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Wednesday Morning MMA Link Club

(The UFC Fighter Summit has a storybook ending. Congrats, Janitor.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– BJ Penn and Jake Shields Want to Fight Each Other (LowKick)

– Shane Carwin’s Cardio Under Microscope at UFC 131 (NBC Sports MMA)

– Rashad Evans Explains His Nightclub Altercation With Jon Jones; Insists ‘Bones’ Ducked Him (MMA Mania)

– Mac Danzig Out of Next Month’s Anticipated Clash With Donald Cerrone, Vagner Rocha to Replace (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Matt Mitrione: If Ortiz Is Still Upset After Confrontation, ‘Then We Can Scrap’ (MMA Fighting)

– Your Favorite Hooters Girl to Serve Ring Cards at ‘UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber II’ (5thRound)

– This Will Be the Strangest Seven-Second Knockout You Will See This Year (MiddleEasy)

– Mark Coleman ‘Would Drop Everything’ To Fight Herschel Walker (MMA Convert)

– Video: Hector Lombard Gets Pissed at Reporter After Bellator 44 (TheFightNerd)

– Going Medieval: MMA’s 20 Worst Beatdowns (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

(The UFC Fighter Summit has a storybook ending. Congrats, Janitor.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– BJ Penn and Jake Shields Want to Fight Each Other (LowKick)

– Shane Carwin’s Cardio Under Microscope at UFC 131 (NBC Sports MMA)

– Rashad Evans Explains His Nightclub Altercation With Jon Jones; Insists ‘Bones’ Ducked Him (MMA Mania)

– Mac Danzig Out of Next Month’s Anticipated Clash With Donald Cerrone, Vagner Rocha to Replace (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Matt Mitrione: If Ortiz Is Still Upset After Confrontation, ‘Then We Can Scrap’ (MMA Fighting)

– Your Favorite Hooters Girl to Serve Ring Cards at ‘UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber II’ (5thRound)

– This Will Be the Strangest Seven-Second Knockout You Will See This Year (MiddleEasy)

– Mark Coleman ‘Would Drop Everything’ To Fight Herschel Walker (MMA Convert)

– Video: Hector Lombard Gets Pissed at Reporter After Bellator 44 (TheFightNerd)

– Going Medieval: MMA’s 20 Worst Beatdowns (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

Video: As a Coach, Steven Seagal Doesn’t Care if the Other Guy Dies

(Props: Passing the Guard via tatame)

For those who are still convinced that Steven Seagal‘s relationship with Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida is some oddball marketing ploy, the Brazilian fight show Passing the Guard has released a teaser clip of their next episode, which does indeed show Seagal training Machida just before his UFC 129 fight against Randy Couture.

It also gives you a pretty good sense of Seagal’s coaching style, which is pretty much the polar opposite of Greg Jackson-style lovey-doveyness. Listen close as he says the following: “Use your mind. Use your mind. I don’t care if you kill him. I don’t care. You fuck him up. You take him out.” Hey, you can’t argue with success — but it’s interesting that Seagal is playing the bad-guy teacher in his life’s latest role. And after so many heroic performances…

(Props: Passing the Guard via tatame)

For those who are still convinced that Steven Seagal‘s relationship with Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida is some oddball marketing ploy, the Brazilian fight show Passing the Guard has released a teaser clip of their next episode, which does indeed show Seagal training Machida just before his UFC 129 fight against Randy Couture.

It also gives you a pretty good sense of Seagal’s coaching style, which is pretty much the polar opposite of Greg Jackson-style lovey-doveyness. Listen close as he says the following: “Use your mind. Use your mind. I don’t care if you kill him. I don’t care. You fuck him up. You take him out.” Hey, you can’t argue with success — but it’s interesting that Seagal is playing the bad-guy teacher in his life’s latest role. And after so many heroic performances…

God Damn It: Those Hollywood Sons-of-Bitches Are Remaking ‘Bloodsport’

(Oh no. They’re going to cast Will Ferrell and Steve Carell, aren’t they.)

Maybe this is a little off-topic, but considering we previously named Bloodsport the #3 fight movie of all time — and the underground “Kumite” tournament depicted in the flick is basically the spiritual godfather of the UFC — you might be interested to know that the 1988 Van Damme classic is being remade for modern times. According to ScreenDaily (via ScreenJunkies), veteran producer Ed Pressman has closed a deal to remake the flick, and has tapped Phillip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger, The Bone Collector, Salt) to direct and Robert Mark Kamen (The Karate Kid, Lethal Weapon 3, The Transporter) to write the screenplay.

(Oh no. They’re going to cast Will Ferrell and Steve Carell, aren’t they.)

Maybe this is a little off-topic, but considering we previously named Bloodsport the #3 fight movie of all time — and the underground “Kumite” tournament depicted in the flick is basically the spiritual godfather of the UFC — you might be interested to know that the 1988 Van Damme classic is being remade for modern times. According to ScreenDaily (via ScreenJunkies), veteran producer Ed Pressman has closed a deal to remake the flick, and has tapped Phillip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger, The Bone Collector, Salt) to direct and Robert Mark Kamen (The Karate Kid, Lethal Weapon 3, The Transporter) to write the screenplay.

Now that international mixed-styles martial arts tournaments actually exist in the real world, the Bloodsport re-boot will be making some necessary updates. ScreenDaily says that the flick will follow an American who goes to Brazil to recover from the violence he experienced in Afghanistan and becomes involved in a martial arts contest. So, we have Brazil (a clear signifier for ‘MMA’) along with some good-ol’ American post-Bin Laden PTSD.

Unfortunately, we have no other details yet as far as shoot-dates and cast. So head to the comments section and throw in your suggestions on who should play Frank Dux, Chong Li, Ray Jackson, and the blond reporter chick who was grossed out by the kumite but still had sex with Van Damme anyway.

MMA Photo Tribute: Fighters and Random-Ass Celebrities

(Chuck Liddell poses with ‘Taboo’, co-host of Our Time.)

We have no idea how most of these encounters came about — but we’re sure they were all fairly awkward. Here are 21 of our favorite photos of MMA fighters rubbing shoulders with reality show stars, B-list actors, and aging rock royalty. Ah, the perks of fame…

(Cain Velasquez: The meat in a douche sandwich.)

(Chuck Liddell poses with ‘Taboo’, co-host of Our Time.)

We have no idea how most of these encounters came about — but we’re sure they were all fairly awkward. Here are 21 of our favorite photos of MMA fighters rubbing shoulders with reality show stars, B-list actors, and aging rock royalty. Ah, the perks of fame…

(Cain Velasquez: The meat in a douche sandwich.)

(“…so then I snuck into Paul Walker’s trailer, put my balls on his forehead, and took a picture of it! You should have seen his face! Hahahaha! With my balls on it! Oh man!”)

(Rosie O’Donnell and her adopted son Urijah.)

(Tito Ortiz with Donnie Wahlberg, former New Kid on the Block and current brother of the guy who produces Entourage.)

(“Ay dawg, lemme use ‘Honky Cat‘ for my next walkout song.”)

(“Sure lady, I’ll sign your ti–HOLY FUCK YOU’RE CINDY CRAWFORD.”)

(“And I guess at that moment I realized that perhaps it was me that had the nasty ass stank breff the whole time.”)

(Verne Troyer actually trains jiu-jitsu. His grappling dummy is a Teddy Ruxpin.)

(Carlos Santana still needs a lot of work on that fist-pose.)

(Rashad Evans with Ice-T and his freaky wife Coco.)

(“That’s right, baby, a starring role in the next Steven Soderbergh flick. Now come on, you can trust Uncle Mickey.”)

(Jon Jones shares war stories with 50 Cent, chokes out Jay Leno.)

(Dan Hardy steals some metal essence from Pantera’s Vinnie Paul.)

(Nothing impresses LL Cool J more than a giant watch.)

(Roger Huerta and Laura Prepon, in happier times.)

(Rampage, please just read the teleprompter.)

(Forrest Griffin with Ton Jones of ‘Auction Hunters’. Now *that’s* random…)

(Fedor Emelianenko, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and their dates.)

Dream 17 Just Got a Little Less ‘Mandingo’

(Well, that’s a shame.)

Despite recent statements from DREAM and ‘Mandingo’ himself, Antonio McKee will not be facing Shinya Aoki at Dream’s “Bantamweight Japan Tournament” event on May 29th in Saitama. Andrew Simon of HDNet first broke the bad news yesterday evening. Afterwards, MMAWeekly reported that the withdrawal was due to McKee being unable to secure a visa in time to travel and fight in Japan, though FEG USA’s Mike Kogan denied that the situation was visa-related.

(Well, that’s a shame.)

Despite recent statements from DREAM and ‘Mandingo’ himself, Antonio McKee will not be facing Shinya Aoki at Dream’s “Bantamweight Japan Tournament” event on May 29th in Saitama. Andrew Simon of HDNet first broke the bad news yesterday evening. Afterwards, MMAWeekly reported that the withdrawal was due to McKee being unable to secure a visa in time to travel and fight in Japan, though FEG USA’s Mike Kogan denied that the situation was visa-related.

With the show less than two weeks away, DREAM will have to pull a rabbit out of their hat to find Aoki an opponent. (And by “pull a rabbit out of their hat,” I mean “find a totally unqualified journeyman for Aoki to choke out within 90 seconds.” You know how these things go.) Previously rumored opponents Willamy Freire and Jamie Varner are also no-go’s due to visa issues and failed negotiations, respectively.

As for McKee, the former MFC lightweight champ hasn’t competed since his one-and-done appearance at UFC 125, in which he dropped a split-decision to Jacob Volkmann — a bout highlighted by McKee possibly biting Volkmann — and was swiftly fired by the UFC. He was supposed to defend his MFC title against Drew Fickett in late February, but had to withdraw due to a knee injury, and was stripped of his title. A brutal start to 2011 for ‘Dingo, but as long as he still has his reality show and tattooed man-nanny, we have no doubt that McKee will land on his feet.

Video: Hector Lombard Scores Another Savage KO at Bellator 44

(Props: BellatorMMA)

Unfortunately, ReX was unable to provide us with one of his famous Bellator reports this week, so you’ll have to settle for this quick-n-dirty recap of Bellator 44, which went down Saturday night in Atlantic City. First, we’ll direct you to the video above: Hector Lombard earned his 18th-straight victory (!) in a non-title bout against Falaniko Vitale, crushing Niko to the mat with a right hook in the third frame after a surprisingly dull first two rounds. Lombard’s latest performance follows such previous classics as “Six Second Prison Rape” and “A Corpse Named ‘Whisper’.”

Headlining the card, Xtreme Couture’s Michael Chandler scored an upset decision win over the highly-touted Patricky Freire in the Season Four Lightweight Tournament final, outworking the Pitbull in all three rounds; Chandler was docked a point in the third for groin-kicks. The victory netted him a $100,00 check and a future shot at Eddie Alvarez’s belt. In non-tournament action, Alexander Shlemenko spun circles around Brett Cooper, picking up his own UD victory, while Giedrius Karavackas battled back from an early ass-kicking to submit Sam Oropeza by scarf-hold armlock. Full results and video of the Karavackas/Oropeza stoppage are after the jump.

(Props: BellatorMMA)

Unfortunately, ReX was unable to provide us with one of his famous Bellator reports this week, so you’ll have to settle for this quick-n-dirty recap of Bellator 44, which went down Saturday night in Atlantic City. First, we’ll direct you to the video above: Hector Lombard earned his 18th-straight victory (!) in a non-title bout against Falaniko Vitale, crushing Niko to the mat with a right hook in the third frame after a surprisingly dull first two rounds. Lombard’s latest performance follows such previous classics as “Six Second Prison Rape” and “A Corpse Named ‘Whisper’.”

Headlining the card, Xtreme Couture’s Michael Chandler scored an upset decision win over the highly-touted Patricky Freire in the Season Four Lightweight Tournament final, outworking the Pitbull in all three rounds; Chandler was docked a point in the third for groin-kicks. The victory netted him a $100,00 check and a future shot at Eddie Alvarez’s belt. In non-tournament action, Alexander Shlemenko spun circles around Brett Cooper, picking up his own UD victory, while Giedrius Karavackas battled back from an early ass-kicking to submit Sam Oropeza by scarf-hold armlock. Full results and video of the Karavackas/Oropeza stoppage are after the jump.

MAIN CARD
– Michael Chandler def. Patricky Freire via unanimous decision (29–27 x 3)
– Hector Lombard def. Falaniko Vitale via KO, 0:54 of round 3
– Giedrius Karavackas def. Sam Oropeza via submission (scarf hold armlock), 3:59 of round 3
– Alexander Shlemenko def. Brett Cooper via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–28, 29–28)

LOCAL FEATURE FIGHTS
– Jamall Johnson def. Randy Smith via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:16 of round 2
– Jeff Lentz def. Anthony Leone via unanimous decision (29–28 x 3)
– Jay Silva def. Gemiyale Adkins via unanimous decision (30–26, 30–27 x 2)