MMA

UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is hoping to avenge his only loss and unify the heavyweight title against interim champion Frank Mir at UFC 100. And Lesnar says Mir is going to find out when they fight that Lesnar is a much better fighter than he was when they first met a year and a half ago.

"I've improved dramatically," Lesnar said on a call this week to promote their main event bout at UFC 100.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic's on-again, off-again relationship with the UFC might not be off again after all.

Cro Cop -- who signed with the UFC in 2006, lost two of his three fights in 2007, fought in Japan in 2008 and successfully returned to the Octagon in 2009 -- infuriated UFC President Dana White when he abruptly quit after winning at UFC 99, reportedly agreeing to go back to Japan to fight for Dream.

But a new report in Cro Cop's native Croatia says UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta may have convinced Filipovic to step back into the Octagon.

The UFC has probably done more to market itself on YouTube than any other sports organization, and since it's a slow news day, I thought it would be fun to take a stroll back through memory lane to January 26, 2007, when the UFC first launched its YouTube channel. Above is the preview video posted that day for UFC 67, with a main event of Anderson Silva vs. Travis Lutter, and below are a couple videos promoting the UFC debuts of Rampage Jackson and Mirko Cro Cop, both of whom were making their Octagon debuts at UFC 67.

We've been handing out our half-year MMA awards, so here's my take on the biggest upset of the last six months.

As is often the case in MMA, there were plenty of upsets to choose from. But at the end of the day, I had to go with Joe Warren defeating Kid Yamamoto via split decision at Dream.9 on May 26 (part one of the fight is above; part two is here.)

The year is half over, so we're giving out some MMA half year awards. Today we'll discuss the best fight of the year so far.

Behold another exciting edition of FightHouse Radio. This week, MDS and I welcomed two great guests to the show. First, UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch talked about preparing for his fight against Paulo Thiago at UFC 100 and evolving as a mixed martial artist. Later, we were joined by veteran Ricco Rodriguez to discuss his busy fight schedule and training with Michael Bisping for his bout against Dan Henderson at UFC 100. Enjoy!

The conventional wisdom says that the main event at UFC 100 will come down to Frank Mir's technique and agility against Brock Lesnar's power. And Mir says the conventional wisdom is right.

The year is half over, so we're giving out some MMA half year awards. Today we've got the best knockout of the year so far in MMA.

The UFC Fan Expo taking place next weekend in Las Vegas in conjunction with UFC 100 has added some star power, as the UFC has announced a series of grappling matches and appearances by Kimbo Slice and the rest of the cast of The Ultimate Fighter 10.

The grappling matches feature some of the best jiu jitsu players in the world, and I'm personally most excited about seeing Vinny Magalhaes, who appeared on the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter. Magalhaes lackst the striking to compete in the UFC, but he's amazing on the ground. He'll be fun to watch, although the UFC hasn't yet said who he's facing.

Frank Mir is getting ready to fight a 275-pound behemoth when he takes on Brock Lesnar for the heavyweight title at UFC 100. But Mir's biggest concern isn't Lesnar's weight. It's Lesnar's reach.