Latest UFC/MMA news and notes from around the web for the week of October 1, 2011

Welcome, Maniacs, to the weekly series where we help you catch up on some of the original reporting done by other sites in the vast MMA landscape. Like Renzo Gracie and Frankie Edgar pictured above, we can all "get along."

Teaming up with MMA sites like MiddleEasy, Cage Potato, Fight Opinion and Five Ounces of Pain, we'll provide an opportunity for all MMA fans to read some fresh and original voices in the sport.

This week, Dustin Niece shares a blog about TUF season 14 with The Fight Nerd, Cage Potato shares seven of the most insanely dangerous combat sports ever thought up and MMA Fighting's Ben Fowlkes explains who needs a win at UFC 136 to keep their job

The full list of links is after the jump.

"I took a piece of that chin in the last fight. You can't do that in too many fights. There's some heavy-hitters now, you've got Ben Henderson, Gilbert Melendez, Cowboy Cerrone, etc. You've got a lot of guys that have some power now. If you can keep away from that, that's good, but if you do get hit, there's only so many times that you can do a fight like that."

- Chiappetta's Primer: UFC 136 edition (NBC Sports MMA)

If things had worked out a bit differently, Anthony "Showtime" Pettis might have been headlining UFC 136. Instead, he's on the prelims against the dangerous Jeremy Stephens. Pettis is still a highly regarded young talent, but the power striker Stephens is a dangerous opponent. The lightweight division is long on talent, so Pettis has to win or risk being left behind.

- The seven most insanely dangerous combat sports ever invented (Cage Potato)

"Over the past two decades, Mixed Martial Arts has evolved from a no-holds-barred freak show to a heavily regulated, network television ready enterprise that is accepted by a large slice of the general public. But even with the sport's modern improvements and safeguards, there are still detractors who contend that MMA is nothing more than low-bred street-fighting operating under the guise of an organized competition...[W]e thought we'd give the MMA critics some perspective by presenting a list of the most brutal and dangerous combat "sports" ever invented. From shock-fighting to bear-baiting, they defy logic, celebrate gratuitous violence, and remind us just how far the human race has come."

- Grappling with Issues - 10/5/11 (Five Ounces of Pain)

Should Gilbert Melendez get an immediate UFC lightweight title shot?

Lambert: No, only because the winner of Guida vs. Henderson definitely deserves a title shot based on their track record. While Melendez is one of the best lightweights in the world, I don't think he should jump the winner of that fight and get a title shot.

- The Cut List: Who's in desperate need of a win at UFC 136? (MMA Fighting)

UFC 136 may be the rare event to include two title fights, but that doesn't mean there aren't still some men fighting for their livelihoods in Houston this Saturday night. We all know that professional pugilism isn't the line of work you go into if you really crave job security, but some of this weekend's competitors are on much shakier ground than others, and it might take only one more loss to send them plummeting into the void of unemployment. Who are they, and what are their chances to revive their careers with a win at UFC 136? For answers, we turn to The Cut List. 

- Roland Delorme discusses Akira and Neace's growing feud on The Ultimate Fighter 14 (5thRound)

After the team picks and the first fight, we started to get comfortable in the house and things started become routine; eat, train, sleep, repeat. Even the beef between Akira Corassani and Dustin Neace was becoming routine. It wasn't just for cameras, either. They truly hated each other, but it was all Akira's fault considering Dustin really did nothing but be himself and Akira seemed to see weakness in that, which is a huge mistake.

- Lyoto Machida was at a birthday party when he accepted the fight against Jon Jones (MiddleEasy)

"I was at a birthday party last night and I heard I'd be fighting Jon Jones. I accepted immediately, I couldn't announce it at the time, though. Ed and Joinha told me to hold the information and it was complicated, I had to stop talking at all (laughs). In the morning I want to give a class and, when I came back, the contract was there for me to sign it. It was a reason for me to be happy, because that's why we enter these battles for."

- TUF Times Blog: Season 14, Episode 3 - with Dustin Neace (TheFightNerd)

"I know people want to know about me and Akira but the truth is me and him got along great before the show started. The first time we were in Vegas for the tryouts, I thought he was funny and would consider him someone I could hang out with. He was always finding ways to make things happen that would just make you laugh so hard. The first few days in the house he was alright, then the team picks happened."

- Is the state of MMA's heavyweight division lacking in quality? (Fight Opinion)

"I mean, Andrei Arlovski's a good example... At one point in time it would have made sense to use Andrei Arlovski when he wanted to stand and knock guys out. He doesn't want to do that any more. I mean, that fight with Ray Lopez was disgraceful and the Travis Fulton fight is going to be a joke and it's going to be depressing to watch... and yet those are the kinds that fights that we're treated to over and over again."

- UFC.com traffic on the Decline? (MMA Payout)

One important indicator as to how popular a product or service is at a given time with the general public is to measure the size of their Internet audience, or how many visitors their website receives. We decided to take a look at website traffic statistics for UFC.com from the various leaders in the website analysis business. The hope here is get some better insight into the UFC's popularity trending over the past year through the promotions online presence.

- UFC 140: Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida head-to-toe breakdown (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

Now that their apparent rift is mended, Machida is back in the top contender spot. But regaining the title will be a tall order-both figuratively and literally-against the seemingly unstoppable Jones. Here's the head-to-toe breakdown for this sure to be exciting championship bout.