Tito Ortiz making an announcement?

MMAJunkie.com is reporting Tito Ortiz is on tonight's edition of "Inside MMA," and the former UFC champion and current free agent hints that he has some big news to share. "Inside MMA" is on HDNet on Fridays at 9:30 p.m. ET.

MMA Hotness

Move over Gina Carano......Kyra Gracie may take the number 1 slot as hottest female MMA fighter.....she can count me as a fan that is for sure

For those who want to know more Kyra likes long walks on the beach, pina coladas, getting caught in the rain and submitting opponents via rear naked choke

K.J. Noon Releases a Statement

It is not about being scared to fight Diaz, who I previously defeated, it is about the fight I am currently in with Elite XC regarding my career.

I would first like to address all the false allegations and insults from Jared Shaw, aka $kala, VP of Elite XC. You will see why I am so disgusted of how Elite XC treated me and how it applies to this proposed fight and my career.

$kala says:

Honor my contract. Elite XC wants to talk about honoring the contract. How about when Elite XC honored the contract and my pay to fight Edson Berto went down after I lost my first fight. That was not part of my contract. Or how about the contract Gary Shaw breached by not promoting my boxing career? Gary Shaw only gave me one out of four of the agreed upon fights. I have not boxed for over a year. When I signed with Elite XC, I was promised they would promote both my boxing and MMA careers. I could have signed with another MMA only company, but I wanted to box too.

Elite XC does me a favor after I lose, by putting me on the first ShoXC against Edson Berto? Berto's father is good friends with Jared's father, Gary Shaw who wants Berto's brother on a boxing contract. Berto was the next guy Elite XC wanted to build. But I win that fight and now I am 1-1. Elite XC gives me an opportunity to fight Diaz. Elite XC puts me against Diaz because Elite XC's roster was so light and there was nobody else to fight him.

Elite XC creates a new weight class for Diaz because he beat Gomi. Giving Diaz a belt and creating a weight division (160) he can make, will make your belt legit. Sorry to ruin Elite XC's plans and beat him.

Elite XC never promoted or took care of me as their champion.

Examples:

In the Elite XC's DVD where Diaz and I fought there are two (2) baseball cards of Diaz and Kimbo. Hello! I won the fight and Elite XC's promoting Diaz after I beat him? Or how about the day Elite XC flew Diaz in to do a signing on the DVD where he lost. Wow, that must have been uncomfortable Nick? Signing a DVD, and it is a fight that you lost. Why wasn't I flown in for the signing?

Elite XC has never promoted me on either of their websites, EliteXC or Pro-Elite.

Elite XC offered me a fight on the first CBS show, but only if I signed a new long-term contract. Instead of promoting their best fighters on CBS, you have to be on a long term contract for them to promote you. That was not our deal.

Consider when Elite XC gives a couple thousand tickets away at their CBS show in Stockton. Elite XC gives me a hard time about comping me one extra ticket for my cousin that helped me train for my fight. I only get four tickets per show. I am the main event in Honolulu, my home town! I did not ask for any tickets for my family and friends and they gave me a hard time about one extra ticket!

Or how about when Elite XC brought Diaz into the ring after my last victory in Hawaii to disrespect me and my family.

Chuck Champion (President Elite XC) threatens me, my family and my manager with lawsuits and how he's going to sue me. HAHA. Pretty hard to sue a guy who does not make jack with your company. I'm glad $kala disclosed how much I make, which breached the confidentiality clause of the contract. I will break down the real numbers for you. I am the defending world champ, I have been the main event for Elite XC three out of four times on Showtime. In almost two years I have made approximately $83,000?

After paying my trainers and managers fee, I have $50,000 thousand. After taxes, probably 30 grand. Divide that by two years for $15,000 thousand a year. Divide by 52 weeks that amounts to approximately $300 a week. I do not know anybody that can survive on that amount of money. My buddies make more money than that in a couple days being a bus boy or bar back. And yes you can argue I should fight more. Elite XC doesn't give me fights or promote me, they ice me. Gary Shaw Productions only gave me one of the agreed upon four fights per the boxing contract.

And I do not want to ramble on about all the little small stuff that I can keep going on about. But the straw that broke the camel's back is they want me to fight Diaz for the second time. Diaz is not the number one contender and they are paying Diaz three times more money than me. Diaz complained after the Stockton fight, he was not paid enough. How do you think that made me feel? Yes you can argue that Diaz gets more for the draw, therefore I do not deserve as much compensation. If that is the case, it is a result of Elite XC terrible job promoting me. Instead of promoting me as their champ and upcoming athlete, Elite XC has resented me for ruining their plans to make Diaz their champ. That is just total disrespect. So it comes down to money and what is fair. I am tired of being bent over by Elite XC with no Vaseline.

I am right when I say Diaz is not the number one contender. Elite XC is trying to force this fight for their ratings. Eddie Alaverez is the number one contender and anybody with half a brain knows that a fight with Eddie is a way harder fight for me than Diaz. I will fight Diaz, but Elite has to be fair. I'm not ducking Diaz, why the hell would I be scared of someone I already beat.

With that being said, I am going to focus on my boxing career. I can make more money doing 6 and 8 rounders every other month and make more than I did being the Elite XC defending world champ. At least I will be able to sleep at night and be able to look myself in the mirror everyday. That right there is worth more than $300 bucks a week or fighting a guy I cannot stand for less money than him the second time around.

Will the Diaz fight happen, yes. Will the fight happen on Elite XC on October 4, 2008, probably not. The way things are being run by Chuck Champion, a guy whose history is newspapers, not fighting, and $kala, someone who talks a lot of game, but has never put on a pair of gloves, never stepped in a ring or cage. $kala has had everything handed to him with a silver spoon from daddy. Does anyone else but me think $kala just wants to be famous and stir up all this dirty laundry? I guess any publicity is good publicity. When I think about it, it has been good promotion for their October card since nobody is talking about it until you bring up the Noons vs. Diaz match up.

Before I end, I would like to thank my team, my trainers and workout partners for helping me prepare for my fights hours every day. I would like to also thank my manager Mark Dion for standing behind my decision making. I want to be a fighter who is not doing whatever I am being told like some kind of mindless puppet.

Thanks for hearing my side.

K.J. NOONS

Secret to Strikeforce's Success

Kevin Iole at Yahoo! Sports has a great article on Scott Coker and Strikeforce. Strikeforce has managed to avoid all of the pitfalls that have crushed the IFL, Bodog, and EliteXC (6 months from now). I think it is important to be positive and support promotions that counter the UFC. IF all of the rival promotions fail, we will be forced to buy PPVs every week and have no free options to watch this sport.

Such A Monday Move......

http://view.break.com/561912 - Watch more free videos

Today's News

“Of course he’ll fight,” White told Yahoo Sports. “If he was doing drugs, if he had been drunk, if he had gone out there and done what he did because he was pissed off at someone, that would be a completely different story. But he was ill. And in this company, we support our friends and anyone who works for us when they’re ill and have problems. He was ill, the incident occurred, and now he’s fine."

- Dana White on Rampage fighting soon......that is a crazy game of poker

Ramapge is joining The Count Mike Bisping at Wolfslair Gym in the UK......not sure how he will enter the UK with the felony charges hanging over his head......clearly, something went deeply wrong between him and his old trainer Ibarra if Rampage is leaving the country to train with a new team.....nothing against Wolfslair, but I could think of a bunch of Fight Teams in the US that I would probably join if I were Rampage

Anderson Silva could fight his training partner......could be the match up of the year in my opinion

Zach Arnold talks about the MMA Apocalypse....

Dana White interview in USA Today is here.......interesting stuff about Tito negotiations

Tim Sylvia versus Jerome Le Banner is a sure sign Affliction is struggling for fights

Elite XC gets some good news

Matt Hughes knee update

The NFL has Ocho Cinco....The UFC has War Machine aka total Dbag

Also, the signed fight between Kimbo and Ken is so suspect at this point that there are rumors the Florida Commission may not let it happen

Dana White was on MindFreak last night and he didn't have any words bleep....I guess that is not really relevant, but since most of his quotes are bleep out I thought it was funny

Joe Rogan is in San Jose this weekend

I AM A FIGHTER

Perhaps Kimbo should take the time to discourage the backyard brawling and use his popularity to explain how fighting in backyards is wrong. If he wants to be legit and Elite XC wants to improve their image long term, they should be encouraging kids to go to the gym so they can learn to fight correctly and become professionals the right way.

Checkout the Kid

The UK's Sun provides some insight on what Jenna and Tito's little kid may look like.

Don't Do Roids

If you ever thought about getting all Sean Sherk, Phil Baroni, Royce Gracie, Mark Kerr, Bigfoot Silva, Kevin Randleman etc etc and shooting up for the sake of pumping some serious iron, checkout these pics.......Oh yeah that and you girlfriend probably won't think you are such hot shit when you wake up with your balls in your stomach, but do as you will....

Kimbo Slice is bad for MMA

No doubt Kimbo Slice has made the move to fighting successfully, but a serious consequence of his move has been a growth in underground fighting videos and unlicensed fighting. This is the kind of "human cockfighting" that US law makers sought to ban when they killed the UFC's right to be on PPV and prevented legislation to legalize MMA. In no way will these fighters be recognized as potential professionals or even legitimate fighters. At best, they are outcast sideshows who are being taken advantage of because they are in desperate financial situations. Perhaps it is time for Kimbo to fight a guy with talent, such as Bret Rogers, in the hope that he might be beaten so that these underground brawls will lose their black market value.

KY Wrestling Match?

Kimbo is "the black Yeti"

Bret Rogers on if Ken Beats Kimbo

"Our sincerest hope is that Ken whips Kimbo and then we can finally euthanize the "World’s Most Dangerous Man" and relegate him to some MMA dinosaur exhibit. Maybe taxidermy him and Severn and place them on a rotating pedestal where they can endless "

Bret on if Kimbo Wins

"If Ken proves to be more sham then rock and Fergi beats him, then the Slice hype grows even greater. Dude is already more myth then Sasquatch, Chupacabra and a fucking unicorn combined. Kevin is the black Yeti."

Bret on the animosity between him and Slice

"There is nothing business about it anymore. Kimbo made it a point to go frontin’ to our boys at Big Black. But that street thug B.S. might work well with the fan bois and the Internet dorks who think your street cred means something; but Son… Brett comes from Cabrini Green; the worst 12 blocks of America. Compared to that your street is Sesame Street."

This fight will be good if it happens, but it probably won't because Slice going down Titanic style would be rough for Elite XC. Beside that, who is a cooler bodyguard? Kimbo or Big Black.....my vote is Big Black.....DO WORK SON!

Aleksander Emelianenko meets Arlovski, Barnett, Fedor Inside 'Affliction Banned'

Toady's News

“I just want my fans to know, I was at my worst and Forrest was at his best - and I still beat him. "

- Rampage on losing the Belt

Yeah that's right another update from Rampage....he did an interview here...basically consists of him bitching and moaning about how he deserves a rematch etc...Rampage you have some legal issues to deal with buddy

KJ Noons explains why he won't fight Nick Diaz

Fightlinker.com has a some thoughts on MMA reality TV and how Gabe Ruediger threw away his career

Cro Cop update here, hopefully he smashes Overeem and we can get him back in the UFC soon

MMAWeekly updates their world rankings

Cristiane Cyborg and Yoko Takahashi set to face of Oct. 4th in the Elite XC show....some people aren't the biggest fan of women's MMA, you can count me as a fan and Cyborg is legit.....I see Cyborg vs. Carano sometime in the next six months

Octagon Buzz brings you today's news and notes

Hot Chicks here

Brandon Vera poised to open the Philippines to the UFC

Dana White on "Mindfreak"

UFC President Dana White will be making a special appearance on A&E’s “Mindfreak” television program Wednesday night at 10 p.m. ET.

Affliction "Day of Reckoning" PromoVideo

Rampage Charged

From TMZ

“… Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has been charged with six crimes in connection with the epic car chase in the O.C. The Orange County District Attorney has charged Rampage with one felony count of evading while driving recklessly, one felony count of evading a peace officer, three misdemeanor counts of hit and run, and one misdemeanor reckless driving…. If convicted he’ll face three years in prison…. He was NOT charged with DUI. And, a few days after the incident, a pregnant woman in the car he hit on the freeway lost her baby, but Rampage was not charged for that after an investigation revealed that the miscarriage was unrelated to the accident.”

Kimbo to take on Ken Shamrock Oct. 4th

Sherdog.com confirmed that the bout will be announced today....this fight will be a joke. Ken Shamrock has been over the hill for a least five years now and not even the UFC could resurrect his career. How is losing to Kimbo going to change anything? Is Ken Shamrock a name that will still draw people to watch? Perhaps Bret Rogers was to experienced for Kimbo at this point, but Elite XC needs to step up their game.

Karo and the Panic Room

Karo is having some head trouble these days...

Wandy Prank Call

Today's News

Shogun vs Rampage @ UFC 92......Rampage better have his mind right

Anderson Silva looking for MEGA Fights

Joe Rogan is awesome....

The Fireball Kid looked unimpressive this weekend

Benji Radach vs. Ninja Rua set for Elite XC CBS show on Oct. 4th

Jared Shaw talks KJ Noons

Gan McGee looking to make return to MMA

Clearly he hasn't been taking in enough of the Olympic Village

Long story short, Cuban Taekwondo competitor Angel Valodia Matos goes bloodsport on the ref because he charged him a point deduction.

Today's News

Michael Bisping: Influences and Getting Started

The UFC has expansion plans

Sherdog has thoughts on Sengoku IV which is this Sunday and will include the Fireball Kid Takanori Gomi

Anthony "Rumble" Johnson recovering from eye surgery and looking to get back in the Octagon in October

Upcoming Fights

Kongo versus Lesnar will likely happen in November or December

Jay Heiron and Drew Fickett will square off at Affliction: Reckoning

Chris Horodecki and Dan Lauron at Affliction: Reckoning

Elite XC not that stupid

So it turns out that Sean Gannon won't bne fighting Kimbo on October 4th, which is awesome because that would have been a death blow to the promotion. However, there is a rumor that Kimbo may be fighting Ken Shamrock, which would be less terrible, but still not acceptable in my opinion. The only fight that makes sense at this point if Bret Rogers. Yes, Bret is more experienced, but so is just about any decent fighter at this point. Kimbo has over a year of training under his belt with Bas Rutten, so I have to imagine that he is much improved and he had a tough bout last match so I don't think he'll risk anything in his preparation for this fight. Five Ounces of Pain has more details here

WEC adds a quality fighter

MMAWeekly is reporting that the IFL's 145 lb champ Wagnney Fabiano has signed on to fight in the WEC.

2008 Olympics = World's Greatest DNA Breeding Ground

Alright so this has nothing to do with MMA, but since the Olympics are almost over and I haven't spent much if anytime talking about them in Whackerdom, I will give you the most interesting story of this Olympics. No, it is not Michael Phelps, although Stephanie Rice might change all that. Today, I am going to talk about athletes and sex. According to this story from Reuters, the athletes at the Sydney games romped so much that they actually ran out of condoms and the athletes at the Athens games received twice that amount, but it was still not enough to quench the sexual desires of the athletes. So the Chinese do what they always do, they go big, real big. The Chinese delivered over 100,000 condoms to the Olympic village, but it doesn't look like it's going to be enough to combat the invading hordes of sex craved athletes. That's right people; the country that built an entire wall to keep people out can't stop people from getting in on. Note to competition committee; add sport humping to 2012 games. After all, the 2012 games are taking place in of all places, "Swinging" London. Anyhow, Matthew Syed of the UK's Times describes the scene this way, "It is a common sight to see recently knocked-out athletes gorging on Magnums and McDonald's, swilling alcohol and, of course, shagging like crazy." His hilarious article is here. Considering that I am 5'8" and what I would call "office athletic" this whole scenario of super athletes screwing is rather frightening to me. I know it is weird that the thought of a massive orgy scares me; most guys would be hunting on youtube for a piece of the action, but bear with me for a second. These athletes were born with unbelievable physical ability (Tables Tennis, etc need not apply) and they are now mating. How the hell are my kids or your kids supposed to be good at any sport? These people are destroying any hope that my son will be a champion. They are breeding a master race people; its Darwinism at it's finest. Picture this, my future (and I can't stress future enough) son comes to me when he's five years old and says "hey Dad I want to win a Gold medal in 100m butterfly." I say, "Sure son. Let's head down to the pool and get some laps in tonight." But guess who's at the pool, little Mickey Phelps, that's right people the devil spawn of Michael Phelps and his Olympic sex mate Stephanie Rice. That's right, Mike took home eight Golds in Beijing but no one remembers that he finished off his Olympic run by picking up a ninth Gold in doggy style. So listen people, forget about Tibet, the smog, human right violations, and start worrying about all the F*cking that's going on at the Olympics because it's just ruining the chance for your children to do anything meaningful in athletic competition.

Today's News

Lorretta Hunt tells the story of the last days of ProElite

King Karl errrrrr KJ No Nuts may be stripped of his title.....no one cares. KJ take your panties off and fight Nick Diaz

The debate over hotness will never end here

MMA vintage/designer clothing may have just Jumped the Shark

Bloody Elbow has a possible New Years Eve fight for Fedor

Elite XC supports Bigfoot Silva

What is Aleksander up to these days?

Turns out Koreans really love the guy...do you think they know he has the Hep?

Professional Dodge Ball Player

"The update on [the deadline] is nothing is going to happen with it," Dion said. "That's what's going to happen with that. I don't care about how many threats [Shaw] wants to pull. We'll be doing a press conference if EliteXC doesn't see the light here pretty soon and if Shaw doesn't stop talking [expletive]." Interview is here

KJ Noons is officially no longer a MMA fighter and is now a pro dodge ball player. Yes, give him a spot on your office squad because this guy has zero interest in proving himself in the fight game. The 5 pm deadline for Noons to get the contract signed came and went with nothing agreed upon other than more blustering from Elite XC and Noons' agent. Apparently Noons is not happy to fight Diaz because he feels there are better fighters out there and he has nothing to gain by fighting Diaz a second time. Memo to KJ: you agreed to fight for Elite XC and they make the fights, if a fight makes them money it makes money you regardless of whether you think you fought the "best" or not. Fans want to see you fight Diaz and they will watch that fight. They don't care about you fighting anyone else and they won't watch you fight anyone else. If no one watches you fight, then you are worthless to any promotion and if you are worthless then you can't get paid. Do yourself a favor take the fight, get paid and give the fans what they want. If you are what you say you are then there really isn't anything to fear. Unfortunately, I have a hunch that you think you might lose. Given the fact you have not fought anyone legitimate in your short career and Diaz has fought some of the best, I would be afraid as well. At the end of the day you need Elite XC because the UFC isn't signing you and Affliction doesn't have anyone you think is "good enough" to fight.

Dream Weekend Jan. 31st 2009

The Rumor Mill has BJ Penn and GSP fighting Super Bowl weekend. What NFL combination would work well with that match up? Here are two picks to get you thinking......

Giants vs. Patriots II - Make it a rematch weekend, the Patriots returning to prove that they are in fact the best team ever in the NFL and BJ returning to prove he is indeed the Prodigy.

Bears vs. Patriots - The NFL's best defense ever faces off against the NFL's greatest offense ever.

Post some comments and give us your favorite Super Bowl match up you'd like to see on that beer filled weekend.....

Liddell versus Fedor?

Chuck has a some losses to avenge first and a lightweight belt to take back, but once he gets that done Fedor would be a great fight. For the interview check here

HOTlanta Sept. 6th Liddell vs. Evans

Thirsty Thursday: One Punch One KO

Silva Responds: I'm Clean

via fiveouncesofpain.com

“Dear Family, Friends, Fans and Public, I did not use the steroid Boldenone, or any other steroid of prohibited substance, I don’t agree and never have agreed with the use of this kind of product in order to win, for this is cheating. I will go to the full extent of my power and the law to prove my innocence in this matter.”

Statement from Silva's manager Alex Davis:

“My friends, Antonio is one of the hardest working, most serious athletes I know. He also is a man that holds high his principles. We dont know at this point how he tested positive for a horse steroid, but what we do know is that he doesn’t make use of these kind of products. However, we will find out or die trying. We are always reading about guys getting caught and declaring (their) innocence, and it is always met with a degree of skepticism, but the (truth) is that career hurting mistakes are being made and it is high time the we find out how and why they happen. We are extremely sure of ourselves in this matter and are willing to go to the very gates of hell to prove that we are being wronged. Hopefully, this will not only clear Antonio, but also help clear other people that have had the same thing happen to them.”

Elite XC Heavyweight Champ Bigfoot Silva Suspended

This is a big blow to Elite XC because Bigfoot was one of the most well known fighters and the longest reigning champion in the organization. Bigfoot will be suspended for one year from July 26th and fined $2,500 for using Boldenone, an anabolic steroid. Details here

Affliction's Edwin Dewees Tests Positive

MMAJunkie.com is reporting that the California State Athletic Commission has issued Affliction fighter Edwin Dewees a one-year suspension and $2,500 fine for alleged use of Nandrolone. Dewees was a late fill in for Vernon White. Ironically, White was pushed off the card due to a similar violation in Nevada. Dewees can file an appeal with the commission.

Today's News

Matt Hughes responds to comments he made about GSP being soft

Lesnar to fight Kongo at UFC 91? This seems to be the popular match up, but I am not sure that it will be the best for fans. Even though Kongo has improved on the ground and he does hold a notable win over Cro Cop, I am not sure his game is setup to take out a physical freak like Lesnar.

Affliction facing more possible drug suspensions from their first event

Elite XC tells KJ Noons to get with the program and fight Nick Diaz

Jack Shields will square off against Paul Daley in the third Elite XC CBS show

Rich Clementi and Gray Maynard will do battle at UFC 90

Capoeira Fighting is...........

lame, but at least this guy finishes it the way I would have....For those who don't know Capoeira is dance combat and originated in Brazil. For more details see here. If this sounds familiar to you thats because Gaylord Focker's dad was a blackbelt in Capoeira. This video might very well be from that lame film Never Back Down, but who knows, either way it has some comedic value.

WEC 36: Jens Pulver vs. Leonard Garcia, Sept. 10th

Glad to see Leonard beat the drug charges and will be back in the cage. Jens will need to come up with a W here after losing to BJ Penn and Urijah Faber. Additionally, Urijah is set to face off with Mike Brown in the main event that evening.

CBS/Elite XC Should be Ashamed........

Word on the street is Kimbo Slice is set to face Sean Gannon on the October 4th Elite XC CBS show. Given Kimbo's last opponent was a tomato can, one would assume Elite would move to give the crowd something more entertaining to watch than some guy he lost to in a street fight like five years ago. Honestly, Sean Gannon got a shot at the UFC because his first win over Slice and got his freaking head blasted in by Braden Lee Hinkle in his last professional MMA fight which was in...............2005. Seriously, they have a fighter,Bret Rogers, talking smack about Kimbo after the last CBS fight, why not put that together? Lots of MMA veterans and fans are questioning how legit Kimbo actually is and to his credit Kimbo is eager to prove himself, so why put him up against a fighter that hasn't seen the inside of a ring in over three years? If Elite XC really tries to pull this off they will go out of business because no one will tune in to watch that fight. More details here

Today's News

Have I mentioned the fact that I hate KJ Noons....Nick Diaz may be a bit of a moron/thug, but Noons is a freaking punk and may be the only guy I hope Diaz smashes.

Sherk and Griffin official for UFC 90.....you can bet the house this fight goes to a decision, but I would still like to see Ken Flo in a rematch versus Sherk.

Tito Ortiz and Affliction can't find common ground...sounds to me like Tito may have to suck it up and talk with Dana again

UFC 88: Jason McDonald in...Jason Day Out and he will be fight Jason Lambert

Rich Franklin makes a bad action movie, but hey everyone needs to make at least one bad action flick

Ozzy will be performing at Affliction: Reckoning....proving that the new promotion has learned very little for their first show

This is a good way to waste time at the office

Joe Stevenson vs Kenny Florian in the works for November 15 UFC event

MMAMania.com is reporting that both fighters have been offered the fight, but have not signed. I think this is great and was one of the matchups that I thought would fit in Florian's big picture. He needs to beat a big fighter at 155 before he can get a shot at Bj and the title. If this fight does not happen, I think KenFlo will face the winner of the Sherk v Griffin fight and the winner of that fight will get a shot at Bj.

Today's News

"You can't let him get confident and comfortable in the centre of the Octagon," says Cote. "You have to push the pace for five minutes every round. If I do that, I can catch him. I'll take care of him."

Yikes....somehow I don't see things working out for Patrick...here is the whole interview

MMARated has notes from the UFC Press Conference this morning.....Mike Swick added to UFC 90 and Silva could move up the 205 again after he beats Cote

Tito's ego is officially busted.....back negotiating with the UFC

More from Miguel Torres

Forrest Griffin and Mac Danzig make a Tucker Max movie

Regardless of what GSP says about taking time off BJ Penn is training for a fight in December

Where in the world is Denis Kang?

Fightlinker.com shares their thoughts on the upcoming TUF season...get rid of the booze and horseplay, add more training and fighting

Help Jorge Rivera out ASAP

Joe Rogan's UFC Video

Joe has a hilarious riff on Jim Brown and the "Rape Choke," the rest of his post is here

Chinese Wrestlers Use Excellent Bedroom Maneuver

Girlfriends and Spouses everywhere cringe at this sight, check here

TUF Season 8 Cast

SI.com has the details here....seems like a wide range of competitors, the usual suspects of AKA, Team Quest, Arizona Combat, American Top Team and the Pit are represented.

Today's News

What is up next for ProElite? Cancelling the Sept. 20th show, cutting production, staff and promotional costs.....things look rough......does that mean comes to the UFC in the next year? The Bloody Elbow has another article here as well

Roy Nelson too fat for the UFC?

Big John talks about the WAMMA....i.e. the most BS organization out there

The relationship between MMA and the Olympics is pretty strong....Judo, Boxing and Wrestling are all Olympic events so it really isn't a shock to me, but whatever

Checkout Evan Tanner's blog here

KIMBO and LT Backyard Lifting Session

Today's News

Glorious.....Rachelle Leah to pose in Playboy....there is a god

Elite XC cancels the Sept. 20th show in New Mexico.....sounds like trouble

MMA Payout shares their thoughts on the cancellation
Fight Opinion also weighs in on the topic
MMA on Tap also drops some knowledge

ShoXC results and Recap are here

Thiago Alves ready to KO Diego Sanchez via Chicago Sun Times

Cro Cop and Overeem exchange words

The Official UFC fight card for UFC 88(Sept. 6th) is out

MAIN CARD

• Rashad Evans vs. Chuck Liddell
• Rich Franklin vs. Matt Hamill
• Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
• Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares
• Martin Kampmann vs. Nate Marquardt

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Kurt Pellegrino vs. Thiago Tavares
• Tim Boetsch vs. James Lee
• Matt Brown vs. Dong Hyun Kim
• Roan Carneiro vs. Ryo Chonan
• Jason Day vs. Jason Lambert

Ken Flo's brother Kirk looking to make his amateur debut

MMA Fix has some YUM

Lindland vs. Shields @ Affliction II?

“Right now I have a really good offer on the table to fight a top 185-pounder. I’m just waiting, hoping Elite (XC) will give me that opportunity to go out there and represent Elite and test myself.”

- Jake Shields

Details here

ShoXC Live 11 p.m. ET

While ShoXC is generally used as a proving ground before fighting in EliteXC, there still will be some interesting match ups tonight. Cyrille “The Snake” Diabate is particularly interesting because Team Quest brought him in to help Dan Henderson train for Anderson Silva. Tonight will also debut the 130 lbs women's fight class featuring Debi Purcell (sweet back tat Luke pointed out earlier in the week) against British fighter Rosi Sexton.

This may not be worth a live watch, but definitely worth a slot on your tivo.

Early News

“The district attorney’s office is responsible for filing charges and [Jackson’s] case is still under investigation based on some new evidence that has been discovered,” Orange County D.A. Spokesperson Farrah Emami told Sherdog.com. “There were different incidents that occurred in different jurisdictions. We’re looking at all of this as one potential case. The recommendations of the police are taken into consideration, but it could be more charges or less charges, depending on what the evidence reports.”

Here is the latest in the Rampage Jackson saga

Josh Barnett and Tank Abbott tango in a Pro Wrestling Match

Dana White talks Donald Trump in Interview with Playboy

Lesnar's right seriously jacked up The Crazy Horse, he may need surgery

Belfort is out of Affliction II, Jake Shields looking for someone to fight

UFC upstart Cain Velasquez is finding it difficult to find opponents

Lee "Lightning" Murray Devises the Greatest Cash Robbery Ever

Side Note Lee lost his Cage Rage Middleweight Belt to Anderson Spider Silva by unanimous decision.

Might as well be a bullseye....

Elite XC women's fighter Debi Purcell may not reach a nationwide audience because of a unique tattoo on her lower back region. One would think it would create some great "money shots" for CBS's cameras but what do I know. No, I won't be calling it a tramp stamp because this chick could probably break my arm. Details are here.

We wants the money Lebowski.......

"They’re still trying to call me the heavyweight champion. I resigned and relinquished the title. Nogueira’s in my opinion the champion now in the UFC…I need to be free and clear of that before I can pursue this fight somewhere else with Fedor (Emelianenko). I’d love for the UFC to step up and make the fight happen. It has the potential to be the biggest mixed martial arts fight to date…It has the potential to do 700,000+ pay-per-view buys which is a helluva lotta money. I think 6-10 [million should be the salary] for each of us and they’re still gonna make a boatload of money on top of that."

Early News

Kevin Iole talks some Fedor....“I don’t consider myself on top of the pedestal,” said Emelianenko

Hughes versus Serra grudge match should go down sometime in January or February....that would add a lot of hype to a Super Bowl weekend card

MMARated gives their Top 5 Topics for discussion this week

Some interesting anti-Pro Wrestling banter

Pete Sell versus Josh Burkman @ UFC 90

Babalu and Bobby Southworth to fight at the Playboy Mansion show

Fedor interview with Mix Fight: Interesting Info on Aleks

Q: Your brother Aleksander was supposed to compete in the past Affliction event. What was the reason they would not let him in the ring? Many are afraid, that a similar situation will repeat during next event.
A: I cannot comment in any way on this situation. Aleksander really was removed from competing because of some blood analyzes. So I cannot really say anything.

Rest of the interview is here

BJ/GSP II may not be on in 2008

“In the course of the last week, UFC president Dana White indicated that he’d like to come back to Montreal before the end of the year,” St. Pierre said. “On my end, however, I don’t know if I’ll be stepping back into the Octagon before 2009. I’ve fought four times in the last 12 months. I therefore need some rest. I like the life I lead, but I sometimes need to relax.”

MMAonTap.com reports GSP is thinking about some time off.

Strikeforce Denver on Oct. 3rd

Duane "Bang" Ludwig versus Sam Morgan

Phil "New York Badass" Baroni versus Frank Trigg

What happened to the record breaking deal?

"We've got a contract, and it's just not feasible," Atencio said.

SI.com updates us on the deal that never happened. Maybe Affliction isn't overpaying for everybody? Unfortunately, Tito has been down this path before and he ended up missing a year's worth of money. Details here

Fightlinker.com pens a letter to KenFlo

"Don’t get me wrong Kenny boy; you didn’t lose. At no time did you look like you were in danger. You avoided Huerta’s endless superman punches, and every time he looked like he was closing in, you fucking danced out of the way. If I didn’t know better, I could have sworn that a “Freaky Friday” like scenario had played out between you and Machida."

More of the letter here

Fedor talks Brock Lesnar with MMA Fix

UFC confirms two bouts for UFC 90

Goran Reljic versus Thales Leites

Matt Horwich versus Ricardo Almeida

Details here

Early News

MMAWeekly updates their world rankings......as much as we all want to see BJ take on GSP I have to say that Thiago Alves deserves a shot as well. It will be interesting to see how it plays out after that fight for both fighters because there are contenders at both 170 and 185 lbs that deserve title shots ahead of this match up.

Highly regarded trainer Greg Jackson provides his top five fighters in each weight class

Speaking of rankings, the pound for pound debate continues on Sherdog.

More professional athletes are adopting MMA style training regimes. Last off season Jared Allen dove into the sport and responded with a huge year. Looks like some Redskins got into the mix this off season. I could see Chris Cooley giving it a run in the future.

Interesting look at the life new Affliction fighter Jay Hieron

Jim Miller versus David Baron rumored for UFC 89 in England

Former IFL middleweight champ Matt Horwich signs with the UFC

SI.com has some Q&A with The Natural

US Olympic Gymnast Alicia Sacramone is.....

Hot and has a great left hook. MMA Girls uncovered a great clip of her on youtube punching some drunk college kid at Brown. Who knew people at Brown drank? I thought they all went Emo before Emo was Emo and now they were in the stage of creating a new fad for wimpy people with deeply held anger issues, but I digress. The chick is smoking, a gymnast and could probably beat up the jerk at your office who makes fun of you, dare I say every man's dream. Details and Video Here. Funny her bio on NBC sports doesn't mention anything about an amateur boxing career, Costas why haven't you gotten to this story yet?

Photo via NBC Sports

Mike Goldberg needs to chill.....

With Leather brings this famous clip via Cage Potato. Rogan at his best is all I can say and Mike STFU.

Can we please just make this fight happen?

Couture and Fedor met last night in Los Angeles for a photo shoot and then had some dinner. No word on desert or possible love ins, but MMAPayout.com says that their respective management teams have been talking and they may be working with the UFC to get something done. Details are here. MMAPayout is anticipating over one million PPV buys if promoted by the UFC. Get it done Dana, the money is there for the taking.

Ken Flo is on point

Florian spoke on MMAWeekly radio and voiced his desire to fight again before the year is up, despite the fact that he would be risking a title shot at BJ Penn should he lose. Good move on Florian's part, because I think he needs to beat a bigger 155 lb fighter to show he is ready for BJ and a fight against the winner of Sherk/Griffin is a perfect opportunity. Kenny is on an impressive win streak, but most of his wins have come against classic 155 lb fighters. The reality is that in the UFC, the top 155 lb fighters are mostly guys who used to fight at 170 lbs(Ken Flo started his career at 170 lbs) so they are actually pretty big. I would say Huerta fits into that "big" 155 lb category and his win on Saturday night was a good one, but it was a far cry from the dominating performances he has had over the last year. I firmly believe that Ken Flo's technical skills are top notch, but I think he needs to put on some more muscle so he can handle the bigger guys and take advantage of his superior technical skills.

Rampage vs. Shogun 2 in December?

MMAMania is reporting that Shogun spoke at a recent training seminar and said that he would be fighting Rampage, not Mark Coleman, in December.

Heath Herring's Walk Out Music.........

........was a lot better than his performance in the Lesnar fight. The Savage Science did some research and found out that it is a Canadian country band. I know what you are the thinking, Canadian Country Band...WTF. Anyways the tune was pretty bad ass. Here is the article. The actual song is below, it is called "Waitin on Hank"

Early News

The Pioneer Press wasn't impressed with the UFC being in Minnesota

UFC 87 broke the gate record for the Target Center

Some sweet clips of the Jon Jones fight

Dana White says the UFC will be doing some fights in the Philippines....Music to Brandon Vera's ears I am sure

Matt Hughes blogs about his experience at UFC 87

Joes Diesel Riggs will fight Kazou Misaki as Strikeforce returns to the Playboy Mansion on September 20th

Wandy talks a December return against Rampage

Fightopinion.com says Kimbo Slice appears in an ad for Madden '09 anyone got a clip?

Photo of the Day: Hamburger Anyone

On thing is for sure and that is Jon Fitch is one tough MoFo.

Photo via MMAWeekly.com

Fedor talks to SI.com's Jordan Gross

"I think definitely by New Year's Eve I'll be ready to go," the 31-year-old Russian told SI.com Sunday. More of the article here

Eiko Koike Totally Legit.......God I love Japanese TV

"Fighting Fedor" = Worst Reality Show Idea Ever

MMAWeekly is reporting that Fedor has signed on with a group called Blue Entertainment Sports Television or BLUE. The group plans to produce a reality show in which fighters train at the Red Devil Academy and compete for a chance to WAMMA Heavyweight Champ Fedor at the end of the show. Does Fedor really need to take on another cupcake fighter? Seriously, after two years of pretty much facing nobody we got a 20 second beating of Tim Sylvia, can we please get one more legit fight before you head back to fighting ten foot tall Koreans? Details here

Roy Nelson versus Paul Buentello

“Affliction has the best heavyweights in the world, and I’ve got to go (there),” he explained. “The only way I can fight the best is to be where the best is.”

Former IFL heavyweight champ Roy "Big Country" Nelson has been signed by Affliction to fight on the Oct. 11th card versus Paul Buentello. Should be an interesting match up, details here.

More Thoughts on UFC 87

Overall, I would give the entire event a B. I thought Lesnar was great and the GSP/Fitch war was excellent, but Florian/Huerta was a total bust. The other fights had spurts of entertainment, but I was not that impressed. Sure it was exciting to see Emerson finish Manny is 12 seconds, but that seemed to be more about terrible game planning on Manny's part than Emerson's skill level. Kongo KO'd a guy who hadn't fought a professional fight since Bodog's USA/Russia event and Damien Maia submitted a tough Jason McDonald. I did think it was pretty funny that no one even talked about a possible BJ Penn versus Florian title fight and that it was immediately BJ versus GSP. Florian is certainly an entertaining fighter, but this performance was merely okay. Huerta never looked into the fight, but Florian still couldn't finish him. In my opinion it shows that the UFC really doesn't think Florian is that legit a contender if they are giving BJ a shot at the 170 title without even defending his 155 belt once. All in all, I think the event justified the $40 price tag, but I have seen better events in the past year.

Dude....Nice Right Hand!

By now you have probably seen or heard about what Brock Lesnar did to Heath Herring on Saturday night, but if you have not then you should dial it up ASAP, because you'll want to see one of the most awesome right hands ever. How is this for a guy who has no stand up? Fake the take down, fake the left hook, straight right to the eye of Herring and it was pretty much done after that. I am not going to say I predicted this result, but I knew Lesnar presented a physical challenge that Herring had never seen before or for that matter any other heavyweight fighter. At no point was Herring ever in the fight and he spent the majority of his time in the ring trying to get out from under the former pro wrestler. So much for Lesnar's lack of experience? He successfully dodged and weaved from Herring's take downs and strikes. He was so elusive that at one point he escaped a take down and strike from Herring all the while laughing at him. The question now is, who is up next for Lesnar? Mark Coleman has to look at that fight and be glad he was injured. The Hammer was an awesome and dominating heavyweight in his prime, but I don't think this version of the Hammer is up to the task physically. The two names that really standout are Gonzaga and Werdum. They both a significant talents and slightly better fighters than Herring, but not quite the level of Big Nog. This is where losing Tim Sylvia and Arlovski hurts the UFC, because you have a star in Lesnar, but the backlog of fighters in the heavyweight division is pretty short. No announcements have been made, but I would bet Lesnar is on the last card of 2008 with either Gonzaga or Werdum. My bet is Werdum.

Photo via Combat Lifestyle

Today's News: GSP vs. Penn II

We'll get to Saturday's fights later today, the Bushwhackers were slightly hungover yesterday from a night of Patron shots and Margarita's and we apologize for not posting. Hopefully you can forgive us.

Kevin Iole talks the "Next Big Thing"

Bloodyelbow.com eats some humble pie

Not everyone is pleased with Brock right now

Sherdog's Jordan Breen drops some wisdom

Fight Bonuses from Saturday night

Octagon Buzz has notes from Saturday night

Quick Hits from MMAFrenzy.com

Affliction II: Rizzo vs. Rothwell Announced

Definitely an good match up for fight fans as both fighters are looking to rebound from losses at Affliction: Banned, but I think this highlights a major problem the Affliction promotion has which is a lack of young fighters to challenge true contenders. The Pedro Rizzo versus Josh Barnett fight made sense for the first Affliction show because Rizzo was Barnett's only loss on US soil and it was a good way to set up a fight with Fedor if he also won and was healthy. This fight is much less attractive because Rizzo is clearly on his way out of the sport and Rothwell is on his way up or at his prime. Will it be a good show for the fans? Probably, but I would personally rather see Rothwell fight a young, hungry fighter than an old retread that fans merely recognize by name at this point. It is similar to when Tito and Ken Shamrock fought two times a couple of years ago, only without the animosity, sure it was cool to see Tito finish a fight, but it didn't really prove anything. Memo to Affliction, if you want to be successful in this game find the sport's next stars and pit them against the best, because they will fight for less money and they are willing to risk more, which means a better show for the fans. Plus, you are able to build your own stars as opposed to buying someone else's.

Today's News: Fight Day

“The misconception is, and the thing that people are getting wrong, is that (I realize) I’m blessed I was part of the UFC and I’m blessed with what they’ve done for me,” Huerta said softly amid a din Thursday following a public news conference at Mall of America. “I wouldn’t be in the situation I’m in if it weren’t for them. They’ve done so much for the sport.”

Roger Huerta clarifies his comments from FIGHT magazine(sorry for missing this yesterday)

MMAMemories have some thoughts on Lesnar's chances tonight

MMAMania has updated betting lines for tonight's action

The Iceman's brother will get a Super Heavyweight Bout

LATimes talks Roger Huerta

Cage Today has their predictions for tonight

Yummmmm of the day

Dana White attacked by crazy woman at yesterday's press conference

Butch's UFC 87 Picks

Jon Fitch v GSP

This fight could be a very exciting fight or it could be over in the first round. Fitch is an all american wrestler (Purdue) and GSP is known as one of the best pound for pound fighters. GSP has had success versus wrestlers in the past, he dominated Josh Koscheck with great takedown defense. That is great and all, but I think Fitch has something else going for him...heat. I think GSP is mental midget. He let Serra blow up his spot last April because he did not think anything of him. While I do not expect GSP to make the same mistake twice, I also think it is important to note that he has never had a real "battle" in the octagon. I think fight will be a brawl and really test GSP. I have Fitch winning a decision.

Kenny Florian v Roger Huerta

Many have this as the fight of year. I, however, have a slightly different view. Huerta is a great story (watch the countdown episode if you have not. I really feel for Roger and no kid should have to go through what he did)and is a perfect 6-0 in UFC competition. Florian, on the other hand, is riding a four fight win streak follwoing his loss to Sean Shrek. What people need to realize is that Huerta has yet to fight anybody worth a damn. If you look at the 6 fighters he has faced in the UFC, only one remains with the organization (Guida) and their overall record in UFC competition is 4-13. Dana White is pushing this fight because he needs to reach the Mexican crowd and have them buy the PPV. Huerta has poor defense and his lack of experience against worthly fighters will do him in. Florian via TKO round 1.

Brock Lesnar v Heath Herring

This is a highly anticipated fight with Brock fighting in front of his home crowd in Minnesota. Heath Herring is hungry to prove that he is top heavyweight and deserves a title shot following the Decemeber fight between Mir and Nog. Lesnar is beast weighing in at 265 and also an incredible athlete. He ran a 4.7 40 yard dash weighing 290. Even with all of Lesnar's athletic ability, his chin has not been tested and I think the Texas Crazy Horse will take him with a head kick in the 2nd round

Other Fights:

Gamburyan Submission round 2
McDonald Unanimous decision
McCrory Unanimous decision
Kongo TKO round 3
Gusmao TKO round 2
Chris Wilson TKO round 1
Ben Saunders Unanimous decision

Photo of the Day: Remains of Rampage

This picture is of one of the cars Rampage hit. The owner, Holli Griggs, suffered a miscarriage after the accident. The photo comes from Thebloodyelbow.com and a detailed article can be found here.

WAMMA talks about Arlovski/Barnett "Elimination Match"

It is an interesting interview and the COO of the WAMMA has some great quotes, check the interview here.

"Without question, WAMMA would have very much liked to have a WAMMA Championship on the line between GSP and Fitch. It is a natural fit - the fighters occupy the #1 and #2 WAMMA rankings respectively. However, the UFC is not cooperating with WAMMA at this time and even if we were to award a WAMMA title to the winner, the fighters could not accept them. WAMMA has the utmost respect for the UFC and we hope this situation changes as the UFC is clearly the dominant MMA promotion. Just look at our ranking on www.gowamma.com - Zuffa fighters dominate most weight division. Back to GSP v. Fitch, I personally will be glued to the television Saturday night to watch that fight."

Dana White’s UFC 87 Video Blog for August 7

MMA getting some Mainstream Blog Coverage

WithLeather.com has their thoughts on tomorrow nights action here

Countdown to UFC 87 Luke's Picks

Before we get into the analysis of tomorrow's fight I want to mention that while the Huerta/Florian part of the show last night was entertaining, the fact that they spent a scant two minutes on the Lesnar/Herring fight was ridiculous. Lesnar is the highest paid fighter on the card and he is coming off a loss. Like it or not this is a must win for him and for the UFC as well. The UFC invested a lot of dough in a thus far unproven commodity and as all fight fans know, two losses in a row is just one fight away from being banished to minor leagues. I would hold up Cro Cop as an example of how quickly things can turn south even for the most polished, experienced and devastating fighters. This sport is fickle, you either make it or you are washed up. The only fighter who has consistently comeback after devastating losses is Randy Couture and that is because he is the most mentally tough fighter ever. I don't know it seems to me that if a fighter at Lesnar's pay grade is in that desperate of a position you might want to highlight how much he needs to win, but hey that's just my two cents. Here are my picks for tomorrow night...

Main card

Welterweight Championship bout: Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch

GSP's major issue is mental toughness. There is no doubt that he is probably a stronger, faster and more skilled fighter than Fitch, but if Fitch makes it a war, like he has for most of his eight victories in the Octagon, is GSP going to be able to keep his head in it for 25 minutes? Just looking at the demeanor of the two fighters GSP seems very serious and focused, now that could also mean that he is uptight and nervous, but I don't know him personally. Fitch is acting like he does before all his fights, relaxed and as if he has nothing to lose. If Fitch is able to make it a war and fight a bloody, messy fight, I think he has a great chance to win. However, he said something last night on the Countdown show that worried me and that was that he likes to get himself into the submission holds of opponents to transfer into positions of dominance. That's not going to work with a top notch fighter like GSP or really any champion for that matter. If he goes with that mentality, this fight will be over in round one or two. I am guessing Fitch goes with what he is used to and gets caught in the first or second round.

Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta

So much has been said about this fight in the media that I am not going to spend that much time talking about it. Ken Flo is the more experienced and dominant fighter, all of his wins come from KOs or Submissions. Huerta has the heart of a lion and he uses his dark childhood to overcome any adversity he faces in the ring. Huerta is an admirable character, but I don't think he has the experience yet to beat Kenny and as a result I have Kenny taking a decision victory.

Heavyweight bout: Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring

This is my fight of the night. Both of these fighters have really stepped their games up and are hungry for a victory. Oh did I mention that they are both giants and extremely athletic? Herring's comparison to King Kong versus Godzilla is not far off. I am going with Brock here, because he is desperate, I don't care what he or the UFC say, he must win this fight.

Lightweight bout: Manny Gamburyan vs. Rob Emerson

How does this fight make the main card and not Kongo? Manny wins via submission

Middleweight bout: Jason MacDonald vs. Demian Maia

How does this fight make the main card and not Kongo? MacDonald wins via TKO

Preliminary card
Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Dan Evensen

What they couldn't get a big name to fight Kongo? Evensen last fought in the now defunct Bodog Fight and is 10-2 so he should provide a decent test for Kongo. Kongo takes home the victory.

Welterweight Bout: Chris Wilson vs. Steve Bruno

I'll take Chris Wilson to win

Welterweight Bout: Ben Saunders vs. Ryan Thomas

Ryan Thomas to win

Welterweight Bout: Luke Cummo vs. Tamdan McCrory

Carzy Luke Cummo to win

Light Heavyweight bout: Andre Gusmao vs. Jon Jones

Jon Jones to win, both fighters making UFC debuts should be interesting