Morning Droppings

- In a new Sherdog.com interview, Vadim Finkelstein, Fedor Emelianenko's agent, discusses recent negotiations for the Pride heavyweight champion, the UFC's "very harsh" terms, and much, much more. It's definitely worth the read, so check it out.

- Elite XC president Gary Shaw has gone on record as saying that Thierry Sokoudjou "is off the table with EliteXC." Shaw said that EliteXC gave Sokoudjou "a very good offer" but "someone threw an astronomical offer at him that I was not willing to match." K-1, perhaps?

- Due to the many e-mail inquiries regarding my recent Luke Cummo interview and whether he drinks his own urine, I've decided to put the matter to rest for you all. The following was posted by Luke himself on the LukeCummo.com forums a few months back:

"I drink all that I can of my own urine. It has many advantages. It contains hormones, minerals, and elements that bind moisture to protein. Basically it is a recycling of things so that they can have another chance to get where they are destined. If you were to drink something, your body will want to excrete liquid in order to maintain a certain level of hydration. So it filters the blood and the urine may contain things that didn't get a chance to get where they were going."

For more on "urine therapy" and Luke's forum posts, click here.

Morning Droppings

- EliteXC president Gary Shaw says that the company's deal with Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou has fallen through and the Cameroon native is now expected to sign with K-1 Hero’s in Japan.

- With Wanderlei Silva off the UFC 76 September card, former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell is expected to face Keith Jardine in the event's headlining fight. This is a lackluster main event, and Jardine is no substitute for Silva.

- Fighter/referee extraordiannaire Herb Dean had to pull out of his Cage Rage 22 fight with Dave Legano due to an eye injury. The big Herbivore later announced that he will retire from fighting and stick to being a mediocre referee.

- Speaking of this weekend's Cage Rage event, I came across this little gem on MMAWeekly.com: "Joe Mac vs. Jeremy Bailey did not happen due to Joe Mac's face being slashed by a knife the night before."

Sokoudjou and EliteXC Close to Signing

Sherdog.com is reporting that light-heavyweight phenom Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou has agreed to terms on a four-fight contract with Showtime’s EliteXC.

Sokoudjou's managers, Dan Henderson and Ryan Parsons, handled the negotiating (by request of Sokoudjou himself, whose English is not too strong) for the 23-year-old Cameroon native and seemed to have gone where the money was best. Apparently, the management team was underwhelmed with offers from Dana White.

Now, before we all start shooting off about how the UFC should have given Sokoudjou this much or that much, let's consider a few things:

1) The UFC light-heavyweight division currently features Rampage Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson, Tito Ortiz, and Shogun Rua - just to name some of the biggies. And that's not to mention that Wanderlei guy who's waiting in the wings, or the hugely-popular Michael Bisping and Forrest Griffin. So why break the bank for Sokoudjou, who, although very impressive looking in his two Pride fights, is still a relative newcomer to the sport?

2) In recent months, Dana White and the brothers Fertitas have brought Rua, Henderson, Rampage, Big Nogueira, Lyoto Machida, and Heath Herring to the UFC, and they seem to be working on Fedor. That's not good enough?!?!

Would I happily pay money to watch Sokoudjou face any of the aforementioned light-heavies? Absolutely. Until that's a possibility, I wish him the best of luck, and I look forward to more from him.

Straight Talk

"A giant cut on my arm from a lion attack - that shit hurt like crap!"

- Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou tells Full Contact Fighter about his worst injury.

Morning Droppings

- Despite rumors about a possible Michael Bisping-Ken Shamrock fight at UFC 75, Bisping is still scheduled to face Matt Hamill, his original rumored opponent.

- In a CBS Sportsline interview, UFC lightweight Jens Pulver has confirmed reports that he’s interested in dropping back down to 145 pounds and fighting for the WEC.

- It looks like the Joey Villasenor-Ninja Rua June 22 Strikeforce/EliteXC fight is back on. The CSAC said last night that the medical issues surrounding Rua were "likely" resolved.

- The International Fight League World Team Championship, scheduled for September 20, has be moved from The Forum in L.A. to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL.

- On Tagg Radio yesterday, Frank Trigg said that, according to Hayato Sakurai's trainer, Sakurai hasn't been contacted about this reported - and highly anticipated - fight with Diego Sanchez. Does this mean the fight is off? Was it ever really on? We'll see.

- I refuse to talk about Kimbo Slice until he wins an MMA fight (legitimately).

- Nikkan Sports is reporting that the "newborn" PRIDE will hold its first new event on August 18 at Saitama Super Arena. The theme of the show will be a “Japanese all-star” presentation, centered around Hidehiko Yoshida. No one reports baseless rumor like the Japanese media, so I'll believe this when I see it.

- Pride middleweight and light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson said that the UFC's $20,000 offer to Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou "was an insult."