Everybody is talking about Nick Diaz fighting Georges St. Pierre for the UFC WW title, as if a victory for Diaz in tonight's match up against Carlos Condit is a foregone conclusion.  It most definitely is not. Condit has been on a tear lately, finishing his last three opponent's with strikes and in the process amassing a Fight of the Night award and two Knockout of the Night awards.  Yet, people are acting as though he's supposed to be the sacrificial lamb for Diaz in the run up to the GSP fight.

Although I think Diaz will win tonight, I don't see this as a walk for the 209 fighter.  The good news is, neither does Diaz.  He's not buying into the media hype and even said that Condit is more dangerous than GSP.  And he might be right about that.

Both men bring plenty of weapons into this fight, and most of the fight will probably take place on the feet.  It is sure to be an explosive match.  But to count Condit out already is a big mistake.

Another intesting thing about tonight's UFC is what kind of buy rate it will do.  Last week's UFC on Fox 2 show was supposed to introduce the UFC to a whole new set of eyeballs and thus increase PPV sales, but for new fans watching that card, they may be leery of buying tonight's $54.95 card.  I'm curious to see what kind of numbers the PPV brings in tonight.  It's clear that the UFC is concerned with their PPV numbers in general. They recently tried starting the show an hour earlier, but quickly moved it back to its original time.  We'll have to wait for the numbers to see what kind of bump the Fox show gave this card.

NFL players, including Eli Manning, Jerry Rice and Michael Strahan, make their UFC 143 predictions.

In this Q&A video, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre talks about his knee injury, rehab and returning to action.  Check it out.

Nice way to get right back on that dirt bike, Nick!  In this video, Nick is racing Xterra and takes a spill.  But that barely slows him down.  Check it out.

*cues Wipeout*

Nick Diaz is not taking Carlos Condit lightly.  In fact he thinks the this weekend's fight with Condit is more dangerous than a fight with Georges St. Pierre.  In this open workout video, which features Diaz, Condit, Werdum, Nelson and GSP, Nick says all he needs to worry about against GSP is losing.  But with Condit, he has to worry about his teeth.  Check it out.

On the heels of the Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis fight, UFC LHW champion Jon "Bones" Jones had some strong words for both fighters.  As GSP would say, Bones was not impressed by thier performance.  He told the MMA Hour (via ESPN):

"Phil, man, I don't know what got into him.  He did not look like a lion. I think with fighters, no matter how tough you are, there's just lions and there's wolves and there's sheep. He just kind of looked like a sheep out there. He didn't come with much.

"I think he got a little intimidated by Rashad. And the pressure of being on Fox, how many millions of people were watching the fight, I just don't think he handled the situation well. That's why, when I was broadcasting, I said this is where we'll see where Phil's at, if he's going to be a top-level guy or a mid-tier fighter.

"Judging by the performance [Saturday] night, I don't know if I can consider himself a wolf."

Ouch!  But of course, Rashad will disagree with that, and he'll have a chance to dispute it face to face, mano y mano, against Jones in April.  Let the hype begin!

Yesterday I posted an article about Satoshi Ishii suffering a possible career-ending head injury in his fight with Fedor Emelianenko.  This story has been making the rounds on MMA sites, and its point of origin is the Japanese website Cyzo.com.

Now, however, there is a new twist on things, with Ryo Chonan claiming that the reports are false.  Here is a translated version of what Chonan had to say on the matter, from the website searchina.ne.jp.  The translation comes courtesy of nodogoshi of the Team Takeover Forums.

"Satoshi Ishii's health is good" - Reports of imminent retirement angrily denounced

A report circulated on Janurary 30th that Satoshi Ishii, who was briefly in the hospital following a KO loss to Fedor, was facing imminent retirement after having been found suffering from a brain disorder. As appeared in the report, "one theory is 'cerebral endema', it has been said." Ishii was therefore thought to be in a serious condition [i.e. by fans, etc].

However, this rumor was vehemently denounced by DEEP middleweight champ Ryo Chonan. On twitter, he posted that "Satoshi Ishii is just fine;" further, "the people who spread these false rumors about other people's lives and livlihoods should just die," he also tweeted.

This is not in itself a complete debunking of the rumor. However, being that it comes from someone close to Ishii, it clearly may be regarded with an air of credibility. In response to these posts, some relieved fan messages were as follows: "Good news, I'm glad Ishii is not really retiring"; "We have good news for now"; etc.

Hopefully Chonan's version of the story is correct and Ishii is fine.  I'll keep on top of this story as it develops.