The hits keep coming for the UFC, Dana White and matchmaker Joe Silva. The fellas have to scrounge up a quality heavyweight to fight Junior Dos Santos Jan. 2 in Las Vegas at UFC 108. White confirmed that Gabriel Gonzaga is off the card because of staph infection.

Gonzaga (15-4, 7-3 UFC) last fought Chris Tuchsherer at UFC 102 in August. He's won 3-of-4 fights. Dos Santos, 25, is unbeaten in the UFC. The promotion will wait until after Thanksgiving to come up with a list of candidates to replace Gonzaga. It's slim pickings at the top of the UFC heavyweight food chain right now. The most logical choice would be Cain Velasquez, who just lost his opportunity to fight on the card against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Big Nog is also out with staph.  

Cagewriter told you about Forrest Griffin's apology to Anderson Silva just after his win over Tito Ortiz. After getting knockout by Silva back at UFC 101, Griffin sprinted from the cage. On Saturday night, he told Silva he meant no disrespect (7:53 mark). It's more proof of the sportsmanship often exhibited but rarely covered in mixed martial arts. Even Phil Baroni is seen clowning on himself for taking a beating (5:09 mark).

Was that Silva speaking very good english? During a cageside chat, Silva says he weighs 207 pounds. Tiki Ghosn sitting next to him is actually slimming. 

Ortiz and Dana White can say all they want about how their relationship is repaired, just watch (6:55 mark) their postfight encounter with Jenna Jameson present and feel the "love."

Who knew Chuck Liddell was such a big Josh Koscheck fan (5:38 mark)? Or did he have money on the fight? It was a nice score at plus-115. 

After you finish overdosing on turkey, gravy and cranberry sauce -- apparently, the ridged kind wins out -- it's time to think about what you're going to buy loved ones for the holidays. MMA's retailers are already in the holiday spirit with Black Friday sales.

Six Deuce has a new line of shirts starting this Friday, and you can get them for 15 percent off. You may notice that one of those shirts is an homage to the Fedor sweater, which is ten tons of awesome. (You can also try to win that shirt from our friends at Cage Potato.)

Other Black Friday deals can be found at MMA Warehouse, who is announcing a new special every night this week, Fight Chix, who will announce their Friday sale on Twitter tomorrow, and MMA Stop. 

The life of a professional fighter includes grueling training sessions, an endless parade of injuries, cutting weight, time away from family, dieting and getting punched in the face for a living. Add that to sponsor obligations, media interviews and photo shoots and sometimes lousy payouts, and you could wonder who would sign up for this lifestyle, much less be thankful for it.

Yet, most of the professional fighters I spoke with couldn't stop talking when asked what they were thankful for.  UFC lightweight Clay Guida is appreciative of every person who makes him a professional fighter.

"Same as I am every year. Thankful for family, thankful for the people who put me in the position that I'm in. Thankful for being healthy. Thankful for you guys in the media and the fans who put their butts in the seats so that we can get paid and keep on fighting another day."

Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal, who will make his debut with Strikeforce on Dec. 19, is thankful for the sports he loves.  "Thankful for my friends and family ... and boxing and MMA!"

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Sure Mike Brown may have lost the WEC featherweight title, and he has a busted up face. But chocolate cupcakes make everything better. What is Mike thinking about? Leave your caption in the comments, and read on for winners of our last create-a-caption.

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His MMA career hasn't been stellar in 2009, with first-round knockout losses to Brett Rogers and Fedor Emelianenko, but that doesn't mean Andrei Arlovski hasn't stayed busy. He recently filmed "Universal Solder: Regeneration."

His role apparently calls for shooting a big gun, making throat-slashing gestures and falling out of windows with Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme. I doubt he'll win an Oscar for the role -- unless I missed a moving soliloquy about his secret pain -- but it should pull in some box office dollars. 

Thanks to Cage Potato

The news is still trickling out on Brock Lesnar's condition and future. Dana White dropped the bombshell just after UFC 105 on Nov. 14. According to White, Lesnar's problem is a perforated intestine which was crushing his immune system and causing him to be consistently worn down. It's still up in the air when and how the problem will be fixed but the prognosis is more positive today. White said Lesnar had minor surgery in Bismark, ND but it's unknown if the hole was actually closed.

Now White was told by Lesnar to respect his privacy but the UFC president still felt an obligation to release some information. People worked up a speculative lather when White said it wasn't HIV or cancer. It all made Cagewriter wonder if the generally cantankerous Lesnar flipped out on White after he spilled the beans (5:56 mark):

"Dude, that's my job," White told Cagewriter on the eve of UFC 106 in Las Vegas. "Brock Lesnar is a UFC fighter. He's under our umbrella and people want to know. If it was up to Brock Lesnar nobody would know. Nobody would even know this happened."

At 6-foot-4, 285 pounds, Lesnar may be the scariest guy in all of fighting, but even this one spooked the UFC's heavyweight champ:

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Darrill Schoonover, a member of Team Rashad on this season of "The Ultimate Fighter," has been ordered back to active military duty. He will fight on the December 5 TUF finale, and then head back to the Army.

He mentions in a radio interview that his orders say he will be a part of Operation Enduring Freedom, which means he is likely headed to Afghanistan. He also says he will use his 400-day deployment to try to lose weight and improve on his conditioning. 

"At first I was kind of pissed," he said. "I've already served my country for four years and been out for almost two years. I'm getting my fighting started and getting the ball rolling on that. I was kind of mad, but the very next day, I just accepted it."

Before he joined the cast of TUF, he put together a 10-0 record, and served in the Army for four years. Schoonover said he was concerned about being recalled when he first heard that 40,000 troops were going to be sent to Afghanistan. 

Schoonover has become the subject of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's teasing this season, giving Schoonover the nickname "Titties." Schoonover got his revenge when he choked out Rampage's fighter, Zak Jensen.

It looks like Schoonover is showing up Rampage all over again. Jackson bowed out of a fight with Rashad Evans to film a movie, despite the fact that the fight was part of Jackson's agreement to coach on "The Ultimate Fighter." Schoonover is living up to his responsibility, serving his country despite the fact that he will have to step away from his MMA career at a time when it is ready to take off. Who is the real man now, Rampage? 

Thanks to MMA Fanhouse

Robbed was the word of the night for Tito Ortiz following his loss to Forrest Griffin but deep down he thinks he's the one who pulled off the heist. That's right, he won the long war against UFC president Dana White. Ortiz pulled a fast one on the big guy when he got the UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta to overrule White in favor of him. 

Tito blurted out that he "won" between the two of them during the press conference (8:25 mark) and also said it during an interview with DC and The Sunshine Man on ESPNRadio1100 on Thursday. Maybe it was an unfair fight. Adam Hill from the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote:

The insults hurled at former friend and manager and current UFC president Dana White? The shots at the company's pay structure? The joke about Chuck Liddell's speech? Even the shirt with a derogatory term about White that Ortiz wore to the weigh-ins before his most recent fight? All part of the plan.

How did Ortiz win? Because he's smart:

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Forrest Griffin was pretty grumpy the first time he had to answer questions about his crazy behavior following his UFC 101 loss to Anderson Silva. During an interview with MMA30's Dave Farra, he wondered aloud why anyone even cared and went on an odd rant about not being a role model. As time went along, he came to grips with his postfight antics and addressed them at length last Wednesday before UFC 106.

Any lingering questions about his mental state were finally answered on Saturday night, first with his win over Tito Ortiz and then officially when  Griffin sought out Silva following the UFC 106 press conference:

"I’m sorry I ran out on you, it was no disrespect," The Las Vegas Sun heard Griffin saying to Silva towards the back of the media center. "I just wanted it to be a great fight and I was really disappointed when it wasn’t."

Griffin trainer Jimmy Gifford said the Ortiz win was huge physically and mentally for Griffin. Sun writer Brett Okamoto pointed out that Griffin had pinched a nerve in his neck, a rib injury and broken foot in the weeks leading up to the fight.