Tim Sylvia is a desperate man, ladies and gentlemen. A couple of weeks ago, he released a video in which he claimed he could beat eighty percent of the heavyweights in the UFC. He went on to blame the UFC’s need to fill cards as the reason guys like Joey Beltran, Chrisitan Morecraft, and Stefan Struve were still employed. Because, as we all know, Abe Wagner, Ray Mercer, and Mariusz Pudzianowski are the heavyweight contenders the UFC is missing out on. To no one’s surprise, Dana White did not take the bait.

Then, “The Maine-iac” caught part of The Shawshank Redemption on TBS one night and came up with a plan: continue to release videos week after week until he received his metaphorical library full of books. It’s gotten bad, folks. So bad, in fact, that Sylvia is now enlisting the help of The UG (hey, it works for some people), offering to let one of his followers corner him in his UFC return match, whenever that may come. DW caught wind of all this, and proceeded to crush Sylvia’s dreams outright before they ever gained any steam, stating the following:

I have no beef with Tim Sylvia whatsoever, I have nothing against the guy, but I say it all the time: that was when the division was the weakest, when he was champion. And for him to make a statement like he could come back and beat 80-percent of the fighters in the UFC? The last time I saw him, he got knocked out by a 50-year-old boxer in like 10 seconds. Him and Arlovski were knocking each other out every weekend.

By Shawshank terms, Tim Sylvia just received another month in the hole. Or are we being too obtuse?

In either case, the former UFC Heavyweight Champ and Depend’s spokesperson inevitably heard The Baldfather’s criticisms, and was quick to retort. Well, probably not too quick:

(If you think about it, a giraffe is nothing more than a horse with a really, really long neck. Watch your back Olivier.) 

No, this is not one of MRuss’ award winning photoshops, although we imagine everyone in the UFC’s heavyweight division wishes it was. It turns out that this beanstalkian figure is Olivier Richter, otherwise known as the tallest man in Holland. He stands at 7’2, or three inches taller than Stefan “Skyscraper” Struve, and according to Alistair Overeem, has already begun to train kickboxing and weight lifting with the hopes of one day making it into the UFC.

(The power of YES!! compels you! Check out some of the meme-worthy photoshops over at The UG.) 

Over the past week or so, the sports world has come down with a serious case of LINsanity, a disease that mimics the effects of Yellow Fever and is brought about by way of bereavement. Though it was the general consensus that this mind altering sickness originated with the uncanny rise of New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin, last night’s inaugural UFC on FUEL event opened our collective eyes to the virus’ true host: Diego fucking Sanchez.

Yes, it seems that ever since Diego suffered his first professional losses, which came in back-to-back fashion at the hands of Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch at UFC 69 and 76, the man has become consumed by a mixture of evangelical optimism and bipolar rage to the point of parody. As he made his way to the octagon for his main event clash with top contender Jake Ellenberger last night, it quickly became apparent that it was Sanchez who was in need of an exorcism, which made the Gregorian monk feel of his entrance appear all the more ironic.

(Remember, the winner of this fight becomes the #2 contender for the UFC Intercontinental Temporary Welterweight Championship of the Midwest. So you’d better believe that Thiago Alves will be watching this one with great interest. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com. For more photos from this set, click here.)

Tonight, the UFC will air their first-ever live fight card on FUEL TV — or so they say. Like most Americans, I don’t have the channel in my cable package, so I’m pretty much taking them for their word here. Luckily, our new liveblogger/boxing-analyst friend Steve Silverman does get the channel, and he’ll be handling play-by-play for the main card starting at 8 p.m. ET.

On the menu this evening: Balls-to-the-wall welterweight veteran Diego Sanchez will face Jake Ellenberger, who’s riding high off his 53-second knockout of Jake Shields. Plus, Stefan Struve puts his long limbs on a flamboyant high-school acting teacher, Stipe Miocic and Philip De Fries meet in a battle of undefeated heavyweight prospects, and TUF 14 bantamweight finalist TJ Dillashaw returns to action against Walel Watson. Total cost to the consumer: $0.00.

“UFC on FUEL 1: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger” results await you after the jump. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest. Thanks for being here, guys.

(I guess someone forgot to tell the design team at FUEL that Struve is the taller one.)

Just a friendly reminder that we’ll have the live video stream for the UFC On FUEL: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger weigh-ins for you and your Valentine to watch at 5:00 pm ET tonight. If you’re at home and you’re one of the 17 people who subscribe to FUEL TV, you can watch it on your flat screen.

Will Diego Sanchez spit on Jake Ellenberger’s forehead while he shouts “yes” during the staredown? Will anyone mistake Dave Herman for Macho Man? Will he slam Stefan Struve? Does anyone plan on tuning into the prelims?

These questions and more will be answered after the jump (or in the comment section).

As I watched Pat Barry fall victim to yet another submission at the spider legs of Stefan Struve during UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson this past Saturday, my stomach began to take on the feeling that I hadn’t known since I watched A Serbian Film for the second time. I knew what was going to happen, but deep in my atheist soul I hoped…no, prayed, that things would somehow change. And like a 7-Eleven cashier in Compton, I found myself on the wrong end of the barrel yet again.

Thankfully, the powers at be have likely given Barry another chance. And since we all know “HD” is an avid Cagepotato Fan, I figured I’d let the master of all things MMA/street fighting, Bas Rutten, give us a little tutorial on how to escape a triangle choke. It may not be as flashy as power-bombing your way out, but it’s a hell of a lot more effective.

Being the Renaissance man that “El Guapo” is, he manages to make a complex maneuver seem as simple as four steps:

(Pat tried to take that thing down and landed directly in a guillotine. Props: @hypeordie)

It’s official: A good personality + the willingness to stand-and-bang = job security in the UFC. Following Pat Barry‘s second-round triangle/armbar loss to Stefan Struve at Saturday’s “UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson” show, UFC president Dana White was asked about the heavyweight striker’s future in the company, to which DW replied:

“We like guys like that, we like guys that are exciting and guys that come out and fight. I don’t know, Pat’s a guy that we do like. He’s one of the guys that always brings it. He’s like, a lot of people were saying “you’re cutting Dan Hardy,” Dan Hardy comes to fight and always puts on wars. I like the Arturo Gatti type fighters. I like the guys who always bring it. And that’s what this is about. When you’re a fight fan you tune in to see fights and I like guys who do it.”

(Props to MMAWeekly.com) 

Before you even ask, yes, Anthony Johnson did make weight, and he seemed about as excited to do so as any fighter I’ve ever seen. Joe Rogan informed us that the Struve/Barry fight is “the biggest height discrepancy for a UFC fight ever.” If there was a category for stare-down of the year, I’m pretty sure theirs would be the front runner.

All fighters made weight except for Byron Bloodworth, who weighed in at 138 lbs. and was originally given 2 hours to drop the necessary 2 pounds for his bout with Mike Easton. The decision was quickly reversed and Byron was allowed to keep the additional weight without penalty for coming in as such a late replacement. Check out the full weigh in results after the jump.

-Danga 

(From today’s press conference. Above: Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson. Below: Pat Barry vs. Stefan Struve. Props to MMAMania)

Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Pat Barry will spend all fight looking up nostrils when they take on tall-for-his-weight-class Dominick Cruz and tall-for-humanity Stefan Struve (respectively) this Saturday. Don’t forget to come back to CagePotato.com for round-by-round results from the Versus main card broadcast of UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson, starting at 9 p.m. ET. In case you’re curious, there’s a photo of Stefan Struve and Demetrious Johnson standing next to each other after the jump. Not for the faint of heart.

As the dust settles from UFC 135, some of us out there must be itching to bet on fights that will not make us look like fools if we are wrong. Lucky for us, redemption lies around the corner, because this Saturday UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson goes down, and the odds are a hell of a lot closer than what we’re used to. Check out the fight odds below, then see if you can stomach our suggestions.

Main Card (courtesy of Best Fight Odds)
Dominick Cruz (-440) vs. Demetrious Johnson (+350)
Anthony Johnson (-180) vs. Charlie Brenneman (+158)
Matt Wiman (-210) vs. Mac Danzig (+175)
Pat Barry (-185) vs. Stefan Struve (+160)

Undercard (Courtesy of MMAValor)
Yves Edwards (-120) vs. Rafaello Oliveira (-120)
Michael Johnson (-240) vs. Paul Sass (+180)
Mike Easton (-130) vs. Jeff Hougland (even)
Shane Roller (-130) vs. T.J. Grant (even)
Josh Neer (-120) vs. Keith Wisniewski (-120)
Joseph Sandoval (-150) vs. Walel Watson (+120)

Struve is planning on putting the hurt on Barry. Props: KCrigger40/YouTube

Man, fighters in the UFC have some real trouble with INFOSEC. (These guys know what we’re talking about.) Just yesterday we were able to show you footage from within Pat Barry’s camp as he prepares for the unique challenges Stefan Struve will present when the two meet up at UFC on Versus 6. The vast difference in reach means Barry will need to be creative in his striking attack.

Now we find this leaked tape from the Struve camp, and some of the drills he’s going through to prepare for the destroyer of legs.

Obviously, both guys are planning on putting on a show on 1 October. Are ya’ll ready for this?

[RX]

(Props: hypeordie via NonstopRocker03)

Well that’s one way to deal with a one-foot height disadvantage. And we all know that Stefan Struve is vulnerable to a good superman punch. Can Pat Barry actually pull that off when they meet at UFC on Versus 6 in October?

After the jump, things get even weirder. Like, uncomfortable-weird. Like, I’m not actually suggesting that you watch this next video.

Travis Fulton vs. Jeremy Bullock: just what the hell did they expect to happen?

“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” -Samuel Beckett

Keeping those words from the first collection in our hearts, we’ve assembled the second installment of moments in MMA that some of us (mostly the athletes involved) would like to forget. The rest of us, we want to see those moments saved forever, preferably in a graphic format that loops endlessly.

First, get your mind right with a fight video from the dark ages of MMA, when any human with a pair of pajamas and some Tae Kwon Do could try that crazy ultimate fightin’ stuff. It was 1998, and Travis Fulton had already had over sixty fights. His opponent was Jeremy Bullock, a skinny guy that probably really liked Bruce Lee movies. Make sure to watch Bullock’s interview, where he shares his keys to victory with everyone, including Fulton. Also watch the fight, where Fulton shares his love for a good pro wrestling-style chokeslam with everyone, including Bullock. (Reportedly, Bullock thinks Bruce Lee is a fucking asshole these days.)

Once you’re done with that piece of history, come on in and we’ll share more moments of infamy, awkwardness, stupidity, and shame. It’s Fail GIF time, kids; let’s party.

As always, big ups, props, and mad respec’ to the GIF masters and the websites that host them: Chris Bunch o’ Numbers, Uncle Justice, Damn Severn, Zombie Prophet, Caposa, UpstandingCitizens, MMA-Core, IronForgesIron, and MMATKO. If we forgot you, it’s not on purpose.

In case you wondered what the disparity looks like.    PicProps: MsTracyLee/CombatLifestyle

Well, it took our boy Pat Barry about two years to get a fight that he’s long thought would be fun: he’s set to face off with Stefan Struve in October at UFC Live on Versus 6. UFCLoV 6 (that acronym is still roughly half as ludicrous as DREAM’s last show) is expected to go down in Washington, DC; so far it has not been confirmed that all fights on the card will take place in five-sided cage dubbed The Pentagon (Trademark Pending), which will be manufactured under contract by KBR for a taxpayer cost of six million dollars.

MMAJunkie reported that verbal agreements had been made for the bout, and we assume smear campaigns and sex scandals are being developed as we speak.

Skyscraper comes into the bout off of a pretty gnarly KO loss to Travis Browne at UFC 130 in May.  For the record, Struve is 6’11″ with 83 inches of reach.

Our boy HD comes off of a KO loss as well, in a bout that you may remember with Cheick Kongo last month.  Barry stands at 5’11″ in his tighty whiteys with 74 (and 1/2) inches of reach.

This is happening, people.  There’s going to be raw viciousness and genuine dislike in the air, plus we’re going to send trained fighters who like to kick people really hard into a cage and let ‘em fight.  Should be awesome.  Did we mention this shindig is supposed to go down in DC?  Man, Congress is full of scum — won’t this hurt the sanctioning effort?

[RX]

How does it seem like they could exchange outfits and still not look one bit weird?

Shout out to CagePotato blood brothers Heavy.com and Jeremy Botter James Law, who snapped this shot of 5’3″ Demetrious “Might Mouse” Johnson and 6’11” Stefan “Skyscraper” Struve brohugging in the lead up for UFC 130.

When Hollywood inevitably decides to reboot the Mad Max franchise — and you know that those sons of whores in Hollywood will do it, sooner or later — these two would hold down the part of Master Blaster. Beyonce will be Aunty Entity, of course, and Mad Max will be played by Mel Gibson.  As soon as Miley Cyrus has a kid, it will be penciled in as the feral child.

Oh shit, we just totally gave them an idea, didn’t we?

[RX]

(Photo courtesy of UFC.com. Rampage’s victory reaction gif is now after the jump.)

When the anticipated rematch between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard was scrapped from this card, we were left with a few big names and a lot of hope. Despite a few stellar knockouts earlier in the evening, UFC 130 ended much like my date to see “No Strings Attached”: a lot of booing, a disappointing 15 minute fight, and I was out $50.

Every UFC card has to be about something, and with no gold up for grabs the storyline for this event became Quinton Jackson’s climb back up to the top of the Light Heavyweight division. Dana White declared and Rogan and Goldberg echoed that an impressive, entertaining victory over Matt Hamill would land Rampage a title fight with champ Jon Jones. Rampage secured the win, but his shot at the belt is still up in the air.

(Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com. Gif is now after the jump.)

Already a fixture on the UFC highlight reels of Junior Dos Santos and Roy Nelson, Stefan Struve became the victim of another first-round knockout tonight at UFC 130, succumbing to what might be the most devastating superman punch ever thrown inside of an eight-sided cage. The victorious Travis Browne increased his MMA record to 11-0-1, and was awarded UFC 130′s Knockout of the Night bonus for his efforts, picking up an additional $70,000.

UFC 130′s other performance bonuses went to Brian Stann and Jorge Santiago (Fight of the Night) for their two-round bang-up that kicked off the pay-per-view broadcast, and Gleison Tibau (Submission of the Night) for his rear-naked choke of Rafaello Oliveira during the prelims; it was the only fight on the card that ended via submission.

(Not pictured: Stefan Struve’s cover for ‘Tall-Ass Honkey Weekly’.)

No, Yoshhiro Akiyama will not be taking on a convicted white-collar criminal in his next appearance. ESPN reports that Akiyama will instead face off against Nate Marquardt at UFC 128: Shogun vs. Evans, March 19th in Newark. The Japanese middleweight star is coming off two consecutive losses against Chris Leben (humiliating!) and Michael Bisping (slightly less humiliating, but still!), and likely needs a victory to keep his contract. Marquardt is coming off his own underwhelming loss against Yushin Okami at UFC 122, but will certainly be the favorite in this matchup.

Speaking of notable bookings, heavyweight contender Stefan Struve — who has slugged his way to back-to-back wins over Christian Morecraft and Sean McCorkle — has drawn another rising prospect for his next outing. According to MMAJunkie, Struve will return at UFC 130 (May 28th, Las Vegas) against undefeated Travis Browne, who just suffered through a foul-filled draw against Cheick Kongo at UFC 120. The only other match reported for UFC 130 at this point is Thiago Alves vs. Rick Story.

(Winner gets Hammer’s gold pants.)

It looks like the rumors that Frank Mir will coach opposite Brock Lesnar on next season of The Ultimate Fighter gained some momentum today with news that the planned bout between Mir and heavyweight prospect Brendan Schaub has been scrapped.

According to Sportsnet’s Joe Ferraro, sources indicated today that Schaub will likely face fellow Alchemist Management repped fighter Stefan Struve on the UFC’s third "Live on Versus" card on March 3 which will feature a main event welterweight tilt between Martin Kampmann and Diego Sanchez. The change in opponents without any mention by Mir of an injury coupled with his re-tweet of the message below, proclaiming the two former UFC heavyweight champions as opposing coaches does little to disprove the assumption.

(After Nate Diaz has sex with a guy, he will rip their heads off. Props: YouTube.com/FreeFights4You)

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…

– Ailing Cruz, Upstart Jorgensen Aim for History Books at WEC 53 (Versus MMA Beat)

– ‘Strength and Honor’: Ben Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis Hype Video (MMA Scraps)

– Stefan Struve Wants to Get to 280 Pounds for Lesnar, Carwin, Etc. (MMA Fighting)

– The 10 Best Fights in WEC History (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Watch This Preview of ‘The Saint of Stevia: The Legend of Dan Quinn’ (MiddleEasy)

– Kimo-Therapy: UFC Veteran To Assist the Needy This Christmas (FightMagazine)

- Frank Mir vs. Brendan Schaub Expected for March 2011 (LowKick)

– Jens Pulver Not Done Yet, Plans to Fight in January (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Roger Huerta Saves Little Girl’s Life, Proves Status As Superhero (SBNation.com/MMA)

– Fedor Emelianenko: If I Never Fight In The UFC, They Will Be Sorry, Not Me (MMA Convert)

(Lentil mash and tofu-rhubarb scramble for everybody! PicProps: UFC.com)

Mac Danzig came to the cage at UFC 124 bumping the Misfits – Ironic? Or just apropos? Hard to say – and looking like his face had aged a decade since the last time we saw him. Maybe it was just the new haircut or maybe the stresses of losing four of his last five while maintaining a sustainable and socially conscious lifestyle were finally getting to him. In any case, the most disappointing “TUF” champion this side of Kendall Grove bought his UFC career some bonus time on Saturday night, stupefying Joe Stevenson with a backpedalling left hook straight to the off switch just under two minutes into the first round. In the immediate aftermath, nobody looked more shocked that Danzig, who ran around the cage showing off the kind of genuine outpouring of emotion we’re not used to seeing from progressive yet earnestly straight-laced vegans.  

He’d pulled himself together by the time Joe Rogan tracked him down, claiming the knockout came via good old-fashioned videotape analysis of Stevenson’s striking attack. Danzig also credited the win to the fact that he’d “finally learned” how to throw his left hook with power. It’s always a little weird when a guy who’s been a pro-fighter for, oh, nine years says something like that. Anyway, we’re happy for the kid and, suffice it to say, there were some legitimate surprises on last night’s supporting card.

(Koscheck showing the Canadian customs agent his passport.)

Well, tonight’s the night we get to see if Josh Koscheck is full of shit or if he really has improved exponentially more than UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has since the last time they met three years ago.

I find it interesting that in the UFC 124 previews the UFC is touting Kos as some kind of pugilistic wrecking machine when he has only won one fight by KO and two by TKO since 2006 and the guys he beat (Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Frank Trigg and Dustin Hazelett) aren’t exactly known for their durable chins.

If I had to make a surefire prediction for the main event bout, I’d say that Koscheck’s ego has not gotten over the fact that GSP, who didn’t even wrestle in high school, outwrestled a division one champion like him, and he will likely try to prove himself on the mat and not on the feet. 

It may have been a coincidence, but Kos’ American Kickboxing Academy teammate, Phil Baroni backed my inclination when he told us this week that the peroxided prick is a way better wrestler and that he will control the fight with his wrestling. I’m guessing that Baroni was around when the AKA coaches worked on implementing Kocheck’s game plan for the fight during training and may have included portions of it in his own prediction, kind of like his plethora of "borrowed" daily Twitter quotes he intertwines with his own personal NYBA witticisms.

Whatever the case may be, it should be interesting to see if GSP lets him execute anything before he puts his own strategy into motion.

Let’s get this thing going.

**SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP**

(Good ol’ Sean McCorkle. Trolling to the bitter end. / Photo courtesy of the UFC 124: Weigh In pics gallery on CombatLifestyle.com)

UFC 124: St. Pierre vs. Koscheck II goes down tonight at the Bell Centre in Montreal, and CagePotato will be liveblogging the pay-per-view broadcast beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.  To help get you in the proper spirit, Ben Goldstein and Doug "ReX13" Richardson have returned to squabble over all the important storylines. Does Josh Koscheck have any chance at an upset? Are UFC fighters becoming boring overall? Which of UFC 124′s lightweights are dead weight? Who gives worse gambling advice, Ben or Doug? Do us a favor and slog through this painfully long column, then let us know your own thoughts in the comments section.

Assuming we both think GSP is going to rout Josh Koscheck on Saturday, what does Koscheck need to do to earn your respect in this fight?

BG: Well, he’ll have to avoid getting finished, first of all–

RX: Word.

BG: –and he’ll have to win at least one of the five rounds. That doesn’t seem like a lot to ask–

RX: HA!

BG: –but nobody’s been able to take a round from GSP since — wait for it — Josh Koscheck kind-of won the opening frame of their first meeting at UFC 74, over three years ago. Seriously. If Kos can avoid a 50-45 shutout on all three judges’ cards or an ugly TKO loss, he will have done better than Matt Hughes, Matt Serra (in their rematch), Jon Fitch, BJ Penn, Thiago Alves, and Dan Hardy. That would be a hell of an accomplishment.

So how can he pull it off? Koscheck only holds one real advantage over the champ: Punching power, which he’s used to flatten guys like Yoshiyuki Yoshida and Frank Trigg. Kos just needs to stuff St. Pierre’s takedown once in a while, and then put his fist on Georges’s chin, as he so confidently promised on TUF. A hard shot, well-placed, will wobble GSP — maybe enough to allow Josh to score a takedown of his own. Obviously, I don’t see that happening consistently in the fight, but if it even happens once, I will lose my shit.

Just a reminder that we will have the live stream of the weigh-ins for tomorrow night’s UFC 124 event in Montreal today at 4:00 pm ET.

Tune in and see if Josh Koscheck tries to goad GSP into slapping him in the face with a glove or, if Stefan Shruve presents Sean McCorkle with a copy of the winning Photoshop contest entry or if Edith Labelle is being brought in from the stable for one last trot around the Octagon..

Whatever happens, the Canadian fans should make it very hard to hear what the hell Joe Rogan is screaming.

As always, the UFC media player is after the jump.

Realizing that we forgot to touch on UFC 124 on last week’s episode of The Bum Rush, we put together a pretty decent little show for this week, which although it clocks in at just over 30 minutes, is packed from top to bottom with goodness.

In this episode, which could be argued is our pound-for-pound best, perennial Potato Nation favorite, Phil Baroni stops by to talk about a number of topics, including his upcoming UFC 125 bout with Brad Tavares, the fact that he’s one of the last old school brawlers and his thoughts on his American Kickboxing Academy teammate Josh Koscheck’s championship bout with Georges St-Pierre Saturday night.

Stefan Struve also checks in with the guys to discuss his online rivalry and UFC 124 heavyweight scrap with Sean McCorkle, how he got his start as a fighter, which fighter he looked up to growing up and much, much more.

If you don’t have iTunes you can download the show HERE.

If you haven’t done so already, please subscribe to the show on iTunes and spread the word about our marginally entertaining and somewhat informative Friday time wasting show.

As always, we appreciate any input — good or bad — about the show. Let us know if there are any segments or MMA personalities you want to see on future episodes.

("This thing used to be alive! LMFAO!" More Brock Lesnar hunting photos at Sherdog.)

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…

- Five Lessons: Strikeforce vs. UFC (Versus MMA Beat)

- Georges St. Pierre: Emphasis in Camp Was on Finishing Josh Koscheck (MMA Fighting)

– "When the Pitbull Bites" – Thiago Alves Documentary/Highlight Video From KahL-One (MMA Scraps)

- Jim Miller Is Patiently Waiting For His Shot (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Maia, Bonnar Lead TUF 12 Finale Salary List (MMA Convert)

– James Toney Calls Out Rampage Jackson by Claiming He’s a ‘Black Redneck’ (MiddleEasy)

– Exclusive Interview: George Sotiropoulos ‘Moving in the Right Direction’ Heading Into Fight With Dennis Siver (LowKick)

– Season-Winner Jonathan Brookins Tops List of TUF 12 Finale Suspensions (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Behind the Lens: Vitor Belfort (FightMagazine)

– SB Nation Exclusive: Stefan Struve Talks Path To UFC, Sean McCorkle And St. Pierre vs. Koscheck (SBNation.com/MMA)

(Photo courtesy of MMAMania)

Stefan Struve isn’t a stranger to getting his face bloodied. His preliminary card match against Christian Morecraft at UFC 117 was no different, as the UFC newbie turned Struve’s lip into a busted, swollen mess during the lopsided first round. Like a champion, Struve fought back in the second and scored a brutal KO stoppage. The performance earned Stefan a spot in the ultra-exclusive ranks of the MMA Split Lip Hall of Fame. More notable members are after the jump…

(Dutch punch-faces are the best, aren’t they? Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

Kenny Florian (Submission of the Night), Roy Nelson (KO of the Night) and the duo of Ross Pearson/Dennis Siver (Fight of the Night) pocketed $30,000 bonuses for their work on last night’s UFC Fight Night 21 event, but what’s money compared to the numbers of the Potato Index? Sure, maybe the Index’s arbitrary numerical rankings system can’t be exchanged for goods and services, but on the flip side, no one has ever accused the Index of being the root of all evil. Not yet, anyway.

Let’s see who’s up and who’s down on this fine Thursday morning.

Kenny Florian +74
Beating Gomi doesn’t mean quite as much as it once did, but Florian looked sharp, patient, and smart in victory. He probably still wouldn’t beat B.J. Penn, which makes him the second-best lightweight in the UFC. Guess it’s better than being the third-best.

(Just to complete the visual hilarity, can we get a midget to ref this fight?)

UFC Fight Night 21 on Versus in March just became a little more of a must-see, as Fighters Only is reporting that "Ultimate Fighter" season ten winner Roy Nelson is expected to take on Dutch beanpole Stefan Struve in his first post-TUF outing.  Struve has won three straight in the UFC since losing his debut fight against Junior Dos Santos, and that makes this perhaps a little tougher of a bout than many TUF winners get right off the bat, though who didn’t expect that? 

For one thing, Nelson has been in the game for years, fighting veterans like Andrei Arlovski and Jeff Monson, so it would be a little ridiculous to give him some total novice.  For another, Dana White is no fan of "Big Country," and probably doesn’t have any desire to build him up with a couple of easy wins.  Struve’s brand of lanky jiu-jitsu is responsible for most of his victories, but most of those wins were in the minor leagues and not against guys with Nelson’s grappling credentials.

This fight further bolsters a card that already features Jon Jones-Brandon Vera, Anthony Johnson-John Howard, and Junior Dos Santos-Gabriel Gonzaga.  Since my cable company yanked Versus out from under me, guess that means I’ll be watching this one with the charming gentlemen at the sports bar down the street.  Should be fun.  It’s been too long since I’ve heard anyone loudly suggest that one man kick another in the balls.  Plus there’s free Chex Mix!

Edit: Our bad, looks like this bout is slated for Fight Night 21 on March 31 in North Carolina, while UFC on Versus is headlined by Jones-Vera on March 21 in Colorado.  In our defense, this is why you should number all your events instead of just identifying some of them by the cable network they’re on, but whatever.

(With no one around to tell him how to train, Buentello just guesses what a workout might look like based on what he’s seen on late-night infomercials.)

Paul Buentello is set to make his UFC return this Saturday night against Stefan Struve, but he’ll be doing so without the support of the boys down at the American Kickboxing Academy.  That’s because Buentello has been suspended from the San Jose, California gym due to his decision to hire someone other than AKA’s Bob Cook as his manager.  As he told Fight Magazine:

“I’m on suspension. I think Bob [Cook] has most control of it, letting me back in the gym. … I’ve always came to this crossroads, if I ever go back to the UFC, I gotta have somebody on board that’s gonna sell me like I’m the best thing since sliced bread,” said Buentello. The native Texan believes that someone is Elis Pacheco of New York-based Dedos Marketing Group, which has worked with Ice-T, Fat Joe and Beyonce Knowles.

[…]