The original plan was to have Shogun Rua battle Chuck Liddell at UFC 85, a match I was very much looking forward to. Unfortunately the Brazilian won’t have a chance to redeem himself after his poor Octagon debut against Griffen. Rua is out of UFC 85 due to a serious knew injury.

In his place will be Rashad Evans. Unless Chuck decides to move forward and press the pace, this could be one boring fight. I would much rather see a Rua vs. Liddell match up but I also wouldn’t mind seeing Evans (who I believe is one of the most over-rated MMA fighters around) get KO’d by Liddell. Click image below for more info from UFC.com.

Now that Ali Sonoma is no longer a ring card girl with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Arianny Celeste has definitely stepped up to fill her, uh, shoes.

This is a great video clip of Arianny gyrating around in front of a camera during a recent photo shoot. She does do some talking about her training at the UFC gym, but really that part if the video is all secondary.

Also of note, Josh Burkman was rumored to be hitting that action a while back. Lucky bastard.

So who is your favorite UFC ring card girl?

After beating UFC newcomer Chris Wilson at UFC 82, Jon Fitch scored his eighth straight victory in the octagon. With his win, Fitch joined company with mma and UFC legend, Royce Gracie for most consecutive UFC wins. Between 1993 and 1994, Royce Gracie rattled off eight straight victories and the UFC record has been in tack ever since. Unless Fitch gets matched up against the winner of Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre, Fitch will likely break Royce’s record this year. Then again, Chris Wilson sure put up a hell of a fight so we know Fitch is vulnerable.

Of his accomplishment, Fitch said:

“It’s a huge honor to be considered along with a legend like Royce. I don’t go thinking about stuff like that while I’m training. All I ever say is I want the best matches people can give me. I’ll fight anyone. I want tough opponents. Look at some of the guys I’ve beat, real tough guys like Luigi, you saw him tonight (a win over Luke Cummo) and Thialgo Alves. I haven’t had many easy matches.”

“I don’t let myself think about things like title shots and records when I’m training,” said the former captain of the Purdue University wrestling team. “You do that and it takes your mind off things. But afterwards, after you win, when you start thinking about being named along with a legend like Royce Gracie, it’s pretty cool. I had to go grind my way through; they were a lot of tough guys,” Fitch said. “I earned my position. No one coddled me; no one gave me easy fights. I don’t care how many people kiss my ass and tell me I’m great. It’s about how I can sleep at night. I’ve grounded away, and I deserve a title shot.”

UFC president Dana White has indicated that Fitch is next in line for a title match after Georges St. Pierre fights Matt Serra next month.

Since making his UFC debut in December 2005 with a unanimous decision win over Brock Larson, Fitch disposed of Josh Burkman (submission); Thialgo Alves (TKO); Kuniyoshi Hironaka (unanimous decision); Luigi Fiorvanti (submission); Roan Carneiro (submission) and Diego Sanchez (split decision) before Saturday’s win.

Just days before UFC 82, Heath Herring sits down with 107.5 DJ Dave Farra to give his thoughts on a number of topics. I dig this guy Dave, his voice is the epitome of a radio DJ, but I wish he would have pushed Herring more on his thoughts about his UFC 82 opponent, Cheik Kongo. Of Kongo, Herring basically says, “I know he’s French” and then moves on completely.

Check out how Heath tries to tip toe around the issue fighter salaries. He so badly wants to slam the UFC but obviously can’t as they sign his pay check. DOH!

Kendall Grove is a well known stoner, the likes of Nick Diaz, Joe Rogan, and Eddie Bravo. But damn, according to him he actually fought his first six MMA fights baked. CagePotato.com has an exclusive interview with Kendall that includes Grove as saying:

See, marijuana is a touchy subject. I’m a rock star — I’ve been smoking weed since I was in the 6th grade, I can openly say that. But I’m also clean when I fight. I cut that shit out — I’m a professional. Don’t get me wrong, my first six fights, I fought high, I fought stoned. But when you get to this level, you have to take responsibility. It’s your job. I stop doing that stuff three months out. I just think they blew it way out of proportion. What did they say with Nick Diaz? “Oh, him smoking weed made his pain threshold higher—”

The rest of the interview covers topics such as his current training (which doesn’t seem all that intense), his upcoming fight against Jorge Rivera at UFC 80, what it’s like to deal with Dana White, his thoughts on the next season of The Ultimate Figther and more MMA stuff. Check out the rest of the goods here.

I know it was never in doubt, but damn, check out the size of Tito’s cranium in comparison to Jenna’s in this video clip. Here rawvegas.tv catches up with Tito Ortiz and Jenna Jameson at Tao in Las Vegas to discuss Tito’s role on The Apprentice as well has acting career. Advice to Tito, focus on your fighting career buddy before you’re forced into retirement due to complete inactivity.

Currently UFC lightheavy champ Quinton Jackson and TUF contestant Troy “Rude Boy” Mandeloniz get a few seconds of air time as well. Of note: Tito mentions that he may be back in the UFC on May 5th.