Semi-retired MMA fighter and coach Justin McCully said he was the guy behind the mask – figuratively – when it came to this past weekend’s bizarre faceoff at Bellator 123.

McCully adamantly denied the physical part of the confrontation was staged, but happily admitted to scripting a scene where he revealed himself behind a two-part disguise and joined Stephan Bonnar in calling out Tito Ortiz.

“We stamped our name on the game one more time,” McCully told MMAjunkie Radio. “We went out there and shocked the world and did something that nobody’s done, and it worked like a charm.”

The idea for donning the mask came to McCully when Bonnar (15-8 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) asked him to join his camp for Ortiz in preparation for Bellator 131, which takes place Nov. 15 in San Diego with Bonnar and Ortiz (17-11-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) in the main event.

“I thought about it overnight, and at that point, I really started to think about loyalty and how close I am to Tito still, and I thought to myself, ‘Well, not very,'” he said. “Obviously, there’s nothing there, so let’s do this thing as big as we can.

“Bonnar wanted to get into the head of Tito Ortiz, which is a very big head to get into.”

For McCully, the motivation behind the bit was more personal than it may have seemed on TV. The 38-year-old UFC vet said Ortiz stiffed him out of pay as a training partner for several fights.

“He’s owed me and hasn’t even made an effort to make good on it, so I really have no allegiance, and Bonnar’s a real solid dude,” McCully said. “I thought, if I’m going to help anybody out on this one, I’m going to help the guy that called me first.”

Although McCully said their working relationship ended before Ortiz’s fight with Lyoto Machida at UFC 84 in 2008, he said he made several attempts to recover the money owed him.

“I went to his house and talked to him,” he said. “(Ortiz’s former wife) Jenna (Jameson) was there a couple of different times. I talked to him in Big Bear (Calif.). It was just one of those things where you’re watching a guy blow 25 grand on the blackjack table, he owes you less than that … bro, what are you doing?

“He’s the one who called me and told me what he was offering me to come aboard and train, and he only did that because Marc Laimon tried to charge him double what he offered me, and when he offered it to me, I accepted it on a bro deal and just decided to help him out. I left my family and moved out to wherever his camp was, helped him through eight, nine camps, and we had great success together, too.

“Some of his success, he owes to the team. The guys who make it furthest in this sport are the guys who really take care of their teammates and their coaches and never lose sight of who got them there.”

Ortiz did not respond to a text message requesting a response on McCully’s comments.

McCully opined that the UFC Hall of Famer’s steep decline in the late 2000s was brought on by a series of conflicts behind the scenes with training partners.

“1 billion percent,” he said. “It’s a common thread across the board. If you ask anybody that’s had dealings with him, they’ll let you know there’s a story they have where somewhere along the line … the guy took advantage of you when he shouldn’t have, and it’s more than often financial. This is definitely his own recipe for disaster. He made it, stirred it up, put it in the oven, and now he’s eating it.

“People have told me, (striking coach) Jason Parillo was working with him and said he’s gotten much better, and OK, you’re getting better about things going forward, but what did you do to retroactively make things right with the people you need to make them right with? There’s definitely a discrepancy there.”

And so, McCully feels little remorse about breaking a code of silence reserved for close training partners. He said fans can expect to see more shots taken at Ortiz.

In the arena this past Friday, he said the former champ stared at him moments after initiating physical contact in the Bellator cage.

“He made eye contact with me like, ‘What are you doing, bro?’ And I was like, ‘You know what I’m doing,'” McCully said. “Oh yeah, big gestures. He was like, ‘It’s going to come around,’ and I informed him, ‘No Tito, it’s coming around. You sent this around. If you handled your business and did what you were supposed to do and were a good friend to everybody like they were a good friend to you, this wouldn’t be in your face right now.'”

For more on Bellator 131, check out MMA Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

Stephan Bonnar today apologized to Bellator MMA president Scott Coker for drawing negative attention toward the promotion in the wake of a publicity stunt designed to drum up interest in his fight with Tito Ortiz at Bellator 131.

“Scott Coker, I apologize to you,” Bonnar told MMAjunkie Radio. “It never crossed my mind that you would get blamed for it. I thought people would realize it’s me from the get-go.”

Bonnar (15-8 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) said Coker and Spike TV played no part in a scripted attack at Ortiz (17-11-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) inside the cage at this past Friday’s Bellator 123 that resulted in a minor melee that to some looked entirely staged and brought Coker to the promotion’s defense.

Bonnar appeared alongside Justin McCully, a former training partner of Ortiz, who told MMAjunkie Radio he dreamed up the idea of appearing in a mask and being revealed by Bonnar during the monologue. The two will train together for the Nov. 15 event at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego.

“This was 100 percent our stunt, and just the fact that they think that him and Spike TV collaborated and wrote this up, c’mon,” Bonnar said. “It’s (Coker’s) first Bellator show, the guy has got a lot to focus on. I’m sure part of it was, ‘Hey, we’ll have these two come in the ring and announce the fight.’ He had better stuff to do, and that’s not him.

“Scott’s not the kind of guy who would write something or bring up Jenna and insults the way he did, c’mon. That was pretty bad. If anyone knows me, they know that that’s a work of art.”

Indeed, Bonnar was aware that he was bringing into the MMA cage an old bit from the world of professional wrestling that’s designed to hype an upcoming fight. MMA promoters have borrowed from it, too, but it’s much less common than in staged matches.

“I knew when I did that, it was kind of like turning heel in pro wrestling,” Bonnar said. “But they, so many people came up to me, friends of Tito, and said, ‘God, I hope you kick his ass. If you need any help for this one …’ It kind of breaks my heart. I don’t like to see people like that feud.

“I’m like, ‘You’re his longtime buddy, you guys came up together,’ and it’s, ‘Yeah, he did this and that,’ and it’s like, ‘God, what a rotten guy.’ I heard that from so many people. I’m like, ‘You know what? Screw it. I’m going to go in there and speak the truth and people are going to hate me for it and want Tito to kick my ass. But hey, they’re probably going to want to tune in.’ And yeah, the people who hate me for it, go buy yourself some Punishment gear and root for Tito.”

For what it’s worth, Bonnar said he had no previous axe to grind with his fellow UFC Hall of Famer, even after Ortiz said he wasn’t accomplished enough to be included in the UFC’s honored list.

“No, he did stuff to people that I know, people that I like, people whose character I knew and helped me out and I trusted,” Bonnar said. “When you hear 10 different people telling you stories that really lay out these character flaws that’s just the opposite of me … Tito’s biggest fan is himself. He loves himself and he thinks everyone owes him stuff, and I’m kind of the opposite. I’m my own worst enemy. I know that.”

Bonnar joked that if he were to write a book about his life, it would be about someone who habitually crosses the line of accepted behavior. After this past Friday’s incident, he’s not entirely proud of the effect his behavior had on another person.

For more on Bellator 131, check out MMA Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

Stream or download Tuesday’s edition of MMAjunkie Radio with guests Stephan Bonnar, Justin McCully, and Tecia Torres.

Bonnar and McCully stopped by the studio to talk about Bellator 131, which pits Bonnar vs. former McCully teammate Tito Ortiz. McCully will be aligned with Bonnar for the fight. Torres called in to promote her appearance on Season 20 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which debuts Wednesday on FOX Sports 1. She’s a strawweight competing for the first UFC 115-pound title.

You can listen below, or directly download (right click) the episode.

The latest installment of “Bellator: Uncut” offers a behind-the-scenes look at Bellator 123, which took place this past Friday and kicked off the organization’s 11th season. Check out the full episode.

The event, which aired on Spike TV from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., featured the crowning of a new featherweight champion Patricio Freire, a win for “King” Muhammed Lawal, the promotional debut of Bobby Lashley and more.

However, the star of “Uncut” is arguably Tamdan McCrory, a former UFC fighter who returned from a five-year layoff for a dazzling Bellator debut. Check it out above.

You can also check out the full Bellator 123 video highlights below.

And for more on Bellator 123, including a full event recap, check out the MMA Events section of the site.

The Mohegan Department of Athletic Regulation is taking administrative action against one-high profile fighter and evaluating a rule change for others following Bellator 123.

MDAR director Michael Mazzulli today told MMAjunkie the commission is fining Muhammed Lawal $2,500 for cursing and flipping off the crowd following his win over Dustin Jacoby at the event this past Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

Additionally, Mazzulli said the commission is looking into changing its regulations to disallow staredowns in the cage following a publicity stunt from Stephan Bonnar and Justin McCully at the event.

“If a faceoff occurs by accident, we’re going to make the promoter liable as much as the fighters,” Mazzulli said.

Earlier this week, MMAjunkie requested a response from the commission on the shoving match between Bonnar, McCully and Tito Ortiz, who is set to fight Bonnar at Bellator 131 on Nov. 15. Although a majority of MMA observers believe the fracas was staged, and Bonnar and McCully admitted they drummed up the idea for publicity, Mazzulli said the commission was not amused by their behavior.

The regulator was similarly dismayed by Lawal’s display in the cage. He said the fighter violated a statute of the commissions codes that allows for disciplinary action when a licensee “has conducted him or herself at any time or place in a manner which is deemed by the Department to reflect discredit to unarmed combat.”

Mazzulli said Lawal will be formally suspended if he doesn’t pay the fine “in a timely manner.” The fine has been noted in the Association of Boxing Commissions’ administrative database.

Lawal rep Mike Kogan said the fighter will pay the fine without complaint.

“That’s their right,” he said. “The commissions can do whatever they want. They felt like he was being disrespectful to whatever standards they have, and it’s their right to fine them. Of course we’re going to pay the fine. He felt like the crowd was against him and he wanted to give them a little bit of their own medicine.”

The 33-year-old fighter was previously fined when he tested positive for drostanolone following a knockout of Lorenz Larkin in the now-defunct Strikeforce. He reportedly was fined $39,000, which represented 30 percent of his “show” purse and his win bonus.

Lawal was unreachable for comment.

And for more on Bellator 123, including a full event recap, check out the MMA Events section of the site.

Newly signed Bellator MMA middleweight Melvin Manhoef has knocked out a few people in his time. There’s one, however, that sticks out in his memory.

It happened six years ago in the now-defunct Japanese promotion DREAM, one year before he made his debut in the similarly shuttered Strikeforce, and it was one of those fights that almost didn’t happen. He had just been submitted by Gegard Mousasi in the semifinals of DREAM’s middleweight grand prix, and he wasn’t exactly getting ready for his next fight.

“I was eating chocolate cake and (my manager) called me, ‘Hey, do you want to fight Mark Hunt?'” he told MMAjunkie.

Manhoef didn’t even need to put down his cake to do the math on fighting “The Super Samoan.”

“I said, ‘Man, that guy is like 140 kilos (300-plus pounds) or something. I’m 88 kilos. How do you want me to do that?'” he remembers. “(My manager) dropped the subject, but five minutes later, he said, ‘You know, I was working in a bar, and one of my friends was there with his wife. And this big huge guy touched his wife, her butt and her tits. And my friend did nothing. What would you do?’

“I said to him, ‘Man! I would really f-ck that big guy up if he touched my wife!’ And (my manager) said, ‘Yeah, that guy is Mark Hunt! So you can fight him.’ Then he called the promotion and told them that I’d be fighting. He tricked me into taking that fight.”

Hunt, who headlines Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 52 event opposite Roy Nelson, never got the chance to use his bulk when they met on New Year’s Eve at Dynamite!! 2008. Manhoef fired two well-timed punches at the MMA and kickboxing vet and knocked him out cold in 18 seconds.

“The left punch hit him so hard that his whole back and everything was shaking,” he said. ” That fight is very memorable to me.”

On Friday, Manhoef (28-11-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) hopes to earn another knockout he can savor – potentially his 54th in combat sports – when he fights Doug Marshall (18-7 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) at Bellator 125 at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. The event’s main card, including the Manhoef vs. Marshall headliner, airs live on Spike TV with prelims streaming on Spike.com.

“His best chance is to get in on a lucky punch because I think my striking is a little bit better, because I’ve been doing striking for almost 20 years,” Manhoef said of Marshall, a Bellator Season 8 tournament winner. “I don’t know how long Doug Marshall has been doing it, but he has big KO power, and I don’t want to get that from him. I think my punches are quicker and more technical though. That’s just what I think.

“For the fans, it’s going to be nice if it’s a three-round war where we’re just beating each other up. I always think about the fans, and I know they’ll like that. For me, though, it’s gonna be nice if I knock him out very fast. But in the end, I don’t think the fight will go the distance and that I will win by KO, of course.”

The way Manhoef sees it, as long as he’s memorable and he delivers the type of fights that make people drop whatever beverage or dessert item is in their lap, he’s doing his job just fine.

“I like Doug Marshall’s fighting style because he’s a standup fighter and he likes to bang,” he said. “If you have two guys who like to bang, it’s going to be a war. So I want my Bellator debut to be a fight that people can discuss and talk about for years.”

For more on Bellator 125, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

Earlier this month, 27-year-old Brazilian Patricio Freire (22-2 MMA, 10-2 BMMA) finally captured the Bellator featherweight title he had been chasing since 2010. And while he’s largely denied the rumors that surrounded the contest in the days and weeks before his win over Pat Curran, “Pitbull” now admits the fight almost didn’t happen.

Wanting to tell his side of the story, Freire wrote down his recollection of the days before Bellator 123. The following is his side of the story, translated from his native Portuguese into English.

On injuries and fight being briefly canceled

A few people came at me asking about it, but I denied back then. I would still deny it if I didn’t have the belt with me. The last thing I would want was for people to be saying I was making excuses. But I’ve been asked a lot about the preparation for this fight and how the camp went, and due to my win and the way I performed, people think I had a great time when actually it was the opposite.

Around 35 days before the fight I went to New York for Bellator’s feature shoot, and I was asked to do some fight movements. One of them was the flying knee, which I repeated over 20 times, and I was landing on the floor, not on a mat. In one of those flying knees, I landed in a bad way, and my left knee made a movement it had never done before. I felt the kneecap move. Later that day, I was doing wrestling practice with Patricky and felt it again. I communicated with Bellator, and they took me to a doctor in Los Angeles, where I went to finish my camp at Black House.

The only thing that showed up on the MRI was a grade 1 injury on the meniscus, nothing exactly serious. But it was really bothering me, and during other practices, I felt my knee pop out a few times. I didn’t have any confidence in it, couldn’t move properly, and I was limping and felt pain all the time. I started physiotherapy before and after practices. I was already injured when I got to New York, as I had made public on Twitter that I had a toe fracture in one foot and a dislocated one in the other. So things weren’t looking good at all.

I also didn’t take much time off after my tournament run and didn’t heal properly from my injuries back then, and it all became aggravated after having done three training camps this year. I prepared myself in order to replace Pat Curran or Daniel Straus if one got hurt for their fight, then I prepared myself for the Bellator pay-per-view on May 17 and was told a few weeks earlier that the fight would be on June 6. Then, when the camp was already finishing, I was told Curran got injured and we’d fight on July 27, only to be told mid-camp we would only fight in September. During my days at Black House, I started feeling pain in my right shoulder and wrist to the point I couldn’t even put on my sunglasses. Some joints presented inflammations, and it got to the point I started having fevers after all the practices. As soon as the practice was over, I would take some fever medicine. At this point, I was doing physiotherapy every day for four hours: two hours before practice and two hours after with Guto Demeski, the same guy that treats Anderson Silva.

I started to wonder if I would be able to fight. I was keeping the diet for the fight, but my body didn’t react well to it. The fact I was unable to get much rest resulted in overtraining. I was used to training twice a day and started doing only one. After practice was over, I didn’t have energy for anything else. I couldn’t carry my own bag. And when I went to bed, I would wake up with my body covered in sweat and a high fever. After one week like this, we decided to cancel the fight.

We called Bellator, and they took me to a doctor, and the tests showed I had overtraining and multiple injuries, so the fight was canceled. Bellator asked me to get some rest and get back to them in a week so I could be sure I was really out of the fight.

I stopped the diet, went to a doctor who prescribed me vitamins and amino acids to get my energy back and just rested and kept going to physiotherapy. After three days, I went to practice and trained very well. I looked to my brother and my coaches and the doubt was back: Am I going to fight or not? Bellator called my manager, and it looked like the replacements they tried didn’t work out and they asked how I was and if I really couldn’t take the fight. I asked for them to wait until I went through a sparring session, which would be on Aug. 29, two days later. I was able to execute the gameplan during the five rounds. I felt good, I looked good, and so we decided to put the fight back on.

On the fight itself

It was something I conquered with a lot of guts, a lot of honor. I had never been through something like that and didn’t know what to expect. The problems kept piling up, and everyone was telling me not to fight, but after the fight was back on, we all focused on it and created a positive atmosphere. Every fighter goes into a fight injured. It’s almost impossible to be 100 percent, but I was not just injured. I was badly injured and sick. It was a very tough situation, and to top it all off, I had to face a monster.

No one has been able to hit me like he did in both of our fights. Pat Curran is a monster, and he’s so tough. Anyone else that was hit with the punches I hit him with wouldn’t have seen the final bell, but he just stood up like it was nothing and kept coming. I learned a lot about myself in the Curran fights, and I have a great respect for his abilities. The thought of fighting him again down the road makes me want to work harder and improve even more.

I’m glad I got the belt like this. It made this experience even more worthy than I ever thought it could be. After everything I went through and these two fights with him, I believe you can say I can go against anyone.

On bad blood with Curran

We talked, and I think it’s all in the past. It’s part of the sport, and we have no need to make it personal. We apologized to each other, and I believe it’s all good.

He made me overcome so many difficulties and tested me so much that the only thing I can say is that it’s great to have such a rival.

For more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMAjunkie takes a look at the best knockouts in September. Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMAjunkie’s “Knockout of the Month” award for the month.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice for “Knockout of the Month.”

* * * *

The Nominees

Tamdan McCrory def. Brennan Ward at Bellator 123

Tamdan McCrory’s (12-3) decision to return from a five-year break from competition was clearly the right one. “The Barncat” starched former Bellator title challenger Brennan Ward (9-3) in a mere 21 seconds for a highlight-reel knockout. McCrory hurt his opponent with punches on the feet, and in an incredible display hand speed, unloaded a series of accurate blows as Ward crashed to the canvas.

Emanuel Newton def. Joey Beltran at Bellator 124

Bellator light heavyweight champion Emanuel Newton (24-7-1) continued to make his synonymous with the spinning-backfist knockout with a brutal finish of Joey Beltran (15-11) in his first title defense. For the second time in the span of five fights, Newton clobbered his opponent with the technique and scored the knockout as a result.

Ozzy Dugulubgov def. Keon Caldwell at WSOF 13

Ozzy Dugulubgov (6-2) proved why he’s one of the most highly regarded prospects on the WSOF roster when he crushed Keon Caldwell (10-3) with a perfectly placed right hand. After two competitive rounds in which both men landed shots frequently, Caldwell’s chin couldn’t withstand the ferocity of the final strike and crashed to the mat while out cold.

Andrei Arlovski def. Antonio Silva at UFC Fight Night 51

Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski (23-10) avenged his May 2010 loss to Antonio Silva (18-6-1) with a stunning first-round knockout of “Bigfoot” in the rematch. Expectations for Arlovski’s performance were low after he returned to the octagon with a dull victory over Brendan Schaub in June. However, he showed the world he’s still a relevant member of the heavyweight division when he dropped Silva with a straight punch and capped off the performance with a ruthless onslaught of hammerfists.

Mark Hunt def. Roy Nelson at UFC Fight Night 52

The seemingly indestructible chin of Roy Nelson (20-10) was finally cracked in Japan when Mark Hunt (10-8-1) smashed “Big Country” with a massive uppercut in the second round of their main event bout. Nelson has been hit by some of the division’s hardest strikers in the UFCand never went down. That didn’t matter to Hunt, though, as he landed the perfect shot and became the first to stop Nelson with strikes since 2008.

* * * *

The Winner: Mark Hunt

In a battle of hulking heavyweights, Hunt and Nelson went punch for punch, and Hunt’s fists had the last word.

Hunt became the first fighter to knock out Nelson in the UFC, stopping him at the 3:00 mark of the second round with a well-timed uppercut that sent “The Ultimate Fighter 10” winner face-first to the canvas.

The heavyweight bout was the main event of UFC Fight Night 52, which took place Sept. 20 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Nelson looked for a takedown early and slugged it out when Hunt shrugged off his attempts. He flung a trademark right hand at Hunt, who deftly bobbed his head out of the way and worked combinations inside. When Nelson’s right hand landed, Hunt shrugged it off.

Hunt briefly found himself on the mat in the second round when Nelson timed a takedown and took back control, but he escaped and continued to trade. A minute into the round, Nelson’s mouth hung open, and he shot for another takedown. Meanwhile, Hunt began to lead with his uppercut.

He finally found a home for that uppercut, and as Nelson crippled to the mat, Hunt walked off from his fallen body to celebrate the win.