One of the things that Pride FC fans miss the most about that organization was the rule allowing "soccer kicks" to heads of downed opponents.  The unified rules, under which the UFC and virtually all the other organizations operate, do not allow soccer kicks.  However, Jose Aldo, who defends his title against Kenny Florian tonight at UFC 136, apparently did not get the memo. His brought a soccer ball with him into the Octagon, presumably one the exact dimensions as as Ken-Flo's head.

Ms. Tracy Lee, the hardest working photographer in MMA, and one of the absoulute finest, captured the soccer-kick moment.

Planking, which is also called the Lying Down Game, is a new fad whereby people lie face down in unusual places.  A lot of fighters appear to be planking in the cage, but that's usually a result of getting KTFO.  Jon Jones, however, as you can see in the above pic, really does plank, high atop a pair of heavy bags.

Lyoto Machida, who is scheduled to take on Jones at UFC 140, will be doing his best to plank Jonny Bones in their fight.  But he needs to be careful lest he gets planked himself.

Here's a few pics of real planking, MMA-style, in action:

Well, there goes Rashad Evans special day.  Evans was supposed to be the next fight for UFC LHW Jon "Bones" Jones, but instead Jones will be facing Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 in December.  Rashad is coming off a hand injury and needs more time to train before taking on Jonny Bones.  Dana White wanted to the Evans vs. Jones fight to take place at UFC 140, and instead of scrapping the bout altogether he decided to give Lyoto Machida a title opportunity.

This bit of news pissed off some fans, which in turn pissed off Dana White, who said on his Twitter account:

"U have to be a fuckin moron not to love machida vs jones"

Machida vs. Jones is an interesting bout, but the animosity between Jones and Evans makes that fight much more appealing.  Not sure why the UFC would rush Jones back in the Octagon so quickly--it's almost as if they're trying to swagger-jack Evans.  We'll have to see if Evans will be required to take another fight while waiting for Jones, who will probably get a least a six month break after his December showdown with the Dragon.

Jonny Bones Jones is living the good life.  He successfully defended his UFC LHW crown recently and has treated himself to a new ride.  Not just any ride, mind you.  He picked up a 2012 Bentley Continental GT.  They start at about 190,000 bucks, and with options can easily top a quarter mil.  That's a quite a chunk a change for a car.  He better keep on winning if he plans on living a lifestyle that includes these kinds of luxury items.  Then again, after his recent dominating performances, it's kind of hard to picture him losing.  Rashad Evans, his next opponent, may not agree with that assessment, however.

Speaking of Rashad, Jonny Bones says that he's going to go "turbo" on Evans when they fight.  It's clear that these two guys really dislike one another, which always makes for good hype, especially when the animosity is real.  Jones made the turbo comment to MMA Weekly:

“When I spar my team, there’s a level of respect that’s always there. To let that clutch off for the first time and go into turbo mode on him, it’s gonna be interesting. I know where he’s open and I know where he’s gonna try and take the fight."

All this talk of taking the clutch off and going turbo has me wondering if Bone's new Bentley has a manual or automatic transmission.  Either way, it's fast.  Just like Jones's rise to the top of the MMA world.

Here's another pic of Jonny Turbo's new wheels.  And here's some advice for Bones:  Get insurance! You remember what happened the last time, don't you?

Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson played Cat and Mighty Mouse for 5 rounds last night at UFC on Versus 6, with Cruz walking away with a unanimous decision victory to retain his UFC bantamweight crown.  The fight was extremely fast paced from the opening bell--Joe Rogan even suggested that viewers DVR the fight and watch it in slow-mo--but it was not the stand up war that many fans were expecting.

Cruz found himself outspeeded for probably the first time in his MMA career.  Mighty Mouse is a blur in the cage, and he tried to take the stand up to Cruz.  In response, Dominick switched gears and decided to wrestle Johnson, which proved to be a winning strategy.  After the fight he said:

It was a tough fight.  The kid's got a sick pace, man.  So I had to outwrestle him.

Cruz's grappling was a smart tactic in the fight, although it left many fans wondering about his finishing ability.  Nine of his last ten fights have gone the distance.  But hey, the idea is to win, and that's what The Dominator does.  If last night is any indication, Cruz will be dominating the UFC's 135 pound division for a long time to come.

In another main card match, Anthony "Rumble" Johnson did some dominating of his own against Charlie Brenneman.  The Spaniard, as Brenneman is known, tried to take Rumble down, but Johnson sprawled and held Charlie down while landing some big shots.  When Brenneman got back to his feet, he was met with a powerful head kick that knocked him down again and prompted referee Mario Yamasaki to stop the bout.

The stoppage had many fans upset because Brenneman appeared to have his wits about him after the head kick.  It did seem a bit premature from where I was sitting, but if a ref is going to err, it's better to err on the side of fighter saftey.

Here are the complete results of last night's fights:

Former WEC and current Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez is UFC bound, and it's apparently going to happen before his title defense against Jorge Masvidal, which is scheduled for December 17.  This is good and bad news, actually.  Melendez is going to make a fine addition to the UFC, and there are many great match ups for him there, but I was very much looking forward to his fight with Masvidal.  Dana White, however, doesn't seem quite as keen on the Masvidal fight.  He told reporters at the UFC on Versus show that Gilbert could wind up fighting the winner of the UFC lightweight championship bout between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard at UFC 136 on October 8:

"It's a possibility. The thing is, with that division, it's so stacked there's a lot of possibilities. Like a guy like Melvin Guillard -- do you put him against him for the thing? Do you throw him right into the title? I don't know.

"Usually timing has a lot to do with that. They have this title fight between Edgar and Maynard -- and praise the Lord nobody gets hurt; broken hand or this or that or all these other things that can happen -- so we'll see. We'll go with the flow.

"But we're looking to bring Melendez over ASAP."

Although the fight was stopped in the second round, it was a long--and I do mean long--night for Pat Barry last night at UFC on Versus 6.  Barry's opponent, 6'11 "Skyscraper" Stefan Struve, was very effective in using his height and reach advantage against the 5'11 "Single Story House."  Barry did a decent job of trying to work his way inside, but was unable to land any big shots.  When the fight went to the ground in the second round, Struve threw up his loooong legs over Barry's head to secure a triangle.  Barry then tried a Quinton "Rampage" Jackson-style slam, but Struve broke his fall and the triangle wound up even tighter, forcing a tap from Pat.  The above pic is an artist's rendering of how Barry must have felt in the fight.

With the win, Strive improved his MMA record to 22-5, while Barry drops to 6-4.  In an interesting trivia note, Jon "Bones" Jones, who was in attendance last night, has 2 inches of reach on Struve, despite being a half a foot shorter.  If and when Bones moves up to HW, a match against Struve should be high on the UFC matchmaker's Joe Silva's list.  These guys wouldn't have to leave their corners to trade blows.  As for Barry, I'd like to see him in against Mark Hunt.  Their have similar heights and reachers and it would be bombs away.  Zuffa, make it happen!

This video is real, and shows Mauricio "Shogun" Rua fighting at a house party in Brazil when he was just a lad.  His ferociousness was on display back then, but his fighting skills have come a long way.  For Shogun fans, this video is a must see.