Michael McDonald knocks out Miguel Torres at UFC 145 (PHOTO)

Michael McDonald gave the UFC its best (and only) candidate for the Knockout of the Night at UFC 145 with a first-round knockout of former WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres. McDonald got the KO with an uppercut at 3:18 in the first round.

After the bout, the 21-year-old planned a g-rated celebration.

"I get to eat some pizza, some ice cream, it's going to be a party tonight! But no alcohol," McDonald said.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/michael-mcdonald-knocks-miguel-torres-ufc-145-photo-032303795.html

José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez

Johny Hendricks pals around with NASCAR bad boy Tony Stewart (PHOTO)

Two weeks before making his Fox debut against Josh Koscheck, Johny Hendricks stopped by the track to check in with NASCAR's finest. Here he is showing a beard that awesome cannot be contained in a helmet while talking to Tony Stewart. Do you think Stewart, a well-known problem child on the racing circuit, gave Hendricks some trash-talking tips? Tell us what he said in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/johny-hendricks-pals-around-nascar-bad-boy-tony-142647233.html

Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger 

Cagereaders rants about Brian Stann, Alexander Gustafsson and the end of the Mark Hunt rally

Welcome to Reader Rants, the weekly post where the readers take over and have their say. If you want to be a part of a future Reader Rants, like Cagewriter on Facebook and comment on any of the stories that show up in your newsfeed.

To start out this week's rants, not everyone was disappointed that the #RallyForMarkHunt was stopped by UFC president Dana White.

Meh. Good. Better, more qualified options exist than Mark Hunt. If Hunt deserves it, he'll show it with the rest of 2012. Giving him a title shot now would be pretty weak. Not sure it'd even be exciting. Good chin vs. Slugger doesn't always equal good fight. Sometimes it just means assbeating, and his ground game is still pedestrian. -- Dylan Schmeyer

Alexander Gustafsson impressed with his win over Thiago Silva. Several Cagereaders want to see him fight Ryan Bader, though one wants to see him fight a former champ.

A number one contender match vs. Bader seems to be the most appropriate matchup. Hendo was guaranteed a title shot and won't risk losing it by fighting a dangerous up-and-comer like Gustafsson. -- Grady Woods

Bader makes a lot of sense. Tests to see if Gustafsson has improved his wrestling defense to elite levels. -- John Wilcox

He needs two top ten wins for me to think he's a threat to the belt. Lyoto machida makes a lot of sense to me. -- Adam Smathers

Finally, most readers' respect for Brian Stann grew even more after he stopped his own bout against Alessio Sakara, though one reader didn't think he should have stopped.

Clearly, the man has seen enough needless violence for one lifetime. -- David J. Karchmer

I think it's too bad for the fans. The man is trying to be classy and I respect that, but he's in a sport that has rules. If he truly didn't want to hurt Sakara he could have backed out of the bout and let someone else take it, but he chose to compete and agreed to the rules, one of which is you go until the bell or referee stops you. If he had stopped when he did and Sakara had recovered (and won?) he'd be crying foul that the bout was not stopped. In other words, he got lucky that the referee agreed and next time he should respect the fans, the UFC, the other fighters and the referee who all help him make a great living by fighting to his full ability and abiding by the rules instead of acting as assistant referee in his bouts. -- Joshua Smith

There's no point. Continuing to possibly do permanent damage is senseless to inflict on an athlete so they can never fight again or worse -- Holly Rotroff

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/cagereaders-rants-brian-stann-alexander-gustafsson-end-mark-190636265.html

John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves 

Jon Jones, Rashad Evans? UFC 145 feud affects teammates and coaches, too

With the ongoing feud between former friends and training partners Rashad Evans and Jon Jones, it's easy to just focus on the crumbled relationship between the two men. After all, it's their shared dislike that has made their march to UFC 145 so interesting.

But fighters don't train in a vacuum. They have coaches and training partners who walk every step with the fighter until that last one into the Octagon. A fighter's team will live and breathe that bout, which is why so many fighters refer to themselves as "we" when talking about their fights. Jones and Evans' feud ripped apart more than their friendship. It pulled Evans away from Greg Jackson, the coach and friend he had worked with for years.

For the first time, Jackson will look across the cage at Evans. He made that decision after getting advice from Mike Winkeljohn, Jackson's partner in their MMA gym in New Mexico. Winkeljohn told Bleacher Report why he wanted Jackson to corner Jones:

But he upset me in that he kept throwing Greg under the bus. Enough is enough. You have your disagreements, I understand that, but there's more important things out there. And it's time for Greg to work in Jon's corner. Jon's here everyday, helping everybody else out. I mean Jon's that guy. He goes out of his way to help everybody here on the team. So I told Greg, "work his corner."

Though fighting is a business and everyone is expected to act like a professional, that doesn't make it easy for Jackson to work against a fighter he helped build.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/jon-jones-rashad-evans-ufc-145-feud-affects-174414861.html

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

Karo Parisyan vs Ryan Ford Post Fight Interview - Karo Parisyan

Karo Parisyan talks to HyeFighters.com about his MMA fight in Canada against Ryan Ford. He talks about everything from how he felt, before, during and after his fight. He even challenges Ford and calls him out for a rematch.

Source: http://mmalice.com/karo-parisyan/karo-parisyan-vs-ryan-ford-post-fight-interview-video_2d7bdddd1.html

Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague

Siyar Bahadurzada on his UFC debut, broken hand, Paulo Thiago, future - Siyar Bahadurzada

Siyar Bahadurzada made the biggest entry possible on Saturday night - he starched the very tough Paulo Thiago in 42 seconds on the main card of UFC on FUEL 2, which took place in Stockholm, Sweden Fighters Only got him on the phone on Monday to talk about the win and to see what his next moves might be @siyarthekiller@fightersonly@johnjoeoregan

Source: http://mmalice.com/siyar-bahadurzada/siyar-bahadurzada-on-his-ufc-debut-broken-hand-paulo-thiago-future-video_8ce860783.html

Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo