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More Injuries Strike UFC 118 Lineup; ‘Godzilla’ Returns

(Sakara and Etim, the latest victims of the UFC’s brand-new curse.)
After losing Phil Baroni and Jorge Rivera due to injuries, UFC 118 (August 28, Boston) is inching towards "cursed" status with another pair of late withdrawals that have co…

Alessio Sakara UFC
(Sakara and Etim, the latest victims of the UFC’s brand-new curse.)

After losing Phil Baroni and Jorge Rivera due to injuries, UFC 118 (August 28, Boston) is inching towards "cursed" status with another pair of late withdrawals that have completely re-arranged the Spike TV prelim broadcast. First off, Alessio Sakara has been forced out of his fight against Gerald Harris due to a knee injury. Harris, who was originally a replacement for Rivera, will now face the returning Joe Vedepo, who has won four straight fights by stoppage outside of the UFC since being released in April 2009. Unfortunately, the fight is no longer slated for the Spike broadcast, meaning that Harris will need another dramatic stoppage to get some TV time. At this point, it hasn’t been confirmed which fight will move up to the prelim broadcast in its place.

The injury fairy also paid a visit to Terry Etim, who bows out of his UFC 118 fight against Joe Lauzon due to a broken rib. Lauzon will instead meet — get this — Gabe "Godzilla" Ruediger, the TUF 5 contestant who became a national punchline due to his love of colonics and ice cream cake, and was eventually dismissed from the show for not making weight. More recently, Ruediger has built up a six-fight win streak competing in California, picked up the Tachi Palace Fights lightweight title, and has helped turn Paris Hilton into a killing machine.

We’ll let you know as soon as UFC 118’s lineup is finalized.

Takanori Gomi Leads ‘Jones vs. Matyushenko’ Salary List

("I deserve to be [*expletive*], FIRST! Before the [*expletive*] jacuzzi! I’ll burn the goddamn house down! But [*expletive*] me first! How DARE YOUUUUUU!!!" Photo courtesy of UFC.com)
The UFC shelled out $640,000 in dis…

("I deserve to be [*expletive*], FIRST! Before the [*expletive*] jacuzzi! I’ll burn the goddamn house down! But [*expletive*] me first! How DARE YOUUUUUU!!!" Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

The UFC shelled out $640,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the fighters at UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko, with Takanori Gomi coming out way in front of the pack; thanks to his win bonus and KO bonus, he was the only fighter on the card to break the six-figure mark. The numbers are below. Keep in mind that they don’t include additional income from sponsorships and those mysterious undisclosed "locker room bonuses," or deductions for taxes, insurance, licensing fees, and new sunglasses.

Jon Jones: $46,000 (includes $23,000 win bonus)
def. Vladimir Matyushenko: $31,000

Yushin Okami: $46,000 (includes $23,000 win bonus)
def. Mark Munoz: $22,000

Jake Ellenberger: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)
def. John Howard: $15,000

Takanori Gomi: $120,000 (includes $40,000 win bonus, $40,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
def. Tyson Griffin: $30,000

What Your MMA Nickname Really Says About You

Nicknames are like tattoos — badass when you first pick them out, generally embarrassing ten years later. And yet for some reason, they’re often the only things that MMA fighters keep forever, even as they change camps, change fighting styles, and change their hair. And while every fighter sends a message with their choice of nickname, it may not always be the message that they’re trying to send. For example, let’s say your nickname is…

A RHYME

Notable examples: Mike "Quick" Swick, "Bad" Brad Blackburn, Shannon "The Cannon" Ritch, Marvin "Beastman" Eastman
What you think it says: You’re straightforward and to-the-point. You want your nickname to stick in people’s heads.
What it really says: You spent no more than five seconds coming up with that weak bullshit.

A REFERENCE TO YOUR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

Notable examples: Kamal "Prince of Persia" Shalorus, Efrain "Hecho en Mexico" Escudero, Sako "The Armenian Psycho" Chivitchian, "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung
What you think it says: You’re proud of your heritage and want to represent the fighting spirit of your people.
What it really says: You will be met with boos and "U.S.A.!" chants every time you fight, even though you’ve lived in Glendale your entire life.

A REFERENCE TO YOUR CITY OF ORIGIN, INCORPORATING THE WORD "BAD"

Notable examples: Phil "The New York Bad Ass" Baroni, Tito "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Ortiz
What you think it says: You came up the hard way. You were the toughest dude in your neighborhood, and now you’re the toughest dude in any neighborhood.
What it really says: There’s a good chance you’re a complete asshole.

Knockout of the Week: Justice Is Served for Glove-Tap Faker

(Props: TheCageDoor.net via MMA Scraps. Fight starts at the 0:19 mark.)
It’s one of the biggest bitch-moves in MMA — acting like you’re going to tap gloves at the start of a fight like a gentleman, and then launching a surprise attack as soo…

(Props: TheCageDoor.net via MMA Scraps. Fight starts at the 0:19 mark.)

It’s one of the biggest bitch-moves in MMA — acting like you’re going to tap gloves at the start of a fight like a gentleman, and then launching a surprise attack as soon as your opponent is in range. (For examples, see here, here, and here.) At a Legacy FC event in Houston on July 31st, JR Fuller decided to try the unsportsmanlike technique himself, but instead of firing an overhand right like the successful fakers that came before him, he shoots for a takedown. Big mistake. Jonathan Harris throws a perfectly-timed knee, Fuller eats it and hits the mat face-first, Tyson Griffin-style. The official time of the stoppage was 0:05, but the jackass was really out within two seconds. Proving once again, boys and girls: Cheaters never prosper.

Chael Sonnen Now Denies He Said Anything About Lance Armstrong, Ever

(Props: MMAFighting.com)
Giving more weight to our theory that Chael Sonnen legitimately suffers from multiple personality disorder, the UFC’s #1 middleweight contender did an interview with Ariel Helwani yesterday in which he denied saying that L…

(Props: MMAFighting.com)

Giving more weight to our theory that Chael Sonnen legitimately suffers from multiple personality disorder, the UFC’s #1 middleweight contender did an interview with Ariel Helwani yesterday in which he denied saying that Lance Armstrong gave himself cancer by taking steroids. Keep in mind that Sonnen made those incendiary comments on a publicly-broadcast radio interview that you can still listen to any time you feel like it. Here’s the exchange with Helwani, which begins at the 4:19 mark:

AH: A lot of people took offense to what you said about Lance Armstrong recently, to Larry Pepe. Can you elaborate on that?

CS: I never did an interview with Larry Pepe.

AH: The Lance Armstrong stuff, you never said.

CS: I never spoke of Lance Armstrong ever. Never. Not until just now.

MMA FightPicker Update: UFC 117 Is Ripe for the Pickin’

(Unofficial UFC 117 poster via Bloody Elbow)
It’s almost upon us: The fight that may or may not get Anderson Silva fired. (Also known as the fight that may or may not get Chael Sonnen killed.) Your old pals at CagePotato.com will be liveblogging the …

(Unofficial UFC 117 poster via Bloody Elbow)

It’s almost upon us: The fight that may or may not get Anderson Silva fired. (Also known as the fight that may or may not get Chael Sonnen killed.) Your old pals at CagePotato.com will be liveblogging the action Saturday night, so be sure to swing by for up-to-the-minute results. And for you FightPickers out there, please follow the Internet-tubes to fightpicker.cagepotato.com or FP’s Facebook page to make your UFC 117 predictions for this week. We’ve got a husky set of 14 topics waiting for you in the pools, such as: Will the main event be the latest in the Spider’s series of long, drawn-out decisions? When will Sonnen score his first takedown in the fight, if ever? Who wins this USA vs. Brazil pissing contest, anyway? The full list of questions is after the jump; give ’em a look and let us know how you feel.