Another week is about to be put in the official record books so it’s time, once again, to look at the week that was and the weekend ahead in the world of mixed martial arts. It’s little thing we like to call “The Week’s End Update.”

Today, we welcome the editor-in-chief of the new-and-improved bloodyelbow.com, Luke Thomas, to help make sense of everything.

Some of the topics we delved into it were:

* Tonight’s IFL event

* How would Luke help revamp the IFL

* Roy Nelson vs. Brad Imes

* World Victory Road’s growth

* Sengoku match-making

* Roger Gracie vs. Yuki Kondo

* This week’s TUF 8 announcement

* The problems with TUF

* Will Andrei Arlovski sign with Affliction?

* Affliction’s future

And that’s just a taste so check ‘er out.

LISTEN TO THE LUKE THOMAS INTERVIEW AT MMARATED.COM

It’s been a fairly unpredictable season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” thus far, but no result was more unexpected (in my mind at least) than Amir Sadollah’s victory over Gerald Harris on last night’s episode of the show.

Sadollah seemed to be lacking confidence going into the bout while Harris, well, he appeared to be feeling quite good about the whole situation. Oh, how we were wrong…

Of course, as is the case in many MMA fights, things can change in a flash and that’s kind of what happened when Sadollah nailed the former IFL fighter with a nice knee to the head.

Following the loss, Harris showed a ton of emotion and, really, who can blame him? He lost to a guy with an 0-0 record (1-0 if you consider the qualifying match to get on the show).

On a side note, how weird would it be if Sadollah makes it all the way to the finals with a 0-0 record? That would certainly be a first.

Anyways, we caught up with Harris to talk about last night’s fight and some other stuff:

* What was it like watching the fight with all his family and friends knowing that he was about to lose (also chronicled on Cagepotato.com quite well).

* Their reaction after the loss

* His feelings after the loss

* In hindsight, should he have done anything differently in the fight?

* Did he underestimate Amir?

* How hard was it to look at Amir at the house?

* His time in the IFL All that and much more from Harris…

LISTEN TO THE HARRIS INTERVIEW HERE 

There’s just something about those ring girls. Everyone loves them and we here at mmarated.com are no different. So, with that in mind, I present a most enlightening interview with one of Strikeforce’s exquisite ring girls, the lovely Nicole Craner.

Nicole is actually one of the friendlier ring girls I’ve come across lately . Heck, she’s even an mmarated.com member! So, it was no surprise when she answered all my stupid questions in an honest, sincere and fun manner.

Some of the topics we discussed included:

* How she got involved with Strikeforce

* Her MMA knowledge (quite impressive I must say)

* Sitting cageside for Le vs. Shamrock

* Her desire to someday work for the UFC

* Does she like any fighter out there like, you know, more than a friend

* Have any fighters ever hit on her?

Oh, and we also played a quick little round of my favorite dinner party game: F, Marry, Kill. Some of the candidates involved were Scott Coker, Rachelle Leah, Gilbert Melendez, Dana White and Urijah Faber. Good times indeed.

LISTEN TO THE NICOLE CRANER INTERVIEW HERE

Over at my home away from home, MMARated.com, I’ve got some quasi-interesting shots of Roger Huerta training with GSP in preparation for his fight against Kenny Florian in August.

What a great pairing these two are: Down-to-earth, humble, good-looking and, most importantly, great ambassadors for the sport. Oh, and they are also two of the best fighters in the UFC.

I don’t really think anyone is subscribing to the whole ‘Roger Huerta ain’t for real’ notion anymore but, if they are, training with the likes of St. Pierre will help shut all the critics up soon enough.

Anyhow, enough from me, check out the pics here.

I started this little blog a few months back as just a fun hobby. I love conducting interviews and figured ‘why not interview fighters and post them on a site.’

For whatever reason, it has quickly led to some pretty cool opportunities. Getting to work with the people at MMARated.com has been a great one while the newest is working with FOXSports.com.

Here’s the lowdown: Each week, one of my interviews will be appearing over at FoxSports.com. The first one is a little tete-a-tete with Tito Ortiz.

Also, I will be providing them with some video content so be on the look out for that.

In the meantime, check out the Ortiz interview and thanks for the continued love.

You may not have heard of Matt Makowski (2-0) yet, but all that may change soon enough. The 21-year-old fighter will face Nike Serra on the undercard of the May 31st Elite XC on CBS card.

There’s always pressure going into any bout but you would have to think that all the guys fighting on the undercard of this particular show will be looking to make a splash to get their fight on the broadcast. With quick workers like Kimbo Slice, James Thompson, Robbie Lawler and Phil Baroni headlining, one has to think that there will be plenty of room for an extra bout or two…or three.

MMARated Radio caught up with Makowski just a couple of weeks before the biggest fight of his young career:

* His thoughts on potentially fighting on CBS

* How did he land on the card?

* Will he look to press the issue to land on the televised portion of the card?

* His thoughts on Nick Serra

* Would he prefer to fight a BJJ practitioner or a striker?

* His rise up the amateur fighting ranks

* Is he surprised at how quickly his career has progressed?

LISTEN TO THE MAKOWSKI INTERVIEW AT MMARATED.COM

Quite the weekend in the world of mixed martial arts. If you were sad and lonely at home but just so happened to have an interest in the sport then this was the perfect weekend for you.

But the (obvious) big question is: who scored the highest on our weekend report card. Let’s have a look-see…

D: Fighting and Entertainment Group:
I know I should be thankful that I am getting to see DREAM for free via HDNET, but, seriously now, those broadcasts are just way too long. I like my MMA telecasts just as much as the next guy but I am not down with spending five hours watching an event especially when a collective two hours are spent looking at a wide shot of the Saitama Super Arena while Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice talk about lord knows what. Let me be clear in stating that I know this isn’t HDNet’s fault but more so FEG’s since they are the ones booking all these ridiculously long shows. And, for the record, I was not left as enamored with the show as others were. Sure, there were some great fights but I think the fact that it dragged so much killed it for me.

Honorable mention: Ian Freeman’s new-found physique

C: Jason “Mayhem” Miller:
I have always enjoyed Mayhem’s antics in-and-out of the ring/cage. I love fighters who don’t take themselves too seriously and no one does it better than Mayhem. However, for some reason, his shtick got under my skin yesterday. Basically, he made Frank Shamrock look like the most sportsmanlike competitor around. His behavior probably had something to do with the fact that this was his first time fighting in Japan and, surely, he wanted to make a good first impression. The entrance was cute, the wink during the stare down was funny but all the other stuff was completely unnecessary and quite disrespectful to Shibata. Was that the warrior spirit he likes to talk about? I should probably give the man props for a dominating and convincing victory too.

Honorable Mention: Ross Pointon – Welcome back to the win column!

READ THE REST OF THE REPORT CARD HERE 

It wasn’t quite Gabe Ruedieger-esque but Jeremy May’s behavior on last week’s episode TUF 7 was quite the controversial one. Actually, maybe controversial isn’t the right word…annoying might be more accurate.

So, why did he pour lime juice in Matt Brown’s dip anyways? And why did the rest of the cast appear to be rooting against him?

We reached out to May to get some answers to these questions and the responses we got were pretty interesting.

For example, the guy we spoke to on the phone seemed completely different than the one portrayed on television. Now, that might have to do with the fact that he realized how poorly he came off on television and is now trying to change his persona but, regardless, it still seemed like a different guy.

Other topics we spoke to May about included:

- The mistakes he made against Matt Brown

- His lack of cardio in the fight

- The way he was portrayed on the show

- What prompted him to pour lime juice in Brown

- His thoughts on some of his cast members

- Did he enjoy the experience of being on a reality show?

- Was he happy with the coaching he received?

- How did he end up on the show in the first place?

LISTEN TO THE JEREMY MAY INTERVIEW HERE 

Here’s the latest and greatest from MMARated Radio: Each and every Friday we’ll be inviting another member of the MMA media to discuss the week that was and the weekend ahead in the sport we love so dearly.

Today, we kick things off with the uber-talented Ben Fowlkes of cagepotato.com and si.com to talk about a number of different topics:

* Changes in the IFL

* Is there any reason to watch Cage Rage 26?

* The legend that is Ross Pointon

* Will Nick Diaz actually fight for DREAM this weekend?

* Why would Elite XC even allow him to fight on their card in the first place?

* Can this be DREAM’s best offering yet?

* The case for Sean Sherk

* The Kimbo Slice article in ESPN The Magazine

* Bas Rutten’s reaction to the article

* Fowlkes’ take on Kimbo vs. Thompson

LISTEN TO THE WEEK’S END UPDATE

Last week, I was tipped off by a reliable source that Nate Quarry was being considered as a replacement for Chris Leben should his legal troubles get worse. Well, I think it’s officially safe to say that Leben’s problems have worsened.

MMAMania.com is reporting that Leben was sentenced today to 35 days in jail. Here are the details:

““The Crippler” turned himself in to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office in Portland, Oregon, on April 30 because of an old Driving Under the Influence (DUI) probation violation.

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