(King of the world.)

While a concussion sustained in training cost him a chance to fight Martin Kampmann to determine the UFC’s top welterweight contender, Mike Swick didn’t have to wait long for another fight offer to come his way.  The AKA product has agreed to face Dan Hardy at UFC 105 in Manchester, England on November 14,  and the winner will likely get the next shot at Georges St. Pierre’s title.  We called up Swick to discuss the news, and to ask him some other pressing questions, like, what’s up with AKA fighters and their fixation on calling out Matt Hughes?  As usual, Swick did not disappoint.

So you and Dan Hardy at UFC 105.  Is this official, bout agreements signed and everything?

Yeah, I signed it right when it came in.

What did you think when they offered you Hardy?

I was excited just to get the opportunity.  I actually agreed before I knew who it was.  The UFC just called me and asked if I’d like to fight on November 14 and I said yes.  Then later my manager called as well and said that there was an injury and they needed a replacement, and I told him to tell the UFC that whoever it was they had in mind, I’d fight him.  So the UFC came back and said it’s Dan Hardy, or if for some reason Dan Hardy can’t make the fight it could be someone else, and I said yeah, let’s do it.  I’m just excited to get back in there.  I didn’t want to have to wait until January.

(Images courtesy of Dan Hardy’s Facebook page and Mike Swick’s Twitter feed, via BloodyElbow.)

UFC president Dana White has confirmed to MMA Fanhouse that a welterweight fight between Mike Swick and Dan Hardy is in the works, with the winner potentially getting the next shot at Georges St. Pierre’s belt. Though the bout hasn’t yet been tied to a specific event, UFC 105 (November 14th, Manchester) seems likely, as British fan-favorite Hardy was already rumored to face Dong Hyun Kim on the card, while Swick has expressed a desire to return to action quickly after a concussion suffered in training scrapped his scheduled fight against Martin Kampmann at UFC 103.

Mike Swick (14-2) has been a perfect 4-0 since dropping to the welterweight division, winning decisions over Josh Burkman and Marcus Davis, and impressive stoppage victories over Jonathan Goulet and Ben Saunders. Dan Hardy (22-6, 1 no contest) has also been on a tear since he signed with the UFC last year, earning split-decisions against Akihiro Gono and Marcus Davis, and knocking the daylights out of Rory Markham at UFC 95.

Though Georges St. Pierre is still rehabbing the groin injury he suffered in his decision win against Thiago Alves in July, he expects to be ready for action by early next year.

(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.

(Props: youtube.com/ufc)

Recession? What fuckin’ recession? Even in this economy, Zuffa has enough disposable income to buy an almost 100% intact sabretooth tiger skull, freshly pulled out of La Brea. It’s so beautiful that you can tell the fossil salesman, deep down, would rather have it displayed in polished glass and soft lighting in his personal study, and not on a table in the UFC offices where Rampage can put his face up against it and make bad breath jokes. But that’s the life of a bone dealer — heartbreak, scattered with moments of unbearable ecstasy.

Also in this installment of the UFC 99 Danavlog, DW takes in Sunday’s WEC show (where some horrible drunk bitch keeps demanding one more picture), drools over Marty Cordoba‘s hot bod, and reviews the sick televised card for Saturday’s show. FYI, the pay-per-view for #99 starts at 3 p.m. ET / noon PT, with a replay at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.

After the jump: Mike Swick beats the crap out of some focus mitts; he’ll take on Ben Saunders on the main card of UFC 99.

(War Machine slips into a brief trance.  This is why we say no flash photography around him, people.)

- Competing at last night’s XMMA event in Montreal, the fighter formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver earned a submission victory over previously unbeaten Guillaume “El Toro” Delorenzi via rear naked choke.  When reached for the comment, the citizens of the world replied, “War Machine?  That guy who threatened the president on MySpace?  He fights?”

- Mike “Quick” Swick will face Ben Saunders at UFC 99 in Germany, according to Five Ounces of Pain.  Saunders last competed against Brandon Wolff, the fighter War Machine refused to face due to fears that he might be both good and relatively unknown, thus earning his dismissal from the UFC.  Using his height and a series of brutal knees, Saunders made quick work of Wolff at "Fight for the Troops."  Now he gets Swick in Germany.  Why not.

- After insisting that he’s been in negotiations with Strikeforce to give this MMA stuff a try, it seems as if Hasim Rahman is even more full of shit than we suspected.  Strikfeforce’s Mike Afromowitz told MMA Fanhouse there has been “no dialogue” with Rahman or his manager about a fight with Kimbo Slice, as Rahman’s manager had claimed.  Maybe by ‘talking to Strikefore’ he really meant ‘watching old Strikeforce fights on the internet?’  As for Kimbo, Afromowitz described those talks as “ongoing.” 

(People tell him to stop going to that damn epileptic barber, but Heath just won’t listen.)

Remember yesterday when we told you that Cain Velasquez was going to be back in action at UFC 99 in Germany, and we were hoping he’d see a step up in competition?  Well, our wish has been granted, as MMA Weekly reports that Velasquez will face noted heavyweight stepping stone Heath Herring in Cologne this summer.

Herring, who is 2-3 since migrating to the UFC, last saw action as a one-man pony ride for Brock Lesnar in a decision loss that left Herring with a fractured orbital bone and Lesnar with a title shot.  Before that Herring won a victory over Cheick Kongo, who briefly thought he was a wrestler, and lost a decision to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira despite rocking Big Nog with a head kick early on.

If what we saw in Herring’s performances against Lesnar and in his UFC debut loss to Jake O’Brien are any indication (remember what Velasquez did to O’Brien?), getting matched up with another big wrestler that the UFC has high hopes for is not a good sign for “The Texas Crazy Horse.”  Velasquez seemed to have really rounded out his skill-set in his last fight, and he could put a serious hurting on Herring. 

If he does, it’s basically Velasquez’s pass into the upper echelon of the UFC’s heavyweight class.  If he doesn’t, Herring gets to keep hanging around in his win one, lose one fashion.

No word yet on who Velasquez’s AKA teammate Mike Swick will face, but there is this:

(Andrei looks ripped.  Fedor looks chubby.  Yep, everything went as expected at the Affliction weigh-ins.)

– Oh yeah, Fedor knows how to fight a good striker.  (USA Today)

– Donald Trump Jr. talks Dana White, UFC.  (MMA Payout)

– Mike Chiappetta tells MMA fans, ‘Yes, we can.’  (NBC Sports)

– One last look at Arlovski’s boxing skillz.  (MMA Fanhouse)

– Brit boxers don’t sweat the UFC, or so they say.  (The Sun)

– The New York Times goes from covering to lambasting MMA.  (NYT)

– Foot injury sidelines Mike Swick for at least three months.  (Five Ounces)

– "Fighting Chance" promises to be the oddest MMA movie yet.  (Al.com)

– Top 5 MMA spectator brawls.  (MMA Journalist)

– Who’s afraid of Mark Cuban?  Major League Baseball.  (Scores Report)

– "Notorious" is just aiiiight.  (Bullz-Eye.com)

– Inside the Taco: New Employees.  (Holy Taco)

– 13 insanely horrible local TV ads.  (Screen Junkies)

– Cop knocks protester out cold.  (Nothing Toxic)

(The Sandman lands a superman-punch en route to his record-tying eight-second KO of Houston Alexander at UFC Fight Night 13 in April. Photo courtesy of NBCSports.)

MMA Mania reports that James Irvin — who was handed a nine-month suspension for testing positive for Methadone and Oxymorphone following his TKO loss to Anderson Silva last July — will be making his Octagon return at UFC 98 (May 23rd, Las Vegas). It will be his first fight at middleweight, as Irvin will be shedding 20 pounds from his jacked frame to face Miletich fighter Drew McFedries, who’s coming off consecutive losses to Mike Massenzio and Thales Leites. 

Since neither fighter has a winning record in the UFC — Irvin is 4-4 and McFedries is 3-4 —the loser could find himself without a contract after this one. What’s more, Irvin’s health could be a question; besides the sizable weight cut, Irvin was recovering from a broken foot during the Anderson Silva fight (which is why he was taking those potent painkillers in the first place), and was the victim of a bizarre knee injury during his fight against Thiago Silva in May 2007. UFC 98 will be headlined by the long-awaited grudge match between Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. 

In other UFC fight-booking news…

— Tyson Griffin will be looking to rebound from his October loss to Sean Sherk when he takes on Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 18 (April 1st, Nashville). Griffin has been successful five times in seven UFC appearances, though his last six bouts have gone to decision. Dos Anjos is the Brazilian Fury FC/Pancrase vet who was on the receiving end of the fifth greatest knockout of 2008 during his unfortunate UFC debut in November. 

— Marcus Davis believes that Thiago Alves’s next opponent will be Mike Swick, though there’s been no official confirmation yet from the UFC. Davis has lost unanimous decisions to both fighters during his career, and wants revenge.

UPDATE: Also, TUF 8 losers Dave Kaplan and George Roop are throwing down at UFC 98.

(Woody Guthrie would be so disappointed in you, Mike.)

As the UFC’s scorched earth policy toward AKA and its fighters unfolds, it’s looking like not everyone in the stable is getting cut. In an interview with USA Today, Dana White claims that Mike Swick was the only AKA fighter to call and say, essentially, he’ll do anything Dana wants:

The only fighter that called me from AKA was Mike Swick. Mike Swick called me from AKA, that was it. And Mike Swick said, “Listen, I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t care what’s going on. I’m with you, I’m in business with you guys. You guys are my partners.” And I said, “I appreciate that, Mike. We look at you the same way.”

(Don’t stop believing. Photo courtesy of Fighters.com.)

— Evan Tanner’s memorial will be held at 2 p.m. on September 27th at the Civic Center (401 South Buchanan Street) in Amarillo, Texas. Tonight’s Ultimate Fight Night broadcast will be dedicated to Tanner, and an Evan Tanner tribute show will be airing soon on Spike.

— Even though the ink on Houston Alexander’s new five-fight contract extension hasn’t even dried yet, Dana White admits that if the Assassin loses against Eric Schafer tonight, he’ll need to leave the UFC for a while to rack up some wins in other promotions.

— Roger Huerta’s loss to Kenny Florian last month was very hard on him emotionally, and he’s desperate for a rematch. In an interview with Fighters Only Magazine, he also seemed to imply that he’ll be leaving Greg Jackson’s team: “I would like to go back to the way I used to train, with the people I used to train with. Those guys were like brothers to me, not just trainers.”

— TUF 7 finalist C.B. Dollaway will reportedly return to the Octagon at UFC 92 (December 27th, Las Vegas) against middleweight veteran Jorge Rivera. Dollaway is officially 1-1 in the UFC at this point, after being submitted by Amir Sadollah via armbar at the TUF 7 finale in June, then submitting Jesse Taylor via Peruvian neck tie at “Silva vs. Irvin” in July.

— Speaking of fight bookings, Mike Swick and Jonathan Goulet have agreed to fight each other at the Ultimate Fighter 8 finale on December 13th. Both men have won their last two fights in the UFC.

— Round 5′s new Sean Sherk collectible figure doesn’t really look like Sean Sherk. But the Wandy and Spider figures are definitely worthy of being displayed in your cubicle.

(Hey, remember this? Brutal.)

MMA Weekly is reporting that Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson have agreed to face each other at a November 15th UFC event in Portland, Oregon. Florian’s unanimous decision over Roger Huerta on August 9th made it five straight wins for the Bostonian, while Stevenson last fought at UFC 86 in July, disposing of Gleison Tibau via guillotine choke.

I gotta be honest — I’m not feelin’ this matchup. Both guys have little to gain and a lot to lose from the outcome. If Florian wins, his position at the top of the lightweight ladder is unchanged, and he’s still next in line to face BJ Penn. If he loses, the UFC would be without a clear #1 contender, because it seems very unlikely that the UFC would want to set up Penn vs. Stevenson II anytime soon, considering how one-sided their first meeting was in January. I like Joe Daddy, and I wanted to see him built back up to the top incrementally; the Tibau fight was a great start. Most likely he’ll get torn up by Florian, and his stock will drop even further.

In other UFC news: Though Dana White announced that Mike Swick would be fighting on the UFC 90 card in October, Swick doesn’t think he’ll be ready to fight until December, as he’s still recovering from recent surgery on his elbow.

(You’d be smiling too if you sold $2 million worth of tickets.)

Just a few hours after tickets for UFC 90 at Chicago’s All-State Arena went on sale, roughly 80% of them were snatched up. This means that by the time the UFC’s press conference for the event on Monday was over they’d already pulled in around $2 million in live gate money. All this for an October 25 event featuring Anderson Silva against Patrick Cote (rest his soul) and Diego Sanchez taking on Thiago Alves. It’s safe to say the UFC will be returning to Chicago frequently from now on.

Even with such early success Dana White went ahead and poured on the hyperbole at Monday’s press conference:

”This is a bold statement in a town with the White Sox and Cubs and the Bears, but I guarantee you this will be the most exciting live sporting event you have ever seen,” White said. ”I can’t explain it to you. You have to experience it.

”The closest thing that comes to it is when Mike Tyson was in his heyday. There was so much excitement about someone getting knocked out.”

After that last remark we imagine that White looked over at Cote, shrugged, and silently mouthed “Sorry!” before continuing on.

White also vowed that UFC 90 would be the highest-grossing event in the arena’s history, edging out Wrestlemania for that honor. Then they moved on to discuss Thiago Alves’ problems making weight, which we’ve all been assured won’t be a problem this time around, even though he’s currently about thirty pounds over.

In a final bit of UFC 90 news, Mike Swick is expected to be added to the card, though an opponent has not yet been named.

I was incredibly disappointed by Marcus Davis’s loss-by-smothering against Mike “Not Quick” Swick at UFC 85 — partly because I’d been shamelessly hugging his nuts leading up to the event, and partly because his loss contributed to me having to film myself vomiting. But in a recent profile on MMA Junkie, Davis reveals that his insane weightlifting regimen led to an injury that almost sunk the fight altogether. As Davis explains:

“Three weeks before the Swick fight, I had torn the connective tissue between my triceps and my rear [deltoid]. I had Cortisone shots for that. Two days before the Swick fight, I couldn’t move my arm. So, the UFC was cool enough to send me to an orthopedic doctor in the U.K., and they did an ultrasound on my arm. I had an impingement in the front bursa sac that was like 100 times the size it was supposed to be, and then still that tear in the rear connective tissue. [The doctor] did a guided needle with the ultrasound into the bursa, and drained the bursa. And that lasted for about three-and-a-half hours, and then I couldn’t move my arm again.

“The day of the weigh-ins, [the UFC] excused me early. After I weighed in, they let me leave and brought me back [to the doctor] and checked me out. It had swollen right back up again because the needle had aggravated it.”

(“Boom! Another hit is landed…” The Pitbull mauls old-ass Matt Hughes. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

Now that the adrenaline has subsided, we can have a normal conversation. Here’s what I’ve been thinking about since Saturday afternoon…

— Matt Hughes carved out a legendary career without ever being a particularly dangerous striker. And good for him, but the young fighters coming up these days will not stand for that shit. There’s no way you can compete at an elite level anymore without a complete game. Hughes never had one, and it’s now been fully exposed. After Alves stuffed Hughes’s takedown attempts during their fight, the former champ had no more weapons left, and it was only a countdown until the inevitable. I’m interested in seeing Hughes settle his grudge match with Matt Serra; I’m not really interested in seeing Hughes continue to be tooled by other athletic and well-rounded members of the UFC’s welterweight division.

— Michael Bisping looked deadly once again. Obviously he’d be wrecked by Silva, Franklin, or Henderson (or Marquardt on a good day), but he’d have to be the favorite against any other middleweight in the UFC. I’d guess he’s two wins away from a title shot, and luckily for him, Anderson Silva might not be around by the time he gets there. (The chatter is that Silva may move up to light-heavyweight for a marquee fight, but it’s totally unsubstantiated at this point, so don’t get your hopes up.)

— I don’t care what Jason Lambert needs to do to get down to 185 — stomach stapling, breast reduction surgery, whatever — he just needs to get there. He also needs to understand that his boxing sucks; just like in his fight with Wilson Gouveia, Lambert’s wild and sloppy haymakers led to his own damn self getting knocked out against Luis Cane. I think the biggest lesson I learned from “Bedlam” was that if there’s a noticeably out-of-shape guy fighting a guy in great physical condition, don’t bet on the fatty. (See also: Eddie Sanchez.)

(Image courtesy of some homo.)

Ryan “Fightlinker” Harkness has cast his final picks in our UFC 85 ipecac bet rematch; you can check out his take on the Bedlam matchups here. I was a little nervous picking Hughes and Werdum to win because both matches could definitely go either way, but Ryan has set my mind at ease by picking Hughes and Werdum as well (though he picked them to end by stoppage, rather than my decision calls). Of course, there are some notable points of dispute. Such as…

Michael Bisping vs. Jason Day
I said: Bisping by storm.
Ryan said: “I’m all over Jason Day’s nuts. After watching him destroy Alan Belcher, I’m convinced that there’s no way Michael Bisping is gonna be able to take him out. Bisping nearly got taken out by Elvis Sinosic for god’s sake. So I anticipate one round of tenderization and then Bisping getting subbed out on top in the second.”

Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick
I said: Davis in a wild one.
Ryan said: “Davis has been on an upswing and Swick has been on a downswing. But Marcus hasn’t faced the kind of opponents Swick has, and has turned into a cocky motherfucker to boot. I’m expecting Swick to come in with a smart plan: put him on his back and don’t give Davis a chance to use his hands. This fight is simply too important for Swick to try and trade.”

Our friend and content partner Ariel Helwani at MMARated just put up a great interview with Forrest Griffin, where the Ultimate Fighter coach and light heavyweight contender reveals that he’s been eating a lot of french toast lately, popping tons of valium, he really doesn’t care about TUF, and he digs Nick Cave, but not enough to actually pay for his music.

The official UFC 85: Bedlam trailer clip, featuring Matt Hughes, Thiago Alves, Michael Bisping, Jason Day, Brandon Vera, Fabricio Werdum, Nate Marquardt, Thales Leites, Marcus Davis, and Mike Swick.

HDNet Fights’ 86-minute “Best of 2008″ video; props to MMAScraps.

And also? You’re going to want to click that “More” link…

The Irish Hand Grenade says he has impeccable timing, and can knock you out with one punch. He’s also expecting a better Mike Swick at UFC 85 than the one who grabbed a narrow decision against Josh Burkman at UFC Fight Night 12. For Swick’s sake, we hope he’s right

Kaitlin Young pulls around a pickup truck (among other hardcore shit) at API Training Center, in preparation for her fight against Gina Carano on May 31st. Not sure what’s up with the Enya music at the beginning, but my back is killing me just watching this.

(Swick’s like “Duuuh” and Burkman’s like “waaaah!”)

Lotta news coming out in the wake of UFN 12. Let’s get to it…

— Nate Diaz was the big money-winner last night, doubling his $15,000 base salary with his submission victory. Patrick Cote was a close second with $28,000 (base x 2), while Mike Swick and Kurt Pellegrino came in third with $20,000 for their wins. The big loser was Joe Veres, who took a $3,000 beating from Corey Hill, although Justin Buchholz, Alberto Crane, and Michihiro Omigawa weren’t far behind. Complete figures are here.

— Eight fighters received medical suspensions after their UFN fights. Headliner Mike Swick received the longest suspension, as his effed-up right hand might sideline him until July 22. By comparison, Kurt Pellegrino’s grisly face-tear will only put him out of action until March 9.

— Following up his mea culpa speech after his decision victory, Mike Swick issued a formal apology to his fans begging forgiveness for his “lackluster” fight. As he explained:

Burkman is strong and I wanted to prove that I could resist his takedowns and strength. I wanted to stuff his takedowns while gassing him then pick him apart on the feet. By the time the 3rd round came I let it get so close that just one takedown could have seen me going home with a loss and so I was more tentitive than I should have been. I tried to look for the one punch knockout over using my usual combinations and flurries and deeply regret it now. Though I looked frail as some put it, I felt really strong at 170. My mistakes were mental.

— And finally, adding to an astoundingly packed card that already includes Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon, Stephan Bonnar vs. Matt Hamill, Karo Parisyan vs. Thiago Alves, Tommy Speer vs. Anthony Johnson, and Marcus Aurelio vs. Spencer Fisher [Ed. note: OMFG], the next UFC Fight Night may also include bouts between Clay Guida and Cage Rage vet Samy Schiavo, and Din Thomas vs. Josh Neer. UFN 13 goes down April 2 in Broomfield, CO, and will be the lead-in to the season premiere of The Ultimate Fighter 7. Let’s hope Dana White doesn’t decide to stick in an “Interim Something-Weight Championship” fight on the card and charge 45 bucks for it.

(Kurt Pellegrino proudly shows off his new battle wound, a hole where his teeth broke through his mouth.)

Well, at least it was free. Tonight’s Ultimate Fight Night broadcast was marked by two savagely boring three-rounders, including the main event, where Mike Swick avoided takedown attempts for 15 minutes en route to a decision victory. “Quick” it was not; if anything, the fight proved that the emaciated-looking Swick may have been a lot more powerful at 185. First, the quick results for the televised card:

(Lightweights) Nate Diaz def. Alvin Robinson via triangle choke submission at 3:39 of the first round
(Lightweights) Thiago Tavares def. Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision
(Middleweights) Patrick Cote def. Drew McFedries via TKO (punches) at 1:44 of the first round
(Lightweights) Kurt Pellegrino def. Alberto Crane via TKO (punches) at 1:55 of the second round
(Welterweights) Mike Swick def. Josh Burkman via majority decision

Full breakdowns after the jump…

See, when you first hear about a 6’4″ fighter who weighs 155 pounds, you’re like “Cool! What a freak!”

And then you actually see him at the weigh-in. Good Lord. Corey Hill looks like he’s been dead for six months. You could see most of his organs. All Joe Veres has to do tonight is kick him in the ribs and he’ll turn to dust and blow away. They had to take this photo five times because flies kept landing on Corey’s face. Skinny, is what I’m sayin’.

At an official 5’6″, Veres is giving up 10 inches to Hill during the UFN 12 undercard tonight, though you can’t really tell in this photo because Hill is sort of hunched over and Veres is wearing heels:

The UFC’s Ultimate Fight Night 12 goes down in Las Vegas tonight, and though our minds are too preoccupied with the matchups for UFN 13 to pay much attention to this one, Joanne from the MMA Girls cares enough to give her take on the four headlining fights that will be broadcast live on SpikeTV starting at 9 p.m. ET. In particular, she sees Mike “Quick” Swick coming out with a W in his welterweight debut, and Nate Diaz beating Alvin Robinson; we’ve learned not to doubt her Magic Eight-Ball and all-seeing/all-knowing teddy-bear, so we’ll go with those picks too. Watch the video, and if you need to throw in your $0.02, go for it.

CagePotato took part in the UFC press conference held today in advance of Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night. Headliners Mike “Quick” Swick and Josh “The People’s Warrior” Burkman answered questions from the press along with Patrick Cote and Drew McFedries.

A recap:

-Dana White “couldn’t make it”. Hangover or jet lag. Or both.

-Mike Swick was asked if he has concerns about dropping to welterweight: “Not really, I feel really good right now.” He hasn’t gotten down to this weight since 1997. His walk-around weight is 185. How’d he do it? Diet and exercise – who knew those two could help you lose weight?

-Patrick Cote has ADD.

-Game Day routine for Mike Swick: He starts focusing on the fight when he wakes up and really starts focusing on it when he leaves the locker room.

-Game Day routine for Patrick Cote: Sleeps late, hangs out and doesn’t get nervous. Secrets revealed!

-Game Day routine for Josh Burkman: Listens to his headphones and doesn’t think about the fight too much. Oh, and hanging out, of course.

Mike Swick picked up his fourth-straight UFC victory with this first-round submission of Joe Riggs at UFC 60 (5/27/06), and his second consecutive victory by guillotine-choke from the closed guard — a technique that would be dubbed the “Swickitine.” Swick’s next fight is against Josh “Yes, I Banged Arianny Celeste” Burkman at UFC Fight Night on 1/23.