With the recent allegations aimed at former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, the sports world has been thrown into a bit of chaos in the past few weeks. The story, which has undoubtedly tarnished the legacy of not only the college itself but also its legendary football coach Joe Paterno, is one of the most shocking and disturbing events to surface in the history of competitive sports.

Amidst the scandal coach Paterno had announced that he planned to retire at the end of the season, but it turns out Penn State had other, more immediate plans in mind. And though Sandusky’s fate has yet to be determined, we can only hope that it involves Pinhead levels of torture. Unfortunately the sad fact is, it often takes a wrongdoing such as Sandusky’s in order to open our collective eyes to the world around us and take action to try and ensure that it never happens again. It is with this in mind that we bring you ten of the biggest skeletons in MMA’s closet.

Whether or not we’ll actually try to do anything but mock them is yet to be determined.

Check out ten of the dirty little not-so-secrets of MMA’s past after the jump.

Fans slept through the first 899 seconds of the bout, and Fulton through the last one.

MMA fans are quick to dismiss a card that lacks a lot of star power, but sometimes those events come through with exciting fights and lightning quick stoppages. This is not one of those times. It’s one thing when a surly blogger talks a little trash about an event, but when the organization’s announcer tweets that he’s falling asleep mid-bout and the promoter jokingly agrees you know that the card didn’t even live up to whatever low expectations you may have had for it.

While their first show back from exile was largely a success, ProElite took a gamble last night and lost by focusing their attention on heavyweights. When a mere pair of heavyweight fights can mar an otherwise enjoyable UFC card, the odds of twelve second-and-third-tier big boys delivering a memorable night of fights for ProElite seemed unlikely.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/ProElite)

ProElite today named the participants of the second bracket of its planned heavyweight grand prix and there’s a pretty good chance you won’t recognize the names on the list.

Contrary to popular belief and ads that inferred as much, the tournament will not include former UFC heavyweight champions Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia. According to the press release sent out by Stratus Media Group, the tournament will be structured similarly to Strikeforce’s Challenger Series in that the “up-and-coming’ winner will earn a shot at an upper-main card slot on a future event.

(And here we have Andreas Kraniotakes slugging the crap out of someone.)

Due to an arm injury suffered while training in Holland, Pedro Rizzo will no longer be able to meet Tim Sylvia in the main event of ProElite 2 (November 5th; Moline, IL). Stepping up on short notice against the Maine-iac will be Andreas “Big Daddy” Kraniotakes, a 12-4 heavyweight from Germany whose wins have all come by stoppage.

Sylvia vs. Kraniotakes will be just one of six heavyweight fights on ProElite 2′s beefy main card. In addition to the main event and the Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Fulton co-headliner, the card will host the opening round of a heavyweight tournament featuring prospects from around the country. (Swagger-jackin’ Bellator, ‘eh guys?)

As confirmed on Inside MMA last night, ProElite has signed a multi-fight, multi-year television deal with HDNet, and the November 5th event will be aired live on the cable network. The current lineup of “ProElite 2: Big Guns” is after the jump…

(Which one is the dead horse?)

CagePotato.com has learned that ProElite’s second show under its new ownership and management will happen November 5 at the iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. Although no announcements have been made regarding the event, which is tentatively dubbed “ProElite II” or the show’s fight card, according to a published report,  former UFC heavyweight champions Tim Sylvia (29-7) and Andrei Arlovski (16-9) are both verified to be on the card, only not against each other just yet.

ProElite had originally planned to hold its next show back in Hawaii, but evidently decided that Illinois was a better fit, considering Arlovski lives and trains two hours west of Moline in Chicago and Sylvia is a part-time police officer in Milan, less than 15 minutes away from the venue.

According to the report, Sylvia will be taking on another former UFC champ instead, Pedro Rizzo in the show’s main event and Arlovski will square off with journeyman fighter Travis Fulton (247 – 48 – 10 1 NC ).

(Eder Jones wins fight, loses pie-eating contest.)

This Friday marks the official start of Autumn, and like clockwork, I’m catching a goddamned cold. There’s something about the change of seasons that seems to wreck my immune system, which has grown frail due to a life of solitary blogging and poor hygeine. So as I chug my Airborne/orange juice cocktail, let’s all take inspiration in these six men, who were way worse-off than I am now, and still managed to kick ass.

GEORGES ST. PIERRE
vs. Thomas Denny @ UCC 12, 1/25/03

Method of victory: TKO (cut), 4:45 of round 2
In his own words: ”I took the fight and I was really sick. I was so sick, after the first round I thought I was going to fall unconscious. And I told my cornerman, I’m like, listen, when the second round will start I will try a high kick in the beginning and if I don’t knock out my opponent, I want you to throw the towel. My cornerman look up at me like this, he said ‘Georges, I don’t have a towel, you’re gonna die in the ring.’

And I got so angry, I was like, I can’t believe this guy, he’s supposed to be my friend, he wants me to die in the ring. So I stood up, I hear the [bell], I fought through it, and by some kind of miracle I was able to cut the guy and to TKO him and the referee stopped the fight. I was completely exhausted. That was my toughest fight.”

(Steve Ramirez vs. Darvin Wattree @ Pure Combat IX. This is how you do it, folks.)

To turn somebody’s lights out with one shot is a thing of beauty — but to do it with the very first strike you land? That puts you on a whole ‘nother level of awesomeness. Our favorite first-punch MMA knockouts continue after the jump. Condolences to those brave, unfortunate souls who went through eight-week training camps just to get assed-out in less than 10 seconds.

(First-punch knockout, cheap-shot-style. The YouTube description tells us that these guys are cousins. Now that’s country.)

Fight Tour’s answer to the UFC’s Harley bonus. (Pic: AftermathMMA.com)

Two former UFC vets trying to climb their way back into the big leagues stepped up one minor, insignificant rung this weekend. What both fighters really need right now is a string of victories, so the names of the men they faced aren’t as relevant as the wins themselves, which is fortunate because you’ve never heard the names of the men they defeated.

Former UFC champion Tim Sylvia took a break from bustin’ perps to climb back into the cage at last night’s “Fight Tour” card. Momentarily standing across the cage from him was Patrick Barrentine, a 9-6 submission specialist. Barrentine took the fight on three weeks notice after a two year hiatus from competition, so he may not have come into the fight as sharp as he would have liked. MMAGoss.com gave a quick recap of the fight, which saw “The Maine-iac” dump Barrentine to the canvas and end the fight via ground and pound in just under three minutes. This was Sylvia’s first fight back since his quick loss to Abe Wagner at Titan FC.

Sean McCorkle made it to the UFC with a big win streak and an even bigger mouth. Though his trash talking abilities do little good when no one’s listening, he did put his experience to good use as he dispatched Alex Rozman on Friday night at “Legends of Fighting 48: Mega”. I’m not certain how much notice Rozman had for the fight, but with a 1-13 record he could have been notified at birth and still not have stood much of a chance in this fight. Just 1:29 into the bout, Rozman tapped out to strikes for the second bout in a row (and third time in his last four fights). This marks McCorkle’s second straight victory since being cut from the UFC following his guillotine loss to Christian Morecraft.

He made his bones knocking out palookas in the Toughman circuit in the ’90s, before transitioning into an MMA career where he was usually matched up against other oddly-shaped fighters. But now that he’s older and wiser — and still enormous — all Butterbean wants to do is protect and serve. That’s the premise of a new reality series called Big Law: Deputy Butterbean, which premieres August 9th on the Investigation Discovery channel.

The show follows Eric Esch (aka Butterbean, King of the Damn Four-Rounders) and his partner Deputy Adam Hadder as they patrol the streets of Jasper, Alabama, tracking down crystal meth labs and unsanctioned rib-eating contests. Will the 400+ pound ‘Bean be forced to scale a chain-link fence during a pursuit? Will Steven Seagal come in for a guest-spot? These are serious questions that need to be asked now.

When reached for comment, Tim Sylvia cried “What about meeeeeeeeeeee??” Anyway. You guys gonna watch this crap or what?

By Jason Moles

“We the people of CagePotato.com, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Bans, insure comments section Tranquility, provide for the common noob, promote the general Lack of Welfare, and attempt to secure the Blessings of Dana to ourselves and our readers, do ordain and establish this Comparison of fighters and fireworks for the Potato Nation.”

There are plenty of MMA fighters out there who love to bring the pyrotechnics to the cage, lighting up their opponents for the enjoyment of the fans and the pleasure of a paycheck. In honor of Independence Day weekend — and our new friends at Wild Turkey — here’s a list of actual 4th of July fireworks that remind us of some well-known scrappers. Celebrate safely, and please try not to lose any fingers.

Snap-n-Pops (aka bang snaps, snappers, or whip’n pops): Corey Hill, Jason MacDonald, Razak Al-Hassan, Tim Sylvia

Call ‘em what you want, these small novelty fireworks are perfect for youngsters. You throw them against a wall, floor, or sleeping grandparent, and they make a satisfying POP! Cool, huh? It’s hard not to think of a ‘Snap-n-Pop’ and not think of these guys, whose limbs unfortunately made the same noises in their past fights.

Roman Candles: Clay Guida

Excitement. Power. Flash. Seemingly unending performance. Fun. Clay ‘The Carpenter’ Guida is more than your average firework. Hey may not blow up any doors but rest assured he’s always going to be a crowd favorite. No one has ever had a Roman Candle war or watched a Guida fight and not had the time of their life. For every colorful ball that is emitted from the candle, Guida whips his hair back and shoots in for a takedown. Regardless of what happens, they both just keep going until the final bell. When messing around with either, be careful; someone usually ends up a bloody mess.

If you missed Keyboard Warriors Monday, hey thanks. Nice to know someone actually appreciates all I do to entertain you jerkfaces. For the rest of you: hey guess what i did?

Yup, prepare yourselves for KBW #3! In the aftermath of the weekend’s Strikeforce action, Dana takes the time to address the heavyweights, evaluate their performances, and fill them in on his short terms plans. And his long term plans. Say what you will, but Big Daddy White dreams big, son.

If you are interested in 100% made up conversations between characters that are mostly fabrications, come on in and enjoy. Feel free to comment your little hands off. If you don’t like comedy … well, i’ve got nothing for you.

Why do you keep coming here again?

As always, thanks to Christopher and those jokers at WithLeather.

[RX]

(UFC 3′s Emmanuel Yarborough and Miley Cyrus: They may seem like a strange pairing at first, but then you spend some time with them together and you’re like “okay, I totally get it now.”)

By Matthew “The Fight Nerd” Kaplowitz

Japan has brought us so many great imports, be it giant robots, cartoons about ninja children dressed in bright colors (which sort of defeats the purpose of being a stealthy ninja), tentacle rape, and Pocky. Truly, their greatest offering to America has been the freak show fight. As we discussed last time, Japan was the country that legitimized the art of pitting two mismatched opponents in a ring and convincing us that this was the greatest thing since Steven Seagal invented the front kick.

If there’s one thing we Americans don’t like, it’s being shown up by a foreign land. So it was just a matter of time before an American promoter stood up and said, “You know what? I want to see a man that weighs a quarter of a ton fight a dwarf!” And that was how our first freak show fight was born. Well, not really, since we have better athletic commissions in America, but after reading this list of the “Top Ten American Freak Show Fights That Were Actually Good,” you might think otherwise. Let’s get it on!

10. Tim Sylvia vs. Wes Sims
Superbrawl 38, 12/12/04


In a rare battle between two giants, 6’ 8” Tim Sylvia stood almost eye to eye with Wes Sims, who had a two-inch height advantage over “The Maine-iac”.  Sylvia had fought another tall man, Gan McGee, the previous year at UFC 44, but this fight is far more entertaining. You would probably expect an evenly contested bout between these two, due to the height and their similarly aggressive tactics (both guys even used the same song for their entrance, go figure). For some reason that will never be known, Sims decided that he was the smaller man in this fight and would fight accordingly.

(Would James Toney have bothered to try MMA and would Dana have signed the aging boxer if this happened?)

In an effort to mix things up around here and to give you something more to do on Fridays than hide from your boss and play solitaire, we’re going to start running a weekly “What if…” Photoshop feature series to make you contemplate a bit.  The theme is simple: What could the results have been if facets of the history of the sport happened differently than they did.

If you have an idea or a ‘shop you want to submit to be featured on Friday, send it to contest@cagepotato.com.

Check out more ‘What Ifs” after the jump.

(This mean machine needs to be covered with a protective layer of blubber. Otherwise it’s just too dangerous. PicProps: Tapped Out)

Just in case you were actually starting to feel kind of bad for Tim Sylvia, there are some marvelous comments from him out on Tuesday which should remind you why you never liked the guy in the first place. Of course, by “marvelous” we mean “the sadly typical ramblings of an obese man who refuses to take responsibility for his own fuck-ups.” Turn out, Sylvia came into his fight with Abe Wagner with a hurt knee, you guys. Now it might need surgery. Nonetheless, the former UFC champ says if referee Jason Herzog hadn’t prematurely stepped in to call the fight just 32-seconds into the first round he was about to jump up and whip Wagner’s ass, bum wheel and all. 

“It was stopped way too early…It was bullshit,” Sylvia tells Five Ounces of Pain about his loss at Titan Fighting Championships last weekend. “The sad part is the ref told the promoter and my corner he was sorry because he knew he made a mistake and stopped it a little early.”

We’ll get to Herzog in a minute. First, some Breaking News: In addition to making the above obligatory excuses for his defeat, Sylvia has decided he fights better when he doesn’t show up for bouts weighing 311-pounds and looking like his body might split open like a Johnsonville brat on a hot grill.  Damn it, if only he’d known that before the fight!

(VidProps: YouTube/ZPsBackUp)

Tim Sylvia showed up at Titan Fighting Championships on Friday night looking very much like a 311-pound man who knew he had to get this over with in a hurry. Unfortunately for the rotund former UFC champ, Abe Wagner had the same idea. Both guys came out of their corners throwing heavy leather and it was Wagner – a +355 underdog despite appearing to have trained at least one day for this bout – who got to Sylvia first. He clipped the “Maine-iac” with a right hand above the eye in the early going and drove him across the cage flurrying punches (that mostly missed) before Sylvia ran out of real estate on the other side. There he was felled like a giant, flabby redwood by a left to the jaw and another right. When referee Jason Herzog jumped in to call a stop to the action, then hesitated, Wagner responded exactly as a fighter should in that circumstance: He walked away and started celebrating, creating such an awkward situation that Herzog had no choice but to wave things off.

Sylvia tried to protest the stoppage, but you could tell he was on wobbly legs. And not just because they were covered in cellulite, either.  The end came in just 32 seconds which – to answer Michael Schiavello and Frank Trigg’s question – is four seconds fewer than it took Fedor to topple Sylvia. The current part-time cop said prior to this bout that he believes police work will “help fill the void” when the time comes for him to retire from MMA. That time may be now. Fill the void, Tim. Fill it with something besides ice cream sandwiches.

(Tim’s impressive physique can be credited to his sports-nutritionist, John Belushi. / Photo courtesy of chavo.smugmug.com)

Tonight at the Historic Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas, former UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia will take a break from almost suplexing mental ladies to face TUF 10 castmember Abe Wagner in the super-heavyweight main event of Titan Fighting Championship 16. Weigh-ins were yesterday, and Timmy punished the scales at 311 pounds, which is basically what he weighed for his ill-fated bout against Ray Mercer in June 2009. Back then, we took his weight as a sign that he wasn’t taking his opponent or training seriously. But just look at that grin in the photo above. Sylvia is owning his girth. It’s where he wants to be. 

We can’t seem to find full weigh-in results for the event, but we will say that Abe Wagner is looking mad beefy, and appears to be a hell of a lot more serious about the whole thing than his "aw fuck it" opponent. The Titan FC 16 main card will be broadcast on HDNet tonight at 10 p.m. ET. The full lineup — which also features UFC vets Rich Clementi, Drew McFedries, and Jason High — is after the jump…

(Video courtesy YouTube/HDNetFights)

If you didn’t believe us when we told you that Tim Sylvia is a part-time cop in Illinois, maybe the ride-along video above will convince you. 

Notice that the department made Big Tim shave off his goatee and those trademark mutton chops — not because they have a dress code, just because they thought he looked ridiculous. Rumor has it they eventually made him stop wearing his Powerhouse World Promotions heavyweight strap while on duty, too.

The former UFC heavyweight champ’s worries that nobody would recognize him were soon squashed.

"I”ve been recognized a few times pulling guys over," he explains. "Some guys when I pull up and ask for their license, registration, insurance, they’re like, ‘Are you Tim Sylvia?’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ ‘That’s cool, man. I just got pulled over by Tim Sylvia,’ and I’m like, ‘Well, be safe, slow down and have a good day.’"

(That shouldn’t be a problem, Todd. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting)

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…

- Helwani VS Dundas: UFC 125 Edition (Versus MMA Beat)

- Our Top UFC Photos of 2010 (MMA Fighting)

- Tim Sylvia replacing Todd Duffee at Titan Fighting Championships 16 (Five Ounces of Pain)

- The Best of Japanese MMA in 2010 (MMA Scraps)

- Brock Lesnar Looking For A Way Out Of MMA And Back To Pro-Wrestling? (SBNation.com/MMA)

- Sean McCorkle Returns Against Christian Morecraft at Fight Night 24 (Heavy.com/MMA)

- Pat Miletich Has Sold His Miletich Fighting Systems Gym (MiddleEasy)

- Exclusive Interview: Daniel Gracie talks Bellator, Georges St. Pierre and Frankie Edgar (LowKick)

- Dana White’s UFC 125 Video Blog, Part 1 (MMA Convert)

- Behind the Lens: Rich Franklin (FightMagazine)

(Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva at UFC Brazil. Jesus, they’ve been talking about "the old Vitor" since 1998??)

According to a new report, the UFC will make a long-overdue return to Brazil in November 2011. GracieMag.com sources claim that the event will be held at the HSBC Arena in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, a 15,000-seat venue that will host the basketball and gymnastics events at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The rumored event would mark the first time the UFC has held a card in Brazil since "Ultimate Brazil" in October 1998, which featured Frank Shamrock defending his middleweight belt against John Lober, Pat Miletich becoming the UFC’s first welterweight champion after outpointing Mikey Burnett, Pedro Rizzo’s UFC debut against Tank Abbott, and Vitor Belfort‘s legendary knockout of Wanderlei Silva. With a renewed rivalry brewing between Belfort and Silva, we can’t think of a better occasion for a rematch.

Semi-related: Speaking of Pedro Rizzo…the three-time UFC heavyweight title challenger is currently preparing for a fight against former champ Tim Sylvia, which will take place in the War on the Mainland promotion sometime early next year. According to Rizzo, "Dana White mentioned that the winner should get another chance in the Ultimate Fighting Championship." Both fighters are currently riding three-fight win streaks.

(The moral of the story? When Gina Carano does it, it’s awesome. When Paulo Filho does it, it’s terrible. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)

Anybody can be forgiven for missing weight by a half-pound — as long as it doesn’t become a habit. But when an MMA fighter comes in a full four pounds heavy, as Efrain Escudero did this week for his doomed UFC Fight Night 22 bout against Charles Oliveira, it tends to raise some eyebrows. As we’ve done previously with steroid busts, we decided to catalog the worst scale-fails in MMA history, arranged by number of pounds over the limit. When the information was available, we also listed the punishments the fighters were given, along with their excuses for missing weight, which range from injuries to salt water to the dreaded “menstrual period.” This is by no means a definitive list — but we’d like it be, eventually. So if you know of any other occasions where fighters missed weight by four pounds or more, or missed weight for multiple fights, please let us know in the comments section.

* Note: We’ve eliminated the “Repeat Offenders” section. In the instances where fighters has notably missed weight on more than one occasion (see: A. Johnson, P. Daley, T. Alves), we’ve ranked them in the leaderboard by their greatest weigh-in failure.

Karl Knothe @ Shark Fights 17
Weigh-in date: 7/14/11
Weight: 253.75 pounds, 23.75 over the 230-pound catchweight limit
How is that even possible? Due to some miscommunication between Knothe and his management, Knothe was never informed that his scheduled bout against Ricco Rodriguez was supposed to be at a catchweight, instead of at heavyweight.
Result: The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation disallowed Knothe from competing due to the large weight-gap and concerns over excessive weight-cutting. Knothe was paid a portion of his salary anyway, while Ricco Rodriguez instead faced 5-12 replacement Doug Williams. Rodriguez won via rear-naked choke in the first round.

Ricardo Mayorga @ Omega MMA: Battle of the Americas
Weigh-in date: 5/2/13
Weight: 175.9 pounds, 20.9 pounds over the limit for his contracted lightweight match against Wesley Tiffer, who came in at 153. Needlessly to say, shoving ensued.
How was this fight even allowed to happen?: The match took place in Managua, Nicaragua — which is Mayorga’s hometown, by the way — and the Nicaraguan combat sports commission that was overseeing the event didn’t seem to have a problem with the ludicrous weight discrepancy. (I hear they’re much more stringent when it comes to cock-fighting.)
Result: Mayorga by TKO after two rounds, aided by a fairly illegal knee to the spine. Stay classy, Ricardo.

(Anybody know the heimlich? Josh swallowed one of his little toys again. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Despite the fact that he effectively torched Affliction’s MMA promotion by testing positive for steroids, Strikeforce has agreed to play ball with Josh Barnett, signing the former UFC heavyweight champion to a multi-fight contract. Strikeforce announced the news in a press release sent out this morning, but didn’t reveal the date of Barnett’s debut or the name of his first opponent. Said the Babyface Assassin:

“Strikeforce is the home of the best heavyweight division in the world and I’m proud to be able to call it my home now. I’m looking forward to competing amongst the greatest fighters in the world and fighting my way to another world title.”

(Make sure your speakers are turned all the way up before you hit play. Props: gonzagabjj)

As we occasionally do when it’s Friday and we’re bored — and my God are we bored — it’s time to give away some CagePotato t-shirts to the commenters who made us laugh this week. But first, a classic comment from last month that we never got around to honoring:

El Famous Burrito on "Behold Tim Sylvia’s New Belt He Will be Wearing Everywhere He Goes": Thousands of years from now, the discovery of a mayonnaise-cured vinyl belt around a giant human skeleton is going to turn ape society upside down.

And now, this week’s big winners…

danomite on "Can Anybody Explain What the F*ck Gabriel Gonzaga Is Talking About?": I love the "car have no key’ video. He should do a whole series where he’s just fascinated by technology.
This lamp…it go on when…walk by. I….no touch…buttons. I don’t have to turn on….clap twice…light go on….clap twice more time….light go off.

RWilsonR on "Hot Potato: Sarah McDowd": It’s odd, though… when I look at her, I wonder what her original nose looked like, but I have no interest in what her original breasts looked like.

smiledriver on "Video: Nick Ring – Oh No You Didn’t!": I would have sex with Nick Ring just to keep this joke going.

If your name has been called, please send your name, address, and t-shirt size to contest@cagepotato.com. Enjoy the weekend, Potato Nation.

(Is that a huge chocolate chip cookie?) 

When Tim Sylvia beat Paul Buentello to win the Powerhouse World Promotions’ heavyweight title at last weekend’s War on the Mainland event, the first thing I thought was, "He’s never going to take that belt off."

If you don’t know the back story, according to guys Tim used to train with at Pat Miletich’s gym like Matt Hughes, after Sylvia won the UFC title, he ate, slept, showered and did just about every other day-to-day task wearing the belt.

When James Toney meets Randy Couture at UFC 118 next Saturday, he’ll be attempting to prove the dominance of the "sweet science" over that weird stuff that gay skinheads do. Of course, he won’t be the first pugilist to try to beat an MMA fighter at their own game — boxing vs. martial arts challenge matches have been around since before "Lights Out" was born. Join us as we take a look back at the brave boxers who preceded Toney…and what became of them.

MILO SAVAGE vs. "JUDO" GENE LeBELL
December 2, 1963

Arguably the first sanctioned MMA match in American history, Savage vs. LeBell came together when legendary judoka/actor Gene LeBell answered a challenge from boxer Jim Beck, who claimed that a professional boxer could beat any martial artist. (Yep, they’ve been making the same boast for almost 50 years.) According to LeBell, he was expecting to fight Beck himself in the televised match, but his opponent was switched at the last minute to Milo Savage, a top-5-ranked light-heavyweight who was allegedly wearing brass knuckles under his fingerless speed-bag gloves, and was greased from head to toe. Despite the disadvantages, Gene sunk a lapel choke in the 4th round and put Savage to sleep. But as with most stories involving Judo Gene, the details are somewhat debatable; this Jonathan Snowden article debunks several aspects of LeBell’s version. Still, LeBell vs. Savage deserves credit as the first MMA-style fight on television, and set up a rivalry between boxing and martial arts that’s somehow still relevant today.

MUHAMMAD ALI vs. ANTONIO INOKI
June 26, 1976

It sounded like good, harmless fun — the greatest boxer of all time taking on Japanese pro-wrestling kingpin Antonio Inoki in an exhibition match in Tokyo. But in the days leading up to the show, bizarre rules were added that restricted certain attacks. Most notably, Inoki could only kick if he had one knee on the ground. So, he scooted around the ring kicking Ali’s legs for the entire 15-round duration. Ali only landed six punches the entire fight and went home with two blood clots and an infection. The bout was ruled a draw, and has garnered a reputation as one of the ugliest fiascos in the history of combat sports. Fun fact: The referee of this match? None other than mixed-fighting pioneer Gene LeBell.

(The first round of the fight, and nearly the last chapter in these two guys’ character arcs. All vids from: YouTube/ZombieProphetMMA)

For the first minute, 10 seconds or so Tim Sylvia and Paul Buentello actually have a decent little fight going at Powerhouse World Promotions’ War on the Mainland show from Saturday night. After that it’s pretty much a clinch-fest, with Sylvia leaning his 274-pounds on Buentello in the corner so relentlessly he’s able to draw five separate restarts from referee Big John McCarthy in just under two full rounds. While still looking as awkward as ever on the feet, Sylvia at least mixes some good punching combination with a few kicks and knees when the two fighters exchange at range. Buentello lands a couple of shots too, but for the most part appears overwhelmed by Sylvia’s size.

Round two is after the jump. Also, just in case you weren’t feeling melancholy enough on this Sunday morning, Jens Pulver’s sad, sad loss to Diego Garijo from the same event is there as well …

(If a regarded submission and kickboxing specialist like Butterbean thinks Pudz needs to round out his game, it must be true.)

It didn’t take long for Moosin USA promoter Eric "Butterbean" Esch to go into damage control when he saw his potential October 9 main event slip through his fingertips.

A day after Sherdog’s Loretta Hunt quashed Moosin executive Corey Fischer’s claim in a report by MMAFighting that the promotion was finalizing a marquee bout between Kimbo Slice and Mariusz Pudzianowski for the planned Chicago show, Butterbean has spun the situation in a press release sent out by the organization earlier today.

(Eat your heart out, Yamma.)

Well it appears that contrary to popular belief, Moosin MMA may not go the way of the Yamma, just yet.

MMAFighting is reporting that the promotion, which is co-owned and promoted by Eric"Butterbean" Esch and Corey Fischer is planning a second card tentatively scheduled for October 9 in Chicago, Illinois.

According to Fischer, the promotion is in the process of securing a number of main event fights for the card that could potentially include UFC cast-off Kimbo Slice squaring off against "World’s Strongest Man" Mariusz Pudzianowski as well as a battle of awkward gangly brawlers Tim Sylvia and Hong Man Choi.

(Retirement is for quitters.)

A new report on Sherdog passes along more details on that "War on the Mainland" MMA/boxing hybrid event (August 14th; Irvine, Ca.) that will host Jens Pulver‘s first post-WEC appearance. Following five straight losses in the WEC, Lil’ Evil will try to re-build against Diego Garijo, a 4-1 prospect from The Arena, who hasn’t competed since his insane brawl against Saad Awad at Bellator X last year. So good luck Jens, because this kid can really take a beating. 

Though it originally appeared that Tim Sylvia would miss this event due to a foot injury suffered in the Maruisz Pudzianowski fight, Sherdog reports that Timmy will actually be headlining the card against recent UFC castoff Paul Buentello. Speaking of UFC castoffs, former UFC #1 middleweight contender Thales Leites will do battle with Hawaiian vet Falaniko Vitale at "War on the Mainland," Jason Lambert locks horns with old-schooler Allan Goes, and Terry Martin meets Jorge "The Naked Man" Ortiz.

If you’d like to check out the terrible-looking website for the event, go to www.waronthemainland.com. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

CagePotato.com has been able to confirm with a source close to the show the participation of several former UFC and PRIDE veterans in an August 14 hybrid boxing and MMA card in San Diego, California.

War on the Mainland’s self-titled event will take place at the San Diego Sports Arena and will feature Murilo Bustamante, Thales Leites, Alan Goes,  Pedro Rizzo, Jens Pulver and Jason Lambert among others. Rizzo was originally scheduled to take on former UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia for the WOTM heavyweight title, but is currently waiting on another opponent as Sylvia injured his foot in his May 21 Moosin bout with Mariusz "The World’s Strongest Man" Pudzianowski.

According to the poster for the event, there will be two more "MMA title fights" on the card, but the weight classes and bout participants have yet to be announced.

(Props: tj.labs)

We’ve reached the mid-way point in our fighter t-shirt design contest, and the submissions are rolling in nicely; many thanks to everybody who sent in designs. To re-ignite your competitive fires, we’ve posted some of our current favorites, which continue after the jump. Please send your entries to feedback@cagepotato.com by Sunday, 5/30, at midnight ET. Voting on the finalists will begin the next day, and the top vote-getter will score that FLO TV Personal Television, with access to the pay-per-view broadcast of UFC 115. So get crackin’…

(Props: Brian R.)

(Props: Stevicus. Click here for larger version.)