Things have been relatively quiet on the Chuck Liddell retirement watch—perhaps this is due to the fact that most people can’t really imagine the legendary fighter returning, after being unofficially retired by UFC President Dana White for a second time in June. After all, even “The Iceman’s” biggest admirers have to be asking themselves if it’s not time for Chuck to focus on other “Dancing with the Stars” like endeavours from here on out; dude’s been violently stopped three fights in a row.

Despite his KO loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 115, Liddell has still not made “it official”, making a lot of people like us here at Fix conclude Chuck’s seriously thinking about fighting again. In a recent interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune, the former light-heavyweight champ was quoted saying:

“It’s about how I feel and if I want to go back and make a run at a title and how far away that would be. And whatever I think is left in the tank. I’ve been doing PR stuff for the last couple months, and I’ll finally be home for the month. I’ll probably decide sometime in September, when I have time to relax.”

“I don’t feel like there’s anything left to prove. I still love fighting, but there’s a lot that goes into it. Maybe it might be time. I’m just not sure yet.”

Now, we could be and often are wrong, but if you put on your read between the lines glasses for a second, don’t you think the sentence ‘if Dana lets me I’ll fight’ is visible?

If you thought you’d never see the day again when Karo Parisyan rag dolls some dude to the Octagon floor, prepare to be jaw droppingly surprised. According to an initial report from MMA Fighting this afternoon, which has been subsequently confirmed by several other outlets, Parisyan will make his Octagon return on November 20^th, versus Dennis Hallman. Holy sh-t right?

Why? What’s the big deal MMA, but-not-hardcore, fans may be asking? Well after Parisyan withdrew last minute from his scheduled  UFC 106 bout with Dustin Hazelett, Dana White promptly announced that the judo stud “will not be fighting Saturday or ever again in the UFC.” It was the last straw in a series of events for the troubled fighter, which included testing positive for painkillers, getting subsequently fined and suspended (and another last minute fight withdrawal). Things weren’t looking so good in the fighting career of Parisyan, who at one point before having serious setbacks due to injuries, sat near the top of the welterweight division.

Anyways, after earning a win ‘down under’ in Australia recently and consistently stating his desire publicly to return to the UFC, it looks like Parisyan has gotten his wish. If you still haven’t seen his Fight Night 6 bout with Diego Sanchez, you should feel huge amounts of instantaneous shame, and then go find footage. Anyone asked Paul Daley yet what he makes of all this?

Frankie Edgar might as well had walked out to the Octagon last night with a Rodney Dangerfield bit playing, as despite being the UFC Lightweight Champion, it wasn’t like the guy was receiving a ton of respect heading into his rematch with BJ Penn. Of course, Penn has long been widely regarded as the world’s best lightweight, as well as one of the sport’s best P4P fighters, so something must have been wrong with him in their first meeting right? Wrong.

Now it wasn’t like Edgar beat the holy living hell out of Penn last night in Boston, but it was a pretty damn convincing win, as the Jersey fighter once again outscored the Hawaiian on his feet and threw in a couple of takedowns for good measure. Speaking afterwards at the post-fight presser, Dana White took the opportunity to heap praise on the promotion’s lightweight champ, saying (thanks to MMA Bay for the quote):

“This kid just beat the s— out of BJ Penn for five rounds. Dominated him in every facet of the fight: on the ground, on top, on bottom, stand-up, everything. The kid’s got a heart as big as this room. He comes from wrestling, but his boxing is unbelievable, his jiu-jitsu was great tonight, his wrestling was sick. He picked BJ up and power slammed him. I guarantee you BJ Penn is banged up right now.”

You don’t have to sell this on us Dana; Frankie’s got our complete and total respect. Now it just remains to be seen whether or not Joe and Jane ’UFC’s kind of cool’ embrace the new champ, or get pumped for his first bout with Gray Maynard.

If you’ve had a long and sh-tty week, dont despair, as things are about to get a whole hell of a lot better. While speaking with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani yesterday in Boston, Dana White confirmed that drop dead gorgeous UFC ring girl, Arianny Celeste, will be featured in the upcoming November edition of Playboy. Now Dana didn’t get into specifics regarding the ‘extent’ of the shoot (or the extent of her clothing), but let’s just keep our hopes running high shall we? Will you ever doubt that the Universe is a great and wondrous place again?

While we’re all celebrating (and completely side tracked from what else Dana said) check out some pics of Arianny here.

If you think about it, and this is easy for us to say since Chael Sonnen hasn’t been belittling us, our friends and sense of fashion, Anderson Silva might want to thank his next opponent for his over the top trash talk. It’s probably fair to say that if not for Chael’s vicious verbal assault heading into UFC 117, maybe there still would be a ton of focus on Silva’s WTF? antics vs. Demian Maia. Of course, the post-fight discussion took on a new life following his awful UFC 112 showing, due to Dana White’s insistence that Silva would get canned if he ever acted that way again.

Now we’re not trying to say Silva’s performance against Maia and his subsequent issues with White (and a lot of fans) has completely dropped off the radar screen, but you have to admit, Sonnen’s zingers have certainly dominated the headlines. All this aside, however, White continues to insist that if Silva does in fact have the balls to repeat his UFC 112 actions, Mr. #1 P4P will be unemployed (thanks to MMA Junkie for the quote).

“It’s about acting like a lunatic,” White said. “If he ever goes out and acts like a nut, like he did [at UFC 112], yes, I would cut him.”

Somehow we’re thinking this isn’t going to be an issue come Saturday night—certain things have been said; now it’s go time. To bet on tomorrow’s ‘this should be sick’ card, head here.

If you’re a casual MMA consumer (which typically means you only watch the UFC ‘here and there’) the name Roger Huerta may sound familiar, due to the fact that it wasn’t long ago when the lightweight was one of the UFC’s top selling commodities. So what’s Roger been up to? Well, 1) he shocked the MMA world by signing with Bellator FC 2) he won his promotional debut only to lose to underdog Pat Curran one month later, and 3) apparently he brutalized some dude recently in Austin, who just seconds earlier, had sent a woman crashing to the street with a sucker punch. No; this isn’t a bit.

TMZ has posted video of the incident and although the footage is scrambled at the best of times, you can definitely make out that some serious sh-t went down. The report includes a quote from Huerta’s manager, who reportedly stated:

“I have not spoken to Roger yet about this incident, but I can say that it’s in his nature to be very protective of women.”

In an updated report from TMZ, UFC President Dana White is quoted saying:

“In no way do I condone street fighting, but when a guy puts his hands on a woman he deserves to be knocked the f*ck out. Good for Roger.”

That’s probably a sentiment that more than a few people share…As of this afternoon no charges have reportedly been laid.

Earlier today we passed along a nice lil nugget from Roy Nelson, who in his typical fine and or controversial form, offered his less than glowing review of Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar. Well, if you thought any of those statements were even remotely ‘shocking’, check out some of the latest comments from James Toney. Sure, Toney has talked some serious sh-t heading into his MMA debut against Randy Couture later this month, but now the accomplished boxer has targeted Dana White. Apparently Toney is…shall we say…’miffed’ about some things the UFC Pres has said recently (maybe Dana’s “freak show comments?). Here are just a couple of quotes from an interview Toney did with BJPenn.com.

“I’m the only real legend in this fight. Look what I’ve done; I’ve won 6 world titles in six different weight divisions. You know what I’m saying? I’ve been in this game 23 years. How you going to put (down) a man who’s been in the sport longer than you’ve been promoting. I know Dana White’s been running his mouth saying I’m making a mockery, or whatever, Dana White, after I get done knocking Couture out, you’re next. I promise you.”…..“I’m not Rashad Evans; I’m not Quinton Jackson. I’m not going to kiss your ass; I’m going to beat your ass. If you talk to me like a bitch I’m going to show you.”

Huh. Nothing stirs the old MMA pot like threatening the president of the world’s largest promotion…At least we’re pretty sure that’s what Toney said. Check out the video for yourself.

Many die hard MMA fans have not fully adjusted to the post-Fedor-Can-Lose world, a place where up is down, nights is day, and fantastic tales on an unbeatable Russian fighter, are no longer fired at newcomers to the sport. You remember: ‘You think Anderson Silva is good? Dude, there’s this guy named Fedor Emelianenko who doesn’t even fight for the UFC, and…’

Of course after Fedor’s shocking loss to Fabricio Werdum, UFC boss man Dana White declared that the promotion was no longer interested in acquiring the services of “The Last Emperor.” A stark reversal after the company reportedly tried their damndest (short of co-promoting with M-1) to sign Fedor when he was a free agent. Was Dana being serious? Or was he being more tactical? You don’t have to have taken Marketing 101 to know Fedor’s bargaining power isn’t what it used to be.

Well, in keeping with speculation as to whether or not Fedor will in fact ever step foot in the Octagon, UFC UK President Marshall Zelaznik recently told British ESPN the following:

“Up until now there hasn’t been a possibility of it. I don’t know what his contract situation is, but these things don’t come down to money. Yes defeat to Fabricio Werdum has probably lowered his stock, but I don’t think we’ve ever decided not to sign a fighter due to money.”…”You never say never, and Emelianenko is a good fighter so it wouldn’t surprise me if Dana and Lorenzo [Fertitta] tried to work something out.”

Maybe Fedor had to lose to make a UFC deal workable?

Now, depending on your personality you may have had a few different reactions to the above headline, varying from uncontrolled ‘OMG please let it be true’ ecstasy, to  the more cynical (and often we’d say more realistic attitude) ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’ Of course if you didn’t read the headline you may also be thinking ‘what the holy eff are you talking about?’

For some time now fans and pundits alike, have hoped that someday the UFC would put together a ‘super fight’ between current middleweight champ Anderson Silva and welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. In the past, UFC boss man Dana White hasn’t exactly gone out of his way to hype up the fight, arguing that St. Pierre is likely too small to compete at 185 , while Silva is probably too big for 170. Lately, however, White has acknowledged that the fans demand for such a P4P, all-star bout, may just be too hard to pass up (yeah no sh-t).

In a recent interview with MMA Weekly, Silva’s manager Ed Soares talked about the prospect of his fighter facing GSP; here is some of what he had to say:

“First of all, I think to protect both champions, I think it’s smarter to do it at a catchweight possibly, but who knows? Anderson… I don’t think he could. Maybe he could, I’m not sure, make it down to 170. I think it’s much easier and more likely that Georges goes up to 185.”… “Tell GSP to make weight, we’ll be waiting,” Soares said simply.

Yes, it’s completely okay to giggle with excited glee, however, first things first, namely two wrestling studs with the names Josh Koscheck and Chael Sonnen. After that…?

Earlier today we went on and on about how entertaining last night’s UFC 116 main event tilt between Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar was, a fight that saw the heavyweight champ come back from taking a brutal beat down in the first, only to sub Carwin in the second. Whether you’re a fan of Lesnar or not (and let’s face it- the guy doesn’t really kill himself trying to be charming or loveable…) you have to give him props for weathering that hellish fist storm.

Well the debate regarding whether or not Josh Rosenthal should have stopped the fight, when Carwin was pounding away on Lesnar, is in full swing. As we passed along earlier, after last night’s fight Lesnar thanked Rosenthal for not jumping in, stating he “wasn’t hurt” and that he could feel Carwin’s punches becoming “less and less.” In a follow up report from MMA Junkie, however, it’s pretty clear that Carwin’s view on how Lesnar was doing in round one is; well, not exactly identical….

“I felt Brock go out a few times,” he today told MMAjunkie.com via text message. “But it is the ref’s job to call the fight, and mine is to finish the fight.”

Huh. Interesting. The report also included stats from CompuStrike.com which reflect that Carwin apparently landed 57 punches in the opening round- that couldn’t have been much fun for Brock. As far as UFC boss man Dana White’s take on the officiating, he was quoted saying that Rosenthal “did a fantastic job.”