Junior Dos Santos

(Dos Santos, Destroyer of Worlds.)

Though it was previously rumored that Gabriel Gonzaga would be taking on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in December, Fighters.com is now reporting that Gonzaga will instead be taking on another dangerous Brazilian heavyweight, Junior Dos Santos. The match isn't officially tied to an event yet, but it will likely take place at UFC 107 or 108. Gonzaga recently rebounded from his loss to Shane Carwin by scoring a controversial TKO over Chris Tuchscherer at UFC 102. Meanwhile, Junior Dos Santos has been a perfect 3-0 in the Octagon, most recently breaking down Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic at UFC 103. (Speaking of which, Cro Cop now says he's not retiring from the sport, and hopes to finish out his UFC contract, though he did want to hang himself in his hotel room after the Dos Santos loss.)

Now that Nogueira is currently without an opponent, the UFC might match him up against the winner of Velasquez/Rothwell to determine the next heavyweight title contender — or they can just give him a shot after Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin settle their grudge in November. And of course if Junior Dos Santos runs through Gonzaga, he'll be another legitimate candidate for a title shot. Wait a minute, is the UFC's heavyweight class the new "shark tank" division, like 205 used to be? Right now, it seems be the only weight-class with a deep bullpen of strong, fresh contenders who could realistically challenge for the title. How the hell did that happen?

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

After Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic's ugly loss to Junior Dos Santos at UFC 103 on Saturday, it was clear that his will to win has eroded even more than his skills as a fighter. For two-and-a-half rounds, we saw a backpedaling, hesitant, shadow of Cro Cop's former self get outstruck by someone he would have murdered three years ago. It was obviously the end of the line for Filipovic as a relevant competitor — and nobody sees that as clearly as Mirko himself. As he told jutarnji.hr (translated by Robert K. at bigoddsmike.com):

(Props: Spike.com)

I kind of figured Tiki Ghosn was dead weight on Team Rampage's staff, but in this clip from next week's episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, he proves himself to be a very patient and encouraging teacher. Kimbo Slice is a sponge during his extra lessons on the ground-game, and you have to admit, his reversal at the -0:50 mark is as smooth as Country Crock. Rampage says he sees himself in Kimbo, and wants to show him a few things that worked in his own fights. Hopefully the extra attention proves useful, because his housemates are gunning for him in episode 2. As the narrator intones at the end, "is it time for Kimbo Slice to finally step into the Octagon?" No, probably not yet, but why else would you tune in?

(Props: Machinemen via CRE)

Some must-see vids to get you through the rest of the afternoon: First up, a fantastic Miguel Torres highlight reel that reminds us why he's one of the most entertaining fighters in the world. After the jump, the UFC 103 extended trailer re-introduces Vitor Belfort to all the TUF noobs out there, sets up Cro Cop vs. Dos Santos as a meeting between an MMA legend and a dangerous up-and-comer, and plugs the #1 welterweight contender match between Mike Swick and Martin Kampmann. "If Swick's looking at the GSP fight before me, he's gonna make a big mistake, 'cause I'm gonna fuck him right up," says Kampmann. Also, the Octagon Girls are not quite ready for prime time.

(Index finger, hospital; middle finger, cemetery.)

Yesterday's rumors of Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic returning to the UFC just got considerably realer. According to MMA Weekly, Cro Cop has dropped out of his scheduled DREAM 10 match against Mighty Mo, in order to free up his schedule for a fight against Junior Dos Santos at UFC 103 (September 19th, Dallas). Said Dos Santos, who was originally slated to face Justin McCully at UFC 102:

Considering how pissed off Dana White was when Cro Cop first flew the coop, it's a little surprising that he's being given a second chance. The UFC must have big plans for him in the heavyweight division. But Santos — who has run through Fabricio Werdum and Stefan Struve in a combined 2:15 of fight time during his stint in the UFC — has a way of laughing at men's plans, then crapping all over them.