We never expected Nick Diaz to stay “retired,” after he lost a close decision to Carlos Condit and got popped and suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) for marijuana metabolites early in the year. So when Diaz manager/coach Cesar Gracie released a written statement on GracieFighter.com Friday that Diaz will, in fact, return to fighting it just confirmed the obvious.
However, Gracie had another timely bombshell to announce – Diaz would totally fight Anderson Silva, and Diaz’ camp will make the request of the UFC.
(I’m just playing, MMA. You know I love you)
We never expected Nick Diaz to stay “retired,” after he lost a close decision to Carlos Condit and got popped and suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) for marijuana metabolites early in the year. So when Diaz manager/coach Cesar Gracie released a written statement on GracieFighter.com Friday that Diaz will, in fact, return to fighting it just confirmed the obvious.
However, Gracie had another timely bombshell to announce – Diaz would totally fight Anderson Silva, and Diaz’ camp will make the request of the UFC. “‘Silva’s camp has been speaking of a fight with GSP [Georges St. Pierre], possibly even at a catch weight,” Gracie wrote. “Nick will take that fight in a minute but has told me that should Silva decide not to drop at all, he will move up to 185lbs to face the Champ.”
As audacious as the challenge might be, from a rankings and match-up perspective, Diaz’ timing might be pretty good. Anderson Silva’s camp doesn’t seem enthused about the champion fighting any of the current middleweight challengers, saying they want GSP. But GSP has never seemed very interested in fighting Silva and besides, we’d expect him to fight the interim welterweight champ, Condit, first when he returns to action.
Diaz is much smaller than Silva and doesn’t own a belt, but on the other hand we can only imagine how well he’d sell that fight. Additionally, he might be the only other guy that we could expect not to be afraid of Anderson.
Diaz has been unsuccessful in appealing to Nevada’s Attorney General and to the NSAC for leniency in his year-long suspension but Gracie says that they are seeking remedy in court. ”To address the NSAC suspension, I will say that we have appealed to the courts and if things go our way, it will be plausible that Nick could return as early as sometime at the end of this year,” Gracie wrote.
He also said that he will be meeting with UFC President Dana White on August 6th to discuss Nick Diaz’ future. What do you say, nation – should Uncle Dana be open to the idea of UFC 160: Stockton vs. Curritiba?
(God help the next poor girl who has to get fisted by this savage.)
In terms of her sharp wit and passion for MMA, adult-film star Carmen Valentina is definitely one of us. Then again, she makes her living having wild sex on camera, which makes her pretty unique among CagePotato contributors. And since Carmen hasn’t graced us with her lovely presence in a while, we figured it was time to collect more of your questions for another no-holds-barred mailbag column.
Please toss your queries into the comments section below, or tweet them @cagepotatomma with the tag #askcarmen. Despite what the headline says, your questions don’t all have to be about the girl in your office who keeps rejecting your advances. You can ask Ms. Valentina pretty much anything that’s on your mind. But please skim through her first “Ask Carmen” column to make sure you’re not covering familiar territory. Sound good? Thanks for your support, and be sure to follow Carmen Valentina on twitter!
(God help the next poor girl who has to get fisted by this savage.)
In terms of her sharp wit and passion for MMA, adult-film star Carmen Valentina is definitely one of us. Then again, she makes her living having wild sex on camera, which makes her pretty unique among CagePotato contributors. And since Carmen hasn’t graced us with her lovely presence in a while, we figured it was time to collect more of your questions for another no-holds-barred mailbag column.
Please toss your queries into the comments section below, or tweet them @cagepotatomma with the tag #askcarmen. Despite what the headline says, your questions don’t all have to be about the girl in your office who keeps rejecting your advances. You can ask Ms. Valentina pretty much anything that’s on your mind. But please skim through her first “Ask Carmen” column to make sure you’re not covering familiar territory. Sound good? Thanks for your support, and be sure to follow Carmen Valentina on twitter!
Last week, we sent out a call for your most memorable MMA fighter run-in stories, and they’ve been steadily pouring in since then. Some of those stories were not entertaining on any level. But a bunch of them are really, really good, and we can’t wait to share them with you in this Friday’s CagePotato Roundtable column. Just yesterday, a dude named Tony sent in an epic tale of Bas Rutten savagely cock-blocking him with a beautiful Persian chick, and I don’t think it’ll be topped. But you can always try, so please continue to send your stories (with photographic proof, if possible) to [email protected] by Wednesday at midnight ET. Thanks!
(Let’s just say that GSP’s tastes are…specific.)
Last week, we sent out a call for your most memorable MMA fighter run-in stories, and they’ve been steadily pouring in since then. Some of those stories were not entertaining on any level. But a bunch of them are really, really good, and we can’t wait to share them with you in this Friday’s CagePotato Roundtable column. Just yesterday, a dude named Tony sent in an epic tale of Bas Rutten savagely cock-blocking him with a beautiful Persian chick, and I don’t think it’ll be topped. But you can always try, so please continue to send your stories (with photographic proof, if possible) to [email protected] by Wednesday at midnight ET. Thanks!
When we launched our Twitter account in February 2009, we had to choose the name @CagePotatoMMA, because @CagePotato had already been claimed. (I’m not gonna name names, but I’m pretty sure a disgruntled former co-worker was behind the poaching.) It didn’t really matter, though, because @CagePotato was basically just a holding page that directed people to our real account. No harm done.
Last night, @SethFalvo noticed that @CagePotato has turned into a fake spam account that auto-posts our headlines (as well as stories from FightPromo; very suspicious). This fake account has managed to trick about 5,700 users into following them instead of us, which sucks because those users have subscribed to an inferior product. Sure, they’re getting links to our articles, but they’re missing out on all of our great MMA dick jokes, brain-busting trivia, bonus liveblog observations, and constructive criticism — you know, the good stuff.
Seth suggested that we do this post because the headline will be automatically tweeted to @CagePotato’s followers. (Clever, right?) So if you’re reading this and are following @CagePotato by mistake, please unfollow them, report them for spam, then follow us instead. Thanks for your support.
Update: Step one of the plan was a success — @cagepotato was indeed dumb enough to tweet this headline out to their followers. Screen-cap after the jump, via @JamesSchipper.
(Twitter: Serious business.)
When we launched our Twitter account in February 2009, we had to choose the name @CagePotatoMMA, because @CagePotato had already been claimed. (I’m not gonna name names, but I’m pretty sure a disgruntled former co-worker was behind the poaching.) It didn’t really matter, though, because @CagePotato was basically just a holding page that directed people to our real account. No harm done.
Last night, @SethFalvo noticed that @CagePotato has turned into a fake spam account that auto-posts our headlines (as well as stories from FightPromo; very suspicious). This fake account has managed to trick about 5,700 users into following them instead of us, which sucks because those users have subscribed to an inferior product. Sure, they’re getting links to our articles, but they’re missing out on all of our great MMA dick jokes, brain-busting trivia, bonus liveblog observations, and constructive criticism — you know, the good stuff.
Seth suggested that we do this post because the headline will be automatically tweeted to @CagePotato’s followers. (Clever, right?) So if you’re reading this and are following @CagePotato by mistake, please unfollow them, report them for spam, then follow us instead. Thanks for your support.
Update: Step one of the plan was a success — @cagepotato was indeed dumb enough to tweet this headline out to their followers. Screen-cap after the jump, via @JamesSchipper.
We’ve seen as many MMA sponsors come and go over the last few years as we have fighters themselves, and with a fewnotableexceptions, they haven’t had much, if any, impact on the sport. That’s all about to change with the launch of FundAFighter.com, which helps fighters raise money to cover the costs of their training camps, travel, nutrition, or other MMA-related projects.
Developed by Tristar Gym‘s Firas Zahabi, the new site supports fighters in the planning and execution of “crowdfunding” campaigns in which they solicit donations directly from their fans in exchange for unique incentives like event tickets, autographs, fight-worn gear, or whatever rewards they are willing to give their backers. Oh, and did we mention that CagePotato veteran Mike Russell is handling PR for FundAFighter?
If the concept sounds vaguely familiar, there’s a reason for that — and it’s not just because crowdfunding is how we got Karmaatemycat to the TUF 14 tryouts last year. From the press release:
We’ve seen as many MMA sponsors come and go over the last few years as we have fighters themselves, and with a fewnotableexceptions, they haven’t had much, if any, impact on the sport. That’s all about to change with the launch of FundAFighter.com, which helps fighters raise money to cover the costs of their training camps, travel, nutrition, or other MMA-related projects.
Developed by Tristar Gym‘s Firas Zahabi, the new site supports fighters in the planning and execution of “crowdfunding” campaigns in which they solicit donations directly from their fans in exchange for unique incentives like event tickets, autographs, fight-worn gear, or whatever rewards they are willing to give their backers. Oh, and did we mention that CagePotato veteran Mike Russell is handling PR for FundAFighter?
If the concept sounds vaguely familiar, there’s a reason for that — and it’s not just because crowdfunding is how we got Karmaatemycat to the TUF 14 tryouts last year. From the press release:
When late, great former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner waved away corporate sponsors to instead give his fans the opportunity to contribute financially to his training camps in exchange for tangible rewards like signature shirts and autographed gear, his novel idea was met with praise from both fans and the media. Evan’s groundbreaking concept was what would later become known as crowdsourcing, more specifically crowdfunding – two methodologies whose names weren’t even coined until a year after he began practicing them.
Inspired by Tanner’s simple idea, this exciting and groundbreaking initiative was developed by Tristar Gym owner and revered MMA trainer Firas Zahabi and noted Montreal based entrepreneurs Robbie Stein and Greg Hoffman. The goal of Fund a Fighter is simple: Provide fighters with an alternative means of raising money for their next MMA-related project, while giving fans an alternative way to interact and support their favorite fighters. Think of it like Kickstarter for MMA.
That sounds pretty badass, but how will the impact the sport going forward?
“Zahabi thinks the new venture will change the landscape of the sport for the better, removing a lot of the financial roadblocks fighters face when preparing for fights, like affording travel, hiring coaches, and making sure that their nutritional needs are being met.”
Nice. So what fighters can fans currently sponsor?
“The company also announced today that FAF’s first two approved fighters with active fundraising campaigns on the site are current UFC featherweight Joey Gambino and The Ultimate Fighter 13 veteran, welterweight standout Chuck “Cold Steel” O’Neil.”
It all sounds pretty awesome when you think about it. We love watching great fights, and want these athletes to have everything they need to show up on fight night healthy and ready to put on a Fight of the Night performance. What better way to help make this possible than by becoming a member and donating a few bucks? C’mon, we both know you’re going to, even if only for an autographed jock strap.
Registration at FAF is free and open to the public, however no new fundraising campaigns will be approved until August. For more information and updates, follow FundAFighter on Facebook and Twitter.
(Gina agreed to sign his neck, but turned down his request for a contribution to his skin suit.)
Once again, we’re going to hand our CagePotato Roundtable column over to the unwashed masses. Next Friday’s topic is: “What was your most memorable run-in with an MMA fighter?” And you bastards are going to write it for us.
Did a chance encounter with a UFC fighter in a bar turn into an all-night bender? Did a request for an autograph at a Fan Expo leave you with much more than you were looking for? Did the anxiety from meeting your hero cause you to say something really freakin’ stupid? Have you ever been on a date with a well-known MMA fighter? And did he/she turn out to be a kind, patient lover? As long as your story is entertaining (and true), we’d love to hear it.
Send your stories to [email protected] by next Wednesday (7/25) at midnight ET. We’ll pick a handful of the best ones and run ‘em on Friday. And as before, please let us know if you don’t want us to print your names. Thanks guys!
(Gina agreed to sign his neck, but turned down his request for a contribution to his skin suit.)
Once again, we’re going to hand our CagePotato Roundtable column over to the unwashed masses. Next Friday’s topic is: “What was your most memorable run-in with an MMA fighter?” And you bastards are going to write it for us.
Did a chance encounter with a UFC fighter in a bar turn into an all-night bender? Did a request for an autograph at a Fan Expo leave you with much more than you were looking for? Did the anxiety from meeting your hero cause you to say something really freakin’ stupid? Have you ever been on a date with a well-known MMA fighter? And did he/she turn out to be a kind, patient lover? As long as your story is entertaining (and true), we’d love to hear it.
Send your stories to [email protected] by next Wednesday (7/25) at midnight ET. We’ll pick a handful of the best ones and run ‘em on Friday. And as before, please let us know if you don’t want us to print your names. Thanks guys!
