(Check out the high kick from Tom at the end.  It sure freaked the cameraman out and shut his whole operation down. Props: MMA Videos.)

Yeah, that’s Tom Atencio in the camo trunks getting his scrap on against David Martinez back in 2005.  You have to like the intensity and aggression from t-shirt guy.  He is not afraid to come right after you, guns a-blazin’.  He went on the win this fight via decision and it cemented his place as the rare fight promoter who actually has the grapefruits to get in and fight.  But apparently the positive attention that’s been coming his way since he agreed to his second MMA fight has only emboldened him to get more proactive about painting Dana White as a total punk.  First he suggested that maybe Dana should try being an actual tough guy, rather than just talking like one.  And now he’s stopping just short of issuing a full-on challenge. 

(Always bringing his cock out at the most inappropriate moments.)

Here’s how badly Roy Jones Jr. wants to fight UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva: he’s willing to do it as an MMA bout, where his chances of losing are very, very good.  This, according to a new CBS Sports article in which UFC president Dana White admits that Jones has offered to fight Silva in the UFC Octagon under MMA rules, but White flatly refused:

"I could do it, make it huge, make money, but I could have done a fight like this when we were bleeding money [in the early 2000s]," White said. "The fight would make some money, but it hurts MMA in the long term. We don’t do that because we love the sport. That’s a Pride or K-1 matchup. It’s not what we do."

Honorable, right?  The UFC could make a ton of money on a Jones/Silva bout (regardless of what you think of Jones’ current appeal as a boxing pay-per-view draw, the sheer novelty of this fight alone would guarantee a better buy-rate than any other Anderson Silva bout in recent memory), but say they’re opting not to because it would be bad for the sport.  But how, exactly, does this hurt MMA as a whole?

(Tom wishes a motherf*cker would call him t-shirt guy to his face.)

Affliction VP Tom Atencio saw a rare opening to take a shot at UFC president Dana White during the press conference to promote “Ultimate Chaos” in Biloxi, Miss., and damned if he didn’t make the most of it.  Atencio’s entering into his second MMA bout against Randy Hedderick, who as far as we know does not run either an MMA organization or a t-shirt company.  And while it’s not exactly like fighting for a UFC title, Atencio points out that at least he’s got the balls to do it, unlike some other promoters:

"I’ve been seen in front of the cameras before as far as the business side, but it’s time to fight. I’m doing something Dana White won’t do and that’s fight. He talks like a fighter, so why doesn’t he fight? I’m stepping up to the plate and win, lose or draw I attempted it. I don’t ever think he would fight."

(And to think this all started with a colorful gi, some little shorts, and a dream.)

It looks like Combat Sambo tournaments might actually lead to career advancement opportunities, after all.  Blagoi Ivanov has signed a three-fight deal with Sengoku and will reportedly face former Pride fighter Kazuyuki Fujita in his first fight at Sengoku 9 in August.  Ivanov is the guy who made minor waves (more like ripples by the time they reached the U.S.) when he beat Fedor Emelianenko on points in the World Combat Sambo Championships last November.  Fujita’s claim to fame is that he once hit Fedor so hard it briefly stunned him.  Neither of these accomplishments is enough to make this a truly interesting fight, although Sengoku has got to take what they can get when it comes to heavyweights. 

(Guess who isn’t in this sport to just screw around?)

Strikeforce may have found their replacement for Kim “Future Ex Mrs.” Couture, and it’s an undefeated fighter who made her willingness to scrap known on the UG.  8-0 Sarah Kaufman said in a forum post that she’d step in to face Miesha Tate while Couture sorted out her personal issues, and Strikeforce may be taking her up on the offer.  They acquired her contract in the Pro Elite sale, and though the fight’s right around the corner on May 15 Kaufman has a real opportunity to turn the Couture family’s rumored marital strife into a big payoff for herself so why not?  Unlike Kim Couture, she may not have a recognizable name, but she does have more than two fights, so automatically this becomes more of a serious fight with her in it.  Those of you wondering what she can do should take a look after the jump.

(The hazy glow in this picture can only mean one thing: we’ve stumbled into one of Nick Diaz’s dream sequences again.)

Strikeforce’s June 6 show is already shaping up to be as good or better than their debut on Showtime earlier this month.  In addition to the Jake Shields vs. Robbie Lawler main event, they’ve gotten verbal agreements from Nick Diaz and Scott Smith to face each other in a 180-pound bout.  Apparently the extra weight felt good on Diaz as he smashed Frank Shamrock’s face all to hell, which is a good thing since he’ll be taking on a guy in Smith who can definitely take a shot.  

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Now we know the name of Kyle Maynard’s mystery opponent tonight: Bryan Fry.  He fights out of Baraboo, Wisconsin and is 0-2 as an amateur.  Normally there would be no reason for the MMA world to even be familiar with the existence of an 0-2 amateur fighter from Baraboo, Wisconsin.  But clearly this is not a normal situation.  Auburn Fight Night goes down tonight beginning at 8 pm EST, and you can watch it on the old internets via pay-per-view.

(Just when you’re hypnotized by the look of peace and harmony in his eyes, he whips around and lops your head clean off.)

Rising UFC heavyweight prospect Shane Carwin chose a nickname for himself, no thanks to you people.  After hundreds of suggestions from you and from members of his official fan community, Carwin went with “The Engineer” as his official nickname.  It makes sense, since he is actually an engineer, which you would know if you’d read Neal Taflinger’s awesome cover story on him in Fight! Magazine.  But since we thought you people had some decent ideas we wanted to get Carwin’s reaction to some of our favorites, just to see where the Potato Nation went wrong.  Here’s what he had to say.

A while back we told you that Kyle Maynard, the congenital amputee who wrestled at the University of Georgia, was planning to make his pro MMA debut at a small show in Alabama.  Well, that’s happening this weekend, and not everyone is happy about it.  Columnist Brad Zimanek for the Montgomery Advertiser refers to Maynard’s impending debut as “a freak show,” insisting that MMA fights are “basically no-holds barred combat” and the only people buying tickets to this thing are those who want to see “how badly Maynard gets beat up.”

Clearly, anyone who thinks Maynard’s fight is a freak show needs to watch Bob Sapp fight cartoon characters and learn what a real freak show looks like. Maynard may get beat up on Saturday night.  That’s a possibility, given that this is a fight he’s going into.  But isn’t that his choice to make?  There probably weren’t a lot of people who thought he could wrestle at the college level, but that didn’t mean college wrestling became a freak show the moment Maynard got on the mat.