(OH SNAP, THEY GOT THOSE ROPES THAT YOU WIGGLE UP AND DOWN?? I’M SO IN, SON. / Props: UFCgym)

Since the first UFC Gym opened in Concord, California, in January 2010, the branded fitness chain has expanded in slow, humble fashion — three more locations popped up in Cali, followed by the recently opened UFC Gym BJ Penn in Honolulu, and a Long Island outpost slated to open this spring. With the first wave now complete, it’s time for phase two of the invasion. Dana White confirmed today that the UFC has purchased the LA Boxing franchise, and will re-brand all of its gyms — more than 60 locations in 23 states — as UFC Gyms in the coming year.

“UFC Gyms has been huge for us,” said White. “It’s been an incredible, incredible business for us.”

Although the re-branding might increase the number of douchebags in your neighborhood who claim that they “train UFC,” this is a positive development for MMA awareness. Not only are the existing UFC Gyms massive (some up to 40,000+ square feet) and well-outfitted with the latest training equipment, they also feature a crapload of classes that help introduce members to the basics of MMA. For example, the class list for the Concord facility includes Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Boxing, Muay Thai, Judo, MMA Wrestling, San Shou, and “Hot Hula,” the art of mesmerizing an attacker with your gently swaying hips before savagely kicking them in the balls. Children welcome!

No, these are not legit MMA training camps, and they don’t promote themselves to be. But for MMA fans who just want to burn some calories and learn a few techniques, these places look pretty sweet. I can’t speak from personal experience, though, so if any of you have had good/bad experiences with UFC Gyms that you’d like to share, please drop ‘em in the comments section, or e-mail tips@cagepotato.com to protect your anonymity.

(Props: Ten Count)

Inspired by that punch-power machine Drago was lighting up in Rocky IV (seriously), Michael Williamson designed the Ten Count Bag to be a cutting-edge training tool for boxers and MMA fighters to analyze their striking power and frequency, and track their improvement. The tricked-out heavy-bag uses a bluetooth connection to transmit information to your computer, tablet, or cell phone, telling you how hard you hit, the average force of your strikes, and how many punches you throw per round, giving you hard data to compare your workouts over time; you can even compare your performance against other users online.

Williamson and his team are producing the Ten Count Bag independently — which ain’t cheap, as he explains in the video above — so he’s looking for some outside help to get his product to market. Here’s the link where you can donate money to his cause or pre-order one of the bags. And here’s what’s in it for you:

- Once the Ten Count Bag has raised $30,000, one CagePotato donor will be randomly selected to receive one of the bags. All you have to do is type the word “CagePotato” in the comments section of the Indiegogo page after you kick in some cash, and you’ll be entered to win.

- Everyone who pre-orders a bag (check out the $299 “Super Early Bird” level) before December 9th will receive a free pair of MMA gloves and a set of handwraps, compliments of CagePotato.

Once the Ten Count Bag hits market, Williamson plans to develop another product that will monitor concussions in combat sports — which could revolutionize training safety in MMA and boxing. (You wouldn’t need to be a Ph.D. candidate to know when to quit fighting, for example.) So give the video a look, donate or order if you can, and help an awesome new training product get off the ground — and possibly into your own home.

(Triangle defense sold separately.) 

We first caught a glimpse of the incredible human Whack-a-Mole style training device designed by Nexersys when Matt Serra took us on a tour of Chael Sonnen’s house in between trips to the deli to get some nice gabagool. Chael could not speak highly enough of the revolutionary piece of equipment, so much so that he recently decided to appear in an ad for the product. Sort of.

Basically, the “ad” is nothing more than the “Oregon Gangster” riffing on prison politics and how awesome he is for just under a minute. He not once mentions the product at hand, or even how it works, but that kind of frivolous information is best left for the puny-brained weaklings who think that a few push-ups a day will transform them into the next Ultimate Fighter. So goes the reasoning of Chael P. Sonnen.

Video after the jump. 

(The gold don’t come for free.)

By Elias Cepeda

Can you remember a time when the UFC has had more major injuries suffered by fighters in significant upcoming bouts at any other point than it has this spring? The heck if we can. So you can’t blame UFC President Dana White for being a little desperate to find answers as he and his matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby scramble to find replacement after replacement for televised bouts.

Here’s a brief rundown of some of the fighters who have pulled out of scheduled fights due to injury since last month:

- Chad Griggs from his fight with Phil Davis
- Yoshihiro Akiyama from his fight with Alves, and then Alves himself.
- Brian Stann from a fight with debuting Hector Lombard.
- Michael Bisping from his fight with Tim Boetsch.
- Thiago Silva from a scheduled bout with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
- Jon Fitch from his bout against Aaron Simpson.
- Vitor Belfort from his rematch with Wanderlei Silva.
- Jose Aldo from his title defense against Erik Koch.

White recently seemed to put the blame for such injuries on fighters sparring too hard against one another in training camp: “You have so many talented guys out there now all in the same camp, going at it like they’re fighting for the title. These guys need to tone it down in training a bit and stop hurting each other,” he said.

White’s anxiety over the recent rash of injuries is understandable but is he correct in diagnosing the cause? Are the majority of these injuries simply the result of training partners going too hard on each other? Or does Dana imploring fighters to “stop hurting each other,” make about as much sense as him telling fans who don’t have Fuel TV and have trouble watching UFC events to “figure that shit out”?

(Props: 2themaXmmaFitness)

Fedor Emelianenko‘s next fight against Pedro Rizzo is just two weeks away, and judging by this training video recently shot at the Vital Skills facility in the Netherlands, Fedor still prefers to work out under the sun. But unlike his previous outdoor training camp, where he swung hammers alongside Stary Oskol locals in bombed-out playgrounds, there’s a sense of organization and modernity to his current strength-and-conditioning drills, and his set of trainers — which include kickboxing legend Ernesto Hoost — don’t seem to give him any special treatment whtsoever. And just from a physical standpoint, it’s impressive that Fedor can still jump up onto a pair of stacked tractor tires with such ease.

It’s never too late in life to re-invent yourself, and the fact that Fedor is seeking out new environments to prepare for his fight suggest that he’s still taking his career seriously. I’m not saying that he’ll ever return to the top of the heavyweight food chain — but there might still be a lot of fight left in this dog.

By Anton Gurevich

One of the fighters testing his skills at UFC 146: Dos Santos vs. Overeem will be Jason “Mayhem” Miller, fighting the Octagon veteran C.B. Dollaway. Miller is undoubtedly one of the most colorful characters in MMA, entertaining audiences as the host of MTV’s Bully Beatdown, and as a coach on TUF 14. In his last fight, Miller was TKO’d by Michael “The Count” Bisping at the TUF 14 Finale, drawing fire from UFC President Dana White, who harshly criticized Miller for his performance. This time, Mayhem will look to prove his critics wrong.

LowKick.com photographer Scott Hirano was at Mark Munoz’s REIGN Training Center in Orange County, California, to deliver the following photo-report of Mayhem Miller’s preparations for Dollaway. Please make sure to follow Scott on Twitter @ScottHirano. Mayhem Monkeys can follow their leader @MayhemMiller.

Check out the rest of this gallery on Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com!

(Vitor’s shorts say “Jesus,” but his abs say “Nutella and banana on rye.”)

By Jonathan Shrager

Though he first landed on our radars as a competitor on TUF 7, fighter/trainer Mike Dolce has become much more famous for The Dolce Diet — the health and nutrition system he employs to help MMA stars hit their weight limits while retaining peak performance on fight-day. Fresh off his wizard-like guidance of Thiago Alves earlier this month, we decided to get the Living Lean author on the phone to find out exactly how he does it. Enjoy…

JONATHAN SHRAGER: Hi Mike, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. You are arguably the most renowned nutritionist in MMA nowadays.
MIKE DOLCE: Well, thank you. I prefer “performance coach” actually, but people often refer to me as a nutritionist because I’ve become synonymous with The Dolce Diet, so I understand why. I do quite a bit, including nutrition and Strength & Conditioning.

So who is the current crop of fighters that you’re working with?
Thiago Alves, of course, with whom I travelled to England. Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Jake Ellenberger, Jay Hieron, Mike Pyle, and I started working with Jorge Masvidal in advance of his Strikeforce lightweight title fight with Gilbert Melendez. Jorge is a great guy and a super-talented athlete.

I recently interviewed Jorge, and he confessed his love of junk food including McDonald’s. Have you ever caught him attempting to eat any junk food behind your back? Is his love for McDonald’s difficult to contain?
Haha! No, Jorge is very committed to performing at the top of his potential. He is so dedicated to his craft, there is nothing to pull him off course. But he did admit his love of McDonald’s to me and we agreed that would be his victory celebration.

Post-fight, do you allow your fighters a little leeway to have a week off and eat what they want? Do you yourself ever celebrate with the fighters by eating some greasy or sugary foods?
Yes, I employ a principle of earned meals, a concept established to allow athletes or individuals to enjoy a meal that may not be consistent with their goals. For my athletes, I usually give them until Wednesday after the fight to ignore my phone calls before we start dialing their lifestyle back in. The great thing about guys or girls who follow The Dolce Diet, is that they lose the old cravings for junk and instead just look for larger portions of what we’ve been eating all camp. After a fight, I’ll usually indulge in a burger or slice of pizza with the team, but that’s usually because we don’t leave the venue until after midnight and our options are limited.

Following his fight with Frank Mir, Dana White suggested that Roy Nelson should try to make 205 lbs in an attempt to rejuvenate himself and his career. Roy subsequently claimed that this would require him to lose a limb, but now he says he’ll try to do it if he gets enough Facebook fans. Would you be the man to help Roy shed the belly?

If you’re like most people, you neglect your legs when you go to the gym, preferring to focus on your GMs. Edson Barboza is not most people. The undefeated UFC lightweight — who returns at UFC 146 against Evan Dunham on May 26th — understands that it requires intense cultivation to turn your legs into tools of destruction. Fortunately, JiuJitsuMania.com has just released a video with Barboza’s strength and conditioning coach Joe Mullings that runs down his 45-minute leg routine. Follow these seven steps, and soon you’ll achieve the “suddenness” required to do this to somebody’s face. Here we go…

1. Deep squats with IronMind belt (5 sets of 12 reps), which looks uncomfortably similar to this.

2. Single-legged step-ups (5 sets of 12 reps)

3. 30-pound medicine ball 21′s (5 sets); a “21″ set consists of seven reps in the bottom half of the range of motion, seven reps in the top half of the range of motion, then seven reps of the full exercise.

The next hungry finalist in our Proving Ground competition is Andrew Carrillo, who sent us a two-part video package containing the closest thing to a celebrity endorsement we’ve seen so far. In part 1 (above), Andrew’s coaches and teammates talk about their experience training with him, and why the featherweight prospect would be a great fit in Shark Fights. Among the well-wishers is UFC veteran and Premier Combat Center co-owner Ryan Jensen, who had this to say:

“Andrew’s one of the hardest-working guys in the gym, he puts in 110% effort every single time, he’s always pushing the guys, and he’s always trying to help the guys that are less-talented than him learn as much as they can. He’s a huge asset to the gym, and I’m just glad he’s part of the team…He is a guy that came in to us with a lot of wrestling, he had a little bit of standup, and now he’s starting to really turn into a true mixed martial artist…Andrew deserves to win this contract because he’s put in the hard work, he’s in every single day, he gives 110, 120% every time he’s in, and he’s not gonna disappoint. He’s gonna bring it in the cage, and he’s gonna throw a good show for you guys and you’ll be impressed.”

After the jump: Part 2 of Carrillo’s finalist video, in which Andrew finally shows his face, and takes us through a rather intense-looking workout. Visit Andrew’s Proving Ground page to watch him kick ass in past fights, and click his Facebook “Like” button if you’d like to see him represent CagePotato.com at Shark Fights 19!

(Props: UFC)

Ahem. As you can see, Wanderlei Silva is hard at work at Kings MMA, preparing for his UFC 132 bout against Chris Leben with the kind of ferocity normally reserved for gay beer commercials. Man, Wandy and Shogun have so much fun together. The next time I host a barbecue, I’m going to make everybody play this game. Shirts off, gentlemen. Shirts the fuck off.

(“It took 47 seconds for your last sparring partner to piss his pants. Alistair, we can do better.”)

Tonight, Alistair Overeem will make his Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament debut, fighting the man who already defeated him back in PRIDE, “Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum. Overeem will step inside the Strikeforce cage as the K-1 2010 World Grand Prix Champion, DREAM Heavyweight Champion and of course Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion. One of the people standing behind the success of Alistair Overeem and other Team Golden Glory fighters is the coach Martijn “The Specialist” De Jong.

De Jong is a 2nd degree Black Belt in traditional Jiu-Jitsu, 1st degree Black Belt in Kyokushin Budokai and a 1st degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. “The Specialist” is also a president of Shooto Europe, ADCC Europe and the CEO of the successful United Glory MMA promotion.

We had an opportunity to speak to the legendary coach about his expectations from Alistair Overeem this weekend, Team Golden Glory and the state of Mixed Martial Arts and Kickboxing in The Netherlands.

Click here to read this article on Lowkick.blitzcorner.com

Our friends at MadeMan.com have followed up their “Win a Fight With One Punch” video with another tutorial from Legends MMA‘s Eddie Jackson. In this installment, Eddie shares some tips on how to take a punch, aided by crazy-eyed training partner Matt Horwich. Give it a look, and if you dig it, please subscribe to MadeManDotCom on YouTube.

With her long-awaited movie debut slated for an April release (pending re-shoots), could Gina Carano be preparing for a return to MMA competition? (Answer: Probably not.) Still, Xtreme Couture’s official blog posted these photos yesterday, with the following message: "Xtreme Couture would like to welcome back Gina Carano. Gina spent the morning training with Gil Martinez, here are a couple of shots from todays practice. We expect to see a lot more of Gina here training in 2011."

Read into that what you like. Scott Coker is surely psyched to see his old star back in the gym, but Gina could just be blowing off some steam between film gigs. Who knows? Considering that her last update on Facebook or Twitter was this one three months ago, it’s hard to get a sense of where her head’s at, other than the fact that she likes Kabuki makeup and is content to be a mysterious recluse for the time being.

(Props: KahL1One)

Not just a badass highlight reel editor and part-time cartoonist, Kahleem Poole has put a lot of effort into promoting New York’s MMA scene, which is often overlooked due to the bullshit political climate in this state. Here’s the latest installment of Kahl’s "MMA in NY" series, which focuses on Evolution Muay Thai and Ultimate Gym. Shameless plug time: Evolution is the gym where I (BG) personally train, so I was incredibly excited to see how well this episode turned out; it’s awesome to see folks like Brandon Levi, Rene Driefuss, and Angela Hill start to get the recognition they deserve. If you live in New York City and you’re interested in taking up Muay Thai or BJJ, you should really come by sometime and say hello…

("We train every aspect of MMA at this school — striking, grappling, conditioning, *and* pass coverage." Photo courtesy of sifuchowwingchun.com.)

By CagePotato contributor Chris Colemon

A new year is upon us, and for many of you disgusting fat bodies that means you’ve resolved to get into shape. For those who haven’t already thrown in the towel, you’ll want to make sure that your workouts are enjoyable, otherwise you won’t stick with it for the long haul. If you’ve ever beared witness to the fitness of the modern warrior, you may have noticed some pretty yoked dudes. Thanks to the variety of disciplines involved, MMA training provides an intense, well rounded workout.

The good news for you is that MMA gyms are popping up in every city, and whether you’re hoping to make a title run or simply looking to drop a few pounds, they’ve got a pair of board shorts in just your size. But before you sign up, be forewarned that not everyone you meet will be as likeable as your GSPs and your Jon Joneses. Here’s a quick rundown of who you may be sharing snorkels with at the gym. If you find yourself thinking, “There’s no one at my gym like that,” you may want to look again.

The Armchair Blackbelt: You learned all you needed to know about this guy when you saw him leaning on his bike in the parking lot. Today may be his first day at the gym, but he was watching the UFC before Brock was even champ, so do yourself a favor and go teach someone else how to slap on an armbar. He’ll play along and do these silly little drills for now, but after today’s performance he’s pretty sure the coach is going to want to move him out of the beginner’s class. He’s a ball of coiled, nervous energy, and the second he hits the mat he’s going for a gogoplata. Down the road he’ll make guest appearances at the gym, if only to tell you how he would have smashed his last opponent were it not for that nagging knee/back/skull injury that’s plagued him since he joined the team. Even when he doesn’t actually train, he’ll ask you to snag a picture of him fist-posing cageside so he can update his Facebook.

The Sadist: He burned his neighbor’s cat when he was nine and he’s been chasing that same high ever since; he’d all but given up when he stepped foot into an MMA gym for the first time and totally crippled someone. His inner beast has no leash, and the slightest suggestion that he isn’t the alpha male at the gym will set it loose. Training jiu jitsu? He’d sooner elbow you in the face than tap. Accidently butt heads while sparring? Here comes the body slam. There is no half-speed, there is no practicing technique. His only saving grace is that he’s found an outlet for his aggression. Without MMA, he’d be forced to unleash his wrath upon the unsuspecting public.

(Video courtesy of GSPRUSHFIT. Props to our bud Brian D’Souza for the tip.)

One way or another, we all want Georges St. Pierre‘s body. (*cough*) So it was just a matter of time until GSP recognized the opportunity and put together his own home workout DVD series with trainer Erik Owings — conveniently released in December to hook as many pudgy New Year’s resolution-makers as possible.

But St. Pierre’s new RUSHFIT series is no Situation-style cash-in. The eight-week, 45-minute-per-day program focuses on high-intensity circuit training, with a nutritional component to go along with the workouts. In other words, it actually looks like it would produce results, assuming you have the motivation to stick with it. (Full disclosure: You don’t.) And all you need is a couple of dumb-bells and your own ever-increasing bodyweight.

You can order the RUSHFIT DVD set at gsprushfit.com for $60-$70. After the jump: A couple more preview clips, and some crucial information from the website’s FAQ…

(Props: joerogandotnet)

Before UFC color-man Joe Rogan became a disciple of Eddie Bravo and 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu, he was a diehard Tae Kwon Do practitioner who won several championships as a black belt. He obviously keeps up with his training, because the dude can still throw a mean turning side kick (known as the "spinning back kick" to you laymen). Of course, this video raises more questions than it answers. For instance, will we eventually see a full series of instructional DVDs from the analyst/comedian? How long would Gus Johnson last in a cage-fight against Joe? What happened to the lizard?

(Leave it to the professionals, Andy…)

A couple weeks ago, I stumbled across a Bleacher Report article titled “The Top 10 Questions Every MMA Fighter Should Be Asked.” It was written by a teenage contributor named Dale De Souza who, at that point, had only done one interview with an MMA fighter, but still felt like he’d accumulated enough wisdom to put together a guide for aspiring MMA journalists. Isn’t that adorable? For the most part, De Souza’s question suggestions are pretty standard fare if you’re interviewing an up-and-comer that fans don’t know much about, and you don’t mind being unoriginal. (i.e., “How did you get into the sport?” “Which team are you training with in preparation for your next bout?” “Do you like to stand with your opponents or take them to the ground?”)

As the founding editor of CagePotato.com, I’ve been interviewing MMA fighters for nearly three years, and through trial and error, I’ve learned a lot about what not to ask during fighter interviews. Dale will learn this stuff in time, but to save him (and others like him) a lot of heartbreak, uncomfortable silences, and dull articles, I’ve put together a list of my own. Read on, and avoid these interview questions at all costs…

1. Will you choke me out?/Will you kick me in the leg?
Don’t do it. It’s been done, and you might end up in the hospital. You’ll have to find another way to make your name by humiliating yourself. (By the way, barfing on camera has also been done.)

2. What’s your gameplan for [opponent's name]?
As it turns out, very few fighters are willing to publicly reveal what they’re planning to do to their opponents, in specific detail; go figure. So don’t expect a satisfying response to this question. Most of the time, you’ll get some variation of “I’m just gonna focus on what I do best, and try to show everybody what I’m capable of.” Boooooooring.

(Props: XCMMA)

As he prepares for his July 3rd showdown with Shane Carwin, Brock Lesnar has joined forces with a somewhat unlikely ally — Randy Couture, who Lesnar wrecked in his first UFC title fight back in November 2008. The two heavyweight stars stayed friendly after their meeting in the Octagon, and Couture recently decided to head up to Alexandria, Minnesota, to train at Lesnar’s private Death Clutch training facility; you know, the one with all the badass tigers and jacked gladiators on the walls and shit.

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

The welterweight title fight between Georges St. Pierre and Dan Hardy headlines this month’s UFC 111 card (March 27th, Newark), and both fighters will be featured in a new three-part weekly UFC Primetime special which kicks off tonight at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Spike. The UFC hasn’t put together a Primetime show since January 2009, when BJ Penn vowed to go "to the death." Hardy probably won’t get that dramatic with his trash-talk, but he will be landing his shots:

Primetime gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the fighters’ training camps — from Hardy’s Rough House team in Nottingham to St. Pierre’s home base in Montreal — as well as their personal lives. To promote it, the UFC’s YouTube account has posted a very short clip of GSP jumping over a bar. Hmm. Well, I wasn’t planning on spending $45 to watch Georges beat the crap out of a +500 underdog, but now? Now you’ve got my attention.

(Props: LesnarMMA)

Like those helpful little video clips you sometimes see on Al-Jazeera or North Korean state television, Brock Lesnar‘s YouTube channel just put out some footage of a somewhat-healthy-looking Lesnar getting back into the swing of training, with the added claim that the formerly ailing UFC heavyweight champ is "ready to give Frank Mir another mauling, or to knock out Shane Carwin." Obviously he’s still in recovery mode — his punches and knees are thrown at a fraction of full strength, and this may be the first time we’ve seen him look fatigued in the gym — but at least he’s out of bed and heading in the right direction. Look closely at the 0:34 mark, and you’ll notice Chris Tuchscherer telling one of his campmates about this chick who just broke up with him over text message, that heartless bitch.

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog)

By Elias Cepeda for CagePotato.com

Despite putting together perhaps his most impressive win ever at UFC 107, a second round submission of Clay Guida, Kenny Florian isn’t taking a break just yet. In fact, the lightweight contender tells CagePotato that he wants to fight again within three months.

“I want to get back in there within the next few months. I want to fight every three to four months. That’s when I’m at my best, that’s how I stay healthy and sharp. That’s the best time frame for me,” he says.

Florian (12-4) has yet to get word from his UFC bosses as to what is next for him and when, but hopes to hear something shortly and assumes he’ll be a part of the UFC’s first event in the state of Massachusetts. Florian is a Massachusetts native and resident and after professional MMA became legal and regulated there late last month, an August UFC card in the Boston area has been strongly rumored.

“I have heard nothing from the UFC as of right now but I’m hoping in the next couple weeks to find out. Right now I’m sure they are planning something for me for Boston but I’d like to do something before that and then fight again then. I’m getting right back into training [today] and will be plugging away the next couple of weeks until I hear a date,” Florian says.

(Props: FightHype via MMA Fanhouse)

3:17-3:44:

Good to hear it, Tito. If you didn’t end up choking out that 145-pound woman we would have thought you were a pussy or something…

After the jump: Brock Lesnar endures the notoriously brutal strength and conditioning training at Athletic Performance Inc. in Minneapolis. This might be your only chance to see what Lesnar looks like when he’s completely broken down and exhausted. Brock’s post-workout nutrition plan? Burgers and waffle-fries, bitch.

(Props: cnovs13 via Moth2Flame)

When you watch this video of Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos going through some caveman-style training at Advanced Human Movement, you don’t see a woman who’s on the verge of calling for her mommy. Cyborg is a physical dynamo. Check out the 2:39 mark, where she repeatedly picks up her husband Evangelista with a bungee rope harnessed to her back. I don’t know if I could even do that once, and I outweigh Cyborg by a solid 20 pounds of stomach fat. It’s no wonder why the Brazilian is a betting favorite by as much as -200. Anybody plan on taking Gina Carano in this one?

After the jump: Fabricio Werdum gets in a workout at AHM. Werdum will be facing despicable cheater Mike Kyle on the undercard of "Carano vs. Cyborg."

(Props: ShoSports via BloodyElbow)

Yes, Gina Carano is training her ass off for her upcoming fight against Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos. In the above video, heartless strength and conditioning coach Norm Turner puts MMA’s golden girl through the ringer, pushing her dangerously close to the point of vomiting/calling for her mommy. Is Cyborg training this hard? Or is she just choking reporters, throwing around her husband, and relying on her genetic advantages to see her through? Whatever the case, workouts like these are ensuring that Carano will be ready for anything…

(Props: antiherolt)

The cameraman got a nice souvenir during this June 2005 scrap between Leonard Wilson and TUF 9 hopeful Ray Elbe. Watch as Wilson lands a ferocious spinning back kick at the 0:56 mark, then starts jackhammering until Elbe’s contact lens is blasted into the first row. Suck it, Teila Tuli’s tooth…

(Props: DreamPrideVictory)

In this excerpt from Lyoto Machida‘s "Karate for Mixed Martial Arts" instructional DVD set, the Dragon demonstrates one of the techniques that make him so elusive: the step-fake/counterpunch. Then, he shows us how to set up a knee-pick takedown after intercepting a jab. Order today, and receive a bonus DVD which covers eyebrow grooming and alternative nutrition.

(Props: flickr.com/photos/shosports via Fightlinker)

Showtime has posted a great set of photos (taken by the incomparable Esther Lin) of Gina Carano training for her upcoming Strikeforce fight against Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos — with a few shots of her just standing around looking hot. In the second to last pic, Randy Couture demonstrates the irresistable power of the jorts. You can check out the rest of the pics here.

(Props: MMA Fanhouse)

Dana White has been a busy little beaver during his New York media tour, promoting UFC 98 and 2009 Undisputed with a series of television and live appearances. Here are his video blogs from the last two days. Monday’s features the requisite Pinkberry visit, some fan meet-and-greet at a GameStop in Times Square, and Dana getting punked by a sidewalk chalk-artist at the very end. Yesterday, he did Opie and Anthony and ESPN First Take, pressed flesh at Nasdaq, and taught Jimmy Fallon how to punch. The vlog cuts off after that, but we’re guessing he went back to his hotel room, sat down in the bathtub, and cried for about a half-hour.

With his shot at DREAM’s middleweight title coming up on May 26th, it’s time for Jason Miller to take a break from bully beating and get down to business. This new documentary from AllElbows (with original music by Genghis Con) shows Miller haunted by his loss to Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza last June, and changing his training habits to ensure that things turn out differently during their rematch at DREAM.9. Is our little Mayhem growing up?

After the jump: Gina Carano — who took the #16 spot on Maxim’s Hot 100 list — teaches some goof how to fight, then beats the crap out of him.