(‘I’m so mad I could pull guard right now.’)

There’s no getting around it, Dean Lister had a bad, bad night against Yushin Okami at UFC 92.  His offense consisted of pulling guard, a few token efforts at striking, and takedown attempts that only became more half-hearted as the fight wore on.  Not surprisingly, he lost the decision, was showered with boos from the fans, and got his release from the UFC afterwards.  

Now Lister has posted a message to the UG apologizing to his fans and teammates:

Listen I had a very poor performance my last fight. Truth is that I let my team and my gym, my friends and definitely myself down for this fight. Its not only that I lost but I really showed a poor performance. I had a much better showing against Arona (even though that was only primarily a grappling fight that I lost) even in Pride who is a better fighter than Okami for sure. Things just didnt come together for me this fight. I trained so, so hard, I really trained hard but it didnt work out.

Nice, right?  He owns up to his poor performance, apologizes to the people he let down, but it doesn’t stop there:

(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.

(Sir Robert Sapp, middle, headlines Da’ Dome tonight.)

I’m in the mood to check out some of the weekend’s news, so how ’bout it?

— Wanderlei Silva is close to putting his ink on an agreement to fight Keith Jardine. Rumors have been flying about this one, but now Wandy is confirming the showdown will be for UFC 84. There is an English version on Wandy’s official blog if you prefer the Americanized version – just click on the US flag in the upper right corner. This adds to a fight card that also includes B.J. Penn v Sean Sherk, Lyoto Machida v Tito Ortiz, Rashad Evans v Thiago Silva, among others. The show will be on May 24th in Vegas.

— Speaking of UFC 84, tickets will be available for the event via an exclusive presale on February 28th. (From MMA Mania)

— Brock Lesnar’s next showing could be against Justin McCully at UFC 85. The fighter was on Friday’s episode of HDNet’s “Inside MMA” and said he is in discussions with the UFC to face the much-hyped ex-pro wrestler/ex-NFL player. McCully’s words: “We’ve been talking about fighting this big huge guy that just crossed over from some wrestling promotion. Thats in talks right now. We’ll see what happens. I hope it comes through. I really like the fight.” Regardless if it’s Lesnar or not, McCully claims he’s coming back this summer.