Ultimate Fighting Sport

Were boxer Antonio Margarito's fists of steel actually aided by concrete? Did Ultimate Fighting Champion Georges St-Pierre defend his title bout with enough Vaseline so that he was as slippery as a greased pig? Fighting lore is sprinkled with colorful tales of questionable gamesmanship, yet even in this age of high-definition cameras and intense state testing, athletes are still swayed to sometimes bend the rules.

Former mixed martial arts fighter Kim "Kimo" Leopoldo woke up Tuesday afternoon not knowing friends and fans were deeply concerned about his welfare. His manager Ron Kort, of Santa Ana-based New Era Fighting, broke the news to him: "According to the media, you're dead," Kort recalled saying. Reports of Leopoldo's demise originated from MMA websites that incorrectly reported the 41-year-old died from complications of a heart attack late Monday night, Kort said.

The champion of UFC 1 who later won two more titles in the era when mixed martial arts champs were crowned after four fights in a single night, and when there were no gloves or weight classes, took a look at a poster for tonight's UFC 100 and sized up the competition. "Brock Lesnar? Been there, done that. Bring him on," Royce Gracie said of the UFC's 265-pound heavyweight champion. "[Georges] St-Pierre? I'm a prize fighter. Put me in any card and I'll sell it out. I can do it, man.

B.J. Penn has been an Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor since 2001, and he's participated in some form of fighting since he was 17. He's 30 now, wears the UFC's lightweight belt, and tonight attempts to beat the skilled welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in a mixed martial arts battle scheduled for five rounds at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. If victorious in the 170-pound bout, Hawaii's Penn will become the first UFC fighter to simultaneously hold two belts.

The fight for young male television viewers just got bloodier. CBS, which once filled the airwaves on Saturday nights with "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Carol Burnett Show," said Thursday it has signed a deal to broadcast mixed-martial arts bouts on TV's slowest night, marking the biggest showcase yet for the newly popular combat sport.

Anderson Silva is the longest reigning champion in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He hasn't lost in five UFC fights, and his most serious challenger in the middleweight division is Temecula's Dan Henderson, whom Silva fights tonight at UFC 82 in Columbus, Ohio. Another victory affirms Silva's status as UFC's best pound-for-pound fighter, and could possibly leave him void of any legitimate competition in a beaten-up middleweight division.

Pastor T.J. O'Donnell thought that by offering mixed martial arts training, he had found a sure way to lure young people away from vice and direct them toward the word of God. He didn't expect to encounter the long arm of the California State Athletic Commission. O'Donnell rented out the second floor of a San Bernardino carpet store where volunteers at his 777 Ministry taught aspiring fighters jiu-jitsu, karate, wrestling and boxing.

Inside a warehouse that sits in a rugged area near the border between Los Angeles and Glendale, filming was underway in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's most vigorous effort yet to tap a wider Spanish-speaking audience. "El Octagono," an hourlong Saturday night series set to debut Saturday on the cable network Galavision, will include fighter interviews, highlights and mixed martial arts education for Latino fight fans who traditionally have flocked to boxing.

It was 11 years ago when Tito Ortiz began his mixed-martial arts career, fighting for no money and little fanfare outside his inner circle of friends from Huntington Beach. That quickly changed as Ortiz, riding on immense popularity, helped build the Ultimate Fighting Championships from the underground up. With him, UFC events have been sellouts in Las Vegas. With him, the UFC has had some of the most-watched pay-per-view events in its history. After tonight, the UFC will be without him. Maybe.

Maybe it's the eyes. China-white saucers punctuated by dark-as-night centers. Maybe it's the shimmering gold teeth. Sharp as an ax and framed by a bushy black beard. It could be the arms. Defined by impossibly thick muscles and quick as a rattlesnake strike. Something -- maybe all of the above -- helped to transform Kimbo Slice from bare-knuckle, backyard brawler into one of the leading attractions in mixed martial arts.