Category — TUF

All I can say is that the eleventh season of The Ultimate Fighter better have more going for it than Tito Ortiz’s mouth. Last season’s fights were pitiful. Pi-ti-ful. If there isn’t the talent I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stand watching Ortiz flap his gums at Chuck Liddell.

I wonder how this is going over with UFC president Dana White: Jake Shields, the Strikeforce middleweight champ, will be on season eleven of The Ultimate Fighter. He has been asked by Chuck Liddell to be an assistant coach on the series. It remains to be seen just how much screen time Shields will get, whether it’s an annoyingly omnipresent Tiki Ghosn-level or an annoyingly elusive Greg Jackson-level. But either way it can’t sit too well with the folks at Zuffa, especially given Shields is expected to make his first title defense against recent UFC castaway Dan Henderson in April.

Gray Maynard may have out-boxed (barely) and split-decisioned jiu-jitsu brown belt Nate Diaz in the main event, an effort that looked more impressive than it was because of Diaz’s flailing/pawing striking style, but I’d hate to see what would happen to him in a title fight against BJ Penn. There’s just no way the former Michigan State University wrestler could stand and strike with Penn and he just doesn’t have the GSP-calibre takedown ability to grind it out on the ground.

Then again, I’m not sure the other top contender, Frankie Edgar, would fair any better against the Prodigy. While it’s only been rumoured that Edgar will get the nod against Penn at UFC 112, I think tonight’s less-than-stellar – by which I mean less-than-dominant – performance by the still-undefeated Maynard takes him out of the running for the moment.

That was one painful-as-hell armbar submission Evan Dunham slapped on Ultimate Fighter 8 champ Efrain Escudero in the third round of their bout. I have to wonder why Escudero waited so long to tap. He had to know he wasn’t going to get out of it. It was locked in as tight as any armbar can be.

Sure, the Gracies have an honour thing about not tapping and I get the warrior spirit mentality, but come on, Escudero ain’t no Gracie. Better to save the arm so he can fight again and soon. It wasn’t a cheap submission hold, their was no wiggle room. Dunham was twisting apart Escudero’s livelihood and it’s not like he’s at the top of the UFC foodchain cashing six-figure paychecks. I’m not sure he can afford a four- or six-month layoff to heal a broken arm unless he’s got a trust fund he can tap into. Credit to Dunham, too. He gutted out a first-round beating that had him weebled and wobbled only to turn the tables in round two before the Submission of the Night and a perfect 3-0 UFC record.

Ditto Aaron Simpson, who got rocked and was spaghetti-legged for almost the entire first round against Tom Lawlor but managed to dig deep and hold on and survive for a three-round split-decision win and the Fight of the Night bonus. No one would’ve faulted Simpson if he’d collapsed to the canvas after any of the handful of crosses and uppercuts Lawlor landed, but he kept his feet under him, kept moving forward, and Lawlor started gassing late in the second as Simpson shot for takedowns. The crowd may have booed but it was the right call as Simpson clearly had Lawlor beaten in the final frame and oftentimes it’s how you finish a fight that matters most.

And TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah was in top form as he out-worked Brad Blackburn en route to a unanimous-decision victory to open the televised portion of the card.

Among the prelims, Chris Leben earned a UD win over Jay Silva that could’ve (and should’ve) ended in the first round when Leben worked a rear-naked choke for close to four minutes but couldn’t finish it. Rick Story settled for a split decision over Jesse Lennox while Nick Lentz and Thiago Taveres battled to a majority draw that Tavares would’ve won if he hadn’t nailed Lentz with a brutal groin shot in the third round that cost him a point. Twenty-year-old Canuck Rory MacDonald made his UFC debut by armbarring veteran Mike Guymon in the first round, Rafael dos Anjos outlasted Kyle Bradley for a unanimous-decision win, Gerald Harris TKO’d John Salter in the third round and Nick Catone took a split decision over Jesse Forbes.

Anybody excited about tonight’s UFC Fight Night 20? It’s free. So, yeah, not so much, eh? Well, Ultimate Fighter grads Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz headline in a lightweight showdown that should provide some fireworks: the two have a history – Diaz tapped Maynard via guillotine in the TUF 5 semi-finals. A win for either is a step toward BJ Penn, although the undefeated Maynard is a rung or two higher on that ladder.

The rest of the card is what you’d expect for free fights on a Monday night, with Efrain Escudero vs. Evan Dunham, Aaron Simpson vs. Tom Lawlor and Amir Sadollah vs. Brad Blackburn. I wouldn’t mind if undercarders Chris Leben vs. Jay Silva or 20-year-old Canuck Rory MacDonald vs. Mike Guymon made the broadcast. Speaking of Guymon, just heard this guy interviewed on MMA Junkie Radio. Funny guy, very funny.

UFC 108, the card that just won’t die, is a couple of days away. And given that expectations for the cursed event – there have been no fewer than eight bout changes due to illness and injury, including the loss of Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort, Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira – are lower than for a Gladiator Challenge undercard, there’s actually a decent chance this thing will be surprisingly entertaining, especially when you have stylistic and skill-level mismatches like submission monkey Dustin Hazelett vs. knockout gorilla Paul Daley, past-his-prime psycho Gilbert Yvel vs. up-and-comer Junior dos Santos and scrappy kickboxer Sam Stout vs. scrappy grappler Joe Lauzon.

And of course, there’s always the headliner between light heavyweights Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva, each of whom have one loss on their records to champ Lyoto Machida. So sure, that fight is an important rung in the ladder back into title contention, but with Machida out of action until May, when he rematches Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Evans-Silva seems barely relevant to anyone but Evans and Silva. And for the record, I’m calling Silva by decision – he’s got solid, tight dirty boxing, which will beat Evans’ looping blows to the punch and his jiu-jitsu is under-rated.

So my suggestion for getting the most out of UFC 108? Continue the New Year’s festivities with drink and friends, hope for some fireworks, and wake up the next morning promising things will be different next year.

The WWE seems to be all over the UFC lately. Last week, I wrote about Shane McMahon looking to buy an interest in the UFC and this week Hulk Hogan showed up at The Ultimate Fighter Finale.

The Hulkster even gave some advice on how the UFC could improve business:

“Dana [White] does a great job, and it’s obviously working, I mean the sport is huge right now compared to a few years ago. But I just think there are little things he could do to improve the show, dude. With a nice entrance way, some pyrotechnics and custom entrance music for his fighters, it would ensure a much more fan-friendly environment and allow the fans to better identify the individual fighters. I think small things like that would go a long way in building up some of the lesser known fighters. Just the fact that the crowd [was] chanting ‘boring’ out there during one of the fights speaks volumes [about the current product].”

I have no objection to the pyrotechnics. If people want to blow shit up I’m not going to stand in their way. But where we seem to have the WWE beat is in the story lines. Not even Vince McMahon could come up with War Machine.

War Machine (formerly Jon Koppenhaver) is a 28-year-old fighter whose fifteen minutes of fame included a win on the The Ultimate Fighter 6 season finale and then a loss at UFC 84. Following the loss, he embarked on a career in porn.

“I’m a full time Alpha Male. I get paid to fight and to fuck….what more could I ask for,” reads one of his tweets. He is living the dream, I’ll give him that.

War Machine then gets into an altercation at a porn party and beats up like ten guys, but it doesn’t stop there. He is already awaiting trial for a fight at a rumoured gay club/gym he worked at. In a recent interview, War Machine gives his side of the encounter:

“Cindi: Next rumour – you are on probation, because you beat up someone at Krave, a gay club/gym (depending on who you listen too), and this incident is going to put you in jail for a long time. What parts of that statement are true?
WM: I have a trial in January for a fight that I got into at Krave with a fellow employee. He was the doorman there and is 6′5” and weighs over 300 pounds. He thought he could kick my ass and was wrong so he called the cops. It will be another easy case to win via self defense. I will not be going to jail for a long time for any of this crap. Just because I am a pro fighter and have a name for myself when I am involved in an incident it draws a lot of attention. It does not mean that I am not allowed to protect myself against opponents three times my size or against groups of ten men.”

War Machine, who is obviously innocent (in a Michael Jackson/OJ Simpson kind of way) is appealing for money to help pay for his legal fees to help fight this obvious injustice. You can send all donations to SayNoToJail@yahoo.com. Cheque’s in the mail, War Machine.

Next Saturday, December 12, is UFC 107, featuring a lightweight title bout between champ BJ Penn and Diego Sanchez. It’s the first title fight since UFC 104 and the last one until at least UFC 111 (the rumoured card for the Georges St. Pierre/Dan Hardy welterweight showdown). Yet the UFC did next to nothing to promote UFC 107 during Saturday’s Ultimate Fighter Finale.

They ran a standard-issue promo video during the commercials and hooked up Sanchez and Penn for a boilerplate live interview that had all the sizzle of a day-old tuna sandwich. Sanchez was amiable and engaging, even though his Gladiator slaveboy haircut left a little to be desired (if he doesn’t want people to think he’s crazy he probably should avoid looking like he belongs in a straightjacket with electrodes taped to his forehead). Speaking of shock therapy, somebody should’ve Tasered Penn’s ass. I mean, he was dead in that interview, completely flat. I know he’s toned down his tough talk since the GSP smackdown but come on, show some showmanship.

Somebody please tell Mike Goldberg to stop spreading lies. Well, one lie. At least three times during the fat-tastic finale when he referred to a fighter (Roy Nelson, Matt “Meathead” Mitrione, Darrill “Titties” Schoonover) he said that they might not look it but they’re in great shape. Yeah, Mike, if the shape you’re referring to is that of a Jello mould. These fighters are overweight, they are fat, they are obese, they are walking heart attacks. If they stand still too long PETA will try to push them into the nearest ocean. I don’t care if they can punch and kick for five minutes or fifteen. They contain more trans fats than a swimming pool of Haagen Dazs. They are not in shape. Not medically speaking and certainly not aesthetically speaking. So Goldie, stop pissing down my back and telling me it’s raining.

Back to the drawing board is a pretty apt way of looking at Marcus Jones following his fight with Ultimate Fighter archnemesis  Matt “Meathead” Mitrione. Things looked good in the early going as he took Mitrione to the ground a couple of times and even made a few submission attempts, but, as with his Ultimate Fighter bout with Brendan Schaub, Jones couldn’t find a way to finish him and both got back to their feet. At least until ten seconds into round two, at which point Jones walked into Mitrione’s right hand and fell face first to the mat. The repercussions? It’ll probably be a long, long time before Jones sees the inside of an octagon and Mitrione, well, we’re stuck with him, at least for one more fight, I’d say.

Matt Veach delivered a couple of ass-shattering body slams to Frankie Edgar, which seemed to do little more than fire Edgar up as he came back striking, stuffing takiedown attempts and eventually submitting Veach by rear-naked choke in round two to earn Fight of the Night. Yeah, it was that kind of night.

Meanwhile, Toronto’s Mark Bocek picked up the Submission of the Night bonus ($25,000) with his first-round standing rear-naked choke of Joe Brammer, which will guarantee that Bocek lingers on at least a couple more UFC undercards and perhaps even a main card (May 1 in Montreal seems like a possibility).

And Roy Nelson’s flattening of Brendan Schaub earned him Knockout of the Night. I wonder how many Whoppers you can buy with $25,000?