("I’m sorry, what was your name again?" PicProps: Sherdog)

Thank God that Josh Barnett only did a couple of the things he threatened to do to Geronimo dos Santos at Impact FC in Brisbane last night.  Despite his threats to the contrary, reports from Sherdog’s Jordan Breen – who was cageside for the event — indicate that Barnett’s short-and-sweet win over dos Santos in the main event of the upstart Australian promotion went strictly according to the unified rules. And no, that is not a euphemism.

The former UFC heavyweight champion took his enormo Brazilian opponent down and achieved full mount twice during the 2 minute, 45 second contest and eventually used a barrage of strikes from behind dos Santos to force John McCarthy to call the fight. Dos Santos attempted to protest the stoppage, but reportedly failed the “What the fuck is your problem?” test with his unsure, rubbery legs.

Fellow UFC castoffs  Karo Parisyan, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Jeff Monson also recorded wins, while former champion Carlos Newton lost an ugly fight to Brian Ebersole.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/ProMMNow)

Heavyweight standout Dave "Pee Wee" Herman spoke to ProMMANow recently and discussed his contract dispute with Bellator and legal arbitration he has been involved in with the organization.

"Well. I don’t really know what to say; I just have court. They were pretty much in breach of contract and I followed the contract and let ‘em know and they were just like ‘no’. It reminds me of the time I tried to break up with my girlfriend. We’re dating and I’m like, ‘Pfft…This relationship just isn’t working; we’re done.’ She was like, ‘We’re not done. We’re still going out.’ I was like, ‘Man, what to I say to that? I don’t know.’"

From today’s Dynamite!! 2009 event in Saitama. Videos to come later...

- Masato def. Andy Souwer via unanimous decision (K-1 MAX bout)

- Hidehiko Yoshida def. Satoshi Ishii via unanimous decision
– Gegard Mousasi def. Gary Goodridge via TKO, round 1

DREAM vs. SRC
– Shinya Aoki def. Mizuto Hirota via injury stoppage (Aoki’s armlock snaps Hirota’s arm), round 1 (Channeling Nick Diaz and BJ Penn, Aoki followed up the gruesome submission by flipping Hirota the Tokyo Heybuddy, then telling the crowd to visit ShinyaAoki.com, which doesn’t even exist. What an asshole!)
– Alistair Overeem def. Kazuyuki Fujita via KO (knee), round 1
– Masanori Kanehara def. Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto via unanimous decision
– Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Kazunori Yokota via unanimous decision
– Hideo Tokoro def. Jong Man Kim via unanimous decision
– Melvin Manhoef def. Kazuo Misaki via TKO, round 1 (this fight, along with Minowa/Sokoudjou were arguably early stoppages)
– Akihiro Gono def. Hayato Sakurai via submission (armbar), round 2
– Michihiro Omigawa def. Hiroyuki Takaya via TKO, round 1
– Hiroshi Izumi def. Katsuyori Shibata via unanimous decision
Final score: DREAM (5), Sengoku (4)

– Ray Sefo def. Yosuke Nishijima via unanimous decision (K-1 bout)

DREAM Super Hulk Final
– Ikuhisa Minowa def. Rameau Sokoudjou via TKO, round 3

K-1 Koshien Tournament:
– Masaaki Noiri def. Shota Shimada via unanimous decision (final)
– Shota Shimada def. Katsuki Ishida via majority decision (semi-final)
– Masaaki Noiri def. Hiroya via unanimous decision (semi-final)

(In the animal kingdom, playing dead can be considered an intelligent defense. In an MMA fight, not so much. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Yesterday’s event may have been low on spectacle, but DREAM plans to come back strong for their next show. Here’s what’s on the card for DREAM.11 (October 6th, Yokohama):

— The long-awaited rubber-match between Shinya Aoki and Joachim Hansen. The two top-ten lightweights first met at PRIDE Shockwave 2006, where Aoki took out Hellboy via gogoplata. But Hansen got revenge last July, scoring a brutal TKO over Aoki at DREAM’s lightweight GP finals. Hansen has been inactive since that fight, while Aoki has gone 4-1, earning victories over Eddie Alvarez and Vitor Ribeiro, with his only loss to Hayato Sakurai in an ill-advised welterweight match.

(You know, Jason, it would be nice if your junk transitioned to a renewable energy source. Photo courtesy of DreamOfficial.com)

The return of Kid Yamamoto. Light-heavyweights fighting super-heavyweights. Desperate baseball players possibly dying in the ring. Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to see some crazy shit. DREAM.9 kicks off in a few minutes, and if you’re reading this live, God bless you. Round-by-round updates from the HDNet broadcast are after the jump; refresh the page every few minutes to get all the latest. If there’s a long stretch of time where there’s no updates, it just means that I’ve fallen asleep. Let’s all hope that doesn’t happen.
 

(Image courtesy of DreamOfficial.com)

Maybe the word "epic" is overused on the Internet. Certainly we’ve been guilty of using it vain when "totally sweet" would have sufficed. But I think "epic" really does apply to DREAM.9 (May 26th, Yokohama) which contains the quarterfinals of DREAM’s "Super Hulk Tournament" and Featherweight Grand Prix, as well as a great lightweight feature between Tatsuya Kawajiri and Gesias Cavalcante, and the middleweight title fight between Jason Miller and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza.

The show will be broadcast in North America on HDNet Tuesday morning at 5 a.m. ET/2 a.m. PT, and while I’m not really down with farmer’s hours, I might have to watch this one live (and maybe even liveblog it) — especially since it’ll also represent an emotional farewell to HDNet. Right, so DREAM.9′s official fight order will be…

Dana White’s UFC 93 video blog, episode 3 – Watch more free videos

Dana White’s latest video-blogging effort is very long but not very interesting.  He pumps a little iron, tries to convert kilograms to pounds, wanders around Dublin, and strikes up conversations with a few fighters.  Yawn.  Just goes to show that the tedium of anyone’s daily life is still boring, even if they’re the head of the UFC.

Alan Belcher seems to think he’s gotten a good deal for himself in securing a bout with Denis Kang, who’s making his UFC debut this Saturday.  Oddsmakers certainly don’t agree, but as Belcher points out, the vibe from the crowd in the UFC is very different from Japan.  Just how much that will affect Kang, who’s been around in this sport for a while now, that remains to be seen.

After the jump, Affliction hypes Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral with some help from Loretta Hunt and Josh Gross.

(Luis Cane’s pimp-slap, straight left combo. No one ever expects it. Props, UG.)

- Apparently the hip new trend for youngsters on the internet is to film themselves making UFC predictions and then throw it up on YouTube. Fightlinker spotted the very enthusiastic WishKid12 doing her thing, and decided to see how her picks matched up against those made by professionals like us. We’re proud to report that both Bens (weirdly, we made the exact same picks) soundly defeated this precocious prognosticator. While she went 2-3 on the night, we went 4-1 (curse you Cane, and your bitch-slapping awesomeness). The only one in this impromptu contest to beat us was Fightlinker, with a perfect 5-0. So basically we’re smarter than a twelve-year-old girl but dumber than drunk Canadians. That’s still better than either of our families ever expected.

- Patrick Cote tells MMA Mania that the UFC did not have him sign a contract extension prior to his title fight against Anderson Silva at UFC 90 this Saturday night. That’s notable since he’s at or near the end of his current contract, and typically the UFC makes sure they have a guy locked up before they take a chance on him becoming a belt-holder. At least, that’s what they do when they think the challenger has a chance in hell of winning.

- In case you were wondering, Dana White says he will reward Josh Koscheck with a shot at the welterweight title if he beats Thiago Alves this weekend. We all know how much White loves guys who are willing to step in on short notice, and Koscheck has a chance to turn Diego Sanchez’s misfortune into a big break for himself. Not that anyone’s really clamoring for GSP-Koscheck II at this point.

- MMA Payout takes issue with the UFC’s insinuation that Brandon Vera voluntarily sat out a year and then returned a different fighter. They point out that Vera was an early victim of the “Zuffa Freeze Out” and that by running around comparing the old Vera to the new one, Dana White may be unwittingly calling the wrong kind of attention to his own negotiation practices. Damn revisionist history.

(Carwin looked impressive, but how about a tough opponent next?)

You’re wondering who’s up and who’s down after UFC 89. The Potato Index’s system of arbitrary numbers devoid of any unit of measurement will tell you. It’s kind of like the stock market, only less depressing. We spent all weekend doing the math and here’s what we came up with. You’re welcome.

Michael Bisping +16

“The Count” won a fight he was supposed to win. Via decision. He never took any chances, didn’t show anything extra special, but he fought smart and he got the win. As a reward, he gets the TUF coaching job and the fight with the Hendo/Ace winner that was already his anyway. At least he didn’t screw it up.

Brandon Vera -132

Once upon a time Vera was the heir apparent in the heavyweight division. Now he’s a mediocre light heavyweight who doesn’t even put on much of a show anymore. What happened? He’s no longer exciting or effective, and he’s far too conservative. He’s making too much money to be doing so little.

Chris Leben -8 1/2

Leben chased Michael Bisping for three rounds and only got a little frustrated and reckless toward the end. A sign of his maturity? Sure, but also a sign that middleweight gatekeeper is about as high as he can hope to climb. He’s still exciting, so he’s not going anywhere. He also won’t be back in the main event any time soon.

Joe Rogan’s tribute beard +18

Sounded a little hokey at first, but it turns out that facial hair can be an effective homage to a fallen champion.

Luis Cane +284

The biggest win of Cane’s career, by far, and one that should get him noticed by the UFC brass. We called his record padded before, but he added some meat to it on Saturday night.

(Leben fits Bisping for a right hook. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

The weigh-ins for UFC 89 went off without a hitch today. Everyone hit their target weight, or at least fell within the one-pound allowance of it, and nobody had to strip naked while their dad held a towel in front of them. There was a terse exchange between the main eventers, with Chris Leben offering an apology in advance to the British fans, and Michael Bisping getting all Rodney Dangerfield about Leben showing him no respect:

Said Leben:

“I’m sorry for coming over and ruining your guys’ big hope and dream. I know you love him, but I didn’t come all this way to lose. One of us will take a step back and the other a step forward; there isn’t too many ahead of us now.”

Replied Bisping:

“You’re right, one forward and one down. I am moving forward. You underestimate me and I think that is a mistake. May the best man win and I will see you tomorrow night.”

As weigh-in disagreements go, that’s downright gentlemanly. Guess that’s what you get in jolly old England. Full scale-tipping results are after the jump:

With one day to go before UFC 89 (which we’ll be liveblogging, naturally), it’s time for everyone’s favorite self-indulgent exercise: Ben versus Ben. This time around we argue bonuses, the UK-centric undercard, and the mysterious/as-of-yet fictional Millerplata, among other stuff.

How exactly will Bisping/Leben end?

Fowlkes: As much as we’ve heard about Leben’s transformation from immature brawler to well-rounded tactician, a part of me (the part located in the brain region) isn’t totally buying it. Leben may be a more seasoned fighter, but he still knows one way to win a fight when things get hectic and it’s throwing big, looping bombs and hoping one catches his opponent on the chin.

This has worked at times. He hits hard and he can take enough punishment to make that strategy effective. But as strategies go, it’s relatively easy to prepare for, especially for a more cerebral fighter like Bisping. “The Count” is smart enough to avoid a street fight with Leben. He’ll accumulate points and damage but won’t dive in for the illusion of a quick finish, and this will frustrate Leben.

Leben knows he doesn’t want to go to a decision against a Brit in Britain, so the closer to the final horn he gets the more desperate he will become. This is where Bisping will find an opening, drop him with a straight shot, then pour on some ground-and-pound that looks worse than it is, causing the referee to stop it at 4:02 of round three. And Leben is going to be pissed.

Goldstein: I concur. Bisping is a more talented, complete fighter than Leben, and this business about the Crippler maturing is more manufactured narrative than reality. But I don’t think it’ll take Bisping until the third frame to get the stoppage win. As a middleweight, his kickboxing has looked razor-sharp — his last two opponents didn’t make it to the second bell — and his ground capabilities are underrated in general.

The headliners will give the crowd what they paid for in round one, slugging it out like a couple of drunken soccer hooligans, and Bisping will go about finishing the fight in round two, engaging the killer instinct that we’ve seen from him lately. If Leben starts to land more shots in that second round, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bisping clinch with Leben, bully him to the ground and finish him from the top. Either way, it’ll be a stoppage due to strikes at exactly the 4:15 mark of round two.

Who will win the Vera/Jardine and Sokoudjou/Cane fights?

(Bisping challenges another poor bloke to high-stakes Rock, Paper, Scissors.)

As our collective faith in the health of the economy deteriorates, the online gambling market is looking better and better. The more I think about it, the more I’m surprised it didn’t come up in last night’s debates. But once again neither candidate speaks to my issues. Looks like this is one more election year where I’ll end up scrawling “Wanderlei” in crayon across my ballot and then handing it to the overweight woman at the desk, who will inevitably respond by insisting that “this is not a polling place.” Goddamn bureaucracy.

Anyway, if you’re like me and are ready to bet your foreclosed home on UFC 89 this Saturday, here are the sweetest lines around, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com. If you don’t understand how betting odds work, read this. If you still don’t get it, stop sniffing glue.

Chris Leben (+191) vs. Michael Bisping (-211)
Luiz Cane (+104) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (-114)
Dan Hardy (+285) vs. Akihiro Gono (-308)
Neil Wann (+600) vs. Shane Carwin (-675)
Keith Jardine (+155) vs. Brandon Vera (-165)
Jess Liaudin (+141) vs. David Bielkheden (-135)
Marcus Davis (+230) vs. Paul Kelly (+285)
Paul Taylor (+300) vs. Chris Lytle (-328)
Samy Schiavo (+166) vs. Per Eklund (-180)
Terry Etim (+275) vs. Sam Stout (-291)
David Baron (+155) vs. Jim Miller (-172)

Thoughts…

In the official UFC 89 hype video we continue to hear about Chris Leben‘s transformation as a fighter, which has quickly become one of the main storylines heading into this event. Oddly, with all the talk about Leben’s transition from brawler to technically sound MMA fighter, whenever anyone talks about his strengths they inevitably end up talking mostly about the characteristics of a brawler (hard-hitting, looping punches, good chin, etc.) while ascribing to Michael Bisping the characteristics of a technical fighter (straight punches, apparently, which is laughable to Chris Wilson). Not saying Leben isn’t a different fighter these days, just saying the whole thing is interesting.

Anyway, give it a look and you won’t be disappointed. Despite burning through all the stock footage of British landmarks in existence, it’s another solid effort from the Countdown crew.

(Brandon Vera in Maxim. It was either this or another picture of Sokoudjou.)

As expected, Brandon Vera’s frank account of who turned down fights with him is making at least one fighter bristle. From Fighthype:

“It would have been stupid for me to take the Vera fight on short notice,” stated UFC light heavyweight contender [Rameau Thierry] Sokoudjou as he talked about why he wasn’t willing to fight Brandon Vera on the July 19th UFC Fight Night card. Sokoudjou explains that his management team is aware of the fact that he likes to have 8 weeks to prepare for his fights. Although he admits to being offered the fight, he says he was “on vacation and busy living it up in Europe” at the time it was offered and that he wasn’t training or thinking about fighting so soon…

“What has he done for me to fear him,” Sokoudjou stated in closing as he made it clear that he’s not afraid to face any fighter.

So there you have it — “The Truth” might have a new rival on his hands. Also on Fighthype today is this sort-of-bizarre interview with John Hackleman, where the “Pit Boss” says the following:

— Forrest Griffin “definitely” should have won the decision against Quinton Jackson, although the frst round should have been a 10-8 round for Rampage. Not sure how the math works out on that one, but that’s what he said.
— Juanito Ibarra was very un-Christian for vowing to retire if Rampage lost, and then not retiring.
— If someone makes a bad call at The Pit, they’re beaten, hogtied, and dragged behind a speeding car. But don’t worry, they don’t do that to black people. In fact, the last person they did it to was a Mexican. Feel better?

(Props: JarryPark)

I was worried that UFC 89 (October 18th; Birmingham, England) was going to be one of those off-brand cards that are hastily thrown together for the British market — but it may have potential after all. Besides the requisite matchups of Bisping vs. Leben and (possibly) Davis vs. Kelly, and a reported welterweight feature of Thiago Alves vs. Diego Sanchez, the UFC has just added three more compelling bouts to the lineup.

First up is a light-heavyweight bout between Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou — who’s coming off a first-round TKO of Kazuhiro Nakamura at UFC 84 — and Luiz Cane, who recently knocked out Jason “Flapjacks” Lambert at UFC 85. Sokoudjou was already regarded as one of the top ten 205′ers in the world when he entered the UFC, and is probably still trying to shake off the humiliation of being the only guy that Lyoto Machida has finished in the last two years. Both him and Cane have a lot of hype behind them, and both like to throw bombs; could be a wild one.

Next is a heavyweight bout between Denver-based destroyer Shane Carwin (9-0) and British brawler Neil Wain (4-0). Like Carwin, Wain has won all of his fights by first-round stoppage — though I don’t think that little fun fact will matter much once the bell rings and Carwin starts charging across the cage. Like his 44-second mouthpiece-ejecting knockout of Christian Wellisch at UFC 84, this match might turn into another stunning KO win for the up-and-coming Carwin.

Finally, British welterweight star Dan Hardy (19-6) is set to make his Octagon debut against Akihiro Gono. Hardy is the reigning Cage Warriors welterweight champion, and has only suffered one loss (via disqualification) in his last nine fights. Gono (28-12-7) is a veteran of Shooto, Pancrase, and PRIDE who won his UFC debut last November by tapping Tamdan McCrory with an armbar at UFC 78; injury has prevented him from competing since.

When James Irvin was asked about the four guys who turned down a match with Anderson Silva before he accepted it, he refused to name names. When Lyoto Machida was asked about the fighters who have reportedly been turning down fights against him, he refused to name names. Luckily there are straight shooters like Brandon Vera.

“They offered me Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Lyoto Machida and then Reese Andy,” Vera told The Baltimore Sun. As Vera explains, Henderson, Silva, and Sokoudjou all said no to the matchup, and Vera himself wanted no part of Machida. Wanderlei Silva has said repeatedly that he has no interest in fighting anyone before the end of the year, so he gets a pass — but Hendo and Soko just got their spots blown up, so to speak.

We’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they probably balked at the short notice of the fight, and didn’t refuse it due to any sort of fear of the matchup. Whatever the case, Vera’s frank soundbite probably won’t win him many friends in the UFC. But what else would you expect from a guy nicknamed “The Truth”?

(Wandy’s triumph; courtesy of UFC.com)

(Penn outboxes Sherk; courtesy of Sherdog)

(Tito Ortiz comes within a ball-hair of submitting Lyoto Machida; courtesy of Las Vegas Sun)

(Michael Jackson takes in the fights; courtesy of TMZ)

Get ‘em while they last…

BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk

Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine (Knockout of the Night)

Rousimar Palhares vs. Ivan Salaverry (Submission of the Night)

We reported earlier that Ricardo Arona might be fighting again very soon, so in the spirit of Ricardo jumping back into the fray, let’s check out a couple of his battles.

First, the Arona/Rampage Jackson fight from 2004, which went down at PRIDE – Critical Countdown and was cloaked in controversy. At the 1:10 mark, Arona lands a kick and several shots to Rampage’s melon that seems to temporarily KO Jackson. After pleading with the ref to stop the fight before Rampage pulled it together, Arona found himself again on the bottom-side of the grappling match. Exactly a minute later, Rampage power-slams Arona — which included an accidental, yet illegal head-butt — to end the fight.

And here’s Arona’s last fight, which happened at PRIDE 34 around a year ago. In case your memory is as shitty as mine, the handy internet tells us that Arona got KTFO by Sokoudjou at 1:59 of the first round.

Here’s hoping when Arona comes back he retains the form he showed against guys like Kazushi Sakuraba, Dean Lister, Dan Henderson, Murilo Rua, Guy Mezger, and Jeremy Horn (twice). Only time will tell…

MMA Weekly has just added a fight between Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Kazuhiro Nakamura to its UFC 84 rumors page. Nakamura is an 11-7 PRIDE vet who lost a unanimous decision to Lyoto Machida during his Octagon debut at UFC 76 last September; he holds wins over Kevin Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, and Igor Vovchanchyn. If the match holds up, UFC 84 — slated to be held May 24th in Las Vegas — would be a memorably badass night. Here’s what the main card currently looks like:

- B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk (confirmed; for lightweight championship)
- Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida (confirmed; will likely be Ortiz’s last fight in the UFC)
- Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine (confirmed)
- Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva (likely)
- Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura (rumored)

That’s more light-heavyweight action than we can handle. Theoretically, one of UFC 84′s lower-profile fights — Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic and Rousimar Palhares vs. Ivan Salaverry have also been scheduled — could be swapped in for Evans/Silva or Sokoudjou/Nakamura on the main card. It would blow if the UFC sacrificed big names for variety, but we wouldn’t put it past them.

Chris Leben, who was on the first TUF, has announced via his myspace fan club that he has inked a two-year extension with the UFC. This new deal pushes aside Leben’s old one which is used for TUF cast members. The new contract will pay Leben $25k to show and the same as a win bonus for each fight. That’s a $15k increase for both categories from his previous contract.

Leben is 17-4 and has gone 7-3 since starting up for the UFC. The Crippler has proven a great TV personality and draw for the UFC and he is next slated to bring his brand of controversy to UFC 82 on March 1st. Leben’s opponent will be Alessio Sakara, someone that Leben has said he respects, but:

“Honestly, as much respect as possible to him, but I really don’t think he deserves to be in the UFC. I haven’t seen him win the fights or do what he has to do to prove himself at this level. You know, we’re going to pressure him and test him and I’ll tell you what , he has a pretty good opportunity to prove himself if that’s what he wants to do.”

Leben made the above statement during the myspace fan club interview and his comments aren’t completely unfounded. Sakara is 3-3 with one NC since arriving on the UFC scene. Beating guys like Elvis Sinosic, Victor Valimaki and James Lee won’t even get you to the front of the line at The Sizzler. Sakara does have a lot to prove against Leben who, love or hate him, is a dynamic fighter who looks to be back on track after a stretch that saw him drop 3 of 4 fights, including one to Anderson Silva – which is hard to fault him for.

As we roll towards UFC 80, the hype machine is already revving for UFC 81. I, however, still have the burr of Sokoudjou’s hype rammed up my ass and am going to proceed with caution. My particular focus is on the building hype surrounding Brock Lesnar, the former college wrestling champ, WWE champ, NFL shit-causer, Japan pro wrestling star and now undefeated MMA fighter (1-0). It was announced at UFC 77 that Lesnar had signed with the UFC, so we knew it was just a matter of time before we started hearing the hype drums in the distance. He faces off against Frank Mir on February 2nd in Las Vegas.

Lesnar’s story might be an interesting one, but only because he’s earned a reputation for pissing in the face of success. I’m not convinced he’s going to be a force in the UFC, but if he does pull his shit together and starts making waves, I wouldn’t be surprised if he bolted like he always does. However, if he does become a huge UFC force, I will erase this post and replace it with one where I predict Lesnar will be the next UFC king. That’s how I roll.

Let’s glance at our most recent hype example. The bad taste of The African Assassin’s loss has been particularly rank for bettors. Some of the lines had Sokoudjou and Machida almost even at UFC 79 with some giving the edge to Machida. Yet most sites like this one still suggested betting Sokoudjou. Message boards around the MMA world threw more fuel on the hype fire and by the afternoon of the 28th, it was being reported by BloodyElbow that wages were being placed overwhelmingly on Sokoudjou. Not that the Assassin didn’t have a shot. He had impressive KO’s in PRIDE, is a ball of muscle and those dreds look badass. But this is the UFC and Machida has been winning in Dana World already. He’s a counter strike specialist and his ground game is one of the best (notice BloodyElbow saw past the Sokoudjou bullshit).

Did we – and bettors – pay attention to this? We’d like to say yes, but the hype monster is too fucking strong sometimes and we don’t realize it until we see the guy we bet (Sokoudjou) on his back for most of the fight looking like a turtle flipped on his shell. I don’t blame us. We just want to be there when the next dominating fighter bursts on the scene — is that so wrong? So when you feel the urge to throw down your life’s savings on Brock Lesnar just because something inside is telling you to, that’s not intuition. It’s Dana White’s hype machine.Note: We should mention that one of Lesnar’s nicknames is “The Next Big Thing”. Subtle.