MMA Link Club: Media Reviews, Counter-Pranks, and Minowa Clones

- Mike Van Arsdale on Rumble Johnson's Move to 185 and UFC 142 (BleacherReport)

"Joe Silva requested that Anthony move up a weight class because he understands what will eventually happen if you lose too much weight for too long.  Anthony is a 220 pounder, so he really has no business fighting at 170 pounds. From my experience as an athlete and as a coach, losing that type of weight does one thing to you and that is it rids you of some of your athleticism. As well as Anthony did at 170 pounds he only has his sails half way up. - Mike Van Arsdale"

- Dead MMA Fighter of the Month: Justin Levens (CagePotato)

"At the time of his death, Justin Levens was 28 years old and hadn’t won an MMA match in over two years. He’d gone 0-5 in 2007 - an agonizing year in which his close friend and IFL teammate Jeremy Williams committed suicide, also by shooting himself - and was dealt a six-month suspension by the California State Athletic Commission in July 2008 when a pre-fight drug test came back off-the-charts for the painkiller Oxymorphone."

- Gina Carano's 'Haywire' Movie Review (MMAMania)

"The great thing about going to see Gina Carano's Haywire movie, which opens in theaters nationwide on Jan. 20, 2012, is that even if you don't like the film, you're still entitled to almost two hours of gratuitous ogling of the former mixed martial arts (MMA) champion. And that's really the secret ingredient in making Haywire, directed by Steven Soderbergh and co-starring Ewan McGregor, such an effective R-rated action thriller."

- Esther Lin's Best MMA Photos of 2011 (MMAFighting)

"MMA Fighting photographer Esther Lin selects her top mixed martial arts photos from the past year, and tells the tales behind each of them, in video format."

- Book Review - Submit Everyone: The Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu Files by Dave Camarillo (Five Ounces of Pain)

"If you’ve heard of Dave Camarillo then you’ve heard of Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu, which is a special blend of jiu-jitsu that uses guerilla warfare tactics in order to help you submit your opponent. At American Kickboxing Academy, Camarillo has trained top fighters and champions such as Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Luke Rockhold, Cain Velasquez, and many others in the art of Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu."

- Did Jon Fitch get a fair shake for his MMA/pro-wrestling comments? (FightOpinion)

"Jon Fitch has taken a PR beating for the comments he said to Ariel Helwani about where he wants the direction of the sport of MMA to be heading in the near future. Most people briefly listened to the interview or read commentary about it elsewhere. However, is the blowback he’s receiving for his interview comments fair?"

- Luke Rockhold clears up the 'Keith Jardine mom' incident, talks broken hand (MiddleEasy)

"LayzieTheSavage caught up with Luke Rockhold shortly after we published the video of Keith Jardine's mom attacking someone who we thought was related to Luke Rockhold. It turns out that...well, maybe you should just listen to the interview."

- Frank Mir Counter-Pranks 'UFC Undisputed 3' Programmer (FightLine)

"What happens when you're a video game programmer that tries to fool UFC heavyweight contender Frank Mir into doing the hokey pokey while wearing a motion capture suit to simulate movement for his likeness in the UFC Undisputed 3 video game? UFC heavyweight contender Frank Mir makes you pee your pants a little."

- UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes Complete Betting Odds (5thRound)

"Believe it or not, there is a major Octagon event taking place this Saturday in Brazil. Although UFC 142 isn’t garnering much hoopla, it hasn’t stopped the Gambling Gods from releasing the complete list of investment options for the show. Jose Aldo (Pictured) is a -240 odds-on favorite to retain his featherweight crown against Chad Mendes in the night’s featured attraction. “Money,” on the other hand..."

- Fighter Caroline Portugal Rebuffs Anti-MMA in New York Letter (TheFightNerd)

"Earlier this week, the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence (NCDSV) released a letter to the New York State Assembly, urging its members to maintain the ban on mixed martial arts in the Empire State in 2012. The letter states that the world’s largest MMA organization, the UFC, “contributes to a culture of violence against women and lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.” Several womens’ and LGBT advocates were approached to weigh in on this..."

- ProElite offers free tickets for dressing like Minowaman (MMAPayOut)

"Its a creative promotion to gain publicity for one of its top attractions for the 1/21 event as well as boost attendance. There should also be some interesting photo-ops. We all recall the UFC chastised Dennis Hallman for wearing speedos in his match against Brian Ebersole. And next week, we may have an arena full of people wearing speedos."

- Anderson Silva Can Finally Fight His Clone In UFC Undisputed 3 (MMAConvert)

"Anderson Silva once said he the person he really wants to fight is his clone. Well, it looks like he finally can in UFC Undisputed 3. This roster trailer reveals that gamers will now be able to make “mirror matches,” pitting the same fighter against themselves like gamers have done for years in the Street Fighter series."

Check out last week's MMA Link Club: The Draw of MMA, Influence of Pro Wrestling, and Competition with Boxing