Tired of the usual rock’em and sock’em man scraps? Probably not. But why not check out some real animal instinct when it comes to a fight? So without further adieu: A real UFC cat fight video for ya.

The original rift between Randy Couture and the UFC happened back in September when Couture expressed displeasure with the amount of money he had made- from being underpaid compared to other UFC fighters to what he was paid to appear on Spike TVs “Pros vs. Joes.“
The latest in the increasingly nasty battle sees Couture claiming he wasn’t paid $500,000- a promised signing bonus, with UFC Chief Financial Officer John Mulkey fighting back by producing documents refuting Couture’s claim.
And don’t expect UFC head honcho Dana White to keep quiet on this issue.
“We think (Couture’s) puke Hollywood agent has got in his ear and fed him a bunch of bullshit.”
So while it seems no one is pulling any punches in this battle of the egos, it seems not all hope for a kiss-and-make-up is lost.
“I don’t know how we got here with Randy Couture. Maybe we didn’t pay enough attention to him”, said White.
And when faced with the question as to who is the true heavyweight champion of the world, White minced no words in defending his newest blacksheep bro.

“I don’t consider Fedor (Emelianenko) to be the number one fighter in the world. Fedor is a farce. Randy Couture is the number one heavyweight in the world…I was trying to get Fedor because I thought Randy could beat him.”

White didn’t rule out a reconciliation with Couture, who remains the UFC Heavyweight Champion. At least for now.

“If Tito Ortiz and I can work things out, I’m sure Randy and I can”, said White.

Heart-warming, don’t you think?

Everything was Camelot for the UFC. The Ultimate Fighter was a success, Chuck Liddell had mainstream appeal, and MMA was taking over the sports page where boxing used to be. Then Liddell lost to Quinton Jackson in May, and now Randy Couture wants to leave, presumably because Fedor Emelianenko wouldn’t sign with UFC.

Chalk it up to growing pains. And make no mistake, UFC president Dana White is making money hand over fist. According to a Time article this past July, the company is worth $1 billion. Not a lot of that money is being paid back out to the fighters – Tim Sylvia, for example, made $200,000 for beating Brandon Vera at UFC 77. Eight of the fighters on the card made four figures.

As for the UFC’s public image, expect more mainstream attention in the run-up to Liddell’s bout with Wanderlei Silva on Dec. 29 at UFC 79. The beat goes on.

On Oct. 11, Randy Couture decided to leave the UFC and drop his heavyweight title. The UFC has other ideas; president Dana White said last week that Couture “retired,” but is still the champ and remains under contract for two more fights.

The reason the two sides are in dispute is a third party: Fedor Emelianenko. The top-ranked heavyweight in the world by Sherdog rebuffed the UFC’s advances and signed a six-bout deal with M-1 Global, based in his native Russia. The contract is not exclusive, but it does contain an intriguing clause: if UFC offers Emelianenko a shot at Couture, M-1 Global has to offer Couture $1 million more for the same fight.

Will White swallow his pride and allow Emelianenko to face Couture without an exclusive UFC contract? Will Couture give up an extra million to make it happen in the octagon? The MMA world waits with bated breath.

The undercard for UFC 77 Hostile Territory didn’t provide the knockout showcase that undercards usually do. Three of the four fights went the distance and the other ended with a submission.

• Matt Grice was able to win a decision over Jason Black in their lightweight bout, bringing Grice’s record to 9-1.

• Forest Petz lost a split decision to Josh Burkman in a lightweight matchup. Both needed the win, and the loss leaves Petz’s future with the UFC questionable.

• The undefeated middleweight Demian Maia (6-0) looked impressive again with a win over Ryan Jensen, when he locked in the rear naked choke in the first round.

• Canadian middleweight Jason MacDonald lost his second fight in his last three at the hands of international veteran Yushin Okami.

•Alvin Robinson was able to win a unanimous decision over Brazilian Jorge Gurgel bringing his mixed martial arts record to 9-2.

The Stephen Bonnar / Eric Schafer fight started out with Schafer gaining position of Bonnar’s back. Schafer looked like he might finish with a rear naked choke, but Bonnar survived the round. In Round 2 Bonnar took Schafer to the ground and eventually finished him with the ground and pound.

Tim Sylvia and Brandon Vera were not as entertaining. The fight was mainly fought from a standing clinch where Sylvia controlled the smaller Vera. Vera broke his hand in the first round, allowing Sylvia to win a unanimous decision in front of a disappointed crowd.

Anderson Silva handled Rich Franklin the same way he did in their first fight. He landed a right hook at the end of the first round, and a still-dazed Franklin came out to a second-round beating. It ended with a Silva knee to Franklin’s face for the knockout and his third straight title defence.

When Rich Franklin was walking to the Octagon last Saturday night, you could see that he didn’t have the focused confidence on his face that he carried to battle so many times in the past. It looked like the last of the UFC golden-boy champions knew that he couldn’t compete with a great International champion like Anderson Silva.

Silva handled the old champ the same way he did in their first fight. They went to the ground briefly in the first, and Franklin showed that he had been working on a clinch defence a couple times. But by the end of the first round Silva landed a right hook that dropped Franklin two seconds before the bell. A still-dazed Franklin came out to face a beating in the second, which ended with a Silva knee to Franklin’s face for the knockout.

Silva retained his Middleweight UFC Title and looks to be invincible in his weight division.

Eric Schafer (7-2-2) was set to fight Sean Salmon in UFC 71 but he suffered a broken rib during training last May. He finally gets back into the octagon this Saturday against Stephen Bonnar (13-4-0).

Schafer is coming off a loss to Michael Bisping last December and will undoubtedly have some octagon rust to shake off. Training is one thing, but fighting is another. The best thing he can do is to get this fight to the ground.

Stephen Bonnar is coming off of an impressive first-round win at UFC 73 against Mike Nickels. Bonnar will look to keep the fight standing, but has become much better with his ground skills over the last year. I expect Bonnar to be too much for Schafer to handle from the outset. Bonnar should be able to defend against Schafer’s takedown skills, and aggressively beat him down for a TKO win.

Brandon Vera is a 30-year-old undefeated fighter who has not fought in almost a year. He has been in a nasty dispute with former manager Mark Dion. Things are settled now and Vera is ready to continue his pursuit of the UFC Heavyweight Belt.

A few months ago Tim Sylvia sat atop the MMA world. He was heavyweight champion and was mowing down all the competition that came his way. After a loss to Randy Couture he headed for the operating room for major spinal surgery. With so much uncertainty surrounding his career over the last seven months, Sylvia looks more determined than he has in a long time.

It’s looking like Sylvia is going be down to around 255 pounds by fight time; he hasn’t been there since the Arlovski rematch. He was facing an end to his fighting career and now he has another chance. Sylvia is ravenous.

Tim Sylvia will soon return to the octagon for the first time in seven months. In that time he has undergone back surgery which fused together two of his spinal discs. He is said to have fully recovered, but it remains to be seen what effects this may have had on his mobility and strength. Should a fighter retire when they suffer a spinal injury, or are some fighters able to recover and continue to compete?

Other fighters have come back from similar injuries. Nate Quarry was out of action for close to two years with spinal problems. His life-threatening surgery was a success and he made his triumphant comeback last month, knocking out Pete Sell in the third round. Not to mention that he isn’t in constant pain anymore. The ability for these guys to come back often depends on the severity of the injury and the individual determination of the fighter.