South Carolina vs. Florida
Florida is considered one of the hottest teams in college football, as they have won their last five games by an average of 39 points. South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier would love to knock off his alma mater out of this year’s BCS championship title hunt. And he will try to defeat the Gators by rotating quarterbacks (Stephen Garcia and Chris Smelley) on every offensive play. The rotation system did not seem to bother either quarterback in last week’s 34-21 victory over Arkansas; they combined to throw for 219 yards with two touchdown passes and only one interception. It will not matter how well the QB duo performs if the Gamecocks defense cannot contain Tim Tebow, he accounted for seven touchdowns in a 51-31 victory at South Carolina last season. National coverage will begin Saturday at 3:30 PM on CBS.

UFC 91: Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight Championship Title
The main event of UFC-91 is a classic example of two contradictory styles going against one another, as Randy Couture puts up his heavyweight title against Brock Lesnar at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Lesnar is still untested as a fighter, as he going into only his fourth MMA fight this Saturday night. Couture is unstoppable coming into matches where he is an underdog with a 9-1 record. Lesnar is bigger, stronger, faster and hopes to neutralized Couture’s Greco-Roman wrestling style being a former NCAA wrestling champion himself. Couture has out-muscled larger opponents in his career and expects his experience to come into play in this fight. He hopes to avoid the takedown by moving side-to-side and using his hand speed and quick legwork to neutralize his opponent’s superior strength. If Lesnar can take Couture off his feet, the question will become: Can he keep him on the mat? Pay-per-view coverage will begin Saturday at 10:00 PM

Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins
The Dallas Cowboys hope the return of quarterback Tony Romo to the starting lineup will provide a spark and help them get a “W” in the win column this Sunday night in Washington. Since winning their first three games, the Cowboys have dropped four of their last six games and likely will need to win at least five of their final seven games to hopefully be considered for a playoff spot. Injuries could have a large role in determining if the Washington Redskins make the playoffs. They may have to go the rest of the season without running back Clinton Portis, who is second in the NFL in rushing with 995 yards. He injured his knee at the end of the first quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers two weeks ago and has not returned to the lineup. National coverage will begin Sunday at 8:15 PM on NBC.

After getting his ass kicked in MMA, Kimbo Slice has now decided to get his ass kicked in boxing. Via SPORTSbyBROOKS.com:

When a celebrity’s 15 minutes of fame are finally up, for some reason they always turn their attention towards the boxing ring, where they stand in front of hundreds and pummel another “celebrity” all for some “charity”, which in most cases is their own bank account. Danny Bonaduce and Jose Canseco do so on a regular basis. John Wayne Bobbitt is heading into the ring this Saturday. So it makes sense that MMA star Kimbo Slice has apparently decided to revitalize his dying career by giving “the sweet science” a try.

In an interview with Dan Le Batard, Slice admitted that he’s thinking about strapping on some larger gloves, agreeing to keep his feet on the ground, and stepping into the boxing ring. After all, he needs something to do while that weird legal stuff with his MMA contract gets sorted out.

But as MMARATED.COM points this, this move into the boxing world isn’t necessary something Slice should be looking forward to.

MMARATED.COM:

But there is one little detail that might give Slice some pause: In boxing – though the gloves are a bit thicker, a bit cushier – you get punched in the face a lot. And if his recent 14-second TKO loss to Seth Petruzelli at EliteXC’s final show in early October is any indication, Slice does not like to get punched in the face.

If he does make his way into boxing, Slice better enjoy the attention while it lasts. This guy is heading into oblivion (or bolivion as Mike Tyson would say) fast.

The Love of Sports ranks the top 10 current pound for pound MMA fighters. The intro explains how the writer, E. Spencer Kyte, compiled the rankings.

1. Much like the BCS, strength of schedule counts. While Anderson Silva made like The Governator and kicked the bejesus out of “The Predator,” he still stands behind Georges St. Pierre, whose performance against Jon Fitch was far more impressive than “The Spider” showed against Patrick Cote.

2. You don’t fight, you don’t get ranked, simple as that. Randy Couture’s undoubtedly one of the best pound for pound practitioners in the business when he’s inside The Octagon. Problem is, he hasn’t set foot inside The Octagon since August 2007. Same rules apply to Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto.

3. After those other two, it all comes down to personal preferences.

1. Georges St. Pierre
“Rush” still stands at the top of the heap, primarily for the reason already mentioned above. The secondary reason would fall to #3 – he’s Canadian, I’m Canadian.

2. Anderson Silva
What else is there for this man to do? Regardless of how uninspiring his win at UFC 90 may have been, he’s still won eight fights in a row and doesn’t have a challenger at 185. Maybe Dana White should stop being critical of him and give him the dream fight against Chuck Liddell he’s been asking for.

3. Fedor Emelianenko
The more I think about “The Last Emperor” and his destruction of Tim Sylvia at “Affliction: Banned,” the more I think he deserves top billing on this list. As the fine folks at Fighter! magazine so intelligently said it, Emelianenko did to Sylvia in 36 seconds what it took Randy Couture five rounds to accomplish.

4. B.J. Penn
Personally, I really would’ve liked to see “The Prodigy” take another fight in between waiting for GSP in early-ish 2009. Kenny Florian was willing and waiting, but that’s just the fight fan in me complaining. A win over GSP would not only avenge an earlier loss, but also send Penn to the top of this chart.

5. Urijah Faber
Hurricane Ike could only delay Michael Thomas Brown’s destiny to be added to the roll call of challengers disposed of by “The California Kid.” Words can’t explain how much I’d love to see Faber tack on five or 10 pounds, move up to lightweight and really show if he’s as good as we think he is or simply the big fish in a shallow featherweight pool.

No Kimbo Slice? Oh, I forgot – he’s a fraud.

Another MMA league has just got KO’d by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as Elite XC will be closing for business at the end of the week.

Elite XC’s two biggest attractions, Slice and Carano, are unlikely to be moving to the sport’s highest-profile group. UFC president Dana White has repeatedly said he won’t use Slice, who made his reputation as a backyard streetfighter on YouTube videos but is not the caliber of even a mid-level MMA pro. White also has said he’s not interested in promoting women’s fighting, although Carano’s success as a draw may cause him to reconsider. Her match with Kelly Kobold two weeks ago ended up adding more new viewers than any MMA match on television in the U.S.

It had been widely known that due to the losses, and the inability to raise new capital, that the Elite XC would either be sold to Showtime or be forced to fold by the end of the year. Others within the company said bankruptcy papers would be filed.

Well, I guess it’s back to fighting hobos for $20 on the street for Kimbo Slice. Only in America can you fight homeless people on YouTube and become a television star. Good for White for turning down the opportunity to represent a cartoon character just to get some publicity.

MMA fans are familiar with Rachelle Leah as the host of “UFC: All Access” on Spike TV. She’ll be appearing in the November issue of Playboy in the nude. Here’s the cover.

Until the issue hits the shelves, fans can tide themselves over with this gallery from Men’s Fitness.

Kevin Iole of YAHOO! Sports writes that MMA Octagon Girl Rachelle Lee is more than just a pretty face…I guess.

I’ll be honest – I didn’t read the article. I just saw this picture:

I’ll take Kevin’s word for it though.

Go ahead and post your most clichéd guy response in the comments section below. I’ll start things off: She can ring my bell anytime she wants…Hi-Oh!

Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald filleted the EliteXC’s most recent event, going so far as to say it was a “sham.”

By now, all MMA enthusiasts (and most of the rest of us) know that Kimbo Slice was defeated in 14 seconds by Seth Petruzelli, who was a last-minute replacement for 44 year-old Ken Shamrock, who cut his eye while training on the day of the fight.

Did Shamrock believe his training so unproductive that a little cramming was necessary?

The point is that Shamrock was forced to back out, which sent EliteXC and CBS scrambling for an alternative. The first idea to solve the problem was, of course, to replace Shamrock with his brother, Frank — who was supposed to be the broadcast’s analyst.

This often happens in sports. Analysts such as Troy Aikman and Kirk Herbstreit often leave their TV jobs on a temporary basis when their former teams have injured quarterbacks and need help.

When that brilliant idea tarnished, EliteXC started searching for other stand-ins before finally settling on some dude named Seth Petruzelli.

The column gets interesting when Salguero discusses what EliteXC told Petruzelli before the fight:

Anyway, Petruzelli agreed to the fight, but his instructions from the EliteXC people seem hazy. In a radio interview Monday, Petruzelli said he was told he could not take Slice to the ground — which would be good for Slice, a stand-up brawler who is not proficient on the ground.

This instruction from EliteXC, which has hitched its popularity to Slice and has an interest in Slice succeeding, is akin to Major League Baseball informing teams they must throw only fastballs to New York Yankees hitters. It is, after all, good for the sport when the Yankees win the World Series.

”The promoter kind of hinted to me, and they gave me the money to stand and trade with him,” Petruzelli told the Monsters in Orlando radio show. “They didn’t want me to take him down, let’s just put it that way. It was worth my while to try to stand up and punch with him.”

Is this starting to sound rigged to you?

That perception was personified when EliteXC vice president Jared Shaw began yelling at the referee in the fight’s final seconds, alleging Petruzelli used an illegal blow against Slice. In doing so, he showed an obvious bias toward the organization’s manufactured star.

I’m not a regular MMA enthusiast, but I’d probably tune in if there was one league that featured all the best fighters. Until then, I’m going to stay away.

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t really follow the MMA. But it’s hard not to know who Kimbo Slice is considering the YouTube.com star actually graced the cover of ESPN the Magazine a few months ago.

I didn’t catch the fight (I was flipping between college football and the latest Cubs’ postseason collapse), but I had to chuckle when I read that Slice was knocked out in just 14 seconds Saturday night by some guy filling in for the inured Ken Shamrock. And as Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports writes, it looks like the Kimbo Slice Show has reached it’s finale.

One simple shot sent Slice to the canvas and from there some guy named Seth Petruzelli needed just 12 punches and 14 seconds to put an end (we hope) to one of the great sporting charades of all time.

It was just a matter of time before Kimbo got exposed. He was little more than a character out of central casting, a bunch of addictive YouTube videos and a lot of insane hype by CBS, which made him a headliner before he made himself a fighter.

He was the Kimbo the Cash Machine, everyone lining up to exploit the lie that this was the baddest man on earth as long as he could walk through hand-picked tomato cans.

Kimbo was KTFO by a guy he absolutely towered over yet was willing to bang with him anyway. Not that Kimbo did any banging. Slice charged him (“He was like a truck,” Petruzelli said) but he never actually landed a punch.

In the end, Kimbo’s hand speed, defense and chin proved incapable against even an average mixed martial artist. Which was pretty much what every hardcore fan had predicted.

Not that CBS didn’t keep up with the Slice willing to fight, “anyone, anywhere, at anytime.” This was a 100 percent true statement if “anyone, anywhere, at anytime” means “no one any good, anywhere, ever.”

Not that I would ever want to go toe to toe with Slice - but what a joke. And is that a M.I.L.F. Hunter T-shirt he’s wearing in that photo? Awesome.

Prior to his Elite XC main event fight with Kimbo Slice, MMA legend Ken Shamrock sat down with ESPN Radio in Florida to give a candid interview on his upcoming fight, his career, and his current relationship with his family.

When asked about why was he so talented at promoting his fights, Shamrock responded:

“That’s just me, that’s my character. I find something that irritates me about somebody and I try to dig on them about it. I guess that generates into some good viewing, but it gets me ready for a fight.”

Shamrock went on to add that his training and preparation for this fight have been good, and for the first time in four or five years he will enter the octagon without being hampered by a lingering injury. Shamrock understands he cannot take Slice’s punching ability for granted, because if he gets lazy in his defense it will a short evening for him. Coverage of the Elite XC card begins at 9 PM Saturday on CBS.

Just a couple of news updates for UFC fans:

- Looks like Brock Lesnar will have his next UFC fight in November. It’ll likely be at UFC 91 which will be held in Portland, Oregon. He’s projected to face fellow heavyweight Cheick Kongo.

- For those of you wondering when the new season of “The Ultimate Fighter” premieres, it’ll return on September 17th at 10:00 PM Eastern on Spike TV. The two coaches will be heavyweights Antonio Rodrigo and Frank Mir.

NBC Sports has a great clip on former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez, which gives you an inside look at his title defense against Josh Thomson. If you’re a fan of MMA, you’ll find the video worth your time. Check it out below:

Georges St-Pierre was dominant in Saturday’s Welterweight title match against number one contender Jon Fitch. After scoring a knockdown in the first round, St-Pierre didn’t look back, winning every single round handily. It’s clear why he’s considered to be one of the best pound-for-pound fighters that the UFC has to offer. This guy is an amazing athlete, and posesses all the tools to make a tremendous run with the UFC Welterweight Champion. Credit Jon Fitch for going the distance though, the guy took quite a beating but never gave up throughout the fight.

The rest of the card for UFC 87 was solid as well. Brock Lesnar defeated Heath Herring in a bout that solidified Lesnar as a top heavyweight. He made Herring, who’s 6′4”, 250 pounds, look like a child. The most interesting moment in the fight came right after it ended. Lesnar, knowing he had clearly won, taunted Herring by literally pointing and laughing at him. The hometown Lesnar fans loved it. If he had done this in Las Vegas, he would’ve been boo’d out of the building. There’s no room for that crap.

Kenny Florian was also impressive in scoring a victory over Roger Huerta. Florian simply frustrated Huerta by countering anything and everything he threw at him during the fight. Huerta slammed his mouthpiece in disgust as the fight ended. Florian has a bright future in the UFC, that’s for sure.

Overall, it was an excellent UFC pay-per-view. Every fight was entertaining, and that’s pretty rare these days. UFC 88 features Chuck Liddell taking on undefeated light heavyweight Rashad Evans on September 6th.

Georges St-Pierre, ranked by many as the second best pound-for-pound UFC fighter (behind Anderson Silva), will step into the Octagon to face number one contender Jon Fitch.

Fitch has won eight consecutive fights, a record in modern UFC history, but chances are you’ve never heard of him. This Saturday, he gets a chance to make a name for himself when he takes on St-Pierre for the UFC Welterweight title. This is St-Pierre’s second time holding the title, and he hopes to make it a long reign. Will Fitch gain the respect of MMA fans across the globe, or will he be GSP’s next victim?

Other notable matches include Brock Lesnar facing off against “The Texas Crazyhorse” Heath Herring in a UFC Heavyweight Bout. No one is sure what to make of the former WWE star as of yet, but this is a fight that he can’t afford to lose. It’ll be a great chance to see if he’s for real. Also, Roger Huerta will battle Kenny Florian in a UFC Lightweight matchup that has potential to be an amazing fight. Huerta, who took part of the 2007 UFC Fight of the Year against Clay Guida, is pure joy to watch. Florian on the other hand, has been on a tremendous streak since losing his one and only fight at 155 pounds against Sean Sherk back in 2006.

This is shaping up to be a very entertaining card! Tune in this Saturday on PPV.

Check out the official site here.

In one of their recent blogs, Cage Potato.com ranked the “Top 10 Worst MMA Nicknames Ever” and without question, they found some doozies.

#5 (tie): Brad “The Hillbilly Heartthrob” Imes, Eric “Ravishing Red” Schafer
If you reference your handsomeness in your nickname, not only are you a conceited douchebag, but you’re also neglecting your target audience. Do you know how many women watch MMA? Like, none. So who are you trying to seduce, exactly — that big lug on the other side of the cage? It’s very, very questionable, that’s all I’m saying. Bas “El Guapo” Rutten gets a pass because he’s Dutch and he chose a Spanish nickname, and whatever Bas does is aces in our book.

#3: Ron “H20Man” Waterman
Oh, for the love of God. As lame as this nickname is, you know that Waterman must have thought he was the cleverest dude on Earth when he came up with it. I’ve never seen Ron fight, but I can only assume that the announcer introduces him as “Ron, two molecules of Hydrogen reacting with one molecule of Oxygen Man, WATERmaaaaan!”

#2: Jorge “The Naked Man” Ortiz
This would be #1 if not for the fact that “The Naked Man” actually works from an intimidation standpoint. “Bill, good news, I got you a fight. It’s on March 25th against a greased-up nude Mexican. Three five-minute rounds, and…you there, Bill?”

The reference to Waterman thinking he was, “the cleverest dude on Earth” when he came up with the nickname is pretty funny.