(And he sticks the landing on the celebratory backflip! Props: notohous)

It looks like the end of the line for Jamie Varner. The former WEC lightweight champion fought in the main event of Friday night’s Titan Fighting Championships 20 show in Kansas City, and lost a unanimous decision to a 9-1 Nebraska-based prospect named Dakota Cochrane. Cochrane came into the fight on just three days’ notice, replacing Varner’s original opponent Alonzo Martinez — who was pulled from the fight due to legal troubles — and won all three rounds on all judges’ scorecards.

After the fight Varner tweeted, “I gave fighting another shot I need 2 thank u guys 4 ur support! But I just don’t have it anymore. Love u all but ull never c me fight again.” Shortly after, he deleted the message, so who knows. The loss increases (decreases?) Varner’s record to 1-1-4 over the last two years. No matter what the future holds, Varner can be secure in the fact that he was once responsible for the greatest victory dance in the history of MMA.

(Props: MARISAMONTE via Fabiano C. Obrigado, bro!)

My God this global superstar. Fresh off his stirring performance in that Burger King commercial, Anderson Silva has now popped up as the male lead in Marisa Monte‘s new music video for “Ainda Bem.” Monte is a multi-platinum-selling Brazilian pop singer who’s preparing to release her first album in five years. Anderson Silva is an unbeatable UFC champion who happens to be a very fine dancer.

(Eder Jones wins fight, loses pie-eating contest.)

This Friday marks the official start of Autumn, and like clockwork, I’m catching a goddamned cold. There’s something about the change of seasons that seems to wreck my immune system, which has grown frail due to a life of solitary blogging and poor hygeine. So as I chug my Airborne/orange juice cocktail, let’s all take inspiration in these six men, who were way worse-off than I am now, and still managed to kick ass.

GEORGES ST. PIERRE
vs. Thomas Denny @ UCC 12, 1/25/03

Method of victory: TKO (cut), 4:45 of round 2
In his own words: ”I took the fight and I was really sick. I was so sick, after the first round I thought I was going to fall unconscious. And I told my cornerman, I’m like, listen, when the second round will start I will try a high kick in the beginning and if I don’t knock out my opponent, I want you to throw the towel. My cornerman look up at me like this, he said ‘Georges, I don’t have a towel, you’re gonna die in the ring.’

And I got so angry, I was like, I can’t believe this guy, he’s supposed to be my friend, he wants me to die in the ring. So I stood up, I hear the [bell], I fought through it, and by some kind of miracle I was able to cut the guy and to TKO him and the referee stopped the fight. I was completely exhausted. That was my toughest fight.”

All 53 seconds of Jake Shields vs. Jake Ellenberger, from last night’s UFC Fight Night 25/Battle on the Bayou event. Check it out while it lasts.

(Steve Ramirez vs. Darvin Wattree @ Pure Combat IX. This is how you do it, folks.)

To turn somebody’s lights out with one shot is a thing of beauty — but to do it with the very first strike you land? That puts you on a whole ‘nother level of awesomeness. Our favorite first-punch MMA knockouts continue after the jump. Condolences to those brave, unfortunate souls who went through eight-week training camps just to get assed-out in less than 10 seconds.

(First-punch knockout, cheap-shot-style. The YouTube description tells us that these guys are cousins. Now that’s country.)

If Jordan Mein’s brutal finish of Evangelista “The Other Cyborg” Santos this past weekend showed us anything, it’s that the elbow strike is easily one of the most underutilized, not to mention plain deadly, tools in the MMA game. Now I know, I know, there are a couple people out there who will say that the lesson has already been taught, but the fact remains that until we witnessed it, many of us had all but ruled out the elbow as a means to finish a fight on the feet. Well, except for one really, really epic way, which I’m not sure counts. So with that in mind, let us take a look at some of the finer instances of the elbow in combat sports.

Jongsanan Fairtex v. Sakmongkol

Props to Geezer for the find, which features former Muay Thai phenom Anucha Chaiyasen a.k.a “Jongsanan Fairtex” and fellow fighter Sakmongkol. And before you go thinking “Jongsanan Fairtex” is some kind of “Kimbo Slice” style alternate persona, it is actually part of a tradition in Thailand to take the name of your camp. The match, which became known as “the elbow match”, was actually the fifth out of eight times that these two had met in the ring, and was nominated for fight of the decade. The devastating power of the elbow strike was first showcased in Muay Thai, its sharpness equated to that of a razor, and this match is perhaps one of the best examples of its effectiveness.

(Props: ShootMediaTV via MMAMania)

It’s such an overused MMA cliche that it’s bordering on CagePotato Ban status. But in this situation, we’ll allow it. Alistair Overeem and Brock Lesnar will be spending 25 minutes in the cage together on December 30th, and the former Strikeforce heavyweight champ tells Shoot Media that he doesn’t see the fight going to the judges:

“I’m going to do what I do best. I expect him to do what he does best. This fight is not going to go the distance, that’s one thing for certain. Someone is going to get beat up. I’m going to do my best to make sure it’s not me.”

Overeem probably didn’t expect his last match against Fabricio Werdum to go the distance either, but sometimes this weird sport will surprise you. Still, a brutal finish does seem like the most likely outcome here. And according to the oddsmakers, Overeem will probably be the guy to get it. Agree or disagree?

(Props: Zee2tehPee)

If Strikeforce gave out performance bonuses like their big brothers at the UFC, the “Barnett vs. Kharitonov“ prelim match between Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos and rising Canadian star Jordan Mein would be a front-runner for Fight of the Night. After two entertaining rounds of stand-up, Mein ended the match in the third frame with the nastiest display of standing elbows in MMA history. Seriously, that’s not an exaggeration. Skip to about the 1:45 mark and tell me I’m wrong — this might even give Anderson Silva vs. Tony Fryklund a run for its money. To see the first two rounds of the fight (and everything else from the prelims), swing by IronForgesIron.

Mein’s victory upped his career record to 23-7, and lengthened a win streak that includes victories over Joe Riggs, Josh Burkman, and Marius Zaromskis. He’s been fighting professionally since 2006, and he’s 21 years old. You do the math on that one.

After the jump: Another highly satisfying knockout from the Strikeforce prelims, this one involving former light-heavyweight champ Rafael Cavalcante and Olympic freestyle wrestling silver medalist (and Strikeforce first-timer) Yoel Romero. We set up the video to skip past the first ten minutes of Romero avoiding the fight and taunting Feijao at every opportunity; trust us, we’re doing you a favor. When Cavalcante finally catches up with his dick-headed opponent, it is so, so good.

(Props: shosports)

In case you missed the action on Saturday night. After the jump: Full videos of Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov and Daniel Cormier vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. Check ‘em out while they last…

From TheFightNerd:

“This Sunday marks the ten-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The way America looked at itself was altered immensely on that date, and a decade later the world is a very different place. Memories of panic and uncertainty are still present, but the urge to keep moving forward is even stronger. In remembrance of this anniversary, TheFightNerd.com, has released an exclusive short-film that commemorates this event alongside the New York MMA community. ‘A Fighting Spirit’ is a video memoir that interviews members of the NY martial arts community and discusses where they were when the Towers collapsed, how they have coped, and how New York and America have grown stronger.

Directed by Kahleem Poole-Tejada (director of the full-length documentary ‘New York MMA’) and produced by Matthew Kaplowitz (Editor-in-Chief of TheFightNerd.com) in association with Ranger Up, the film takes viewers around a tour of downtown Manhattan and provides a glimpse inside several of New York City’s top MMA gyms. It features many NY-based fighters, such as Renzo Gracie, Chris Weidman, Pete ‘Drago’ Sell, and Vitor ‘Shaolin’ Ribeiro, as well as Stephen Koepfer of NY Combat Sambo, Mark Yehia of ‘Elite Plus MMA,’ Rob Constance of ‘The Renzo Gracie Academy’ and President of the ‘Ultimate Absolute’ grappling tournament, and Emilio Novoa, President of ADCC North America. Also appearing is UFC middleweight fighter Jorge Rivera, as well as Strikeforce middleweight Tim Kennedy, who adds the voices of members of the U.S. Armed Forces to this emotional piece.”

As a New York resident since August 2002, the ten-year anniversary of 9/11 has put me in a reflective mood all week. Maybe you feel the same. If you have any recollections or tributes to share from that day, please leave them in the comments section. Here, I’ll start…

In the aftermath of yesterday’s bombshell that Nick Diaz was pulled from his UFC 137 main event fight against Georges St. Pierre, it still isn’t clear what kind of future Diaz has in the UFC. But one thing’s clear — he’s violated Dana White’s trust, and that’s generally not a good career move.

Check out the above video interview from MMA30, in which Dave Farra gets DW’s immediate reactions to Diaz’s press conference no-show. Ultimately, White felt that he couldn’t promote a fighter who was so undependable: “This kid’s not gonna show up in Vegas, didn’t show up in Toronto — what else isn’t he going to show up for? Is he not gonna show up for the fight? I’m not gonna risk that.”

At this point, Diaz would stuff his middle fingers in your face and claim that he has “never not showed up to a fight.” But that’s not entirely true. As MMAFighting reminds us, Diaz went M.I.A. for his pre-fight drug testing when he was scheduled to face Jay Hieron in a Strikeforce title bout back in August 2009, leading to that fight’s removal from “Carano vs. Cyborg“.

As for an apology from Nick, Dana isn’t holding his breath…

(Don’t feel bad, Todd — that’s still 18 more seconds than we would have lasted.)

After four years of whipping heavyweights around the world, Alistair Overeem has finally signed with the UFC, and will fight Brock Lesnar on December 30th. (*Pause for happy-dance*) Though Overeem has more submission victories on his MMA record than knockouts (19 compared to 14), the Demolition Man has become infamous for the destructive power of his fists and knees — which he’s also showcased to brutal effect during his parallel career in K-1. So in honor of his new gig as a UFC fighter, we decided to rank our ten favorite Alistair Overeem knockouts of all time. Enjoy, and let us know your personal favorite in the comments section…

#10: Alistair Overeem vs. Lee Tae-Hyun
DREAM.4, 6/15/08

Overeem got an easy draw for his DREAM debut — South Korean ssireum wrestler Lee Tae-Hyun, who came into the fight with a 1-1 MMA record. Thirty-six seconds later, Tae-Hyun had a 1-2 record and a fresh concussion.

#9: Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers
Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery, 5/15/10

In his first Strikeforce heavyweight title defense in two-and-a-half years, Overeem completely outclassed the Grim, ragdolling him just part the one-minute mark, then smashing Rogers with ground-and-pound until the challenger crumbled.

Warrior hits theaters this Friday, and as you already know, I thought it was a damn good time. Somehow, bjjireland was able to lurk behind the cameras during filming, and got some amazing footage of the movie-making process. For example, these behind-the-scenes videos highlight the fact that co-stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton did all their own stunts for the MMA fight scenes, and have the scars to prove it. Also, neither one of them is from the United States, and yet both of them did passable American accents, which is admirable in itself.

The never-before-seen footage continues after the jump, with director Gavin O’Connor helping his actors find their emotional motivation in the midst of a cage-fight. Very cool stuff.

(Anderson Silva is brought to tears by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s win at UFC 134. Props: Gesias)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- Dana White Still Open to Signing Alistair Overeem (NBC Sports MMA)

- Ryan Jimmo predicts a TKO against Sokoudjou at MFC 31 on Oct. 7 (MMA Mania)

- Exclusive Photos From Fight Rehearsals on “Warrior” Film (TheFightNerd)

- Postcards From Rio, Part III: Fight Night Musings From Beer-Soaked Press Row (MMA Fighting)

- Exclusive Interview With Cult MMA Documentarist Genghis Con (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Sanchez Says he Is a New Man and His Partying Days Are Over (MiddleEasy)

- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Won’t Retire, Says He’d Love to Fight Frank Mir Next (LowKick)

- ProElite 1 Fight Videos: Grove vs. Riggs, Arlovski vs. Lopez (5thRound)

- Dana White on Insensitive Comments & Gay Slurs Said by Fighters: “This Is the Fight Business, Man.” (FightOpinion)

- The UFC on Fox: It’s All About the Benjamins, Baby (MMA Convert)

- Strikeforce GP Semifinals Conference Call Highlights (Five Ounces of Pain)

- UFC 134 Rio – Payout Perspective (MMA Payout)

Nick Newell: 2011 CagePotato.com ‘Proving Ground’ Winner – Watch more Funny Videos

With less than two weeks until Nick Newell‘s fight against Jesse Zeugin at Shark Fights 19 (September 10th; Independence, MO), Break Media Creative Lab spent some time with Nick and put together this killer video profile. (Thanks guys!) The undefeated lightweight — and winner of our Proving Ground competition — discusses his competitive nature and the unique challenges he’s faced during his quest for MMA greatness. Check it out, and stay tuned for more exclusives from “Notorious” leading up to the fight. And as always…

- “Like” Nick Newell on Facebook
- Follow Nick Newell on Twitter
- “Like” Shark Fights on Facebook
- Follow Shark Fights on Twitter

And here we have UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva lip-synching to Minnie Riperton as part of his new endorsement deal with Burger King. The lack of business regulation in Brazil means that BK can legally sell five-patty Deathburgers there, and we totally believe that Silva eats those things all the time. The King is dead. Long live the King.

Semi-related: After the jump, MMA stars predict the winner of Silva vs. Okami in a new video from UFC Connected. Silva juuuuust sneaks by with 100% of the vote.

(Jake Salyer of Tulsa, Oklahoma, manages to pull off a double-armbar submission in his MMA debut. The Diet Butcher would be proud. Props: GorillaTacticsMMA via ‘Okwiseguy’)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- Lorenzo Fertitta: I Would Love to Do Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson at UFC on FOX (MMA Mania)

- Cain Velasquez Talks UFC 139 Title Fight, Jon Jones, Alistair Overeem, and Being a Father (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Going Streaking: Anderson Silva’s Record UFC Run on the Line at UFC 134 (NBC Sports MMA)

- Phil Baroni: Nobody Dry Humps the New York Bad Ass and Gets Away With It! (Exclusive Interview) (LowKick)

- ‘MiddleEasy/Whoa! TV Gym Expeditions’ Visits Birmingham, England (MiddleEasy)

- Felice Herrig on This Weekend’s Cancelled Fight and State of Women’s MMA (TheFightNerd)

- Royce Gracie Wants One More UFC Fight, but Ready to Move on Without It (MMA Fighting)

- “Strikeforce HW GP Semifinals” Official Trailer (5thRound)

- Josh Neer Headed Back to the UFC Against Keith Wisniewski in October (Five Ounces of Pain)

- “(UFC) Is the Only Sports Property That Is Pure and Works Literally Around the Entire World.” (FightOpinion)

- UFC Hopes to Be in Pre-Production on Australian Version of The Ultimate Fighter by the End of the Year (MMA Convert)

- FOX Deal May Be Just What New York Needs (MMA Payout)

(Props: TheBattlefieldFight via MiddleEasy)

And here we have Marcus ‘Lelo’ Aurelio scissor-kicking Jose Cornejo’s head in mid-air like he was trying to score the winning goal for Brazil. The stoppage came just 43 seconds into their meeting at Saturday’s Battlefield Fight League event in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. Fun fact: Lelo is the very same dude who pulled off that insane capoeira kick knockout against Keegan Marshall in 2009. Good lord, get this guy on TUF already.

(LOL, walk much?)

This Saturday, MMA’s greatest knockout artist returns against Yushin Okami in a rematch at UFC 134 — and I stress the word “artist.” Anderson Silva inflicts punishment on his opponents in ways that transcend combat sports, opening our eyes to the enormity of human possibility and the deeper meanings of the universe. In honor of his next fight, we decided to rank our ten favorite Anderson Silva knockouts of all time. Enjoy, and let us know your personal favorite in the comments section…

#10: Anderson Silva vs. Jorge Rivera
Cage Rage 11, 4/30/05

Silva’s first Cage Rage middleweight title defense — after outpointing Lee Murray for the belt the previous year — ended in a storm of knees. This would become a common theme in his subsequent UFC career.

Here’s another highlight from Karma’s Big Adventure at Bellator 48 — an 11-minute gab session with the boss himself, Bjorn Rebney. After telling us that he reads and likes CagePotato (!?), Rebney discusses the upcoming production improvements for future Bellator broadcasts, the state of women’s MMA in Bellator, the promotion’s relationship with MTV2, the ways that Bellator develops fighters, and more. Also, Jeff plugs our Proving Ground promotion, and vows to become the Bundini Brown of women’s MMA. More to come…

Here’s what happens when you give an eccentric amateur MMA fighter a Bellator 48 press credential and tell him to “just have fun out there.” Our man Jeff “KarmaAteMyCat” Watts was representing CagePotato in Uncasville, Connecticut this weekend, and came back with a ton of interviews with the show’s stars and supporting players. We’ll kick things off with his chat with the victorious Seth Petruzelli. Instead of going the predictable route and asking the Silverback what it felt like to ruin Ricco Rodriguez’s 12-fight win streak, Karma uncovers Petruzelli’s feelings about fedoras and traditional martial arts — as well as his most beep-worthy photo with Tom Lawlor. Lots more to come…

(Props: BellatorMMA)

So while we’re waiting on KarmaAteMyCat to deliver some videos from last night’s Bellator 48, let’s talk about the action, shall we? With all of the excitement from last night’s event, it only makes sense to start with Cole Konrad vs. Paul Buentello. Yes, they fought. Yes, Cole Konrad won in unspectacular fashion. Yes, we can now stop talking about this fight.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening was Pat Curran’s dramatic head kick knockout of former Sengoku champion Marlon Sandro. Despite being in trouble early on, Pat Curran kept his composure and unleashed a brutal roundhouse kick. With his victory, Pat Curran becomes the first fighter to win a Bellator tournament in two different weight classes. I’m not sure what I’m looking forward to more: Pat Curran’s inevitable clash with Joe Warren, or the confused look on his banker’s face when he tries to cash that oversized check.

(Please don’t bust on my shaky interviewing skills for this one; we can’t all be Helwani.)

While in Boston for CagePotato’s first (and last) UFC Fan Expo appearance, I had the opportunity to meet Nick Newell, an undefeated lightweight fighter from Massachusetts. After teaching me how to use my microphone, Newell discussed how he got into MMA, and the advantages and disadvantages of being a congenital amputee. The worst part about having one hand? Nobody wants to fight you. Here’s what he told us last year:

“The last five fights I’ve trained for, I’ve only gotten to do two of them, from people pulling out. Last time I was supposed to fight a guy and he never even showed up to weigh-ins. So it’s real hard for me to get fights. I’m not picky with who I fight, I’ll take whoever. And I feel like a lot of leagues are afraid to use me, because they don’t want to be labeled as a ‘freak show’ match. But it’s not like that at all. I train probably harder than anyone else, and I dedicate my life to this.”

For the five men who were actually brave enough to step into the cage with Nick in professional fights…well, they lost. Nick has finished all of his opponents in the first round, submitting the last four in under two minutes. And yet he still can’t find regular work in this sport — which is why a contract with Shark Fights would be so important for his career.

Visit Nick’s Proving Ground page to watch him demolish three of his past opponents, and click his Facebook “Like” button if you want to see him represent CagePotato.com at Shark Fights 19!

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!

After being selected as one of the four finalists for our Proving Ground competition with Shark Fights, featherweight prospect Jacob Austin decided to film a video shouting out the Potato Nation and giving us a glimpse into his life. So what do we learn about Jacob? Well…

- He comes from a wrestling background and has been competing in MMA professionally since 2008.

- You know his gym is legit because it has an ice bath.

- Tim Kennedy beats him up on a regular basis.

- His dog Lucy seems way healthier than my dog.

Visit Jacob’s Proving Ground page to watch some of his past fights, and click his Facebook “Like” button if you dig what you see.

(Props: king981)

Since Sunday night’s UFC on Versus 5 broadcast will be led off by Duane Ludwig‘s welterweight battle with Amir Sadollah — we’ll be liveblogging the action starting at 9 p.m. ET, by the way — we figured we’d look back at one of Bang’s classic knockouts that you might not have seen before. On January 25th, 2003, Ludwig (8-2) faced off with former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver (14-2-1) in Montreal for UCC’s vacant lightweight title. After vacating his UFC title the previous year, Pulver had won his first two fights outside of the organization and was looking to pick up another scalp and another belt. It didn’t quite work out like that.

About 12 seconds into the fight, Ludwig leveled Pulver with a massive right hand. Pulver managed to struggle to his feet, and Yves Lavigne broke the fighters after a brief clinch. From there it’s all Duane — a body shot, head kick, and a right-straight finisher that dropped Pulver and actually had him rolling out of the ring to avoid more damage. As the commentator puts it, ”Jens Pulver might be ‘Little Evil’, but Duane Ludwig is a shepherd for the devil.” The dramatic victory earned Ludwig a shot in the UFC, where he out-pointed Genki Sudo in his debut at UFC 42.

(Hardy vs. Barrow, 12/18/04)

Six months into his pro career, future UFC star Dan Hardy (2-2 at the time) met up with Aaron Barrow (3-2) at a Cage Warriors FC event in Sheffield, England. The first strike that Hardy throws — a left head kick — finds its mark and drops Barrow on the spot. Hardy machine-guns him from the top and it’s a wrap. And my, what an excited young man.

(Props: mmasavvy)

As a competitive judoka, Cali-bred Ronda Rousey earned a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics and a gold medal at the 2007 Pan Am Games. As a budding MMA fighter, she has won all five of her fights (2 pro, 3 amateur) by submission, all in less than a minute. Now training with Team Hayastan in Santa Monica, Rousey makes her Strikeforce debut tomorrow night at Strikeforce Challengers: Gurgel vs. Duarte in Las Vegas, where she’ll face Sarah D’Alelio. So yeah, it’s time for you to start paying attention to this woman.

As she explains in the above video, women’s MMA needs another visible competitor to fill the vacuum left by Gina Carano. (Uh, hello?) Even though people haven’t seen her standup yet, she feels she’s better than D’Alelio on the feet, and if their fight lasts more than a minute, hey, that’s cool too. Is another women’s MMA star about to be born? After the jump, a glimpse of the kind of ferocious ground-work that Ronda could be showing off tomorrow…

(Pat Promrangka savagely knocks out Mitch Heron at FightWorld Cup 9, Saturday night in Queensland, Australia. Props: Doombringer002)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- What’s Next for UFC 133 Winners and Losers? (NBC Sports MMA)

- Chael Sonnen Takes Unique Approach to Selling Brian Stann Fight (5thRound)

- Dana White Talks Shaquille O’Neal, GSP vs. Nick Diaz and ‘TUF 14′ (MMA Fighting)

- ‘The Ultimate Show’ Episode 3, Hosted by Kenda Perez (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- ONE FC: Phil Baroni Has Been Put on This Earth to Do Two Things…Chew Bubble Gum and Kick Ass (MMA Mania)

- Jon Jones Insists the “Jealous Snake” Rashad Evans Never Was His Friend (LowKick)

- Jens Pulver Returns to Action Against Ox Wheeler at “MMA Fight Pit: Genesis” (TheFightNerd)

- Check Out This Hi-Res Panel From the First Full-Length MMA Comic Book, ‘Joe Palooka’ (MiddleEasy)

- Randy Couture’s Next Movie: ‘Setup’ Trailer (MMA Convert)

- Thiago Alves: “I’ll Try to Knock Him Out or Submit All Opponents From Now On.” (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Dana White: “I Really Love to Stick It to the Fedor Fans Because They’re Such Lunatics” (FightOpinion)

- ESPN Reports Fox As New Front-Runner For UFC TV Deal (MMAPayout)

(Andrew Carrillo def. Charlie DuBray via TKO [arm accidentally snapped in half], 1:05 of round 1)

The latest entry in our “Proving Ground” competition is Andrew Carrillo, a 5-1 featherweight (all wins via stoppage) fighting out of Omaha, Nebraska. After first learning the MMA ropes from LC Davis — who was Carrillo’s assistant wrestling coach at Pratt Community College — his new interest in the sport led him to the Premier Combat Center in Omaha, where he has trained alongside UFC vets including Ryan Jensen, Jake Ellenberger, Houston Alexander, Jason Brilz, and Chad Reiner.

“My career is at a perfect turning point, and I would love nothing more than to represent CagePotato.com in Shark Fights on September 10th,” Carrillo tells us. “I have a baby due in two weeks, and this would be the perfect situation for me and my family-to-be. I’m hungry, baby!”

Check out all of our Proving Ground hopefuls right here, and be sure to follow Shark Fights on Facebook and Twitter.

After the jump: Andrew Carrillo submits David Kalani in an amateur bout last August, plus a highlight reel that Carrillo made just for us.