(No, I did not buy this belt at Wal-Mart as a joke. Who the hell would do that?) 

After being forced out of his originally anticipated debut match against Karlos Vemola back in January due to a last minute injury, Maximum Fighting Championship Light-Heavyweight king and CP guest blogger Ryan Jimmo finally has a date set for his UFC debut. July 21st, at UFC 149 in Calgary. Since dropping his first professional contest to Adam Braidwood in February of 2007, Jimmo has gone 16 fights in a row without a blemish, most recently outpointing (emphasis on the “point” aspect) UFC veteran Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in October of 2011. Jimmo also holds notable victories over Wilson Gouveia, Marvin Eastman, and Jesse Forbes. He also does one hell of a robot.

And he’d been training so hard, too. It’s damn near perfect.

It appears that we’ll have to wait a little longer for the UFC debut of former Cage Potato guest blogger and Maximum Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Ryan Jimmo. Yesterday, the UFC announced that Jimmo was injured while preparing for his debut against Karlos Vemola, and has been taken off of the card. Consequently, Vemola has been dropped from the card, as the UFC will not pursue a replacement opponent for the Czech fighter. The injury suffered by Jimmo has not been disclosed at this time.

Also of note, Swedish-Iranian lightweight prospect Reza Madadi has also been injured, and has pulled out of his UFC debut against the recently re-signed Fabricio Camoes. Unlike Vemola, the UFC is pursuing a last minute replacement opponent for Camoes, who has won two straight since being released by the UFC after a loss to Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 111. Depending on the severity of the injury, Madadi will now likely make his UFC debut at the UFC’s inaugural show in Sweden on April 14.

UFC on FX is set to go down on January 20th from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The fight card now looks like this:

(Jimmo will trade his precious metal to finally test his mettle in the UFC)

The UFC announced today that it has signed Maximum Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion and CagePotato guest blogger Ryan Jimmo to face Czech wrestler Karlos Vemola on the inaugural UFC on FX 1 card January 20 in Nashville, Tennessee.

“The Big Deal” will put his 16-fight undefeated streak on the line as he steps into the Octagon for the first time against Vemola, who is 1-1 in two UFC starts.

(Rashad gets booed. Forrest gets giddy.GIF courtesy of ZombieProphet)

We figured you could all use a little entertainment to help you through another case of the Mondays, so we’ve compiled a few of the weekend’s GIF-worthy moments for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy more animated goodness after the jump.

Jimmo dominates the pre-fight staredown. We’re talking 10-7.5 dominance.

Sometimes an idea comes along that’s so stupid that society adopts it just out of curiosity. YAMMA Pit Fighting, Canned bacon, XARM- things that supposedly solve a problem that someone is having somewhere, but are essentially useless to everyone else. So when Doc Hamilton introduced his half-point scoring system after Machida’s controversial decision over Shogun Rua at UFC 104, which essentially said that judges should score close rounds 10-9.5 instead of 10-9, it was just a matter of time before someone said “Hey, maybe he’s right about this whole judges not working with fractions thing”. If last night’s MFC 31 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada , which utilized the half-point scoring system that Doc Hamilton proposed would improve MMA judging, taught us anything it was that half-point scoring is just as flawed as whole point scoring.

Case in point: Last night’s main event saw a controversial unanimous decision victory awarded to former Cage Potato guest blogger/current Maximum Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Ryan Jimmo over Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. Overall, the fight barely had more action than the weigh-in, as neither fighter seemed eager to engage with- yet alone finish- his opponent. However, Jimmo was clearly the aggressor in the championship rounds, and ended up taking the fight by scores of 49-48.5 (x2) and 49-48. The fight marks Jimmo’s sixteenth straight victory.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/mclhea)

Former Cage Potato guest blogger and current Maximum Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Ryan “The Big Deal” Jimmo was able to get under his opponent Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou’s skin at the MFC weigh-ins today, eliciting a hearty shove from “The African Assassin.”

Jimmo has stated that Sokoudjou is his toughest opponent to date and that he plans on pulling thetrigger in the bout and finishing the former PRIDE and UFC veteran so he can punch his own ticket to the big show. If the altercation at the weigh-ins today is any indicator, both men will be looking to hurt the other.

(Anderson Silva is brought to tears by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s win at UFC 134. Props: Gesias)

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…

- Dana White Still Open to Signing Alistair Overeem (NBC Sports MMA)

- Ryan Jimmo predicts a TKO against Sokoudjou at MFC 31 on Oct. 7 (MMA Mania)

- Exclusive Photos From Fight Rehearsals on “Warrior” Film (TheFightNerd)

- Postcards From Rio, Part III: Fight Night Musings From Beer-Soaked Press Row (MMA Fighting)

- Exclusive Interview With Cult MMA Documentarist Genghis Con (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Sanchez Says he Is a New Man and His Partying Days Are Over (MiddleEasy)

- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Won’t Retire, Says He’d Love to Fight Frank Mir Next (LowKick)

- ProElite 1 Fight Videos: Grove vs. Riggs, Arlovski vs. Lopez (5thRound)

- Dana White on Insensitive Comments & Gay Slurs Said by Fighters: “This Is the Fight Business, Man.” (FightOpinion)

- The UFC on Fox: It’s All About the Benjamins, Baby (MMA Convert)

- Strikeforce GP Semifinals Conference Call Highlights (Five Ounces of Pain)

- UFC 134 Rio – Payout Perspective (MMA Payout)

(Immediate title shot? Why not?)

Maximum Fighting Championship president Mark Pavelich announced last night that his promotion has found the next challenger for Cage Potato guest blogger and reigning MFC light heavyweight champion Ryan “The Big Deal” Jimmo (15-1). Rameau Thierry “The African Assassin” Sokoudjou (12-8) has signed with the Edmonton, Alberta-based organization and will take on Jimmo at MFC 31: The Rundown on Friday, October 7 at the Mayfield Conference Centre in Edmonton. The show will air live on HDNet Fights.

“I am extremely excited to see what happens when Jimmo and Sokoudjou collide. I truly believe it will be the most explosive title fight ever in MFC history,” said Pavelich.“Ryan is a terrific champion and represents the MFC like no other fighter ever has before. Now we’re going to see how he handles the athleticism and pressure that Sokoudjou will put on him.”

(A sign outside MFC headquarters reads: “Champions Wanted: Apply Within”)

MMAWeekly is reporting that Maximum Fighting Championships welterweight champion Douglas Lima (18-4) will reportedly vacate his MFC title to sign on for Bellator’s season 5 welterweight tournament. If he does, the Edmonton, Alberta promotion will be left with no contracted champions on its roster.

Earlier this month the organization unceremoniously and inexplicably stripped lightweight champion Antonio McKee (25-4-2) of his belt when it announced that Drew Fickett and Hermes Franca would be fighting for the vacant strap at MFC 30 on June 10. The problem is, nobody told McKee that he was no longer the MFC champ. He had to read the news online that Fickett and Franca were to fight for his belt.

(Anyone can play XBox. Real fighters play chess.)

Well, another week has passed and a lot has changed.

First of all, I decided to not compete in the wrestling nationals. It was a tough decision that I didn’t come to easily. I had a lot of close friends, family and teammates come to me with concern over me competing and potentially injuring myself prior to my fight. As much as I wanted to compete, I had to listen to other people’s objective opinion. I was very attached emotionally to competing in nationals and was not seeing (or choosing to ignore) evidence that is was not perhaps the wisest move for me two weeks before a title defense. I know I always respect people more when they can be smart enough to pull themselves away form a problem and see someone’s opinion and viewpoint from a non-subjective stance. I think I could have placed in the top 3 but would of been happy with 5th place. Next year maybe.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/Polska58)

Well another fight is on the horizon for me.

Three weeks left until Emanuel Newton and I throw down. Not to mention the new two-fight deal with the MFC we just signed. My manager and I had a meeting with the Pavelichs and told them we wanted Emanuel for April 8th. Mark made a few calls and set it up. He also thought it was an interesting match up and would be great for MFC 29 in Windsor, so we got on the card with just over a month’s notice even though it was nearly full.

Emanuel is a tough dude who is ranked 35th on FightMatrix.com, not to mention a former champ. I expect a great performance from him considering how he looked in his last fight with Rodney Wallace.

At the press conference after the fights Emanuel said, “Jimmo, that’s a nice belt…..Ill be coming for it,” so this is a fight I pushed for. It is a great opportunity and not to mention Emanuel added a little emotional element to it by saying what he did about my belt. It’s also a big fight card and the first major MMA show to set foot on Ontario soil, so how could I pass it up?

(The champ and Belty.)

Well, after all the hard work the strap is finally mine. It’s been a long time coming and I’m rather happy to have that belt. It’s almost like the ring from Lord of the Rings; it’s my precious. No, really. If it’s in the other room I have to get up and touch it. Sometimes when I’m talking to someone I’ll get distracted by it and have to pick it up. I had someone say, “Put that stupid belt down and talk to me,” and I whispered, “Shhhh. He’ll hear you.” I haven’t officially named him, but for now I’ve been calling him “Belty.” I think we should have a little contest. Feel free to leave a suggestion in the comment section for Belty’s new name.

Now down to the serious stuff… The head-butt. There was no head-butt. It was an overhand right with 3:58 remaining in the third round (you have to pause it because of the camera angle) Dwayne throws an inside leg kick then he comes forward with a left hook and I counter with a short overhand right. If you did somehow see a head-butt, then you are delusional and very open to suggestive hypnosis. I’ve watched the fight over 100 times and there is no head-butt. Now where this rumor started was Frank Trigg casually mentioned after the fight was stopped that “it might have been a head-butt,” and the rumor grew until people swore they could see it. It’s almost laughable. MUAHAHAHAHA!

(Ryan Jimmo‘s epic victory-robot from Friday night. Props: Card)

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…

- Tongue Wrestling: The 25 Greatest Trash-Talking Affairs in MMA History (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Kampmann Looks to Correct Mistakes of the Past at UFC Live (Versus MMA Beat)

- Compustrike: UFC 127 by the Numbers (LowKick)

- Chris Lytle to Consider Retirement After Secret Surgery, UFC 127 Loss (MMA Fighting)

- Now You Can Train MMA — Inside Your Local Wal-Mart (MiddleEasy)

- Michael Bisping’s Camp Points Finger At Jorge Rivera’s Boxing Coach For UFC 127 Incidents (MMA Convert)

- Gracie Breakdown: BJ Penn vs. Jon Fitch (MMA-Scraps)

- Strikeforce Title Contender Liz Carmouche: “Jitters Aren’t Something That You Can Have When You’re Out in Iraq With Your Weapon.” (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Dana White: “Fedor Emelianenko Looks Old and It’s Over” (5thRound)

- FIGHT! RANKINGS: Penn Proves Ranking Correct, Siver & Bisping Enter Top 10 (FightMagazine)

Last night at MFC 28, Cage Potato guest blogger Ryan Jimmo took on fellow Canadian Dwayne Lewis for Maximum Fighting Championship’s vacant light heavyweight title. I don’t want to spoil the fight for those of you who didn’t see it live. Let’s just say that two men entered and one man left. Then the other man left after being declared the new LHW champion. Did I mention Lewis left the cage with a purple, bleeding thigh and a broken orbital bone? Yeah, that happened.

Also of note, Drew Fickett earned his fifth straight submission victory over fellow UFC washout Matt Veach. Despite being taken down early, Fickett kept his composure and locked in an armbar only 36 seconds into the fight. And remember Rodney Wallace? He lost to WEC/IFL vet Emmanuel Newton, who is probably going to get the first shot at Ryan Jimmo’s title.

A post fight interview with Ryan can be found here, and full results from MFC 28 after the jump.

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.

(Jimmo is a full-time fighter and part-time Matthew McConaughey stunt double.)

Undefeated in the past four years, at 13-1 Ryan Jimmo is one of Canada’s most promising MMA prospects. The Big Deal is in the thick of training camp for a championship bout with fellow Canadian Dwayne Lewis at MFC 28 — a fight Sherdog.com has deservingly named one of this month’s 10 Tussles Worth Watching — on February 25 in Edmonton Alberta and has graciously offered to write about his preparations for the biggest fight of his career, via a weekly training blog published every week leading up to the fight right here at CagePotato.com.

Check out Ryan’s latest entry after the jump.

(“Left kick, Brock Lesnar’s Canadian hospital.”)

Undefeated in the past four years, at 13-1 Ryan Jimmo is one of Canada’s most promising MMA prospects. The Big Deal is in the thick of training camp for a championship bout with fellow Canadian Dwayne Lewis at MFC 28 — a fight Sherdog.com has deservingly named one of this month’s 10 Tussles Worth Watching — on February 25 in Edmonton Alberta and has offered to write about his preparations for the biggest fight of his career via a weekly training blog published every week leading up to the fight here at CagePotato.com.

Check out Ryan’s latest entry after the jump.

 ("It’s not pink, it’s blood-stained.")

Undefeated in the past four years, at 13-1 Ryan Jimmo is one of Canada’s most promising MMA prospects.

The Big Deal is in the thick of training camp for a championship bout with fellow Canadian Dwayne Lewis at MFC 28 on February 25 in Edmonton Alberta and has offered to write about his preparations for the biggest fight of his career via a weekly training blog published every week leading up to the fight here at CagePotato.com.

Check out Ryan’s latest entry after the jump.

Undefeated in the past four years, at 13-1 Ryan Jimmo is one of Canada’s most promising MMA prospects.

The Big Deal is in the thick of training camp for a championship bout with fellow Canadian Dwayne Lewis at MFC 28 on February 25 in Edmonton Alberta and has offered to write about his preparations for the biggest fight of his career via a weekly training blog published every week leading up to the fight here at CagePotato.com.

Check out Ryan’s latest entry after the jump.

His decision was met with an even split of support and opposition, but the St. John, New Brunswick native stood by his convictions and was eventually offered another shot at the title vacated by Trevor Prangley against MFC veteran, Dwayne Lewis at MFC 28 on February 25.

If you’re unfamiliar with Jimmo, you likely won’t be for long as 2011 promises to be a breakout year for the two-time Pan-Am medalist and four-time Canadian national karate champion who is riding a 13-fight win streak into his bout with Lewis – a fighter he defeated by decision three years ago.

In 2008 he appeared on the first episode of The Ultimate Fighter 8, but lost a very close majority decision to Antwain Britt and was sent home.

Since then he switched camps and moved from Nova Scotia to Edmonton where he joined the Hayabusa Fight Team, becoming a more well rounded fighter as a result of his hard work, diverse training partners and methods.

Ryan has offered to give the Potato Nation and inside look at his training and thoughts heading into his fight in February and as such he will be doing an exclusive training camp blog for us every week for the next eight weeks leading up to MFC 28.

Check out his third entry after the jump.

(Jimmo making Wilson Gouveia think long and hard about returning to jiu-jitsu competition. Photo courtesy PicYourAngle Photography)  

Arguably Canada’s top light-heavyweight fighter, Ryan “The Big Deal” Jimmo raised eyebrows when he turned down an MFC title bout against promotional newcomer Glover Texeira earlier this year because he felt that the Brazilian hadn’t done enough to earn a the opportunity to fight for the strap. Jimmo had to win seven fights in the MFC to be considered for a shot, and figured that anyone else he would have to fight for the belt should have to at least win one fight under the organization’s banner to earn the same..

His decision was met with an even split of support and opposition, but the St. John, New Brunswick native stood by his convictions and was eventually offered another shot at the title vacated by Trevor Prangley against MFC veteran, Dwayne Lewis at MFC 28 on February 25.

If you’re unfamiliar with Jimmo, you likely won’t be for long as 2011 promises to be a breakout year for the two-time Pan-Am medalist and four-time Canadian national karate champion who is riding a 13-fight win streak into his bout with Lewis – a fighter he defeated by decision three years ago.

In 2008 he appeared on the first episode of The Ultimate Fighter 8, but lost a very close majority decision to Antwain Britt and was sent home.

Since then he switched camps and moved from Nova Scotia to Edmonton where he joined the Hayabusa Fight Team, becoming a more well rounded fighter as a result of his hard work, diverse training partners and methods.

Ryan has offered to give the Potato Nation and inside look at his training and thoughts heading into his fight in February and as such he will be doing an exclusive training camp blog for us every week for the next eight weeks leading up to MFC 28.

Check out his second entry after the jump.

(When he isn’t fighting, you can find Jimmo at a Karaoke bar.)

Arguably Canada’s top light-heavyweight fighter, Ryan “The Big Deal” Jimmo raised eyebrows when he turned down an MFC title bout against promotional newcomer Glover Texeira earlier this year because he felt that the Brazilian hadn’t done enough to earn a the opportunity to fight for the strap. Jimmo had to win seven fights in the MFC to be considered for a shot, and figured that anyone else he would have to fight for the belt should have to at least win one fight under the organization’s banner to earn the same..

His decision was met with an even split of support and opposition, but the St. John, New Brunswick native stood by his convictions and was eventually offered another shot at the title vacated by Trevor Prangley against MFC veteran, Dwayne Lewis at MFC 28 on February 25.

If you’re unfamiliar with Jimmo, you likely won’t be for long as 2011 promises to be a breakout year for the two-time Pan-Am medalist and four-time Canadian national karate champion who is riding a 13-fight win streak into his bout with Lewis – a fighter he defeated by decision three years ago.

In 2008 he appeared on the first episode of The Ultimate Fighter 8, but lost a very close majority decision to Antwain Britt and was sent home.

Since then he switched camps and moved from Nova Scotia to Edmonton where he joined the Hayabusa Fight Team, becoming a more well rounded fighter as a result of his hard work, diverse training partners and methods.

Ryan has offered to give the Potato Nation and inside look at his training and thoughts heading into his fight in February and as such he will be doing an exclusive training camp blog for us every week for the next eight weeks leading up to MFC 28.

Check out his first entry after the jump.

(Jimmo’s a tough dude, but his mean-mug needs work.)

Imagine spending more than three years working for a company and putting in countless gallons of your blood sweat and tears in equity to be given the opportunity to compete for a promotion within the organization. Now imagine if the company’s president decided to bring in a talented, but underrated go-getter to interview for the role you worked frenetically and incessantly to earn in your 44 months under his employ.

Chances are you might not be too receptive of the proposition.

That’s exactly the situation Ryan Jimmo found himself in the past few weeks when negotiating his next fight with the Canada-based Maximum Fighting Championship.