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On This Day in MMA History: Gina Carano Weighs in Nude and Sets into Motion the Collapse of EliteXC

(Photo via Esther Lin/Combat Lifestyle.)

“I get a lot of flack from people who are like ‘oh she’s not serious about fighting’ and that’s not it at all…I’m not just a fighter…I’m a bunch of things, I have a lot of interests…I’m really looking forward to after this fight just sticking to a routine and a program. I’m just getting a handle on it, I think that’s why I’ve slipped up in certain areas, missing weight, I’ve been all over the place, cause I didn’t have any stability or anything.”

That’s former WMMA star Gina Carano defending herself after missing weight by nearly 5 pounds prior to her bout against Kaitlin Young at EliteXC: Primetime. And indeed, many fans were questioning Carano’s “Conviction” after her weigh-in blunder, but those questions would quickly turn into cheers when Carano was forced to drop trou to make weight for her next bout with Kelly Kobold at EliteXC: Heat — five years ago today.

Of all the “On This Day in MMA History” posts we have ever done, this is the only entry in which we almost got to see a naked Gina Carano, and that’s kind of what MMA is all about, is it not? While Carano would defeat both Young and Kobold despite missing weight, she would be chased right out of the sport by Cyborg Santos (who is looking pretty good herself these days, all things considered) in their August 2009 Strikeforce title fight. While we would try to replace Carano with Ronda Rousey some three years later, WMMA would truly never be the same again.

These days, Carano is enjoying a budding film career, with a starring role in Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire and a supporting role in Fast & Furious 6 already under her belt, as well as an upcoming role in an all-female version of The Expendables on the horizon. Carano is also set to star in the action-thriller In the Blood, which according to The Hollywood Reporter, will see Carano play, “A wife whose husband disappears while they’re on their honeymoon in the Caribbean. She takes matters into her own hands and pursues the men who took him, uncovering a deeper conspiracy.”

(Photo via Esther Lin/Combat Lifestyle.)

Perhaps the most fascinating thing about Carano’s nude weigh-in — and really, the EliteXC: Heat weigh-ins in generals (video below) — was that it served as precursor to the batshit insanity that would take place the following evening.

You all know the story (but in case you don’t, MMAFighting’s Chuck Mindenhall wrote a brilliant retrospective of EliteXC: Heat yesterday): Ken Shamrock continued his fall from grace by injuring himself moments before he was set to face Kimbo Slice in the night’s main event. Shamrock was eventually replaced by UFC veteran and *light* heavyweight Seth Petruzelli, although not before his adopted brother, Frank Shamrock, offered to take a dive against Kimbo.

One thing led to another on fight night and before Kimbo knew what hit him, ROCKY WAS HERE!! Unfortunately for EliteXC, “Rocky” later informed several media outlets that he was more or less (more) paid to stand and trade with Kimbo, leading to the eventual collapse of the promotion altogether.

While you could argue that the blame for EliteXC’s undoing rests solely on the shoulders of $kala, we’d like to think that the events which transpired on the weekend of October 3rd, 2008 were all thanks to the otherworldly power of Gina Carano’s awesome boobage. We’re cup half full kind of guys.

(Things start to get interesting around the 2:15 mark.)

Oh, I almost forgot.

–J. Jones

On This Day in MMA History: Randy Couture Puts a Literal Spanking On Tito Ortiz, Unifies the LHW Belts and Becomes the Oldest MMA Champion in Ever

It ended up in the last thirty seconds, in a weird situation. He was kinda outta desperation, he rolled to a kneebar and an ankle lock. He had my leg, I’m sitting and have his feet and all I can see is his butt. You know, he was “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” and I can’t really get my leg out, and it just pops into my head, ‘spank him.’

That’s how former two-division UFC champion and UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture described delivering one of the most humiliating beatdowns in MMA History, ten years ago today. The event was UFC 44: Undisputed. Couture’s opponent was then light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz, who had successfully defended his title a record five times; a record that would not be broken until last weekend. The date was September 26, 2003 (do you feel old now?).

Believe it or not, there was a time long, long ago when the relationship between the Coutures and the UFC was something other than mutual disdain. It was the early aughts, and after pounding out Chuck Liddell for the interim LHW championship at the previous event, Couture would successfully unify the belts with a five-round drubbing of Ortiz.

While there was no shaming “The ~~Hunting~~ People’s Champ” for losing to a legend like Couture, there was plenty of shame to be seen in the final thirty seconds of the fight, when “The Natural” proceeded to spank his younger foe like he had just found a bag of grass in his sock drawer. For lack of a better word, it was…hilarious.

At 40 years of age, Couture would become the oldest fighter to ever win a UFC title. And he wasn’t even done yet.

But Couture vs. Ortiz wasn’t the only historic beatdown to happen at UFC 44. Not by a long shot…

It ended up in the last thirty seconds, in a weird situation. He was kinda outta desperation, he rolled to a kneebar and an ankle lock. He had my leg, I’m sitting and have his feet and all I can see is his butt. You know, he was “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” and I can’t really get my leg out, and it just pops into my head, ‘spank him.’

At 40 years of age, Couture would become the oldest fighter to ever win a UFC title. And he wasn’t even done yet.

But Couture vs. Ortiz wasn’t the only historic beatdown to happen at UFC 44. Not by a long shot…

– In the evening’s co-main event, Tim Sylvia defeated fellow giant Gan McGee by first round knockout, only to be immediately stripped of the title after testing positive for steroids in his post fight drug test. He would not fight again until nearly a year later at UFC 48. It would not end well.

– Speaking of heavyweights, Andrei Arlovski would score a quick knockout over fellow Belarusian Vladimir Matyushenko one fight prior to the Sylvia/McGee scrap, cementing his place as a top heavyweight and punctuating the UFC’s “Greatest Knockouts” lists forevermore.

– On the preliminary card, a debuting Nick Diaz would score a third round submission via armbar over future TUF 4 contestant and despicable rapist scumbag Jeremy Jackson. The victory brought Diaz’s lifetime record against Jackson — who to this day holds the only (non cut-related) stoppage victory over Nick — to 2-1.

–J. Jones

On This Day in MMA History: A Main Event Falls Apart, And the UFC Does the Unthinkable

(Don’t cry, son. This little guy is in MMA poster heaven now, just as happy as can be.)

“On This Day in MMA History” pays tribute to some of the more bizarre and infamous news stories of MMA’s past. The following article was originally published on August 23rd, 2012, one year ago today. We’ve placed some related links at the end of this post, to give you a sense of the wide-ranging aftermath of this “sport-killing” moment.

BREAKING: UFC 151 Canceled After Dan Henderson Pulls Out With Knee Injury; Jones Turns Down Sonnen, Dana White Incredibly Pissed Off

The rumors were true — and even worse than we thought. Due to a knee injury suffered in training, Dan Henderson has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled light-heavyweight title fight against Jon Jones at UFC 151, and because the UFC couldn’t find a suitable main event replacement, the UFC is canceling an event for the first time in the Zuffa era. Dana White confirmed the news in a press conference held earlier today — describing the cancellation as “probably one of my all-time lows as being president of the UFC” — and he made no attempt to hide his heated emotions during the call. Here are the brass tacks…

– Henderson suffered a partial tear in his MCL during training, which was serious enough to keep him from competing.

– According to Dana White, Chael Sonnen immediately jumped up to take the fight (“I’ll fly to Vegas tonight and fight him,” White quoted Sonnen as saying), and the UFC immediately began preparing behind-the-scenes to promote Jones vs. Sonnen on eight days’ notice. But Jon Jones turned down the matchup, refusing to fight Sonnen on short notice.

– White is extremely upset that Jones, a UFC champion and pound-for-pound candidate, would turn down a fight that would save an event. Even Tito Ortiz never pulled this shit, he pointed out. White lambasted the idea that Jones would turn this fight down for business reasons. “If he was a businessman, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now,” he said. White agreed that his relationship with Jones would change “a lot” after this: “Me and Lorenzo are both disgusted.” Later in the call, White pointed out how Jones turning down the fight now screws all the supporting-card fighters out of paychecks.

(Don’t cry, son. This little guy is in MMA poster heaven now, just as happy as can be.)

BREAKING: UFC 151 Canceled After Dan Henderson Pulls Out With Knee Injury; Jones Turns Down Sonnen, Dana White Incredibly Pissed Off

– Henderson suffered a partial tear in his MCL during training, which was serious enough to keep him from competing.

– White saved additional venom for trainer Greg Jackson, who reportedly told Jones, “There’s no way you take this fight on eight days notice, it would be the biggest mistake of your entire career.” Said White: “How much faith do you have in your champion and your guy? [Jackson] is a fucking sport killer. This guy’s from another planet….Greg Jackson should never be interviewed by anybody ever again, except by a psychiatrist.”

– Though Lyoto Machida was considered for a replacement opponent for Jones, Machida was flying back to Brazil when all this went down, and it simply wasn’t possible from a timing perspective. “I can accept why Machida didn’t take the fight,” White said.

– ~~Now, Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida is scheduled for UFC 152 (September 22nd, Toronto). Or actually, UFC 151, since UFC 151 never happened. (Thanks to Ariel Helwani for that important clarification.)~~ “I can tell you right now, [Jones] ain’t turning down the Machida fight. If he does, we’re gonna have another conference call this afternoon.” [*cue spooky music*] Update: Actually, Machida turned down the Jones fight. How delightfully ironic! Now, Jones will face Vitor Belfort, of all people, at UFC 152, which is still being called UFC 152.

– There wasn’t enough time to consider other options like putting the PPV on free TV. Dana White disagreed with the suggestion that the event would still go on if it had a stronger co-main event.

– Our suggestion of having Ronda Rousey vs. Cris Cyborg step in to headline the card with a 140-pound superfight was politely ignored.

Jesus, what a fiasco. We’ll update you when we get Jones’s reaction to this mess.

On This Day in MMA History: Anderson Silva Clowns Forrest Griffin, BJ Chokes Out Ken-Flo, And Johny Hendricks Makes a Smashing Debut at UFC 101

(Photo via Getty. Click to enlarge.)

“I tried to punch him and he literally moved his head out of the way and looked at me like I was stupid for doing it. He looked at me like, ‘Why would you do such a stupid thing?’ He looked at me like, ‘Oh, did you really think you were going to hit me? What a stupid thing to think you slow, slow white boy,’ and then he punched me. I felt embarrassed for even trying to punch him. I felt like some kid trying to wrestle with his dad.”

That’s how UFC light-heavyweight Forrest Griffin described his painful run-in with Anderson Silva, which happened exactly four years ago today, on August 8th, 2009. The infamous one-rounder took place during UFC 101: Declaration at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, an event that was headlined by BJ Penn‘s second lightweight title defense against Kenny Florian. (The Silva vs. Griffin non-title fight was slotted in the co-main event; to date, it was the only fight in Silva’s UFC career that wasn’t a main event.)

If you’ll recall, Silva scored the knockout with a short, backpedaling right hand (you might even call it Petruzelli-esque), after putting on a brief clinic on head-movement and showboating. Afterwards, Joe Rogan called Griffin’s loss “one of the most embarrassing knockouts I think we’ve ever seen,” which is a little unfair when you consider Anderson’s other-worldly talent and the fact that Griffin was half-zonked on Xanax at the time.

Besides the incredible/humiliating knockout in the co-main event, UFC 101 was notable for a few other reasons. For instance…

(Photo via Getty. Click to enlarge.)

Besides the incredible/humiliating knockout in the co-main event, UFC 101 was notable for a few other reasons. For instance…

– As we recently pointed out, Penn’s rear-naked choke win over Florian was the ninth latest finish in UFC history. Apparently, Florian might have been winning on the scorecards heading into the championship rounds.

– UFC 101 marked the promotional debut of then-undefeated welterweight Johny Hendricks, who had just completed a two-fight stint in the WEC. Hendricks’s first Octagon appearance was a successful one, as he TKO’d Amir Sadollah in just 29 seconds. Ten fights later, Hendricks has earned a shot at the welterweight world title against Georges St. Pierre, the same guy who was holding the belt back in August 2009.

– Rousimar Palhares was supposed to fight on the card against Alessio Sakara, but had to withdraw due to a broken leg, and was replaced by Thales Leites. Sakara won by split-decision, and Leites was fired by the UFC — just four months after he had fought Anderson Silva for the middleweight title. Luckily, he made his way back.

– The show pulled an estimated 850,000 pay-per-view buys, making it (at that time) the sixth most successful UFC PPV ever. Only five UFC events have drawn more buys since then.

On This Day in MMA History: Jon Jones Maybe Not So Damn Perfect, After All

“On This Day in MMA History” pays tribute to some of the more bizarre and infamous news stories of MMA’s past. The following article was originally published on May 19th, 2012, one year ago today. Note: We’ve placed a few more notable anniversaries at the end of this post.

BREAKING: Jon Jones Arrested for DUI in Binghamton, NY

This doesn’t look good, folks. Initially reported by TMZ.com and confirmed by Josh Gross, UFC Light-Heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been arrested in Binghamton, New York on DUI charges after totaling his Bentley. From TMZ:

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … Jones was involved in an accident at around 5:00 AM in Binghamton, NY. We’re told the car — which Jones crashed into a pole — was totaled and cops arrested Jones on the scene for DUI.

According to our sources, Jones was taken into custody by Broome County Sheriff and bailed out a few hours later … by his mom. Jones is from nearby Ithaca.

Fortunately for Jones, it appears that he only suffered minor injuries, and it does not appear that anyone else was injured from this accident. It is unclear whether or not there were any passengers in the car at the time of the accident.

As of this writing, Dana White’s only response to the incident has been a text to TMZ, saying “Wow, i guess its not my week is it?”. Given the week he’s had, that may be putting it mildly. Neither Jones nor his teammates will be commenting on the arrest at this time.

BREAKING: Jon Jones Arrested for DUI in Binghamton, NY

According to our sources, Jones was taken into custody by Broome County Sheriff and bailed out a few hours later … by his mom. Jones is from nearby Ithaca.

In and of itself, the incident isn’t too surprising: Jon Jones is a young, talented and seemingly invincible athlete. Like many other athletes in his position, Jones decided to get behind the wheel after clearly drinking too much. Or for that matter, like many of those reading this article, myself included, at one point or another. I’m not saying that drunk driving isn’t a reckless, stupid thing to do, but I also wouldn’t be surprised to see the media be harsher on Jon Jones than they would on, say, Braylon Edwards.

It will be interesting to see how this story develops. Jon Jones is the face of the UFC — and in many ways, mixed martial arts. How will the mainstream media cover this incident? How will Jones be disciplined for this? Will any of his sponsors bail on him? And how will this story be treated in the state of New York, which recently made viewing child porn legal while deeming that MMA should remain illegal? We’ll keep you up to date as more details become available.

@SethFalvo

Update: A statement from First Round Management has been forwarded to Cagepotato.com:

Note: There will be no interviews granted at this time from Jon Jones, or any of his representatives

“I can confirm that Jon Jones was arrested early this morning on suspicion of DUI. While the facts of this situation are still being gathered and situated, First Round Management fully supports Jon and we are asking for fans and media to respect the privacy of Jon and his family during this time.”

–Malki Kawa, Jon “Bones” Jones’ Manager

Other notable CagePotato posts published on May 19th…

– Ricco Rodriguez Assault Arrest Began With a Cab Fare Dispute, Ended With a Police Officer Being Shoved Into a Wall (5/19/11)
– WTF of the Day: Headcase Dan Quinn Being Investigated for Death Threats Toward Dana White (5/19/12)

And finally, happy birthday to UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, who turns 32 today. Wait a minute…that’s how old I am. And I haven’t done shit with my life. Oh man. That’s a bummer.

On This Day in MMA History: Carina Damm, The Amelia Earhart of WMMA Steroid Busts

“On This Day in MMA History” pays tribute to some of the more bizarre and infamous news stories of MMA’s past. The following article was originally published on May 15th, 2008, five years ago today.

Carina Damm Proves That Steroid Controversies Aren’t Just For Men Anymore

It’s almost always a good thing to be the first woman to do something. That’s because usually, if a woman hasn’t done that thing yet, it means that it’s either really hard or men have been real jerks about it and kept women out like ten-year-olds with a clubhouse. Well, Brazilian Carina Damm just etched her name in the record books by becoming the first female MMA figher to test positive for steroids. That is not the clubhouse you want to be hanging out in. Not unless you love powerlifting and back acne.

Sherdog reported today that Damm tested positive for Nandrolone (that’s right, the same thing Sean Sherk tested positive for) after her April 3 victory over Sophie Bagherdai at Femme Fatale Fighting 4 in Los Angeles. This news comes at a particularly bad time for Damm, since she was recently signed to take on Debi Purcell on an Elite XC card on June 27. Purcell seemed annoyed, though not surprised by the news.

“It was obvious she was doing it [steroids], but I was just going to out-cardio and out-muscle her anyways. I’ve been lifting for my whole life, everyday for I don’t know how many years. People have accused me of doing steroids because I have muscles, which isn’t fair. But you can’t go have a normal body and two months later be huge.”

Carina Damm Proves That Steroid Controversies Aren’t Just For Men Anymore

If you’re wondering whether Damm might be a victim of the faulty testing procedures that Sherk is considering suing the CSAC over…there’s something you should know. The “normal” level of Nandrolone in a person is 2 ng/mL. An athlete participating in “vigorous activity” can legally get away with 6 ng/mL. When Sherk tested positive, it was with 12 ng/mL in his system. Carina Damm tested at 37.9 ng/mL. Now that’s how you fail a steroid test, people.

Am I the only one thinking this may help Sean Sherk? A female fighter fails the test with three times the Nandrolone levels that he had, that makes you wonder what a positive test really looks like. Then again, it could just be because those Brazilians don’t do anything half-ass.