The tireless researchers at MMADecisions.com have just released a chart detailing every referee point-deduction in UFC history, for fights that went to decision. It’s a surprisingly short list, but it reveals some very interesting facts. We’ve screen-capped the chart above; click it to enlarge, and visit the “History of Point Deductions” page on MMADecisions to learn more about each individual fight.

Now, what does this chart tell us? Well…

1. In over 11 years of UFC events since 2001, only 22 points have been deducted during fights that went to the judges.

2. None of those point-deductions happened in 2003-2005, for some reason.

3. Herb Dean is the leading point-docker on the list with five points total. John McCarthy, Mario Yamasaki, and Steve Mazzagatti all trail him with four apiece.

4. Kicks to the groin lead the list of most-frequently penalized infractions (five deducted points total), with illegal upkicks to a downed opponent coming in second place (four deducted points). Eye pokes show up only once on the list. Still no love for the balls of the face.

(Props: MSN.FoxSports.com)

In case you missed the fights on Saturday, check out these UFC 158 highlight clips from FOX Sports, which recap Georges St-Pierre‘s steady domination of Nick Diaz, Johny Hendricks‘s three-round war against Carlos Condit, and Jake Ellenberger‘s savage first-round KO of Nate Marquardt. Hendricks and Condit both picked up $50,000 Fight of the Night bonuses for their performance, while Ellenberger took home the same amount for Knockout of the Night; there were no submissions on the card. Though GSP didn’t win any bonus-money this time, he did earn a new UFC record: Most title defenses for a welterweight champion (8), surpassing Matt Hughes‘s career total of 7.

The UFC 158 highlight videos continue after the jump…

(I don’t always get so excited about a fight that I quote Tito Ortiz, but when I do, I say July 4th…has come early. Photo courtesy of MMAMania)

GSP. Diaz. The Bell Centre in Montreal. That’s right, Potato Nation, it’s finally time for UFC 158. If I need to say literally anything else to get you excited about this card, there is no hope for you at this point. Please show yourself out quietly, and no, we don’t care how exciting you think spring league baseball nonsense is.

But Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz isn’t the only great welterweight fight we have to look forward to tonight. Elsewhere on the card, Johny Hendricks battles Carlos Condit, and Jake Ellenberger welcomes Nate Marquardt back to the big leagues. Plus: A middleweight tilt between Nick Ring and Chris Camozzi, as well as a lightweight bout between TUF finalists Mike Ricci and Colin Fletcher, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Handling tonight’s liveblog will be none other than Aaron Mandel, who will diligently record every punch, kick, and Stockton Heybuddy thrown in the cage after the jump, beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and toss your own observations into the comments section. Let’s do it…

(One day left to wait, folks. Just one day. Photo courtesy of MMAMania.)

The UFC 158 weigh-ins have just finished wrapping up from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. And since we’ve…you know, recently been inspired to cut through the bullshit for once in our lives, we’ll skip the bullshit introduction or whatever and get right to the bullshitty video and pampered, bullshit results, which await you after the jump. WHERE YOU AT, GEORGES?!

(“Yeah homie, I’m looking at your cup. Really? Seriously bro? You are super rich, you’re pampered, you’re in all the magazines AND you’re hung like a horse! This sh*t ain’t fair and I’m callin’ total bullsh*t bro!” Photo via CagedInsider.)

By Nathan Smith

I can’t believe I am about to type this: A Nick Diaz victory over Georges St. Pierre would be the best thing for the UFC Welterweight division. As an unabashed, almost stalkerish fanboy of GSP, I should not have to tell you how difficult that was to write. But God Damn, that was not easy to write.

With the exception of the 378 days that were the Matt Serra Era (or the Matt Serra Terror Era), GSP has ruled the welterweight division dating back to November of 2006. Let that sink in for just a second. Serra’s reign withstanding, St. Pierre has been the champ since Borat was in theaters and Justin Timberlake was on the top of the Billboard charts. Let me put it another way: In November of 2006, Tim “The Diet Machine” Sylvia was the Heavyweight Champion and Sean Sherk was the lightweight title holder. Are those guys even still alive? There is no way of knowing. Needless to say, St. Pierre has had a pretty damn good run thus far and it might be time for a temporary change of pace, even though he has been an excellent ambassador for the sport of MMA.

Some say that “Rush’s” style is the epitome of dominance while others say he is a lay-n-pray specialist. Is GSP careful to a fault in his fights? Probably, but he has only lost 2 of the 41 rounds he has fought during his current 10-fight win streak. That is fucking insane. Even the almighty Anderson Silva lost 5 rounds to Chael Sonnen in their two meetings, and Anderson Silva once beat Mars in a game of Risk. GSP is athletic as hell and imposes his will with technique and tremendous cardio, but for the very first time in his career, he is fighting a guy with a gas tank better than his own. Diaz is a machine (<– follow this link for immediate proof) when it comes to his cardio and frequently competes in triathlons, which makes him an absolute freak even when compared to that of his fellow athletes.

But this post isn’t about the stylistic differences between Diaz and St. Pierre. It isn’t a breakdown of the fight or a tale of the tape. It’s about the fact that a Nick Diaz victory on Saturday night would be the greatest thing the UFC could possibly ask for. Here are three scenarios explaining why. I’m going to go throw up.

(Click the photo for a full-size version. For previous Databombs, click here.)

By Reed Kuhn, @Fightnomics

With what some are calling the “Welterweight Card” at UFC 158 just a week away, it’s time to assess the UFC Welterweight Division in critical striking metrics. In addition to the long-awaited showdown between reigning champ Georges St. Pierre and Nick Diaz, there’s four more 170 pounders all in the title hunt. So a lot of questions will be answered in this division in one night, and it would help to put some of those in context first.

Let’s see how the whole division stacks up against each other, then look at the winners and losers in each category. A full explanation of the chart and variables is included at the bottom of this article.

The Winners

Sniper Award: Veteran Nate Marquardt makes his Octagon return at UFC 158 boasting a best in class 40% accuracy in power head striking. He’ll need it against southpaw Jake Ellenberger, who is pretty accurate himself at 32%. Honorable mention goes to the gritty Matt Brown who recently put his standup skills under the bright lights of the UFC on FOX show, knocking out Mike Swick, who is indeed “quick.”

(Oh yeah, this guy is headed over as well. Thank God for that.)

As we reported yesterday, Jorge Gurgel’s claim that the fighters who came up short at Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine would find themselves out of a UFC contract was not exactly truthful. KJ Noons, Kurt Holobaugh, and Anthony Smith, for example, all suffered defeats at the event and were ironically the first names to be mentioned in the Strikeforce/UFC…migration, I guess?

On last night’s edition of UFC Tonight, the full list of Strikeforce fighters who would be making the transition to the big leagues was announced, and suffice it to say, there were a couple rather puzzling omissions and inclusions. After the jump is that full list, along with our thoughts on who some of these gentlemen should face in their UFC debuts.

HEAVYWEIGHT 
-Daniel Cormier (11-0 MMA, 8-0 SF)

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT 
-Gegard Mousasi (33-3-2 MMA, 4-1-1 SF)
-Gian Villante (10-3 MMA, 3-2 SF)

(“OK, Josh, now act like this Nandor fellow was somehow able to land a punch on you. We’ll use it for the gag reel.”)

The Oklahoma Athletic Commission recently released the payout figures for Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine, and wouldn’t you know it, Heavyweight Grand Prix runner-up Josh Barnett was able to walk away with nearly a quarter of the total disclosed $1,153,500 payroll for less than three minutes of work. Also of note, Tarec Saffiedine collected approximately $2.50 for each kick he was able to land on Nate Marquardt, yet still wound up a grand shy of, you guessed it, Frank Stallone Nate Marquardt when all was said and done. Speaking of Marquardt, dude somehow didn’t even get a precautionary suspension despite exiting the arena on crutches with a leg that looked like it had stared at the Ark of the Covenant. We were able to secure an exclusive interview with his doctor earlier today, who smugly stated that “Leg kicks certainly do not end lives” before throwing a smoke bomb and disappearing from the room. A strange man indeed.

Anyway, check out the full list of salaries along with our thoughts after the jump. Per usual, these figures are absent of any locker room bonuses, sponsorship bonuses, or invitations to Scott Coker’s BBQ bash this weekend that any of the fighters may have received.

Tarec Saffiedine: $39,000 ($19,500 win bonus)
def. Nate Marquardt: $40,000

Daniel Cormier: $120,000 ($60,000 win bonus)
def. Dion Staring: $8,000

I’ll be completely honest: I didn’t watch Strikeforce’s farewell card live last night. I recorded it, and watched it when I was done watching football. Am I just that dedicated of a 49ers/Packers fan? Not quite; last night was the first time I watched either team play all season. Rather, my mentality was that I haven’t been changing my schedule to accommodate Strikeforce events for the past two years now [Author Note: Damn, was the buyout really two years ago already? Time flies when you're watching something die.], so why start now for the promotion’s grand finale.

Reading through the collection of Strikeforce tributes online, it’s obvious that I’m not the only one feeling this way. Articles and tweets about the demise of Strikeforce have been respectful, but not overly-sentimental, and the comments sections of various liveblogs covering the event didn’t exactly blow up for the occasion. There were none of the regrets, what-nows and what-could-have-beens that usually come along with failed business ventures – just a few awkward goodbyes as Zuffa prepared to pull the plug on the machine that no longer served any purpose.

And honestly, why would anyone other than Strikeforce’s employees, fighters and Scott Coker feel any differently? The death of Strikeforce doesn’t mark the end of a promotion that has been pumping out relevant fights for the past two years. It isn’t the death of an alternative option for fighters not wanting to sign with Zuffa. It isn’t the even the end of free MMA on basic cable.

I guess it would be different if this card was stacked with the fighters who made Strikeforce Strikeforce, such as Cung Le, Nick Diaz, Alistair Overeem, Ronda Rousey, Gilbert Melendez and Luke Rockhold, but they’ve either been assimilated into the UFC by now or they’ve pulled out of the event due to injury/apathy. Instead, this card served as one final night of squash fights – one of which actually ended differently than you may have expected.

(I know what you’re thinking: Why the hell did they leave Nandor Guelmino off the poster? Well I don’t mean to alarm you, but that bright shining ball of fire in the background *is* Nandor Guelmino.)

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the end of the world. Tonight’s last-ever Strikeforce event went from a championship triple-header to Squash City in a hurry, and it’s okay to feel depressed about it. (If you need somebody to talk to, call 1-888-BRO-TATO and one of our mental health professionals will be on the line shortly.)

On the main card this evening, Nate Marquardt puts his welterweight title on the line against Belgian standout Tarec Saffiedine, Daniel Cormier and Josh Barnett try not to shit the bed against their unheralded opponents, Gegard Mousasi returns from a long layoff to face Mike Kyle, and Ed Herman crosses the UFC/Strikeforce DMZ to bang with the always-dangerous Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.

Like a spirit guide leading us from one realm of existence to the next, Jim Genia will be sticking round-by-round results from the “Marquardt vs. Saffiedine” Showtime broadcast after the jump, beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Make your voices heard in the comments section, and please, let’s honor this moment.

(My God, Daniel Cormier is going to WRECK this dude.) 

Tomorrow night, the once great promotion known as Strikeforce will fade into obscurity, joining the ranks of such infinitely-inferior-yet-similarly-dissolved promotions as Affliction, EliteXC, and the oft forgotten Tank Abbott’s Backyard Brawlin’ Beergut Buddies.

So with their future careers on the line, make sure to swing by CagePotato at 5 p.m. EST to catch weigh-ins for all of the fighters participating at tomorrow’s Strikeforce: Pros vs. Joes event. Who knows? Maybe some of the randoms plucked from MMA obscurity will be too scared to show up, or piss themselves when they realize the huge mistake they’ve made. In either case, it should be fun.

(What makes Nandor so angry, you ask? Dirt. He *hates* dirt.) 

Thanks to a terrible yet completely expected slew of injuries, Strikeforce’s going away event has disintegrated from a once competitive night of title fights to a freakshow event on par with an end of the year JMMA card. Former top-contenders Josh Barnett and Pat Healy have been thrown opponents that redefine the phrase “high risk, low reward” and newly-crowned heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier has been booked against some dude with a chance of victory so slim that even he is pissed off by how little of a chance said dude has been given. It’s gotten so bad that the UFC has been forced to loan their middle-of-the-pack middleweights out to the very organization they have been purging, seemingly out of some twisted sense of empathy.

But if Jorge Gurgel’s assertion that the fighters who lose on Saturday will not be headed to the UFC is in fact true, one thing we will surely not witness this weekend is caution. So with that in mind, we threw together a little poll: Which (massive) underdog could most likely score an upset at ‘Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine?’ All the usual suspects are included in the survey that awaits you after the jump, so join us in a little harmless speculation, won’t you?

(“Oh, Georges, you couldn’t pull off a mean mug if you tried. Your eyes, they just have too much…soul in them.”)

You might not know this about the CagePotato writing staff, but not a one of us is a UFC-caliber fighter. Sure, Elias lays boots to asses every now and again and Goldstein once slapped Bas Rutten in public and lived to tell the tale, but none of us here at CP have ever had a situation arise where we forced to fight one of our fellow writers for the right to be called “King of the Mountain.” So maybe we’re not the correct sources to come to when discussing whether teammates in a given MMA camp should be more open to fighting one another or not. Then again, none of us (to my knowledge) have ever been busted for steroids before, yet we’re perfectly fine casting our respective opinions toward those who have, so here we go.

This whole “Fighter X won’t fight Teammate Y” nonsense is out of control. Rory MacDonald won’t fight GSP. Cain Velasquez won’t fight Daniel Cormier. Anderson Silva won’t fight anyone who doesn’t wear a kimono and firing range goggles 24/7. It’s getting ridiculous. Simply put, if you are unable to separate your personal life from your professional one in the fight game, then you probably shouldn’t be involved in the fight game. MMA is not a team sport, especially when a title shot and thousands of dollars are on the line.

Thankfully, guys like Dan Henderson are still around — old school, take-on-all-comers-even-if-that-means-fighting-at-heavyweight type guys who would fight their bedridden aunt for the last slice of pizza if she dared call dibs on it first. Ever since Hendo blew out his knee and was passed over for the next light heavyweight title shot by Chael Sonnen, things have been rather tense over at Team Quest, to the point that Hendo recently told FightersOnly that he would no doubt fight Sonnen now that he’s a LHW:

We’re friends, but above all we fight now in the same category and therefore have the same goal. We both compete for the same belt.

Read More ADD COMMENTS (17) DIGG THIS

(“Come on, you guys, give him a hand for trying.”)

If you were looking over the UFC 156 fight card and thinking to yourself “Hey, this card is almost too stacked. I could really use a lackluster fight to make a sandwich or go to the bathroom during,” well then do we have some great news for you. Now that Erick Silva has fallen victim to the great injury curse of 2012 (2013 status pending), it appears that Strikeforce welterweight Tyron Woodley has been called over to the UFC in his absence. As was the case with future highlight reel victim Lucas Martins, Woodley will be making his promotional debut on short notice against a much more experienced opponent. However, unlike Martins, Woodley actually finds himself in a matchup that he stands a good chance of winning.

Woodley will be squaring off against Jay Hieron, a Bellator/IFL/Strikeforce veteran who has simply not been able to put it together in the octagon, going 0 for 3 in the promotion thus far. After we hyped the hell out of his UFC return, Hieron put on an incredibly disappointing — not to mention tepid — performance against Jake Ellenberger at UFC on FX 5, resulting in a unanimous decision victory for the Omaha native. You guys remember that fight, right? Anyone? Who am I kidding, not even Hieron’s mom remembers that fight.

“You think that’s funny? This motherfucker on my left THINKS HE’S A WELTERWEIGHT!”

Finding someone who still gets excited about The Ultimate Fighter is a lot like watching a guy wearing a gi or a Luchador mask in a cage fight: It’s a throwback to the days when our sport was arguably more pure and definitely more innocent. It’s oddly refreshing, incredibly confusing and somewhat disturbing, all at the same time. It’s the type of encounter that you’ll look back on a few months from now and say something like “Remember when we went to that event in the middle of nowhere and they let a guy compete wearing a Psicosis mask?” (Come on, stranger things have happened) or “Remember that night at The Korova when we met that guy who was all about TUF Live?”

That being said, TUF 16 actually looks like it has some promise. At the very least, head coaches Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin should provide some entertaining antics and some original trash talk. The fact that the two were originally set to fight each other at UFC 125 is a nice touch, too. And earlier today, Shane Carwin told MMAJunkie.com that UFC Heavyweight and one of MMA’s most recognizable personalities Pat Barry will be a part of his TUF 16 coaching staff.

If anything else, Carwin and company should be able to revolutionize the TUF coaches ribbing, which, let’s face it, has become pretty stale, predictable and disturbing throughout the history of the show. Looking over the rest of his coaching staff, his fighters will have one hell of a coaching staff to learn from. They’re listed for you after the jump.

(We believe the words you’re looking for are Like a Boss. Props to Fightlinker for the gif.) 

Aside from bringing Tyron Woodley’s championship aspirations (not to mention his mother’s dramatic retelling of Big Momma’s House 4: The Skriekening) to a crashing halt, it turns out that Nate Marquardt’s brilliant standing elbow also did a fair share of damage to Woodley’s upper lip. To put it simply, the wound most closely resembles what would happen if you were to mix Ambien with PCP and attempt to dry shave in a Southwest airplane bathroom. During takeoff. With a flensing knife. Also, you’re blind. OK, so maybe that wasn’t as simple a description as it could have been, but you get the point.

Check out the nasty cut after the jump.

“And now there’s a tree in the woods involved? Geez, throw me some more curveballs, Dana!”

Judging by the activity in our liveblog’s comments section, there weren’t many of you who tuned in to last night’s Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy. Judging by the “advertising” that went into this event, which included Frank Shamrock’s acting chops and a last second plug on the UFC’s Facebook page (to which one of the comments with the most “likes” asked who the guys were in the main event that looked more like accountants than fighters), Zuffa is perfectly okay with this. And from the two – yes, two – reporters who even bothered to show up to the pre-event press conference, we have to admit that the ghost ship that has become Strikeforce is partially all of our faults.

It’s a shame that Strikeforce is getting the Bamboo Lounge treatment, but after the entertaining main card that those of us who watched were treated to, at least the promotion is fading into obscurity with dignity.

Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold earned a convincing unanimous decision over the formidable Tim Kennedy. He came forward with an aggressive striking attack throughout the fight, managing to stuff numerous takedown attempts as well. Granted, Kennedy never seemed like he was in danger of being knocked out or submitted, but that’s far more of a testament to how game Kennedy is than it is a criticism of Luke Rockhold.

(Luckily, Scott Coker was there to break the tension with one of his trademark sauerkraut farts. I’m sorry, I usually don’t go that lowbrow, but nobody’s reading this, right? / Props: Esther Lin/Showtime)

Here’s a quick list of things that people are more interested in than Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy, according to Google trends: Bastille Day. Chick-fil-A. Wayne Gretsky’s foxy daughter, Paulina Gretsky. Steam. Yes, steam, like vaporized water. Now, was all that just a cheap ploy to draw more search traffic to our liveblog? Sure. But you know what? These guys need all the attention they can get.

If you’re here with us tonight, we thank you and welcome you. Tonight, Strikeforce is presenting a title fight double-bill, with Luke Rockhold attempting to make his second middleweight belt-defense against Tim Kennedy, and Nate Marquardt and Tyron Woodley throwing down for the vacant 170-pound strap. Plus, Robbie Lawler welcomes Lorenz Larkin to the middleweight division, and Keith Jardine gets a third chance to earn a win in Strikeforce, this time against BJJ scion Roger Gracie.

We’ll be giving you round-by-round results from the Showtime main card starting at 10 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and feel free to discuss Gustav Klimt and Michael Clark Duncan’s heart-attack in the comments section.

(In honor of MMAInsidetheCage‘s 100th episode, they put together their 100 favorite knockouts featured on the show. Incredible.)

- Forrest Griffin: ‘Tito [Ortiz] Was Jon Jones Before There Was A Jon Jones’ (Fightline)

- After Nearly Losing Toe In Training Injury, Tim Kennedy Set for Second Crack at Belt (MMAFighting)

- Rashad Evans Willing to Drop to 185 Pounds for Fight With Anderson Silva (FiveOuncesofPain)

- Ronda Rousey Featured Nude in ESPN Body Issue (HeavyMMA)

- Ahead of Title Shot, Strikeforce’s Nate Marquardt Says He Feels Great Without TRT (MMAJunkie)

- Melvin Guillard Exclusive: A Man Living in Memory of His Father (BleacherReport/MMA)

- Video: Chuck Norris Imports Gracie Family in 1988 to Train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
(MMAMania)

- ‘Ted’ Star Mark Wahlberg is Greater Than the Sum of His Parts (MensFitness)

- The Man’s Guide to Survival in a Post-Apocalyptic World (DoubleViking)

- 6 People Who Will Ruin Your 4th of July Party (HolyTaco)

- An In-Depth Profile of a Lady Who Makes Fart Fetish Videos (FilmDrunk)

- Hey, Have You Seen That Video of the Bulgarian Sprinter’s Leg Shattering? (Break.com)

(Props: MMAFightingonSBN)

In a new interview on MMA Fighting’s “The MMA Hour,” Nate Marquardt revealed that he has discontinued the testosterone replacement therapy that led to his dismissal from the UFC last June. Marquardt started TRT in 2010 to treat low testosterone-production which left him feeling sluggish, irritable, and forgetful, but recently decided that the hassle ain’t worth it. As Marquardt explained to Ariel Helwani:

“I didn’t know if I was going to be able to fulfill my dreams going that route. I just feel it was so much of a hassle and stress with the commissions and all that, I guess, that the right thing for me to do right now is to choose not to do it. And you know, definitely I’ve pursued a lot of other stuff to try to help my health and a lot of it’s helping. I feel great right now. I’m in really good shape, and that’s not something I’m worried about right now.”

As Mike Chiappetta points out, “Marquardt leaving the treatment behind is no small story, as there is much literature that suggests that TRT, once taken, is to be used for a lifetime.” Meaning that Nate’s decision to discontinue treatment could actually be detrimental to his health — assuming he ever needed it in the first place. (The way that MMA fighters have been casually jumping on and off hormone therapy certainly doesn’t improve TRT’s reputation as a cheap route to a competitive advantage.) Still, Marquardt says he’s in great shape without the extra testosterone boost, and will prove it as he drops to welterweight for the first time to battle Tyron Woodley for Strikeforce’s vacant welterweight title on July 14th in Portland, Oregon:

(Pictured above: The REAL reason Nate Marquardt got fired.) 

When taking a look at Nate Marquardt‘s Sherdog profile, we were kind of shocked to find that it has only been a little over a year since he last fought. Perhaps it was a result of his repeated delays when signed under the BAMMA banner some 6 months ago, but it feels like it has been a long time since we’ve seen the one-time UFC middleweight title contender in action. Like Gina Carano long.

And go figure, it all began with TRT. Because it always begins with TRT. After going 2-2 in his last four UFC fights, including a most recent UD win over Dan Miller at UFC 128, Marquardt was expected to make his welterweight debut against Rick Story at the main event of UFC Live 4. Things took a turn for the worse, however, when he was pulled from the card at the last minute for elevated testosterone levels. He was subsequently ousted by the UFC and replaced by Charlie Brenneman, who went on to score the upset over Story and completely derail his hype train.

News broke in February that Marquardt had signed with Strikeforce and was expected to face Tyron Woodley. No date was set for his ever-elusive welterweight debut, likely due to the fact that the Strikeforce website developers hadn’t yet learned how to spell Marquardt and couldn’t afford to scan the Word document twice.

Well, ladies and gents, a date has finally been set for the return of “The Great.”

(Apparently, some fighters thought that LL was the singer of ‘Macarena.’)

With the growing popularity of the sport of mixed martial arts, it’s surprising that we haven’t seen more fighters in music videos. Maybe MTV just isn’t ready for cauliflower ear.

At any rate, there have been a few fighters who have appeared in a handful of videos.

Check out some of our favorites after the jump.

And it was here, in this blighted place, that Strikeforce learned to live again… (Props: FoxSports.com)

The fact that a Strikeforce aftermath is being broken down into two separate posts is probably confusing most of our longtime readers, considering we’ve had so little to say about the organization leading up to last night’s Strikeforce card. Ever since Zuffa’s acquisition of the organization, our post-event recaps have focused on Strikeforce’s lack of a direction, now-meaningless titles and ever-diminishing roster. The organization clearly wasn’t going anywhere (i.e. going under), yet it also, well, wasn’t going anywhere (i.e. it wasn’t planning future growth). Yet last night, for the first time in a while, Strikeforce looked like an organization that could consistently provide MMA fans with intriguing, relevant matchups.

After all of the hype that Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate managed to create for last night’s bout, the ending could not have possibly gone better for Strikeforce. Exciting fight? Check. Dramatic finish? Check. And most importantly, Sarah Kaufman’s victory over Alexis Davis on the undercard established a clear challenger for the new champion who actually stands a chance at beating the champion. The biggest problem with Strikeforce’s title fights as of late has been the fact that the champions are simply too much better than anyone that Strikeforce can match them up with (Rockhold vs. Jardine, anyone?). While Rousey continued to look phenomenal in her short MMA career last night, former champion Sarah Kaufman provides another intriguing matchup for her. Back to back championship fights in a Strikeforce weight class that will pit the champion against a formidable opponent who is coming off of a victory: Now that’s encouraging.

(Snot rocket, five points.)

Eight months after being fired by the UFC for elevated testosterone levels before a scheduled match with Rick Story, Nate Marquardt is back under the Zuffa umbrella. The former UFC middleweight contender has signed with Strikeforce, where he is expected to make his long-delayed welterweight debut later this year. UFC president Dana White confirmed the news on last night’s edition of UFC Tonight on FUEL.

MMA Junkie adds that Marquardt’s first opponent in Strikeforce could be undefeated (though occasionally boring) 170-pound contender Tyron Woodley, who holds victories over Jordan Mein, Paul Daley, and Andre Galvao; verbal agreements are reportedly in place for the matchup. With the Strikeforce welterweight title still vacant, a Marquardt vs. Woodley match could have great significance to the promotion. Could this be Nate’s first step back to the Octagon? Or does Woodley pull a Chael and out-wrestle Marquardt for three rounds?

(“…so yeah, I’d say I’ve been pretty smart with my money.” Photo via CombatLifestyle)

After a December meeting with Paul Daley failed to come together, former UFC contender Nate Marquardt has been re-booked at BAMMA 9 (February 11th, LG Arena; Birmingham, England) against welterweight Yoshiyuki Yoshida. The promotion confirmed the news today. Said BAMMA CEO David Green:

“We are very excited to announce what we believe to be a great headline fight for the fans at BAMMA 9 for the World Welterweight Title. Yoshiyuki Yoshida is a UFC, Bellator, and One FC veteran who comes with notable wins over the likes of Dan Hardy, War Machine and Phil Baroni. Both Yoshiyuki and Nate are very excited about fighting at BAMMA 9 and although we had planned for Nate’s first fight to be in December, we believe it is worth waiting a further 8 weeks for such a great match up.”

(Video courtesy of YouTube/MMAWeekly)

- Aaron Rodgers is the best at photobombing (WithLeather)

- CP contributor Brian D’Souza talks about why GSP has gotten boring to watch (Fan960)

- Marquardt on Daley, Free Agency and BAMMA (BleacherReport)

- Real life superhero and amateur MMA fighter appeared in court this week (Complex)

- ProElite readies for second life (SportsIllustrated)

- Ex Showtime honcho, Hershman heads to HBO (MMAPayout)

-My First Fight: Rich Franklin  (MMAFighting)

- LeBron James to the NFL? (TheBigLead)

- 12 photos of sexy zombie women (MTVClutch)

- Candace Swanepool in Victoria’s Secret lingerie because it’s Friday (Guyism)

- Approaching different “types” (Bullz-Eye)

- Torrentfreak’s top 10 most downloaded movies of all time (Filmdrunk)

- Looney Tunes: the porn audition script (HolyTaco)

- Hilarious comedian Fred Durst gets sitcom on CBS (ScreenJunkies)

- How to cozy up the man cave (MadeMan)

- Little kid loves Iron Maiden (TuVez)

- Dangerous ‘how-to” by a terrible electrician (Break)

“Cut to 170? In how long? Like we don’t already know how this will end.”

When former UFC middleweight Nate Marquardt initially signed with BAMMA, most of us wondered who, aside from Paul Daley, Marquardt could fight in the organization. Nate Marquardt is currently set to make his BAMMA debut at BAMMA 8 on December 10 in Nottingham, England. While Nate has been busy vying for a fight with Paul Daley, it is starting to look like this fight may not happen. At least not any time this year.

Earlier this week, Paul Daley took to his website, stating, “I’m sorry to announce that I will not be fighting on the BAMMA 8 card in Nottingham on 10th December. Details as to why I will not be appearing on this card will remain undisclosed. I was most definitely looking forward to competing in front of my home town crowd, and was positive the event would have gone down in, not only Nottingham’s prestigious fighting history, but in UK MMA history as well… The rumours of a possible matchup between myself and Nate are now extremely unlikely to happen.”

(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.)

(The UFC is calling this ‘a potential Fight of the Night’)

A welterweight scrap between Martin Kampmann and Rick Story has been added to UFC 139, which is scheduled for November 19 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.

The UFC announced the bout Wednesday.

(Deja vu all over again all over again: Frankie and Gray strike a familiar pose at the UFC 136 press conference. Photo via MMAMania)

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…

- Nate Marquardt Calls BJ Penn a Cry Baby Idiot Pothead (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- ‘UFC 136: Edgar vs Maynard 3′ Conference Call Highlights (MMA Mania)

- Shawn Tompkins’ Sudden Death Leaves ‘Huge Void’ in Las Vegas Fight Scene (MMA Fighting)

- ‘UFC Undisputed 3′ Gameplay Trailer (LowKick)

- Fight Nerd Cinema: South Korea’s ‘Champion’ Movie Review (TheFightNerd)

- Underrated Joseph Benavidez Awaits Another Shot (NBC Sports MMA)

- Dana White: Yushin Okami is Best Fighter to Ever Come From Japan (5thRound)

- Start This Morning Off by Watching Skinny Kids Get Beat up by Alistair Overeem (MiddleEasy)

- Jon Fitch Cleared for Competition, UFC 139 Match Against Hendricks Rumored (Five Ounces of Pain)

- David Williams: A Statistical Look at Fedor Emelianenko’s Place in MMA History (FightOpinion)

- Brazilian Reporter Gifts Chael Sonnen a Brazilian Flag (MMA Convert)

- CNN to Air Replays of ‘Mayweather-Ortiz 24/7′ (MMA Payout)