Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club...
- If Stann can't get Wand, he'll settle for Bisping or Belfort (LowKick)
- Five lessons we learned for UFC Fight for the Troops II (Versus MMA Beat)
Herschel Walker: 'This is not a gimmick for me. This is life.' (FiveOuncesofPain)
- Ricco Rodriguez to begin his road back to the UFC against James McSweeney at BAMMA 5 (MiddleEasy)
According to the story, someone close to the former UFC fighter got wind of ME's "Free Lee Murray" shirts and offered to facilitate the Q&A, which seems pretty legit.
It looks like "Lightning" might be planning an appeal and hasn't given up hope that his fate is sealed as he told MiddleEasy that he couldn't talk about his part in the Securitas heist, which he is purported to have put together.
We won't steal their well-earned traffic by copy and pasting the interview, but we will post an incredible quote from Murray in which he takes a shot at Tito Ortiz, who Lee is said to have knocked out during a street fight in London.
"...i pass some time by reading some books or mags, watch some DVDs, UFC, movies. I see a great porno of Tito's wife getting the life fucked out of her by a bunch of dudes. That was pretty fun...not for him i bet :)...It's not too bad. Not the first three years four months I done by myself in solitary confinement. I didn't see no one. It was a fucking hole with rats & shit coming out the hole u piss in It's not a prob when you piss, it's a prob when you have to squat over it to take a s***, praying a rat don't jump out and grab your balls :)"
As we recently learned, the next season of The Ultimate Fighter will be coached by a grumpy mountain man who probably won't spend any more time on set than he absolutely needs to, and a Brazilian dynamo whose grasp on the English language is limited to simple phrases like "I believe too much in my boxing" and "tub you are a cold — so we're not expecting a verbal rivalry on par with Tito/Ken or Rampage/Rashad. Still, it's TUF, so somebody's gonna get told at some point. Can this season's insults possibly stack up to some of our past favorites?
#5: "You're like an expert swimmer who's never been in a pool."
Matt Serra's epic dress-down of Marc Laimon was his star-making moment — and a firm bitch-smack to every sideline-hater who talks tough without any intention of actually backing up his words. A year later, Serra was coaching that damn show.
Like a Katy Perry song, it's annoying as hell, and yet you can't get it out of your head. "Bro, you're a male nurse" — I say that to all my friends now, no matter what their professions actually are. And it aggravates them too.
If the recent reports are accurate, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira will take on Tito Ortiz in a light-heavyweight feature at UFC 128 (March 19th, Newark). Lil' Nog will be looking to bounce back after Ryan Bader handed him his first loss in three-and-a-half years at UFC 119. Meanwhile, Ortiz hasn't tasted victory in over four years. (Seriously. We can't believe he's still around either.) Despite the career tailspin of the HBBB, Nogueira isn't taking him lightly. As he tells our Brazilian correspondent Brian D'Souza:
"I think he's a very tough guy. He's an ex-champion, he [was] undefeated for many years. I think he's a very good wrestler...he has very good Muay Thai. I think he's dangerous, but I'm gonna do my best for sure. I want to make a better fight from last time. I've had two or three fights with wrestling guys, I think I've proven my wrestling...I want to do a very good fight with Tito. I can do better."
Nogueira also discusses his new gym in San Diego, and his training partner Anderson Silva's upcoming bout with Vitor Belfort. It will not surprise you to discover that Lil' Nog has his money on the Spider.
According to a new report from Sportsnet, the UFC light-heavyweight title fight between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Rashad Evans is expected to headline a March 19th event at the Prudential Centre in Newark, New Jersey. Tito Ortiz's last-last chance against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is also slated for the show. Both fights had been previously tied to a March return to Abu Dhabi, leading to speculation that the event might not happen at all. As UFC U.K. president Marshall Zelaznik said back in November:
"I know there's been talk of March 19 potentially happening. While we're looking at delivering a pay-per-view (event) around that time, nothing's been defined in terms of whether Abu Dhabi gets it or someone else."
(Ortiz and Liddell will settle their grudge once and for all on New Year's Eve...OR WILL THEY?? / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle)
One of my weekly MMA must-reads is the "Sunday Morning Rumor Mill" column on MiddleEasy, which features a bunch of juicy stories that just might be true. In homage to our pals, we'd like to start a similar feature on CagePotato — except ours will work a little differently. Of the eight items you see below, seven have been pulled directly out of our asses. The other one is absolutely, positively, 100% true, and has been confirmed by inside sources. Which one is it? We'd rather not say, due to legal reasons. You'll have to figure it out yourself...
- Vinicius Quieroz wasn't the only fighter who was caught by the UFC's independent drug-testing at UFC 120. There was a second guy who pissed hot for the same steroid, but the company decided to let him off with a private (but very stern) warning. Hint: Main card, but not main event.
- Arianny Celeste has been dating a former UFC fighter for the past year, but has kept the relationship hidden from the public, in order to protect the fantasy that she's "available" to her fans. We can't reveal her boyfriend's name, but his initials are Tiki Ghosn.
(Above: "Look, everybody in Minnesota grows a beard in the winter, and most of us use deer urine to keep it soft and shiny. I'm sorry if the smell is unfamiliar to you." Below: It's nice to see that someone else appreciates the long and brave career of Dana Delany. / Photos courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)
With Brock Lesnar gunning for a historic third-consecutive heavyweight title defense against Mexican-American upstart Cain Velasquez, belt-collector Jake Shields making his first appearance in the Octagon, and Tito Ortiz possibly making his last appearance in the Octagon, there's a lot on the line tonight in Anaheim. Round-by-round results from UFC 121 can be found after the jump, starting with the Spike prelims at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all latest, and please let your voice be heard in the comments section.
Just a reminder that we'll be streaming the UFC 121 weigh-ins today live from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Will Brock and Cain butt chestpieces? Will Diego go into full-retard staredown mode? Will Tito apologize to Hammill and the deaf community using sign language?
All of these questions and more will be answered after the jump.
Bang-up job in the comments section this week, Potato Nation. You've inspired us to give away some t-shirts — but whose smart-ass contributions are worthy of being rewarded? Well...
(They were polar opposites with hearts of gold and a weakness for terrible chest tattoos.)
If you didn't catch today's UFC 121 press conference, you didn't miss a whole hell of a lot more than the usual answers to the usual questions, but there were a few interesting tidbits revealed by UFC president Dana White including that he will be travelling to New York tomorrow to discuss some movement in the sanctioning of MMA in the hold-out state and the fact that he considered giving Jake Shields a title shot in his first UFC fight based on his record and accomplishments outside the Octagon.
Reflecting off of another, "Do you see MMA in the Olympics in the future?" question he was lobbed at the presser, White explained that things in New York are "moving faster than [he] could have imagined" and that he will be meeting with some unnamed individuals in that regard on Thursday.
As is tradition during UFC fight week, the major players of UFC 121 are about to assemble for a public press conference at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Beginning at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT, Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, Jake Shields, Martin Kampmann, Tito Ortiz, Matt Hamill, and Dana White will be fielding questions from the media. You can watch the proceedings in the UFC's media player, which is waiting for you after the jump. And if you need any more help in getting hyped up for this event, be advised that Spike TV will be airing UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin tonight at 7 p.m., followed by the third and final episode of UFC Primetime: Lesnar vs. Velasquez at 9:30 p.m.
(We know that expression. Looks like somebody needs a James Toney upset to hit their $42,500 parlay bet. Check out more exclusive photos at FightMagazine.com's UFC 118 photo gallery.)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club...
- After Perfect Performance at UFC 118, More Tests Await Edgar (Versus MMA Beat)
- Kenny Florian Says Dana White Is ‘Dead Wrong’ About Him ‘Choking In Big Fights’ (MMA Convert)
- Wanderlei Silva Recovering, Hoping for February Return vs. Leben or Belfort (MMA Fighting)
- Roger Huerta vs. Eddie Alvarez set for non-title fight at Bellator 33 (Heavy.com/MMA)
- Mark "The Smashing Machine" Kerr now sells cars in Scottsdale, Arizona. (MiddleEasy)
- Fan Opinon: Top 10 Personalities in MMA (LowKick)
- Tito Ortiz and Shaquille O'Neal face off at the UFC Fan Expo in Boston (Watch Kalib Run)
- Brett Rogers to Return Against Ruben "Warpath" Villareal Next Month in Halifax (Five Ounces of Pain)
- If Don Frye Says You Should Watch Shark Fights, You Should (MMA Scraps)
The story of Tito Ortiz getting punched out by convicted bank robberLee Murray during an alleyway altercation after UFC 38 has grown into one of MMA's most beloved bits of folklore. The most famous version — relayed second-hand from a drunken Pat Miletich and published in Matt Hughes's autobiography Made in America — ends with Tito Ortiz getting starched by "like, a five-punch combo," then boot-stomped.
On this Friday's installment of Michael Schiavello's HDNet interview series The Voice Vs..., Ortiz gets to tell his side of the tale. Basically, it was Ortiz's friend that was getting stomped, and when Murray dropped Ortiz with a punch it was more of slip then anything else, and that only happened after Murray was running away like a little bitch, and Tito was able to pop back up anyway. As Tito explains, "I was never unconscious at the time, in my whole career I've never been unconscious, and I never will go unconscious." Also, Lee Murray's robbery conviction was karmic revenge for this embarrassing story being spread around.
No mention of the best part of the Ortiz vs. Murray street fight legend, which involved Chuck Liddell knocking multiple dudes out with his back against a wall. Where were you back then, TMZ?
On the latest edition of Inside MMA, which will air Friday night at 9:00 p.m. ET, Ortiz explains the differences between the anatomy of the head of a deaf person, like his UFC 121 opponent Matt Hamill compared to that of someone who isn't hearing impaired.
