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Mackens Semerzier isn’t out for revenge any more.

At UFC on FOX 1, Semerzier was TKOed by opponent Robert Peralta in the third round — or so it seemed. As soon as the match ended, replays showed it was a headbutt that led to Semerzier being knocked down, and after a hearing by the California State Athletic Commission, the result of the bout was changed to a no contest.

A rematch between the two was set up at UFC on FX 2, but Peralta pulled out last week due to injuring his toes in training. And while many were eager to see the two clash due to the perceived bad blood between them, Semerzier says that’s simply not the case.

“I kind of let that stone go a while ago because I felt like he never really wanted to fight me, that he was kind of forced to,” Semerzier told The MMA Blog. “Initially I was really angry about it and I felt I had to let it go so I could focus and train properly because I didn’t want to fight out of anger, to get in a sanctioned fight to just settle our differences. I don’t think things should be set up like that.”

With Peralta injured, Daniel Pineda, fresh off a submission victory of Pat Schilling at UFC on FX 1 in his UFC debut, stepped up to the plate. Semerzier says he’s excited for the new matchup.

“He’s a tough fighter, he has good experience, he has a lot of fights, and he comes to fight every time out, so I think it’s a good match,” he said.

A matchup, he says, that he needs to win if he’s to cement his place within the UFC’s crowded featherweight division. With a 1-3, 1 NC record over his last five fights under the Zuffa umbrella, Semerzier knows he can’t afford another loss.

“I always feel it’s a must-win for me just for my sanity. I feel like I need to string some wins together and it starts here, even though I don’t consider my last fight a loss,” he said. “You can see the influx of the lighter weight guys coming in, the guys from 155 dropping down, the UFC doing these shows with featherweights all the time. All these guys are competitors and there’s only so many spots. If you’re in the weight class, you have to start realizing your job is in jeopardy.”

There have been rumors circulating that the UFC 145-pound division, which currently has around 50 fighters in it, might be the target of a roster purge, which is why Semerzier says he’s feeling the heat.

“From what I’ve heard, they’re overbooked with featherweights so they need to cut some guys,” he said. “If you just look bad you might not be invited back. Obviously you have to win, but you have to put on a game performance either way, so I feel the pressure going into this fight.”

To further hammer his point, the featherweight recalled the much-maligned Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz fight, which many fans said bored them. Semerzier said Condit fought smart, but that it would have been more fan-friendly to see the two go at it more (he also believes Diaz won three rounds to to).

The Florida native said there is a fine line between MMA as sport and entertainment.

“You can win and stall out and do things that don’t show the people in charge of making the bouts that you’re just one of the guys that wants to hang around and try to milk stuff from the company, not put yourself on the line, not take the necessary risk to keep the fans interested,” he said. “It is sport but at the same time it’s entertainment for the fans. I feel sometimes they’re just waiting for guys to lose so they can get them out of there just because he’s that boring, not entertaining or not game, just using his phyhsical size to slow the fight down like molasses and not entertain the fans.

Basically, expect Semerzier to come out swinging on March 3 in Australia.

Does anyone else think the Condit-Diaz rematch will be back on sometime next week, then cancelled again by the end of the month?

Oh wait, never mind. The Diaz-Condit rematch is off now. Prepare for a good, solid three months of this nonsense. (Fightlinker)

Dana White says we shouldn’t expect Georges St-Pierre to return to action any time soon. (MMA Bay)

UFC 143 had a PPV buy-rate of roughly 400,000, vastly exceeding most people’s expectations. (MMA Payout)

Ben Askren will defend his Bellator welterweight title against Douglas Lima on April 6 in Windsor. (Bloody Elbow)

Nevada State Athletic Commission boss Keith Kizer is fan-sourcing potential MMA rule changes. This is not going to go well. (Fighters Only)

The UFC is hoping to hold an event in Hawaii later on this year. (Five Ounces of Pain)

Thiago Silva has a new opponent for UFC on Fuel 3. Igor Pokrajac will be stepping in for the injured Brandon Vera. (5th Round)

Mayhem Miller is all-but begging for a fight. Someone please schedule this man. (Canoe.ca)

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It may be ironic, considering Brandon Vera’s beef with Thiago Silva stems from the Brazilian failing a post-fight drug test after their UFC 125 bout, but “The Truth” says he once considered taking performance enhancing drugs.

He made the revelation today while speaking to Mauro Ranallo on The MMA Show.

“Yes, the thought has crossed my mind. The only reason I didn’t do it was because I didn’t want to disappoint anyone, I didn’t want to win because of PEDs, and because I’m scared of needles,” Vera said. “I thought about it after my facial reconstruction following the Jon Jones fight, probably more for healing properties. I wanted to level the playing field — I’m not saying Jones is on anything — but it just crossed my mind.”

Again, it’s quite the paradox to hear this from Vera if you know his history with Silva. The two clashed at UFC 125, and after being thoroughly beaten down over the course of three rounds, Vera lost a unanimous decision. As it was his third loss in a row, the UFC decided to sever ties with the veteran.

But ‘the truth’ was soon revealed. Silva had falsified his urine sample to hide the illegal steroids he had taken to help out his ailing back, and after the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Silva for a year and changed the fight to a no contest, Vera was reinstated by the UFC.

According to Vera, he felt something was fishy during the fight.

“That fight was just annoying as hell. When were on the feet, it was like poetry of motion, but as soon as he grabbed me it felt like a whole other thing. He played bongos on my back while he was holding me down like a gorilla,” the light heavyweight said. “When I got home everyone kept asking what went wrong, and my answer was always, ‘That dude was strong as shit.’ I couldn’t move. I felt like a little boy being held down. I roll with everybody — the Nogeuira brothers, Phil Davis, Travis Browne — and I never had anyone hold me down like that except when I was in the sixth grade and an eighth grader held me down. It’s frustrating and it’s something I want back.”

An immediate rematch didn’t happen because of Silva’s suspension, and Vera was instead booked to fight Eliot Marshall at UFC 137 in a ‘loser-leaves-the-Octagon’ kind of match. Vera won the fight via a controversial decision, but tore a ligament in his arm (a ‘Tommy John’ kind of separation, he says) when Marshall put him in an armbar in the last minute of the fight.

Vera hasn’t competed since, but last week word broke that he was set to return in a rematch against Silva in the main event of UFC on FX 3 this May in Vera’s home state of Virginia. When he got the call, he was pumped to take the fight.

“That is THE fight that I want. Out of my whole UFC career, I want that fight more than any other fight I’ve ever had. I want to fight Thiago so bad,” Vera said. “I’ve been harping my manager and Joe Silva that ‘When that motherfucker is available, I want his ass, I want him.’ After I got the phone call saying I could fight Thiago in Virginia, which is a homecoming for me, I went to get cleared by my surgeon — I don’t remember what I said to him, but what I came out of the discussion with was that I could fight May 15. So I told Joe Silva and my manager Matt Stencil that ‘I’m in, the fight’s on, my doctor cleared it, I just have to clear it with my team of phsyical therapists.’”

The only problem was Vera’s arm hasn’t fully healed yet, and when he told the physical therapists he needed to be cleared for May 15, they collectively asked “of what year?”

Vera admits he may have rushed things.

“I jumped the gun and pride got the better of my judgement when I heard Virginia and Thiago and I said yes,” he said. “I was just so pumped that I said ‘Yeah.’ That day at the physical therapy appointment they had me do basic exercises like pushups and I couldn’t do them. I’m not ready yet.”

When Vera does return, though, expect much improvement over the last time he was in the Octagon. By his own admission, Vera hasn’t been training up to his capabilities for a while, and he’s paid for it by nearly losing his job with the UFC.

“I stopped training. I didn’t do the things that got me to the UFC,” he said. “I prepared my whole life for this not to happen. But when it really does happen, it’s like hitting the lottery, winning $300 million, and then going broke a few years later. I had to learn the lesson the hard way.”

But with the love and support of his wife Kerry, a professional women’s MMA fighter currently signed to Strikeforce, as well as the rest of his teammates and coaches at Alliance MMA, Vera says he’s turned the corner and will finally live up to the potential so many see in him.

“I’m doing everything now that got me to the UFC, to the retarded workouts on my own, to getting up at 3 am and running because I’m worried the other guy is running. I want to win again, I want to hurt people again, and I want to crush people’s dreams in the Octagon,” he said. “I had to ask myself how bad I really wanted it when Elliot put me in the armbar and I decided I wasn’t going to tap. In that split half-second, I knew I wasn’t going to tap and that I needed to fix (my career). It was the only thing comforting me when my arm popped. I’ve been fired, my heart’s been broken, so let’s get it together and make life easy again.”

And so Vera has been working as hard as he can lately — jokingly saying he’s changed his diet by replacing “ice cream with protein shakes” — and guarantees the results will show the next time he steps into the cage.

“For my last couple of fights, I just trained to get in shape. I was relying on the skills I’ve already had in the bank, but that’s not MMA anymore,” Vera said. “I just became one of those guys who got in shape, got in there, and fought. Now I’m trying to become the best MMA fighter I can be. MMA’s always evolving and I feel like a white belt again. It’s fun again, I’m learning, and I want to go to the gym and train all the time. This is how it should have always been. When I get back into the Octagon, you guys will see what’s really been going on.”

As for a final message to his rival Silva, or anyone else who tries to fight him on the juice?

“I don’t give a damn if you use steroids,” he said. “I’m not buff — I’m in between Phil Davis and Roy Nelson — but I’m going to whoop your ass when we fight so I don’t care what you’re on.”

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Today’s “The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo” podcast featured an interview with Malki Kawa, the agent of Carlos Condit, who said his client talked to Dana White and agreed to rematch Nick Diaz after their fight at UFC 143. He says that if Cesar Gracie and the rest of the Diaz camp is saying “no, it’s not happening” then they may be posturing, because as far as he’s concerned, the rematch is happening.

“It’s probably some contract issues, maybe some posturing — I know I was (posturing) this week, trying to leverage certain things here and there. That’s a fight they definitely want — they contested it, they were the first ones saying they wanted a rematch, they were the ones saying Carlos didn’t win. For us it’s a no-brainer and it’s really the only fight out there for us right now considering Georges St-Pierre is on a long layoff. If the fight’s not happening, it’s not on our end. Everything will be ironed out Friday, but as of right now Carlos spoke to Dana White and said he would fight Nick. That’s where we’re at right now.”

- Malki Kawa to Mauro Ranallo on The MMA Show

Also appearing on today’s MMA Show Podcast:

Firas Zahabi, trainer of Georges St-Pierre
Mike Winkeljohn, trainer of Carlos Condit
Brandon Vera, UFC light heavyweight
Yves Edwards, UFC lightweight

CLICK HERE to download the full podcast

Subscribe To The MMA Show Podcast via iTunes (free of charge)

The MMA Show Podcast with Mauro Ranallo is back at it again with a stacked show featuring the latest and greatest in the world of mixed martial arts.

And remember, you can now watch a LIVE VIDEO STREAM! Click Here to WATCH LIVE The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo at 2pm EST.

The show will start off with Firas Zahabi, who will discuss the rumors that Georges St-Pierre may vacate his title to fight Nick Diaz and also what he’s heard about the whole Carlos Condit/Diaz/St-Pierre saga.

Ranallo will be joined by UFC on FUEL TV 1 headliner Dave Herman, who will talk about his co-main event fight against Stefan Struve and how life has been in the UFC thus far.

We will then welcome Yves Edwards, who signed on the dotted line last night to fight Donald Cerrone at the UFC on FOX 3 event.

Mike Winkeljohn will then stop by as well to talk about Cerrone’s fight and the whole situation with Condit.

And the fun doesn’t stop there as Brandon Vera will join Ranallo to talk about pulling out of the rematch with Thiago Silva and how is he doing both mentally and physically.

And finally, Brendan Schaub will talk about his UFC 145 fight against Ben Rothwell and Keith Kizer of the NSAC will talk about the two-point deduction from Saturday night.

Click Here to WATCH LIVE The MMA Show Vodcast at 2pm EST

Click Here to LISTEN LIVE to The MMA Show Podcast at 2pm EST

Click Here to download any previous episodes of The MMA Show Podcast with Mauro Ranallo

To hell with putting up a picture of a fighter, I’m putting up an OK Go video this morning.

If you don’t know why, keep readoing.

And here we go again, Carlos Condit has accepted a rematch against Nick Diaz. (MMA Fighting)

Georges St-Pierre may be willing to give up the welterweight title for a chance to fight Nick Diaz sooner. (MMA Bay)

The UFC has announced two more non pay-per-view events. UFC on FX 4 will take place in Atlantic City, NJ on June 22, while UFC on Fox 4 will take place on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles. (MMA Torch)

The UFC have signed a new sponsorship deal with Tapout, keeping them as their official “lifestyle” clothing brand. (Pro MMA Now)

Ronda Rousey says ring card girls are “talentless,” and that being an Olympian kind of sucks, because you’re broke all the time. (MixedMartialArts.com)

Donald Cerrone will fight Yves Edwards at UFC on Fuel 3. (MMA Weekly)

The UFC has announced their quarterly Twitter bonuses. Congratulations to Pat Barry, Nam Phan, Jake Ellenberger, Roy Nelson, and more for being great at the Internet. (MMA Payout)

Roger Gracie is on the verge of moving his training to Black House, and will likely drop down to middleweight. (Tatame)

Jorge Santiago, who was cut from the UFC back in October, starts his climb back to the big show with a fight against Leonardo Pecanha at Titan Fighting 21. (MMA Junkie)

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The fate of Carlos Condit, and possibly the future of Nick Diaz in MMA, hinges on one fellow: UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

Speaking to The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo, Condit’s agent Malki Kawa said that he’s open to the idea of a rematch between the UFC interim welterweight champion and Diaz, who said after the razor-close decision loss at UFC 143 he will retire from the sport — but only if St-Pierre is out longer than anticipated.

“If we decide to take a fight between now and (when St-Pierre returns), I guarantee you it’ll be Nick Diaz,” Kawa said. “(But) the truth is there’s only one big money fight out there and its St-Pierre. We’re not interested in fighting Jake Ellenberger if he beats Diego Sanchez next week since Condit already fought him and beat him. I’m not interested in any other opponents.”

With St-Pierre still rehabbing his knee and not expected to start MMA training until June and return to the cage until November, Condit is expected to be sitting on the shelf for quite a while. And after fighting only once in 2011 due to injuries to himself, injuries to opponents, and general line-up shuffling for reasons beyond his control, it’s not easy for Kawa to encourage his client to sit out yet again, this time for another nine months while St-Pierre heals.

But the fact of the matter is St-Pierre is one of the biggest names in the sport and, as Dana White has said on numerous occasions, the UFC’s marquee pay-per-view draw. Kawa realizes that, and now has to weigh whether it’s better for Condit to stay active and risk losing his interim title by granting a rematch to Diaz, or to sit and wait for the big-money ticket that is St-Pierre, a fight that could literally change his life.

“I’m not against fighting Nick Diaz again. If we beat him once, we can beat him twice, right?” Kawa said. “What I’m trying to get the fans to understand is that there’s only a few big money fights where these guys can earn money to support their families for the rest of their lives. St-Pierre is that guy. If Condit can beat St-Pierre, he’s now bigger than life. That’s why we’re contemplating waiting for him.”

CLICK HERE to download the full podcast

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Today’s “The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo” podcast featured an interview with Cesar Gracie, the coach of Nick Diaz who came out on the wrong end of a decision in the main event of UFC 143. Gracie talked about why he thought Diaz won the fight, what he thought about Carlos Condit’s strategy, and whether or not he thinks Diaz will in fact stay retired.

“When we say retirement, we’ve seen people retire many times. It doesn’t have to be a lifelong retirement — it’s take me out of the lineup for a year or whatever until the love for the sport comes back. I think Nick is a true fighter and I think he’ll miss it. It’s one of those things where ‘you don’t know what you’ve got ’til you’re gone’ type of thing. I think he will want to return in the future — he’s been talking about taking a layoff for a while — (but) in my opinion he won’t fight again this year. At this level, it’s a big fight, and you literally get a week off and then you’re back in another training camp. It’s not easy and people need a break. If you don’t take a break, you’ll be mentally shot and won’t perform to your best. I think the best thing for him is to take some time off. A rematch with Condit may be the thing to motivate him (to come back) — but I don’t think it’s happening.”

- Cesar Gracie to Mauro Ranallo on The MMA Show

Also appearing on today’s MMA Show Podcast:

Greg Jackson, Carlos Condit’s trainer
Malki Kawa, Condit’s agent
Mike Pierce, UFC welterweight
Dustin Poirier, UFC featherweight
Patrick Cote, Canadian middleweight
Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports
Damon Martin, MMAWeekly.com
Marc Ratner, UFC vice president of regulatory affairs

CLICK HERE to download the full podcast

Subscribe To The MMA Show Podcast via iTunes (free of charge)

The MMA Show Podcast with Mauro Ranallo is back at it again with a LOADED SHOW featuring the latest and greatest in the world of mixed martial arts.

And remember, you can now watch a LIVE VIDEO STREAM! Click Here to WATCH LIVE The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo at 2pm EST.

Ranallo is joined by Greg Jackson, the trainer of Carlos Condit, to start off the show. He’ll talk about Condit’s performance at UFC 143 and why he doesn’t feel the criticism he has received has been just.

Then we’ll welcome Cesar Gracie, the trainer of Nick Diaz, who will talk about why he felt Diaz deserved to win the fight and what he thinks about Diaz’ talk about retiring.

Malki Kawa, the agent of Condit, will also join the podcast to talk about why he thought Condit won the fight and why he doesn’t want a rematch.

Mike Pierce, the UFC welterweight who narrowly lost a decision to Josh Koscheck, will stop by to discuss why he believed the judges erred in giving Koscheck the decision.

Ranallo will also welcome MMAweekly.com’s Damon Martin to talk about the story he wrote about Koscheck leaving AKA and Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole will discuss further backlash stemming from UFC 143.

But the fun doesn’t stop there, as Dustin Poirier will talk about his Submission of the Night victory over Max Holloway and Patrick Cote will talk about his upcoming fight in Brazil and how he hopes to get back in the UFC.

Finally, UFC vice president of regulatory affairs Marc Ratner will talk about drug testing in Japan and expanded use of instant replay in the UFC.

Click Here to WATCH LIVE The MMA Show Vodcast at 2pm EST

Click Here to LISTEN LIVE to The MMA Show Podcast at 2pm EST

Click Here to download any previous episodes of The MMA Show Podcast with Mauro Ranallo

That transcript is oddly fascinating.

Cesar Gracie says that the judging in Saturday’s Nick Diaz-Carlos Condit fight was a “perfect storm of incompetence.” (MMA Fighting)

In related news, Condit’s camp in not interested in a rematch. (Fightlinker)

If you want to read a transcript of everything that was said in Nick Diaz’s corner during the fight, check this out. (Bloody Elbow)

It’s official, Jon Jones and Rashad Evans will meet for in a light heavyweight title fight at UFC 145. (MMA Weekly)

Here are all your medical suspensions for UFC 143. Fabricio Werdum, Ed Herman, Matt Riddle, Henry Martinez and Michael Kuiper all face potential six month layoffs. (MMA Bay)

Here’s the payroll for UFC 143. Despite his loss, Nick Diaz was still the highest paid fighter on the card. (MMA Payout)

UFC on FX 4 has been tentatively scheduled for June 22. (MMA Mania)

According to Dana White, that well-known MMA hotbed of India will be the next country to get its own version of The Ultimate Fighter. (Yahoo!)

Daniel Pineda will replace the injured Robert Peralta and face Mackens Semerzier at UFC on FX 2. (MMA Junkie)

Miesha Tate called Ronda Rousey “delusional” on Inside MMA. (HDNet)

Sad news, folks. The Cyborgs are splitting up. (Middle Easy)

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