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. 

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!"

"I've been given several opportunities, and have been blessed and been able to capitalize on it," Strikeforce's Tyron Woodley said. "So I'm thankful for my family, thankful for everyone who has seen something in me. Thankful for all the positivity."

Miguel Torres recently lost his championship belt and had his win streak broken, but that doesn't tone down his appreciation.

"I'm thankful for a wonderful life and amazing daughter," Torres said.

"I'm thankful for family, thankful for my friends and my health, thankful for opportunities and this great career, thankful for fans who have supported me through ups and downs," said Strikeforce's Daniel Cormier, who recently made the jump from Olympic-level wrestler to mixed martial artists. 

"Thankful for the opportunities given to me and the chance to make the most of those opportunities," said WEC interim lightweight champion Ben Henderson. "I thank the Lord for all He has given me."

"My family, my wife and my children, my health, I'm so blessed to do what I love to do." said UFC fighter Mark Munoz. "Not many people have the opportunity to do what they love, and I do. I wake up every day excited to go to work. I'm also thankful for the team of guys that I'm around. They beat me up, but they build me up."

The UFC's Matt Brown, who is on a three-fight win streak, also lost his father to cancer this year. That doesn't stop him from being grateful. When asked what he is thankful for, Brown answered, "Too many things to list."

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.

First place: Dan Hardy does a solid as he shows up to promote the UFC's newest business venture....Kimbo's pizza by the Slice. -- Allen

Second place: On this episode of Cheaters, Dan Hardy's dietitian catches him red-handed.  -- Joseph 

Third place: What do 4 pizzas and Dan Hardy have in common? They will both be finished quickly. -- Robert C

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

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

The bizarre nature of the fight began in the first round. When Koscheck was down on both knees, Johnson threw a huge knee, sending Koscheck to the canvas. Johnson was immediately apologetic, as he knew that he had screwed up, but that didn't help as Johnson was deducted a point. After quite a few minutes and a check by the fight doctor, Koscheck returned to the fight to immediately take over the first round, and win the round using wrestling. 

The fight continued to get weird as Johnson, who was reported to be fighting at 200 lbs., was then on the receiving side of two unintentional eye pokes. Johnson is especially sensitive to eye pokes, as he was on the bad end of a terrible eye poke against Kevin Burns, and had to have surgery to correct eye problems.

When Johnson returned to fight, the two started the slugfest fans were expecting until Koscheck took Johnson down and started to ground and pound. He took Johnson's back, and sunk in a rear naked choke with just seconds left in the second round.

After the fight, Koscheck said that he did not believe that Dan Hardy had earned a welterweight title shot. 

"He aint fought nobody like me," Koscheck said after the fight, calling out Dan Hardy, who recently beat Koscheck's teammate, Mike Swick. "Koscheck-Hardy in March! That's the card that sells."

Other buzzing stories on Yahoo! Sports
• Johnson’s fourth title is one for the books
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• Kevin Garnett still feels pain of lost season

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira had big shoes to fill when he made his UFC debut. After all, his twin brother Rodrigo was once the UFC heavyweight champion. "Little Nog" had no problem in his first time in the Octagon, though, as he won over Luis Cane at 1:56 in the first round by TKO.

Nogueira stalked Cane around the cage, landing strong lefts and clinching. He finished Cane off with a series of lefts in short order. That sort of quick ending puts Nogueira in good position to win the "Knockout of the Night" bonus.

"This was a big chance for my career," Nogueira said after the fight. "I love to be in the best promotion and to be here in America."

Though this was Nogueira's first time in the UFC, he has an impressive career with PRIDE and Affliction, where he put together a 17-3-0 record. Cane was viewed as an up-and-coming light heavyweight prospect, making Nog's win more impressive.

Marcus Davis (16-6-0) is known for wanting to stand up with his opponents, but they may have done him in at his UFC 106 bout with Ben Saunders (8-1-2), as Davis was knocked out by Ben Saunders at 3:24 in the first round. 

From the first bell, Saunders used the clinch to control Davis. He used his long legs and considerable size advantage to land brutal knees. Davis sustained a cut near his eye early in the fight, and at 3:24, Saunders landed the final knee to send Davis to the canvas.

In his postfight interview, Saunders apologized to the fans for losing his last fight, a TKO to Mike Swick. This win gets the tall, lanky Saunders back on track. This is Marcus Davis' second loss in a row, after losing a split decision to no. one welterweight contender, Dan Hardy.

We've talked about MMA's best bromances before, but somehow left out the relationship top pound-for-pound fighter Anderson Silva has with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira his brother, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. In this video, the Big Nog and Anderson talk about how they have shaped each other's career. Around the 1:05 mark, Silva discusses how both Nogueira brothers were responsible for Silva staying in the sport. You also get to hear Silva speak English, which he rarely does in public, when calling Big Nog the best fighter in the world.

Thanks, MMA Mania

This is not true in the case of Versus' Todd Harris, who calls World Extreme Cagefighting events along with UFC heavyweight Frank Mir. He is, quite simply, horrible at working fights, and for that, wins Cagewriter's facepalm of the week. A few examples from last night's broadcast of WEC 44:

-- In Shane Roller's win over Danny Castillo, Harris repeatedly called Roller's rear naked choke a guillotine. Look, in MMA, there are a lot of moves that can get mixed up, or that are named differently across regions. However, the only thing that rear naked chokes and guillotines have in common is that they are choking submissions. Knowing the difference between the two is MMA 101.

-- "Danny Castillo is gassed, and now he's going to tee off!" What? If he's gassed, how is he teeing off? 

-- In the first 10 seconds of the Darabedyan/McCullough bout, Harris wondered why McCullough wasn't starting off strong. He felt comfortable making that assessment in the first 10 seconds. 

-- "Both corners are talking about changing levels, Frank. Interpret."

If the man isn't willing to learn the basics of MMA, he should not be allowed to continue as a commentator of MMA. Harris has worked college football, the Winter Olympics, racing, bull riding and the X Games. With such a varied career, he shouldn't have a hard time finding other work. 

Shane Roller had the help of one of the galaxy's most feared bounty hunters tonight. Boba Fett was in Roller's corner when he beat Danny Castillo by rear naked choke this evening. Rumor has it that it was trainer Marc Laimon, but I prefer to believe that it was Fett and he arrived at the Pearl at the Palms by jetpack.

Thanks for the picture, Watch Kalib Run

What, you were too busy watching Jose Aldo become the new WEC featherweight champion, you forgot to set your DVR and you missed "The Ultimate Fighter?" No worries, dear reader. Cagewriter has you covered.

Last week, Roy Nelson won the quarterfinal fight with Justin Wren in a bout that really should have gone to the third round. Also, we got to hear Matt Mitrione hem and haw about whether his head was too "rattled" to fight. Will he actually fight? We'll find out ... maybe.

Mitrione comes into the gym and tells Rashad Evans and the other coaches a bunch of different stories about what is wrong with his head. He goes as far as saying that it's swelling of the brain, which Trevor Wittman rightly calls BS. The coaches still don't know what he's going to do, because they want him to want it. 

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson hears that Mitrione is back in, but is still preparing Kimbo Slice to get ready to fight. Slice hurt his knee, so the coaches try to prepare him to fight around the knee problem. The doctor came into see Kimbo and told him that the best option is a cortizone shot. However, Kimbo says that he doesn't want that big needle. 

COACHES' CHALLENGE!

If you're unfamiliar with the awesomeness that is the coaches' challenge, it's when we all get to watch the coaches play each other in a sport that they don't know how to play for a wad of cash. Hilarity almost always ensues. Tonight's coaches' challenge feature Rashad Mike Van Arsdale facing Rampage and Tiki Ghosn playing each other in beach volleyball. The winning coaches will get $10,000 and the winning coaches' team members will each get $1,500.

In something resembling the beach volleyball scene from Top Gun, Rashad and Mike Van Arsdale take off their shirts to play some volleyball. Team Rampage takes the first game, but Team Rashad comes back to win the second game. Dana White says that it turns into a really good volleyball game. I don't know if such a thing exists, Dana. Team Rashad wins the final game, taking the match from Rampage and Tiki. There is much joy in Team Rashadville.

After the game, Rashad shows off the money he just won, and tells Rampage that he should give some of his money to his fighters. I don't really understand the logic. Rampage asks his fighters if they would rather get money or see Rampage knock Rashad out? They answer that they want to see Rampage win. Since Rampage backed away from the fight, does that mean that he owes each of his fighters $1500?

After the game, the fighters coax Kimbo Slice into an ice bath. He's from Miami and hates the cold more than anything, so he is not pleased. It turns into quite the sight. 

Brendan Schaub is fighting Jon Madsen tonight, and Schaub is annoyed that Rashad isn't spending any time with him. "Jon and Rashad are wrestlers, and wrestlers stick together," Schaub says. That's true, but sulking about it won't help. 

Will he or won't he?

Mitrione has another talk with his coaches and doesn't really ever go out and say that he wants to fight. He says that he feels pressured to fight. In the confessional, Mitrione says that he just wants to go home and get back to his normal life. Rashad finally says enough and calls Dana White to tell him that Mitrione is out. Oooh, does that mean we get a Dana speech?

Yes! Dana gives them the "You're never 100% when you fight" speech. Mitrione says, "I think that it's maybe 90% directed towards me." Hmmm, maybe there is something wrong with his head, because that was completely directed at you, Meathead. 

Brendan Schaub vs. Jon Madsen

Round 1: After a minute of stand-up, Madsen gets the expected takedown of Schaub. He smothered Schaub for a little more than a minute until the referee stands them up. Schaub gets in clinch work and avoids Madsen's takedown until the final minute. Madsen keeps Schaub down until the bell rings.

Round 2: Madsen tries for the takedown early on, but isn't as successful this time around. Schaub shakes Madsen off and continues the stand-up. Fatigue is starting to set in, but Schaub finds enough in him to stalk down Madsen, land two rights in a row, and knock out Madsen. Schaub is the winner. He then takes a bow over his fallen teammate. I don't mind celebrating, but come on. That's your teammate. 

One of the main questions going into WEC 44's main event, a featherweight title bout between Jose Aldo and defending champ Mike Brown, was would Aldo's speed beat Brown's strength? As it turned out for Mike Brown, speed kills, as Aldo TKOed Brown for the featherweight championship at 1:20 in the second round in Las Vegas tonight. 

Though many expected Jose Aldo to come out fast and swinging as he has done in previous fights, he played a smart game, waiting for his opportunities to attack Aldo. Brown stayed neck and neck with Aldo, though, landing several knees into Aldo's thighs. 

But the Aldo we all know came alive in the second round. He took Brown's back and rained down a series of blows onto Brown's head. Brown stayed covered up but didn't do anything to get out of the bottom position, so Steve Mazzagatti stopped the fight. 

Aldo was quite emotional and broke down in tears as the championship belt was placed around his waist. Through a translator -- fighter Pedro Rizzo -- Aldo called Brown a tough fighter. 

"He had a great fight and was landing punches that I wasn't," Brown said after the fights.

At just 23 years, Aldo still has the experience of 17 fights with only one loss. With few fighters possessing his sort of speed, he will pose a problem for every fighter on the WEC roster. 

Karen Darabedyan made his WEC debut against tonight against Rob McCullough, a WEC former champ. It was Darabedyan who looked like the seasoned pro, though, as Darabedyan won a split decision 30-27, 27-30, 29-28.

The first round was a stand-up war, with Darabedyan executing near-perfect striking. At one point, McCullough lowered his hands and asked for more. Darabedyan obliged, unloading a series of punches on McCullough's face. Darabedyan was less overwhelming in the second round, as McCullough was able to land more shots. Both fighter sustained cuts in this round.

McCullough used leg kicks in the final round to try to gain an advantage, but Darabedyan kept coming at McCullough with sharp striking and unceasing movement. As the round ended, McCullough dropped his hands again and told Darabedyan to keep throwing punches. That got a huge response out of the crowd, but didn't necessarily help McCullough's case with the judges. 

Quite often, in a battle of two wrestlers, the fight will turn into a stand-up war. That was not true in the lightweight bout between Danny Castillo (8-2-0) and Shane Roller (7-2-0), as they spent most of their bout on the ground.

Danny Castillo outwrestled Shane Roller, an All-American wrestler at powerhouse Oklahoma St. Castillo took down Roller down with ease and blocked any attempt Roller made at a takedown. Roller roared back in the second round, spending much of it on Castillo's back. He wasn't able to submit him at that point, but he did cause much damage by pounding on Castillo's ears.

In the third round, a seemingly exhausted Roller was able to take Castillo's back and wrench Castillo's neck in a vicious rear naked choke. Castillo tapped, making Roller the winner.

This is Roller's second win in a row, and his only WEC loss is to interim champion Ben Henderson. Castillo, a protege of WEC star Urijah Faber, toniight suffered his first loss in more than a year. 

-- Silver Star Casting Company picked up Forrest Griffin, and designed his walkout shirt for UFC 106. Though their clothes are not my favorite -- this is the only design I like with skulls and flowers --  they have been impressive in picking up fighters. Their roster now includes Lyoto Machida, Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, Rashad Evans, Rich Franklin, Clay Guida, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and even the world's best boxer, Manny Pacquaio. Their shirts also rarely cost more than $30, a nice change for MMA gear. Buy the Griffin shirt here for $26.

-- Ecko Unlimited has also made inroads in the world of MMA, sponsoring Miguel Torres, Michael Bisping, Frank Mir, and in the boxing world, Miguel Cotto. Ecko is already giving back to MMA. Torres and Mir both shot Ecko ads encouraging New York to make MMA legal. Of course, MMA in New York would help their bottom line, but that doesn't mean the ads aren't a good thing. Few other clothing companies have stepped up in this manner.

-- RVCA, who sponsors Fedor Emelianenko, and Clinch Gear, which is owned by Dan Henderson, have reportedly been banned from the Octagon. RVCA's only major UFC fighters are BJ Penn and Vitor Belfort, who are unlikely to have trouble finding new sponsors.

Clinch Gear, which was likely kicked out because of the UFC's contract dispute with Henderson and his rumored deal with Strikeforce, sponsors WEC fighters Scott Jorgensen and Chad Mendes and UFC fighter Krzysztof Soszynszki. Those are up-and-coming fighters who may not have the easiest time finding a new sponsor. Not only that, but Clinch makes some of the more wearable MMA shirts and shorts that quite often have a simpler, collegiate design. I love this red, hooded sweatshirt and navy t-shirt.

I am sure most of you know I am not the leader of the Lesnar Fan Club. That being said, antics or not, he is OUR UFC HWT Champion. He beat a future Hall of Famer to keep that belt and he NEEDS our prayers and good thoughts right now ... Brock has a wife, kid, and friends that depend on him to make their lives better. You do not have to support Brock and his antics but you should have respect for the human side of what is happening here.

Carwin went on to say that Lesnar shouldn't lose his championship belt because of sickness.

Talk of stripping a man of his title due to illness will set this sport back farther then anything Brock has ever said. We need our Champions healthy and defending. I know the show will go on but to be a Champion you must beat a Champion ... If you sit around bashing Brock or making fun of this because of his antics you might be the very same thing you despise. As an MMA fan, as a human be concerned that one of OUR OWN has fallen and needs our support.

Outside of Lesnar and his camp, Carwin has the most to lose from Lesnar being away from the sport. Carwin was training for a title shot when Lesnar pulled out of their planned bout. He now sits in limbo, waiting to see if Lesnar's health improves enough to fight or if he will have to take another fight in the meantime. 

Thanks, Fighters Only

Dan Hardy had a nice win this weekend over Mike Swick which gives him the opportunity to fight Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight belt. In case all of that doesn't work out, he still has a secure future as a pizza delivery guy. Check out more of Combat Lifestyle's pictures here, including a photo of Hardy and Swick's postfight reconciliation. Leave your best caption in the comments, and read on for winners of our last create-a-caption.

First place: You have to co-promote with this monkey!  -- mainevent

Second place: In Russia, this is how we negotiate. Unfortunately, Dana White didn't want to abide by my monkey's requests.  -- Clint

Third place: Look the monkey goes with my sweater now kiss it and show your loyalty. -- adamn fool

This is beyond a nightmare scenario for the UFC. Lesnar, who with only four fights won the championship belt, has been a marketing coup. As a former professional wrestler who was quite popular with WWE, he brought with him a built-in fanbase. Not only that, the UFC has been hit by a run of injuries and infections. Lesnar's frightening illness has been coupled with injuries to champions Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida, as well as a staph infection to former champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Shane Carwin, who was supposed to face Lesnar at this weekend's UFC 106, has an MCL injury.

Beyond the business end of Lesnar's situation, it is a bizarre and sad thing to watch such an athlete be felled by sickness. Lesnar is a hulk of a man, standing 6-foot-3 and usually walking around at quite a bit more than his fighting weight of 265 lbs. At just 32 years old, he is the last person you would associate with the word unhealthy.

This may open the door for the UFC to offer an interim heavyweight championship belt while Lesnar recuperates, but they won't be in a rush to do that, as Carwin and Nogueira aren't available to fight right now. If the UFC decides to put up an interim belt, hopefully Lesnar won't be concerned with that, and he will be focused on getting healthy. 

Matt Gentry, an NCAA champion for Stanford University, represented Canada at the 2008 Olympics at 74 kg. Now an assistant coach at Stanford, Gentry plans to try for the Olympics again in 2012. He points out that having GSP in the mix could strengthen Canada's delegation, but it isn't easy to get there. 

"Evan McDonald is the number one guy in Canada at that weight. If St. Pierre comes in, there's going to be a lot of depth at that weight," Gentry told Cagewriter. "That kind of depth is only going to make our country better. It will make the representative who ends up competing more tested, and they'll have to work harder to earn that spot, which will pay off in the long run."

McDonald wrestled for Canada in the world championships this past September. If GSP were to try to wrestle in the Olympics, he would need to get through both Gentry and McDonald. With such little freestyle wrestling experience, it could be difficult.

"He does have good takedowns, he does have good blast doubles, but it's hard to make the comparison," Gentry said. "But [MMA fighters] stand upright. I've seen those blast doubles, and he's certainly a horse in terms of conditioning, but it is pretty different. It's such a technical sport."

Yes, St. Pierre is very adept at using wrestling during fights. However, there is a huge difference between taking down a striker like Thiago Alves at will and trying to do the same against Buvaisar Saitiev, the Russian gold medalist at GSP's weight class and one of the most dominant wrestlers of the past decade. 

Just qualifying your country's weight class for the Olympics is a difficult feat. It requires the wrestler to take a top eight placing at the 2011 World Championships, win their continental championship -- for GSP, it would be the Pan-American Championships -- or win one of the two qualifying tournaments. How hard is that? Only one country, Russia, qualified wrestlers in every weight class for Beijing. Out of eighteen weight classes, Canada qualified ten of them in 2008.

Making Canada's team is also a time-intensive feat. GSP would need to start with the Canadian national championships in 2011 to become part of the ladder of competitors for the Olympic Trials. After that, GSP would need to win the Canadian Olympic Trials, usually held in December of the year before the Olympics. This would tie up GSP for more than a year.

Still, Gentry isn't going to look past St. Pierre if he does try for the Olympics. 

"He's a competitor, I'm sure that he'll be tough to beat, no matter what he's competing in."

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Jose Aldo and Mike Brown for the WEC featherweight belt. So many questions will be answered in just one bout. Does Aldo have enough stamina to go five rounds? Will Brown be able to withstand Aldo's quick striking? Will we finally see Aldo's ground game? Is Brown one of the best featherweights of all time? We'll find that all out on Wednesday night. 

Sunday, on Twitter, Mayhem scored the first punch, saying, "Jake, the worst damage you did was give me staph, zit covered leg humper." Shields found Mayhem amusing and answered back, "Lol @mayhemmiller. You seem upset?" and then posted this picture:

Well, that's a trump card if I've ever seen one. Miller fired back, "@jakeshieldsajj hugged your way to all those? Let's do it again, I'll hold on after the bell this time." Shields continued, mentioning that he was onto bigger and better, but his best strike was the picture in the first round. Sorry, Mayhem, but I think Shields won this one, too. 

When I watched, I agreed that the fight could have gone either way, and I did score it for Vera. However, it was a close fight, and sometimes, in close fights, the judges don't agree with the fans and media. Why was there so much vitriol over this decision?

UFC color analyst Joe Rogan, of course. He swayed the popular thought with statements like, "Randy was really hurt to that kick to the body. He didn't show it, but he was." If he didn't show it, how do you know? Do you have a secret insight, and if so, will you please share it with the class? Rogan went on about Couture' power, strength and size throughout the fight, but then questioned the decision. Really? 

There's nothing wrong with Rogan disagreeing with the judges. It's actually a good thing that he voices his disagreements. Otherwise, he would turn into a shill like the guy he sits next to. But using that microphone to say that this was a bad decision when it was just a really close fight isn't a good use of the microphone.  With that said, let's get to the best quotes of the night.

"To be a legend, you must beat a legend, and tonight it's the greatest legend, Randy Couture." -- Goldberg. Apparently, Goldberg gets a bonus every time he says legend.

"And a couple of unnecessary shots at the end there." -- Rogan, after Andre Winner knocked out Roli Delgado. This, again, is Rogan using his microphone for the wrong things. Winner's job was to keep hitting Delgado until a referee stopped him. He's a fighter, not a doctor or a referee. 

"I've rolled with Dan Hardy. He's very hard to hold down." -- Rogan. Oh, really?

"For a shot at Georges St. Pierre." -- Goldberg. "Maybe it's better to lose." -- Rogan

"That was the right hand that had him on queer street." -- Rogan

"I think all referees should be required to talk in that accent." -- Rogan, about Marc Goddard. Agreed. British accents always make me happy. 

Hardy and Swick spent the majority of the first round in the clinch, with first Swick and then Hardy working for a takedown that never came. Both landed knees, but it was truly difficult to decide who was better in that round. Hardy clipped Swick to start the second round, but lost momentum with another takedown attempt. Swick was able to get off a few shots, but Hardy continued to push the action. His control continued through the end of the fight, as Swick sustained a ton of strikes both while standing and while on his back.

"Yeah, that was a tough fight. I can't take anything away from Mike," Hardy said. "I did what I could, England."

Hardy will now get the next shot at the welterweight belt and Georges St. Pierre. The champ came into the Octagon after the fight and congratulated Hardy for his win.

"Well, Dan proved that he is a great fighter and a big, big threat to my title," St. Pierre told the crowd. Unfortunately, GSP won't be able to fight until late in the winter, as he is still rehabilating from injuries. 

Wilks, the winner of "The Ultimate Fighter" season nine, sustained a mouse under his eye early on in the fight. Brown's defense was impressive in the first round, avoiding Wilks' takedown attempts. The first round was close, but Brown started to take over the fight in the second round. Brown knocked Wilks down with a flying knee but Wilks survived and turned it into an opportunity to try for leg lock. After Brown got out of that, he continued to pressure Brown with strong stand-up work. Going into the final round, Wilks' faced battered and swollen. He looked exhausted, but was able to try a kimura on Brown. Once Brown was out of the sub attempt, he transitioned to a full mount and rained down punches until the fight was stopped.

"I was nervous, and a little jet lagged, but that's what champions are made of," Brown said after the fight. "I still have a lot of things to work on."

"It really was just kind of a natural and then we went and talked to Dana and Lorenzo and they said, let’s do a fight week," WEC GM Reed Harris said. "You know, we’ll do a fight week like they used to do in boxing where everybody comes into town, everybody watches the fight and we’re anchoring that with Brown versus Aldo, so we couldn’t have had a stronger event."

The UFC did something similar in September when it put an Ultimate Fight Night and UFC 102 within driving distance of each other. Putting two fights in same place in same week not only makes it easier for media, but also sets up a nice vacation for fans. The Palms have recognized that, and is offering a suite, VIP nightlife passes and two tickets to the WEC fights for $269.

So, MMA promoters of the world, can we have MORE of this? Whether it's a UFC pay-per-view coupled with a WEC event or Ultimate Fight Night, or a Strikeforce Saturday night show paired up with a Challengers Series card, please try to put them geographically close to one another. This would be much better than say Strikeforce in Chicago with Challengers in Fresno, or WEC 42 in Las Vegas the day after UFC 101 in Philadelphia.

The possibilities are endless. Baltimore/Washington. New Orleans/Houston. Kansas City/St. Louis. Indianapolis/Chicago. Dayton/Cincinnati. Tucson/Phoenix. Oakland/San Francisco. Let's make it happen! 

*I know my pairings are heavy on the Midwest, but guess what? I'm from the Midwest. Feel free to suggest your pairings in the comments.

Join us for a moderated chat with World Extreme Cagefighting general manager Reed Harris today, starting at noon ET. 

Oh, Junie Browning. It's not that anyone ever thought you were going to be a worldbeater, but you had some potential as a fighter and some prominent folks of MMA believed in you. Now, that's all gone. After you attacked a nurse in a Las Vegas-area hospital and were dropped from the UFC, you said you would get better.

Except, you didn't. An arrest warrant was issued for Browning yesterday when he failed to appear in court for the assault charges picked up at the hospital. For that, Junie Browning, Cagewriter collectively smacks our hand to our face. Junie, Junie, Junie. Getting better means facing the music when you've screwed up. I just hope that it was just a bout of flakiness or insubordination that kept you from the courthouse yesterday, and not something more serious. 

Reed Harris, seen here with World Extreme Cagefighting stars Urijah Faber and Miguel Torres, will take time out of his busy schedule of running the WEC to chat with Cagewriter readers on Friday at noon ET. Be here to ask him questions about the upcoming WEC fights, his top fighters and whatever else may come to mind. 

"The same week as he backed out was the time when my father was diagnosed with cancer," Brown told Cagewriter. "It was just destined to be that way. It worked out better in some ways. If that fight never would have gotten canceled, then who is to say what would have happened. My dad went into the hospital on Memorial Day weekend. Had I taken the fight, that whole first time he was in the hospital, I wouldn't have been able to be there. It definitely gave me some more time to deal with that. I would have been in training camp having to deal with the fact that my dad was in the hospital with cancer."

Brown's father, James, passed away in September from acute myeloid leukemia, complicated by diabetes and heart failure. Matt had held fundraisers to help his father deal with his medical bills, but when his father passed away, he returned every cent to donors.

"The idea was to help my father so he could keep his house, but the bills were so bad that it didn't make sense to keep everyone's money when he died."

Brown is now looking ahead to this Saturday's bout with "The Ultimate Fighter" season nine winner, James Wilks. He does not expect that this fight will go to the judges' cards.

"I think both of us, stylistically, are pretty active in all areas of the game. Neither one of us has been known to hold back much, or slow down during a fight. I don't really see any of my fights going to a decision. I'm always really surprised when they do. My fighting style just doesn't cause too many decisions. I move forward, I push the pace, I'm always scrambling to make things happen. When you're doing that, it doesn't go to a decision very often."

Though he isn't a fan of traveling, Brown doesn't think that the British Wilks will have much of an advantage when fighting on his home soil.

"A fight's a fight. It can be in my backyard, his backyard, it's all the same thing, really. When the doors close in the cage and it's the two of you standing in there, all that stuff pretty much goes out the window. A lot of people make a big deal out of that, but it's pretty much nothing."

With a win, Brown can start to look for fights with top ten fighters and continue his way up the welterweight ladder. However, he tends not to worry about things like that.

"A lot will depend on how I win. If I go in there and win a split decision, I will win a SD over a guy who just had his first fight in the UFC. If I go in win like I did against Pete Sell, I did what I'm suppposed to do. I don't think about things like that too much. I think about being the best I can, and fighting the best I can every day. Let things like that take care of themselves."

Rashad is already concerned about how to coach seven guys who will end up facing each other. The solution is that their practices won't be as specialized, and they won't be giving directions on how to beat their opponent. Roy Nelson and Justin Wren are the first to fight, and they are already noticing how weird it is to practice with their opponent. 

On the way home from practice, Matt Mitrione acts as if something's wrong with his head. He said that his headache was really bad, and that he was dizzy and nauseous. The guys wonder if he has a concussion, which could open the door for another fighter *cough* Kimbo Slice *cough* to come back. Mitrione is taken to the hospital, and the coaches wait to find out his status.

This season has been relatively low on pranks, but Rampage and his assistant coach/yes man Tiki Ghosn put an end to that. Since they think Team Rashad is so cocky, they fill Team Rashad's coaches' cars with cocks. That's right -- they fill it with stinky chickens. As Rampage puts it, "Those chickens were FUNKY." And not this sort of funky chicken, either.  

When Rashad and his coaches come out, they take it well. They named the chickens, ran after them and even employed a certain training method  from "Rocky." Rampage is disappointed that not only does Rashad take it well, but that he gets a new, better rental car for the duration of the show. 

Back at the house, Mitrione gets back from the hospital and says that his brain is rattled. Kimbo says that Mitrione has "sand in his [expletive]" just because he went to the hospital. Dana White shows up to check in on Mitrione, and tells him that if the doctor clears him, he has to fight. Scott Junk points out that he's ready to go if Mitrione can't.

Finally, they start talking about this week's fight. Dana points out that Roy Nelson really loves Roy Nelson, but Dana is yet to be impressed by him. Nelson says that Wren looks up to him as a mentor.

Roy Nelson vs. Justin Wren (quarterfinal)

Round 1: Wren starts off the fight throwing several combinations at Nelson until Nelson pushes Wren against the fence. They are pulled off the fence, and again, Wren is the aggressor. Nelson finally wakes up in the final two minutes of the round, landing a few punches when Wren lets his hands drop. Nelson finishes the round by running away from Wren's punches. Cagewriter gives the first round to Wren.

Between rounds, Rampage says to Zak Jensen, who is admiring Octagon Girl Arianny Celeste, "Why are you looking at my girlfriend like that? Ha ... She wishes!" Of course she does, Rampage. 

Round 2: Wren starts the round throwing punches and kicks, but Nelson doesn't appear to be fazed. The two get into a clinch, where Nelson uses the upper cut. They break up and Nelson lands a hook and a jab and a jab and a jab and a jab. After that, a jab. Nelson really comes alive as the round reaches its final minute, whereas Justin is gassed.

The fight is over after two rounds, which doesn't seem to make sense as Justin seemed to win round one, and Nelson seems to have won round two. Unfortunately, the judges don't agree with me as they score it 20-18, 19-19, 20-18 for Roy Nelson. White says, "The day we see Roy Nelson in a fight that is exciting that he made exciting, I will give him his props."

A viewer's note: Spike TV has been starting the show late and ending it late, thus ending it outside of its recording window. This is beyond annoying. I realize that they don't want us to use DVRs, but guess what? The world uses them. This is the sort of stuff that makes me stop watching a television show. Please stop being annoying, Spike. 

Dana this Ocho Cinco, I want to fight your #1 and #2 best fighters asap,exhibition to raise money for a charity of choice!!!!!!

matter of fact I want Anderson Spider Silva---please don't ignore me or you'll have to fight me yourself!!! Sincerely Esteban :)

Mr. White this a serious matter, we can help alot organazations with this fight, I have a good chance at winning against Silva

Awesome! I'm fighting Anderson Silva-I can't wait to throw my child please combo with a kiss da baby leg kick, Silva can shut the front door!

White, never one to miss a good marketing opportunity, responded to the colorful football star.

Perfect @OGOchoCinco. I need a Jan 2nd fight. Ocho Cinco vs Anderson Spider Silva. PS - I'm too old to fight anyone.

If you are really serious @OGOchoCinco, contact me. We'll put a fight together for charity.

@OGOchoCinco Follow me so I can send you my email

Now, it's highly unlikely that the UFC would ever put together a charity match with their best fighter. But a charity fight would make for a good story. Ocho Cinco isn't new to combat sports, as he has trained boxing for years. 

Since Anderson Silva, or any real middleweight, would be unlikely for a fight with Ochocinco, who is listed at 6-feet-1, 192 pounds, who would fight the gridiron star? Former NFL running back Herschel Walker recently signed with the UFC's rival, Strikeforce, so that match-up is unlikely. Perhaps Ochocinco can battle for supremacy among receivers in a bout with Michael Westbrook, who played with the Washington Redskins and Bengals and went on to earn a black belt in jiu-jitsu and go 1-1 in his MMA career. 

Other popular NFL stories on Yahoo! Sports:
• NFL player's TD pose sparks controversy
• School suspends eigth-grader for NFL-inspired haircut
• Photo: Tony Gonzalez, wife get naked for PETA ad

Sometime in 2010, EA Sports will jump into the MMA world, releasing a video game that will rival the THQ entry, UFC Undisputed. They gave a first look to MMA media this past weekend, and we're finally allowed to talk about it.

Now, one thing to keep in mind as you're reading this is that I'm a complete n00b when it comes to gaming. The last fight game I played was Mike Tyson's Punch-Out on my Nintendo. That being said, I was impressed by the game.

First, Strikeforce is a premier league of the game, meaning you'll see Strikeforce logos, and Strikeforce announcers. As you can hear in the above clip, Mauro Renallo will be screaming at you as you play the game. That also means that quite a few Strikeforce fighters are involved, including Brett Rogers, Fedor Emelianenko, Jake Shields, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, "King Mo" Lawal and more. John McCarthy is the ref of choice.

The movement of the fighters is lifelike and true to form. Video-game Brett Rogers' punches are big and loopy, just like real-life Brett Rogers. VG Fedor's footwork looks like real Fedor's footwork.

The fighters are also programmed to take damage. In one clip that they showed us, Rogers began to limp after taking a particularly nasty kick from Fedor. Also, fighters know where they are in the cage, and act accordingly. They drop their hands when sent back to their corners.

To me, the coolest thing that they showed was that fights aren't confined to the cage. They have several different environments for fights, including a ring, an open-air dojo in Brazil, a regular MMA gym with open mats, and more.

The game will be available for both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and will be available sometime in 2010.

If you're the kind of fight nerd who, like me, sometimes spends a lazy weekend afternoon watching old Pride videos, then this compilation is a must-have. It does a good job of showing all the best fights throughout the history of the UFC and has many of the fighters involved discussing their bouts. My one problem is that it doesn't feature any fighters not still under contract to the UFC, so Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Dan Severn, and even Tito Ortiz -- who wasn't signed at the time of the taping -- are not featured in interviews.

Still, if you're starting to think about holiday gifts for your favorite MMA fan, this isn't a bad place to start. Get it on DVD for $55.99, or on Blu-Ray for $119.97. 

Cagewriter learned today that Miller and Davis were paid not only their purses, but also their win bonuses. Strikeforce communications director Mike Afromowitz explained the situation.

"Originally, we attempted to place this matchup on another fight card being promoted by a local promoter in Chicago in a couple of weeks.  If both fighters had accepted, we would have paid each his fight purse a second time.  Since neither was available due to different circumstances, however, we paid each his win bonus on top of the purse."

Fair enough. It's good to hear that Strikeforce did right by these guys, but nonetheless, the situation sucked. Miller hadn't fought since his stint on the ninth season of "The Ultimate Fighter," and Davis' last fight was a loss at Bellator. A good win for either of them could have gotten their career back on track. 

Strikeforce noted that this is the first time this has happened in their history of promoting both MMA and kickboxing bouts. The undercard started ten minutes before six in Chicago, and the last fight ended at 7:25, a full 35 minutes before CBS was scheduled to go live. If they plan on doing another CBS event -- and judging by the ratings numbers, they will -- they will be able to schedule it so that this is the only time this happens in Strikeforce history.

Before he took out Brett Rogers on Saturday night, Fedor Emelianenko took advantage of Chicago's many shopping outlets. Here, he is shown using the brutal monkey-nose-death grip, not often used in fights but still feared all over the world. Take your shot at a caption in the comments, and read on for winners of our last Create-a-Caption.

First place: Lemme change that spare tire around your waist. -- KB24

Second place: Fedor sure is getting sick and tired of these staged staredowns...time to mix things up a little.  -- StevenW

Third place: Brett Rogers' search for a sparring partner with Fedor's physique comes to an end.  -- sm07002

Don't sleep on Coolio's chances in the fight. Remember, he has spent most of his life living in a gangster's paradise. Does anything else in his past give you a clue about his chances as a fighter?

-- He has a penchant for getting involved in celebrity sporting events, including celebrity hoops and stock car racing. Does that make him an athlete? Hardly. But it shows that he is willing to try.

-- He won "Celebrity Bootcamp," a reality show that had the goal of helping celebrities hold on to the spotlight for as long as they can lose weight. 

-- Earlier this year, Coolio attempted a stage dive during a performance in England. The crowd parted, and Coolio was robbed and injured. Ouch. If an experience like that doesn't make you tough, what will?

Clearly, the man has some training to do. He's 46 years old and kickboxing isn't exactly a skill that people pick up quickly. But if you're in Alabama on Dec. 19 and you have some cash to spend, check it out by buying tickets here. Then, please email us to let us know about your "Fantastic Voyage" with Coolio. 

Thanks to Fight! Magazine for the heads up. 

"He's not trash-talking, but he's completely delusional and disrespectful, and he's not giving me any credit for my career," Swick told Cagewriter. "For him to come on board with three fights in the UFC, two of which the judges said he lost, and act like he deserves a title shot, and act like he's going to smash me, and act like he's got a better arsenal than I do, and act like he's better than me everywhere, is ridiculously delusional and I can't wait to prove him wrong."

Before Hardy's win over Marcus Davis, Hardy incessantly battered Davis with little barbs meant to mess with Davis as he was training. Swick views these mind games as a weakness in Hardy.

"He admitted to breaking Marcus Davis down, and getting in his head, and interfering with his training. Does he really feel good about that? I want to fight him at his best. Not injured, not distraught. He's not talking the same way as he was talking to Davis, but he's not giving any credit where it's due. He's coming in like he has all these credentials, and he's climbing up the ranks, and it's absolutely delusional and ridiculous. You're going to see on November 14 that I'm going to put an end to that."

Swick believes that Hardy's confidence will come back to bite him in their fight.

"He needs to realize that all this confidence is going to hurt him in the fight. When he realizes this is inaccurate, he's going to panic. I've seen it happen time and time again. Time and time again, my opponents come in and fight me, and they never give me respect, they always say that my speed is not an issue, they always say that they're stronger than me, they always say that they're going to hit harder than me, and they always say they're going to knock me out. And time and time again, I'm the one sitting in the postfight press conference after a victory."

"You would think by now I'd get some level of respect, especially from a guy with the credentials he has. He's not stellar, by any means in the UFC. Three wins is great, but two split decisions is horrible. I've never even had a split decision. For him to be boasting about it like he's the next big thing is horrible. All that's going to come crashing down. After this fight is over with, he's going to have a whole new perspective. He's probably going to be upset at his friends and family and his team who are filling his head with all these ridiculous lies that he's so much better than me in all these areas." 

Focused on the chance at a title shot

Swick is willing to put up with all the trash talk silliness because he knows that with a win, he will be given a shot to take Georges St. Pierre's title.

"At the end of the day, it's going to be an exciting fight, it's going to be another fight under my belt, and obviously money. It's my career. It's what I do. I just want to get this fight out, have a dominant performance and keep pursuing that title shot, and my dream of being a champion."

"Obviously, it stays in the back of your mind that a title shot is next. It excites me, but you can't lose focus on the fight itself. Without a win over Dan Hardy, there's no title shot. Who knows what's next? I don't want to be in that who knows what's next position. I want to be in the, 'I know what's next position,' and that's GSP. So, I'm not just going out there to get a win. I'm going out there to make a statement. I'm going out there to prove a point, to prove I'm the number one contender. I can be the guy to dethrone Georges St. Pierre, and that's exactly what the world is going to see on Nov. 14." 

He sees training at American Kickboxing Academy as a major advantage in preparing for this fight.

"We have the best fight team in the world, especially welterweight fight team. I mean, with Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch and Jake Shields, you cannot have a better welterweight fight team than that. Daniel Cormier, with his Olympic wrestling, he's been teaching me a lot. I've been wrestling with these guys for years. I just don't show it in my fights because I stand. My ground game has never really been shown in the UFC. I'm super excited to get out there and showcase all areas of my game. My training camp is spectacular. We have some of the top-level fighters in the world, and we're getting new ones every day."

With that preparation, Swick is ready to fight Hardy anywhere.

"Apparently, he's better everywhere in his mind, but he's going to come to a very different conclusion when that bell rings. For him to say speed's not an issue is about the dumbest thing I've ever heard any fighter say. We'll see how speed is a factor on Nov. 14. I'll fight him anywhere. I'll go outside the Octagon. I'll go over the top. I'll fight him in any area, and then I'll beat him in snooker, too, when we're done."

Another fight weekend is in the books. Fedor Emelianenko, despite being bruised and battered, solidified his position as one of the world's best fighters. But the Fedor phenomenon was just one part of the weekend put together by Strikeforce.

Louis Taylor was the best-dressed of weigh-ins, wearing boxer shorts that declared his love for himself. They didn't help in his fight, though, as Taylor lost to Nate Moore.

At the open workouts, middleweight Scott Smith showed his devotion to his sponsor by sporting Affliction boots. It was announced that Smith will face Cung Le on Dec. 19.

There was no question who these gloves belonged to.

"King Mo" Lawal hammed it up for me while on the set of "Inside MMA" at the weigh-ins.

Just minutes after the final press conference ended, the Sears Centre crew was hard at work, getting rid of any evidence of the night's fights. They had to get ready for a cheerleading competition the next day.

See more images from the weekend from our friends at Combat Lifestyle and All Elbows. 

In an arena that was electric with the excitement of seeing the world's best heavyweight take on a tough challenger, Fedor Emelianenko won his first Strikeforce bout with a TKO at 1:48 in the second round. If there were any questions of Fedor's dominance, they were answered tonight as Emelianenko lasted through an early onslaught from Rogers. 

Fedor started the fight off with big looping punches and then threw Rogers to the ground, using his sambo skills. Rogers got back to his feet and used the clinch to cause damage. Rogers cut Fedor on the bridge of his nose with a perfectly square jab. When Rogers took Fedor to the ground, he landed a bevy of punches to put "The Last Emperor" in trouble. 

But Fedor could not be stopped. He finished the fight off with one lethal right hand punch in the second round, and then finished it on the ground with one more big right.

Judging by the crowd at the Sears Centre in suburban Chicago, Fedor has clearly become a star in the United States. The cheers for him were deafening, and more than once, the crowd began to chant "Fedor, Fedor!" 

Rogers fought Fedor better than anyone has in quite a while. This was his first loss, but one that will still leave a mark in the memories of MMA fans. 

In the battle for the vacant Strikeforce middleweight belt, Jake Shields won a unanimous decision 48-47, 49-46, 49-46. Despite having the Chicago crowd squarely against him, Shields employed an effective, smothering offense to grind out the win over Jason "Mayhem" Miller. 

In the first round, Shields got a quick takedown, and did some damage on the ground. Mayhem got up, but then was taken down again quickly. When Miller got back to his feet, he picked Shields up for a takedown, which got a large cheer from the crowd.

The second round was incredibly close, as the two spent it mostly on the ground. Neither fighter got close to a submission, though. Miller dominated the third, sinking in a rear naked choke near the end of the round. Shields was saved by the bell, because if the round would have lasted just a few more seconds Shields would likely not have made it.

In the fourth, an exhausted Shields got a takedown but did little with it. When referee "Big" John McCarthy stood them up, Mayhem landed some kicks before Shields took him down, again. Every time Miller tried to roll out, Shields stuck to him. In the fifth round, Shields continued his attack of taking Miller down and sticking on him like white on rice. For much of the round, he had Miller's back, but when Miller did get out, he tried and quickly gave up on a guillotine.

The crowd in suburban Chicago showered Shields with boos as he walked out of the arena, but his attack was effective. After the fight, Shields said that he would fight at middleweight or welterweight, and that Cung Le, the former holder of the middleweight belt, is afraid of Shields. Le vacated the belt after pursuing a film career, but he will fight again on Dec. 19 against Scott Smith. 

Gegard Mousasi continued to show his dominance, TKO'ing Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at 3:43 in the second round. 

As he is wont to do, Sokoudjou came out guns blazing in the first round, not only landing punches on Mousasi, but also displaying his judo prowess with a few throws to put Mousasi on his back. His dominance was short-lived, though, as his well-known lack of conditioning reared its ugly head.

In the second, it looked like Sokoudjou might be in trouble after Mousasi unloaded a flurry of punches, but Soko survived and took Mousasi down. Mousasi reversed Sokoudjou, and it was quite clear that Soko was exhausted at that point. Mousasi unloaded punches and elbows, and the referee, "Big" John McCarthy called the fight. 

For Mousasi, 24, the win didn't test his Strikeforce light heavyweight title, but it did show off his skills as a top fighter. The American audience is now much more familiar with the young veteran's dominance.

In a heavyweight bout between Fabricio Werdum and Antonio "Big Foot" Silva, Werdum outlasted the big man on Strikeforce's first ever bout on CBS. All three judges scored it 29-28 for Fabricio Werdum.

In the first round, Silva knocked down Werdum with a big flurry of punches but couldn't finish him off. Despite that, Silva clearly won the first round, landing punches and knocking Werdum more than once. The times that Werdum was on the ground, Silva didn't follow. Instead, he told Werdum to get back up to continue the fight on their feet.

Werdum finally got it to the ground in the second but couldn't keep Silva there. Back on their feet, Werdum worked the clinch before Werdum got Silva back to the ground and got side control. Werdum quickly rolled into a heel hook, but Silva got out of it. 

In the third round, Werdum again was able to take Silva down. When Silva got back up, he tried to land some punches but Werdum dodged them, matrix-style. Werdum landed a knee and Silva went to the ground. The final round ended with Werdum on top of Silva.  

For winning this fight, Werdum should have a chance at either the winner of Fedor/Rogers, or eventually, the Strikeforce heavyweight champion, Alistair Overeem. 

In his first fight since being released from World Extreme Cagefighting, Jeff Curran walked a way with a win, his first in five fights. His opponent, Dustin Neace, tapped out 1:39 into the fight due to injury, apparently to his ribs.

Curran had suffered four losses in a row to some of the best fighters the WEC has, a group that includes Takeya Mizugaki, Joe Benavidez, Urijah Faber and Mike Brown. This win, though quick, might not have been the most satisfying for Curran. It will be interesting to see if Strikeforce holds on to the veteran featherweight. 

As usual, female fighters don't disappoint. After Marloes Coenen landed a few beautiful kicks, Roxanne Modafferi took her down. Coenen quickly rolled Modafferi, throwing an armbar. Modafferi tapped out at 1:05 in the first round. This was Coenen's first win over Modafferi, with Roxy coming away with the earlier win coming by split decision in 2007.

Coenen will reportedly go on to face Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos for the Strikeforce women's title. Though she was impressive tonight, it's hard to judge if the Dutch kickboxer will be able to stop Cyborg's incredible power. 

After an exciting first round, with Bailey goes for a quick takedown and unsuccessfully trying for guillotine and Kolocsi landing several big shots, the fight slowed down. Bailey controlled the majority of the match, winning it on the ground. All three judges called it 29-27 for Shamar Bailey. 

Louis Taylor vs. Nate Moore

After showing off superior wrestling skills throughout the fight, American Kickboxing Academy product Moore finished off Louis Taylor with strikes at 3:24 in the second round. 

Christian Uflacker vs. Jonatas Novaes

Uflacker was effective with takedowns on the ground in a game that ended up mostly a ground battle. After Novaes kicked Uflacker when he was down on the ground, Uflacker took a while to compose himself but decided to continue. Novaes was deducted two points for the iullegal kick, and Uflacker won by a 29-26, 30-25, 30-25 unanimous decision. 

Welcome to Cagewriter's coverage of Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers. We will have full results of the all the night's events. Keep checking back with us. 

MAIN CARD

Fedor Emelianenko 232 lbs. vs. Brett Rogers 264 lbs.

Jason "Mayhem" Miller 184 lbs. vs. Jake Shields 184.5 lbs. (for vacant Strikeforce middleweight title)

Gegard Mousasi 205 lbs. vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou 204 lbs. 

Antonio "Big Foot" Silva 263 lbs. vs. Fabricio Werdum 242 lbs.

In a video that has been making the rounds today, things got a little feisty between the Brigham Young and New Mexico women's soccer teams. And when I say a little feisty, I mean downright dirty. They knocked each other down, threw sucker punches and at one point used a ponytail to get their opponent down on the ground.

The problem here is not the game. I'd like to see some more sportsmanship between these two teams, but the problem is that at the beginning of the highlight, ESPN equates the dirty play to MMA. Why is that necessary? Nothing about the cheap, dirty moves these women were pulling on each other had anything to do with what is done in a cage. Especially since ESPN had actually been giving this week's Strikeforce card good coverage, they should know better. For that silliness, ESPN wins the Cagewriter Facepalm of the Week. 

Update: Apparently, more silly MMA references were made during "Around the Horn." That makes ESPN even more deserving of this award. 

The most important thing for Modafferi at this point is to get more fights. With a win, she will have that chance as the winner of this fight will likely decide the number 1 contender spot for the Strikeforce women's title. 

"I have a background where I grew up in a poor area where no kids had supervision, and I was bullied, so it spoke to me," Miller told Cagewriter.

He has brought Strikeforce aboard, including middleweight Scott Smith and heavyweight Daniel Cormier. The two spoke to children at a martial arts center in suburban Chicago and told Cagewriter why they chose to get involved.

"For me, I've got a couple of kids, and I coach junior high wrestling, and you can see there's a lot of kids who don't have the guidance," Smith said. "If we can get out there, and whether it's because we're good fighters or just adult role models, and it keeps them from bullying or picking on kids, we've done a good job."

Smith doesn't see a disconnect between what he does in the cage and a message against violence.

"Fighters are the exact opposite [of violent]. They're disciplined. We got into martial arts to learn how to defend ourselves. I'm the part owner of a gym, and the guys that come into learn how to fight so they can beat people up in bars? Those are the first guys to get weeded out. You've got to be disciplined to be a mixed martial artist."

"You don't know how to defend yourself as a kid," Cormier added. "You have to learn it. I didn't know how to defend myself as a kid until I learned how to wrestle. I finally figured out that when I wrestle, I win some, lose some, but if I can go out there and wrestle, why can't I stand up to some guy who is bullying me?"

Bullying has been in the headlines lately as a widespread problem in schools that can lead to other, bigger problems. Just this week, an Alabama school is investigating if bullying played a part in the suicide of a 12-year-old boy. 

For Miller, standing up to bullying and helping kids is the goal, not the by-product, of his fame.

"I work in my life not just for monetary rewards. I want fame so at some level I can influence change. I don't look at it just as, 'Oh, I want to be famous so I can hump girls.' I want to exert my influence in a good way."

The most surprising thing to come out of Strikeforce's pre-fight press conference today was not any bit of news. It was a smile from "The Last Emperor," Fedor Emelianenko, who will fight Brett Rogers in a three-round bout in suburban Chicago on Saturday. 

See that face that Fedor Emelianenko is making? That was the only face that he made the whole day. It's quite clear that Fedor is done with all of the build-up to this Saturday's bout with Brett Rogers, and just wants to fight.

While Fedor was keeping his visage stoic, Jason "Mayhem" Miller was enjoying every second of the media attention. While wearing a chinchilla coat, he spoke with Cagewriter.

"I'm feeling AWESOME, backslash, dotcom, I'm about to kick some ass," Miller said. He is looking forward to his bout for the middleweight title with Jake Shields, and is confident that he will win.

"I'm a better kickboxer, and I'm going to show that on Saturday night. And, on the ground, though I believe he's an excellent grappler, I believe I know a couple of moves on the ground. He's not going to finish me there. I don't see how he beats me. I'm going to show that to everyone."

And to the rumors that Shields will take over Miller's hosting duties on MTV's "Bully Beatdown"?

"I think he's just insecure about this fight, so he's trying to get in my head. Guess what?!? I'm the one who plays the mind games. Not him. And I'm totally not worried about a guy who can't string together a sentence taking over my job on 'Bully Beatdown.' Mario Lopez? OK, maybe I'll be a little nervous. But Jake Shields? Not so much."

Miller and Strikeforce light heavyweight Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal put on a pro wrestling exhibition during the workout.

And yes, Miller continued to wear his chinchilla coat throughout the "workout."

Strikeforce TV analyst and fighter Frank Shamrock said that he hopes to return to action in February. Since his last fight, a loss to Nick Diaz, he's been enjoying being a dad to his 18-month-old daughter.

"My theory was that if I taught her patty cake, we could translate that into pad work. She can patty cake, and the punches come next."

Of course, we've already told you about the craziest part of the day. Mr. T was standing out on the street near POW Kickboxing, where the open workouts were held. He lives in the neighborhood, and was kind enough to pose for pictures with King Mo, trainer Ryan Parsons and Strikeforce fighter Daniel Cormier.

Afterwards, Mr. T gave the line of the day:

"I pity the fools that fight you guys."

"If you win, they say good stuff, if you lose, they bring you down," Mousasi told Cagewriter. "To be able to win my fights, I must focus on the good things, like training." 

After his last fight, a TKO of Renato "Babalu" Sobral, ended in just a minute, Mousasi wants to show off his skills to an American audience.

"I can win with submission, ground and pound or stand-up, so I'm going to take my time, be sharp and put the pressure and take whatever I can. I'm going to try to do everything."

Strikeforce TV analyst Frank Shamrock thinks that Mousasi is one of Strikeforce's budding stars.

"I think there's a fighter on the card who possesses an extraordinary skill set, and has been overlooked," Shamrock said. "Mousasi, for his weight, is one of the best fighters on the planet. No one knows it yet. They found out a little bit when he won the belt, and they're going to find out a little bit more on Saturday night."

At the same time, Mousasi's not overlooking Sokoudjou, who struggled with the UFC but was quite successful in fights overseas.

"He's a dangerous opponent. I think people underestimate him. I will take my time with him and hopefully do the job well."

If Mousasi does win, he said he wants to fight soon, but stopped short of calling out any particular fighter, including Strikeforce's newest light heavyweight signing, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal, who was just a few feet away from him in the gym.

"There are some good fighters. King Mo, I hear is a new talent. A match with him would be an exciting one, but it's not up to me," Mousasi said.

Lawal, who is rumored to be fighting for Strikeforce on Dec. 19, sees a fight with Mousasi as inevitable.

"Me and him are going to end up fighting. It's going to happen eventually. It's bound to happen. He keeps winning, I keep winning, it's going to happen," Lawal told Cagewriter. 

On the way into Strikeforce's open workouts today, Mr. T ran into new Strikeforce signee, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal. Mr. T told Lawal that he respected fighters and would try to make it Saturday's fights. One thing is clear: Rampage has some big shoes to fill.

Keep checking in with Cagewriter as we will have much more from today's open workouts. 

The interviewer also tried to engage Fedor in a staring contest. Having interviewed Emelianenko, I can attest that the entire exercise of interviewing him was a staring contest. A staring contest that I lost. Badly. 

Thanks to With Leather. 

I couldn't find an exact replica of Fedor Emelianenko's sweater, but there are reasonable facsimiles to the sweater. From left, there is a v-necked Banana Republic sweater, an Eddie Bauer sweater, and a Lacoste sweater, all available on eBay. This way, you can be like Fedor, yet still keep your own personal style. It's truly a win-win. 

Brett "The Grim" Rogers made a stop at Sunday's Bears game to promote his fight with Fedor Emelianenko, going down this Saturday in suburban Chicago and on CBS. Before watching the Bears beat the Browns 30-6, Rogers hung out with Staley the Bear. Take your shot at a caption in the comments, and read on for winners of last week's create-a-caption.

First place: If only the Extenze could have made him stay upright for a longer time. -- wave f

Second place: Figaro, figaro, figaro -- Justin Case

Third place: As if getting completely destroyed by Cain weren't embarrassing enough, "Big Ben" reacts to a woman in the crowd laughing hysterically while pointing at his Extenze logo and holding up her pinky. -- Smokin' Joe Fraze 

If you would like to suggest a picture for create-a-caption, feel free to send it to us. 

"It's kind of tough, but to me it's not that big a deal," Riley told Cagewriter. "A fight's a fight. He's definitely going to have crowd support. At the same time. I'm going to try to use the negative crowd energy and use it as a boost to drive me to excel. I'll take it, flip it and use it in another way."

Riley is one of the many fighters that trains with Greg Jackson in New Mexico. To prepare for next weekend, he worked with Joe Stevenson, who beat Spencer Fisher at UFC 104.

"The cool thing about [Jackson's] is that there are so many good guys to train with. I helped Joe Stevenson get ready for his fight. He was fighting a southpaw, and I was able to mimic that, and he's orthodox, which is the way my opponent fights."

Working with Jackson means that Riley will hear Jackson's interesting way of speaking to his fighters in the corner. Jackson is known to speak to fighters in calm, soothing tones, and asking them to repeat the directions Jackson has given, which is quite a contrast to the way many other cornermen coach their fighters. Riley sees that as an asset.

"It's very relaxing. It's very refreshing, compared to someone who is just screaming at you, saying what you did wrong, what you did right, and giving you too much information to take in all at once. Greg really has a good handle on that. I think that's a productive way to corner."

Along with Jackson's expertise, Riley will bring with him the experience of fighting for 12 years, despite his relative youth. Riley will turn 29 in December.

"[The experience] will help, in that I've been in the position before of being on someone's home turf and being the bad guy. I know that I can't overlook anyone. I'm looking to fight hard. It is his home turf,  this is his first fight since winning the show, and he's looking to make a statement. I've got to bring my A-game and be prepared for that." 

Leading the pack is World Extreme Cagefighting veteran Jeff Curran (pictured). He was cut from the WEC after losses to Urijah Faber, Mike Brown, Joseph Benavidez and Takeya Mizugaki. Along with Miguel Torres, Curran has a huge role in building Chicago's fight scene. Curran is the promoter for XFO, a group that puts fights on in Chicagoland and has featured many up-and-coming fighters from the area. He will try to end his losing streak against Dustin Neace.

Mark Miller is another undercard fighter who has long been a Chicago fight fixture. He fought for the Chicago Red Bears in the International Fight League, and now trains with Team Dino Costeas on Chicago's near west side. You may remember him from season nine of "The Ultimate Fighter," where he fought his friend Kevin Knabijan to get on the show, but then was knocked out by Nick Osipczak. Including the TUF fights, Miller has wins over Josh Neer and Brad Blackburn, and could use a win this Saturday over Deray Davis to get back on track.

Filling the card with local fighters is such a smart strategy by Strikeforce. It ensures local MMA fans will want to get to the fights early. Curran's gym is not far from the Sears Centre, and John Kolocsi and Miller's students, friends, family and fans won't mind the trip to the 'burbs to see the fighters on a large stage like this one.

At the same time, Strikeforce can use the undercard of these events to check out fighters to sign to their Challengers series. Tyron Woodley first fought for Strikeforce when he fought on the undercard of their show in his hometown of St. Louis. They wisely snapped him up, and he will headline the Challengers show in Kansas City on Nov. 20.