WEC lightweight Alex Karalexis will face Anthony Pettis at WEC 48 next weekend, and he'll have the Mullet Militia in his corner. No, not former bantamweight champ Miguel Torres. Karalexis will have his friend and student, brash Minnesota Vikings Pro-Bowler Jared Allen.

Though Allen has been training in MMA for the past few summers, he realizes he won't have the technical expertise to truly help Karalexis. Instead, he'll provide humor in the corner.

"I'm going to pull out as many lines from 'Karate Kid' as I can," he said. "You know, 'Put him in a body bag, Alex.' That's going to be my line. Really, he'll have his trainers. I'm just there for support."

Allen is one of many professional athletes who have used MMA in their off-season to improve their game. In addition to Herschel Walker taking up the sport full time in retirement, basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, NFLers Chad Ochocinco and Matt Leinart have also learned the ins and outs of fighting, and they've said that it has

After many rumors of a change in the top of the UFC 115, the main event has been confirmed: Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin.

The expected main event for UFC 115 was to be Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz III, a bout that was to be hyped throughout the current season of "The Ultimate Fighter," which has Liddell and Ortiz coaching. Instead, Franklin is stepping in for the UFC's first foray into Vancouver. This comes after president Dana White vehemently denied that Liddell would fight Franklin.

No reason has been given as to why Liddell is fighting Franklin, not Ortiz. Presumably, we'll find out the reasons by continuing to watch this season of TUF.

Why the confirmation now? Tickets go on sale Tuesday.

Franklin has been out of action since September, when he was TKO'd by Vitor Belfort in a catchweight bout. Liddell has also been out of the cage for some time, his last bout was in April 2009. He is also coming off of a loss, a knockout by Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Liddell's retirement was

Are you angry you spent money to see Anderson Silva showboat his way through another title defense? You're not alone. But let's look for the positives at UFC 112 instead of focusing on the negative.

Frankie Edgar's upset of Penn is one that MMA fans should remember. Penn held the lightweight title for more than two years. During his title reign, he took out Joe Stevenson, Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez. Yahoo! Sports' own Dave Meltzer recently discussed the title runs of Penn, Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva, and had this to say about Penn:

Penn, 31, joins Couture as the only UFC fighters to have held championships in two different weight classes. His 15-5-1 record is deceptive, because his only loss as a lightweight came in 2002. He also has no apparent weaknesses. His conditioning was questionable early in his career, when he was regarded as the best first-round fighter in the world. Since hiring Marv Marinovich as his strength and conditioning coach, however,

UFC president Dana White was displeased at his middleweight champion's performance at UFC 112 tonight, and he wasn't quiet about it. In addition to sharing his displeasure at a press conference and walking out of the arena before the fight was over, White turned his ire to fans who contacted him on Twitter.

One person on Twitter said he was looking forward to streaming UFC 112 free on the internet, when the bouts showed on pay-per-view on Saturday afternoon in the United States. Another brought up Strikeforce heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, one of the world's best mixed martial artists, who White has been unable sign. Still another questioned White's affections for the fans.

How did White respond? With a cuss word he is so fond of.

Of White's many followers on Twitter, these ones knew how to press a button. The UFC is having such issues with internet pirates streaming free versions of pay-per-views that chairman Lorenzo Fertitta recently testified in front of Congress about the

In a huge upset, Frankie Edgar beat longtime UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn, winning the title with a unanimous 50-45, 48-47, 49-46 decision at UFC 112 in the company's debut show in the United Arab Emirates.

Though he started in the sport as a wrestler, it was Edgar's excellent stand-up that made the difference at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi.

In the first round, Edgar's movement was impressive, but Penn still broke through and landed a few punches. Edgar tried for a takedown, but was punished for it, as Penn landed a few clean shots on Edgar when he shot in. At the same time, Edgar was able to punch Penn and even give him a mouse under the eye.

In the second, Edgar continued to show excellent movement as he stuck and moved around the cage. Penn was able to land strikes, but seemed frustrated by Edgar's defense. In the final minute of the round, Edgar did what few others could do -- he took Penn down. Penn immediately rebounded to his feet, but it was a surprise to see.

The third

Terry Etim was a favorite both with the oddsmakers and the crowd in Abu Dhabi, but that didn't bother Rafael Dos Anjos, who won with an armbar at 4:30 in the second round.

As the bout started, the crowd chanted, "Terry, Terry!" Dos Anjos shot in for a quick takedown but Etim caught RDA's head for a guillotine and held it for more than a minute. Dos Anjos waited out the choke patiently, slowly maneuvering out. When he did finally get out, Dos Anjos controlled Etim on the ground, throwing knees into his side. Referee Marc Goddard said that the knees were illegally hitting Etim's spine, so he stood the fighters up for the final moments of the round.

Dos Anjos continued to control the bout in the second round. He took Etim down and worked side control, then hinted at a north-south choke before stretching Etim into an armbar, causing the tap near the end of the second round.

Renzo Gracie, member of the vaunted Gracie family and Matt Hughes' opponent at UFC 112 on Saturday, is nothing if not outspoken. Between his Twitter, interviews, and the fight club Q and A that we've written about in the past few days, Gracie isn't shy about sharing pearls of wisdom.

"I believe in myself over everyone else. There's nothing that walks on two legs that I'm afraid of." — Countdown to UFC 112.

"When you win, it’s easy to forget all the hardship that you went through to get the win. You get so excited with the victory and the people around you congratulating you and hugging you, you completely forget all the mistakes you made in that fight. But when you lose, you know them, and you will never forget them." — Interview with UFC.com

"There's more philosophy in jiu-jitsu mats than in any Ivy League school in America." — Twitter

"The easiest thing to sell in life is jiu-jitsu and UFC." — Fanhouse interview

Not only does he come out with those great nuggets, he likes to share

Though some viewers missed Georgi Karakhanyan's knockout of Bao Quach, Bellator was kind enough to provide highlights.

And what a knockout it is! Karakhanyan lays the foundation with one knee and then finishes Quach off with the next one. With that win, Karakhanyan moved into the semifinals of the Bellator featherweight tournament.