Holiday Reading

TUF 205 lb Champion Ryan Bader is taking advantage of the break after his Finale win and not needing to cut weight anymore to enjoy a little holiday food, including some cookies and fudge. He is waiting to hear from the UFC for his next match.

Jay over at GymTops.com has a good piece detailing the MMA gifts you wish you had gotten today instead of the socks, sweater, or tin of popcorn that you got instead. Those cutouts are sweet, but I'm not so sure about the Octa-bed.

The Las Vegas Review Journal details holidays past and present with UFC 92 participants Forrest Griffin and Wanderlei Silva.

UFC 92 Hype

The Canadian Press profiles Brad Blackburn in the lead up to his showdown with Ryo Chonan.

The Las Vegas Sun profiles the Mir vs Nog Showdown and writer Andy Samuelson breaks down the card.

Las Vegas Weekly has three quick questions for Frank Mir.

Rashad Evans has an interview with BuddyTV.

Bisping in UFC Undisputed 2009 Video Game

Courtesy of The Sun

Cage Fighter To Possibly Re-Enter The Octagon

Conspicuous in their display during last night's Countdown to UFC 92 was the Cage Fighter clothing brand. Cage Fighter is the best known of the brands from MMA clothier MMA Authentics. In a well publicized falling out with MMA Authentics, Cage Fighter and its' sister brands were banned from the Octagon and any UFC related events. The dispute centered on MMA Authentics MMA Elite brand beating out the UFC for shelf space at Wal Mart. The prominent display of the brand during Countdown is the latest sign of a lessening in tensions between the UFC and the clothing brand.

Despite being banned from the Octagon, the lines of communication between the fight promotion and the clothing company have remained open. Negotiations heated up between the two in consultations in and around the TUF 8 Finale card and have been heavy since. A deal between the two seems imminent, with negotiations already being in place for several athletes to possibly wear Cage Fighter into the Ring for UFC 92, including Rampage Jackson. MMAPayout.com has also learned Cage Fighter/ MMA Authentics is trying to lock up exclusive lifestyle apparel rights for UFC. The TapouT brand would still be a cornerstone of the UFC's apparel strategy, with the co-existence of TapouT and Cage Fighter merely being a case of semantics. The terms of the possible deal are unknown, but a similar deal between the UFC and TapouT for exclusive promotional rights is rumored to involve the UFC taking profit participation points from TapouT.

Hardonk Not Fazed by Replacement Wessel

The Globe and Mail of Canada has an interesting piece on Antoni Hardonk as he gets ready for his bout at this week-end's UFC 92 card. His opponent is a late substitution but Hardonk is bothered much by the prospect of not having much knowledge of his opponent:

The 32-year-old Dutchman looks to make it three wins in a row Saturday night at UFC 92 in Las Vegas, where he meets UFC newcomer Mike (The Juggernaut) Wessel on the undercard of the light-heavyweight title fight between champion Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans.

Hardonk (7-4 including 3-2 in the UFC) arrived Friday in Las Vegas after some visa delays and learning that his original opponent Mark Burch had been replaced by Wessel.

“Apparently he played football,” Hardonk said. “He's a very physical guy but he just started training mixed martial arts a couple of years ago and because of his physicality, he's very successful. . . . He has a good record and now he's fighting in the UFC.”

Wessel, 31, is a six-foot 260-pounder who played defensive tackle for the San Diego Riptide of the Arena Football League. He has also served as assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Wessel trains in Little Rock along with Roli Delgado, who was on Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter.

Wessel for his part is looking forward to the showdown and seems content to stand and bang judging from his interview with Fighters Only:

He is a very good kickboxer and has a ton of heart. He has gotten in some bad spots and fought his way out. That’s what has been most impressive to me, his heart. I think he is great at what he does and I am great at what I do. It will come down to who wants it most and makes the least amount of mistakes.

I like to stand and bang and so does he. I can go to ground and be just as comfortable so really it is all up in air. Either way its gonna be a war of two big guys - and everyone loves to watch that!

Wessel would be best served by taking the Kickboxer Hardonk to the ground and work his game from there, because a s much as he likes to bang, I'm thinking he would get banged in a stand-up scenario with Hardonk.

Norwegian Hammer Thrower At UFC 92?

Neilk Davidson of The Canadian Press has a quickie profile on Dan Evensen, who will be making his UFC debut this week-end in a showdown with kick boxer Pat Barry on the undercard of The Ultimate 2008 UFC 92 card. These two come off as no namers but Davidson adds a little bit of context to the proceedings in his piece:

Norway's Dan (The Viking) Evensen's career has taken more than a few twists and turns. What's next for the 6-foot-3 250-pounder may depend on what happens Saturday night against Pat Barry on the undercard of UFC 92 (pay-per-view) in Las Vegas.

Mixed martial arts brought Evensen to the U.S. five years ago. A track-and-field enthusiast, he had represented Norway as a hammer thrower and then traveled the world as a marine engineer.

"I've always been a spontaneous guy," the 34-year-old said. "I got a restless when I was done with sport ... I missed sport and got back in. It happened to be fighting."

Losing weight was the original goal. The big man was getting even bigger. He had done kickboxing in the past and figured fighting might be a good fit.

Evensen may have a tall order in Barry. Barry is the smaller guy but is a well versed striker with more than 50 pro and amateur Muay Thai fights under his belt. I'm not liking Evensen's chances of winning this fight, but if he shows even the slight resemblance of having a pulse he could end up as filler on the UFC's Euro Cards for years to come, as actually winning or being any good isn't much of a prerequisite for the European fighters on those cards.

Frank Shamrock Interview With Brawlers TV

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MMAPlayground: UFC 92

Nog -275
Okami -315
Dollaway -265

putting down 19k on with a payoff of 28k
laying off that bet by putting 19k on Massenzio at +250, paying off 47.5k....

There aren't a lot of mispriced guys on this card, like say Miller was on the Fight for the troops card or maybe a Maia against Quarry, where those guys were solid locks that should have been -200 instead of the low-100's, those are the types of guys that add tons of value to a parlay, with little risk ...... the two lower odd fioghts on this card are the Rampage and Forrest fights, and those fights are too 50-50 for me to be comfortable with......

Nog and Okami are locks in my book, with Massenzio being a good enough dog at those odds to possibly pull off an upset....Both Dollaway and Massenzio are wrestlers, with Dollaway holding a victory over Massenzio at the national junior college finals, but I think that Massenzio has maybe a little better sub game than CB,.... Massenzio looks to have no stand-up game, I think that CB should be a solid fave but not that high so laying some money here..another possible play would be the Chonan vs Blackburn Fight, Blackburn has been known to surprise with his hands on occasion based on his performance in the IFL, and Chonan has been Ko'ed by Baroni, so he is susceptible to getting caught

Massenzio Primer:

Daley Eyeing UFC Slot

Despite still being tied up in the imbroglio that is the ProElite mess, Welterweight striker Paul Daley is casting an eye towards the UFC in 2009. "I'm 25 and my plan is to finally make the move. I think I'm ready for it and I know it is ready for me," Daley told This Is Nottingham. Those plans to make a UFC move may be impeded by the imminent resurrection of ProElite. The company is said to be in the final stages of a sale that would return the company to Showtime and possibly CBS

Daley recently got a won over highly regarded Welter weight John Alessio at Mark Pavelich's Maximum Fighting Championship. Daley missed weight for the fight, forfeiting part of his purse, something he attributed to a mix up on when fight day was. "It was a stupid mistake," Daly said. "I thought the fight would be on Saturday night, like they usually are. But this one was scheduled for the Friday. I walk around about 10lb over, so I had no chance." Daley's immediate plans include heading to LA for more training on his ground work as well as helping fellow countryman Dan Hardy prepare for his next UFC bout.

Askren To Debut Soon

Highly decorated amateur and NCAA wrestler Ben Askren looks to make his debut soon, with his first fight coming in Columbia, Missouri where he wrestled collegiality at the University of Missouri. Sharon Robb of the Sun Sentinel reports that Askren will follow up that with a contest in February in Miami. The South Miami location is apropos as Askren is training with the Coconut Creek headquartered American Top Team. Askren is one of the more hihgly decorated wrestlers to enter the MMA game recently, as he is a two time NCAA champ, 2 time college wrestler of the year, as well as a 2008 Olympic team member. Askren seems to be taking a measured approach to learning MMA, realizing he isn't going to take over right away:

"I'm not good yet but I'm going to be," Askren said. "It's not like I am going to fight Georges St. Pierre tomorrow. I am going to start out at the bottom. I am going to start out with fights that aren't that difficult. I don't have to stay on my feet. I can take somebody down. It is going to be a learning process. I'm not going to be a great striker in two months, maybe two years.

"It's going to take time, I understand that. I know I am a beginner and I might lose here and there but so what. In a couple months I am not going to be submitted and you're not going to beat me in my wrestling. Somebody who wants to beat me better knock me out. As long as at the end of the day I am the best, that's all that matters. I am too strong a competitor to go down easy and I definitely can be the best."

Nover Looks For Future With UFC

Dubbed a lightweight Anderson Silva and compared to GSP by UFC President Dana White, TUF fighter Phillipe Nover was upset in the final of the TUF Finale by Efrain Escudero. Despite the loss, Nover looks to soon sign a 2 fight deal with the UFC and returen to the Ocatogon by March, according to Newsday. Also during the time off, Filipino-American Nover will travel to the The Philippines in January to visit family as well as the large contingent of fans that he gained during his tenure on the show. Nover seems to be taking the loss well, using it as a learning experience:

"I think now after taking that loss, I'm a better fighter. I think I'm gonna come back stronger and come out more strategically," Nover said. "It just improved me as a fighter. My game plan will be a lot different now. I'm going to analyze opponents and improve my wrestling ability."

Nover has already spent time critiquing his loss to Escudero.

"I thought I overcommitted on my strikes. Unfortunately, I think I was too eager. The more he took me down, the more I wanted to hit him," Nover said. "I can't change what I did. He had a really good strategy."

Why We Fight

Rampage prepares for Wandy In the UK