(No shoving? No forehead bumping? No repeated demands that one fighter treat the other like a bitch? Come on guys, you gotta give us *something* here. / Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com)

The UFC makes its first stop in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, tonight, and yes, the lineup is somewhat garbage-ass. That’s what happens when you lose your original main event and then your co-main event due to injuries. But the show must go on, and we’ll be here liveblogging the pay-per-view broadcast all night, whether you join us or not. (Please join us. Please?)

On the menu for this evening: Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson try to avoid the gaping chasm of irrelevance, Roy Nelson goes for his fourth-straight knockout against Stipe Miocic, and highly regarded women’s bantamweight prospects Alexis Davis and Rosi Sexton make their debuts against each other. Plus, Pat Barry might leg-kick Shawn Jordan to death, and Ryan Jimmo might do the robot. Fingers crossed.

Handling our play-by-play is Anthony Gannon, who will be stacking live results from the UFC 161 main card after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and throw in your own analysis in the comments section.

(What could have been. *cues Charlie Brown music* Photo via AlphaEntertainmentOnline.)

This Saturday night, Zuffa heads up North to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada for another injury-altered card which saw Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland cancelled due to an injury suffered by the interim bantamweight champion (you guessed it, the actual bantamweight champion was also unavailable due to injury) and replaced by Rashad Evans vs. Dan Henderson as your main event. So…who’s looking forward to all the excitement of 50+ takedown attempts? You guys? ANYONE?!

Join us now as we try to find a way into the winner’s circle by highlighting a few undercard and all main card bouts for UFC 161. All betting lines courtesy of BestFightOdds.

Undercard bouts:

John Maguire (-250) vs Mitch Clarke (+210)

Mitch Clarke will be looking for his first win in his third contest inside the Octagon against -250 betting favorite John Maguire. Both fighters are coming off back-to-back losses and may be fighting for the right to stay in the UFC, so to assume that both men will be giving an honest fight would be an understatement. John Maguire looked outstanding in his first two outings but clearly hit the wall when facing more well-rounded fighters in the 170lbs division. Playing MMA math is not always wise, but Maguire may win this fight due to the level of competition he has faced in the UFC compared to that of Mitch Clarke. Maguire to win.

(It’s kind of offensive that the UFC promos keep referring to Barao as a “monster.” He’s a human being, okay? An aggressive, scary human being whose mother just happens to be half-cthulhu / Photo via MMAJunkie.)

Today at the Wembley Arena in London, UFC interim bantamweight champ Renan Barao and 22-year-old phenom Michael McDonald will do battle to determine who’s truly the greatest 135-pound fighter in the world, at least until Dominick Cruz finally heals up and puts an end to this ridiculous charade. Alright, so an interim title might not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but it’s still a damn good fight, and the rest of the card features a crowd-pleasing assortment of slugfests and future stars.

Leading us through today’s UFC on FUEL 7 liveblog is Alex Giardini, who will be laying down round-by-round results from the main card broadcast after the jump beginning at 3 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and please share your own thoughts in the comments section.

(Fan-made poster via NixsonMmaPosters. Let’s just pretend that Siver isn’t there.)

We wouldn’t expect a FUEL card in London to be “stacked” in the traditional sense. But although this coming Saturday’s UFC on FUEL 7: Barao vs. McDonald event is low on star-power, it’s actually loaded with great matchups. Here’s why these fights are worth paying attention to…

1. The main card is a hot mess of blue-chip prospects.
Even more so than UFC on FUEL 7′s headliners, I’m excited to see the return of three guys who looked like juggernauts in their UFC debuts. First, we’ve got our old pal Ryan Jimmo, who entered the Octagon on a 16-fight win streak at UFC 149 and proceeded to sleep Anthony Perosh in just seven seconds, then gave fans their money’s worth by busting out a celebratory robot. Can he possibly repeat that performance this weekend against James Te-Huna?

Also in the light-heavyweight division, 12-0 Nigerian-English mauler Jimi Manuwa — who has never been to the third round in his entire career, by the way — will face Cyrille Diabaté, five months after Manuwa whipped Kyle Kingsbury to a doctor’s stoppage TKO after ten minutes of action. And finally, Icelandic grappling master Gunnar Nelson will follow up his swift choke-out of Damarques Johnson with a fight against Jorge Santiago, in a welterweight bout that will probably go very badly for Santiago.

The prelims also feature a few more guys who almost fit in the same “hot-prospect” category, including Stanislav Nedkov — who’s still technically undefeated after his loss to Thiago Silva was overturned in November — and Paul Sass, the submission wiz who took the first loss of his career against Matt Wiman in September.

2. Michael McDonald could become the youngest UFC champion ever* — and by a fairly wide margin.

(Eat your heart out, Benson.) 

On the heels of the most successful UFC debut since Todd Duffee, former CagePotato guest blogger and master of the post-fight celebration, Ryan Jimmo, has just been booked for his second bout in the octagon against New Zealand slugger James Te Huna at UFC on FUEL 7. Let’s hope Jimmo’s sophomore appearance goes a little better than The Duffman’s, because Te Huna packs a hell of a lot more power than Mike Russow does. In fact, three out of Te Huna’s four UFC victories have come by some form of brutal (T)KO, with the lone exception being his record-setting performance against Joey Beltran, who has a chin made of the kind of granite that only Lavar Johnson‘s Hulk hands have been able to break.

Currently riding a 17 fight win streak that includes victories over such UFC veterans as Wilson Gouveia, Marvin Eastman, and Sokoudjou among others, Jimmo is undoubtedly one of the hotter prospects to enter the UFC’s light heavyweight division, but he will have his hands full with Te Huna, who has rapidly been developing his ground game to balance out his striking prowess. Who do you like for this one, Taters?

Also on tap for UFC on FUEL 7 is a welterweight battle featuring your favorite Icelandic cyborg, Gunnar Nelson…

(Fight starts at the 20-second mark. Props: msn.foxsports.com)

In seven seconds, Ryan Jimmo went from being “one of the most boring fighters in the world” to the greatest celebration-dancer since Jamie Varner. Also, he tied the UFC’s official record for fastest knockout thanks to his one-punch demolition of Anthony Perosh at UFC 149. As Dana White explained at the post-fight press conference, “It probably would have been the fastest knockout in UFC history, but the ref was far away from the action, and it took him so long to get there…[The fight is] actually stopped when the ref touches and stops the fight. So if the ref was in position…[Jimmo] probably would have gotten the fastest knockout.” Meanwhile, Duane Ludwig’s unofficial knockout record continues to be absolutely meaningless.

Jimmo’s dramatic UFC debut actually made it onto SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays that night, where it was likely beaten out by at least one guy catching a fucking baseball. Sadly, the clip above doesn’t include the complete robot-dance that Jimmo did immediately following the knockout. You can see a gif of it after the jump, courtesy of caposa.

Fact: You had a 63% better chance of seeing a fight at a Calgary Flames game than you did at UFC 149, according to a study I made up for this caption. Props: The Calgary Sun

When I first sat down to write this aftermath, I wrote five paragraphs of a Jim Cornette rant about how dreadful the main card of UFC 149 was to sit through. Even the most jaded UFC fan boys – the types who comment “Its fights stop complaneing ur not real UFC fan if u dont liek this TapouT tribal tatz NEVER BACK DOWN!!!!!” on YouTube videos of Jacob Volkmann vs. Antonio Mckee- would be hard-pressed to say that UFC 149 was worth watching, let alone paying for. Then I realized that that wouldn’t be fair. Not because a longwinded rant about boredom isn’t a fair assessment of the main card, but rather it isn’t fair to the fans to force them to relive the lowest of the low points from last night. We can all agree that the less that is written about the main card, the better.

So in that spirit, I give you the first ever Cage Potato Fill-In-The-Blank aftermath. Simply pick one of the applicable fighters listed below and plug his name into the blanks. The result will be a mostly accurate analysis of both his performance last night and the future ramifications brought on by it. Enjoy.

Applicable Fighters*: James Head, Brian Ebersole, Cheick Kongo, Shawn Jordan, Tim Boetsch**, Hector Lombard.

I know that the Polly Pessimists and Debby Downers who make up the MMA media are often too hard on fighters, but in this case it’s well deserved: The performance of __________ at last night’s UFC 149 absolutely sucked. He let a golden opportunity slip through his fingers, and seemed perfectly content with this while doing so. If last night was a first date with a perfect ten, then he showed up in sweatpants, took her to Whataburger and then asked for gas money on the ride home.

(We’re going ((win)) streaking!!) 

By Dan “Get Off Me” George

Grab your cowboy hats and pack up your saddles my fellow CP readers, because this weekend we are headed to the home of the world famous Calgary Stampede, Calgary, Alberta, Canada for UFC 149 Barao vs Faber! From a wagering standpoint, this card is pretty much a prime example of why bookies offer MMA betting lines, as this card is chock full of close fights and odds that will surely entice the gambling public as well as crush the majority of parlays, all the while raking in money for the house.

Luckily for you (or not), we do not have to go on the cuff for this card, as those who followed UFC 148’s GAE were rewarded with a 4 team parlay that paid out 7 to 1 at the window. All betting odds are courtesy of BestFightOdds.com, so join me as I try to offer some insight on how to go after plus units on Saturday’s upcoming card.

Bryan Caraway (-190) vs. Mitch Gagnon (+175)

Both fighters have strong submission skills, but I believe Caraway is the favorite because the majority of the public believe “Kid Lighting” is the better submission fighter out of the two. At around -200, Caraway should have what it takes to out-grapple his Canadian counterpart and find a way to win this fight. This may be stretching my psychic abilities to the max, but upon victory, I expect Caraway to announce that he is undergoing a sex change, signing with Strikeforce, and challenging Ronda Rousey to a “loser leaves town” match at 135 lbs. Any takers?

(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.