Dan Hardy

(When Logan saw the scarf, a chill went through her body. The beaten, bloodied man she saw in the alley — suddenly it all made sense. / Photo courtesy of the UFC 105: Weigh in Pics set on CombatLifestyle.)

By now, Randy Couture and Brandon Vera have already headlined UFC 105 in Manchester, England. Either Mike Swick or Dan Hardy has earned a title shot against Georges St. Pierre. Michael Bisping could have put on a heroic performance against Denis Kang in front of his fellow Brits, or he could have been exposed again. Maybe I already know what happened in these fights; if so, I'm not telling, at least not yet. Maybe you know as well, in which case we're flattered that you're here, but we're a little curious as to what you're doing on CagePotato on a Saturday night, reading descriptions of fights that you've already seen live in England or via an Internet feed, or at the very least spoiled for yourself on another website, especially when they're being shown right now on Spike TV, though if you live on the West Coast, the show won't even begin for another three hours. It's all a little mind-bending when you stop to think about it, so don't. Don't think. Simply flow, and flow simply. Exist only in this moment. Round-by-round updates from the UFC 105 Spike TV broadcast are after the jump. Refresh the page every few minutes to see the latest, and please leave your thoughts in the comments section. Now, let us watch fights...

(Like a kid on freaking Christmas. Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle's UFC 105 press conference gallery.)

We can stop lamenting the lack of psychologically screwy antics from Dan Hardy, because "The Outlaw" kicked it up a notch during the UFC 105 press conference in Manchester.  Hardy showed up to present a "Runner-Up" trophy to Mike Swick in advance of their bout on Saturday and Swick, as you can see, was pretty excited about the whole thing.  But just when you think you've played a clever little joke on Swick, he turns it around on you:

"I want to thank Dan Hardy for this trophy.  It means a lot.  Coming runner-up in a press conference is pretty cool.  I just want everyone to know that I'm giving this right back to him after the fight.  My corner guys will carry it to the Octagon.  But I'll keep it for now."

And just like that, the jokester becomes the fool.  If Marcus Davis and his indignant rage demonstrated the exact wrong way to deal with Hardy's ribbing, Swick's grinning reversal is probably the perfect blueprint for how to take Hardy's jokes in stride.  Plus, how sweet is it going to be if Swick manages to knock Hardy out and then present him with that trophy when he comes to?  Answer: extremely sweet.  

(Props: MMAVIDS09 via Bloody Elbow)

After the controversial ending to Machida vs. Rua, the UFC is looking to bounce back hard in their next event (November 14th; Manchester, England), which features three very compelling bouts on the main card. Headlining UFC 105 will be Randy Couture's return to the light-heavyweight division against Brandon Vera, who describes the match as "what we've been training for since day one." A win for Vera may finally establish his legitimacy at 205; a win for Couture staves off retirement for at least one more fight and puts him on the path to a title shot.

Supporting the main event will be Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang. Bisping is looking to erase the memory of his knockout loss to Dan Henderson in July, while Kang wants to introduce himself to UFC fans in this fight (despite the fact that he's already fought in the Octagon twice) and feels he can do everything better than the Count. Also, Mike Swick and Dan Hardy meet up in a classic U.S. vs. U.K. battle. Hardy has been training his boxing with Freddie Roach — could it be the advantage he needs to survive Quick's onslaught?

The full UFC 105 lineup is after the jump...

Tekken 6 MMA Boxing Live Action Trailer - Watch more Game Trailers
(Props: Break.com Game Trailers)

Above is the live-action trailer for Tekken 6, which succeeds in being awesome despite the fact that the game itself is only briefly shown at the end. The gist is, fighters from all walks of life — Josh Barnett, Dan Hardy, and Evander Holyfield, among others — discuss what drew them to fighting and why they do it. I guess they're supposed to represent the different styles and mindsets in the video game, though the montage fails to include boxing kangaroos or a sentient wooden training dummy. There is, however, a Tekken 6 character that's clearly based on Roy Nelson.

(What a difference five months makes. Now, Swick and Hardy are mortal enemies, Edith has been replaced by a blonde, and Jon Fitch is currently living in Seattle as "Joan Fitch." Photo courtesy of MikeSwick.com.)

In our exclusive interview with Mike Swick yesterday, Quick referred to Dan Hardy as a "good guy" and a "very genuine person," but still vowed to beat him up on November 14th. Luckily, Hardy feels the same way. Here's his assessment of his next opponent from UFC.com's official announcement of the match: