The Fight Nerd, with Tomopop.com, takes a look at the second wave of the “UFC Collector” series from Round 5 MMA collectibles. This line includes five-inch caricatured versions of UFC headliners BJ Penn, Randy Couture, Forrest Griffin, Michael Bisping, Tito Ortiz and Kimbo Slice. Are these vinyl figures worth your hard-earned cash or should you save your money for something more useful? Watch the vid and decide!

Round 5 MMA has released images of several prototypes of its “Versus” line, pairs of distinctly new figures highlighting battle scenes from great UFC matchups. The prototypes were first seen at the Round 5 booth at the UFC Fan Expo in Las Vegas in May. In fact, we spoke with the owner of Round 5, Damon Lau, before the UFC Fan Expo happened and he hinted at this and a few other things to look forward to in the near future!

The “Versus” series includes collectibles representing the following bouts: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva (UFC 92), 12-27-2008; Forrest Griffin vs. Jackson (“The Ultimate Fighter 7”); Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar (UFC 100), 7-11-2008; and Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell (UFC 66), 12-30-2006. I personally enjoy the snarling grimace of Brock Lesnar, looking like he is about to tear into Frank Mir like a strip of Jack’s Links Beef Jerky. I am also a fan of the punched-out face Tito Ortiz is sporting in his two-pack with The Iceman!

The “Versus” line, scheduled to hit Toys“R”Us stores in the fall and other retailers later in the year, will be accompanied by an Octagon segment display. Also coming out this summer is the third wave of their UFC Collector series, which includes Diego Sanchez, Anderson Silva, Rich Franklin, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and a different Wanderlei Silva from the one in this line. For more info on Round 5, head over to their official website.

Hit the jump to see the rest of the pics!

The Fight Nerd, in conjunction with Tomopop.com, takes a look at Wave 2 of the UFC Deluxe Action Figures from Jakks Pacific. This wave includes new figures of Mike Thomas Brown, Nate Marquardt, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and re-releases of Chuck Liddell, Royce Gracie, Forrest Griffin, and improved versions of Rashad Evans and Brock Lesnar. Are they worth buying? Watch the video to find out!

Wrestlingfigs.com has revealed prototype pics of their upcoming exclusive UFC action figures two-pack, courtesy of Jakks Pacific. This set showcases the match voted #1 in the Top 100 fights of UFC poll held not too long ago, which is Stephan Bonnar VS Forrest Griffin from the first “Ultimate Fighter” finale!

As if this two pack was not enticing enough, how about the fact that both figures are drenched in blood! Just like they did with the Rocky franchise, Jakks is breaking out the crimson paints for this set and giving them the battle-damaged look that made this fight so memorable.

If you want to see the UFC figs up close and personal, check out our video reviews of Wave 0 with Royce Gracie, Brock Lesnar and Rashad Evans and Wave 1 with Anderson Silva, Chuck Liddell and Evan Tanner from a few months ago!

The two-pack goes on sale in late June and will sell for $24.99. More pics of the figures after the jump!

The Fight Nerd returns with 10 more fights you have never seen before (or maybe you have, but that makes you as big of a loser as me)! We keep the countdown going but this time with more of the big names you might know from the UFC and Strikeforce, so see how many of these fights you’ve seen and how many you never even knew about.

Canadian based MMA toy company, Round 5, has announced their next wave of UFC figures, which will include a few familiar faces to the line and some new ones. BJ Penn, Michael Bisping, Forrest Griffin and Kimbo Slice round out the newcomers to the line up and Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz, who were part of the debut line a few years back, return with all new sculpts.

These figures should be available sometime in Spring of this year, and coming out in stores next month will be the first wave of the UFC figures, which includes Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, George “Rush” St. Pierre, “Suga” Rashad Evans, Kenny “KenFlo” Florian, Clay “The Carpenter” Guida and Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida.

Read the official press release after the jump!

MARKHAM, Ontario, Canada, January 26, 2010 – With its first series of collectible UFC-branded figurines due to hit shelves throughout North America by next month, Round 5 today unveiled the members of its UFC Series 2, as announced by Barron Lau, Round 5 CEO and co-founder and Damon Lau, president and co-founder. Figurines for UFC stars Randy “The Natural” Couture, Tito “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz, B.J. “The Prodigy” Penn, Forrest Griffin, Michael “The Count” Bisping and Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson are scheduled to be available at retail in the second quarter of 2010.

As with UFC Series 1, the six Series 2 collectibles will be presented in a UFC-themed packaging that includes action photos of each respective fighter’s memorable moments as well as a short biography.

Round 5 collectible figures may be purchased at leading North American retailers; a list can be found at www.Round5MMA.com.

“We wanted to follow up our initial UFC Series with another set of names that spread across the spectrum of the sport,” said Damon Lau. “We’re excited to include some of the most popular fighters ever in guys like Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz and B.J. Penn, as well as Kimbo, who has attracted a whole new set of fans to the sport.”

“We have taken great care in selecting this important UFC Series 2,” said Barron Lau. “In addition to the standard figurines, we are planning some Limited Editions and other versions of these athletes that we think collectors will really enjoy.”

Couture is one of the sport’s most enduring and popular figures, having begun his career more than a decade ago. His imprint on the UFC is indelible, not just through his multiple Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Championships but the many fighters who he has influenced and the legions of fans who continue to follow him. He is scheduled to face another MMA pioneer, Mark Coleman, on Feb. 6 at UFC 109.

Penn has won titles at both lightweight and welterweight and has headlined some of the most-anticipated cards ever. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion is the current UFC lightweight beltholder, and has victories over some of the biggest names in the sport’s history. Hugely popular, Penn was a quick study in Jiu Jitsu, earning his black belt in just three years, and rose through the UFC ranks quickly, earning a title shot in his fourth pro fight and winning the belt in his ninth.

Known for his exciting, explosive fighting style and high-profile lifestyle, Ortiz held the UFC light heavyweight championship for more than three years, successfully defending it five times. He continues to compete, and it was recently confirmed that he will be a coach in The Ultimate Fighter 11 and will fight Chuck Liddell at the end of the season.

The MMA world was first introduced to the personality and punching power of Griffin in the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, beginning a road that led to a light heavyweight championship at UFC 86 and appearances at the top of cards. He has forged a 17-6 MMA record, and his patented “sprawl and brawl” style has led to numerous UFC “Fight of the Night” honors.

Once the “hope of British MMA,” Bisping dominated the competition on the way to The Ultimate Fighter 3 light heavyweight championship, then showed he’ll be a force in the UFC middleweight division for years to come. Sometimes controversial, often polarizing but always exciting, the brawler has an 18-2 record, solidifying his stature as a notable fighter in the States as well.

Slice burst on the fight scene in 2007, bringing the reputation he gained from millions of Internet viewings of his backyard brawls into the cage. He hit the big stage with nationally televised, prime-time broadcasts, then earned a UFC bout by competing in the latest edition of The Ultimate Fighter, winning his debut in the promotion last month.

UFC Series 1, which includes figures of Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, George “Rush” St. Pierre, “Suga” Rashad Evans, Kenny “KenFlo” Florian, Clay “The Carpenter” Guida and Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, will be available in stores across North America by February

Last night on the Spike Video Game Awards, the big reveal was made for THQ’s next installment of the “UFC Undisputed” video game, due out in mid-may of 2010. Above is the video that premiered at Spike’s VGA, and shows a brief snippet of gameplay, which really looks not that different from the current game that is out and introduces one new character into the mix… but you’ll have to watch it to see who if you did not catch it since you were watching UFC 107. The same surprise person is also the man who introduced the clip at the award show.
Also of note, UFC Undisputed 2009 was nominated and won for “Best Individual Sports Game,” beating out EA’s Fight Night Round 4 and Wii Sports Resort. So what do you think about this, will you be picking it up or sticking with 2009?

Fresh from his decision win at UFC 106 over Tito Ortiz, the man I drew yesterday, the perpetually fuzzy-chested Forrest Griffin enters my sketch blog. I like this one but purely based on the linework and how I got that directional flow with the rendering. I wanted to pull off a certain effect with it to show tension and direction in Forrest’s face, hopefully it worked.

The initial launch will include the sale of plastic/ foam kid-sized replicas of the UFC, Pride FC and WEC Championship Title Belt. Also to be released this November will be two sizes of UFC Octagons, one a budget model and one being a “real scale” octagon, keeping more with the original dimensions of the Octagon and the scale of the figures.

Three series of figures has been officially announced, and are the following.

Series 0:
Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, Rashad Evans, Royce Gracie, Keith Jardine, Houston Alexander, Kendall Grove and Miguel Torres

Series 1: Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva, Forrest Griffin, Micheal Bisping, Evan Tanner, Kevin Randleman( who looks awesome!), Mike Swick, Cheick Kongo

Series 2: GSP, Quinton Jackson, Antonio Rodrigo Nogeuira, Lyoto Machida, Bas Rutten (!), Thiago Alves, Mike Thomas Brown, Nate Marquardt