San Jose, CA. —Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (13-5) weighed in at 185 ½ lbs. and his opponent, Terry Martin (18-5), tipped the scales at 186 lbs. one day before their meeting at Strikeforce “Destruction,” the mixed martial arts mega-event at San Jose’s HP Pavilion.

Strikeforce World Light Heavyweight (205 lb. limit) Champion Bobby Southworth (9-5) and his opponent, Renato “Babalu” Sobral (30-7), both registered in at 204 lbs. Knockout artists and opponents Duane “Bang” Ludwig (17-8) and Yves Edwards (34-14-1) weighed in at 163 lbs. and 164 lbs, respectively.

The following are the official fighter weights from today’s weigh-ins at Hotel DeAnza:

• 185 lb. limit:
• Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith – 185.5 lbs.
• Terry Martin – 186 lbs.
• 205 lb. limit:
• Bobby Southworth – 204 lbs.
• Renato “Babalu” Sobral – 204 lbs.
• 164 lb. limit:
• Duane “Bang” Ludwig – 163 lbs.
• Yves Edwards – 164 lbs.
• 133 lb. limit:
• Kim “Sugar Free” Couture – 132 lbs.
• Lina Kvokov – 133 lbs.
• 170 lb. limit:
• Joe “Diesel” Riggs – 170.5 lbs.
• Luke Stewart – 170.5 lbs.
• 135 lb. limit:
• Brad Royster – 134 lbs.
• Darren “Bone Crusher” Uyenoyama – 136 lbs.
• 185 lb. limit:
• Nik Theotikos – 185.5 lbs.
• Luke Rockhold – 185.5 lbs.
• 170 lb. limit:
• Zakary Bucia – 169 lbs.
• Adam Steele – 168 lbs.
• 145 lb. limit:
• Alvin Cacdac – 143 lbs.
• Jose Palacios – 145 lbs.
• 175 lb. limit:
• Lemont Davis – 173 lbs.
• Brian Schwartz – 175 lbs.
• 185 lb. limit:
• Josh Neal – 184 lbs.
• Kurt “Rhino” Osiander – 185 lbs.
• 155 lb. limit:
• Bobby Stack – 155 lbs.
• Cyrillo Padilha – 156 lbs.
• 185 lb. limit:
• Tony Johnson – 184 lbs.
• Eric Lawson – 185 lbs.

HP Pavilion doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for Strikeforce “Destruction” and the first preliminary bout will begin at 6 p.m. The main card will commence at 7:30 p.m.

The live HDNet telecast of Strikeforce “Destruction” will begin at 10 p.m. EST (7 p.m. PST).

Wow, the madness has ended for now and for the better with Jon Fitch back in the UFC and Dana White looking to be a tad bit the bully. Fitch and his management pulled of a nice round of professional communications that left Fitch signing up for the UFC videogame and ready to fight again. The more it’s looked at, the more Dana seems to be throwing the power moves around the office, trying to break employees down. Good job Jon Fitch, everybody deserves to be dealt with with respect, especially someone who bleeds for the company name. This is what mmarated squeezed out of the Fitch Team:
“Communication kind of broke down with Dana (White) so we talked with Lorenzo,” Fitch told MMARated. “(I) just got off the phone with him and we came to an agreement. We’re going to move ahead and I’ll be back in the UFC. We’re going to sign off on the video game and I’m back. It was never even about the agreement or the contract. It was the approach that we felt Dana was being a little bit hot-headed and was threatening us right off the bat. It didn’t seem like a professional way of doing things.”

The war is still in it’s infancy but nonetheless General Dana White is mobilizing his unit for close combat. The problem is it’s a war of numbers against the guys who provided the fuel for Dana’s fire. Much like the pherohs of Egypt dispatched those who built the pyramid, White is slowly casting out some of the best builders the UFC has had, namely Jon Fitch. Fitch is a great fighter, worthy of respect and fair pay with fair play attached. Why is doesn’t Dana just say, “Fine you’re not in the video game.” Why does he have to fire him? If Fitch doesn’t want to be in the game isn’t that a fair choice? The game will be fine without a Fitch character but the UFC needs him. He is a contender for the belt and a stand-up athlete who people care about and want to watch compete. After Dana cooled down he had this to report to USA Today:
“This is not an attack on Jon Fitch. It’s not an attack on any one fighter. We have chosen not to do business with this camp called AKA. These guys have never, ever, ever treated us like partners. They’re always fighting over stupid, stupid (stuff) and negotiating over stuff that makes no sense. They’re negotiating like they’ve got Mel Gibson and this thing is the biggest movie ever being made. You know what I’m saying? The reality is, we’re not even sanctioned in Massachusetts or New York … (and) we’re going into all these different countries trying to do these different things. And I’ve got these guys that basically don’t want to be partners with me. You’ve got morons — morons — that are running these fighters’ lives. But to tell you the truth, one of the fighters from AKA called me and said, “Listen, I don’t care what these managers say or what they’re doing. I make my own decisions and my decision is, I’m with you. I’m your partner, I’m in.’ And this was before we even told AKA we wouldn’t be doing business with them any more. So this really isn’t an attack on Jon Fitch or any personal fighter. We’re just choosing not to do business with AKA any more. We’re not going to do business with them. And listen, there’s other guys out there that they can go do business with; they’re just not going to do business with me. Now there’s rumors out there, I know, about, ‘It’s over a video game deal. It’s over the ancillary rights agreement. It’s over this, that.’It’s over a lot of different things. It’s not one specific fighter or one specific thing. It’s about a lot of different things with a lot of these fighters. And you know what? This is more than just AKA. There’s other camps out there that we’re having trouble doing business with. And at the end of the day, this is a business. We run a business just like any other business. You come in, you do your job with your company and you get paid. And the guys that don’t want to do business with you — then go work somewhere else. It’s as easy as that. You don’t have to do business with us. There’s other people out there you can do it with.”

Seven UFC fighters who participated on the UFC 91 fight card have been issued formal medical suspensions either due to injury or due to suspicion of injury. Among the now sidelined fighters are heavyweight contenders Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture. Both fighters will serve mandatory medical suspensions for precautionary reasons. Lesnar is said to be out till Dec. 16 and Couture will be out till Jan. 15. Heavyweight Josh Hendricks will also be out until Dec. for precautionary reasons. Two fighters, Tamdam McCrory and Jorge Gurgel, will be out pending x-ray results ruling out any fractures. Aaron Riley the winner in the Gurgel fight is out for precautionary reasons until Dec. And last but not least Rafael dos Anjos is also out for precautionary reasons after being knocked out by Jeremy Stephens. Thankfully no fighters suffered any major breaks or career ending injuries. It was painful enough watching Patrick Cote blow his knee out, we didn’t need any more of that.

Yeah you read it right. Dana White has given women’s mma a slight glimmer of hope. During the GSP/BJ Penn Press Conference, Dana talked openly about giving Gina Carano a chance to fight for the WEC which is very close to the UFC stable at this point in promotion. With the WEC still trying to put on a major pay per view show this shows great forward thinking as Gina is a big draw and would certainly add a large percentage to any PPV broadcast. Gina is riding a wave right now, having beaten challengers throughout her EliteXC matches, showcasing her skills with pride and dignity and now she’s very close to making good money fighting for a legit organization. Thanks to the very excellent cagepotato reporting we get these Dana White droppings:
“Gina Carano is a star. I think she’s talented, I think she’s got all the tools, so what I’m willing to do is bring Gina into the WEC. And we could do fights whenever there’s a challenger for Gina. ["Cyborg!" shouts an audience member.] Obviously. So I think that’s how I’ll test the waters and see how it goes.”
Do you think he means it? Is he just bullshitting us?

As the saw dust settles from the chainsaw that was Brock Lesnar in the forest that was Randy Couture a new haze creeps over the mma community. Fedor Emelianenko and his management company M-1 Global are not happy. In fact, they’re pissed off. The nerve of the UFC, the audacity, the outright piggishness, to bill their fighters as the best in the world! M-1 has issued a formal challenge to Brock Lesnar and the UFC to put it’s best in the cage with whom most believe to be the best fighter in the world, Fedor Emelianenko. There sentiment is that how can you possibly list your heavyweight as the best in the world when there is someone with a better record, more wins, and who’s fought more skilled opponents over a longer period of time. Fedor is a relatively young man, who’s experience within the field of mma is light years ahead of most, Brock Lesnar included. This fight is the freak show that’s waiting to happen. If Fedor destroys Andrei Arlovski people will only continue talking and the UFC will still be void the true Heavyweight Champion of the World as well as possibly the best pound for pound fighter out there. But go ahead and read M-1’s Letter to the UFC:

“Couture and WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko had publicly acknowledged a desire to fight each other multiple times over the course of the past year. While M-1 and Fedor remain interested in a match against Couture, we would also like to publicly state for the record that we would welcome a superfight between Fedor and Lesnar that would be held as a co-promoted event between the UFC, M-1, and Affliction Entertainment.

We’ve invited the media to speak with us today to not only make it clear we would welcome a Fedor vs. Lesnar matchup, but to act in a preemptive fashion to address the possibility that UFC officials will try and position Lesnar as the number one heavyweight in the world, much like they have tried to use a marketing ploy to brand Anderson Silva as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

In the past, UFC president Dana White and Zuffa, LLC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta have tried to claim that Fedor was “overrated” and that his “record was irrelevant.” They make these claims in spite of the fact that Fedor holds career victories over UFC champions past and present. While we have tremendous respect for the contributions Mr. Fertitta and Dana have made to this sport, we do not believe they are sincere in their statements.

It is the position of M-1 that the UFC has adopted an anti-Fedor policy because multiple attempts to sign him have not been fruitful. For a company that has tried to market itself as the number one promotion in the world, they are unable to accept the fact that the number one fighter in the world does not reside on its roster of contracted fighters…

While Brock Lesnar is an accomplished athlete and a talented fighter, we do not consider him to be the number one heavyweight in the world. Until someone beats him, we strongly believe that Fedor should continue to be recognized as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. In a match between Fedor and Lesnar, we do not feel that at this stage Lesnar would be able to make it out of the first round.”

And there it is folks, that’s a challenge.

It’s not a surprise that Effen Vodka is appealing to me, 25-year-old male residing in Los Angeles with a Effen attitude. Who ever came up with this label is an Effen genius (Sorry but I couldn’t resist). Southern California Wine and Spirits generously distributes this premium vodka throughout Southern California and Barton Brands was so kind to create such uniquely labeled liquor. Effen Vodka sources premium wheat from Northern Holland. It is fermented with all the special vodka goodness that causes you to end up Effen some wild chick in the bathroom of a sleazy club. On the bright side however this vodka is distilled and filtered relentlessly to leave you with less of a hangover than the regular old generic moonshine. If you can resist buying this vodka you are the better more dignified man. For the less dignified more Effen wild youngsters the name alone just makes us want to get Effen wasted and cause some sort of public disturbance. But please I must remind you to drink Effen responsibly. By the way, Effen in Dutch means, smooth, even, balanced.

The money paid out to fighters at the end of each long night of fights is always interesting. Many a water cooler discussion has taken place in regards to who made what, who made more, and who’s getting completely screwed by the man after watching some vicious knockouts take place. UFC 91 was no different with many mma fans openly wondering whether Brock Lesnar was paid more or if Randy Couture made all the loot. Dig in fight fanatics and money grubbing dirt balls cause heres the payout for UFC 91:
UFC 91 Pay Scale

1. Brock Lesnar - $450,000 (includes $200,000 win bonus)
2. Randy Couture - $250,000
3. Gabriel Gonzaga - $110,000 ($55,000 bonus)
4. Dustin Hazelett - $88,000 ($14,000 win, $60,000 bonuses)
5. Kenny Florian - $80,000 (includes $40,000 bonus)
6. Jeremy Stephens - $76,000 ($8,000 win, $60,000 bonuses)
7. Jorge Gurgel - $70,000 ($60,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus)
8. Aaron Riley - $68,000 (includes $4,000 win, $60,000 “Fight of the Night” bonuses)
9. Demian Maia - $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
10. Joe Stevenson - $35,000
11. Nate Quarry - $25,000
12. Mark Bocek - $18,000 (includes $9,000 win bonus)
13. Matt Brown - $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
14. Tamdan McCrory - $10,000
15. Josh Hendricks - $8,000
16. Alvin Robinson - $7,000
17. Rafael dos Anjos - $4,000
18. Ryan Thomas - $3,000