Martin Kampmann at -120
The Result: Won $16.67
Thoughts: I’ll admit it, when it came time for the judges’ decision to be announced and I heard the phrase “Judge Cecil Peoples scores the bout…” I was prepared to see my money go swirling down the drain.  Thankfully there were two sane men at Octagonside, so justice prevailed.  And like Thomas Jefferson said, “The best brand of justice is that which pays cash money, dog.”

(Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann)

Last night’s "Condit vs. Kampmann" card brought in a live gate of $626,077, thanks to its 10,267 spectators — which made it the most well-attended Fight Night show in UFC history. $120,000 was re-distributed to the fighters in the form of $30,000 end-of-night bonuses. Taking home the extra cash were…

Fight of the Night: Tyson Griffin and Rafael Dos Anjos, as mentioned earlier. Don’t ask us why their sloppy slugfest got the nod over the technical back-and-forth battle of the main event.

Knockout of the Night: Aaron Simpson’s first-round stoppage of Tim McKenzie in the night’s opening bout turned out to be the only TKO on the card, so he scored the bonus by default.

Submission of the Night: Rob Kimmons earned the bump with his first-round guillotine choke victory over Joe Vedepo, which put Vedepo to sleep for the second time in his short UFC career. It was nice knowing you, buddy.

More videos from the main card after the jump…

(‘No, you let go!’ Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly)

Who’s up and who’s down on this Thursday morning?  Only The Potato Index knows.  Gather ‘round and listen closely as it whispers the answers to you via its arbitrary numerical ratings system.  Shhh, it’s starting…

Martin Kampmann +91

The Dane justified every positive thing that’s been said about him in the past week.  He proved to be well-rounded, resilient, and effective, even if he looked a little gassed in the final round.  If he improves his wrestling skills he could be a contender at 170 pounds.  You can argue the decision if you want, but the only judge who didn’t score it in his favor was Cecil Peoples.  What does that tell you?

Carlos Condit -34

No one wants to debut in the UFC with a loss, but it’s not like he got trampled by some nobody.  Condit acquitted himself well even in defeat, and once he gets a little more comfortable in the UFC he might prove to be a real threat.  He’s going to have to start near the bottom, though.

(Being around all these skinny guys just made Dana want to gorge on buffalo wings even more. Photo courtesy of this set on CombatLifestyle.)

One of the many advantages of living on the East Coast is that these UFC Fight Night thingies are actually broadcast live for us. That may not be the case for some of you in the "flyover states," so check your local listings and maybe come back later if you want to avoid all spoilers. When you’re ready, hit that "Read More" link and refresh the page every few minutes for live updates from the Sommet Center in Nashville. Are you ready to see some local refs ruin some fights? Then let’s DO this!

(Look who’s here to fix the cable…)

UFC Fight Night 18 in Nashville, Tenn. is not off to a great start.  They held the weigh-ins today, and both Jeremy Stephens and Gleison Tibau missed weight, with Stephens coming in a full two pounds over the allotted 156-pound limit.  Tibau was only off by a half a pound, but instead of letting him try to cut it they opted to change it to a catchweight bout at 158 pounds.  Because hey, screw it, right?

Ryan Jensen and Steve Steinbeiss didn’t weigh in as part of the regular proceedings at all.  UFC.com reports that they both later clocked in at 186, but the fight is “on hold at the moment, pending resolution of an administrative issue.”  Man, don’t tell me one of those guys has been going to Aleks Emelianenko’s favorite tattoo parlor.  Yes, they do great work there, but for the last time it isn’t worth it!

The rest of the weigh-in results look like this:

Martin Kampmann (170) vs. Carlos Condit (170.5)
Carmelo Marrero (205) vs. Ryan Bader (206)
Junie Browning (156) vs. Cole Miller (156)
Rafael Dos Anjos (156) vs. Tyson Griffin (156)
Matt Horwich (185) vs. Ricardo Almeida (185.5
Jeremy Stephens (158) vs. Gleison Tibau (156.5)
Jesse Sanders (171) vs. Brock Larson (171)
Nissen Osterneck (186) vs. Jorge Rivera (185)
Nick Catone (186) vs. Tim Credeur (186)
Joe Vedepo (185) vs. Rob Kimmons (185)
Aaron Simpson (186) vs. Tim McKenzie (184.5)

(You didn’t think Martin Kampmann’s eyebrows always looked so perfect by accident, did you?)

When last we left the Gambling Addiction Enabler, a mathematical error had left him mistakenly believing that he suffered a net loss at UFC 96 rather than a gain of $30.  So now that he’s realized his error, you might be wondering, does that mean he has an extra thirty bones to throw around at UFC Fight Night 18?  Sadly, no.  That event was several weeks ago, so he’s already spent the money on a bunch of Snoop Dogg posters from Hot Topic.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is that his home office now looks straight-up gangsta.

But tomorrow night is a brand new opportunity to turn MMA knowledge and a taste for reckless financial risk into cold hard cash.  Here are the best lines on the internet, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com:

Carlos Condit (+102) vs. Martin Kampmann (-110)
Ryan Bader (-400) vs. Carmelo Marrero (+360)
Tyson Griffin (-385) vs. Rafael Dos Anjos (+355)
Junie Browning (+120) vs. Cole Miller (-125)
Gleison Tibau (-145) vs. Jeremy Stephens (+145)
Ricardo Almeida (-275) vs. Matt Horwich (+245)
Brock Larson (-450) vs. Jesse Sanders (+400)
Tim Credeur (-117) vs. Nick Catone (+110)
Jorge Rivera (-135) vs. Nissen Osterneck (+140)
Rob Kimmons (-255) vs. Joe Vedepo (+230)
Tim McKenzie (+145) vs. Aaron Simpson (-167)
Steve Steinbeiss (+165) vs. Ryan Jensen (-195)

Thoughts…

(That pile of bricks used to be a building until Carlos mean-mugged it. Photo courtesy of DeMattos.)

The UFC’s next free show goes down this Wednesday on Spike TV at 8 p.m. ET/PT, with Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann in the headlining spot and 11 more fights supporting it. (Yes, we will be runnin’ a liveblog, so keep that evening free.) Six fighters, most of them WEC veterans, will be stepping into the Octagon for the first time. Learn about them below, and tune in on Wednesday to see if their stories end in triumph or tragedy…

CARLOS CONDIT (WW)
?Experience: 22-4 record, with all wins by stoppage, and notable victories over Frank Trigg, Brock Larson, and Carlo Prater. Won the WEC welterweight title in March 2007 and defended it three times before the division was discontinued.
Will be facing: Martin Kampmann (14-2, 5-1 UFC)
?Lowdown: He finishes fights — seriously. Just 24 years old, the Natural Born Killer is on an eight-fight win streak, and hasn’t lost since June 2006. Condit began wrestling in high school and has been training jiu jitsu and kickboxing at FIT-NHB since he was 15. His opponent Martin Kampmann is another aggressive, well-rounded fight-finisher, so Condit’s UFC debut will not only be an important gauge of his abilities on MMA’s biggest stage, but an easy front-runner for Fight of the Night.

JESSE SANDERS (WW)
?Experience: 20-4 record in various midwestern promotions like Extreme Challenge and Iowa Challenge, with 18 wins by first-round stoppage. Holds a victory over the legendary Kenneth Allen.
Will be facing: Brock Larson (24-2, 1-1 UFC; returning to the Octagon after a five-fight stint in the WEC)
?Lowdown: Sanders’s old ProElite.com profile lists his nickname as "Iron Jaw" and his background as "retired from construction became broke then started fighting." It seems like going broke was a great career move, because the former boxer has become a force on the local circuit — as a can-crusher, at least. His last win was against a guy with an 0-4 record at the time, and only three of his opponents have had winning records. According to his MySpace page, he loves anything to do with NASCAR, enjoys riding 4-wheelers, laughed his ass off at Rush Hour 3, and doesn’t read. (Again, this is a real person, not a Jeff Foxworthy routine.) Larson wins this one via quality of competition.

The UFC has released the finalized lineup and bout order for UFC Fight Night 18, which will go down April 1st at the Sommet Center in Nashville. Leading up to the main event between the WEC’s final welterweight champion Carlos Condit (who has won his last eight fights) and Martin Kampmann (who is 5-1 in the UFC) will be three televised bouts featuring alumni from The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir — all of whom are undefeated in their professional careers.

Lightweight winner Efrain Escudero (11-0) will take on the heavy-handed Jeremy Stephens (14-4), who’s coming off a submission loss to Joe Lauzon at Fight Night 17 earlier this month. The infamous Junie Browning (3-0) will get a big step up in competition when he faces ATT submission specialist and TUF 5 alum Cole Miller (14-3). And in the light-heavyweight division, TUF 8′s 205-pound winner Ryan Bader (8-0) will welcome Carmelo Marrero (10-2) back to the Octagon. The official lineup is below:

MAIN CARD
Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann (WW)
Efrain Escudero vs. Jeremy Stephens (LW)
Ryan Bader vs. Carmelo Marrero (LHW)
Junie Browning vs. Cole Miller (LW)

(Antonio’s Richard Nixon impression was completely lost on Logan Stanton. Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle. For more pics from this set, click here.)

Spoilers after the jump. Proceed with caution.

(Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans)

(Nate Marquardt vs. Martin Kampmann)

(Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares)

(Dan Henderson and Rousimar Palhares)

(Martin Kampmann and Nate Marquardt)

Courtesy of ESPN video. After the jump: The latest episode of MMA Live, where Dana White discusses Randy Couture’s return to the UFC (and calls Fedor “irrelevant” again), Randy and Brock have an in-studio face-off, and Frank Mir teaches us the armbar that broke Tim Sylvia’s arm.