Greg “Kazja” Patschull says so. Patshcull, the owner of Tapout Taco and a poster on The Underground forums, says that everyone will soon be able to use the supposed trademarked eight-side cage that is being used by the UFC. Patschull also claimed to have use an octagon-shaped cage at an event months before the first UFC event took place. Here is the verbiage used by Zuffa at the bottom of their press releases regarding the octagon.

Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®, UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC or other respective owners.

If you want to see what a Zuffa cease and desist letter looks like, two pages can be found after the jump!

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(Photos by Esther Lin)

And the Press Release:
Mamed Khalidov (18-3-1), 200½ pounds, Olsztyn, Poland, KO 2 (strikes, 4:53) over Jason Guida (17-18), 204½, Schaumburg, Ill. Noteworthy: Khalidov, making his United States, EliteXC and SHOWTIME debut, upped his unbeaten streak to 13 (12-0-1) … The Case of the Missing Mouthpiece: The fight was stopped at about the one-minute mark of the second round for approximately 90 seconds while not one – but two – referees circled the cage searching for Guida’s mouthpiece.

Anthony “The Recipe’’ Lapsley (14-3), 170 ½, Fort Wayne, Ind., majority decision (30-27 twice and 29-29) over game, tough Mike Stumpf (10-2), 172 ½, Crystal Lake, Ill. Noteworthy: The fight was Lapsley’s 17th in his 28-month pro career … Stumpf, making his EliteXC and SHOWTIME debut, had a four-fight winning streak end. Quote-worthy: “Mike was definitely one of the toughest guys I’ve fought, but I was never hurt and if I lost a round, I couldn’t tell you which one,’’ Lapsley said. “I add an ingredient each time I fight. Tonight, it was heart. I got tired but there was no quit in me.’’

Alexander “Storm” Shlemenko (30-5), 184 ½, Omsk, Russia, TKO 2, over Robert “Bubba” McDaniel (12-5), 183 ½, Wichita Falls, Tex. McDaniel seemed to control a hard-fought, close first round, but was nailed with a flying knee to the chest in the closing second. He collapsed to the canvas, but could not make it to his feet during the break. The bell sounded for the second round, but McDaniel was still down and the fight was stopped. Noteworthy: The victory was Shlemenko’s seventh straight, all inside the distance and all in the first or second round. Quote-worthy: “The fight didn’t go exactly like I planned,’’ the winner said. “It was my first fight after a layoff and I was nervous. He was a good opponent.’’

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Affliction needs this fight, bu there’s more to it then that. We need this fight to happen, as fans who live in a fight world seriously deprived of substantial heavyweight match-ups.

Occasionally we are put in a position where we can see top heavyweights clash, as we did with Fedor and Sylvia, but because Barnett doesn’t, at this point in his career, want a fight with the world’s #1 heavyweight, we need Fedor to fight another top ten heavyweight, and Arlovski is the only top ten heavyweight in circulation right now who’s ranking cannot be disputed, even with a loss to Emelianenko.

With two upcoming heavyweight title fights in the UFC getting a lot of publicity, it’s important for Affliction to demonstrate that they are capable of putting on a matchup between two top tier heavyweights. They need to put on a matchup that means more to the sport than either of the major heavyweight matchups we are seeing in the UFC, and Emelianenko vs. Arlovski seems to be the only one that is remotely probable.

This is what I mean: Nogueira vs. Mir is a fight between a top five fighter and a fighter who borders on top ten status. Couture vs. Lesnar is a well publicized bout between an arguable top ten fighter and a guy who might be a ton ten fighter in two or three years. If Fedor fights a low top ten fighter then Affliction will only be performing up to the level of the UFC, and everyone knows that if you want to unseat the champ, you really have to beat him, it can’t be a trivial and arguable contest.

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For those of you who haven’t seen the video of Dana White talking about the investigation of Gary Shaw and EliteXC, you need to, because this is one of the straightest, most intelligent statements I’ve ever seen from Dana, and while he’s getting a lot of criticism for it, I’m going to put down, simply, why I agree with everything that he has to say.

Let me tell you, there are moments when I think that Dana White is a douchebag and a sleazeball promoter, but I will never accuse Dana White of being anything less than honest. People (even smart people) are saying that Gary Shaw should sue Dana over this.

Frankly, that’s a load of crap. The purpose of Dana’s attack wasn’t to attack Gary Shaw (though he did, and he should have), it was to explain why this is illegal, and all that Dana said was the same thing that many MMA commentators have been saying since the announcement of the investigation.

Why does it make a difference? Because he’s Dana White? That’s a double standard that, frankly, I find a little disgusting. Dana White doesn’t have the same agenda as the rest of us, that’s true, but to insinuate, and falsely, that he’s doing anything differently, or that he doesn’t have a right to comment on the situation simply because he’s a rival promoter is stupid.

I did an interview with TUF fighter (and recently eliminated warrior) Shane Nelson earlier this week for FightTicker.com (and my friend Pramit, who’s a great guy)

One of the commenters at FightTicker today was particularly entertaining, on my taking the interview on short notice (I found out about an hour before I called Shane) and the quality of the interview.

Josh is the Seth Petruzelli of MMA blogging.

That did make me very happy. While I hope I have more lasting power than Petruzelli will, it’s a nice comparison, and I thought it was funny enough to post.