(Garijo vs. Awad. Props: YouTube.com/BellatorMMA)

Swallowed up in the Strikeforce/WEC hype this weekend was Friday’s Bellator show, which was headlined by the finals of their featherweight tournament. Joe Soto, who had already run through Ben Greer and Wilson Reis to make it to the finals, completely dominated Yahir Reyes, beating him up with heavy ground-and-pound in the first round, then doing it some more in the second before sinking in a rear-naked choke. Soto earned $100,000 for the win, bringing his tournament total up to $175,000. Even more memorable than Soto’s win was the dogfight between Diego Garijo and Saad Awad, in which Garijo got rocked repeatedly with punches but managed to survive and choke out Awad with 15 seconds left in round one.

Also on the card, WEC vet Bryan Baker won a unanimous decision over IFL/UFC vet Matt Horwich, and Wilson Reis snuck off with a split decision victory over Roberto Vargas. Full results from the event can be found here; Bellator heads to Uncasville, Connecticut this Friday for their welterweight finals. The Soto/Reyes beating is after the jump.

(Props: Brian Rule)

You loved him in "Wandy Throws the Hooks" — now, noted MMA impressionist Anderson Silva is back with this tribute to Bruce Lee. You’ll be amazed at his mimicry of broken-English kung fu dubbing, and his classic towel-as-nunchaku routine will bring a tear to your eye. Buy your tickets today!

Strikeforce…How the Sausage is Made – Watch more Funny Videos

When I arrived at the Scottrade Center on Saturday, Gus Johnson and the Strikeforce crew were in the middle of going through a dry-run, testing the camera setups, production cues, and pyrotechnics, while a few of the fighters worked out their own bugs in the cage. So if you were ever curious to see what happens a couple hours before a big televised MMA show, check out the video above, in which random PAs stand in for Phil Baroni and Nick Diaz; apologies for the shakiness in the beginning. The centerpiece of this clip starts at the 0:30 mark: Brett Rogers was running through some sprawls when Kevin Randleman entered the cage and, as if on cue, an epic groove started blasting from the speakers. The Monster’s vibe was infectious, and by the 1:10 mark, the Strikeforce cage was the hottest dance club in St. Louis.

Strikeforce Press Conference Lighting Round – Watch more Funny Videos

Following the Strikeforce post-show press conference on Saturday night (which I’ll post highlights from later today, as well as some other goodies), I ran around the room interrogating as many fighters as I could before we were all kicked out of the Scottrade Center. The results are above: The Grim talks wall-punching, Gilbert Melendez talks redemption, Jake Shields rants about his hatred of Joe Riggs, and Nick Diaz says he wants an important opponent — like Georges St. Pierre. More to come…

(Props: MMA Scraps)

(Props: MMA Scraps)

What up, guys? I just got back from shooting some footage at the Strikeforce press conference, which I’ll be sharing with you on Monday. The basic gist of the Q+A session was: Joe Riggs and Scott Smith had to go to the hospital after their fights, Andrei Arlovski just didn’t feel like sticking around, Jake Shields has made up his mind that he’s not going to give Joe Riggs the time of day, Nick Diaz doesn’t consider Cung Le to be an important opponent, and Brett Rogers is just gonna keep doin’ work. (Direct quote.) Plus, Brett Rogers told me the secret to his KO power, I chatted with Gilbert Melendez about his preparation for his rematch with Josh Thomson, and Nick Diaz provided me with an exclusive rant. In the meantime, video of the Rogers/Arlovski knockout is above, and video of the Diaz/Smith scrap is after the jump. Talk soon…
 

Brock Lesnar is quickly becoming the hunting world’s most terrifying pitchman. First there was his battle-cry for Fusion Ammo, which resulted in the unfortunate death of training partner Chris Tuchscherer. Now there’s the above promo for Wildlife Research Center’s Scent Killer 99%, which vows to smash human odor just as well as Brock smashes heavy bags. We can’t help wondering if Lesnar simply yelling about the product was the most effective way to go. If Scent Killer really works, why not have Brock go through an hour-long workout, spray him down with the stuff when he’s done, then put him in an enclosed room with a blindfolded grizzly bear? I don’t hunt, but I feel I’d pick up a bottle of Scent Killer just out of respect.

After the jump, Brock has a special message for Dana White…

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

You can pretty much skip past the first nine minutes of Dana White’s latest WEC blog, in which DW talks to reporters, puts on a seatbelt for the first time in his life ("It doesn’t feel good!"), bitches about his schedule to Coach Rashad Evans, and talks charity with Al Bernstein. The real important stuff comes at the end, where we get a closer look at Dana White as a father. Basically, he treats his sons like he treats his employees — busting their little balls and putting the shock pen on them when they’re not paying attention. (There’s a great "David After Dentist" moment at 9:12, where one of his boys says "I hate that shock pen! It scares the crap outta me! It feels like I’m a dead man now!") Anyway, those kids will grow up to be very well-adjusted, I’m sure of it.

After the jump: With all the nuthugging we’ve been doing on Mike Brown lately, you may have forgotten that there’s another guy in the main event of Sunday’s WEC show. In this video feature, Urijah Faber talks about his motivation to get revenge on Brownie and his preparation for their rematch. As for this gameplan this time out? "I may try to catch him with that same elbow again," Faber says.

Props to MMA Fanhouse for turning us on to the new-ish feature on Wanderlei Silva’s YouTube channel called "Old School Video Series," in which the Axe Murderer tells the stories behind his early fights in Brazil before showing us the classic carnage. It’s kind of like a vale tudo version of VH1 Storytellers. Above is the first installment, in which a 20-year-old Wanderlei Silva enters his first eight-man tournament to earn money for his new daughter, and leaves with a broken hand, a broken nose, no prize money whatsoever — and his first knockout victory. After the jump: Wandy’s second fight against Marcelao Barbosa ends abruptly due to shoulder-injury, but at least he actually gets paid for it. By the way, if anybody can explain the weird sound effect that comes at the 2:18-2:19 mark of that vid, please, by all means. (Is it possible that he has his large intestine miked up?)

(Props: CageWriter)

How true, Sugar. Here’s more footage from yesterday’s TUF 10 media day, in which Rashad Evans talks about his loss to Lyoto Machida. Mentally, it seems that Evans was defeated before he even stepped into the cage at UFC 98. He says he wasn’t prepared to deal with the demands of being a champion; he was getting his ass kicked in practice and couldn’t do anything about it, and was even losing fights in his dreams. Then, Steve Cofield digs in that ass with a barb about how Rashad didn’t use his wrestling, and Rashad kinda sorta almost blames Greg Jackson for the loss (but not really).

He also says Forrest Griffin could give Machida problems, insists that the Dragon doesn’t really hit hard, and describes the bizarre sensation of being knocked out while fully awake. In case you were wondering, Sugar’s last words in the fight were "Man, you hit like a b—"

In this CageWriter video from an Ultimate Fighter media day held yesterday in Las Vegas, UFC prez Dana White gives a few more details about the signing of Kimbo Slice and his future with the organization. Notably, Dana repeats his assertion that Kimbo’s TUF contract will be the same as everybody else’s, but adds that it will be "a lot fucking different" if he actually wins the show. He refutes the theory that Kimbo will be protected in any way in the matchups or saved for the later episodes, and says that theoretically he could be picked first to fight. Also, Icey Mike is one of the smartest guys he’s met in this business, apparently.

After the jump: Quinton Jackson says he doesn’t trust his temper around Rashad Evans and hopes he can get through TUF 10 without going to jail. Plus, day 2 of Dana White’s WEC 41 blog, in which DW tries to get predictions on the Faber/Brown match from some of his fighters — like many casual MMA fans, Wanderlei Silva and Rampage aren’t even aware that it’s happening — then Dana tries one of those soul handshakes with Rashad and calls him "homey."

(Props: YouTube.com/TRIGGZINC via TheGarv)

When it was announced that Triggonomics brand-manager Frank Trigg was returning to the UFC after a four-year absence, we had a lot of questions — like who his first opponent would be, and when exactly he’d be fighting, and had he picked out his next weigh-in outfit yet. Well, we still don’t have specifics, but in this enlightening video blog recorded Sunday, Twinkle Toes tells us the following:

— He’d rather crash and burn against top-ranked opponents then face lesser-known guys, and he decided to return to the UFC because every top welterweight other than Jake Shields fights there.

Well that sure didn’t take long.  Less than twenty-four hours after we posted Joe Riggs’ comments about Phil Baroni’s past and possibly present steroid use, Baroni has fired back hard in an interview with Cage Writer’s Steve Cofield.  The steroid accusations make Baroni so mad that he comes back after his shower to talk more shit on Riggs, making an issue out of “Diesel’s” own history with drug use after saying that Riggs "crossed the line."  Combine that with the uncomfortable sexual remarks peppered throughout this video, and Baroni admitting that even he doesn’t know where his rants are going sometimes, and you have yourself just another fun day inside Xtreme Couture.

After the jump, Kimbo Slice makes his first appearance on a Dana White vlog, and we suddenly look like some real prescient motherfuckers up in this piece.

(Be sure to click the "HQ" button for higher quality.)

With my girlfriend and dog out of town this weekend, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands. So, I decided to eff around with iMovie and put together the above highlight reel of Kazushi Sakuraba‘s most brutal beatings. (Has there ever been a fighter whose victories were so beautiful and whose defeats were so ugly?) I’m no Genghis Con, and most of the footage was taken from low-quality YouTube clips to begin with, but let me know what you think, and if you have any Sakuraba fans in your life, please pass it along.

(BG)

(Courtesy of YouTube.com/BellatorMMA)

Though Hector Lombard drew most of the attention at Friday’s Bellator show, the night’s best stoppage belonged to Chad Leonhardt — great name for a fighter, by the way — who scored a YouTube-worthy first-round KO over Daniel Keenan. Watch as Leonhardt crushes Keenan with an overhand right, then puts him to sleep with a mouthpiece-ejecting knee to the face. Thanks, Chad. Bellator’s upcoming schedule is after the jump…

Ah, the freak show.  Where honest competition meets the insatiable human desire to see something weird, typically in Japan.  In light of the events at this week’s Dream "Super Hulk" tournament, we thought we’d take a look back and count down the ten craziest, most outlandish freak show fights in MMA history.  Some are bizarre enough to be fun.  Some are just horrible.  At least one is actually kind of good.  All are totally insane.  Enjoy.

#10: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Zuluzinho
Pride Shockwave 2005, 12/31/05

Zuluzinho (real name Wagner da Conceição Martins, which explains why he goes by Zuluzinho) got his shot at Fedor for two reasons: 1) he is the son of the now legendary Zulu, the Brazilian beast of a man who should be familiar to anyone who has seen “Choke,” and 2) because at 6’7” and nearly 400 pounds, he’s a big, scary-looking fat dude.  What he isn’t is quality competition for Fedor, and that’s why he got the fight on December 31.  Everyone knows Fedor loves to beat a freak’s ass to ring in the New Year, the bigger and freakier the better.  

Just in case there was any doubt that this was an almost criminal mismatch, Zuluzinho erased it by going down with the second punch thrown in the fight.  We like to think that as he was falling time slowed down like in the movies and Zuluzinho allowed himself to wonder just for a moment, ‘Is there a chance that the Pride matchmakers haven’t been taking me seriously?’

Shawn Tompkins talks Greenlighting – Watch more Funny Videos

There are two similar, but slightly different meanings for the term ‘greenlighting’ inside Xtreme Couture. Shawn Tompkins explains the kindler, gentler meaning in the above video. Basically, it’s when the pros spar and don’t hold back, which means somebody is probably getting knocked out. That’s pretty normal for an MMA gym, but there’s another meaning too.

When someone comes in to Xtreme Couture who isn’t a member of the team, someone who for one reason or another thinks he’s the baddest son of a bitch in a room full of bad sons of bitches, that’s when a different kind of greenlight might occur. It’s the kind that begins with the guy feeling like a certified grade A ass-kicker, and ends with him begging for the beating to stop. And who is the greenlight specialist down at Xtreme Couture? None other than Jay Hieron, who loves – absolutely loves – to put a hurting on big-talking newbies.

(Props: MMA Bloodbath)

If you were paying attention during UFC 98, you probably noticed that every time referee Yves Lavigne was introduced, he was booed as if the crowd just saw a video of him farting on sandwiches. No, it wasn’t leftover hate from the Brown/Sell fiasco — the crowd actually turned on him thanks to his controversial handling of the preliminary match between Kyle Bradley and TUF 8 lightweight finalist Phillipe Nover. Taking a look at the video above, we see the following…

If you sacrificed sleep to watch Dream.9 or even if you just read our liveblog, you already know what a completely predictable shit-show the “Super Hulk” tournament was.  For the rest of you, behold the glory.  Above is Jose Canseco vs. Hong Man Choi.  Please take note around the 1:30 mark when Michael Schiavello has the balls to call Jose Canseco’s performance up to that point “pretty cerebral.”  That’s the dude in the long pants who’s throwing overhand rights and then turning his back on his opponent that Schiavello is talking about.  Apparently all you have to do to be considered cerebral at the “Super Hulk” tournament is not swallow your tongue.  

More videos after the jump, including a fight between Bob Sapp and Minowaman that has ‘work’ written all over it.  Shocking, I know.

With "Evans vs. Machida" signaling the end of a five-week UFC drought, the anticipation and nervous energy runs high in this video-blog-recap of Wednesday and Thursday. President White is in good spirits, checking out the new, heavier version of the UFC championship belt, cruising around in the ultimate guidomobile, and torching some poor schmuck who had the misfortune of showing up in a paisley shirt. ("You and the Revolution have a good day. Say hi to Apollonia for me.") Later, he presses palms at Thursday’s press conference, and has a very cordial phone conversation with Chuck Liddell, who’s his usual lucid self. I hope you’re all re-hydrating, because it’s about to go down…

Lyoto Machida in Countdown to UFC 98 excerpt – Watch more Funny Videos

Last night’s Countdown to UFC 98 special on Spike put a lot of effort into selling Lyoto Machida as a star, running down his backstory and setting him up as a mysterious martial arts warrior with an ancient spirit. I just watched the first half, and decided to pull out a couple highlights for those of you who didn’t get a chance to see it. In the above clip, Lyoto explains exactly why Antonio Inoki slapped the shit out of him, and admits to the pressure that came with being set up as a bagman for Dana White during the Tito Ortiz mess. Also, he explains the historical precedent for his goal of never getting hit. 

Reminder: Our UFC 98 liveblog kicks off tomorrow night at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. We’d love to have you stop by.

(Props: GenghisCon)

Just as he did with Rashad Evans, Genghis Con has put together a short profile video of Lyoto Machida in advance of UFC 98′s light-heavyweight title fight. It’s a huge file, so get the video loading, then go make yourself a sandwich, then eat the sandwich, then come back and watch this thing. And set your DVRs for UFC 98′s Countdown show on Spike, which airs tonight at 11 p.m. ET/PT. Apparently, it makes Hughes look significantly more likable than Serra.

After the jump: Steve Cofield raps with Rashad about poor fighter hygiene and Lyoto’s pee-drinking habit. Evans kind of suggests that they should test Lyoto’s urine for urine; he also admits that he manscapes. Also: An uncomfortable shirtless interview with Matt Hughes.

(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.

(Props: Genghis Con)

In advance of Rashad Evans‘s title fight against Lyoto Machida at UFC 98, our man Genghis has put together this short profile video, covering Sugar’s greatest moments in the UFC. The subtle gunshot sound when Evans KOs Chuck Liddell is a great little touch. We’ve heard a lot from the Machida fans lately — anybody think Rashad goes home with his belt on Saturday?

After the jump, things get a little weird…

(Props: FightOpinion)

In the above excerpt from the UFC’s next Countdown show (which premieres Thursday at 11 p.m. on Spike TV), we get a closer look at Lyoto Machida‘s crazy father Yoshizo, and the grueling karate training he put his sons through. Am I the only one who wants to see how Yoshizo would do in a Seniors’ MMA league? Maybe throw him in the cage against Frank Mir’s dad…

After the jump: Video of the main event bout between former K-1 heavyweight champ Badr Hari and current K-1 super-heavyweight champ Semmy Schilt at Saturday’s "It’s Showtime 2009" kickboxing event in Amsterdam.

#7: Matt Hughes vs. Carlos Newton
UFC 34: 11/2/01

(The Newton slam comes at about the 0:52 mark.  Then there are others.)

We’ve sung the praises of Hughes’ signature slam before, but never was it more effective than when he used it to take the UFC welterweight championship away from Carlos Newton.  Hughes’s first line of defense against Newton’s triangle choke was to pick him up and walk him over to the fence, resting him atop the Octagon while he got a second to think things through.  When that didn’t help he dropped him straight down, sending Newton’s dreads a-flyin’ and knocking him out cold.  Hughes also seemed, shall we say, out of sorts after the slam.  He also seemed like the new UFC welterweight champ.  So there you go.

If you watched Dana White on ESPN “E:60” last night, you may be asking yourself, what happened to that hatchet job he was so convinced they were doing on him?  Turns out it was a pretty fair, though not all that groundbreaking a look at the UFC president, focusing on the evolution of the UFC and some of his more aggressive business strategies.  Here’s him going back and forth, yet again, with Tito Ortiz, in which Ortiz’s verbal dyslexia rises to the surface and Dana screws up the phrase ‘I couldn’t care less.’ (Dammit Dana, when you say ‘I could care less,’ you’re implying that you care and are thus using it to mean the exact opposite of what you intend.  Come on, you’re better than that.)

There’s more after the jump, including DW’s take on boxing, why he’s not a pro fighter himself, and the internet war with Loretta Hunt.

(Screw UFC Undisputed, Punch Out! is coming back, possibly with "The Wire’s" Sen. Clay Davis as Doc.  Now that’s good news.)

Xtreme Couture trainer Shawn Tompkins is done working with Wanderlei Silva.  He says they’re still friends, but told RawVegas.tv that he just couldn’t put up with “Brazilian time” any longer.  For those of you who may not be familiar with this phenomenon, Brazilian time is roughly forty-five minutes to an hour behind regular time.  More if an impromptu samba session breaks out.  Undeterred by the loss of Tompkins as a trainer, Silva is looking to hook up with former WEC middleweight champ Paulo Filho.  When you absolutely have to find someone weirder and less dependable than you, it’s hard to do much better than Paulo.

In other news…

WEC Champ Mike Brown Does Business Casual – Watch more Funny Videos

Last week yours truly was in Florida at American Top Team while on an assignment for Fight! Magazine, and I learned a number of interesting things about what goes on inside the walls of one of America’s best fight gyms.  For instance, here’s WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown getting suited up for another day of training and explaining why he wears business socks to work out in.  You can’t argue with his results, though that might be due more to his training partners than his attire.  The day before this interview was filmed I saw him in a heated sparring match with “JZ” Cavalcante that left both men bloodied before the action spilled out of the ring.  Needless to say, they train hard down at ATT.  Keep an eye out for more videos coming later this week.

(Props: MMA Opinion)

Is there any fighter who more closely resembles the animal for which he is nicknamed than Thiago "The Pitbull" Alves?  Just looking at his face makes me want to lock the door and call Animal Control.  He says in this video that he’s been working out at Wanderlei Silva’s new gym/daycare center in Las Vegas, and plans to return there the week before his title fight with Georges St. Pierre at UFC 100 to get his weight right.  Alves has had some weight issues in the past, and with a title fight he won’t get that extra pound allowance so he’d better be on point.  Something tells me that screwing up a title fight at UFC 100 would be a murderable offense in Dana White’s eyes.

Raw Vegas went by Xtreme Couture to talk with Kim Couture about her upcoming bout.  Am I the only one not buying it at all when she claims to be blissfully unaware of the criticism that suggests she’s only getting these opportunities because of who she’s married to?  Even if she doesn’t "go on the computer," the idea must have occurred to her that it’s not solely her 1-1 pro record that’s landing her on Strikeforce cards.  Whatever you think of Couture though, it’s nice to see a woman fighter slam "Cyborg" Santos’ woman trouble excuse.  It just doesn’t have the same force when we do it, for some reason.

After the jump, American Top Team boxing coach Howard Davis Jr. takes it to the gloves and shows us the hand speed.