No one has a party on a Friday morning except MiddleEasy and maybe a few other people that live in Hollywood. Lindsay Lohan has to be in there. Unfortunately, she doesn’t run an MMA site so we are forced to exclude her from our Friday Morning MMA Link Party. The tap is outside on the porch, the cups are on the kitchen counter and remember, please don’t spill anything.
[list class=”bullet-6″] [li]My First Fight: Rich Franklin. [MMAFighting]
“By the time most fight fans so much as heard his name, Rich Franklin was already somebody. He had a successful UFC debut with a first-round TKO of Evan Tanner, then went on to shine at the very first Ultimate Fighter Finale, where he knocked out Ken Shamrock on Spike TV before claiming the UFC middleweight title in his next fight.”
[/li] [li]Exclusive: Identity of Joe Son’s Alleged Prison Murder Victim Revealed. [CagePotato]
“The Kern County Sheriff’s Office Coroner today released the name of the deceased and the details surrounding the death of Joe Son’s cellmate in Wasco State Prison this week.”
[/li] [li]Michael Bisping believes he is next in line for a shot at Anderson Silva. [Fives Ounces of Pain]
“Michael Bisping has made a name for himself by being a brash, outspoken fighter from England. He has two coaching stints on The Ultimate Fighter, and is a product of the reality show himself. Bisping, who is currently coaching opposite Jason Miller and will meet “Mayhem” in December, believes he is the next man to oppose UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva so long as he takes care…”
[/li] [li]Ed Soares: Chael Sonnen should take a number and wait for Anderson Silva. [LowKick]
“Anderson Siva’s manager Ed Soares spoke to MMAJunkie.com about Chael Sonnen’s unusual (but quite expected) outburst at his client during…”
[/li] [li]Florian’s future in doubt. [NBC Sports]
“Kenny Florian’s management team, First Round Management, issued a press release on Monday about Florian’s future in the UFC. The press release, however, did not specifically state whether Florian would fight again after his third title fight loss to Jose Aldo on Saturday night at UFC 136.”
[/li] [li]Rashad Evans Thinks Lyoto Machida Can Give Jon Jones Trouble (Update). [MMAConvert]
“Evans took the news surprisingly well when the UFC announced that Lyoto Machida would fight Jones for the title next. He even thinks Machida has a good chance of beating him, as he recently told Fight Hype.”
[/li] [li]Jon Jones: “I Absolutely Cannot Lose Rashad Evans Fight”. [5th Round]
“Ion Jones was on the brink of settling his beef with Rashad Evans. Unfortunately for the light heavyweight champ, Evans’ surgically-repaired right hand prevented their UFC 140 shootout from going down.”
[/li] [li]Georges St-Pierre Is the No. 2 Pound-for-Pound Fighter, Not Frankie Edgar. [Bleacher Report]
“Frankie Edgar made big waves in the world of MMA last weekend, successfully defending his UFC Lightweight Championship against dangerous top contender Gray Maynard at UFC 136…”
[/li] [li]MMA gear company “Manto” gets in trouble for NSFW ad with nipple slip. [The Fight Nerd]
“Yesterday, MMA gear company “Manto” posted a sneak preview of a photo from an upcoming photo shoot with two female models grappling. Unfortunately, this NSFW advertisement (which you can look at here if you are over 18) included a bare nipple poking out from one of the participants!”
[/li] [li]UFC Undisputed 3 roster: Light heavyweights. [MMAMania]
“UFC Undisputed 3, the latest entry into the popular mixed martial arts video game series from THQ, will hit store shelves in January 2012. The new edition features a bevy of interesting fresh features, including traveling back in time to fight in the now-defunct PRIDE organization … complete with soccer kicks, stomps and Bas Rutten on commentary.”
[/li] [li]Back to basics: takeaways from UFC shifting PPV start times back to 10 PM EST. [FightOpinion]
“There seems to be mass panic right now about the low rating the UFC 136 prelims on Spike drew for ratings last weekend, given the two fights on the card that hardcores were interested in. It’s just proof that what excites the hardcores and the announcing team isn’t always what draws. (Ask Bellator all about that phenomena.) Sometimes, guys like Leonard Garcia move the needle by bringing in 200,000 extra fans. Other times, a fight like Anthony Pettis vs. Jeremy Stephens isn’t sexy enough of a battle for casuals to care about.”
[/li] [li]Hershman leaves Showtime for HBO. [MMAPayout]
“Broadcasting and Cable reports that Showtime sports head Ken Hershman is leaving to take the vacant HBO Sports opening. Hershman will become the president of HBO Sports replacing Ross Greenburg.”
[/li] [/list]