You know, in a world where even female fighters are valued for their sex appeal as much as their actual abilities, you’d think that an undefeated sexpot like Rin Nakai would be getting a lot more press. The similarities between Nakai and current UFC women’s champion Ronda Rousey are astounding, yet their career trajectories as of late could not be more different. Undefeated bantamweight submission specialists? Check. Willing to fall back on their sex appeal to promote a fight? Check and…uh…check, I guess. Showed up to their last weigh-in wearing bunny-themed lingerie, complete with ears and a thong? Point Nakai.

Sure, Rin’s look appeals to a *very* specific niche, but the woman’s shameless self-promotional skills and morbid sense of sexuality (the term “fearection” comes to mind) is something that should not only be recognized by us lamestream media types, but held in high regard. Let us not forget that we live in a society that has yet to rid itself of the personification of cancer that is Jose Canseco.

Anyway, join us after the jump to check out a video of Nakai rocking an outfit straight out of Final Fantasy or some shit and strangling Brenda Gonzales at Pancrase 247 over the weekend.

(Meh, we liked it more when Carmen Electra was involved.)

You see, Potato Nation? Boxing and MMA can co-exist without controversy.

Although the stand up game has been little more than a means to an end (specifically, an end involving the involuntary disintegration of your elbow) in the MMA career of Ronda Rousey thus far, the UFC’s inaugural women’s champion was recently videotaped sparring with three-division world boxing champion Vic Darchinyan nonetheless. And to her credit, Rousey looked a hell of a lot more competent in the striking department than the one-trick pony she has been made out to be by many of the sport’s fans and pundits alike.

It’s a skill that will come in handy against Cat Zingano if Ronda values that moneymaker of hers. Rousey and Zingano are set to coach opposite one another on the upcoming co-ed season of The Ultimate Fighter, which kicks off September 4th on FOX Sports 1. Then again, if the odds are any indication, Rousey has already beaten Zingano by first round armbar, so why she’s even bothering to train is beyond us. Another upcoming tastefully nude photoshoot, perhaps? PERHAPS? TAKE THE HINT, RONDA.

-J. Jones

(“With all respect dued, Dana, *this* is our counter offer. Also, what does counter offer mean?”) 

Although both parties have since moved onto bigger, better things (if you happen to consider crushing cans for Invicta FC ”bigger” or “better”), MMA fans cannot seem to get over the botched negotiations between Cris Cyborg and Ronda Rousey that eventually led to the cancellation of what would have been the biggest fight in WMMA history at UFC 157. You know the story: Rousey was unwilling to even consider holding the fight at a catchweight, and it was physically impossible for Cyborg to make 135 pounds (or so we were told). Both fighters were left spinning their tires in the mud, that is, until Tito Ortiz showed up and everything really went to hell.

Cyborg was eventually released from her UFC contract, and Rousey went on to become the UFC’s first women’s champ, an influential and inspirational figure in female sports, and a universal sex symbol. So clearly, Tito Ortiz: Manager crushed another one out of the park. But if you were one of those fans who blamed Ortiz (and/or the rest of Cyborg’s Primetime 360 management team) for screwing things up in the first place, you should first turn your crosshairs on the people they were negotiating with. Because according to Ortiz’s Primetime 360 team partner, George Prajin, weight wasn’t even the issue, it was those damn Zuffa tightwads! MMAFighting’s Mike Chiappetta reports:

While (match weight) was at the center of most conversations in the media regarding the inability to make the Cyborg-Rousey fight, it was not the deal-breaker it’s been reported to be.

During the ongoing negotiations, which lingered for about two months, the promotion agreed to pay for the services of a dieting and nutrition consultant like Dolce. But there were other points that the two sides could not agree on.

The biggest issue, according to Cyborg’s management firm Primetime 360, was Zuffa treating Cyborg as a bit player rather than an event co-star.

(Props: Maxim via @RondaRousey. Click to enlarge.)

If you follow CagePotato on Facebook, this is old news by now — you saw this naked photo of Ronda Rousey in your newsfeed six hours ago, and you’re already spent. But in case you missed it, the UFC’s sexiest champion celebrated her #29 spot on this year’s Maxim Hot 100 by releasing an artfully shot black-and-white nude photo that may or may not actually be in the magazine. I wouldn’t know, and I don’t care enough to research it. But she looks even better here than she did in her last nude shoot, so big ups to Ronda.

By the way, coming in at #1 on the 2013 Maxim 100? Miley Cyrus. I know, it makes no fucking sense. Keep in mind that lists like these are generally comprised of famous women with upcoming projects to promote. Because if we were really putting together a list of women ranked by hotness alone, it would be dominated by random chicks from MeInMyPlace.com, and that just doesn’t sell magazines, I guess. Whatever. The bottom line is, another nude photo of Ronda Rousey exists in the world, and that makes today a good day.

There you have it, Nation. Like Dexy’s Midnight Runners before her, it appears that Ronda Rousey’s sophomore effort has failed to live up to her mainstream debut. It deeply saddens us to come to the revelation that her eye-popping debut on last year’s ESPN “Body Issue” will now serve as the ”Come On Eileen” of her career as an ESPN magazine cover girl, but what else could we have expected? The bar was set TOO HIGH, dammit; I personally anticipated nothing less than a giant Cobra, fireworks, paraplegics doing jazz hands, and a Suicide Girl with the words “Soy Bomb” painted on her chest swallowing a sword. But alas, we get elated Pikachu.

My obliterated (and completely unrealistic) expectations aside, it’s good to see “Rowdy” gracing the covers of ESPN: The Magazine again, especially on an issue as big as the mag’s 15th anniversary. Rousey will be featured alongside the likes of Kobe Bryant and Tom Brady when the magazine hits stands this Friday.

But for now, let’s pour (another) one out for Nude Ronda. She came into our lives as quickly as she went, but thanks to the power of print, her memory will forever remain in the annals of history. So it is with this song, Nude Ronda, that we bid you farewell…

(Props: mmadigest)

Proving that you don’t need dramatic music or clever editing to make a killer highlight reel, here’s a must-see compilation of Ronda Rousey judo-tossing the bejeezus out of Miesha Tate, Nick Diaz, Uriah Hall, Aaron Tru, Bas Rutten and a laundry list of opponents and training partners. And now that you’ve seen that, follow us downward for three more of the day’s best sort-of-MMA-related videos…

(Props: AXE)

Chael Sonnen‘s girlfriend is very attractive. Here’s how he landed her, with some sage advice at the end for all you young single fellas out there.

(Despite what your grandmother thinks, Twitter is not a euphemism and does not warrant a squirt of Dawn in your mouth.)

By Jason Moles

Back in 2010, the brain trust at CagePotato HQ compiled a list of the 25 most essential MMA Twitter feeds to follow. Boy, do we sure know how to pick ‘em. Miguel Torres, Kimbo Slice, Mayhem Miller, Reed Harris, Shane Carwin, and Strikeforce have all since faded out of relevance or gone off the deep end. Wait, Reed does what now? Are you sure? Nevermind — we’re back with an updated list of who you should really be following on Twitter, and this time we’ve actually put some thought into it instead of blindly tossing darts at our screen while simultaneously using a Shakeweight. Please note, this is 2013 and if you don’t already know you should be following Dana White, Arianny Celeste, or Ariel Helwani, you’re probably the reason Jon Jones is defending his title against Chael Sonnen this Saturday at UFC 159. Speaking of the gangster from West Linn…

twitter.com/sonnench

Bio: “Godfather of integrity; dual masters in dominance and modesty; once outboxed Hemingway; & author of this year’s bestseller, available NOW on Amazon”

If you thought Sonnen refused to break kayfabe only when the cameras were rolling, you must not have been paying attention because his gimmick is boundless. The People’s Champion maximizes his 140-character limit with every emasculating jab at his opponents, peers, and detractors in the MMA media. The American Gangster is the only man on Twitter to follow absolutely no one, not even his own mother.

Sample Tweet: “15 – the number of letters in the word hydropneumatics as well as Chael beats Jones. #UFC159 #4/27/13″

(Photo via ChicagoNow.com)

According to our current homepage poll, 43% of you think Cat Zingano at least stands a chance of victory when she challenges Ronda Rousey for the UFC women’s bantamweight title following their TUF 18 coaching stint. If only the oddsmakers were so confident. Despite Zingano’s comeback thrashing of Miesha Tate earlier this month, Rousey opened up as a stunning -825 betting favorite in the future matchup, with Zingano opening at +475. (Translation: At those odds, you’d have to wager $825 on Rousey to collect a $100 profit if she wins, while a $100 wager on Zingano would pay out a $475 profit if the challenger manages to score an upset.)

We haven’t seen a betting line that lopsided for a UFC title fight since…well, Rousey’s last fight against Liz Carmouche. To put this in perspective, Jon Jones originally opened at just -600 for his UFC 159 fight against the totally-fucked Chael Sonnen, although most betting sites now have Jones in the -800 to -900 range. In other words, the oddsmakers feel that Cat Zingano has about as good a chance of beating Ronda Rousey as Chael Sonnen does of winning a title fight in the weight class above his own. Yeesh. Sorry, Cat.

Bottom line, if you think Zingano has a shot in this one, consider laying down some cash, and quickly. Personally, we’ll stick with our usual investment strategy of flushing $20 bills down the toilet when we find them hidden in our stack of $100s. The price of gold may rise and fall, but that toilet remains as stable as something you sit on and crap into. I don’t know where I was going with this.

If you recall, the tryouts for The Ultimate Fighter 18: Rousey vs. Zingano transpired earlier this week, featuring such talent as Tara Larosa, Shayna Bazler and the incorrigible Kim Couture. Today, however, we actually get to take a first look at some of the lesser known ladies trying out for the groundbreaking season, as well as some of the veterans, courtesy of our friends over at MMAFighting. The most surprising appearance? Tonya Evinger, who I was positive had taken up a career in professional bull riding some years ago. Learnin’ something everyday.

With contestants spanning across all 50 states and even our neighbors to the North, the Grand Ballroom of the Palace Station Hotel was positively packed with young, excitable talent looking to prove themselves on the world’s biggest stage. Check out the video above, and let us know who you think we will be seeing come September 4th in the comments section.

-J. Jones

(Kim, we’ve seen enough…you’ve got the goods.) 

When it was first announced that Ronda Rousey would be coaching a co-ed season of The Ultimate Fighter opposite the winner of the Miesha Tate/Cat Zingano scrap, the internet pretty much imploded with fanboyish enthusiasm. When Ronda put out an anti-sex warning to the show’s future participants, well, that enthusiasm seemed to suddenly disappear. In either case, the tryouts for TUF 18 went down from the Grand Ballroom of the Palace Station Hotel in Las Vegas yesterday, and a few of the names that were listed among the potential participants might surprise you.

With only twelve female fighters currently listed in the UFC’s female bantamweight division, yesterday’s tryouts not only featured the usual influx of eager amateurs, but the likes of…

Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler: Competing professionally since 2003, you’d be hard pressed to find a WMMA fan who hasn’t heard of Baszler. The Strikeforce, EliteXC, and InvictaFC veteran is currently 15-8 and 3-2 in her last 5 and holds notable victories over Sarah D’Alelio, Alexis Davis, and Julie Kedzie. Baszler most recently suffered a third round submission loss in her rematch with Davis at Invicta FC 4.

(Image via fueltv)

In case you missed the announcement during the TUF 17 Finale broadcast, the UFC confirmed this weekend that The Ultimate Fighter will shift to the recently-announced FOX Sports 1 channel, beginning with the upcoming “Team Rousey vs. Team Zingano” season (aka TUF 18), which premieres Wednesday, September 4th at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. From the press-release:

“Bringing The Ultimate Fighter to FOX Sports 1 is like adding a big bat to an exciting young lineup,” said [Fox Sports Media Group COO and co-president Eric] Shanks. “TUF has jump-started the careers of dozens of fighters, many who have gone on to become UFC champions. It’s going to be a welcomed addition to FOX Sports 1, and the perfect anchor for our Wednesday prime time UFC block. We’re absolutely thrilled to have it.”

“Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter just ended and it was the best season we’ve ever done,” said UFC® President Dana White. “Season 18 is going to be historic and groundbreaking with the first-ever women coaches, and men and women training and living together, and we’re excited to be airing it on the best new sports network in the country, FOX Sports 1.”

(Hypocrisy is her name | Video via ShoSports)

At the The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale last night, Cat Zingano earned a shot at Ronda Rousey’s UFC bantamweight belt as well as an opposing coach slot on The Ultimate Fighter 18 with her beastly TKO over Miesha Tate. At the post-event press conference her and Rousey posed for photos and Rousey spoke with MMA Junkie about, among other things, the tight ship she plans on keeping as a TUF 18 coach.

Presumably for the same reason that TUF producers have been quick to stock and re-stock at fighter requests the TUF House liquor cabinet in direct opposition to what is good for training, fighting and fighters, the TUF 18 House will be co-ed, occupied by both female and male contestants on the competition. That is, the idea that setting up as many extra curricular, dangerous roadblocks for fighters can make for tragic lost opportunities but also, and more important, great, drama-riddled television.

If anyone wonders what type of sexual tension and (network executive fingers crossed oh so tight) actual activity might be spurred on among male and female fighters locked in a mansion for months without access to their family or friends back home, television, radio, newspapers or reading material of any sort outside of the Bible (the Matt Hughes special dispensation), then it is likely you’ve gotten the precise point of why the UFC and Fox are doing this way. Rousey was clear, however, that she’ll tell her female team members what types of consequences will be in store for those who can’t keep it in their pants.

“If they’re the chick that was screwing around the house, for the rest of their career they’re going to be known as the chick that was screwing around the house. Sponsors are going to be looking at that. Everybody’s going to be looking at that,” she told MMA Junkie.

“If you think it’s $100,000 worth of that lay [ed. note - she talkin 'bout boning], then go for it, but I’m just going to remind them that there’s a lot of very permanent consequences to how they carry themselves in the house,” Rousey went on.

(Not pictured: Anything Fallon Fox has actually done in the cage.)

Let me make one thing clear from the very beginning: I’m not trying to say that it wasn’t newsworthy — even inspirational — when Fallon Fox first came out as a transgender MMA fighter. Transgender individuals are extremely prone to harassment, discrimination, violence and bigoted stereotyping — all tragically evident by looking at the Facebook posts and tweets that have been directed at Fox since she came out roughly one month ago. I am in full support of her rights to be socially acknowledged and treated as any other woman would be treated outside of the cage.

Yet during this past month, Fallon Fox has received more attention for simply existing (she’s 0-0 since coming out) than most professionals have received for actually fighting. We’ve seen numerous fighters come forward to offer their opinions on whether or not Fox should be allowed to compete against women. Some have managed to do so in a reasonable, intelligent manner. Others have spoken about “it” as if she isn’t even human. For that matter, even people who aren’t MMA fighters have expressed a willingness to compete against her.

Mind you, this was all before Matt Mitrione called Fox “a lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak” on Monday’s edition of “The MMA Hour,” earning him an indefinite suspension from the UFC.

Despite the punishment, UFC fighters are still willing to discuss Fallon Fox — who, let’s remember, doesn’t even fight in the UFC — with reporters. Yesterday, The New York Post published an interview with one of the most talented, popular, and accomplished female fighters of all time, Ronda Rousey. A total of zero questions had anything to do with Rousey’s own future in the sport, instead focusing on how she feels about potentially fighting Fallon Fox:

“She can try hormones, chop her pecker off, but it’s still the same bone structure a man has,” Rousey told The Post. “It’s an advantage. I don’t think it’s fair.”

That’s not an exercise ball, it’s a grappling dummy that used to have arms.

When Uriah Hall humbly admitted that Ronda Rousey “totally kicked his ass” on the Ultimate Fighter set, we initially assumed that footage of the two fighters rolling wouldn’t surface. Sure, “shocking videos NO ONE WANTS YOU TO SEE!” are as common on the Internet as cat memes, but the UFC can be pretty good about keeping secrets. Oh well, chalk it up as an interesting story and move on with our days, right?

Not quite. The training session between Uriah Hall and Ronda Rousey is now readily available on YouTube, and only four days after Hall’s interview with The New York Post was published. That video, courtesy of The Ultimate Fighter’s YouTube channel, is available after the jump.

(Why would she be afraid of a snake? I mean, it’s basically just a really long arm. / Photo via @RondaRousey)

Uriah Hall‘s ferocity on TUF 17 has already resulted in a legendary head-kick knockout and an upcoming nervous breakdown for Bubba McDaniel. And yet in a straight grappling match, the 185-pounder was still out-gunned by UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey. Hall put his ego aside in an interview with the New York Post, and discussed what really happened the day Rousey visited the Ultimate Fighter set:

Hall, who fights at 185 pounds – 50 more than Rousey, underestimated the former judo Olympic medalist intitially. He found that to be a terrible mistake.

“I said to myself, ‘I can get out of this,’” Hall told The Post. “Then she caught me and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this [expletive] is real.’”

Hall, a Queens resident, said Rousey got him in two armbars while grappling – and he couldn’t get out. He compared it to rolling with an anaconda or a cat…”You can’t grab her and if you do grab her, you’re [expletive],” Hall said with a laugh…

(Photos via Paul Buceta, Sherdog)

By BG, cross-posted from Break.com

As the UFC’s first-ever female champion, Ronda Rousey is the biggest name in women’s MMA right now. In fact, Ronda’s popularity is growing so fast that former Strikeforce superstar Gina Carano — once known as “The Face of Women’s MMA” — is becoming a distant memory for many fans. But who really deserves to be called the Greatest Female MMA Fighter of All-Time? Let’s compare the ladies point-by-point and find out…

First and foremost, who’s hotter?
Blonde, fit, and attractive whether she’s smiling or scowling, Ronda Rousey is unquestionably one of the hottest female athletes on the planet. But Gina Carano isn’t just “hot for a fighter.” Her Hollywood-caliber looks have earned her mainstream movie roles, and some of her photo-shoots have been truly jaw-dropping. If you prefer your women to be curvy, Gina takes this one hands down.
Advantage: Gina

How did they get into fighting?
Ronda was born into it. Her mother was a judo world champion, training Ronda from an early age to follow in her footsteps. (“She would wake me up from sleep to do armbars,” Ronda explained.) At 17, Rousey qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games, and won a bronze medal at the 2008 Games in Beijing, becoming the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in women’s judo.

As for Gina? Her ex-boyfriend’s Muay Thai instructor told her she looked fat when he first met her, which inspired her to take up the sport herself and get in shape. She eventually started competing in Muay Thai, putting together a record of 12-1-1 — which is impressive, but not Olympic Medal impressive.
Advantage: Ronda

To see how Ronda and Gina stack up in five more categories — including MMA accomplishments and GIF-related awesomeness — click here to continue reading this post on Break.com…

If George Shunick’s piece on Fallox Fox and transgender athletes in MMA proved anything to me, it’s that – regardless of whether you agree with Joe Rogan’s stance on the issue (or how he chose to express that stance) – Fallon Fox vs. Cris Cyborg is a fight that FANS NEED TO SEE DAMMIT. One fighter is arguably the most devastating female in MMA, yet is also constantly accused of being a man. The other fighter is undefeated, used to literally be a man, and now calls herself “The Queen of Swords” because of course she calls herself that. In fact, I’m willing to write that Fallon Fax vs. Cris Cyborg – if it were to happen – would go down as the single greatest superfight in the history of MMA, because hyperbole is a pretty rad figure of speech that we don’t use nearly enough around here.

Well, good news, fight fans: Cyborg took a break from preparing to sacrifice Fiona Muxlow to ensure a good harvest and delivering completely pointless trash talk against Ronda Rousey to offer her two cents on Fallon Fox. As ESPN’s Josh Gross recently wrote:

“She wants to be a girl. I don’t agree,” said Santos, who for the first time in almost a year and half will return to fighting on April 5. “I think you’re born a girl, you’re a girl. You’re born a guy, you’re a guy. But I don’t choose opponents. The commission needs to check and make sure she doesn’t have testosterone.

(Her training methods may be unusual, but dammit, the woman GETS RESULTS.) 

Just a heads up for any of you members of the Potato Nation who fancy themselves the next Forrest Griffin (or more than likely, the next Julian Lane); it has recently been announced that the UFC will be holding auditions starting at 8 a.m. PT on Monday, April 15th to kick off the highly anticipated upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter: Rashes*. Auditions for both male and female bantamweight competitors will be held at the Grand Ballroom of the Palace Station Hotel, located on 2411 West Sahara Avenue in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In order to apply for TUF 18, one must first download the application here. The restrictions are as one would expect: You must be above 21, a legal US citizen, and have at least three verifiable pro MMA fights. Also, no fat chicks,”ugos,” skipskops, skallywags, trick-ass marks, or mark-ass tricks. I’m just reading the release, people.

Featuring female coaches and participants for the first time in the show’s history, TUF 18 will see bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey face off against the winner of the upcoming Miesha Tate vs. Cat Zingano fight scheduled for the TUF 17 Finale in April. For her sake, let’s hope Ronda is able to communicate better with her team than she did with the dudes from TUF 15, or it is going to be one quiet, awkward season.

Speaking of awkward, let’s see what Joe Rogan thinks about the upcoming season…

(According to the press release, the season will feature 15 talented female MMA prospects, and “one drunken asshole who’s basically like a chick-version of Junie Browning.” / Ronda photo via Getty Images)

By Oliver Chan

When Dana White tweeted that a big announcement will be made at the end of the UFC 158 FX prelims, fans started buzzing with theories ranging from New York MMA legalization to Nick Diaz no-showing the event (although based on his performance, he might as well have). Instead, looking to continue riding the Ronda Rousey Women’s MMA Train, White announced that the two head coaches for the 18th season of The Ultimate Fighter will be Ronda Rousey and the winner of the Meisha Tate/Cat Zingano fight on April 13. TUF 18 will debut sometime this fall, and to add to the intrigue, the season will feature both male and female fighters in the 135 weight class competing for contracts in their respective divisions.

While ratings for this season have seen a slight uptick on FX, the series has failed to match the previous numbers it once enjoyed while on Spike. Now with the rival network preparing to launch two new reality shows featuring a now ousted UFC Hall-of-Famer, the UFC has the added pressure to step up their game in order to keep their MMA/Reality TV market share in point. While to some die-hard MMA fans, this may not seem like a big deal, for the UFC and Bellator, the ratings for their reality TV programs do have a significant impact on how the networks will present their brands to potential television partners in the future.

This current season of TUF has seen a change of direction in terms of how the competition has been portrayed. There is significantly less drunken buffonary, bodily fluid pranks, and even a limited instances of a-holes being a-holes (*Cough*Bubba*Cough*). Hell, even Chael Sonnen has been on his best behavior! (Which I’m kind of disappointed with, but you can’t win them all.) Instead, as Joe Rogan pointed out during last night’s Mike Ricci/Colin Fletcher fight, TUF 17 highlights the challenges faced by contestants being a struggling MMA fighter as well as the added pressure of being on a reality show. Throw in some exciting finishes and we have MMA at its purest with no gimmicks needed. But a fundamental problem remains: Do we really feel that any contestant on this show could have a significant career in the UFC?

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Some things you want to leave on their own and appreciate. Mike Tyson sharing wisdom with Ronda Rousey, face-to-face, is one of those things.

No news was made in the above video, but its pretty freaking dope to hear Iron Mike impart some experience-gained wisdom to Rowdy Ronda. Also, there’s some symmetry here since Ronda might have the most snarling fight-night mug since Mike Tyson. Let’s hope no prison time or face tattoos are in Rousey’s future.

- Elias Cepeda

(Wait, another female Olympic medalist who could take us down without breaking a sweat? WTF, UFC? You’re really making us feel insecure in our manhood over here)

MMA Junkie is reporting that this April’s UFC 159 card, headlined by Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen: Really? Can’t We Just Have Jones vs. Silva Already?, now has an intriguing women’s fight. Yup. Don’t forget, the UFC now has chick fighters that are bringing it and making bank for the company (to the tune of 400k pay per view buys).

2004 Olympic wrestling silver medalist Sara McMann will take on young, German KO artist Sheila Gaff in New Jersey, April 27th. If McMann wins, the UFC will have another undefeated Olympic medalist to pit against champion Ronda Rousey, herself a 2008 Olympic Judo bronze medalist, in what hard core fans have thought of as the real potential women’s MMA super fight for the last year or so.

If Gaff manages to keep McMann off her and get the win, the UFC could have a new international challenger with bona-fide stopping power – who has been fighting professionally since she was, like, sixteen freaking years old – that could claim to be a threat to Rousey’s belt. Seems like a win-win for the UFC and its brand new 135 pound women’s division.

After the jump, check out video footage of both McMann and Gaff doing their thang. Taters in the know – who you got in this match up and why?

(It’s hard to argue that she didn’t earn it, but we’re sure at least a few of you will try your damnedest anyway. / Photo via Getty Images)

The California State Athletic Commission recently released the salary figures for UFC 157, which transpired last Saturday from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Topping the payroll was none other than Dan Henderson, who took home a cool quarter million despite dropping a close decision to Lyoto Machida in the night’s co-main event. Most of the salaries seem relatively fair considering the UFC’s recent cutbacks, but check out the full list after the jump and let us know who you think is “super fucking expensive” and who deserves to be paid a little more.

(Ronda Rousey wallpaper via MMAFanMade. Click image for full-size version, and please disregard the blatant spelling error.)

Depending on your perspective, Ronda Rousey‘s UFC debut last weekend either demonstrated that she’s indeed worthy of the name “champion,” or proved once again that she’s a one-trick pony. So I ask you: If you were skeptical of the Rousey hype before her armbar win over Liz Carmouche, did the fight change your opinion of her? And if you believed in the power of Rowdy before, did she move up another level in your pantheon of MMA worship? Is the UFC women’s bantamweight division already more interesting than men’s flyweight?

Once again, our pals at Squabbler have set up a widget (see below) for you to record your 15-second arguments in video form. Click on my face to hear my quick take, and if you disagree, you can record a response by clicking the orange “Let’s Squabble” button. Once we get a few solid entries in the mix, you’ll be able to vote on the best one, which will score a CagePotato t-shirt next week. Any questions, let us know. And follow @Squabbler on twitter to stay up-to-date on more arguments around the Internet.

(And the song Ronda chose to accompany this momentous occasion with? Oh, you best believe it was some Geto Boys. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.) 

Of all the controversy that was brought to light in the weeks following the announcement of UFC 157 (WOMEN HEADLINERS?!, Dan Henderson playing second fiddle to WOMEN HEADLINERS?!, etc.), one issue that seemed to cling around more than most was that of pay-per-view buys. Specifically, how the UFC honestly expected a card featuring WOMEN HEADLINERS to draw diddly squat for viewers in the male-dominated sport of MMA. Because if we wanted to see two broads fight over a leather and gold belt, we’d go to Macy’s on Black Friday, amiright?

Well, we hate to spoil the misogynist fantasy, but it looks like WMMA (or at least Ronda Rousey) could turn out to be a huge draw for the UFC. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer spoke earlier today about the preliminary PPV estimates for UFC 157 and suffice it to say, they are a lot better than many of us would have predicted:

Over 400,000….they’re absolutely thrilled. The show, it was…they had predicted 250. Budgeted 250, I shouldn’t say predicted. But I mean, the predictions internally were 250-300. So they blew away their predictions, big time…They’re expecting big replay buys. Big replay buys means 25,000-30,000 more than they have right now. It could do mid fours, maybe more, but that’s a nice number to say.

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Poor Miesha Tate. It’s bad enough that she nearly had her arm ripped from her torso when she first fought Ronda Rousey, but the fact that she is forced to relive it each and every time a microphone is shoved in front of her face has to leave her feeling somewhat bitter about the whole experience, and perhaps rightfully so.

Take last Saturday for instance, when Tate and her upcoming opponent Cat Zingano — both of whom appeared to be sponsored by either Lucky Charms or Zubaz Pants — were interviewed by Ariel Helwani following Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche’s historic battle at UFC 157. While one would think that Tate would put her personal differences with Ronda aside for a moment and simply congratulate her for the achievement, Tate opted rather to declare that she will “rip [Rousey's] face off in the rematch.” Um, Miesha, your next opponent is actually the woman who was standing right next to you when you all but wrote her off. Awkward. 

In fact, Tate was spilling haterade so vigorously that even Zingano jumped in line for a glass, declaring that Rousey had “a lot of holes in [her] game” after first saying how proud she was of the first WMMA fight in UFC History and blah blah blah. On the opposite end of the spectrum, both Tate and Zingano were impressed by Carmouche’s performance despite the fact that she lost and that they would have totally finished Rousey if put in the same situation.

And fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) for Tate or Zingano, it’s looking like the winner of their upcoming fight will be given the opportunity to put her money where her mouth is. During the UFC 157 post-fight show on FUEL TV, Rousey mentioned that she “is interested” in the outcome of the matchup and will be in attendance when Tate and Zingano face off in Vegas on April 13th. So make sure to tune in for the chance to witness the first ever 209 gang-stomping in WMMA History.

In other WMMA news…

(Fill in the blank: When this happened, I nearly ___ my pants. / Photo via Getty Images)

In retrospect, all of you should have picked Ronda Rousey by first-round armbar. (Hindsight is 20/20, my friend.) After digging through the entries for last week’s UFC 157 fight-picking contest, we are proud to announce the winners. The envelope, please…

First place: Alan K, who guessed the armbar stoppage for Rousey within nine seconds (!), and got the judges’ scores exactly correct in the Machida vs. Henderson decision. Alan will receive the “Ronda Knows” and “Keep Calm and Break Arms” t-shirt package, courtesy of Fight Chix.

Second place: Brian001, who predicted a much earlier armbar stoppage for Rousey, but also predicted the judges’ scores perfectly for the co-main event. Brian will receive his choice of one of the aforementioned shirts.

Alan/Brian, please e-mail your full name, shirt size (including gender of choice), and address to contest@cagepotato.com, and we’ll get you hooked up ASAP. As for everybody else, there’s no law saying you can’t acquire these t-shirts the old-fashioned way. Visit FightChix.com, pick up a shirt or two, and show the world that you’re an enlightened human being who supports women pounding on each other. Thanks for playing, guys!

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Make no mistake, no matter how last night’s main event was going to end, it was going to be an important moment in UFC history. For the first time in the promotion’s history, two female athletes would be competing in the UFC. Squash match or not, the historical significance of the fight and the freshly minted UFC Women’s Bantamweight title were enough to bump the fight up to main event status.

I’ve seen dozens of writers today write about how “predictably” the main event ended, but I can’t help but feel that this does a severe injustice to the fight we were treated to. Yes, it ended in a first round armbar victory for Ronda Rousey, and no, literally nothing else about this fight was predictable.

This is in large part a credit to challenger Liz Carmouche. Few people gave Carmouche any sort of chance to win, as clearly reflected by the betting odds for the fight. Yet for the first time last night, Carmouche was able to expose holes in Rousey’s game, and make the women’s champion look beatable. She wasn’t Rousey’s slightly-resistant grappling dummy – she was a very worthy challenger who almost finished Rousey with a rear-naked choke, and has teeth marks on her arm to show for it. Let’s all stop and admit that none of us expected this from her.

(I’m not exactly sure what Dana’s thinking right now, but if I had to guess, it’s probably something along the lines of “ohhhhhhh yeaaahhhhh [dooo-bo-bo].” / Photo via CombatLifestyle. Check out more pics from this set here.)

UFC 157 goes down tonight at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and let’s just say if you hear any noise it ain’t the boys, Potato Nation. Women’s MMA crossover star Ronda Rousey will be putting her new bantamweight belt on the line against challenger Liz Carmouche, in a historic fight that will either be remembered as the UFC’s first step toward gender quality, or the latest Great American Freak Show. We’re just hoping for an entertaining battle that doesn’t end with a gruesome compound fracture on live television.

But while the women might steal the show, “Rousey vs. Carmouche” is actually a solid card from top to bottom. We’ve got a possible #1 light-heavyweight contender’s match between Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida, an old-school welterweight banger between Josh Koscheck and Robbie Lawler, and Urijah Faber’s must-win battle against dangerous veteran Ivan Menjivar. There’s also a fight between Court McGee and Josh Neer that really has no business being on a pay-per-view card at this point, but such is life.

Leading us through the UFC 157 main card will be actual fighter Elias Cepeda, who will be slapping down round-by-round results after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and please throw in your own insightful commentary in the comments section. Thanks for joining us.

(This is where we’d normally tell you Taters to keep it in your pants, but since Ronda’s barely keeping it it hers..)

Ronda Rousey, Liz Carmouche, and the rest of the 24 fighters competing at tomorrow’s UFC 157: One Small Step for the UFC, One Giant Leap for Womankind event will be hitting the scales tonight starting at 7 p.m. EST. It’s a card that is all but guaranteed to deliver thrills from top-to-bottom, especially in light of the UFC’s recently implemented “Dan Hardy Stipulation” that renders all UFC contracts null and void should the fighter not “bring it every fucking time.” I’m just reading the press release, folks.

Anyway, join us after the jump for a video of the weigh-ins along with the fastest goddamn results in the entire goddamn internet. Seriously, we dare you to find another MMA site that updates the results faster than we do. You will not.

(The F.O.F.A. does it again! Congrats to Elias Cepeda for winning his latest fight against Brian Titus in Chicago on Wednesday, in epic fashion. Look out for the full story in an upcoming installment of The Travel Chronicles. Props: YouTube.com/EliasCepeda.)

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