We were totes excited to hear that John McCarthy will be reffing some of the fights on Sunday's UFC on Versus.  His wife confirmed the news with MMA Fighting.  We're not sure which fights he'll be reffing but the Gals sure are glad to see the return of the man who's famous words inspired our highest Pantydropper rating.  This will be the first time that we've seen him in the Octagon since 2007.

Photo from Sherdog

On Monday I told you about Impact FC taking place this weekend, and that you wanted to watch it (even if I can't, blast them).  On that card of local Aussies and MMA legends, there was a man named Bob Sapp. 

If you don't know who Bob Sapp is, you should go look up some of his fights right now.  The man was at one time actually a force to be reckoned with, but has since gone rather downhill - though he is a celebrity and fan favorite in Japan.  He is currently in Bulgaria filming the new Conan movie - and it looks like he's staying there. 

According to this article at Cagepotato.com and several others, Impact has refused to pay for plane tickets for Sapp & Co to make the trip to Sydney.  Mr. Sapp wasn't helping with the visa issues, they say, and besides, he didn't sign the contract in the first place.  Sapp, however, says that all the paperwork was done, and the promotion told him that the plane tickets were too expensive. 

Whoever is to blame, there will be no Sapp vs. Palelei this weekend.  No word so far on whether Palelei will fight a replacement or if the whole bout will be scrapped. 

Now, go look up some of Bob Sapp's fights on YouTube and decide whether you're disappointed or not that he's out of the event, then we can all wait together to see if Paulo makes it into the cage Saturday. 

Marianna Kheyfets vs. Kim Couture at XFC Friday night.  It was a fight that left me feeling warm and fuzzy.

Just got this press release, and it made me chuckle.

As the world prepares for the greatest heavyweight title fight of the past two decades, the Ultimate Fighting Championship^® made a stunning announcement today that will undoubtedly have a global impact. UFC President Dana White confirmed that vuvuzelas, pesky noise makers used infamously by South African fans at this year’s World Cup, have been banned at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas this Saturday.

 

Thus, when UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar enters the cage to battle interim beltholder Shane Carwin in the most important heavyweight fight since the Ali era, fans will have to rely on their voices, hands, and feet to root on their favorite athlete.

 

"This decision was pretty simple for me," White said. "Vuvuzelas make the most horrific sound I’ve ever heard. I’d rather let Brock punch me in the face than hear 15,000 people blow on those things. This is the biggest heavyweight fight we’ve ever done. We’ll make enough noise this weekend when Brock and Shane finally step inside the Octagon."

There are a few sounds that can drive me to violence, and this is one of them.  We live about 3 blocks away from this big Puma sponsored World Cup festival, and some genius thought it would be a great idea to give away these plastic torture devices.  Glad to see Dana is on the same page.

Seth Petruzelli

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2 days ago, Seth Petruzelli was given Tattoo of the Week honors.  Today, we find out his fight against Ricardo Romero has been bumped up to the Spike Prelims to replace Kendall Grove vs. Goran Reljic.  Coincidence?  What do you think?

Some say it's because of Kendall Grove's interview with TapouT radio, in which he said this (thanks BE):

"Spike TV pretty much runs everything on The Ultimate Fighter. They could be sub-leasing the UFC name, but I'm sure Dana and the UFC are getting a nice little pay check from Spike but other than that, Spike runs the thing. Dana doesn't choose who's going to be on the show, it's Spike executives." 

"Even when I was on there in the earlier seasons, they were picking a couple guys with funny personalities. I'm pretty sure I got on there not because of my good looks, but because I had a pretty good personality." 

"Everything is ratings to these guys. Just like that season where they shot [expletive] inside the fruit...people do that stuff. Why? Because of ratings. Is it a health violation? Yeah, but did you see the Spike TV people stop that from happening? It sells ratings and that's all they care about. They could give two [expletives] about our career." 

"They just care about the six-weeks that they're shooting and get as much drama and stupidity out of us. That's all we are to them is cattle and sheep. They way they run things, they're slowly controlling us to be like that."

Whatever.  I mean, technically it could be cause Grove had a case of the verbal vomit, but we all know that when the Gals speak, shit happens.  Oh, and how pissed do you think Reljic is?!

Getty Images.

MMA Fighting is reporting that Keith Jardine has been let go from the UFC, following his recent loss to Matt Hamill.  I don't think any of us are super surprised here.  Jardine's career started out promising, but he's lost 6 of his last eight fights, including losses in the last 4 of his fights.  Regardless, he was a fun addition to the UFC, if only because of the love him/hate him arguments that usually ensued at the mention of his name.  If only he had come out as Technoviking....

Bellator announced today the 8th and final participant in their Season 3 women's tournament.  Jessica Aguilar rounds out the tourney, which will begin on August 12 and will air on Fox Sports Net, Thursday nights at 8pm.  The full list of fighters:

Megumi Fujii (20-0)

Lisa Ward (12-5)

Angela Magana (9-4)

Rosi Sexton (10-1)

Jessica Pene (7-0)

Lynn Alvarez (5-1)

Aisling Daly (9-0)

Jessica Aguilar (8-3)

We've already had a chance to see Fujii and Ward in Bellator events the past couple of weeks, and tomorrow night Rosi Sexton will be fighting.  Every one of these women is considered to be in the top 10 of their weight class. I can't wait - this tourney should be awesome. 

For more Bellator goodness, check out this interview BE's Luke Thomas did with Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney.  It's good stuff.