(A rare Joe Silva sighting caught on film. Like seeing Bigfoot ride by on a unicorn.)

As regular Cage Potato readers already know, we’re big fans of UFC matchmaker Joe Silva both because he does a consistently kick-ass job of putting interesting fights together, and also because he’s a passionate, passionate man who will not hesitate to jump right out of his chair if you do something awesome.  The thing about Silva is, nobody really knows much about him since he doesn’t do interviews and generally stays out of the spotlight as much as possible.  We get a brief glimpse of the man behind the machine in this Las Vegas Sun article, though somehow it manages to make him seem even more mysterious than before:

(Props: genghiscon.wordpress.com)

Genghis Con injects some soul into the upcoming welterweight title fight at UFC 100 with this highlight of Georges St. Pierre and Thiago Alves‘s recent history. It’s a good reminder of how utterly dominant both men have been in the Octagon over the last two years. On Saturday night, the unstoppable force will meet the other unstoppable force. Time to do the man dance.

Speaking of GSP vs. Alves, Spike’s "Countdown to UFC 100" special debuts tomorrow night at 10 p.m. Check out the preview after the jump…

So you’re wondering what life is like in the UFC offices this week, what with their biggest event of all time coming up on Saturday.  Must be pretty crazy.  A lot of panicked running around, working into the early hours of the morning making sure Brock Lesnar doesn’t say anything homophobic to reporters, while also ensuring that Thiago Alves actually shows up on time for his flight to Vegas.  Why, it’d hardly be surprising if they couldn’t find the time to do a video blog for this one at all, right?

We have two important questions for you: 1) Are you going to be in Las Vegas for UFC 100 this weekend? and 2) Do you like to party?  If you answered yes on both accounts, allow us to make a suggestion.  This Friday night Cage Potato will be co-hosting a pre-UFC 100 party with Fight! Magazine at Tryst nightclub inside The Wynn.  Attendees will include MMA stars galore, the Fight Mag boys, a strong Cage Potato contingent, and probably a bunch of those chicks Chuck Liddell used to always end up in pictures with.  If that sounds like the kind of thing you want to be a part of, then come join us.

The party starts at 10 p.m., and as you’ll probably recall from our last co-hosted party, that means we’ll be there at 9:50 with Joe Stevenson, waiting for the bar to start serving.  You can call the number on the flyer up there for reservations, or just swing on by and take your chances.  Trust us, you’re not going to want to miss this.

(Props: BerlinFC via Fightlinker)

It’s like someone set our Eras of MMA and Greatest UFC Events of All Time features to music; the above compilation summarizes the UFC’s entire history from November ’93 until now, in just four-and-a-half minutes. If this doesn’t get you amped up for UFC 100 — T-minus five days, by the way — either you’re not a UFC fan, or you have something personal against David Bowie.

(Photo courtesy of fightsport.fr)

The UFC’s most epic event of the year isn’t really the time or place to trot out unfamiliar faces from regional leagues. And so we have another lonely edition of The New Guys, with only one fighter on the UFC 100 lineup who’s never competed in the UFC before. The good news is, he’s one of Japan’s biggest MMA superstars, and could make a serious dent in the UFC’s rising middleweight division. So without further ado…

YOSHIHIRO AKIYAMA (MW)
?Experience: 12-1 record with 2 no-contests (10 wins by first-round stoppage), with multiple appearances in K-1 HERO’s, K-1 Dynamite!!, and DREAM. Holds notable victories over Denis Kang, Melvin Manhoef, and Kestutis Smirnovas. His only official loss came in his second MMA match against heavyweight kickboxer Jerome LeBanner, who significantly outweighed him. Akiyama most recently defeated Masanori Tonooka via armbar at DREAM.6 last September.

Will be fighting: Alan Belcher (14-5, 5-3 UFC)

(The lovely Edith and Logan. Who needs Fabio to have a good time? Photo via MMA Mania.)

If all the fighter appearances, Hall of Fame inductions, grappling superfights, and Kimbo sightings aren’t enough of an incentive to check out the UFC Fan Expo (July 10+11, Mandalay Convention Center, Las Vegas), maybe this will convince you. From UFC.com:

(Props: MMA Connected)

Fighters who predict Dan Henderson will beat Michael Bisping, in the above video: Patrick Cote, Gray Maynard, Jon Fitch, Sean Sherk

Fighters who think it could go either way: Wanderlei Silva, Rashad Evans

Fighters who predict Michael Bisping will beat Dan Henderson: "…"   

Of course, when you stack the panel with American wrestlers, you’re bound to get a bias for one side. (I have a feeling that Dan Hardy and Paul Kelly see the fight differently.) But the general reality is, people think Bisping is going to get his ass kicked next weekend at UFC 100. According to MMA Moneyline, Bisping’s odds range from +180 at BetUS all the way to an alarming +240 at BetOnline. Sure, Hendo deserves to be the favorite — but an overwhelming one? I mean, Bisping could shock the world, right?

After the jump: Dan Henderson and Cyrille Diabate talk strategy for the Count.

(Props: Cafepress.com/Buffer360 via bismanfightclub.)

Planning on attending UFC 100? If so, we hope you’ve been practicing your Fedor chant. And if you haven’t yet planned your outfit, may we suggest this fetching Obama-inspired Bruce Buffer tee? Rumors of a possible "Buffer 360" at UFC 100 have spread like wildfire over the last few months; if we can hope hard enough and believe boldly enough, then maybe, just maybe, he’ll pull it off. Joe Rogan has claimed that if Buffer lands the full rotation during the event, he’ll shit his pants. What will you do?

(Buy the shirt here. And follow Mr. Buffer on Twitter here.)

The UFC’s first 132 events have given us over 15 years worth of legendary battles, shocking finishes, and historic debuts. With UFC 100 coming up on July 11th, we decided to do some digging and pick out the 10 most monumental events of all time. So join us as we step into the way-back machine…

(Check out part one here.)

***

#5: UFC 1: The Ultimate Fighting Championship
11/12/93; Denver, Colorado


Notable Fights: Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock, Gerard Gordeau vs. Teila Tuli, Royce Gracie vs. Gerard Gordeau
Lowdown: Nearly 3,000 people packed into the McNichols Sports Arena on one fateful night in November to witness the beginning of cultural movement, which is cool even if most of them only showed up because they were already drunk and had reason to believe that they might see a man killed.  It was billed as an eight-man tournament with no rules, and although that wasn’t entirely true (biting and eye-gouging were both outlawed) it might as well have been.  Referee guidelines consisted mostly of instructions not to stop the fight no matter what, there were no judges, not even the suggestion of weight classes, and the approved attire had no limits whatsoever, as evidence by Royce Gracie’s gi and Art Jimmerson’s one lonely glove.

(Combat Lifestyle captures Bisping’s wrestling practice at the brand new TapouT training center in Las Vegas.)

Here’s Michael Bisping, or as he will soon come to be known, “Johnny Takedown,” working on his wrestling skillz in advance of his UFC 100 bout with Dan Henderson next weekend.  You’ll recall that we previously laughed off the idea that Bisping might try and take Hendo down rather than just focusing all his energy on trying to stay upright.  And sure, maybe double-legs were only 10% of a wrestling practice that was 90% about sprawling and scrambling back to the feet.  Still, training takedowns this close to the fight makes it seem suspiciously like Bisping intends to turn Henderson’s greatest strengths against him.

If that is the plan, it’s now officially the worst kept secret in MMA.  Imagine how shocked Henderson would have been to see Bisping shoot for a takedown right off the bat.  Not now though.  After his wrestling coach blew up his spot and these pictures hit the internet, it’s safe to say the element of surprise is gone.

(The secret to a good striking workout with Frank Mir?  Tell him that the focus mitts called him chubby.)

After Brock Lesnar’s unfortunate UFC debut against Frank Mir you may be wondering whether we’ll see the same full-steam-ahead Lesnar that got himself kneebarred in the first encounter, or whether he’ll look to change it up for the heavyweight championship showdown at UFC 100.  Well, as long as it’s up for debate, Mir would like to offer a suggestion via an email sent out by the UFC.  It goes a little something like this:

"If Brock really comes out and tries to abandon the running at me, heads over heels and just trying to knock, bull rush me over, I honestly think that’s his best approach," said Mir, with a black shine circling his eye. "I would just come after me – take a chance, ’cause to sit there and play the cat and mouse game with me, and jab and slip and move around, I think that’s a slow death for him that he can’t possibly win."

(The man who helped set off a jerk-off facial hair revolution.)

Those of you who planned a trip to Las Vegas for UFC 100 solely to hear Limp Bizkit play that one song that sounds like all their other songs are in for some disappointment.  The concert is officially off, reportedly because the UFC and Interscope Records couldn’t come to terms on DVD rights or the UFC’s choice of venue.  And since we all know that it’s either the UFC’s way or no way, Limp Bizkit will not be entertaining UFC fans in Vegas on July 10.  They may, however, schedule their own show somewhere else in Vegas on the same night, but will Brock Lesnar get to rock out to it with his shirt off?  Seems sadly unlikely.

In a statement released by the band we get a glimpse of what it’s like when non-fighters have to deal with the UFC’s inflexibility:

(This night was going so well, and then Bisping just had to launch into a chorus of "Rule Britannia" and make everyone uncomfortable.)

Here’s a crazy idea for you: what if Michael Bisping decided that instead of making his gameplan at UFC 100 all about avoiding the takedown and keeping the fight on the feet, he went out and tried to take Hendo down?  You know, Hendo as in Dan Henderson.  The former Olympic wrestler who has lately been winning fights purely by holding people down and battering their faces until they look as bad as he does.  What’s that you say, it would be a ridiculously poor and self-destructive strategy?  Well maybe you should tell that to Bisping’s wrestling coach, Zach Light:

"He will take Dan Henderson down more than one time in the fight. He will, that’s how he is going to win the fight. That is how I see it. When they start trading I think Mike will win the scrambles. Dan is a great scrambler but in a scramble situation I think Mike is going to come out on top every time.”

Okay, there are two ways we can interpret this remark:

(Props: CageFighterMike on Twitter, via MMA Payout)

Yep, looks like the UFC has decided to go the O Magazine route and put the boss on the cover.  We’re assuming that the reason he’s posing like a fighter is not because he’s trying to act like something he isn’t, but rather as a metaphor for how he runs his business.  Next month, Dana White surrounded by a bunch of puppies!

With 32 total points — thanks to a dominant run during UFC 99 where he correctly picked the winners of every fight — CagePotato reader ‘angry little feet’ has come out on top in the combined UFC 99/TUF 9 Finale rounds of our Lyoto Machida pick-off contest, and has won the Dragon’s "Machida-Do Karate for Mixed Martial Arts" DVD set. Way to go, alf! If you didn’t get the e-mail we just sent you, hit us up at feedback@cagepotato.com.

Now for the rest of you losers: Our second set of the DVDs can be yours if you can outpick everyone else for UFC 100. The lineup is…

(Props: MMA Mania)

What: UFC 100
When/Where: July 11th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Why: Because it’s one of the most stacked UFC cards ever. In the above trailer, Joe Rogan calls the event "fucking insane," then implies that Steve Mazzagatti screwed up Brock Lesnar‘s first fight against Frank Mir. For Brock, this fight is all about revenge. Mir thinks that if Big Nog couldn’t last two rounds with him, Brock’s chances aren’t very good.

In the night’s other title fight, Georges St. Pierre battles for his legacy against the biggest, strongest, toughest test of his career — Thiago Alves, who wants to knock out GSP, take his belt, and become "the man." Also, Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping move out of the reality show set and into the Octagon. Hendo wants to beat Bisping up and shut his mouth a little bit; Bisping wants to be responsible for the first KO loss on Dan’s record. Only on pay-per-viewwww…

Last night’s season finale of The Ultimate Fighter ended with each coach telling us exactly what he thinks of the other guy; basically, Dan Henderson thinks Michael Bisping‘s a douchebag, and Bisping thinks Henderson’s time has passed. And maybe they’re both right. But with three weeks left until they face each other at UFC 100, tensions aren’t exactly building. Here’s a highlight from a media conference call held earlier today, via MMA Fanhouse:

(The July issue, with a cover story written by one of Cage Potato’s own.)

The first thing I learned about Thiago Alves when Fight! Magazine sent me down to south Florida to write this month’s cover story on the UFC’s top welterweight contender, is that is he doesn’t exactly have the same concept of time that most people do.   At first I was willing to chalk it up to “Brazilian time.”  Then I talked to some of his friends and training partners, who were also Brazilians, and even they thought Thiago had a problem.  To them it was a running joke.  Brazilian time gave way to “Thiago’s time.”  For me, the guy trying to learn as much as possible about him in only a few days, it was a little more stressful.

Now that Lyoto Machida has established himself atop one of the most competitive divisions in mixed martial arts, MMA enthusiasts are dying know exactly how the soft-spoken karateka is managing to kick everyone’s ass. And now the Dragon is generously revealing his secrets in a new DVD set from Victory Belt Publishing. Over four DVDs, Machida covers his stance and footwork, attacks and counter-attacks, takedowns and footsweeps (obviously), and his ground game. Want it? Well, feel free to buy it. Or, be one of the two winners of a new UFC pick-off contest that we’re holding over the next five weeks…

(Props: The Garv)

The official UFC 100 promo video doesn’t need any heavy-handed voiceover to make its case as one of the best MMA events in recent memory.  It just runs down some perfunctory highlight clips to remind you of who all’s fighting, and then it steps back to let your imagination run wild.  Now all you need is a ton of money and no objection to dropping an obscene amount of cash on one sporting event, and you can experience it live.  You can also help whip your section of the arena into a chant that voices the will of the people.  If that kind of thing interests you.

After the jump, a highlight video that is pretty much the exact opposite of this promo.

(Click image to see it up close.)

The original UFC 100 poster may have looked killer on its own, but that wasn’t good enough for lookoutawhale, who created this alternate version made up of poster images from past UFC events (as well as random photos of Tank Abbott and the Jim Brown/Bill Wallace commentary team that slipped in by accident). T-minus two months, people…

(All hail the Emperor. Props: KingAtRock)

Sometimes the Power of the Potato Nation is just too strong to be ignored, brother. For those of you who don’t hang out in our forums section, you missed this recent brainstorm from "LargeMidget":

(If I have one regret in life, it’s that I was not able to rate the Cabbage vs. Tank fight more than ten Octagons.)

From a press release sent out by Spike:

(Props: MMA Opinion)

Is there any fighter who more closely resembles the animal for which he is nicknamed than Thiago "The Pitbull" Alves?  Just looking at his face makes me want to lock the door and call Animal Control.  He says in this video that he’s been working out at Wanderlei Silva’s new gym/daycare center in Las Vegas, and plans to return there the week before his title fight with Georges St. Pierre at UFC 100 to get his weight right.  Alves has had some weight issues in the past, and with a title fight he won’t get that extra pound allowance so he’d better be on point.  Something tells me that screwing up a title fight at UFC 100 would be a murderable offense in Dana White’s eyes.

Raw Vegas went by Xtreme Couture to talk with Kim Couture about her upcoming bout.  Am I the only one not buying it at all when she claims to be blissfully unaware of the criticism that suggests she’s only getting these opportunities because of who she’s married to?  Even if she doesn’t "go on the computer," the idea must have occurred to her that it’s not solely her 1-1 pro record that’s landing her on Strikeforce cards.  Whatever you think of Couture though, it’s nice to see a woman fighter slam "Cyborg" Santos’ woman trouble excuse.  It just doesn’t have the same force when we do it, for some reason.

After the jump, American Top Team boxing coach Howard Davis Jr. takes it to the gloves and shows us the hand speed.

Watch Frank Mir Talks About His Upcoming Fight with Brock Lesnar on RawVegas.tv

A little less than three months out from his rematch with Brock Lesnar at UFC 100, and Frank Mir is already starting in on the trash talk and mind games in this Raw Vegas interview.  He’s decided to go the self-deprecating route, which means Forrest Griffin has a royalty check coming.  Mir also isn’t afraid to toss a few little burns in there just for the hell of it, even commenting at one point on the "penis" tattooed on Lesnar’s chest.  You can thank Dave Farra for bringing that up.  Hey, we were all thinking it.

Aside from the Lesnar talk, Mir offers the best response yet to the inevitable Fedor questions.  Instead of doubting his credentials and just refusing to talk about the guy, Mir says it’s "not fair" that other heavyweights have gotten a chance to feel how hard Fedor hits and he might never get that opportunity.  You have to admit he has a point.  It’s about time somebody called Fedor out on his discriminatory punching practices.

According to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza’s manager, they’re planning on a fight “for the title” at Dream.9 on May 26.  Nothing is confirmed yet, Jacare’s manager told Tatame, but right now it looks like it will be a rematch between Jacare and “Mayhem” Miller for Gegard Mousasi’s vacated middleweight belt.  If true that would make for a tight turnaround for Miller, who’s slated to take on Kala Hose in Hawaii at Kingdom MMA on April 18.  Call it making up for lost time.  Or maybe he’s just assuming that it won’t take much out of him to whup on Hose in front of his Hawaiian peeps.

– As we saw earlier today, Dana White’s threats to step back from the limelight might be the slightest bit hollow, but ESPN plans to actually make him talk on video when they send their E:60 crew to Montreal for a story on his recent video blog controversy.  The piece will allegedly seek to compare White to the heads of other major sports organizations, asking what would have happened to them had they gone all nasty on a female sports reporter and her anonymous sources.  We just hope E:60 has learned from their past mistakes.  If they ask him about steroids, the interview’s over.

– Spike TV sent out another ‘in your face!’ press release today to announce that Saturday night’s replay of UFC 94 was the “#1 program among Men 18-34 in all of television (cable and broadcast) during its time period.”  The replay peaked at 2.4 million viewers for the main event and averaged 1.9 million over the three-hour broadcast, which, as Spike is kind enough to point out, bested HBO’s Winky Wright/Paul Williams bout, which drew a measly 1.5 million viewers.  What you’re wondering is, did they mention how it compared to Strikeforce’s viewership?  They did not.  But they know you’re thinking about it anyway.

– Remember the rumored bout between Mark Coleman and Stephan Bonnar?  The UFC made it official for UFC 100 today, but relegated it to the “may not be broadcast” prelims.  On one hand, that’s a hell of a place to end up after such a great career (talking about Coleman, obviously. I said great career, not one great fight).  On the other hand, if there’s one UFC card where you can feel okay about being pushed to the prelims, it’s that one.

(When you want to get rid of a bunch of cash in a hurry, but don’t want to deal with the smoky mess that comes along with literally burning it, nothing beats starting up your own MMA organization.)

After rumors spread that Affliction III might possibly try to counter-program UFC 100 on July 11, Affliction’s Tom Atencio is now publicly disavowing any intention to go out kamikaze-style in a blaze of bitterly self-destructive glory.  Atencio said earlier reports that he might try and get his third event on free TV the same night as the UFC’s historic event were nonsense, adding: “In my eyes, it’s not even a possibility. It doesn’t make sense."

That’s true, Tom.  It doesn’t make sense.  But neither does paying Tim Sylvia $800,000, or even bothering to put on a third show if the main event won’t be Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett.  So when will the third Affliction event happen, assuming there is one?  Atencio basically admits that he has no idea, which is hardly surprising. 

But wait a minute, what if this is all a clever ploy?  What if Atencio has figured out that every time he announces an event the UFC finds some way to screw with him?  Maybe this time he’s going to outsmart them.  He won’t even announce when Affliction III is.  It will just happen in the middle of the night on a Tuesday.  No prior warning at all.  Even the fighters won’t know where or when it will be.  They’ll be taken from their homes, blindfolded, and then dropped off at the arena an hour before fight time.  Imagine what a fool Dana White will feel like when he wakes up the next morning and realizes he’s been outfoxed by the t-shirt guy.

You tricky devil, Tom Atencio.  We never knew you had it in you.

As you may have heard already, UFC 100 sold out in record time with all the tickets being snatched up by “UFC Fight Club” members and newsletters subscribers before the general public got so much as a whiff of them.  That’s great news for the UFC since it justifies all the effort they’ve put into making this a historic fight card.  But with the tickets selling out so fast you can’t help but wonder how much of a role scalpers played.

For instance, UFC.com says ticket prices ranged from $100 to $1,000.  But if you check out StubHub.com (the “official fan-to-fan ticket marketplace” of the UFC) right now you’ll see over 1,000 UFC 100 tickets already for sale.  The cheapest one will run you about $428, and needless to say it is not exactly Octagonside.  For that privilege you’ll pay anywhere from $2,500 to $24,000 (ed. note: you fucking kidding me?).  If you are an MMA fan with that kind of money to spend on tickets to a UFC event, then congratulations.  You are Shaquille O’Neal.

(Photo courtesy of NewMexicoBoxing.com.)

The UFC has officially announced five bouts for the supporting card of their historic UFC 100 event, which goes down July 11th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas; tickets go on sale to the general public tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT. Here’s what the lineup looks like so far, according to UFC 100′s fight card page on UFC.com:

Main Card
Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir (for unified heavyweight championship)
Georges St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves (for welterweight championship)
Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping (MW)
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Alan Belcher (MW)

"May not be broadcast"
Jon Jones vs. Jake O’Brien (LHW)
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Jonathan Goulet (WW)
CB Dollaway vs. Tom Lawlor (MW)
Matt Grice vs. Shannon Gugerty (LW)

For some reason, the light-heavyweight match between Mark Coleman and Stephan Bonnar isn’t listed on UFC.com, even though Amir Sadollah confirmed the fight during an "Inside the Octagon" segment on Wednesday’s installment of The Ultimate Fighter. In addition, welterweights Jon Fitch and Paulo Thiago have reportedly agreed to meet at UFC 100, while a new report from MMA Weekly claims that a lightweight bout between Mac Danzig and Jim Miller will also be added to the card.