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The main event is set for the UFC’s August stop in Brazil. The middleweight champ Anderson Silva will face Yushin Okami.

If the first thought that pops into your head is, "this could be trouble," you’re not wrong based on historical data.

Okami, a grappler, may have trouble getting his hands on the champ. On several occasions like that in the past, Silva has clown, danced and made a mockery of the fight when his opponent (Demian Maia, Patrick Cote) was unwilling to engage a striking war. Why does he do that?

A new documentary featuring Silva, "Like Water," may give us an explanation. It’s set to debut at the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival at different theatres around New York on Apr. 21, 23, 28 and 30.

The preview (NSFW) focuses an awful lot on Silva’s performance issues in the past, but the overall piece sounds like an effort to show us the true Silva.

From TribecaFilm.com:

[...] From Silva’s life in Brazil with his wife, three sons, and two daughters, to training with his team in Los Angeles and Miami, first-time filmmaker Pablo Croce peels back the layers of an ultimate fighter to reveal the heart of a champion.

A man of few words, Silva does not shamelessly play into the media hype machine?although he is continuously taunted by opponents who do. [...] Croce’s hard-hitting documentary exposes the unseen side of Ultimate Fighting and culminates in one heart-pounding fight that signifies more than just another championship.

Croce says the name of the documentary was inspired by a Bruce Lee philosophy:

"Water has the adaptive abilities, but also the power to crush."

Croce, a first-time filmmaker, wasn’t familiar with the world of MMA and started with a fresh slate:

"There is a huge contrast in what I got personally from this man?not what I know from the media or his job as a fighter?but the first few weeks, when I saw there’s a great character here; a guy who is very open and friendly?there’s a whole stereotype how media casts fighters.  I think there’s a really good look at the pressures behind the man who prepares for such a big event, a fight.  There’s a good look at what can be driving his persona, to be perceived somehow differently or stereotyped."

It should be noted Ed Soares, Silva’s manager, is listed on the project as an executive producer.

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by Michael David Smith

With just a week and a half to go before UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre puts his title on the line against Jake Shields at UFC 129, the Official GSP YouTube channel is offering up some inside looks at St. Pierre’s preparation.

Some of the videos, like the one above of St. Pierre working on his striking, are about what you’d expect from any MMA fighter. But a few of the videos show how unique GSP is when it comes to his strength and conditioning work.

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by Michael David SmithRamsey Nijem stepped into the cage and won his fight against Charlie Rader on this week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, using his solid wrestling base to control Rader, take him down and finish him with a rear-naked choke.

But this week’s episode of the UFC’s reality show focused almost as much on Nijem’s personality outside the cage, where his habits — including painting his toenails and watching Glee — make him something very different from the stereotypical cage fighter.

In his weekly interview with MMAFighting.com, Nijem talked about his victory over Rader, shed a little more light on his personality outside the cage, and shared his thoughts on advancing to the next round of this season’s Ultimate Fighter tournament.

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Facebook’s increasingly ubiquitous ‘Like’ button is getting a new friend: the Send button. Click on a webpage that has the Send button integrated, and you’ll be prompted to share it with any of your Facebook Groups, your Facebook friends, or any standard email address. In other words, where the Like button is designed to let you quickly share content with all of your Facebook friends, the Send button is for sharing with a subset of them. Site designers are groaning right now (they have yet another sharing widget to integrate), but it’s a logical step for Facebook ? there are certainly times when you want to share links with a handful of friends instead of your News Feed, and this gives you one less reason to fire up your non-Facebook email account. 50 sites are launching with the feature. In addition to the new Send button, Facebook is adding a handful of features to its existing Groups product, which was overhauled last October. First is the introduction of photo albums for Groups.

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by Michael David SmithBellator welterweight champion Ben Askren won a one-sided unanimous decision in a non-title match, and Jay Hieron and Michael Chandler advanced to the finals of their respective Season 4 tournaments on Saturday night at Bellator 40.

As is so often the case, Bellator put on an entertaining show on MTV2, but it will be largely overlooked because it took place on a night when there was a bigger MMA event going on in the Strikeforce card on Showtime. That’s a shame for Bellator, which is putting good fighters in the cage consistently.

Askren is one of the best wrestlers in MMA, and it was no surprise that he completely dominated Nick Thompson. All three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Askren, who’s the best welterweight outside the UFC and Strikeforce.

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Launched at SXSW, social music app SoundTracking has announced its quarter of a million milestone today, surpassing 250K downloads in just six weeks after launch on the iPhone. With 100K downloads taking place in the app’s first two weeks of existence, SoundTracking is experiencing rapid growth for an iOS app without without a previous app or website to drive installs from. Another music sharing app, Play by AOL, has also hit 250,000 downloads in half the time on Android. While founder Steve Jang wouldn’t disclose numbers of daily active users or users, he does tell me that over 50% of SoundTracking users are using the app to share their music moments on both Facebook and Twitter, which might explain the increased signups. It seems like every five minutes or so someone else is following the SoundTrack to my life.

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One can only imagine Dana White’s reaction when he heard Tito Ortiz wrecked his car. The good news is that Tito came away unscathed and it was a race car he was driving during a practice run for a celebrity event. But it’s begs the question – why is one of the most injury-prone guys in MMA putting himself at risk?

TMZ posted the photo of Tito’s trashed Toyota Scion. The gossip website claims Ortiz wrecked the car twice during a Tuesday practice run for the "Fueled by Fame" Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race on Apr. 16.

Ortiz, who has a history of neck and back problems, already bailed on a 2011 fight against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at Ultimate Fight Night 24. He’s scheduled to face Ryan Bader in July at UFC 132.

If Tito goes through with the race it is for a good cause.

On behalf of each celebrity racer, Toyota donates $5,000 to Racing for Kids every year and another $5,000 to the winning racer’s charity of choice. Racing for Kids, a national nonprofit program benefiting children’s hospitals throughout the country, (in this case, Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach and Children’s Hospital in Orange County, Calif.), was created as a way to connect sick children with their favorite celebrities and race-car drivers. Toyota has donated more than $1.9 million to various children’s hospitals since 1991, on behalf of this race and its participants.

Additionally, a $15,000 donation will be made in conjunction with the 14th-annual "People Pole Award." Sponsored by People magazine, the award honors the pole-position winner of the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race qualifying session on Friday, April 15.

Other celebrities racing include Anthony Anderson, Jillian Barberie Reynolds, Tyson Beckford, Kevin Eubanks, Dennis Haysbert, Megyn Price and Kimora Lee Simmons. The race takes place on the downtown streets of Long Beach, Ca. Insert your Quinton Jackson joke here.

Tip via Cage Potato

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MMA fans disagree on nearly everything, from the best pound-for-pound fighter to the best promotion to even the prettiest ring card girl. However, there is one area that MMA fans, media, promoters and fighters do agree on — the state of MMA judging is nothing short of sorry. Martin Kampmann, Nam Phan and Riki Fukuda were recent victims of egregiously bad judging, but rarely does a card go by that doesn’t have at least one judges’ decision that leaves the MMA world confused.

Two judges spoke up recently about their job, and how they arrive at decisions. Chuck Wolfe, who surprised Bellator fans by scoring Joe Warren 30-27 in a win over Marcus Galvao, despite the damage that Galvao inflicted on Warren during the second round. Wolfe defended his call:

"He had three rounds to take Warren out if he really wanted to beat him — he had three rounds to dominate Warren, as well as Warren had three rounds to dominate him," Wolfe said. "It’s up to the fighter. … Don’t leave it in the hands of the judges, especially when it’s a close fight."

Yes, that’s a judge saying, "Don’t leave it in my hands." Wolfe mentions his credentials, but then essentially says, "Don’t make me do the job." Imagine being at work and telling that to your boss. How long would it be before you cleaned out your desk?

Jeff Blatnick, an Olympic gold medalist in wrestling and an early player in building the UFC, now serves as a well-respected MMA judge. He allowed reporter Jim Genia to shadow him through a regional MMA event in New Jersey, explaining some of the nuances to judging that fans can’t see from their seat in the stands or through their television screen.

"If a fighter winces from a landed punch, that means it scored," he says.  "If I hear the whoosh of a foot dragging on a takedown, it’s a legitimate attempt at a takedown."

Blatnick acknowledges that there will be subjectivity among judges, because a judges has to compare apples and oranges. Does a takedown matter more than three elbows? How does a leg kick stack up next to a jab?

Judging is a problem in MMA, but one that is to be expected in a sport that has grown so much in a short time. Judges with backgrounds in wrestling or boxing or jiu-jitsu are having to learn the value of the other disciplines. What’s clear is the need for ongoing education for current and new judges. Some states, like New Jersey and Ohio, already have stringent requirements for judges. Other states need to catch up.

The good news is that MMA recognizes the problem exists, which is the first step in fixing any debacle. Recently retired UFC vet Ricardo Almeida plans to go into judging, hopefully starting a trend for former fighters.

Education and more qualified judges will help, but something that any fan of a judged sport need to realize is that subjectivity will always creep into the judges’ minds. Their decisions will forever be one more area of disagreement for MMA fans.

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Like this hamster, I am sure you are currently running in circles screaming “Excelsior” at your houseplants and pets, as it was written it has come to pass: Apple is finally shipping the white iPhone 4 and all signs point to availability this week. The white iPhone, to be clear, is the same as the black iPhone 4 but it is white.

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Georges St. Pierre has flirted with the idea of trying for the Olympics, but in wrestling, a sport that’s a natural departure from mixed martial arts. Now, as he trains for his UFC 129 bout against Jake Shields, methinks he might want to be a gymnast:

My goodness. That man is a sick, sick athlete. Doing pull-ups like that is hard enough on stationary objects, but the unfixed nature of the rings ups the difficulty level.

Look out, Jonathan Horton. GSP is coming after you.

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The Black Eyed Peas performed at MTV World Stage in New York City on April 18 to celebrate the arrival of the 21st Century Volkswagen Beetle.

Kate Bosworth was spotted rocking out at the AllSaints Spitalfields after-party for the Kings of Leon at the Coachella music festival in Indio, Calif.

Katy Perry wore the Kate Spade New York Franca Sunglasses from Solstice Sunglass Boutique in white to the Coachella Music Festival.

Vinny Guadagnino ate at NYC?s STK.

Katie Holmes is a fan of the Rev class at the Sports Club/LA.

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She may look like a happy-go-lucky downtown party girl on The Real Housewives of New York City, but these days, Cindy Barshop is more into business and babies than boozy soirees.

?I wake up with my kids, then I work, work, work!? the single mom of 15-month-old twins Jesse and Zoe tells In Touch. As the owner of high-end spa Completely Bare, Cindy runs six New York locations, new spots in Atlanta, Beverly Hills and Dallas, and has plans to conquer Long Island and even Brazil with her state-of-the-art hair removal, tanning, and other beauty services. ?When all the employees are in a positive mode and we’re moving forward, that?s when I feel really good.?

Despite her full schedule, Cindy guarantees to entertain fans of the Bravo reality show. The bubbly brunette, who says castmates Jill Zarin and Kelly Killoren Bensimon are her friends, foreshadows a rift with a few of the series? other women. ?When we?re away, all of a sudden there?s a big split!? she says, referring to a drama-filled getaway to Morocco with the girls.

And the supermom even gives love a chance this season. ?I just went on a couple of dates,? she says coyly, adding that she has a weakness for the rocker type.

To watch as Cindy takes over the Big Apple, tune in to Bravo on Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET.

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The Gillmor Gang ? Danny Sullivan, Doc Searls, John Taschek, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor ? endured technical glitches and a dissection of the disruption formerly known as TV before settling into a debate about privacy. I know, sounds like the usual nonsense, but this show was high quality nonsense. I forget who brought up the famous iPhone/Android hidden recording file crisis, but things quickly got out of hand when one of us suggested that was a feature not a problem. It turns out that not that many people are aware that when we are on the Internet, everything is recorded. For those who seem surprised by this, all those free apps are actually there to harvest our clicks, searches, and other gestures of our intent. As Doc Searls pointed out, how else does Google make money except by random clicks on Adsense adding up to billions. It’s only when we can’t figure out how to delete our wanderings that people get upset. Me ? I count on being surreptitiously tracked so I can go back and figure out where I was last week.

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Riding a two-fight losing streak at 37 years old, Marcus Davis wants everyone to know he’s not some broken, down fighter hanging on for a payday. He intends to get back to the UFC and his path is through Canada and the lightweight division.

Marcus Davis is one of several former UFC fighters on the MFC 29 card (HDNet 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT) in Windsor, Ontario. Davis (17-8) takes on Curtis Demarce. He’s is glad to see a guy like Demarce in front of him instead of a Jeremy Stephens or Nate Diaz. Davis was cut by the UFC after suffering a knockout loss against Stephens. He admits that the pressure of keeping a job in the UFC, became too much to handle.

"I lost that split decision to Dan Hardy [at UFC 99] and everything just went downhill for me. I got nervous, I started to second-guess everything I was doing, and when you fear and focus on, ‘I might get cut,’ that’s usually what happens," Davis told Blood Elbow. "That’s because that’s where your focus is and it’s not in having fun, performing and doing what you need to do. Because of that, I kind of willed it to happen, I feel. There’s a lot of pressure that’s off my shoulders right now."

Entering the fight against Demarce, Davis is relaxed. 

"I get to experiment and do some things I’ve been working on that maybe I wouldn’t feel so comfortable experimenting and working on on the stage of the UFC in the Octagon," Davis said. "I will go out there and I’m gonna have fun. I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna experiment."

Demarce is only 10-8, but he looked pretty solid his last time out. He lost a questionable decision against Richie Whitson, but ripped up his face. Davis wasn’t impressed.

"[...] couldn’t even fight two years ago. Then all of a sudden, the last year-and-a-half, year or whatever it’s been, he’s really turned it around," Davis said. "He’s fought some tough guys, but he hasn’t fought me. He hasn’t fought anybody, after looking at his record and watching his fights, that can strike like I can and I will be the biggest 155-pound guy he’s ever gotten in the ring with."

Demarce did something to piss off Davis, because after dropping a little smack he turned brought out the flame-thrower on Demarce.

"He’s not going to get in there and knock me out. He’s going to try to grapple because that’s what he’s going to do. He’s going to get beat up, he’s going to get hurt. He’s going to try to take me down and when he locks up with me, he’s going to realize that’s not going to happen. He’ll be my human punching bag until this fight is over."

The MFC 29 co-main eventsfeature the promotion’s light heavyweight champ Ryan Jimmo against Zak Cummings and 170 champ Douglas Lima defending against Terry Martin. Hermes Franca and Pete Spratt are also on the card. Head over to MMAMania for an extensive preview of the card.

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by Michael David SmithIn what promises to be a highly entertaining fight card, Strikeforce is back in action Saturday night with its welterweight and lightweight titles on the line, and two more live fights that promise to be exciting. We’ve got the full preview right here.

What: Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley

Where: San Diego

When: Saturday, the Showtime televised card starts at 10 PM ET.

Predictions on the four televised fights below.

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Above, that’s Arianny Celeste from the UFC. She’s best known for being sweet eye candy at UFC events and that little naked deal in Playboy. With this new song, Arianny wants to show she’s more than a pretty face. Check it out.  Is it any good? Or does it rank right up there with Kieren Mulvaney’s favorite song by Rebecca Black? Before you say Arianny won’t hit it big in the music world check out the hits on this "great" song.

Oh you crazy Internet, now Black has a billboard in Hollywood and some wackos are sending her death threats.

Tip via MMAFix

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Editor?s Note: This is a guest post by Mark Suster (@msuster), a 2x entrepreneur, now VC at GRP Partners. Read more about Suster at Bothsidesofthetable There’s a line of thinking in Silicon Valley that you should build product businesses rather than services businesses. This thinking is largely driven by the venture capital industry who are in search of high margin, highly scalable businesses. It’s nearly impossible to get a services company financed by VCs. You’re a small fish. But technology service businesses can be hugely profitable, rewarding & life-changing experiences for entrepreneurs. So how should you think about whether to build a services business or how to finance your existing one? Read on …

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If you’re an early stage venture capitalist or angel investor there is no time like the present to declare a bubble, say valuations are out of control and predict the demise of the tech industry in the very near future. Since they’re in the business of buying low and selling high, any angle that suggests that the buy price should be even lower sounds great to them. If there’s any evidence of said bubble all the press will eat it up. Mostly because they were out buying Internet stocks in 2000 instead of doing their jobs and reporting on the fairly obvious signals that the Nasdaq was about to implode. They won’t get caught with their pants down and their hand out again. Declare a bubble early and declare it often. And there is some evidence laying around. Valuations on a few select private tech startups are pretty darn high right now. And valuations on early stage “Series A” startups have surpassed the all important $4 million line and are now averaging in the $6 million – $8 million range. That’s bad for seed fund economics. Which leads to paragraph 1 above, followed by paragraph 2 in the press.

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Female fighters bring some unique differences to the table versus their male counterparts. They face different challenges when cutting weight, but that’s nothing compared to the reason Cindy Dandois just dropped out of the mix for a June fight against Strikeforce star Gina Carano.

Dandois is three months pregnant, and fought in mid-March, when she was just over two months into her pregnancy. She beat Jorina Baars on a fight card in Belgium. Dandois confirmed to Cagewriter that she is pregnant and was for her last fight, but didn’t know it at the time.

"I did tests before because my weight was more difficult to reach, but they were all negative so I didn’t realize it," Dandois said in an email to Cagewriter. She even took a test at a hospital before getting an X-ray, and that came up negative.

This all begs the question — do all state commissions that control fights need to start administering a pregnancy test along with tests for PEDs before females step into the cage? Nevada State Athletic Commission does require pregnancy testing, though that would not have changed anything for Dandois as her pregnancy tests came up negative.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker discussed the pregnancy news and said a new opponent will be found shortly for Carano. Carano will return to fighting after 21-plus months off while busy with a movie career. Dandois said that she hopes to return to fighting shape soon after the birth of her child.

"If I wasn’t pregnant I would’ve agreed for this fight because it was and is still my biggest dream to fight her one time," Dandois said. "I hope Strikeforce still wants me and asks me after my pregnancy. If I can sign with them I will start training again right away so I can be ready to take any fight in about 2-3 months after my baby is born, and my family will be there to support me."

Though it’s causing a hiccup in her fighting career, Dandois is grateful for the pregnancy.

"God gave me this child present. Who am I for not being thankful for it. Some women have to move earth and fire to get a child and I got blessed like this, having already two beautiful kids. I guess fighting I can still do after I got my baby, but my children are for the rest of my life!!"

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