Anything MMA, except thumb wrestling

[Winning Season Please!]

I was shocked when he said that. I literally had no expression on my face.

Even if you did do that, how do you have the audacity to say it on camera? If he has a future in MMA, it is going to be hard for people to trust him from here on out.

He is an idiot. He gassed all of 45 seconds into the fight. I smiled soon as he ate foot.

[StillUnknown]

to be honest, this appears to be the worst group of fighter assembled on TUF so far. every fighter is gassing and they're only going 2 rounds. i don't see anyone on the show so far that has a chance of making a dent in the UFC's MW division.

[Sebowski]

I disagree. They may be gassing, but at least they come to fight every time. You should go back and watch some other seasons' fights. Most of them are very boring as they are trying not to lose more than trying to win.

Matt Brown looked good. He will be tough to beat.

[cahones01]

I thought Matt Brown looked terrible. I've seen him fight before in person and he was MUCH more impressive than he showed. That being said the fights have been better this season, but the quality of the fighters is much lower than other seasons.

[StillUnknown]

I thought Matt Brown looked terrible. I've seen him fight before in person and he was MUCH more impressive than he showed. That being said the fights have been better this season, but the quality of the fighters is much lower than other seasons.

thats a good way of putting it. the fights have been good because the fighters are pretty close in terms of overall skill, but as a whole, the quality of fighters in the house just isn't that impressive.

[mvisit1]

the quality of the fighters is much lower than other seasons.

I call this the American Idol Effect. In the first season of American Idol they set out to find the best unsigned talent America had to offer. They found it in Kelly Clarkson. No other season winner has had a career as successful as hers since. Could the same thing have happened with The Ultimate Fighter? Have they already done a season for each weight class?

[cahones01]

Great comparison. Look at the fighters from season one: Forrest Griffin, Stephan Bonnar, Diego Sanchez, Kenny Florian, Josh Koscheck, Chris Leben, Mike Swick...that season was loaded with talent. None of them since then have had that many good fighters. They started looking for crazy personalities instead of quality fighters. Last year a guy I used to train with that was undefeated and a member of Team Quest was turned away in the final cuts because he wasn't interesting enough. On top of his record and skills, the guy is a marine and was wounded in Iraq. Not sure how he would have been bad for TV.

[StillUnknown]

HDNET is airing the 2nd round of DREAM's Lightweight Grand Prix at 3am(est). pretty good fight card:

Lightweight Grand Prix Second Round (16-Man tournament):

-Tatsuya Kawajiri (#3 Lightweight in the World)* vs. Luis Buscape

-Mitsuhiro Ishida (#5 Lightweight in the World)* vs. Caol Uno

-Joachim Hansen (#10 Lightweight in the World)* vs. Eddie Alvarez

Non-Tournament Bouts:

-Jason Miller vs. Katsuyori Shibata

-Nick Diaz vs. Katsuya Inoue

-Melvin Manhoef vs. Kim Dae Won

-Daisuke Nakamura vs. Bu Kung Jung

-Takeshi Yamazaki vs. TBA

can't wait to see Hellyboy's fight against Alvarez, those two don't know how to give anything but 100%.

should be a stream or two floating around if anyone's going to be up around that time.

[Sebowski]

HDNET is airing the 2nd round of DREAM's Lightweight Grand Prix at 3am(est). pretty good fight card:

Lightweight Grand Prix Second Round (16-Man tournament):

-Tatsuya Kawajiri (#3 Lightweight in the World)* vs. Luis Buscape

-Mitsuhiro Ishida (#5 Lightweight in the World)* vs. Caol Uno

-Joachim Hansen (#10 Lightweight in the World)* vs. Eddie Alvarez

Non-Tournament Bouts:

-Jason Miller vs. Katsuyori Shibata

-Nick Diaz vs. Katsuya Inoue

-Melvin Manhoef vs. Kim Dae Won

-Daisuke Nakamura vs. Bu Kung Jung

-Takeshi Yamazaki vs. TBA

can't wait to see Hellyboy's fight against Alvarez, those two don't know how to give anything but 100%.

should be a stream or two floating around if anyone's going to be up around that time.

Just watched this. Great fights. Some went long, a lot of ground work, but great fights. I think the ring and the judging style leads to more excitement. The guy on top 's main goal isn't to push his opponent against the cage.

[ZoEd]

Faber VS Pulver June 1st, this should be a brawl. IMO Pulver will be Faber's most difficult fight in the octagon. It's difficult to pick a winner but I'd have to give the edge to Faber.

Also, Mir is going to be at out BX here on base the 22nd with a "mystery" fighter. Probably gonna go down and check it out. I like Mir, dude seems pretty damn cool. We'll see how much of a douchebag he is in person.

[lovetoaster]

Faber VS Pulver June 1st, this should be a brawl. IMO Pulver will be Faber's most difficult fight in the octagon. It's difficult to pick a winner but I'd have to give the edge to Faber.

Yeah, I am excited for this fight. I like Faber, but this is definitely going to be a test for him.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Just got done reading Chuck Liddell's book.

Have been moving in to a new place and haven't set up an internet connection, so the downtime from staying on top of MMA has included reading MMA magazines (there are some really good ones out there), and reading Chuck's book. I've also read the second half of Tito Ortiz's book.

Spoiler warning for those who want to read them*

Chuck and Tito's childhoods differ in ways that can be seen in their personalities every time we see them. Chuck wasn't a spoiled kid by any means, he even refers to his father as the "sperm doner" because he's forever been disassociated with him. But Tito's parents were heroin addicts, and he used to get high by sniffing glue at age 6. He delt drugs and all that sort of stuff as a juvie. Speaking of juvie, he did spend some time in the pen as a kid. He did weed, acid, shrooms, you name it.

He also admits he still smokes pot from time to time, although at the end of the book he says he made up his mind while writing it that he will never smoke weed again. There are some funny photos of him as a kid with the same size melon as he has now, wonder how he didn't tip over with that thing.

Chuck's book was definitely more interesting. While Tito very briefly went over his fights, Chuck explained his own in a lot of detail. The biggest difference of opinion was that towards Dana White. Tito claims his beef for Dana comes from the no-budge policy when it came to the fighters making more money as the UFC became bigger. He says Chuck laid down for Dana and didn't care to push for the UFC to pay the fighters more. Tito did give Chuck a little credit towards simply focusing his goal of becoming a champion. And that was Chuck's case in his book. Chuck says he didn't care about the money. He was making $500 a fight before he went to the UFC and the triple-figures he made now was more than enough. It was never about the money for Chuck, it was about that belt.

Couple sidenotes...

Chuck went to his 18 year old girlfriend's prom when he was 25. He also got her pregnant when they were that age. He met another girl a few years later and got her pregnant. Two kids with two different mothers a few years apart. He is still friends with both of the mothers though. Chuck also talks a little about his sexcapades while champion. Dana White walked in his hotel room once and saw 5 completely naked girls passed out...and Chuck in the bed with another naked girl. Chuck says something like, "it was good to be champ."

As far as Tito, he was on the other side of the spectrum. He cheated on his wife for over two years with a stripper from Vegas. He and his wife would have huge arguments and she finally sensed he was cheating. Tito's life crumbled all around him right around the time Chuck and Randy fought for the interem title. Tito even went out one night and sped his car in to a light pole and ended up bouncing it in to a tree. He said he was feeling "suicidle" that night. I don't remember this story when it happened, for some reason. But one EMS on the scene said they never saw a car that messed up and the person live.

They are both quite good reads. Chuck's is definitely more inspiring, while Tito's is more like a huge vent-session. Jenna also wrote a bunch in Tito's book, giving her view of certain situations. Tito's mom and ex-wife also wrote a good portion of the book.

[Chachie]

HDNET is airing the 2nd round of DREAM's Lightweight Grand Prix at 3am(est). pretty good fight card:

Lightweight Grand Prix Second Round (16-Man tournament):

-Tatsuya Kawajiri (#3 Lightweight in the World)* vs. Luis Buscape

-Mitsuhiro Ishida (#5 Lightweight in the World)* vs. Caol Uno

-Joachim Hansen (#10 Lightweight in the World)* vs. Eddie Alvarez

Non-Tournament Bouts:

-Jason Miller vs. Katsuyori Shibata

-Nick Diaz vs. Katsuya Inoue

-Melvin Manhoef vs. Kim Dae Won

-Daisuke Nakamura vs. Bu Kung Jung

-Takeshi Yamazaki vs. TBA

can't wait to see Hellyboy's fight against Alvarez, those two don't know how to give anything but 100%.

should be a stream or two floating around if anyone's going to be up around that time.

My guy Nick Diaz needed that win badly after his pummeling from Noone. I hope he wins the whole thing.

[Dance04]

On the dream card all 3 of the guys I wanted to win pulled out some victories.

Alvarez, Diaz and Miller.

[StillUnknown]

Just watched this. Great fights. Some went long, a lot of ground work, but great fights. I think the ring and the judging style leads to more excitement. The guy on top 's main goal isn't to push his opponent against the cage.

yeah foreign judges reward submission attempts way more than they do in the US. just because you have top position doesn't guarantee you a victory overseas. i like that as well, gets rid of so many lay-n-pray victories

My guy Nick Diaz needed that win badly after his pummeling from Noone. I hope he wins the whole thing.

Diaz isn't in the tournament, his bout was title eliminator, he should be fighting Mach Sakaurai for his title at an upcoming event.

the only thing i don't like about DREAM tourney is that its only 2 rounds. Alvarez/Hellboy match needed a 3rd round.

[Chachie]

Diaz isn't in the tournament, his bout was title eliminator, he should be fighting Mach Sakaurai for his title at an upcoming event.

Ah, I see. I didn't catch any of the broadcast.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

yeah foreign judges reward submission attempts way more than they do in the US. just because you have top position doesn't guarantee you a victory overseas. i like that as well, gets rid of so many lay-n-pray victories.

"What is 'lay-n-pray'"?

[StillUnknown]

"What is 'lay-n-pray'"?

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

i don't see how someone as freakishly strong as Sherk, can have apparently very little power in his strikes

[cahones01]

Probably the same way Hughes is incredibly strong but has never KO'd anyone. All of their strength is in their wrestling ability, not their punching power.

[tone_dubbz]

Probably the same way Hughes is incredibly strong but has never KO'd anyone. All of their strength is in their wrestling ability, not their punching power.

Sherks power is from his "base". His striking power is good, but not that powerful. Either way, it won't be enough to beat BJ Penn. I think BJ is going to beat the piss out of Sherk. Plus Sherk has been out the game for a little bit, since he was suspended for taking "roids".

BJ is in top form, and I doubt his conditioning will be a problem.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Probably the same way Hughes is incredibly strong but has never KO'd anyone. All of their strength is in their wrestling ability, not their punching power.

Sherk can throw a tight haymaker hook for sure. Although it hasn't played in an outcome of a fight that I can remember, it sure is there. He has more standing up than Hughes can ever claim to have, but Hughes has (had) more finishing ability than Sherk can ever claim to have.

"I agree"

[cahones01]

"BJ is in top form, and I doubt his conditioning will be a problem."

He sure looks like he's in the best shape of his life. Have you seen the recent pics of him training? He's definately ready for this fight.

[#98QBKiller]

Diaz isn't in the tournament, his bout was title eliminator, he should be fighting Mach Sakaurai for his title at an upcoming event.

I just watched the Diaz fight and Cheech's boxing looked textbook and his overall striking looked like the best I've ever seen from him, he literally jabbed Inoue to a pulp and finished him off with straights and hooks, his kicks looked crisp and he looks at the top of his game. I hope he gets all of this marijuana **** straightened out because he looks like he can dominate, can't say enough good things about that fight. I don't know how Inoue didn't get finished, he was PUNCH DRUNK...any chance you can get a .gif of him wobbling right before his corner threw in the towel?

[StillUnknown]

I just watched the Diaz fight and Cheech's boxing looked textbook and his overall striking looked like the best I've ever seen from him, he literally jabbed Inoue to a pulp and finished him off with straights and hooks, his kicks looked crisp and he looks at the top of his game. I hope he gets all of this marijuana **** straightened out because he looks like he can dominate, can't say enough good things about that fight. I don't know how Inoue didn't get finished, he was PUNCH DRUNK...any chance you can get a .gif of him wobbling right before his corner threw in the towel?

haven't seen any floating around. if i don't see any soon, i'll make some from the fight once i download it.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=6259&zoneid=2

Spike TV on Monday announced that Ultimate Fighting Championship interim heavyweight titleholder Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and former champion Frank Mir will be the coaches for the eight season of The Ultimate Fighter.

The season, which premiers on Spike TV on Sept. 17, will return to the two-weight class format. It features light heavyweight (205-pound) and lightweight (155-pound) fighters. Production on season eight begins in late May, with the entire cast to be announced in September.

Nogueira and Mir, after serving as coaches, will meet in an as-of-yet unannounced pay-per-view event for the title

i realize the HW division is bare right now, but Mir doesn't deserve a title shot after beating Hardonk & Lesnar. he was destroyed by Vera before those 2 fights.

in my opinion, the winner of Werdum/Vera deserves a shot before Mir

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

i realize the HW division is bare right now, but Mir doesn't deserve a title shot after beating Hardonk & Lesnar. he was destroyed by Vera before those 2 fights.

in my opinion, the winner of Werdum/Vera deserves a shot before Mir

My thoughts, exactly. Is Dana trying to run off even more of the heavyweights??? This is absurd, in my opinion. I like TUF as much as the next guy, but it's starting to look like it's the only way to build up a title fight. I can see it now, BJ and Florian are season 9's coaches.

Mir does not deserve this shot, and like you said, Vera/Werdum would make more sense, especially after their match. What are Dana and the Fertittas doing? Can't they just settle in to a groove where they can pay some big time fighters, make even bigger-time money, and monopolize the sport? Some of these fantasy matchups are never going to happen because people are testing the waters all around the world. This makes me really confused. This tells me that A) Brock Lesnar was ranked #4 or #5 in the HW division right away. When you almost get your face caved in and win with a desperation kneebar against an MMA novice, you get a title shot. C) The UFC HW division is almost vomit-inducing. I never thought I'd say this, but thank goodness for Heath Herring. He looked good against Kongo, and I wish he was matched up against Mir. I wish Dana would sign Arlovski already and match him up against Nog.

*Scratch that, I just read Arlovski is fighting Ben Rothwell in Affliction*

http://www.cagepotato.com/2008/05/12/rumor-affliction-set-to-announce-ben-rothwell-andrei-arlovski-bout-for-july-event/

The UFC HW division is instantly a mess. Mir is a former champ, and he deserves a shot eventually. But man, very odd timing here. Dana plays favorites like a mother****er.