Uriah Hall KO From TUF

Heads up!

TUF 10 Cast Video preview

This season of TUF is going to be absolutely insane...is it September 16 yet?!?!?!


Ultimate Fighter Cast Preview

-Bess

Kimbo Slice on The Ultimate Fighter

Kimbo to the UFC? Well sort of. Dana White has always said the only way Kimbo would compete in the UFC is if he went on and won the reality show. For Kimbo, step 1 is in the books. He will join 15 other Heavyweights for the upcoming season of TUF to be coached by Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans, two former Light Heavyweight Champions. Theres two will also square off when the season if over, meaning the next challenger for Lyoto Machida will be none other than Shogun Rua.

Anyway I am excited to hear the news that Kimbo will be on TUF. Just a few days ago I wrote "Enough of TUF" (scroll down a bit to see it). I was getting sick of the stale show that focused much more on the coaches than that of the new fighters. Well Kimbo just changed all of that. I'm going to watch every show. Nice job out of Kimbo for stepping up and taking this challenge and hey, good job out of Dana for putting him on the show after talking so much crap about him. Plus he knows the rating are going to "spike" right back up. Should be very interesting to see how he does.

-Keefe

Also be sure to check out all the "great" 1st pitches Besse has found below and vote on our poll (top right.)

10 Fights to Watch in June

Welcome MMA fans to an action packed month of fights. The UFC, WEC, and Strikeforce are all on display. Despite just 1 title fight and just 1 actual pay-per-view there are some intriguing match ups out there. Let's take a look at my Top 10 for June. (These aren't in order of importance rather by date.)

1. Robbie Lawler vs. Jake Shields (at middleweight); June 6th, Strikeforce
Lawler is a Top 10 maybe Top 5 middleweight in the world. Jake Shields is a Top 10 maybe Top 5 welterweight in the world. Neither guy is signed by the UFC. Neither guy has a worthy opponent out there. Maybe Lawler could fight one of the DREAM 185 pound guys, but the fact of the matter is Shields has no one he can fight, when 9 of the top 10 welterweights are in the UFC and he's the other, who does he fight? He goes up to 185 apparently. What's next for him if he wins?

2. Nick Diaz vs. Scott Smith; June 6th, Strikeforce
Diaz just ran through Frank Shamrock in his last fight, not he gets in the cage with a very exciting fighter and fellow UFC alum Scott Smith. Diaz changes weights more than Anna Nicole (too soon?), so he is a prime candidate for tough fights outside the UFC. Perhaps if he and Shields both win that would be a match up in the future.

3. Andrei Arlovski vs. Brett Rogers; June 6th, Strikeforce
The former UFC Heavyweight Champ and current Affliction star Andrei Arlovski steps in for the injured Strikeforce Heavyweight Champ Alistair Overeem... 2 quick things here. Overeem (one of my favorites) is the champ after beating Paul Buentello forever ago for the vacant title, and he hasn't defended it once. He's been fighting in DREAM and K-1. What the hell? How can a title be taken seriously like that? And 2, Overeem is hurt because of a bar fight where he and his brother, former Pride fighter Valentin, put 5 bouncers in the hospital. Crazy. I do like how Affliction and Strikeforce will work together, because they have to. Rogers is a big dude, could be a solid fight.

4. Kevin Randleman vs. Mike Whitehead; June 6th, Strikeforce
We all know the best 205 pounders are in the UFC. Babalu is the best not under contract by Dana White and the Ferrettas. He already beat Whitehead in Affliction. But these two guys are very experienced and have fought in the very best organizations in the world. Nice work out of Strikeforce to put together a card like this. They have 4 fights I want to see.

5. Mike Brown vs. Urijah Faber; June 7th, WEC 41
The lone Championship bout in the month, we can see the 2 best Featherweights in the world on free tv. Thanks Versus. Brown shocked most of the MMA world when he beat Faber for the title back in November of 2008. In his last 3 fights, Brown beat the 3 of the best at 145, Jeff Curran, Faber, and Leonard Garcia. The WEC is praying (much like Hughes did against Serra in a laying fashion) that Faber wins so they can set up a Faber/Brown III. But if Brown wins? Who's left? They better hope a lightweight drops down and challenges him. Should be the best fight of the month right here.

6. Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin (catch-weight 195); June 13, UFC 99
I don't know what to make of this one. Besse and I tried to figure this out and we got nothin. Silva was the 205 champ of Pride and really the world for a 4-5 year period. Franklin was the best middleweight around until Anderson Silva showed up. So you got one guy moving up and another moving down and they catch (pun!) each other in the middle. Wow. Both guys though are can't miss fighters.

7. Mike Swick vs. Ben Saunders; June 13, UFC 99
Two exciting alums of The Ultimate Fighter reality show. Swick was a good middleweight, but made the move after losing to a huge 185er in Okami. He's 3-0 as a welterweight and is already a top 10 guy. Saunders meanwhile is 3-0 in the UFC. The winner of this fight should be taking on the likes of Josh Koscheck, Karo Parisya, Paulo Thiago, huge fight for both guys.

8. Mirko Cro Cop vs. Mustapha Al-Turk; June 13, UFC 99
Crop returns to the UFC where he posted just a 1-2 record after being regarded as a top 3 heavyweight in the world when he was in Pride. Both Cro Cop and Al-Turk share losses to Cheick Kongo. This is a big fight to me, because I want to see if Cro Cop has anything left in him. He was in the ring with Overeem and was getting whooped before it was rules a no contest cause he got his junk kneed in by Alistair, I hope he's recovered from that, not sure you can though.

9. Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida; June 20, Ultimate Fighter Finale
Like oh so many fighters who lose in the UFC Diego moved down a weight class. Fighting at 155 now Diego has to be a threat at the title. He was a top 10 welterweight, if he can handle the cut, and he certainly did in his win over Joe Stevenson, I say look out. Remember he beat Kenny Florian in TUF 1 (both out of their weight classes), but I think Diego is just a couple fights away from the title. Guida always pushes the pace and makes for exciting fights. Goldberg is going to be nuts in this one.

10. Joe Stevenson vs. Nate Diaz; June 20, Ultimate Fighter Finale
Big fight for both guys here. If Diaz wins he proves he should be fighting Top 5 UFC Lightweights until he loses. Stevenson on the other hand, needs to W. He's lost 3 of his last 4 fights. Nothing to be ashamed of in the losses as they were to B.J. Penn, Kenny Florian, and Diego Sanchez, but if he can't beat those guys he's not winning any titles. A loss to Diaz would be devastating. You won't want to miss either Lightweight bout, this and Diego vs. Guida, both for free on Spike TV.


-Keefe

Enough of "TUF"

I loved The Ultimate Fighter reality show on Spike TV. The UFC came up with an idea for a show to promote the sport, the organization, and some new fighters. With such fighters as Forrest Griffin, Josh Koscheck, Diego Sanchez, Chris Leben, Stephen Bonnar, Kenny Florian, Mike Swick, Nate Quarry, Rashad Evans, Joe Stevenson, Marcus Davis, Michael Bisping, Mac Danzig, not to mention the comeback cast that included Matt Serra, Chris Lytle, and Travis Lutter, all living in the Ultimate Fighter house, it couldn't miss.

The coaches early on were UFC stars, that were being introduced to the majority of the public. Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin, and Matt Hughes put their "teams" through work outs preparing them for elimination fights. But Season 3, Dana White got an idea. Let's promote an upcoming fight, a grudge match. Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock would coach opposite sides, then square off in the octogon. It made for good tv. You had to tune in each week to see the confrontations between Tito and Shamrock, two guys that couldn't wait to fight each other.

The problem may have been that this was successful. Now Dana and the UFC wanted to promote big fights through TUF. Rather than letting a guy fight for or defend the belt in a couple months, they would film a season of the show and then finally have their fight. (See: Rampage vs. Forrest & Mir vs. Big Nog.) As Besse and I have pointed out many times, it essentially puts a hold on a division.

Well mmajunkie.com and other outlets have confirmed that Season 10 of TUF will be coached by Rampage Jackson (again) and former TUF winner Rashad Evans. What? Why recycle coaches? Why put a guy in who's getting a title fight against some one else? Is Rampage still getting the first crack at Lyoto? I don't get it. The season is going to be all heavyweights, 16 of them, and possibly including a few former NFL players. Rashad, the former Light Heavyweight Champ, was the only Heavyweight Champion of TUF, so I understand bringing him back to the show, but Rampage?

The focus has become more on the coaches then the new talent, plus let's face it, the show has run its course. They took out the Real World/ Road Rules Challenge type tasks after the first or second season, but since then its been basically the same stuff. I'll still watch every once in awhile, but it used to be appointment television. Can't say the same thing now.

TUF brought in a ton of fans to MMA, the Griffin vs. Bonnar fight at the TUF 1 Finale may very well be the most important fight in the history of mixed martial arts. Despite all that it's time to hang it up.

Enough of TUF.


-Keefe


Side note: Frank Trigg signed a new deal with the UFC. Should be very interesting to see what he has left, and who he will face next.

The fruits of one's labor

Lyoto Machida is one scary, scary dude. Should be a lot of fun watching him take on "Rampage" Jackson later this year. There are rumors swirling about him and Jackson taking opposing sides as coaches on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. I have mixed emotions about this. The positive in doing this is that it would give Machida even more exposure to American fans, perhaps even moreso to casual fans who may be checking the show out. It's hard to believe that a lot of hardcore fans still watch TUF because of the antics within the house, the fact that it's the same boring format every season, and quite frankly, the fighters are decent at best. But for a casual or new fan to the sport, it's a solid way to become introduce to MMA and UFC, and also gives them exposure to some of the sports stars who are serving as coaches.

However, I'm weary of Jackson and Machida being coaches on this show for a couple reasons. First and foremost is that show starts filming in the first week of June. It wouldn't start airing until September and thus Jackson and Machida would not square off for "The Dragon's" belt until the end of the year, most likely headlining the final card of 2009. Secondly, Jackson has already served as a coach on the show against Forrest Griffin. Admittedly, Jackson said he didn't really enjoy it and that he got extremely overweight being on the show. Obviously it could serve as a nice PR move to continue rebuilding his reputation with fans after his meltdown following the loss of his title to Griffin, but I'm skeptical. I want to see the best Rampage take on Machida because it could make for an all-time classic matchup. Rampage has terrific standup with his boxing skillset and his defense, and he also brings great wrestling and tremendous ground and pound to the table. I honestly don't know if he has the tools to take out Machida - he is one dangerous BAMF - but it could make for an exciting fight. Rampage always brings the fight, and it would be interesting to see Machida karate take on such an aggressive, yet calculated and disciplined style of boxing and wrestling. Dana White's announcement comes on June 2nd, so we'll just have to wait and see, but with every other title currently scheduled for upcoming matchups, all signs point to it happened. Unless they're bringing Tito and Ken Shamrock back for another grudge match.

-Bess