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Striking: He is a really good striker who I wouldn't want to fight. I give this an A+.
Grappling: He trains on the mats. This impresses me. It should impress you too. 8 out of 10.
Octagon Control: Ben controls the fights he is in. Two thumbs up. X-Factor: Mutton chops make him impossible to KO.
Chance for success: Good.

What do you think Bloody Elbow Fans? Let's Mutherfukers.

I wish all you Maniacs a happy Thursday. If you are under 25 or desperately wish you still were it is the start to the weekend. Before you go killing some brain cells, let's get those synapses firing and break down the newest UFC adventure.....sponsorships.

Recently, the UFC brass signed a deal with Jon Jones ensuring he would don their cap and gown for upcoming UFC appearances and fights. This is an interesting move and to me at least, it complicates the relationship between promoter/sponsor and fighter. The word on the interwebs is that more fighters are sure to be sponsored, including the likes of GSP, Benson Henderson and Allistair Overeem.

So how does this affect our fandom?

If you ask Malki Kawa (JBJ's manager) he doesn't see any issue. This shouldn't affect things as he believes the UFC brass are fair and won't play favorites. Personally, I question this arrangement. Let's consider the following scenario:

Jon Jones loses to Rashad Evans. Would it be in the UFC's interest to get Jon back into the title hunt ASAP? If not an instant shot, an easier road to the shot? What checks and balances do we have in place to ensure the legitimacy of the sport? Do we just ignore it? Does this make the sport less appealing?

A fighters take:

I contacted Jacob Volkmann via Twittter (@JacobVolkmann) to get his take (I chose Jacob because he responds and he is typically outspoken about these kinds of things....remember, this is the guy that the SS had to pay a visit to). Jacob doesn't see a conflict and since it is the UFC's money they can do whatever they like with it. Do you agree?

Christmas also wanted to float an idea to you Maniacs. He wouldn't mind seeing all sponsors go away in favor of UFC fighters wearing nothing but UFC gear during fights. This would mean no banners, no condomdepot.com shorts, no Tapout gear. In exchange for this, the UFC would offer a retirement fund. Fighters could put up to 20% of their fight purse into a retirement plan which the UFC would match. How many fighters do you think would be interested in this?

****Big thanks to Christmas for getting back to me and forwarding this puppy on to the UFC brass. Maybe they can get Kimball to read it.

It is time for another round of fights! In fact, you guys deserve a treat.....Jesse and the empty bag of Doritos have decided that two rounds of fights will take place in one night.

Before we get to the action, let us take care of a few housekeeping items.

Rules of Deuce’s Backyard Brawls:

1. Pride Rules – yellow cards and all

2. No scales, no weigh-ins

3. Fighters are selected by the commission*

4. Grand Prize of a date with Ronda Rousey not guaranteed and is conditional upon how ugly your grill is.

*note- the commission is Jesse Holland, a bag of Doritos and a Scottish Terrier named Max.

Bout # 1

DetroitDrew vs Jay

Drew isn't messing around with the theatrics on this night. No moped gang, no state flags of Michigan being waved. He is coming out with his coach and his cut-man and no one else. I can't believe he didn't even play walk-out music. That must be a first. Some asshole must have gotten him fired up. Jay is coming out to the Canadian national anthem and it looks like he is smoking a joint. I don't know if relaxed Jay is going to be motivated enough to take out a very intense DrewMoney. They touch em up and this thing is started. Drew seems to be applying some things he learned from Deuce as he is leg kicking the shit out Jay. It doesn't appear to be affecting Jay as he is nice and relaxed from that joint. Jay lands a few good shots to the body but Drew immediately counters with his patented head kick. Jay isn't out, but he is definitely rocked. Everyone is extremely distracted by an overzealous ANS screaming to Drew to "keep going for the body". The bell sounds and it looks like we are headed to round 2. In between rounds we can see Jay lighting up another joint but his cornerman, Yan, takes it from him in an weak attempt to motivate the battered Canadian. This doesn't sit well with Jay and he exits the cage and heads backstage in search of some more smoke. That may be one of the strangest finishes I have seen to a fight.

Bout #2

ScottiDog vs Dak

Scotti is in the best shape anyone has ever seen. I don't know that Dak has got a chance in this one, though we haven't had a chance to evaluate his skills in quite a while. Personally, I think he still has it. This fight should tell us what we want to know. Scotti charges immediately but is instantly thrown onto his back via Judo toss. Dak is on top reigning down elbows and Scotti gets cut! He is bleeding like a stuck pig. Jesse doesn't seem to care and he lets the fight go on. Scotti is fighting valiantly, but I don't think he can see much. Dak lands an impressive spinning backfist and now Scotti's other eye is swollen shut. I truly believe he is fighting blind. Dak doesn't seem to want to punch him anymore and Scotti is blindly shuffling around the cage. Dak goes for a clinch and Scotti immediately taps. Smart move.

ViolentMike vs.A.K.

Bout #3

Mike has come out in all black and AK has a "pink killer" shirt on. I don't know that his shirt means what he thinks it means. They touch em up and Mike immediately goes for a takedown. AK is on his back and it looks like he is working for a gogoplata. Mike works out of it, postures up and is landing some nasty shots from top position. AK better move or this thing is going to be stopped. Mike is landing lots of clean shots and it doesn't look like AK has an answer. Jesse seems distracted and AK is taking a lot of unnecessary punishment while Mike is saying something that sounds like "say whilst again motherfucker".

Motmaitre vs Jesse Holland

Bout #4

Mot comes out in his signature Danielson head band while Jesse comes out with a bunch of strippers dancing to the theme of Rocky. Jesse may have the eye of the Tiger but if I interpret the look in Mot's eyes correctly, he ripped out the eye of the tiger and enjoyed it with some fava beans and a fine Chianti. The action starts and Mot charges across the cage into a front flip axe kick. Jesse's shoulder looks mangled and dislocated. This thing is over. Wow.

Onto the semi-finals.....

Bout # 1

DetroitDrew vs. Dak

Dak looks to be the fresher fighter as Drew has a few bumps and bruises from his match-up earlier in the night. Drew appears to have gotten a tattoo in between fights and from here it looks like the mark of the beast. Dak pulls out a rather large looking book and cracks Drew over the head with it. Drew. Is. Out. According to Dak: "I am no bible thumper, but that boy needed to get handled".

Bout # 2

ViolentMike vs. Motmaitre

Mike enters the cage and immediately bows, then taps to Mot. I guess Mike didn't want to risk his beloved Kyu.

Stay tuned for a very special edition of Deuce's Backyard Brawls later this week. Miss a day on Mania, and you may miss out!

It’s…..time!! Yes, you read right Maniacs! It is time for the 2012 MMAMania Open Weight Grand Prix! It is time for you boys and girls to dust off those old gloves. It’s time to squeeze into the old fight shorts. It’s time to put the burger down and start punching something. Ah, screw it, you can punch and eat at the same time, right? After all, this is an open-weight affair. Come one, come all, come and see how long these maniacs will last. Who will take the 2012 title?

Before we get to the action, let us take care of a few housekeeping items.

Rules of Deuce’s Backyard Brawls:

1. Pride Rules – yellow cards and all

2. No scales, no weigh-ins

3. Fighters are selected by the commission*

4. Grand Prize of a date with Ronda Rousey not guaranteed and is conditional upon how ugly your grill is.

*note- the commission is Jesse Holland, a bag of Doritos and a Scottish Terrier named Max.

Onto this year’s matchups:

Deuce vs. DetroitDrew Preview:

These two guys despise each other. Who doesn’t remember the epic meltdown that led to the infamous ban bet? While Deuce is feisty, he lets his emotions cloud his judgment as seen in his fight with Jesse Holland last year. As long as Drew doesn’t let his hipster entourage distract him, he should take this one.

Motmaitre vs. cl4im3r Preview:

Man, who figured Mot for a Tim Sylvia lookalike? cl4im3r is a tiny man standing at only 5’2. He is going to have to channel his inner midget to get this thing done. I fear for cl4im3r's life.

ViolentMike vs. Yan117 Preview:

I don’t really expect this fight to happen. My guess, Yan just shoots Mike as he enters the cage.

MagicMike against AK

Quick! Someone die Mike’s hair pink so Andrew can work up enough anger to punch him! If someone doesn’t insult someone here, this could be the most boring fight of the night.

Jay vs. UlfMurphy

Oh snap! Ulf just called Jay a name but quickly retracted with a statement indicating he was joking. There is only one problem, no one was laughing. Which Jay will we get for this one? Angry or mellow Jay? Mellow Jay would have to luck into a win as I don’t believe his double will be strong enough to get Ulf down. Ulf is too lanky and he employs a rather odd strategy to keep the distance, spitting. Gross, but effective.

Shivan Tiger vs. ScottiDog –

If Shivan is allowed those glass containers he is always carrying around, he has a real good shot in this one. Scotti, feeling lean and ready to go is going to come out using the tried and true method of distraction through niceness. In other words, he is going to "eh" ST to death.

Dakatak vs. Cruz Jackson

In his pre-fight presser, Dak walked into the conference room, placed a brick onto the table and just walked out. Cruz responded by yelling vehemently that his infamous fall into unconsciousness was deliberate.

Jesse Holland vs. Sarah

Expect lots of attempted cuddling in this one. Sarah has weapons that Jesse just can’t defend against.

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The results post will come next week, after these fights go down. How do you think they will shape up?

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It has been over a year since The Brockness Monster competed in the cage. While his last foray into deep waters resulted in countless disco gifs of the behemoth flopping around the Octagon, he is coming back better than ever. To top things off, The Brockness is squaring off against none other than the reigning (and likely the last) K1 HW Grand Prix Champ and the last HW champ of Strikeforce. Will this be a competitive match? Let's take a look at their last few opponents to get a better feel.....

Brock Lesnar

TKO Loss to Cain Velasquez

SUB Win over Shane Carwin

TKO Win over Frank Mir

Alistair Overeem

Decision Win over Fabricio Werdum

TKO Win over Todd Duffee

TKO Win over Brett Rogers

What does this mean? Personally, I believe Brock has been in the deep waters of the HW division since the get go. His last three opponents are significantly better than Alistair's, whose only real threat came from Fabricio. For Brock, I think he did much better against Cain than most tend to believe. Alistair has faced some tough opponents but Joe Silva isn't doing him any favors by putting him in with the likes of Brock (unless he managed to negotiate PPV %). The Reem better be practicing his TD defense or it will be a short night, full of hammerfists.

For those of you NOT in the know- I will fill ya in on a little Mania history. Brock Lesnar divided our community. There was no common ground with this guy. You either loved him, or hated him. On the love side of things, a group was started by P-Dub- which is called the Pain Train (fairly confident Hella was a big part of this movement as he was the first to use "The Brockness Monster" on Mania (Hella would like to take this opportunity to remind us all that we are dickfucks). Freenow was also part of this group, but has since been tossed out SOA style--- Hey Free- that fucking tattoo better be gone, ya dig?). On the other side, there were some escaped mental patients preaching some other bullshit that wasn't important enough for me to remember.

So, what do you think Maniacs?

My trip started by requesting a footstool from the hotel concierge. "A footstool, sir?". Yes, for I wanted to be able to see OJR from my peephole and feared it was set a few inches too high on the door. An hour later, OJR is knocking on my door, not understanding why I keep yelling, "Use the box!". For the rest of this Friday night, ole Deucey was trying his best to corrupt El Presidente with all sorts of debauchery. OJ was quick to remind me that it wasn't a good idea to get on his bad side (I think Kimbo Slice was uttered somewhere along the line). You don't want to see OJR mad.

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We spent the next few hours gambling, drinking (OJR brought a bag of goodies, including his own A&W). I kept to a steady diet of blackack, rum & coke. OJR was sure to point out the nice surroundings.

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Fight Day arrived and we were down at Mandalay Bay by 1PM. Fights were set to start at 2:45 and we didn't want to miss anything. We decided to grab some food at an Irish place, good food, over-priced beer and a waitress with a fake Irish accent. I felt like I was in the old country (if it weren't for the fact that this was basically in the middle of the mall that is Mandalay Bay).

We head over to the venue after placing a few bets (these didn't pan out- I haven't checked my result on the money pool, but it can't be good). On our way into the seats, we spot a few Jackson's guys and an old TUF winner. They were nice enough to pose with ole Deucey.

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Now to the official Maniac pose....

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We find our seats and I guess we are just a bit early....

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It looked like that until about 4-5 fights in at which point everyone else decided to show up.

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The first few fights were hard fought decisions. I expected a better showing out of Vera, but he won, so I guess there is that. I have now seen Cowboy fight 3 times live, which is saying something for someone who I don't much care for. But, the kid brings it. Big Country CC goes just about how I expected, and we see another Pride Legend hit the end of a career. Thanks for the memories CC.

BJ. This was a hellavu fight. BJ tired in the 2nd and I sat, close fisted, rocking back and forth hoping for a miracle. I can tell you this. The man has the heart of a champion and went out on his shield. Diaz is tougher than I thought. Big ups on him for pulling out his best victory in the cage.

Apparently this year's theme for Halloween was whore. God I love Halloween. We could spend hours talking about the impressive booty seen on Saturday night. I think we have a theme for Friday...To those of you who believe Maniacs to be homophobic....we don't care what you do in your bedroom.

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I have seen some complaints lately about not seeing any new pics. We seem to be recycling our favorite booty pics and gifs over and over. Double D tried to mix it up with hipster chicks, but they didn't do it for some of us. I like the idea of a weekly theme for these things, so I will keep it going. This week? Women in sports. Since all of you love golf and soccer so very much, I am going to go ahead and start there. Happy Friday Maniacs!

Let's start with my favorite female golfer.....

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Those crazy german soccer players....

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and lastly.....one of the best looking girls I have ever seen.

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Who are your favorites in sports?

Let's all take a break from arguing about Nick's fate, Dana's ego and BJ's replacement fight and focus on some important matters at hand. Football. It starts tonight. Get your rosters set, get your picks in, pick up an 18-pack on your way home tonight. Tell the girl to scram, get comfy and get ready to see some rather large and fast mofos putting some hits on each other. This guy is doing it right:

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So are they:

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Some other matters of importance:

I will be winning the A-league this year. Don't say I didn't warn you. Who is going to win the b-league? The funny thing is, it is the b-league, no one cares. It is not worth discussing.

Wait, you actually clicked into this thing? Seriously? You clicked into a thread titled "Wednesday Movements, by Deuce". Alrighty....I guess I need to talk about something then.

With the outpouring of fantastic fanposts recently, I thought I would throw my name into the ole porcelain bowl. Some important matters for you to ponder during your next movement:

1. Does a bag of milk really save enough space in your fridge to warrant purchasing it in a bagged form? How many kids does it take before you actually have a problem with milk storage anyway? Maniacs need to know.

2. PS3, Xbox, or both?

3. Tits or ass? Ass or tits?

4. What will the NFL playoffs look like this year?

5. Who is going to win the World Series?

6. Should farewell posts be the accepted norm for mania going forward? We all seem to have a lot of fun with these. I need to know if VM is not going to be posting for a couple of days. Seriously. I will celebrate.

7. Is anyone reading Jesse and Geno (THE MOTHER FUCKING GENERAL) over at Cageside?

8. And just so this has some MMA merit. What exactly happened to Gina Carano? Anyone? Bueller?

Be sure to wipe at least twice and don't forget to wash your hands you dirty bastards.

There has been a lot of speculation recently about the changes going on with SB Nation, and in particular, MMAMania. There are many Maniacs who believe it is the beginning of the end. When Mania was brought into the SBNation fold  (nice way of saying Tom got paid) we saw some significant formatting changes (many for the better) and the arrival of a whole lot of new posters. At that point, Tom and Jesse brought in some hired guns to assist with the content and reigning in some of the more boisterous posters. While we saw many a writer/blogger/administrator attempt to do this job, only one really stuck. Hello General Mrosko.

So what is the next change?

For those who have been living under a damn rock, Tom and the boys over at bloody vag have created a new website called MMANation. You may notice many of the articles on Mania are now just a shell which takes you to the MMAnation website. This new site includes writers and administrators from all around the SBNation family. For us, this may seem like a merger between Jacksons MMA and AKA, while those involved in it may just laugh and scoff at the silly little posters who have created the mania/BE feud. 

It is apparent that this new site is designed to be a money maker for SBNation, the flagship MMA site per say. If you look at the structure of SBNation it is clear that the intent is to have blogs for every sport, with dedicated, local blogs to get into each market. It seems the MMA portion of SBNation's blog doesn't quite follow this recipe. There are multiple sites under the SB umbrella using lots of resources to report the same information.

I think we are starting to see the future here boys and girls. More and more stuff will be linked to SBNation. There will be more and more resources dedicated to making that site a success. So, where does that leave Mania? Will Tom kill off his baby?

Opinions please.

What kind of interwebs beatdown would you prefer? Do you enjoy being called fat and stupid or would you prefer that the size of your manhood be constantly put into question? Do you like Kimbo style streetfights, sans the video? How about 1,000 word responses on the validity of Hong Man Choi? Wanna hang off a little M1 nut? Or would you rather watch someone degrade women and bitch about fat people? Sound like someone you know?

Two of the most famous maniacs (for better or for worse) are vying to get back on the boards. Each of them have said some really smart borderline retarded shit. Both of them have questioned the sexual orientation of our beloved mania staff. Both have used varying four letter words to describe, well, anyone that has engaged them. Personally, I don't think mania is big enough for either, but it could be fun to have one of our favorite assholes back on the boards. If you have no idea what I am talking about, you should probably skip the voting process. If you can identify which maniac has the larger ego and which one has the larger cock, carry-on.