(All gifs courtesy of Zombie Prophet.)

SPOILER ALERT: Despite being one of the only fighters to actually make weight yesterday, it’s safe to say that Phil Baroni’s bout with Nobutatsu Suzuki didn’t go quite as planned at ONE FC ‘Rise to Power’ earlier today.

After getting backed into the cage by a series of knees around the four minute mark of the first round, Baroni was dropped by a Suzuki right hand that appeared to put him down for the count. A few follow up punches wrote this notion home and the referee was forced to step in. Unfortunately, said ref didn’t appear to notice that Baroni’s foot was trying to break free from the rest of his leg and provided little comfort for “The New York Bad Ass,” who now falls to 15-17 in his professional MMA career. At this point in his career, Baroni should consider challenging James “Why Me?” Irvin for the right to be called the most cursed man in MMA.

Of course, Baroni wasn’t the only former UFC star to suffer a tough loss this morning…

(No, Tim, we do not know where they keep the rest of the honey. Photo via Sherdog.)

You guys, this might come as a Scanners.gif to you, but Tim Sylvia — best known around these parts as Fatty Boom-Boom — failed to make weight for his scheduled contest with Tony Johnson at ONE FC ‘Rise to Power’ tomorrow. Tipping the scales at a hefty-yet-slimmed down 271 pounds (perhaps The Maine-Iac 90 Day Weight Loss Challenge works after all!), Sylvia missed the heavyweight limit by 6 pounds earlier today. While some of you may accuse of us going after the low hanging fruit here, let us not forget that this is the same Tim Sylvia who just weeks ago was informing us of his desires to finish his career in the UFC. This is not a great start.

To be fair, Sylvia wasn’t the most egregious offender at today’s weigh-ins, not by a long shot. That dishonor would be bestowed upon Ryan “The Lion” Diaz, the 13-13 Strikeforce and KOTC veteran who had not competed in nearly three years before agreeing to face Yusup Saadulaev in a bantamweight contest. Weighing in at 144.8 pounds, Diaz surpassed the limit by nearly ten pounds. Somewhere, Anthony Johnson is eating his second straight double fudge ice cream sundae and smiling for completely unrelated reasons.

Sylvia and Diaz, along with Andrew Leone and Lowen Tynanes, will all face penalties for missing weight in the form of purse deductions, although just how much they will lose has yet to be disclosed by ONE FC officials. Thankfully, the scheduled title fights in Honorio Banario vs. Koji Oishi (featherweight) and Bibiano Fernandes vs. Koetsu Okazaki (bantamweight) will actually make it to fruition, as all four fighters successfully made weight.

The entire ONE FC ‘Rise to Power’ fight card can be purchased for just $9.99 through ONE FC’s official website. Featuring the likes of Phil Baroni, Kamal Shalorus, Masakatsu Ueda, and Eduard Folayang, the card is set to kick off tomorrow morning starting at 6:30 a.m. EST.

The full weigh-in results and a video preview of ONE FC ‘Rise to Power’ are after the jump. 

(In honor of Reilly’s impending retirement, we proudly present the most embarrassing moment of his entire political career. You crazy for that one, Bob.)

By Elias Cepeda

Alright, we don’t want to get your hopes up but…

According to a New York State Assembly “insider” quoted in a new report by NY Daily News reporter Kenneth Lovett, “It’s getting harder for [Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver] to keep blocking this,” referring to the bill partially crafted by the UFC to sanction MMA in New York.

“Resistance to it is getting less,” Speaker Silver admitted.

Lovett went on to explain in his report that Assemblyman Robert Reilly — better known around here as “Bob,” and one of New York’s most passionate, confused, and dishonest opponents of MMA sanctioning — is miraculously retiring this week (!!!) and that his departure should take a good deal of steam out of the opposition to MMA in New York. The ban on professional MMA in the state was signed into law by then-Governor George Pataki in 1997, but now even he is calling for the sport’s legalization.

Sources tell The Daily News that if the bill to legalize and regulate professional MMA in New York were brought to a vote in the general assembly right now, it would be passed. However, hurdles remain for the sport and its largest promotion, the UFC. Members of the NY Assembly including Deborah Glick and Daniel O’Donnell still oppose MMA’s legalization, the report says, and they might be able to prevent the measure from getting through committee and to the general assembly for voting.

In addition, the Culinary Workers Union — MMA’s most powerful arch-nemesis in the fight for New York MMA regulation — continues its loud propaganda campaign against the UFC, slamming everything from Dana White’s language to Mandy Moore’s judgment. (Funny story: If you go to the Culinary Union’s anti-UFC website UnfitforChildren.org right now, the lead story is a screen-cap of a CagePotato article. Wisely, they didn’t reprint the article’s first line, which refers to the Union as “two-faced, propaganda pushing arseholes.”)

Nevertheless, UFC President Dana White seems to be as optimistic as ever that his organization will soon put on an event in New York. After UFC 155, the promoter told assembled media that he hoped to host a UFC 20th Anniversary event in Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden this coming fall. “We have a date, and we have a match,” White revealed.

(Melvin Manhoef def. Denis Kang via knee-to-the-body KO, 0:50 of round 1. Fight starts at the 3:44 mark, but we’ve got the video cued up to the *real* action.)

From Mirko Cro Cop arm-barring a professional wrestler, to Bob Sapp scoring a massive upset over Alistair Overeem (in arm-wrestling), New Year’s weekend in Japan was loaded with, shall we say, “sports entertainment.” But there was at least one legit event — the hybrid DREAM 18/Glory 4 MMA-kickboxing spectacular that went down December 31st at the Saitama Super Arena. Thanks to Suhwaniya Fight Club, we’ve got complete videos of all eight MMA fights that took place that night, which featured such stars as Shinya Aoki, Melvin Manhoef, Marloes Coenen, Phil Baroni, Michihiro Omigawa, and Bibiano Fernandes. Enjoy, and welcome to 2013 everybody.

(Shinya Aoki def. Antonio McKee via submission due to eye-punch, 0:24 of round 2)

(James Thompson, seen here demonstrating the CagePotato “What in the bloody hell are you on about, mate?” rule of early stoppages.) 

Over the past few days, we’ve witnessed a pair of rarely seen finishes in the octagon — a suplex KO and a flying reverse triangle — and after we here at CagePotato collectively picked our jaws up off the floor and found a clean pair of shorts, we got to thinking, what other techniques/finishes do we rarely come across in the MMA stratosphere? And more importantly, which of these techniques/finishes have we not devoted some sort of gif or video tribute to already?

Taking all of those factors into account, we came to the standing TKO, a finish so uncommon in MMA that we could only name a handful of occurrences before having to resort to the Interwebs for assistance. So in honor of the iron-jawed sumbitches who wouldn’t bow to defeat even when it was kneeing/punching/kicking them damn near to death, we’ve placed our favorite examples of this phenomenon below. Check ‘em out after the jump and let us know which stoppages you thought were warranted and which ones could have gone on a little longer.

By Jared Jones

Unless you’ve been a close follower of the Utah MMA scene over the past few years, chances are that you’ve probably forgotten all about TUF 2 alum Josh Burkman. After a three fight skid saw him ousted from the UFC back in 2008, Burkman took over a year and a half off to recover from several injuries that could have ended any lesser man’s career, injuries Burkman admits in hindsight that he should have addressed much earlier. But if you were to ask Josh how the past few years have treated him, you’d think he was on top of the world.

I called Josh at approximately 5:15 p.m. EST yesterday. He was just stepping into his house after a long day of training for his November 3rd match against fellow UFC veteran Gerald Harris on the inaugural card of the Ray Sefo-run World Series of Fighting promotion. It’s a win that could very well propel “The People’s Warrior” back into the octagon for the first time in over four years, yet he doesn’t appear to be showing any signs of the pressure getting to him. I ask him how he’s doing. “Life is good,” he tells me, making sure to kiss his ten day old son as soon as he enters the house. From the get-go, I can tell that Josh is a much more open and laid back guy than some of the fighters I’ve dealt with in the past. But little did I know that before our conversation was over, we would discuss everything from his career comeback and newly found lease on life to his infamous in and out of the ring brawls with Jeremy Horn and Phil Baroni.

(The match up that launched a thousand rematches)

Last Friday we (and the rest of the known cyber MMA world) complained about Singapore MMA promotion One FC botching an otherwise solid event in the Philippines with convoluted rules relating to kicks to the heads of downed opponents. Referees somehow had to give fighters “permission” in the moment to throw kicks to the heads of their fallen opponents.

You might remember that Phil Baroni won his fight with a barrage of punches and kicks to the head of his opponent Rodrigo Ribeiro while Andrei Arlovski was penalized for kicking the head of the dropped Tim Sylvia. When the “Mainiac” could not continue, their fight was ruled a no-contest (GIFS of both fight endings here, full fight videos here).

Sunday night, a message was sent out from the OneFCMMA twitter account, hoping to set things right.

Effective immediately, ONE FC has adopted full PRIDE rules for soccer kicks.Catch ONE FC: Rise of Kings on Oct 6!

— ONE FC (@ONEFCMMA) September 3, 2012

Hmm…do we count Tim Sylvia’s weight as a high or a low?

If you didn’t get to catch One FC’s fifth event yesterday, you more than likely are under the impression that it was an event crushed by its completely preposterous stance on soccer kicks. While the soccer kick fiasco brought the sort-of anticipated fourth bout between Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski to new heights of freak show ridiculousness, the show gave fans plenty of reasons to cheer and a few things to jeer as well. With videos beginning to surface from yesterday’s bouts, and no other televised MMA to look forward to tonight, let’s take some time to re-watch some of the better fights.

Unfortunately, the best fight from yesterday’s card – a lightweight slugfest between Eduard Folayang and Felipe Enomoto – isn’t available as of now. We’ll keep you posted if a video surfaces, but if one doesn’t, you’ll only have to wait until October 6 to see Folayang battle Zorobabel Moreira for the promotion’s lightweight title. Videos from the rest of the card available after the jump.

(Hey, this just means One FC will rake in big bucks for “Sylvia vs. Arlovski 5: Please, God, Make It Stop”)

By Elias Cepeda

It’s a good thing the MMA world was so excited to see the fourth meeting of Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski at One FC 5: Pride of a Nation today in the Philippines, because now it might just get a fifth. The two former UFC champions were set to clash Friday near the top of the Singapore-based organization’s card, and they did, but with an unsatisfying result for fighters and fans alike, thanks to One FC’s convoluted and dangerous rules regarding kicks to the head of downed opponents.

They are legal. Sort of.

Phil Baroni won his bout earlier in the evening after effectively using kicks to the head of his opponent Rodrigo Ribeiro. However, when Arlovski landed glancing kicks to the head of Sylvia after dropping him to the mat on all fours with a punch combination, the referee called the blows illegal and gave Sylvia time to recover. When Sylvia could not, the fight was ruled a no contest. You see, One FC allows kicks to the head of a downed opponent only after a fighter is given express, in-the-moment permission by the referee. What could possibly go wrong?

(Check out GIFs of the Baroni and Arlovski finishes — as well as full results from One FC 5 — at the bottom of this post.)

Besides giving referees a strange discretion that would seem to do nothing but open up new and exciting opportunities for oversight, slip ups, and corruption, such a rule necessarily stops the action in fights and gives fighters something else to think about other than the only two things they should be — attacking their opponent and defending themselves.

At least Tim Sylvia still has a remotely athletic physique from the chins up.

When I woke up this morning, Lafayette was beginning to take on water, a two hundred pound athlete was destroying fools in sumo wrestling, and Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski was the most relevant fight taking place this weekend. Wait…this guy? And this guy? The most relevant fight of the weekend?! Naturally, the first thing I did was check my calendar to make sure I didn’t somehow travel back in time to 2005- as most of you did after reading that last sentence, I’m sure. Upon realizing that yes, it is in fact 2012, I said “Fuck it,” ate a gallon of ice cream for breakfast, and went back to sleep. If the rest of the universe just doesn’t care anymore, then neither do I.

Since it’s all we have to look forward to this weekend, we might as well at least try to get excited about the relatively meaningless nostalgia fight with this video of Andrei Arlovski’s open workout for the local Philippine press. Arlovski introduces himself with an enthusiastic “How’s taste my pee pee?” as he does some light drilling with Travis Browne (yes, that Travis Browne). After some basic drills, Andrei Arlovski answers some questions for the local media. The Pitbull, bless his heart, avoids an uncomfortable rape reference by saying he’s going to “play proctologist” and stick his hand up Tim Sylvia’s ass during the fight – not in a sexual way, but in an “I am beating the shit out of you and want to make this as humiliating as possible” way. He then tells the media that he plans on knocking out Tim Sylvia during the fight, a strategy we’ve seen backfire on him before. Before the clip ends, he brings things up to 2007 by shouting “THIS IS SPARTA!” while everyone laughs.
Video is after the jump.

(Thompson vs. Lashley. Come for the nut shots, stay for Phil Baroni’s childlike enthusiasm behind the mic. All praises be to IronForgesIron for the vids.)

You know, maybe it’s due to the fact that our expectations were so low, but other than a few hiccups along the way (one of which involved the most ridiculously over-the-top celebrations you will ever see), Super Fight League’s third event was actually a mildly entertaining affair. Who would’ve thought such a thing would be possible without the graceful presence of Bob Sapp? Although SFL’s production team still needs to get their shit together and stop cutting to random angles from halfway across the stadium, SFL 3 featured more than a fair share of exciting finishes, topped off by an at times groggy but overall solid main event clash between Bobby Lashley and James Thompson.

But before we get to the main event, lets talk about the very first fight of the night: a middleweight throwdown between Dream and Bellator veteran Zelg Galesic and former WEC light heavyweight champion Doug “The Rhino” Marshall, whose mere appearance on the card was enough to bring this “writer” back to the days of yore. Unfortunately for Marshall, the trip down memory lane was cut short by a beautiful flying knee that turned his lights off just 34 seconds into the fight. Nostalgia is a bitch, ain’t it?

That video, along with a video of the most insane post fight celebration in MMA history and more, awaits you after the jump.

(If it weren’t for Lou Ferrigno, Phil would’ve never had to deal with this MMA drug testing bullshit.) 

Phil Baroni has never been afraid to speak his mind. Whether he’s dishing on pre-fight abstinence, the fragility of his own mind, or childhood obesity, “The New York Bad Ass” never pulls any punches, and in fact it’s one of the many reasons we love the guy. So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that, during a recent interview with Fight Sport Asia, Baroni not only came out as a proponent of steroid use in MMA, but more or less admitted that most of his PRIDE cohorts were probably juiced during the Japanese promotion’s heyday. Here’s what he told the publication:

I want to see the best fighters, I want to see who is the strongest the best! Guys should be able to do whatever it takes to be the strongest. Getting choked and kicked in the head is really bad for you, worse than pot , TRT, or steroids. I don’t care who’s the cleanest, I wanna’ see the strongest, the fastest and the most gnarly fighters. I don’t want to see who is the best at passing drug test. Overeem isn’t the only guy taking shit, he just got caught. I wanna’ see the baddest mother fuckers going at it. That’s why PRIDE was the best — I wanna see a 205 (ripped) Wanderlei Silva kill dudes!

Most of you will not likely find this revelation to be all that surprising considering, you know, the above photo of Baroni. It does, however, seem a little inconsistent of Baroni to be advocating a substance that he has vehemently denied using in the past, despite testing positive for Boldenone and Stanozolol Metabolites in the aftermath of his second round submission loss to Frank Shamrock back in 2007. Unfortunately for guys like Baroni and Alistair Overeem, the various athletic commissions regulating the sport don’t seem to agree, as Baroni was suspended for six months for his infraction. And we all know what fate Alistair was sentenced to.

(Props: Amazon.com, via CP reader “joe sons balls,” who claims that he randomly came upon one of Phil Baroni‘s old fetish-modeling gigs while searching for XTC t-shirts. Sure, buddy. Your secret’s safe with us.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere…

- Sean Sherk Planning UFC Return in 2012, But Won’t Fight ‘Some Chump Who Needs Some Fame’ (MMA Mania)

- Report: UFC Beginning to Target Consumers in Online Piracy War (MMA Convert)

- Pat Curran Talks Title Win Over Joe Warren at Bellator 60 (The Fight Nerd)

- Trouble Already Brewing on Set of TUF 15 (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Nick Diaz Might Be Retired From MMA, But His Career as a Ninja Has Just Begun (MiddleEasy)

- Jon Jones Wants Anderson Silva as a “Mentor,” Not an Opponent (Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com)

- Odds Stacked Against Frank Mir at UFC 146 (5th Round)

- Cesar Gracie Wants Penn or Pettis for Gilbert Melendez’s Next Fight (FightLine)

- Tim Sylvia Deserves Another Shot in the UFC (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- UFC Threatens Lawsuit Against Oklahoma (MMA Payout)

- Testosterone Capitulation: The UFC, Rampage, & Fighters Only (Fight Opinion)

(Busto vs. Anjo at UFC 25, or, before the UFC’s commentating team knew what an arm-triangle choke was.) 

Former UFC Middleweight Champion Murilo Bustamante will be returning to action for the first time since 2010 on March 31st when he headlines Amazon Forest Combat 2. And if that sentiment alone doesn’t give you a fearection, then get this: the man he will meet across the cage is none other than the same one he took the UFC Middleweight title from, Dave Menne.

Not since Abbott/Ferrozzo II have we been so excited.

One of the founding member of Brazilian Top Team and a twenty year MMA veteran, Bustamante’s grappling accolades are extensive to say the least, including four Brazilian National BJJ Championships, a 1999 Mundials World Championship, and several appearances in the ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships. After defeating Menne back in January of 2002 at UFC 35 by second round TKO, Bustamante would defend the belt once, submitting Matt Lindland with a guillotine in the third round of their UFC 37 title fight. Financial disputes with the UFC, however, would force Bustamante to vacate the title shortly thereafter and sign with PRIDE FC, where he would go 4-5 against the likes of Dan Henderson, Ikuhisa Minowa, and Quinton Jackson. Bustamante will be looking to erase the memory of his last performance, an abysmal second round TKO due to retirement loss to TUF 7 alumnus Jesse Taylor at Impact FC 2 in July of 2010.

Join us after the jump to hear Bustamante’s thoughts on his upcoming rematch with Menne, as well as his pick for a future opponent that will make the PRIDE fan within you channel Lenne Hardt. 

Spoiler alert: It was a better punch than this one, and twice as effective. Props: Getty Images via MMAFighting.com

I guess it goes without saying, but today has been a pretty slow news day. But even if it wasn’t, I like to imagine we’d still give this our attention. When something as rare as Bob Sapp being involved in a competitive fight happens, it’s worth a few cheap laughs seconds.

Sapp headlined Super Fight League 1, which was live on Youtube earlier this morning, against robbery victim James Thompson. While weighing in for his fight against “The Colossus”, Bob Sapp landed one of the most beautiful backfists I’ve ever seen. His technique was flawless, like it was a something he had actually been practicing. Even Phil Baroni, who was on hand to introduce fighters, seemed shocked at the technique on display from “The Beast”.

Of course, it would have been far more impressive if it actually landed on James Thompson. Or if it, you know, was intentional. But it’s probably for the best that the move was an accident. If he had been trying to do that, he probably would have missed, taken a dive and immediately started tapping.

[VIDEO REMOVED BY REQUEST.]

After a year in the pokey, War Machine finally returned to competition Saturday night at Ultimate Warrior Fighting 1 in Pharr, Texas, where he faced off against former UFC lightweight darling Roger Huerta in the event’s welterweight headliner. And even though prison ring-rust has to be the worst kind of ring-rust — nutraloaf and sandwich masturbation don’t exactly make for an ideal fighter lifestyle — Mr. Machine handled himself admirably, out-hustling Huerta in a gritty back-and-forth scrap.

Unfortunately, Huerta broke his rib during a scramble in round three, seemingly when War sneaks in that knee at the video’s 15:10 mark. War Machine took advantage of Huerta’s weakened state and laid on punches from the top until the match was stopped. And so, War Machine writes the first chapter of his unlikely comeback story, while Huerta picks up the fifth loss in his last six attempts.

Guess who didn’t get the “Bring your big gold belt” memo.    PicProps: onefc.com

OK, first:  if you didn’t manage to wrangle your ass out of bed this morning to log on and watch ONE FC’s inaugural event, you can still catch all the fights for free at Sherdog:

Eduard Folayang vs A Sol Kwon
Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs Phil Baroni
Mitch Chilson vs Eric Kelly
Gregor Gracie vs Seok Mo Kim
Andy Wang vs Zorobabel Moreira

Under card

Eddie Ng vs Yuan Chun Bo
Radeem Rahman vs Susovan Ghosh
Vuyisile Colossa vs Ma Xing Yu
Daniel Mashamaite vs Yodsanan Sityodong
Soo Chul Kim vs Leandro Issa

Watch em, then come in and we’ll talk.  Or you can just come in and we’ll tell you about it.

VidProps: OneFCMMA/YouTube

Above is the commercial being aired in on ESPN Star Sports in about half a billion homes across Asia for ONE Fighting Championship. The new promotion is bursting out of Singapore, backed with some serious cash and helmed by an experienced promoter in Victor Cui. ONE is looking to fill the void in Asian MMA left after the loss of PRIDE, DREAM, and Sengoku, and thus far, they’ve been doing it right.

In case you missed it the first time we mentioned it, there’s a good bit of buzz surrounding the ONE FC rules set, which allows for soccer kicks, knees, and elbows. Unlike most Japanese MMA shows, however, the promotion will use a cage. “The rules are taking the best of Pride FC and the best of UFC,” Cui says.

ONE FC’s first show Champion vs Champion goes live tomorrow morning at 8AM ET, and you can get it free via a Sherdog stream… unless you live in Singapore. Then you’ll probably just go. Either way, you need to plan on being awake in about twenty four hours.

Come on inside for a couple more videos and the full card.

(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)

(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)

(Another nomination in the “worst MMA referee of all time” awards. Props: caposa)

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…

- Brittney Palmer’s Ring Girl Profile Back on UFC.com [Before and After Pics] (5thRound)

- Dana White Doesn’t Rule Out Tito Ortiz as No.1 Contender With a UFC 133 Win (MMA Fighting)

- Rampage Jackson: I Guarantee Jon Jones Won’t Fight Me Like a Man (LowKick)

- Phil Baroni Faces Yoshiyuki Yoshida at September Event Featuring PRIDE Rules (Five Ounces of Pain)

- UFC 2011 Mid-Year Awards: Top 5 Disgraces of the Year (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Demian Maia Recorded a Message for Chael Sonnen on Behalf of Brazil (MiddleEasy)

- Ranger Up “Out” As Sponsors for Strikeforce/UFC Fighters: Kennedy, Carmouche (MMAPayout)

- The Not-So-Secret World of the Underground Combat League (MMA Convert)

- Chris Lytle Eyes Second Career in Politics (NBC Sports MMA)

- Boom to Bust: Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Is Not Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts (MMA Mania)

- UFC Reshifts Focus on Blaming Culinary Unions for Lack of New York MMA Regulation (FightOpinion)

- New MMA Comic “Heart” Coming Out Soon by Image Comics (TheFightNerd)

(Video courtesy of YouTube/Stemerm1)

Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni went down 4 years ago.

Why it matters:

• Frank Shamrock became Strikeforce’s inaugural middleweight champion after he defeated Phil Baroni at the EliteXC co-promoted event held at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California by choking “The New York Badass” unconscious with a rear-naked choke. Shamrock was criticized for “kicking” Baroni off of him after the bout. He explained the incident at the post-fight press conference. “He was heavy on top of me… he was squishing the life out of me… he was laying on my leg and on my chest… that’s it. And I thought it looked better on camera.” Shamrock would lose the strap one fight later to Cung Le.

• Following the bout California State Athletic Commission test results revealed that Baroni tested positive for Boldenone and Stanozolol steroid metabolites. He was fined $2,500 and suspended for a year from competing in California — a suspension that would be observed by every member agency in the Association of Boxing Commissions. Baroni denied any wrongdoing and appealed the decision and on October 31, 2007 Baroni’s suspension was reduced to 6 months without a even a shred of evidence presented that exonerated him.

• Murilo Rua defeated Joey Vilasenor to become the first EliteXC middleweight champion. He would lose it in his next fight with Robbie Lawler.

• Carter Williams was found by the CSAC to have tested positive for cocaine. As a result he was fined $1,000 and suspended for six months.

(Props: OfficialSwick. The true horribleness starts around 2:54.)

Mike Swick should have his own travel show, preferably on one of the non-pussy networks. Quick’s globetrotting adventures have covered everything from African street-drugs and bootleg Osama merchandise to AIDS-lizards and lady-boys in Phuket. Now his road-dogs Phil Baroni and Roger Huerta are upping the ante by drinking fresh cobra blood. (Don’t worry, that snake was going to be used for belts and meat anyway.)

Phil and Rog each bang a shot of the red stuff at the 4:04 mark, and Baroni immediately follows it up with shot #2 . “How the fuck did you do that shit,” asks a visibly-shaken Huerta. “How did you do two?” Says Baroni, like a boss: “I’m gangsta.” Later, he eats the snake’s penis, which is somewhat less gangster in my opinion.

Fresh off his win over Nick Nolte, the New York Bad Ass is slated to take on former Cage Rage champ Matt Ewin at BAMMA 6 on May 21st.

“This picture had to be taken within the opening seconds, he still has one of his hands up.”

Normally, when I watch regional promotions I have to do so with my laptop on mute. Otherwise, I get so agitated by the announcers trying to hype their minor league talent as “the best in the sport” that I can’t enjoy myself. So when Titan FC 17 kicked off this ridiculously busy weekend for MMA last night in Kansas City, I can’t help but feel that the biggest winners of the evening were Frank Trigg and Michael Schiavello. While lesser announcers would hype Phil Baroni like he’s still in his prime and talk about Bobby Lashley slamming a natural middleweight like he’s ready for Cain Velasquez, Schiavello and Trigg were brutally honest critiquing the action. That’s got to be worth something, right?

It’s certainly worth more than the effort Bobby Lashley put in against James Jack John Ott. Last night was Bobby Lashley’s first chance to silence his critics after a humbling loss to Chad Griggs. John Ott, asdie from being a middleweight stepping in as a late replacement, is also a wrestler with sub-par striking. If I didn’t know that you all come to Cage Potato for responsible journalism, I’d recklessly hypothesize that John Ott was brought in to lose in dramatic fashion. Naturally, Bobby Lashley capitolized on this opportunity by putting in just enough effort to grind out a unanimous decision.

(“…so you see, my client couldn’t have *possibly* committed these murders.” Hey that’s two OJ jokes in the same day! Good times! / Lots more photos and videos from the Titan weigh-ins at BJJinMMA.com)

Seven months after his unexpected loss to Chad Griggs at Strikeforce: Houston, WWE-star-turned-MMA-fighter Bobby Lashley will return to action tonight in the main event of Titan Fighting Championships 17 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. Though Lashley was originally supposed to face off against James Jack, Jack mysteriously went M.I.A. and has been replaced with an equally-obscure fighter named John Ott, an 8-7 journeyman who has primarily competed at middleweight and light-heavyweight. Yesterday, Ott weighed in at 215.4 pounds for the heavyweight contest, against Lashley’s 252.4. It is what it is.

Also on the card, Phil Baroni will look to break a three-fight losing streak against the comparatively unseasoned Nick Nolte, while Abe “Sylvia Killer” Wagner clashes with Strikeforce/Bellator vet Aaron Rosa. The event will be broadcast tonight on HDNet starting at 10 p.m., following “The Voice vs. Wanderlei Silva” at 8 p.m. and Inside MMA at 9. Here’s the Titan FC 17 televised lineup, according to their Facebook page:

*Disclaimer: If you are at all squeamish or faint at the sight of blood, don’t click the video below.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/Drfrankstile)

Besides hindering your breathing and making you look like a stereotypical MMA fighter, having your nose broken several times also makes it way more likely that the injury will reoccur. With this in mind, Phil “The New York Badass” Baroni headed to the plastic surgeon responsible for belt-sanding down the sharp brow bones of Marcus Davis and Nick Diaz to see about getting his problematic proboscis taken care of.

(Video courtesy YouTube/TheNewYorkBadAss)

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…

- If Stann can’t get Wand, he’ll settle for Bisping or Belfort  (LowKick)

– Five lessons we learned for UFC Fight for the Troops II (Versus MMA Beat)

Herschel Walker: ’This is not a gimmick for me. This is life.’  (FiveOuncesofPain)

– Ricco Rodriguez to begin his road back to the UFC against James McSweeney at BAMMA 5 (MiddleEasy)

- A tribute to Chuck Liddell (WMMMALC newcomers ProFighting-Fans)

– Watch Hatsu Hioki choke Mark Hominick unconscious (MMAScraps)

– Tito Ortiz prepared to resume career outside UFC when if he loses to Lil’ Nog’ (5thRound)

– Both UFC and Strikeforce planning 2011 events in Japan (MMAConvert)

– In poll of favorite sports, MMA is overlooked (MMAFighting)

– M-1 Global signs UFC vet Vinny Magalhaes (FightMagazine)

– Elimination round for TUF 13 nixed by UFC and Spike (SBNation/MMA)

(Don’t give him any money. You know he’ll just spend it on N.O.-Xplode. Photo courtesy of Myron Watkins.)

By CagePotato contributor Jason Moles

This week, our nation’s attention has been captured by redneck birds and the Golden Voice Hobo, only one of which has a happy ending. (No, not that kind…the other kind. Yes, there is another kind.) The rags-to-riches-to-rags-and-back-to-riches tale of fortune for Ted Williams is the polar opposite of that of many fighters lately. In the last two weeks, Zuffa has cut six fighters and suspended one more. The economy is still in the can and homeboys gotta eat, so if Strikeforce or Bellator don’t come calling soon, this is where you’re going to see ‘The Expendables’ next:

Brandon "The Truth" Vera: Some believe the number 13 to be unlucky, and for Vera it was. After exactly that many fights in the Octagon, his days in the spotlight are over. From now on he’ll be slinging dinuguan [Ed. note: Eww.] with a side of balut  [Ed. note: *barfs*] at his aunt and uncle’s restaurant, Manila Good-Ha, in L.A.’s Koreatown. It’s a match made in heaven for Vera because he’ll never have to worry about getting punched in the nose again — that is, unless he back-talks his wife Kerry. He’s just gotta make sure Jon Jones’s order is just how he likes it.

Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis: The former TUF 2 contestant will grow out his hair and learn how to drop flying-elbows off the top turnbuckle. Davis will join forces with Samoa Joe, the man he trained back in 2008, to form the world’s most obscure tag-team since The Oddities. At some point Marc Mero, also a former boxer, will come out of retirement to challenge The Irish Hand Grenade to a Caribbean Strap Match for bragging rights as the best ‘real’ fighter in TNA. Dan Hardy will interfere and cost him the match leaving him to reconsider life in some barn with his ex-Army sniper friend.

(The record shows he took the blows / and did it hiiiiiiiis waaaaaaaay. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

After suffering a first-round knockout at the hands of Brad Tavares at UFC 125 — his second-consecutive loss since returning to the UFC in November 2009, and his third-straight loss overall — it appears that Phil Baroni‘s latest stint in the UFC has officially ended. Versus’s MMA Beat passed along confirmation of his release last night. The firing was no surprise to Baroni, who intends to stay very active in 2011 and work his way back to the big leagues.

The 34-year-old currently holds an MMA record of 13-13, with a 3-7 lifetime record in the UFC. Baroni hasn’t tasted victory in the Octagon since declaring himself "the man" after storming Dave Menne at UFC 39 in September 2002. Tough break for the NYBA, but maybe we’ll finally get to see that rubber match with Minowaman.

Semi-related: Matt Brown, who has lost his last three fights in the UFC, all by second-round submission, is reportedly getting another shot against British welterweight Mark Scanlon (7-1, 0-1 UFC) at UFC on Versus 3 in March. Go figure.

(Props: ix3623vault)

At this point, emotional post-fight breakdowns are the norm for Phil Baroni. (Remember this old classic?) Since each loss seems like it could represent the end of the road for the veteran slugger, we understand why he takes them so hard. But as the above clip demonstrates, Baroni has always had a difficult time coping with losses, even the ones that came before he really had a professional career.

Prior to making his MMA debut in 2000, Phil Baroni was a standout on the Toughman amateur boxing circuit. Though he won most of his fights, he lost a decision to a dude named Sam Rodriguez (date of fight unknown), and reacted by storming out of the ring and beating up every inanimate object in sight, including a defenseless fire hose door. His longtime training partner Mark Coleman would later pay tribute to the incident in the acclaimed short film "FUUUUUUUUCK!"

And now that we have this bit of footage, we’re only missing one thing: A clip of Baroni throwing a tantrum after a loss at one of his old bodybuilding competitions. Make it happen, Internet.