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Video: Dana Says the Winner of Velasquez-Dos Santos Will Fight the Winner of Lesnar-Overeem Next and More Tidbits

(Video courtesy of TheScore)

Strikeforce play-by-play commentator and MMA reporter Mauro Ranallo caught up with Dana White following yesterday’s UFC on FOX 1 press conference in Los Angeles and as usual, the always outspoken UFC president had a lot to say.

Check out the brass tacks of the interview after the jump.

(Video courtesy of TheScore)

Check out the brass tacks of the interview below.

• White says he’s always been the promoter who wanted to bring big fights like Velasquez-dos Santos to free television

• He’s nervous about Saturday and says he just wants to get the show behind him

• He isn’t worried about Velasquez’s injury hindering his performance

• Believes Cain is the best heavyweight in the world

• Assures fans that they will still be entertained by the broadcast if the fight only lasts a few seconds because they have “plenty of stuff” planned for the event

• Says that although there won’t be a “UFC 101″ primer for new fans like Strikeforce does with those creepy skinless 3-D models, there will be plenty of storytelling and explaining during the show

• Says that the broadcast will look different then the pay-per-views and it will have a FOX feel

• Although it was FOX’s idea to only have one fight on the broadcast, Dana says he agreed with the decision

• This show isn’t even a part of the FOX deal, which goes into effect in January

• The winner of Satuday night’s main event will fight the winner of Lesnar-Overeem

• Brock will be one of the analysts on the broadcast Saturday night

• Instead of a Q&A tomorrow prior to the weigh-ins, the UFC will instead do a press conference announcing Overeem vs. Lesnar

• Silva will be facing Sonnen next since it’s the fight that makes the most sense and the one that everyone wants to see

• Says he isn’t sure if the winner of Guida-Henderson will be next in line for a shot at Edgar

• Explains that Griffin’s comments about rape being “the new missionary” were not meant as a joke, but instead as a comment on the state of the world that rape has become such commonplace in the news that it’s becoming the norm

• Says Forrest chose the wrong platform and the wrong words and that he’s “busted up” over the misunderstanding

• Fox has never asked the UFC to censor itself or tone down some of its behavior

• Says that they just need to make some smarter decisions

• Expects a decision on the future of Strikeforce in the next week, but doesn’t know what will happen

The MMA Hour With Chael Sonnen, Cormier, Ellenberger, McCarthy, Ranallo

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, MMA Fighting Exclusive, NewsThe MMA Hour will air on Tuesday this week due to Labor Day. Don’t worry, though, we still have a great lineup of guests planned for our 98th show.

* Chael Sonnen will discuss Yushin Okami’s …

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, MMA Fighting Exclusive, News

The MMA Hour will air on Tuesday this week due to Labor Day. Don’t worry, though, we still have a great lineup of guests planned for our 98th show.

* Chael Sonnen will discuss Yushin Okami‘s loss to Anderson Silva and his upcoming fight against Brian Stann at UFC 136.

* Daniel Cormier will talk about his Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix semi-final fight against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.

* Jake Ellenberger will talk about his UFC Fight Night 25 main event against Jake Shields.

* Referee “Big” John McCarthy will discuss his storied career and the release of his new book, “Let’s Get it On!”

* And Showtime broadcaster Mauro Ranallo will discuss Saturday night’s Strikeforce event in Cincinnati, as well as other MMA news making headlines.

Of course, we’ll be taking your calls. Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193, 212-254-0237 or 212-254-0714.

*** You can also stream the show live on your iPhone or iPad by clicking here.

Watch the show live below beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. Subscribe to The MMA Hour on iTunes: audio feed here; video feed here. Download previous episodes here. Listen to the show via Stitcher here.

(Editor’s Note: Today’s MMA Hour is now over, but the video should be up Wednesday or Thursday.)

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Dear Fox, Please Keep Gus Johnson Away From Your UFC Broadcasts. Signed, Everyone.

(“Maybe he was born with it. Maybe it’s Maybelline.”)

One overlooked scenario from today’s blockbuster announcement that Fox Networks has signed a seven year broadcast deal with the UFC is that Gus Johnson may somehow be involved in its UFC coverage.

Fox recently inked the sometimes MMA commentator to a multi-year commentary deal that will see the veteran football and basketball play-by-play man call a variety of Pacific-12 football and basketball games, the Cotton Bowl and football games on the Big Ten Network, which is also partly owned by Fox. He will also call about 30 BTN basketball games as well as some yet-to-be-determined college basketball games on either Fox or FX.

Hopefully for the sake of the majority of MMA fans who came to loathe the much-maligned Renzo Gracie BJJ blue belt’s oblivious Strikeforce commentary, his other duties will keep his made-up mug off of the UFC-related broadcasts, that are said to include pre and post-fight shows and a weekly or daily UFC magazine-type series.

(“Maybe he was born with it. Maybe it’s Maybelline.”)

One overlooked scenario from today’s blockbuster announcement that Fox Networks has signed a seven year broadcast deal with the UFC is that Gus Johnson may somehow be involved in its UFC coverage.

If UFC president Dana White has his way, Johnson, who he called “bush league” for the way he handled the brawl in Nashville last year, won’t be allowed near any of his shows.

Here’s what White had to say about Johnson’s “Sometimes these things happen in MMA” remarks in an interview with Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole:

“When have you seen anything remotely close to that happen at a UFC event?” White asked. “What kind of ridiculous commentary was that? That was an idiotic thing to say. And then he was yelling at them to stop, telling them they are on national television. That was just another example of how bush league they are.”

UFC color analyst Joe Rogan is also not a fan of GuJo.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/Romain1212)

I’d rather see Mauro Ranallo get the gig than Gus and I’d much rather see Chael Sonnen host his own UFC show. Maybe he could do double-duty as a political analyst on Fox News.

Showtime Hits With UFC-Strikeforce Purchase, Misses With In-Cage Action

Filed under: MMA Media Watch, UFC, StrikeforceSaturday night’s Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley card was the first major event on Showtime since the UFC purchased Strikeforce, and it was a good opportunity to see how Showtime would handle its MMA broadcasts…

Filed under: MMA Media Watch, UFC, Strikeforce

Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley card was the first major event on Showtime since the UFC purchased Strikeforce, and it was a good opportunity to see how Showtime would handle its MMA broadcasts now that the premium cable channel is in business with a promotion that had previously been a rival.

Overall, I thought Showtime did a solid job of handling the UFC’s purchase of Strikeforce. But once it was time for the fighters to step into the cage, the coverage of Saturday night’s biggest controversy — the Gegard Mousasi vs. Keith Jardine draw — left something to be desired.

Let’s start with the good: Showtime handled the UFC’s purchase of Strikeforce appropriately by tackling it at the outset. It’s a major story that deserved the upfront treatment it got.

Vitor Belfort Wants Shawn Tompkins to Know He’s Doing Just Fine Training Without Him, Thank You Very Much

("Tell me again what it was like hanging out on the set with Hocky Balboa.")
When a story emerged last week that less than a month prior to the bout Vitor Belfort had jumped ship from training with Shawn Tompkins at TapouT Training Centre i…

("Tell me again what it was like hanging out on the set with Hocky Balboa.")

When a story emerged last week that less than a month prior to the bout Vitor Belfort had jumped ship from training with Shawn Tompkins at TapouT Training Centre in Las Vegas in favor of holding his camp for his February 5 UFC 126 showdown with UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva at Xtreme Couture, the Internet exploded with theories about the obvious fragile mental state of "The Phenom" and fans and pundits quickly began writing off the former UFC heavyweight champ’s chances in the fight.

According to Belfort, the truth is, although he returned to working under the tutelage of Tompkins for this camp, he never really actually stopped training at the Randy Couture-helmed gym.

In a recent Twitter post Vitor (who incidentally trained almost exclusively with the Xtreme Couture coaches he’s working with now like Gil Martinez and Ray Sefo for his planned UFC 122 fight with Yushin Okami that was scrapped in favor of the Belfort-Silva bout next month) wrote that Tompkins was way off in his assessment of the situation.

"I dont think I have anything nice to say other than just ignoring it all. I have the right to choose who to train with. I have loyalty and respect and that is why I didn’t hide[the fact that I was also training at Xtreme Couture] from him," Belfort tweeted. "He tooks this more personally. I made my choice and this is just his opinion of it and nothing more."

Falling Action: Best and Worst of UFC & Strikeforce’s Dueling Events

Filed under: UFC, StrikeforceNow that we’ve all caught our breath, gotten a little sleep, and prepared ourselves to approach Saturday night’s dueling MMA events like calm, rational individuals, let’s dig through the results and get worked up all over a…

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce

Now that we’ve all caught our breath, gotten a little sleep, and prepared ourselves to approach Saturday night’s dueling MMA events like calm, rational individuals, let’s dig through the results and get worked up all over again.

Without further delay, here are the big winners, losers, and everything in between after the TUF 12 Finale and Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu.

Biggest Winner: Dan Henderson
A blind man would have known this fight was over once he heard the sound of Hendo’s right hand thumping against “Babalu” Sobral’s skull. But because Sobral managed to keep his eyes open even as they rolled around in his head, it wasn’t stopped until after Henderson had landed several more memory-busters, just for completely unnecessary good measure. The impressive brutality of the win goes a long way towards erasing Henderson’s loss to Shields in the minds of fans, but we should probably reserve judgment until we see him in a fight with an opponent who’s still in his prime. An opponent like, say, light heavyweight champion “Feijao” Cavalcante.