(From ESPN via BloodyElbow)

Holy, freakin’, crap. Looks like we already have a top contender for this year’s “10 Best MMA Photos” list.

By the way, Joe wants you to know that he was totally not crying at the end of that fight.

(Props to Fightlinker for the zoom on Stevenson’s red geyser.)

Joe Stevenson recently chatted with FightHype about his uber-bloody loss (via submission to BJ Penn) at last weekend’s UFC 80. When asked how he thought he did, Joe Daddy had this to say:

I think I did good. I just got cut. I think it was getting better and better for me and sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.

Or sometimes the bear just kicks your ass. And shame on all of you who thought Joe Daddy was crying like Bob Sapp after the loss. Here’s what he has to say to you:

I saw the tape and it looked like I was crying, but I had something in my eye…my blood (laughing).

I know every time something gets in my eye, I look like an eight-year-old who just witnessed his dog getting hit by a car. Come on! Admit you were crying! We believe you weren’t crying as much as we believe when you said the elbow from BJ “didn’t hurt”.

Regardless if he’s a crier or not, Joe Daddy seems to have gained even more fans and support on the MMA message boards since his showing against “The Prodigy”. Frank Trigg has even said Joe Daddy is the second best lightweight after Penn. Thanks for weighing-in “Twinkle Toes”, you’ve obviously been swimming in bourbon.

If you missed Saturday’s play-by-play, click here.

Jorge Rivera steamrolls Kendall Grove.

Marcus Davis’s phantom knockout punch coma-tizes Jess Liaudin.

Colin Robinson goes up against Antoni Hardonk, gets life saved by Mario Yamasaki, whines like an asshole.

On an unrelated note, I’d like to take this opportunity to rag on the UFC for leaving all ring-card-holding duties to Arianny and Edith. If we have to put up with the one-dimensional antics of local scrappers like Paul Taylor, Paul Kelly, and Colin Robinson, could the UFC have maybe found some hot British chicks to step in as guest Octagon Girls? Just a thought. I got a million of ‘em.

Ending in one of UFC 80′s six KO/TKOs, the fight between light heavys Alessio Sakara and James Lee was by far the stupidest match of the night, with Lee’s relentless pursuit of Sakara’s leg actually drawing laughs from the crowd. We predicted this one to end with Lee submitting Sakara, but we didn’t plan on Lee throwing out his back. Slapstick comedy ensued. Check it out before the UFC goes on its inevitable video-pulling spree.

(Paul Taylor bashes Paul Kelly during their “Fight of the Night.”)

Things are tough all over, I guess. The UFC released its customary bonuses after UFC 80, but each one was only $35,000, a full $20,000 less than the bonuses handed out after UFC 79. This is the first time we can recall that the bonuses actually went down from one event to the next. We knew European expansion was a bitch, financially speaking, but it’s unfortunate that the fighters had to tighten their belts to recoup some of the costs. Anyway, here’s who got the extra cash:

Fight of the Night: Paul Kelly and Paul Taylor. Each Brit got $35k, primarily for the insane brawl that kicked off the first round; after that, it was fairly dull GnP domination from Paul Kelly, who won a unanimous decision.

Knockout of the Night: Wilson Gouveia earned $35k for his out-of-nowhere comeback blast of Jason Lambert.

Submission of the Night: B.J. Penn collected $35k by default for his rear-naked-choke of Joe Stevenson, UFC 80′s only tap-out.

Thus, I went 1-3 in my predictions. And commenter MattyLight owes commenter Olie $5. (Sorry buddy!) Feel free to work out the exchange in the comments section.

MAIN CARD
BJ Penn def. Joe Stevenson via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:02 of round 2
Fabricio Werdum def. Gabriel Gonzaga via TKO (punches), 4:34 of round 2
Marcus Davis def. Jess Liaudin via KO (punch), 1:04 of round 1
Wilson Gouveia def. Jason Lambert via KO (punch), 0:37 of round 2
Jorge Rivera def. Kendall Grove via TKO (punches), 1:20 of round 1

PRELIMINARY CARD
Sam Stout def. Per Eklund via unanimous decision — this was the only untelevised fight
Alessio Sakara def. James Lee via TKO (punches), 1:30 of round 1
Paul Kelly def. Paul Taylor via unanimous decision
Antoni Hardonk def. Colin Robinson via TKO (punch), 0:17 of round 1

I just have to know — CAN, YOU, *FEEEEEEL* IT!!!!!!!(?)

You know how this works. Click the “MORE” link and refresh the page every few minutes to get the latest updates on UFC 80: “Rapid Fire,” which comes to us live from Newcastle, England. All times ET.

This liveblog is brought to you by Negra Modelo and Debbie’s Killer Wings.

(Not funny.)

— Bas Rutten starred in the best YTMND page of all-time. (last link)

— MMA Girl Joanne enchanted us with an exclusive video interview.

— We got overly emotional about Gina Carano.

— EliteXC signed two members of the Shamrock family. Unfortunately, neither one was Frank. We marveled at Ryan’s physique and gave Ken some encouragement.

— The UFC filed a lawsuit against Randy Couture. Your move, Natural.

— We solicited your predictions for the Kimbo Slice/Tank Abbott fight, then liveblogged their press conference.

— We counted down the best fights that didn’t take place in a ring or cage.

— We put $1,000 up for grabs in the Serious Pimp t-shirt design contest.

— Instead of predicting UFC 80‘s winners, we predicted the bonuses. (Reminder: Come back tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET for the UFC 80 liveblog. Good times guaranteed.)

— We coped with a slow news day.

Have a great weekend, people. Stay hungry.

Photos taken at today’s UFC 80 weigh-ins, courtesy of UFC.com.

Arianny has never felt comfortable around Colin Robinson.

She lusts after Liaudin…

…pities poor Per…

…and was absolutely sure that Marcus Davis was going to make weight — like, sure of it.

Start gathering the beer and microwavable pizza rolls: “Rapid Fire” goes down tomorrow night in Newcastle (3 p.m. ET, noon PT). We’ll be liveblogging the event with round-by-round updates, so be sure to swing by if you don’t want to shell out the money for pay-per-view.

Speaking of money, we’d like to be the first in the MMA blogosphere to make official predictions on who will be taking home the UFC’s traditional end-of-night bonuses, which were a hefty $50k/apiece at UFC 79. To refresh, here’s the lineup:

MAIN CARD
B.J. Penn vs. Joe Stevenson (lightweights)
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Fabricio Werdum (heavyweights)
Marcus Davis vs. Jess Liaudin (welterweights)
Jason Lambert vs. Wilson Gouveia (light heavyweights)
Kendall Grove vs. Jorge Rivera (middleweights)
PRELIMINARY CARD
Antoni Hardonk vs. Colin Robinson (heavyweights)
Paul Kelly vs. Paul Taylor (welterweights)
James Lee vs. Alessio Sakara (light heavyweights)
Per Eklund vs. Sam Stout (lightweights)

Fight of the Night: Expect a relentless, violent war from Marcus Davis and Jess Liaudin. Not only are both men total sluggers, but they’re both riding significant win streaks that they’ll want to protect at all costs. One more win for Davis and he’ll start getting higher-level competition. One more win for Liaudin and people will finally know who he is. And it’s never a good idea to bet against Kid Bonus. Dark horse: Gabriel Gonzaga and Fabricio Werdum, if they’re firing on all cylinders tomorrow night. Both are coming off of terrible performances in embarrassing losses, and are looking to prove themselves. As for the main event, we see it going one of two ways: Penn wins by early submission (likely), or Stevenson grinds out a relatively boring decision (somewhat less likely). Either way, it won’t be Fight of the Night.

Submission of the Night: Penn, probably. Though if he beats Stevenson with just a simple armbar or rear-naked without any flash to it, the bonus may go to James Lee, a King of the Cage veteran who’s making his UFC debut at “Rapid Fire.” In his last 11 fights, Lee has racked up 10 wins with one no contest, and nine of those wins have been by submission. Known primarily as a boxer, his opponent Alessio Sakara will almost certainly be eating a tap-out loss.

Knockout of the Night: They don’t call him “Hands of Stone” for nothing. Though Sam Stout’s UFC record has been spotty, he was known for his knockouts in the Canadian MMA organization TKO, and we see him coming out on top of Eklund. Dark horse: Gabriel Gonzaga. If he could murder Cro Cop with a headkick, he could do it to anyone.

Make sense? Shoot us your own predictions in the comments section…

On Monday we gave BJ Penn some space on CagePotato. Now it’s time to do the same for Joe “Daddy” Stevenson. Props to MMA on Tap for the bit they did on the fighter today. The posting mentions how Joe Daddy was already a professional fighter by the age of 16. At that age, I was just concentrated on how to lay the seats back in my parents’ station wagon so I could bang my girlfriend. Joe Daddy is poised to fight BJ Penn in England on Saturday for the UFC lightweight crown at UFC 80: Rapid Fire.

The reason the two fighters will be going head-to-head for the title is because Sean “The Muscle Shark” Sherk got stripped of the title when he was busted for juicing last year. The Muscle Shark will have to try and win his belt back against the winner of Saturday’s fight. Both Penn and Stevenson agree that Sherk should fight the winner of their fight, per their words at the press conference.

More from Stevenson:

“The fight being for a title, it definitely has a lot of meaning behind it,” Stevenson said during a recent interview session. “It’s something that I’ve aspired to have ever since I started watching and following this sport.”

And when the term ‘underdog’ is thrown out in reference to Joe Daddy?

Based on a new article published in The Canadian Press, UFC welterweight Jess Liaudin deserves a spot next to Jens Pulver in the Awful Childhood Hall-of-Fame. As the French-bred Londoner explains:

“My dad used to be quite physical. He punched me the first time, I was nine months. My grandfather came with a shotgun, put it to his head and said ‘If you ever do that again, I will kill you.’ So he didn’t do it ever again — in front of my grandfather. But he was doing it quite regularly at home.”

Wait, it gets worse:

Liaudin and his mother left the family home when he was 14 and lived with fellow homeless people in a church, eating food left over from markets.

“It was a very tough time,” he recalled. “We lived like that for six months, like bums.”

They graduated to an apartment in the roughest part of Bourges in central France. Surrounded by impoverished immigrants, Liaudin says he was “the white boy in the neighbourhood everyone wanted to beat up.”

“I was fighting every day. When my mom sent me to the grocery store to buy bread, I knew I would have to fight. It was pretty rough.”

And you know what? Things didn’t improve that much when he became a pro fighter.

Don’t forget: the weigh-ins for UFC 80 will happen this Friday at the Metroradio Arena in jolly ‘ole Newcastle, England. The fun is supposed to go down at 4 p.m. – which translates to 11 a.m. for us Yanks. Doors are supposed to open for the event an hour before and even earlier for UFC fan club members (you know who you are) – provided you can make the overseas drive to England. The event will not be broadcast live.

UFC 80 will rock the joint on Saturday and will be broadcast live at 3 p.m. ET. You can also check out the tape delay if you’re lame at 10 p.m. ET. Both will be on Pay-Per-View. The event will feature BJ Penn vs. Joe Stevenson, Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Fabricio Werdum and Kendall Grove vs. Jorge Rivera.

In other UFC news, it’s being widely reported today that UFC 83 – rumored to also be going down in England – will probably be happening in the United States instead. A source is saying that the Brit locale is a definite no go, but the show will plow forward (March 8th).

UFC 82 is happening March 1st in Columbus, Ohio, so having another event happen so soon after that seemed a bit ambitious anyway. Maybe this is part of Dana White’s hype machine. Or just his deal-breaking cockiness. Or both. The bald wonder has certainly been vocal about getting more UFC events into Europe and Asia and this was the year to do that. This poses a bit of a set-back, but if the upcoming January 19th event goes as planned, that ground may be regained quickly.

No statements just yet as to where UFC 83 might really happen. I’m voting for Hope, Indiana, population 2,000. They need some MMA up in there.

Today on the UFC’s website is a lengthy article about BJ Penn. The Prodigy was apparently in a joking mood and even suggested headlines for the article. I guess he’s staying loose for UFC 80 when he will battle Joe Stevenson (January 19th) for the vacant UFC lightweight title belt.

Some snippets:

“I’m training a lot harder,” admits Penn, who hasn’t always been known for his Spartan work ethic. “Back in the day I used to pride myself on how little I could do and get away with it; now I try to pride myself on how much I do. I try to work real hard, train as much as I can, eat healthy food, and I want to see how far I can take it.

”For most fighters, a realization like this comes after a series of crippling setbacks or when reaching a milestone age like 30 or 35 and realizing that what you’ve been doing for years just isn’t working. Penn though, is more popular than ever after his stint as a coach on season five of The Ultimate Fighter and a dominant win over Jens Pulver in the show’s season finale. As for his previous two losses, he dropped a close nod to interim welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre and then lost to Matt Hughes in the third round after dominating the first two rounds and then breaking his rib – not exactly a call for panic, but for Penn when he turned 28 in December of 2006, he decided that just being among the best in the world wasn’t enough.

“I guess the wakeup call was December 13, 2006, when I turned 28,” said Penn, 29. “I said ‘what am I doing, why am I messing around? This is the biggest sport in the world, it’s gonna overtake everything, I’m at the forefront. Why am I playing games?’”

Penn then discusses how he saw the move from flabby 170 to 155 as a chance to make things right after starting to struggle at 170.

Since not many sites are giving good run-downs on the betting odds for upcoming MMA events, we thought we’d give you a look at a good way to win some extra dough or lose your paycheck (probably lose, if your luck is anything like mine) on January 19th. Excluding most non-UFC events – with exceptions like the EliteXC show in Miami on February 16th featuring Kimbo Slice - Bookmaker has the odds on all things UFC from now until the joint’s April Canadian-debut (UFC 83). Other sites have odds until UFC 81, which is probably more practical, given how many times odds can change leading up to an event (broken hands, anyone?). Sorry if you want to throw down some Bens on the undercards, odds are usually reserved for the big boys.

Here’s the lowdown from Bookmaker for UFC 80 (1/19):

BJ Penn -290
Joe Stevenson +230

Gabriel Gonzaga -250
Fabricio Werdum +200

Kendall Grove -330
Jorge Rivera +270

After battling to a unanimous decision win over Ed Herman to take the middleweight contract on The Ultimate Fighter 3, Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove looked to be on the UFC’s fast track. The lanky Maui-native took his first UFC loss in August when he was knocked out by Patrick “The Predator” Côté, but he looks to get his momentum back on January 19 when he faces Jorge Rivera at UFC 80: Rapid Fire. We called Da Spyder to rap about banned substances, life as a reality show star, Dana White, and his place in the middleweight division.

CagePotato.com: Congrats on getting a fight at UFC 80. Will this be your first trip to England?
Kendall Grove: Yeah, first trip. I’m excited — there’s nothing like fighting in the soccer riot capital of the world. Who knows what’s gonna break out in the audience, man.

What’s your training routine been like?
I’m sparring a lot more — maybe two hard days and two light days of sparring — and every day I’m doing jiu-jitsu. I lift weights four times a week, and I run three miles every morning, first thing when I wake up.

Are you one of those crazy dudes who gives up booze and sex and all that when you’re getting ready for a fight?
Yeah. After my last fight against Patrick [Cote], I changed a lot of things in my personal life. I cut back on drinking. Because this reality show shit does get to your head, you know? Everybody wants to hang out with you. As for sex, yeah, my girl has been horny and she’s pregnant, so that’s pretty much out of the question. Other than that, I eat good, but I’m not afraid to go eat some milk and cookies or ice cream at night. I cheat a lot on my diet, but I’m 6’6″, 185. I’m Hawaiian-Ethiopian, you know what I mean?

How do you think you match up with Rivera?
I think I match up good. We’re both tough, tough fighters. We both fight ’til the bitter end. I think it’s going to come down to conditioning. I know that towards the end of the second or third rounds, he starts to slow down a little, and kinda’ paces himself. I think I’m just going to put it on him — I’ll dictate the pace of the fight. Rivera’s a seasoned vet, and I think he’s a good opponent, regardless of his losses. Everybody loses. That’s why I love this sport, MMA and the UFC, because nobody is invincible. Anybody can get taken out, just by one punch. I think he’s going to be a tough opponent and an exciting fight for me.

Who do you like in the BJ Penn/Joe Stevenson fight?
I’m friends with both of them, so right now I’d just say I’d like to see a good fight. May the best fighter win. I know BJ —he’s another local boy from Hawaii doing his thing. He’s one of my heroes that motivated me. And here comes Joe Stevenson. I lived with him for two years — he’s one of the reasons why I got on The Ultimate Fighter, so it’s hard for me to pick. I’m right in the middle. I got two real good friends fighting each other.

How about Gabriel Gonzaga’s fight against Fabricio Werdum?
I think Gonzaga will pull it off. He’s a tough, tough dude.

Do you think marijuana should still be a banned substance for mixed martial artists?
I don’t think so. It’s definitely not an enhancement drug. [laughs]

Nick Diaz got a six-month suspension for testing positive for marijuana, and Sean Sherk got six months for steroids — do you think that’s fair?
I don’t think so. See, marijuana is a touchy subject. I’m a rock star — I’ve been smoking weed since I was in the 6th grade, I can openly say that. But I’m also clean when I fight. I cut that shit out — I’m a professional. Don’t get me wrong, my first six fights, I fought high, I fought stoned. But when you get to this level, you have to take responsibility. It’s your job. I stop doing that stuff three months out. I just think they blew it way out of proportion. What did they say with Nick Diaz? “Oh, him smoking weed made his pain threshold higher—”

It’s ridiculous.
It’s stupid. Steroids actually make you run faster, make you stronger — it’s a performance enhancer. And weed just makes you gain weight and be lazy. [laughs]

Interviewer: “Is son following in dad’s footsteps?”
Joe Daddy: “No, no, no, he’s much smarter than me. He’ll probably get a degree, and—”
Joe Jr.: “1 + 99 is 100.”
Joe Daddy: “So, he’s in the first grade and he’s smarter than me already.”

OMFG, these two need to take their act on the road; for more moments of brilliance, watch the Raw Vegas clip below. CagePotato wishes Joe the best of luck in his championship match against BJ Penn next Saturday. We’re pulling for the devoted family man, rather than the burger-eating bar-brawler.

Dana White, Joe Rogan, BJ Penn, Joe Stevenson, and Gabriel Gonzaga get us hyped for UFC 80:

(Props: MMA Fever)

Manny Gamburyan performing the leg lock that blew-out Nate Mohr’s knee at UFC 79:

And finally, here’s Japanese MMA star Genki “Neo-Samurai” Sudo competing on the Most Extreme Elimination Challenge-esque TV show Ninja Warrior. So close!

(Props: Bloody Elbow)

Forget all this “interim” bullshit — according to an article posted yesterday night on UFC.com, BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson will fight for the true, undisputed lightweight championship at UFC 80: Rapid Fire on January 19th. Before the Ultimate Fighter 6 finale on Saturday, UFC officials confirmed that Sean Sherk had been stripped of the lightweight title after his suspension for steroid use was upheld (sort of) by the California State Athletic Commission. Says Dana White: “I have nothing but respect for Sean Sherk and I believe he’s been honest throughout this whole process. But BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson will be fighting for the lightweight title at UFC 80 on January 19th and Sean Sherk will fight the winner for the title.”

Penn’s fight against Stevenson will be his third attempt at securing the UFC’s lightweight belt, and fifth title fight overall; he was briefly the UFC’s welterweight champion after defeating Matt Hughes at UFC 46 (1/31/04). UFC 80 represents the first title shot for Stevenson, who has been fighting professionally since he was 16. Though initial reports suggested that “Rapid Fire” — which is being held in Newcastle, England — might be presented to American audiences as a taped prime-time special on CBS, Fightlinker.com is now floating a rumor that the first UFC/CBS collabo will actually be UFC 81. So if you plan on watching the Penn/Stevenson bout next month, be prepared to roll out of bed at the ungodly hour of 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET and start your Saturday with a steaming bowl of bloodshed.