Photo courtesy of MMAWeekly.com / Photo by Dave Mandel

Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz could defend his title a third time on short notice at an as-yet-unannounced event planned for April 9, though it's far too early to call it a done deal.

Diaz (24-7 MMA, 5-0 SF) has been told to be ready for a fight on that date, according to manager Cesar Gracie, but has yet to receive an opponent.

Photo courtesy of bodog.com

In this classic footage pulled from the vaults of the bodog's YouTube Channel, watch the controversial Chael Sonnen demonstrate a basic sleeper hold using the assistance of the Costa Rican division of the bodogFight Girls.

Love that he criticizes the girls' technique at the end of the video.  bodogFight helped cultivate the now legendary tomfoolery of Chael Sonnen (R).  I have a feeling that he may have renamed them as well.  Mary and Cindy don't seem like they'd be common Costa Rican names.

MMA Roundup

Photo courtesy of SportsNavi.com

Have you ever imagined what it would be like if two former UFC Heavyweight champions faced off in a worked Pro Wrestling matchup?  No?  Well, you didn't have to imagine it because legendary Japanese Pro Wrestler and Pride matchmaker Antonio Inoki did it for you and booked a matchup between former champs Josh Barnett and Tim Sylvia at his Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) last September.

The match features an attack before the bell, a brawl in the audience, a body slam onto an announcers table and an armbar on an announcers table.  It seemed like the only thing missing was a chair shot.  IGF Genome 13: Josh Barnett Vs Tim Sylvia (via bjfromarattlesnake)

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Photo courtesy of SportsNavi.com

Have you ever imagined what it would be like if two former UFC Heavyweight champions faced off in a worked Pro Wrestling matchup?  No?  Well, you didn't have to imagine it because legendary Japanese Pro Wrestler and Pride matchmaker Antonio Inoki did it for you and booked a matchup between former champs Josh Barnett and Tim Sylvia at his Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) last September.

The match features an attack before the bell, a brawl in the audience, a body slam onto an announcers table and an armbar on an announcers table.  It seemed like the only thing missing was a chair shot. 

IGF Genome 13: Josh Barnett Vs Tim Sylvia (via bjfromarattlesnake)

Check out more MMA fighters in Pro Wresting matches.

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Strikeforce.com/GrandPrix

There are many ways to verbally humiliate somebody but arguably the worst thing you can tell someone you dislike is that they are in fact your child.  This is the act of getting "sonned."  And according to Fabricio Werdum after losing by submission to him in May of 2006, current K-1, Strikeforce and Dream Interim champion Alistair Overeem has been Werdum's son for a "long time."

Strikeforce Werdum vs. Overeem: Fabricio Werdum Update (via truplya777)

Check out Aaron Tru's interview with Werdum and get his thoughts on Overeem and get his prediction for the Nick Diaz / Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos Welterweight Title fight later this month.  

www.mma-roundup.com

Photo courtesy of Kim's College of Tae Kwon Do

In addition to being a Heisman Trophy Winner, NFL Pro Bowler and Olympic Bobsled racer sbn-auto-link">Herschel Walker also happens to be a fifth degree black belt in the Korean martial art Tae Kwon Do. Prior to his MMA debut with Strikeforce last year Walker stated that he wanted to forget about all his previous martial arts experience to keep his mind open for his MMA training but according to Dave Meltzer after talking with another Traditional Martial Artist turned MMA fighter recently Walker might be switching things up against Scott Carson on Jan 29:

"Cung Le told me to not forget about my Tae Kwon Do," he said. "There are some things in that sport that don’t work in an MMA fight, and he said to throw them out. But he said there are things you can use."

UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, Ultimate Fighter 1 finalist Stephan Bonnar, former WEC Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson, the final WEC Lightweight champion Anthony "Showtime" Pettis and UFC commentator Joe Rogan are black belts in Tae Kwon Do.

www.MMA-Roundup.com

Photo courtesy of Sherdog.com / Photo by Taro Irei

MMAFighting.com's Daniel Herbertson translated this week's edition of Japan's Nippon Weekly where Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto (18-3-0[1]) has started to set stage for a possible bout with UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz:

"It's all right, there aren't really any guys at my level," Yamamoto commented. As for UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, "[He's] nothing special... not at all. I'll bring him down."

Yamamoto first must get through Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson (8-1) on Feb. 5 at UFC 126 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.  "Kid" is coming off a win over Federico Lopez at Dream.14 in Japan. Although many insiders have already written off the the 33-year-old Yamamoto as washed-up some of us will never be able to forget what "Kid" is capable of doing.

Kid Yamamoto 4 second KO (via onesolution)

Courtesy of BloodyElbow.com

A little over a year ago the MMA community was rocked by scandal.  A clothing company by the name of Hoelzer Reich had infiltrated the fighter sponsorship landscape.  Much of their apparel blatantly featured imagery synonymous with the Nazi regime including the Totenkopf Death's Head skull, the Iron Cross and a logo using their intials "HR" that bared striking resemblance to a Swastika.  

After public outrage from popular sites like MMA.tv, BloodyElbow.com, Yahoo! Sports' CageWriter and more, UFC, WEC and Strikeforce all eventually banned the brand from sponsoring fighters.

It appears now that a lesson was not learned by other clothing companies of what is, and what isn't acceptable to print onto their clothing.

In the above video recently uploaded by FIGHT! Magazine's YouTube channel, relentless UFC fighter Clay "The Carpenter" Guida is seen wearing a Silver Star Casting Company shirt that features the Totenkopf Death's Head skull as well as several bomber planes below it. Although the Totenkopf was not originally from Adolf Hitler's Nazi era, it cannot be denied that this symbol was not donned by thousands of Nazi soldiers as featured in the picture below.

via germandressdaggers.com

Although the shirt that Guida is wearing in this video no longer appears to be available on Silver Star's online store, they are still selling several items including a shirt and two hats that bare the Totenkopf.  Should Silver Star Casting Company remove these items from their website?

Death Club Lava T-Shirt

First Group Trucker Hat

Rough Riders Trucker Hat

UFC and MMA may never have gained the coveted 18-24 demo from the WWE had Vince McMahon listened to the advice of former ECW brain and WWE employee Paul Heyman (aka Paul E. Dangerously).

Paul Heyman: "I was there in the room when we decided whether to let The Ultimate Fighter come on after Monday Night Raw," Heyman told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. "They had the right to approve or decline any programming that followed them.  I told [the WWE], they better not let [the UFC] on ... Yeah, I'm the a--hole that almost turned it down." 

HT: MMAFighting.com: