“On This Day in MMA History” pays tribute to some of the more bizarre and infamous news stories of MMA’s past. The following article was originally published on May 19th, 2012, one year ago today. Note: We’ve placed a few more notable anniversaries at the end of this post.

BREAKING: Jon Jones Arrested for DUI in Binghamton, NY

This doesn’t look good, folks. Initially reported by TMZ.com and confirmed by Josh Gross, UFC Light-Heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been arrested in Binghamton, New York on DUI charges after totaling his Bentley. From TMZ:

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … Jones was involved in an accident at around 5:00 AM in Binghamton, NY. We’re told the car — which Jones crashed into a pole — was totaled and cops arrested Jones on the scene for DUI.

According to our sources, Jones was taken into custody by Broome County Sheriff and bailed out a few hours later … by his mom. Jones is from nearby Ithaca.

Fortunately for Jones, it appears that he only suffered minor injuries, and it does not appear that anyone else was injured from this accident. It is unclear whether or not there were any passengers in the car at the time of the accident.

As of this writing, Dana White’s only response to the incident has been a text to TMZ, saying “Wow, i guess its not my week is it?”. Given the week he’s had, that may be putting it mildly. Neither Jones nor his teammates will be commenting on the arrest at this time.

Bellator vet Blagoi Ivanov has been placed in a medically induced coma in the intensive care unit of the Bulgarian hospital he has been recovering in since being stabbed more than six weeks ago in his homeland.

This according to a press release by the hospital, sent out today.

Doctors are planning to start hemodialysis on Ivanov soon in an attempt to save his kidneys from further damage. His breathing is being assisted by a respirator and he is being pumped full of a steady supply of antibiotics to ward off infection.

There’s no word on whether or not his physicians expect him to fully recover from the attack.

CagePotato Roundtable is our new recurring column in which the CP writing staff and some of our friends all get together to debate an MMA-related topic. Joining us this week is former CagePotato staff writer Chad Dundas, who now writes for an up-and-coming blog called ESPN. If you have a suggestion for a future Roundtable column, send it to tips@cagepotato.com.

CagePotato reader Alexander W. writes: “The Demetrious Johnson vs. Ian McCall fight inspired my suggestion: Greatest robberies in MMA history. I’d be curious to hear the variety of opinions out there. Surely that fight was a top ten.”

Chad Dundas

There are a lot of things about Pride Total Elimination 2003 that don’t make sense when viewed with modern MMA sensibilities. How to even comprehend a world where a skinny, haired-up, suit jacket-wearing Dana White could bet Pride bigwigs $250,000 that Chuck Liddell was going to win that company’s 2003 middleweight grand prix? Or comprehend that a bizarrely dangerous and clearly-enunciating Liddell showed up in the first round of said tournament and KTFOed an impossibly svelte Alistair Overeem? Or that Overeem had an old dude in a robe and shriners hat accompany him to the ring while carrying a big foam hammer? Or that on this night somebody got tapped out with a sleeve choke? Or that Wanderlei Silva fought Kazushi Sakuraba and it didn’t just make everybody feel sad and empty?

No sense at all.

What does still sort of make sense is this: After watching Liddell sleep Overeem, there was no way on God’s green Earth that Pride judges were going to let another UFC emissary walk out of Saitama Super Arena with a win*, so they conspired to pull off one of the greatest screwjobs in MMA history when they awarded Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira a unanimous decision over Ricco Rodriguez. The indisputable fact is, Ricco whipped Big Nog good that night, taking him down, brutalizing him, shaking off his feeble submission attempts and controlling pretty much the whole affair. At least, that’s how I remember it. Unfortunately, due to Zuffa’s ongoing war on Internet piracy it seems their bout will only be remembered by history and by the creepy old man who answers the queries you submit to the Sherdog Fight Finder.

(You think that’s funny? I just pissed in your Gatorade.)

It looks like the UFC’s light heavyweight division is about to get a much needed shake up, because it is being reported that hard hitting Shooto and WEC vet Glover Teixeira has finally signed with the promotion, and will debut at UFC 146 against an opponent that has yet to be determined.

Undefeated since March of 2005, when he dropped a unanimous decision to resurgent TUF 3 alum Ed Herman, Teixeira has reeled off 15 straight, with only one going the distance and only three making it out of the first round. Most recently, the Ruas Vale Tudo product ran through former UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez, forcing him to submit to strikes in under 2 minutes. The Brazilian slugger also holds notable victories over UFC vets Marvin Eastman, Antonio Mendes, and Rameau Thierry Sokoudoju.

To familiarize you all with some of Mr. Teixeira’s handiwork, check out the Rodriguez scrap along with a highlight video after the jump.

Most ‘crimes’ in MMA take the form of inept judging and flagrant rule breaking, but this past year many professional fighters were caught up in activities that landed them inside of a very different sort of cage. Get ready for a trip down memory lane in our most depressing “booking roundup” of the year. Here’s your run down of 2011’s biggest arrests, convictions, acquittals, and sentencings.

(Props, as always, go to our buddies over at IronForgesIron.) 

There are two kinds of fighters in this world; those who take their sweet time in between fights, either to mend their wounds or simply because everyone is afraid to fight them, and then there are those like Alexander Shlemenko, who, after handling Vitor Vianna just a month ago at Bellator Fighting Championships 57 and earning a rematch with Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard, decided not to wait around for our puny brained American system to determine a rematch date. Instead, Alex risked life and limb to take on UFC vet Julio Paulino last night in Mother Russia under possibly the longest named promotion of all time, Far Eastern Federation of Modern Pankration, the result of which we can only spoil if you join us after the jump…

(Hopefully for everybody’s sake the 2002 version of Ricco shows up to fight Texeira)

According to a report from TATAME, Brazilian light heavyweight standout Glover Texeira will take on former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez on November 27 in the main event of a show titled “MMA Against Dengue.”

The event, which is being organized by the municipal government of Rio de Janeiro to educate residents about the deadly Dengue Fever, will take place at Pacificador Square, in Duque de Caxias.

(Props: BellatorMMA)

So while we’re waiting on KarmaAteMyCat to deliver some videos from last night’s Bellator 48, let’s talk about the action, shall we? With all of the excitement from last night’s event, it only makes sense to start with Cole Konrad vs. Paul Buentello. Yes, they fought. Yes, Cole Konrad won in unspectacular fashion. Yes, we can now stop talking about this fight.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening was Pat Curran’s dramatic head kick knockout of former Sengoku champion Marlon Sandro. Despite being in trouble early on, Pat Curran kept his composure and unleashed a brutal roundhouse kick. With his victory, Pat Curran becomes the first fighter to win a Bellator tournament in two different weight classes. I’m not sure what I’m looking forward to more: Pat Curran’s inevitable clash with Joe Warren, or the confused look on his banker’s face when he tries to cash that oversized check.

(Pat Curran’s Peruvian necktie submission of Luis Palomino at Bellator 46, 6/25/11.)

Bellator 48 goes down tonight at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, featuring the finals of Bellator’s Summer Series Featherweight Tournament — former Sengoku standout Marlon Sandro vs. former lightweight tournament winner Pat Curran — as well as the promotional debuts of Ricco Rodriguez, Seth Petruzelli, and Paul Buentello. The main card will be broadcast live on MTV2 beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

Honorary CagePotato Fight Team captain Jefferey “KarmaAteMyCat” Watts has snagged a press credential to the event, and will be representing us on press row this evening, hopefully wearing some killer tights. Assuming the Mohegan Sun has a solid Internet connection, Jeff will be sharing his observations during the show, after the jump. It’s not a “liveblog,” so much as a casual chat among friends. So follow along if you’re watching the fights, let us know your thoughts, and remember to refresh the page once in a while. Thanks for being here.

You know how sometimes you work on something for a long time, but toward the end you’re just making it worse, but you’ve already put time and energy into it so you don’t want to trash it? Yeah, that’s never happened to me before.

From Wikipedia: The Casino of the Sky has a functional planetarium utilizing fiber optics to display the sun, moon, and stars accompanying the lighting effects of the Wombi Rock, which is a three-story high crystal mountain crafted of alabaster and more than 12,000 individual plates of hand-selected onyx from quarries in Iran, Pakistan, and Mexico; which were transported to Carrara, Italy and fused into glass.

Now look, we may not be able to fully comprehend the functional value of this “Wombi Rock” but that sounds fucking BALLER. Turns out the Mohegan Sun Casino outside Uncasville, Connecticut is the second largest casino in the United States, and we have some extravagant casinos.

So when Bellator pops off for the third and last time of the summer this Saturday, don’t talk to me about “minor league” and “small potatoes”. With a talent pool that is constantly getting deeper with the excellent scouting from the BFC office, a tournament format that keeps fans coming back, and a spot waiting for them on SpikeTV (*fingers crossed*) Bellator is big time, baby.

Come on in and let’s run down the show, starting off with that Featherweight Tournament Final…

No, Ricco wasn’t involved this time. Props: Shark Fights on Twitter

If we were to tell you that Ricco Rodriguez was involved in another weigh-in fail during last night’s Shark Fights 17 at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas, it’s doubtful that too many readers would be surprised. The guy kind of has a history of missing weight. However, in a turn of events that prove even the MMA gods have a sense of humor, this time it was his opponent Karl Knothe coming in heavy for the 230 pound catchweight fight.

Those of you who remember our post from Thursday are probably a little confused for two reasons. Number one, we already told you that Karl Knothe has competed mostly as a light heavyweight, making it seem odd that he would show up overweight for a fight at 230. Also, we never mentioned that the fight was a catchweight bout. You’re not alone: No one told Karl Knothe about this, either. According to MMAJunkie.com: Both Rodriguez’s camp and Shark Fights officials said the bout was agreed to a catchweight of 230 pounds while Knothe allegedly believed it to be a heavyweight contest. When Knothe weighed in at 253.75 pounds to Rodriguez’s 227.75 pounds, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation disallowed Knothe from [Friday’s] event due to the large gap and concerns over excessive weight-cutting from the heavier fighter. In the same article, Shark Fight’s owner Bud Brutsman says that Karl Knothe’s manager never told him about the catchweight limit. Somebody needs to give this guy Mike Dolce’s number and a competent manager. Assuming “My manager didn’t tell me” isn’t a code for “Wow, I really botched that one, huh?”, of course.

(Props: SharkFights.com)

Just one month before he makes his Bellator debut against Seth Petruzelli, Ricco Rodriguez has one final tune-up match to get through. “Suave” will meet Karl “The Original Son of Punishment” Knothe — a Minnesota-based fighter who has won his last 12 fights by first-round stoppage —in the co-headlining bout of Shark Fights 17, which goes down tomorrow night at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas. Even though Knothe has primarily competed as a 205-pounder, the match is being held at heavyweight, which is a good thing considering that Rodriguez’s last two attempts to hit a weight limit under 265 have resulted in failure and more failure.

Ricco has been undefeated in 11 fights over the last two years, competing for 10 different promotions; the upcoming appearances for Shark Fights and Bellator will also be his first for those promotions, extending his epic transient streak. Rodriguez is coming off a decision win over James McSweeney at BAMMA 5 in February, followed by an unfortunate arrest in Arizona in May.

Shark Fights 17 will be headlined by a middleweight feature between UFC vets Matt Horwich and Jake Rosholt; the two fighters previously met at an Xtreme Fight Night event last November, in which Horwich won by third-round TKO. Check out the full card here.

(This dude’s Marked for Death…)

Count Ricco Rodriguez as one of the growing number of fighters under the hypnotizing spell of Steven Seagal.

In a recent interview the beleaguered former UFC heavyweight champion did with Bleacher Report, Rodriguez detailed his first meeting with the “Hard to Kill” 7th Dan Aikido master.

“I’ve always been a fan of Steven Seagal’s. I’ve always admired his acting skills and even as I got older and started chasing some of my own personal goals. Because when I was a kid, I watched the Bruce Lee movies and going to Japan, living in Japan and training at the Takada dojo, traveling to Brazil, there was somewhat a similar situation to me and Seagal. So, getting to meet a person such as him, if I can explain to you how phenomenal his energy was, I can’t explain it unless you were because you just feel how motivating he is and how presentable he is. He’s a phenomenal person and a great guy.”

“I’m going to beat you so bad you’ll look like you were in a car wreck. Then I’m going to drag you over to the driver’s seat and run away into the night.”

With their featherweight tourney already underway, Bellator would like to remind you that they’ve got some big boys that can throw down too. Two fights have been announced for their upcoming Bellator 48 card, going down on August 20th.

New details have emerged in yesterday’s Ricco Rodriguez arrest story. From a KSAZ FOX 10 report published last night:

PHOENIX – Mixed martial arts fighter Ricco ‘Suave’ Rodriguez has been arrested after allegedly assaulting a taxi cab driver and resisting arrest.

According to Phoenix Police, the 33-year-old was arrested over the weekend after an incident with a cab driver in Ahwatukee, south of Phoenix.

Last Sunday, Rodriguez commissioned a cab driver to take him to a bar in Ahwatukee called the Garage.

When the cab fare came to $70, Rodriguez allegedly refused to give the driver more than $20. They got into an argument and the cab driver called 911.

Rodriguez grabbed the man and tossed him to the ground, according to police. When officers tried to take him into custody, he allegedly pushed one of them into a wall.

He’s a big guy — according to his jail booking information, Rodriguez is 6’2″ and 235 lbs.

Police say it took two Phoenix Police officers and an off-duty officer to get him under control.

(Props: wiu81. Side-view is here, if you’re an MMA mugshot completist.)

According to jailbase.com, former UFC heavyweight champ Ricco Rodriguez was arrested last Sunday, May 15th, in Maricopa County, Arizona. Charges were listed as assault, failure to appear, and resisting arrest. We have no more info at this time, but we’ll update you as soon as we do. By the way, if you feel like checking out the mugshots of everybody who was arrested in Maricopa County on 5/15, click here. It’s like a broke-ass game of Guess Who. (“Is your person an obvious tranny? Does your person look like he needs a bath?”)

Jobbi.com announced today that it has formed a partnership with Zuffa to help the parent company of the UFC and Strikeforce recruit fighters.

According to the company’s co-founder Lawrence Vaughan, applicants will receive feedback from members of the job search hub which will help improve their standing on the site and may lead to them gaining the attention of UFC brass.

“Together with the UFC, we’ve created a streamlined process that makes it simple for new fighters and UFC management to connect with each other. There is also a social component that makes it easy for general public to get involved. People can talk with fighters, watch videos of applicants, and show their support for their favorite fighters,” explained Vaughan. “It is an exciting, ongoing process to determine who will ultimately get their dream job fighting for the UFC.”

(Props: ZPsBackUp)

Despite their now-routine struggles with making weight, Paul Daley and Ricco Rodriguez turned in impressive performances at BAMMA 5, Saturday night in Manchester, England. In the main event, Japanese welterweight Yuya Shirai was absolutely no match for Daley, as Semtex rocked him twice with jabs in the first frame before a flurry of power punches put Shirai down for good at the 1:46 mark.

Daley is now expected to face Nick Diaz at Strikeforce’s tentative April 9th event in California, although one rumor suggests that Daley’s participation is far from official and the British striker may be holding out for more money. Which makes sense, since he’ll probably have to forfeit about 20% of his purse to Diaz before the fight.

(Ricco desperately tries to squeeze off a couple more ounces on the scale. For more BAMMA 5 weigh-in pics, check out MMAWeekly)

No strangers to epic weigh-in failure, Paul Daley and Ricco Rodriguez were once again thwarted by the scales today while trying to make their BAMMA 5 bouts official. Main event fighter Paul Daley missed weight for the fifth time in his career, initially weighing in at 172 pounds for the welterweight contest, then getting down to 170.4 before his additional weigh-in time ran out.

Like the UFC, BAMMA follows the Unified Rules of MMA, which doesn’t allow a one-pound allowance for title fights. As a result, Daley’s bout against DEEP champ Yuya Shirai has been downgraded to a three-round non-title affair. Not a good look if you’re trying to convince Strikeforce to give you a title fight against Nick Diaz.

(Ricco Rodriguez battles Randy Couture at UFC 39 while wearing the henna tattoo that almost brought down an industry. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

This Saturday, former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez faces TUF 10 vet James McSweeney in the co-main event of BAMMA 5 (MEN Arena; Manchester, England), which you can watch live via $10 online pay-per-view at bammatv.com. With 10 consecutive wins already under his belt — and his personal demons under control — you’d think that a decisive win over McSweeney would move Rodriguez one step closer to a UFC return. That’s what we thought anyway, until we asked Ricco about it on last week’s episode of The Bum Rush Radio Show. (The interview with Rodriguez begins at the 1:30:11 mark.)

As it turns out, the recent report that claimed Rodriguez was on the verge of signing a new contract with the UFC was mostly hot air. And in fact, it would be a minor miracle if “Suave” got anywhere close to an Octagon during his lifetime. Here’s the excerpt from our Bum Rush interview, in which Ricco Rodriguez — for the first time ever — explains why he’s been blacklisted from the organization.

***

RICCO RODRIGUEZ: No, [the report] definitely wasn’t accurate. There were some talks to possibly get into the UFC, but that opportunity is just not available, and I just don’t ever see myself returning to the UFC. Dana holds a grudge pretty well, and he has his reasons, and I don’t blame him. I understand what I did at that time, and it was a tough pill to swallow and he has every right to be upset with him…The truth of the matter is, is that I single-handedly almost tore down the UFC at one point in my career. A lot of people don’t know this, and you’ll probably be the first one that I’ll ever admit this to.

The Bum Rush Radio Show is back for a 16th episode this week, and it’s a doozy.

On this edition of the podcast, the guys recap Saturday’s opening round event of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix and break down next weekend’s UFC 127 card before welcoming CP fighter-blogger Ryan “The Big Deal” Jimmo and MMA icon Ricco Rodriguez.

(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)

Addiction can make the toughest S.O.B. as powerless as this guy. While many MMA fighters have had their lives and careers derailed by drugs and alcohol, some were strong enough to find treatment and pull their lives out of the tailspin. Here’s our tribute to five of them…

LYLE BEERBOHM

Drug of choice: methamphetamines
Rock bottom moment: Wandering around the streets looking for a place to sleep after he had burned his bridges with everybody in his life. When he landed in the Washington State Penitentiary for 18 months for drug-related felonies after six years of shooting meth, nobody in his family came to visit him.
Recovery: While in the joint, Beerbohm began watching The Ultimate Fighter and became inspired to fight for a living; he’d already had to physically defend himself in prison a few times. "Fancy Pants" joined an MMA gym the day he got out, and won his first amateur fight eight days later. Beerbohm is currently 16-0 as a pro, and will take on Pat Healy in the main event of Strikeforce Challengers 14 next month.

COURT McGEE

Drug of choice: Alcohol, cocaine, heroin, meth, etc.
Rock bottom moment: McGee began abusing drugs after falling in with the wrong crowd after high school, and was once pronounced dead following a heroin overdose. In 2006, McGee had managed to stay sober for five months. In order to test his willpower, he took a trip to Las Vegas and decided to order just one drink. He woke up four days later in Iowa, not wearing any pants.
Recovery: McGee has been sober since April 16, 2006, two weeks after the Vegas/Iowa incident. He began training in MMA and rebuilding relationships with his family, which helped restore order to his life. "Crusher" came out of nowhere to win TUF 11 last June, and submitted Ryan Jensen in his follow-up fight at UFC 121. 

(The hypogonadism is spreading like wildfire. PicProps: MMAClothingTrends)

So, we forgive you if you didn’t spend 2010 following Ricco Rodriguez’s career with the rapt and breathless attention you reserve for ex-UFC champs like, say, Tim Sylvia. If you’re just a youngling and/or aren’t a huge fan of Dr. Drew’s Celebrity Rehab then it’s also sort of understandable if you read that headline and were like, “Ricco who?” (Seriously though kid, UFC 39, check it out sometime) In any case, you’ll have to excuse the rest us oldsters if we pause from massaging Tiger Balm into our arthritic hip and raise one hoary eyebrow at reports out this week that the former 265-pound-titlist-turned-tragic-cautionary-tale might be on the verge of returning to the UFC.

MMA Weekly got the water boiling with an interview published on Christmas Eve and on Monday Five Ounces of Pain inserted the standard “learned from a source close to the fighter” qualification to the story that Rodriguez has been "negotiating" with our Octagon Overlords about a brand new three-fight, six-figure deal. To this we say: Huh. Weird.

(GerardM? DREAM may be onto something awesome)

It’s seeming more and more like Ricco Rodriguez’s inclusion on the DREAM 15 card just wasn’t meant to be.

After Twittering early this morning that he may be stepping in for fellow MMA Agents repped fighter Jake O’Brien to face Gegard Mousasi in the opening round of the DREAM four-man light heavyweight grand prix tournament, it appears that the fight has reverted back to its original match-up as Mousasi’s camp has agreed to fight O’Brien in spite of the American reportedly being 21 pounds over the required 205-pound weight limit.

(No, Overeem will not be fighting…but enough about that. Have have you all seen our new hex-shaped cage. I call it the Sexagon.)

In a bizarre move, DREAM Executive Producer Keiichi Sasahara addressed the media today in an attempt to quell the rumors regarding Alistair Overeem dropping out of the event, but refused to discuss the reason for the Dutch fighter’s withdrawal, effectively doing little more than fuelling further speculation.

MMAFighting has the transcription of Sasahara’s prepared statement.

"Towards the end of the negotiations, because of reasons that I am not able to tell you, although the two fighters agreed to fight, it happened that these fighters could not fight. It’s not because of money, but if the reasons are something that I cannot tell you then you might be able to guess what they would be. Because of that, we are not able to have these two fighters fight.
We really wanted Alistair [Overeem] to fight. Today, unfortunately it is not happening so we will only have seven fights. I have to apologize to the fans who have been looking forward to seeing Alistair fight in Japan. I’m sorry."

(SURPRISE! Just shittin’ you, Ricco. The fight’s still on.")

In spite of Alistair Overeem’s public statement to MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani today that he never agreed to face Ricco Rodriguez at DREAM 15 this weekend, executives from the Japanese MMA organization are denying that the Strikeforce heavyweight champion has declined a slot on the card.

According to sources close to the fighter, who is currently aboard a plane to Japan under the assumption that the fight is still a go, DREAM officials have denied the reports that have surfaced about Alistair bowing out of the event and they have held steadfast to their claim that Rodriguez will indeed face Overeem.

(Ricco Rodriguez: From flab to fab.)

Two months after his beatdown of Brett Rogers at Heavy Artillery, Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem will return to competition at DREAM.15 (July 10th, Saitama), where he’ll take on former UFC heavyweight champ Ricco Rodriguez in a non-title bout. While that may sound like Alistair is getting back to his Japanese squash-match roots, keep in mind that Rodriguez is on a seven-fight win streak since last July (six of which came by stoppage), including victories over veterans Travis Fulton and Moise Rimbon. He also looks a lot better physically these days (see above), and competed in the 218-pound division at last year’s ADCCs.

Can Rodriguez use Overeem as a springboard to a career rebirth? No, probably not — but he could impress a lot of people just by giving Overeem a tough fight and not spitting on anybody. In a related story, Ricco is no longer listed for that 7/18 Impact FC fight against Jeff Monson, which is unfortunate because you can bet that Paulo Filho and Ken Shamrock will be dropping out at the last minute…

(Protect yourself at all times. Seriously, Daniel, *all* times.)

Australian upstart fight promotion Impact FC recently confirmed that UFC refugee Paul Daley will be competing at their July 18th show in Sydney — not on 7/3 as originally reported — against Chute Boxe product Daniel Acacio (21-9). According to impactfc.au.com, the Sydney fight card currently looks like this:

Ken Shamrock vs. Pedro Rizzo
Paul Daley vs. Daniel Acacio
Murilo Bustamante vs. Jesse Taylor
Jeff Monson vs. Ricco Rodriguez
Joaquim "Mamute" Ferreira vs. Sokoudjou
Paulo Filho vs. Denis Kang

Two thoughts come to mind upon seeing this lineup: 1) Damn, that’s a lot of star power for a brand-new league. And 2) My God, this is like the MMA equivalent of the Legion of Doom. Let’s run it down…

(Image courtesy of fleshlightfights.com)

If you spend as much time on the Internet as we do, you’ve probably come across the Fleshlight, a flashlight-shaped masturbatory device with a vagina-like opening at one end. It’s the kind of thing that lonely men might use when normal jerking-off loses it’s sense of mystery and romance. (See also: The Japanese Love Egg).

Aaaaaanyway, the self-proclaimed "#1 Selling Male Sex Toy in the World" is getting into the MMA game now, launching a site called fleshlightfights.com. If you go there, you’ll see that they’re sponsoring King of Kombat 7: Judgement Day, a 10-fight card featuring Ricco Rodriguez, Nick Gonzalez, and Cedric Marks. For $9.99, you can buy an interactive stream of the event on September 29th, that allows you to switch between five different camera angles. And if you order before the 22nd, you’ll receive $10 in "Fleshbucks," which I guess can be redeemed towards a new Fleshlight, should you burn through your first one. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, eh? You’re goddamned right it does. There’s just one problem…