ESPN Mixed Martial Arts

After proving to be worthy of the high expectations he's received recently, welterweight Gunnar Nelson will make his third appearance in the Octagon on May 25 against Mike Pyle at UFC 160, promotion officials confirmed Thursday night.

The fight was first reported earlier Thursday by MMAJunkie.com.

Nelson (11-0-1) defeated Jorge Santiago by unanimous decision on Feb. 16 in London. He entered the fight to much media attention, but was unfazed by the spotlight.

Throughout the bout Nelson demonstrated solid grappling, takedown and striking skills. Most important was his poise. At no point in the fight did Nelson appear rattled.

But Pyle is likely to represent Nelson's toughest test in the cage. The veteran has a pro record of 24-8-1, and has won three fights in a row.

Heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez defends his title against Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva in the UFC 160 main event, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The bout marks a rematch of their May 26, 2012, showdown that Velasquez won by first-round technical knockout.

One fight into her UFC career, and women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is reaping the benefit of high-profile athletic stardom.

In addition to displaying her talents in the Octagon, Rousey now wants to showcase some of her nonfighting skills. She has signed a contract with powerhouse talent agency William Morris Endeavor.

News of the signing was revealed by hollywoodreporter.com on Wednesday, less than a week after Rousey successfully defended her title with a first-round arm bar submission of Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 in Anaheim, Calif.

The bout marked the first time women had competed in a UFC-promoted fight, and it was the card's main event.

While the 26-year-old Rousey (7-0) must be ecstatic over the possibility of starring on the big screen -- there have been hints she might land a role in the sequel to "The Hunger Games" -- UFC president Dana White can't be thrilled with this latest development.

White's been down this fighter-turned-actor road before.

His relationship with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson took a turn for the worse after the former UFC light heavyweight champion briefly put his MMA career on hold in to appear "The A-Team" movie. Jackson played the role of B.A. Baracus, a character made famous by Mr. T in the television series, which aired in the mid-1980s.

Upon completion of the film, which was released in 2010, Jackson returned to action to settle a grudge with fellow former champion Rashad Evans at UFC 114. A sluggish Jackson lost by unanimous decision.

Jackson satisfied his contractual obligations with the UFC on Jan. 26, when he came out on the short end of a unanimous decision to Glover Teixeira. Jackson ended his UFC career on a three-fight losing skid.

The experience with Jackson remains a sore spot with White, something he hopes not to repeat with Rousey. He revealed his thoughts Tuesday night on Rousey possibly pursuing an acting career while competing in mixed martial arts.

"You know how I feel about the movie stuff," White said on Fuel TV. "When Rampage did the movie, it was his dream to be a part of the A-Team. I don't want to take away any opportunities from Ronda, but at the same time her window of opportunity as a professional athlete is really narrow. She could make a zillion movies when she retires. Where she's really going to get the money is here fighting.

"I don't care if she's the lead role in 'The Hunger Games 2,' she would not make anywhere near -- I mean, not even in the universe -- the money she makes fighting."

It remains to be seen if White's assessment is accurate, but this much is known: Rousey's star power is directly linked to the media attention she receives from fighting in UFC and her continued success in it.

If she can fight and continue winning in impressive fashion on a regular basis -- while simultaneously shooting a motion picture -- then more power to her. But if there is the slightest hint that acting is interfering with her ability to remain a top-level mixed martial artist, then she will quickly become the target of White's wrath.

And that won't be a pretty picture.

The predominant story line heading into UFC's card this weekend has focused on Wanderlei Silva's Nippon homecoming. After all, the legendary Brazilian spent his best years mauling stud light heavyweights and hapless punching bags alike inside the Pride ring. Since he hasn't been back for fights since 2006, this is a fine angle to take so long as it's acknowledged that Silva, 36, is hardly the Axe Murderer he used to be.

In some ways Silva hasn't changed much from the man who ripped out hearts and shattered faces. This was Silva as Pride's first light heavyweight champion. This is the guy that predicts violent knockouts with a matter-of-factness. So, in case you weren't aware, he said he’ll finish American Brian Stann in the third round of their main event at Saitama Super Arena.

"I'm so proud to fight back here," Silva said Wednesday during a press conference promoting the Fuel TV card from Tokyo. "That stadium, Saitama, has given me some of the best moments in my career."

“

He's forgotten more about MMA than I'll ever know. He's done more for the sport in any two years than I've done in my career.

” -- Brian Stann on Wanderlei Silva's career.

After going 27-3-1 from Nov. 1996 through Oct., 2004, Silva came back to the pack in a big way. He steps into the cage with Stann sporting a 32-12-1 record. If nothing else, and it's almost come down to that, the Brazilian icon remains, in bursts, fun to watch. Silva's last two contests earned money bonuses from the UFC for their frantic action.

"He's forgotten more about MMA than I'll ever know," Stann, 32, said of Silva. "He's done more for the sport in any two years than I've done in my career."

Stann and Silva fight Saturday at 205 pounds, the Brazilian's fighting weight during his best years as a pro. He hasn't campaigned there since Quinton Jackson knocked him out in the Octagon at the end of 2008. Silva admitted having a difficult time making 185, and catch-weight fights are in short supply in the UFC, so The Axe Murderer has bulked up, again, and he should be as wild as he can be against the 32-year-old decorated U.S. Marine.

"The popularity of my opponent, Wanderlei Silva, is very well deserved," said Stann (12-5). "I myself, when I first thought about coming into this sport, my favorite fighter was Wanderlei Silva. I would watch his fights in Pride and I would just marvel at the tenacity that he brought inside of the ring and how he fought. Not only that, but the way he treated other people and the way he conducted himself, I've always admired all of those qualities in him."

Like Stann, heavyweight Stefan Struve, who fights another Japanese mainstay, Mark Hunt, spoke in reverential terms.There’s no shortage of fighters and fans willing to speak similarly about Silva, remarkably a day away from the 49th bout of his career.

Make no mistake, Silva is not the fighter he once was. There was a time when pressure and pace were Silva’s closest allies. One way or another he was going to overwhelm the man opposite him. Silva was so dominant his coach at the time, Chute Boxe maestro Rudimar Fedrigo, famously promised Silva would remain unbeaten for 10 years and retain the Pride title the entire time. Silva lasted about half of that. Technically he held onto the title for six years, though he lost non-title bouts prior to getting knocked out by Dan Henderson in 2007 and was clearly slipping. That crystalized when he entered the Octagon.

Since returning to the UFC for the first time since losing to Tito Ortiz in 2000, Silva is 3-5 in the Octagon. He’s only 1-5 against American fighters, though, and they don’t get much more American than Stann, who agreed to move up 20 pounds to fight Silva at 205.

“I would watch his fights in Pride and I would just marvel at the tenacity that he brought inside of the ring and how he fought,” Stann said of Silva. “Not only that, but the way he treated other people and the way he conducted himself, I've always admired all of those qualities in him."

That was when Silva burned like a flare. Now he may very well just be burned out. There won’t be any conjecture about that, unfortunately. Silva has all the markings of a fighter that won’t know when it’s time to walk away. He loves the show, like he always has. He’s not a UFC lifer, so don’t expect much lobbying from the promotion to leave fighting behind. Or a job to walk into when it’s all done.

There was so much more to Silva than what we’ve seen from him the past few years, which is why Stann and Struve and others regard The Axe Murderer the way they do.

Speaking about his return to Japan, Silva confirmed that fighting there again means a great deal to him. Indeed. Memories run deep.

Fight fans had cause for serious eye-rolling back in January, when UFC play-by-play man Mike Goldberg kicked off the organization’s first pay-per-view of 2013 by proclaiming this would be the “year of the superfight” inside the Octagon.

Guys in Goldberg’s position are paid to be hyperbole-prone, after all, and the commentary on UFC broadcasts is typically more hype than substance. Add in the fact the company was coming off a year where it couldn’t plan a Sunday brunch without half the invited guests dropping out due to injury or sudden illness, and a certain skepticism seemed justified.

Imagine our surprise, then, when nearly two full months into the new year, Goldberg (or whoever fed him that line) appears downright prophetic. To date, the UFC’s upcoming schedule looks “super” indeed, both for better and for worse.

Take for example the proposed interdivisional superbout between featherweight champion Jose Aldo and lightweight contender Anthony Pettis, which we were briefly told was off over the weekend, but was suddenly back on as of Monday. In terms of potential in-ring action that fight is as super-duper as they come, but otherwise serves as just the latest reminder that the organization’s matchmaking has become maddeningly random. Not to mention confusing.

Aldo-Pettis is scheduled for August and will be for Aldo’s featherweight title, but now an additional stipulation has been added. If Aldo (who has never fought at lightweight in the UFC) retains his belt by defeating Pettis (again, in a bout at 145 pounds) he’ll get a shot at the 155-pound championship sometime later this year. Conversely, if the featherweight crown falls to Pettis (who, again, is a natural lightweight) we can only assume he’ll stay at 145 for the foreseeable future.

In other words it’s a fun fight that will probably make some money, but not the kind of thing you want to think too deeply about if you lack immediate access to Ibuprofen.

(Side Note: Remember also that during that 48-hour window when Aldo was refusing to fight Pettis, he implied “Showtime” didn’t deserve it, because he’d never won a fight in the UFC featherweight division? Apparently, Aldo doesn’t apply that same standard to himself.)

Elsewhere, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will defend his title against a second consecutive middleweight opponent in April, and (with apologies to Lyoto Machida) a victory could set the stage for Jones to take on erstwhile heavyweight Daniel Cormier. If that doesn’t happen, there’s a longshot chance the UFC could still pull off a megafight between Jones and middleweight champ Anderson Silva. Silva, you’ll remember, most recently fought at light heavyweight and may end up squaring off with welterweight king Georges St-Pierre if the Jones fight won’t go.

If you find yourself perplexed by this company-wide game of divisional musical chairs, you are not alone. Just imagine how a dude like Ricardo Lamas must feel.

Lamas is currently No. 5 on ESPN.com’s featherweight Power Rankings and is riding a four-fight win streak over mostly Top 10-caliber 145-pound opponents. He might well have been up next for Aldo had Pettis not purportedly called out the champ via opportunistic text messages sent to UFC President Dana White a couple of weeks back.

Pettis allegedly texted White about his desire to fight Aldo while watching him defeat Frankie Edgar (another lightweight, one Aldo had no qualms fighting despite coming in off back-to-back losses) at UFC 156 earlier this month. Pettis himself was fresh off a first-round TKO of Donald Cerrone in January, which at the time we were told made him the No. 1 contender at lightweight. As the story goes, White found whatever was said in those texts so convincing that he scrapped the natural pecking order in both weight classes to insert Pettis into a featherweight title match.

An awesome move? Of course, but also one that was bound to rub some people the wrong way. Especially people who care about things like weight classes and title pictures and the UFC’s own newly minted “official” rankings system. That goes double for people like Lamas, who’s been working his tail off to earn a shot at Aldo for a bit shy of two years now.

“What am I, a mirage?!?!?!” Lamas tweeted, when Aldo-Pettis was announced.

We feel your pain, Ricardo. Unfortunately, the music has stopped and you’re the only one without a chair.

Before any of this Aldo-Pettis business happens of course, UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson will meet incoming Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez in an April “superfight” that somehow manages to confine itself to a single weight class. Not to be outdone by his peers however, Henderson is now declaring if he beats Melendez, he’ll request his own dream fight against St. Pierre at 170 pounds.

White has said he’s not particularly interested in booking that fight (both Henderson and GSP seem to have a lot on their plates) but who knows, maybe someone will send him a text that changes his mind.

Long story short: It’s not even March yet and so far -- knock on wood -- it looks like we’re going to get some amazing fights out of the UFC this year. So long as we don’t trouble ourselves with the details, it could be quite a ride.

For the record, when Stefan Struve looks in the mirror, he sees the same thing everyone else sees when they first look at him: a really, really tall guy.

The 7-foot Struve is well aware of the physical advantage he holds in the UFC heavyweight division. He also knows he hasn’t always used that advantage as well as he should. That's the one focus the 25-year-old has right now in his career.

You know your size is unique. Now use it to your advantage.

"When I first got into the UFC, I tried to get the win a little too hard," Struve told ESPN.com. "Sometimes I would fight at their distance and on their terms. That shouldn't be the case with my size. Everybody should be fighting on my terms -- my distance. [In previous fights] I've put myself in position for guys to tee off on me. That shouldn't happen."

Struve (25-5) has been one of the most consistent heavyweights in the UFC in the past three years, winning nine of 12 fights in the Octagon. The three losses, however, have all come in devastating, first-round knockout fashion.

That outcome is certainly a possibility in Struve's upcoming fight against Mark Hunt (8-7), which will serve as the co-main event in this weekend's UFC on Fuel event in Japan. Of Hunt's eight professional wins, five have come via knockout.

Since his last appearance -- a TKO win over Stipe Miocic in September -- Struve says he's added between 15 and 20 pounds of muscle to his frame. On Friday, he plans to actually cut five pounds of water weight to make the 265-pound limit.

The weight gain apparently came somewhat naturally, as Struve says he must have hit a second "growth spurt." He also said he added another daily meal to his diet.

So, does that means he's eating four meals per day?

"Instead of six meals and two shakes, I eat seven meals a day," Struve said. "I'm on a really healthy diet. I lift two to three times per week. I've been working with the same strength coach for four years and the plan was not to gain too fast."

Struve has a similar plan when it comes to the UFC title -- nothing too fast. He quickly accepted Saturday's matchup against Hunt, despite the fact the same fight was scheduled last May, and he's posted two wins since then.

He passes on the opportunity to criticize No. 1 heavyweight contender Antonio Silva, who is set to face Cain Velasquez at UFC 160 despite being dominated by Velasquez less than one year ago. Struve calls the fight, "the most logical choice."

That said, Struve needs no reminder that a win over Hunt would extend his win streak to five. That's tops in the UFC, not counting Strikeforce newcomer Daniel Cormier.

"Anything can happen, so first I want to get my win [on Saturday]," Struve said. "Then we'll see what happens. If I win this fight, I'll be a on a five-fight win streak. I'm the only guy on a five-fight win streak, so I think I have a pretty strong bid to be the top contender."

UFC on Fuel TV 8 takes place from the Saitama Super Arena in Japan this Saturday, the sixth time the UFC has traveled to the “Land of the Rising Sun.” The main event sees Wanderlei Silva battle Brian Stann at light heavyweight while Stefan Struve takes on Mark Hunt in a heavyweight bout. Here are the numbers you need to know for Saturday’s fights:

6: Fights Silva has had against an American fighter since his return to the UFC in 2007. He is 1-5 in those bouts, losing his past four (Rich Franklin twice, Chris Leben and Quinton Jackson). “The All-American” has fought just one Brazilian fighter in his career, defeating Jorge Santiago at UFC 130.

Wanderlei Silva, UFC Career vs. American Fighters:
UFC 147 Rich Franklin L, UD
UFC 132 Chris Leben L, KO
UFC 99 Rich Franklin L, UD
UFC 92 Quinton Jackson L, KO
UFC 84 Keith Jardine W, KO
UFC 79 Chuck Liddell L, UD

6: Times Silva has been defeated by KO or TKO in his 48-fight career. Four of those knockouts have come inside the UFC Octagon, while the other two were his last two PRIDE fights against Dan Henderson and Mirko Filipovic. The "Cro-Cop" fight was the last time Silva fought in Japan, which served as the home for PRIDE organization. Stann has nine KO/TKO wins in 17 career fights.

75: Percent of wins by "The Axe Murderer" that have come by KO or TKO (24 of 32). When Silva defeated Michael Bisping at UFC 110 by unanimous decision, it marked his first win not by KO or TKO since November 2003 at PRIDE: Final Conflict.

3: The combined takedowns by both fighters in their UFC careers (Silva 2, Stann 1). Each fighter attempts less than one takedown and one submission attempt per 15 minutes. In other words, it would be shocking to see this fight go to the ground unless one of the fighters gets knocked down.

2010: The last time former WEC light heavyweight champion Stann fought at 205 pounds, where he is 8-3 in his career. Stann will be dropping back to middleweight after this fight with Silva, where he holds a 4-2 record.

9: The reach advantage for 7-footer Stefan Struve in his co-main event bout against 5-foot-10 Mark Hunt. Struve’s reach is 83 inches while Hunt has a 74-inch reach. The 83-inch reach for Struve is second behind Jon Jones (84.5 inches) for longest reach in the UFC.

9: Wins for Struve inside the UFC Octagon, tied with Junior dos Santos, Gabriel Gonzaga and heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez for third among active heavyweights. With a win, he would join Frank Mir, Cheick Kongo, Andrei Arlovski and Randy Couture as the only UFC fighters with double-digit wins in the division.

Most UFC Wins, Active Heavyweight Fighters:
Frank Mir 14
Cheick Kongo 11
Cain Velasquez 9
Junior dos Santos 9
Gabriel Gonzaga 9
Stefan Struve 9*
*Four-fight win streak

3.9: Submissions attempted per 15 minutes for "The Skyscraper," fifth highest in UFC history and first among heavyweights. "The Super Samoan" has six submission defeats in seven career losses, all arm-related (three by armbar, two by kimura, one by keylock). Of Struve’s 16 submission victories, only three are by armbar (13 submissions by choke).

2: The main and co-main events are the only fights on the card not to feature a fighter from Japan or South Korea. There are nine Asia versus The World contests on the card. Japan is represented by Takanori Gomi, Yushin Okami, Mizuto Hirota, Riki Fukuda, Takeya Mizugaki, and Kazuki Tokudome. The South Koreans are represented in three matchups by Dong Hyun Kim, Kyung Ho Kang and Hyun Gyu Lim.

I'm not going to defend Matt Riddle, who seems intent on messing up a good thing after being popped a second time for pot in three fights.

The massive welterweight will likely lose another hard-earned win to marijuana, meaning rather than riding a four-fight win streak and a record of 9-3 into the upper echelon of the division, the 27-year-old is 7-3 (2 NC) and a free agent after having his contract terminated by the UFC.

We can argue all day whether or not testing for weed and classifying it a performance enhancer (or a Schedule 1 drug alongside the likes of heroin) makes sense. But forget that for now. Bottom line is Riddle, a self-described medical marijuana user who hasn't fought outside the Octagon as a pro, couldn't stay clean based on UFC's testing in London.

As a result, he fell prey to bad timing (with all of these cuts) and UFC's inconsistency in matters such as these. The timing issue, well, that's life. Arbitrary lines in the sand from UFC? Well, I guess that's life, too. But at least that's something that can be improved upon, and based on a statement the promotion put out Wednesday, it may have already.

"The UFC organization is exercising its right to terminate Riddle for breach of his obligations under his Promotional Agreement as well as the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy," according to a statement published on the UFC web site. "The UFC organization has a strict, consistent policy against the use of any illegal and/or performance-enhancing drugs, stimulants or masking agents."

I have long advocated for something similar when it comes to steroid users in the Octagon. Hey, even if a cut is sure to happen after two steroid-related episodes, it would send an urgently needed message: Use this stuff anywhere but here. Instead, UFC has selected who to stick by and who to dump, which basically makes it impossible for fighters to draw any conclusions.

Maybe that day is done. Maybe the takeaway from Zuffa's response to Riddle is that screw-ups, even screw-ups that might win -- dare I say screw-ups who are also great fighters -- don't have much room to operate in the UFC right now.

We'll see how the next one is handled. But heads up to Dave Herman (twice popped for pot offenses in the UFC), Nick Diaz (pot and press conferences), Jon Jones (the DWI), Chris Leben (steroids and drugs and DUIs), Jeremy Stephens (alleged to have participated in the beating of a man in a parking lot) and the rest.

Maybe your time has come.

Injury bug attacks flyweights, too

If you were under the impression that flyweights were immune to the injury bug, it's best to just forget that.

Demetrious Johnson won't fight John Moraga at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale after it was learned the UFC 125-pound champ, Johnson, had been injured. With no reason to keep Moraga on the card, UFC churned out an interesting bantamweight contest that should pique some interest.

Urijah Faber, fresh off an impressive win over Ivan Menjivar, takes on his old pal Scott Jorgensen in the new main event on April 13 in Las Vegas.

"[Two] buds punching each other!" chimed in Faber on Twitter.

"Crazy, I wouldn't be fighting if he [hadn't] talked me into [it] in college!" tweeted Jorgensen.

With the recent roster trimming, the ability for friends and training partners to avoid fighting one another is likely to dwindle. It will be interesting to see how things play out if guys like Faber and Jorgensen aren't willing to step in the cage. More will be, but not all. Those that refuse could pay a heavy price.

As for the fight, give me Faber, but it won't be easy. Also, beating Jorgensen wouldn't be enough, I don't think, for fans to demand "The California Kid" receives yet another title shot. Though it would move him down that path.

Shamhalaev deserving of Bellator title shot

Injuries, obviously, aren't restricted to the UFC. On Tuesday, Bellator lost its next featherweight title fight when it was revealed Daniel Straus injured a hand while training to fight 145-pound champion Pat Curran.

The tournament format that delivered Straus also produced Shahbulat Shamhalaev after the 29-year-old Russian knocked out Rad Martinez in the second round last Thursday. Shamhalaev appears to be a legit contender to Curran's title and I'm glad Bellator slotted him into the fight, which they did Wednesday.

Shamhalaev wrapped an especially grueling tournament thanks to two postponements. There was some concern he wouldn't have time to put in a proper camp, which he obviously deserves after bowling through last season's 145 field. But the heavy-handed featherweight agreed to take the bout. That's good news because another option for Bellator was a rematch between Curran and Patricio "Pitbull" Freire. While their five-round fight on Jan. 17 was good, it wasn't memorable enough for fans to clamor for an immediate rematch. Not from what I've seen, anyhow.

Curran-Shamhalaev should make for a high-paced, well-contested title contest, which despite Curran's ability, could result in another Russian staking his turf in Bellator. I wouldn't put it past Shamhalaev as featherweight ranks among Bellator's best weight classes.

If there's a debate to be had about that, the light heavyweight division would not find many supporters. Thursday at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, Christian M'Pumbu defends his light heavyweight belt against Atilla Vegh.

More interesting, perhaps, is the next leg of the 155-pound tournament, which includes top prospect Will Brooks. Saad Awad will try to rip his head off. Also, David Rickels appears to have gained an advantage on the field by fighting alternate Jason Fischer, whom "The Caveman" out-pointed in November.

Brooks is the guy to beat, especially after Alexander Sarnavskiy was injured.

The self-assured demeanor and authoritative sound of his voice have returned. They are solid indicators that Brian Stann is close to being his old self again -- personally and professionally.

For more than a year, Stann has been rebounding from a family tragedy.

His brother-in-law, Louie Rusti Jr., passed away on Dec. 23, 2011. Since that time, the overwhelming majority of Stann’s focus has been on helping his wife and mother-in-law recover. It’s been a very difficult period, emotionally, for Stann and his family -- losing a close family member is never easy. They haven’t fully recovered from Rusti’s passing, and possibly never will, but progress has been made.

Each day, life in the Stann household shows more signs of returning to normalcy. There’s a lot of laughter again, daughters Alexandra and DeAnna keep the fun flowing. Their youthful innocence and playfulness is contagious throughout the home.

Another factor that has helped this family steadily put the pieces back together is Stann’s decision not to leave for an extended period.

“

I plan to go undefeated this year. I plan to fight three times and I plan to win all three fights and I plan to finish all three fights. I take it very seriously that UFC put me in a main event. I take a lot of pride in that.

” -- Brian Stann on his plans for 2013.

Rather than spend two months in Albuquerque, N.M., at Jackson’s/Winkeljohn’s gym preparing for fights, Stann has conducted each of his past three training camps in Atlanta. It’s the best decision this dedicated soon-to-be-father-of-three could have made.

“The biggest thing is when you’re not able to be a father; you’re missing moments in time with your young children that you will never get back again,” Stann told ESPN.com. “It’s a big distraction.

“That would hurt me when I was in New Mexico [training at Jackson’s]. It made me question whether I was choosing the right thing. Was I being selfish?

“Fighting pays me well, but there are other things I can do and be with my kids every day. I have a 5-year-old [Alexandra], a 3-year-old [DeAnna] and my wife [Teresa] is pregnant with our third child. I can’t go for two months and live in another city to train for a fight. I can’t be that selfish.

“I needed to make this [training in Atlanta] happen because, above all else, my No. 1 job in the world is being a father.”

But Stann, who once held the rank of captain in the United States Marine Corps, also is a professional mixed martial artist. And he isn’t the type of guy who cuts corners. Stann’s prefight preparation in Atlanta is just as strenuous, if not more, than those he went through at Jackson’s. Extensive stand-up, grappling and jiu-jitsu sessions are still on the docket.

As has been the case for a while, wrestling techniques get extra special attention. Stann is always looking to improve his wrestling.

A lot of progress was made in each of the previous two training camps. Fighters and coaches traveled from Albuquerque to Atlanta last year to help Stann prepare for fights against Alessio Sakara and Michael Bisping. He won the first with an opening-round knockout, lost the latter by unanimous decision.

But this latest Atlanta-based training camp has been his best. Stann is feeling great. The fire within burns as hot as ever, and he is ready to apply some heat Saturday night to hard-hitting veteran Wanderlei Silva during their UFC on Fuel TV 8 main-event showdown in Saitama, Japan.

The two middleweights will compete at light heavyweight. Both are former 205-pound champions -- Silva in Pride, Stann with WEC.

But Stann makes it clear that he does not intend to exit the 185-pound ranks. This fight against Silva at 205 is a one-shot deal.

“This is a middleweight fight in my eyes,” Stann said. “We made an agreement to ‘let’s just not cut the weight.’

“I didn’t pack on any extra pounds. I don’t have a weight issue; I don’t have a strength issue; I don’t have a power issue. It’s more important to be fast against Wanderlei than it is to be bigger.”

Mourning the death of his brother-in-law hasn’t fully dissipated, but Stann has come a long way since December 2011. So much so that he sounds like his pre-2012 self. The fight with Silva is part of a larger plan. The 32-year-old wants to be more active this year and continue participating in high-profile bouts. Getting rid of Silva in exciting fashion is the first step in that direction.

“A finish in this fight will definitely get me another fight against a significant middleweight, a top-10 ranked middleweight,” said Stann, who will compete on foreign soil for the third time in a row Saturday night. “That’s important to me.

“I want to go out there and dominate; I want to finish this fight. Everything in 2012 is behind me, now I can focus on what I can do.

“I plan to go undefeated this year. I plan to fight three times and I plan to win all three fights and I plan to finish all three fights. I take it very seriously that UFC put me in a main event. I take a lot of pride in that.

“I want to be a guy who is always considered for that part of the card, whether it’s the co-main event or main event; that’s why this is a big fight for me.”

While UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo and his handlers said a title bout with lightweight contender Anthony Pettis was out of the question, promotion president Dana White begged to differ.

Something had to give, but when White’s involved in these types of disputes, he usually wins. This dispute proved to be no exception.

White announced Monday night on Twitter that the Aldo-Pettis showdown is a go.

“And it’s for Aldo’s 145-pound title,” White added.

The announcement comes less than two days after White revealed that Aldo was balking at facing Pettis, who has never competed professionally at featherweight.

According to White, Team Aldo was of the opinion that Pettis didn’t deserve a 145-pound title shot. Pettis, the former WEC lightweight champion, was in line to face the Benson Henderson-Gilbert Melendez winner.

Henderson, the reigning UFC lightweight champ, and Melendez are slated to fight April 20 in San Jose, Calif. Melendez is the former Strikeforce lightweight titleholder.

Pettis, however, got the itch to move down a weight class and face Aldo after witnessing the champ successfully defend his title against former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar at UFC 156 on Feb. 2 in Las Vegas.

Immediately after that bout, Pettis sent White a text expressing his desire to fight Aldo at 145. White liked the idea, and shortly thereafter made the fight official.

Then Team Aldo made its position known to UFC officials.

“Jose Aldo came out and said, ‘There is no way in hell I’m fighting Pettis,’” White said Saturday night in Anaheim, Calif., shortly after UFC 157. “He’s absolutely refusing to fight Pettis; he doesn’t think [Pettis] deserves the shot.”

But White quickly let it be known that Aldo better reconsider or prepare to face the consequences. Based on White’s announcement Monday night, Aldo has decided to take the fight.

Aldo will defend his title against Pettis on Aug. 3. UFC has yet to announce where the fight will take place.

No matter what you think of Jon Fitch as a fighter, Dana White's justifications for letting the welterweight go from the UFC don't work.

Let's start with White's assertion that Fitch is "super f---ing expensive."

Zuffa paid the eight-year UFC veteran, a guy with 14-3-1 record in the Octagon, a perennial top-10 ranked welterweight, $66,000 to show against Demian Maia. A win would have netted Fitch $66,000 more. This is in the range of where Fitch has been paid over the past few years. For his win in 2010 over Thiago Alves, Fitch pocketed $108,000. At UFC 100, Fitch made $90,000 by beating Paulo Thiago. Good money. But unreasonably pricey? Once in a while he received a locker room bonus. Fitch never saw a cut of the pay-per-view, even when he went the distance with Georges St-Pierre in 2008.

You'd think super expensive would better apply to a guy like Alistair Overeem. The same night Fitch fell to Maia, Overeem was paid $285,714 to leave his hands down and get starched by Antonio Silva. Never mind that the loss came after the massive heavyweight's embarrassing steroid-related suspension, something Fitch has never been associated with.

It's still not worse than White pinpointing Fitch's sliding ranking over the past two years as why it’s time for him to leave the Octagon.

This should be said: The UFC president has no credibility when it comes to rankings. In 2010 he was screaming that Overeem wasn't a top-10 heavyweight. That the MMA media was this and that for ranking The Reem so high, because the Dutch fighter hadn't beaten anyone.

Well, wins over Todd Duffee and Fabricio Werdum (an ugly performance from Overeem, by the way) were enough for Zuffa to invest an enormous money contract, signing bonus and everything else, in a fighter White considered highly overrated.

But now White is treating Fitch's drop to the bottom tier of the top 10 after years living near GSP as some kind of indictment?

"This isn't a case where Jon Fitch was ranked No. 9, No. 7, No. 6, No. 4, No. 2 and then we cut him," White said. "He was ranked No. 1 -- fought for the title, then he was ranked No. 2, 3, 6, 7 and now he's 9. That's called the downside of your career."

This during a week White reiterated he wouldn't let the newfangled UFC media rankings dictate matchmaking. For cutting one of the most successful welterweights in UFC history, though, they're just fine.

Forget Overeem, what about a guy such as Dan Hardy? He's nowhere near being ranked at 170. He was 0-4 between 2010 and 2011. And if he wins he doesn’t cost much less than Fitch. Actually, forget Hardy -- what about a guy such as Chris Leben, whose PED and legal issues have troubled him throughout his career? Leben, by the way, is 1-3 since 2011. And he made $51,000 in a loss to Derek Brunson at UFC 155. Forget Leben, what about Josh Koscheck, who was literally knocked out of the top 10 by Robbie Lawler on Saturday, and made more than Fitch did against Maia?

"What you should do is go out and try to be the best in the world, and you should try to whoop everybody's asses impressively," White said.

Isn't that what Fitch did? He certainly tried to be the best in the world. Regardless of his reputation for laying on guys, the 34-year-old Purdue University wrestler beat up plenty of fighters along the way.

"It depends on how much money you want to make,” White said. “Do you want to go around and lay on guys? How many people are beating down the door to see any of those guys fight again?"

St-Pierre, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz earned box-office star status as grinders and ground fighters. So that idea doesn't really float either.

If Fitch wasn't "super f---ing expensive" and there are worse fighters on the downside of their career making similar money that get to hang around, what's the deal?

I figure there are a few reasons. Fitch is a threat to derail young stud prospects. Like Erick Silva. Hardly a blanket-fest from Fitch in Brazil last October, as the three-rounder took fight of the night honors.

There are also fiscal realities at play. The UFC is facing a sequester of its own, and it's actually going through with it. Their front office slimmed down over the past year. And the talent roster will be cleaved by a quarter. This was a long time coming.

Fitch is among 16 fighters who were released, including talent such as Diego Nunes. White said another 100 or so will follow. The UFC has too many fighters under contract and not enough fights, and they don't want to be in breach of deals. Winning is the only way not to get cut.

All this roster upheaval apparently will relocate good fighters onto the open market. Fitch seems like a perfect fit for Bellator MMA, or as White lovingly refers to the tournament-branded promotion, Viacom MMA. Bellator’s welterweight champion, Ben Askren, can’t fight anyone better than Fitch. Askren, or his upcoming undefeated Russian challenger Andrey Koreshkov, deserve that kind of test so long as Fitch is willing to earn it through the tournament.

Bellator frontman Bjorn Rebney reacted to the release by saying he wasn’t interested.

“We have a stacked welterweight division right now,” he told themmareport.com. “We have a lot of guys that we are developing that we anticipate are going to be world-class fighters and break the top 10. We want to keep guys busy. We want to keep guys inside the cage and we have a plan in terms of the next year and who is going to be a part of the tournaments and it’s just not the time.”

That’s too bad, because Bellator could really use the guy. My guess is UFC hopes Fitch gets signed, destroys his way through the tournament, handles Askren, and Bellator looks weak by comparison.

“He'll smash every single guy over there and he'll be a champ,” said White, still sounding like Fitch’s promoter. “A guy goes outside, wins some fights, has some impressive runs and then comes back."

Even if that’s what happens, Bellator doesn’t have so much to lose by going into business with Fitch. For one thing, there’s no guarantee he’ll make it through the tournament (exhibit: Mo Lawal). But if he does, and if Fitch becomes Bellator champion, the promotion will have one of the most respected fighters in the division holding their title. Also, Bellator is actually churning out quality at 170. Fitch isn’t a UFC castoff like Rebney favorite Ben Saunders. (Could Saunders beat Fitch now?) Fitch actually accomplished something in the Octagon, so there’s none of the stigma. Beating him still means something.

Plus, you know, Fitch could be better than Askren.

Isn't the idea of the tournament to give guys a chance to rise on their own merits? Most people would agree that Fitch is better than the vast majority of Bellator’s welterweight roster. Why doesn’t that make him worth a contract? Because of his style? Mark that down as the first time I heard Rebney express such a sentiment, especially because many people consider Askren the most boring fighter on the planet. I don’t see Askren that way.

Isn't Askren-Fitch a terrific fight? Maybe even worthy of pay-per-view? If Askren beats Fitch, wouldn’t that only further validate him at 170?

I don't get Rebney's hesitation, which probably will result in Fitch heading to the World Series of Fighting. Bellator's format, as described 10 billion times already, is supposed to allow for the best rise to the top, to make their own way. That would appear less true if an effort isn’t made to sign Fitch. The Toughest Tournament in Sports? That slogan might be worth about as much as the reasons White gave for Fitch's release in the first place.

Dana White has lifted the lid on a storm that is gathering over one of the UFC's most dominant champions, revealing Jose Aldo is flatly refusing to fight Anthony Pettis. More »

I didn’t see much from Lyoto Machida on Saturday that makes me think he’ll fair better a second time around against Jon Jones. Presuming Jones beats Chael Sonnen in April,
that fight is up next at 205, UFC president Dana White said following Saturday’s card.

Earlier this week “The Dragon” told me that even after Jones strangled him unconscious in Dec. 2011, he’s "not convinced.” He spoke of wanting a rematch, which is rare for him since he hardly ever speaks of wanting anything.

"I'm living every moment as it comes," he said. "I enjoyed being champion but that it's gone. It's like this conversation. It will be gone in 20 minutes. It's behind, but could happen again."

Well, as of Feb. 23, Jones-Machida 2 is on.

"He's the No. 1 contender,” White told ESPN's MMA Live Extra. “Dan was the No. 1 contender. Machida beat him. That makes Machida No. 1."

However if people aren’t fired up what are the chances Zuffa finds a way to hold off? What happens if Alexander Gustafsson blows the doors off Gegard Mousasi? Or if it goes the other way? I bet both fighters would interest fans more than seeing Machida challenge Jones right now. So too Glover Teixeira, a teammate of Machida’s at Blackhouse, if he tops Ryan Bader in May.

Even Machida sounded less than sure of where he stood afterwards.

Said the 34-year-old Brazilian: "I thought I won the fight because I frustrated him and kept the fight where I wanted it."

Machida had an opportunity to assert himself over Dan Henderson and undoubtedly claim the shot. Instead, his effort was significantly less than definitive. Machida set out to stay away from Henderson's right hand and keep the contest standing. There was plenty of feinting, some nice movement to diffuse Henderson’s pressure, and the occasional punch and kick combinations punches. But nothing in the neighborhood of damage. Nothing that troubled Henderson, who wasn’t his sharpest either.

Nothing that made me think Machida was closer to having the right stuff to beat Jones.

Then again, to be fair, who does?

That adds to the point. We’ve seen Machida try already. He actually gave Jones a fight for the first five minutes, moving well and landing punches. Then Jones found that second round choke and Machida fell on his face. Considering that, Machida deserves credit for finding the courage to remain unconvinced.

In the first female fight in UFC history, it was a familiar result for Ronda Rousey.

The UFC women's bantamweight champion improved to 7-0 in her MMA career with a first-round armbar submission of Liz Carmouche (8-3) at UFC 157 in Anaheim, Calif. All of Rousey's wins have come via first-round armbar submission, but Saturday's was the longest.

This fight lasted 4 minutes and 49 seconds -- 22 seconds longer than her previous longest fight against Miesha Tate last March. The total time of all her fights is now 12 minutes, 28 seconds. Her average fight time is 1 minute, 46 seconds.

Rousey -- Fight History

Saturday Liz Carmouche 4:49

Aug. 2012 Sarah Kaufman 0:54

March 2012 Miesha Tate 4:27

Nov. 2011 Julia Budd 0:39

Aug. 2011 Sarah D'Alelio 0:25

June 2011 Charmaine Tweet 0:49

March 2011 Ediane Gomes 0:25

>>All wins by 1st-round armbar submission

According to Fightmetric, Rousey landed 41 total strikes to Carmouche's 22. She landed seven significant strikes, one fewer than her fight against Tate. However, Rousey also faced a submission attempt for the first time in her Strikeforce and UFC career as Carmouche attempted a choke while mounted on Rousey's back early in the first round.

Meanwhile, former UFC champion Lyoto Machida won via split decision over Dan Henderson in a light heavyweight bout. Machida won despite landing only 28 strikes -- nearly half as many as Henderson's 54. It was Henderson's first loss in a span of five fights dating back to April 2010. It was also the first time he lost when landing more strikes than his opponent.

The end came as most expected Saturday night: with UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey defending her title with a first-round armbar submission of Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 in Anaheim, Calif.

It’s the way Rousey has finished every one of her mixed martial arts opponents and appearing in the Octagon for the first time proved no different. But Carmouche did something no other fighter had ever done -- give Rousey a scare.

For a brief moment, Carmouche got Rousey’s back in a standing position and attempted a rear-naked choke. Carmouche twisted Rousey’s neck, and it appeared that maybe, just maybe, one of the biggest upsets (betting-wise) in sports history was unfolding.

Rousey, however, remained cool and eventually freed herself from Carmouche’s grip. Shortly thereafter, Rousey would get Carmouche to the ground and submit her at the 4:49 mark.

There would be no upset this evening in the first women’s bout in UFC history. Rousey, who refused to accept being called UFC women’s 135-pound champion until she won a fight inside the Octagon, can finally breathe easily. She's still the bantamweight titleholder, and she has still not seen the second round. And she still has not been tested in a striking battle.

But Rousey did have to fight extra hard this time. Her takedown attempts didn’t come easily, and Carmouche proved that Rousey is very much beatable.

As a result, there is no doubt that the women who refused to accept this fight when UFC officials first offered it -- according to promotion president Dana White, Carmouche was the only fighter to sign on -- will line up for a shot at Rousey now.

And the promotion can thank Carmouche for that. The UFC can also thank Carmouche for giving Rousey all she could handle.

This fight didn’t last long, as is the case with all fights involving Rousey thus far, but it was entertaining and suspenseful.

“It was a great fight,” Carmouche said after falling to 7-3. “I thought I had it. Like everything, you make a mistake, and it turns around.”

Carmouche will surely learn from this experience and come back a much better mixed martial artist. But so will Rousey. She must know that every woman who competes in the UFC gained a bit more confidence after seeing her barely escape a very vulnerable situation.

This was only Rousey’s seventh professional fight, and during her short career, she’s proven to be a quick study. She will examine tapes of this fight and address any flaw that pops out.

"I was saying, 'No way am I going down,'" Rousey said of being in that rear-naked choke. “That’s one thing I had to learn in MMA is to take my time.”

Now that every woman fighter has seen the look of concern on her face inside the cage, they will come after her with less hesitancy. And that’s great for women’s MMA.

Rousey is skilled enough to reign for a very long time, but when she enters the cage again no one will consider her a sure thing. Fans might even get to see what she can do standing.

And if she’s extended into the second or third rounds, her cardio will be tested.

The true test of a champion is the way he or she handles adversity. Rousey passed Saturday night’s test, but there are many more to come.

Carmouche made that point very clear.

An unprecedented level of media coverage has surrounded the UFC debuts of female fighters Rhonda Rousey and Liz Carmouche at this weekend's UFC 157. While Carmouche has enjoyed press for making history as the promotion's first openly gay athlete, it's Olympic Judo player Rousey that remains the show's main attraction.

Dimpled, quick-witted and savage, Rousey is expected to emerge as one of the sport's top drawing cards. Having barely broken a sweat in her MMA career, winning seems to be a foregone conclusion.

But magazine covers are no guarantee of success, and not all heavily hyped debuts have gone the way promoters had hoped. Here's a look at fighters who failed to meet expectations their first time out of the gate:

10. Brock Lesnar (vs. Frank Mir, UFC 81, 2008)

A Renaissance man of violent contact sports, amateur wrestler Lesnar acquired his celebrity through a stint as a World Wrestling Entertainment attraction. When he tired of that industry's grueling road schedule, he decided to try out for the Minnesota Vikings despite never having played a day of college ball. When he failed to make the team, his focus turned to MMA -- realizing his dream, he once told an ESPN reporter, to "pick a fight on every street. If I wouldn't lose money, I'd fight ... every day."

Lesnar's UFC debut wasn't his first sanctioned bout: months earlier, it took him a minute to pummel an overmatched Min-Soo Kim in a little-seen pay-per-view event. But coming into the industry's leading promotion meant an unprecedented level of attention: Much was made of Lesnar's "lunchbox-sized hands" and a frightening level of agility for being a 280-pound slab of lean mass. It was a promotional tactic used by Japanese matchmakers for years to see if the pro wrestler had any real fight in him.

For a good portion of the 90 seconds he spent against Mir, the answer was yes. Lesnar quickly took Mir down and pounded him through the mat. But referee Steve Mazzagatti's restart -- Lesnar was docked a point for hitting behind the head -- seemed to slow his momentum, and his lack of submission knowledge cost him when Mir locked in a kneebar, forcing Lesnar to tap and exposing his limited training.

It was a painful education, and one Lesnar took to heart considering he practically disfigured Mir in their 2009 rematch.

9. Karam Ibrahim (vs. Kazuyuki Fujita, K-1 Dynamite, 2004)

While MMA has hosted a number of Olympic-level athletes and medal winners, the majority have been either alternates, bronze/silver competitors, or years removed from their prime. The Egyptian-born Ibrahim, however, holds the distinction of being the only mixed martial artist to have a prizefight the very same year he won his gold medal.

A Greco-Roman style wrestler, he was enticed by the promise of a sizable payday from Japan's K-1 promotion. Ibrahim's credentials were impeccable, and their choice of opponent was seemingly a gift as Fujita, an experienced fighter who nonetheless had Greco skills (as a national champion in Japan), paled in comparison to Ibrahim.

Call it an adrenaline dump, pure instinct, or just a temporary leave of his senses, but Ibrahim entered the ring completely forgetting his superior wrestling ability and decided to slug it out with Fujita -- a man dubbed "Ironhead" by the press for his near-inability to be knocked out. Predictably, Fujita brushed off Ibrahim's rudimentary strikes and needed barely a minute to send him crashing to the canvas.

Despite being in his athletic prime and world-class in the same base of wrestling that brought Randy Couture great success, Ibrahim never again competed in MMA. He remains one of the sport's greatest "what if" stories.

8. Renato "Babalu" Sobral (vs. Mikhail Zayats, Bellator 85, 2013)

A 16-year veteran, Sobral has fought all over the world and for virtually every major promotion, cultivating a name that made him one of Bellator's highest-profile acquisitions.

"Sobral is an awesome addition to the Bellator family," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said at the time. "He's beaten some of the greatest fighters in the sport, and poses a tremendous threat to every fighter in our light heavyweight division."

While that may hold true, he posed little threat to Zayats, another debuting fighter for Bellator who held zero major wins over seasoned competitors. With seconds to go in the first round, Zayats uncorked a spinning back fist sending a dazed Sobral to the canvas where he was finished with strikes. Bellator's long game of having Sobral meet fellow 205-pound attraction Muhammed Lawal down the line was also TKO'd.

7. Satoshi Ishii (vs. Hidehiko Yoshida, Dream, 2009)

As Rousey and predecessors like Karo Parisyan have proved, Judo can be an extremely effective base for MMA since few athletes train enough of it to become proficient, and even fewer are prepared for some of the more unorthodox throws and trips that a seasoned Judoka can pull off.

Ishii won a gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Games and almost immediately declared his intentions to pursue a fight career. His credentials were impressive enough for the UFC to take the rare step of entering into discussions -- despite Ishii being a neophyte in the fight game -- before he had even a single bout to his credit.

Owing either to failed negotiations or the realization of the caliber of opponent he’d be tasked with, Ishii instead opted to make history by participating in the sport’s first gold medalist-versus-gold medalist bout against Hidehiko Yoshida in Japan. While Ishii was fresh off his win in the Games, Yoshida was nearly 20 years removed from his Olympic appearance and had lost four of his previous five bouts. It was intended to be a passing of the torch, and the likely emergence of a new star in the fading Japanese fight scene.

Unfortunately for Ishii, Yoshida wasn’t discouraged by statistics: he dominated Ishii standing en route to a unanimous decision win, smothering Ishii’s hype and prompting him to make the unprecedented move of accepting two amateur fights after he had already competed as a professional.

6. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (vs. Eddie Sanchez, UFC 67, 2007)

You'd have to go back to Mike Tyson to find a striker that prompted more tremors in opponents than Filipovic, a K-1-groomed kickboxer who made a grand entrance to mixed-style fighting in 2001, splitting open Kazuyuki Fujita's skull practically down to the bone. Where most strikers could often be nullified by wrestlers, Filipovic -- who had no amateur grappling background -- was able to defend tackles and expose the rudimentary stand-up of his opponents. "Cro Cop" was simply vicious, and his high kick carried the very real threat of serious injury.

Coming into the UFC after a long run in PRIDE, Filipovic had just enjoyed arguably his best success ever: winning that show's loaded Absolute tournament, pummeling names like Wanderlei Silva and Josh Barnett to claim the championship. Only months later, he was in the United States and facing the uncelebrated Sanchez, a grappler with little name recognition. Coming off a who's who of opponents in Japan, Sanchez seemed like a step backward.

Unlike most on this list, Filipovic did win his debut. But in doing so, he revealed a slower, more apprehensive fighter than he'd displayed during his run in Japan. In the end, there was no spectacular highlight-reel knockout that the announcers had practically guaranteed -- Filipovic knocked Sanchez down and threw some strikes to finish the job. After watching him fold men in half and rip away their self-awareness with a sniper's professionalism, this version of Cro Cop couldn't have been more unexpected. Or disappointing.

5. Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto (vs. Demetrious Johnson, UFC 126, 2011)

Before the UFC began to heavily publicize the lighter weight divisions, there was one name that made the trip across the Pacific: "Kid" Yamamoto, a dynamic 140-pound fighter with an amateur wrestling background who could easily be mistaken for a striker. Fighting kickboxing star Masato Shiozawa, he managed to knock the bigger, far more experienced striker down -- a losing effort that nonetheless opened up eyes to Kid's potential as an all-around threat.

For years, Yamamoto was considered the fantasy matchup for Urijah Faber, the WEC's featherweight champion. Kid's 2009 loss to Joe Warren in Japan dulled the shine of that bout, but the UFC still pursued Yamamoto when he was contractually available. Making his debut at 135 pounds, Yamamoto was expected to outhustle Johnson. But Johnson -- now the UFC's flyweight champion -- beat Kid at his own game, being evasive and landing swarming strikes. For someone who had been discussed as a UFC hopeful for nearly a decade, Kid's debut was too little, too late.

4. Shinya Aoki (vs. Gilbert Melendez, Strikeforce, 2010)

The sport's one-time tendency of elevating the reputations of Japanese fighters often came from their lack of challenging competition -- it's easy to look fearsome when your opponents are overmatched.

To Aoki's credit, his employers weren't shy about throwing him to the wolves. During a tremendous run in the DREAM promotion, he faced Joachim Hansen, Caol Uno, Eddie Alvarez, and Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante -- beating them all and displaying a world-class grappling game that defies description.

That history led to high expectations when Aoki made his U.S. debut in Strikeforce, facing the lightweight champion Melendez. But whatever magic Aoki could conjure in his country didn't seem to make the trip over. He put Melendez in no danger whatsoever, and instead faced 25 minutes of excruciating offense in a ridiculously one-sided fight.

If there is such a thing as a hometown advantage in MMA, Aoki certainly benefits from it: he won his next six fights in Japan.

3. Hector Lombard (vs. Tim Boetsch, UFC 149, 2012)

From his April 2009 debut to spring 2012 exit, Lombard delivered 13 wins under the Bellator umbrella with no losses. (He would take three of those fights in other promotions, with the organization's blessing.) Despite the fact that the competition was underwhelming, Lombard's record and marble-carved physique led to a lucrative UFC deal and the hint of a showdown with Anderson Silva. Boetsch, despite going on an impressive win streak at middleweight, was supposed to be a warm-up.

Owing to injury, nerves, or just getting the losing end, Lombard was unable to make any kind of statement against Boetsch, who landed more significant strikes to earn a split-decision victory. An anomaly? Possibly. Lombard went on to destroy Rousimar Palhares last December. But you only get one chance to make a first impression.

2. Bas Rutten (vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, UFC 18, 1999)

Rutten was a star of Pancrase, a Japanese fight league that didn't adopt striking with a closed fist until late into its existence. During his tenure, he was a tenacious fighter even with palm strikes. In signing with the UFC, the idea that he could now exchange proper punches seemed like a good reason to keep a plastic surgeon on standby. UFC didn't ignore that potential: the poster for the event discreetly billed him as "The World's Greatest Martial Artist."

Against Kohsaka, a durable grappler who cut his teeth in RINGS, Rutten didn't quite look the part. He was often shut down by Kohsaka's aggression and takedowns, and it wasn't until an overtime round that he finally turned on an offensive flurry that seemed to warrant his advertising copy. (Rutten would compete only once more in the UFC, beating Kevin Randleman in a controversial decision for the heavyweight title.)

1. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (vs. Forrest Griffin, UFC 76, 2007)

Rua's run in PRIDE was nothing short of Hall of Fame material. At 12-1 -- his only loss the result of a poor break fall that left him with a broken arm -- Rua tore through Quinton Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem and Ricardo Arona to be crowned the 2005 Grand Prix Champion. At the time of PRIDE's demise and Jackson's KO of Chuck Liddell, Rua was considered by many to be the top light heavyweight in the world.

Griffin, meanwhile, had been alternating wins and losses after winning the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter," and was largely derided as a "reality TV star" who had little business against elite competition. At the time of the bout's announcement, Rua's fans seemed annoyed he wouldn't be getting to work up more of a sweat. A title bout with Jackson seemed inevitable.

But the Rua that dominated the PRIDE ring post to post was nowhere to be found against Griffin, who endured some early aggression before getting Rua's back and sinking in a rear-naked choke. Was Griffin underestimated, or did Rua fail to shift into second gear? Either way, no one has ever entered the Octagon with more hype -- or left with so little of their reputation left intact.