(Wait, now I’m fighting who?) 

Maybe it’s because we’ve been burned many, many times before, but we’re not exactly sold on Dana White’s recent claims that the upcoming TUF 15 Finale headlining match between Martin Kampmann and Jake Ellenberger will be for the next title shot. You see, “number one contender” is a term that is so loosely used and abused by the Zuffa brass these days that it might as well be Rampage Jackson.

But be that as it may, a press release sent out by the UFC this morning, quoting the almighty DW nonetheless, has stated that the victor of Kampmann/Ellenberger will indeed get the winner of Condit/GSP, whenever the hell that happens:

The welterweight division is stacked and Jake Ellenberger and Martin Kampmann are going to fight for the chance to earn a title shot. They will headline the season finale of TUF Live on FX to crown the next Ultimate Fighter. There’s a lot at stake for the guys competing on this card at the Palms.

You see how they did that? “For the chance to earn a title shot,” is about as brilliant a non-commitment as we’ve ever seen. Dan Henderson would be impressed by such a classic Dana White misdirection, and would undoubtedly have a better response than the one you are about to read. But if you feel tricked, hoodwinked, or even bamboozled by such a statement, then you’re not alone. We’re not going to take it anymore, and are calling shenanigans on this right now before things get out of hand. Here’s why.

The UFC announced a pair of interesting newly signed welterweight match-ups today.

First, Zuffa announced via UFC.com that a barnburner main event between 170-pound contenders Martin Kampmann (19-5) and Jake Ellenberger (27-5) will cap off “The Ultimate Fighter Live” finale June 1 on FX. Both fighters are known for their heavy hands and solid chins, but Kampmann may hold a slight edge on the ground.

The 29-year-old Danish fighter has seven submission victories on his resume, accounting for 29 percent of his 74 percent finishing rate and has never tapped out in the cage. Ellenberger has only five submission wins in 32 fights, which adds up to 16 percent of his 52 percent rate of stoppage. Regardless of stats, the bout should be an entertaining one.

(“When I find the fool that stole my chain, I’m gonna whoop his ass.”)

Dana White’s latest video blog is chocked full of cool behind-the-scenes moments from UFC 144 in Japan, UFC on FX 2 in Australia and last week’s TUF Live premiere from Las Vegas.

Dana starts out by explaining why they went with single round eliminator bouts at to decide which fighters made it into the house on TUF and breaking down the format the show will follow from here on out. It will be interesting to see what shenanigans make it on the show and what will happen during the weekly live fight segments.

Rampage makes a brief appearance to explain that he was hurt training and that’s why he didn’t beat that “boring-ass wrestler” Ryan Bader.

(“When people started asking me if I was going to fight someone other than Georges, I was like…”)

(“…and then I was like…”)

UFC interim welterweight champ Carlos Condit made a stop by HDNet’s Inside MMA last night and revealed his intention to wait on his Team Jackson stablemate Georges St-Pierre to return from knee surgery, instead of taking a bout in the interim.

“The bottom line is, I have my heart set on fighting Georges St-Pierre. If George is back this year, even if it’s…later…even if it’s November, which is what’s being thrown out there, I’m waiting for Georges and that would be my next opponent,” Condit told hosts Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice. If, perhaps he’s not ready to fight this year — not ready to fight until 2013, I will entertain the idea of taking on somebody else.”

Some will complain that he should be rematching Nick Diaz, but unless the Stockton native comes out of the other side of his suspension appeal in Nevada without any sanctions against him, he likely won’t be fighting any time this year.

Seriously, Thiago Alves weighed in at nearly 200 lbs three hours after making weight. There’s still no punchline coming. Props: UFC.com

Almost immediately after last night’s main event of UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann, the Martin Kampmann/Tim Boetsch comparisons came out in full force from fans and pundits alike. One can easily understand why, as Kampmann’s come-from-behind victory over Thiago Alves was the greatest one in UFC history since last week’s efforts from Tim Boetsch. But perhaps this comparison misses the point. While this comeback was obviously at least partially due to a gutsy performance from Kampmann, it had far more to do with questionable decision making from Thiago Alves.

Save for a first round kick that rocked “The Pitbull”, Thiago Alves was in total control of last night’s main event. His stand-up attack was simply too much for “The Hitman”, who offered less resistance as the fight progressed. Despite this, Alves- who isn’t exactly known for his ground game, mind you- attempted a double leg takedown on a visibly hurt Martin Kampmann and wound up getting caught in a fight-ending guillotine choke.

It’s easy to understand why Thiago Alves was eager for the finish, especially after watching Demetrious Johnson be declared the winner of his fight against Ian McCall (more on that later). What is astonishing is the fact that he took the fight to the only place where he didn’t have a clear advantage over Kampmann. The takedown gave Kampmann time to regain composure, and negated the need to get through The Pitbull’s leg kicks in order to utilize his superior grappling.

(Three hours later, Thiago Alves weighed in at nearly 200 lbs. There’s no punchline coming, that just needed to be said.) 

Tonight’s UFC on FX event marks a lot of firsts for the fighters involved. Guys like Joseph Benavidez, Cole Miller, and Demetrious Johnson will be testing the waters in new weight divisions, even if some were forced to violate a certain CagePotato ban whilst doing so. This evening will also mark the debut of not only the 125 pound flyweight division, but that of two possible future title contenders in said division, Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall and Yasuhiro Urushitani. It’s amazing, no, inspiring to know that the rosy-cheeked, industrious members of the Lollipop Guild have finally reached Emerald City; they’re almost like people now. I salute their Herculean accomplishment, and encourage everyone reading this to follow your own yellow brick road, so to speak, in their honor.

Anyway, join me, Jared Jones, as I liveblog tonight’s event, starting at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. Refresh your page every so often, and if I’m not piss drunk by the time this thing starts, we might just make it all the way to the end.

Just a friendly reminder that the UFC on Fox 2: Alves vs. Kampmann press conference will be live at 7:00 pm ET and that we’ll have the live stream right here for you.

Besides the main event between Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann, perhaps the most interesting bouts of the card are the opening round flyweight tournament match-ups between Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall versus Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benevidez versus Yasuhiro Urushitani.

Since the card is made up of mostly polite fighters, we don’t expect much drama at the weigh-ins, but there’s a pretty good chance someone at the presser will ask someone about Dakota Cochrane, since it’s such a hot-button topic.

Check out the stream after the jump.

We haven’t seen or heard much from Brock Lesnar since his first round UFC 141 TKO loss to Alistair Overeem and subsequent retirement from MMA. Most of us assumed he was likely off on another possibly illegal hunting trip, or perhaps was spending day and night just getting on top of that smoking hot wife of his. In either case, the former UFC Heavyweight Champ recently popped up in Minneapolis to present Minnesota Gopher freshman wrestler Logan Storley with the 2011 Junior Hodge Trophy. Storley, who recently helped the Gophers clinch half of the Big Ten Dual Meet conference championship (along with Penn State), attended the same high school as Lesnar, who, as we all know, was a NCAA Division I Champion himself. After compiling an incredible 262-3 record, Storley was voted the nation’s best prep high school wrestler by the Amateur Athletic Union and WIN Magazine. Now start training those hands, son.

Join us after the jump for a plethora of videos from around the MMA blogosphere, including a nasty Thai Boxing KO, Thiago Alves‘ first (and incredibly brief) UFC on FX video blog, and more…

(The shirt says it all.) 

Roy Nelson’s UFC 143 scrap with Fabricio Werdum was truly an exercise in futility for “Big Country,” because it more or less showcased what we already knew about him (the man can take a beating like no other), while at the same time reinforcing the idea that Nelson has damn near refused to evolve as a MMA fighter. Yes, he has recently shown a commitment to slimming down and yes, not many of us expected him to try and submit Werdum on Saturday, but if Roy doesn’t start switching up his striking routine (aka looking for anything but a big overhand right), he can expect several more axe wounds like the one above in his future.

We love you Roy, but it might be time to depart from The Country Club for a while, because you can only change the tee box and hole locations for so long until you just get sick of playing the same course over and over again.

Speaking of axe wounds, join us after the jump for a brief look back at some of MMA’s nastiest cuts…

(Hopefully they leave their vuvuzelas at home)

The UFC announced today that it’s international expansion plans for 2012 include a move into Scandanavia — namely Sweden, where the promotion will hold an event April 14.

Slated for the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, the event will undoubtedly feature Swedish breakout star Alexander Gustafsson who handed Vladimir Matyushenko a first round TKO last Friday night at UFC 141. Depending on how Reza Madadi does against Fabricio Camoes at UFC on FX 1 on January 20, Gustafsson may only be joined on the card by Papi Abedi and a handful of his fellow countrymen who are brought in for the prelims to add some local flavor.