Plus, Jonny ‘Bones’ Jones offers his predictions for the big fights on the Chicago card.

The UFC on FOX press conference for the January 28 event took place today at the United Center, and it was as much a barrel of laughs as it was informative.

Chael Sonnen stole the show, with a barrage of humor and one-liners that could land him a writing gig on a sitcom should this whole MMA thing fall by the wayside.

Earlier this month Shonie Carter stated his desire to fight at the UFC in Chicago in front of his home fans and family. I asked Dana White about the possibility of Shonie getting a fight on the card, and here’s what the UFC president had to say, as well as the rest of the press conference from this afternoon.

Chicago hopes Shonie puts in that call to Joe Silva and gets put on the prelims of the card.

Nick Diaz had some choice words for Georges St. Pierre after battering BJ Penn on his way to victory at UFC 137, calling him out and taunting him. What he said to GSP was basically nonsense, but it didn’t make it any less fun. GSP’s reaction was classic. Here’s the gif, thanks to the UG.

As one of the people in the forum said, if Diaz wanted to fight GSP so badly all he had to do was show up to a press conference. It’s all moot now. Dana White has announced that GSP will indeed fight Nick Diaz, with Condit fighting on the same card. “We spoke about it and if he wins, he will fight the winner of Diaz and GSP,” Dana White said.

“My hands all dressed up n ready 4 halloween! 1st day post surgery …now im getting better everyday.”

Of course that wouldn’t mean much without a pic to go with it, so he tweeted that out too.

You have to love what Dana White said about Cruz:

“You know one of the things I respect about the kid?” White said. “He’s got a broken hand and had one the entire fight. He broke his [left] hand and is going to have surgery.

“Not only did he not stop fighting and keep coming up 100 per cent, he doesn’t even f***ing say anything about it. He goes through an entire press conference and doesn’t say anything about his hand.”

Is it any wonder that Cruz is the champion?

Dana White, Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez took questions from the press and fans in anticipation of their November 12 championship fight on Fox.

Mauro Ranallo has Dana White on his show on “The Score”, and he and Dana debate about why Fedor Emelianenko is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all-time.

So let me get this straight — Frank Mir knocks out the legendary Cro Cop then puts a beating on Roy Nelson — who’s only been knocked out once in his career — and Dana White is unhappy with Mir?

Mir is one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC, whether he is winning or losing. Joe Rogan commented during the UFC 130 broadcast that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has one of the best highlight reels in all of MMA. Truth. Guess who else has a great one? Frank Mir.

Mir has knocked out legends in Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Cro Cop, submitted Brock Lesnar, out-struck Cheick Kongo then choked him out, and in one of the most replayed clips in MMA history, made Tim Sylvia’s arm go snap, crackle, pop.

He’s constantly evolving as a martial artist. When Mir’s striking was a liability in his game, he worked on it relentlessly. He’s no longer considered deficient in that area. When he thought he was too small to hang with massive UFC heavyweights like Carwin and Lesnar, he started bulking up. When he admitted to himself that his wrestling was horrible (paraphrase of his words), he worked on it. He’s always in shape and could headline almost any card.

Mir has been fervent about his desire to reclaim the heavyweight title, even after taking two tremendous beatings from Lesnar and Carwin. Lesnar has already had a one-year layoff and he’ll have another one after his recent surgery. Nelson is game, but is proving to be a one-round fighter. Carwin has had only 3 fights since March of 2009. The current champion, Cain Velasquez, is on the shelf with an injury. Mir keeps on keeping on, working toward yet another title shot. He’s all in.

It’s fine that White expects a lot out of Mir. He’s a former champion and he’s counted on to bring it every time. But after White re-watches the Mir/Nelson fight, I’m hoping he’ll realize that Mir had a great performance. Mir is definitely a fighter that should be celebrated.

Apparently it’s never too late to pile on. A very clever promo mashes up UFC quotes and LeBron James’ Nike commercial. Watch as Rampage Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Dana White and others make fun of LeBron James. And by the way, the Heat are a stinky 5-4 at the time of this post. Chicago Bulls forever son! 72-10 forever!