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    Maggie Hendricks

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    • Four questions that will be answered by UFC 160

      (Getty)UFC 160 is just days away. What questions will be answered by Saturday's fights?

      Who is the greatest heavyweight in all of the land? Cain Velasquez dominated Antonio Silva in their first bout, but that was a Silva who had just lost to Daniel Cormier. Now, coming off the shocking knockout of Alistair Overeem, will we see an improved Silva or will Velasquez hold onto his belt?

      Will Benson Henderson's next opponent impress? The winner of T.J. Grant's bout with Gray Maynard is supposed to get a title bout with Benson Henderson. But as we know from experience, title shots can be taken away if Maynard and Grant don't deliver on Saturday night.

      Can Donald Cerrone get past the mental problems he has had in the cage? There's no questioning Cerrone's talent. He has the skill to be a force in the cage, but then why did he lose to Anthony Pettis? He visited a sports psychologist after that January loss.

      "It's trying to figure out, what do I do in the cage that I don't do in training?" Cerrone said to MMA Junkie. "Because in training, I don't lose a round."

      Since he trains at Jackson's MMA, this is no small feat. Can he translate that training into performance in the cage against Strikeforce import K.J. Noons?

      Which up-and-coming lightweight will win? Khabib Nurmagomedov is 19-0 and needed just two minutes to take out Thiago Tavares in January. Abel Trujillo is 10-4, but won his last five fights. His TKO of Marcu Levesseur was one of the more memorable finishes of late last year. Which of these lightweight up-and-comers will come out with a win?

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    • Michael Crabtree uses Terminator picture to promise, ‘I’ll be back’

      (Instagram)San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree had surgery on Wednesday to fix the Achilles tendon he tore during one of the team's OTAs. But while 49ers fans may be depressed over the news, Crabtree sent out the above message using his Instagram account to put them in a more optimistic mood .

      Like the Terminator, Crabtree says he will be back.

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    • UFC president Dana White sings for Chael Sonnen (Video)

      When interviewing UFC president Dana White after fights, media usually want to know about title fight opportunities, implications of wins or losses, and where the UFC is headed next. Press conferences rarely present opportunities to get White to talk about who would win in a fight between him and UFC chairman Lorenzo Fertitta or White's music preferences. On "UFC Tonight," Kenny Florian and Chael Sonnen asked White those very questions. They even got him to sing on what White called "the most embarrassing interview ever."

    • Former UFC champ Matt Serra says he’s walking away from life as a fighter

      (Getty)

      In an interview with Newsday, former UFC champ Matt Serra said he is walking away from fighting. He wouldn't quite say the retirement word, but his last fight was in September of 2010. Blood clots have affected his health, and he doesn't want to be an aging fighter.

      "An aging fighter?" Serra said. "You know, it's like an aging stripper, but not as funny. Not a lot of people want to see that."

      He should also consider walking away from interviews after delivering that choice line. How will he ever top it? His candor in interviews always made Serra a fun person to cover.

      Serra finishes with a record of 11-7, but will be most remembered for being one of the two men who beat UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. At UFC 69, Serra fought the perfect fight against GSP. He was aggressive and won with a TKO in the first round. Serra surrendered the belt back to GSP in their next bout, but his legacy was set. He had taken out the king.

      Outside of his own fight career, Serra has touched the MMA world by being one of its teachers and advocates. He has two BJJ schools on Long Island, and has coached several UFC fighters, including UFC middleweight contender Chris Weidman.

      Thanks for the memories, Matt.

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    • Suspect killed by the FBI was an MMA fighter

      (WESH)Early Wednesday morning, an FBI agent shot and killed someone they were questioning for his connections with the Boston Marathon bombers. Ibragim Todashev, the suspect, was an MMA fighter with a 1-0 professional record.

      Todashev, who was reportedly a friend of deceased bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, fought in July of 2012. He submitted Bradford May with a guillotine in the first round of their bout at Real Fighting Championships in Florida.

      Khusen Taramov, a friend of Todashev's, said that Tsarnaev and Todashev trained together in Boston. Tsarnaev trained and competed as a boxer.

      "He used to talk on the phone with him (Tsarnaev)," said Taramov. "They talked last time a month ago. After the bombing, I couldn't believe it."

      Todashev was reportedly being questioned about a triple-murder in Massachusetts in September of 2011. The FBI said in a statement Todashev posed an imminent threat to the agent.

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    • Watch a marriage proposal from a triangle choke

      Romance isn't normally what you think of when you think of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but it happened for Justin Saikaley, a BJJ student in Canada. He was grappling with his girlfriend when he found the perfect time to pop the question with the help of some friends. Most men don't propose from the triangle choke, but it clearly works for these two. Best wishes to them both.

      Thanks, MMA Fighting.

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    • UFC 161 gets new main event with Renan Barao injured

      (Getty)Rumors began to swirl on Friday that UFC men's bantamweight interim champion Renan Barao was injured and out of his UFC 161 main event bout against Eddie Wineland. The UFC confirmed the news today, and promoted Dan Henderson's bout with Rashad Evans to the main event.

      Both fighters are former champions who are coming off losses. Evans, who was once the UFC light heavyweight champ, loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Jon Jones in his last two fights. One-time Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Henderson lost to Lyoto Machida at UFC 157. With their fight happening in just a few weeks, the bout will be three rounds instead of the usual five for main events.

      Barao's injury means that both champions of the UFC's men's bantamweight division are now injured. Dominick Cruz hasn't fought since October of 2011 due to knee injuries. If Barao can't return soon, will there be an interim interim belt?

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    • UFC president Dana White put out his first video blog for UFC 160, and it's a behind the scenes look at the UFC's last pay-per-view event. The moments not to miss:

      -- Bryan Caraway and Pat Healy discussing Healy's submission. Caraway, who had the only other submission win at UFC 159, said he was cheering for Healy to win by a knockout, not a submission, so that the Submission of the Night bonus would be Caraway's. The strange thing is Caraway did end up with the bonus because Healy's win was overturned by a failed drug test.

      -- Michael Bisping yelling, "[Expletive] you guys!" to no one in particular

      -- During warm-ups, Chael Sonnen showed off acrobatic skill. After losing to Jon Jones, he still showed a side that doesn't come through when he's trash talking to sell a fight.

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    • We want your UFC 160 picks

      Will he hold onto this belt? (Getty)UFC 160 is Saturday in Las Vegas, and we want to know how you think it will go down. Give us your picks and we'll run some of them here on Cagewriter. Here's how to do it. Check out the Cagewriter Facebook page to vote on a winner. Tell us why you think your pick will win in the comments of the poll, and some picks will run here on Friday. Click on each fight for its poll:

      Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva
      Junior dos Santos vs. Mark Hunt
      James Te Huna vs. Glover Teixeira
      T.J. Grant vs. Gray Maynard
      Donald Cerrone vs. KJ Noons

      As the poet Pitbull said, let's have a real good time.

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    • Former Wyoming legislator worked to legalize MMA, now getting in the cage

      (Alan Rogers/Star-Tribune)As a state legislator in Wyoming, Bryan Pedersen helped author the bill to legalize and regulate MMA in his home state. This weekend, he will test that bill by fighting at the Colosseum Fight Series, the first fights in Cheyenne since the bill passed.

      Pedersen, who is 38 years old, has trained in MMA for the past four years. Like many fighters, he originally tried out the sport for fitness reasons only. But once MMA was allowed in his state, and Cheyenne was set to host fights, Pedersen couldn't help but say yes to an offer to fight on the CFS card.

      "This is not something I normally do," he said to the Wyoming Star-Tribune. "But I really believe in the sport."

      He served for six years in the Wyoming state legislature. Now a financial consultant, he plans on making this both his debut and retirement bout. The weigh-ins will take place at a familiar venue for Pedersen -- the steps of the Wyoming State Capitol Building.

      Pedersen is taking the fight seriously, as he drives an hour and a half daily to Easton Training Center in Colorado, the training home of UFC veteran Eliot Marshall.

      "I have a goal," he said. "Without a goal, you wouldn’t do it. It creates a sense of urgency and panic. Because every day I’m not training, my opponent is probably getting better. And I’m not."

      He's the latest government official to set his sights on the cage, though Pedersen appears to be taking his fight more seriously than the two mayors in south Florida who are planning a bout. Perhaps MMA should become part of the legislative process.

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