It’s been over a year since we last gathered together our favorite MMA ring girls, female fighters, models, and TV hosts for an all-encompassing ranking of hotness. Since then, we’ve been introduced to many more beautiful women — while a few of the ladies we previously featured have slipped off our radars.

This year, we decided to leave the rankings in your hands. We’ve constructed a 16-seed bracket featuring 15 of our favorite MMA girls, and one “Wild Card.” (Think of it as a three-way play-in for the last spot. It’ll all make sense soon.) You can check out the opening bracket after the jump. Despite our great admiration for them, we’ve left out some women who don’t currently have an official connection to MMA — Rachelle Leah, Amber Nichole Miller, and Natasha Wicks, to name a few.

Voting for Pool A begins this Wednesday, and voting for Pool B begins this Friday. We’ll announce the round-of-16 results and kick off the quarterfinals next week. After that…well, we really haven’t thought that far ahead. But keep your eye on the site, and help us crown 2011′s Hottest Woman in MMA. Get excited, Potato Nation!

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Jade Bryce is a 26-year-old model from Austin, Texas, who has been recruited as a ring girl for Bellator’s fourth season. At 5’3″, Jade describes herself as a “travel size model,” but there’s a big heart in that compact frame — she donates part of her modeling income to the socially conscious non-profit organizations CRASH and Invisible Children. You can get to know Jade better on Facebook, her Model Mayhem page, and her modeling blog. Lots more pics of Jade Bryce are after the jump — including a lovely set of NSFW images that we’ve placed on a separate page for your safety.

(Special thanks to GirlsofMMA.net and MMACandy.com)

If you have a strange fetish for fingerless gloves, then buddy, today is your lucky day. After the jump, you’ll find 17 more photos of hot girls wearing four-ouncers. Enjoy…

Good news, perverts: Playboy legend Holly Madison will be taking another lap around the Octagon on New Year’s Day. UFC.com has revealed that the Girls Next Door/Holly’s World star will be returning as a guest Octagon Girl at UFC 125, for the first time since her head-turning appearance at UFC 100. UFC 125 will also see the official UFC debut of beloved WEC card-holder Brittney Palmer. (Damn, and just when I made a New Year’s resolution to not creepily stare at women so much. Ah well, there’s always 2012.) To see more of Miss Madison, check out our photo galleries at the links below…

- ‘Girl Next Door’ Holly Madison to Appear as Guest Octagon Girl at UFC 100
- Hot Potato: Holly Madison Steams Up UFC Magazine

UPDATE: Strikeforce has denied Craner’s story, and claims they have records of paying her for all her appearances and travel expenses.

Of all the ring girls that have come and gone in the employ of Strikeforce, Nicole Craner was one of the all-time greats. These days, the 29-year-old Idaho native holds cards for Shark Fights — which seems like a downgrade until you learn that Craner wasn’t getting paid at her old job. As she revealed on a recent episode of TUF Crap Radio:

“I think when you’re an organization like the UFC, they value their [Octagon] girls. They treat them well, they’re part of the family, and that’s something that I wanted to do with Strikeforce…With Strikeforce I can honestly say that I don’t think Scott Coker even knew my name. I don’t think he knew any of his ring girls’ names and I’ve never really talked about this before, but it came down to not getting paid; And for me, I treated it as a job and I put a lot of effort into it and when you’re not respected or valued enough, it makes you want to go somewhere else…

So I mean you can pay Frank Shamrock 340,000 dollars to lose but you can’t pay your ring girl 400 bucks?…There were promises made that we were going to do contracts and that we were going to travel and they had me host something that they said Josh Thomson and Cung Le would be hosting, but it was something that they didn’t host or never were going to host and I never got paid for it. So those kinds of things, to me, made me just quit. I felt that if I’m going to put passion into it and I’m going to go out there and put your name out there that I should at least be respected enough and valued as part of the company."

Damn, even the eye-candy’s taking shots at Strikeforce now. But when you consider that NFL cheerleaders make just $50-75 a game, you can’t really expect an MMA ring girl to be compensated with anything more than complimentary booty-shorts and an occasional wink from Mauro Ranallo. Of course, this is all just an excuse to run some more photos of Nicole. You can find those after the jump…

Now that Gina Carano is off chasing the Hollywood dream, Miesha Tate has the title of "Hottest Female MMA Fighter" pretty much locked up. She recently posted a new gallery of Brandon Olimpiada-shot photos on her Facebook page that proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Check out more highlights from the shoot after the jump…

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In a word: Niiiiiiiiiice. Foxy "Best of Pride" host Kenda Perez lent her talents to the Aug/Sept issue of UFC Magazine, which you can pick up on newsstands now. Follow Kenda on Twitter, and check out more great photos on her MySpace and Facebook pages.

When we last interviewed her two years ago, Joanne Spracklen of MMAGirls.net was an up-and-coming video-blogger known for her UFC predictions and jiu-jitsu tutorials, and CagePotato.com was just a struggling MMA blog with a very small audience. Now, Joanne rubs elbows with UFC stars, sponsors female fighters, and acts in movies, while CagePotato…well, not much has changed for us, actually. But after we featured her as one of the 12 Hottest Women in MMA last month, Joanne offered to answer a new set of questions, for old time’s sake.

In this brand-new video interview, Joanne tries to seduce her way into a higher placement on our Hottest Women list, discusses her "lurker" role in Never Back Down, explains why she’s never dated an MMA fighter, and does a pretty solid impression of a vapid L.A. resident. For more of Joanne, follow her on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter!

The UFC announced last night that Rachelle Leah — the former Octagon Girl, Playboy cover model, and 8th hottest woman in MMA — will be back at her old ring-girl gig for one night only at UFC 111, March 27th in Newark. No word yet on if she’s filling in for Arianny Celeste (#2) or Chandella Powell (unranked), or if it’ll be a threesome. In honor of this blessed occasion, here are some pics of Rachelle that we didn’t run the last time we featured her. Because there’s nothing more to tell you, and what else are we gonna do?

Between the ring girls, apparel models, television hosts, and the lady-fighters themselves, MMA is a damn fine sport to follow if you appreciate beautiful women. (And my God, do we ever.) So we figured, why not throw together our favorite females from all corners of the fight game and see how they stack up against each other? Enjoy the pics, and let us know how you’d rank ‘em in the comments section. And if you like this list, Digg it!

#12) MIESHA TATE

Hot Contender: Spending her high school years on the boys’ wrestling team gave Miesha Tate the grit she needed to fight in cages for a living. These days, "Takedown Tate" is one of the top-ten 135-pound female fighters in the world, and the combination of her nasty ground-and-pound and natural sex appeal has made her a rising star. You can see Miesha in action next month at Strikeforce Challengers 7 as she takes on Zoila Frausto. 

#11) LAURA CELESTE

Hot East Coast Girl: A native of Staten Island, Laura is a local legend among MMA fans in New York and New Jersey thanks to her ring-girl appearances for fight clubs like Ring of Combat and Asylum Fight League. As a professional hot chick, she has tremendous upside; let’s hope this exciting prospect gets her shot at the majors sooner rather than later.

Photo courtesy of Satio Photography via MMA Fight Girls. Two more great ones after the jump…

(Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

MMA Fanhouse has confirmed that Edith Labelle — you know, the large-chested Octagon Girl who’s not Arianny or Logan — won’t be holding round cards and blowing kisses to the camera during UFC broadcasts anymore. Her manager was quoted as saying "Something happened, but at this time, I can only confirm that Edith no longer works for the UFC." Considering the rumors that swirled around Amber Nichole Miller‘s departure, that "something" could be nothing, or that something could be something; feel free to speculate wildly in the comments section below. Edith will be officially replaced by Maxim Octagon Girl Search winner Natasha Wicks at UFC 101 tomorrow night in Philadelphia.

Edith Labelle (born June 30, 1982), aka Edith Larente, made her debut as a UFC Octagon Girl in November 2007, but was released by the company after falling ill at UFC 100 in July 2009. Hailing from Mont-Laurier, Quebec, Edith Labelle worked as a semi-nude model before joining the UFC, and was best known as "Anabelle" from FlashyBabes.com. Outside of her appearance in a low-budget sci-fi movie in 2009, we have no idea what Edith’s been up to since leaving the UFC.

Check out more hot MMA ring girls…
Brittney Palmer
Chandella Powell
Maria Kanellis

Alexia Lei is a prolific import model and former Strikeforce ring girl who now acts as the spokesmodel for KNOXX Performance Gear. She’s the result of Portuguese, Hawaiian, Chinese, Chamorro, Mexican and Colombian intermingling, and designs a clothing line for go-go dancers called Ambition. Be her friend at myspace.com/alexialei, and check out more of her pics after the jump…

For those of you who don’t follow E! reality shows, Holly Madison is a former Playboy model who bravely served as one of Hugh Hefner’s official girlfriends from 2001-2008, starred in the series The Girls Next Door, did a stint on Dancing With the Stars earlier this year, and now appears in the Planet Hollywood burlesque extravaganza Peepshow. She’s also a UFC fan who Dana White once described as "one of the sweetest, most genuine people you could ever meet." Most importantly, she’s an incredibly hot chick who will be adding star power and some much-needed blondeness to the Octagon Girl pit at UFC 100. As Holly posted recently on Twitter (props to MMA Mania for the tip):

Keep in mind that the UFC is still going to pluck one lucky lady out of obscurity during their Octagon Girl Search this Saturday, but we dig the "celebrity guest ring girl" angle. Could Mandy Moore be next? More pics of Ms. Madison are after the jump. Check out more of her work at HollyMadison.com, and be her eBuddy at MySpace.com/hollyewok.

Props to "buggs mcmulligan" for turning us on to Penny Mathis/Jennifer Perez, an Internet model who has done stellar work for the MMA apparel companies Take a Nap Fight Gear and Hitman Fight Gear, among other brands. Be her friend at MySpace.com/ThatsJenny, and check out more pictures after the jump…

(Props: MMA Worldwide via MMA Fanhouse)

Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos is a passionate, passionate woman. In fact, she’s so passionate that when the interviewer in the above video asks an innocent question about how long it would take her to choke out Gina Carano (skip to the 4:13 mark), Cyborg sinks in a rear-naked and squeezes until her male training partners have to drag her off. The interviewer eventually comes to, and when he sort of figures out what happened ("I was sleeping?"), he’s so terrified that he goes on record saying that Santos will beat Carano on August 15th. This is what Cris Cyborg does to non-biased journalists — she fucking ruins them.

After the jump: If Diego Sanchez thinks Clay Guida is just going to lay on him this Saturday, he’s "terribly confused"; Dana White says Brock Lesnar "could possibly be the best heavyweight in UFC history"; and our friend Joanne of the MMA Girls takes us through the heel hook.

(Props: Gina-Carano.org via TheGarv)

During their recent Maxim Hot 100 2009 Special, E! got Gina Carano to open up about her love of a good knockout, the infamous Yoko moment on Amercian Gladiators, as well as her appreciation for her own breasts (1:49-1:55). Anyway, thought you’d be interested. On a more serious note, Carano expects to formally sign with Strikeforce in the very near future, and will likely take on Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos in August.

With “Pride of a Champion” only five days away, it’s time to get in that Octagon mood again. To that end…

Dangerous Dan Henderson talks about his upcoming matchup with Anderson Silva and what he learned from his loss to Quentin Jackson:

(Parts 2-4 to this interview can be found here.)

Our platonic girl-buddy Joanne from the MMA Girls gives her rundown of 82′s fights. She’s calling it for Dan Henderson in a decision over Anderson Silva (partially on the basis of his clothing company’s name), Alessio Sakara over Chris Leben (based on women’s intuition), and Evan Tanner over Yushin Okami, but advises you not to bet money on her predictions.

— A new MMA rankings site called MMA Hitlist breaks down Pride of a Champion based on something called “Fighter Value.” According to their calculations, Anderson Silva will destroy Dan Henderson, while Koscheck and Arlovski will just barely come away with victories.

— “UFC 82 Countdown: Silva vs. Henderson” debuts tonight at 11 p.m. on SpikeTV, with replays next Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Or, you could just spring for DVR service like a civilized person.

— I’ll be flying out to Columbus on Saturday to attend the show. If you’ll be there too and you know of any afterparties with free booze, be a doll and let us know.

(Her best angle.)

The UFC’s relationship with upstart Octagon Girl “Edith Labelle” — a.k.a. Edith Larente, a.k.a. Anabelle — has been made official with a new photo-shoot on UFC.com. Check it out, if you’re into that sort of thing.

In other chick-news, MMA Girl Joanne has found a new companion to roll with. A series of videos posted to YouTube yesterday shows her and “Jenny” demonstrating some half-guard techniques. The first part is below, parts two and three are after the jump.

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.

If you’re a regular CagePotato reader, you probably know about our savage crush on Joanne of the MMA Girls, whose UFC prediction videos and girl-on-girl training clips never fail to make us feel light-headed. Well check this: We e-mailed Joanne a bunch of questions to get to know the girl behind the teddy-bear, and she was cool enough to answer them all in video form. You already know that she’s an ace when it comes to predicting fights — now get ready to learn about where she likes to party in Orlando, her hard times as a Domino’s Pizza order-taker, and what she would do to Angelina Jolie if given the chance. Come on…you know you want to click that play button.

Thanks again to Joanne and the MMA Girls crew! For more good stuff, check out:
MMAGirls.net — their official page
MySpace.com/panicpulse — be their “friend” and check out more pics of the girls
MMA Girls on Spike.com — the latest vids, all in one place

The supa-foxy Joanne of MMA Girls — star of the ever-popular “how to pass guard” video — has released a new video of her predictions for UFC 79:

Wow…I’d watch this girl predict the results of a dog show. (And yes, put me down for five of those adorable little teddy bears!) Still, I disagree with Joanne’s claim that the Hughes/GSP match will go the same as the last one. I don’t see Hughes getting caught with a head-kick again, and he’s been preparing for a fight for the better part of a year, while GSP took the match on a month’s notice. But yeah, Silva, Sokoudjou and Clementi do seem headed for victories (I’ve never seen Soa Palelei or Eddie “The Manic Hispanic” Sanchez fight, so I won’t make a call one way or the other). Any disagreements, take it up with the comments section…