(Well, it was fun while it lasted. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

According to multiple reports, veteran middleweight Denis Kang has been released from his UFC contract following his second-round TKO loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 105, officially making him the UFC’s Biggest Bust of 2009. Once considered a top-ten middleweight due to his impressive performances in PRIDE and Spirit MC — including an epic 23-fight stretch in 2003-2006 where he didn’t lose a single match — Kang has now lost five of his last nine attempts, including two out of three in the UFC. The dismissal is somewhat surprising since Kang hadn’t lost two in a row, and his scrap with Bisping earned UFC 105′s Fight of the Night. Still, his employers didn’t see a future with him in their organization, and he’s on the free market again. According to MMA Fanhouse, Kang is currently in talks with several promotions in the US and abroad.

Other recent UFC firings include…

(I think we all know what the young male audience was tuning in to see: Randy Couture’s brilliant and intoxicating smile. Props: MMA TKO)

Spike TV is a lot like those jerks who you play in a fantasy football league with.  There’s always one sure way to know when they did better than you, and it’s by checking your email inbox.  Spike sent out another email today touting the triumph of UFC 105 over Strikeforce on CBS, at least among a few key demographics.  According to Spike, UFC 105 drew an average of 2.9 million viewers on Saturday, which is considerably less than the 4.04 million that Strikeforce averaged.  UFC 105 peaked with 3.7 million viewers during the main event, whereas Strikeforce had 5.46 million watching Brett Rogers get his head knocked off. 

But just because they technically lost the overall ratings battle to a network TV event (which is expected), doesn’t mean they can’t hype their own numbers in the young male demographic that the UFC and Spike TV collectively own.  Just check out this handy breakdown they provided:

(Props: MMA TKO…again)

When we heard that Dennis Siver received UFC 105′s Knockout of the Night bonus instead of Andre Winner, who appeared to have seriously affected Roli Delgado’s future consumption of solid foods with that blistering right hand, we were a little taken aback.  But okay, we thought, in all fairness, we hadn’t seen Siver’s knockout.  Winner’s was clearly a brainstem adjustor of the first class variety, but maybe, just maybe, Siver’s was so spectacular that it made Winner look like he’d barely squeaked by.  It’s possible, right?

(You keep making that face, Dan, and it’s going to stick.  Still, at least it attracts attention away from your sideburns.)

It’s no secret that here at the Potato we’re big fans of the phenomenon known as Punch-Face.  Just as no one looks cool sneezing, neither does anyone look cool when being punched in the face.  Okay, maybe Paul Newman, but that’s the one exception.  Fortunately for us, the boys at Fight Magazine were in England for UFC 105 this weekend and they captured a whole slew of punch-faces for us to enjoy.  Will we ever get sick of this?  Maybe one day.  It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be today, though. 

Check out our favorites after the jump, and go here to see the awesome UFC 105 photo gallery from Fight Magazine.

(‘Seriously Brandon, quit it. I’m not going to tell you again.’ Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

The data is in for UFC 105, and now the Potato Index’s arbitrary numerical rankings system is here to tell you who’s up and who’s down after this weekend’s UK action.

Randy Couture +25
It goes down as another win on his permanent record, but it just as easily could have gone the other way.  He’s still great when it comes to executing a game plan, and any man who can bounce back from those kicks to the body is a tough S.O.B., but a methodical, debatable win over a mid-level 205’er doesn’t herald the dawning of a new age for Randy the light heavyweight.

Brandon Vera -21
As close as this fight was, Vera can’t complain.  He spent most of the bout with his back on the fence, and when he finally put Couture in trouble he let him off the hook rather than trying to finish him off.  Sorry, Truth.  Looks like the middle of the pack is where you’re going to stay.

(The word you’re looking for is, Daaaamn! Props: MMA TKO)

Last night’s UFC event in Manchester, England sure drew the locals out of their pubs, setting a new UFC record for attendance at a European event with 16,693 attendees for a live gate of more than $2 million.  That means the UFC had plenty of spare cash for bonuses, and they gave out $40,000 bumps to Michael Bisping and Denis Kang (Fight of the Night), Terry Etim (Submission of the Night), and Denis Siver (KO of the Night).  Etim was the easy choice, since he had the night’s only submission, but we would have thought that Andre Winner earned a KO bonus with the memory-eraser you see above.  Siver’s must have been truly spectacular, or else the UFC is using him as part of a money laundering scheme.  It’s definitely one of those two.

Of course, the decision that handed Randy Couture the win over Brandon Vera at UFC 105 is already being called "controversial," though it was such a close three-round fight that we’d probably be hearing the same gripes if it had gone the other way.  Sure, Vera came the closest to finishing the fight, but that one burst of offense in the econd round was the most significant action of the fight.  Aside from that, it was a lot of Couture pressing Vera up against the fence, stifling any attempts at offense.  That’s never going to be easy to score or even all that satisfying to watch.  One thing we can all agree on, though….

(When Logan saw the scarf, a chill went through her body. The beaten, bloodied man she saw in the alley — suddenly it all made sense. / Photo courtesy of the UFC 105: Weigh in Pics set on CombatLifestyle.)

By now, Randy Couture and Brandon Vera have already headlined UFC 105 in Manchester, England. Either Mike Swick or Dan Hardy has earned a title shot against Georges St. Pierre. Michael Bisping could have put on a heroic performance against Denis Kang in front of his fellow Brits, or he could have been exposed again. Maybe I already know what happened in these fights; if so, I’m not telling, at least not yet. Maybe you know as well, in which case we’re flattered that you’re here, but we’re a little curious as to what you’re doing on CagePotato on a Saturday night, reading descriptions of fights that you’ve already seen live in England or via an Internet feed, or at the very least spoiled for yourself on another website, especially when they’re being shown right now on Spike TV, though if you live on the West Coast, the show won’t even begin for another three hours. It’s all a little mind-bending when you stop to think about it, so don’t. Don’t think. Simply flow, and flow simply. Exist only in this moment. Round-by-round updates from the UFC 105 Spike TV broadcast are after the jump. Refresh the page every few minutes to see the latest, and please leave your thoughts in the comments section. Now, let us watch fights…

(Usually, flying a British flag at half-mast would signify some sort of tragedy. Photo courtesy of the UFC 105: Weigh in Pics set on CombatLifestyle.)

Spoliers after the jump. Come back at 8 p.m. for play-by-play from the Spike broadcast…

I spoke with Brandon Vera for an SI.com article this week about his fight with Randy Couture at UFC 105 and what it would mean for him to beat a legend.  To hear Vera tell it, he realizes that he got a little too full of himself early in his career, but his new training partners have brought him back down to earth.  He says he’s never trained harder for a fight in his life, but he still had some trouble trying to figure out how he’s going to throw anything at Couture that the guy hasn’t already seen:

"I was thinking, what can I do to Randy that he’s never experienced before? I thought long and hard about it and it’s tough because of who he is and how long he’s been in the sport. But Randy’s never fought anybody with kicks and shins like me. I only have to hit him three or four times each round with my shin, and it could change the fight. I’m going to hit Randy like he’s never been hit before."

In other words, he’s going to try to do to Couture what he did to Mike Patt.  But this begs the question, if Vera is so confident in his ability to break opponents down and put them away with his kicks, why didn’t he try to do more of that in his last fight with K-Sos, which he won via a very narrow decision?  His answer might surprise you:

All fighters successfully made weight for UFC 105 in Manchester.  That makes for a positive, though boring story, so we’ll just have to content ourselves with the latest installment of Dana White’s video blog.  It seems DW is entertaining himself in England by looking at a mixture of art and oddities, all in the same afternoon.  The things you can do when you’re a rich fight promoter with a love of high-brow culture and freaky weird stuff. 

The highlight here may be White’s face time with fans, some of whom grill him with questions about Strikeforce and Gina Carano.  At about the 5:07 mark we see the world’s biggest Dan Henderson fan, who tells Dana in no uncertain terms, "Sign Hendo back.  He’s the best fighter in the world, sign him back."  That does not sound like a request, Mr. White.  That’s an in-your-face demand.  Pay Henderson his "obscene" amount of money, or face that kid’s chubby wrath.

Full weigh-in results are after the jump.

(Couture was under the impression that everyone would be wearing scarves in England, but now he just feels like a jerk. Thanks for nothing, Tim Gunn. Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle.)

First, let’s set aside a couple ugly rumors regarding betting on UK UFC cards.  There is no truth to the suggestion that your money, once you inevitably lose it by betting big on Shannon Gugerty, will go to Buckingham Palace’s “moat fund.”  Even if the event is in England, your squandered cash still goes to the same off-shore betting establishments as usual.  And no, those off-shore bookies aren’t going to then use the money to hire models to do bikini jiu-jitsu.  That’s old hat to them by now.  At this point the only way they can still feel alive is by renting that cabin in Canada where all the online bookmakers gather each year to hunt the ultimate prey: man!

Now that that’s out of the way, here are the most favorable UFC 105 odds on the internet, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com:

Randy Couture (-105) vs. Brandon Vera (-103)
Mike Swick (-210) vs. Dan Hardy (+199)
Michael Bisping (+112) vs. Denis Kang (-117)
James Wilks (+138) vs. Matt Brown (-151)
Ross Pearson (+180) vs. Aaron Riley (-200)
Paul Taylor (+210) vs. John Hathaway (-240)
Terry Etim (-325) vs. Shannon Gugerty (+300)
Nick Osipczak (+265) vs. Matt Riddle (-290)
Paul Kelly (-320) vs. Dennis Siver (+300)
Alexander Gustafsson (+135) vs. Jared Hamman (-139)
Andre Winner (-325) vs. Roli Delgado (+325)

The breakdown…

(Like a kid on freaking Christmas. Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle’s UFC 105 press conference gallery.)

We can stop lamenting the lack of psychologically screwy antics from Dan Hardy, because "The Outlaw" kicked it up a notch during the UFC 105 press conference in Manchester.  Hardy showed up to present a "Runner-Up" trophy to Mike Swick in advance of their bout on Saturday and Swick, as you can see, was pretty excited about the whole thing.  But just when you think you’ve played a clever little joke on Swick, he turns it around on you:

"I want to thank Dan Hardy for this trophy.  It means a lot.  Coming runner-up in a press conference is pretty cool.  I just want everyone to know that I’m giving this right back to him after the fight.  My corner guys will carry it to the Octagon.  But I’ll keep it for now."

And just like that, the jokester becomes the fool.  If Marcus Davis and his indignant rage demonstrated the exact wrong way to deal with Hardy’s ribbing, Swick’s grinning reversal is probably the perfect blueprint for how to take Hardy’s jokes in stride.  Plus, how sweet is it going to be if Swick manages to knock Hardy out and then present him with that trophy when he comes to?  Answer: extremely sweet.  

(Hamman vs. Po’ai Suganuma 2, 8/15/08)

The UFC’s trip to Manchester this Saturday will feature just two new faces — and they’ll be fighting each other. So who’s got the better chance of making a successful Octagon debut? Get the know the newbies below and make your predictions…

JARED HAMMAN (LHW)
Experience: 10-1 record (all wins by stoppage in the first two rounds), with appearances in Strikeforce and ShoXC. Last competed in August 2008, where he avenged his only loss — a 15-second flying-knee-related TKO against Po’ai Suganuma that many felt was an early stoppage.
Will be facing: Alexander Gustafsson (see below)
Lowdown: A protege of Brian Warren at Unbreakable Gym and Vladimir Matyushenko at VMAT, the California-bred Jared Hamman was building up momentum as an exciting light-heavyweight prospect when his contract was put on ice in the wake of Pro Elite’s collapse. Or so he thought: "When EliteXC went down, I was told that my contract was being held and being transferred over to Strikeforce. I had plenty of opportunities to fight, but I was told that I couldn’t because I was still under contract…During a meeting with my manager it was discovered that I was a free agent. UFC made me an offer and I went with what I felt was the best decision…In the end, it has given me a whole year to work on my game and increase my skill."

(Props: MMAVIDS09 via Bloody Elbow)

After the controversial ending to Machida vs. Rua, the UFC is looking to bounce back hard in their next event (November 14th; Manchester, England), which features three very compelling bouts on the main card. Headlining UFC 105 will be Randy Couture‘s return to the light-heavyweight division against Brandon Vera, who describes the match as "what we’ve been training for since day one." A win for Vera may finally establish his legitimacy at 205; a win for Couture staves off retirement for at least one more fight and puts him on the path to a title shot.

Supporting the main event will be Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang. Bisping is looking to erase the memory of his knockout loss to Dan Henderson in July, while Kang wants to introduce himself to UFC fans in this fight (despite the fact that he’s already fought in the Octagon twice) and feels he can do everything better than the Count. Also, Mike Swick and Dan Hardy meet up in a classic U.S. vs. U.K. battle. Hardy has been training his boxing with Freddie Roach — could it be the advantage he needs to survive Quick’s onslaught?

The full UFC 105 lineup is after the jump…

(Props: TheRyanLoco via MMA Mania)

Good news for all us po’ folks: UFC 105 (November 14th; Manchester, England) will be broadcast via tape delay on Spike. In the main event, Randy Couture kicks off one last title run when he takes on light-heavyweight Brandon Vera, who has won his last two bouts against Mike Patt and Krzysztof Soszynski. According to Vera in the interview above, the prospect of fighting a living legend like Randy was the only thing that would make him want to fight in England so soon after his last fight. Couture was an early influence an him, and he describes the matchup as "an honor and a blessing and a punishment, all at the same time." Vera also says his underutilized wrestling is "retarded" (as in, retarded-awesome), though he’ll be standin’ and bangin’ as much as possible. Will the Truth finally silence the haters by conquering the 46-year-old Hall of Famer? Your predictions, please.

UFC 105′s current lineup is after the jump…

(What a difference five months makes. Now, Swick and Hardy are mortal enemies, Edith has been replaced by a blonde, and Jon Fitch is currently living in Seattle as "Joan Fitch." Photo courtesy of MikeSwick.com.)

In our exclusive interview with Mike Swick yesterday, Quick referred to Dan Hardy as a "good guy" and a "very genuine person," but still vowed to beat him up on November 14th. Luckily, Hardy feels the same way. Here’s his assessment of his next opponent from UFC.com’s official announcement of the match:

(King of the world.)

While a concussion sustained in training cost him a chance to fight Martin Kampmann to determine the UFC’s top welterweight contender, Mike Swick didn’t have to wait long for another fight offer to come his way.  The AKA product has agreed to face Dan Hardy at UFC 105 in Manchester, England on November 14,  and the winner will likely get the next shot at Georges St. Pierre’s title.  We called up Swick to discuss the news, and to ask him some other pressing questions, like, what’s up with AKA fighters and their fixation on calling out Matt Hughes?  As usual, Swick did not disappoint.

So you and Dan Hardy at UFC 105.  Is this official, bout agreements signed and everything?

Yeah, I signed it right when it came in.

What did you think when they offered you Hardy?

I was excited just to get the opportunity.  I actually agreed before I knew who it was.  The UFC just called me and asked if I’d like to fight on November 14 and I said yes.  Then later my manager called as well and said that there was an injury and they needed a replacement, and I told him to tell the UFC that whoever it was they had in mind, I’d fight him.  So the UFC came back and said it’s Dan Hardy, or if for some reason Dan Hardy can’t make the fight it could be someone else, and I said yeah, let’s do it.  I’m just excited to get back in there.  I didn’t want to have to wait until January.

(Images courtesy of Dan Hardy’s Facebook page and Mike Swick’s Twitter feed, via BloodyElbow.)

UFC president Dana White has confirmed to MMA Fanhouse that a welterweight fight between Mike Swick and Dan Hardy is in the works, with the winner potentially getting the next shot at Georges St. Pierre’s belt. Though the bout hasn’t yet been tied to a specific event, UFC 105 (November 14th, Manchester) seems likely, as British fan-favorite Hardy was already rumored to face Dong Hyun Kim on the card, while Swick has expressed a desire to return to action quickly after a concussion suffered in training scrapped his scheduled fight against Martin Kampmann at UFC 103.

Mike Swick (14-2) has been a perfect 4-0 since dropping to the welterweight division, winning decisions over Josh Burkman and Marcus Davis, and impressive stoppage victories over Jonathan Goulet and Ben Saunders. Dan Hardy (22-6, 1 no contest) has also been on a tear since he signed with the UFC last year, earning split-decisions against Akihiro Gono and Marcus Davis, and knocking the daylights out of Rory Markham at UFC 95.

Though Georges St. Pierre is still rehabbing the groin injury he suffered in his decision win against Thiago Alves in July, he expects to be ready for action by early next year.

From UFC.com:

In his first fight outside the USA in nearly nine years, legendary five-time UFC champion Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture will headline UFC 105 at the MEN Arena, Manchester, in a fascinating* light heavyweight collision with Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera on November 14. Tickets go on general public release this morning (Monday September 14) and are available via ticketmaster.co.uk and the MEN Arena box office from 10AM. Both Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy will be signing autographs at the MEN Arena box office from 5:30pm on this evening.

The most successful division-jumper in the history of mixed martial arts, Couture, 16-10** in MMA, has already reigned twice as light heavyweight champion of the world in addition to his three triumphs in the heavyweight category. Now the Hall of Famer will storm into Manchester to renew his quest for an unprecedented sixth world championship.

“I would love to be a six-time UFC champion, to set the bar very high in that regard, and that’s what I want to accomplish at 205lbs,” said the Natural. “That is my immediate goal. I am very intrigued by the current light heavyweight division, there are some great matchups for me here, and I believe I have to tools to win back the 205lbs title.”***

(Sometimes it takes a caricature artist to see a person for who they really are. In Randy’s case, a kind and joyful champion who suffers from Proteus syndrome. Image courtesy of Ron Chan.)

As negotiations for Henderson/Marquardt remain stalled, the UFC is working on a backup plan for the headliner of UFC 105 (November 14, Manchester). According to Bloody Elbow, reliable sources indicate that Randy Couture will return to the Octagon two-and-a-half months after his decision loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 102, to take on Brandon Vera in a light-heavyweight bout. As BE writes:

We’re guessing that Rashad refused the fight against Randy because they’re now part of the same unified monolithlic MMA camp, Xtreme Greg’s, and everybody knows that Xtreme Greg fighters don’t fight each other unless there’s a title on the line; it’s more than a team, it’s a brotherhood.

Like Couture, Vera last competed at UFC 102, where he scratched out an unimpressive decision victory over Krzysztof Soszynski. If this fight comes together, it will be Couture’s first match at 205 pounds since his knockout loss to Chuck Liddell at UFC 57. Any predictions on the outcome?

(He thought that the throne would give him pleasure; the salesgirl at Pier 1 Imports specifically told him it would. But as he sunk deeper into the red velvet and began to watch the America’s Got Talent semi-finals, a tremendous ennui overtook him. Photo courtesy of Esther Lin/Showtime.)

Here we are, one month after Carano vs. Cyborg, and we still don’t know when Strikeforce is going to put on its next big event. October 10 has been floated as a tentative date for Fedor vs. Rogers, but it hasn’t been made official yet, and it would only give Strikeforce a month to promote the card. (Assuming Strikeforce starts promoting it today, hypothetically.) The hesitation is an unfortunate momentum-killer for Scott Coker & Co., but the reason for the delay is obvious: The longer Strikeforce waits, the more difficult it would be for the UFC to counter-program them with an impromptu live event. When you consider that Anderson Silva may not really be having elbow surgery and could potentially be unleashed at any time to headline a card on Spike TV, this is a very legitimate concern.

So yesterday, Michael Rome at Bloody Elbow had an eyebrow-raising solution: Strikeforce should schedule Fedor vs. Rogers on November 21st, the same night as UFC 106, which will of course feature Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin and Tito Ortiz vs. Mark Coleman. Why wait for the UFC to be the aggressor? After all:

(Write on his boots at your own peril. Photo courtesy of urdirt.com.)

After winning a unanimous decision over Andre Winner at the TUF 9 finale to score the season’s lightweight contract, former Team U.K. member Ross Pearson is set to begin his post-TUF career at UFC 105 (November 14th, Manchester). MMA Weekly reports that Pearson will take on Aaron Riley, who’s coming off his own decision win against Shane Nelson at UFC 101.

Team U.K. will be dominating the Manchester card, with welterweight winner James Wilks reportedly fighting Matt Brown, lightweight runner-up Andre Winner booked against Roli Delgado, and coach Michael Bisping slated to fight Denis Kang in the co-headlining bout; the card’s main event hasn’t yet been determined. Elsewhere on the card, Team U.S.A. welterweight nemesis DaMarques Johnson takes on German fighter Peter Sobotta, Paul Kelly faces Dennis Siver — another German fighter; do we detect an Allies vs. Axis theme? — and rising welterweight star Dan Hardy will likely fight Dong Hyun Kim. The event is expected to be broadcast for free on Spike.

Related: "I am going to go for the KO like Hendo!…To me he is not ‘cocky Michael Bisping,’ he is just a sack of flesh and bones across the Octagon that I am waiting to pound on." — Denis Kang

(James Wilks chokes out DaMarques Johnson at the TUF 9 finale in June. Props: OC Register)

If you’re like us, you may have already forgotten that there was a ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter, which featured a bunch of guys from the U.K., two of whom won six-figure contracts with the UFC. But what TUF 9 lacked in drama and overall talent level, it more than made up for in…in…uh…sorry, lost my train of thought there. Anyway, James Wilks is probably going to fight Matt "The Immortal" Brown at UFC 105 (November 14th, Manchester). Oddly enough, it will be Wilks’s first fight in England; the well-rounded welterweight scrapper moved to the U.S. in 2000, and competed only in California before joining the TUF 9 cast. Brown is the TUF 7 vet and former drug addict who has looked very sharp following his reality show stint, and is coming off back-to-back stoppage victories over Ryan Thomas and (infamously) Pete Sell.

Also on the Manchester card will be Wilks’s TUF 9 rival, DaMarques Johnson. According to MMA Weekly, the Salt Lake City native will be taking on Peter Sobotta, who dropped a unanimous decision to Paul Taylor during his Octagon debut at UFC 99. Needless to say, the loser of this fight had better hope that Strikeforce is hiring. As of now, no other fights have been confirmed for UFC 105.

(Props: drunkenunicorn)

According to Fighters Only, the UFC has just rescued Paul "Semtex" Daley from Affliction’s wreckage, signing the British 170-pounder to a four-fight contract. Daley, who was scheduled to fight Jay Hieron on the undercard of "Trilogy" before the event was canceled, is the former Cage Rage welterweight champion, and sports a record of 21-8-2, with 17 of his wins coming via stoppage due to strikes. He holds notable wins over Duane Ludwig, Jess Liaudin, Xavier Foupa-Pokam, and John Alessio. As FO explains:

(Sure he’ll fight again.  But he just got the "Wings" DVD box set and, well, you know how it is once you get sucked into a series.)

Hasn’t it just been that kind of week, fight fans?  As soon as something good or interesting or at least newsworthy seems like it might happen, the goddamn facts come swooping in to ruin all the fun.

Wanderlei Silva’s manager tells Fighters Only that they haven’t even discussed the possibility of fighting Michael Bisping at UFC 105, and suggests that even if they had their answer probably would have been no.  Apparently Silva wants to wait until February before he fights again so he can “take time off to heal his body and mind.”  Plus he’s got this gym to worry about and some vague “business affairs” (just say you’re not investing in puppy mills and we’ll believe you) to attend to.   A lot of stuff on his plate, in other words.

So there it is, another rumor destroyed, another dream deferred.  Oh well.

Before we get started, let me just point out that MMABay.co.uk has an accuracy rate of about .500 when it comes to breaking news — which is great if you’re batting cleanup, and not so great if you’re an MMA news site. So take the validity of this rumor as somewhere between "Kimo Leopoldo is dead" and "Josh Barnett is innocent." Anyway: