Mixed martial arts is making headlines in major newspapers all across the country and we have a couple of those stories in today’s Daily Crunch. Also, Roger Huerta gives the UFC some bad publicity while a pair of WEC fighters are taking a one-day-at-a time approach to their upcoming bouts this Sunday at WEC 35. It’s time to get going with The Thursday Crunch.

Michael Brick of the New York Times takes a look at the badges of honor worn by mixed martial artists. Brick explains how the cauliflower ear has become part of the mma culture in what is a very interesting read.

Kye Stephenson of the Baltimore Sun debates whether or not Chuck Liddell deserves a title shot even with an impressive win over Rashad Evans at UFC 88.

Roger Huerta tells Fight Magazine that he doesn’t care if he ever fights in the UFC again. Mmapayout.com has the inside slant.

Carlos Condit may be one of the top ten welterweights in the world but he doesn’t make too much noise about it. Yahoo Sports columnist Kevin Lole dives in to Condit’s low profile world.

Undefeated Marcus Hicks is coming into Sunday night’s WEC lightweight title fight against Jamie Varner like it is just another fight. MMA Weekly caught up with Hicks as he gets set for the biggest fight of his career.

Sherdog gets an earful from Kala Hose who will be featured in ICON’s main event this Saturday when he faces Rolando Dominique in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The EliteXC wasn’t pulling any punches when it handed out the medical suspensions following Saturday night’s bout. Here’s a look at the long list of fighters who will all have brief vacations form the EliteXC

Robbie Lawler (defeated Scott Smith) — Suspended for 60 days due to a scalp laceration.
Scott Smith (defeated by Robbie Lawler) — Suspended for 45 days with no contact for 30 days due to a TKO loss.
Thomas Denny (defeated by Nick Diaz) — Suspended for 45 days with no contact for 30 days due to a TKO loss.
Marlon Mathias (defeated by David Douglas) — Suspended for 45 days with no contact for 30 days due to a TKO loss.
Shayna Baszler (defeated by Cristiane Cyborg) — Suspended for 45 days with no contact for 30 days due to a TKO loss.
Justin Eilers (defeated by Antonio Silva) — Suspended for 45 days with no contact for 30 days due to a TKO loss.
Travis Galbraith (defeated by Rafael Feijao) — Suspended for 180 days due to a possible broken rib. Minimum 45 day suspension with no contact for 30 days due to a TKO loss.
Wilson Reis (defeated Brian Caraway) — Suspended for 60 days due to a scalp laceration.
Mike Cook (defeated by Carl Seumanutafa) — Suspended for 60 days due to a right lateral knee injury. Minimum 45 day suspension with no contact for 30 days due to a TKO loss.
Drew Montgomery (defeated Brandon Tarn) — Suspended 60 days due to a left eye laceration.
Brandon Tarn (defeated by Drew Montgomery) — Suspended 60 days due to forehead laceration.

Maybe Kimbo Slice took up the wrong profession. Instead of making a living inside the cage, he should have took up acting. Slice just landed a role in Stereo Vision’s Martial Arts Comedy “Kung Fu U” in 3D. But wait, there’s more. He will star alongside wrestler Hulk Hogan, a former wrestler.

Hogan made quite a lucrative living as a wrestler. However, wrestlers are just as much actors as they are athletes, maybe even more so. That could be a perfect fit for Slice. He has a unique appearance which is often found in wrestlers. And without actually playing a character, Slice is in fact a character himself.

Slice seems as though he would be able to play the part of a wrestler, screaming into the microphone during pre and post fight interviews. As a wrestler, all that acting talent wouldn’t go to waste. So when Slice is finally reduced by a less than halfway decent mma opponent, he should consider stepping into the wrestling ring. Maybe then, he could act his way to a championship.

Hump day is finally here which means there is one less day to fight night. The WEC is in the spotlight this week as it gears up for its Sunday night event. Here at the crunch, we’re getting you started with everything you need to know while another weekend of action rapidly approaches.

James Irvin has tested positive for painkillers and after getting bludgeoned by Anderson Silva, he may have very well needed them. But Nevada officials might not see things in such a light.

A panel over at 411mania.com debates the issue of whether or not Andrei Arlovski is better competition for Fedor Emelianenko than Tim Sylvia. Could he really be any worse?

Sherdog follows Carlos Condit’s charge towards this Sunday’s welterweight title defense against Hiromitsu Miura at WEC 35.

The San Fransisco Chronicle shows how mixed martial arts was able to convert a boxing town into a city that is now love with the sport of mma.

Also on the card at WEC 35 will be a match-up between David Terel and Blas Avena. Who, you might ask? WEC.tv answers that question.

The Vancouver Sun explains why the month of July was a banner time for the sport of mixed martial arts.

Less than two weeks away, UFC 87 has finally set a complete fight card for its next pay-per-view event. The organization officially announced exactly who will be squaring off in the octagon on August 9th in Minneapolis.

Main Card Bouts:
Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch
Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta
Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring
Demian Maia vs. Jason MacDonald
Manny Gamburyan vs. Rob Emerson

Preliminary Bouts:
Cheick Kongo vs. Dan Evensen
Andre Gusmao vs. Jon Jones
Steve Bruno vs. Chris Wilson
Tamdan McCrory vs. Luke Cummo
Ben Saunders vs. Ryan Thomas

It looks as though mixed martial arts has hit the mainstream and is here to stay, although opinions on the subject vary. Urijah Faber is grabbing some headlines in today’s Crunch while Tito Ortiz just won’t go away. Let’s get you filled in with these stories and more on The Tuesday Crunch.

Could a Tiro Ortz vs Babalu Sobral match-up be in the works for October? Mmamania.com discusses the possibility.

Urijah Faber talked to Sherdog about chasing down Kid Yamamoto for a possible fight in the future.

Jake Shields is ready to do his Anderson Silva impression and jump up in weight class if need be. The EliteXC welterweight champion claims his rise is far from over.

The people at 411mania.com rank the top five best pound for pound fighters in the world with number one being no shocker.

Jamie Samuelson of The Detroit Free Press doesn’t seem to think mixed martial arts will be able to conquer mainstream America. He explains why.

Pat Muir of the the Yakima-Herald contends otherwise. Muir states that mixed martial arts has already hit the mainstream and is here to stay

Fights, fights and more fights. What else would we feature in the world of mma? The weekend saw it’s share of fights over in EliteXC and the future should see plenty more. See who got hit, who’s calling who out and and who will hit who in the future. The Monday Crunch welcomes you to a new week.

Larry Csonka grades each fight that took place on EliteXC’s Saturday night card at 411mania.com.

It turns out mma fighters are invicvible after all. A trio of mma fighters were attacked in an Edmonton hotel by a group of many as ten men, leaving one of those fighters in a coma. The Edmonton sun has the story.

Mma-live.com tries to ponder who Kimbo Slice should fight at EliteXC’s next big event. Does it really matter?

Per fiveouncesofpain.com, Scott Smith broke his hand in the first round of Saturday night’s fight and will undergo surgery on Wednesday.

The fight card has been set for Sengoku 4 as Frank Trigg will be on hand. Mmamania.com has the scoop.

UFC.com takes a look back, way back at UFC 1. Now, set to break the 100 mark by the end of next year, the UFC is bigger than ever.

Cristiane Cyborg was simply an animal in this fight, Baszler gassed and Cyborg just took it to her.

The EliteXC is busy filling out headlines across the country after putting on a decent show last night in front of a national television audience. Its next date has been set while there is not much brewing today in the UFC. Here’s a look at what stories are crunching on Sunday.

EliteXC’s next edition of Saturday Night Fights on CBS will air on October 4th live from the Bank Atlantic Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. No bouts have yet to be announced but Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano are slated to appear.

Sherdog explains that there’s not a long line of candidates in the EliteXC for Kimbo Slice. As of now, the organization has narrowed that line down to four or five fighters.

Wilson Reis may have moved one step closer to a tile shot with his win over Bryan Caraway according to mmajunkie.com.

Dave Meltzer of Yahoo Sports writes how the second time is a charm for Robbie Lawler who handled Scott Smith to retain his middleweight title.

A few of the fighters on last night’s EliteXC card made bloodyelbow.com’s most recent list of top 25 welterweights in the world.

MMamania.com talks about the Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote title fight that is set for UFC 90.

All in all, EliteXC put on fairly decent show last night. Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith finally settled things in the cage and the women came to play once again. Kimbo Slice was on hand but didn’t do anything to sully the name of the sport like he did during EliteXC’s last national television broadcast. Here’s a few afterthoughts from the Unfinished Business.

Quick with the stretcher
After Antonio Silva laid out Justin Eilers, the medical crew rushed a stretcher into the cage rather quickly. Eilers was down but not really out and it might have been a bit premature.

The Worst of…
Nick Thompson undeniably won the award for the worst beard of the night. Thomas Denny came in a close second, but Denny did managed to display the worst haircut of the evening.

Elite Company
Rafael Feijao has some elite company tutoring him along the way, training alongside mma greats Anderson Silva and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He’ll be one of the young fighters to watch in the future. He made it look easy in his first round knockout against Travis Galbraith as Silva looked on. (more…)