“It’s possible, unfortunately,” Florian said. “I’ve kind of been going back-and-forth with some of the doctors, so it’s possible. I’m going to see. As of right now, obviously I can’t compete and train like I was at all. I’m just kind of doing what I can and hoping that things heal up and get better. I’m just kind of in a holding pattern. That’s why I decided to do this commentary for the time being and take this next six months to really heal up and try to make some money on the side. It sucks. The last couple of months I’ve just been figuring out what’s going on and what I’m going to do.”

Florian last fought on October 8, losing to featherweight champion Jose Aldo. There was some talk immediately following that fight that Florian could retire, but at that time Florian said he still wanted to compete, likely back at lightweight.

Cage Potato brought some sideshow news to light as Fedor Emelianenko is rumored to be facing Brock Lesnar in a Japanese professional wrestling match, or maybe not

According to Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Antonio Inoki’s Inoki Genome Federation is trying to put together a pro wrestling bout between recently retired former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and former PRIDE and WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko.

The chances of the one-off fake fight happening are slim-to-none considering Brock mentioned that one of the main reasons he retired was to spend more time with his family after his pair of diverticulitis scares the past two years. Traveling to Japan likely isn’t high on his list of family vacations.

Dana White may not have faith in Jose Aldo’s recent performances. Lowkick reports.

Middle Easy brings us an exlcusive interview with Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold.

Fight Opinion’s Zack Arnold breaks down January’s upcoming MMA cards.

The Xbox 360 is offering UFC 142 to appease angry consumers. See more at MMA Payout.

Mark Wayne of Fightline continues his oddly specific predictions for MMA in the year 2012.

MMA Mania previews this Saturday’s main card event between Anthony Johnson and Vitor Belfort.

ESPN and UFC president Dana White exchange harsh words found at Bleacher Report.

Miss the UFC 142 post-fight presser? Find it at MMA Convert.

Five Ounces of Pain evaluates UFC light heavyweight contender Phil Davis.

UFC President Dana White immediately set up a rematch, and the two met again at UFC 136 in October for one final time to see who would end up wearing the gold. Anchor Bay Entertainment has recently released this event on a special two-disc DVD set so fans at home can relive all of the ups-and-downs of this event. The question is, is this event really worth owning, or are you better off without it? All these questions and more will be answered in the following review for the “UFC 136: Ultimate two-disc edition” set!

Hit the jump for all of the details!

“UFC 136: Ultimate two-disc edition” contains, unsurprisingly, two discs packed with action. Disc one features the main card of the event, along with the countdown special for the show. Disc two contains the preliminary bouts along with the weigh-in’s, behind the scenes footage, a Joe Rogan interview with Anthony Pettis, and another interview with Kenny Florian.

This will not be a full review of the event, but this was definitely one of the better ones in 2011. The final dramatic showdown between Edgar and Maynard is a classic in it’s own right, and easily overshadows the other four bouts on the main card. With the exception of Joe Lauzon making Melvin Guillard look like an absolute noob on the ground, the rest of the pay-per-view matches were total wars and highly entertaining battles.

The prelims were just as good, but be warned that none of those end in a finish and all go to decision (the majority of those being unanimous decisions). While not a criticism of the DVD or the event itself, if you are not a fan of long matches and have the attention span of a goldfish, this is not the right event for you.

What really makes this set is the special features, and it has plenty of them. The Countdown to UFC 136 is the same one you have seen on TV, and is well-produced as they all are. Adding backstory to an older event, this is a good way to remind yourself why these matches were so important in the far-off time of October, 2011. So much has happened since then, it really does not hurt to refresh your memory.

Disc two features the weigh-in’s, which is always a fun spectacle and Houston did it up big for this show. This is not a clip show of the weigh-in’s, but the full spectacle with all of the fighters hitting the scales, as well as post-fight comments when applicable. If you have not seen Frankie Edgar looking up at Gray Maynard, who really earns his nickname of “The Bully” during this intense staredown, you are missing a truly awe-inspiring moment.

My favorite special moment is the behind-the-scenes footage, which is around 24 minutes of extended backstage coverage and candid interviews with the fighters. Since this DVD lacks a separate interview with Chael Sonnen, you get more than a mouthful of him in this feature, plus interviews with Maynard, Edgar, Florian, and Aldo. This feature also covers the UFC Fan Expo in Houston and a lot of other press-events, as well as fight night.

Backstage during the event, you will see Nam Phan check on Leonard Garcia after their three-rounder, Greg Jackson speaking with his team after Melvin Guillard’s loss, and get up-close with many of the cornerman and coaches as the fights happen. I really enjoy seeing the coaches in action, and also being able to hear them instruct, plus watching the fighters before they go to work in the locker rooms is something I have always been a fan of.

The other two features are longer interviews with Anthony Pettis and Kenny Florian, the first one being an interview with Joe Rogan. The Pettis interview clocks in at four minutes while the Florian interview is just over two minutes. Pettis tells us nothing we have not heard before, while Florian has fun with his “unguarded” interview, where he sits face to face with the camera to chat. Otherwise, these six minutes of interviews were disappointing to me, mainly due to their length, but I usually skip those anyway and relish in the ample behind-the-scenes footage more.

Overall, this is a good event with a great DVD release to back it up. The entire story of this event is contained in these two discs, with everything before, during, after, caught on film. Supplementing this is the behind-the-scenes stuff, which adds more depth to this release and immerses you completely into this show.

You can pick up “UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III” from Amazon for around $13, and it is totally worth it. If you buy every event anyway, this will be a no-brainer for your collection, but if you cherry-pick your DVD purchase’s, this is a solid one to add to your shelf.

You might also like my reviews of these other DVD’s: “Warrior,” “UFC: Ultimate Heavyweights,” and the massive 20-disc “UFC Ultimate Fight Collection: 2011 Edition”.

“When I was fighting in the cage, all I could think of was how I wanted to cut this shit and kick my opponent right in the stupid balls!”

Welcome to the ABB, or “All Balls Brawl”, where the only legal hit is one right to the ole’ twig and berries. Combatants step into the double hexagon, where two pairs of testicles step in, but only one remain hanging low and able to urinate without blood in the stream. Coming up this weekend, Kenny Florian battles JZ Cavalcante in a real grudge match, so check out the hype video now!

Via College Humor

Last week, I put up the first part of my interview with Sityodtong coach Mark Dellagrotte from the UFC Personal Trainer Video Game event, where I had the chance to play a demo of this unique game and get the inside scoop on it. Mark spoke about the development of this game and his involvement, as well as if he thinks this game is legit or just a blatant cash-in.

In part two of my interview with Dellagrotte, we break down Kenny Florian’s next match against Diego Nunes, Frank Mir’s upcoming bout with Roy Nelson and his thoughts on the nasty feud between Jorge Rivera and Michael Bisping. I also try to get some insight regarding the love/hate relationship that seems to fluctuate with Joe and Dan Lauzon.

Jakks Pacific has revealed the third line of their UFC action figure two-packs!

Slated for a release in mid-April, this new wave is sadly not that new. The two-packs consist of famous meetings in MMA, and this time we get BJ Penn VS Kenny Florian, Chuck Liddell VS Tito Ortiz and a classic bout from UFC 4 between Dan “The Beast” Severn and Royce Gracie.

Every figure in this line-up is a repaint, meaning these were all previously released figures with some new painted shorts. Also keep in mind, the photos you see here are prototypes that are hand-painted and sculpted, and the actual releases will use Jakks patented “real-scan” technology, where they scan the fighters faces and digitally sculpt them for the most accurate look possible. However, as I said before, this line offers nothing new but is a good jumping on point for collectors who want to get a figure of their favorite dude, since this wave has something for everyone.

The packs will retail between $20-$25, depending on where you find them. New York Toy Fair is also going on this week, and I will be heading to Jakks office later today to get the scoop on the newest UFC figures.

Hit the jump to see the other images of this wave!

Jakks Pacific has released prototype pics of Wave 5 of their UFC Deluxe action figures on Wrestlingfigs.com. This line includes UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Lyoto Machida, Kenny Florian, Matt Serra, Matt Hamill, Stephan Bonnar, Nate Diaz and one classic figure in the form of Dan “The Beast” Severn, pictured above.

UFC Deluxe Wave 5 is set to be released some time in August, so you have time to save your pennies for these figures. Personally, I hope they fix up Hamill’s face since it just looks nothing like him. I am also hopeful that Dan Severn will come with his classic grey sweatshirt as part of his entrance wear.

Hit the jump for the rest of the pics!

Kenny Florian VS Takanori Gomi conference call – 3/22/10

Matt Kaplowitz’s Podcast

The Fight Nerd delivers you another conference call, this time with Kenny Florian and Takanori Gomi, who took questions regarding their match-up on “Ultimate Fight Night 21″ on March 31 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Questions included what brought Gomi to UFC, Kenny’s thoughts on Gomi’s style, and what both fighters like the most about America. Real reporters asking real questions.

The call clocks in at around 25 minutes so take a listen and get on board the hype train! So, who do you think will take this fight? And what do you like most about America?

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

Have you seen the trailer for the new “Karate Kid” remake starring spawn of Will Smith’s sack, Jaden Smith, and martial arts god Jackie Chan? If not, enjoy as much as one humanly can while they are being force fed excrement. Check out the trailer and Florian’s comments after the jump!

EMBED-The Karate Kid (2010) – Watch more free videos

Did you make it through the whole trailer without laughing your ass off? I know I didn’t! This just looks wrong in every way. What age group is this targeting exactly? Fans of nostalgia are not going to want to see a movie about a middle school aged kid (if not younger) wandering around in China and learning Kung Fu, NOT karate, from Jackie Chan. I will give credit to the end of the trailer though, I did chuckle there quite a bit.

Luckily, I was not the only person to be disgusted by this atrocity to the senses. Kenny Florian, host of Inside MMA and UFC fighter, also managed to sit through the video and did not like what he saw. At around 2 PM EST today, KenFlo put on his critic pants and began with this comment –

“So in the new “Karate Kid” the kid moves to China, learns Kung Fu & is taught by Jackie Chan. Shouldn’t it be called Kung Fu kid?!”

Which has since been rapidly followed up with the following excellent quotes:

It’s like when my mom used to clean my Bjj gi’s for me & tell me my karate clothes are ready. Know ur martial arts people. Karate = japan.

Another thing Hollywood, go ahead & try to out do the Halloween scene where cobrakai dresses up as skeletons & beats up Daniel-San. I dare u!

You can read his comments at http://twitter.com/Kenny_Florian, which carry onto his facebook as well. I completely agree and support every statement that Florian has made regarding this movie, and it really makes me wonder what drugs are they doing in Hollywood and why are they not testing producers over there and bugging Sean Sherk and Nick Diaz to name a few.

Florian also posed this deep thinking question which I ask you, fellow fight nerds – “Ok serious question. Who wins in the cage? Ralph Macchio or Jaden Smith.” So who takes it, the original Karate Kid, or the prepubescent son of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?

PS I apologize on behalf of this post – it is a slow news week and KenFlo is the man so this needs to be posted for posterity!