Rampage Jackson has never been one to mince words. He has not been happy with his recent opponents in the UFC because he feels all the guys he is given to fight are wrestlers who want to "hump" him. Which is why he feels that UFC matchmaker Joe Silva "needs to be slapped in the face."

This bold statement from the colorful MMA legend came during a phone conversation with HDNet's Bas Rutten. You can really feel Rampage's frustration during the call, which I have for you after the jump. Rampage likes to bang, and he likes opponents that feel the same way, but the fact is that wrestlers are dominating the UFC, which sometimes makes for less than exciting fights. The Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis "grapplefuck" is a good example.

In the conversation with Bas, Rampage also talks openly and honestly about his use of testosterone. He'd made a statement previously that he was on TRT, but Dana White later said that Rampage had backed off the statement. In the Bas interview, Rampage says that he is not backing off, and is on TRT.

Very wide ranging and interesting interview with one of the sports most exciting fighters. Check it out.

Thirty two fighters fought last night in Las Vegas for a chance to enter the TUF House on this season's The Ultimate Fighter.  In a format depature, the fighters only had a single five minute round to make the statement that they deserved inclusion on the show.  Al Iaquinta, from Wantagh, Long Island, a talented up and coming fighter who we've profiled here in the past, shined in his bout against Jon Tuck, winning by unanimous decision and moving into the Sweet Sixteen.

There are a lot of very talented fighters on this season's show, but I think that Iaquinta, out of the Serra-Longo camp, has a very good shot at winning it all.  We'll track his progress right here as he advances throughout the season.

After his win, Iaquinta said:

"I worked really hard to get here and I'm happy and relieved to get the victory."

Here are the complete results of the fights last night.

What a difference a week makes.  Ben Henderson won the UFC LW championship by decisioning Frankie Edgar on February 26, then a week later he entered a grappling tournament in Arizona, and lost by armbar.  Still, pretty amazing to see Bendo compete just a week after a grueling five round war.  This guy is badass!

(Thiago Silva)

Swedish fight Alexander Gustafsson has been tearing up the UFC LHW division recently, and he is often mentioned as a contender for Jon Jones's title. Gustafsson is scheduled to fight next month, and originally his opponent was supposed to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, aka Lil Nog.  However, Nogueira suffered a knee injury in training, and will be replaced by Thiago Silva.

This was first reported by the Swedish MMA site StudioMMA.com.

For Silva, this is a tough comeback fight.  If you recall, Silva was suspended after beating Brandon Vera in January, 2011, due to providing a false urine sample for the post-fight drug test.  His win was changed to a no-contest, and he sat out the rest of the year.  He was supposed to rematch Vera, but that fight was scratched when Vera got hurt, so now he'll replace Lil Nog against Gustafsson.

This is a great test for the Gustafsson, and if he looks impressive against Silva, he will definitely be in line for a title shot against Jones.  I think Gustafsson has all the tools to succeed in the UFC, and he is one of the very few fighters to tall enough to present some problems for Jones reach-wise.  The Swede is developing very well in the UFC, and it's going to be a great fight next month.

(Alexander Gustafsson)

Who knew that Chael Sonnen had a soft side?  The UFC's top trash-talker dropped the tough guy act and nearly cried during his heartfelt apology to Anderson Silva.  This will stir your heartstrings.  Check out the video.

(Dana White before he started acting like a spoiled brat.)

Dana White is butthurt and he wants the world to know it.  The UFC president was in talks with Showtime about the network allowing him more input into the Strikeforce production, and things were going so well that White was actually excited about the Tate vs. Rousey fight and might attend the event.  But then he got sat down by Showtime executive Stephen Espinoza, who decided that he didn't need the Baldfather's input and could run things fine by himself, thank you very much.  And suddenly, he lost all interest in the fight--like a kid taking his ball and going home.

Dana said of the situation:

“These guys are letting a D-level producer run their organization, and that’s exactly what I told Espinoza.  You want to let a D-level producer run your organization? Go for it brother. Knock yourself out. I’ve got shit to do. I’ve got another job.”

Which means that Dana White is done with Strikeforce. Because Showtime is done with him.

Georges "Rush" St-Pierre is eager to get back into action inside the Octagon against UFC interim champ Carlos Condit.  But before he can return to reclaim his undisputed title, his knee will have to be at 100 percent.  GSP hurt his knee back in October, which put another monkey wrench into an already convoluted title story line.  At first GSP was supposed to face Nick Diaz, but then Diaz failed to show up at a press conference, which prompted the UFC to scratch Nick from the fight.  Carlos Condit, who was supposed to fight BJ Penn on the same card, was moved into the title shot instead.  But then GSP hurt his knee, which left Condit without a fight.  Eventually, Diaz fought Condit to determine the interim champion, with Condit winning by decision.   Condit now awaits the return of GSP to unify the titles.

By his own account GSP's rehab is coming along ahead of schedule.  He used the same doctor who performed a similar operation on the NFL's Tom Brady, and said that he feels he'll be back to training this summer.  I assume that GSP is keeping at shape at home using his own RUSHFIT Ultimate Home Fitness MMA exercise program.

GSP is a very determined athlete, and I am sure he'll try to beat the predictions on when he can return to fighting.  However, he needs to take care not to re-injure the knee by pushing too hard too quickly.  Another injury could sideline him long enough so that rust would be a factor in the fight, and it would totally muddle the UFC welterweight picture.

Still, it's great news to hear that Rush is fit and getting back to fighting form ahead of schedule.  He is one of the big draws in the UFC, and one of it's all time great fighters.  We wish him well on his continued recovery.

(Which way did he go, George? Which way did he go?)

Somebody must have swapped out Jose Canseco's steroids with PCP, because the man is tripping.  He actually wants to get an MMA tournament going that would feature him, Tyson, Shaq and Herschel Walker.  Yes, he really said that, and yes he's serious.  However, he needs to find an investor, and that means that this little project will more than likely never materialize.  Which is probably a good thing for Canseco's head.  He's fought a couple of times, and got his ass handed to him a couple times.  No way he survives a round with any of the other proposed tourney members.

Here's his quote.  I cleaned up the spelling and punctuation to make it legible.  Cocaine is a helluva drug:

"After baseball season I'm thinking of holding a Vegas MMA tourney.  Beef Bash 1with me, Shaq, Tyson, and Herschel.  Any promoters interested?"

Stay by the phone, Jose!  It's sure to ring at any moment.  And now here's a video of Jose getting clobbered by Hong Man Choi.