To check out “MMA, Olympics may meet again at pankration” from Sergio Non’s Strikes and Submissions blog for USA Today, click here.

To check out “Is K.J. Noons ducking Nick Diaz?” from Larry Vollmer Jr.’s Inside the Octagon blog for The Journal News, click here.

To check out “Dana White: Never enough fights” from Non’s Strikes and Submissions blog, click here.

To check out “UFC 88: Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans (w/video)” from Jared Barnes’ Brawl Sports blog for the Houston Chronicle, click here.

To check out “Jake Shields questions Shinya Aoki’s warrior spirit” from Vollmer’s Inside the Octagon blog, click here.

To check out “The Razor’s Edge: Rob McCullough’s MMA Blog” for the O.C. Register, click here.

Shane Smith uncorked a right hand that bloodied Mark Bentley’s nose.

The ring at LA Boxing in Costa Mesa was small by most standards, but it was absolutely dwarfed by the two super-heavyweights mixing it up on this day.

Bentley came back the next round and almost took Smith’s head off with a left hook. That touched off an exchange by the two behemoths in the center of the ring.

Bentley landed a low leg kick in the third round that left a nasty contusion on the side of Smith’s leg.

It was just another day of sparring between two friends.

Bentley, 38, a 6-7, 380-pounder, is a former Saddleback College football player who once had a tryout with the Raiders. Smith, 32, is the little one at 6-5 and 305 pounds.

Both are self-made businessmen that were always fascinated by mixed martial arts. Smith said he has saved enough money from selling his business to give pro fighting a shot. Bentley is doing the same thing.

Bentley started training a little over three years ago and Smith has been at it for a year. They have both been training six days a week the past two months, pushing each other as they prepare to make their pro debuts.

“I really want that challenge in my life,” Bentley said. “I’ve always wanted to experience it. It’s always been a dream of mine. I can’t wait to get in there and try it. It’s going to be awesome.”

Finding a fight for a heavyweight is tough, but finding a fight for a super-heavyweight (above 265 pounds) is even tougher. The UFC doesn’t even have a super-heavyweight class.

But Bentley will finally get his chance to step in the cage when he takes on Taylor Schmidt at Gladiator Challenge on Friday at Fox Theater in San Bernardino.

“The first fight is going to be the toughest, just to get those jitters out of the way,” said Bentley, who hopes to fight professionally for at least the next three years.

Smith, who had some amateur boxing matches back home in Ohio before he moved to San Clemente, is in the same boat as Bentley as far as finding fights at super-heavyweight, which is why he plans to trim down to 265 pounds to make the heavyweight limit.

“I want this to be my career,” Smith said. “I love it. You have to beat me out of the gym.”

NOTES

Oscar De La Hoya will make a major announcement about his future during a conference call Thursday morning. De La Hoya is expected to announce that he has finalized a deal to fight Manny Pacquiao in his final fight on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas. …

EliteXC is going back to Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson’s backyard for its next “CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights” card on Oct. 4 at Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. Ferguson, who is coming off a shaky performance against James Thompson on May 31, will face MMA pioneer Ken Shamrock, who has dropped seven of his past eight fights, in the main event.

In the other televised fights, EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields defends his belt against Paul Daley, female MMA star Gina Carano takes on Kelly Kobald and Murilo “Ninja” Rua takes on IFL veteran Benji Radach. …

“Razor” Rob McCullough of Huntington Beach is a former World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight champion. He is one of the top 155-pound fighters in mixed martial arts and he will be giving ocregister.com readers an inside look at the life of a fighter with his weekly blog.

BLOG NO. 6

Well, since the last time I wrote I’ve still been training my butt off, watching movies, hosting Razor Clothing parties at clubs and just trying to take over the world.

My boy Josh Thomson has been staying with me and helping me train for my next fight. Josh is currently the Strikeforce lightweight champion and a great training partner.

We’ve been training two times a day and running sprints in the sand on Saturdays. At night, we usually hit Main Street to get some sushi with the rest of my friends like Tiki and my boy “Flave.”

Since the last time I blogged I’ve seen the movie “Tropic Thunder” twice, just because it was that funny. I also saw “Step Brother” and “Pineapple Express,” which were also super funny.

I had my friend Tracy Lee from combatlifestyle.com come to a Razor Clothing party at Silveras steak house.

Tracy ended up catching us on our last training session of the day on Friday before we headed out for the night.

The guys that trained with me were Josh Thomson, Zach Lyte, Tiki Ghosn and my buddy, Steve Moon. We met at H.B. Ultimate Training Center at 6 p.m., ran a quick-paced 3.2 miles and then did 25 minutes of bag drills, including ground bag, knee bag, standing body bag and a medicine ball drill I hadn’t done before. We switched stations every minute for 25 minutes.

Tracy took photos of the whole thing and then went with us to the Razor Clothing party afterwards. The party was awesome. There were a lot of people and a really good DJ played. All my friends were very happy with the outcome, so stay tuned for the next Razor Clothing event.

Saturday morning came too early for me. Before I knew it we were running sprints at the beach, which Tracy also got pictures of. If you want to see her photos, go to combatlifestyle.com or if you want to order some of my new gear, go to razorclothing.tv.

Well, until next time, be safe, wear your seat belt, don’t drink and drive, and do something nice for someone you dont know.

-Razor Rob

To check out “Emelianenko: Just trying to keep ‘em pleased” from Sergio Non’s Strikes and Submissions blog for USA Today, click here.

To check out “Exclusive: Q&A with MMA’s only pro female referee Kim Winslow” FightTicker.com’s David Mayeda, click here.

To check out “Fedor possibly out for rest of this year (with video)” from Carlos Arias’ Keep Punching blog for the O.C. Register, click here.

To check out “Playboy Magazine: Read it for the MMA articles” from Jared Barnes’ Brawl Sports blog for the Houston Chronicle, click here.

To check out “Matt Hughes has some criticism for Georges St. Pierre” from Larry Vollmer Jr.’s Inside the octagon blog for The Journal News, click here.

To check out “What we learned this weekend” from Tom Kim’s Ultimate Fan blog for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, click here.

To check out a video interview with Fedor Emelianenko, click here. 

HOLLYWOOD - Fedor Emelianenko’s right thumb injury will definitely keep him off the “Affliction 2: Day of Reckoning” card on Oct. 11 at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Emelianenko said the injury does not require surgery, but it could also prevent him from competing in the World Sambo Championships in November and from fighting on New Year’s Eve in Japan.

Emelianenko injured the thumb during his 36-second destruction of former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia on Affliction’s debut card on July 19 at Honda Center.

“It’s my right hand and right now it’s healing,” Emelianenko said during a luncheon hosted by Affliction on Tuesday in L.A. “It’s feeling OK, so it’s fine.

“I have a feeling, unfortunately, because of the time needed to train I’m going to be missing the next Affliction fight in October. But I anticipate getting back in the gym soon and being ready for the next Affliction show after the October show.”

The next Affliction show is expected to happen in February or March.

Emelianenko also had a chance to meet with Randy Couture during his trip to L.A. Emelianenko and Couture would be a dream matchup for the sport of MMA, but there are huge factors blocking it from happening. Couture is currently involved in litigation with the UFC, preventing him from fighting with any other promotion.

“We talked a little bit about everything,” Emelianenko said about his talks with Couture. “Certainly, one of the main topics was the possibility of having a fight together and the realities that we both face – mainly that he faces – and whether the reality of having a fight can happen in the near future.”

Emelianenko’s manager Vadim Finkelstein said he is willing to negotiate with the UFC to make a Emelianenko-Couture fight happen, but he said UFC president Dana White has to be willing to meet halfway.

Finkelstein said the UFC’s contract offer in the past was too restrictive and prevented Emelianenko from competing in Sambo. White called Emelianenko’s management team “crazy Russians” when a deal between Couture and the UFC feel through last September.

“Of course, he can’t deal with us because he can’t deal with anybody,” Finkelstein said. “He wants to have everything in his own control, but we can’t deal with people that want to control everything.”

It looks like Emelianenko’s next fight probably will be against Josh Barnett or Andrei Arlovski, who fight each other in the main event of Affliction’s card on Oct. 11, in February or March. Emelianenko said he is still holding out hope that he will be able to fight in Japan on New Year’s Eve.

“It’s something I would like to fulfill to my Japanese fans,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons we are here (in L.A.) to see if both could be possible.”

MORE FEDOR

Emelianenko was asked about his thoughts on some of the top heavyweights during the luncheon. Then he was asked about his thoughts on Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson.

“You’re not referring to a top-10 fighter, yet,” Emelianenko said. “I think he’s got a lot more work to do. He’s got to have a lot more fights and really increase his competition and the quality of opponents that he fights. As a person and personality for the sport, he’s got a great (public relations) company and he’s done something that many fighters have taken many years to achieve and he’s done it in a very short period of time.

“So if he is able to combine that with his physical strength and learn some more technique and get in some more experience, then, maybe, he will get to a level of popularity that will transcend the sport as well.”

NOTES

Jared Hamman (10-1) of Rancho Cucamonga gets a rematch with Po’ai Suganuma (9-1) in the main event of “ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series” on Friday at 11 p.m. on Showtime from Table Mountain Casino in Friant.

In one of the other televised bouts, female MMA pioneer Debi “Whiplash” Purcell (4-1) of Laguna Niguel returns to action for the first time since 2006 when she takes on Rosi Sexton (8-1) in a 130-pound bout. …

A pair of local fighters will be featured on the “King of the Cage: Bio Hazard” card tonight at 7:30 at San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino in Highland.

Lake Forest’s Mike “Joker” Guymon (7-2-1) takes on James Fanshier (15-8) in a welterweight fight and welterweight Aaron “Slam” Wetherspoon (7-2), who trains with Team Oyama at No Limits in Irvine, faces Anthony Lapsley (11-3). The card will be shown on pay-per-view on Aug. 29. …

TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah and Martin Kampmann will be the guest on “Inside MMA” on Friday at 6:30 p.m. on HDNet. …

HOLLYWOOD - Newly-crowned WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko was in So Cal on Tuesday to discuss business with Affliction MMA vice president Tom Atencio.

Emelianenko took some time out for an autograph signing at Affliction’s new store on Melrose Ave. and to have lunch with a small group of MMA writers at Louise’s Trattoria.

FEDOR EMELIANENKO INTERVIEW PART 1

FEDOR EMELIANENKO INTERVIEW PART 2

FEDOR EMELIANENKO INTERVIEW PART 3

To check out post-fight audio from Georges St. Pierre, Brock Lesnar, Kenny Florian, Rob Emerson, Demian Maia and Cheick Kongo, click here.

Georges St. Pierre re-affirmed his dominance at 170 pounds.

St. Pierre reatained his UFC welterweight title with a five-round unanimous decision over Jon Fitch in the main event of UFC 87 on Saturday night on pay-per-view in front of a sold-out crowd at Target Center at Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Whatever questions remained about St. Pierre were erased by his dominant performance against Fitch, who came in with a 15-fight winning streak and an 8-0 mark in the UFC.

UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn has expressed his desire to move up from 155 pounds to challenge the 170-pound champ in a rematch, but it remains to be seen what the UFC has planned for St. Pierre.

St. Pierre surprised Fitch, a standout wrestler at Purdue, with a quick takedown early in the first round. Fitch got back to his feet quickly, but St. Pierre dropped him again with a right hand. Fitch was taking a pounding, eating some mean punches and elbows.

Fitch made it to his feet, but got wobbled by another right and hit the deck again. St. Pierre landed some ruthless elbows and got the mount, but Fitch got saved by the bell.

Fitch came back strong in the second round and bloodied St. Pierre’s forehead with an elbow.

St. Pierre didn’t let Fitch build any momentum, dropping Fitch with a right in the third round. Fitch showed his toughness by getting a reversal, but St. Pierre was all over him by the end of the third.

St. Pierre was cutr over the left eye by Fitch heading into the fourth round, but St. Pierre kepy applying the pressure, stuffing Fitch’s takedown attempts and taking down Fitch at will.

St. Pierre was as fresh in the fifth round as he was in the first as he continued to dominate the action.

All three judges scored the fight in favor of St. Pierre, 50-43, 50-44, 50-44. St. Pierre, of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, improved to 17-2, while, Fitch, of San Jose, dropped to 21-3.

Former WWE champion Brock Lesnar is the real deal.

This massive human is no publicity stunt or freak show.

Lesnar, a former NCAA wrestling champion and four-time All-American, can fight.

Three fights into his pro MMA career, Lesnar took on an 11-year veteran with 42 fights under his belt and he manhandled Heath Herring as if he were a small child.

Lesnar put on a ground-and-pound clinic and pounded his way to a three-round unanimous decision over Herring in front of his hometown fans in the co-main event.

Lesnar, a 6-3, 265-pounder, landed one of his giant meat hooks, which he calls a right hand, in the opening seconds of the fight and it knocked Herring across the ring for a backwards somersault.

Lesnar was unable to finish off the valiant Herring, who fought until the end despite taking a terrible a beating. But Lesnar took him down at will and the few punches he did land did horrible damage to Herring’s face.

Lesnar took advantage of his fantastic wrestling skills, size and strength to control position and ground-and-pound Herring for three one-sided rounds.

All three judges had Lesnar winning, 30-26. Lesnar, of Minneapolis, improved to 2-1, while Herring, of Las Vegas, dropped to 29-14-1.

A pair of “The Ultimate Fighter 5″ contestants hooked up in a lightweight scrap and Rob Emerson (10-6-1) of Irvine came away with a spectacular first-round KO over Manvel Gamburyan (9-4) of Hollywood.

Gamburyan came barreling in, looking to initiate the action. But he left himself open because of his aggressiveness and Emerson made him pay.

Emerson, who trains with Team Oyama at No Limits in Irvine, landed a perfect right that planted Gamburyan on the canvas. Emerson pounced on his fallen opponents and landed one more left hook that sent Gamburyan’s eyes rolling back in his head. Referee Yves Lavigne stopped it right there at 12 seconds of the opening round.

Kenny Florian (10-3) of Boston, Mass., stamped himself as the No. 1 contender in the UFC’s lightweight division with a convincing three-round unanimous decision over Roger Huerta (21-2-1) of Minneapolis, Minne.

Florian won every round, taking it by scores of 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards. It was Huerta’s first loss in seven fights in the UFC. UFC president Dana White has said in the past that the Florian-Huerta winner would be the next challenger for UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn, who was cageside for the fight. But Penn has stated he wants to move up and challenge for the UFC welterweight title, so it remains to be seen what is next for Florian.

Florian took advantage of Huerta’s aggressive nature, backing away and nailing the Mexican-American sensation with stinging counters. Florian was even more successful when he initiated the action, landing knees and kicks and a stiff right jab.

Florian stuffed all of Huerta’s takedown attempts and scored takedowns of his own in each of the three rounds. He was able to take Huerta’s back in the first and second rounds, but the slippery Huerta escaped both times.

Huerta’s face was swollen and bloody from all the punishment he took after three rounds, and it was clear who the victor was on this night.

Middleweight Demian Maia (9-0) of Sao Paulo, Brazil, showed off his amazing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills and Jason MacDonald (21-10) of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, displayed tremendous heart and courage in defeat in the opening bout of the pay-per-view telecast.

Maia, a decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, pulled guard early in the opening round and locked in a deep triangle attempt. Maia was squeezing down on MacDonald’s head and appeared to have him ready to tap, but the Canadian refused and escaped the choke. During the scramble, MacDonald took Maia’s back and went for a rear-naked choke, but the Brazilian defended it.

Maia passed MacDonald’s guard with some slick Jiu-Jitsu and took MacDonald’s back. Maia got in a rear-naked choke, but MacDonald held on for the final 30 seconds of the first round and once again refused to tap.

MacDonald spent most of the second round mounted by Maia, absorbing punches and elbows. Maia battered and bloodied MacDonald, but he couldn’t finish the tough Canadian.

Maia’s dominance continued in the third round. Maia took MacDonald’s back and softened him up with some lefts to set up a rear-naked choke. MacDonald was unable to fight it off this time and tapped out at 2:44 of the third round.

Heavyweight Cheick Kongo (22-4-1) of Paris, France, overwhelmed UFC newcomer Dan Evensen (10-3) of Las Vegas, scoring a first-round TKO in one of the featured bouts on the undercard.

Kongo, a 6-4, 235-pounder, blasted Evensen, a 6-3, 244-pounder, with a right hand that dropped him to the canvas. Kongo, who is trained by Juanito Ibarra, unloaded a barrage of punches and hammerfists until referee Yves Lavigne stopped the beating at 4:55 of the opening round.

Affliction MMA vice president Tom Atencio surprised newly-crowned WBA welterweight champion Antonio Margarito, presenting him with a custom fatboy motorcycle on Thursday night at an Affliction store opening on Melrose Ave. in Hollywood.

Margarito, who is sponsored by Affliction, is coming off an 11th-round TKO victory over Miguel Cotto in a “Fight of the Year” candidate. The “Tijuana Tornado” is pushing for a showdown against Oscar De La Hoya later this year.

A celebrity-studded crowd, which included WBC super-welterweight champion Sergio Mora and actor Michael Madsen, was on hand as Atencio presented Margarito with the keys to the custom Harley.

To check out “FightTicker.com panel picks Brock Lesnar at UFC 87″ from FightTicker.com, click here.

To check out “UFC 87: Seek and Destroy pre-fight analysis and predictions” from Larry Vollmer Jr.’s Inside the Octagon blog for The Journal News, click here.

To check out “FightTicker.com panel picks St. Pierre at UFC 87″ from FightTicker.com, click here.

To check out “UFC 87: Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch” from Jared Barnes’ Brawl Sports blog for the Houston Chronicle, click here.

To check out “Lesnar in MMA for long haul” from Carlos Arias’ Keep Punching blog for the O.C. Register, click here.

To check out “UFC 87: Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring” from Barnes’ Brawl Sports blog, click here.

To check out “Seeking the winners for UFC 87″ from Tom Kim’s Ultimate Fan blog for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, click here.

To check out “Fitch presents rare challenge for St. Pierre” from Sergio Non’s Strikes and Submissions blog for USA Today, click here.

To check out “UFC 87: Roger Huerta vs. Kenny Florian” from Barnes’ Brawl Sports blog, click here.

To check out “MMA’s only professional female ref offciated two WEC 35 fights” from FightTicker.com’s Pramit Mohapatra, click here.

To check out “The Razor’s Edge: Rob McCullough’s MMA Blog (Aug. 6)” for the O.C. Register, click here.

Coming off a pair of explosive performances at “Affliction: Banned,” former UFC champions Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski and Josh “The Babyfaced Assassin” Barnett will hook up in the main event of “Affliction: Day of Reckoning” on Oct. 11 at Thomas & Mack Center in las Vegas on pay-per-view.

Arlovski-Barnett will be a WAMMA heavyweight elimination fight. The winner will earn the right to face WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, who defeated Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds at “Affliction: Banned” to capture the belt, for the championship later this year.

“We couldn’t be more excited to see Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett face off for the right to take on Fedor for the WAMMA world heavyweight championship,” WAMMA CEO Dave Szady said. “In the spirit of crowningundisputed champions, we couldn’t be happier than to have two fighters who arguably deserve a shot at Fedor fighting it out for the chance to take on the champ.”

Arlovski, who scored a third-round TKO over Ben Rothwell in his last outing, is ranked No. 4 by WAMMA.

“I am looking forward to a very exciting fight with Josh Barnett on the Oct. 11 Affliction show,” Arlovski said. “I was extremely pleased with my last performance and looking forward to giving fans another great fight.”

Barnett, who is coming off a second-round TKO over Pedro Rizzo in his last fight, is ranked No. 3 by WAMMA.

“Andrei is a very talented fighter with a lot of skill and heart,” Barnett said. “But fighting in Las Vegas in front of the most knowledgeable MMA fan base in the country will be a great motivator for me to train hard and give him the challenge of his career.”

Here are the other fights confirmed for Affliction’s second event: Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort; Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira; Roy “Big Country” Nelson vs. Paul Buentello; and Chris Horodecki vs. TBA.

Tickets for “Affliction: Day of Reckoning” go on sale on Saturday, Aug. 9, at 10 a.m. Call (702) 739-3267 or go online at unlvtickets.com for tickets ($75-$500).