Randy Couture's UFC 102 Video Blog (8/27/09)

The latest installment of Randy Couture's UFC 102 video blog from Portland, Oregon.

Nate Marquardt UFC 102 Fighter Blog

Hang out with Nate Marquardt as he prepares for his middleweight bout against Demian Maia in UFC 102.

It's Follow Friday & UFC 102 - Follow @MMAWeeklycom on Twitter!

For the initiated, it is Follow Friday on Twitter, so be sure to add @MMAWeeklycom to those you follow on Twitter.

For those in the dark, get on Twitter and start following @MMAWeeklycom for all the latest new, insider tidbits, and other juicy gems.

Randy Couture's UFC 102 Video Blog (8/25 & 8/26)

Randy Couture is doing a video blog all week, leading up to his UFC 102 bout against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Check out the latest installment...

White Rails at Rampage's A-Team Dream

To put it mildly, UFC president Dana White is not a fan of his fighters doing movies. That is, if the movies get in the way of the UFC calendar.

"I hate it with a (expletive) passion," he said. "You're a fighter. You're not a movie star. It's so (expletive) funny because fighters want to be movie stars and movie stars want to act like they're fighters. It's like, get a grip. You're a (expletive) fighter and you're a movie star."

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson made headlines Wednesday when a report in UK tabloid The Sun said the former light heavyweight champion was set to take on the role of "B.A. Baracus" in an upcoming movie remake of television series "The A-Team."

A subsequent report from MTV.com Thursday morning disputed the report, citing Jackson's managers, who said Jackson had not booked the role.

White had not heard the latest reports when he spoke to reporters at the UFC 102 pre-fight press conference in Portland, Ore., Thursday afternoon, but he didn't like the idea of Jackson's silver screen dreams, mildly put.

"Rampage wants to be a movie star," continued White. "I hope it’s not true (about Jackson getting the role). He's up for it, and he talked to me, he wants to do this thing, and he's like, 'listen, man, this is really important to me...there's some sentimental value here for me, me and my Dad grew up watching The A-Team together and we loved it.'

"Well, guess what, brother? I said, 'guess what Rashad Evans is thinking about right now. He's thinking about beating your (expletive) ass. He's not sitting around thinking about him and his mom used to watch the (expletive) 'Love Boat' together, and he wants to get the role of 'Isaac the Bartender'...you know what I mean? Get a (expletive) grip, dude. You're going to make a lot of money. You ain't gonna make a lot of money playing B.A. Baracus on the A-Team. Jesus Christ. (Expletive) drives me (expletive) nuts."

White said sometime actor and five-time UFC champ Randy Couture was an exception.

"Randy did it right," said White. "Randy shot a movie and it didn’t interfere with his training or anything."

Heath Herring recently told MMA Insider that he was putting off fighting until 2010 to pursue several film projects. Strikeforce middleweight champ Cung Le is currently MIA with several studio projects in the can and more in the pipeline. Chuck Liddell is about to dance with the stars.

According to White, a fighter who fulfills his contract obligations is free to act. That, or a retired fighter. But act on the eve of a fight? Not cool.

"(Rashad) hates (Rampage)," White said. "He hates Rampage more than he hates anyone on the planet and he’s thinking about killing him."

White sat back in his chair with a sigh.

"You guys wouldn't want to be me if you're if your life depended on it."

MMA Live Breaks Down UFC 102

MMA Live takes a long hard look at this weekend's UFC 102 emanating from Portland, Ore., and featuring Randy Couture versus Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Mayhem Miller Back With Season 2 of Bully Beatdown on MTV

"Bully Beatdown" is part of MTV's "See You Thursday" block and premieres on August 27 at 9:30 pm ET/PT.

Randy Couture's UFC 102 Video Blog (8/25/09)

The second edition of Randy Couture's official UFC 102 video blog. Weighing in at 221.8 and trying to keep weight on during his training.

Revisiting Fedor, Couture Says It Would Have to Happen in the Octagon

Randy Couture is heading into a main event fight at UFC 102 this weekend, facing the very tough Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Fedor Emelianenko snuffed the UFC and took his toys with him over to Strikeforce.

Yet Couture is still plagued by the Sisyphean questions about the two meeting in the ring.

Couture was asked the question again at a recent UFC 102 media call, and you could hear the weariness of the question in his answer.

"I've already been down that road (leaving the UFC to fight Fedor) and I spent more than 13 months trying to find a way to fight him somewhere else because it didn't look like it would happen in the UFC," Couture retorted.

"I think that the best thing that could happen for me right now is for him to come to the UFC. I think sooner or later he's gonna have to come to the UFC, hopefully I'm still around and in the shape I'm in now to be able to fight him.

"If the fight's gonna happen, I think it's gonna happen in the UFC."

It obviously sounds as if the 46-year-old former UFC champion intends to finish out his career with the promotion, but the tone of his voice didn't hold out much hope that Fedor would find his way to the Octagon before Couture leaves his shoes on the mat one final time.

Ryan Couture vs Jimmy Spacuzza at Tuff-N-Uff

Randy Couture's son, Ryan, heads up the recent Tuff-N-Uff event at the Orleans in Las Vegas, fighting against Jimmy Spicuzza.

Herring to UFC: Don't Worry About It

All is well with Heath "The Texas Crazy Horse" Herring months after he was forced to withdraw from a co-main event bout with Cain Velasquez at UFC 99 in June. So well, in fact, he's not looking at a return to the cage until the New Year.

"I've told the UFC don't even worry about it until next year," he said Friday.

Violently ill with pneumonia symptoms, Herring said he was completely unable to train for Velasquez in the home stretch of his camp and had no choice but to pass up the fight with the American Kickboxing Academy standout.

Herring suffers from asthma and said the illness worsened the condition. Worse yet, he couldn't use his inhaler because its active ingredients would have flagged him for illegal substances per Nevada State Athletic Commission based statutes.

So why is he so relaxed about his time off? Hollywood, babe.

Herring's appearance in the MMA movie "Never Surrender" got the attention of the film's producers, who hired him for an untitled horror movie, which he recently wrapped. He plays a gang leader that gets eaten by monsters.

Herring says he may fly south of the equator to Columbia to play a boxer in an action movie filming in early September.

In the meantime, he's working on a restaurant, The Tilted Kilt, of which he is a partial owner.

Herring says his Texas roots made him a lock for UFC 103, but his other hobbies got in the way. And he's just fine with that.

"I've got to take advantage of this while I can," said Herring.

Top Spots on the Rumor Mill

There are several rumored bouts that have yet to make it to confirmed status, so we thought we'd give you a quick rundown on some of the more prominent bouts that are being talked about.

B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez:
Seeing as Penn is the UFC lightweight champ, this one tops the list. It is definitely the bout that the UFC wants to put together and that both fighters want, but it always comes down to business. There is definitely a chance of this bout hitting confirmed status soon, but word on the street is that there are still some details to be ironed out and that no bout agreements have gone out, but don't be surprised to see this one top the card at UFC 105 when the UFC returns to Manchester, England.

Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang:
This one is all but a done deal. Bisping is always on the wish list when the UFC heads to England and UFC 105 is no different. Given that this bout makes sense at this point in each fighter's career, expect it to happen. It hasn't been signed off yet, but it should be in the coming days.

Jake Shields vs. Jason "Mayhem" Miller:
This one also makes sense. Strikeforce has been hunting for a solid opponent for Jake Shields to face for an interim middleweight title while champion Cung Le is off making movies instead of fighting. And given Strikeforce and Dream recently making their working relationship "official," Dream lending Miller to Strikeforce for an interim title bout makes sense. A little less of a sure bet than the first two, but don't be surprised if and when this becomes official.

Most fight rumors in the MMA world have some basis in fact. But they usually leak out before any contracts have been signed. And any promoter will tell you, it ain't a done deal until there's ink on the paper. That's the case with all the above mentioned fights.

Down to the wire, plans can and often do change. So while there's a strong likelihood on all of these coming to fruition, don't take 'em to the bank just yet.

Ryan Bader's UFC 104 Video Blog

Ryan Bader's UFC 104 video blog, taking a tour of the Arizona Combat gym, with a sneak peek at his training along with WEC champ Jamie Varner, fellow UFC fighter C.B. Dollaway, and others.