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Erik Paulson Presaged Lesnar’s Arm-Triangle Win Over Carwin, Says Brock Needs ‘Guys That Actually Can Throw Down’ in his Camp

(VidProps: YouTube/FightHubtv)
Somewhere at his house, Erik Paulson has a piece of paper with his prediction for Brock Lesnar’s UFC 116 fight with Shane Carwin written on it: “Brock Will Win Round 2/3 via Shoulder Triangle Choke.” A…

(VidProps: YouTube/FightHubtv)

Somewhere at his house, Erik Paulson has a piece of paper with his prediction for Brock Lesnar’s UFC 116 fight with Shane Carwin written on it: “Brock Will Win Round 2/3 via Shoulder Triangle Choke.” At least that’s what the mixed martial arts O.G. claims in the above video with FightHubTV.com. And sure, we have no idea if that piece of paper really exists or when exactly Paulson scribbled down his stunningly accurate premonition of Lesnar’s victory, but just one look at the 44-year-old former Shooto champion’s weathered face in this vid and you get the impression this is a dude who knows how to prognosticate the outcome of a cage fight.

In fact, given Paulson’s long and storied history in MMA and martial arts in general, it’s sad in a way that he’s now introduced simply as “one of Brock Lesnar’s trainers.” Paulson after all was blazing a trail in the fight game back when Lesnar was still terrifying sophomore chicks at Webster High in South Dakota. Maybe it’s that extensive experience – or maybe I’m reading too much into this – but Paulson seems (at about the 5:20 mark) just a bit contemptuous of some of the things that are going on out at Lesnar’s private DeathClutch training center in Minnesota.

At a Crossroads in his Career, BJ Penn says he’s ‘Full Blast, Back Training Again’

(VidProps: BJPenn.com, "The, uh, Home of MMA")
Fear not, those of you who thought you sniffed a subtle hint of finality in BJ Penn’s initial melancholy video statement after his UFC 118 loss to Frankie Edgar. “The Prodigy” s…

(VidProps: BJPenn.com, "The, uh, Home of MMA")

Fear not, those of you who thought you sniffed a subtle hint of finality in BJ Penn’s initial melancholy video statement after his UFC 118 loss to Frankie Edgar. “The Prodigy” says he ain’t done. Sure, it sounded bad when Penn started “thanking the fans for their support over the years” in that first vid – and the depressing elevator music didn’t help, either – but according to Penn’s latest melancholy video statement he wants another fight ASAP and plans on “jumping back in the gym” as early as tomorrow. Or, is it today? Beats me. What time is it in Hawaii, anyway?

“I’ve just been hanging out these last couple of days,” Penn says here. “But I’m going to stick to what I said about being as active as I can … Let me try to contact the UFC (to) get a fight as soon as possible. Luckily, I didn’t get any injuries (against Edgar) … I can still build off my last camp. I didn’t go out, I didn’t party or anything (Ed. Note: I should hope not). So, that’s it. I’m going to jump in the gym tomorrow and go full blast, back training again.”

So that sounds encouraging. Make no mistake though, these are dark times in Hilo.

Jay Hieron Isn’t Quite Out of Strikeforce Deal, But Says He’s ‘Looking to the Future’

(Clearly not bothering to read the fine print. PicPops: Xtreme Couture)
News about Jay Hieron’s contractual status has a funny way of going public before the legal Is are dotted and Ts crossed. Last year, he had to tell us all to just chill when …

(Clearly not bothering to read the fine print. PicPops: Xtreme Couture)

News about Jay Hieron’s contractual status has a funny way of going public before the legal Is are dotted and Ts crossed. Last year, he had to tell us all to just chill when reports that he’d bailed from the Hindenburg that was Affliction and signed with Strikeforce proved premature. Now, Hieron himself admits he “jumped the gun” in announcing his own departure from Scott Coker’s slowly deflating dingy of an MMA promotion. When Hieron tweeted last week that he’d been officially released from Strikeforce and then proclaimed: “Ya’ll know what I’m about to do!!!!!!!” the truth was, not even Hieron himself actually knew what he was about to do.

Though the Xtreme Couture product told MMA Fighting over the weekend that he’ll “definitely” be fighting again before the end of the year, he isn’t quite free from Strikeforce’s clutches just yet. And the UFC return he seemed to be hinting at on his Twitter? At this point, that sounds more like wishful thinking than a done deal, too.

Oh, Good: James Toney Says We Haven’t Seen the Last of His ‘Gorilla Nuts’ in MMA

(VidProps: YouTube/Goossen Tutor Boxing)
Honestly, most of this video with James Toney from Saturday night is totally unintelligible. Unfortunately, it’s also reportedly the only post-fight interview with “Lights Out” since, like the…

(VidProps: YouTube/Goossen Tutor Boxing)

Honestly, most of this video with James Toney from Saturday night is totally unintelligible. Unfortunately, it’s also reportedly the only post-fight interview with “Lights Out” since, like the true sportsman we all know him to be, he no-showed the official UFC 118 press conference after his embarrassing loss to Randy Couture. Toney may not have been man enough to face the MMA media after throwing zero standing punches en route to tapping out to Couture’s side check choke – pretty sure that’s what it was – three minutes, 19 seconds into the first round, but he did make time to sit down with Rodney Hunt from Goossen Tutor Promotions, a company that represents Toney in boxing. So, yeah, an in-house interview with a paid yes man. You probably know where this is going …

Will Tonight’s Co-Main Event Determine Which Old Guy Jon Jones Gets to Beat Up Next?

(“Yeah, I get it, ‘UFC 124: ‘Expendable,’ that’s really funny … no, seriously, I’m laughing on the inside.” PicProps: Sherdog)
Look, I didn’t mean to get you all in a tizzy with that crazy stuff I …

(“Yeah, I get it, ‘UFC 124: ‘Expendable,’ that’s really funny … no, seriously, I’m laughing on the inside.” PicProps: Sherdog)

Look, I didn’t mean to get you all in a tizzy with that crazy stuff I said earlier. Rest assured, gentle reader, odds are very good that Randy Couture applies one of his world-renowned Brazilian Joint Locks to James Toney tonight and takes home an easy victory, probably sometime in the first round. After that, we’ll all have our fun with Toney, figuratively poking him in his airbrushed belly as we ship him off to wherever it is old boxers go to die. We’ll all probably act very smug and superior on our Twitter accounts for a few days, too.

Deep down, though, Couture’s victory will not cure my unease. For some while now, I’ve been wondering if the worst thing that could happen to Randy Couture at this stage in his career would be for him to beat James Toney at UFC 118. This is all just conjecture mind you, but I can’t escape the notion that whoever wins tonight might ride a groundswell of mainstream publicity right into a fight with Jon Jones, probably at the UFC’s end-of-the-year (or maybe Super Bowl weekend) pay-per-view.

Worst Case Scenario Survival Guide: What to Do If Randy Loses to James Toney

(Keep laughing, KenFlo. It won’t be so funny when “Lights Out” brings the side check kick down to 155. PicProps: Heavy.com)
Sunday morning, you wake up. Splitting hangover headache. You roll over and nausea sweeps through your body. Y…

(Keep laughing, KenFlo. It won’t be so funny when “Lights Out” brings the side check kick down to 155. PicProps: Heavy.com)

Sunday morning, you wake up. Splitting hangover headache. You roll over and nausea sweeps through your body. You will yourself not to puke. “Where am I,” you think, “and who is this fat chick?” The night before is a total blur. There are significant gaps. You remember being at the bar, yelling unintelligible shit at a TV. Some guy you don’t know kept buying you shots. You might’ve left a bunch of voicemails for that girl you like. After that you must – wait — then it hits you. Holy fucking shit. Randy Couture fucking LOST to James Toney last night.

Scary though huh, PotatoNation? Consider the above paragraph a kind of public service announcement. Some don’t-let-this-happen-to-you type shit. Here at The Potato we are nothing if not realists. We believe wholeheartedly in expecting the best while preparing for the worst, or whatever the terrible cliché says we ought to do. For that reason, it’s probably a good idea that we all spend a few minutes considering the possibility that Toney might actually beat Couture at tonight’s UFC 118. You know, just in case. It won’t be easy, but we can get through this together.