(UFC 148 will settle the centuries old debate once and for all. Which is stronger, the widow’s peak or the Leno chin?) 

Though The Ultimate Fighter 15 is still a couple weeks away from airing, it seems that Urijah Faber has already begun the war of words with opposing coach, bantamweight champ, and long time rival Dominick Cruz. Set to square off for a third time at UFC 148 in June, the trash talking between these two has reached an all time high, with Faber recently setting the bar at a hole ‘notha level during a recent appearance on Inside MMA. Angered over comments that Cruz made regarding his fighting style, Faber was unrelenting in his analysis of the bantamweight champ:

That’s what fighting’s about, right? And that’s how I approach the fight. Let’s finish this fight! And he’s doing ‘point fighting.’ This isn’t a karate tournament. I mean, do you wanna take hits to the head away next? He’s alive right now because there’s rules in MMA and I had to release his neck and let him breathe! You’re welcome, Dominick Cruz, for giving you life and letting you live! Next time, I’m gonna do the same thing. I’m gonna let you live, but it’s gonna be painful. 

Something tells us that we’ll be in for more than “stank bref” jokes this season.

Join us after the jump for more interesting tidbits from around the MMA world.

(Shinya Aoki tries to hide his disgust next to kickboxer/cosplayer Yuichiro Nagashima, who he’ll be facing in a strange mixed-rules bout at Dynamite!! 2010. Though we suppose any match against Nagashima could be described as "strange, mixed-rules.")

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…

- Tito Ortiz vs. Lil’ Nog Will Now Headline UFC Fight Night 24 in Seattle (MMA Convert)

– ‘UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch’ in Sydney Ties Sellout Record (Versus MMA Beat)

– WEC 53: Five Fights To Make (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Clay Guida: Livin’ in an RV Down by the River [VIDEO] (FightMagazine)

– While His Management Negotiates, Fedor Emelianenko’s Legacy Suffers (MMA Fighting)

– Keith Jardine Gets the Help of the US Secret Service to Prosecute Nemesis Fighting (MiddleEasy)

– Five Reasons Why Jake Shields Will Beat Georges St. Pierre (Or Not) (LowKick)

– Roxanne Modafferi Discusses Fight With Hitomi Akano at Sengoku’s New Year’s Event (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Eddie Bravo Breaks Down What Went Wrong in Dustin Hazelett’s Loss to Mark Bocek (MMA Scraps)

– The MMA Year In Review Part 1: Randy Couture, Herschel Waker, James Toney and More (SBNation.com/MMA)

(Props: MMAConvert)

The full video of Eddie Wineland‘s WEC 53 preliminary card fight against Ken Stone is still nowhere to be found — and yet, we now have a gif of Wineland’s Knockout of the Night-winning slam, which means that someone must have seen the fight at some point. Stone had to leave the cage on a stretcher, but was reportedly moving around under his own power later that night. I know, the gif ain’t much. Which is why we’ve included another slam-knockout after the jump — this one of the belly-to-belly suplex variety, from an M-1 Challenge event in August 2009. (Thanks to MiddleEasy for the tip.) 

(VidProps: Versus.com)

We hate to say we told you so (no we don’t) but Brad Pickett’s undercard bout with Ivan Menjivar at WEC 53 turned out to be a pretty good scrap. According to people who were on the scene in Glendale on Thursday night, the unaired prelims for this event were pretty epic. Maybe that’s what induced the live crowd to boo every takedown and cheer every Jesus reference during the televised portion of the card. Or maybe Arizona just sucks, who knows. We’re still waiting for the emergence of video evidence of the slam Eddie Wineland laid on Ken Stone – which briefly caused rumors to circulate through the arena that Stone had a broken neck. (He didn’t. He was fine.) – but for now we’ll have to make do with this pleasing little three-rounder. Spoilers (if you can call them that four days after the event) are after the jump.

(In slo-mo for your convenience. Props: kemist. Full-speed gif is at the end of this post.)

Let’s get this out of the way: The cage-spring head-kick that Anthony "Showtime" Pettis landed on Ben Henderson in their lightweight title fight at last night’s WEC 53 event was 1) The greatest kick in MMA history, 2) Maybe the most impressive knockdown in MMA history, and 3) Further proof that Pettis is one of the most exciting 155′ers in the universe. (He’s also punched his ticket to challenge for the UFC lightweight title against either Frankie Edgar or Gray Maynard, who both look dull as hell by comparison.)

We already knew Pettis was capable of stuff like this, but to have the balls to throw that kick in the fifth round of a title fight? If he planted his foot wrong, the video above might be titled "Ultimate Fail." Instead, he clinched the match on the judges scorecards with absolute authority. Said Pettis after the fight: “Duke Roufus plays with us, and we try these new kicks. He told us if one of us lands it in the cage that he would take us to dinner. So he owes me some dinner.”

The main event earned both men $10,000 Fight of the Night bonuses. As action-packed as the "Henderson vs. Pettis" broadcast was, the unaired prelims were equally hardcore, producing five first-round stoppages in seven bouts…

(Quick prediction: Dominick Cruz will win his fight via DQ [eye-pokes/mohawk]. Photos courtesy of the WEC 53 Weigh In Pics gallery on CombatLifestyle.com)

Well folks, the next time you see these guys, they’ll be wearing UFC gloves, slugging it out in a slightly-larger cage and picking up every Fight of the Night bonus they can get their slightly-smaller hands on. Tonight, the WEC says farewell with two title fights and their usual assortment of relentless scrappers. Round-by-round updates from the Versus broadcast will be accumulating after the jump beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest.

(Even the undercard of the WEC’s historic final card is stacked with exciting fights. RIP WEC, you won’t be forgotten. Bottom pic props David West.)

Although most people think that undercard bouts are of little consequence, one dark match on tonight’s final WEC 53 card will have great ramifications to the futures of its combatants, and if my hunch is correct, could potentially be a barnburner that will hopefully make it on the Versus broadcast.

According to a story from the East London Advertiser, the winner of tonight’s bantamweight bout between El Salvador-born Canadian Ivan Menjivar (21-7) and Brit Brad Pickett (19-5) will earn a UFC contract while the loser will go home empty handed.

Menjivar, who has faced a slew of UFC and WEC veterans including Joe Lauzon, Urijah Faber, Georges St-Pierre, Bart Palaszewski, Jeff Curran and Jason Black in his nine-year career has already experienced fighting in the UFC Octagon, having lost a hard fought decision to Matt Serra at UFC 48.

Despite not having the experience that Menjivar has, Pickett, who picked up Fight of the Night honors for his UFC 50 decision loss to Scott Jorgensen (who is fighting Dominick Cruz tonight for the inaugural UFC 135-pound strap), does have the advantage of already having three fights in the WEC and of having kept active the past seven years since he began fighting. Menjivar returned to the cage in June from a four-year absence from competition he spent rehabbing an injury and raising a family to fight under the W-1 banner and defeated Aaron Miller by a first round triangle.

After nine-and-a-half years of thrilling events, Wold Extreme Cagefighting will take its final bow tonight at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona. But even aside from the historical significance, there will be a lot on the line at WEC 53. In the main event, Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis battle to become the UFC’s #1 lightweight contender. Dominick Cruz and Scott Jorgensen meet to determine the UFC’s first-ever 135-pound champion. And a host of top 155′ers like Donald Cerrone, Chris Horodecki, Kamal Shalorus, Zhang Tie Quan and Jamie Varner will be fighting to keep their jobs in an unforgiving post-UFC-merger market.

CagePotato.com will be liveblogging the Versus broadcast beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. Come back for all the live results, and to share your fond memories of one of the greatest MMA promotions to ever do it. WEC 53′s full lineup is after the jump…

(After Nate Diaz has sex with a guy, he will rip their heads off. Props: YouTube.com/FreeFights4You)

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…

– Ailing Cruz, Upstart Jorgensen Aim for History Books at WEC 53 (Versus MMA Beat)

– ‘Strength and Honor’: Ben Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis Hype Video (MMA Scraps)

– Stefan Struve Wants to Get to 280 Pounds for Lesnar, Carwin, Etc. (MMA Fighting)

– The 10 Best Fights in WEC History (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Watch This Preview of ‘The Saint of Stevia: The Legend of Dan Quinn’ (MiddleEasy)

– Kimo-Therapy: UFC Veteran To Assist the Needy This Christmas (FightMagazine)

- Frank Mir vs. Brendan Schaub Expected for March 2011 (LowKick)

– Jens Pulver Not Done Yet, Plans to Fight in January (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Roger Huerta Saves Little Girl’s Life, Proves Status As Superhero (SBNation.com/MMA)

– Fedor Emelianenko: If I Never Fight In The UFC, They Will Be Sorry, Not Me (MMA Convert)

(Damn, Anthony, if you can’t get psyched around this crowd, we don’t know what to tell you.)

One day, mankind will realize that fighting is a counter-productive act, leading to only misery and division. Until then…

— Returning from his painful loss to Mirko Cro Cop in June, UFC heavyweight Pat Barry will step back into the Octagon against Joey "The Mexicutioner" Beltran at UFC Fight for the Troops 2. Beltran is also looking to get back to the W column, having dropped a decision to Matt Mitrione at UFC 119.

— Former WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres continues his path back to contendership against Antonio Banuelos at UFC 126 in February. Torres recently snapped a two-fight losing skid by choking at Charlie Valencia at WEC 51. Banuelos outpointed Chad George at the same event, and has won four of his last five.

(Bryan Caraway and Miesha Tate as Dexter and some chick who’s about to get murdered. For more MMA fighter Halloween costume photos, hit up FiveOuncesofPain.)

– The Korean Zombie Vows Never To Fight ‘Zombie Style’ Again (MMA Convert)

– Must-See: Front Kick to the Chin Knockout (MMA Scraps)

– Faber The Key To Bantamweight Success In The UFC (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Manny Gamburyan: ‘WEC Fighters Deserve To Be In The UFC’ (SBNation.com/MMA)

– Scott Coker: Melendez vs. Aoki 2 in Works for New Years Eve in Japan (LowKick)

– The Top Ten Audience Reactions in MMA, Vol. 2 (MiddleEasy)

– Mike Brown Campaigning for WEC 53 Fight (Versus MMA Beat)

– The Method to Our Madness: FIGHT! Rankings Explained (FightMagazine)

– Keith Jardine’s Next Fight Postponed by Tropical Storm Tomas (MMA Fighting)

(Chances are this one isn’t going to decision.)

It looks like Mark Hominick won’t be the only Team Tompkins product who will get a step up in competition for his next WEC fight.

Chris Horodecki is slated to take on former WEC number one lightweight contender Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone at WEC 53 on December 16 in Phoenix, AZ.

The news was first reported by MMAWeekly, and CagePotato.com has since been able to confirm the bout with a source close to the fight.

16-2 in his five-year MMA career, "The Polish Hammer" was knocked out in dramatic fashion in his WEC debut by Anthony Njokuani, but rebounded with a pair of wins over Danny Downes and Ed Ratcliffe. Cerrone will arguably provide the 23-year-old London, Ontario native, who was the face of thew now-defunct International Fight League with his toughest test to date.