Morning Report: Dan Henderson's Future, How to Stop a Robbery With BJJ

You might be sad right now, thinking you're walking straight into a weekend devoid of any MMA action, and you'd be right. Except for the part where you're totally not right.

First the big guns: we've got guaranteed violence in Bellator 63, The Ultimate Fighter: Live and The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil. Craving stomps and soccer kicks? Then ONE FC 3: War of the Lions is the route to go. (Added bonus: the entire fight card is set to stream live on YouTube.)

Still not enough? Check out under the radar match-ups of Murilo Bustamante vs. Dave Menne (they're still active?), Gilbert Yvel vs. Houston Alexander (over/under of 30 seconds), and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Satoshi Ishii (somebody has to win), plus action from former UFC notables Thales Leites, Patrick Cote, Sean McCorkle, Karo Parisyan, Drew Fickett, and even TUF 15's brief posterboy, Dakota Cochrane. We've said it before, but we'll say it again. Damn, it's a good time to be an MMA fan.

5 MUST-READ STORIES

Dan Henderson will get next title shot at light heavyweight or middleweight. UFC President Dana White confirmed suspicions regarding the next light heavyweight or middleweight title shot going to Dan Henderson.

The hurt business: little victories, tender mercies. Shane Carwin endures the fight of his life in part four of Ben Fowlkes' multi-part series that goes inside the Grudge Training Center to examine the hidden lives of pro fighters.

In-depth preview to ONE FC: War of the Lions. Anton Tabuena presents a complete guide to tomorrow's ONE FC fight card, including event details, hidden gems, fun facts, viewing schedules and 5 things to look out for.

NSAC head Keith Kizer responds to racism accusations. NSAC commissioner Keith Kizer was direct and concise in his response to King Mo's accusations of racism after Wednesday's infamous meeting.

Bellator 63 preview. All fighters met their required weight at Thursday afternoon's Bellator 63 weigh-ins, rendering tonight's Bellator welterweight tournament official. Afterward, Dallas Winston busted out the gifs to break down all four quarterfinal match-ups.

MEDIA STEW

This should be common knowledge by now. Rule No. 1 of robbing a convenience store: Check to see if there is anybody around who could put you to sleep. Unfortunately for Brandon Slanger, he forgot that part. (HT: Gals Guide)

They're trying to tell us Mr. Bruce Wayne is black belt practitioner of Japanese jiu-jitsu. Well, we've seen roughly a billion episodes of the 1990's Batman cartoon, and we don't remember any Toquinho-style limb destroying. Harrumph. (HT: Reddit)

Cutman extraordinaire Jacob "Stitch" Duran stopped by the UFC Tonight set to swap bloody war stories and answer the question of who is the wimpiest fighter in the UFC.

Hey you, do you want to become a UFC fighter? Word on the street is you just need to have an intense psychical commitment to training. (HT: Middle Easy)

The fine folks over at Middle Easy held a design-a-poster contest for tomorrow's ONE FC 3: War of the Lions fight card, and among the finalists was this eye-catching little beauty. (Check out the rest of the entries while you're at it.)

#ASKCIGANO

@WhosHarryCrum i think I'm going to knock him out in the second round

— juniorcigano (@junior_cigano) March 29, 2012

@taddgood #AskCigano I didn't have a favorite fighter when I was young, I got into fighting later

— juniorcigano (@junior_cigano) March 29, 2012

@TheSuperEgo no, never.If you fight angry, you lose.Fighting requires concentration.I don't dislike opponents I just want to win #AskCigano

— juniorcigano (@junior_cigano) March 29, 2012

@Chanthaaa #AskCigano both!! :)

— juniorcigano (@junior_cigano) March 29, 2012

@AMeerCat #AskCigano Cain Velasquez

— juniorcigano (@junior_cigano) March 29, 2012

SO YOU'RE SAYING THERE'S A CHANCE...

@CRISPY_PIG I would

— Lorenzo Fertitta (@lorenzofertitta) March 25, 2012

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announced yesterday (Thursday, March 29, 2012):

- UFC on FOX 3: Thiago Tavares (17-4-1) out, Michael Johnson (10-6) in against Tony Ferguson (13-3)

- UFC 147: Milton Vieira (13-7-1) vs. Felipe Arantes (14-4)

- UFC 148: Gleison Tibau (25-7) vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov (17-0)

- UFC on FX 3: Leonard Garcia (15-8-1) vs. Matt Grice (14-4)

- UFC on FX 4: Ross Pearson (13-5) vs. Cub Swanson (16-5)

FANPOST OF THE DAY

Today's Fanpost of the Day comes from BE's hobbie, who asks the question: Is Silva vs. St. Pierre Officially Dead?

If you went back in time only a couple years and asked any MMA fan walking the streets what the dream match-up in MMA was, you'd likely get only one answer: Anderson Silva vs. Georges St. Pierre.

And for years, this was the dream fight to end all dream fights. It was MMA's equivalent to Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather, only (us MMA fans bragged then) this fight actually stood a good chance of happening.

People were talking about this fight as far back as 2006, when both St. Pierre and Silva first strapped on UFC belts. The talk ramped up in 2008, when GSP won his belt back from Matt Serra and Anderson Silva "ran out" of challengers at middleweight for the first of about 900 times.

For nearly half a decade, the top two slots in the special MMA "Circular, Subjective Argument Generator" - otherwise known as the top 5 Pound-for-Pound list - were traded between Silva and St. Pierre. Both guys fortunes rose and fell, each guy racing momentarily ahead of the other.

GSP dominates Thiago Alves while Silva dances around Thales Leites? GSP must be the man! Anderson Silva transcends the laws of physics to murder Forrest Griffin while GSP wrestles Dan Hardy's arm for 25 minutes? Guess Andy is back on top! Folks would argue GSP's wrestling would exploit the only weakness in Anderson Silva's game. People said Anderson Silva's striking would expose GSP's fragile chin. There were theories and speculation galore.

And any day now, we would see them fight.

Found something perfect for the Morning Report? Just hit me on Twitter @shaunalshatti and we'll include it in tomorrow's post.