(“When I slide through the place my swagga walk is what they diggin’ / I stick my leg out on the floor and start jiggin‘.” Photo via Getty Images)

After his upset KO loss to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC 156 in February, Alistair Overeem was slated to meet Junior Dos Santos later this month at UFC 160, but was forced to withdraw from that fight in March due to a torn quad muscle. According to a new report from MMAJunkie, the Reem has now been re-scheduled to appear at the recently announced UFC 164 (August 31st, Milwaukee). An opponent for Overeem hasn’t been announced yet, although outlaw twitter-journalist FrontRowBrian claims that Alistair will be facing fellow heavyweight Travis Browne, who’s coming off his controversial stoppage of Gabriel Gonzaga at last month’s TUF 17 Finale.

Overeem hasn’t scored a victory since his beat-down of Brock Lesnar at UFC 141, a year and a half ago. (Man, time flies when you can’t apply for licensure due to a laughably elevated T/E ratio.) Alistair’s reputation as a fearsome, elite-level heavyweight took a major hit when he crumbled in the third round against Bigfoot, after maybe having a little too much fun toying with the cement-fisted Brazilian during the first two-rounds of their match; the below-average testosterone levels revealed by his UFC 156 drug test raised even more eyebrows. Will Overeem get his act together in his return fight? And is there a different opponent you’d rather see him fight instead of Browne?

(We’re going to have a clean, fair fight. Obey my commands at all times. If you don’t, I’mma jam this mic so deep in your eye socket you can hear yourself think. / Pic Props: The Fight Network)

By: Jason Moles

There are only three certainties in life: Death, taxes, and dreadful refereeing in mixed martial arts. With tax day behind us and a clean bill of health from the doc, the only thing left to avoid is blunders like those that occurred this past Saturday night at The Ultimate Fighter Season 17 Finale at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The offenses ranged from unrepentant fence-grabbing to controversial stoppages. (Surprisingly, we’re not talking about Steve Mazagatti this time.) Sadly, this might have been prevented if Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer would squash his beef with the godfather of MMA referees, “Big” John McCarthy.

What’s the beef about, you ask? To hear McCarthy tell it, Kizer got upset and took his ball home when UFC’s first head referee said the same thing the fans have been saying for years. Via MMAFighting:

“I thought he was putting some people in positions to judge fights that didn’t understand actually what the fighters were doing, and that’s wrong,” McCarthy explained. “I said that and I stood by it. He got mad, and from that, he has never licensed me again. And that’s okay. That’s his choice. I’m not going to cry about it and worry about it.”

McCarthy apologized publicly to Kizer and three years ago resubmitted his application for licensure. Not surprisingly, he hasn’t heard back, other than an ominous note stating that his “application will stay on file.”

That’s funny; Dana White told CagePotato the same thing about my press credentials. Fast forward to this Saturday, and instead of sitting on press row in sunny California for UFC on FOX: Henderson vs. Melendez, I’ll be sitting in Ben’s living room with a bunch of boxercisers. [Ed. note: How. Dare. You.] Where was I? Oh yeah, most MMA refs are incompetent and terrible at their job.

Case in point: Maximo Blanco vs. Sam Sicilia…

(Eh…Overeem did it better.)

Judging by the comments section on our TUF 17 Finale Aftermath, the majority of you felt that Travis Browne’s victory over Gabriel Gonzaga should have an asterisk next to it. Early in the fight, Gonzaga pressed Browne against the cage looking for a takedown. Browne unleashed a series of elbows to Gonzaga’s head that knocked him out just one minute and eleven seconds into the first round and earned Browne the Knockout of the Night bonus. However, as many fans have pointed out, it appeared that the elbows that ended the fight hit Gabriel Gonzaga directly in the back of the head.

Shortly after the fight, Gabriel Gonzaga’s manager, Marco Alvan, took to his Facebook page to inform fans that he would be appealing the outcome. Via Facebook:

Guys Gabriel Gonzaga is ok, thanks for the messages.
I need to review it to count how many illegal elbows but Its a fact that it was illegal.
I contacted Keith Kizer head of Nevada Athletic Comission and he told me to file a complaint and he would review it.
I true believe it was illegal. I never complaint about a losses who knows me know that I handle it good but illegal we can not accept.

In a follow-up post, Alvan also expressed his interest in setting up a rematch against Travis Browne:

(Anderson Silva’s knees and GSP’s shorts — no can defend. / Photo via Getty Images)

According to information released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the UFC paid out $708,500 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 24 fighters who competed at the Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale on Saturday. Main-eventer Urijah Faber was the only fighter to crack six-figures. (If you don’t include end-of-night bonuses, he was also the only fighter to earn over $50,000 in show/win money.) Check out the full payout list below, and keep in mind that these numbers don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses,” or deductions from taxes, insurance, and licensing fees.

Urijah Faber: $110,000 (includes $55,000 win bonus)
def. Scott Jorgensen: $23,500

Kelvin Gastelum: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus; he also won a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a glass thing)
def. Uriah Hall: $8,000

Cat Zingano*: $64,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
def. Miesha Tate: $78,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Travis Browne: $90,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus, $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
def. Gabriel Gonzaga: $24,000

Photo Courtesy of Getty Images.

Every UFC main event has to be about something, and when there aren’t any titles on the line, things tend to get pretty creative. Leading up to the main event of the TUF 17 Finale, the talk surrounding the bout focused on the friendship between competitors Urijah Faber and Scott Jorgensen and how it may affect the bout. Whether the two were actually the close friends that the media made them out to be was completely irrelevant; which is good, because Jorgensen revealed during fight week that they weren’t.

What we were left with was a bout between the number two and number seven ranked bantamweights that played out as expected. This isn’t to say that the fight wasn’t entertaining (it was), but Jorgensen was outgunned early and often by Faber before “The California Kid” sank in the fight ending rear-naked choke in the fourth round. It was closer than the gambling odds indicated it would be, but not exactly a close fight, and though Jorgensen managed to mount some offense of his own, he never appeared to be any real threat to Faber.

The bantamweight division is very top-heavy, which perhaps more than anything explains why Urijah Faber is seemingly always one fight away from a title shot. The gap between the top five guys and the rest of the division is wider than most fans would care to acknowledge, and it showed last night. Still, I’d rather watch Urijah Faber fight Michael McDonald than watch him get crammed into yet another title fight. I doubt I’m in the minority here – at least among hardcore fans.

(“Nice hair, douchebag.” — Both of them. / Image via MMAFighting.com)

Is Uriah Hall really the next big thing at middleweight, or will the constantly-overlooked Kelvin Gastelum pull off another upset? Which rock-solid female bantamweight is going to earn a reality-TV coaching gig (and future title shot) against Ronda Rousey? How much tread is left on The California Kid‘s tires? How exactly does one drink a Gatorade from a reclining position, in the traditional Brazilian style? These questions — and many others — will be answered tonight, folks. Prepare yourselves.

Handling play-by-play duties for our TUF 17 Finale liveblog is Alex Giardini, who will stack up results from the FX main card broadcast after the jump beginning at 9 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and please share your own thoughts in the comments section.

On paper, this Saturday’s TUF 17 Finale card is dominated by wide mismatches. But which fights will actually be blowouts, and which ones will end in profitable upsets? Check out the betting lines below (via bestfightodds.com) and let’s see if we can win some cash off this thing.

MAIN CARD (FX, 9 p.m. ET)
Urijah Faber (-435) vs. Scott Jorgensen (+375)
Uriah Hall (-309) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (+325)
Cat Zingano (-115) vs. Miesha Tate (+106)
Travis Browne (-250) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (+240)
Robert McDaniel (-166) vs. Gilbert Smith (+155)

PRELIMINARY CARD (FUEL TV, 7 p.m. ET)
Josh Samman (-445) vs. Kevin Casey (+370)
Luke Barnatt (-124) vs. Collin Hart (+115)
Jimmy Quinlan (+100) vs. Dylan Andrews (+105)
Clint Hester (-160) vs. Bristol Marunde (+150)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 5:30 p.m. ET)
Bart Palaszewski (-160) vs. Cole Miller (+155)
Daniel Pineda (-120) vs. Justin Lawrence (+109)
Maximo Blanco (-200) vs. Sam Sicilia (+195)

If you’re confused about what the numbers mean, read this. Otherwise, let’s proceed…

(The leg injury didn’t help, but did you really think Browne’s two tiny hand tattoos stood a chance against Silva big foot ink?)

Well, that was anticlimactic. In many ways, the main event of UFC on FX 5 encapsulated the rest of the card – fun at times but, in some part due to forces beyond its control, not something that lived up to its potential. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva was able to stop a game Travis Browne after the latter suffered a debilitating leg injury in the first round.

Browne found success with his offense when the round began, but somewhere over the course of the fight, his hamstring popped. Ouch.

Even typing that felt painful. And evidently, it was just as painful and incapacitating as you would think it is. Browne almost collapsed simply from throwing a punch at one point. Eventually,Bigfoot took advantage by rushing in, cornering Browne against the fence and delivering a mammoth right hand to Browne’s jaw.

The follow up shots sealed Silva’s victory, and most likely saved his job. For Browne and MMA fans alike, however, this was a difficult loss to swallow.

(Travis plans to test Bigfoot’s chin tonight. Unfortunately, Bigfoot’s chin has already been tested by a team of doctors, and nobody can figure out what the hell is wrong with it. / Photo via CombatLifestyle. For more photos from this set, click here.)

Because you can never have enough heavyweight fights on basic cable, the UFC returns to FX this evening for a fun little card at the Target Center in Minneapolis. In the main event, one of the ten seven greatest undefeated fighters in MMA, Travis Browne, looks for his fifth UFC victory against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, who has been brutally stopped in his last two appearances. (Just keep repeating to yourself: He beat Fedor. He beat Fedor. He beat Fedor…) Plus: Jay Hieron tries to break his curse against Jake Ellenberger, while John Dodson and Jussier Formiga scrap for a flyweight title shot.

Fresh off his short-notice victory against the UFC 151 pay-per-view, Jim Genia is back again to liveblog tonight’s FX main card. Round-by-round results will be piling up after the jump beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and if you’ve heard any good jokes lately, please share them in the comments section.

For the past several UFC events, CagePotato reader/contributor Dan “Get Off Me” George has been holding down the Gambling Addiction Enabler’s with the poise and classiness of a 16th century Bolognese swordsman. Unfortunately for you, he only likes to bet on the big time PPV events, so you’re stuck with me for the time being. Fortunately for you, I write a lot less than he does and love to get reckless with my hard earned cash, so let’s do this! Listed below are the odds for UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot, courtesy of BestFightOdds, followed by my advice which simply put has never been wrong not once ever.

MAIN CARD
Travis Browne (-240) vs. Antonio Silva(+200)
Jake Ellenberger (-360) vs. Jay Hieron (+300)
John Dodson (-200) vs. Jussier Formiga (+170)
Josh Neer (-280) vs. Justin Edwards (+240)

PRELIMINARY CARD 
Yves Edwards (+175) vs. Jeremy Stephens (-225)
Danny Castillo (+130) vs. Michael Johnson (-160)
Dennis Hallman (+190) vs. Thiago Tavares (-250)
Shane Roller (+150) vs. Jacob Volkmann (-180)
Diego Nunes (-180) vs. Bart Palaszewski (+150)
Phil Harris (+230) vs. Darren Uyenoyama (-290)
Marcus LeVesseur (-105) vs. Carlo Prater (-125)
Mike Pierce (-170) vs. Aaron Simpson (+150)

Thoughts…

Travis Browne, Antonio Silva, Jay Hieron, and all of the players in tomorrow night’s UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot card are set to hit the scales tonight from the Pantages Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The event will be broadcast live starting at 5 p.m. EST, and wouldn’t you know it, we happen to have TOTALLY EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE of the weigh-ins right here!

OK, so maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but we will be covering all the action, so make sure to swing by at 5 p.m. today for the staredowns and 8 p.m. tomorrow for all our liveblog coverage of UFC on FX 5.

(Reason #6: To get your lady in the mood, obviously.) 

Keeping in line with last weekend’s UFC on FUEL 5 event, the UFC is casually dropping off another heavyweight sure-to-be-slugfest in our laps with this Friday’s UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot card, which, while not as stacked as the Nottingham affair, does provide plenty of reasons to tune in to a channel that half the country actually has. Plus, it goes down in the state who once had the balls to elect this man Governor, so even if the fights somehow end up sucking, there’s a good chance that the crowd will make up for it in the stands. Opal’s Glamorama, motherfuckers!

Let’s get started.

#1 – Fists Will Fly, Titans Will Fall

Yeah, we know it sounds cheesy, but there is simply no better way to describe the likelihood of extreme violence that Friday’s main event will bring. Antonio Silva has served little more purpose than a 265-pound punching back in his last two performances, dropping brutal losses to Daniel Cormier and Cain Velasquez under the Strikeforce and UFC banners. We’re not sure how a chin straight out of Tango and Cash is somehow being questioned, but needless to say, “Bigfoot” is probably going to be looking to utilize his BJJ background and devastating ground and pound to secure a victory against an undefeated KO artist like “Hapa.” The question is, will he be able to take it to the ground? Browne is no slouch on the mat, and has picked up nine of his thirteen victories in the first round, including five in the first minute(!!!!), so Silva better look for the takedown early if he values life on the outside of Dr. Moreau’s island.

(Mutton chops: Giving white people the confidence to shake their rump since the 1800′s.) 

It could just be our queasy stomachs, but we’ve begun to feel more and more trepidation when it comes to announcing a scheduled UFC contest these days, because the likelihood of said contest actually coming to fruition seems borderline impossible.

That being said, it will please all of the lumberjacks who happen to read CagePotato to learn that the man with the coolest facial hair in the biz this side of Casey “fagtastic flameathon of facial distortion” Oxendine, Chad Griggs, will be returning to UFC action on November 17th at UFC 154 in Montreal, Canada to face PRIDE veteran Cyrille Diabate. Griggs, who gained notoriety over the past couple years with his decimations of Bobby Lashley, Valentijn Overeem, and Gian Villante, is coming off a first round submission via arm-triangle loss to Travis “Don’t ask, don’t tell” Browne in his UFC debut at UFC 145. Shortly after the loss, Griggs announced that he would in fact be dropping to 205 lbs to face Phil Davis at UFC on FOX 4, but go figure, suffered an injury and was forced to pull out.

Diabate, on the other hand, is coming off a majority decision victory over late replacement Tom DeBlass at UFC on FUEL 2. “The Snake” has gone win-loss in his five fight UFC career and was originally set to face Fabio Maldonado at UFC 153, but again, an injury blah blah blah things are different now.

Diabate has shown a susceptibility to submissions in the past (as well as an inability to last three rounds), so a matchup with a stand-and-bang aficionado like Griggs should be tailor-made for an exciting, if not winnable opportunity for everyone involved.

Who you got for this one, Potato Nation?

After the jump: A video of Griggs’ slugfest with Villante, because it’s arguably the greatest two and a half minute fight you will ever see.

(Skip to 1:05 for the bad stuff.)

As you can tell, this new Invicta 3 promo starring Michelle Waterson defies normal headline writing. We could call it amateurish and weird, and more cheap ammo for the Jon Jones haters, but that would be dismissive. Personally, I think it’s a clever parody of how female fights are promoted, and how discussion of Waterson almost always focuses on her “Karate Hottie” persona, rather than her fearsome skills as a fighter. And so, the female athlete gets a moment in the spotlight, while the boys in the gym — some of whom are much, much more famous than Waterson — are reduced to scantily-clad eye-candy.

I mean, you have to believe that this video is trying to make some kind of statement, right? Otherwise, how the hell would you explain it? When Michelle and Greg Jackson were spitballing viral video ideas in his office, did Jones pop his head in and say, “I FEEL LIKE I COULD MAKE A GOOD RING GIRL, LIKE MAYBE THE BEST RING GIRL EVER, EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS, PHILIPPIANS YOU GUYS”? Really, does that sound like the Jon Jones you know?

The real star of this clip is obviously UFC heavyweight Travis Browne, who sells the shit out of his role as “ring girl #2.” Gotta love the blown-kiss at 1:18, and his celebratory hop at 1:31. The guy has clearly mastered the art form. So does this mean Arianny will try to get him fired now?

(“Nothing comes between me and my Baconator. Nothing.”)

By Jason Moles

In the ever-competitive world of professional mixed martial arts, the men and women are fighting for more than just the fans and their next paycheck; they’re fighting for survival. When you barely have enough money left for yourself after paying your training partners, coaches, and buying nutritional supplements, it’s time to find another source of income. Most do this in the way of sponsorships — you know, like the Nike deal Jon Jones recently signed, or Anderson Silva’s relationship with Burger King. And if more of these well-known mainstream companies would sponsor a few fighters, the smaller companies that currently sponsor fighters could move to guys and gals who are still making their way up the ranks without anyone losing out. Let’s look at the companies that best suit MMA, how they should be involved, and why it makes sense.

Company: Old Spice
Ideal fighter to sponsor: Cheick Kongo, Alistair Overeem

Why it makes sense: Standing 6′ 4″ and weighing 230 pounds, and 6′ 5″/263, respectively, the Frenchman and the Dutchman are the most physically imposing fighters in the UFC’s heavyweight division. Old Spice is known for their funny commercials targeting the same audience watching PPV’s on a Saturday night. In the past, Old Spice has used NFL players Brian Urlacher and Ray Lewis as spokesman for their ‘Swagger’ line of men’s body products, as well as jacked Expendables cast-member Terry Crews. And if those guys can do it, why not Kongo and Overeem? In particular, “The Demolition Man” is the type of guy you want your customers to think they’ll be more like by using your product. Alistair could even make his commercial debut by eating the horse the original Old Spice Guy rode in on.

(“NOOOOOOOOOO! What part of ‘rebound opponent’ do you morons not understand?”)

After having his fight against Ben Rothwell yanked out from underneath him, undefeated heavyweight Travis Browne has found himself in an even better situation. The UFC has confirmed that Browne will now be headlining UFC on FX 5 (October 5th; Target Center, Minneapolis) against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. Browne is coming off his destruction of Chad Griggs at UFC 145, and is currently nursing an ice-cream hangover.

Silva was absolutely dominated in his last two cage appearances, suffering a first-round TKO against Daniel Cormier in Strikeforce before being torn to shreds by Cain Velasquez in his Octagon debut at UFC 146. The Brazilian will certainly be a sizable underdog coming into the bout, but anything could happen right? (Answer: LOL, no.)

Not trying to bust balls here, but if the main event of this card features a guy on a two-fight losing streak, we’re probably not going to be looking at a massively stacked card; at least Struve and Miocic have both won their last three fights in the UFC. Currently, the only other fight booked for UFC on FX 5 is a featherweight tilt between Bart Palaszewski and Diego Nunes.

(Ben Rothwell: One of the few men on Earth who can mess with the Zohan.)

Aw hell, this never gets easier. We regret to inform you that Ben Rothwell — who most recently made Brendan Schaub see God at UFC 145 — has been forced to withdraw from his main card fight against undefeated heavyweight rising star Travis Browne at UFC on FOX 4: Shogun vs. Vera; an ankle injury was the culprit. Though there were early reports that Strikeforce veteran Devin Cole would come in on short notice to get demolished by Browne, it now appears that Browne is being moved off the August 4th event altogether, and the prelim match between Mike Swick and DaMarques Johnson will be promoted to the main card.

Matt Mitrione was also offered the chance to fight Browne at UFC on FOX 4, but he wisely turned it down. As MMAFighting reports:

In June 2010, we posted a list of the ten greatest fighters who had yet to take a loss. By November 2011, none of their perfect records were still intact, proving once again what a cruel bitch this sport is. Half of the fighters on our original list — Shane Carwin (#1), Megumi Fujii (#2), Ryan Bader (#6), Evan Dunham (#7), and Lyle Beerbohm (#10) — have even lost *twice* since then. So we decided to start over from scratch and come up with a new ranking of undefeated MMA fighters. Check it out, and let us know who you think will hold onto their ’0′ the longest. -BG

#1: DANIEL CORMIER (10-0, six wins by first-round stoppage)

Notable victories: Jeff Monson at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum (UD), Antonio Silva at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov (KO R1), Josh Barnett at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier (UD)

Next fight: TBA

The former collegiate wrestling star and Olympic competitor went through hell to get to where he is today. Less than three years after kicking off his MMA career, Cormier battled his way to a career-defining matchup against ex-UFC champ Josh Barnett — a catch-wrestling savant with four times as many fights on his pro record as Cormier — in the finals of Strikeforce’s Heavyweight Grand Prix. But Dan didn’t need to turn the meeting into a grappling match. As he also demonstrated against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in his previous outing, Cormier packs enough speed and punching-power to win fights with his striking alone. It’s only a matter of time before he enters the UFC to take on the best in the world, and we have a feeling he’ll make an immediate impact.

#2: MICHAEL CHANDLER (10-0, eight wins by stoppage)

Notable victories: Patricky Freire at Bellator 44 (UD), Eddie Alvarez at Bellator 58 (sub R4), Akihiro Gono at Bellator 67 (TKO R1)

Next fight: TBA

Michael Chandler is the perfect example of how a tournament can transform a fighter from unheralded prospect to breakout star. After winning his first two Bellator appearances by swift first-round stoppage in 2010, Chandler was invited to participate in the promotion’s season four lightweight tournament. The Xtreme Couture product sliced through it, starting with a first-round submission of Polish prodigy Marcin Held, and ending with a decision win over knockout artist Patricky “Pitbull” Freire in the finals. Then, Chandler did the unthinkable — he took the lightweight belt from Eddie Alvarez, choking out the formerly untouchable Bellator champ in the fourth round of an insane Fight of the Year candidate last November. (A follow-up non-title match against Akihiro Gono was little more than a one-minute showcase of his killer instinct.) In eight months, Chandler went from 5-0 up-and-comer to newly-minted champion with a win over a top-ten ranked opponent. Is it okay if we use the “meteoric rise” cliché, just this once?

(Don’t roll your eyes, Bader is a fine opponent.)

Fresh off his decision win over Quinton Jackson, light-heavyweight contender Ryan Bader will be returning to action at UFC on FOX 4 (August 4th, Los Angeles) against another former champion, Lyoto Machida. UFC.com confirmed the news yesterday evening. Machida most recently got choked to sleep by Jon Jones in December, which was his third loss in his last four appearances. With Bader riding another hot streak, could the Dragon be in trouble here?

Also on the card, heavyweights Travis Browne and Ben Rothwell — who won UFC 145′s Submission of the Night and Knockout of the Night bonuses, respectively — will be facing off in a guaranteed slugfest. (You’re welcome, Joe Silva.) Browne is still undefeated in his MMA career, with his last three victories coming against Chad Griggs, Rob Broughton, and Stefan Struve. Meanwhile, Rothwell’s first-round knockout of Brendan Schaub finally established him as a legitimate threat in the UFC.

UFC on FOX 4 will also feature Hector Lombard’s Octagon debut against Brian Stann, and Joe Lauzon vs. Terry Etim.

(Above: Rashad Evans licks his hand and wipes his butt…
Below: …and pays dearly for it. / Props: )

We bid a final farewell to Saturday’s UFC event with a roundup of the 11 best GIFs from UFC 145, courtesy of The UG and IronForgesIron. Enjoy, and click here for previous MMA GIF coverage.

(Thigh sleeve > Muttonchops? I don’t understand this world anymore.) 

By Jack Saladino

After a six week hiatus that threatened to drive UFC fans worldwide into their nearest mental asylum, UFC 145 came back with a fury, providing us with all the sweet KO’s, slick submissions, and classic scraps that we have come to know and love. And now that the storm has passed, we must look to the future for those involved in what was a fantastic night of fights. As always, we’ll take a look at the must-make match-ups for Saturday’s biggest winners, and maybe even a couple of the losers, because they’re people too, we guess.

Let’s get right to it…

Travis Browne- If not for Chad Griggs’ incredible chin, “Hapa” could have just as easily walked away with a Knockout of the Night bonus for that beautiful double flying knee. That being said, Browne was awarded Submission of the Night for only his second career submission victory, and looked like a Jiu-Jitsu whiz while doing so. Browne has steamrolled through most of his opponents, and if the heavyweight division wasn’t so tongue tied at the moment, I would have a long list of potential opponents for the Hawaiian. But Browne has age on his side and would fight tomorrow if you asked him to, so I’m thinking he should step up and fill the vacancy “Bigfoot” Silva left against Roy Nelson. Browne has a month to keep fit and a win over a name like “Big Country” on relatively short notice would ensure his top tier status.

By Elias Cepeda

(UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre [right] and fan contest winner future champion Rory MacDonald)

Ok, let’s get right to the cheddar – the UFC 145 fight bonuses, which UFC President Dana White announced during the post-event presser (video of entire press conference below). It always warms the heart when the fighters who get the big bonus checks are not the big stars, and that’s what happened at UFC 145.

Ben Rothwell, Travis Browne, Mark Hominick and Eddie Yagin all earned an extra $65,000 for their efforts Saturday night in Atlanta, GA. Rothwell got the KO of the night for his come-from-behind stoppage of Brendan Schaub. Browne got the night’s only submission but it was still a good one – forcing Chad Griggs to tap out to an arm triangle choke.

Eddie Yagin and Mark Hominick both took home fight of the night honors for their back and forth war. Yagin also took home the win bonus for earning the split-decision win over the former featherweight #1 contender.

The Immortal beats The Karate Kid and GSP-lite continues to impress

Matt Brown took a little steam out of the home town Karate Kid Stephen Thompson with a unanimous decision win. Thompson burst onto the UFC scene with a nifty lead leg KO at UFC 143. Brown has a toughness that his win to loss ratio doesn’t necessarily reveal, and a win over a top prospect like Thompson helps “The Immortal” get back on the slow climb up in the welterweight division.

Staying in the welterweight division for a moment, Rory MacDonald continued to prove that he is the division’s brightest young star

It’s finally almost time for UFC 145, which means we have some preliminary fights on FX to make snarky comments through. We have a fight between TUF champions turned gatekeepers Mac Danzig and Efrain Escudero, a matchup between Anthony Njokuani and John Makdessi, we find out if Matt Brown will live to fight another day against Stephen Thompson, and we get a heavyweight bout between Travis Browne and Chad Griggs to keep us entertained before the main card tonight. Grab a sammich and a bottle of the finest flavor of Night Train Express that the nearest gas station sells and join us for round-by-round results.

Live, round-by-round results from the UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans preliminary broadcast will be collecting after the jump starting at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, courtesy of CagePotato’s ultimate (weekend) warrior, Seth Falvo. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and let us know your thoughts in the comments section. Please stand by.

After compiling a 3-0-1 record in the UFC, heavyweight contender Travis “Hapa” Browne will welcome Strikeforce standout Chad Griggs into the Octagon at UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans (April 21st, Atlanta). CagePotato video-correspondent Sal Mora caught up to the undefeated slugger at the Jackson’s MMA camp in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to chat about his upcoming match — which will close out the UFC 145 preliminary card broadcast on FX — as well as Browne’s life outside of the cage. Check out the exclusive video after the jump, and let us know how you think this one will go down. Some highlights from the interview…

- On deserving a “step up” after four fights in the UFC: ”I can’t worry myself with that. Joe Silva lines ‘em up, I knock ‘em down. Whoever he decides to put in front of me, it’s none of my business. I’m just out there to put on a show and keep winning my fights. It doesn’t matter who I fight, or where I stand in the rankings. I’m not somebody who gets caught up in that. I don’t even know where I stand right now, actually.”

- On what his sons think of their dad’s MMA career: “I think right now it’s not something that they have fully grasped. Before I came to camp, my last dinner with my kids…we’re all sitting down to dinner, and the waiter comes over and says, ‘Can I get you guys anything to drink?’ and my son stands up on the bench that he’s sitting on and says, ‘Hey! My dad’s in the video game!’…It was really cool to see my son happy about that. I just want my kids to be proud of me, and I think I’m doing that.”

(Travis Browne makes Stefan Struve do his fainting cat impression at UFC 130. / Photo via MMAFighting)

A little update to our “Hell yeah, Chad Griggs is coming to the UFC” story from last week: The UFC has announced that Griggs’s Octagon debut will come against Travis “Hapa” Browne, the towering up-and-comer whose 3-0-1 UFC record includes first-round knockouts of Stefan Struve and James McSweeney, and a recent decision win over Rob Broughton. (He also had that ugly draw against Cheick Kongo, but the less said about that fight the better.) Griggs and Browne will meet at UFC 145, March 24th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

In other words, Griggs won’t be developed slowly against hand-picked opponents — it’ll either be sink or swim against one of the most talented heavyweights coming up the ranks. Then again, Griggs made his name in Strikeforce by beating up guys who were supposed to be better than him, so really, who knows. As of now, the only other fight slated for UFC 145 is a welterweight feature between Rory MacDonald and Che Mills.

(At first I was like…)

(…but then I LOL’d. / Photos courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com. For more photos from this set, click here.)

Tonight’s kind of a big deal, you guys. UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones has a chance to establish his legacy by defending his belt against former champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. And when you look at the supporting card, you’ll notice a similar theme: Between Matt Hughes vs. Josh Koscheck, Takanori Gomi vs. Nate Diaz, and Mark Hunt vs. Ben Rothwell, UFC 135 is all about the old guard making one last stand against the scrappers who came up behind them. Do the old dogs still have some fight left, or will tonight represent a brutal changing of the guard?

Handling play-by-play for CagePotato.com once again is Matt Kaplan, who will be delivering updates on the “Jones vs. Rampage” pay-per-view main card beginning at 9 p.m. ET. Join the party after the jump, and refresh your page every few minutes for all the latest.

In: “I WANT MY BELT BACK!” Out: “There’s gone be some black on black crime.” VidProps: UFC/YouTube

Check this out: official UFC propaganda would have us believe that Rampage Jackson is actually out there somewhere working. They even have the nerve to pause on a calendar square labeled “JIU JITSU”, when we all know damn well that ‘Page would pull guard right after he lets someone hold an umbrella for him.

On the other hand, we’re pretty sure we’ve found the guy shooting footage of Jackson and passing it on to Jones.

Bones v Rampage goes down in just 22 days, and there’s plenty of action to keep you occupied until then.

The full UFC 135 card is after the jump.

(Quinton Jackson warily high-fives Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban at the 1st Annual Pornstar Ball in Las Vegas, back in 2009. Seriously.)

The UFC announced yesterday that light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson have agreed to square off at UFC 135, September 24th at the Pepsi Center in Denver. It will be Jones’s first title defense, after winning the belt from Mauricio Rua in March. Meanwhile, Jackson is riding back-to-back decision wins over Lyoto Machida and Matt Hamill. It may not pack the kind of grudge-match heat that Jones vs. Rashad would have had, but at least Jones and Jackson disagree on the motorboating issue. So, anybody think Rampage actually has a chance against the young phenom?

A pair of heavyweight scraps have also been reportedly added to the event…

(Meanwhile in Roy’s stomach, a dozen undigested cheeseburgers cried for mercy. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

Look, I was all for sweeping UFC 130 under the rug and never mentioning it again, but since ReX has shamed me into doing this, it’s time to look back at Saturday’s big winners (and big, big losers) and see if we can devise some future matchups for these guys that will actually produce interesting fights. Make it happen, tiny atheist.

Quinton Jackson: Dana White seems dead-set on giving Rampage a title shot if his hand is healthy enough to accept it. Ugh, terrible. Why the UFC isn’t interested in promoting the hottest rivalry in the sport is anybody’s guess. (And don’t give me that bullshit about “timing”; it’s more likely related to White’s personal feelings about Rashad Evans.) In a perfect world, Rampage sits out for a few months and faces the winner of Shogun vs. Forrest at UFC 134 in Rio. With losses to both on his record, I don’t think motivation would be an issue.

Matt Hamill: Sure, on paper Hamill was coming into the fight against Rampage with a five-fight win streak — but considering that the most impressive victory in that streak (by far!) was his knockout of Mark Munoz, you have to wonder where the Hammer really sits in the light-heavyweight pecking order. My first thought was that Hamill should face the resurgent Vladimir Matyushenko next — but Vlad already has a date in August. So give him the winner of Kyle Kingsbury vs. Fabio Maldonado at this Saturday’s TUF 13 Finale. Either Hamill rebounds, or a rising prospect gets a big-name notch on their belt. Seems win-win to me.

(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.