(Well, at least you’re both winners in *our* book. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

The "immediate rematch" between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua just got a lot less immediate. Following the controversial outcome of their title fight at UFC 104, Dana White wanted to set up a re-do as soon as possible, hoping for UFC 108 on January 2nd. Unfortunately, Yahoo! is reporting that Machida needs surgery on one of his hands, and won’t be ready to return in two months. As of now, it’s unclear when Machida vs. Rua II will actually happen.

The postponement is just the latest in a unbelievably cursed stretch for the UFC that’s seen a number of headlining fights go down due to acting aspirations, injuries, and illnesses. Speaking of which, don’t expect to see Anderson Silva defend his middleweight belt against Vitor Belfort any time soon either. According to Silva’s manager Ed Soares, the Spider is still recovering from elbow surgery, and won’t be ready to compete in time for UFC 108. As with Machida, Silva’s return date is uncertain. Said Soares: "At the end of the day, it’s going to be a great fight [against Belfort]. Like I said before, I don’t think he deserves a title shot, but that’s over with now. It is what it is."

("…I, on the other hand, look like a very intelligent and compassionate person." Photo via joblo.com.)

Most longtime fans have gone through some variation of the following experience: You spend months trying to convince your co-workers that MMA is the baddest sport ever invented, and they need to give it a chance. So they come over to your place one night to watch a UFC event, and what they see instead is sloppy brawling, boring ground-hugging, and inexplicable judges’ decisions. "It’s usually a lot better than this," you say desperately as they slowly file out the door. But it’s too late; they’re gone, they won’t be back, and you’ll be eating most of your lunches alone from now on. It’s a humiliating feeling. Now imagine if those co-workers were Oscar-nominated actor Liam Neeson and The Hangover‘s Bradley Cooper, and you’ll have an idea of what Quinton "Rampage" Jackson had to endure on Saturday. Sour grape warning begins now:

(Dana White discusses the impending Machida/Rua rematch, and UFC 104′s other fighters weigh-in on last night’s controversial decision. Also, Steve Mazzagatti shouldn’t be allowed to even *watch* MMA. Props to MMA Fanhouse.) 

- Don’t ask us how two of the three judges who presided over last night’s main event gave the first three rounds to the champion. Just take comfort in the fact that there will be an immediate rematch between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio Rua. Dana White announced the news at yesterday’s post-fight press conference, saying "They won’t make the same mistakes next time. Each one will try to win decisively." For the record, DW thought Shogun won the fight.

- Anthony Johnson was basically fined $10,000 per pound for missing weight. After tipping the scales at 176 on Friday, Rumble scored a ferocious TKO victory over Yoshiyuki Yoshida in just 39 seconds. But because he came in heavy, he was ineligible for UFC 104′s $60,000 Knockout of the Night bonus, which instead went to Pat Barry. (Barry picked up a second $60,000 award for Fight of the Night; his opponent Antoni Hardonk got a check for the same amount, while beanpole submission artist Stefan Struve was awarded the Submission of the Night bonus for his triangle choke of Chase Gormley.) Johnson was already giving up 20% of his purse. When asked about the botched weight-cut, AJ had this to say:

The 10/20 edition of the Danavlog is full of bad omens. After getting a bullshit ticket from some douchebag traffic cop, DW and his crew stop by Cold Stone Creamery — not Pinkberry — and Dana winds up paying the price with a tummy ache. And the Cold Stone workers didn’t even sing to him! Can this day get any worse? WHAT HAS HE DONE TO OFFEND YOU, GOD?

As if he doesn’t have enough problems, Dana has an Esquire writer following him around for a profile. So obviously he’s going to try out the bomb bag again. It fails so incredibly hard. Seriously, listen to that barely audible pop at the 3:13 mark. "Something’s bursting," Mike says. Hilarious. Then, it’s time to play video games and air hockey at Dave & Buster’s. Are you getting all this, Esquire guy?

Finally, around the 5:40 mark, Cain Velasquez and Mauricio Rua show up, and it isn’t long before Dana bomb-bags them. Suck it, Bellator — this is how you harness the power of the Internet to promote fighters. Also, future Celebrity Rehab star Chuck Liddell shows up drunk and belligerent, and lifts Dana off the ground as he’s trying to give out some UFC 104 tickets. All in a day’s work, I guess, if you can legitimately call it that.

— Shogun‘s trainer thinks that the fact that Rua has never been knocked out will somehow protect him from getting knocked out by Machida.

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

After two consecutive knockouts over Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans, Dana White can finally start referring to Lyoto Machida as fighter who "loves to stand up and bang." Which is a good thing, because it might be hard to sell UFC 104‘s main event otherwise: Two Brazilians, one of them an elusive karate practitioner, the other a former PRIDE champ on the decline who got his title shot out of convenience and who will probably lose this fight. In the above preview, Joe Rogan makes sure to remind us of Shogun’s glory days, and Dana White reminds us that Rua most recently knocked out Chuck Liddell ["Chuck Liddell, Chuck Liddell"]. Still, Lyoto is impossible to hit and incredibly efficient with his attacks. Can Rua be a legitimate threat to his title, or will he be dominated and demoralized like everyone else the Dragon has faced in the Octagon? Also, Cain Velasquez gets props for the way he rebounded from abuse in his last fight against Cheick Kongo, but Ben Rothwell guarantees that Mr. Brown Pride has never been hit as hard as he’s gonna hit him. I mean, just look at those clips of Rothwell beating the crap out of Andrei Arlovski. (Rothwell won that fight, right?)

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

Chuck Liddell was saved from the chopping block this week on Dancing With the Stars — sorry, Kathy — which means that he’ll have to deal with the show’s awful contestants for at least one more round. The UFC is trying to make lemonade out of bullshit by filming a video blog in which Chuck takes us on a tour of the trailers behind the set, asking the quasi-celebs who they’re picking for UFC 104‘s main event of Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. As you can imagine, the brilliant analysis comes fast and furiously, courtesy of the painfully thin and gawky Aaron Carter, snowboarding champ Louie Vito, Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin, and Dallas Cowboys legend Michael Irvin, who’s both attracted and repelled by the sport, and is convinced that Chuck is going to fight the winner. "I’m comin’ back for one of ‘um sooner or later," Chuck says. Then Tom Delay walks by and is like "Kimbo Slice would kick your ass, you washed-up redneck." Seriously. I can’t believe they kept that part in.

After the jump: Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy spend a day pimping UFC 105 (November 14th, Manchester) in relative obscurity.

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

After giving tender consideration to nearly 200 of your entries, we’ve selected the two winners of Friday’s caption contest, who will both be receiving DVD copies of How Bruce Lee Changed the Word, courtesy of A&E Home Entertainment. But first some honorable mentions:

Fedor vs. Bas: And this was the last time Rua touched Lyoto.

Rockologist: "Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like piss. If you piss into a cup, it becomes the cup. You piss into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. Piss into my mouth, it becomes my breakfast."

Ceeph: Lyoto Machida seen here, thanking Shogun for his impending KO of the Night bonus.

NealTaflinger: The always-evasive Machida slips Rua’s eye contact and counters with a handshake.

El Famous Burrito: "Your lifeline seems to terminate right around midnight, October the 24th. Also, your beloved bicycle is at The Alamo, in the basement."

hotsaucemonster: "Thank God I’m fighting someone Brazilian, what say after I’m done removing your nuts through your mouth we eat steak, wear speedos and pronounce our Rs with H sounds?"

Akilleez: "It looks benign to me, but just to be safe I am going to freeze it off."

Horror Fighter: "Look down there! It’s the midget from the last caption contest!"

And now the winners…

(Buy the DVD at shop.history.com.)

Back in May, the History Channel premiered a documentary called How Bruce Lee Changed the World, which covered the life, mysterious death, and lasting legacy of the martial arts superstar and fingerless glove innovator; you can get a taste of it here. Now the flick has been released on DVD, and A&E Home Entertainment was cool enough to give us two copies to give away to our readers. But nothing comes without effort. If you want a copy, think up some clever captions to the photo after the jump, which shows one of Lee’s spiritual descendants greeting his next opponent. Please submit your captions to the comments section below by Tuesday at noon PT. We’ll announce the winners shortly after. Be water, my friends, and good luck…

(Props: xkingkongx)

The UFC has confirmed ten fights for UFC 104 (October 24th, Los Angeles), making the Machida vs. Rua headliner official, as well as adding a main card bout between Sean Sherk and Gleison Tibau. Sherk is coming off a disappointing unanimous decision loss against Frank Edgar at UFC 98, while Tibau most recently lost a controversial split-decision against Melvin Guillard at the TUF 9 finale in June.

Unfortunately, Sherk vs. Tibau comes at the expense of two other fights that are probably more worthy of main card status. Currently slated for the undercard are TUF 8 light-heavyweight winner Ryan Bader vs. Eric Schafer (who are both riding two-fight win streaks in the Octagon) and Yushin Okami vs. Chael Sonnen. Yes, Okami is on the undercard once again, despite his current three-fight streak against Jason MacDonald, Evan Tanner, and Dean Lister. My God this disrespect. You know, UFC, if you’re not careful, you’re gonna lose him.

The updated UFC 104 lineup is as follows…

(Props: PunishmentFilms.tv/dragonman34)

How happy is Tito Ortiz to be back in the UFC? So happy that he would engage in an illicit homosexual kiss with his boss and former rival, Dana White. WHY ISN’T TMZ COVERING THIS?? Later, Ortiz revealed that White "had a hairy lip," and White scrubbed his tongue with steel wool.

After the jump: A quick video profile on new Octagon Girl Natasha Wicks (she’s not just a piece of meat, you guys — she has thoughts, emotions, and she loves the outdoors), some footage of Lyoto Machida training for Shogun, and an underrated Fedor Emelianenko fight, just because.

(Ah, the good ol’ days. Photo courtesy of ESPN.)

In the last nine months, Anderson Silva has given us two title defenses marked by maddening stretches of inactivity, and fans have responded by giving him heaps of abuse. And the fact that he’s no longer considered the UFC’s thrilling golden boy who can do no wrong seems to have changed Silva in a fundamental way. Gone is the cheerful, lovable Spider, and in his place is a dude who has had it up here with the bullshit. Two examples, from recent interviews:

On the fans who booed during his recent fights: “At the end of the day, yeah, I’m there for the fans, but I’m the one who’s putting my body and my life in danger every time I step inside the Octagon. So, a lot of times when people aren’t as educated in this sport, it’s really hard for them to understand. I feel I went in there and did my job, and if people are booing, it’s from a lack of understanding of the sport, because I went out there and executed a good game plan, it was just unfortunate that my opponents didn’t fight back.”

(Props: Round5MMA.com)

Images of Round 5‘s fourth series of MMA figurines have been released, and my God, would you check out the moose knuckle on Mauricio Rua. You gotta respect the attention to detail, but this might be the work of a vindictive figurine artist/Chuck Liddell fan who got pissed off after UFC 97 and thought, okay hot shot, now I’m going to make you look like a woman. Meanwhile, Gina Carano is wearing long, loose-fitting shorts. So I guess they didn’t use my concept art after all…

(Shogun‘s hands are so heavy, he can barely lift them by the end of round two. Photo courtesy of ESPN.)

Did all our hand-wringing change nothing? According to reports today from MMA Weekly and SuperLutas, Mauricio Rua has signed a bout agreement to be the first challenger for Lyoto Machida‘s light-heavyweight title, in a fight that will come sometime this fall — most likely at UFC 104 in Los Angeles. How official is this news? Well, the UFC hasn’t announced it yet, and Machida has only put a question mark over the photo of Rampage on his website. But it’s looking like a done deal, unless Machida has a crisis of conscience and refuses to sign his own bout agreement, on the grounds that all Shogun did to deserve a title shot was beat up two broken-down former champs who came in with an average age of 41.5. Unfortunately, Machida seems like one of those "I’ll fight whoever the UFC puts in front of me" type-guys, so there you go. Don’t hurt him too bad, Lyoto…

(Young kid named Thales goes to jail for the first time, and gets thrown in a cell with a mean-looking dude named Anderson. Anderson says to Thales, "so do you want to be the mommy or the daddy?" Figuring he doesn’t have much choice, Thales says "the daddy." To which Anderson replies, "good, now come over here and suck mommy’s dick." True story. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

Let’s get ready to REDEEEEEEEEEM OURSELLLLLLVES! The Thunderdome has returned to Montreal’s Bell Centre, and the stakes are high. Can Anderson Silva make it a historic nine Octagon wins in a row? Who keeps their top-ten 205′er status in the Liddell/Rua fight, and who completes their dramatic flame-out? And…ah…who else is on this card again? Live round-by-round updates and commentary await you after the jump; refresh the page every few minutes to get all the latest.

CageWriter brings us this video of UFC 97‘s headliners weighing in yesterday in Montreal. Anderson Silva established his dominance during the face-off, coming so close to Thales Leites that the challenger had to take a step backwards (3:45 mark); he’s lucky the Spider didn’t give him two for flinching. Don’t forget to come back to CagePotato.com tonight as we liveblog the action beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.

Below: Yesterday’s edition of Dana White’s video blog, in which DW finally loses his UFC Undisputed championship title to Georges St. Pierre ("I think there was Vaseline on the controller"), hangs some more with his Army vet buddy, and gives his fighters the traditional F-bomb-laced pep talk.

(As long as he still has his hearing, he’ll always have a puncher’s chance. Props to AmidaHidan.)

Like Kendall Grove before him, UFC president Dana White has made it clear that Chuck Liddell‘s job might be on the line if he doesn’t step up his game. The Iceman, who has lost three of his last four fights, takes on Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 97 (April 18th, Montreal) and simply winning might not be enough. As White explains to the Telegraph-Journal:

We assumed that because of his drawing power and history with the company, Liddell would be able to fight in the UFC for as long as he wanted to. But it sounds like Dana is genuinely concerned for Chuck’s health. His reaction time is slowing, and rival fighters have figured out the increasingly predictable holes in his standup game. That only translates to more brain-rattling KO losses in the future.

Luckily, Mauricio Rua is as good a comeback opponent as any. If Shogun shows up in the kind of piss-poor shape he was in for the Mark Coleman fight in January, Liddell has a great chance of coming out on top, and maybe even "dazzling" his boss with a dramatic knockout. And if that happens, it’ll be interesting to see if Rua is given a similar "win big or get lost" ultimatum for his next fight — or if he’s simply fired on the spot.

The full 12-fight lineup for UFC 97 was confirmed on Friday; you can check it out after the jump.

 
(Props: MMA Mania)

Maybe the epic visual presentation for St. Pierre vs. Penn 2 has spoiled us, but we’re getting the sense that the UFC’s design department doesn’t really care about their upcoming Montreal show. Above is the poster image they’ve released for #97, which features old stock images of the four headliners in front of a generic cage background, surrounded by a cloud-like fog. Are these the men that are guarding the gates to MMA heaven? And what’s up with the janky-ass bubble-block lettering?

It seems significant that UFC 97 will be just the second UFC pay-per-view event since September to be identified with a word ("Redemption") rather than by the headlining matchup (i.e., "Couture vs. Lesnar," "Franklin vs. Henderson"). We’re guessing that’s because the idea of "Silva vs. Leites" headlining a card tends to bum people out. Still, "redemption" works well as a unifying theme. Liddell and Rua will be battling to rescue their careers after putting in woeful performances in their last fights, and Silva will be trying to redeem himself in the eyes of fans after his oddly restrained and anti-climactic performance against Patrick Cote in October.

Still, if it were up to us, we’d call the card "Silva and Liddell," have the two of them on the poster by themselves, and hope fans are duped into thinking that they’re fighting each other. And we’d dial back the fog machine by at least 50%.

After the jump: The latest announced and rumored matchups for UFC 97. [Updated at 12:16 p.m. PT]

(From The Telegraph via MMA Scraps)

The Telegraph was in Mark Coleman‘s dressing room following his tough loss to Mauricio Rua on Saturday, and videotaped him experiencing all five Stages of Grief. Watch as the Hammer goes from shocked and despondent to furious at his corner ("I couldn’t hear how much time’s left! Scream it!") to blaming himself for not staying on his feet ("It’s my own fault…it’s my own goddamned [expletives]") to spitting blood into a bucket, which could possibly be interpreted as "acceptance." Of course, his post-fight vent-session doesn’t compare to the level of rage he had after taking his first loss to Fedor Emelianenko at PRIDE Total Elimination 2004. In case you haven’t seen it before, video of that incident is after the jump; audio NSFW.

Fight-day installments of the Danavlog tend to be a lot more interesting than other episodes from the previous week, and the 1/17 video was no exception. It opens with DW chatting with Michael Bisping before they do a demonstration of UFC Undisputed in Dublin. Bisping reminisces about the days when he was unbeatable at Street Fighter II. He’s also pleased with the U.K. team that he’ll be coaching on TUF, and very psyched to be a part of it. During the video game demo, Dana White plays as Quinton Jackson, while the Count plays as himself. The simulated fight goes pretty much how it would if Bisping were to actually fight Rampage.

At the fights, Alistair Overeem stops by to to say hello to the UFC prez; giddy as a schoolgirl, Dana starts squeezing his muscles. Overeem points out that he’s not as big as Brock Lesnar. Dana asks him if he’s ready to fight in the UFC, and Overeem says he is if management can work it out. K-1 super-heavyweight champ Semmy Schilt is also in attendance, and Dana makes it clear that he’d be welcome in the Octagon too. Later, Joe Rogan brutally mocks a Dana White superfan directly behind her back, Mauricio Rua is offered the Chuck Liddell fight, and Dana calls Dublin "pound-for-pound the best fuckin’ place we’ve ever been."

After the jump: The trailer for Ultimate Champion, another underground cage-fighting flick starring master thespian Stephan Bonnar. One day, the Wayans Brothers are going to make a parody of these movies and call it Never Submit, Surrender, or Back Down While Fighting Your Redbelt in the Confessions of a Pit Fighter. Hey, if Paul Blart can be the #1 movie in America…

(Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

It came as no surprise to MMA fans when Mark Coleman was inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame last March. After all, the former Olympic wrestler became the UFC’s first-ever heavyweight champion when he defeated Dan Severn at UFC 12 in February 1997, and his legendary career has also seen him win PRIDE’s 2000 Grand Prix and score victories over the likes of Don Frye (twice), Ricardo Morais, and Mauricio Rua. What was surprising was that at 43 years of age, Coleman announced he was returning to the Octagon, and would take on the hulking Brock Lesnar in his first fight back.

Though that match was scrapped when Coleman suffered a knee injury, Coleman is now fully recovered and will begin the next chapter of his career at UFC 93 on January 17th — just over ten years after his last UFC appearance. He’ll also be competing as a light-heavyweight for the first time, in a rematch against Mauricio Rua. (Infamously, their first fight ended with a broken arm and a foot on Wanderlei Silva’s neck.) We caught up with The Hammer to talk about the mental challenges of MMA, his gameplan for the fight, and what may be in store for the future…

***

CAGEPOTATO: Hey Mark, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with me. What have you been up to this week?
MARK COLEMAN: Just trying to keep myself together mentally and emotionally. It’s getting close to the fight, and at least half this sport is mental so I’m trying to stay strong. Physically, I feel fine; training went well, and I just gotta get through a few more practices and I’ll be ready to go.

Could you tell us more about those mental and emotional challenges that come up before a fight?
Just in general, it’s a tough sport. It’s the most demanding sport in the world, so you gotta keep the warm-up doubt out, you gotta stay mentally strong, you gotta believe in yourself, stay confident, because if you don’t believe in yourself, you don’t stand a chance. But I believe I can do this. I put in a lot of hard work, and I plan on winning the fight.

Would you say your health is 100%, or is your knee injury from last year still somewhat of an issue?
No, the MCL healed up 100%, it’s not a problem.

This is the first time you’ll have to cut weight for an MMA match. How much of a challenge will that be for you, and how are you making it happen?
Surprisingly, it’s not going to be as difficult as I thought. Right now I’m just a little under 220 pounds. I had a very strict diet combined with hard training, and the weight came off pretty good. I don’t anticipate there being a problem making weight. I don’t think I lost too much strength, and I’m very pleased with that as well.

You’ve said that you’ll have a strength advantage on Shogun. Does that mean your plan will be to outwrestle him?

The best reason to tune in to HDNet’s Inside MMA has always been to watch Bas Rutten act like a spastic, free-associative maniac. The above clip from the show’s "Best of 2008" episode collects Bas’s craziest moments, from his heroin-addict pantomimes to his beloved Tony Montana impression. If him and Robin Williams ever met, the world might explode. Check out the latest episode this Friday at 9 p.m., as Renato Sobral, Vitor Belfort and Carlos Condit join Bas and Kenny in the studio.

Here’s the extended trailer for UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn 2 (January 31st, Las Vegas). BJ Penn delivers the money line in their segment: "If Jon Fitch reminds [St. Pierre] of the Terminator, he’s gonna think I’m God." Later, in the Lyoto vs. Thiago segment, Dana White cackles about how Tito Ortiz couldn’t land anything on Machida in his last fight, while Rogan gets enthusiastic about Machida’s karate skills. We also get to hear Machida pronounce "with Tito" as "wiffa Cheeto," which is always good for a laugh.

After the jump: Mark Coleman says he’ll have a strength advantage against Mauricio Rua at UFC 93, while Rua looks forward to showing the Hammer what a healthy Shogun is capable of.

UFC 93 goes down January 17th in Dublin, Ireland, and while most people are understandably psyched about the Rich Franklin/Dan Henderson light-heavyweight main event, I’m just as interested to see what happens between Mark Coleman and Mauricio Rua. Who will be rustier after their long layoff? The injury-prone Shogun, whose last cage appearance was his choke-out loss to Forrest Griffin in September 2007? Or Hall-of-Famer Mark Coleman, who hasn’t notched a victory since his TKO-via-broken-arm win over Rua almost three years ago? Will Coleman really try to turn their grudge match into a stand-up war? Will Phil Baroni and Wanderlei Silva jump in and start brawling after the fight is stopped, like last time? You gotta admit, the match has potential.

Also at UFC 93, Denis Kang makes his UFC debut against Alan Belcher, and Marcus Davis and Chris Lytle have their long-awaited "takedowns are for pussies" match.

 
(Props: MMA Mania)

Nine bouts have been officially confirmed for UFC 93 (January 17th; Dublin, Ireland) — though there are some surprises in the card’s arrangement. Here’s what we have so far:

MAIN CARD
Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson
Mark Coleman vs. Mauricio Rua  
Alan Belcher  vs. Denis Kang 
Antonio Mendes vs. Andre Gusmao
Dennis Siver vs. Nate Mohr 

UNDERCARD
Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle
Jeremy Horn vs. Rousimar Palhares 
Tomasz Drwal vs. Ivan Serati  
Thomas Egan vs. John Hathaway

How you gonna leave the Irish Hand Grenade off the main card in Dublin? It’s blasphemy, especially when he’s already promised the fans a pussy-free slugfest with Chris Lytle. It’s also strange to see Horn/Palhares on the untelevised card, when you consider who actually did make the cut.

First off, Antonio Mendes vs. Andre Gusmao. Both of these guys got owned in their UFC debuts; Mendes was steamrolled by Thiago Silva at UFC 84, and Gusmao was overwhelmed by Jon Jones’s explosive athleticism at UFC 87 and lost a unanimous decision. So we’re letting them fight each other on the main card? No, this has to be some kind of mistake.

(For the record, this is what Lyoto and Houston were staring at.)

So, anybody got any good costumes this year? If you do, let us know in the comments section, and if you live in Vegas, definitely swing by Dana White’s house:

“We give out real candy bars, not the little ones from the bag,” he said.

Good to know. We also wanted to pass along this photo of Roli Delgado’s “Ronald McDojo” costume; the TUF 8 castoff seems to have a good sense of humor about his much-speculated BJJ pedigree…

(Props: Fightlinker)

After the jump is the greatest non-MMA-related costume that I’ve seen so far this week. Mad props to WallStreetFighter for the find.

(Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle. For more pics from this set, click here.)

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou had a lot of hype to live up to when he made his UFC debut last December. Though his record was a thin 4-1, two of his wins were quick knockouts of top-ten light-heavyweights Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona, and most MMA pundits had him ranked as a top-ten 205’er himself. Unfortunately, Lyoto Machida proved that the Cameroonian fighter still had a lot to learn, particularly on the ground. Still, Sokoudjou bounced back at UFC 84 in May, beating Kazuhiro Nakamura to a pulp and regaining his ferocious reputation.

This Saturday, he’ll be facing Brazilian Luis Cane on the main card of UFC 89 in Birmingham, England — another fearsome striker with a 1-1 Octagon record and a lot to prove. Ben Zeidler tracked down the African Assassin over the weekend to ask him about his upcoming fight, his loss to Machida, his public call-out of Mauricio Rua, and the “gentle way“…

***

CAGEPOTATO.COM: What potential problems does Luis Cane pose for you?
RAMEAU THIERRY SOKOUDJOU: He’s a good stand up guy and he’s knocked out a bunch of people so I have to watch out for that. He’s got a good left and he throws it all the time. He’s a solid boxer so it’s just something I’m going to have to deal with.

Do you think you would try to take him down? Do you have an advantage on the ground?
I’m not gonna say that yet. I’ll try to be careful around his strong points and show his weakness. I’m gonna be ready to do it all. I’ve been training like I’m fighting the best on the ground and the best on the feet. I’m ready.

How has your training changed to face him?
It depends on what you mean by change. Machida was beating me with technique, not strength. I realized that I couldn’t rely on just my strength. Guys used to roll with me and say I’m the strongest guy they faced but I still need to put more effort into technique. I need to be able to use them together, and that’s how my training has changed. Other than that, it’s the usual camp.

Were you hoping for a bigger name opponent for this fight?
I’m a fighter who is looking for a way to make money. I’m not gonna disrespect Luis by saying he’s not a big enough name. He’s just a fighter like me, he’s never lost other than a DQ, and he’s in the UFC. Anyone in the UFC is a great fighter and I respect that a lot.

What’s it like training with Dan Henderson at Team Quest?
Oh man, they’re hard on me. I wish I were 38 or 39 so I knew some of the stuff he knows. You’re supposed to start falling apart in your 30s, but not Dan.

Would you ever want to take on Machida again?

(A legendary PRIDE rivalry will be settled in the Octagon in January.)

Confirming rumors that were circulating yesterday, the UFC announced via UFC.com that Dublin would indeed be playing host to UFC 93 on January 17th; the event will be held at the O2 Dublin.

Only two matches have been announced so far — but they’re worth the price of admission by themselves. The main event will be a light-heavyweight fight between Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson, a long-awaited pairing that seemed to be in jeopardy when Franklin moved up to 205. Does this mean that Hendo will be hanging around at light-heavyweight for a while? And would the fight interfere with him being a coach on the upcoming US vs. UK season of TUF? We’ll get those answers to you as soon as we can.

Here’s where the matchmaking gets kind of brilliant. The co-main event will be another light-heavyweight contest, between UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. If you’re up on your MMA lore, you’ll remember that Coleman handed Shogun his only loss in PRIDE — a TKO due to broken arm at PRIDE 31 in February ’06 — which led to the infamous Chute Boxe/Hammer House brawl (the entire incident can be seen here). Now Rua will get a chance to settle the score, once and for all. Sure, Coleman hasn’t fought since getting armbarred by Fedor Emelianenko at PRIDE 32 in October ’06, and Rua has been battling injuries since his loss to Forrest Griffin at UFC 76, but you can’t beat that storyline…

(Shannon Gugerty finishes fights. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

— Without an opponent due to Thiago Silva’s recent back injury, Lyoto Machida has been officially removed from UFC 89′s lineup; an undercard bout between Shane Carwin and Neil Wain will now be bumped up to the pay-per-view broadcast. As one rumor goes, Machida could potentially face Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in November or December.

— Patrick Cote is tired of the American media disrespecting him by discussing who Anderson Silva should face after the Spider inevitably kicks the crap out of the Canadian challenger at UFC 90. You might not believe this, but Cote said he’s “ready to shock the world.” Wow…could we have been wrong about this fight all along?

— Melvin Guillard has been forced to drop out of his UFC 90 bout with Spencer Fisher for undisclosed reasons. Replacing him will be Shannon Gugerty (11-2), the City Boxing product who made his UFC debut at “Silva vs. Irvin” in July with a first-round choke-out of Dale Hartt.

— The UFC may have found its next light-heavyweight gatekeeper, reportedly signing Italian UWC/Cage Rage vet Ivan Serati (10-2) to a multi-fight deal; he’s expected to make his first Octagon appearance before the end of the year. Serati has won his last four matches, and started his career with five straight victories by stoppage (all in under a minute) before losing to Vitor Belfort via TKO at a Cage Rage event in April ’07.

— UFC.com just published a feature about Evan Tanner‘s greatest UFC moments. Read and reflect.

MMA highlight-video master Genghis Con — whose nuts we’ve hugged in the past — went on the UG yesterday to plug his new video, which documents the “Beef” between Georges St. Pierre and Matt Serra. It’s as amazing as you’d expect, but while poking around his previous works, we came upon “Grand Theft Title 2,” an absolute gem from last year which focuses on Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s killing spree in PRIDE’s 2005 Grand Prix, where he took out Quinton Jackson (at Total Elimination), Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (at Critical Countdown), and then Alistair Overeem and Ricardo Arona in the same night (at Final Conflict); you can watch it above.

The GTA video game theme allows for fun touches like the “Change View” at -8:23 and “Unlocked: Foot Stomps” at -7:05, but the use of Liberty City‘s soundtrack really sets this one apart. How freaking cool is Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message” playing during the Nogueira and Overeem fights? Con is on a whole ‘notha level. Anyway, check it out, tell a friend, and set aside some time to watch the rest.