(“I’m telling you man, we’ll get our own place. I’m thinking bunk beds, bean bag chairs, black light posters and all the soda we can drink. Whaddaya say?” PicProps: Flickr)

Well, we can’t see how this could possibly be good news approximately 15 days out from the biggest fight of his life, but Vitor Belfort has 86’ed trainer Shawn Tompkins in favor of a return to Xtreme Couture, according to a conversation between the coach himself and Mauro Ranallo this week. If we’ve got the timeline straight, Belfort was at Xtreme Couture to begin with, but went with Tompkins when he splintered off to start his own team. Now, as he so often does, Belfort is reversing his position.

Tompkins sounds a little peeved about the split and we gotta believe the differences were pretty irreconcilable to prompt “The Phenom” (who, let’s face it, has always seemed a little flighty) to decamp so close to his scheduled middleweight title fight against Anderson Silva on Feb. 5. After the jump, a short-ish transcript of Ranallo’s and Tompkins’ talk, courtesy Fight Opinion …

(Video courtesy YouTube/ARK1988LAB)

You would think that if one were to interview 15 MMA experts, at least one would have a differing opinion than the rest.

Apparently this isn’t the case in Brazil, where pretty much everyone believes that Anderson Silva is going to beat Vitor Belfort.

Although a few of the 15 Brazilian experts Tatame recently asked about their predictions for the fight added the disclaimers that, "anything could happen" and that "Vitor is a tough opponent," not one of them chose "The Phenom" to win the bout, even with his recent revelation that Jesus will be his cornerman for the fight.

Check out the 15 ways the 15 experts think Silva is going to beat Belfort after the jump.

(The government later debunked Jon Jones’ claims of seeing a UFO, saying the object in the upper left was just a weather balloon doing routine analysis. PicProps: Heavy)

We already know that Jon Jones is a compulsive game planner. We also know that his methods are sometimes unorthodox, trending toward crazy. Remember that one time he taped off Stephan Bonnar’s physical dimensions on his wall at home in preparation for their bout at UFC 94? Yeah, that seemed to work. Well, as he gets ready for his UFC 126 clash with Ryan Bader, it appears that Jonny Bones’ OCD is reaching new heights. Jones tells Old Dad this week that he’s not only studying tape of Bader’s fights, he’s also watching and re-watching his interviews, shadowing him on Twitter and reading the tweets of his friends, coaches and followers.

(Props: foxsports)

And here we have the 10-minute hype-reel for UFC 126, which goes down February 5th in Las Vegas. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but has anybody else noticed that the interpreter-voice they give to Anderson Silva these days sounds like a really smug asshole? I don’t know. Back in the day, they’d just use Ed Soares to dub his voice. Now he sounds like more of a heel character. Intentional? 

Anyway, what else. Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin see themselves as very similar competitors. "You have a fairly well-rounded fighter that has some knockout power on his feet, and is a very tenacious fighter, and as the fight goes on he fights harder," Rich says. "Did I just describe me or did I describe Forrest?" (Don’t answer, it’s a trick question.) Griffin says he’ll beat Franklin "no problem," though it’s possible that he’s just trying to be funny like usual.

The full lineup for UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort is after the jump…

(Props: Cyberplex)

"Ryan’s mentioning that he thinks that I’ll cut down on my flashiness? That’s what he’s afraid of. So that’s exactly what I’ll probably give him the most, is a lot of weird, unorthodox techniques that he’s never seen, even in wrestling."

So says light-heavyweight contender Jon Jones, who’s set to face off against Ryan Bader in a high-profile matchup at UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort on Super Bowl weekend. In his most recent fights against Vladimir Matyushenko, Brandon Vera, and Matt Hamill, Jones simplified his gameplan so that he was pretty much just taking guys down with his Greco throws then smashing them with elbows and punches until the ref pulled him off. Bader will be expecting that, which may be why Jones is promising brand-new techniques. But what can he throw that he hasn’t shown us already? Is there such a thing as a spinning-flying-knee?  

After the jump: Chuck Liddell‘s guest-spot on Blue Mountain State (damn right it’s horrible!), Michael Schiavello repeats his catch-phrase over and over again, and MMA makes it onto Comedy Central’s brand-new Sportsdome series. Sort of.

(Holiness is next to craziness. PicProps: Bonyacaiusa.com)

Gotta admit, those “I’m Expect Jesus, Bro, Every Day” bumper stickers we had printed up a few months ago aren’t exactly flying off the shelves like we hoped they might. Nonetheless, UFC middleweight contender Vitor Belfort isn’t letting that rattle his unwavering faith that a higher power will lead him to the gold at UFC 126. Belfort may be in direct violation of a CagePotato ban on invoking the help of the savior in MMA competition, but it’s hard not to like his enthusiasm in this prefight hype video from UFC.com, when he discusses his strategy against Anderson Silva.

“I think every day that I’m gonna win the fight, that I’m gonna push the pace,” Belfort says. “I have to look for the opening, look for the gap and if it goes to the ground I have to look for the submission. If we’re (standing) I have to look in his eyes and know I’m gonna beat him. He’s the champion and I’m the challenger, it’s gonna be a lion facing a lion. It’s gonna be a great, great fight. I’m on a journey right now, I’m about to accomplish my journey. In the name of Jesus, I’m gonna leave there with a victory, for sure."

(And the first nomination for 2011′s Corey Hill Award is… / Photo courtesy of the DREAM Dynamite!! Photo Gallery on FightMagazine.com)

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…

– Five Lessons: UFC 125 (Versus MMA Beat)

– Antonio McKee: Loss in UFC Debut Was a ‘Humbling Experience’ (MMA Fighting)

– UFC 125 Aftermath: Clay Guida’s Enthusiasm For Fighting Is A Draw For New MMA Fans (SBNation.com/MMA)

– 11 Fighters The UFC Should Sign In 2011 (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Video: Hatsu Hioki vs. Marlon Sandro Featherweight Title Fight From Sengoku ‘Soul of Fight’ (MMA Scraps)

– Watch Dana White Give Snoop Dogg $20,000 in Unmarked Bills (MiddleEasy)

– UFC 126: Silva vs Belfort Official Trailer (LowKick)

– Miesha Tate Targeting March 5 in Ohio for Welterweight Title-Shot (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Brock Lesnar Wants You to Read His New Book (MMA Convert)

("Just relax and don’t think about where my other hand is.")

Unless you’re doing an interview with a small regional Canadian television station, if your teammate is fighting you’re pretty much obligated to say he or she is going to win or you may find yourself being greenlit the next time you show up for practice.

It’s no surprise then that Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante is picking his Team Nogueira training partner, UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva to beat former UFC light heavyweight champ Vitor Belfort when the pair meet February 5 at UFC 126 in Las Vegas.

According to Feijao, who is ignoring the principle rule of training: what happens in the gym stays in the gym, says that he has never seen Belfort get an upper hand over Silva in rolling or sparring while the two trained together briefly at Black House.

“I’ve had the opportunity of training with both [Anderson and Vitor] and to see them training with each other," he told Tatame. I’ve never seen Vitor beating Anderson."

(Damn, Anthony, if you can’t get psyched around this crowd, we don’t know what to tell you.)

One day, mankind will realize that fighting is a counter-productive act, leading to only misery and division. Until then…

— Returning from his painful loss to Mirko Cro Cop in June, UFC heavyweight Pat Barry will step back into the Octagon against Joey "The Mexicutioner" Beltran at UFC Fight for the Troops 2. Beltran is also looking to get back to the W column, having dropped a decision to Matt Mitrione at UFC 119.

— Former WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres continues his path back to contendership against Antonio Banuelos at UFC 126 in February. Torres recently snapped a two-fight losing skid by choking at Charlie Valencia at WEC 51. Banuelos outpointed Chad George at the same event, and has won four of his last five.

(He may be a nice guy who doesn’t mean-mug, but Lytle’s no slouch.)

Chris Lytle (30-17-5) could take a dramatic jump up the UFC’s 170-pound ladder if he gets past his next rumored opponent.

According Sportsnet.ca, to the Indianapolis fighter could take on welterweight contender Carlos Condit (26-5) February 5 at UFC 126, which is surprising, considering that the Albuquerque, NM fighter turned down a fight with Jon Fitch on the same card because he felt he didn’t have enough time to prepare for the fight.

Reps from Lytle’s camp informed us this afternoon that they have yet to be contacted by the UFC, but they aren’t completely surprised that the fight is being considered as they requested the bout after Condit mentioned earlier this week that he would love to face "Lights Out."

When you think about it, Carlos has much more to lose by taking a fight with Lytle over one with Fitch, so he may regret the decision after February 5.

(In case you’ve completely forgotten what he looks like, this is Jake Ellenberger.)

Immediately after Jake Shields notched an ugly decision win over Martin Kampmann at UFC 121, welterweight vet Jake Ellenberger logged onto Twitter and started posting short-message bombs directed at the former Strikeforce champ. Highlights included, "Jake Shields, you’re as exciting as watching a bowl of mash potatoes get cold…Your days are numbered" and "Jake Shields’ cardio won’t be a factor if he fights me next. I won’t keep him around long enough to get tired."

(As cheap as it is for Ellenberger to talk smack over Twitter — without even including ‘@jakeshieldsajj‘ in his posts so that Jake will actually see them — we have to commend him for being the first MMA fighter in Twitter history to understand the difference between "you’re" and "your." Okay, nerdy grammar rant over.)

Since Ellenberger is just 2-1 in the UFC with wins over fellow mid-packers Mike Pyle and John Howard, we didn’t think for a second that he’d get Jake Shields pulled from his impending title fight just on the strength of his eDisses. And he didn’t. Instead, Ellenberger got a fight against Jon Fitch.

("I’m sorry, what were you saying?" PicProps: MMAConvert)

Despite some brief reports to the contrary and recent scenes of the two acting a bit too chummy for a couple of guys about to fight in a cage, Jon Jones and Ryan Bader are now a lock to do battle at UFC 126 in February, the company confirmed on Friday during its “Ultimate Insider” web show. And here you thought the internet was just for scumbags and for-profit axe-grinders trying to further their own agendas.

Confirmation of Jones vs. Bader is good news on a lot of fronts, but especially because (even though no one wants to admit it) the once vaunted light heavyweight division needs some serious help right now. The champ continues to be hampered by his own fragility. Chuck is done. Tito is so done he doesn’t even know it yet. Randy is opting for a soft retirement in order to avoid becoming the next Brett Favre. During the last three years the belt has been passed around like HPV at a barbecue at Whitehead’s. Frankly it ain’t pretty down at light heavy right now. This division desperately needs somebody to come along and put the belt on lockdown and the two guys with the best chance to do that just might be Jonny Bones and Bader. It ain’t gonna be Roger Nog, we know that much.

(Well, they found the shortest guy at the Palms Pool. Next on the photo scavenger hunt list? A pair of real breasts. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)

Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader was supposed to be the badass Super Bowl Weekend co-headliner that established a top-dog 205-pound contender in the UFC. Turns out, it might not happen at all. As Dana White told fans earlier today in London, "I don’t know if Jones is going to fight Bader. We tried to put that fight together, but Bader has some stuff going on. Jon Jones might be fighting somebody else, I don’t know how that’s going to go…[Jones is] going to have to go through a couple of guys before he gets a title shot, but at the rate Jon Jones is going he could be fighting for the title next year."

BloodyElbow points out that the "stuff" Bader has going on includes his wedding at the end of this month and a gym-opening later this year. According to Jones’s agent, Bones vs. Darth is still a go at this point, so all hope isn’t lost. It would be a shame if a fight as important and logical as this one doesn’t happen because Bader has to nurse a honeymoon hangover and attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony. In other words, would you mind sacking up, bro?