(Is Mitrione dumb, or too smart for your tiny brain to even comprehend?)

Matt Mitrione got a lot of heat for his inability to keep a secret on last night’s episode of “The Ultimate Fighter,” and his less than compelling ‘switch it up’ defense may have resulted in him coming off as, for lack of a better word, a complete idiot.  But don’t be fooled, Mitrione says in his FightMagazine.com blog, for all is not as it seems:

I’m the villain of tonight’s episode but reality TV isn’t always real. Because of the nature of the show I can’t get into the details right now but it’s safe to say that Scott Junk threw me under the bus. …I found out that Justin Wren was going to fight Scott Junk and for reasons I can’t get into right now I told Junk. For some reason he told Wren and then he gets on the f***in’ video and calls me a f***in’ meathead who can’t control his mouth.

TEAM RASHAD’s remaining fighters:

Justin Wren (Rashad’s #3 pick), Darrill Schoonover (#6), Matt Mitrione (#7), Mike Wessel (#8)

TEAM RAMPAGE’s remaining fighters:

Wes Sims (Rampage’s #4 pick), Scott Junk (#5), Marcus Jones (#7), Zak Jensen (#8)

Thanks to a couple of boneheaded fight picks by Quinton Jackson, followed by a couple of spot-on matchups by Rashad Evans, Team Rashad has gone up 4-0 on this season of The Ultimate Fighter. We’ve seen this kind of thing happen before on TUF, where one side takes an early lead and has the other team playing catchup. But this feels different. Rampage started off as an inept coach, and last night’s episode showed that he’s basically stopped trying. His team is absolutely rudderless. The psychological advantages that Rashad’s guys have over Rampage’s are profound. Could Team Rashad actually sweep the first round of fights, 8-0?

Strictly based on talent, it’ll be a close race from here on out. Obviously, the order in which the fighters were picked by their coaches isn’t a direct correlation to their talent levels — otherwise Roy Nelson would have been picked second overall and Kimbo Slice would have been picked ninth, not the other way around — but for the last four preliminary fights, each team is now left with one top-eight pick, and three bottom-eight picks. If Rashad is smart (and he absolutely is), he’ll do the following…

(The end of Schaub vs. Rogers.)

Last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights opened with some analysis of the Kimbo Slice vs. Roy Nelson fight, which was described rather generously as a "classic striker vs. wrestler/grappler matchup" by Scott Junk, who gives props to Slice for not gassing out. Titties Schoonover was also very impressed by Kimbo’s performance. Roy Nelson was impressed by Roy Nelson’s performance. After the fight, we see Big Country needling Rampage, thanking him for helping Roy count strikes to Kimbo’s dome. "I lost count after ten," Roy says, coming in for a bro-clinch. "Get the fuck off me," says Jackson. "I can’t stand that fat motherfucker," he tells Tiki.

Rampage and his assistants do their best to encourage Kimbo after the fight. Rampage vows to keep working with Slice and turn him into one of the best fighters out there. Kimbo doesn’t feel he’s out of the competition yet, and that with another two or three weeks of instruction, he’ll be untouchable. Abe Wagner tells him — to his face, amazingly — that he’s using denial as a coping mechanism. But for a moment, it does look like Kimbo might return. Marcus Jones has a "sweat attack," and has to sit down for a while after getting lightheaded back at the house. His teammates think he’s physically cracking under the demands of the show. Kimbo sees it as his opportunity to squeeze his way back in, but Marcus quickly recovers.

(Click the image to watch the video on Spike.com.)

Kimbo Slice must have had other plans that day, but luckily Roy Nelson and Dana White were free to hang with Amir Sadollah for the latest edition of Spike.com‘s TUF 10 wrap-up show, The Aftermath. Dana does his best to debunk some rumors: No, he doesn’t have influence on when fights are stopped on the show — and how dare you suggest otherwise, Roy — and no, the alcohol isn’t provided for dramatic purposes. All booze is requested by the fighters themselves, not that drunken jackassery has been a problem on this season so far. (Still, Wes Sims can’t stay dry forever.) There’s also an interesting moment where Dana gets on Roy’s case for not joining a major camp. ("I think that it hurts you as a fighter…to not be sparring and training with guys that are going to push you every day.") And he’s still a little irritated about Roy’s post-fight Whopper order.

Later, the panel analyzes what Kimbo needs to do to be competitive in MMA, and Dana addresses the status of Quinton "Rampage," "B.A. Baracus" Jackson: "Rampage [announced] he’s retired because he’s mad at me. And I’m mad at him. It happens sometimes. I’m sure we’ll get this thing figured out, and I’m sure we’ll see him and Rashad fight. I highly doubt that Rampage is really retired."

(Click the image to watch the clip on Spike.com.)

By this point in the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter, you already know that James McSweeney is an unrepentant asshole who dislikes Quinton Jackson, and Marcus Jones is just too gentle for this world. But if you needed any extra proof, here’s a deleted scene in which the bristly Brit tells Jones what a terrible head coach Rampage is. For a second, it looks like Jones will stand up to McSweeney, Titties-style, but Jones instead runs off to "brush his teeth" (i.e., cry into his Dungeons & Dragons pillow). James sort of apologizes without apologizing, and Marcus is left to stew by himself at the pool. In episode four, Marcus gets a blanket party; in episode five, this happens.

And still no sign of Wes Sims…

(Look, we’re just as upset as you are. Photo courtesy of URDirt.)

It wasn’t long ago that Dana White was telling us that The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights was "some of the best television ever." (Ever! Right up there with the Newhart finale!) But after three weeks, reality is beginning to set in. What we’ve gotten, above everything else, is three embarassingly bad fights: Jon Madsen‘s one-sided takedown clinic against the hapless Abe Wagner, James McSweeney‘s sloppy and questionably deserved decision win over Wes "Wheezy" Shivers, and Roy Nelson‘s methodical, anti-climactic TKO of Kimbo Slice. It’s a shame that all those new viewers haven’t seen any quality MMA matches so far. Well, Dana feels your pain, and recently jumped on the Real Talk Express with Yahoo!’s Kevin Iole:

Wait a minute, so the next four episodes suck too? Does this mean that when <SPOILERS>Kimbo replaces a feverish Marcus Jones in the next episode to take on Brendan Schaub</SPOILERS>, that fight’s no good either? Cripes. It doesn’t help that this season — like last season — isn’t offering much in the way of entertaining personalities or house drama. (Why The A-Hole Show hasn’t gotten any screen time yet is anybody’s guess.) Marcus is a black dude who loves flowers and 20-sided-dice? Oooooooh! Piss in a fucking fruit tray or stop wasting my time, okay?

(Kimbo vs. Roy, round 1+2.)

After all the hype, after all the brilliant video analysis, it finally happened: A fight that could have potentially headlined an EliteXC card, going down in front of about 30 people on a reality TV show set. Kimbo Slice vs. Roy Nelson. The Irresistable Force vs. The Immovable Fat Dude. No, you won’t see it on any Fight of the Year lists, but it happened. You can’t deny that it was something that happened.

Apparently, living in a house with no televisions or computers has the same effect as smoking an assload of weed, because Kimbo began last night’s episode in a reflective, philosophical mood, getting right with God and dropping pearls of wisdom like: "When I decide to shave the beard is when ‘Kimbo’ will be put to rest…but will Kimbo ever be at rest?" He realizes that he’s always operated in relation to an exterior enemy, but hold the fuck up because maybe this whole time the enemy is the eneME, or rather, the INNER ME? Has Kimbo been fighting himself his whole life? Oh my God, player.

(Props: UFC.com)

In about 12 hours (give or take, depending on where you are in the country), Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson will go toe-to-toe in the most highly anticipated exhibition bout in Ultimate Fighter history. Will the former street brawler prove himself to be "a real fighter," or will big-bellied Roy Nelson stick to the script and chew out a win? (Or both, maybe?) I’m sure you’re all sitting on your hands in unbearable anticipation, but feel free to read this stuff to pass the time until the moment of truth:

— Kimbo Slice may be fighting at UFC 107, not the TUF 10 finale: A possible slip-up during a media conference call suggests that Slice will make his post-TUF debut on the December pay-per-view card in Memphis. Implication: Kimbo loses at some point during the season, but doesn’t embarrass himself, and his television popularity is enough to warrant an appearance on a big show.

Watch more Asylum videos on AOL Video

According to undefeated Strikeforce heavyweight Brett Rogers in the above video, you can usually tell how a fight is going to go down by the pre-fight faceoff. And so, three brave online editors decided to test their staredown might against the Grim, with decidedly mixed results. First up is cherubic Asylum.com writer Jordan Newmark, who nearly poops his suit-pants when Rogers penetrates deeply into his soul. But in round two, Asylum editor Jake Goodrich holds his ground despite his significant height disadvantage. (Jake was also standing on a milk crate when this was filmed.) And finally, Lemondrop.com editor Laura Gilbert evens the score with a set of Manson lamps that earns Brett’s full respect and discomfort. Also worth watching: Jordan asks Fedor Emelianenko what he really thought of Rocky IV.

(Grabbed from the Spike TV promos. Above, props to "smooshfaceace." Below, props to CagePotato reader Zachary H.)

Could it be over this soon for Big Country? We already know that Kimbo will be fighting in the finale. On a scale of 1-10, how much will you freak out if he shocks the world on Wednesday?

Previously: Why Kimbo Slice Is in Trouble Against Roy Nelson on Next Week’s "Ultimate Fighter"

(Click the image to go to the video on Spike.com)

For the most part, Team Rashad is all lovey-dovey brotherhood and positive visualization, and that’s clearly worked for them so far. But all is not well in the land of the black-and-yellow. Left out of last night’s episode was an incident in which Darrill "Titties" Schoonover accidentally crushed and drowned a bird in the backyard. As he’s telling the story to Rashad and MVA, he puts on a high-pitched voice — simply to set the scene and give it some much-needed drama — which James McSweeney takes as direct mockery. The spazzy kickboxer gets up in Darrill’s face, and Titties removes his glasses, ready to throw down. "You think you’re a big man?" McSweeney says. "You’ll get fuckin’ served right up…I will knock you the fuck out. I ain’t a li’ul bird."

Rashad is able to chill McSweeney out later, but it’s clear that their little happy-go-lucky bubble has been punctured. Team Rampage assistant Hector Ramirez witnesses the near-debacle and runs to tell Tiki Ghosn that their rival team might be fracturing. It probably isn’t, but after Team Rashad finishes running the table during the round-of-16, his guys will have to start fighting each other, and we may see Schoonover vs. McSweeney before long.

Last week, we saw one of the bloodiest fights in TUF history. This week brought us one of the ugliest, as James McSweeney and Wes Shivers proved that they’re not quite ready for primetime. Plus, Roy Nelson lands on Team Rashad’s shitlist and Kimbo Slice gets picked to fight.

The episode opens with Justin Wren and Roy Nelson talking about how they both want to take out Kimbo. Says Big Country: "I’ve been trying to get that one for years." Foreshadowing!

In practice, Rampage "got specialness" for Kimbo, and his coaches give the Miami Pound Machine a crash course on ground-fighting, while Kimbo tries to sponge it up. Meanwhile, Rashad Evans is feeling good about his team and wants to make sure his guys are mentally strong and moldable, but Roy spends most of his practice time joking around and pushing back against his coaches. Team Rashad assistant coach Trevor Wittman gives him a firm dressing-down in the locker room: "To me, you’re uncoachable…instead of listening, you always have a rebuttal…you got knocked out by Arlovski, do you want that to happen again? If you don’t want to keep it serious, I’m gonna ask Rampage if he needs another guy."

The tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter kicked off last night after UFC Fight Night 19, and thank God there are no members of the Browning family involved this time. We won’t bother recapping the first few minutes of the show, which you’ve already seen. Suffice it to say that the trash-talk between coaches Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans comes early and often. Fighter evaluations begin, with Greg Jackson helping Rashad determine who the mentally toughest fighters are by watching them hit heavy bags. James McSweeney and Brendan Schaub are actually teammates of Evans back in Albuquerque, and Rashad wants them on his TUF squad.

Rampage’s right-hand man during the show is Tiki Ghosn, who you may have seen in Danavlogs giving/receiving surprise slaps to the balls. Rampage thinks the guys need to spar and wrestle with each other to get an accurate sense of their skills. His verdict? "Roy Nelson has a big-ass belly. We checked him out, and he’s fat." Also, he starts calling Darrill Schoonover "titties." "Let’s see whatchu got, titties," he says. "Don’t bounce like that, you’ll distract me with them titties." Come on, man, gynecomastia is no laughing matter.

Interestingly, Kimbo Slice seems to handle Roy Nelson fairly easily in their sparring sessions, though Rampage notices that Kimbo’s ground skills are sub-par. Still, his takedown defense might make up for it.

So angry that he tears a cardboard door to shreds in the Ultimate Fighter training center. (It’s a reality TV show set — you can’t really expect quality construction.) We’re not sure what Rashad did to set him off, but judging from their performances against a common opponent, Rampage would easily beat Brock Lesnar.

(Props: YouTube.com/norton via BloodyElbow)

This Kimbo Slice character — he’s so hot right now. And security software company Norton has decided to use him in a commercial to represent cybercriminals. Random, yes, but at least Kimbo makes more sense than Norton’s previous celebrity bad guys, the ’80s band Dokken. By the way, if you want to see what would happen if you chose "allow" in the above video, click here. Let’s hope Slice gets more lines of dialogue in the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter. Speaking of which…

("I’m gettin’ that belt back, sucka.")

It looks like Rashad Evans has another reason to hate Quinton Jackson’s guts. As Sugar revealed on yesterday’s edition of the “It’s Time” radio show with Bruce Buffer, Evans and Jackson will not be fighting at UFC 107 as originally planned, due to the demands of Rampage’s role in the upcoming A-Team movie. Said Evans:

(Props: Spike.com.)

With The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights kicking off eight days from now, Spike has released this eight-minute taste of the season premiere. As soon as Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans show up on screen, the jibber-jabbering begins. Evans says that Rampage is too slow, and his big head is too easy a target. Rampage says that Rashad’s last fight proved he has no chin, and he ain’t fought nobody. Then, 15 of the castmembers walk in, and holy crap is Marcus Jones a large man. Dana White comes in to introduce a steely-eyed Kimbo Slice, who seems quite aware of the target on his back. Though Brendan Schaub doesn’t approve of Slice’s presence ("when he walked in, it was kinda like the sheep entering the room with a bunch of wolves"), Rampage claims first-pick dibs on him — and that’s just fine with Rashad. Watch how the team picks play out next Wednesday (9/16) at 10 p.m, directly following UFC Fight Night 19.

(Props: Spike via BloodyElbow)

Spike TV has released a whole mess of interview clips featuring the stars of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, which premieres September 16th after UFC Fight Night 19. The clip at the top is your standard Rampage vs. Rashad gum-flapping session, with Quinton Jackson saying that the Team Rashad heavyweights are "lil’ bitty," "garbage," and "booboo." (?) Meanwhile, Rashad predicts a lot of tantrums from his rival. The second video reveals something interesting that I guess we should have seen coming — Evans’s "assistant coach" will be none other than game-plan master Greg "Yoda" Jackson. Once you hear Greg talk about "personal growth plans" for each fighter, it’s hard to imagine how Team Rampage will compete in the mental game.

Now let’s check in with some of TUF 10‘s heavyweight hopefuls…

(Props: MMA Scraps)

We’re less than two months away from the premiere of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, and it’s hard not to get excited about the first brief shots of Kimbo Slice walking out to the TUF cage and pacing around before a fight, with Rampage Jackson possibly in his corner (see the -00:09 mark). Plus, the fact that Jackson and Rashad Evans will hate each other’s guts from day one could bring back some of the Tito vs. Ken magic of season 3. So far, everybody involved is playing it very close to the vest in regards to how the fights played out this season. But the interview after the jump may suggest that Slice shook off the haters and did, at the very least, aight.

("Yeah, the sushi did taste a little funny. Why do you ask?" Photo courtesy of the Las Vegas Sun.)

Some choice quotes from recent interviews promoting The Ultimate Fighter 10: Heavyweights, which premieres September 16th…

Kimbo Slice on piss-soaked fruit trays: "(If someone pulls a prank on him similar to stunts from past shows) there’s gonna be gun play, but fortunately for them I couldn’t bring my pistol. That’s a whole another level. Silver bracelets (handcuffs) if you feel me."

Kimbo Slice on the possibility of being ejected from the house for fighting: "I’m a fighter, dude. I’m not gonna have a motherfucker disrespect me, in no case whatsoever…I’mma be me and I’m gonna stand my ground to the fullest…I wouldn’t want to get thrown out that way. [But] if that becomes my only fight then god damn we gonna fight."

Roy Nelson on Kimbo Slice: “Ability-wise, he’s probably one of the better fighters there.”

(Judging from the jersey colors, it’ll be Team Black vs. Team Black. Subtle. Photo courtesy of Spike. Click for larger image.)

Spike TV revealed the complete cast of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights this afternoon via press release. Here’s who will be bunkin’ up in the TUF house:

Zak Jensen – standout wrestler at Augsburg College
Marcus Jones – former 1st round NFL draft pick who had a six-year career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Scott Junk – Division II All-American football player at Southwest Oklahoma State and fought in UFC 76.
James McSweeney – former international kickboxing and Muay Thai champion
John Madsen – defeated Brock Lesnar in a high school wrestling match
Matt Mitrione – played for New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings
Roy Nelson – former IFL Heavyweight Champion
Demico Rogers – high school football and wrestling star
Brendan Schaub – played for Buffalo Bills and Arena Football’s Utah Blaze
Darrill Schoonover – decorated Army veteran
Wes Shivers – former member of the Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons
Wes Sims – fought two heated battles with former UFC champ Frank Mir at UFC 43 and UFC 46
Kimbo Slice – former EliteXC heavyweight contender and YouTube sensation
Abe Wagner – played linebacker at Michigan Tech and has a degree in mechanical engineering
Mike Wessel – UFC veteran and former strength and conditioning coach at University of Arkansas
Justin Wren – All-American high school wrestler

CagePotato.com Interviews Quinton Rampage Jackson – Watch more Funny Videos

When we sent our friend Heather Nichols to interview Quinton Jackson on the set of an upcoming Super Dave Osbourne special, we had no idea it would open up such a massive can of worms. What you’ll see above is the interview that everyone expected — ‘Page talks about his rivalry with Rashad Evans, what he’s doing differently during his second stint as a TUF coach, and Michael Bisping‘s chances against Dan Henderson, all in a very reserved and polite sort of way. And then this happened. Crazy. Props to Heather for keeping her cool; you can show her some love at Twitter.com/HeatherNichols, Facebook.com/HeatherNicholsActress, and MySpace.com/HeatherNicholsActress. Bonus pics of the Internet’s most famous dry-hump victim are below.

Kimbo wants his belt and flexes his moob. Be afraid; be very afraid.

(Careful, Shaq, that’s no cardboard cutout. Image courtesy of The Baltimore Sun.)

We’d take this with a grain of salt until the UFC makes an official announcement, but the usually-accurate U.K. paper The Sun says it has the names of all 16 castmembers for the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. (Props to TheGarv for the tip.) Unfortunately, there are no more shocking additions — no Lashleys, no Petruzellis, no Quinns — just the usual gang of up-and-comers trying to make a name for themselves. We already knew that Kimbo Slice, Roy Nelson, Wes Sims, Marcus Jones, Brendan Schaub, Matt Mitrione, and Wes Shivers scored bunks in the TUF house. So who else is gonna be hunting for that six figure contract? Here’s the lowdown:

(Whoever does Kimbo’s manscaping is a genius. More chest-hair photoshops right here.)

From MMA Weekly:

“He came in hungry. In my eyes, he came in hungry like he was before the Tank Abbott fight. It was a pleasure for me to see…We sparred every single day. We did not do that in the past. Because he had so much to learn, so many more technical things that Bas was showing him, he really didn’t have time to spar…As far as what happened before, he’s just got to take his loss and move forward…I told him the best revenge is success. He needs to go out there and show all those people that don’t like him and talk bad about him, even Dana White, go out there and be successful and everybody will forget all those things that happened to him. The biggest thing is that he’s mentally there, and he’s ready to go."
— Boxing coach Randy Khatami discusses his reunion with Kimbo Slice after a six-month layoff. Kimbo had stopped training at Elite MMA with Khatami after a falling-out with the gym’s co-owner Bas Rutten. By the way, rumors of more confirmed TUF 10 castmembers are coming out of the woodwork, including Justin Wren and "Big" Jim York.

(Don’t fear the belly; fear the consequences.)

Kimbo Slice’s chances of winning season ten of “The Ultimate Fighter” just got a little worse, because according to MMA Madness former IFL heavyweight champion Roy “Big Country” Nelson joined the cast of the show, which began filming last week.  Those of you didn’t watch a lick of the IFL might remember Nelson from such bad referee stand-ups/devastating knockouts as his loss to Andrei Arlovski on the same EliteXC card that produced the StandGate incident.  After that Nelson lost a very close decision against Jeff Monson at March Badness, bringing his pro record to 13-4.

(Props: "ZzFDKzZ" on the UG)

Holy crap, you guys…this is really happening.

TUF 10 is scheduled to premiere September 16th, directly following UFC Fight Night 19.

(Marcus Jones vs. Eduardo Boza, 11/10/07)

Though the UFC is keeping the cast of TUF 10 under wraps for the most part, MMA Junkie is reporting that four of the 16 heavyweight hopefuls did time in the NFL before taking up fighting. Here’s a cheat sheet:

Marcus Jones: First-round draft pick for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1996; spent six seasons as a defensive tackle, then moved to the Buffalo Bills for two years but didn’t play in the regular season. Training out of Gracie Tampa with Rob Kahn, the 35-year-old made his professional MMA debut in October 2007, and now holds a 4-1 record, with all fights ending in the first round.

(Props: CageWriter)

From Dana White’s appearance last night on the Carmichael Dave Show, in which DW discussed the Kimbo situation for the first time:

"We shot episode one today. He walked into the gym and was, ah…lemme tell you what, he was pretty serious. He wasn’t messing around, he wasn’t joking. He wasn’t laughing. I don’t think he’s a big Dana White fan, either. You know, how could you be after all the things that have gone back and forth? So we’re gonna find out this season if he’s for real or not…

I said a lot of things about this guy, and I’m gonna tell you now, just like I would, I’ve got nothing but respect for him. This guy stepped up and he wants to fight on The Ultimate Fighter. And he’s dead serious about winning this thing too."

(Immediately after reading the news, I searched for this music video on YouTube and cranked my speakers to maximum volume. All props to TheGarv.)

Oh sweet Jesus, thank you Jesus, my prayers have been answered. Yahoo! has the exclusive: