Author: Maggie Hendricks

Hopefully, you tuned in to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on ESPN Saturday night and watched 10 fantastic matches, crazy coaches hopping around and Iowa dominate their way to the team title.

You also saw some wrestlers who could make fantastic fighters. Some of our favorites:

Angel Escobedo, Indiana — The four-time All-American showed toughness throughout his collegiate career at 125 lbs., battling through injuries to earn four top-five finishes, including a national championship. His speed and flexibility could make for a good transition to the flyweight or featherweight class.

Brent Metcalf, Iowa — I asked on Twitter who people would most like to see move to MMA, and every single response was, "Metcalf." The dominating 149-lb. champion is known for a relentless style and an unceasing work ethic which are both great qualities of a fighter. However, Metcalf is committed to winning at least two Olympic gold in wrestling, so even if he were interested in fighting, it would have to wait.  

Lance Palmer, Ohio State — Palmer was Metcalf’s opponent in the finals. Though he lost this bout, he is one of the few wrestlers to have beaten Metcalf, having done it in the finals of the Big Ten championships. Palmer, who has already said he plans to fight, will use his takedown defense and riding ability to make a name for himself as a fighter.

Kyle Dake, Cornell — This true freshman won a national championship — and helped his team to a second place finish — with a hard-nosed, physical style. However, since he is so young, even if he does want to fight, we won’t get to see Dake in a cage for a few years. 

Other notes from the NCAA wrestling championships:

— During Saturday night’s broadcast, Bellator fighter Ben Askren was shown cheering on his brother Max, who won the 184-lb. title for the University of Missouri. Ben’s hand was taped up, but he told Cagewriter that he sustained a minor injury and will have no problem fighting on Apr. 15 for the start of the Bellator tournament.

— Anthony Robles, Arizona State’s 125-lb. wrestler who has one leg, took seventh place and earned Robles his second straight All-American status. 

— Former UFC fighter Jake Rosholt was on hand to see his brother Jared take second at heavyweight for Oklahoma State. 

— The 80 All-Americans represent 39 different schools. Of that group was Justin Lister of Binghamton, a school that cut their wrestling program and then brought it back.

— Mitchell Monteiro of Cal. St.-Bakersfield was also in that group, and as the Bakersfield program has been dropped, he is that school’s last All-American.

The elbow that ended Brandon Vera’s bout with Jon Jones at UFC on Versus 1 also did serious damage to Vera’s face. Jeremy Botter first reported that Vera’s face was broken in three places, and Cagewriter sources confirmed that Vera can’t board a plane due to the injuries.

Jones’ elbows may be one of the most vicious weapons in MMA. Those elbows are what cut up Matt Hamill’s face in their December bout. Though Hamill won that fight because of Jones’ illegal elbow, the message sent from both that bout and Sunight’s is clear. If you get hit with a Jon Jones elbow, your fight is not going to last very long. 

In a weird bout on the UFC’s first card on the Versus network, Cheick Kongo won by submission over Paul Buentello. "The Headhunter" submitted to strikes at 1:16 in round three.

Though he’s known for his stand-up, Kongo took the fight to the ground in the first round. He took down Buentello, originally a boxer, several times, giving Kongo the ability to control the fight. In a weird moment, Buentello’s finger was injured, and the fight was
paused to fix the finger and the glove, and then the fight was
restarted with Kongo finishing the round out strong.

Kongo was controlling the second round when he threw an illegal knee to Buentello’s head. Buentello was given a minute to recover, and Kongo was docked a point. When the fight was restarted, Kongo continued to beat down Buentello with kicks, knees and takedowns.

In the third round, Kongo again took Buentello down, and tried a new strategy, throwing sharp elbows into Buentello’s thighs. Finally, Buentello couldn’t take it any more, and tapped out.

Since returning to the UFC, Buentello is winless, while this win breaks a two-match losing streak for Kongo. 

Reader Jeff Pelton suggested this lookalike pair: Kansas City Chiefs‘ wide receiver Amani Toomer and UFC middleweight champ — and sometimes ninja — Anderson Silva. Silva will face Demian Maia on April 10 while Toomer won’t have to take the field for a real game until the end of August. 

Do you have a suggestion for fighter lookalikes? Send it here. 

Today, as much of the country descends into March Madness, discussing brackets, Gus Johnson and which #15 seed has the best chance to upsetting a #2 seed, fight fans should care about a different tournament that will take place in Omaha, Neb.

The NCAA Division I wrestling tournament.

Why should fight fans care? First, wrestling is an integral part of MMA. Wrestlers can dictate the location of a fight, and wrestlers are well-equipped to handle the training, weight management and competition demands of a fight career. Learn the basics of wrestling, and you’re already a better fan. 

Secondly, many of your favorite fighters have competed in this very tournament. Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Mark Coleman, Rashad Evans, Brock Lesnar, Urijah Faber, Muhammed Lawal, Chael Sonnen and many, many more top fighters wrestled for their schools at the NCAA tournament. Tune in, and you’ll see the future of fighting. 

What should you look for?

Traditional powers are back at the top: Iowa and Oklahoma St. long ruled the wrestling terrain, but both experienced dips this decade. Those days are over. Iowa is looking for its third national championship in a row, while Oklahoma State took the Big 12 championship. Iowa State and Ohio State will look to challenge for the team titles. 

Will coaching changes make a difference? The biggest news in wrestling this past summer was that Cael Sanderson, the arguably greatest college wrestler of all time, left the head coaching job at his alma mater, Iowa State, for Penn St. Former Olympic coach Kevin Jackson took over at Iowa St. This tournament is a perfect test for both coaches.

Ohio State’s Lance Palmer vs. Iowa’s Brent Metcalf: After losing four times to the seemingly invincible Metcalf in the 149-lb. weight class, Palmer pulled out the win over Metcalf at the Big Ten championships (pictured above). Assuming both wrestlers get to the finals, this should be a match for the ages.

Arizona St.’s Anthony Robles: By now, the wrestling community is used to seeing Robles dominate at 125 lbs. Only Indiana’s Angel Escobedo and Edinboro’s Eric Morrill have beaten him this season. You should look for Robles for more than his winning ways. He was born with one leg, but that didn’t stop him from winning All-American honors last season. 

The tournament starts Thursday morning, and you can follow along here and here. You can also follow me on Twitter as I tweet from the championships starting Thursday evening. ESPN, ESPNU and ESPN360 will provide coverage of the tournament all weekend long.  

Our friend Conner Cordova begged UFC Octagon Girl Arianny Celeste to accompany him to his high school prom. She finally said yes, with a few stipulations, and last night, on "The George Lopez Show," Cordova and Celeste met for the first time.

At around the four-minute mark, Lopez helps Cordova out by pointing out that a kiss is quite often part of prom. Cordova and Celeste go to prom this Saturday, and before that are hosting a pre-party to raise funds for Haiti relief.

In Wednesday night’s edition of UFC Primetime, the welterweight champ tries on the haircut of his opponent on Mar. 27, Dan Hardy. Skip to about 1:15 to see how a mohawk fits Georges St. Pierre. 

In an instance of life imitating art, GSP said that he needs a cane to complete his "pimp" look. 

Before UFC 110 in Australia, the fighters took a spin around the Sydney Harbor in what had to have been one of the most awkward boat rides of all time. "Hey, I know we’re going to punch each other in the face tomorrow, but that powerboating was AWESOME!" Take a shot at a caption in the comments and read on for winners of our previous create-a-caption.

First place: Don and Shonie contemplate Dana’s offer to remake Blazing Saddles. 
— Allen

Second place: Shonie Carter and the mustache have words. Don Frye just tries to stay
out of it. — AdamG

Third place: UFC decides to change fighter match-ups from weight classes to age
classes. Shonie Carter and Don Frye square off to meet in a battle of
the 37 year olds. Frye had to work hard in order to make the cut to 37. 
— Clint

Bellator Fighting Championships announced Monday its biggest signing yet, former UFC lightweight Roger Huerta. Huerta will fight in Bellator’s lightweight tournament on April 8. If he wins, he’ll move onto fight in May and June. 

In a press conference Monday afternoon, Huerta said that he sees this opportunity to fight with Bellator as a second chance for his career. He quickly rose to the top of the UFC lightweight division, but then fell out of favor with losses to Kenny Florian and Gray Maynard and controversial comments about his employer.

Huerta wants to put all that behind him, and thinks that Bellator’s tournament format is the perfect way for him to do that. He said that he likes that he can fight in April, May and June, and that he controls his own destiny.

"It’s like March Madness. The best team is going to win. It’s perfect for me," Huerta said.

If he gets through the lightweight, eight-man tournament, Huerta will face season one winner Eddie Alvarez. 

Huerta’s last bout was in September, a decision loss to Gray Maynard. Before that, he had last fought in August of 2008, and was beat by Kenny Florian. In between fights, Huerta tried acting, with a roles in the movie "Tekken" and "Circle of Pain."

This announcement not only marks a return to fighting for Huerta, but a major coup for Bellator. Huerta is the only mixed martial artist to ever appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and the popularity he will bring to the new promotion will help it as is moves from being just on ESPN Deportes to a wider distribution that will include Fox Sports, NBC and Telemundo.

The signing also is a risk for Huerta. Since he comes into the Bellator lightweight tournament as the most highly touted fighter, he will also have a target on his back, but he said that he is looking forward to the challenge.

"I’m hungry. I’m ready."

When Miguel Torres was submitted by Joseph Benavidez at WEC 47, it was only the third loss of Torres’ career, but he’s not crawling into a hole and crying. No, Torres has a good sense of humor about the loss.

On Sunday, he tweeted that he needed to get the massive cut in his forehead restitched. Now at the doctor’s office, he shared with the forms he filled out with his followers. 

I think my favorite response is "Modifying factors: rims and a paint job." It is refreshing to see that the bout with Benavidez didn’t give Torres any heart trouble. 

Last week, baseball player-turned-wannabe fighter Jose Canseco said that he’ll spend a day with anyone if they’re willing to pay him $1,000. He said on Twitter that, "We can go bowling, work out, we can spar MMA-style, play any sport." Travis, a 28-year-old graphic designer wants to take him up on that. (Warning: there’s a bit of NSFW language in the video.)

Apparently, as a young man, Canseco stood up Travis at an autograph signing, and he wants revenge. Now, Travis is hardly training with Cesar Gracie, and points out that he isn’t exactly in fighting shape.

But that didn’t stop him from starting the website, "I Want to Fight Jose Canseco." Travis said that he will gladly pay the $1,000 for the chance to fight Canseco. Since Canseco’s only pursuit is money, why not give Travis the chance? It’s no better than the Herschel Walker bout that Canseco has been trying to get. 

Thanks to reader Tyler for the heads-up. 

Rumors ran rampant around Twitter and different MMA sites today that the planned bout between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz was off, and that Liddell would instead face Rich Franklin.

Those rumors were all refuted by one simple tweet from UFC president Dana White.  

Ortiz and Liddell are coaches of the upcoming eleventh season of "The Ultimate Fighter." The bout will be the third between them, with Liddell winning the first two bouts. Though some sites reported that Tito Ortiz had left the taping of TUF, White said via Twitter that, "Nothing happened to Tito. Tito and I are cool."

The fight for Franklin will be his first since getting TKOed by Vitor Belfort in September, while Couture is coming off of two wins: a tight decision over Brandon Vera and a rear naked choke of fellow Hall-of-Famer Mark Coleman. White did not say when the bout between Couture and Franklin would happen. 

Happy Friday, Cagewriter readers. Here’s a quick rundown of news you need to know. If you’re a boxing fan, don’t forget to check in with Yahoo! Sports’ coverage of Pacquaio vs. Clottey. 

— Rachelle Leah is going to step back into her old role, one time only, as an Octagon Girl at UFC 111. In case you forgot what she looks like, we were kind enough to show you in the picture above.

— Strikeforce’s Jason "Mayhem" Miller, "King" Mo Lawal and Miesha Tate will be on MTV2’s "Rock ‘n’ Jock Countdown," a show which has, according to my cable guide, "Hosts engage in a variety of activities and sporting events while introducing music videos." Tune in Saturday at 11 a.m. ET. Lawal will fight Gegard Mousasi for the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt on April 17 and Tate is taking on Zoila Frausto at Strikeforce: Challengers on March 26.

— The WEC just added many fights to WEC 48, the pay-per-view event on April 24: Takeya Mizugaki vs. Rani Yahya, Brandon Visher vs. Tyler Toner, Cub Swanson vs. Chan Sung Jung and Brad Pickett vs. Demetrious Johnson.

— Do you wanna be a [expletive]in’ fighter? "The Ultimate Fighter" tryouts for lightweights and light heavyweights will take place in Charlotte, N.C., on April 1.

— Want to see Alistair Overeem hit a woman or a little girl? He’s so classy in that way. Check it out at Fightlinker. 

The UFC has been working for years to get MMA legalized in the state of New York, and though they’ve inched closer to seeing the sport in the Empire State, they’re not quite there yet. That won’t keep them from trying to get into New York City in every imaginable way, though.

Since UFC 111 in Newark, N.J., sold out, the UFC is having a viewing party at the famed Radio City Music Hall, with appearances from Chuck Liddell, Matt Serra and Stephan Bonnar. 

"We are holding this viewing party so all of our fans in New York can experience UFC 111 at the iconic Radio City Music Hall, one of the coolest places in the city, and with some of our biggest UFC stars," said Dana White via press release.

Tickets for the viewing party are $25 in advance, $30 the day of the event, and on sale here. Before the viewing party, the pre-fight press conference will also be at RCMH and will be free and open to the public. Check it out on Wednesday, March 24 at 1:30 ET. 

A year ago today, Charles "Mask" Lewis, one of Tapout’s founders, was killed in a car accident. Fighters have taken to Twitter and their personal websites to remember the man who helped them with their careers. Kenny Florian remembered Mask on Twitter, and Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone did a post filled with pictures on his site. 

Members of the fight world still remember the contribution he and Tapout made to the growth of MMA. Dan "Punkass" Caldwell, a member of the Tapout crew said: 

"I feel like I learned so much in that period of time with him. I just want to use that experience and use that knowledge to go out there and affect people like he would have wanted. … That’s what his intentions were when he dealt with people. It was always about affecting that person and leaving them with a positive feeling. Even if you only met someone for a minute." 

In the year since his death, Lewis has been remembered by the WEC, which has "Mask" written on their cages, and the UFC, who inducted Mask into the Hall of Fame in the summer of 2009.

Two brothers in Massachusetts brought home medals from the New England North American Grappling Association tournament. In itself, that’s not noteworthy, until you learn that one of the brothers is a cancer survivor, and the other has dealt with bullying.

“The medals were a great thrill for all of us,” said their mother, Rhonda Callum-King. She said that training in jiu-jitsu and Brazilian wrestling/grappling with Master Doug MacDonald “has made the boys stronger and tougher.”

Callum-King said wrestling is helping both of her boys overcome challenges: Rory with his leukemia, and Connor with bullying.

Rory was diagnosed with cancer when he just 2 years old. A bone marrow transplant from his brother Connor was successful, but Rory still faces health problems that stem from his bout with cancer. Connor faced bullies at school.

But both have found a haven in jiu-jitsu and grappling, and found strength to get through their problems.

Master Doug MacDonald, who has been teaching martial arts in Hudson for 30 years, said he is very pleased with both boys’ performance. “Classes are definitely helping them to build strength, while teaching them self-discipline and perseverance,” he said. 

Any fighter will tell you about the importance of Brazilian jiu-jitsu in their fight game. But in focusing on the top flight fighters and only how their jiu-jitsu helps them win, we forget all that jiu-jitsu teaches the children who are learning it every day.

Thanks to the Underground

Despite a fight card that had highlight knockouts, quick submissions, a championship belt changing hands and lots of blood, ratings for the WEC 47 broadcast on Versus were low. According to MMA Junkie, the fights drew a 0.46 share and 373,000 viewers.

In comparison, WEC 46, which featured Urijah Faber in his first bout back since injuring both hands in a fight with Mike Brown, and a title unification bout between Ben Henderson and Jamie Varner, drew 640,000 viewers. 

In Columbus, the fight card was a success. After strong walk-up and day before sales, 8,345 people filled Nationwide Arena, the WEC’s fifth largest crowd.

So what is the problem? Versus being pulled off DirecTV is partly to blame, but Versus was off DirecTV in January when WEC 46 pulled in such strong numbers.

Was it the line-up? Though Dominick Cruz and Brian Bowles, the card’s headliners, are not the most well-known fighters, Jens Pulver and Miguel Torres were on the card. Regardless of the fact that they both lost, they’re usually both popular enough to get people to watch.

The good news is that if you didn’t tune in, you still have a chance to see Scott Jorgensen’s foot-dangling submission, Cruz taking the bantamweight belt from Bowles and Torres’ head getting busted open by Joseph Benavidez’s elbow. WEC 47 is replaying on Versus tonight at 9 ET.

In the meantime, we want to know. Did you watch WEC 47? Why or why not? Take our poll and tell us in the comments.

The UFC and Spike are revisiting their popular "Primetime" series to hype UFC 111, coming up Saturday, March 27. In the short sneak preview that was released on YouTube, we learn that Georges St. Pierre can jump really, really high.

The last time the UFC and Spike did "Primetime," it was for St. Pierre’s fight with B.J. Penn at UFC 94. Will any training regimen that Hardy does be as cool as Penn running the rock underwater? Probably not, though we may get to see Hardy work on his wrestling in the required uniform. Hilarity will ensue. 

Tune in Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET on Spike. 

Before heading home from work, take a second and listen to UFC fighter Gerald Harris prank call Pat Barry and "King" Mo Lawal while they were on MMA Scraps radio.

Pat Barry is quite fond of kicks. In fact, when he stopped by our WEC 47 chat last week, Barry said that his favorite submission was to kick people in the head until they submitted. That makes Gerald’s line of questioning perfect:

"If you gonna fight somebody, you gotta stand up and punch ’em in the face and fight him like a man … Ya ever see somebody get kicked in the leg in football? NO."

Thanks to Cage Potato

In Columbus this past weekend, MMA legend Don Frye met up with MMA everywhereman Shonie Carter. They both were wearing awesome hats, so who would win the hat off? Take a shot at a caption in the comment sections, and read on for winners of our last Create-a-Caption that was so long ago. 

First place: No, Gator…Your chin is way too low. Keep it up in the air and out in front like this. — Rob R

Second place: Chuck Liddell tries to teach a new dog his old tricks. — Cubs Win! Cubs Win!

Third place: In this episode of Bully Beatdown, Mayhem enlists the help of the ‘Iceman’ to teach the bully that simply known as Gator a lesson. — EtherBunny