(Video courtesy of YouTube/SNETCF)

If we didn’t know better, we’d say that the folks at Sportsnet commissioned an AI robot from Round 5 in the “likeness” of Dana White to put the fighters he interviews at ease. But sadly, it’s just Canadian MMA talking head “Showdown” Joe Ferraro asking Chael Sonnen questions in an unnatural radio announcer timbre and inflection in the videos above and below.

Even Chael seems taken aback by Twiki’s voice at first, or maybe it was just because the interviewer’s opening of, “Talk a bit about your next opponent Brian Stann,” left “Showdown” open for a predictable Wikipedia-worthy account of Stann’s fight bio.

(Photo courtesy of Round 5/Facebook)

I know we’ve been hard on Round 5 in the past, but it looks like the Markham, Ontario-based MMA action figure manufacturer has stepped up its game. The Rebecca Black Octagon Girl figure is a near perfect match and should be a hot seller when it hits store shelves in the fall. I know what Ben’s getting for Christmas.

 
(Okay, Nate Diaz is somewhat recognizable other than the fact that he’s as big as Carwin, but the others aren’t even close.)

If your only job was to create plastic facsimiles of MMA fighters for the action figure company you worked for, you’d think you might want to do it with at least *some* accuracy.

I’m guilty of owning a vintage Ken Shamrock WWF and a handful of Zakks Pacific figures that I bought spruce up my office a bit, but I’ve never seen a Round 5 model that I’ve had the desire to purchase.

They just seem like the design team is just phoning them in. The fact that they advertise them with a photo of the real fighter in the background which doesn’t even look a little bit like the toy version is somewhat odd.

(An excuse to post this picture again?  Why not.)

Round 5 sent out a press release today announcing Gina Carano as the newest addition to their stable of fighters willing to be made into disproportionate MMA action figures.  Carano is the first female fighter to sign on with Round 5, and they expect her figure to drop along with their fourth series this summer.

In the release Carano says the normal stuff about how excited she is to be a part of this, so on and so forth, and then there’s this: “When I was a little girl my dad always joked about making a ‘Gina doll’ and I smile when I think it has become a reality.”  

He joked about making a doll of his daughter?  As in, for her?  Or just, you know, to have around the house, in case anything happened to the original?  I don’t get it, but I find it vaguely troubling.

From Round5MMA.com/blog via MMA Mania:

As decorative cubicle-toys go, this one is gonna be pretty gnarly. Check out the oversized head — which accentuates the oversized fangs and oversized power-beard — and those clublike fists. Of course, the real Andrei Arlovski is a little less impressive, which is probably for the best.

(All that hype couldn’t even get Davis and Lytle a spot on the poster.  What a shame.)

As the deadline nears to get your picks in for The Great Cage Potato UFC 93 Pick-em Contest (man, we have got to come up with a shorter name for that), we’ve been perusing the forums and checking out some of your entries.  Sometimes we’re impressed with what we see.  Sometimes we’re just confused (Cronk is taking Coleman, Horn, Belcher and Egan – now that’s a guy who loves underdogs), and sometimes we marvel at how lazy you can be (yeah, that’s a shot at you, Clever_Username).

Just for fun, we thought we’d go ahead and post our picks for this event.  No, we aren’t eligible for any of the awesome prizes, but at least you can see how you scored in relation to total bad-ass experts like ourselves.  And when you beat us by one point because you had enough of a lack of respect for Jeremy Horn to pick Palhares by first-round submission, Geriatric Peon, this will give you something to hold over our heads for years.  You jerk.

Our predictions are after the jump.  If you haven’t already, make sure you get yours in before Saturday at noon EST.  We ain’t playin’ about that deadline, either, so don’t come crying to us when your inability to follow instructions causes you to go without a t-shirt that is both stylish and an interesting conversation-starter at parties.

(You’re never too old for toys. Courtesy of the good people at Round 5.)

Okay, we’ve heard just about enough from you people about how great you are at predicting fight outcomes.  It’s time to step up and put the reputation of your assumed internet identity where your mouth is, and maybe even take home a sweet prize in the process.  Here’s how:

First, head on over to this thread in our (free/easy-to-use/totally awesome) Cage Potato forums.  Then make your picks for each of the ten scheduled bouts at UFC 93.  For each fight pick the winner, round, and method (note: please choose from submission, TKO, or decision. No need to specify type of submission, of differentiate between TKO and KO, but simply saying "Henderson by ownage, R1" will earn you nothing more than the disdainful mockery of your peers).

Each correct pick is worth one point, though you’re only eligible to receive points for round and method if you get the winner right.  Just to safeguard against the dreaded tie, also answer this tie-breaker question: what will be the ending time of the night’s fastest finish? (the closest without going over gets it)

And what do you stand to gain from this contest, other than mad respect?  We’re glad you asked…

(Couture gets some Brock Lesnar mitts of his own.)

The UFC’s twenty-four-hour tantrum over Jon Fitch’s refusal to sign away lifetime rights to his video game image has now subsided, but that doesn’t mean all such licensing issues are so easily resolved.  According to a new article on CBS Sportsline, Round 5 says they’ve already locked up the exclusive rights to some of the action figures that the UFC was hoping to roll out under their deal with JAKKS Pacific.  I smell trouble a-brewin’.  

As you may recall, Round 5 announced their first line of fighter figures with the signature oversized head and hands well before Dana White went on CNBC to announce his deal with JAKKS.  Now Round 5 creator Damon Lau tells CBS that some of the prototypes the UFC has been showing off won’t be hitting stores:

"All I can say is that there’s a likelihood — well not a likelihood, but there’s a fact — that some of those figurines can not actually go into production," Lau said. "I’ve seen the prototypes as well, but the rights to those guys have been already signed over to our company."