(Props: sports.yahoo.com)

If you work in an office, you probably spend the first half-hour of your day drinking coffee, reading blogs, and lamenting the bad decisions you’ve made in your life that led you to this point. So make this morning a special one by watching the entire five-round battle between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen at UFC 117, which went down back in August 2010 in Oakland.

Sonnen may have a tendency to “talkee too muchee,” as the Brazilians might say, but you have to give him credit — he came to fight that night. Sonnen showed no signs that he was psyched out by the aura of the Spider, and aggressively pursued the champ for all five rounds. When it was all over, Sonnen had out-struck Silva by a stunning 320-64. Unfortunately, the judges were not well-versed in the Stockton scoring system, and awarded the fight to the guy who didn’t get choked out at the end. Still, it was a hell of a fight — can the sequel possibly live up to the original?

After the jump: A fan-made ‘Silva vs. Sonnen 2‘ hype video from Bruthamuzone, which is pretty killer despite the use of Limp Bizkit.

(This tender moment is brought to you by the word: clownshoe.) 

As we mentioned earlier this week, Chael Sonnen is basically the living reincarnation of the legend of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He has the capability to come off as a reasonable individual, but more often than not, he chooses to drink that devilish potion, the proceeding surge of bravado almost always coming at the cost of his sanity. Where as Dr. Jekyll becomes a prostitute murdering madman upon drinking said potion, Sonnen reverts into a compulsive liar on such a ridiculous level — spouting claims of certain cycling legends and PED use — that he all but but erases the belief that he is one of the more intelligent figures in the sport today.

Take his recent interview with Jim Rome, in which he discussed his upcoming title fight with Anderson Silva, set for UFC 148 on July 7th. As he did while on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Sonnen talked about the perceived danger of accepting the rematch in Brazil (as was the original plan) as well as his claims that Silva is a “fake Brazilian.” But you don’t start to smell the fish, so to speak, until his UFC 117 loss to Silva is brought up. After Rome gives the viewers a quick recap of the fight, Sonnen drops this beauty on us:

I am so happy you brought that up for the viewers who may not have seen this…what had happened was an absolute misunderstanding and misapplication of the rules by me. We’re in the fifth and final round, he locks on a submission, and I acknowledge that he has it tight by slapping my hand on his leg.

I tapped. So what I thought is you go to the cards. I win four rounds, he wins that round. Apparently, if you tap, it ends the entire contest, which I was not ever made privy to.

Jesus f’ing Christ. Words cannot even begin to describe the amount of facepalm that is necessary for that aneurysm-inducing bit of drivel. It is as if he is having a four-year old with a inoperable brain tumor scribble out his interview answers in crayon, knowing damn well that the child does not posses the ability to spell “inoperable” or “crayon.” Bill Clinton could not dream up a more ham-fisted response if you were to give him the third runner-up of Miss Plus America, an empty hotel room, and all the time in the world.

Join us after a jump for a play-by-play of the rest of the interview and a full video. 

(Could I get JUST ONE of those exemptions, por favor?) 

Some big news out of California today, as it appears that the California State Athletic Commission has taken a huge step towards legalizing the therapeutic use of testosterone and marijuana in mixed martial arts competition. SI.com was the first to break the news:

The California State Athletic Commission voted on Monday to approve an amendment that allows therapeutic use exemptions (TUE) for combat sports’ athletes who use drugs currently banned by the state agency for medical purposes, including testosterone and marijuana.

To be adopted into state law, the amendment’s verbiage must now be reviewed and approved by the Department of Consumer Affairs and then the state’s Office of Administrative Law, a process that could take months or even years, if it passes at all.

OK, so it’s not as big of news as one could have hoped, but it’s something, right? Then again, depending on your stance on testosterone replacement therapy (or marijuana for that matter), this could be a step in the wrong direction for the sport of MMA.

(We’re all going to ARBYS!!!!)

Well, at least we can say he’s consistent. In what has been the most detrimental factor in Thiago Alves‘ career, the former welterweight title challenger once again showed up to a weigh-in overweight, just barely tipping the scales yesterday at 172 pounds, or a pound over the limit. Though not nearly as bad as his previous entries, the fact of the matter remains that this marks the third time in Alves’ last seven fights that he has initially failed to make weight. Aside from showing up heavy to his fights with Matt Hughes and Jon Fitch at UFC 85 and 117, respectively, Alves was also busted for using a banned diuretic to make weight for his match against Tony DeSouza back at UFC 66. MRuss would not approve.

“The Pitbull” was given an hour to drop the pound, and did so successfully.

Join us after the jump for the full weigh-in results and the intense Leben/Munoz and Alves/Abedi stare-downs:

(We may never get to see if Chael’s armbar defense has improved since last time they met.)

Ever since Chael Sonnen faltered two minutes shy of snatching the UFC middleweight strap from Anderson Silva at UFC 117, fans and pundits alike have been clamoring for a rematch between the pair.

The immediate redo promised by UFC president Dana White was originally delayed due to Silva needing time to recover from a rib injury his camp revealed he went into the August 7 fight with.

Then Sonnen threw another wrench in the UFC’s plans by testing positive for high levels of synthetic testosterone, but after having his suspension halved for pleading ignorance and confusion about the rules and procedures of the California State Athletic Commission, it seemed like the much anticipated bout would finally happen.

("Chael, can you respond to allegations that, like Frankie Edgar, your mother has been laying the pipe for years?" PicProps: The Oregonian)

So, during the last 24 hours the gigantic, teetering house of cards that is Chael Sonnen’s life has become even more morally untenable than before, huh? At this point — even for those of us who once considered his promotional antics entertaining — it’s become nearly impossible to tell Chael Sonnen the human being apart from Chael Sonnen the carnival huckster. Maybe there never was a difference. Maybe both of Sonnen’s personalities, professional and private, have been consummate bullshit artists all along.

By way of example, a day after he pleaded guilty to federal money laundering charges and agreed to turn stoolie on his co-conspirators in a shady real estate scam that somehow involved a plumbing company owned by his mom, we feel compelled to revisit Sonnen’s July, 2010 interview with the Houston Chronicle. You may remember it as the one where he repeatedly asserted that “full time fighters” were just too lazy to get real jobs and said he was obligated to keep his own regular gig as a realtor because – in the newspaper’s words — he “believes that he can contribute to society in a meaningful way.”

When viewed in hindsight of this week’s developments we think you’ll find it even more interesting (read: hilarious) than before.

(Propers: The Fight Nerd)

A two-for-one video sesh to get your Saturday started: At top, watch the aptly named Fight Nerd chat with M-1 Global Director of Ops Evgeni Kogan at the MMA World Expo 2010 this week. After the jump, find Chael Sonnen’s “exclusive interview” with HDNet’s Mike Straka following the California State Athletic Commission’s ruling to reduce by half his suspension for a funky UFC 117 drug test. First though, the Fedor stuff, because frankly we’re getting a little bit sick of talking about Sonnen’s gonads …

In this vid, Kogan – who you may remember as the dude who told Ariel Helwani that Fedor was MIA in New York City earlier this year when he no-showed his radio program — looks like he could seamlessly transition from a heated contract negotiation to playing bass for Weezer without even changing his striped belt. He also demonstrates that despite the fact M-1 Global’s biggest bargaining chip expended much of his political capital when he swan dived into the waiting legs of Fabricio Werdum in June, the Rent-a-Fedor company is still not afraid to make a bunch of totally ridiculous demands on both Strikeforce and Showtime. Follow the link to find out what they’re asking for this time. Seriously, it’s gonna blow your mind.

("What, the pink shirt? I need to wear it for undisclosed medical reasons." PicProps: FightNightNews)

As expected, there’s a ton of fallout today from Thursday’s California State Athletic Commission hearing, which saw Chael Sonnen’s year-long suspension for a failed UFC 117 drug test cut in half. Reactions range from pious outrage that Sonnen got let off the hook to excitement that MMA’s best trash talker will be back in the cage sooner than expected to amusement that he had to spend at least part of the hearing publicly talking about his balls. 

A lot of it was very boring and a lot of it was very strange. Sonnen referencing his late-teen puberty and citing the Americans with Disabilities Act as part of his defense were both admittedly pretty weird. All that aside, your feelings on this case probably boil down to whether or not you believe Sonnen has a legitimate, albeit sort of nebulous medical condition that requires the regular injection of testosterone. If you don’t, if you believe Sonnen, his attorneys and his doctor perpetrated a large scale fraud in front of the CSAC, God and everybody online yesterday, you’re probably pretty pissed right now. If you do believe him, then you likely think the commission’s ruling was the appropriate one. 

Honestly, our personal opinions about what happened at the meeting seem kind of beside the point right now. In my view, the thing I’m really still waiting for someone to explain is this: After his suspension is up, will Sonnen be allowed to keep fighting while receiving the same testosterone replacement therapy, so long as he does the proper paperwork next time? If so, then what are we really talking about here? A technicality? An administrative error? Sonnen got confused about to how many doctors and how many times he had to disclose his medical condition? Wow that seems, uh, dull.

(Sonnen’s testimony was as good as his pre-UFC 117 soundbites were.)

Sonnen’s legal team gave evidence showing that Sonnen has been undergoing testosterone replacement therapy via twice weekly injections of a synthetic version of the hormone since 2008 under the care of his physician, who also testified to the same. 

During testimony, Sonnen said that he had been embarrassed to disclose that he was suffering from hypogonadism, which is characterized by low testosterone levels due to malfunction of his testicles during a fighter’s meeting in which the participants of the card congregate to fill out necessary paperwork in the days prior to the bout. He also revealed that he did not reach puberty until early adulthood and that he did not care to relive the ridicule that he endured as a child because of it.

(Ramon says his head isn’t big; every hat he owns is simply too small.)

Brazilians always seem to take the glass is half full approach to life, so it shouldn’t surprise us that Anderson Silva’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach, Ramon Lemos sees a bright side to Chael Sonnen’s positive post-UFC 117 steroid test result.

Lemos told Tatame recently that Sonnen’s infraction only proves how good his fighter really is.

"I was very happy because he was on top of us for 23 minutes, on his best position, and Anderson submitted him, won the fight and kept the belt… Then you see that the guy had used things, so he had better conditioning than a regular athlete… It’s wonderful for us," Lemos said. "That proves that Anderson Silva is the best of t he world, without any doubts."

Considering that Sonnen, whether or not he had any help from PEDs, is the only fighter to ever dominate Silva the way that the Oregon Republican did in August, it’s no surprise that Ramos is in agreement that the one year suspension Chael was handed down by the California State Athletic Commission last month was just. He also is of the opinion that when Sonnen does come back from his suspension that he should be forced to work his way back up from the bottom of the UFC’s middleweight division.

Since Silva only has a handful of fights remaining on his current UFC contract and has expressed a desire to retire in the next year or two, unless Sonnen wins his appeal, it’s unlikely the pair will ever get a second match.

"I’m in favor of rematches for the fans, the show, the event, the whole media… But, as a professional and athlete, and now as Anderson Silva’s coach on Atos, I consider a rematch a bad thing and it doesn’t worth. Because, if the guy had loss on the judges’ call, it’d be ok. But he stayed for 23 minutes, and that means five rounds, on his best position, which is to takedown and punch from the top, and he couldn’t define the fight, and he lost," Lemos said. "There’s no need to know if he had taken extra medicines or not. You can’t have a rematch on those conditions. He has to be punished and stay a year off and then come back for the end of the line and wait for his call to fight Anderson Silva again."

(Chael’s growing bacne problem: the smoking gun? Or were the mats just not washed after Lindland used them? Image courtesy of CageWriter.)

A few notable points that have emerged since yesterday’s bombshell that Chael Sonnen tested positive for performance enhancing drugs following UFC 117…

– According to the L.A. Times’ Lance Pugmire, Sonnen tested positive for a "natural steroid" before his fight with Anderson Silva. Natural steroids, such as androstenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone, aren’t chemically altered like synthetic steroids, and can be sold over-the-counter as supplements at health food stores.

– Sonnen is facing a year-long suspension and a $2,500 fine, which he has 30 days to appeal. According to California State Athletic Commission Executive Officer George Dodd, Sonnen’s positive test emerged from a urine sample he gave before the fight that was processed through the UCLA Olympic drug-testing lab.

(We’d like to see you talk your way out of this one … PicProps: Us?)

Oh, this is not good. The biggest comeback story of 2010 may well be fizzling out before our very eyes, as the California State Athletic Commission tells Sherdog that Chael Sonnen tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in the wake of UFC 117.  CSAC Executive Officer George Dodd says Sonnen was notified over the weekend that he’d popped positive for PEDs after his loss to Anderson Silva at that event.

(Video courtesy MMALive)

Chael Sonnen replaced Franklin McNeil as John Anik’s other wingman alongside Kenny Florian on the latest episode of MMA Live and the trio proved itself a major improvement over the traditional line-up. Not only did he come off as a seasoned vet on camera, Chael also added to his vast depth of knowledge with a plethora of Sonnenisms like the one he used when describing the pending  match-up between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard.

"Well, listen, the fight has to happen. It’s already happened once and Maynard got the edge on him. I think Frankie’s better now. I like it from a competitive standpoint. It needs to take place," Sonnen said. "It’s the right fight. From a business standpoint, acting as though Maynard versus Edgar is going to sell out an arena is about as optimistic as holding onto Jim Morrison’s mail."

During the segment, which originally aired on Thursday, the durable UFC middleweight confirmed that if Anderson Silva’s injured ribs heal in time, they will square off at UFC 125 which is being planned for Saturday, January 1 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

(Video courtesy MMALive)

We’d put our usual "Ignore Franklin McNeil’s inane ramblings,"disclaimer on this video, but after you hear him try to string a series of words together to describe how he was feeling during the Sonnen-Silva fight, it seems unnecessary.

"First time in a long time that I was actually a fan. I’m sitting there and I can’t believe what I’m seeing. No one could have foreseen that particular outcome."

Which outcome is that, Anderson winning by submission against a guy who always loses by submission or you being asked to give your thoughts on it?

Sonnen’s interview makes up for McNeil’s deer in the headlights style of reporting.

(Killa B gets worked by Dennis Hallman at UFC 117. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.)

Following back-to-back unanimous decision losses to Dennis Hallman at UFC 117 and Jon Fitch at UFC 111, Ben Saunders (8-3-2, 4-3 UFC) has been released from his UFC contract. The American Top Team welterweight confirmed the news on his Twitter page, where he wrote the following:

Sorry everyone I tried to fight my best these past two fights but ended up getting out worked… the UFC has officially cut me… the good news is they told me to work on my wrestling and ground game and then come back… So that is all I am going to be doing… improving dramatically and show them I belong. It was a honor to fight for the @UFC and I will make it back into the mix in due time… no one ever said my dream of getting that belt would be easy… in fact I was denied it as even a possibility and told I was crazy since I was a kid… look how far I have gone feeding off the doubters and haters… it just makes me that much more hungry… I’ll be back! There isn’t a doubt in my mind.

(Talk of bruised ribs and doing god’s work in the cage don’t belong in a post-fight interview)

Watching Anderson Silva get dominated on the feet and the ground by Chael Sonnen for the better part of five rounds Saturday night at UFC 117, a large number of fans and pundits assumed out loud that the middleweight champion must be sick or injured. How else could he be outworked, outstruck and outgrappled by Sonnen for over 23 minutes of a championship bout?

It didn’t take long for Silva to nullify the praise Sonnen’s career defining performance was garnering him as he announced in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan that his own somewhat lethargic performance was a result of an injury, not Chael’s nearly perfectly executed game plan.

Besides the slick, yet last-ditch armbar-triangle combo he threw up and was able to catch Chael with in the dying seconds of the fifth round, Anderson really didn’t do a whole lot in the fight, but instead of praising Sonnen for contributing more than his half to their "Fight of the Night" awarded bout, he instead chalked it up to a rib injury he sustained in training more than a week prior to the fight.

(Photo courtesy of MMAMania)

Stefan Struve isn’t a stranger to getting his face bloodied. His preliminary card match against Christian Morecraft at UFC 117 was no different, as the UFC newbie turned Struve’s lip into a busted, swollen mess during the lopsided first round. Like a champion, Struve fought back in the second and scored a brutal KO stoppage. The performance earned Stefan a spot in the ultra-exclusive ranks of the MMA Split Lip Hall of Fame. More notable members are after the jump…

According to one of Anderson Silva’s jiu-jitsu coaches, Ramon Lemos, the UFC middleweight champion likely won’t fight again until March of 2011 as he will need time to heal from a "fractured rib" he sustained in the first round of his seventh title defense saturday night against Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 in Oakland, CA.

Ramos revealed the news to Fighters Only today.

"After the first round he said he broke his ribs. He said told me he could not breathe because of the rib. I told him to forget the rib and work the movement of legs and he would get the triangle… After the fight he went to the hospital and did an x-ray and the doctor said he did not break it, it was just a crack," Lemos recalled. "Anderson is expected to return in February or March." 

(Props: Spladdle)

See? That’s what James Irvin should have done. More memorable moments from UFC 117 continue after the jump, in convenient animated gif form…

(Video courtesy YouTube/GracieAcademy)

If you’ve never seen any of Rorian Gracie’s sons Rener and Ryron’s post-fight submission finish breakdowns, they are very informative whether you’re an armchair expert or a seasoned Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.

You’d assume that they would be biased towards the BJJ practitioners, but both of them are refreshingly honest in their analysis, giving props where props are due. Of course they’re going to give some props and shameless plugs to their academy, but if your great grandfather helped perfect a system of martial arts and your father helped co-found the UFC, you should get a pass.

Anyway, in their most recent edition of the Gracie Breakdown, the brothers discuss the Anderson Silva-Chael Sonnen bout from Saturday’s UFC 117 card and give some insight on the jiu-jitsu of both men.

(Photo courtesy of allelbows)

After pulling off his miracle win against Chael Sonnen at UFC 117, Anderson Silva mentioned to Joe Rogan that he had hurt his ribs coming into the fight. Could that have played a factor in the extended beating that he endured before snatching that Hail Mary triangle-choke submission? Silva’s manager Ed Soares shared details to FightHype (via BloodyElbow):

"It was really close because the doctors didn’t want him to fight. He hurt his rib last Friday in sparring. He hurt it, but he didn’t think it was hurt that bad and then Sunday morning, I had about 13 missed calls in a matter of 25 minutes. They were all from Anderson and he was calling me to tell me he was in pain. He couldn’t breathe. I took him to the hospital and they X-Rayed each rib and they noticed that it was a bit swollen, but there was no fracture. They said it was bruised ribs, but the way he reacted when they touched it and how tender they were, they said it was in the muscle as well as the bruise. I’m not a doctor, but this is just what they told us. They prescribed some Ibuprofen 800 for him because it was so close to the fight, they couldn’t do any Vicodin.

(If there’s one thing that Junior hates, it’s the Safety Dance. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.)

UFC 117 not only produced a dramatic night of fights, it also provided answers to a lot of burning questions. Here’s what we know, now that the dust has settled in Oakland. (Figuratively speaking. Obviously, there’s still a ton of dust floating around in Oakland.)

Junior Dos Santos Is Not Superhuman 
In round one, he did what we expected him to: beat Roy Nelson like a mulleted heavy-bag. But when Roy managed to survive the onslaught — massive props to Big Country, by the way — Dos Santos visibly slowed down and couldn’t inflict as much damage as he did in the opening frame. The fight didn’t bode well for JDS’s chances against the Lesnar/Velasquez winner. As we saw at UFC 116, Brock can take a brutal beating and come back for round 2 fresh as a daisy.

Matt Hughes Is Still a Threat
When Hughes suffered back-to-back losses to Georges St. Pierre (at UFC 79) and Thiago Alves (at UFC 85), it seemed that his days as a competitor were swirling down the drain. Hughes’s blanket-ish return performance against Matt Serra didn’t prove much, considering Serra’s injuries and ring rust, and his beatdown of Renzo Gracie in Abu Dhabi said more about the loser than the winner. But smashing Ricardo Almeida standing, then choking him out with a front headlock in the first round? That’s a huge feather in Hughes’s cap. This was not a "master’s division"-type fight; Almeida was a legitimate welterweight player, who was coming off his third consecutive win against Matt Brown at UFC 111. Hughes may be more interested in hunting than fighting at this point, but he’s a contender again. The question is: Which Gracie-associated fighter can he get next?

(The world’s "top pound-for-pound fighter" in the midst of proving his greatness at UFC 117. PicPops: Esther Lin/Fanhouse)

Whatever “demon effigy” Anderson Silva and Ed Soares really do worship, he certainly turned out to be the better God on Saturday night. If nothing else, Silva’s prayers were answered at UFC 117 when his Hail Mary triangle choke somehow found the mark around Chael Sonnen’s neck with a minute, 50 seconds left in a fight the challenger had dominated for four complete rounds. Sonnen kind of tapped, referee Josh Rosenthal kind of stopped the fight and Silva kind of proved he is still the best 185-pound fighter in the world. So much for the vengeful Christian God that Republican wrestlers from Oregon prance and dance in front of, we guess.

There will no doubt be more than a couple breathless accounts of Silva’s “miraculous comeback” in the MMA media during the next few days, but let’s make no mistake here: Anderson Silva’s greatness was not on display Saturday night. In fact, if the UFC’s so-called “performance-based bonuses” are actually in any way based on performance, Big DW should take that $120,000 he evenly split between the two main eventers for “Fight of the Night” and give about $90,000 of it to Sonnen. Because really, only one guy had the “fight of the night” at UFC 117. The other guy just sort of got lucky.

(Anderson Silva pretending not to know the English for, “Don’t be scared, homie.” PicProps: UFC.com)

Tonight, the climax to one of the greatest UFC storylines in recent memory plays out before our very eyes. Will Chael Sonnen’s ceaseless trash talk inspire Anderson Silva to rediscover his roots as a remorseless ass-kicker? If Sonnen pulls off the miraculous upset, will he finally admit that he’s just been fucking with us these past few months, or will he confirm that he actually is suffering from early-onset dementia brought on by years of getting punched in the head? And after weeks of solid build-up can UFC 117 provide an emotionally satisfying conclusion?

Answers to the above questions are for us to know and you to find out … with live results and commentary beginning at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST tonight. Be sure to hit refresh early and often to get the latest updates.

("All that punching and kicking is fine for some people. It just seems a little showy for my tastes." PicProps: MMALinker.com)

In some ways, you’ve really got to hand it to Chael Sonnen. Not only has the relentless torrent of bullshit that has spewed from his mouth during the last few months done a remarkable job rekindling the public’s interest in Anderson Silva, but it’s also distracted just about everybody from asking the one question that really matters about tonight’s UFC 117 main event: Does Sonnen have a chance in hell to actually win?

Answer: Yes, but he’s going to have to play it perfectly.

(Pro fighters give their predictions for Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen. Dominick Cruz and Jake Shields actually pick the challenger for an upset. Props: YouTube.com/FightMagazine)

Come back to CagePotato.com tomorrow night at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT for our liveblog of UFC 117, which will be run by weekend editor Chad Dundas. You can play along at home by entering some pools in our MMAFightPicker game. After all the hype and all the analysis, we’re dying to find out how Silva vs. Sonnen will actually play out. Where are you guys watching the fights anyway?

(Video courtesy YouTube/Heavy)

If you don’t want to sit through 40 minutes of mostly oblivious reporters asking the same old questions that have been asked a hundred times and hearing fighters regurgitate their equally tired responses ad nauseam at yesterday’s UFC 117 pre-fight press conference, check out the above video by Heavy.com that gives you the highlights of the presser in just over seven minutes.

Not surprisingly, the bulk of the clip features Chael Sonnen spinning yarns about how great of a person and fighter he is and how much of a heel Anderson Silva is.

Ironic, isn’t it?

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAAthletics)

Chael Sonnen briefly flashed the hand he’s been playing against Anderson Silva ahead of their UFC 117 showdown Saturday night in an interview with MMAAthletics host Rachelle Leah.

In the interview the Oregon fighter, who has been less than complimentary towards the UFC middleweight champion in the weeks leading up to the fight gave an explanation of why he turned the smack talk up a notch for Silva.

"I like to irritate Anderson. I think Anderson’s a bully and I think he’s a jerk. I think he’s pushed people around long enough. He’s not the bully on the playground when I’m there. He knows that and I know that. When I walk by Anderson Silva he puts his eyeballs on the curb until I pass; he doesn’t even look me straight in the eye and that’s a smart move by him."

(Maybe Thiago should concentrate more on cutting weight, not on updating his Match.com profile)

When Thiago Alves missed a scheduled appearance at yesterday afternoon’s open UFC 117 workout, it didn’t take long for reports to surface that the American Top Team fighter, who has been plagued with weight cutting issues in the past, was having problems shedding water and that he chose to forgo the media event to focus on making weight for Friday’s weigh-in.

Alves tweeted yesterday that he just had 15 pounds to go before he makes the 170-pound limit, which is at the higher end of the poundage most fighters start cutting at the beginning of the process over a week out from their bouts.