New content will no longer be filtered through this website. New MMA editorials by David Hojak and other associated writers will soon appear on Cagewall.com.

Josh Barnett: Denies responsibility for Affliction's eventual foldingJosh Barnett recently made a guest appearance on HDNet’s Inside MMA, where the taboo topic of Affliction “card that never was” publically came up for first time since the drama unfolded to end July of last year.

For those who need the reminder, Affliction was scheduled to hold their 3rd event, Affliction: Trilogy, on August 1st of 2009. 10 days prior to his scheduled bout against the renowned number one heavyweight in the world, Russia’s Fedor Emelianenko, Barnett reportedly tested positive for 2a-methyl-5a-androstan-3a-ol-17-one, an anabolic steroid. This disqualified Barnett from the scheduled bout instantly, his license to compete revoked.

Barnett's bout with Fedor was anxiously awaited as the one fight in which we may actually see Fedor face an opponent with a viable shot at beating him. However, the MMA world was rattled by what would register as Barnett’s second positive stateside test for an anabolic substance recorded by a state athletic commission. Affliction’s third event was subsequently cancelled just days before the event was scheduled to take place.

Thiago Alves: Now recoveringThiago Alves has reportedly emerged from a New York City hospital surgical center today following a successful eight-hour surgical procedure, numerous news websites are reporting.

Alves had been originally scheduled to face Jon Fitch at UFC 111 in New Jersey, when during a routine CAT scan during his pre-fight medical exam, an irregularity in his brain was brought to his attention. Within mere days of his scheduled bout with Fitch, news like this must've taken Alves for a psychological ride he never expected to take.

Dana White apologized to fans, and scrambled to book Ben Saunders as a three-days-notice replacement for Fitch (huge kudos go to Saunders for stepping in against Fitch, of all fighters*). Alves described what he was staring down as a "minor procedure" that he'd return from within a couple of weeks. Exhibiting an admirable strength of mind and will, he showed no sway in his swagger, and within the line of sight of his fans, treated this news as though it were like any other injury.

Dana White Says:: "Real UFC Fans Won't Buy EA's F***ing Game"Dana White’s most recent interview regarding the organization’s upcoming video game, UFC Undisputed 2010, yielded even more of an insight to his opinions regarding EA’s own effort, EA MMA.

With both games set to be released next year, the rivalry is as heated between Strikeforce and the UFC as it’s ever been. Even more pertinently, Dana White has it out for EA like never before.

As he revealed to “Kotaku dot com” on Tuesday, those fighters who’ve chosen to participate in EA’s forthcoming effort will not be banned from the UFC after all, a waffling of sorts from his initial declaration that the fighters snubbing the UFC’s video game effort in favor of EA’s would face perpetual penalty from the UFC for doing so.

Respect in the Cage 3: From the Fox theater in Pomona, CaliforniaA unique blend of Mixed Martial Arts and a party atmosphere highlighted Respect in the Cage 3 and perhaps in direct conflict with the cliché “party all night long,” 5 of the 7 scheduled bouts ended in less than 63 seconds. In those bouts, a total of 3 minutes and 1 second of cage time was recorded and the rear naked choke was the chosen method of completion in most cases.

In the night’s opening bout, (4-1) made short work of David Barnett, rushing him into a clinch where he easily hopped on his back and secured a standing rear naked choke. The win improves the California Submission Wrestling product’s record to 4-1 while the Inland Empire-based Unbreakable Gym product drops to 1-1.

A featherweight bout followed and served as the 2nd longest and also the most competitive fight on the card. Cooper Gibson came in sporting Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s replicated shorts, complete with rear side eyes. He brought his best Shogun impression as well, outstriking Chris Mercardo in the first round easily as Millennia MMA product mounted little offense of his own. In the second, Gibson was able to shoot and score a takedown where he quickly got to full mount. But Mercardo slipped away and returned a shot that opened up a chance for a standing rear naked choke of his own. Gibson managed to do a full front flip in attempt to smash his backmounted dominator into the canvas but that only allowed the choke to be sunk deeper and he would have to tap.

[img_assist|nid=1178|title=Georgi Karakhanyan|desc=Featherweight prospect, Bellator fighter|link=url|url=http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Georgi-Karakhanyan-19472|align=left|width=281|height=310]When Bellator Fighting Championships began releasing the names of those who would populate their 2010 roster, eyebrows began to progressively raise with each passing day's announced signing. They raised considerably more when the featherweight tournament was confirmed to include one Georgi Karakhanyan.

“Georgi K.” is how he is endearingly referred to by most. “Insane” is how he fights and so it serves as a fitting nickname for someone who has progressed so much in such a compressed period of time. In just over 3 years of professional fighting, he has compiled an otherworldly 12-1 record and has quickly become the subject of future top 10, 145 pound discussions. He hasn't trained for much longer than that either and he didn't originally intend on dedicating his future to the sport of MMA.

“I started getting into Brazilian jiu jitsu in April of 2006. It was nothing serious, nothing like 'oh I was going to become a professional fighter' or 'I was going to be in MMA.' It was basically just to see what Brazilian jiu jitsu was all about,” said Georgi when asked about his trek into MMA. 3 short years may indicate that he was a natural at the Brazilian martial art, but it was hard work and determination that yielded the success story we see today.

UFC: Undisputed 2010: New features and fighters detailedThe roster for UFC: Undisputed 2010 has been unofficially announced via several insider websites, though confirmations for who reportedly will appear in the game have not been made at this time.

Designer Omar Kendall shared details of the game’s new features, comparisons of the old title to the new title playability-wise, developmental advancements, changes to the existing engine and anticipations for its release in an interview today with Gamespot.

Omar was excited to talk about features new to play modes and the play engine itself, while going over some details of the expanded Career mode, Create-A-Fighter modes, and the elements included in this year's game that compound the effort to produce a realistic and accurate MMA simulator.

Go Jets: We're Number One!Last Saturday’s Strikeforce event saw many familiar faces in attendance, including Dan Henderson, UFC Welterweight Champion Georges Rush St. Pierre, and NFL New York Jets head coach, Rex Ryan.

Rex grabbed attention as he sat in the crowd watching the fights Saturday night, which took place in Miami. At a point when a fan’s cell phone camera turned on him, Rex was caught giving the one-finger salute (as seen above) to a patron fan, most likely a guy who goaded him for being there to watch Strikeforce, not play in the Superbowl. As a result, Rex would return to the office come Monday to find himself less wealthy to the tune of $50,000.

The week prior Ryan’s New York Jets entered the playoff round as a wild card team, and defeated the favored San Diego Chargers convincingly. His team was a 7 point underdog to the favored Chargers, who prior to the game, looked to be headed to Indianapolis a week later with what should’ve been a win over the Jets.

Strikeforce has revealed their payout figures for their Strikeforce: Miami event, which took place this last Saturday, January 30th, 2010.

Of interesting note is the discrepancy in pay scales in the co-main event match between champion Cristiane Santos ($35,000 including win bonus) and challenger Marloes Coenen ($2,000), as well as the pay discrepancy for Robbie Lawler ($100,000) and Melvin Manhoef ($5,000). Marloes went on to give Cyborg the most competitive fight she’s had in Strikeforce yet, despite being bullied around the ring by a much more physically dominant Cyborg. In his fight with Lawler, Manhoef was landing repetitiously with thunderous leg kicks before Lawler fed him a fight-ending short hook, one of three he landed the entire fight, to seal the deal and end the fight via knockout.

Also of note is the payout to NFL great Herschel Walker (a whopping $600), who reportedly donated what would’ve been a six-figure payout to charity.