(Unfortunately, scribed just below this sculpture were a series of hateful, anonymous comments telling these “pussies” to, among other things, “Quit lay-n-praying and knock a motherfucker out.”) 

Following the sport’s shocking removal from the 2020 Olympic games, the wrestling community has called upon every conceivable resource in an attempt to restore the sport’s reputation amongst casual fans and potentially introduce it to even more. Sadly, us history buffs have thus far failed to sway the group of geniuses who declared handball and all that horse-related bullshit as sports more worthy of our viewership from reverting on their monumental mistake. But now, it appears that the International Federation for Wrestling has decided to follow our beloved sport into the fire in a last ditch attempt to save their own. USA Today has the scoop (via MMAJunkie):

“We have to think about how to make a show because without that today, it’s difficult,” FILA acting president Nenad Lalovic told USA TODAY Sports.

Former world champion Bill Scherr, chairman of the Committee for the Preservation of Olympic Wrestling, has met with UFC chief executive Dana White and Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney. MMA stars and officials have been very supportive of wrestling’s efforts. Scherr said his sport can learn about presentation from the MMA world. “We need to think about ways to change how the stage is presented,” Scherr said. “They compete in an octagon and we compete on a mat. We don’t have to compete on a mat. We can compete in sand, we can compete in grass and we can compete on a mat or an octagon. I don’t know. We can get survey groups together and see what looks best.”

There you have it, Potato Nation: Goodbye USA Wrestling. Hello SandFC!

Cejudo on Inside MMA talking about his upcoming MMA debut.

With the future of Olympic wrestling up in the air, it isn’t necessarily a surprise to learn that some Olympic hopefuls are giving MMA a shot. Earlier this week, it was announced that Henry Cejudo, the youngest American wrestler to win an Olympic gold medal, is preparing to make his MMA debut in March.

The twenty-six year old wrestler failed to make the Olympic team in 2012, but has had a very decorated amateur wrestling career, including an Olympic gold medal at 55 kg (121 lbs) in 2008. This doesn’t mean that Cejudo is completely one-dimensional, however. He also has over three years of amateur boxing experience, which includes winning a Copper Gloves tournament in 2010.

(Photo via Esther Lin/MMAFighting.com)

CagePotato contributor Oliver Chan was on hand at this weekend’s MMA World Expo in New York City, where he got his microphone in front of a wide-range of MMA stars and personalities. We’ll be running highlights from his interviews all week. First up: A brief chat with former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, who is enjoying a rare moment of peace between his last epic battle and whatever comes next…

CAGEPOTATO: You just came off a tough fight against Jose Aldo, and everybody wants to know: What’s next on the agenda for you?

FRANKIE EDGAR: Yeah, it’s two weeks out and I really haven’t made any decision on what I’m gonna do. You know, I’m gonna get back in there, but I don’t know when — not too long, I don’t like taking too long of a break. I’m already training, so we’ll just see how it goes.

Do you think you’ll jump back up to lightweight?

I think I’ll stay at ’45 for now. We’ll see what happens in the future, though.

Is there any opponent in particular you’ll be gunning for?

Nah, I don’t pick people’s names out, really. We’ll talk to Dana [White] and Lorenzo [Fertitta], Joe Silva and these guys, and my team, and we’ll figure out something out, I’m sure.

Switching gears, here, the big news from the Olympic Committee is that wrestling is possibly on the chopping block for the 2020 Games. What are your thoughts on that?

At 21 years old, Henry Cejudo became the youngest American to win a gold medal in Olympic wrestling, when he swept through the 55kg freestyle field at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. When he returned home, Cejudo began to immerse himself in boxing training, winning tournaments in Arizona and training with Freddie Roach. Before long, Bellator approached him with an offer to join their Season Three bantamweight tournament. “I was close enough to signing with Bellator that they faxed the papers over and I was ready to sign them,” Cejudo said. “I thought about it for a day and during that time I got a call from USA wrestling about me coming back. I had a decision to make, and I think I just see myself with another gold medal and maybe doing MMA afterward.”

Cejudo now plans to compete at the 2012 Games in London. His comeback began yesterday evening at the “USA vs. Russia”-themed Beat the Streets 2011 Gala in New York City’s Times Square, where he competed in wrestling for the first time since Beijing. Cejudo faced Junior World bronze medalist Rasul Mashezov and won 2-0, 4-3. The American team beat the Russians 5-2 overall, aided by wins from 2010 U.S. Open champion Jordan Burroughs and 2009 World bronze medalist Tervel Dlagnev.