(Photo courtesy of kozyndan.)

More bad news for Rampage — and unbelievably bad news for the pregnant woman he struck during his hit-and-run spree last month. The Daily Pilot has the story:

A Huntington Beach woman who was more than 16 weeks pregnant and who police said was injured in a hit-and-run crash with mixed martial artist Quinton “Rampage” Jackson on the 55 Freeway two weeks ago has had a miscarriage, her fiance said Friday.

Holli Griggs, 38, was driving her 2007 Cadillac Escalade in the left lane on the southbound 55 Freeway just south of Bay Street on July 15 when Jackson’s gray-and-green pick-up truck sideswiped her as he drove along the median lane at about 45 mph, California Highway Patrol officials said…Prosecutors would not comment on any potential charges due to Griggs’ miscarriage.

“Our office will make sure we take as much time as necessary to make a proper filing decision and including all evidence and medical information to make sure any charges that are filed are fair and accurate,” Dist. Atty. spokeswoman Farrah Emami said.

Griggs was unavailable for comment Friday. Her fiance, Bill Krebs, said doctors were immediately concerned when they noticed a significant loss of fluid in Griggs’ womb after the accident. Days before the crash, the couple had visited the doctor for an ultrasound, and Griggs was told she “had enough fluid for three babies,” Krebs said. She was pregnant with a boy…

The couple have retained an attorney but have yet to take legal action against Jackson.

Whoa. A miscarriage is a tragedy in any context, and not to be too insensitive regarding Jackson’s possible mental condition, but if you needed a sign that you’re not actually an incarnation of God’s will on Earth (or God Himself), this is pretty much it. Of course, we’re thinking the same thing you are — does this mean Jackson could be catching a manslaughter charge in addition to his hit-and-run and evasion charges?

(Ah, memories.)

On Tuesday, the Wrestling Observer reported that TUF 7‘s Jesse “JT Money” “Mongo” Taylor had been released by the UFC — for the second time — suggesting that it was his insensitive comments about Quinton Jackson following Rampage’s arrest that ultimately sunk him.

MMA Junkie caught up with Taylor recently to get his take on the situation, and it seems that just as he had no regrets for repeatedly pissing his shorts on national television, he has no regrets for running his mouth about the UFC’s troubled former light-heavyweight champ:

“I thought the whole thing was blown out of proportion. I just said, ‘What goes around comes around,’ kind of meaning about the double standards. Not meaning anything bad. I guess they kind of took it the wrong way, but I didn’t mean anything bad by it….I don’t regret [making the comments] at all. I don’t know if [the UFC is] looking for an excuse to get me out of there or what. The comments were nothing.”

Unfortunately, to the UFC, the comments were something. But even this turn of events can’t shake Mongo’s glassy-eyed optimism.

“Hopefully I didn’t leave on a bad note. [Ed. note: *shakes head*] I wouldn’t mind fighting for them again. Right now, first things first, is just to find another fight — hopefully in a major organization — and get back out there….Keep on the lookout. There should be something big in the next couple weeks about where I’m going.”

You heard it here, folks — keep an eye on TMZ to see which jail Taylor will be going to after his inevitable drunken public rampage and subsequent arrest. ‘Cause you know what? What goes around comes around, brah.

(Photo courtesy of CageToday.)

Josh Gross has a lengthy update on Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in his SI column, and while it’s good to hear any news on the troubled former UFC champ, nothing that Gross passes along could be classified as “reassuring.” First and foremost, Rampage and his trainer/manager Juanito Ibarra have indeed parted ways:

With defeat as the impetus, Jackson responded to rough terrain by relieving the trainer of his duties, though “bottom line, somehow, someway it all involves money,” said the fighter’s friend.

Jackson is now out of psychiatric observation and is attending outpatient treatment on a daily basis, but he didn’t seem completely cured after his initial release.

“He would still make comments that were slightly weird,” said Jackson’s longtime associate. “You could tell that he wasn’t all the way there, but each day you could tell he was better…He knows what he went through,” said the source. “He knew he had an emotional breakdown that led to a mental breakdown.”

There’s a few other things worth pulling from the article. First off, Jackson came to the Lord under duress. (“In 2004, Jackson…claimed he was touched by Jesus in a dream, scaring him enough to bolt from his apartment with his son D’Angelo in tow. That night he was born again.”) Second, at the time of his PRIDE 28 rematch with Wanderlei Silva, he hadn’t eaten for three days, because he had read on the Internet that fasting would keep the devil away.

(Hey, cool shirt.)

From the Las Vegas Review Journal:

[Dana] White originally said Friday that Jackson was to be held for 72 hours [at a medical facility for a psychiatric evaluation], but that the time period would be extended.

Jackson instead was reportedly spotted at the Affliction card in Anaheim on Saturday night, just after the 72 hours would have expired. White essentially confirmed Jackson’s attendance at the rival card, saying he had asked White’s permission to attend.

Rampage has yet to make a public statement, and the continued silence of manager/trainer Juanito Ibarra may give credence to the rumors that he had a falling out with Jackson prior to his first arrest. Personally, I don’t think being anywhere near Megadeth as they rip through highlights from Rust in Peace is the best idea for someone in a fragile mental state. (By the way, if Matt Lindland is worth $300,000 per fight, and Tim Sylvia is worth $800,000, doesn’t that make Quinton Jackson worth like $5,000,000? Dana better not let him too far out of his sight.) Anyway, we’ll let you know if there are any more public Rampage sightings, so stay tuned…

Earlier today, we scratched our heads over Dana White’s strange take on the Quinton Jackson situation, particularly the line:

“Last night when he got out, Rampage is very religious…yeah I’m dealing with it.”

WTF could that possibly mean, right? Well, according to CagePotato’s anonymous insider, it could mean something really freakin’ bad. Our source now tells us the following:

Rampage thinks he’s God…He had a falling out with his trainer a couple of days before the first arrest. Basically he has lost his mind and is talking very religious and is saying that he is God. This is the main thing I wanted to keep hidden, but with the second arrest and Dana talking it will come out regardless. He needs some serious help. I don’t know if you would call it schizophrenia or bipolar disorder or what have you, but whatever it is, basically it’s become impossible to have a conversation with him. He is delusional.

Again, this is second-hand information, and the only way to make a real judgment is to have an actual conversation with Jackson himself. But the chatter is not good.

Sort of related: As of now, Toyo Tires has no official comment on the status of Rampage’s sponsorship with the company, and doesn’t plan to make one any time soon.

So, here’s the mugshot from Quinton Jackson’s arrest on Tuesday, courtesy of TMZ (the Andy Dick booking photo is there just for comparison, I think). The Press-Telegram reports that Jackson’s court date is scheduled for August 15th at Harbor Justice Center in Laguna Niguel, and that he was cooperative with police from the time of his arrest to his release.

Unfortunately, there’s no word yet on why Jackson was shirtless in his mugshot — though one can’t help but see it and think “erratic behavior.” Speaking of which, a source semi-close to Jackson, who asked to remain anonymous, told CagePotato.com the following:

Close friends of Rampage had been very concerned about him the past few days [before the arrest]. He was very depressed and acting increasingly strange. There is something wrong with his mental well-being. They do not believe it is drugs or another substance. I have heard from others who said they’ve been concerned about his mental state for the past year. When he was in custody yesterday his blood pressure was sky high which is why they hospitalized him. Personally, I think he is out of touch with reality.

For now, treat that only as speculation, and pray to your Higher Powers that Rampage pulls out of this. More to come…

UPDATE (9:06 a.m. ET): Rampage may have sideswiped a pregnant woman during his little adventure:

[Holli] Griggs was taken to the hospital for minor injuries, [California Highway Patrol officer Jennifer] Hink said. In an e-mail sent to the Daily Pilot, Griggs said she and her unborn baby, 16 and a half weeks along, were injured but was not sure to what extent.

Griggs said Jackson was acting “violent and reckless” and “had no regard for my life or anyone else’s for that matter.”

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

From CageRage.tv:

I want to put on record my sincere apologies to Phil Baroni, the fans and Cage Rage for the incident that took place following my fight on Saturday. It should not have happened and the person responsible is very shamed faced.

At the time — thanks to his incredible right hook — I was unaware that Phil had been assaulted. In fact I was totally unaware of anything and everything. Baroni has my utmost respect for his prowess in the Cage — and particularly the way he handled the assault following the fight.

He could have escalated the situation but instead chose to act like a true and mature ambassador for the sport.

I apologised in person to Phil on the night, he duly accepted my gesture — shook hands — and bought him a drink. There is no ill feeling from Phil or his Team and I now wish to continue to strive to improve myself as a fighter and concentrate on my career. I wanted to make that apology public.

Scott Jansen.

Poor guy. I have a feeling this isn’t the first time he’s had to apologize for his knucklehead brother. But a mention of his wife’s rude bird-flipping behavior would have been nice. A word of advice, Scott: Stop bringing your family to your fights. You’re 3-3 now; getting some peace away from that chaotic group might help your career more than you know.

Speaking of bad behavior: TMZ has now obtained video of Rampage’s arrest, soundtracked by the mellow sounds of Canned Heat. And while we’re on the topic, InsideFighting says that Jackson’s hit-and-run charge is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in county jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. No word yet on any disciplinary action the UFC might be taking.

(He’s out now. Photo courtesy of TMZ.)

According to TMZ, Quinton Jackson was taken to the Orange County Jail after his arrest, but was determined “medically unfit” to be booked, and was temporarily taken to an O.C. hospital instead; no word yet on what Jackson’s exact condition was at the time of the arrest. Steve Cofeld points out that there was no record of a Quinton Ramone Jackson being booked yesterday on the Orange County Jail website.

Yahoo! Sports reports that the pursuit originally began when a Costa Mesa officer observed Jackson driving with a flat tire and talking on his cell phone (which recently became illegal while driving in California) and attempted to pull him over. Jackson ignored the officer and continued driving with the officer in pursuit, and hit at least three cars while “weaving in and out of traffic, including at one point driving on the wrong side of the road and even on a sidewalk, scaring pedestrians.”

Yahoo! also says that Dana White flew to Orange County upon learning of the arrest, with the intention of posting bail for Jackson. FiveOunces has confirmed that Jackson did indeed make bail and was released from police custody late yesterday. BloodyEblow passes along this video interview that Jackson did with MMA Throwdown the day before the arrest, where Rampage admits to being depressed after the fight, laments getting so fat during The Ultimate Fighter, reveals that an elbow injury interrupted his training, and starts sounding a little kooky around the 8-minute mark.

Hey, all publicity is good publicity, right?

(Props: “JayRoc” on the UG)

(Photos courtesy of TMZ.com)

Big trouble in the Thirty Mile Zone:

Former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson got busted just minutes ago, and is currently in custody on the way to the clink, but not before he was [ordered] on the ground, cops nearby with guns drawn.

Law enforcement sources tell us, Rampage was in a car crash near Newport Beach (that’s near Laguna Beach in the O.C.) and then split the scene. Cops gave chase and eventually caught up and charged him with felony hit and run and felony evading arrest.

Here’s the deal about the dumbest hit and run ever. Notice the truck he tried evading police in — the one with the giant picture of him plastered on the side!

We’re told there could be additional charges. No word yet on whether Rampage resisted arrest.

A couple more details from the Daily Pilot via Bloody Elbow:

Jackson, the driver of a lifted, gray pick-up truck left crashed cars, shredded tires and sparks in his wake this afternoon when he led police on a short pursuit from the southbound 55 freeway exit onto Newport Boulevard where he hit at least three cars, police said.

The driver hit two cars at 19th Street and Newport Boulevard, then drove away at about 1:13 p.m., Lt. Paul Dondero said. A Costa Mesa police officer saw the driver southbound approaching 17th Street and tried to pull him over, police said. There, he hit at least one more car before continuing to run, now heading south toward the Balboa Peninsula, Dondero said. Some time after that, the truck blew a tire but continued to drive on its rims, Dondero said.

Jackson eventually gave up, pulled over and was arrested, police said. The whole chase lasted about five minutes, Dondero said.

I know that first picture looks like a movie shoot, or at the very least an episode of Punk’d gone FUBAR, but the situation is unfortunately real. Please, Quinton — one little loss is no reason to begin a dramatic downward spiral. More details to come…

UPDATE (8:45 p.m. ET): “There were no indications of drug or alcohol use by Rampage Jackson at the time of his arrest.” Jackson is being held at the Costa Mesa City Jail in lieu of a $25,000.00 bail.

(Brandon Vera in Maxim. It was either this or another picture of Sokoudjou.)

As expected, Brandon Vera’s frank account of who turned down fights with him is making at least one fighter bristle. From Fighthype:

“It would have been stupid for me to take the Vera fight on short notice,” stated UFC light heavyweight contender [Rameau Thierry] Sokoudjou as he talked about why he wasn’t willing to fight Brandon Vera on the July 19th UFC Fight Night card. Sokoudjou explains that his management team is aware of the fact that he likes to have 8 weeks to prepare for his fights. Although he admits to being offered the fight, he says he was “on vacation and busy living it up in Europe” at the time it was offered and that he wasn’t training or thinking about fighting so soon…

“What has he done for me to fear him,” Sokoudjou stated in closing as he made it clear that he’s not afraid to face any fighter.

So there you have it — “The Truth” might have a new rival on his hands. Also on Fighthype today is this sort-of-bizarre interview with John Hackleman, where the “Pit Boss” says the following:

— Forrest Griffin “definitely” should have won the decision against Quinton Jackson, although the frst round should have been a 10-8 round for Rampage. Not sure how the math works out on that one, but that’s what he said.
— Juanito Ibarra was very un-Christian for vowing to retire if Rampage lost, and then not retiring.
— If someone makes a bad call at The Pit, they’re beaten, hogtied, and dragged behind a speeding car. But don’t worry, they don’t do that to black people. In fact, the last person they did it to was a Mexican. Feel better?

SpikeTV passes along this alert:

Tonight at 9PM on Spike TV, during a presentation of A History of Violence, Geoff Keighley, host of GameTrailers TV, will present exclusive new footage from THQ’s UFC® 2009 Undisputed, recreating the end of the UFC 86 light heavyweight title fight between Forrest Griffin and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

Might be worth a look, if you honestly have nothing going on tonight (and Amir Sadollah assumes you don’t in the above promo). We hear the new footage is pretty damn realistic, right down to Juanito Ibarra stamping his feet and crying little pixelated tears after the decision. Though we’d still rather see the Undisputed recreation of the end of the Koscheck/Lytle fight.

Also: It’s becoming apparent that Sadollah doesn’t always understand the subtle difference between “funny guy” and “smug prick.” Just a thought…

(Does Phil Baroni even have control over what comes out of his mouth?)

Following UFC 86 Sherdog ran a story featuring comments from notable MMA fighters regarding their thoughts on the Forrest Griffin-Quinton Jackson decision. It was a pretty standard reaction piece, with the most interesting comment coming from Mac Danzig, who seemed to disparage Rampage’s overall persona.

But then Fightlinker pointed out that Phil Baroni, who had been quoted calling the decision “some bullshit”, was claiming that he never actually gave a quote to Sherdog:

First off I never gave my opinion on the fight being scored wrong to anyone esp a reporter from Sherdog. I never spoke to any media about my opinion the fight. I think its bullshit that Sherdog quoted me. First off I think the fight was a great one. Second I feel the decision was a fair one. I think Forrest is an inspiration and fought his heart out. His career is an inspiration and story book. He did a great job fought like a true champion against Rampage and his entire career. He deserves to be UFC champion and I take my hat off to him.

Now, if that were any other fighter, this claim would be pretty shocking. It’s not like Sherdog to just make up quotes. But since it’s Baroni, there is always the possibility that he a) is just screwing with them, or b) has no idea whether he did or didn’t give that quote.

Steve Cofield has information that seems to indicate it’s the latter.

“I might be a little biased because Forrest is a good friend and training partner, but in my opinion Forrest won the fight hands down, three rounds to two. He outworked him from beginning to end, and even though not everything he threw landed, at least he fought the whole time instead of just looking for one big shot. You know, Forrest trained hard for this fight and it showed. He was training in the gym everyday, not running around with a chain around his neck, telling people he’s a thug.” — Mac Danzig, to Sherdog

“Look…to me, Quinton beat Forrest, but they gave it to Forrest. I think the UFC wants a champion that Chuck Liddell can beat, so he can win the belt again. He is an ex-champion, sells more and has more marketing.” — Lyoto Machida, to Tatame

(“No matter what happens, I want you to know that I love you.” Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

The official payouts for “Jackson vs. Griffin” are below, courtesy of MMA Weekly. Unless otherwise noted, each winning fighter’s salary represents a doubling of their base salary.

Forrest Griffin: $310,000 ($100,000 base salary, plus $150,000 win bonus, plus $60,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus)
Quinton Jackson: $285,000 ($225,000 base salary, plus $60,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus)
Gabriel Gonzaga: $100,000
Melvin Guillard: $80,000 (includes $60,000 “Knockout of the Night” bonus)
Cole Miller: $80,000 (includes $60,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus)
Josh Koscheck: $70,000
Joe Stevenson: $60,000
Tyson Griffin: $40,000
Marcus Aurelio: $40,000
Patrick Cote: $32,000
Ricardo Almeida: $23,000
Chris Lytle: $14,000
Gleison Tibau: $11,000
Jorge Gurgel: $10,000
Justin Buchholz: $8,000
Corey Hill: $8,000
Dennis Siver: $7,000
Justin McCully: $5,000
Total disclosed payroll: $943,000

Underpaid: Chris Lytle, who was paid a mere $1,000 for every pint of blood he lost against Josh Koscheck. The UFC likely rewarded his gruesome effort with one of those undisclosed “locker room bonuses,” but his base salary still seems a bit low for someone who’s been through so many high-profile wars for the company. Buchholz, McCully, and Siver’s base salaries are hardly worth the time they spent training for their fights — though one could argue that Siver and McCully should have trained a little harder.

Overpaid: Tyson Griffin. As long as you’re unable to finish a fight, you should be getting Jorge Gurgel money.

The official judges’ tallies, from Dave Meltzer via Fightlinker:

Adalaide Byrd
Round 1: 10-9 Griffin
Round 2: 10-8 Griffin
Round 3: 10-9 Griffin
Round 4: 10-9 Jackson
Round 5: 10-9 Jackson

Nelson Hamilton
Round 1: 10-9 Jackson
Round 2: 10-8 Griffin
Round 3: 10-9 Griffin
Round 4: 10-9 Jackson
Round 5: 10-9 Griffin

Roy Silbert
Round 1: 10-9 Griffin
Round 2: 10-9 Griffin
Round 3: 10-9 Griffin
Round 4: 10-9 Jackson
Round 5: 10-9 Griffin

Personally, I don’t agree that Rampage was “robbed” in this decision whatsoever — I think Griffin clearly controlled rounds 1, 2, and 5 — but for all three judges to give round 3 to the challenger is very questionable; Rampage found his distance in that round and started landing his lead-fisted punch combos. But then again, all three judges gave round 4 to Jackson, which I saw as a very close frame that could have been scored for Griffin due to his triangle attempt, which came within a ball-hair of finishing the fight. I’m sure the argument will rage on, but there’s one thing we can all agree on: These judges are totally incompetent. Where’s Cecil Peoples when you need him?

As if there was any doubt, Rampage vs. Forrest won UFC 86′s Fight of the Night bonus, with both headliners picking up $60,000 for their event-saving performance. As mentioned earlier, Knockout of the Night went to Melvin Guillard for his 36-second destruction of Dennis Siver, and Submission of the Night went to Cole Miller for choking out Jorge Gurgel; those bonuses were also worth $60k. Full payout info to come as soon as we have it…

Rampage and Opie battle for the light-heavyweight belt, Cote and Alemeida scrap for the #1 middleweight contender spot, Joe Stevenson tries to keep his blood inside his head, Josh Koscheck and Chris Lytle try to make it two in a row…and that’s pretty much it. Not an awesome card, but UFN 14 is just two weeks from now, and sometimes quantity is quality. Results from the UFC 86 undercard and live updates from the PPV broadcast are after the jump; refresh your browser every few minutes to read all the latest, and share your reactions in the comments section.

From Sherdog, here’s a video of Quinton Jackson working out at the gym and running down Saturday’s matchup with Forrest Griffin, including why he thinks Forrest’s win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua wasn’t impressive. Juanito Ibarra stops by to say that Forrest will go back to bad habits, and Zach Light attests to Jackson’s hatred of training. We look forward to seeing if Rampage-with-hair is just as fearsome as shiny-domed Rampage.

Check out the intro to SpikeTV’s “Countdown to UFC 86″ special, which features Juanito Ibarra vowing to retire if Rampage loses. Finally, this fight matters!

Here’s a segment on Patrick Cote from the “Countdown” show, which details his hard luck in the Octagon before putting together consecutive wins against Scott Smith, Kendall Grove and Drew McFedries.

And finally, a slam-packed Rampage Jackson highlight clip, courtesy of the UFC.

Forrest Griffin may have started in the UFC as the original “Ultimate Fighter,” but since then he’s proved himself in several tough bouts and endeared himself to fans. This Saturday he faces his first title bout against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 86 and another career-defining moment.

In this exclusive interview, Griffin spoke with CagePotato about his experiences coaching drunken fighters, his plans for “Rampage,” and much more.

CagePotato.com: Thanks for talking with me, Forrest. Tell me, how have you been getting ready specifically for “Rampage”?

You know, a little of this, little of that. I’ve just been having people scowl at me a lot. That’s the first thing you’ve got to prepare for with Rampage. He’s got a good scowl. If you’ve ever watched him fight, have you ever watched him fight?

Yes, I’ve seen him fight.

He’s got a nice little scowl, doesn’t he?

It’s not bad. What else do you think he has in his arsenal, aside from the scowl.

He’s got a good chin. He’s a powerful guy, very explosive. He hits hard.

His trainer mentioned that he expected you to try and stay away from “Rampage” for most of the fight.

Sounds good. I think I’ll do that. Stay on the move. I like that. No, but I don’t want to stand in front of him for too long. Unfortunately he hits harder than I do and has a better chin than I do, so that’s not a good idea.

As debuted on SpikeTV Friday night, here’s the first gameplay trailer for the UFC’s new PS3/Xbox 360/etc. jammy-jam, featuring Rampage vs. Forrest, and commentary by Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg. According to a preview on IGN:

There’s no HUD or health bar, so fighters don’t get worn down till they’re eventually tapped out or KO’d. A fighter can be finished at any time, depending upon the situation. On the other hand, there are more defensive moves and blocking and countering in the game, with a design more similar to traditional fighting games than old MMA or wrestling games. THQ specifically stated that “…button mashing will make you lose.”

Furthermore, the happenings of the fight actually have an effect on fighters during the fight beyond simply wearing them down. When Rampage used punches to the body to weaken Forrest, purple welts similar to what was seen on Liddell’s body when he fought Keith Jardine appeared near Griffin’s kidney. A small cut had formed over the former Ultimate Fighter’s eye, while Rampage had his left eye nearly swollen shut by a series of excellent Griffin knees. All the injuries looked authentic, but also affected how successful each fighter was at accomplishing what they wanted to as the fight wore on.

Reportedly the game will feature an 80+ fighter roster — which still doesn’t explain how War Machine and Saunders made the cut.

…and Stitch and Juanito look awesome.

(Images courtesy of 1up.com via BloodyElbow)

Tonight at 1 a.m. ET/PT, Spike TV’s GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley will unveil the first gameplay footage trailer from THQ’s UFC 2009 video game; UFC prez Dana White will be on hand to introduce the clip. 1up.com has a gallery of screen-shots for the highly-anticipated game, and a behind-the-scenes featurette with Rampage and Cheick Kongo getting their motion-capture on is after the jump.

(Amir gets all “Rocky” on us.)

I’m assuming that most of you watched last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter — which, hype aside, was easily one of the greatest episodes in the show’s history — so I won’t bore you with extraneous details. But here’s a quick recap:

— CB Dollaway and Amir Sadollah square off in the last semi-final fight. Aside from a couple of hard body kicks and a close armbar attempt from Amir, the first two rounds are all CB, who controls the action from the top, and delivers a Rampage-style body slam as well as some brutal elbows that open up a large gash under Amir’s right eye. CB nearly locks in a rear-naked choke in the third round, but Amir spins out, momentarily tries to figure out a toe-hold, then catches CB in another armbar that immediately causes him to tap. With his professional MMA record still 0-0, Amir Sadollah has battled his way to the TUF 7 finale.

(Afterwards, getting sewn up.)

Well, it’s Tuesday, which means you’ve probably been biting your nails all day wondering when Dana White is going to drop his huge, mind-blowing announcement that may or may not define the future of the sport. Dave Meltzer, who broke some news earlier about EliteXC’s next CBS show — which has the working title of “Unfinished Business,” by the way — now has this to say via f4wonline.com:

Dana White has moved the meeting for UFC employees to Noon tomorrow (Wednesday) for the big announcement. So word should break shortly after that time.

MMA Mania points out that the New York Tourism, Arts and Sports Development Committee is slated to vote again tomorrow on legislation to legalize MMA in NY. That could just be a coincidence — White previously denied that his announcement was related to New York MMA regulation — but we’ll update you when we know more.

And hey, just so this post isn’t a total waste of your time, here’s a rather-awesome UFC 86 hype video, running down the matchups between Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson, as well as Cote vs. Almeida. By the way, if you tell Rampage he’s not going to win this fight, you can kiss his natural black ass.

UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin Preview

(Props: MMAMania)

Above is the first video promo for UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin (July 5th, Las Vegas). The main event should be fantastic, but it doesn’t bode well that Cote vs. Almeida is the only other match that warrants a mention in the clip. And even if the winner will technically be “moving up the ranks toward a middleweight title shot,” it’s not like they won’t have to beat 2-4 more guys to get there. The current lineup is below; is it better or worse than UFC 85′s?

MAIN CARD
Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin
Patrick Cote vs. Ricardo Almeida
Joe Stevenson vs. Gleison Tibau
Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Lytle
Tyson Griffin vs. Marcus Aurelio

UNDERCARD
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Justin McCully
Jorge Gurgel vs. Cole Miller
Melvin Guillard vs. Dennis Siver
Corey Hill vs. Justin Buchholz

Unrelated, but important: The earth-shattering news that Dana White was promising to deliver tomorrow has been pushed back to this coming Tuesday. My guess? The UFC needs a little more time to obtain rights to “The Hex”…

Whoa…Rampage has the ability to grow hair? And he’s doing it because he has an audition to play B.A. Baracus in a John Singleton re-make of The A-Team? Consider our minds blown. Big ups to Jimmy for continuing to bring MMA fighters to his couch.

(Props: Bloody Elbow)

(Jesse Taylor pisses his shorts on national television.)

Every Thursday morning, Team Rampage member Gerald Harris blogs his reactions to each new episode of The Ultimate Fighter 7 on CagePotato.com. Here’s what he had to say about last night’s ep, in which retard-strong (and retard-smart) Jesse Taylor pounded his way to victory, and Amir Sadollah and Matt Brown put on the best fight of the season.

***

By now everyone should know that Jesse Taylor is for real. He’s not the most exciting fighter in the world, but he’s solid and gets the job done. I can’t hate, because I respect winners and he’s also a Team Quest fighter so I was rooting for him. Dante just laid there and took a beating. He’s a veteran in the game and also a brown belt under Ricardo Almeida, so I assumed that he would catch Jesse, but Jesse just punched the [blank] out of him for two full rounds.

Now, let me get to the action! Matt Brown vs. Amir Sadollah was crazy. That’s a fight that people would pay money to watch. I think the first round could be given to Brown for the aggression and last second takedown. Amir seemed to pick up steam in the second round, took Matt down, punished him from the top, and eventually sunk in a triangle choke. I liked the fight because it wasn’t a sloppy slugfest. Brown has a great boxing background and Amir showed his Muay Thai and ground game with the strikes and sub finish. It’s crazy that the more you pressure him, he gets stronger and doesn’t fold — that’s the quality of a good fighter. I can say the same about Brown plus he was very humble in his loss and showed respect for his opponent.

(“The foulest stench is in the air / the funk of 40,000 years / And grisly ghouls from every tomb / are closing in to seal your doom.”)

Every Thursday morning, Team Rampage member Gerald Harris blogs his reactions to each new episode of The Ultimate Fighter 7 on CagePotato.com. Here’s what he had to say about last night’s ep, in which CB Dollaway got his first inevitable win and the quarterfinal matchups were announced.

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Let me start by apologizing for not speaking on the Yarbrough-Schultz fight in last week’s blog. I was really going through some things — it’s hard to walk around knowing the outcome of the show and holding it from your friends and family. You’re drowned with questions and angry people wanting to know what happened, and also claiming to know the outcome. Last week was a shock to a lot of people close to me but not to many outside of that circle. I learned a lot from the experience and took the loss as motivation. I was also mistaken on my words threatening to hurt Amir after the bout. I was being very sarcastic and I’m very humble about the incident.

Now, it was no surprise that CB was fighting Nick Klein this week. The only surprise was “who the hell is Nick Klein?” Well, let me fill you in. Klein is a tough dude — we were actually respecting him a lot, because he was very quiet in the house. Quiet people are unpredictable and are usually hiding something…like talent. Klein had a lot of it and even earned the name “Killa Klein” for his random funny outbursts. I hate to use the word “underdog” on this show because we’re all at the bottom of the mountain trying to become UFC fighters. In this case even Klein felt like an underdog because of CB’s high profile and #1 pick status from Rampage.

Most of you already know about CB. I didn’t know much about him other than his great wrestling before the show, but I would soon find out about his grappling and Muay Thai skills. I thought that he was just another wrestler, but after training with him I noticed that he was well rounded. He hits hard as hell, has great subs, and he’s meaner than a muthaf*$#a when it’s time to fight. He has this alter ego called the “DOBERMAN” and I saw that as he entered the cage.

I wish I could embed this — but you’ll have to click the picture above to see a “leaked” clip from this Wednesday’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, in which C.B. Dollaway playfully kicks Rampage during a training session, which spurs Rampage to take his pants off and challenge Dollaway to a submission grappling match. We’ll just say that he should have kept his pants on, and that Nick Klein is a dead man.

Speaking of The Ultimate Fighter 7, the undercard for the season finale (June 21st, live at 9 p.m. ET on SpikeTV) has been officially announced. Right now, the lineup looks like this:

Evan Tanner vs. Kendall Grove
Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fioravanti
[match between the show's two middleweight finalists]
Spencer Fisher vs. Jeremy Stephens
Josh Burkman vs. Dustin Hazelett
Marvin Eastman vs. Drew McFedries
Jeremy Horn vs. Dean Lister
Matt Arroyo vs. TBA?
Rob Yundt vs. TBA?

Other bouts featuring the show’s castmembers are also expected to be included in the three-hour telecast. I’ll sell my third testicle if Dollaway isn’t involved.

Another must-see: Remember that thing about Kimbo Slice presenting at the CMAs on Sunday? Well, it was even more awkward and uncomfortable than we thought it would be. Vid is after the jump…click if you dare.

(“Sic semper tyrannis, bitch!”)

Every Thursday morning, Team Rampage member Gerald Harris will be blogging his reactions to each new episode of The Ultimate Fighter 7 on CagePotato.com. Here’s what he had to say about last night’s ep, in which Jeremy May got his comeuppance and Team Rampage finally pulled out a win.

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I don’t think too many people were surprised by the punishment dished out by Matt Brown. People ask me about him all the time — they think he’s a serial killer and mean as hell. To tell you the truth, I thought the same thing, but he’s actually one of the coolest dudes in the house. He opened up a lot about how fighting kept him alive and changed him in a positive way. He earned a lot of respect by doing that and whoopin’ ass in practice.

May definitely asked for it, but I gotta give it too him for coming out strong. The only thing that pissed me off is that the admitted to faking the knee injury. Now, if you don’t already know, I’m probably Jeremy’s only friend and I didn’t even know that. A lot of people were cautious of overtraining, but to sandbag is another story. The fight went well — it was all emotion, so they got tired pretty quick. But Brown had the better cardio and weathered the storm, then finished May with a kick to the nose. As bad as some people wanted to see Jeremy lose, I hated to see Team Forrest in control again.