Wild-Ass UFC Booking Roundup: Miller vs. Shalorus, Faber vs. Wineland, Bruce Leroy, Kid Yamamoto + More

("This big horsemeat-eating motherf*cker is next.")
There’s been a veritable orgy of UFC fight-bookings happening over the last couple days, and we might as well throw them all at you in one lump sum. We’ll start with one that might…


("This big horsemeat-eating motherf*cker is next.")

There’s been a veritable orgy of UFC fight-bookings happening over the last couple days, and we might as well throw them all at you in one lump sum. We’ll start with one that might not be the biggest of the bunch, but definitely struck us as the strangest…

Jim Miller vs. Kamal Shalorus – UFC 128:
When Dana White proclaimed that Miller’s impressive kneebar submission win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 124 put him in the mix of  lightweight contenders, nobody figured that would mean that he’d be paired with an Octagon newcomer in his next bout. But this is the UFC, and sometimes the organization’s MMA math just doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense. The Sparta, New Jersey native will attempt to increase his winning streak to seven when he takes on  (7-0-2) WEC veteran Shalorus at UFC 128 in his backyard in New Jersey.

Dan Miller vs. David Branch – UFC 128:
Considering that his brother is on the card and they can save on cornermen hotel rooms and plane tickets, it’s a no-brainer that the UFC would have another local fighter like Miller on the card for UFC 128. The fact that they now have to pay Chuck Liddell’s seven-figure salary,  bar and strip club tabs has not been lost on the accounting department who have undoubtedly suggested some cost cutting measures that will be implemented in 2011. Wait until you see the beat-up budget ex-strippers they bring in to replace Arianny and Chandella.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Brendan Schaub – UFC 128:
It turned out that reports earlier this week that a rumored bout between Schaub and Stephan Struve had been verbally agreed to by both fighters were incorrect. Instead, Schaub will look to climb over former PRIDE wrecking machine, Cro Cop on his way to a top five opponent in 2011.

Filipovic will attempt to prolong his rapidly shortening career by defeating the up-and-coming fighter who is riding a three-fight winning streak which includes a "W" over Gabriel Gonzaga — the last man to put Cro Cop to sleep prior to Frank Mir turning his lights out in his last outing at UFC 119.

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Fighter of the Year: Cain Velasquez

Filed under: Fighting, UFCAt 6-foot-1 and around 240 pounds, Cain Velasquez is no small man in the ordinary world, but among the UFC’s supersized heavyweights, he hardly stands out for his size.

In fact, many heavyweights are either taller or heavier …

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Cain VelasquezAt 6-foot-1 and around 240 pounds, Cain Velasquez is no small man in the ordinary world, but among the UFC’s supersized heavyweights, he hardly stands out for his size.

In fact, many heavyweights are either taller or heavier than Velasquez, and most are both. Yet by the end of 2010, it was Velasquez that reigned over the group of monster athletes.

For capturing the UFC heavyweight championship and completing a rapid rise to the top, Velasquez is MMA Fighting’s 2010 Fighter of the Year.

The Gracies Break Down UFC 124 Submissions of the Night

(Video courtesy YouTube/GracieBreakdown) If you were blitzed out of your mind on Zima Saturday night at Dave and Buster’s and you couldn’t wrap your head around how two solid black belts like Dustin Hazelett and Charles Oliveira were seemingly eff…

(Video courtesy YouTube/GracieBreakdown)

If you were blitzed out of your mind on Zima Saturday night at Dave and Buster’s and you couldn’t wrap your head around how two solid black belts like Dustin Hazelett and Charles Oliveira were seemingly effortlessly submitted within the first three minutes of their respective UFC 124 lightweight bouts, the video above should shed some light on the subject for you.

As part of their ongoing "Gracie Breakdown" series, Rener and Ryron Gracie sat down and dissected how Mark Bocek set up the triangle-armlock he tapped Hazelett out with and the ankle lock-to-kneebar transition Jim Miller used to submit Oliveira with to hand the up-and-coming Brazilian his first MMA loss.

They also outline how both losers could have potentially defended and escaped the submissions.

Check out more Gracie Breakdowns after the jump.

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Falling Action: Best and Worst of UFC 124

Filed under: UFCThe fans in Montreal got an early Christmas present when their homegrown champion gave them 25 minutes worth of domination, but what about UFC 124’s supporting cast? While some fighters took a step forward on Saturday night, others like…

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The fans in Montreal got an early Christmas present when their homegrown champion gave them 25 minutes worth of domination, but what about UFC 124‘s supporting cast? While some fighters took a step forward on Saturday night, others likely stepped out of the picture entirely, and at least one found himself just barely hanging on.

Without further delay, let’s take a look at the winners, losers, and everything in between after UFC 124.

Biggest Winner: Georges St. Pierre
Watching GSP out-jab Koscheck for five rounds was like watching a mongoose fight a sponge. He was simply too quick and too precise, and that was before Koscheck was forced to try and defend himself with the use of only one eye. You can say what you will about the pound-for-pound debate, but there is no champion in all of MMA who is currently more dominant in his weight class. Now that he’s proven his ability to pick apart with strikes what few opponents he can’t easily outwrestle, a lot of 170-pounders in the UFC are probably considering going up or down in weight this morning. It’s either that, or wait for the 29-year-old champion’s skills to atrophy with age. Better get comfortable, because it’s probably going to be a while.

Aided by Their Dumb-Ass Fans, UFC Hands Out $400,000 in Bonuses for ‘St. Pierre vs. Koscheck’ [UPDATED]

(Pierson and Riddle’s three-round battle wasn’t enough to win FOTN, but Riddle did go home with the $100 Snot Rocket of the Night bonus. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com.)
The performance bonus payouts for Saturday’s UFC 124 event were notable for s…

Sean Pierson Matt Riddle UFC 124 MMA photos
(Pierson and Riddle’s three-round battle wasn’t enough to win FOTN, but Riddle did go home with the $100 Snot Rocket of the Night bonus. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com.)

The performance bonus payouts for Saturday’s UFC 124 event were notable for several reasons: For the first time ever, the UFC allowed fans to choose the "Fight of the Night" in an online vote. Update: The FOTN and Knockout bonuses were $100,000 apiece — the largest bumps since UFC 100 — and two separate [$50,000] Submission of the Night awards were handed out, which meant the total bonus money added up to $400,000, half of which arguably went to the wrong guys. Here’s how the UFC 124 bonuses shook out, in order of most deserving to least deserving…

Submission of the Night #1: Jim Miller, for surviving the relentless grappling offensive of Charles Oliveira, then ending the fight himself with a kneebar just shy of the two-minute mark. Submitting the young, formerly undefeated jiu-jitsu phenom is a major accomplishment for Miller, and should hopefully earn him a fight with a big name in his next outing.

Submission of the Night #2: Mark Bocek, for his first-round triangle choke of Dustin Hazelett (who’s no slouch on the ground either). The way that Bocek set up the triangle from the top then rolled underneath Hazelett to secure it was pretty freakin’ brilliant.

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UFC 124 Live Blog: Jim Miller vs. Charles Oliveira Updates

Filed under: UFCMONTREAL — This is the UFC 124 live blog for Jim Miller vs. Charles Oliveira, a lightweight bout on tonight’s UFC pay-per-view card at the Bell Centre.

The fast rising Oliveira (14-0) has submitted Efrain Escudero and Darren Elkins in…

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MONTREAL — This is the UFC 124 live blog for Jim Miller vs. Charles Oliveira, a lightweight bout on tonight’s UFC pay-per-view card at the Bell Centre.

The fast rising Oliveira (14-0) has submitted Efrain Escudero and Darren Elkins in his two Octagon appearances. Miller (18-2) is on a five-fight win streak in the UFC, beating the likes of Gleison Tibau, Mark Bocek, Duane Ludwig, Steve Lopez and Mac Danzig.

The live blog is below.