(A loaded bowl, nunchucks, and a ball on a string. In Stockton, this is how you go gently into that good night.) 

I just can’t anymore with Nick Diaz, you guys. I just can’t.

Earlier today, Diaz’s (likely overpaid) attorney, Jonathan Tweedale, told MMAMania the following:

Right now Nick is retired, unless he gets rematch with Georges St. Pierre or the big Anderson Silva fight. Apparently, if he doesn’t get those, he’s going to remain retired.

As a longtime fan of Diaz (his fighting style, at least), this “news” did not come as a shock to me, but was disappointing to hear nonetheless. Not because it means we won’t be seeing Diaz in the octagon anytime soon, but because this “I won’t play unless you pass me the ball,” retirement-as-a-bargaining-tool mentality represents the straw that has finally broke this camel’s back.

Look, I could set aside Diaz’s glaring mental deficiencies and overall jackassery back when he was laying waste to the Strikeforce welterweight division (or kicking Frank Shamrock’s ass…especially when he was kicking Frank Shamrock’s ass). When Diaz returned to the UFC after a five year absence, I was generally excited that we would have a new player at 170 lbs. Hell, when Diaz screwed himself out of a shot at St. Pierre, then dropped his next fight to Carlos Condit, then tested positive for marijuana metabolites and subsequently “retired” for the first time, I was still willing to hold onto the hope that Diaz vs. GSP would become a reality just so we could finally put all the debate to rest.

But then, it did happen, and let’s face it, Diaz choked.

(“Move along folks, there is nothing to see here!” Photo courtesy of Getty Images.) 

If the title of this post sounds familiar, it might be because Alessio Sakara has kind of become a master of the do-over during his time in the UFC. Back in 2010, Sakara was scheduled to face the now-retired Jorge Rivera at UFC 118, but the bout was eventually cancelled when both men pulled out due to injury. The fight was rescheduled for UFC 122, but was cancelled again at the last second when Sakara came down with some Jamie Varner-esque flu symptoms that may or may not have been caused by tuna fish. The fight was then tentatively rescheduled for an August event but was eventually scrapped altogether.

So perhaps you should take the news that Sakara has been rebooked against Patrick Cote at UFC 158 on March 16th in Montreal with a grain of salt, because if history is any indication, Sakara ain’t making it to this fight in one piece.

(Being the ‘King of PPV’ has its perks. Photo via CombatLifestyle)

It is no wonder Dana White called Georges St. Pierre the “King of Pay Per View” (PPV) on a conference call tuesday. UFC 154, which featured the return of the welterweight champion, succesfully defending his title against interim champ Carlos Condit, did anywhere between 680,000 to 700,000 buys, according to Dave Meltzer.

Meltzer has used industry sources to report PPV buy estimates reliably and accurately for years. In his latest column for MMA Fighting, Meltzer says that the St. Pierre vs. Condit event was the third-highest performing PPV for the organization this year, behind only UFC 148 which featured Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II, and UFC 145 which was headlined by Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans.

Both UFC 148 and 145 were centered on intense and well-publicized rivalries. UFC 154′s success can likely be attributed more singularly to the personal popularity of the returning Georges St. Pierre. As Meltzer explains:

(You should have gotten after him when you had the chance, Anderson. / Photo via Ric Fogel @ ESPN)

It appears that Georges St. Pierre wants to fight Anderson Silva about as bad as ‘The Spider’ wants to fight Jon Jones. That is to say, not at all, right now. We were told by UFC Prez Dana White that should the welterweight champ beat Carlos Condit as he did at UFC 154, he would take on the Brazilian middleweight king next, but St. Pierre revealed all of that to be a cruel tease recently while on Radio-Canada’s Tout Le Monde en Parle, or, Everyone is Talking as we’d say here in civilization. MMA Fighting had the translation.

“[The Anderson Silva] fight is the cherry on the sundae,” St. Pierre explained. “[Silva] wants to fight me so he can then retire. I would like to fight him too, but after I fight him and win the fight, what happens next? These days, yeah, there’s a lot of money to be made, but I don’t fight for the money. My motivation is to be the best. Like we said, to be the Wayne Gretzky of my sport. So if I fight him, what happens next? It will be over. So yes, I want the fight, but I want to take it when I decide the time is right, not when he wants the fight to happen.”

St. Pierre doesn’t want to move at Silva’s schedule just because he’s champion of a lighter division, even though Silva would appear to be much closer to retirement at age 37 than St. Pierre is. Speaking of weight differences, St. Pierre has appeared to have gotten some specific intel on just how much heavier Silva is than him.

More on that, as well as the complete video interview with St. Pierre wearing sunglasses and sipping wine, you know, just to emphasize the whole French thing, after the jump.

(Can’t tell if trolling…)

A lot of fighters say that once the cage door closes, they enter a state of temporary hypnosis, not unlike sleepwalking, that more or less shuts their brain down until the fight is over. Hence why they often need to be reminded what round it is, whether or not they won the last round, etc. It’s a familiar feeling — the combination of nerves, adrenaline, and the tiniest bit of fear — to anyone who has ever spoke in public or performed on a stage, and an example of how our own psyche subconsciously protects us from harm whether we want it to or not.

Clearly, this is the case for Sam Stout, who was jibber-jabbed into oblivion by John Makdessi at UFC 154. Stout’s runaway locomotive-esque strategy of “forward, forward, FORWARD” was picked apart by Makdessi with sharp combinations and simple head movement, resulting in easily some of the greatest punch faces of the night. But if you were to ask Stout how things went down, you’d probably think he fought the reincarnation of Kalib Starnes that night (Author’s note: Kalib Starnes is dead, right? I vaguely recall hearing something about a jogger accidentally running right off a cliff and just assumed the worst).

Stout shared his feelings with MMAMania:

He wasn’t fighting. He was running the whole time. I wanted to fight, I came to fight and I didn’t get the fight I wanted. 

I usually like to come out and put on an exciting fight and it takes two guys to do that, to do those kinds of fights. And you know John, he ran, he kept on moving the whole time and I was expecting him to fight me a little more.

Sour grapes much, Sam?

(The douchebag in question. Photo via KJHK.org)

Sports Illustrated writer and CBS analyst Seth Davis may have gotten himself in a little hot water yesterday in a particularly 21st century way — being an idiot on twitter. Evidently Davis is not a fan of mixed martial arts and he used some good old-fashioned homophobia to make his point.

One tweet from Davis’ @SethDavisHoops account Sunday read (props to Stephen Douglas of TheBigLead);

Looking on news sites showing picture of two muscular bloody men in homoerotic fighting pose….Sorry, I’ll never get this UFC thing.

We can’t imagine what kind of trauma Davis may have sustained that makes the CBS personality have erotic thoughts while watching two men covered in blood hitting each other, but we are truly sorry for any pain that the writer has to live with.

Another similarly idiotic tweet of Davis’ read:

(“First off, I’d like to thank my brother, Thor, for if he hadn’t transmitted the power of his hammer into my left hand, none of this would have been possible.” Photo courtesy of Getty Images.) 

The UFC has never been an organization that takes pride in its subtlety. The same can be said about Dana White. So when they forced one of their cameramen to spend the entirety of the incredible GSP/Condit fight shooting Anderson Silva’s reactions (and Lyoto’s pedostache), you’d have to be pretty thick-skulled to not realize what they were angling at. However, GSP’s hesitance to commit to the fight, combined with Johny Hendricks’s brutal declaration of #1 contendership, have seemingly put a halt on these superfight rumors, if only temporarily.

In either case, we figured we would dedicate one post as the official battlegrounds for this debate, with you, the most distinguished and intelligent audience an MMA blog could ever ask for. So join us after the jump to vote on the poll that dares to ask: Who should Georges St. Pierre fight next now that he has successfully put the kibosh on this whole interim champ/actual champ nonsense? After you’ve finished voting, make your case in the comments section, using as much profane language, personal attacks, and outright trolling attempts as possible. Seriously, we kind of miss that stuff, so don’t get soft on us Taters.

(The lumpy, discolored face of victory. / Photo via Esther Lin @ MMAFighting)

By George Shunick

UFC 154 wasn’t the first time I’ve attended a UFC event. It wasn’t even the first time I’ve attended one at the Bell Centre. (That would be UFC 113, when Mauricio “Shogun” Rua emphatically put an end to the Machida Era.) But with Georges St. Pierre fighting — returning from a serious knee injury, no less — this card was a special experience. Not to say it didn’t have its flaws — the decisions got to be a bit much after a while, Alessio Sakara managed to get himself disqualified, and Tom Lawlor managed to get himself robbed. Still, the atmosphere of the crowd, Johny Hendricks’ knockout of Martin Kampmann and the finale, in which St. Pierre withstood the most adversity he’s faced in years, more than made up for it.

I was seated a few rows above the exit ramp, where the fighters made their way backstage following their fights. It provided me a great view of the action, the fighters as they walked by, and Dan Hardy’s mohawk. Hardy was in attendance, and made frequent trips back and forth between cageside and backstage. So, consider it official: Dan Hardy pees a lot. Maybe. Also seen frequenting the backstage area were Brittney Palmer and Arianny Celeste, both of whom are (quickly) escorted out after the third round commences in each fight, and Bruce Buffer, who was rather short. I also managed to catch Ben Fowlkes walking down towards cageside and yelled after him, but whether my voice was lost in the din of the crowd or Fowlkes is just terrified of being associated with CagePotato yet again, I cannot say. (It’s definitely the latter.)

The Canadian crowd was pretty solid throughout. They’re not quite as partisan as the Brazilian crowds, but damn if they don’t cheer their fighters on — even if they don’t know who those fighters are. I suspect no one there knew who Ontario’s own Antonio Carvalho was. (I also suspect I was part of this group.) They occasionally boo too early, but in general they seemed fairly knowledgeable. Unfortunately, that generalization did not apply to the group sitting directly behind me, who complained that Chad Griggs was matched up unfairly with Cyrille Diabate — he was, but not because he was “tiny” — and were under the impression that an armbar was “a wrestling move.”

(Props: Fox Sports/FUEL TV)

For those who missed the fights on Saturday, here’s another look at Johny Hendricks‘s devastating knockout of Martin Kampmann, which earned “Bigg Rigg” a $70,000 Knockout of the Night check, cemented him as the likely #1 contender in the UFC welterweight division, and saved the UFC 154 main card from a long night of decisions. The 46-second KO increased Hendricks’s win streak to five, with his last three victories coming against Jon Fitch (via 12-second KO), Josh Koscheck (via split-decision), and now this smash-up of Martin Kampmann.

On yesterday’s edition of the Verbal Submission radio show, Hendricks stated that he won’t take another fight before getting his title shot, even if reigning champion Georges St. Pierre decides to fight Anderson Silva in his next appearance. Judging from GSP’s non-committal post-fight interview with Joe Rogan on Saturday, squaring off against the Spider doesn’t really seem to be a priority for him. UFC fans may want to see GSP in a champion vs. champion catchweight superfight against Silva, but if St. Pierre decides to remain in his division for now, there’s at least one challenger who could give him a hell of a match. (Hint: It’s the bearded dude with the magical death-fists.)

After every UFC event, there is a press conference where some of the main fighters are brought out to field questions from the media in attendance. While over the course of a presser you are bound to get many of the same questions repeated in slightly different ways by media members, they are always still interesting to watch if only because of the unique moment and that there are usually at least a few insightful comments given.

For example, in last night’s UFC 154 post presser we hear from and see a bruised, cut and battered Georges St. Pierre talk about how he feels just a few minutes after a successful long-awaited return bout that he once feared would never happen. We also see his beaten opponent, Carlos Condit, still eloquent though despondent after coming so close to realizing his professional dream only to have it violently taken from him by the returning champion.

Above we bring you just about the full presser from last night (it cuts out after about two minutes. When it does, go ahead and fast forward to about the 7:30 mark and it picks back up). Dana White and a few other fighters are also in attendance.

GSP discusses not finishing fights, ring rust, Anderson Silva and Johny Hendricks. Condit says how close he feels he was to beating St. Pierre in the third round and about making another title run in the future.

For those that like their information less complete and quicker, check out an additional video with highlights of St. Pierre and Condit’s comments after the jump.

(This may have been when the trouble all began)

If you watched the UFC Primetime documentary mini series on Georges St. Pierre and Carlos Condit you saw that Condit brought multi-time Brazilian Jiu Jitsu champion Caio Terra champ into his camp to help him train. What you may not have realized is that Terra had also been affiliated with Cesar Gracie and his team of fighters, including welterweight contender Nick Diaz.

Cesar and his Gracie Fighter team don’t play that, apparently. Last night Cesar posted on twitter that Terra was off their squad.

Cesar Gracie ?@CesarGracieBJJ
@jakeshieldsajj @GilbertMelendez @nickdiaz209 @NateDiaz209 @caioterrabjj @graciemag_br Caio Terra is no longer affiliated with our academy

Gracie got personal on his facebook account, reportedly. According to the UG Blog (who are friends with Cesar on Facebook because they are so cool, evidently), Gracie posted, “”OK we all saw that someone from our team got a camera and a few bucks put in their face and decided to show his true colors and stab his team mates in the back.”

“No worries, that person is gone for good and I can’t be happier. That person would also be wise not to show his sissy little face around here again.”

(Anderson Silva will be watching this one with great interest. / Photo via MMAJunkie)

Georges St. Pierre‘s 19-month hiatus from the Octagon is one of the reasons why MMA kind of sucked this year. But the UFC welterweight champion is back in the saddle tonight in Montreal against interim champ Carlos Condit, so come a little bit closer baby, get it on, get on, ’cause tonight is the night when two belts become one.

In the co-main event, Martin Kampmann battles Johny Hendricks for a potential title shot against the winner of St. Pierre vs. Condit. Plus: This clown, that weirdo, and Mark Hominick‘s must-win featherweight scrap against Pablo Garza. [Note: Nick Ring was supposed to fight Constantinos Philippou on the main card, but fell ill today and wasn't cleared to compete. Mark Bocek vs. Rafael Dos Anjos was promoted to the main card from the prelims.]

Guiding us through the proceedings is liveblogger-supreme Aaron Mandel Ben Goldstein!, who will be throwin’ down round-by-round results from the UFC 154 pay-per-view main card beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and let your voices be heard loudly and proudly in the comments section.

(Chad Griggs is making his 205-pound debut tonight, but his muttonchops will remain at super-heavyweight. / Photo via CombatLifestyle.com. For more photos from this set, click here.)

Before the UFC 154 main card fireworks kick off on pay-per-view, FX is presenting four bouts of preliminary action from Montreal’s Bell Centre, including a battle between fellow Canadian strikers Sam Stout and John Makdessi, and Patrick Cote‘s Octagon return against Alessio Sakara. Your good friend Anthony Gannon will be piling round-by-round results after the jump, starting at 8 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest.

MMA Fighting interviewed Dana White yesterday and BLAF, per usual, had lots to talk about. Check out the video above for the full interview.

Dana White says that the UFC isn’t looking past Carlos Condit even though, you know, if St. Pierre wins tonight at UFC 154 he will definitely fight Anderson Silva and Dana has a month in mind and three possible locations for the fight to happen (May, in either Toronto, Brazil or Dallas). If Condit wins, however, he’ll take on the winner of Martin Kampmann vs. Johny Hendricks.

The UFC President also describes what he says is St. Pierre’s extra nervousness and irritability this week. For example, White says St. Pierre is refusing to touch people for fear of getting sick. Interesting.

Speaking of sick, White talks about being sick and tired of guys like Dan Henderson pulling out of fights and complaining about Chael Sonnen getting title shots. Oh yeah, Dana says that Cyborg is ducking Ronda Rousey. Its a good view and listen, so check out the full video to help you wait for UFC 154 tonight.

- Elias Cepeda

We brought you episode 1 and 2 earlier and now the third and final episode of the latest UFC Primetime documentary mini-series is out. Tonight, Georges St. Pierre and Carlos Condit fight at UFC 154 to decide the one and only world welterweight champion.

UFC Primetime brings you into the final moments of their respective camps as they train for the biggest fight of their careers. Condit talks about the motivation his young son gives him and St. Pierre and his team ponder the effects of his long lay off.

Oh yeah, Anderson Silva shows up in Montreal along with Condit and St. Pierre to fuck with everyone’s head. Between fighting in St. Pierre’s home town and the money the UFC can make off of a super fight between GSP and “The Spider” I’d be real nervous about my chances of winning a decision at UFC 154 tonight if I were Carlos Condit.

In any case, check out all of this great Primetime series, tune in to UFC 154 tonight and join us for our play by play coverage.

- Elias Cepeda

(Kru Phil Nurse on the left with his student, Georges St. Pierre)

By Elias Cepeda

Despite being one of the very best trainers in MMA, Phil Nurse gets relatively little press and up until now very little has been publicly known about his life, careers and philosophies. He coaches Georges St. Pierre, Frankie Edgar and Jon Jones, just to name a few UFC fighters.

As we discovered when we visited Nurse at his downtown Manhattan gym, however, the Kru is much more than his impressive resume. He is a combat genius and is able to convey his unique perspective and vision to his students with calm clarity. It is no wonder that some of the best fighters in the world seek him out to become even better.

With Georges St. Pierre returning to action after a year and a half at UFC 154 this Saturday in Montreal, it is a perfect time to hear from one of his coaches and corner men in Nurse. After the jump, sit with us and listen to the newest episode of The Conversation where Nurse talk about his unlikely path to Muay Thai, his own fighting career, meeting Georges St. Pierre and the spirituality that can be found through fight training.

(Watch the UFC 154: St-Pierre vs. Condit weigh-ins right here, starting at 4:00 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT. Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

- UFC 154 Fight Week Notes, Quotes and Stats (MMAFighting)

- Georges St-Pierre: ‘I Have A Hard Time Watching Girls Fighting’ (Fightline)

- Carlos Condit and 9 UFC Fighters Who Are Unfairly Criticized (BleacherReport)

- Fighter/pimp Shonie Carter with one of his investment-properties, circa 2001 (Facebook.com/CagePotato)

- For the Hardcore MMA Fans Out There, Check Out This Amazing Dan Quinn Compilation (MiddleEasy)

- Dana White: Silva vs. St. Pierre Superfight Could Happen In May (HeavyMMA)

- Bulk Up Without Lifting a Weight (MensFitness)

- 20 Awkward Things Women Do After Sex (Complex)

- 5 Reasons Modern Horror Movies Suck (EgoTV)

- Turkey Tits? Turkey Tits. (WorldWideInterweb)

- Razor Tales: Legends the Barbershop (MadeMan)

- The Fleshlight Box Incident (HolyTaco)

- The Fleshlight Box Incident: Aftermath (HolyTaco, again)

(Martin Kampmann: He’s nice, until it’s time to *not* be nice. / Photo via fighthubtv.com)

By Elias Cepeda

Leading up to this Saturday’s UFC 154, it has, at times, seemed as if co-main event opponents Martin Kampmann and Johny Hendricks have had to field more questions about past and possible future opponents than one another. The two welterweights square off in what should be a #1 contender’s fight in Montreal for the right to face the winner of the headliner between champion Georges St. Pierre and interim champ Carlos Condit.

There’s good reason that the Dane is getting lots of questions about his past and future even though he’s got Hendricks in front of him. Kampmann, like Hendricks, is on a tear in the welterweight division and also owns a win over Condit.

“It doesn’t matter what fight it is,” Kampmann tells CagePotato. “Everybody tries to be like, ‘you beat this guy,’ ‘what are you going to do after this fight?’ My main thing right now is Johny Hendricks. That’s what I’m training hard for.”

And it’s the training that keeps Martin focused throughout all the potentially distracting media attention and questions he’s fielded over the past few months.

“This started as a hobby for me so I like the grind,” Kampmann explains. “I like to get in the gym. When you have a fight you have to get in the gym a lot but I still enjoy it. Of course some days you want to be in the gym more than others, but overall my motivation is really good. Even when I don’t have a fight I’m in the gym training because I love to train. I enjoy training and I have fun doing it.”

By George Shunick

On December 7^th, 2011, a date which will live in infamy a date upon which some lame stuff happened but probably didn’t quite compare to the violent inception of the United States’ involvement in the deadliest war in recorded history, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre blew out his ACL while training for a bout with Nick Diaz. Fast-forward almost a year and GSP is set to make his return in his hometown of Montreal, this time against interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit. But much like a year ago, the focus is on GSP’s knee. Has it healed completely and will it hold up against Condit’s leg kicks? Will GSP possess the same degree of athleticism that he’s been able to rely on in the past? Will GSP lose because of it?

In short, probably not. This isn’t to say Condit has no chance to win. To the contrary, he’s the most formidable challenger GSP has faced since Jon Fitch, and he’s got a better chance to win. He can match St. Pierre in striking, and if he’s taken down he possesses an active guard. His jiu-jitsu probably isn’t capable of submitting St. Pierre, unless the latter is already stunned with strikes, but it may be enough to get up off his back should he be taken down. Best of all, Condit has a clear target to go for: GSP’s knee. St. Pierre can claim his knee is fine all he wants, but it’s unquestionably a weakness that Condit will seek to exploit for the entire fight.

Furthermore, it’s hard to tell what St. Pierre will step into the ring. Will he be hesitant to engage and overly tentative? (GSP’s critics just jumped up and shouted “But he already is!”) If he gets backed up consistently he’ll get tagged, and there’s no telling how he’ll react to that. GSP isn’t all athleticism and explosiveness, but these traits undoubtedly give him a decided edge over virtually all of his opponents — and after 19 months out of the Octagon, he may not look like the same fighter. There are a large number of legitimate questions that surround St. Pierre’s return, and there’s no real way to answer them until we see him in action Saturday night.

That said, I don’t think they all need to be answered to favor St. Pierre…

(Conference starts at the 4:15 mark.) 

Here are the three most noteworthy pieces of information I learned at the UFC 154 pre-fight press conference:

1. Carlos Condit is very handsy when answering questions.

2. Whoever was in charge of controlling the levels on Jon Anik’s microphone needs to be fired ASAP, then shot, then dragged to a park to make it look like a suicide. Either that or Anik is suffering from the worst case of voice immodulation I have ever heard.

3. People are still up in arms about the Condit/Diaz decision, and based on the CagePotato “I Miss Old Dad” scale of emotional hoarding, they will continue to do so for…*enters figures into calculator*…ever. I guess the fact that Diaz’s win/title shot would’ve been revoked anyway makes little difference in this meaningless debate. I say this as a Diaz fan: Move along, folks. Nothing to see here.

No, I do not know if this information will heighten your viewing experience or not, but what I do know is that the flu medication I’ve been on for the past few days causes more violent hallucinations than that cup of punch I drank at a Phish concert last summer, so just applaud the fact that I was even able to bring you this video today. I SAID APPLAUD DAMMIT!

Now if you will excuse me, I have a date with the insides of my stomach, which should be arriving any moment now.

-J. Jones

(So there we were, about to face off at the UFC 154 press conference when Georges finally decided to POP THE QUESTION!! ERMAGERD!!)

A fortune cookie wise man once told me that the frustrating thing about questions is that they do not always have answers. This Saturday night, Zuffa’s globetrotting MMA organization returns to the province of Quebec — the birthplace of the UFC in Canada — to answer the burning question: Who is the undisputed king of the 170 lbs division? GSP may be the PPV king of the UFC, but during his 20 month layoff due to reconstructive knee surgery, Carlos Condit has quietly and somewhat controversially asserted himself as the welterweight division’s top dog.

With a current record of 3-2 over the past 5 UFC PPV’s, the GAE’s back is against the wall and in need of another profitable evening if it is to be still considered as the champion of the odds breakers, bloggers and “professional gamblers” of the mixed martial arts world (which it totally is). So follow us after the jump as we highlight select bouts from the undercard and all contests on the main card in an attempt to save those who laid 1600 bucks on a Franklin to beat Le ticket from the man in the black trench coat. All odds courtesy of BestFightOdds.com.

(“Oooh! Carlos learned how to punch. Uh-oh.”)

Although most Nick Diaz fans would be quick to dispute it (or simply just forget about it in the first place), welterweight interim champion Carlos “Natural Born Killer” Condit didn’t just get lucky when The Baldfather was assigning nicknames, he earned his by collecting 26 stoppages in 28 victories. It’s hard to believe that Condit has collected a higher finishing ratio (92.9%) than the likes of Junior Dos Santos (86.7%)or Anderson Silva (78.8%), but the fact remains that when you get in the cage with the former WEC welterweight champ, there’s usually only one way out: via your consciousness.

So in order to refresh our collective memories of just what kind of beast will be challenging Georges St. Pierre at UFC 154, we’ve compiled our favorite GIF’s of Carlos going for the kill after the jump. Enjoy.

(Why must you torture us, fan-made poster?? Image via MMehFighter)

Man, this week is just full of disappointments. First, we learn that Ronda Rousey‘s historic migration to the UFC isn’t quite official yet. And now we learn that this Saturday’s UFC 154 event in Montreal won’t include a WWE-style post-fight run-in from middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

As the story went, Silva would be in attendance at the Bell Centre to challenge Georges St. Pierre to a superfight, if GSP was victorious in his welterweight title defense against Carlos Condit. Though Silva does plan on attending the fight, he has no interest in getting up in St. Pierre’s grill afterwards:

“I’m going to Los Angeles and then going to Canada for the fight of St. Pierre,” Silva told Tatame. “I’m already going to be there to shoot a movie, a feature film that I’ll participate in with Lyoto (Machida). It’s not my character to up and challenge anyone. I think it will not happen. I think not, I’m sure (laughs).”

Furthermore, Silva doesn’t plan on fighting anybody until the end of next year:

“I’m on vacation from fighting. I think I will return only in the end of the next year. I have personal projects ongoing. Tomorrow I’m embarking to Los Angeles to attend the arrangements of the academy we’re setting up there…If the UFC wants to make an interim bout while I’m gone, it’s up to them. I don’t know if it will have any meaning but they can do whatever they want. I’m in a comfort zone, so I’m not worried about it.”

I’m sure Chris Weidman is just thrilled to hear about Anderson Silva and his “comfort zone.” But at least one fighter sees this “interim bout” business as a great opportunity…

There’s just certain things you have to do if you’re a fight fan. Watching UFC Primetime episodes is one of them. It has been a couple years since the crew of boxing’s amazing 24/7 series first turned their talents and attention to doing MMA documentary in the form of Primetime but we still remember how excited we were when they did.

As we head into next Saturday’s UFC 154, Primetime continues to bring us inside the lives and camps of welterweight champions Georges St. Pierre and Carlos Condit. The pair will face off in a title unification bout in the main event of the Quebec card.

Episode two of this Primetime mini-season shows both men doing their final preparations to fight one another. Something extra cool about Primetime and 24/7 episodes are how, because the makers turn around content so quickly after filming, the stuff we’re watching literally happened a day or few ago in many instances. Other than training with Georges St. Pierre or Carlos Condit personally, watching Primetime is about as close to seeing what they are doing days out from their fight and what is going through their minds.

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

In advance of Georges St. Pierre‘s long-awaited return at UFC 154 on November 17th, the UFC has made four of the welterweight champ’s greatest performances available on YouTube, along with the last four fights from the interim champ, Carlos Condit. Unfortunately the videos aren’t embeddable, but you can use the handy player above to give yourself a refresher course on the following…

- GSP’s blitzkrieg of Jay Hieron in his Octagon debut at UFC 48.
- GSP’s rear-naked choke of Frank Trigg at UFC 54.
- GSP’s revenge-TKO of Matt Hughes to win his first title at UFC 65.
- GSP’s revenge-TKO of Matt Serra to reclaim the unified belt at UFC 83.
- Carlos Condit snatching a knockout victory from the jaws of defeat against Rory MacDonald at UFC 115.
- Condit’s highlight-reel knockout of Dan Hardy at UFC 120.
- Condit’s demolition of Dong-Hyun Kim at UFC 132.
- Condit’s controversial decision win over Nick Diaz at UFC 143.

And for a different take on GSP’s historic reign in the sport, check out lookoutawhale‘s classic “Bloodsport Karma” film after the jump. We know it’s a lot to watch, so feel free to take the rest of the day off.

(Video via the UFC Youtube page)

Not going to beat around the bush here and make you read more than you’d like to before getting to the goods, ‘taters. Above a we’ve got Episode 1 of UFC Primetime: Georges St. Pierre vs. Carlos Condit for you and its definitely worth a watch. You know the drill by this point – behind the scenes access to the fighters’ training, personal lives and thoughts.

November 17th UFC welterweight king St. Pierre fights again for the first time in over a year and a half, and since tearing his ACL. Interim titlist Condit is intent on being more than a one-man welcoming parade.

Episode 1 offers a glimpse at the new and improved life Condit has been able to make for himself as champion. He’s got a new fancy home he and his young family now inhabit, no doubt made more possible by champion’s fees. For his part, St. Pierre talks more in depth about his long recovery than we’ve heard before.

Turns out that, at first, St. Pierre’s return to training was going so poorly that he and his teammates wondered if he’d ever be able to fight effectively again. The idea depressed him at first, but then drove him to excel. Episode 1 also shines the spotlight at the vaunted head coaches for both fighters, Firas Zihabi for GSP and Mike Winkeljohn for Condit. Nice to see ‘Wink’ finally get some credit for a change.

- Elias Cepeda

(Props: UFC)

Carlos Condit‘s platform of “Knockouts…Knockouts…Shorts” may sound nice, but his last fight proved that he’s beholden to the same special interests that Georges St. Pierre is. For real change in the welterweight division, you should go with the third-party candidate.

Actually, the first thing this video makes me think about is all the Americans who will buy the UFC 154 pay-per-view next month but won’t bother to vote in the presidential election next week. Get it together, people. If you don’t vote, you don’t get to bitch and moan for the next four years when your guy loses.

(Pierce celebrates after successfully thwarting Mario’s plans with a well-timed barrel.) 

We here at CagePotato have literally taken every possible step in order to rid the MMA world of the great injury curse of 2012: we’ve prayed (lol!), we’ve had our cleaning lady Concepcion rid the office of evil spirits, we’ve resorted to Pagan rituals involving pentagrams, we’ve even had Rex track down “thisredengine” and sacrifice his virginal body to the Gods. And after all that fell flat, we tried to go Freddy Kruger on the curse and simply stop talking about it in the hopes that it would eventually just leave us be and move on to some other, less important sport. Like women’s ______.

But alas, our efforts were a complete failure. In the past few days, at least four fighters have come down with a case of the injury bug, leading to some small yet noticeable changes in several of the UFC’s upcoming cards. And we wonder why even Canadian fans are cautious to buy a ticket these days. (Author’s note: You see, Dana? THIS is what happens when you read from the Necronomicon. Side effects include nausea, meniere’s disease, Saturday night palsy, and possessed hand.) 

We shall begin today’s trip down injury lane with Kyle Noke…

(Yes, Georges, your knees are fine, and you can still curtsy like a little princess, we get it.)

According to a new report by the Vancouver Sun, UFC 154: St. Pierre vs. Condit (November 17th, Montreal) is suffering from slow ticket sales, with large groups of seats available less than three weeks out from the show. Though the UFC still expects a capacity crowd at the Bell Centre, it’s a noticeable shift from the promotion’s four previous stops in Montreal, three of which set UFC attendance records. According to UFC Director of Canadian Operations Tom Wright, fans may be spooked by the UFC’s recent injury apocalypse, which absolutely destroyed their July stop in Calgary:

“There’s been many examples over the last several fights — UFC 151 and 149 in Calgary is a good example of it — where fighters got injured and there were changes to the card. I think there are fans who are saying, ‘You know what? I’m really excited about GSP‘s return and I love the fact that we’ve got (Martin) Kampmann versus (Johny) Hendricks in the co-main event, and we’ve got a bunch of Canadians on the card. But you know what? I bought my tickets 12 weeks out for Calgary and a whole bunch of things happened. I’m going to wait until it’s a little closer’…I absolutely think that you’re seeing that. I think you’re going to see that going forward.”

Sounds like a logical hypothesis to me. I’m not going to go as far as to call UFC 154′s supporting card garbage-ass, but you have to ask yourself — if, God forbid, either GSP or Carlos Condit suffered a freak injury at the eleventh hour, is the rest of the lineup strong enough to soldier on without them? The co-main event of Kampmann vs. Hendricks is solid enough to headline a FUEL or FX card, but would be a tough sell for a pay-per-view headliner at the Bell Centre. And outside of the top two fights, the biggest name on the main card is Mark Hominick, who is riding an agonizing three-fight losing streak, and facing the inconsistent (and not-particuarly-relevant) Pablo Garza.

On November 17th in Montreal, Georges St. Pierre returns to the Octagon from his year-and-a-half layoff, and honestly, it couldn’t come soon enough. When St. Pierre and Carlos Condit meet for the UFC welterweight belt at UFC 154, it will have been a full three months since the last time the UFC put on a title fight that wasn’t a total mismatch. That drought of superfights has been one of the reasons why MMA has simply felt less exciting lately, but finally, things are picking up again, and I can’t freakin’ wait.

We’ve been thinking about GSP vs. Condit for a hell of a long time, and the anticipation has reached that saturation point where we just want this damn thing to be over by now. St. Pierre says his knee isn’t a weak link anymore, he’s 100%, he’s “back better than ever.” And it’s never a good idea to doubt such a fantastic and disciplined athlete. But still…a hungry and motivated Carlos Condit is the last guy you want to face when you’ve been out of the game so long.

Speaking of welterweights, Johny Hendricks and Martin Kampmann will be squaring off in the co-main event. (Kampmann scores the best point in the promo interview by promising to kick Hendricks in the beard.) Could an impressive performance put one of these guys next in line? And who will come out on top? Check out the extended trailer above and let us know what you think.