MMA Link Club: The Best of Bellator, Survival of Strikeforce, and Stars from WEC

- Top 10 Best Fights from “Bellator FC” in 2011 (TheFightNerd)

"2011 has been a huge year for Bellator, who have made waves across the fighting world as well as the business world when Viacom announced their investment into the promotion. Whenever I see Top 10 year-end lists, Bellator often gets unjustly stiffed, despite putting on consistently solid shows and building their stars from the ground up. The only course of action was giving them exactly what they deserve on this site, a countdown of their very own."

- Rock Star Treatment: Nick Newell Interview Exclusive (MMAMania)

"I don't have the same reach-around for a grip so when I actually do get a grip on you, it's that much tighter but it is harder for me to get it because I have to reach further. I have to commit more and I think me committing when I fight, I take a lot of risks and it's been paying off for me because I'm 6-0 as a pro with six first round stoppages and going back to my amateur fights, I'm on an eight fight winning streak all in the first round."

- Winners and Losers in the New Strikeforce-Showtime Deal (MMAFighting)

"Showtime and Strikeforce have agreed to a new deal for more fights on the premium cable network, an announcement that comes as something of a surprise following months of speculation that the UFC would completely absorb the promotion it purchased early this year.That news will have a wide-ranging impact on the mixed martial arts world, including the fighters, the promoters, the networks and the fans."

- Carla Esparza reflects on recent win over Felice Herrig (Five Ounces of Pain)

"I think a lot of it can be attributed to my wrestling background. I think it gives you a really solid base. It gives you good scrambling. I wrestled for eight years. I was a two time All-American in high school as well as in college. I think (wrestling) is not something most women have in MMA now and it’s not something they can really deal with. - Carla Esparza"

- Top 5 Unexpected Changes in MMA of the Past Few Months (BleacherReport)

"As each year passes in MMA, the sport grows exponentially and brings on new changes. The UFC seems to grow with each passing day, but in such a sport that is primarily run as a business, the variables in play can sometimes shock us when they change. This is a look at what has happened in the recent months, closing out the 2011 year. These are the five biggest, UNEXPECTED moments that left fans scratching their heads, stunned in amazement, or just plain upset."

- Friday Night Fights: Who Will Win the Ratings War Between Bellator and TUF? (CagePotato)

"So will Bellator gain any ground if they’re still competing with the world’s largest MMA promotion? Will the in-house shenanigans, trash-talking coaches, and UFC brand be able to attract a larger audience than an entire night of live fights, some of which have been classified as ‘Super‘? Not only can we not be in two places at once, we can’t watch two television programs at the same time either. So, who wins the ratings war?"

- The Daily Line: Keeping Gilbert Melendez In Strikeforce Is A Mistake (FightLine)

"It's hard to see the logic in keeping the consensus number two ranked lightweight in the world defending a second-rate belt, when the rest of the promotion's highly-ranked champions have already been plucked up and transplanted to the UFC, where they've entered at or near the top of the division. Maybe they plan to build Strikeforce off of existing names like Melendez's or Cris "Cyborg" Santos' , but it hardly seems fair..."

- I bet you didn't know Don Frye fought Warpath last weekend, here's the video (MiddleEasy)

"The silliest thing is, you didn't know Don Frye fought Warpath this weekend at the Thunder Valley Casino in California. If you did, I'm sure you would have been nagging me in the comment section the morning after the bout. It's cool, I know what you guys want even when you don't know what you want. That's my mutant ability. I should be in X-Men. Check out this fight video of Don Frye tangling with Warpath..."

- One Year Later: UFC Stars Emerge After Fall of WEC (5thRound)

"Exactly one year ago today, Anthony Pettis unleashed the kick heard ’round the world to capture the WEC lightweight title and officially close the doors on the blue-caged company. Despite the notoriety “Showtime” received from the breathtaking strike, Pettis isn’t even the biggest UFC star to emerge following the collapse of World Extreme Cagefighting."

- Keith Kizer: Urine is ‘obviously’ better than blood for steroid testing (FightOpinion)

"Well, it depends on what you’re testing for. If you’re testing for steroids, then it’s obvious that urine’s the better test. There’s, no doubt about that, yeah. In fact, those blood tests done by [Overeem's] doctor wasn’t even for steroids, per se. It was done for testosterone, DHEA, FSH, LH, and I think prolactin as well. And, again, all those came back in normal ranges and that was good to see that, as well. But, a) it wasn’t a steroid test..."

- Review: ‘The Principles of Unarmed Combat’ by Mark Jacobs (MMAConvert)

"Clocking in at 352 pages, the Principles of Unarmed Combat would be an apropos textbook if colleges taught fighting for credit. It literally covers it all – striking, grappling, movement, defense, strategy, psychology – and Jacobs approaches each topic with a thorough analysis and in-depth description of the “how” and the "why."

- Jon "Bones" Jones vs. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in ESPN Poll (MMAPayOut)

"Its nice to see that the UFC and ESPN are playing nice once again. Its a silly award but Jones played along with it well. Jones is becoming a regular with ESPN and he is getting much more comfortable in front of the camera. With GSP out and the uncertainty of Brock Lesnar’s career, Jones could be the new face of North American MMA (with Anderson Silva being the face for most of South America)."

Photo: MMAWeekly.com