(Fredbird hypes up Robbie Lawler before he throws out the first pitch at yesterday’s Cardinals/Reds game at Busch Stadium. Photo courtesy of Esther Lin/Strikeforce.)

- Urijah Faber and Mike Brown fill out Sports Illustrated‘s "Cheerleader of the Week" questionnaire. Hilarity ensues. (Asylum)

- Due to Cung Le’s movie career, Strikeforce will soon introduce an interim middleweight belt. (CageWriter)

- As if Team U.S.A. needed another reason to hate Jason Pierce. (SPIKE)

- Fedor Emelianenko discusses why he couldn’t sign with the UFC. (MMA Fanhouse)

- USA Wrestling is trying to bribe wrestlers not to jump ship to MMA. (Fightlinker)

- It’ll be Choi vs. Minowa and Mousasi vs. Sokoudjou in the second round of DREAM’s "Super Hulk" tournament. (MMA Mania)

- Kenny Florian will join the broadcast team at WEC 41 on Sunday. (MMA Junkie)

- Weigh-in results for tonight’s Bellator show. (MMA Madness)

- Mike Brown discusses how he got his start in fighting, and how his loss to Joe Lauzon turned his career around. (Scores Report)

- Urijah Faber is packing on leg muscle and working on a clothing line. (Ask Men)

- Redneck backyard MMA fight ends in head-kick KO. (NothingToxic)

- Spiders Flee From Paris Hilton’s Vagina. (HolyTaco)

- Trailer and production photos from It Might Get Loud, starring Jimmy Page, Jack White, and the Edge. (ScreenJunkies)

- Wreck of the Week: Drunk Fan Edition. (AllLeftTurns)

- Daily Market Madness. (WallStreetFighter)

- The Citizen Kane of beer pong trick-shot videos. (Break)

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

You can pretty much skip past the first nine minutes of Dana White’s latest WEC blog, in which DW talks to reporters, puts on a seatbelt for the first time in his life ("It doesn’t feel good!"), bitches about his schedule to Coach Rashad Evans, and talks charity with Al Bernstein. The real important stuff comes at the end, where we get a closer look at Dana White as a father. Basically, he treats his sons like he treats his employees — busting their little balls and putting the shock pen on them when they’re not paying attention. (There’s a great "David After Dentist" moment at 9:12, where one of his boys says "I hate that shock pen! It scares the crap outta me! It feels like I’m a dead man now!") Anyway, those kids will grow up to be very well-adjusted, I’m sure of it.

After the jump: With all the nuthugging we’ve been doing on Mike Brown lately, you may have forgotten that there’s another guy in the main event of Sunday’s WEC show. In this video feature, Urijah Faber talks about his motivation to get revenge on Brownie and his preparation for their rematch. As for this gameplan this time out? "I may try to catch him with that same elbow again," Faber says.

(He’s got comedic timing, too.)

Mike Thomas Brown destroyed the myth of the unbeatable Urijah Faber with his upset knockout victory at WEC 36 last year, but respect (and until recently, money) have still been hard to come by for the American Top Team featherweight.  With the rematch now just a couple of days away, Brownie talks paydays, fame, and beating the oddsmakers in our one-on-one chat with the WEC 145-pound champ.

CagePotato.com: A lot of people seem like they’re still not buying you as the real WEC featherweight champ.  Do you feel like you still need to prove that your win over Faber wasn’t just a fluke?

MB: No, I think I’ve proved it now.  I mean, I read a lot on the internet, people saying it was a fluke and all that.  But I think when I beat Garcia pretty quickly too, and almost in the same way since I hurt him with the right hand and then finished him off, then it was basically like a replay.  That showed it wasn’t a one-time deal, that I could do this to good guys.  Leonard had never been finished before so I was proud of being able to put him away.

(The fact that Faber got KTFO’d by Brown last time just means he’s due for a win, right? Photo courtesy of ESPN.)

If Saturday’s Strikeforce matchups seem a little too unpredictable for you to throw some money down, may we suggest taking your mortgage payment disposable entertainment income and wagering it on Sunday’s WEC event instead? There might be some "sure things" to be found here — and when you bet on smaller fighters, they appreciate it more. Check out these odds from our new friends at MMA Moneyline and let’s see if we can’t get daddy his proverbial new pair of shoes:

Urijah Faber (-115) vs. Mike Brown (+120)
Jose Aldo (-360) vs. Cub Swanson (+300)
Donald Cerrone (-400) vs. James Krause (+450)
Josh Grispi (-150) vs. Jens Pulver (+130)
Manny Gamburyan (-225) vs. John Franchi (+200)
Rafael Rebello (-110) vs. Kyle Dietz (-110)
Mike Campbell (-275) vs Anthony Pettis (+260)
Scott Jorgensen (-145) vs. Antonio Banuelos (+135)
Frank Gomez (-140) vs. Noah Thomas (+135)
Seth Dikun (-115) vs. Rolando Perez (-110)

Okay, you want our advice?

(My God, the animosity between these two. It’s like the entire room could burst into flames at any moment.)

MMA fans have a full dance-card this weekend, with Strikeforce putting on a stacked Showtime event on Saturday night (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT), and the WEC following it up on Sunday night with a show on Versus headlined by featherweight champion Mike Brown’s second meeting with Urijah Faber (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT). Be sure to come back here Saturday night for the Strikeforce liveblog — and get psyched for the whole shebang by reading the latest installment of the longest-running MMA argument on the Internet. Ben vs. Ben starts right now…

Brett Rogers says he wants to stand and bang with Andrei Arlovski on Saturday. That sounds like a horrible idea for "The Grimm," given that Arlovski is just as big and strong as he is but with much more technical striking. Does Rogers stand a chance with that strategy, or is he an unconscious man walking at this point?

BG: WTF? Is Rogers supposed to take Arlovski down and sub him out with his battle-tested Grimjitsu? I’m not trying to hate on Brett’s ground game, because none of us have actually seen it; he’s a brawler, and thus far he’s only had to face other brawlers. Arlovski, on the other hand, actually has some submission skills in his back pocket. So while we know that Rogers will be fighting an uphill battle on Saturday night, I’d say his odds decrease even further if the fight goes anywhere else besides stand-and-bangville.

Brett’s only shot is to stick to his bread-and-butter and swing those hamhocks. The fact that Arlovski’s hands are far more technical means that the Grimm will probably get picked apart. But Arlovski’s unreliable chin makes him vulnerable to what Rogers brings into the cage. That’s what makes this fight compelling for me: Brett Rogers definitely should not be able to beat Andrei Arlovski — but he just might.

BF: With regard to the submission skills in Arlovski’s back pocket, I hope your finger slipped and you really meant to type ‘submission skill.’ As in, his straight achilles lock. That’s all the dude’s got on the mat and he goes to it like it’s his signature killer move, so let’s not pretend that there any Arlovski-platas in the near future.

(Props: MMA Mania)

Rivalry is the over-arching theme in this in-depth video preview for UFC 99 (Cologne, Germany; June 13th). First we have Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva, with much being made of Franklin’s decision to train with Wandy’s anti-BFF, Anderson Silva. Ace considers the Axe Murderer to be just as dangerous now as he was in PRIDE, and looks forward to a stand-up war. Wanderlei just wants to get past Franklin so he can settle up with Anderson once and for all.

In a card that’s moderately stacked with names like Mirko Cro Cop, Cain Velasquez, Cheick Kongo, and Caol Uno, it’s suprising that Marcus Davis vs. Dan Hardy is being treated like the co-main event here. But these two got beef. Hardy thinks Davis is a fake Irishman, and Davis thinks Hardy is a douchebag with a stupid red mohawk. Will their combined hatred produce a Fight of the Night?

After the jump: Some vintage California Kid from December 2005, in honor of his rematch with Mike Brown being just nine days away…

(Props: MMA Mania)

After their first meeting six months ago resulted in Urijah Faber getting crushed and losing his featherweight title, the California Kid and the WEC’s current 145-pound champ Mike Brown will have their rematch at WEC 41, which goes down June 7th at the ARCO Arena in Faber’s hometown of Sacramento. Both headliners discuss the matchup in this new promo video, which shows that Brown is slightly peeved that his win over Faber is still considered a fluke in the eyes of some fans, while Faber is all "whatever brah, let’s do this, I want that belt back." (Not a direct quote.) Meanwhile, Frank Mir pops in to give his large-man perspective.

WEC 41 will also feature Jose Aldo, Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, Jens Pulver, and Manny Gamburyan. The full lineup is after the jump; please toss your insightful predictions into the comments section.

(Sandals at the ballpark? Oh, you California kids.)

Behold, Urijah Faber throws out the first pitch at a minor league baseball game last Friday.  We’re just busting his balls with the headline.  His throwing motion is acceptable for a fighter, though the intense look of concentration on his face reminds me of a six year-old playing Nintendo, suggesting that Faber really did not want to screw this whole first pitch thing up and look stupid in front of literally dozens of people at the Stockton Ports game. 

WEC Champ Mike Brown Does Business Casual – Watch more Funny Videos

Last week yours truly was in Florida at American Top Team while on an assignment for Fight! Magazine, and I learned a number of interesting things about what goes on inside the walls of one of America’s best fight gyms.  For instance, here’s WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown getting suited up for another day of training and explaining why he wears business socks to work out in.  You can’t argue with his results, though that might be due more to his training partners than his attire.  The day before this interview was filmed I saw him in a heated sparring match with “JZ” Cavalcante that left both men bloodied before the action spilled out of the ring.  Needless to say, they train hard down at ATT.  Keep an eye out for more videos coming later this week.

(The first taste is free, but the second dose is going to cost you.)

Taking full advantage of his position at Versus.com, Ariel Helwani just posted an interview with WEC Vice President Peter Dropick where they discuss the future of the organization and rumors of a move to pay-per-view.  Dropick was all too eager to confirm those rumors, telling Helwani that the first WEC pay-per-view will be headlined by the much-anticipated rematch between Urijah Faber and WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown, and it could happen as soon as this June.

If you’re worried about how you’re going to afford all the MMA this summer, you’ll be glad to hear that Dropick also promised the price of a WEC pay-per-view would be less than a UFC event, though he didn’t specify by how much.  As for what else might appear on that card, he wouldn’t rule out an appearance by Miguel Torres, saying he wants the pay-per-view to be “stacked.”

Obviously, the WEC is considering Sacramento, where they’ve done extremely well in the past, as a potential venue for this event, but Dropick said there were “three or four different cities” they were considering as well.  He also commented on the status of the lighter weight classes in the WEC, and the potential for Gina Carano to head up a women’s division at some point in the near future.  The whole interview is worth a read, so give it a look.

(I know, Joe.  I have the same reaction when I get too close to the Cage Potato logo.)

It’s hard to be the Cage Potato sometimes.  Partying with MMA royalty like Forrest Griffin and Urijah Faber.  Drinking for free at an open bar while chicks in bikinis gyrate beneath a giant flashing sign that says “SEXY.”  Giving out free Hall of Fame t-shirts to the pleading masses.  Oh, wait a minute.  That isn’t hard.  That was just my Friday night.

If you can’t tell from the above paragraph, last night’s Fight Magazine/Cage Potato VIP Party was a complete success.  I arrived with an all-star blogging crew that featured Fightlinker’s Ryan Harkness and MMA Frenzy’s Kris Karkoski precisely at 8:30 pm.  It might seem a little lame of us to show up exactly when the party was scheduled to start, but in our defense: a) that’s when the open bar started, and b) Joe Stevenson had already been there for ten minutes by then.  That’s right, “Daddy” knows how to party.

(Mike Brown prays to Krom for victory.  But if Krom does not help, then to hell with him, Brown will do it himself.)

You may have forgotten all about WEC 39 on Sunday night, such is your excitement for our party with Fight! Magazine in Columbus, Ohio, but we remembered because someone has to keep things in order around here.  In case you’re not content just watching a night of free fights on Versus, we’ll also help you throw away your money betting on them.  Because that’s how little we care about your welfare and happiness.

Here are the sweetest lines out there, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com:

Mike Brown (-165) vs. Leonard Garcia (+160)
Marcus Hicks (+134) vs. Rob McCullough (-144)
John Franchi (-118) vs. Mike Budnik (+108)
Johny Hendricks (-312) vs. Alex Serdyukov (+300)
Chris Mickle (+700) vs. Jose Aldo (-850)
Damacio Page (-140) vs. Marcus Galvao (+130)
Alex Karalexis (-175) vs. Greg McIntyre (+165)
Phil Cardella (+151) vs. Danny Castillo (-160)
Rafael Rebello (even) vs. Kenji Osawa (-110)
Justin Haskins (+180) vs. Mike Pierce (-193)
Bart Palaszewski (-272) vs. Ricardo Lamas (+260)

Thoughts…

(Quit it, Fredson — Mario is in no mood.)

Contradicting an earlier report that said top WEC featherweights Wagnney Fabiano and Urijah Faber would be fighting each other at WEC 40 on April 5th, it now appears that Fabiano will instead be facing Fredson Paixao, and Faber won’t be on the Chicago card at all. A four-time Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion and instructor at Gracie Barra Las Vegas, Paixao holds an MMA record of 8-2 — with wins over Rani Yahya, Masakazu Imanari, and Thomas Denny — but has only competed once in the last two years. He was supposed to make his WEC debut against Jose Aldo last month at WEC 38, but was pulled off the card for undisclosed reasons. Anyway, it’s no Faber/Fabiano, but Fabiano/Paixao could turn into an epic ground battle.

Faber may not see action again until this summer; it’s possible that his next fight will be against the winner of Mike Brown vs. Leonard Garcia at WEC 39 (March 1st; Corpus Christi, Texas).

(Fabiano complicates Tamura’s life at WEC 37. Photo courtesy of WEC.tv.)

According to a new article on Tatame.com, highly-regarded WEC featherweight/former IFL champ Wagnney Fabiano may be taking on Urijah Faber in his next fight. Said Fabiano:

Fabiano most recently choked out Akitoshi Tamura in the closing seconds of their fight at WEC 37 in December, while Faber bounced back to the W column last month with his quick submission of Jens Pulver. Faber and Fabiano currently sit at #2 and #3 on CagePotato’s Featherweight Power Rankings, and the winner would very likely earn a shot at the winner of WEC 39′s Brown vs. Garcia title scrap next month.

In other important WEC featherweight news, exciting up-and-comer Jose Aldo — who has scored three straight TKO victories while in the WEC, including a first-round ownage of Rolando Perez at WEC 38 — will return to the cage after just a five-week layoff, taking on Chris Mickle at WEC 39. Mickle is a former lightweight who has compiled a 26-11-1 record (with an impressive 22 wins by submission) while fighting in various midwestern promotions including Extreme Challenge and Midwest Cage Championships. You can expect the winner of this one to immediately enter the WEC’s 145-pound title hunt.

(Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly; gif courtesy of the UG.)

Former WEC featherweight champ Urijah Faber was able to score a victory over Jens Pulver for the second time last night at WEC 38 — and in 23 minutes and 26 seconds less than it took in their first meeting last June. Their co-headlining bout started fast and physical, with Pulver tossing Faber to the ground after a high kick attempt. But it wasn’t long before Faber drilled a vicious left hook to Lil’ Evil’s ribs, doubling over the former UFC champ and backing him up. Faber seized the opportunity and fired off punches until Pulver hit the ground, then followed Pulver to the mat and set up a fight-ending choke. The win earned the California Kid a $7,500 Submission of the Night bonus.

Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone also got some extra cash for the evening’s Fight of the Night, in which Varner defended his lightweight title and gave Cowboy the first loss of his career. Though Cerrone was the aggressor for most of the fight, and won many of the striking exchanges — thanks in large part to the long reach of his left high kick — Varner was able to take the challenger down at will, and inflicted major damage with his ground-and-pound. In the middle of round three, a punch from Varner opened a cut near Cerrone’s left eye that clearly inhibited his vision; his right eye was already swelling shut from previous abuse.

In the fifth round, Cerrone scored a successful takedown of his own, but made the mistake of bouncing a knee strike off Varner’s head while the champ was still kneeling. The action was immediately halted, and was never restarted, as a seemingly agonized Varner told doctors that he couldn’t see, and shouted "fuck!" more times than I’ve ever heard on basic cable. The fight went to the scorecards, where two judges saw it for Varner, and one judge (possibly blind himself) called it for Cerrone. The crowd booed Varner; distraught about how the fight ended, he told the fans "fuckin’ boo me, I’m better than that," and promised Cerrone a rematch as soon as he was cleared by the athletic commission.

(Varner on Cerrone: "If he goes toe to toe with me, he’s a dead man.")

Though it’s being swallowed in the collective hype of UFC 93, UFC 94, and Affliction: Day of Reckoning, the WEC is holding their next event this coming Sunday (1/25) at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, CA. For once, Urijah Faber‘s fight won’t be the most interesting one on the card. Sure, his three-round rematch with Jens Pulver will be a must-see for California Kid/Lil’ Evil fans, but the real heat is behind the lightweight championship main event, in which defending champ Jamie Varner looks to make his second belt-defense against Donald Cerrone, the undefeated Greg Jackson-product who was one-half of WEC 36′s best fight. You can watch the action live on Versus beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT; the full lineup is below…

MAIN CARD
Jamie Varner vs. Donald Cerrone (for lightweight championship)
Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver (FW)
Danillo Villefort vs. Mike Campbell (WW)
Jose Aldo vs. Rolando Perez (FW)

UNDERCARD
Benson Henderson vs. Anthony Njokuani (LW)
Edgar Garcia vs. Hiromitsu Miura (WW)
Dominick Cruz vs. Ian McCall (FW)
Scott Jorgenson vs. Frank Gomez (BW)
Blas Avena vs. Jesse Lennox (WW)
Charlie Valencia vs. Seth Dikun (BW)

Related: WEC 39 goes down March 1st in Corpus Christi, Texas, featuring the featherweight championship bout between Mike Brown and Leonard Garcia, and a welterweight title scrap between Carlos Condit and Brock Larson.

#5: Affliction: Banned, 7/19/08

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog)

Sure, the pacing was a little shaky, and the picture quality for the pay-per-view broadcast was kind of dark, and apparently some of you don’t think that Megadeth’s Rust in Peace is one of the most kickass records ever released. But you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Affliction’s debut MMA show gave us a supernova of heavyweight star power, featuring Fedor Emelianenko’s 36-second destruction of Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski’s beatdown of Ben Rothwell, and Josh Barnett’s redemptive KO of Pedro Rizzo; elsewhere on the card, we got to see Matt Lindland, Babalu Sobral, Vitor Belfort and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in action. The organization has since turned into a bit of a shit-show, but with Banned, they gave us nearly everything we could have hoped for.

#4: UFC 87: Seek and Destroy, 8/9/08

(Photo courtesy of ESPN)

The UFC’s visit to Minneapolis proved the following…
— Brock Lesnar is an absolute beast. His takedowns can’t be stopped, and his punches tend to break facial bones. He will mock you after he beats you.
— Kenny Florian is a fantastic fighter, and worthy of a title shot; Roger Huerta maybe had a little more hype than substance.
— Demian Maia is one of the most talented submission specialists in MMA, in any organization, in any weight class. His choke-out of Jason MacDonald gave him his third-consecutive Submission of the Night bonus.
— Ben Saunders might actually be a contender one day.
— Jon Jones is athletic and explosive. I’m sorry, but the clichés are true sometimes.
— Jon Fitch is one tough son-of-a-bitch.
— If you’re fighting Georges St. Pierre, tough ain’t enough.

5. Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le (3/29/08)

Someone had to shut Frank Shamrock up.  Thank God for Cung Le.  Shamrock stayed true to his promise to stand and trade with the San Shou sensation, though maybe it would have been a better idea if he didn’t.  He got kicked in ways he never imagined until a broken arm forced him to give in after three rounds of action, just when it was starting to get really good.  Watching these highlights just makes you mad at Cung Le for running off to be a movie star instead of sticking around in MMA for a while.  It also makes you wonder what would happen to Frank’s new braces if he got kicked in the face like that now.  Perhaps we’ll never know.

4. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin (7/5/08)

They don’t get much closer than this light heavyweight championship fight at UFC 86.  Simply mentioning who you think won the bout (cough*Griffin*cough) is enough to start a message board argument that will produce countless personal attacks and ultimately accomplish nothing, but that just proves what a close battle it was.  Five rounds of back-and-forth action led to a unanimous, though oddly scored decision victory for Griffin, and a few sleepless nights for Jackson.  “Rampage” says he’d like to run it back in ’09.  We’d rather see him fight Evans for the title, but we also wouldn’t complain about seeing a repeat of this scrap.

(What the hell, let’s do it again.)

Urijah Faber may have to wait a while for Mike Brown to heal up before he can get a crack at reclaiming his featherweight title, but in the meantime he can keep himself sharp with another go at former UFC lightweight champ Jens Pulver.  MMA Weekly says the two will meet again at WEC 38 in San Diego on January 25, though it’s not yet officially signed.  

You might recall that both men fought on the last WEC card, and both lost via TKO.  The difference is that Faber’s loss was a major shock, and most people were generous enough to attribute it to him simply “getting caught” as we say in the business when we want to be nice.  Pulver, on the other hand, got beat down by Leonard Garcia in a fight that seemed to signal that he might be approaching the twilight of his fine career.

It’s not surprising that the WEC would want to run Faber-Pulver II, given the success of the first fight, but there’s also not much reason to think this one will turn out any differently.  Pulver hung in there for five rounds and took a unanimous decision loss in what turned out to be one hell of a fight the first time.  Now Faber has a little more to prove, and Pulver looks even further from his prime.  If he drops his third straight in the 145-pound division, you have to wonder what’s left.

At least the WEC can probably squeeze one more sell-out from this matchup, and hopefully we’ll be treated to another solid fight.

I can’t help but wonder whose idea it was to have new WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown on Inside MMA and then ask the panel — which consisted of Brown, Dave "Pee Wee" Herman, and oddsmaker Nick Kalikas — who the best fighter in the WEC is.  You know Brown’s going to say it’s him, and you also know the other two guys are going to want to say it’s Urijah Faber, thus implying that Brown got lucky when he beat Faber for the belt at WEC 36.  And you know that when this happens it will create a palpably uncomfortable situation for everyone.  And yet they do it anyway.

Say what you will, I have no choice but to admire that move.  It’s kind of a mini ethics test, because we’d know if one of them said Brown it would only be because he was sitting a few feet away and not because they really believed it.  But honesty ruled the day, and as usually happens in real life, awkwardness followed with it. 

(This is quickly turning into the “Weekly Bust Urijah Faber’s Balls Contest.” Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle, obvi.)

Between Brock Lesnar’s heavyweight championship win and Jon Fitch’s temporary firing, we probably had more comments posted on CagePotato this week than any other week in our history. I can’t know that for sure because I’m not going to sit here and count them. But you guys are really starting to chime in with your adorable little opinions, and we definitely appreciate it, so keep ‘em coming. Now the question is, who will be getting CP Hall of Fame t-shirts for going above and beyond? Answer:

Patrick on “WWE Gets Its Gloat On”: A little later on in that very same article, WWE.com writers were quoted as saying “also, most UFC fighters wear baggier fitting shorts and are not allowed to slather their hard, toned bodies with vasoline or baby oil, which makes UFC events far more difficult to masturbate to.”

TB on “Lil Fabie’s First Trip to the Strip Club”: Two and a half men

To be honest, that Urijah Faber post produced so much gold it was hard to choose just one standout. (Pat yourselves on the back OB&I, abenormal, and SB.) As for Patrick and TB, please send your address and size to feedback@cagepotato.com and we’ll get those shirts right out to you.

(Photos courtesy of CombatLifestyle. For more from this ridiculous set, click here.)

(This is a totally undoctored photo, we swear.)

Picking up the free t-shirts this week are…

Gunny on “Urijah Faber Not Getting Taken Advantage Of?”: If I’m not mistaken, he is half ballchinian on his mother’s side.

MarMAr on “Efrain Escudero’s TUF 8 Blog: Episode 9″: Anyone notice how bad the editing can be sometimes? Sometimes they have haircuts, sometimes Vinny’s hair is blonde, other times Tom is on top of Kaplan, and then Kaplan is on top of Tom.

Steve W. on “MMA Agents Unite to Block Pro Elite Contract Auction”: Conspicuous by his absence is the one and only “Icy” Mike.

Gunny, Mar, and Steve, please e-mail feedback@cagepotato.com with your addresses and sizes, and we’ll get those “Hall of Fame” t-shirts out to you ASAP. As for the rest of you, there will be plenty of opportunity to creatively toss in your two cents during our liveblog of UFC 91 on Saturday. Don’t miss it!

(Taking a breather, messing with a footlock. No biggie.)

It’s that time again. Volume two in our “Ask the Potato” series. So, for those of you who asked whether this was an ongoing series, consider your question answered. Try to come up with something a little more thought-provoking next time. Go here if you’ve got a question that just can’t wait.

When are we going to find out about Paulo Filho‘s toxicology report, and how soon do you see the California Kid getting his rematch? Is he going to have to climb the ladder, or would the rematch be immediate? — Faderade

I once drove a forklift on the loading docks of a small, non-union trucking company. Many idiots worked there. One day one of these idiots inexplicably drove his forklift directly into a stack of riding lawnmowers, causing several thousand dollars worth of damage. They drug-tested that guy the same day. He did not pass. For some odd reason, Filho’s performance at WEC 36 reminded me of that guy.

When I picture the urine sample Filho submitted to the Florida Commission, I imagine it smoking and bubbling like the secret potion in a monster movie. Just handling the sample could probably cause a woman to miscarry, even if she wasn’t pregnant.

But that’s just speculation on my part. Maybe Filho wasn’t on drugs. Maybe he was off them, and that’s the explanation. You can usually expect to find out if someone tested positive within a month of the event. We’re waiting. Anxiously. As for Urijah Faber, he’ll get that rematch just as soon as Brown is healthy. He’s earned it, and it’s the only fight for the WEC at 145 that’s a guaranteed draw at this point.

What does it mean if Brock Lesnar wins? — Maxwell

(‘Fuck you, pay me.’)

When we looked at the payouts for WEC 36 and saw $14,000 next to Urijah Faber‘s name, we had little choice but to assume that Zuffa was screwing him like a one-legged Panamanian hooker: cheaply and with shocking disregard for his delicate feelings.

But Faber’s manager, Mike Roberts, says that figure was “not even close” to a full accounting of what Faber was paid to face Mike Brown:

“That was an accurate statement of the check he received that night. Some contractual issues came up after the September fight was postponed and that $14,000 was the remaining balance of what was owed to him. That is not what he made.”

[...]

“Keep in mind Urijah’s still fighting off an old contract, but Urijah’s been well taken care of for the last couple fights.”

Urijah Faber wasn’t kidding when he said he was a happy person who loved life. Even as he admits that he doesn’t really remember what happened in his loss to Mike Brown on account of all the punches to his head, he still seems to be in a pretty pleasant mood in the post-fight press conference, captured here by ESPN.

Chael Sonnen, however, describes his fight with Paulo Filho as “like being in a dance with a partner who doesn’t know how to dance.” He also says he hasn’t received Filho’s belt, as promised, and he’s absolutely not above accepting it should they offer it, despite the weird circumstances.

After the jump, a couple special treats.

(Urijah Faber vs. Mike Brown; props to MMA Scraps.)

Last night’s WEC show drew 5,227 fans for a live gate of $563,578, according to MMA Weekly. $7,500 bonuses were awarded to the following fighters:

Fight of the Night: Donald Cerrone and Rob McCullough for their three-round undercard war that some are calling a fight-of-the-year candidate; too bad we had to see the Filho/Sonnen debacle instead. Cerrone took home the unanimous decision win.

Knockout of the Night: Mike Brown for his beating of Urijah Faber. Which was nice and all, though Aaron Simpson kinda got robbed.

Submission of the Night: Rani Yahya for his first-round guillotine choke of Yoshiro Maeda, also from the undercard.

TKO of the Night?: Leonard Garcia reportedly got an extra $7,500 for steamrolling Jens Pulver.

Full results can be found here. More videos after the jump…

(“Boys, please, can’t you settle your differences with words?” Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

The California Kid invades Hollywood (Florida), Chael “RE/MAX” Sonnen aims to do a bit of closing on Paulo Filho’s middleweight title reign, and Leonard Garcia will be smuggling nothing but his fists and feet across the border that is Jens Pulver’s face. I’m coked-out Mauro Ranallo and I’ll be your liveblogger tonight — the specials are honor, glory, pumpkin crème brûlée, and maybe some championship gold?

Just kidding, it’s only me, BG. Hit that “More” link and refresh the page every few minutes to get all the latest from tonight’s live event on Versus. Should be a monster.

Watching this NBC Sports video preview of tonight’s Jens Pulver-Leonard Garcia bout, I am officially psyched. You have to love Pulver’s ‘I’m getting too old for this shit’ attitude when it comes to fighting these young whipper-snappers, just as you also have to love that he arrives at the event looking like he stopped to fight in several bar parking lots on the way. I’ve never seen a guy so content in the role of gatekeeper or so compelling in it.

With Urijah Faber facing another tough, though probably doomed opponent, and with Paulo Filho showing up too fat to put his title on the line, Pulver-Garcia is looking like it could easily turn out to be the fight of the night. In fact, I’m so confident this bout will deliver, if it turns out to be anything other than a thriller I’ll eat my hat.*

* my hat is a meatball sub.

(September 10? Middleweight championship? Oh, the best laid plans.)

Despite Paulo Filho’s inability to even pretend like he was trying to make weight yesterday, the bout with Chael Sonnen is still on and Filho (hereafter referred to as ‘Fatty Filho’) is still the favorite with oddsmakers. Fatty Filho might want to think about trying to profit with a little side action, because he had to give up 25% of his purse to Sonnen as a penalty for loving food too much. His corner also said, according to Matt Lindland, that despite the bout’s non-title status they would physically give Sonnen the belt if he wins tonight.

Said the gruff-but-lovable Lindland: “When Chael whoops his ass, I expect them to live up to their word.” See what kind of straight-talking awesomeness you’re going to be missing out on, Oregon voters?

The betting odds for tonight’s WEC event come from our friends at BestFightOdds.com. As always, you should read this if you’re too “special” to understand what these numbers mean.

Chael Sonnen (+155) vs. Paulo Filho (-130)
Mike Brown (+400) vs. Urijah Faber (-416)
Rob McCullough (+136) vs. Donald Cerrone (-145)
Leonard Garcia (+170) vs. Jens Pulver (-170)
Jonathan Brookins (+350) vs. Jose Aldo (-430)
Rani Yahya (-104) vs. Yoshiro Maeda (-106)
Nissen Osterneck (+260) vs. Jake Rosholt (-256)
David Avellan (+135) vs. Aaron Simpson (-165)
Steve Steinbeiss (+265) vs. Carmelo Marrero (-320)
Danny Castillo (+170) vs. Rafael Dias (-210)

Thoughts…