Author: Steve Cofield

Cage Potato described Dan Hardy’s latest video as an attempt to "piss people off." Wrong my friends! In this tribute to the wrestling singlet (and legends like Jerry "The King Lawler), Hardy makes fans of out of shape, hairy pro wrestlers very proud.

Please Nick Lembo, allow Hardy to don his sweet blue singlet in New Jersey at UFC 111 against Georges St. Pierre.

On a side note, what a job of acting by his mates at Team Rough House. A little advice, if you’re going to clown the strengths of your opponent and suggest that he’s one-dimensional why not go all out with the comedy? Dean Amasinger suggests that he was injured during a Hardy sprawl. Wearing a mega-cup a la GSP would’ve been a nice touch.

They say once you’ve been knocked out you’re more susceptible to the KO in subsuquent fights. Will that be the case with former WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres? And can 5-foot-3 Joe Benavidez reach the chin of the 5-9 Torres? Benavidez’s training partner Urijah Faber, also a former WEC champ, says Little Joe has been laying out bigger fighters throughout his training camp. 

James Toney may be a big mouth but he’s one smart dude. The IBA heavyweight champ put out the bait and he just hooked a big fish in the UFC. The 41-year-old boxer, whose paydays have dried up in the ring, has signed a deal with world’s biggest mixed martial arts promotion.

Toney began to lay his trap back in January after UFC 108. He crashed the postfight press conference at the MGM in Las Vegas and demanded that UFC president Dana White step up to the plate. After several meetings with White and several more videos where Toney said the prez was afraid to bring him against his "minor league" fighters, "Lights Out" finally got his deal. White confirmed to Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole that it was a done deal.  

The 6-foot, 230-pounder last boxed in September at a trimmer 217. Now the question is does Toney fight at 205 pounds or heavyweight in MMA? Remember this is a guy who started out his career as a middleweight and carries a pretty ample gut as a heavyweight. The last time he fought below 205 was in 2003 as a cruiserweight.

Later Wednesday, we’ll find out why exactly the UFC is rolling the dice on Toney. One reason has to be the quick payday via pay-per-view. The boxing vs. MMA matchup is likely to bring in a huge audience. Plus Toney will do his part to hype the hell out of the fight.

Luke Thomas of Bloody Elbow tweeted another likely scenario.  

The six weeks of taping is complete. We get to see the drama begin to unfold at the end of the month. You don’t want to see Chuck Liddell face Tito Ortiz for a third time? Before you make a decision, wait until you see season 11 of "The Ultimate Fighter." I haven’t seen or heard anything about the season but judging by what unfolded on Twitter last between Dana White, Chuck Liddell and "Jenna Jameson," it’s going to be nasty.

It all started out nicely a few days ago when a gracious Tito returned to Southern Cal after a month and a half in Las Vegas. 

Then UFC president Dana White, a good buddy of Liddell’s, fired off a tweet about a blog saying "The Iceman" was once again the "The Iceberg."

Jenna Jameson, which we’ll find out later was really Ortiz, fired the first shot. 

Then Liddell got wind of what he thought was the porn star spouting off. 

Then Jenna/Tito said in spite of going 0-2 in their first two fights, Ortiz never gave up. 

In between going at it with dozens of Twitter followers, Jenna/Tito also decided to lob a few bombs at Josh Koscheck. Koscheck, a buddy of Liddell’s told Cagewriter after UFC 106, that he would fight Ortiz (Video) after hearing all of his excuses for a loss to Forrest Griffin. 

As the night ended, Liddell fired off a few more at what he thought was Jameson. 

Not exactly sure what that means. Has Ortiz scolded Jameson in the past for her trash talks and attacks on White and other fighters? Then Ortiz buried the hatchet, for at least a few hours. 

Keep in mind the average of the three folks tweeting here is roughly 37 years old. That said, the Tito-Chuck-Dana heat is real will never go away. It should make for a good reality season and even better lead-up to the fight.

For the most part, "The Ultimate Fighter" has been a rousing success. Aside from a few embarrassing bumps in the road the reality show has provided a free outlet on Spike for the UFC to develop and introduce fighters, and even produced some the elite on its roster.

Then there’s that small downside. Just about every season, there have been incidents that have some people saying the show is bad for the sport. Between fights in the house and disgusting practical jokes, UFC president Dana White has been forced to intervene and decide if it was time for the participants to hit the road. No big deal, right? Well, that wasn’t the case for Marine Sergeant George Lockhart. The 27-year-old beat out hundreds of prospects to make season 11 but when it came time to leave for the six weeks of taping he was denied the opportunity by the commanding general of Training and Education Command Brig. Gen. Melvin Spiese, according to the Marine Corps Times.

Plus, Spiese worried the barbaric behavior displayed by some contestants during past seasons could become a public relations nightmare for the Corps, reflecting poorly on Lockhart and the service, according to 2nd Lt. Brian “Scott” Villiard, a TECom spokesman.

So the Marines, an advertising partner with the UFC, decided the show was too risky for one its own to participate in. Can you blame them? 

Lockhart’s been a Marine since 2001 and served two tours of duty in Iraq but he’s also been a fighter since age 16, which includes a loss to UFC veteran Edwin DeWees at 18. Now, because of guys like Junie Browning, Chris Leben, David Kaplan, Jesse Taylor, Dorian Price and Jon Koppenhaver, Lockhart has been denied his dream for now.  

"I can’t speak for anybody else, but I can tell you that here at the MACE, as long as they are doing their job, if they want to participate with MMA on their own time, I don’t have a problem with it as long as they maintain our Corps’ standards,” retired Lt. Col. Joseph Shusko told the Marine Corps Times. "I don’t think my guys would ever cross that line because they don’t want to ruin what they have in regard to representing our country, our Corps and everything."

Marines like Brian Stann and Luigi Fioravanti eventually got their chance. But for now Lockhart will have to wait and wonder, what if? 

It’s been a long road from obscurity to the edge of breaking through into the fighting elite for Dominick Cruz. Just over a year ago, he was on the non-televised portion of most WEC cards. Now, because of good timing and some impressive wins, the bantamweight has a chance to play spoiler and walk away with the 135 hardware.

Brian Bowles upset a WEC staple in Miguel Torres back in August at WEC 42. Because of injuries, Bowles has been on the shelf since. The WEC also is not fond of immediate rematches for champs who lose their belts, so when Cruz pulled a mild upset on Joe Benavidez at WEC 42, he moved to the front of the line. He knows that essentially he’s filling a spot for the promotion, which has to be hoping Bowles-Torres II survives this test. Torres also is fighting on the card against Benavidez. But he’s said even if Bowles loses, he’d rather fight the Georgian and not the new champ.

"I don’t take that personally, not one bit," Cruz told Cagewriter. "I understand where Torres is coming from. We’re going to end up matching up sooner or later."

Cruz (14-1, 4-1 WEC) said he hasn’t won the title yet so he can’t worry about "lack of respect talk" or any other drama in the 135 division. Cruz wants to make sure he solidifies himself as a top five or six guy at bantamweight and the paydays will come. 

Follow Cruz on Twitter @thedomin8r   

George Sotiropoulos has all the makings of a fan favorite. He’s a humble dude with an affable personality but one of his tenants in Australia is claiming Sotiropoulos is the UFC’s Leona Helmsley.

OK, it’s not that bad but Sotiropoulos is embroiled in a battle for back rent. Brad Evans, a tenant of a Sotiropoulos’ property in Belmont, owes the Aussie MMA star $2,000. Why hasn’t he paid? Evans claims that Sotiropoulos refuses to replace an old, out-of-date oven that only cooks on one temperature. As a result, he’s not paying the rent. That didn’t go over well with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

"This is where you are in trouble. You are not allowed to withhold rent for repairs," said VCAT member Stella Moraitis.

Evans told the Geelong Advertiser he nows fears that his wife and five kids may soon be on the streets while Sotiropoulos is rolling around in a bed of cash. 

"He gets $1 million for a fight and we could be homeless," said Evans.

Evans may be overstating Sotiropoulos’ payday. In any case, the fighter will be getting an extra $75 a week out of Evans, who already pays $1,100 per month for the rental. Moraitis also reprimanded Sotiropoulos and his management company for not replacing the oven.

Tip via The Fight Nerd

As preposterous as it may seem, Chuck Liddell told Urijah Faber (1:20 mark) that his naked workout video was really shot by a voyeur. Did Chuck lie to his buddy?

The Reebok viral ad stuff sounded like a good explanation. Who works out at a friend’s home gym in the nude? Someone get to the bottom of this! 

Tomorrow in part two of his Skype conversation with Cagewriter, Faber breaks down WEC 47.   

The ridiculous saga of Frank Mir wanting to "kill" Brock Lesnar is almost dead and buried. But we know it’ll never completely disappear. Speaking publicly for the first time about the comments, Lesnar told KFAN in Minneapolis he doesn’t know what Mir was thinking:

"He’s still probably trying to pull his foot out of his mouth. When you say something like that and your wife has to go out and apologize for you, you know you’ve pissed somebody off. I think his wife made the apology before he did probably."

At least Lesnar didn’t mention anything about anyone "climbing on top" of their wife. But he did bring up MMA’s perception as a concern. 

"In this sport of fighting, and fighting has come so far in such a short amount of time, we want to perceive ourselves as athletes and get the respect of the general public. It was out of line, but in a fighter’s mentality I don’t want to go into the Octagon and kill somebody but I do wanna do whatever I can to win. Maybe that’s what he was saying, I don’t know."

It’s probably similar to when Lesnar told Maxim he wanted to "murder" Mir or that he wanted to "pull the horseshoe out of his ass."

Lesnar told KFAN that he’s beginning his mini-camp this week in anticipation of fighting Shane Carwin, Cain Velasquez or Mir on July 3. Listen here for the entire 12-minute interview. 

Tip via Sports Radio Interviews

Fight for over 10 years, hang out with tons of hot women, knockout the best in the business and even dance on "Dancing With The Stars," then you can approach the celebrity of Chuck Liddell. Or just sign up for a reality show and tan a lot. Liddell took the long road to stardom as opposed to Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino from MTV’s Jersey Shore. Sadly, Liddell is a supporting cast member during this Reebok video shot during Super Bowl week with The Situation and Pauly D.

Tip via Middle Easy

He may never reach the same heights as Frank Mir, but John Gettle can claim he’s got one thing in common with the former UFC heavyweight champ. Tuff-N-Uff at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The video is not for the faint of heart. Gettle got Kowalski in a keylock, he didn’t tap quickly, the referee hesitated, and snap went his right arm.

It took 10 minutes to stabilize the arm and remove Kowalski from the ring. The entire time, Gettle sat in the opposite corner trying to recover from sheer exhaustion. Even back in the locker room, Gettle laid on the floor for another 30 minutes in an attempt to regain his wits. Once he did, he sounded a lot like his mentor.

"If you ever take a twig and break it in half, and feel that pop … just what it sounded like," said Gettle. "It just went through me. I think everybody could hear it."

Gettle took a beating, Kowalski had his arm broken and all for free. What’s the purpose?

"Trying to make it big. Gotta start somewhere. Crawl before you walk and walk before you run."

Watch Gettle talk about breaking the arm and his climb towards a pro career.

Gettle trains with Mir at various spots around Las Vegas including Drysdale Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Warrior Training Center and Philippi’s Sports Institute.

The two best prospects on the card won their fights. Chris Holdsworth and Andrew Alirez are both looking to turn pro later this year. Mir’s cousin, Larry, 30, lost his fight dropping to 2-2. 

For a guy who seemed to be on the outside looking in, Tim Sylvia is being mentioned as a headliner on a lot of upcoming cards. It also sounds like a few promoters are jumping the gun on announcing that they’ve landed the former UFC heavyweight champion.

MMAJunkie reports that Sylvia has been offered a fight at DREAM 13 on Mar. 22, a Massachusetts show on Apr. 23 and a Canadian show on June 5. Junkie’s Steven Marrocco says Sylvia and manager Monte Cox turned down Josh Barnett on the DREAM show, but another opponent is in the works. The Canadian show would be another attempt at making the Wes Sims fight. That fight was denied by the Ohio Athletic Commission.

For two reasons, the Massachusetts show is the one that seems the most far-fetched. The opponent would be five-time World’s Strongest Man champion Mariusz Pudzianowski, who’s already got a fight scheduled with a Polish promotion on May 7. You want more proof? How about the bloviating by promoter Corey Fischer. It makes it sound like this is all an attempt to get some cheap publicity for his card in Worchester.

The Boston Herald bit, and Fischer delivered some classic lines.

"This will be the biggest card ever done, probably in the Northeast," said Fischer. "The UFC is coming here in August and they’re going to have a hard
gate to beat. I think this fight card will be better than what they’re
bringing. It’ll be on pay-per-view and shown live in
Korea, Poland, Canada and about 14 other countries.This will have more viewers than (the UFC’s) show."

Seems like it might be a little early to take on the UFC, no? Fischer says he also has UFC veterans Rich Clementi, Houston Alexander and Yves Edwards signed for the card.

Massachusetts just passed regulation allowing MMA events. Would the commission allow Sylvia, with 31 pro
MMA fights under his belt, to fight the 1-0 Pudzianowski? The UFC has a huge card slated for Aug. 28 at the Boston Garden.

It’d also be interesting to see how Pudzianowski would perform if he had to undergo prefight drug testing. He may be all-natural but he appears to have a lot of shredded bulk on that 6-foot-1, 320-lb. frame.  

The quest continues for a fight against Herschel Walker. Strikeforce officials have repeatedly said they’re not interested in bringing Jose Canseco into the fold and they’ve also reiterated there’s been no sitdown or negotiations. By looking at this photo, we know they broke bread. 

That is Canseco pictured (on the left) speaking with Strikeforce matchmaker Rich Chou and Scott Coker, the CEO, sitting in the background at P.F. Changs in Pleasanton, Ca. Looks like Canseco is getting sick of seeing Strikeforce make him look like he’s lying about this meeting. 

Maybe Strikeforce is actually considering making this Walker-Canseco fight? It’s almost certain Walker is going to fight again in the cage. He was interviewed last night during the Strikeforce: Challengers show in San Jose. Showtime announcer Mauro Ranallo also said there would be a big announcement on Monday. Could it be a Walker fight?

Yahoo! Sports Dave Meltzer reported earlier today that Walker is a possibility on the Apr. 17 CBS card in Nashville. Seems like a quick turnaround for Canseco, who promised he would train for three months with Cesar Gracie if he did get the Walker fight. Coker was quoted on Friday saying Canseco, is no longer training with Gracie.

It wasn’t pretty or dominant, but it was methodical. Takayo Hashi proved to be a human punching bag for Sarah Kaufman’s technical striking. With the first Strikeforce 135-lb. title up for grabs, Kaufman stormed to a unanimous decision victory, 50-45 on all cards. But her lack of finishing prowess calls into question the decision to make the female fight the main event on last night’s Strikeforce: Challengers card in San Jose.

Kaufman (11-0) controlled the fight with her jab and showed decent takedown defense. But Hashi (12-2) didn’t seem to have anything beyond a clinch game to execute her takedowns.

"I’m really happy with my performance," Kaufman told MMAjunkie.com. "I really feel like I did execute my gameplan very well. I wasn’t able to
finish the fight, but I was able to control the fight."

Kaufman never really went for broke maybe out of fear that she’d end up off-balance and in Hashi’s clutches.

"I just knew that she wanted to go to the ground," Kaufman
said. "I’m actually really comfortable on the ground, but it’s obviously where
she wants to be. I may as well take her on the feet, and she said she was going
to stand with me."

Kaufman also blamed the slow pace on Hashi’s unwillingness to engage.

"I’m not going
to throw it full force if I know I’m not actually going to be hitting her. It
was more just to see how she was going to react – where she was going to feint
to, where she was going to try and come back to."

The lead-in fight looked like a potential barn burner.

Karl Amoussou, who was outsized at middleweight by Trevor Prangley, was landing some heavy shots on the feet. And early on, Prangley was walking right through them. One could assume, they were eventually going to take their toll but we never had a chance to see the long term effects because an eye poke ended the fight.

Midway through the first round, Prangley (22-5-1) pawed with jab and nailed Amoussou (11-2-2) in the eye. The French fighter couldn’t open his right eye and the first was stopped a few seconds later at the 4:14 mark of the first round. Without a completed round in the books, the fight was called a technical draw. 

The best fight on the televised card once again came from AKA middleweight prospect, Luke Rockhold, who destroyed veteran Paul Bradley. Rockhold, who’d won all of his fights via submission, found a home for his counter right hands.

The top of Bradley’s head and his chin didn’t respond well to getting smashed. He was dropped twice in the first two minutes and scrambled to stay alive. But when it finally got to the feet again, Rockhold bum rushed Bradley against the cage and delivered two huge knees that forced the season 7 "Ultimate Fighter" alum to bow out of the fight at 2:24 of the first. The 6-foot-3 Rockhold is an intriguing prospect especially as his standup game gets more dangerous. 

Quotes via MMAJunkie

Outrageous! A Chuck Liddell video "leaked" yesterday featuring "The Iceman" and his girlfriend working out in the nude. Since the UFC opened the door and let in the PC police in earlier the week, where is the apology? Liddell’s actions are offensive and we know actions speak louder than words, right?

Of course, I’m being sarcastic. UFC management opened the apology can of worms by forcing Frank Mir to apologize for his Brock Lesnar comments. When you listen to the smallest minority and cater to their false outrage, you risk jumping on a slippery slope.

You don’t think Mir was forced? Funny, two days after his "heartfelt apology" where he said he respected Lesnar, he told Cage Potato the whole thing was ridiculous.

"When I got called in and they told me, ‘Listen man, this is an issue,’ I kind
of had a smirk on my face the whole time. I was like,
you’re kidding, right? This is a joke, right?"

As far as the smutty video, it looks like Liddell and the UFC won’t apologize which is wise. Go back to being anti-establishment.

That may be the idea behind the Liddell workout video in the first place. TMZ is claiming that the naked frolicking was a viral ad pushing Liddell’s new sponsor Reebok. Sadly, I never noticed the sneakers.

UPDATE: Clearly, exposure was the goal (no pun intended). Mission accomplished. Last night, The Jimmy Kimmel Show featured the Liddell video. 

Jimmy Kimmel tip via MMAConsortium

Mixed martial arts still has a lot of work to do in breaking that final media barrier. Love them or hate them, the folks at ESPN television are the ones who take this thing to the next level.

MMA Live on ESPN.com is doing a nice job with legitimate coverage of the sport, good insiders and solid fighter insight. Hopefully, someday the show will be given its shot on ESPN2.

In the meantime, it seems like the only things that get the attention of shows like "PTI," "Jim Rome is Burning" and "Sportsnation" are the sensational, freakshow MMA.

Frank Mir’s comments about wanting Brock Lesnar to die in the Octagon got pops on both PTI and JRIB. And there’s the case of Canseco. What we thought was a throwaway interview with Jose Canseco at the start of the week, was aired back-to-back days on ESPN2’s Sportsnation. Cagewriter loves the exposure but it’s a wakeup call to all of MMA, there’s still an education process ongoing to get the mainstream folks aware of the legitimate things happening in fighting.

UFC president Dana White has exploded several times over the coverage of a potential Canseco versus Herschel Walker fight. This may serve as a wake-up call that heat between fighters (like Mir and Lesnar) and the sensational is what sells as a sport is growing. 

Wasn’t Strikeforce supposed to revitalize women’s fighting? Scott Coker and Showtime seemed to be the only big promotion that was interested in really pushing female MMA. They made the bold move of putting two women in the main event of a card with Gina Carano facing Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos. There was talk of a 135-pound tournament. Yet there’s female fighters everywhere sitting in limbo waiting for the call.

Tonight’s Strikeforce: Challengers card on Showtime (11 p.m. ET/PT) features just one women’s fight, Sarah Kaufmann versus Takayo Hashi but that’s it. The card also features six five amateur men’s fights (correction: there is one amateur women’s fight). This can’t be a good sign for female fighting.

Cagewriter spoke recently with Erin Toughill to discuss why she was coming back and the state of female fighting. The news leaked months ago that Toughill was back so why isn’t she fighting any time before the summer? Where is Miesha Tate? It seems like these Challengers cards would be a perfect placed to build some of the female fighters and get them experience. It’s starting to look like the plan is to establish one champion at 145 and one at 135, and get both of the champs two fights a year. Beyond that zippo. 

Toughill has zero complaints about Strikeforce she actually lays the blame at the feet of many of the fighters themselves:

"I think a lot of people are fighting for the wrong reasons. It’s the evolution of the sport. I want to see women who really want to be in this sport. With these women, I just want them to get out of the way. If they’re not serious, make room for the people who are."  

April is when the women’s tournament is supposed to begin. Do you think it will come off? Frankly, beyond the most hardcore fans, is there really an outcry over the lack of women’s fights on the Strikeforce cards? Maybe Showtime and Coker have it right. If they do, then there really isn’t much of a future for females to make a living fighting. 

Mariusz Pudzianowski may have surprised some with an easy win in his MMA debut. The second go round may be a little tougher. KSW in Poland has booked him to fight Robert Paczkow on May 7. It’ll provide of prime example of why you shouldn’t judge a book by the cover. Paczkow, seen in the video against current UFC fighter James McSweeney, looks like a heaping mound of blubber. But the guy has a solid wrestling background and clearly has submissions up his fat sleeves.

Tip via Cage Potato

You ever wonder if UFC officials regret bailing out Quinton Jackson after his Southern California driving rampage in July of 2008? He’s paid them back with mostly headaches. White defended and covered up Jackson’s bizarre behavior and what appeared to be a mental breakdown. It was clear Jackson had a few screws loose and he’s only backed up that lamen’s theory with his odd behavior during season 10 of "The Ultimate Fighter," a sudden change of heart about fighting in his hometown of Memphis and a threat that he was going to retire.

It appeared things were patched up but now after a stint in Australia, where Jackson finalized his deal to fight Rashad Evans at UFC 114, "Rampage" is now claiming he was supposed to fight Lyoto Machida after TUF 10.

"I just want to finish my contract and get out of there, do my own
thing. Dana lied to me. He told me I didn’t have to fight Rashad, I could fight
Machida. I did the show and then after that he told me I had to fight Rashad," Jackson told Fighters Only Magazine.  

Huh? Has anything like that ever happened at the completion of the show when the coaches were in the same weight class? Why would White tell him before the taping that his opponent was undecided? He wouldn’t and it didn’t happen.

Want more proof? I sat in a room during the first day of taping with Jackson and not for one second did Rampage or anyone else suggest there was any mystery as to who he was fighting. In fact, the media on hand made it point to mention Machida several times, repeatedly asking why Jackson was passing on a title shot to fight Evans. This is what we wrote after the convo:

Who says Quinton Jackson is afraid of Lyoto Machida? If that’s what you’re
thinking, Rampage says you’re probably 12 years old and you know nothing about
the fight business. Sure, Jackson respects the title belt. But he’s also trying
to make a living and a Machida fight is small potatoes compared to the gains
from a successful season on "The Ultimate Fighter." And now that crossover star
Kimbo Slice is part of the show, Jackson has dollar signs in his eyes.

"Those people don’t walk in my shoes," said Jackson in response to claims
that he fears Machida. "They don’t put food on my table. They don’t set up
college funds for my kids. I’m not afraid of nobody. If they use their common
sense, they can see what my gameplan is."

Jackson said Machida will be around after he beats Rashad Evans. And frankly,
Machida isn’t a big enough name to draw monster pay-per-view numbers right now.
Oh, that doesn’t matter? It does when most of your money comes from the back end
of the pay-per-view.

You see any confusion during the conversation? 

UPDATE: Mike Chiappetta from AOL Fanhouse points out that on May 28, 2008, Jackson made it clear he was fine with fighting Evans.

"They told me I could fight whoever and I had my mind set I would fight Evans,"
Jackson said, adding that he was rooting for Evans last weekend in hopes of
fighting him for the title.