From HeavyMMA.com:

UFC president Dana White has been officially invited by the Oxford University debate club to speak in to its members on October 13.

Officials from the promotion made the news available earlier today.
White joins a rather exclusive list of speakers invited to the club, including several past presidents and other famous individuals such as Malcom X and Albert Einstein.

“Anyone who knows anything about me knows I always speak my mind and am very passionate about what I do, and the Oxford Union was founded on exactly those principles,” White stated in an official press release. “I’m looking forward to meeting the students, and I know they have a reputation for asking tough questions and expecting straight answers from their guests. That’s exactly what they’ll get from me.”

White’s visit to Oxford University comes just a few days prior to October 16’s UFC 120, which is set for the O2 Arena in London, England featuring a middleweight contest between Michael Bisping and Yoshihiro Akiyama, along with a welterweight tilt between Carlos Condit and British superstar Dan Hardy.

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The MMA world was turned upside down Saturday night when Fabricio Werdum submitted Fedor Emelianenko at Strikeforce’s Fedor vs. Werdum event.

Fedor had not lost since 2000, winning 27-striaght fights in that span. He was considered by many as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world due to his dominance in Pride, Affliction, and now Strikeforce. Yet, there he was being submitted by Werdum, a man who had never really risen to any sort of iconic status in his career and was largely thought to be a lamb for slaughter to Fedor on Saturday.

The upset has an impact in many ways, but there isn’t anyone happier about it, including Werdum, than UFC President Dana White.

White has been the face of MMA from an organizational standpoint for years now and his company, Zuffa Entertainment, has completely held the top spot in the MMA world.

White has signed all the top fighters and put on all the top fights over the last five years, yet he could never ink the highly sought-after Fedor Emelianenko.

Despite numerous attempts and record-setting contract offers, Fedor would never sign with the UFC because the organization would not co-promote his fights with his management company at M-1 Global. Fedor had the ability to hold power in contract talks because of the status he had reached in MMA through his record winning streak.

The failed contract talks spewed a lot of negativity between White and Fedor, but it also made White look bad. Despite all of his criticisms of Fedor, you knew he wanted to sign him and bring him to the UFC to see just where he stood among the heavyweights in that division.

With Fedor down to two fights on his Strikeforce contract heading into Saturday’s bout, the UFC had one last attempt to sign him over the next year. Now, with the loss, that urgency on the UFC’s part is completely gone.

Not only did Fedor lose, not only did he lose in just over one minute, but he lost to a man that the UFC cut because they didn’t feel he was worth his contract.

Werdum has lost in the octagon to Andrei Arlovski and Junior dos Santos, but he just beat Fedor without landing a strike.

Now when contract talks come around, White can look at know that he doesn’t have to sign him to prove anything. If anything, now Fedor has to prove himself against UFC heavyweights like Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, dos Santos, and Cain Velasquez.

Now White can proclaim he has the top fighters in the world in the heavyweight division and in the pound-for-pound category. Trust me, as smug as it might be to make a big deal out of it in the media, White won’t hesitate to do so.

So while Werdum is enjoying his night of success, White is feeling like its Christmas day.

My hands were sweaty, my face was red but I wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass.

“Dana, could you tell me where you see Jose (Aldo) on your pound-for-pound list.”

The question was simple enough. I mean I ran it through my head a million times in a little over two minutes. The wording, the timing, the tone all needed to sound just right. After all, this question was directed at Dana White, President of the UFC and WEC.

Following Saturday’s WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber pay-per-view event, which was sponsored by AMP Energy, White and select fighters addressed the media. And there I was, covering my first MMA live event thanks to the people at AMP Energy.

At 27, I have been a dedicated MMA fan for seven years. Having seen the early days of Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock, I was re-introduced to the UFC with Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture at UFC 43 and have been hooked since.

But I am not just a fan, I am a sports writer, and have been for about 10 years now.

I knew that the opportunity of covering MMA for Bullz-Eye.com and The Scores Report was one I wanted to be a part of because I knew that I could do it objectively and with the respect and knowledge that MMA fans want from their writers. I’m not just a fan. Still, even having interviewed some of the top athletes in the world, my eyes were locked in with White’s as he awaited my question.

As any MMA fan knows, if White thinks you asked him a stupid question, he will let you know and he will probably sprinkle in a few expletives to describe his feelings.

So I asked my question.

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Urijah Faber is known as the “California Kid,” but Saturday won’t be this “kid’s” first go-around.

The 30-year-old veteran of World Extreme Cagefighting faces the biggest fight of his career this Saturday when he takes on WEC Featherweight Champion, Jose Aldo.

That title contest will be the main event of WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber presented by AMP, from the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif.

“For me, I am fighting one guy who is going to be trying to beat me up and I am going to be trying to beat him up. It is pretty primal for me,” said Faber during a conference call on Tuesday.

Aside from the pressures of having a title fight in his hometown of Sacramento, the WEC is also entering into the pay-per-view market for the first time on Saturday night.

The broadcast airs live on PPV starting at 10PM ET/7PM PT.

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If you haven’t heard, Dana White was furious with the way Anderson Silva performed at UFC 112.

Silva, who was awarded a unanimous decision, spent much of the 25-minute match dancing — and even occasionally running — around the Octagon, taunting Maia, shaking and shimmying, and refusing to engage his overmatched opponent.

Here is an interview with White after the event…

Silva responds through his translator…

Former NFL great Herschel Walker appeared on ESPN First Take on Tuesday and challenged UFC President Dana White to a fight. Walker’s hostility towards White stems from comments made by the UFC prez after Walker signed a deal with Strikeforce.

From Fightline.com:

“I think it’s ridiculous,” White stated about Walker’s signing during an interview on Inside The Ultimate Fighter. “People think we’re anti-competition? We’re anti-dumb competition. Doing stupid things like this, putting a 50 year old guy in the Octagon for the first time, and then going out there putting out press releases like it’s a big deal because you signed a 50-year-old Herschel Walker? Are you serious?”

Walker took White’s comments to heart, and had some comments of his own for White.

“Who ever made him the guy to measure athletic talent?” Walker asked the show. “I don’t think Dana knows anything about athletic talent.
“He knows about fighters, which is different,” Walker continued. “He’s running a show right now with heavyweights and I’ll put dimes to donuts, all the heavyweights on his show right now I will beat. That’s pretty easy to say.”
Walker went on to issue a challenge to the UFC President.

“Dana always tells people to put their money where your mouth is. Dana says I’m so old? Why doesn’t he step into the ring with me because he’s been practicing (MMA), as well?”

It sounds like Walker is biting off more than he can chew. I don’t know enough about the MMA to know who would take down whom, but I think it’s a safe bet that if Walker went against any of the UFC’s top fighters he might struggle. Other athletes-turned-MMA fighters have gone in the ring before, only to be dismantled quickly. But again, I don’t Walker’s fighting style, so I admit I’m talking out of my league here.

Either way, I’d pay to see a Walker-White clash. (Actually, I wouldn’t…but I’d at least watch the highlights.)

Here’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

- Russian heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko told the UFC to get stuffed, and signed with rival MMA promotion Strikeforce. As you can imagine, Dana White wasn’t too happy about this.

- James Irvin officially became the most cursed MMA fighter in history.

- Josh Barnett’s latest steroid bust, which single-handedly destroyed Affliction’s MMA promotion, actually saved the sport of mixed martial arts.

- Speaking of ‘roids, BJ Penn is pretty sure that Georges St. Pierre uses them, because how else would you explain his physique? You know, other than genetics and hard work…

- Sengoku’s featherweight grand prix finals turned into a clusterbang of injuries and racism.

- Former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski may have attempted suicide after two straight knockout losses.

- Busty French-Canadian ring girl Edith Labelle exited the UFC under mysterious circumstances. Rumor has it, she was too drunk to work UFC 100 last month.

- Swing by CagePotato.com Saturday night starting at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT for our liveblog of the UFC 101 pay-per-view broadcast. You can get familiar with the card by reading this debate on the major topics of the event, and our always-helpful gambling advice. And remember: This ain’t Las Vegas, and it ain’t New Jersey. This is Philly.

Here’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

- In a press conference held Friday, UFC boss Dana White announced the returns of Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfort, and promised to be close on another deal that will “change the UFC forever.”

- Unfortunately, getting Russian legend Fedor Emelianenko into the UFC remains a pipe-dream — and it will remain that way as long as Fedor has morons like Jerry Millen in his camp.

- Josh Barnett insists that he’s innocent of his latest steroid charge. His urine, however, is telling a different story.

- Speaking of ‘roids, we ran down every single steroid bust in MMA history, from Tim Sylvia’s ill-fated attempt to lose his gut to Kevin Randleman’s infamous “dead human or live animal” incident.

- Strikeforce’s August 15th show continues to undergo major changes, with Renato Sobral vs. Gegard Mousasi brought over from Affliction’s canceled “Trilogy” card, Jay Hieron coming in to replace Joe Riggs, and Mitsuhiro Ishida replacing injured lightweight champ Josh Thomson. Luckily, Gina Carano is still looking quite healthy.

- Also in the wake of Affliction’s collapse, the UFC swooped in to rescue Ben Rothwell, Paul Daley, and Joe Lauzon’s little brother.

- Kenny Florian talked to us about his gameplan for BJ Penn, and set the record straight on that text message he may or may not have sent Penn that may or may not have accused Georges St. Pierre of greasing.

Here’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

- Last weekend’s Bellator show produced yet another epic finish, as well as the upset loss of featherweight tournament favorite Wilson Reis.

- UFC prez Dana White defended his angry outbursts on ESPN’s “E:60,” and Tito Ortiz stopped by to molest the English language.

- UFC 101 will officially go down August 8th in Philadelphia, and will feature two amazing fights and a bunch of mediocre ones.

- The video promo for DREAM’s Super Hulk Tournament, starring Jose Canseco vs. Hong Man Choi, is sheer cartoonish awesomeness.

- Speaking of which, Canseco isn’t the only athlete we’d like to see make an ill-advised transition into cage-fighting.

- Shooto’s “Final Tradition” event was highlighted by Takanori Gomi’s return to the win column, and a wild one-rounder between Takeshi Inoue and Rumina Sato.

- Keith Jardine scored another two-second role in another horrible movie.

- Lyoto Machida may be fighting for the UFC light-heavyweight title next Saturday, but he’s already looking ahead to Brock Lesnar. Could we eventually see an epic battle between foot-sweeps and hammer-fists?

- Set your DVRs: Former WWE star Bobby Lashley returns to action tonight at MFC 21, and Strikeforce kicks off their “Challengers” series with a lightweight battle between Billy Evangelista and Mike Aina.

- Even though the Hawks don’t stand much chance against the Cavs in their best of seven series this postseason, UNCOACHED.COM notes that at least we can enjoy Atlanta’s A-Town Dancers (above).

- SPORTSbyBROOKS.COM shares details of tennis star Jelena Dokic’s father Damir, who is threatening to launch a rocket attack on the Australian ambassador to Serbia. Take it easy, guy!

- BLAZE OF LOVE compiles 10 of Ron Artest’s best quotes – with video.

- YARDBARKER reports that UFC’s Dana White won’t allow boxer Roy Jones to fight Anderson Silva.

- DEADSPIN notes that L.A. columnist Bill Plaschke is finally vindicated now that Manny Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games by MLB. Plaschke warned all along that Ramirez was a no good troublemaker.