(“If this isn’t a world where Mitt Romney is president, you can just put me back to sleep thank you very much.”) 

As we mentioned in our head to head assessment of this weekend’s UFC Macao main event matchup, Rich Franklin is one tough SOB. So tough, in fact, that he not only managed to fight through a broken arm in his UFC 115 match against Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell, but even made sure to finish Liddell before the bell rung, for the fight could have likely been called in Liddell’s favor had both men made it to their corners.

So with the main card action kicking off at a completely reasonable 9 a.m. EST this Saturday, the UFC has released a couple of Franklin’s (as well as Le’s) fights online to give us all a little refresher course on what our two headliners have been up to. It’s a noble effort, but there’s simply no way in hell I will have recovered from my night of binge drinking, bum fighting, and huffing paint thinner through an old grease rag in time to catch any of the main card matchups live. They’re called priorities.

Anyway, head after the jump to take a stroll down memory lane, even though you probably remember the intricacies of this fight better than ol’ Chucky boy does.

There is mounting evidence to suggest that the city of Vancouver – and indeed the entire province of British Columbia – views MMA and its fans as a roving band of savages who are going to storm the town with torches and two-by-fours, burning every building and raping every damsel before climbing on their snarling horses and moving on to pillage the next village. At least that’s the impression we get from a number of local news reports leading up to June’s UFC 131. First there were reports from the Vancouver Courier that the police chief in The Couv was asking the UFC to foot the bill for extra cops outside the Rogers Arena during the event. The UFC rightly said no to that request last week. Now older reports are beginning to surface that the local government squashed a planned MMA expo last year and even one (from our own M-Russ in his previous incarnation at The Fight Network) alleging that area nightclubs tried to ban Affliction clothing as far back as 2007.

So, what gives? Why so petrified, Vancouver? Did somebody forget to tell them Brock Lesnar’s probably not even going to show up now? We hate to break the news this way, but the UFC has actually been doing shows all over the world for kind of a lot of years now and all of them – as far as we know – are still standing and operational as, you know, cities. From where we’re sitting it seems way more dangerous to say, have your team win the NBA championship than host a UFC event. Oh, wait. Sorry. Forgot. Anyway, more on this story, the UFC’s reaction and the possible roots of Vancouver’s MMA phobia after the jump.

(What’s the best way to say "I’m sorry" to a guy who kicks people in the head for a living? PicProps: UFC.com)

Full disclosure time, PotatoNation. In the immediate aftermath of UFC 115, the asshole Weekend Editor of this website (that would be me) wrote a piece criticizing Pat Barry for doing too much grippin’-and-grinnin’ in the Octagon during his submission loss to Mirko Cro Cop. Now that new shit has come to light – including but not limited to an insightful interview with Old Dad published Sunday over on MMAFighting.com – I’d like to say: Damn, playa. My bad.

Turns out, after breaking both his right hand and right foot during the first round, Barry was coping with excruciating pain and what he himself describes as “complete, oh-shit-I-don’t-know-what-to-do panic” for the remainder of the bout.  Viewed with the benefit of that information, Barry’s performance seems not tentative and awe-struck as I first implied, but actually extremely courageous. So yeah, sorry about that stuff I said earlier, Pat.

(Way to let personal opinion get in the way of making an informed decision, North Vancouver.)

City of North Vancouver city council squashed any possibility that the city will sanction mixed martial arts events any time in the near future as it voted to disband the North Vancouver Athletic Commission Monday night, according to the Northshore Outlook.

“I’ve watched enough of it (Ultimate Fighting Championship) channel surfing to know that I find it repugnant … barbaric,” said Coun. Pam Bookham in the interview with The Outlook.

("Could you make it out to ‘the guy that ended my career’?")

According to Rich Franklin’s business manager, J.T. Stewart the former UFC middleweight champion will not require surgery for the broken ulna he sustained in his UFC 115 knockout win over Chuck Liddell last month.

Stewart told MMAJunkie that Franklin could be back in the Octagon as soon as December.

"He needed to make sure it healed correctly," Stewart said. "He was feeling good. A few days before (the doctor’s appointment), he was telling some people, ‘I don’t think I’m going to need surgery. It’s feeling pretty good.’"

(Photo courtesy Zuffa)

Heavy.com is reporting that the automatic rematch Dana White promised Mac Danzig after a questionable stoppage in his fight with Matt Wiman at UFC 115 will take place September 15 at UFC Fight Night 22 in Austin, TX.

The controversy arose when Danzig, caught in a guillotine, seemed to be unresponsive to referee Yves Lavigne’s inquiries about whether he was okay or not, prompting Wiman to inform the experienced French-Canadian official that Mac was indeed unconscious.

The problem was, Danzig was still wide awake; he just didn’t want to shift his position as it may have closed the space he had made between Wiman’s forearm and his corotid artery, causing him to fall asleep. 

(Chuck demonstrating the moves that got him voted off Dancing With the Stars)

Chuck Liddell was in Toronto and Peterborough, Ontario over the weekend to help out his 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu instructor, Scott Epstein in a pair of training seminars taught by his TUF 11 assistant coach in the two Canadian cities.

Although he declined our request for an interview (not sure why), he did speak with Mike Davies from the Peterborough Examiner about the crossroads he is facing in his career after his knockout loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 115 — his third KO in as many fights.

"I haven’t talked about it at all. I still don’t plan to for a little bit. I have to talk to Dana and my guys and see what I’m going to do," Liddell said Sunday afternoon. "It’s a lot harder decision when I thought I looked great until I got caught. I was winning the fight and winning the fight pretty good, I thought."

(No wonder Chuck doesn’t want to retire. I’d fight Fedor, Velasquez, Lesnar and Dos Santos in a four-man tag-team match for $500,000)

The Vancouver Athletic Commission released the fighters’ salaries, medical suspensions and revenue figures from UFC 115. According to the report, Chuck Liddell was the highest paid fighter on the card that took in a $4.2 million live gate with a "show" pay of $500,000 USD. Not a bad gold watch for his UFC retirement fight.

Fighters salaries totalled $1.85 million, which accounted for 31% of the live gate of the event. 17,669 attended the second Canadian show put on by the UFC in 2010;  1,296 of whom were comped tickets by the promotion and 1,752 watched the action from private suites. According to the release, only 138 tickets went unsold for the show.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic was the second highest paid fighter with $150,000 which included a $75,000 win bonus for his rear naked choke submission over Pat Barry. Cro Cop also took home an additional $85,000 for submission of the night, but bonus awards and undisclosed back room bonuses paid out by the UFC are not included in the commission’s salary summary.

12 fighters, including Rich Franklin, Chuck Liddell, Pat Barry, Mirko Filipovic and Rory MacDonald were handed 180 day suspensions while the remainder of the fighters were given from 45-14 days off from training and fighting for lesser injuries or precautionary reasons.

The full list is after the jump:

(David Loiseau waits for the merciful hand of the referee against Mario Miranda at UFC 115. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

After taking a rather ugly TKO loss against Mario Miranda during the UFC 115 preliminary card earlier this month, Canadian veteran David Loiseau has been officially released by the UFC. The firing represents the fourth time that Loiseau has parted ways with the UFC since 2003, as well as his fourth-straight defeat in the Octagon — a losing skid that began with his unsuccessful shot at Rich Franklin’s middleweight title at UFC 58.

Following UFC 115, Dana White was openly disappointed with the way Loiseau performed: "David’s been in this sport a long time, and again tonight he got dominated on the ground. That’s his problem…I’m sure (UFC matchmaker) Joe (Silva) is probably going to cut him after this fight, and David will probably have to work his way back up again…He’s been around the game a long time, like I said, but he keeps getting dominated on the ground." 

Buncha savages in this town. Props to MMA TKO and MiddleEasy.

(Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com’s UFC 115 Fight Night Photos gallery.)

Chuck Liddell may have lost his ability to take a punch, but he still had enough offensive firepower at UFC 115 to break Rich Franklin’s arm with the first body kick he threw. Following their meeting on Saturday night, Ace confirmed that he broke his left ulna during the fight, and would be in a cast for at least eight weeks. As the former UFC middleweight champ told reporters at the post-fight press conference:

"I definitely wasn’t going to quit — I’ve broken bones before and continued fighting — but there was part of me that was wondering what kind of strategy I was going to use to win the fight with a broken left arm in the second and third rounds." 

…proving once again that knocking your opponent out early is always the best gameplan. (Are you listening, Pat?) Liddell woke up from his knockout with a horribly split lip and a gash over his left eye, but that didn’t stop him from making an appearance at his afterparty. A photographic timeline of Chuck’s night continues after the jump.

(This moment brought to you by FreeHugsCampaign.org. This pic brought to you by UFC.com.)

In MMA, we’re constantly being reminded that one of the many things that makes our sport great is the mutual respect and admiration between the athletes. As fans, there’s something inspiring about seeing two guys pound each other for 15 minutes and then smile and shake hands afterward. It’s also fun to see guys fight when it seems like they’re really enjoying themselves. The sportsmanship, the camaraderie, the brotherhood; that stuff is great. But last night at UFC 115, all the smoking-and-joking and gripping-and-grinning might well have cost Pat Barry a win.

(VidProps: MMA Fighting)

Regardless of how you think of Chuck Liddell on a personal level, it was hard not to feel bad for the guy last night. Liddell seemed just seconds away from heading back to his corner up 1-0 during his UFC 115 main event fight against Rich Franklin, after showing off a surprisingly diverse striking attack and even a takedown during the opening stanza. Then Franklin clipped him with a short right square on the jaw and as soon as Liddell’s rigid body hit the canvas, you could almost hear the entire MMA world sigh and say: Well, that’s the end of that.

And it was. Hopefully for good this time. In the above video with Ariel Helwani, UFC President Dana White guaran-damn-tees that we’ve really, absolutely seen the end of “The Iceman” in the Octagon. Liddell was taken to the hospital immediately following the fight, so he and White had not yet spoken at the time of filming, but there’s no arguing with the decision. At this point in his career – after three consecutive ugly KO losses – it’s starting to look like a solid gust of wind has to potential to knock Liddell stiff. It’s time to pull the plug on this thing while he still has most of his faculties.

Some decent fights tonight. I’m guessing we’ve seen the last of "The Crow" and "The Iceman" and we’ll be seeing a lot more of Rich Franklin (once his arm heals) Rory MacDonald, Martin Kampmann, Carlos Condit and Claude Patrick.

I’m thinking Cro Cop UFC career may be close to its expiry date considering he is on the last fight of his contract and he carries an exorbitant price tag, but you never know.

Check out the post-fight presser after the jump. It should start around 1:30am ET.

(Maybe now I can get some RE$PECT!)

I just got back from the MMA Expo in Toronto and will have a bunch of interesting video, audio and text versions of interviews I did with Forrest Griffin, Karo Parisyan, King Mo’, Bibiano Fernandes, Firas Zahabi, Shonie Carter, Ryan Ford and Dan Miller up on the site this week.

Unfortunately, I was unable to land one with Jake Shields, as, immediately following his teaching session at the Paradise Warrior Retreat, he was whisked away in a car to catch a plane to Vancouver to attend tonight’s UFC show.

I had a small window of time for a brief exchange as he walked to the parking lot, so I handed him the Photoshop I did of him outside the pawn shop after selling the Strikeforce belt and questioned why it was so important that he be at the show tonight. I asked him if we can expect an announcement at the show that he was Octagon-bound, to which he replied, "Not yet," but what else could he say if an announcement is forthcoming?

I’d say there’s a pretty good chance we’ll hear something tonight.

*FYI, he had already seen the picture as a someone had sent him a copy.

"Yeah, I’ve seen that one. It’s funny, but it isn’t real," he said. "Somebody Photoshopped it."

(Video courtesy of YouTube/GoodMorningTexas)

Gone are the days of seeing Chuck all hopped up on "NyQuil" rambling on about fighting Tommy Morrison and Vernon "Tiger" White on morning television. "The Iceman" has reinvented himself physically for his fight with Rich Franklin tomorrow night in Vancouver at UFC 115, which means night clubs and pharmacies have taken a hit beyond what the recession dealt them.

Feel free to rewatch the video, reminisce about this bizarre moment in MMA history and talk amongst yourselves until the stream of the weigh-ins goes live tonight at 7pm ET.

As always, the link to the UFC media player is after the jump

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC)

The UFC takes its traveling roadshow to Vancouver, in spite of some friction from residents and the city who seem a tad bit opposed to the Octagon invasion in their city.

(photo courtesy Esther Lin/allelbows.com)

(Chuck just enjoying life at Shady Acres Retirement home.)

Fighters Only caught up with Dana White this week and spoke about Chuck Liddell’s future with the promotion should the Iceman lose to Rich Franklin at UFC 115. According to the UFC president, Liddell will be given a gold watch and a nice retirement package if he doesn’t win Saturday night.

“Yes[he'll be done], and I think he will say the same thing. But let me tell you what the difference is – the difference before, when I wanted him retired, was that he wasn’t doing the right thing," White said. "He was out partying every night and doing the wrong thing not the right thing. He wasn’t living the life of a professional athlete."

By CagePotato contributor Dallas Winston
To see past installments of Dallas’s incredibly thorough (and usually accurate) fight breakdowns, click here.

The UFC’s infusion of Pride and other overseas fighters had a significant impact on the nearly invincible aura surrounding Chuck Liddell and Rich Franklin.

Only a few short years ago, the duo had thoroughly cleaned out their respective divisions as UFC champions, shellacking any and all takers with unorthodox striking that commonly ended in highlight-reel knockouts, until Pride’s demise opened the flood gates for an influx of hungry new blood.

Before first meeting Anderson Silva in 2006, Franklin boasted a stout 20-1-1 clip, ending all contests but one by stoppage — fourteen of which were handled in the opening frame — with some mysterious karate guy accounting for his only stain on the carpet. Since that dark eve of the profoundly deviated septum at UFC 64, Franklin has notched a mediocre 5-4 run, checkered by three brutal first-round beatings and one tight decision loss, all dealt by former Pride fighters (although Vitor Belfort’s classification should remain amorphous).

(Video courtesy YouTube/UFC.com)

As much as I dig the production and polish of the UFC Primetime series, I still enjoy watching the traditional UFC Countdown shows because they offer more than just an inside glimpse into the camps and pre-fight lives of the two main event fighters. 

Tonight’s UFC 115 countdown features interviews and training footage featuring Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell, Rich "Ace" Franklin, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic and Pat "HD" Barry.

(Evan Dunham sets up the armbar that would earn him a Submission of the Night bonus at UFC Fight Night 20. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

By CagePotato.com contributor Elias Cepeda

For most fans outside of the Northwest, lightweight up-and-comer Evan Dunham (10-0) has seemingly come out of nowhere to win three in a row in the UFC, including his arm bar submission win over TUF 8 winner Efrain Escudero in January. Next, Dunham will take on one of the division’s top contenders Tyson Griffin at UFC 115 on June 12th. It’s an interesting matchup made much more so by the fact that the two had trained together at Xtreme Couture for the past year. Now living in Las Vegas and training full time, Dunham talks with CagePotato about dealing with fighting a training partner, what kept him in the sport when he thought he would leave forever, and what the biggest factor in his fight against Griffin will be.

CAGEPOTATO.COM: You just came back from the UFC Fan Expo last weekend. How was that for you?

EVAN DUNHAM: It was a good time all around. I went there and did some signing for Ecko Unlimited, a couple hours each day. I was more than happy to do that.

Did you happen to run into Tyson Griffin at all there? Is that something that you thought about beforehand, “I might run into him here”?

No, I didn’t see Tyson. I think he was at the fights or something. I have no idea, I haven’t seen him.

Heading into your last fight against Efrain Escudero, almost all of the attention was placed on him because he was so well known after winning The Ultimate Fighter. Did you feel like an underdog in that fight?

I’m always considered the underdog, even in this next fight coming up. But I never see myself as the underdog. I think it is kind of good luck for me for people to put me in that position because it just makes me work harder. It is supposedly an up-hill battle for me but I know what I’m capable of so it’s not really a problem. If they want to pay more attention to him, that’s great. Because that just means all that attention is going to go back to me when I win.

Has anything changed for you since that win?

(Liddell vs. Franklin hype reel, courtesy of 13berhanus.)

We don’t want you guys to panic or anything, but this coming weekend is utterly dead in terms of mixed martial arts competition. Seriously, even Bellator is taking a bye week. So, instead of wasting your time by asking you to enter MMA FightPicker pools for Triumph Fighter, Inferno!, we’re just going to have a two-week entry period for UFC 115 (June 12th, Vancouver). The question list for "Liddell vs. Franklin" is after the jump — study hard, make your predictions, and make us proud. No, you’ll never catch up with the Aaron Rampeys and surf_finlands of the world, but hey, if you’re doing it for the glory, you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.

As for UFC 114‘s pools, the less said about them the better. Mike Russow, John Hathaway, and Dong Hyun Kim pretty much shot my picks to shit. Men make parlay bets, and God laughs…

(Props: tj.labs)

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

(Props: Brian R.)

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

From Clay Guida’s "Eddie the Head" tribute, to Jens Pulver as Little Mac, to Tri-Coasta’s now-ubiquitous Korean Zombie design, we’re suckers for a good custom fighter t-shirt. And since our recent MMA event poster design contest was a smashing success, we figured we should let our artistically gifted readers battle it out again in a brand-new contest: Can you design America’s Next Top Fighter T-Shirt?

Details of the contest are after the jump, but we thought it would be important to let you know what you stand to win. Short answer: Everything. You stand to win everything. Longer answer: A personal television from FLO TV, with access to the pay-per-view broadcast of UFC 115. In case you’re unaware of this lovely little device, here’s a quick rundown: The FLO TV Personal Television is a mobile handheld viewer that allows you to watch TV wherever you go, on its subscription-based network of channels. (12 months of their standard service comes included with every FLO TV.) Beginning with UFC 113, FLO TV is now a distributor of UFC PPV events, and they want one lucky member of the Potato Nation to watch Liddell vs. Franklin on his/her very own mobile television. Total street value of this prize package: About $425. Kenny Florian can vouch for this product personally, but if you need more info, go here and here. Information on FLO TV coverage areas can be found at flotv.com. 

You want it. Here’s how to get it.

(Loiseau spinning back kicking Charles McCarthy out of the UFC)

David “The Crow” Loiseau won’t have long to wait before he gets the opportunity to fight for the UFC again in Canada.

CagePotato.com has learned that the 30-year-old Montreal fighter, who due to licensing issues was bumped off the UFC 113 card that takes place in his hometown this weekend, has signed to face Mario Miranda on the undercard at UFC 115 June 12 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“The Crow,” who was slated to face John Salter Saturday night, was replaced by fellow Canadian Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald when Quebec’s commission, (the Régie des Alcools, des Courses et des Jeux) held back from issuing his license to fight in the province until an investigation into Loiseau’s alleged ties to an organized criminal group could be completed. Police cleared Loiseau of any criminal involvement on Wednesday, but it was a day late and a dollar short, as the UFC had offered MacDonald the fight the day before as show was less than a week and a half away.

(What has one pinky and one thumb up and wants a  title shot? This guy!)

Speaking exclusively with CagePotato.com on Thursday afternoon, Rich Franklin revealed that his days as a middleweight in the UFC are likely numbered and that he is planning on making the best of his new permanent home at light heavyweight by working towards a title shot in his final five fights on his contract.

According to the former UFC middleweight champ, the decision to abandon the weight class he once reigned over in the Octagon was not entirely a personal one.

"The UFC has repeatedly told me that they aren’t interested in seeing me fight at 185 any more. Because of that, I moved up to 205. It all comes down to the fact that they didn’t want to do a Franklin-Silva III," Franklin explains. "I’m a ‘never say never’ type of guy, but the problem is that if the UFC doesn’t want to see me do a title match at 185,  ultimately I would be stuck fighting in that weight class without ever being able to fight for a title again, which would make no sense since that is the whole reason we do this and the goal we work towards as fighters." 

("They used Krazy Glue to fix the problem, so I guess you can say my brain is a bit more crazy now." — Thiago Alves)

Three weeks ago, and only a few days prior to his UFC 111 showdown with fellow UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch, officials from the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board (NJSACB) discovered an abnormality in Thiago Alves’ brain and pulled him from the card. If left untreated, Doctors informed the 24-year-old that the affliction could have proven fatal had he incurred any brain trauma from fighting or even sparring.

NJSACB medical official, Dr. Sherry Wulkan is credited with discovering Alves’ condition from a discrepancy between a CT scan image done on the Brazilian fighter in 2005 and one he had taken a week before the ill-fated fight with Fitch. Subsequent tests revealed that an artery in Thiago’s brain was dangerously close to becoming fused with a neighboring vein.

Alves explains that although it would not necessarily have proven fatal under normal circumstances, had the two vessels joined, his chances of mortality would have increased tenfold.

(The UFC returns to Canada, with a title on the line. Specifically, the title of "Saddest Former Champion.")

UFC fans have responded to the news of UFC 115′s headliner switch with a collective "WHOFREAKIN’CARESGIMMEGIMMEGIMME!" According to a recent update on UFC.com, their June 12th event at General Motors Place in Vancouver sold out just 30 minutes after the pre-sale began yesterday morning, officially making UFC 115 the fastest sellout in UFC history. The sellout happened long before seats were made available to the general public, so if you’re an average non-Fight Club member, it’s time to get scalped.

On the topic of his new opponent Rich Franklin, Chuck Liddell said pretty much what you’d think he’d say, telling UFC.com: “I’m ready for this fight, I’m in the best shape of my life, and I can’t wait to get back in the Octagon. I can’t tell the fans what happens in the Ultimate Fighter 11, you have to watch the show, but I’ll tell you how this is gonna end, I’m knocking Rich out.” Franklin is coming off his TKO loss against Vitor Belfort in September, while Liddell is riding back-to-back knockout losses at the hands of Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua. Against Rich Franklin, Chuck will be in more danger to suffer his third straight KO than he’d ever be against Tito Ortiz. But I think I’ve learned my lesson about counting guys out completely.

A few weeks ago this image would have represented nothing more than prevailing internet rumors and some committed fan’s proficiency with Photoshop. But it just so happens that the picture you see here was found in an email sent out by the UFC this afternoon, casually announcing that tickets for UFC 115, featuring a main event bout between Chuck Liddell and Rich Franklin, go on sale this week. No biggie, just a tacit admission that the UFC has been straight-up lying to us for the past several weeks.

Coming as it does just a couple episodes into the new season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” this announcement makes it hard not to have terrible flashbacks to last season, where we were forced to watch “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans jaw endlessly at one another even after we knew the promised payoff bout wouldn’t come. Ortiz and Liddell haven’t even really started to get under one another’s skin, and already we know that it will all amount to nothing.