(Come to think of it, we’d watch this again.) 

Perhaps Melvin Guillard has made some DRASTIC improvements to his ground game since joining up with the Blackzilians, or perhaps he simply has some sort of autoerotic asphyxiation fetish, because the hard hitting lightweight recently told MMA Weekly that he wants his next fight to be a rematch against Joe Lauzon, whom you may recall, dropped Guillard and finished him with a rear-naked choke in just under 50 seconds of their UFC 136 bout. According to Guillard, the loss is the only in his career that he felt he truly should have won. Here’s what “The Young Assassin” had to say:

In the 10 losses I have in my MMA career, I haven’t rematched anyone I’ve lost to. Not once, I’ve never really cared for rematches because I felt they won, now I’ll move on. Right now, I’m at the point where this fight means something to me, I have something to prove against Joe Lauzon, so this is a rematch I’m asking for. Right now, I’m looking to watch the fights in Japan and I’m praying that he loses to (Anthony) Pettis because I want a rematch against Joe Lauzon. I don’t want to fight nobody next but Joe Lauzon. I don’t even care how it goes, I just want to see Pettis win and I want an immediate rematch with Joe Lauzon. Hopefully, I can get that rematch by fourth of July in Vegas.

Join us after the jump for a few more interesting musings from Guillard’s interview.

Dana White’s video blogs, though sporadic, have taken an increasingly interesting turn in that they are now largely made up of post-fight footage from UFC events rather than the day-to-day extravagance that is “The Baldfather’s” life. As with his UFC 136 vlog, Dana gives us a brief introduction and wishes us a happy Halloween before throwing us behind the scenes of UFC 136 to witness the agony of defeat firsthand.

Particularly tough to watch is that of Melvin Guillard, who, after having his lightweight title aspirations choked out of him by Joe Lauzon, completely loses his shit backstage, throwing a chair across the room before breaking down on his hands and knees as the doctor’s try to attend to him. Even Joe Warren had to look away.

Join us after the jump for some other musings from this week’s vlog:

(And for my next trick, I’ll make my transcribed threats disappear.) 

Who didn’t see this coming? Though we’ve long questioned/marveled at Chael Sonnen‘s mental stability, or lack thereof, his recent appearance on the Jim Rome Show has more or less confirmed or suspicions that most of what comes out of his mouth is utter bullshit. For instance, when asked if the “loser leaves town” scenario that he proposed to Anderson Silva during his post fight interview at UFC 136 was still valid, Sonnen, like a typical politician, said that the offer had expired. We’ll let “The Oregon Wankster” explain:

File this one under “least surprising info of the day.” Following back-to-back losses to Brian Stann and Demian Maia at UFC 130 and 136, repectively, word has it that Jorge Santiago has been released by the UFC for the second time. The American Top Team standout’s original run took place back in 2006, where he scored a quick knockout over the now deceased Justin Levens before ending up on the highlight reels of Chris Leben and Alan Belcher for all eternity.

With his come from behind performance against Gray Maynard at UFC 136, lightweight champion Frankie Edgar has quickly become one of the more inspirational figures in the sport, so much so that last night, he was called upon by the always inconsistent New York Jets to provide some much needed inspiration heading in to their Monday night match against their long time rival, the Miami Dolphins. Despite making it to the AFC championship game the past two years in a row, the Jets have started the year with a less than stellar 2-3 record, and are in desperate need of a win against the 0-4 Dolphins, who have won their last 3 road games against the Jets.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Ryron and Rener Gracie break down the action from a UFC card, so we decided to give you guys a double dose of knowledge to kick-start your weekend. Above, we have their take on Chael Sonnen’s ever improving Jiu-Jitsu game, which capped off with a second round arm triangle submission of Brian Stann at UFC 136.

Now, moving past how “gentle” Chael was in his victory, the Gracie’s demonstrate and analyze the transitions, guard passes, and remount techniques Sonnen used to defeat Stann with their usual competency, breaking down both the first and second rounds of their middleweight fight. Being a guy trained primarily in the ground game, I can’t say enough how valuable these break downs are.

Check out the Gracie’s breakdown of Jon Jones’ 4th round rear-naked choke over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 135 after the jump.

-Danga 

(“How’s taste my pee pee?”)

It looks like Anderson Silva has had just about enough of Chael Sonnen’s pro-wrestling schtick.

UFC president Dana White mentioned during the post-fight presser that the UFC middleweight champ took umbrage with Sonnen’s recent comments about kicking in Silva’s back door, slapping his wife on the ass and telling her to go cook him a steak.

“Those guys really don’t like each other,” White said. “I don’t know if Chael really hates Anderson, but Anderson – I don’t know if any of you saw his face when [Chael beat Brian Stann], but he wasn’t doing the whole joking around thing. He was pissed. He’s really upset bout the smack-his-wife-on-the-butt thing.”

(Kenny chose brown and blue to match his face at the presser.)

When Kenny Florian fell short in his third UFC title bid Saturday night against featherweight champion Jose Aldo at UFC 136, fans and the media immediately began inexplicably asking “The Ultimate Fighter 1″ finalist if perhaps it would be a good time for him to call it a career. Seems a bit harsh, but everyone loves  winner.

Even UFC president Dana White seemed to hint at the post-fight press conference that Florian’s future with the promotion might be behind the microphone as opposed to in the Octagon.

“I’ve got nothing but respect for him, and Kenny Florian will be with us no matter what.
“Kenny Florian’s awesome. He commentated our last show. I think he’s great on camera. I think he’s great on the mic,” White gushed. “He’s a talented guy with a lot of options, and he’s always been a solid guy with us and always been a team player. I love Kenny Florian. There’s a lot of things that could happen with Kenny Florian.”The thing about Kenny is he’s smart. He’s talented. He’s got other options. He’s got things going on outside of fighting, too. It’s just one of those things he needs to sit down and really figure out on his own.”

(If Jesse Ventura ever sees this, someone out there is going to get sued. / Props to MMAFighting.)  

As a long time UFC fan, I’ve recently noticed that their marketing team has seemingly taken a break from using corny phrases to label their events. In fact, the last UFC pay-per-view to not be named after the fighters in the main event was back at UFC 125: Resolution, which featured the eventual draw between, you guessed it, Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. You just don’t see that kind of irony everyday.

UFC 136 was actually able to provide us with closure, however — more closure in fact than any card in quite a while. Not only did Edgar vindicate himself in triumphant fashion, but Jose Aldo proved to many of his critics that his gas tank is not an issue, Kenny Florian proved that he will never, ever, win a title fight, and Chael Sonnen proved that ring rust is for the weak. But now, we look to the future, and more importantly, try to predict it for the weekend’s big winners. So if you think our future match-ups are garbage, be sure to let us know in the comments section below.

(Full gallery is after the jump.)

The unfamiliar face you may have seen doing laps around the Octagon on Saturday night was Vanessa Hanson, a 20-year-old model from Orange, California, who earned a guest ring girl spot at UFC 136 by winning Transworld Surf‘s 2011 US Open/UFC Model Search. Check out more Vanessa Hanson photos in the gallery below, and watch the photo-shoot video at the end to see her in action.

Last week’s fight-picking contest took in over 120 entries — or about six, when you filter out all the entries that predicted Edgar vs. Maynard and Sonnen vs. Stann would both go to decision, and that Jose Aldo would knock out Kenny Florian. Since none of that happened, it kind of made our jobs easier.

Of the commenters who picked all three winners correctly, first-place accolades go to commenter smackemyakem, who predicted that Edgar would finish Maynard by fourth-round TKO. Well done, buddy. Second place goes to Yuri4980 who also called a TKO win for Edgar, plus a decision victory for Aldo. Sabourcc and Cro Cop Glory Days round out the winners’ circle by being at least somewhat correct on the victory-method for one of their picks. Congrats guys, you’re all getting copies of UFC Encyclopedia by Thomas Gerbasi. E-mail contest@cagepotato.com with your name and mailing address to claim your prize. Thanks to everybody who played!

(Punch-face: Where ‘herp’ meets ‘derp’. Photo via Cagewriter.)

Of the 11 bouts hosted at UFC 136, eight went to the judges — which made the other three seem even more special by comparison. In case you missed ‘em on Saturday, take a look back at the two dramatic submissions and one classic knockout from “Edgar vs. Maynard III.”

GIFs are after the jump, via IronForgesIron.

Dana White post-event interview with Ariel Helwani. Props: MMAFighting.com

It’s no stretch to say that UFC 136 was, on paper, the most stacked UFC card since UFC 100. It featured two title fights, the return of the only middleweight to make Anderson Silva look human, a rematch from one of the most controversial decisions of 2010 and a lightweight contender looking to keep his winning streak alive. Add on the UFC Fan Expo being held on the same weekend, and it would seem impossible for UFC 136 to live up to the hype. Yet, impressively enough, it did.

If you’re a fan of “zombie style” fighting, then Frankie Edgar absolutely has to be one of your favorite fighters after last night. In a performance that caused more than a few of us to experience déjà vu, Edgar seemed like he was one punch away from being knocked out throughout Gray Maynard’s early onslaught. But Edgar hung on and managed to take the next two rounds en route to a fourth round TKO. It’s an impressive accomplishment, especially considering that Frankie Edgar is a natural featherweight while Gray Maynard is pretty big for a lightweight, if Mike Goldberg is to be trusted. Any questions about Frankie Edgar’s ability to finish seem to have been answered last night. Especially in the eyes of Dana White, who awarded Frankie Edgar the 75k Knockout of the Night honors.

(Props: carloscub104)

Chael Sonnen might be the greatest pro-wrestler in MMA history. After his thrilling arm-triangle submission of Brian Stann at UFC 136 last night, Sonnen got on the mic, channeled his inner Ric Flair, and cut a promo directed at a single person — his arch-rival, Anderson Silva:

“Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck. Super Bowl weekend, the biggest rematch in the history of the business, I’m calling you out Silva, but we’re upping the stakes. I beat you, you leave the division. You beat me, I will leave the UFC forever.”

Gotta love the Charles Barkley cameo at the end. So will the Spider take the bait? And how did you feel about Sonnen’s WWE-style hype-routine?

(“I’m so sick of your friggin’ face.” “No, I’m so sick of *your* friggin’ face.”)

Well, we’re finally going to sort out this lightweight championship mess. Thanks for joining us for the ride. Bear with us as we try a slightly different format to appease the complaints we’ve had about spoilers and such. If you want to read about certain fight, click  ”next page.”

Preliminary results after the jump.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

- Does Frankie Edgar have any ‘Answer’ for the raging “Bully’? (Complex)

- Kate Upton in bikinis at the circus (WithLeather)

- Christian talk show rant about Pokemon and Minecraft (DoubleViking)

- Chael Sonnen is the new Ultimate Warrior (Clutch.MTV)

- 7 movie preachers worse than Fred Phelps (ScreenJunkies)

- ‘King Mo’ asks for ‘Rampage’ via Twitter (CageWriter)

Machida on Jones: “Nobody is invincible” (Tatame)

- 25 fighters who need to call it quits (BleacherReport)

- How to catch a cougar (MadeMan)

- UFC calendar to grow to 34 events in 2012 (MMAFighting)

- Homemade bomb or ugly phallic art project? (HolyTaco)

- Bizarre video: Rangers fan celebrates win by sexily popping balloons (Guyism)

- the five biggest surprises through the NFL’s first quarter (TheScoresReport)

- Worst…UFC…cake…EVER! (TheFightNerd)

- Travolta-produced Gotti movie put on hold (FilmDrunk)

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

Just a friendly reminder that we will have the live stream of today’s UFC 136 weigh-ins from Houston, Texas starting at 5:00 pm ET.

There’s a pretty good chance that at least one fighter is getting shoved during the festivities. Unfortunately we likely won’t hear from Stann or Sonnen since Joe Rogan typically only interviews the main event participants, so we’l have to settle for listening to Maynard say that Frankie has his belt and to Edgar say he’s sick of fighting Gray.

Time for a few friendly wagers in the comment section.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/MrUFCTrailers)

Just a couple of videos to make your Friday fly by a bit more quickly.

Between “The Most Interesting Man in the World” and “The Fly Trap,” we could have tomorrow night’s “Fight of the Night.”

Remember to get your picks in for our “UFC 136 Fight-Picking Contest” and to check back in with us at 5:00 pm ET today for the weigh ins and tomorrow night at 9:00 pm ET for our liveblog of the pay-per-view.

Have a great weekend, Potato Nation.

Check out “The Fly Trap” after the jump.

(Stock-trader vs. Wall Street protester — who ya got? Photo via MMA Mania)

Want to make some real money this weekend? Then come over to my place on Saturday afternoon and be prepared to clean some toilets. Want to make some hypothetical, for-entertainment-purposes-only money this weekend? Then check out the latest UFC 136 betting lines (via BestFightOdds) and read our gambling advice after the jump.

PPV Main Card
Frankie Edgar (-125) vs. Gray Maynard (+120)
Jose Aldo (-320) vs. Kenny Florian (+301)
Chael Sonnen (-255) vs. Brian Stann (+227)
Nam Phan (-210) vs. Leonard Garcia (+208)
Melvin Guillard (-312) vs. Joe Lauzon (+310)

Spike TV Prelims
Demian Maia (-275) vs. Jorge Santiago (+245)
Anthony Pettis (-277) vs. Jeremy Stephens (+250)

Facebook Prelims
Joey Beltran (+190) vs. Stipe Miocic (-210)
Tiequan Zhang (-120) vs. Darren Elkins (+115)
Aaron Simpson (-313) vs. Eric Schafer (+300)
Steve Cantwell (-135) vs. Mike Massenzio (+130)

We’ll begin…at the beginning:

(Who honestly wouldn’t want to see this again?) 

Dana White is like a walking, talking, movie trailer. He reveals just enough to get his audience hot with anticipation, only to deny them with the necessary answers as to why they were watching him in the first place. During the UFC 136 pre-fight press conference, and in accordance with multiple sources, “The Baldfather” apparently revealed that the winner of the upcoming bout between Brian Stann and submission savant Chael Sonnen at UFC 136 would be next in line for a chance to dethrone Anderson Silva. Sort of. Maybe.

The question that sparked all the fuss was as follows: ”How could you feel that if Sonnen wins, he deserves a shot at the title but if not Stann doesn’t?”

To which DW responded:

Zuffa Editorial Director Thomas Gerbasi has just given us a stack of his upcoming book UFC Encyclopedia, a slick and meticulously detailed reference guide to the promotion’s 18-year history — perfect for your coffee table or the crapper. And we want to give away three copies to the savviest fight-pickers in the Potato Nation.

This Saturday, UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III goes down at the Toyota Center in Houston, featuring the conclusion (we hope) of MMA’s grittiest lightweight rivalry, Jose Aldo‘s latest title featherweight defense against Kenny Florian, and Chael Sonnen‘s love-fest with Brian Stann. Submit your predictions for these three fights in the comments section below, including the winner’s name, the method of victory, and the time/round of stoppage, if any. Your entry should be in this format:

(“What is it I’m supposed to do with these things again?”)

Joey Beltran: If Beltran loses against UFC newcomer Stipe Miocic, the loss would put him at 1-3 in his last four fights. For a journeyman like Beltran, a slide like that would likely mean a pink slip with his check. A Golden Gloves champ and NCAA Division I wrestler, Miocic is no slouch, which could play into the favor of “The Mexicutioner” if he gets called to the boss’ office.

Steve Cantwell: Heading into his UFC middleweight debut bout with Mike Massenzio,Cantwell is 0-3 in his last three outings. A loss Saturday night would likely land him on the cut list, or at the very least in the margin with a circle around and a question mark beside his name. The UFC might take into account that there was a year-and-a-half gap between his last two losses in which the former WEC light heavyweight champ battled an unnamed illness that UFC president Dana White mentioned was “career-threatening.” Since he doesn’t quite have a memorable personality like Dan Hardy or Pat Barry, that may be the only card he has to play.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/Heavy)

Heavy.com’s Megan Olivi caught up with Dana White following the UFC 136 press conference today and picked the UFC president’s brain about a few hot topics that have been swirling around MMA blogs and messageboards as of late.

White gave some insight into how he expects the UFC’s first dual event to go down, logistically, and shared his thoughts on what title implications certain bouts from UFC 136 might have including Stann versus Sonnen and Lauzon versus Guillard. He also mentioned that the future of Strikeforce could be determined this week as Showtime will likely announce whether or not it intends to re-up with the now Zuffa-owned promotion.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/readysteadyriot)

Frankie Edgar’s overall fight game has come a long way since his MMA debut six years ago against a dude who looked a lot like DJ Pauly D.

The UFC lightweight champion competed for the first time on July 10, 2005 when he defeated Eric Uresk via first-round TKO at Underground Combat League’s UCE: Revelations Chapter 2 event held at the Jerome Boxing Club in The Bronx, NY. The show was unsanctioned as MMA was illegal in the State at the time (as it is today), so the fight does not appear on “The Answer’s” official MMA record. Edgar would win his next eight pro bouts until his undefeated streak was brought to a halt by Gray Maynard at UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Lauzon on April 2, 2008. He will have his second opportunity to avenge his only loss Saturday when he squares off with Maynard for the third time at UFC 136.

Just a friendly reminder that we will be streaming today’s UFC 136 press conference live starting at 12:00 pm ET.

The event will feature main card fighters Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard, Jose Aldo, Kenny Florian, Brian Stann and Chael Sonnen.

If nothing else, it’s worth tuning into to see what yarns Chael will spin.

Check out the player after the jump.

(Stipe Miocic vs. William Penn, 4/16/11)

Out of the 22 fighters competing on this Saturday’s UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III card, only one will be stepping into the Octagon for the first time. That man is Stipe Miocic, an undefeated 29-year-old Croatian-American from Ohio who will be facing Joey Beltran during the prelims. So how does a guy with just six fights, who’s beaten nobody you’ve ever heard of, get an invitation to the big show? By being one of the most decorated blue-chip prospects the UFC heavyweight division has seen since Cain Velasquez. Seriously. Just check out his credentials…

(“Just stay down, Frankie.”)

Just a friendly reminder the the UFC 136 countdown show will air tonight at 11 pm ET.

One thing that’s clear is that Gray Maynard is coming into this bout pissed off that he hasn’t lost to Frankie Edgar in two fights,  yet “The Answer” has the strap. “The Bully” is confident that this is his fight and says he’s not leaving without the belt. Hopefully for his sake he wins the fight, since it’s going to be pretty awkward to watch him snatch the belt out of Dana White’s hands and run back to the dressing room with it. If he does happen to lose, maybe they can get him one of those replica belts Jon Jones refuses to sign.

Regardless of who wins and the pre-conceived notion that Maynard is a boring fighter, if the last fight is any indication, this fight is going to be a war (Sorry Tim Kennedy. That’s just how we feel. Pinch our cheeks if you want.).

Anyway, if you’re one of those people who can’t wait until Christmas to check out your presents, you can watch part one of the show after the jump.

Well, The Bum Rush Radio Show is finally back in your lives after a brief hiatus. Whether or not that’s a good thing remains to be seen. Our relationship with you is like Sid’s was with Nancy; you can’t live without us, but sometimes we drive you insane and we’re cool with that. We’ll hide the knives and the heroin and we’ll continue to get along just fine.

Anyway, our special guest this week is acclaimed Xtreme Couture head boxing coach Gil Martinez who is in the final stages of preparations for Gray Maynard’s championship rematch with Frankie Edgar. We talk to Gil about his thoughts on the bout and we find out what he thought about the Ortiz-Mayweather debacle.

Also on the show, we formally meet our new part-time staff member Jared “DangadaDang” Jones as he, Ben and Mike discuss the top news of the week, last week’s UFC 135 event, and the last UFC on Versus card coming up tomorrow.

(Come on. You’re telling me that’s not a pothead? / Photo via Sherdog)

Update: Herman only tested positive for marijuana. The report that originally stated he also tested positive for steroids came from a misinterpretation of his interview.

UFC heavyweight Dave Herman has confirmed that his scheduled UFC 136 main card bout against Mike Russow has been canceled, after his pre-fight drug tests came back positive for marijuana. Herman denies using the illegal substance. As he explained to Clinch Gear Radio:

“I went in to get in my drug test (on Sept. 15), and a week later, they called me and told me they lost my urine specimen. I had to come in and redo it. That was last week. I went back in that day. And [on Wednesday], they told me I failed. I said, ‘That’s impossible.’…[now,] Texas said they never lost it and the first one [tested positive] for drugs and the second was for steroids. I don’t even smoke…I haven’t even had a beer in two months.”

(Sonnen not impressed by Anderson’s choice of blouse.)

Paul Lazenby caught up with Chael Sonnen, who is preparing for an October 8 showdown with Brian Stann at UFC 136 recently and, as usual, the UFC middleweight didn’t disappoint when the subject of the interview turned to Anderson Silva. “The American Gangster,” who was suspended earlier this year for non-approved testosterone replacement therapy says that “The Spider” is guilty of treatment for his own hormone issues.

“I don’t think that treatment for Anderson’s problems is prohibited by the UFC, even right before a match. Some medications are limited, as you know, but Anderson is in a state of medical legitimacy because I don’t think that Midol is prohibited, nor are chocolate or Gerard Butler movies. I have never personally had to deal with his sort of condition, but I feel for him and I really want to see what his top fighting form actually is, since we apparently haven’t seen it yet,” Sonnen said.