"The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" interviews Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort about his upcoming UFC 103 main event versus Rich Franklin at 195 lbs.  Being former opponents, I was unsure how the interview would unfold, but I was quite pleasantly surprised at the respect and admiration they showed one another, even when discussing their LHW title fight back at UFC 51 in 2005.  I found myself smiling as the video played on. This is an interview I enjoyed immensely between two young guys who have grown and matured in the sport, and are also two fighters who represented the pinnacle of MMA before the sport was a mainstream affair. Source:  www.sportsnet.ca

From Sportsnet.ca:

Newly crowned Strikeforce LHW champion Gegard Mousasi has not taken kindly to comments made from Brazilian Paulo Filho in this Tatame interview.  Filho stated:

“I wanna fight Mousasi and show that with against me is a whole different thing…  he doesn’t have my strength, he doesn’t have my level on the ground. He can be a better striker, but he doesn’t have my strength and he’ll go down once and be submitted. He’s well trained, but I don’t think he’s healthy enough to beat me… If he wins, I don’t even want my salary. But I guarantee he’ll be beaten more than he was against (Akihiro) Gono."

Mousasi pulls no punches in his response to Filho in a video from Fighters.com.  Mousasi calls Filho a "little donkey", claims he is on steroids, and blames Filho's odd mental state and unwillingness to fight Chael Sonnen was on account that Filho couldn't "use his magic stuff".

Mike "Quick" Swick was forced to drop out of his UFC 103 bout to determine the #1 contender to GSP's belt with Martin Kampmann earlier this week due to a concussion incurred while training. Swick has published a statement on his Twitter page requesting Matt Hughes as an opponent and sharing that he will be ready to return to action as soon as UFC 104.

"No next opponent has been offered, but yes I would love to fight Hughes. I will be ready by UFC 104 so just waiting for the UFC to call." "I have no set return yet. I just said I will be ready by UFC 104. So 104, 105, 106, 107... I will fight as soon as I get an opportunity!"

This is a questionable opponent for Swick to call out, considering the former champion and UFC veteran Hughes is no longer relevant in the current welterweight sweepstakes, competing only once in 2008 and once so far in 2009, and going 2-3 since losing his title to St. Pierre at UFC 65. Given, the welterweight division has many pivotal match-ups in the works which tie up available adversaries, with Thiago Alves rumored to be fighting Paulo Thiago, Dong Hyun Kim facing Dan Hardy, former contender Karo Parisyan taking on Dustin Hazelett, and Carlos Condit scheduled to square off against Jake Ellenberger.  Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck are fellow teammates of Swick. This only leaves a handful of opponents, few of which would legitimize a title shot should he win, although many weren't sold that the original match of Swick vs. Kampmann was worthy.  This really only leaves names like Hughes, Anthony Johnson, Chris Lytle, or newcomer Johnny Hendricks (who just KO'd TUF-winner Amir Sadollah) for Swick to target in order to regain his momentum as a top contender.

Norwegian MMA specialist Joachim Hansen has been absent from action since July of 2008.  Hansen filled in for Eddie Alvarez in the finals of the DREAM LW Gran Prix and shocked many fans by fiercely pounding out Shinya Aoki, administering sweet revenge after Aoki caught him in a gogoplata in their first encounter in Pride FC and evening their fight history to one apiece. There was no clear explanation as to why Hansen was amiss from the DREAM mix, but he makes his long-awaited return at DREAM 11 on October 6th to participate in the rubber match with Shinya Aoki for the lightweight belt.  This recent interview and translation from japan-mma.com reveals the story behind his unexplained disappearance:

"Up until the day before New Year’s Eve I had been practicing in great condition and getting ready for the 'big one' with J.Z. I had myself physically and mentally in great shape but right in the middle of the last stage of practices I went for a takedown and when I tried to lift my training partner up but he resisted pretty hard and got my leg caught up. We both went down on my head.

When I hit my head I was conscious but I felt nauseous and dizzy and my head hurt so I took a break from practicing and went to my room to rest. A little while later when I thought I had recovered I tried to get out of bed and I was overcome by much stronger dizziness. I don’t have any memory after that. The next thing I knew I was lying on the floor and my team-mates were asking me if I was OK. My manager looked at me and said 'Let’s go to the hospital.' And the DREAM staff brought me to the hospital right away. I had an X-ray of my skull and a CT scan taken but there weren’t any cracks or bleeding. According to the doctor there wasn’t anything abnormal in the tests but since I hit my head I was experiencing symptoms of a concussion. I told the doctor I wanted to fight if it was at all possible but he said 'I absolutely cannot authorize that' so all I could do was accept the verdict. Thinking about the fans and J.Z and everyone else it made me really depressed."

Full interview and translation:  japan-mma.com

This looks to be the actual first few minutes of Episode One of the upcoming season of "The Ultimate Fighter", which will feature a solid list of heavyweight prospects, including none other than Kimbo Slice. The clip paints an interesting picture for what to expect from the show.  Not entirely unexpected, coaches Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and "Sugar" Rashad Evans waste no time in flaunting their unrelenting and merciless trash-talking abilities.  Former NFL defensive-end Marcus Jones gets some attention for his towering girth, and Brendan Schaub hardly conceals his contempt towards Kimbo Slice when White introduces him as the "Youtube brawler". It was the somewhat awkward entrance of Kimbo in itself that grasped most of my interest.  He was differentiated from the rest of the competitors by having his own announcement and entrance accompanied by White's explanation that he's downplayed Slice's career in the past, which cast the air that he may be portrayed as the UFC's sacrificial lamb.