And for the moron who wrote saying that a) Akiyama can’t fight without his gi and b) can’t strike here’s a clip of him against Denis Kang. Akiyama has fought a good deal without the gi, and here around the 5:00 mark he puts Kang to sleep with a slick combination. Everyone knows [...]

Interview with the next UFC middleweight champion Yoshihiro Akiyama. Bonus footage of Akiyama training in a sparkly shirt. Do you know how big of a badass you have to be to train in a sparkly shirt? Chuck Norris uses his peripheral vision when he rolls up on Akiyama.

And we can never get [...]

Kevin Iole at Yahoo Sports has a great article about how UFC heavyweight Antoni Hardonk broke up a robbery attempt in SoCal recently:
Antoni Hardonk, a heavyweight who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, had just finished a training session last month in Los Angeles near Los Angeles International Airport.
He was talking with his attorney, Nima [...]

HT: Around the Octagon:
Don’t think we’ve ever seen Mir in this kind of shape. With all due respect to Brock Lesnar–who is a beast–lest we forget, Mir is 6′3″ 250 pounds himself. Not exactly a tiny guy. His striking has improved drastically, and he’s among the best submission fighters at any weight. [...]

The essential Japanese MMA blog Nightmare of Battle is reporting that Strikeforce may have the inside track toward signing Takanori Gomi. Affliction’s Tom Atencio indicated in a postfight interview after ‘Ultimate Chaos’ that his organization was close to signing Gomi, but that may not be the case:
From Gomi’s latest interview in MMA magazine Kamipro [...]

Here’s a promo clip for UFC 101:

…and there was much rejoicing.
There will be no Limp Bizkit performance at UFC 100. Via MMA Junkie:
Rap-metal group Limp Bizkit’s previously announced July 10 performance at Mandalay Bay Casino & Resort has been canceled.
Ticketmaster.com was the first to announce the cancellation of the event, which was set to coincide with a weekend [...]

And this video clip from AOL Fanhouse was before the UFC’s recent ‘pay to play’ edict for their fighter’s sponsors. Russian fighting god Fedor Emelianenko gives his thoughts on the UFC’s treatment of fighters:

Via Cage Potato:
One of the more intriguing matchups on the Ultimate Chaos card features a 41 year old fighter with an 1-0 pro record named Tom Atencio. That would be Affliction VP Tom Atencio who is the company’s frontman for their MMA promotional effort. Here’s a recent interview:
On why he’s fighting a twenty-something [...]

Here’s legit badass Clay Guida on Bobby Lashley.