(“To: Rashad. Some glass trinkets to go with your jaw. Merry Xmas! From: Dana.” PicProps: Sherdog)

We could spend all day debating the wisdom of Rashad Evans sitting out the last nine months while waiting for his title shot against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. In retrospect, that probably wasn’t the greatest move. Evans – who ain’t no spring chicken at 31 years old — essentially squandered what otherwise might have been one of the most lucrative years of his MMA career trying to preserve a fight that now may never happen at all. In the process, he pissed off his notoriously erratic boss and (to hear the fighter himself tell it) put his entire future in the light heavyweight division at risk.

Even though the decision seemed justified at the time, deep down Evans might wish he could take that one back. At least publicly however, he’s holding the line. As the great poet Coolio once said, wishing is for suckers, and Rashad? Well, a few weeks after seeing his next chance at that 205-pound strap evaporate when he got his knee rolled up during a freak accident in the training room, he still says he wouldn’t change a thing …

("I just want y’all to know that this shit is not awkward whatsoever.")

Rashad Evans‘s unexpected knee injury may be a career-altering nightmare scenario, but the former light-heavyweight champion is doing his best to put on a brave public face. After the bad news was dropped at UFC 126, Sugar posted the following on RashadEvans.tv:

"Hey my ppl! Last night most of u heard the news. If not here is the latest. I have 2 pull out of my Shogun fight because of injury. I severely sprained my MCL in practice. While in practice I got blindsided by another group of partners right into the side of my knee like football lineman style.. Since I’m hurt my teammate young phenom Bones Jones is gonna step in 4 me! I’m gonna recover & then see what happens next 4 me! Thank all u 4 the encouragement! I love my supports & my haters! Go get that belt brudda Jones!"

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMA30tv)

When the UFC announced a few weeks ago that Lyoto Machida will be facing Randy Couture at UFC 129 in Toronto on April 30, an intriguing hypothetical situation arose, prompting the obvious question: What happens if "The Natural" beats "The Dragon?"

On paper, Machida, who was robbed of a decision over Quinton Rampage Jackson at UFC 123 in November after losing the light heavyweight belt to Mauricio Shogun Rua in May at UFC 113, is probably the UFC’s number two light heavyweight contender at the moment behind Rashad Evans, making  the announcement that he will be facing an odds defying game plan master like Couture in his next bout somewhat of a head scratcher.

The cost vs. reward ratio is skewed in Randy’s favor.

If he beats the 47-year-old nearly-retired former champion, he beat a 47-year-old former champion, which shouldn’t raise his stock much in the UFC’s light heavyweight class. If he loses to Couture, he’ll have lost three fights in a row and will likely be relegated to fighting mid-card against Krzysztof Soszynski in his next bout, while Couture will likely get a crack at winning the UFC 205-pound belt for a record fourth time in his career by facing Shogun.

Although he says that he isn’t specifically fighting to win a title shot, Couture is cognizant that a win over Machida would put him in line to face Rua (the other fighter besides Lyoto that he named as being the two opponents he would take a break from acting to face) for the title.

In the interview above with MMA30′s Dave Farra, Couture talks about how he plans to bring the fight to Machida and also touches on some topics near and dear to him, including why his protegee Gray Maynard was somewhat sluggish in his UFC 125 fight with Frankie Edgar and his former Team Quest stablemate Chael Sonnen’s recent rash of bad decisions.

(Nipmoua’s old poster design has become eerily prescient. Except for the ’200′ thing, obviously. I mean, do the math bro.)

In what’s expected to be an official announcement of the UFC’s return to Brazil in 2011, UFC president Dana White and Chairman/CEO Lorenzo Fertitta will be making a special announcement at Rio De Janeiro’s City Hall today at 11 a.m. ET, 2 p.m. local time. White and Fertitta will be joined by UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie, middleweight champion Anderson Silva, light-heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, featherweight champion Jose Aldo, #1 middleweight contender Vitor Belfort, and Eduardo Paes, the mayor of Rio. You can watch the announcement live in the video player after the jump. 

(Brazilian Vinny, Mauricio Rua, and Brazilian Steve-O celebrate their big moment. Photo courtesy of the Las Vegas Sun)

According to a new report from Sportsnet, the UFC light-heavyweight title fight between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Rashad Evans is expected to headline a March 19th event at the Prudential Centre in Newark, New Jersey. Tito Ortiz’s last-last chance against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is also slated for the show. Both fights had been previously tied to a March return to Abu Dhabi, leading to speculation that the event might not happen at all. As UFC U.K. president Marshall Zelaznik said back in November:

"I know there’s been talk of March 19 potentially happening. While we’re looking at delivering a pay-per-view (event) around that time, nothing’s been defined in terms of whether Abu Dhabi gets it or someone else."

March 2011 is already a busy month for the UFC, with UFC on Versus 3 slated to take place on 3/3 and a possible UFC Fight Night event on 3/26. In March 2010, Newark hosted UFC 111: St. Pierre vs. Hardy, which drew a passionate East Coast fan contingent. Until New York gets its head out of its ass, this might be the closest thing to an annual NYC event that we’ll get.

(There’s an ad for a sports drink if I ever saw one.)

Lyoto Machida isn’t taking anything for granted in preparing for his upcoming bout with Quinton Jackson at UFC 123 November 20.

The former UFC light heavyweight champ says he’s preparing for every scenario that "Rampage" may present him with during the fight — even the unlikelihood that Jackson may demonstrate some newly developed kickboxing skills.

"Well, I always think for a MMA fight, despite the specialties of each fighter, you have to be prepared for anything, because we can never know what the guy is up to. A guy who doesn’t know how to kick may be kicking on the following fight, you can’t tell for sure. The need leads the frog to a jump. We have many examples of people who are good on areas that aren’t theirs specialties: Georges St. Pierre has improved a lot his Wrestling, people that didn’t kick are now kicking and so it goes… I don’t underestimate any fighter," Machida told Tatame.com. "I think that, just as I’m prepared for anything during the fight, so are they: the stand-up game, the takedowns and the ground game. Of course we have our game plan set, our strong point is Karate and the exchanges, but if we need to use the other skills, we will do the takedowns and the ground game that I train here with Valter Broca, who’s a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, graduated by De La Riva, who always help me on this area."

As far as Jackson’s gameplan, Machida doesn’t think Quinton will shy away from standing with him, despite his tough to defend against unorthodox karate striking prowess.

(Video courtesy YouTube/WandFightTeam)

For the past several months fellow Brazilians have been rallying for Murilo "Ninja" Rua to be added to the UFC’s 185-pound roster.

Wanderlei Silva posted a video blog on YouTube last week asking UFC president, Dana White to sign the former PRIDE star to the organization.

Besides "The Axe Murderer," Ninja’s younger brother, UFC light heavyweight champion, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua as well as welterweight contender Paulo Thiago also appeared in the clip to express their support for Murilo, who is undefeated in his last four outings, being brought into the UFC’s middleweight mix.

Speaking with TATAME this week, Ninja says that the ultimate goal would be to join friends like Wand and Shogun in the UFC, but he isn’t banking on it happening without him proving that he deserves it.

“I see it from a positive perspective, but I’m fighting and doing my job. If one day I’ll fight for the UFC it’ll only be a consequence. I’ll wait and it’ll come," Rua explained. “[The UFC's middleweight division] is a great division; there are great fighters, it’s really hard, but I’ll try to be on my best to go for the belt. That’s my dream, my goal, and I want to deserve it. On the right time, I’ll join the UFC’s cast."

(Nick Thompson is stretchered to safety after getting smoked by Taisuke Okuno at Sengoku 14. Check out FIGHT! Magazine‘s exclusive gallery of photos from the event right here.)

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 Hopes James Toney Does Well Against Randy Couture (MMA Convert)

– Facing your "Mirs": Where do Lashley and King Mo go from here? (Watch Kalib Run)

– 5 Things To Watch For At UFC 118 (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua’s Return Delayed Until Mid-2011 (Versus MMA Beat)

– Why Nick Diaz vs. ‘Mayhem’ Miller Is the Fight Strikeforce Needs Now (MMA Fighting)

– Exclusive Interview With Bellator Middleweight Tournament Winner Alexander "Storm" Shlemenko (LowKick)

– Outstanding Wrestlers and the Lessons Learned (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Kickboxing Legend Andy Hug, R.I.P. (MMA Scraps)

– This Rampage vs. Machida trailer will be the greatest thing you will see today, guaranteed (MiddleEasy)

Nicknames are like tattoos — badass when you first pick them out, generally embarrassing ten years later. And yet for some reason, they’re often the only things that MMA fighters keep forever, even as they change camps, change fighting styles, and change their hair. And while every fighter sends a message with their choice of nickname, it may not always be the message that they’re trying to send. For example, let’s say your nickname is…

A RHYME

Notable examples: Mike “Quick” Swick, “Bad” Brad Blackburn, Shannon “The Cannon” Ritch, Marvin “Beastman” Eastman
What you think it says: You’re straightforward and to-the-point. You want your nickname to stick in people’s heads.
What it really says: You spent no more than five seconds coming up with that weak bullshit.

A REFERENCE TO YOUR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

Notable examples: Kamal “Prince of Persia” Shalorus, Efrain “Hecho en Mexico” Escudero, Sako “The Armenian Psycho” Chivitchian, “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung
What you think it says: You’re proud of your heritage and want to represent the fighting spirit of your people.
What it really says: You will be met with boos and “U.S.A.!” chants every time you fight, even though you’ve lived in Glendale your entire life.

(Video courtesy Sherdog)

I always had a sneaking suspicion that Lyoto Machida’s dad, Yoshizo was a cross between Mr. Myagi from the Karate Kid and Dwight Hansen from This Boy’s Life. Judging by the latest interview he did with Sherdog’s Marcelo Alonso, I’m beginning to think I was right.

In the video, Yoshizo makes a few eyebrow raising comments about things like his son’s mental and spiritual fortitude, but the most surprising statement that escapes his lips is that he felt that Lyoto should have abandoned his MMA career after his UFC 113 knockout loss to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

"As a parent, I think he just realized his dream, that was to be the world champion and it would be good for him to stop. On the other hand, after being defeated it became more challenging and therefore he wants to prove even more. There is a spiritual strengthening of the man. I think technique of the top fighters is close. Today what makes the difference is the spirit. Mostly, for those who were defeated as he was it is recovering quickly, and that is what I worry about most. My biggest concern is that injuries and losses occur, but you can recover from them. But in the spiritual matter, it may take up to five or 10 years. This is what can bring bad things and what really worries me."

Seriously? It was one loss. He thinks he should quit because of one loss? I’m guessing Yoshizo is a bit of a dictator in the Machida house. Lyoto was the golden child until he lost and ever since then he likely doesn’t even drink his piss right in his dad’s eyes. Tough dad to please. Just ask Lyoto’s brothers. I’m sure they’ve gotten used to the chill of living in his shadow.

(Whatever happened to working your way back up the ladder after a loss?)

Apparently Lyoto Machida is trying to jump to the front of the line of fighters in the queue to face Mauricio Rua when the UFC light heavyweight champ returns from rehabbing from knee surgery he underwent a few weeks ago.

According to an interview he did with MMAJunkie, Machida’s manager Ed Soares says that his charge’s first choice of fights would be a rubbermatch with Rua, but since according to UFC president Dana White, Shogun will likely be sidelined until March, they would instead like to battle for an interim belt with the man who is said to be next in line for a shot at the real belt.

"Honestly, we’d like to fight ‘Shogun,’" Machida’s manager, Ed Soares, today told MMAjunkie.com Radio. "Now it’s 1-1. It’s even. Let’s do this rubber match. Let’s figure this out. Granted, he won by decision and Lyoto won decisively, but anyone can get caught in this sport. He went in for the kill, and unfortunately, he got caught." 

"Since ‘Shogun’ is out – they’re saying until March – personally, when there’s an injured champion, I would love to see maybe a Rashad-Lyoto match for the interim title. I think that would be something that would be cool, and the winner of that would get to fight ‘Shogun’ when he’s all healed up in the spring of next year."

 
(Thumbs up for morphine.)

Dana White told MMAJunkie today that the UFC’s light heavyweight belt may be put on ice for a good portion of 2010 as champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua recovers from a recent knee surgery to repair an injury incurred during his fight with Lyoto Machida at UFC 113 last month.

"He just got out of the hospital; it was a successful surgery," White said. "He had the surgery in [Los Angeles], and he’s going to be doing all his therapy in (Las) Vegas. So he’ll be in Vegas for the next five weeks."

Despite reports by MMA Live that the Universidade de Luta fighter had incurred the injury training for the bout, the UFC president asserts that the injury definitely happened during the fight.

Losing isn’t always the end of the world. Sometimes, taking an ass-kicking — or getting screwed out of a well-deserved victory — can be the best thing for a fighter’s career. Don’t believe us? We’ll start with one that should still be fresh in your minds…

#7: Jason Brilz‘s split-decision loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
UFC 114, 5/29/10

(Early front-runner for Punch Face of 2010. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

What happened: Lil’ Nog was originally supposed to face Forrest Griffin at UFC 114, until Griff was struck down by a shoulder injury three-and-a-half weeks before the event. The UFC had to book a replacement, and fast, so they called up wrestling specialist Jason Brilz. Like a true warrior, Brilz put down his beer, blew off his 10-year wedding anniversary, and stepped up to the plate. On paper, he should have been destroyed by the sharp hands and top-flight experience of Nogueira. Instead, Brilz nearly choked Nog out with a guillotine in the second round, wobbled him with strikes, out-wrestled him, and arguably controlled the majority of the fight. But after the last horn sounded and the scores were added up, only one judge saw it his way.

Victory in defeat: If you didn’t know who Jason Brilz was before last weekend’s show, you do now. Brilz picked up even more classy-points by not bitching about the decision: "I’m not upset. Sure, I’d have liked to win. Everybody likes to win. I think I went out there and I proved to people, but more importantly I proved to myself, that I can compete with the top dogs. That’s sort of what I’ve been aiming for my whole career.” We don’t know exactly what Jason’s future holds, but it’s looking a lot brighter now. The $65,000 bonus check probably doesn’t hurt either.

#6: Jon Jones‘s disqualification loss to Matt Hamill
TUF 10 Finale, 12/5/09

(Image courtesy of FLOTV.com)

Happy Memorial Day, Potato Nation! As promised, we are proud to present the finalists of our FLO-TV t-shirt design contest, which brought in nearly 100 brilliant entries over the last two weeks. Please study all 16 (!) of the nominated designs after the jump, then vote for your favorite in the poll over on the right. (It’s a little bit down the page, under the "Most Recent Comments" box and the Power Rankings link.) Get your votes in by Thursday night at midnight ET; we’ll announce the winner on Friday, who will score their own FLO TV Personal Television, with access to the pay-per-view broadcast of UFC 115. Überprops to everybody who entered, and to FLO TV for making this happen! 

(Photo courtesy Esther Lin/Fanhouse)

In his first public interview since losing his UFC light heavyweight title to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 113 last weekend, Lyoto Machida told Brazilian televison station, Globo Esporte, that he is in no hurry to fight for the belt he owned for 11 1/2 months. Besides healing from a fractured orbital bone sustained in the fight Saturday night that may require surgery,  Machida wants to take the time to analyze tape of the loss and shore up any weaknesses before stepping back into the Octagon with Rua, or whomever holds the strap when he is ready to fight for it again in approximately ten months to a year. 

"I don’t care who has it; I want to have the opportunity to fight for the belt. If it’s Shogun I’m ok, I’ll enjoy the win more. That punch really got me and in this division it’s really damaging to get hit with a punch like that. When it gets you, it’s really damaging. My plans are to fight for this belt in a year or less — maybe more like 10 months. To regain the belt has become my new dream."

(Rua vs. Jackson, PRIDE Total Elimination, 4/23/05)

Randy Couture may be itching for a title shot against Mauricio Rua, but thankfully, logic will prevail in the light-heavyweight division. Dana White confirmed yesterday that the winner of the Quinton Jackson vs. Rashad Evans headliner at UFC 114 (May 29th, Las Vegas) will get the first crack at Shogun’s belt. If Rampage can pull off a victory in his comeback fight — his first appearance since beating Keith Jardine 14 months ago then "quitting" the UFC to film The A-Team — it would set up a rematch with Rua, who beat the crap out of him five years ago in PRIDE.

Related: In an interview with Sherdog before UFC 113, Rua gave his thoughts on another 205-pound star who he might have to tangle with at some point — Jon Jones. "He is a great young fighter, too damn good, and he’s coming with everything in our division," Rua said. "He is very good in wrestling. I think he and Cain Velasquez are the two guys with the best wrestling in MMA today, together with Georges St. Pierre. He’s a very good wrestler, very dangerous. He’s a guy who will give a lot of people trouble." Will Rua be able to avoid the Light-Heavyweight Title Hot Potato Curse™ long enough to battle Bones for the belt one day?

(Video courtesy Sherdog.com)

According to new UFC light heavyweight kingpin Mauricio "Shogun" Rua’s manager, a man who held the title twice in the past is gunning for the next shot at his fighter’s strap. 

Marcelo Alonso told Sherdog.com’s Andy Cotterill that Randy Couture could be Shogun’s first test as champion, contingent on the fact that he doesn’t get caught by a KO shot by UFC newcomer and former boxing champ James Toney when the pair clash at UFC 118 in August.
 

(Shogun quietly killing all fighters’ future use of lame excuses why they didn’t perform in important fights)

One story that has been buried by the Paul Daley sucker punch debacle is that newly-crowned UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua went under the surgeon’s knife for an emergency appendectomy just seven weeks ago. The estimated recovery time for the procedure is between four and six weeks, but knowing that the most important fight of his life against Lyoto Machida was rapidly approaching, Rua returned to light training just two weeks after surgery and hard sparring after four.

In spite of his abridged training camp, Shogun made quick work of Machida, stopping the previously unbeaten and reputedly invincible former champion in 3:35 of the opening frame of their second official meeting Saturday night at UFC 113 in Montreal.

(Video of the Daley/Koscheck cheap shot, courtesy of LynchTheGrynch; sorry about those first eight seconds, guys.)

In case you missed the press conference, the big news coming out of UFC 113‘s post-event aftermath is that Paul Daley and Kimbo Slice have been released from the UFC. Daley suffered his first loss in the Octagon after being smothered by Josh Koscheck for three rounds in their co-headlining bout last night, then followed it up by slugging Kos after the bell (see above). As Dana White explained to reporters, the poor decision earned Daley a permanent ban from the UFC:

As for Kimbo, his lopsided loss to rookie TUF 10 vet Matt Mitrione was enough to seal his fate. But unlike Daley, White has nothing but respect for the former YouTube brawler:

(Hopefully the judges can decide who won, not just who didn’t lose enough this time around.)

According to Mauricio Rua’s muay thai trainer, Andre "Dida" Amade, they are expecting Lyoto Machida to take the fight to the ground to avoid taking the amount of damage he took from Shogun the last time the two met.

In an interview with Sherdog, Amade, who imitated Machida’s karate style for sparring sessions with his fighter throughout his camp in Brazil, says he and the rest of Shogun’s coaches are betting the farm that Lyoto will rely heavily on his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu to ensure he retains his title.

“For Lyoto it is not very good to stay standing. He knows that his karate is not going to defeat muay Thai. In my coach’s opinion, he will want to work his jiu-jitsu with Shogun. I think he will not fight muay Thai because he saw that in the last fight he was badly hurt and was not effective. So I think he will want to work his jiu-jitsu. We already have the strategy to beat Machida. In [the last] fight, we used a strategy for Shogun to kill Machida’s game and our tactics worked,” Amade said. “We just had not counted on the judges. Shogun is hungry for this fight, and we are already feeling the taste of the belt. Shogun shows in each training session the desire to beat Machida. I do not want to be in Machida’s shoes because Shogun will take this belt with his kicks.” ”

("Trust me bro, you’ve never had piss until you’ve had it out of a coconut." Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

After a disappointing performance at WEC 48, the Gambling Enabler is ready to do what it does best: Make even larger, more desperate bets in order to break even. We’ve got UFC 113 coming up this weekend, and you can’t win if you don’t play. As usual, we’ve compiled the most favorable betting lines courtesy of BestFightOdds.com. Confused about what the numbers mean? Then punch yourself in your stupid balls and read this first.

MAIN CARD
Lyoto Machida (-174) vs. Mauricio Rua (+160)
Josh Koscheck (-215) vs. Paul Daley (+218)
Sam Stout (-180) vs. Jeremy Stephens (+162)
Kimbo Slice (even) vs. Matt Mitrione (-102) 
Alan Belcher (-110) vs. Patrick Cote (+105)

PRELIMINARY CARD
Tom Lawlor (-475) vs. Joe Doerksen (+400)
Marcus Davis (-450) vs. Jonathan Goulet (+400)
Johny Hendricks (-450) vs. TJ Grant (+350)
Tim Hague (-205) vs. Joey Beltran (+200)
Yoshiyuki Yoshida (-240) vs. Mike Guymon (+235)
Jason MacDonald (-155) vs. John Salter (+135)

Who wants to make some money the easy way? (Or potentially lose it, because anything can happen in a fight?)

 
(Props: Nicole B.)

UFC 113 goes down this Saturday at the Bell Centre in Montreal, featuring the long-awaited light-heavyweight title rematch between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio Rua, and the potential #1 welterweight contender’s match between Josh Koscheck and Paul Daley. (Plus, Kimbo Slice and a whole lot of Canadians.) We’ll be liveblogging the pay-per-view broadcast starting at 10 p.m. ET; come early to ensure seating.

If you feel like testing your prediction skills against the Potato Nation this week, please head over to MMA Fightpicker by Friday, enter some pools, and make your educated guesses on how the card will play out. The full question list is after the jump…

Related: Become a FightPicker fan on Facebook!

(Props: MMAVIDS10)

The UFC’s next pay-per-view card goes down May 8th in Montreal, featuring the light-heavyweight title rematch between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua — both of whom haven’t competed since their first fight last October. This extended preview acknowledges the controversy about the decision, which Shogun lost despite the fact that he clearly landed more strikes. Following two fantastic knockout victories over Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans, Machida’s title reign was immediately put in question after the Shogun fight, and the long layoff hasn’t helped his stock. Once again, he’ll need to convince fans of his merits. And once again, Dana White sells a fight as a matchup between two guys who "don’t like to go to the ground." Well that’s a relief. I wouldn’t want any of that grappling stuff to distract from the kickboxing match I’m paying for.

In the co-main event, top welterweight contenders Josh Koscheck and Paul Daley do battle in what could turn out to be a #1 contender’s match. In fact, there’s a rumor floating around that the winner of this fight will coach opposite Georges St. Pierre on TUF 12. If Koscheck employs his superior wrestling against "Semtex," he’ll dictate the fight. If he lets his ego force him into a striking war with Paul Daley, he could get his fraggle-lookin’ head knocked off. Any predictions on UFC 113′s headlining fights? And what about the TUF 10 castmates match between Kimbo Slice and Matt "Meathead" Mitrione?

Who said the readers of this website are talentless, unmotivated hacks? Without further ado, we’d like to crown Olieng P. the winner of our Six Deuce MMA poster design contest. Olieng’s Mortal Kombat-esque UFC 113 poster brought in a whopping 20% of the popular vote, and earns him the grand prize training pack, which includes red satin MMA fight/board shorts, the Glorious Sweater of Absolute Victory t-shirt, high-quality leather Muay Thai training gloves, black hand wraps, Muay Thai ankle supports and a leather speed bag. Use it well, Olieng, and good luck on your new career as a professional fighter.

After the jump: The three runners-up who will be receiving Six Deuce MMA shorts of their choice. If you’re one of the winners, please e-mail feedback@cagepotato.com with your real name, address, and size(s), and we’ll get you hooked up ASAP. Thanks to everyone who entered (and to 62gear.com), and if you have ideas for future photoshop/design contests, let us know in the comments section!

    
      
(Keep your eyes on the grand prize. Images courtesy of 62Gear.com)

After two weeks of furious photoshopping, we have nominated 15 artists as finalists for our Six Deuce MMA poster design contest. Please spend the rest of your afternoon considering the posters after the jump, then vote for your favorite in the poll over on the right. (It’s a little ways down the page, under the "Most Recent Comments" box and the UFC Fan Expo ad.) Get your votes in by Sunday night at midnight ET. We’ll announce the winners on Monday. Many thanks to everybody who entered, and please show Six Deuce some love for making this happen!

CagePotato.com is proud to introduce MMA Mythology, a new comic collaboration with illustrator/highlight video editor Kahleem "KahL-One" Poole in which urban legends from MMA’s history are brought to life. In the first installment, Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua do battle over a pitbull puppy; yes, this really happened. Click the images for full-size versions, check out the rest after the jump, and let us know what you think!

(Skip to the 3:15 mark to hear Coleman’s thoughts on the rule changes in MMA that forced him to "learn a lot of other skills.")

Those of you who became MMA fans somewhere between "Iron Ring" and “Bully Beatdown” might not realize this, but there was a time when Mark Coleman was a holy terror as a fighter. We know, he didn’t look like it against Randy Couture at UFC 109, but give the guy a break. He’s 45 years-old and has been using his body (and sometimes his head) as a weapon to hurt other men since 1996. That stuff is bound to take a toll on you, which is why Couture is the exception and not the rule.

After his loss on Saturday night it now seems like Coleman is done, or at least done in the UFC.  At the very real risk of eulogizing Coleman’s career too soon, as we did with Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s – Christ, doesn’t anyone quit this sport when they should? – we’d like to pay tribute to the monster Coleman used to be by looking back at some of his finest MMA moments.

You didn’t think we were going to let another calendar year run out without paying homage to this year’s big winners and mocking the year’s biggest idiots, did you?  Naw son, that’s not our style.  2009 was an eventful year with plenty of ups and downs, but after casting our ballots and tallying up the votes (there’s only two of us, so it really shouldn’t have taken as long as it did, but there was a lot of yelling and a little crying) we have some awards to give out.  The envelopes please…

Fighter of the Year: Fedor Emelianenko

The year was not without disappointments for the sweatered one.  He missed a chance to fight Josh Barnett and walked away from another chance to sign on with the UFC.  All the same, he reinforced his status as one of MMA’s most dominant fighters with knockouts of Andrei Arlovski and Brett Rogers.  Meanwhile, Anderson Silva had one snoozer and one great fight out of his weight class, while GSP beat a lightweight and won a decision to retain his title.  Sorry boys, Fedor’s 2009 was way more fun.

Beatdown of the Year: Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin

"The Spider" didn’t just beat FoGriff, he straight-up violated him.  It’s one thing to do that against a woefully outmatched challenger in your own weight class, but quite another to do it to a former champ from the division above yours.  Never have we seen such a clear demonstration of the vast chasm between good and great as we did on that night.  You can hardly blame Griffin for running out of the Octagon after that.  We’re sort of amazed that he waited until the fight was over to do it.

(Well, clearly Machida is controlling where the post-fight celebrations are taking place.)

Following the UFC 104 title scrap between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio Rua, we were fairly shocked when the scores came back unanimously for Machida. Wasn’t Shogun the aggressor during the majority of the fight? Didn’t he land more strikes? When it came time for the judges to explain themselves, we learned that leg kicks don’t end fights, so you might as well not count them at all. But at least one judge from that night is having a crisis of conscience. From Yahoo! Sports (via Fightlinker):

Besides the addition of TV monitors, Hamilton is also in favor of tweaking the 10-point-must scoring system:

So, two things…

(Enjoy your long winter breaks, boys.  Try to lay off the Christmas chocolates.)

According to Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports, the UFC is spreading the word that May 1 will bring the much-anticipated and very necessary rematch between UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in Montreal.  That also happens to be May Day, so maybe Machida and Rua will celebrate by leading their fellow UFC workers in a bloody revolution against the bourgeoisie oppressors in the Zuffa front office.  More likely though, they’ll just fight each other for a whole lot of money in front of a packed audience of Quebecois.  

Sure, May is kind of a long time to wait for this rematch, and by then we may have forgotten how heated we were about the controversy surrounding the decision, but after going five hard rounds these guys need some time off before they begin another training camp.  Plus, if the UFC waits long enough, maybe the light heavyweight division will sort itself out and an obvious challenger will appear.  Or maybe by then "Rampage" Jackson will be filming an "A-Team" sequel, Rashad Evans will have joined the cast of "The Real World," and Tito Ortiz will be directing porn movies under the name Rod Poundington.  The way the UFC’s luck has been lately, it’s not really that far-fetched.