(Why am I excited about this upcoming season? I can’t quite explain it…)

According to a new report, the first international edition of The Ultimate Fighter is close to being finalized in the Philippines. Officials from ABS-CBN — parent company of Balls, the TV sports network that airs UFC programming in the Philippines — informed BloodyElbow that they expect to launch a local edition of the series in 2012. This shouldn’t really come as a shock, considering that rumors of ‘TUF Philippines’ have been circulating since February, and the UFC had just planned a publicity tour of the island nation for current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones following UFC 135.

It looks like former UFC light heavyweight champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua will be getting his wish. Multiple reports confirm that current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson and “Shogun” have verbally agreed to face one another, likely as the main event of UFC 139.

The originally penned headliner for this event, a heavyweight title match between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos, was moved to the UFC’s debut on Fox, which takes place Nov 12th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. I think it’s safe to say that this will be a fair replacement; Rua’s last 5 wins have come by knockout, whereas “Hendo’s” last 4 wins have ended in similarly decisive fashion, the most recent being a first round knock out of former Pride heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko.

An “expect a knockout, bro” joke may be cliche, but would you rather us put “Business as usual, You Guys” in the headline?

Sometimes, it’s hard to remember that we’re supposed to be pretending that Strikeforce isn’t a dead company, and is by no means being absorbed by the UFC. Cincinnati is practically dead, despite the fact that the Strikeforce Grand Prix resumes there tonight. Strikeforce fighters are beginning to speak out about the lack of promotion that the UFC gives Strikeforce events. Strikeforce’s own champions have their next fights booked with the UFC. So today’s rumored fight isn’t so much of a surprise in the sense that another top Strikeforce fighter has reportedly been absorbed into the UFC, but rather, in the sense that we’re still going along with this “Strikeforce will continue to operate as a separate organization” thing.

In a statement released via his personal website, Vitor Belfort announced that he will be fighting Cung Le at UFC 139 in San Jose. The UFC has yet to confirm the signing of Cung Le, yet alone the announcement of this fight. Still, it appears that Vitor Belfort is already training for Le as his next opponent, as he has brought in Ray Sefo to help him train. Vitor tells fans to “Prepare to see the same dedication he takes to creating his fists the fastest in MMA to his powerful trunks.” I’m not quite sure what that means, but it sounds awesome.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/GroundandPoundTV1)

Wanderlei Silva was in Germany recently where he conducted a seminar in Frankfurt and was interviewed by GroundandPoundTV. The former PRIDE star says that in spite of a growing opinion that he should probably walk away from the sport following his most recent knockout loss to Chris Leben at UFC 132 in July, he ain’t goin’ out like that as he owes it to his fans to retire out with his head held hight, not held by the referee as he comes to.

“I rushed. I [was] so excited  to be back to fighting and in the co-main event that I did something wrong at the start of the fight. But it happens. I need to come back to training. I hear a lot of guys talking, ‘I gonna retire…gonna retire.’ I can’t retire. Not after that fight. Maybe if I won I could retire, but I can’t retire now. I’m gonna go back to fight for sure and I hope I give a good show for my fans. I’m gonna talk to [Dana White], but he’s so busy right now. We’re gonna talk soon, but for sure, it’s not the last [fight]. After my career, I can’t have one last fight in my career like that. I want to make one fight. I want to announce when I’m gonna retire and I wanna make one big party for my fans. I have a lot of fans that have been been following me for more than ten years. I look at them and they’re like men who some are 25 years old and they say, ‘Man, I’ve saw you since I was a little kid.’ It’s for that kind of guy that I fight.”

(LOL, walk much?)

This Saturday, MMA’s greatest knockout artist returns against Yushin Okami in a rematch at UFC 134 — and I stress the word “artist.” Anderson Silva inflicts punishment on his opponents in ways that transcend combat sports, opening our eyes to the enormity of human possibility and the deeper meanings of the universe. In honor of his next fight, we decided to rank our ten favorite Anderson Silva knockouts of all time. Enjoy, and let us know your personal favorite in the comments section…

#10: Anderson Silva vs. Jorge Rivera
Cage Rage 11, 4/30/05

Silva’s first Cage Rage middleweight title defense — after outpointing Lee Murray for the belt the previous year — ended in a storm of knees. This would become a common theme in his subsequent UFC career.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

Since he’s on his way to Wisconsin for the lead-up media appearances for Sunday night’s UFC Live on Versus 5: Hardy vs. Lytle event, Dana White’s first video blog for the show is more of a recap of UFC 133, which is just as well.

It’s interesting to see Dana’s non reaction to Vitor Belfort’s win over Yoshihiro Akiyama. He can clearly be heard telling Lorenzo Fertitta that the finishing blows by “The Phenom” were to the back of “Sexyama’s” head. Neither UFC executive showed little emotion when Belfort came over to their side of the Octagon to let them know he’s back and White later said in an interview that the former UFC light heavyweight champion would have to chew on his loss to Anderson Silva for a while before he gets another title shot.

(“Expect punches to the back of the head, every fight bro.”)

Tatame caught up with Vitor Belfort following his impressive victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama Saturday night at UFC 133 and the former UFC light heavyweight champion said he isn’t letting Dana White’s statement that he needs to “chew on” his loss to Anderson Silva for a while deter him from keeping his eye on the middleweight belt.

He says that his number one goal is to get another shot at Silva, or whomever holds the belt at the time, so he can make up for his poor showing the last time he fought for the belt at UFC 126 in February.

“That’s my wish. I don’t know what they’ll decide. I don’t know what the fans want to see and since UFC guys will evaluate the situation, saying who deserves a title shot or not… I want to fight for the belt and I’ll run through everybody who stands in my way.That’s my goal.”

Proof that ReX loves you and wants you to be happy. Props to ReX13.

Actions have consequences. If you’re going to make a screen name bet, you may have to be #1CaseyAnthonyFan for the next few weeks. If you’re going to wear manties in the Octagon, you may really gross out your boss. Perhaps to the point where he’ll invent a new bonus to give the guy who knocks you out. Due to Dennis Hallman’s wardrobe, Brian Ebersole became the first- and probably last- fighter to pocket seventy grand for winning the “Thank You for Getting those Trunks off TV as Soon as Possible” bonus.

The other End of the Night bonuses were a bit more traditional. For living up to the expectations we’ve always had of him by quickly knocking out Yoshihiro Akiyama, “War Belford” took home the Knockout of the Night bonus. Vitor Belfort more than likely knocked Akiyama out of the UFC as well, unless Akiyama is willing to drop to welterweight.

The quickest way to a man’s heart is to drive your knee through his sternum. (Pic: UFC.com)

Admit it: for a moment last night, you believed. After surviving a first round that saw him battered against the cage and dumped to the canvas “Country Breakfast” style, it looked like “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” “The People’s Champion”, for the second time in five weeks, would pull off the improbable upset via guillotine. But aside from those few electrifying seconds, Tito Ortiz was never in that bout. Rashad’s hands, Rashad’s speed, Rashad’s everything seemed too much for Tito.

Evans showed no signs of ring rust as he went for the kill throughout the fight. Following this decisive victory he now finds himself in the exact same position he’s been in for well over a year: staring at a potential title fight in the manner a mule eyes a carrot dangling just out of reach. From what I saw last night, he’s as ready as one can be to challenge Jon Jones should he get past Rampage next month. Rashad has a history of excessively-delayed bouts with both men. Let’s pray that the winner of that bout emerges healthy and ready to defend his belt sooner rather than later.

Well, UFC 133 is live from the home of Rocky Balboa tonight so let’s get this thing going and see how Philly does this shit.

Spoilers are after the jump.

(Fedor Emelianenko, immediately after his loss to Dan Henderson on Saturday night. Photo via Darren Shuster, PR Representative for Dragon Door/RKC)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- Dan Henderson Gets Caught on National Television Spanking Dat Ass at a Cardinals Game (MMA Mania)

- Herb Dean Defends Controversial Stoppage in Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson Fight (5thRound)

- After Release from Prison, War Machine Looking for Fresh Start (MMA Fighting)

- Leonard Garcia out of UFC Live 5 With Injury; Jim Hettes to Replace Against Alex Caceres (Five Ounces of Pain)

- UFC’s Rich Franklin Discusses Career, Life and Fans Asking for His Underwear (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Photo Gallery: Vitor Belfort Prepares for UFC 133 Bout With Yoshihiro Akiyama (LowKick)

- Video: 20 of the Most ‘WTF?’ Moments in UFC History (MiddleEasy)

- A Conquistador Story: Looking Back on Jorge Rivera vs. Travis Lutter (MMA Convert)

- Dan Henderson’s Win Over Fedor Builds Momentum for TRT Usage/Acceptance (FightOpinion)

- Ben Askren on Season Five of Bellator, Nate Marquardt and Fight With Hector Lombard (TheFightNerd)

- Following Burger King Deal, Anderson Silva Inks Sponsorships With Nike and Brazilian Soccer Club (MMAPayout)

- What’s Next for ‘Fedor vs. Henderson’ Winners and Losers? (NBC Sports MMA)

(Props: JoeHandPromotions via MMAConvert)

From last night’s Spike TV broadcast previewing UFC 133 on August 6th. Listening to Tito Ortiz retell the story of his redemptive victory over Ryan Bader, it’s hard not to view Ortiz as a sympathetic figure — the “good guy” in his matchup against Rashad Evans — especially since MMA fans still resent Evans for killing Chuck Liddell. Parts 2-4 of “Countdown to UFC 133″ are after the jump, running down the Vitor Belfort vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama co-main event, as well as the welterweight feature between Rory MacDonald and Mike Pyle. Check it out while it lasts…

Just a friendly reminder that Spike TV will be running the Countdown to UFC 133 show tonight at 11:00 pm ET. If you don’t have Spike and are in Canada, you can check it out tomorrow night at 8:00 pm ET on Sportsnet or you can have a look back here and I’m sure we’ll have other resources available for you to check out the show.

The card has undergone a lot of changes, which also force the UFC to reshoot portions of the preview episode, so hopefully it isn’t noticeable. The first time we catch them overdubbing the audio of Rashad talking about Phil Davis with a clip of him saying “Tito Ortiz,” we’re tuning out.

Check out a clip of Vitor Belfort doing some filming on the set of the show ahead of his fight with Yoshihiro Akiyama Saturday night after the jump.

Following losses to Chris Leben and Michael Bisping, Yoshihiro Akiyama‘s back is squarely against the wall coming into his co-headlining bout at UFC 133. Unfortunately, his opponent will be Vitor Belfort, who can end a fight at any time with his notoriously lethal hands. But don’t sleep on Sexy. Akiyama predicts a knockout victory on August 6th, saying that he’s just as dangerous as Belfort in a stand-and-bang situation. “Every time I fight, I fight like my life’s at stake,” he says. And yeah, against the Phenom it very well might be. But we’ll have to find out Akiyama’s stance on Internet porn before we can make an official prediction.

(By the way, is it really necessary to start this clip with that stereotypical Asian flute playing in the background? Come on, son. Akiyama is of Korean descent, so you know the only music playing at his crib is Bubble Pop on a continuous loop.)

After the jump: A look at Vitor Belfort’s dramatic early rise in the UFC as well as his return (which conveniently doesn’t include that part where he got Seagal’d by Anderson Silva).

(Video courtesy of YouTube/PinteoMMA)

Vitor Belfort was interviewed recently by PinteoMMA and he soon took the reigns from the reporter to give a speech on the evils of the Internet, specifically Internet porn.

The interviewer seems to be getting a bit uncomfortable as the former UFC light heavyweight champ goes on and on about the topic.

Check out what Vitor had to say about you nasty perverts after the jump.

Barring something completely crazy and unexpected, the fight card for UFC 133 on August 6 in Philadelphia is set in place. Yesterday, the UFC officially announced the addition of a middleweight clash between Rafael Natal and Constantinos Philippou to the prelims. Rafael Natal is coming off of a majority draw against Jesse Bongfeldt at UFC 124, while Constantinos Philippou lost his UFC debut against Nick Catone at UFC 128.

Even though both middleweights are still searching for their first UFC victories, this bout is likely to appeal to the local fans. Both fighters are veterans of Atlantic City’s Ring of Combat, amassing a combined record of 10-2, with one no contest within the promotion.

UFC 133 will be headlined by a light heavyweight fight between Phil Davis and Rashad Evans. Also set for this card is throwback between Rich Franklin and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the return of Vitor Belfort against Yoshihiro Akiyama and another attempt at the ill-fated Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara scrap. Not to mention the other seven fights listed after the jump.

By CagePotato contributor Jason Moles

During the illustrious eighteen-year history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, we’ve witnessed countless brutal beatings, killer knockouts, and spectacular submissions. Simply put, we’ve witnessed a ton of holy $&*% moments!

I’m sure you have your favorites that you’ll share with your grandkids when you’re sitting in the old man’s chair. But have you ever stopped and asked yourself which moments in the past two decades were the biggest on a large scale? Well I did and I went to the largest scale imaginable: the almighty Google and here’s what I found. Remember, Google doesn’t have emotional or monetary interest at stake here. These moments are the ones that have generated the most web traffic via searches, not which ones impacted the sport the most.

5.) St. Pierre Beats Shields at UFC 129 – 04/30/2011

Why it’s ranked: Jake Shields left Strikeforce as champion so essentially casual fans and mainstream media alike viewed this as the first major inter-promotional, champion vs. champion fight. Georges St. Pierre, reigning UFC Welterweight champion and winner of nine straight came out on top of Shields who was riding a fifteen-fight win streak over the past five years.

The UFC went all in on this one hyping this event with the normal Countdown shows in addition to a pretty sweet commercial, the Primetime series, and a flyer in my mailbox reminding me to order the PPV. It was a huge moment in both men’s career primarily because it was the first tough competition either had faced in quite some time up to that point.  The underlying reason this mattered so much is that we all wanted to see the GSP vs. Silva super fight.

(Bendo: Prepared for takeoff.)

According to some misguided crazy people, the world is going to end tomorrow. Apparently, May 21st, 2011 is the scheduled date of the Rapture, in which Christians will be shuttled off into the air to meet Christ, while the sinners will be left behind, leading to Armageddon or something. (For more information, consult this Kirk Cameron movie). If the rumors are true, we’re all pretty much fucked. Still, there’s a few MMA fighters who will be getting the sweet end of the deal. For instance…

BEN HENDERSON
The lightweight standout is one of the more vocal supporters of his Lord and Savior in the cage, shouting out Philippians 4:13 after every win. He makes his fight entrances to gospel music, and has never touched alcohol. Whatever bad stuff goes down tomorrow, he won’t be around for it. He’ll be in mid-air, doing that pyramid thing with his hands.

CHAEL SONNEN

Stripped of his real estate and fighting licenses, Sonnen was just sentenced to a year of roaming the earth with no income, trying to “promote goodwill” and show that he’s rehabilitated. A swift, violent end would probably be an upgrade at this point.

(So you’re saying you have no idea how you caught hepatitis, Vitor? No idea whatsoever?)

If MMA has a Job figure, Vitor Belfort is it. The man who famously “expect Jesus bro, every day” has suffered everything from personal tragedies, to injuries, to disappointing matchups, to freakish, one-in-a-million knockout losses. An agonizing liver disease is the last thing he needs at this point. But as always, God works in mysterious ways. Belfort broke the news yesterday evening via Twitter:

“I have hepatitis a. This thing hurt so bad I pray that God will take [care] off me . Don’t forget to pray for me…Guys I just want to let u know that this hepatitis A is easy to treat so don’t worry guys in 2 weeks I am back in the gym…Sorry Canada I will not be able to be there but I am sure u guys will have the best time in life…I love Jesus. I know that this will make me more strong then before, please God burn hepatitis and send her to hell”

According to Belfort’s representative Pedro Lima, doctors are unsure how Belfort caught Hepatitis A — which is generally transmitted by ingestion of contaminated food or water or through contact with an infected person — but the Phenom’s upcoming fight with Yoshihiro Akiyama should still proceed as planned.

(The fight that opened the doors for Jabouin. PicProps: Sherdog)

If you haven’t yet watched an Yves Jabouin fight and you aren’t going to UFC 129, we suggest you sign up for a Facebook account to catch the Montreal-based Haitian take on Pablo Garza in the event’s prelims next Saturday.

A training partner of several past and present UFC standouts including David Loiseau, Miguel Torres and Georges St-Pierre, Jabouin has continually impressed his teammates with his highlight-reel finishes, his shocking speed and explosiveness.

We had a chance recently to speak with the 10-year MMA veteran and we discussed a number of topics including his childhood, his long road to the Octagon, and losing out on a title shot to Mark Hominick.

Check out what “Tiger” had to say after the jump.

(Oh put your hands down, Yves, you had nothing to do with that shit.)

Dana White confirmed today that a middleweight meeting between Vitor Belfort and Yoshihiro Akiyama has been set for UFC 133, August 6th in Philadelphia. It’s a bit of tough break for Belfort, who previously agreed to a fight with Wanderlei Silva (which fell through), then pleaded for a spot on the UFC Rio card and didn’t get that either. On the bright side, Belfort has the firepower to knock Akiyama’s dome into the front row, as long as he can avoid eating a surprise front kick. “Sexyama” has dropped his last two fights, and hasn’t scored a victory since his split-decision win over Alan Belcher at UFC 100 in July 2009.

Speaking of UFC 133, welterweight oddball sensation Brian Ebersole will be returning at the Philly event, fresh off his upset decision win over Chris Lytle at UFC 127 in February. Ebersole will face off against veteran Dennis Hallman, who is riding back-to-back wins over Ben Saunders and Karo Parisyan — both of whom were fired from the UFC after those losses. Ebersole and Hallman have a combined 117 MMA fights between the two of them.

In other fight-booking news…

(“Thank you Jesus for letting me punch people asleep. bro.”)

Tatame.com recently caught up with Vitor Belfort to talk to him about what’s coming down the pipe and the UFC middleweight touched on a few interesting topics including the fact that an agreed upon match-up with Wanderlei Silva fell through for unknown reasons and his desire to make it on the UFC Rio card.

According to “The Phenom,” who says he has recovered from his UFC 127 loss to Anderson Silva and is in a “good state of mind,” in spite of UFC president Dana White’s recent assertion that “The Axe Murderer” accepted the bout, he says Silva decided that a fight with Chris Leben would be an easier test for himself.

(We may never get to see if Chael’s armbar defense has improved since last time they met.)

Ever since Chael Sonnen faltered two minutes shy of snatching the UFC middleweight strap from Anderson Silva at UFC 117, fans and pundits alike have been clamoring for a rematch between the pair.

The immediate redo promised by UFC president Dana White was originally delayed due to Silva needing time to recover from a rib injury his camp revealed he went into the August 7 fight with.

Then Sonnen threw another wrench in the UFC’s plans by testing positive for high levels of synthetic testosterone, but after having his suspension halved for pleading ignorance and confusion about the rules and procedures of the California State Athletic Commission, it seemed like the much anticipated bout would finally happen.

By Cage Potato Japanese Correspondent, Stewart Fulton

(“Thunder” is currently in holding pattern awaiting word of his next opponent.)

We visited Yushin Okami at RJW (Real Japan Wrestling, part of the Wajutsu Keishukai network) where he trains several days a week to interview him and watch him take the MMA class with some of the resident professional and amateur fighters.

RJW is located in a very unlikely spot – a residential area of Tokyo on a converted floor of a condominium, rather hard to find for anyone unfamiliar with Tokyo or the Japanese language.

A foam matted area and a marked wrestling-matted area with padded walls is about all there is. No heavy bags; no fancy equipment. Just the smell of old sweat barely masked by disinfectant. The cleaning of the mats is done by all of those who train that day after practice, and this is the norm for all martial arts dojos of any discipline across Japan.

Okami was happy to have the opportunity to speak to the international media. His English is almost non-existent, and he is much less known in his own country than abroad, making it a rare occasion for him to speak publicly to the international audience.

He was very adamant about his position in terms of a title shot against Anderson Silva, confident that he will take the middleweight belt and completely uninterested in the talk of a GSP versus Silva match up. In fact, he expressed his disdain at the notion of anyone switching weight class and getting an automatic title shot.

Check out what the perennial UFC number one middleweight contender had to say after the jump.

(Who says you can’t go home? Pic: SB Nation)

Sometimes it feels like nearly every middleweight fighter not crippled, crazy or comatose has gone on record in the last few months expressing a desire to fight Wanderlei Silva. At the risk of turning this post into a glorified game of MMA telephone, the reconstructed timeline looks something like this … buckle up, because this is going to get complicated …

Chael Sonnen called out Wanderlei a while back – and the two were briefly rumored as “TUF” coaches – before it turned out Sonnen had a little something-something he had to take care of first. That left Chris Leben to call out Wanderlei following his win over Yoshihiro Akiyama, only to fall to Brian Stann and then see Stann steal his idea. A bout between Stann and Silva was even fleetingly confirmed, before it seemed like Wanderlei begged off, saying he didn’t want to play the heel against an American Hero. Silva himself then turned around and called out Vitor Belfort, but Belfort ignored that come-on and said he wanted to fight Michael Bisping. (Bisping being the guy you call out if you haven’t already called out Wanderlei Silva, we guess.) OK, deep breath. You with us so far?

This week Leben reiterated his desire to fight Wanderlei and then Wanderlei supporters allegedly launched a Twitter revolution directed at Dana White, urging him to make the fight between the two sluggers. Guess what, though? White ain’t even trying to hear that, see. He wants Wanderlei to fight Belfort, maybe in a big money fight at UFC Rio later this year. But NOW guess who may not want to fight Vitor? That’s right, Wanderlei. Wait, what? An attempt to make sense of it all after the jump …

(Video courtesy of YouTube/gregorybayne)

- An open letter to ‘Sons of Anarchy’ creator Kurt Sutter (ScreenJunkies)

- Rampage vs. Matt Hamill in the works for UFC 130 (Heavy)

- Belfort says Anderson got Lucky Saturday night (LowKick)

- Report suggests Anderson Silva used Steven Seagal for publicity (MMA Convert)

-Sonnen says fight would have been stopped if Anderson punished him like he did “The Spider” (PaulLazenby)

-Holy Taco’s guide to improving your online dating profile (HolyTaco)

- Vitor Belfort welcomes rematch against Wanderlei Silva (Tatame)

- Golfball launcher (TheRugged)

- SFHWGP R1 weigh-in results (FightersOnly)

- Brooklyn Decker promotes SI swimsuit edition (TuVez)

- “Fear and Loathing” by Michael The Voice Schiavello (TheGarv)

(Two very different ends of the agony/compensation spectrum. Images courtesy of MMAFighting.com)

The UFC shelled out over $1.6 million in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the fighters who competed at UFC 126, and damn, some of these dudes are making bank. Good to see it. The numbers are below, courtesy of MMAJunkie. Keep in mind that these salary totals don’t include additional income from sponsorships, undisclosed "locker room" bonuses, and (potentially, for some headliners) percentages of the pay-per-view revenue, or deductions for taxes, licensing fees, and insurance.

Anderson Silva: $275,000 (includes $75,000 Knockout of the Night bonus; no disclosed win bonus)
def. Vitor Belfort: $275,000

Forrest Griffin: $275,000 (includes $150,000 win bonus)
def. Rich Franklin: $75,000

Jon Jones: $215,000 (includes $70,000 win bonus, $75,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. Ryan Bader: $20,000

("I’ve killed more than 350 people in five different states. I’ve got to warn you though, some of the details are a little bit hazy." PicProps: MMA Mania)

As several astute MMA writers reminded us last week, UFC 126 was initially supposed to be Chael Sonnen’s second chance to not totally blow it against Anderson Silva. Then Sonnen’s life took a dramatic zag when we discovered his piss was pure testosterone and he was forced to turn stoolie to avoid jail time on a federal mortgage fraud beef. His UFC contract duly frozen, we haven’t heard much at all from the now former realtor as he prepares for sentencing. After Silva’s Seagal-inspired win over Vitor Belfort on Saturday night though, old school wrestler-turned-fighter-turned-commentator-turned-actor Paul Lazenby (official MMA record 1-6, according to the Dog) reached out to Sonnen for comment. Turns out, dude didn’t have anything nice to say at all.

"Thank you, Anderson, for revealing yet another weakness for me to exploit in our rematch,” Sonnen said, or emailed as it seems. “Beating that poor punching bag doesn’t impress Uncle Chael, guy. You tipped your hand like a chump poker player at a $5 table in Atlantic City. You may have beaten Vitor, but in the process, you LOST your edge. By beating that husk, you gave me the last page of your playbook. Revel in your time, (because) it ENDS the night you face me. I will mow you down like autumn wheat, AGAIN."

Yeah, at this point, Sonnen’s patter is starting to feel pretty desperate. He’s like a serial killer who just keeps confessing to made-up crimes because the thing that scares him most is that people will lose interest in him. Also, we already know that his opinions are as malleable as a Roman gladiator’s sexuality, but referring to Belfort as “that poor punching bag” and “that husk” constitutes a 180-degree turnabout from what he said about “The Phenom” almost a year ago to the day.

 
(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAHeat)

When Anderson Silva mentioned in his post-UFC 126 fight interview that Steven Seagal taught him the front kick that he knocked Vitor Belfort out with Saturday night most of the MMA community were willing to give the Hard to Kill, Out for Justice Lawman the benefit of the doubt, but when the Marked for Death, Above the Law Glimmer Man told reporters that he invented the textbook front kick, we weren’t the only ones who called bullshit.

Here’s what Seagal had to say to MMA Heat’s Karyn Bryant about Silva’s win:

"I couldn’t have been happier, because right before he walked out I said to him, ‘Stay away from him for the first, you know, two, three minutes, just kind of get him frustrated and fake low and come high and do that kick I’ve been teaching you and kick him in the head or the face. He did exactly what I said and exactly what I wanted to happen and I was very, very proud of him…I was raised in Japan under some of the greatest karate masters and jiu-jitsu masters to live in our time and I learned that kick 40 years ago or 30 years….35…I don’t know — a long, long time ago and I worked for the last 35 years or so to perfect it."

(“No, I am not kidding you.” PicProps: YahooSports)

Well, the last few seconds were outstanding. Most of the rest of the televised portion of UFC 126 was extremely middle-of-the-road, but in the end no hyperbole was needed: Anderson Silva – that magnificent bastard — front kicked Vitor Belfort in the face and knocked him out. No, we’ve never, ever seen anything like it before and probably never, ever will again. It was, in a word, awesome and underscored why (no matter how lackluster the rest of a UFC PPV seems) you absolutely must watch until the bitter end. Just in case something amazing happens. Because sometimes it does. So amazing in fact that all across the country on Saturday night, aging karate masters and mail-order blackbelts jumped out of their seats and shouted, “See? I told you that shit worked!”

As for the rest of us, our abusive relationship with the UFC middleweight champion goes on. Let’s be honest here, through the first three minutes, 20 seconds, it appeared as if Silva and Belfort were conspiring to make Dana White’s nightmare of “the worst staring contest in the history of mankind” come true. Silva came out and circled, and shucked, and even did some stupid dancing just like he did against Demian Maia last April. The initial physical contact of the fight didn’t come until 1:40 into the first, when Belfort nicked Silva with a leg kick. Then, just as the grim reality of his suckiness started to set in all over again – just as we started to think of all the other things we could’ve spent that $50 on – boom, front kick to the face. Game over. And we love him again.