MMA Nation Round-Up: 'Butterbean' And The Head Kick

MMA Nation Round-Up provides you with daily coverage of the latest in news, multimedia, and analysis throughout the world of combat sports. This morning we continue to break down UFC 137, take a peek a Wanderlei Silva's delayed retirement plans, and watch as Eric "Butterbean" Esch becomes the latest victim of the head kick.

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- Meanwhile, Jonathan Snowden breaks down UFC 137's headlining fight -- Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn.

- Carlos Condit has had an interesting couple of months. The former-WEC champ went from game-planning for B.J. Penn, to game-planning for Georges St. Pierre, to sitting on the shelf until GSP eventually returns. Yet, despite all that, Condit's trainer says the layoff might have been a blessing in disguise.

- With the fallout from UFC 136's surprisingly low buyrate still on everyone's mind, MMA Nation's Luke Thomas sat down with Yahoo! Sports' Dave Meltzer to analyze the UFC's pay-per-view performance in 2011. 

- MMA Mania previews the UFC 137 main card featherweight duel between Hatsu Hioki and George Roop.

- With each passing (and brutal) defeat, whispers for Wanderlei Silva's retirement grow stronger. Why, then, did the 35-year-old say, "I can fight 20 more years!"

- Brian Hemminger and Matt Bishop spoke to Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren on Bloody Elbow Radio last week. 

- The staff of Bloody Elbow sits down to discuss how exactly the UFC should have handled the Nick Diaz situation.

- Missed anything from last week? David Castillo looks back at the series of unfortunate stories that just couldn't stay out of the headlines.

- Fraser Coffeen breaks down the single biggest tool of Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard III: the uppercut.

- In case you didn't know, Eric Esch -- also known as Butterbean -- fought in yet another mixed martial arts contest this weekend. Unfortunately, he ended up on the wrong side of a head kick from 40-year-old Taekwondo instructor Sandy Bowman.

- A bevy of UFC pros -- including Stephan Bonnar, Wanderlei Silva, Manny Gamburyan, and Tyson Griffin -- gave their picks for UFC 137's main event.

- Finally, we leave you with the trailer for the new Matt Hamill biopic, "The Hammer".