(You’ll still always be "The Kimbo Killer" to me, Seth.)

It looks like the post-UFC 122 cuts just keep coming. 

Five Ounces of Pain is reporting that Seth Petruzelli has been dropped by the UFC after being finished for the second time in as many fights in his most recent stint in the Octagon.

30-year-old Petruzelli (12-6 MMA, 0-4 UFC), who lost by TKO to Karlos Vemola at the event in Oberhausen, Germany 10 days ago and was also submitted  by Ricardo Romera at UFC 116 in July in his first fight back since being dropped by the promotion originally in 2007 joins fellow UFC 122 losers Peter Sobotta and Goran Reljic on the unemployement line. Both fighters were also given their pink slips by the promotion because of their respective three-fight losing skids.

(If you can’t laugh at Jorge’s smiley-face-tie-tuxedo underwear, something’s definitely wrong with you. Photo courtesy of MMA Junkie.)

Alessio Sakara has been conspicuously silent about his health since dropping out of UFC 122′s co-main event. The American Top Team fighter was slated to take on Jorge Rivera, but instead pulled out just hours before the match due to "flu-like symptoms." So what was really going on with him? British MMA journalist Gareth Davies has a theory, which he shared on MMA Live:

"I have it on good authority that 8 or 9 days before bout was due to take place; Alessio Sakara was walking around at 220 pounds. He failed to show for the fighter workouts on the Thursday in Italy. He was walking around the fight hotel looking very gaunt and ghostlike. When you take that much weigh off, that quickly, it does bring on illness sometimes and I do fear this may have happened here with Alessio Sakara. And it doesn’t do him any favors with the UFC, I can guarantee you that."

(The Rampage Jackson Diaries, vol. 1: A quick look at Rampage’s secret training camp for UFC 123.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– A Lean BJ Penn Already on Weight For UFC 123 (MMA Convert)

– Tim Boetsch Talks Davis Fight, Learning From Past Losses (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Five Lessons: UFC 122 & WEC 52 (Versus MMA Beat)

– My First Fight: Dennis Hallman (MMA Fighting)

– Aleksander Emelianenko Is Singing in Front of a Live Audience and No One Knows Why (MiddleEasy)

– Strikeforce Cuts Ties With Roxanne Modafferi (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Why Brock Lesnar Should Fight Nogueira Next (LowKick)

– FIGHT! Rankings: Okami is the #2 middleweight in the world, Marquardt drops to #12 (FIGHT! Magazine)

– Jean-Claude Van Damme Gets Emotional While Discussing his Upcoming Fight (MMA Scraps)

– Fabricio Werdum’s Tune-Up Fight Plan Causes Needless Worry By Fans (SBNation.com/MMA)

(Props: youtube.com/kimurase)

Following UFC 122, our Euro buddies at Kimura.se caught up with scheduled co-headliner Jorge Rivera to discuss his reaction to Alessio Sakara‘s surprise illness-withdrawal. Rivera’s hands were already wrapped by the time he got the news, and he was "in shock" to learn he wouldn’t be fighting. On the bright side, he already has bigger things lined up. Said Jorge: 

"I’ve got a good fight coming up in Australia, and I’m gonna take a couple weeks off to go home and just relax, because I’ve training hard since about June. My last fight, I had to pull out about July, because I had broken my arm, but I was still training with a broken arm, I wanted to fight. I’ve been training hard now for about five, six months, so I need some time just to relax, man…And then I’m gonna train real, real, real hard. I really want this next fight, man. I not only want the fight, I wanna fuck him up. [Interviewer: Who are you fighting in Australia?] Michael Bisping…that is a scoop I’m giving you right now."

Fuck, that was fucking terrible. Last night we got an up-close-and-personal look at what happens when one of the UFC’s notoriously weak overseas cards doesn’t turn out to be better in practice than on paper. And Nation? It was not pretty. When these haphazard, garage-sale-style European stinkbombs don’t catch lightning in a bottle and don’t exceed our already low expectations, all you’re left with are a bunch of lackluster fights featuring guys nobody cares about. That might be fine for Strikeforce, but frankly we expect more from the UFC.

Oh, did we mention this bad boy was on tape delay? Yeah it was, so unless you were able to spend the day studiously avoiding all electronic media you knew who was going to win anyway, in which case you were probably better served to just stay up late to watch Manny Pacquiao beat up that dude with the Dave Navarro beard. Rumor has it that was pretty shitty too. Coupled with UFCs 119 and 120 it’s hard to remember the last time Our Fearless Leader did three shows this uninspiring in such quick succession. At this point, the supercharged midgets of the WEC can’t get here fast enough. Seriously, it’ll be nice to see a few fights where somebody shows a little urgency.

Without giving away too much of tonight’s tape-delayed UFC 122 decisionfest show that went down in Germany today, we will tell you that the guaranteed slugfest between Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara got yanked from the main card of the event due to Sakara pulling out of the bout today because of illness.

We’ll be "live" tonight at 9:00 pm ET to give those of you who don’t have cable, who are too cheap to go to a bar or who think we’re really your friends and want to hang out on a Saturday night a rundown of the action via the Spike TV re-broadcast.

Check out the preliminary card results and main card play-by-play after the jump:

("I feel like famous comedian, how you say, Lodney Dangelfierd." Propers: UFC.com)

Man, this does not portend good things for Yushin Okami at UFC 122 tonight. Where most odds makers and journalists see Okami’s alleged No. 1 contender battle with Nate Marquardt shaping up as a fairly close fight, the professional fighters surveyed as part of Sherdog’s super-scientific recurring “Pros Pick” piece appear to think Nate the Great has this in the bag. Of the 48 fighters contacted 40 see Marquardt getting the win, with just four pulling the lever for Okami and four undecided. That’s 83.3 percent for Marquardt, which for the record makes this survey only slightly less lopsided than the one conducted for Randy Couture vs. James Toney at UFC 118, when just three of 54 polled fighters tabbed Toney (92.5 percent for Couture).

The numbers become even more lopsided once you consider that one of the guys picking Okami is Team Quest training partner Matt Lindland, and even he is hedging his bet – in classic Lindland style — by pre-supposing a conspiracy against Okami on the part of the ringside officials.

("Fight, you bastard. If you want to have a dance-off, I’ll kick your ass in that too.")

A hot topic of debate at Cage Potato lately is whether or not the recent trend of wrestlers who are content to win fights by earning decisions via take downs and lay and pray is hurting the sport.

We asked UFC middleweight Jorge Rivera for his opinion on the subject during the latest episode of The Bum Rush Radio Show and El Conquistador didn’t pull any punches when explaining his take on the issue.

Rivera, who squares off with fellow slugger Alessio Sakara tomorrow at UFC 122 in Germany, says that he specifically asked for the fight with the former pro-boxer because he knows that Legionarius, like him, is a fighter who always steps into the Octagon to fight.

"I asked for this fight. Alessio’s a great fight. He’s tough, he’s got great stand-up and he comes forward. I asked for this fight. I always want tough fights. I know he’s gonna bring it. I know it’s gonna be a tough fight. I know it’s no walk in the park," Rivera explains. "You’re gonna see a good stand-up brawl and one of us is gonna get knocked out. I’m alright with that. I give the fans what they want. This is what we do. We both no what we’re getting into and we both agree to it, so let’s do it."

He says that guys who time and time again seem to be content to take a decision by being conservative and just doing the minimum necessary to win are in essence stealing from the fans.

"I was a fan before I was ever a fighter. I’m still a fan and I’m a fan of even some of the guys I fight against. I like watching them fight for various reasons. I hate watching boring fighters. You’re gonna pay 50 bucks to sit at home and watch some guy be boring. They build up all this hype around this guy and a guy puts you to sleep and you’re like, ‘What the fuck!?’ I’m not the only one. You’ve got ten million people who say the same shit. That’s not what I want to do. I want to be the exact opposite," Rivera explains. "When my name is called up, I want people to be like, ‘Hell yeah!’ because they know there’s going to be a fight. Even with this fight they know their gonna get a fight with me and Alessio. They know that. Everybody knows that we’re gonna fight. I know he’s not gonna run from me, he knows I’m not gonna run from him, and you know we both throw bombs. You guys know you’re gonna get your money’s worth. If all nine of the fights suck, ours isn’t going to. You’re gonna remember our fight for sure. That’s what I want."

(A surprise headshot will kill them. But don’t ever turn your back on a zombie, even if they feel really slippery. Props: UFC)

From today’s weigh-ins in Oberhausen, Germany. No surprises here…

MAIN CARD
Nate Marquardt (186) vs. Yushin Okami (185)
Jorge Rivera (185) vs. Alessio Sakara (186)
Dennis Siver (155) vs. Andre Winner (155)
Amir Sadollah (170) vs. Peter Sobotta (169)
Krzysztof Soszynski (206) vs. Goran Reljic (205)

PRELIMINARY CARD
Alexandre Ferreira (204) vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (205)
Pascal Krauss (170) vs. Mark Scanlon (170)
Duane Ludwig (170) vs. Nick Osipczak (171)
Rob Kimmons (184) vs. Kyle Noke (185)
Seth Petruzelli (205) vs. Karlos Vemola (205)
Kris McCray (171) vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha (170)

Come back to CagePotato.com tomorrow night as we post live(-ish) play-by-play from the tape-delayed Spike TV broadcast of UFC 122: Marquardt vs. Okami, beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

(Sakara will do absolutely anything to land this amateur modeling gig, you guys. Any. Thing. Props: MMACrypt.com)

The prevailing public opinion on Alessio Sakara has long been: Mediocre fighter, world class tattoos. Hell, even Jorge Rivera – who will fight him this Saturday at UFC 122 – admitted in interviews this week that he thinks Sakara has the best ink in MMA. With a middling 6-4 record in the Octagon (with one hard-earned no contest after Ron Faircloth kicked him in the balls at UFC 55)  it’s even been suggested (OK, maybe just by me, but whatever) that the UFC’s rationale for giving him second chance after second chance has more to do with his wicked physical appearance than his actual fighting ability.

One glance at Sakara tells you he’s proud of his Italian heritage, but we had no idea exactly how into it he was until we got a load of his interview with Fighters Only this week. Turns out, not only does Sakara actually consider himself a modern day “solider of Rome” (his words), but he named his sons Leonidas and Marcus Valerian … which is not quite as weird as naming all your sons “Rampage,” but still. That’s dedication, people. Dedication to a proud history that ended in about 476 AD.

(Alexandre Ferreira vs. Lew Polley, 2/29/08. Props: YouTube.com/IFL)

At this Saturday’s UFC 122 event in Germany, four men will begin their journeys from UFC preliminary card prospects to…whatever they end up becoming. For example, our first-ever "New Guys" column included a unknown kid by the name of Jon Jones. Our most recent "New Guys" column included a guy who got beat up by Rob Broughton then fired for steroid use. So, there’s a pretty wide swing here in terms of potential success. Let’s meet the latest batch of Octagon newbies…

ALEXANDRE "Cacareco" FERREIRA (LHW)
Experience: 18-6 record dating back to 1998, with 17 wins by first-round submission, including victories over Heath Herring, Bob Schrijber, Branden Lee Hinkle, and Fabio Maldonado. Has made appearances in Rings, the IFL, and Jungle Fight, among other promotions.
Will be facing: Vladimir Matyushenko (24-5, 5-3 UFC)
Lowdown: A stocky fireplug of a man, the 31-year-old "Cacareco" began fighting professionally while still in his teens. Ferreira comes from a decorated BJJ/luta livre background, and his grappling accomplishments include a 2nd-place finish in the 2003 ADCC Absolute Division tournament, where he placed ahead of Fabricio Werdum, Marcelo Garcia, Saulo Ribeiro, Marcio Cruz, and Jeff Monson.

This Q&A on UFC.com reveals that Alexandre’s favorite striking technique is the "takedown" (!) so don’t expect the guy to do much standing and banging. When asked which college he attended, Ferreira responded "Unfortunately I could not go to college; my college was my survival as a human." He hasn’t competed since a 70-second kimura victory over Walter Mazurkievicz last October. Ferreira was supposed to face Jamal Patterson at "Shine Fights: Mayorga vs. Thomas" in May, but that event famously imploded at the last minute.

("Did you not see the ‘No Solicitors’ sign?" PicProps: 360Fitness.Com)

At this point, it’s pretty hard to imagine Jorge Rivera as anything besides the grizzled 38-year-old MMA veteran who’s compiled 12 fights in the Octagon during an on-again, off-again seven-year career with the UFC. Maybe that’s why Rivera’s Sunday trip down memory lane with serious journalist Ben Fowlkes – which we’re led to believe is the first installment of a recurring series by MMA Fighting where fighters reflect on their first pro bouts – is so damned compelling.

Back in 2001, Rivera was just a wet-behind-the-ears 29-year-old when he showed up at a “Reality Superfighting” event called “Attack at the Track” in Chester, WV to make his pro debut against Hammer House competitor and future UFC washout Brandon Lee Hinkle.  Details on the exact location are sketchy, but from the clever name we can only assume the show took place at some kind of seedy dog/horse/stock car racing venue in a town boasting a population of 2,592, according to its own Wikipedia page. Sounds lovely.

"I really just wanted to know how good I was, because I honestly had no idea,” remembers Rivera, who’d had a couple amateur fights before turning pro. “It turned out the other guy was much better."

(Props: fromhit)

UFC 122 may not be stacked — it’s Germany, those haters should be glad they’re getting anything — but it’ll be broadcast free on Spike, it’s full of potentially exciting matchups, and it’ll have serious implications for the UFC’s middleweight division. In the main event, Nate Marquardt and Yushin Okami will face off for a title shot against the winner of Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort. Marquardt and Okami are two guys who have spent their UFC careers clawing their way almost to the top, but falling just short of the glory. Earlier in his UFC career, Marquardt was TKO’d by Anderson Silva in the Spider’s first official title defense at UFC 73; this year, Marquardt suffered a decision loss to Chael Sonnen, snapping a fearsome three-knockout run.

As for Okami, the Japanese standout was outpointed in a previous #1-contender match against Rich Franklin at UFC 72, and was also stymied by Chael Sonnen last October. In other words, UFC 122′s headliners have endured the same setbacks — and they both know that the big opportunities don’t last forever. It’s do or die time. At Jackson’s MMA and Grudge Training Center, Marquardt is getting the best preparation that this country has to offer, and he’s a powerful, vicious striker. Okami is a deceptively strong fighter with great conditioning, who might be able to smother Marquardt just like Sonnen did.

K-Sos Talks UFC 122 – Watch more Funny Videos

Coming off his Fight of the Night-winning TKO loss to Stephan Bonnar at UFC 116, Krzysztof Soszynski — better known around here as "K-Sos" — is hungry to get back to the win column. He returns at UFC 122 (November 13; Oberhausen, Germany) against Goran Reljic, who has dropped his last two bouts against CB Dollaway and Kendall Grove, and needs a victory to save his job. According to K-Sos, that’ll just make for a more exciting fight. As he tells our interviewer Ruben Vera:

"I think it’s another one of those fun fights. He’s gonna leave everything on the line. He’s 0-2 in his last two fights, he’s gonna be desperate; he doesn’t want to go 0-3. So he’s gonna put everything out there, he’s gonna put everything on the line to get this win, and I’m going to have to be ready for it. I feel like with the way I fought against Stephan Bonnar — a lot of punches, a lot kicks, a lot of pressure — I think it’s gonna be one of those barnburners, and one of those fights where the fans are gonna get a really good look at what we can do…
It’s gonna be a brawl…it’s gonna be a battle of wills, a battle of conditioning, and whoever’s fresher in the third round is gonna win that fight. I’m expecting a three-round war, and I’m pretty sure he’s expecting the same from me. We’re just gonna put on a great show for the fans and the UFC."

Later in the interview, K-Sos talks about why he left Team Quest for Reign Training Center, how studying under Bad News Brown inspired him to leave pro wrestling for MMA, what he thinks about the current season of TUF, and what his favorite Van Damme movie is. Shockingly, it’s not Bloodsport.

(Cain Velasquez and George Lopez enjoy a PBJ and milk in honor of Brock Lesnar’s cracker-ass heritage. Props: fpvault)

– Five Lessons: UFC 121 Edition (Versus MMA Beat)

- Cesar Gracie Says Jake Shields Is the Guy to Beat GSP (FightMagazine)

– Dana White: Brock Lesnar Is Not Going Back to WWE (LowKick)

- Court McGee Not Entirely Pleased With Performance in UFC 121 Win (MMA Fighting)

– The IRS Put a Lien On James Toney’s UFC 118 Fight Purse (MMA Convert)

– Marquardt vs. Okami Winner Guaranteed Title Shot (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Bellator Finalizes Line-Up for Thursday Night’s Season-Ending Event (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Playboy Playmate LaTasha Marzolla Gets Her Arm Snapped in an MMA Bout (MiddleEasy)

– Herb Dean Talks Refereeing and Judging and His New Line of Condoms (MMA Scraps)

– UFC President Dana White Talks Jon Jones, Jose Aldo on the Fight Fix (SBNation.com/MMA)

("We gotta take it again, guys. Some dumb jackass wandered into the shot and wasn’t fist-posing." Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)

When it comes to the UFC’s middleweight division, we expect chaos, bro, every day. Just two days after Vitor Belfort vs. Yushin Okami was announced as a #1 contender’s match for UFC 122, new reports claim that Belfort has been forced to pull out of the match, and will be replaced by fellow top contender Nate Marquardt, who defeated Rousimar Palhares via TKO (stupidity) last week at UFC Fight Night 22. Due to the shoulder injury that benched Belfort for the better part of this year, the former light-heavyweight champ hasn’t competed since his UFC return fight against Rich Franklin at UFC 103.

Adding an odd wrinkle to this story is Belfort’s trainer Shawn Tompkins, who semi-responded to the reports on Facebook late last night, writing, "you will recieve Vitor Belfort news very soon…All I can tell you as his coach is that he is 100% healthy." Belfort might be physically sound, but that doesn’t mean he’s not withdrawing from the event for other reasons. Could the UFC be promoting him to an immediate title shot at UFC 125 in Chael Sonnen‘s place? We’ll update you when we know more…

Last week, Vitor Belfort let us all know that instead of expecting a title shot if he defeats Yushin Okami at UFC 122, he expect[s] Jesus, bro, every day. Well, it seems that the Lord has rewarded Belfort’s devotion. The UFC’s Marshall Zelaznik confirmed today that the Belfort/Okami main event in Germany will determine the next challenger to Anderson Silva‘s middleweight belt. "Both Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami are one win away from a shot at the UFC middleweight title and are coming to Germany with a great deal to win and lose,” Zelaznik said.

Now, we all know that the UFC 122 main event has been upgraded to an official title eliminator because Chael Sonnen pissed hot and will be suspended for up to a year. Obviously, that wasn’t mentioned in the announcement. At some point, the UFC is going to have to make some kind of public statement on the fact that their Fight of the Night-winning former #1 contender won’t be around for a while, and won’t be getting that immediate title rematch that Dana White told everyone about. But for now, promoting Belfort vs. Okami is a more pressing issue, I guess.

As for Belfort, he’s just living proof that if you put your faith in God, you’ll experience miracles. I mean, the dude who said Lance Armstrong gave himself cancer by taking steroids failed a freakin’ steroid test the next month? Honestly, who saw that coming?

(If you’re into easily digestible religious platitudes and being able to express your entire worldview on a bumper sticker, Belfort is pretty much your guy. PicProps:  Urdirt.com)

Look, nobody would blame Vitor Belfort if he’s a little pissed off right now. Dude has been trying to get Anderson Silva in the cage with him since January, but owing to the middleweight champion’s ongoing frailty, fights scheduled for UFC 108, UFC 109 and UFC 112 have all had to be postponed. Now, due to the world’s most unexpected beatdown at the hands of Chael Sonnen and yet another injury to Silva, Belfort will instead accept a dangerous (and, frankly, thankless) fight against Yushin Okami in Germany at UFC 122 in November.

A lesser man – or perhaps a man who isn’t married to a Brazilian Playboy model and therefore can’t already consider his life an earth-shaking fucking success – might think this was a raw deal. He might stew over it, maybe go on Tapout Radio and say some crazy shit about it, but not Vitor Belfort.  As he explained on Thursday during an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s “The MMA Hour,” Belfort doesn’t get mad, he gets Jesus.

"You know what I’m expecting?” he said, when asked if he thought a win over Okami would earn him a title fight. “I’m expect Jesus, bro, every day. I’m expecting Jesus to come into my life and choose my path. Whatever out there is good for me."

(Listen, Chael. If you get into trouble and you forget what to do, I’ve had instructions printed on your shorts and my shirt and hat.)

Number one UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen took part in a Q&A session today in Texas ahead of tomorrow night’s UFC Fight Night 22 and as expected, the outspoken Republican had a lot to say.

Perhaps most interesting of all of the comments made by Sonnen at the UFC Fight Club event were in regards to whom he might be training with for his  rematch with Silva, tentatively scheduled for UFC 125 on January 1, and whom he has in his crosshairs should he win the UFC middleweight strap this time around.

"I’d love it if Yushin [Okami] came out [to help me train for the rematch with Anderson]. I have a room in my house and I call it Yushin’s room and nobody’s allowed to go in it. I finished the place for him, I put a big bed in it and I got him his own television. Nobody gets to go in there but Okami. But, I don’t know [if he'll make it to Oregon for my camp]," Sonnen said. "I just talked to a gentleman from Japan on behalf of Yushin. He talked about coming out, but he said that because he and Vitor [Belfort] are going to fight in Germany, he’s very worried about jet lag from travelling from Tokyo to the States, to Germany. So I don’t know if we’re going to get him or not." 

Find more videos like this on BJPENN.COM

BJ Penn‘s post-UFC 118 layoff won’t be a long one. After getting the business end of a five-round shutout at the hands of Frankie Edgar, Penn expects to return to the Octagon "in November sometime," against an opponent he’s not ready to name yet. But you can tell he’s excited about the matchup by the way his chair-rocking gradually increases in speed.

"November" could mean UFC 122: Belfort vs. Okami (11/13; Oberhausen, Germany) or UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida (11/20; Auburn Hills, Michigan), both of which lack strong co-main events at this point. We’re still holding out hope that Penn gets his rematch with Takanori Gomi, even though Clay Guida’s recent tweets seem to hint at a Guida vs. Gomi meeting. In the words of BJ, we’ll "keep you guys posted…it’s gonna be good…nah."

 
(Rock beats scissors.)

Dave Meltzer from The Wrestling Observer is reporting that a number two middleweight contender match-up between Yushin Okami and Vitor Belfort is being planned for UFC 122 November 13 in Oberhausen, Germany.

According to Meltzer, the winner of the bout will likely take on the winner of the Chael Sonnen-Anderson Silva rematch some time in 2011. According to reports last week, that fight could happen as early as December, but may not take place until SuperBowl weekend.

(The Waterboy will look to exploit "The Immortal" Matt Brown’s mortal ground game.)

UFC matchmaker Joe Silva has been busy the past week securing fights for some of the promotion’s upcoming cards.

According to German MMA website groundandpound.de, Polish-German welterweight fighter Peter Sobotta will take on The Ultimate Fighter Season 7 winner Amir Sadollah at UFC 122 when the UFC travels to Germany in November.

0-2 in two Octagon appearances, having dropped unanimous decisions to Paul Taylor and James Wilks at UFC 99 and 115, respectively, Sobotta may find him self unemployed if he loses another bout.

Sadollah, who isn’t quite on the chopping block yet, will be looking to rebound from a lackluster performance against Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 114. Prior to that, the Brooklyn-born, Richmond, Virginia-raised fighter won two in a row against Brad Blackburn and Phil Baroni — both via unanimous decision.