Tito Ortiz was in Vicksburg, Mississippi talking with 8CountNews.com in this video interview, and it sounds like he’s changed his mind about fighting for Affliction, which is probably a good idea, considering their future plans.  Now Ortiz says he’s “going to pass” on an Affliction contract in the hopes that he can sign with Strikeforce to fight on CBS or Showtime, assuming they’re amenable to his famously ridiculous contract demands.

Honestly, is anyone out there really dying to see Ortiz back in action?  He has some name value and can still hype a fight with the best of them, but to hear him talk sometimes you’d think the whole MMA world was eagerly awaiting his return, as if he’s still a top-ten fighter and not someone who just got bounced out of the UFC.  Though to hear him talk you’d also think he did a good job commentating at the last Affliction show, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.  

After the jump, a little taste of what you can expect from the coaches in the next “Ultimate Fighter” season.  

(‘Did you say lisp?  Sounded like you did, homey, and I’m just curious whose lisp you might have been talking about, ’cause I don’t see Richard Simmons around here anywhere.  Just me.’)

Looks like two more fighters are taking the step backwards from the numbered UFC events to small potatoes shows on Spike, as MMA Madness reports that Nate Diaz will take on Joe Stevenson at the finale of “The Ultimate Fighter” season nine on June 20 in a battle of lightweights who are in need of a win.

This is the same event expected to feature Diego Sanchez (who last beat Stevenson) taking on Clay Guida (who last beat Diaz) as its headlining bout.  So at least the four of them can all get together again, maybe have an awkward dinner at Chili’s.  Kind of like hanging out with your new girlfriend and your ex-girlfriend, who is now dating your new girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend.  Just weird enough to be interesting.

MMATraining.com also reports that later in the summer, at an as of yet unannounced Fight Night event on August 5, Kurt Pellegrino will face Josh Neer, who recently saved his behind with a victory over Mac Danzig.  The fight’s expected to be the main event, though it’s also the only fight we’ve heard of for this thing and with it being so far in the future, who knows.  Best to keep Neer out of the bars between now and then.

(Okay, so this isn’t funny. Unless you count C.B.’s back tattoo.)

I don’t know if Forrest Griffin is conducting workshops in self-deprecating humor down at Xtreme Couture, but it seems to be the favorite style of comedy for fighters these days, or at least it’s a close second to the physical, shot-to-the-groin type humor that both Alistair Overeem and "America’s Funniest Home Videos" both love so dearly.

Reading through Amir Sadollah’s first blogging effort for Spike.com, which is loaded with these Griffin-like quips, you want to hate him.  He’s doing the same self-deprecating act he did on “The Ultimate Fighter,” and a part of you just wants to tell him to stop trying so hard.  Then you read on and are eventually forced to admit that, especially for a fighter, he really is pretty funny:

Hi everyone, my name is Amir Sadollah. You may remember me from my starring roles in some great television such as, The Hundred Thousand Dollar Pyramid, Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, and the actual Moon landing film. More recently however, you may recognize me from season seven of The Ultimate Fighter. When Spike initially contacted me about doing a blog, I didn’t answer the phone because I thought it was either a collection agency or another 1-900 number that had somehow tracked me down. After the confusion cleared up and they explained what they wanted, I immediately thought it was a great idea and told myself now is definitely the time to learn to read and write.

See what I mean?  It’s hard to hate him after the reference to “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose,” which really pisses me off because I love hating stuff.

Where Sadollah actually makes a useful insight is when he gives his take on the strange type of fame brought on him by TUF:

(High on the list of the last places you want to see Demian Maia: mounted on top of you.  Photo courtesy of NBC Sports.)

The UFC seems committed to offering the remaining “Ultimate Fighter” coaching spot to the winner of the Rich Franklin-Dan Henderson bout at UFC 93 this weekend, despite the fact that neither of them seem excited about getting the job, least of all Franklin.  That makes for not only an anti-climactic main event (just picture Franklin, if he wins, standing in the Octagon afterwards and making a face like your dad used to when you’d give him a tie for Christmas every year), but it’s also likely to carry over into making the inevitable season-ending coach fight into something of a bore.

The hell of it is, the solution to this problem is right in front of the UFC, and it’s Demian Maia.  He wants a shot at Michael Bisping, and probably wouldn’t mind the low pay and Vegas exile that comes with the coaching job.  What’s more, Bisping can’t seem to stop talking about Maia despite the fact that a fight with him isn’t on the horizon at the moment.  

Just check his comments to the UK’s Telegraph in a story published yesterday:

Rising star Damian Maia [sic], a submission expert with great striking skills, unbeaten in 10 fights, has been making loud noises within Bisping’s earshot.

“I don’t like the sound of those noises, and I will pacify him,” said Bisping. “Damian is a really nice guy, a gentleman and a sportsman. He wants to go as far as he can in this sport.  …A lot of people seem to want to call me out. I don’t want to sound arrogant but they get beaten or knocked out when they come up against me. Damian is a submission expert, but he won’t get me down, and he’ll get knocked out. He’ll just have to get to the back of the queue for now.”

(Is that an Under Armour coat?  Wouldn’t that be more like Outer Armour?  Or just Armour?  I’m confused.)

According to his official website, Matt Hughes has spoken with UFC matchmaker Joe Silva and agreed to a May 23 fight with rival Matt Serra in Las Vegas. 

Hughes stresses that the bout isn’t "100% confirmed" yet, but he’s up for it and as long as Serra can work off his pasta weight without reinjuring his back there’s no reason they can’t finally settle this feud.  And honestly, it’s about time.  There’s only so long you can put something like this off until everyone, including the fighters, forgets why there was so much animosity to begin with.

Hold on, you thinking what I’m thinking?  Maybe Spike TV could run a special reality series that follows Hughes and Serra as they share a studio apartment together somewhere off the Vegas strip in the weeks before the fight.  Just imagine the hilarity.  Hughes is trying to read his Bible in peace at the end of a long day of training, but Serra is in the kitchen blasting Frank Sinatra and making a pizza pie in his underwear.  And just think of what will happen when Hughes discovers that Serra has been squeezing the toothpaste from the middle of the tube!  Oh, these two will never get along.  At least that show couldn’t be any worse than Double Shot at Love.  It just couldn’t.

(Honestly, what’s not to love?)

During today’s media conference call for UFC 93 the talk inevitably turned to the perceived stakes of the Dan Henderson-Rich Franklin bout on January 17 and whether the winner would really end up as a coach opposite Michael Bisping on season nine of The Ultimate Fighter, as has been discussed.  The answer, it seems, is that nobody knows for sure.  But Rich Franklin sure didn’t sound excited about the idea:

"I have not personally spoken to Dana, the UFC or any of the production people about the show," Franklin said. "Six weeks in Vegas, I’ve gotten to the point where I could care less for staying in Vegas for that period of time. It’s time away from my family and time away from doing the things I can do to make money. The show doesn’t pay very well. … But anything the UFC asks me to do, I’m always on board for."

Franklin also pointed out the absurdity of taking two former middleweights, like he and Henderson, and having them fight at light heavyweight to see who will take on Bisping at middleweight.  But Franklin’s main gripe seems to be that coaching the show isn’t such a good deal for a fighter – and he would know, seeing as he’s done it before. 

But is coaching the show really that bad?  So it doesn’t pay much (how much is not much, anyway?  Ten grand for six weeks?  Less?  More?), and it keeps Franklin from other lucrative opportunities, such as making movies with former Saved By The Bell stars, but it is publicity and the chance to build back up to a big main event bout.  That’s all good stuff, right? 

(Phillipe just has to finish up some nurse shit, then he’ll be right in to kick your ass.  Thanks for your patience.)

Trying to come up with odds on guys who most of us have only seen fight under very specific circumstances has got to be a difficult job.  For all we know, maybe John Polakowski really is "a mean guy" in the Octagon, and maybe Dave Kaplan only looked bad because he went with the ill-advised, "block with your face" strategy that he now knows is a mistake.  We just can’t be sure.

Fortunately internet bookies feel they are up to the task of sorting out all the woulda-coulda stuff, and as a result we can still throw our money away on Saturday night’s Spike TV TUF 8 Finale show.  Below are the best odds in town, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com.

Efrain Escudero (+334) vs. Phillipe Nover (-364)
Vinicius Magalhaes (-165) vs. Ryan Bader (+160)
Jason MacDonald (+119) vs. Wilson Gouveia (-125)
Anthony Johnson (-225) vs. Kevin Burns (+205)
Dave Kaplan (+322) vs. Junie Browning (-325)
Krzysztof Soszynski (-345) vs. Shane Primm (+315)
Eliot Marshall (-551) vs. Jules Bruchez (+501)
Kyle Kingsbury (-116) vs. Tom Lawlor (+106)
George Roop (EVEN) vs. Shane Nelson (-108)
John Polakowski (-122) vs. Roli Delgado (+112)

Thoughts…

(They’ve come so far, and ingested so much of each other’s bodily fluids.)

With The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale on Spike TV just one day away, we go head-to-head on some of the most pressing issues surrounding this reality TV-generated fight card.  As usual, we’ll be liveblogging the action right here on the Potato come Saturday night.  Don’t miss it.

Who will emerge as the winners of TUF 8, and of the two, who has a brighter future in the UFC?

BF: Phillipe Nover and Ryan Bader are the two guys who will end up hoisting those weird transparent trophies over their heads on Saturday night.  Nover will win because he’s an animal, a straight-up criminal, dog.  Even though Efrain Escudero has some skills of his own, I don’t think he’s as well-rounded or aggressive as Nover, and I think it will cost him in the form of a late TKO. 

Bader will win because even though Vinny Magalhaes is a hell of a jiu-jitsu fighter, he doesn’t have a whole lot else in the toolbox from what I’ve seen.  Bader has plenty of time to get his submissions defense in order, and if he can sharpen his stand-up and/or ground-and-pound at all, he’ll do just enough to win a decision.

Of those two, Nover has a better chance of really doing something in the UFC.  I’d love to see him jump right in and face one of the many tough lightweights hanging around these days rather than be brought along at a Nate Diaz-type pace, but the opposite will probably happen.  Bader, he’ll probably end up dropping to middleweight and getting schooled by the first guy he comes across with good sprawl-and-brawl.  But that’s life.

BG: I’m going to have to go ahead and sort of disagree with you there, buddy. If Bader has time to expand his toolbox beyond lay-and-snore, then Vinny can learn to do something other than viciously pull guard and tap his opponents in the first round, hot-knife-through-butter style. But why should he? Magalhaes is one of the scariest jiu-jitsu practitioners to ever appear on TUF and I’m not sure if Bader’s top-game will be tight enough to avoid being submitted if he decides to take Vinny to the ground. (Trust me, Magalhaes is not Eliot Marshall.) The Brazilian finishes fights, and I say he takes it via submission in the second frame.

Watch DIAMOND DAVE KAPLAN VS. JUNIE BROWNING IN TUF 8 FINALE on RawVegas.tv

I don’t know what it is about Dave Kaplan, but he’s got that special ability where the more he talks, the more you kind of want to see him get his face bashed in.  If only he could be knocked out!  In this video he insists on inserting his nickname, which is “Diamond”, in front of his name at every opportunity.  He also discusses his upcoming bout with Junie Browning and says he’d like to train with Ric Flair.  Okay, so he redeemed himself a little there.  But there’s still a long way to go.

Wanderlei Silva works out with the same pudgy British dude from FHM who Sean Sherk beat up a while back, and the result here is mostly the same.  The best part is the look on Wanderlei’s face while the dude is talking.  He seems like he’s trying to figure out whether this guy is making fun of him or not, then says screw it and stomps his head inside the TUF Octagon anyway.

After the jump, we see what kind of shenanigans "Rampage" Jackson is getting into over on the other side of the pond.

People have been kicked off The Ultimate Fighter for less than what we saw Junie Browning do this season, but through it all he managed to stay on the show and endure to the semifinals.  After his loss to Efrain Escudero last night, Browning talks with Cage Potato about the person he was and the fighter he’s become, and he promises that we’ll all know the difference when we see him on next Saturday night’s Spike TV finale.

CagePotato.com: So after everything that happened, how surprised were you that Dana White didn’t kick you off the show?

Real surprised, actually.  Especially after what Dana said the first time and what happened.  But I’m sure everyone wanted to see me get my ass kicked, so that was a good reason to keep me on.

Were you knowingly sabotaging yourself and trying to get kicked off?

It was more the fact that I didn’t really care.  I wasn’t ready to fight.  I knew I was out of shape.  I wasn’t prepared to fight so I just didn’t really care about the consequences.  I would have rather just gone home rather than embarrass myself on TV.  That’s not necessarily the way I look at it now, but that’s the way I was thinking then.  It’s not a good way to look at it, but that’s how it felt.

You say you weren’t ready to fight, but in the beginning you seemed to be doing pretty well.  Why do you think you weren’t ready?

The beginning of the fight, that wasn’t pretty well for me.  That was horrible.  I knew it at the time, while I was fighting, that it was horrible.  I felt like every day I was on the show I was getting worse.  I just wasn’t fighting the same.  I wasn’t fighting explosive like I normally do.

If it was just that you were out of shape, why didn’t you spend more time beforehand working on your cardio so you would be ready?

(When this man talks, you listen. Occasionally you even understand.)

I called The Ultimate Fighter’s Al “Stankie” Stankiewicz for an interview and ended up getting a motivational speech. He can’t help it. That’s just what he does. As Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s eccentric old boxing coach, “Stankie” caught our eye early on this season with his antics, and as rumors filtered out about things he did off camera, we knew this was someone we wanted to talk to. Turns out the rumors are all true, but they don’t begin to tell the whole story.

We talked with “Stankie” recently to find out who he is and how he came to be standing next to Big Nog, going on semi-coherent rants about sardines. What we learned is that from working undercover during the Watts Riots, to training Oscar de la Hoya for the Olympics, here is a man who has lead an interesting life. And he was more than happy to tell us about it, in his own roundabout way.

CagePotato.com: Thanks for talking with us “Stankie.” I’ve read some about your background, but is it true that you were a cop in Los Angeles before becoming a boxer?

I joined the department in August of 1962. I came from back east, I went to college at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. I came out to California just to see the California girls and to surf. What happened was, it was so beautiful I fell in love with it. It was October and there was Rafer Johnson, the decathlon champion, playing volleyball with Wilt Chamberlain down in Santa Monica. I called home and talked to my sister and told her about seeing these two superstars on the beach playing volleyball, and she knew what a jock I was and how big that was for me. And she said, “Al, it’s twenty degrees below zero here and we’re having a blizzard.” That’s the point where I told her, “Sis, I love you, but I’m never coming back.”

I got a job selling shoes at first. I was twenty years old. I fell in love with almost every girl who came into the place. It was 1962 and jobs were kind of scarce. There was this big advertisement that said, “Join the LAPD! Be part of the thin blue line! $650 a month.” And in 1962, that was big money. So I went down to city hall and took the test. For the psych test there was a Rorschach ink blot test. I had gone to college and written a paper on that thing, so I knew what to say. If you looked at it and said you saw two dogs fucking underneath a tree with blood all over it, you know, you’d be in trouble. So I got through and suddenly I was a cop.

(Looks like Sadollah’s first non-TUF fight is going to have to wait.)

Ultimate Fighter 7 winner Amir Sadollah won’t be fighting at UFC 91 this weekend after all, as UFC.com reports that a leg infection has forced him off the card. What with the fight just a couple of days away, the UFC couldn’t find a suitable replacement and has given up trying, so the bout is being scratched altogether.

Sorry, Nick Catone. That big UFC debut you’ve been training for, the one you told all your friends and family about, it ain’t happening. Look on the bright side: at least you’re still undefeated.

Since the bout leaves a hole in the televised portion of the event, the UFC is going to bump Tamdan McCrory-Dustin Hazelett up from the darkness to make up for it. You hear that, “Barn Cat”? You’re going to fight on TV in front of a Dana White-estimated 1.2 million households. Your struggles with women are finally over, my man.

It was an Ultimate Fighter first when the cast members exchanged various bodily fluids via warring food pranks on last night’s show. Eliminated lightweight Dave Kaplan talks us through it in this exclusive Cage Potato interview, and claims all was not as it seemed. We also discuss Junie Browning’s betrayal and what went wrong in the loss to Phillipe Nover, among other things. Enjoy.

CagePotato.com: Now that we’ve all seen last night’s crazy and often gross show, what are your thoughts overall?

I liked the show a lot. That might seem counter-intuitive. Obviously, the end of the show wasn’t the best for me, but I’ve had three months to deal with that. I liked the stuff that they showed. I thought I came off as funny, the type of person that I wanted people to see. I didn’t talk shit about anyone, and I feel good about that. All in all, I thought it was a good show. I might be biased, but I thought it was the most exciting and interesting of the episodes thus far.

It seemed like we spent a lot of time watching these food/bodily fluid pranks unfold.

You know what the funny part about it is? I had nothing to do with any of the pranks that happened. Any of the stuff that Krysztof did with people’s underwear or any of that stuff. I had fish put under my bed, which I thought was a lame prank anyway. But I can’t even tell you where I was when they peed in the fruit. I wasn’t part of any of that. I guess it makes for good television if you like the gross-out factor there.

The semen on the sushi, did you feel that was going too far?

I would say so. Here’s my take on that, and I have to be perfectly honest. I did not eat the sushi. I said that I did, because at that point in the show Kyle Kingsbury was getting on my nerves and I wanted a reason to retaliate, plus Tom Lawlor had actually eaten a piece and I wanted to have his back. So I said that I did it so I could retaliate, which Tom and I did.

(The infamous “he’s going to eat that spit” speech. Inspiring.)

The last time we devoted blog space to Ultimate Fighter coach Al “Stankie” Stankiewicz, some of you complained that we were applying a double-standard by encouraging his drunken antics and denouncing those of Jesse Taylor and Junie Browning. Fair enough, but what you have to remember is this: when a young, strong professional fighter gets drunk and violent, it’s called assault. When a crazy old man who goes by the name “Stankie” does it, it’s hilarious. Why? Because he’s old. The rules are different for old people. The rest of us just have to accept that.

It’s kind of like when you go to a family Thanksgiving and your racist grandfather makes a remark about “those thieving, hot-blooded Latins.” There’s no point in getting upset, and you know he’s just talking about Desi Arnaz anyway. So you do what any minimally functioning family does. You pass the potatoes and pretend it didn’t happen.

Today’s Stankie story comes yet again from Ryan Bader, who seems way more interested in telling these tales than any other cast member, God bless him. This time, it was our very own blogger, Efrain Escudero, who found himself pulled into the mysterious world that Stankie seems to inhabit all by himself:

Stanky had this thing with Efrian Escudero. He liked Efrian a lot but really wanted to spar him. Stanky always told him that he would kick his ass if they boxed. So one day we told Stanky his dreams were going to come true. Nogueira told him he could spar Efrian in straight boxing if he wore the chest/rib protector. They would spar in the ring, with full walkouts and the whole hooray. I would corner Efrian and the rest of the team would be behind Stanky. This made his day, if not year — well, probably decade.

Kyle overheard Stanky while he was hitting the speed bag warming up talking to himself. Stanky was muttering out loud to himself, “Stanky, one last hoorah. This is it, old chap! You’re back in the game! Back in the fire! Do this and you can finally put down the gloves.”

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Dana White‘s not such a bad guy. Despite heaping scorn upon the legend of Kimbo Slice at every opportunity, he’s still willing to give him a job. Or at least he’s willing to give him the chance to prove himself worthy of a job, though he sounds less than optimistic about the bearded one’s chances:

“He can be on The Ultimate Fighter. What’s he done other than get 10 million hits on YouTube, what’s he done to deserve to be in the UFC? Nothing. I don’t consider him a real athlete. He won’t win The Ultimate Fighter. The offer’s out there if he wants to take it, but he won’t win it.”

Nothing like an offer that contains within it a prediction that you will fail should you accept said offer. That’s a great negotiating point to start from.

Slice’s manager, Icey Mike, doesn’t seem eager to take White up on that offer:

(Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

The Ultimate Fighter’s Rolando Delgado got his moment in the spotlight on last night’s show, taking on Junie Browning in a three-round split decision loss. In this exclusive Cage Potato interview, Delgado tells us what it was like to battle Lexington, Kentucky’s most outspoken representative, weighs in on Frank Mir and “Minotauro” Nogueira, and gives us a glimpse of what’s to come.

Now that you’ve seen the show and your fight, what are your thoughts?

Man, it’s painful to watch Frank Mir try and call me out on the show. I was definitely not looking forward to that, more than any other part of the show. Overall I thought it was a good show, it made for good TV. The fight was a fun fight. I definitely could have done better and Junie could have done better. You always have a lot of regrets when you don’t fight to your full potential. But overall it was a good experience.

So what’s the story with the black belt? How did that come up and how did it get to be such an issue? They just didn’t believe you really had a black belt?

Yeah, but I want to note that these were all guys who weren’t training with me. These were all blue team guys. I never trained with any of them. They didn’t interview anyone from my team. It was a little nerve-wracking. I’m not used to people questioning my integrity like that. It’s one thing if you say, ‘I don’t think you’re a good black belt.’ That’s a matter of opinion. But to say that I don’t have one, I thought that was very disrespectful.

Luckily I actually taped my black belt testing and it’s on Google Videos, so you can see it for yourself. I’m not someone who makes up stories and it’s not like I’ve just popped up on the scene. I’ve competed at every level. I competed as a blue belt in the late nineties, I did it as a purple belt, did it as a brown belt. I’ve done no-gi tournaments since I’ve gotten my black belt. I won NAGA twice. It’s not like I just popped on the scene.

Seeing Frank Mir question you and seeing him tell Junie to take you out, it kind of seemed like Frank had it out for you or thought you didn’t belong there. What did you make of that?

(‘Are you not entertained? Is this not why you are here?’ Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

Some have criticized this season of Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter by calling it “The Junie Browning Show.” That doesn’t seem to bother Browning, who says he’s happy as long as people are entertained. And let’s face it, we are.

On tonight’s episode Browning takes on Rolando Delgado, which he promises is “the best fight this season.” He also discusses some of his drunken antics, the response from his co-stars, and living up to the expectations of his hometown of Lexington, Kentucky. It all makes for an interesting conversation and a fitting interview for our one-year anniversary, since Browning says he reads Cage Potato “all the time.” Who the hell can blame him?

CagePotato.com: Now that you’ve seen a few episodes of the show, what do you think of how they’ve portrayed you?

I think it’s pretty much correct. They didn’t really edit me to look like an asshole. I did that myself. I think I would have liked if they played some of the clips of me goofing around with the guys, but it’s 100% asshole on the show.

What do you think was the correct percentage of asshole? 50%? 80%?

I’d say about 90% asshole. A lot of the stuff I was doing started off as playing around and went from there. Like me throwing peanuts at the guys and stuff, that started as just playing around, but people might not realize that and think I was just always being an asshole.

Is that how you are all the time, or was that just in that house and on that show?

I think it was the house and the combination of tequila and vodka. I’m not like that all the time. Back at home I’m not like that. I’ve never had to be carried out of a bar or anything like that. I think it’s just that place that turns you crazy.

Well what about when we see you getting drunk and out of control, then Dana White comes and gives you a talk and you’re almost kicked out, then a couple days later you’re sober and getting into it again with Efrain Escudero?

(‘You guys want something to drink? A dozen shots of tequila, maybe? It’s how I test people’s ethical fiber. Just a thing I do.’)

UFC president Dana White appeared on the Carmichael Dave sports talk radio show to talk about the UFC’s global expansion, this season of The Ultimate Fighter, and of course do a little EliteXC/Kimbo Slice bashing. You know, a normal day. He also found himself defending the decision not to kick Junie Browning off the show, and followed it up with a justification for the plentiful alcohol in the TUF mansion:

A lot of people are horrified that I didn’t kick Junie off the show. …I’ll tell you exactly how this thing works. I never know what’s going on at the house unless something bad happens. I see what happened at the house when you guys see. The way it works is something bad happens, they call me, and they say, ‘Something bad happened. We need you.’ I go to the gym, they have a tape queued up and ready for me, I watch what happened. Then I drive over to the house and I deal with it.

So this happened, I drive over to the house…I get out of my car, I walk in, and [TUF producer] Andrea [Richter] is like, ‘Okay, we got it all set up, we got his flight home,’ and I’m like, ‘Andrea, I don’t know if I’m going to kick him off.’ She was like, ‘What!?’ I mean, everybody was ready. Everybody knew I was kicking him off.

I said, ‘I don’t know what’s up with me. But I’m going to walk in there and I’m going to wing it. I’m going to see how this kid acts and then I’ll make a decision. …I thought he was going to be a punk. But he wasn’t. …You’ll see what happens later in the season.

Naturally, White also claims that this is the best season they’ve ever done, repeating the claim, “we came off with a kid at 155 pounds who could be the next Anderson Silva.”

Asked whether that might be Junie, since he seems to be the most talented guy in the house, White responded, “But he’s not. He’s not the most talented guy. See, that’s the thing, everybody thought I was talking about Junie.”

Then White went on the offensive against those who criticize the UFC’s policy of providing copious amounts of free alcohol to pro athletes locked up in a house with no distractions.

Junie Allen Browning interview – Watch more free videos

Just in case you thought Junie Allen Browning was putting on an act for The Ultimate Fighter, here’s some video evidence that at the very least it is a consistent act. Here’s Junie (known at the time as Allen) and his brother Rob appearing on something called “Insight 2 Sports” back in their AFL days. After watching this, I can honestly say that I feel like I have gained some insight, although I’m not so sure it is insight 2 sports so much as it is insight 2 the strange interior world of Junie Browning.

The constant bragging, the fight-picking, the ‘born to lose’ attitude in his darker moments. Junie, let me ask you something. Would you say that you’ve never felt quite good enough? Like maybe, when you’re in a restaurant and you hear people laughing across the room, your first thought is that they must be laughing at you? And then your second thought is that you should probably go over there and beat them all up?

I do like hearing Junie’s brother Rob lay out his plans for the future, though. First he talks about being in college like he’s serving a prison sentence, then says that all he wants to do is teach school, coach sports, and pay the bills with his fight purses. Of course, this all comes after we’ve seen him do his stripper fight entrance, which I can only describe as unsettling.

- Drew Fickett gets waaaaaay too personal in forum post. (UG)

- Kim Couture calls Jared Shaw a perv, no one is terribly surprised. (Steve Cofield)

- Kenny Florian struggles for answers on “MMA Live”. (ESPN)

- Michael Bisping responds to Chris Leben with dry British sarcasm. (Fighters Only)

- TUF 8 ratings rebound with Junie Browning’s alcohol-fueled antics. (MMA Payout)

- Marcus Aurelio says Hermes Franca is a bad person. (MMA Rated)

- Bobby Lashley goes from WWE to ATT. (AmericanTopTeam.com)

- Brett Rogers to fight TBA for EliteXC in November. (AOL Fanhouse)

- The sad state of product placement. (Wall Street Fighter)

- Tribute to the naughty nurse. (Holy Taco)

- Eric Cartman’s most evil moments. (Screen Junkies)

- Japanese wrestler beaten by coach. (Nothing Toxic)

(‘Come on, you pussies and posers!’)

Listen up middleweights and welterweights. Have you always wanted to be on reality TV, but you keep getting rejected from Rock of Love? Do you possess awesome MMA skillz or, failing that, a willingness to take a beating from those who do? Do you have an inspiring personal story? How about a drinking problem? If you answered yes to at least a couple of these questions, and you can pass for either an American or a Brit, you could be on the next season of Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Two open casting calls will help determine next season’s participants, Spike TV announced today. The first is in London on October 20 at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, and the other is in Chicago at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel on October 27.

Since this season will be all about the across-the-pond rivalry, it might be a good idea to come up with a story about how much you hate Americans/Brits. It shouldn’t be too difficult to think of a reason, no matter which one you happen to be.

One thing to keep in mind, contestants will once more be forced to fight their way onto the show. That should come as no surprise at this point, but we’re betting there will still be at least one joker who shows up twenty pounds overweight anyway. If you play your cards right, this season that joker could be you!

(‘I came to chew bubblegum and represent the 209. I am all out of bubblegum.’)

No one can see the future, but as long as we’re going to speculate as to how things will turn out in Omaha on Wednesday (and let’s face it, we are), we might as well go all the way with predictions so specific they can’t possible come true….or can they?

Nate Diaz vs. Josh Neer

Despite his impressive performances since coming off “The Ultimate Fighter,” the UFC doesn’t seem interested in moving Diaz up in competition. Instead they move him laterally, pitting him against the journeyman Neer, who Nate’s big bro already beat. It’ll be no easy task for Diaz to top his double-birdie performance against Kurt Pellegrino, but he’s a showman. Diaz will get bullied around the Octagon by Neer early on, but at some point he’ll remember he’s the better submissions fighter. The thought will dawn on him all at once and he’ll jump on Neer’s back, lock in a standing rear-naked choke, and extend his middle fingers on either side of Neer’s head as he submits.

When will it happen: 3:17, round two.

What to watch for: the look on Joe Rogan’s face when he has to interview Diaz after the bout and ask him to talk us through the Bud Light replay. What isn’t bleeped out will be completely unintelligible.

Mac Danzig vs. Clay Guida

This is the kind of fight worth getting excited about. The stoic, cerebral Danzig takes on Enkidu, the wild man of the woods (officially known as Clay Guida). It’s the classic highly-technical vegan vs. tough-but-crazy caveman battle. Danzig will start overly cautious and be initially overwhelmed as Guida wades into him with reckless abandon. But as the fight wears on Danzig will start to figure things out, striking and circling and wearing Guida out with knees to the body. Then Guida will freak out, charging right into a triangle choke, and his face will be blocked by his hair as it changes colors before he finally consents to tap.

When will it happen: 2:03, round three.

What to watch for: Guida’s brother, who failed to make weight for his first “Ultimate Fighter” bout and was reportedly kicked off the show for it, will appear on camera at some point looking sad and not eating.

Former UFC champ Frank Mir was once sitting atop the heavyweight division before a motorcycle accident nearly ended his career. His road back has been a rocky one. A couple tough losses had him questioning his decision to keep fighting, but he has since rededicated himself to the sport and has found new life after a high-profile victory over Brock Lesnar.

Now he’s coaching opposite Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in season eight of “The Ultimate Fighter,” premiering Wednesday night on Spike TV. In this exclusive interview with CagePotato.com, Mir talks about his impending fight with Nogueira, Randy Couture’s return, and just how much he hates cardio training.

CagePotato.com: Frank, we’ve heard past coaches say they don’t like how long the show keeps them out of action, how they’re fighters and not coaches. What was your experience like coaching “The Ultimate Fighter?”

I found it quite enjoyable. I really didn’t think it was all that difficult to be honest with you. Obviously nothing’s easy in the fight game, but it wasn’t like I resented the position at all. It opened my eyes up to a lot of new things as a fighter, seeing other people and how they react to different situations, how they deal with things, and helped me understand how to help them out by thinking about what I would need in that situation. It was kind of nice to jump back that way because it gave me a better understanding of myself.

What does it do to your climactic fight with Nogueira now that Randy Couture is back in the UFC and they’re hyping his match with Brock Lesnar, a man you beat, for the heavyweight title?

I definitely think it takes some of the wind out of the sails. That’s for sure. But I love the fact that Randy’s back. I think he’s a great representative of the sport and I thought it was a travesty that he might have ended his career in a courtroom.

The fact that he’s back, I think that’s great. I’m not upset with that at all, but I think that Nogueira obviously should have been his first fight back, since he’s holding the interim belt. But since Nogueira and I are already slated to fight each other I thought that with him coming back he would wait to fight the winner of Nogueira and myself. I think that would have worked out perfectly. But with contract negotiations and all that I don’t know what the deal was.

The only thing I’m at odds with is that he’s fighting a month before Nogueira and I fight, and that brings up the question of what we’re fighting for. Now he’s fighting Lesnar and he’s getting a shot at the heavyweight title while I’m getting a shot at the interim title. Since I just beat Lesnar, that’s kind of interesting.

Interesting is one word for it. Obviously you’re focused on fighting Nogueira now, so how do you think you stack up against him? What do you do better than him?

(Click here to go to the video)

The season eight premiere of “The Ultimate Fighter” follows UFC Fight Night this Wednesday, and Spike.com has provided an early look at what’s in store in the first episode. They seem to be doing a good job this season of not only providing backstory on Big Nog and Frank Mir — even if it involves some questionable claims, such as referring to Nogueira as the potential greatest heavyweight ever, conveniently ignoring the existence of Fedor Emelianenko altogether — but also not so subtly making the case for the show itself and its importance in the larger UFC framework.

Of course they don’t hesitate to point out that season one alumni Forrest Griffin is now light heavyweight champ, but did they have to follow the line about “future champions of the UFC” with a shot of Chris Leben?

The first episode also offers more reasons to believe that Jose Aguilar will be this season’s most quotable moron. After comparing himself favorably to Hitler, dog, he comes up with this gem when one of the fighters passes out during Dana White’s big speech:

“That [expletive] was loco, dog. Like I was expecting carbon monoxide, more people to pass out or…I don’t even know. Anthrax, dog. Al-Qaeda. I don’t even know what the hell to tell you, dog.”

Something tells me season eight will be one to remember. As long as Jose Aguilar is around to keep punctuating his free associations with the word “dog,” you’ll always have something to look forward to on Wednesday nights.

(Update: the embed code turns out to be an empty promise, but here’s the link to the reunion show clip.)

This Saturday, September 13 Spike TV is airing a TUF 1 marathon and special reunion show. As you can see from the clip, some of those old rivalries haven’t been forgotten. Give Joe Rogan some credit, he doesn’t shy away from asking Bobby Southworth whether he felt bad about the whole ‘fatherless bastard’ remark. We don’t get to see his answer in this clip, but let’s hope it’s yes.

Check out Dana White’s closing video blog entry for UFC 88 after the jump. They’ve apparently decided to go with quantity over quality, as this is the longest one yet. For some real fun, skip to the 9:00 mark to see Chuck Liddell‘s pre-fight preparations, which tells you a lot about what kind of fight he was expecting. Afterwards Dana has to corral Rashad Evans‘ wife while simultaneously stopping Chuck Liddell and John Hackleman from jetting out of the Octagon. That’s a hard-working man, right there.

(Admit it, the camera loves him.)

It’s almost time again for everyone’s favorite MMA-themed reality show, Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter.” A lot of you were disappointed to hear that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir would be coaching this edition, but does that mean you’ll follow through on your empty threats not to watch when the show premieres on September 17?

Season eight is all about the lightweights and light heavyweights, and the official cast was announced today by Sports Illustrated. Yours truly even has an article about what to expect and what to watch for this time around, which you can read and then send me a hateful email about here. As for the cast list, feast your eyes:

LIGHTWEIGHT

Jose Aguilar
Age: 25
MMA Record: 17-3-0
Trains With: Grapplers Edge
Location: Las Cruces, N.M.

Fernando Bernstein
Age: 25
MMA Record: 2-0-0
Trains With: Progressive Martial Arts
Location: San Clemente, Calif.

Junie Allen Browning
Age: 22
MMA Record: 2-0-0
Trains With: Four Seasons Martial Arts
Location: Lexington, Ky.

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Jon Fitch is well aware of his underdog status going into tomorrow night’s title fight with Georges St. Pierre. He knows not many people are expecting him to win, but he doesn’t seem to care. In this exclusive interview he talks about what it’s going to take to beat GSP and why he feels he still isn’t getting the respect he deserves from fans and “self-proclaimed experts.”

CagePotato.com: Hey Jon, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. Now that we’re so close to the fight, how are you feeling?

Great. Training went really well. Had a great camp, a lot of people have been helping me out. I feel really confident. I feel really great right now.

Who did you have working with you to help you get ready for GSP?

The usual guys like Josh Koscheck and Mike Swick, everybody at AKA. And then Jake Shields was coming in for three weeks or so, helping me out. Even Brock Larson, who was a former opponent of mine, was in town helping me out for a couple of weeks. So I had really great guys working with me.

Was Koscheck able to give you any special insight about GSP based on his fight with him?

Yeah, he helped me with little things, like what GSP’s strength is like, what his speed is like, stuff like that. Just knowing that he’s fast and strong is one thing, but knowing how fast and how strong is another. Knowing how I compare to him in those departments, those kinds of things really helped.

I heard you say before that Koscheck didn’t really work his wrestling before his fight with GSP. Is that true? I’d imagine you’re not making the same mistake in your training.

Jon Fitch Talks Ultimate Fighter Fiasco – Watch more free videos

When we wrote about TapouT’s claim to have kickstarted Diego Sanchez’s fighting career by getting him on “The Ultimate Fighter” at the expense of some other poor soul, many of you responded that it was none other than Jon Fitch himself who was cast out in favor of “The Nightmare”. In this video from “Steel Cage Comedy Night”, in which the hippie James Lipton sits down with Fitch all “Actor’s Studio” style, Fitch talks about how he learned that he would not become a reality TV star and how the UFC gave him nothing but a quick apology before sending him on his way.

This is one in a series of videos from that night, and you know something? Fitch is a pretty entertaining guy. Makes you wonder why the UFC doesn’t give him more mic time. Here’s one where he talks about what it’s like to get knocked out.

Jesse Taylor is responsible for several firsts in Ultimate Fighter history. He’s the first fighter to voluntarily pee his pants for entertainment on the show, as well as the first to fight his way into the finals only to be kicked off for a drunken rampage after the show finished filming.

Now Taylor’s poised to get his shot in the UFC against CB Dollaway on July 19th. In this exclusive interview he talks to CagePotato about finally getting his shot at the big time and trying to learn from his mistakes to make the most of his second chance.

CagePotato.com: When did you find out that you were going to get a shot in the UFC on this July 19 card? Where you already in shape and ready for a fight, or did it come as a surprise to you?

Jesse Taylor: I was just staying active, and you have to remember the show ended back in March, so after training so long and fighting so much it was a big layoff. Ever since it ended I was trying to get back in, but I found out just recently, just about three and a half weeks ago that I was back in. I was just so pumped up, so happy that I felt like sure, let’s go, I’ll fight anybody.

Do you think it was the UFC’s need to put this card together on short notice that made them call you so soon?

I think it was a combination of things. I think that show definitely helped. But I had this spotlight on me anyway because I was the guy who won every one of his fights and then I got this horrible punishment. I definitely wanted the fight, and I think people were interested in, you know, what could have happened with Jesse Taylor, so next thing I know I’m back in the UFC.

Do you think they would have called you so soon if it wasn’t for this event?

I think they would have definitely called me again, I just think it would have been a little bit longer.

Looking back on it now, what do you make of the punishment Dana White handed down to you? Was it too harsh, in your opinion?

From Yahoo! Sports:

[Dana White] said he’s found “the next Anderson Silva,” a lightweight who is competing in Season 8 of TUF at 155 pounds, though he declined to release the fighter’s name because it might spoil the season. “I was going off when I saw this guy,” White said. “He’s 24 and he’s destroying people. It’s sick how bad ass he is. I’m getting goose bumps talking to you about him.”

Early message-board speculation is pointing to Joe “Hybrid” Duarte, a 24-year-old San Diego-based fighter who claims on his website that he’s been selected for Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir. Duarte is 3-0 in pro MMA, 9-0 in pro boxing, and 19-1 in Muay Thai. According to his bio page, he walks around at 185lb-190lb (remember, he’s a lightweight) and is “really, really, really RIDICULOUSLY strong,” thanks to his Chamorro ethnic background. And yes, he does destroy people. His last two MMA matches are after the jump: