We feel just awful that we don't do this every week, but you guys deserve some CagePotato t-shirts for all the hard work you've been putting in lately. The first honoree is Brooklyn-based artist Patrick Francisco, who e-mailed us some MMA-themed highlights from his body of work, including the above interpretation of Chuck Liddell painted onto a vinyl toy. We thought it was worth sharing, so thanks Patrick.
As for the rest of the winners, we'll just pick a few of the recent comments about how boring Jake Shields is. (Ed. Note: CagePotato.com doesn't necessarily agree that Jake Shields is a boring fighter, but we can appreciate a good one-liner.) Here we go...
"UFC made the decision. I was bummed. I love Matt, I think he's an awesome athlete, I think he's an awesome person, but his time's not now. You won't see any shit-talking from me about Matt Hamill because I think he's an awesome guy. But it'll even make it a better fight when it comes October 23rd, when I cave his face in. No bad feelings. No bad emotions. Just punishment, and that's what it's about. So, we'll see. October 23rd. As I look to beat down Matt Hamill. In a nice way. For once."
So says Tito Ortiz, after signing the contract to face his former pupil Matt Hamill at UFC 121. As he explains, his past dealings with Chuck Liddell taught him that business and competition should always come before friendship. But is the world ready for a trash-talk-free Tito? The oddsmakers currently have him as a solid +145 underdog in this match, which feels about right. As Ortiz has gone 0-3-1 since December 2006, he may need to score an upset to keep his job...
Contradicting earlier reports that had Tito Ortiz facing Forrest Griffin in a meaningless rubber match, MMAFighting.com has confirmed that Ortiz will instead face off against Matt Hamill at UFC 121 (October 23rd; Anaheim, CA). The Huntington Beach Blah Blah hasn't competed since his split decision loss to Griffin at UFC 106, and hasn't won a fight since his third TKO victory over Ken Shamrock in October 2006. Hamill is coming off his majority decision over Keith Jardine at the TUF 11 Finale, which got the Dean of Mean bounced out of the UFC. Technically, Hamill has won his last four fights, including the Jon Jones DQ. If you'll recall, Hamill was a member of Team Punishment on TUF 3, so this fight will have extra significance when Hamill beats Tito's ass. In other UFC 121 booking news...
Tito Ortiz recently appeared on Brazilian television show Sensei SPORTV and proclaimed himself the "Muhammad Ali of mixed martial arts." If by that he means he's past his prime and is suffering from the effects of too many shots to the head, then we agree wholeheartedly.
("I pity the fool who makes fun of my scarf and inability to ignore the camera.")
It didn't take Quinton Rampage Jackson long after his unanimous decision loss to Rashad Evans at UFC 114 to pull a Tito Ortiz. Just two and a half weeks after the bout and Rampage has already formulated his own "cracked skull" defense.
(Yager vs. Bryant, part 1; part 2 is at the end of the post. Props: KARELMMA)
Tito Ortiz has pulled out of his fight with Chuck Liddell, and the Iceman is a shadowboxing ball of anger, capable only of saying the word pussy. "That fucking pussy, I told you he was gonna do this," Chuck vents to Dana. "Don't let that guy fight anymore, he's a pussy...unless I can fight him, then it's a different story." Meanwhile, Tito just sits in the next room, listening to Chuck go off about him. Tito on adversity: "I guess it's God seeing what type of person I am." You don't need God to figure that out, you pussy.
The last quarterfinal match is high-kickin' afroninja Jamie Yager (Team Punishment) vs. wrestling specialist Josh Bryant (Team Liddell). Uscola shouts out Yager's talent and speed, but the most obvious advantage is his size — he dwarfs Bryant, who has to be a natural welterweight. Yager is 2-1 as a pro, while Bryant is a perfect 10-0. Yager is expecting Bryant to shoot, shoot, shoot. Bryant clarifies: "My game plan is to hit him first...then take him down." Y'all ready for the best fight of the season?
BBC News is reporting that former UFC middleweight fighter-turned bank robber, Lee Murray was sentenced to ten years in prison in Morocco for his part in an armed £53,116,760 (about $92.5 million US) Securitas money depot heist in Kent, England in February 2006.
*Disclaimer: This video is somewhat disgusting and features footage of surgery being performed.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/PunishmentFilms)
Well, if Tito really is faking his neck injury, he went to a lot of trouble to make it seem believable. In the video above, Ortiz explains that the surgery was necessary and that even though he lost his coaching gig to Rich Franklin with only two weeks remaining in filming of The Ultimate Fighter, he says he would take the same road if he had to do it all over again.
If you have a weak stomach or are reading this as you eat your lunch at work, you may not want to watch this video. I know I'm no doctor, but I don't think a surgeon should work on a spine with a hammer, pliers, a screwdriver and a chisel. Just sayin'.
(Gif of Tavares getting kicked in the "chest," courtesy of smoogy.)
Kris McCray vs. Kyle Noke. Brad Tavares vs. Seth Baczynski. Tito Ortiz vs. Everyone's Patience. Last night's episode of The Ultimate Fighter was a wall-to-wall struggle. Here's what happened.
After Team Liddell's Court McGee became the first TUF 11 semi-finalist, following his submission of James Hammortree, it's time for two more quarterfinal matches. First up is Kris McCray vs. Kyle Noke, two guys who used to be training partners. Dana White cares not for your personal relationships: "One of the things I want these guys to learn early? There are no friends in the UFC."
Tito Ortiz might be looking at neck surgery. There's a disc pressing on his spinal cord, which is causing numbness in his legs and daily headaches, among other symptoms. He's not going to let Chuck beat him because he wasn't 100%. Instead of fighting injured and jeopardizing his health, he wants to get this taken care of. It's basically the same story we heard last week from Nick Ring, who by the way, is out of the competition for one day and already has a full-on Freddie Mercury 'stache.
Noke has two inches in height, 4.5 inches in reach, and a hell of a lot more fights under his belt than McCray. It's time to bang.
You'll all be happy to know that Tito Ortiz and Jenna Jameson are now officially free to go on with their trainwreck life together now that the Orange County District Attorney’s office has decided to close their case without laying charges against the former UFC light heavyweight champion for the highly publicized April 26 fight between the pair at their Huntington Beach home.
Ortiz’s lawyer, Chip Matthews, told Sherdog.com on Friday that the entire incident was just a “misunderstanding.” Matthews also said it was his understanding that statements made by Ortiz and Jameson on Monday to officers during his arrest would either be altered or retracted by the parties, as was first reported by TMZ.com on Thursday.
“Both sides are interested in the truth coming out and for the welfare of their children and bringing an end to this,” Matthews told Sherdog.com on Friday. Matthews would not confirm if Ortiz and Jameson are in direct communication due to the ongoing investigation...
(For the next few weeks, "Comments of the Week" winners will score subscriptions to our favorite MMA-rag, Fight! Magazine. Follow Fight! on Twitter, and pick up the latest issue on newsstands now. Pictured above: "Gens" himself.)
There are some people in this world who are so socially inept and abrasive in real life that they can only function on the Internet, relying on non-relationships with total strangers via message boards and blog comments. And then, there are some people who can't even do that right. Such is the case with "thisredengine," a truly bizarre individual who showed up here out of the blue on Tuesday, and immediately tried to impress all of you by claiming the following:
- He's pretty well-known and respected over at BloodyElbow.com, and regularly tweets with Leland Roling. He's pretty much an unofficial staffer there. - MMA legend "Gens" Pulver once acknowledged something he wrote. - He's a jet-setting world traveler, on account of his job. - He considers himself "one of the cool kids in the MMA community." - He considers himself and BE's Luke Thomas to be "a level above most in MMA conversations." The readers of this site would not be able to hang on his conversation-level. - He ignores all comments from people he doesn't know, which on this site would be everybody.
Though many of us (including myself) begged him to fuck off and leave us alone, he refused to fuck off. And so, new contributor ReX13 hit him with what will go down in history as the "I Have a Dream" speech of CagePotato.com...
(Unfortunately for the fan, Tito couldn't sign the autograph because he couldn't see how to spell his last name.)
While watching The Ultimate Fighter on Wednesday night, something that caught my eye and made me do a double take was the "Team Punishment" shirt Tito was wearing and how closely it resembled the "Team Ortiz" shirts fighters on his squad were sporting.
I figured they must be made by the same company as a package as part of the show branding. Well it turns out I was wrong.
(I was going to say "work it out for the kids," but for God's sake, look at those little monsters. You're better off putting them in an orphanage and cutting your losses at this point.)
We've learned the results of the test, administered Tuesday by American Toxicology Inc. in Las Vegas, show Jenna's urine tested "negative" for the ten major drugs they were screening for, a list that included cocaine, weed, meth and oxycodone — the major ingredient in OxyContin...Now, after receiving the results of the test, Jenna is reaffirming her claim telling us, "I am definitely not addicted to OxyContin or any drug.”
