The Flog!

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 Episode 7 aired yesterday without a fight with Kimbo Slice, despite hints virtually every episode. There was a major kerfuffle between Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson, such that all their coaches and team members looked very serious and people kept trying to step between them. The argument was a continuance of all the others: Jackson’s beaking off about Evans’s being cocky and Evans’ talking about Jackson’s not being a coach to his team, etc.

The fight of this episode was between Matt Mitrione of Evans’s team and Scott Junk of Jackson’s. Mitrione comes across as a goof and fool, is called “Meathead” by Evans and others, as well as “Rat”, as in ”He’s a rat”. He seems to always be involved in confrontations with other housemates. He played professional football in the NFL before turning to mixed martial arts and training with Chris Lytle and Jake O’Brien. Dana White said that he knew basically nothing about the guy.

Junk, on the other hand, has an MMA record of 6 and 2 and had his team members going on at great length about his abilities and background. He has had one match in the UFC which he took on two weeks’ notice, losing by submission in the first round. Even Dana White said that Junk would win, since he was very tough, will stand up and bang, and can go to the ground.

Round 1 of the match had Mitrione, the inexperienced fighter, catching Junk’s leg three different times to knock Junk down. He followed the knock downs with multiples strikes. Each time, though, he let Junk get up. For the first three minutes or so of the round, Mitrione controlled Junk completely. Junk looked worn out. Eventually Mitrione was tired himself, mouth-breathing, hands very low, and Junk managed a clinch at the fence. Junk just leaned into Mitrione until they broke the clinch. Junk finally got in close to Mitrione and struck many times. As the buzzer sounded, both men just leaned against each other in exhaustion.

Round 2 had Mitrione still drained, breathing through his mouth, hands down by his sides. He accomplished a few low leg kicks, but had feeble jabs. Junk tried to get in closer and managed a take down. While in full guard, Junk applied some strikes, but Mitrione had more punches from the bottom.

They were stood up by the referee. Mitrione threw a body kick, but had his hands very low and got clocked by Junk. Mitrione then was successful with most of his strikes and Junk was barely trying.

Unanimous decision in favour of Matt Mitrione.

This is the seventh match in a row which Jackson’s team has lost. Jackson left the area and smashed apart a door (one of those hollow doors with honeycomb insulation) to the change rooms. White called this fight “awesome” but our reaction here was that it was weird: Junk couldn’t accomplish anything for the first few minutes and got knocked down consistently. Only when Mitrione was tired himself did Junk get in close enough to connect (although there was a significant reach advantage by Mitrione – 7 or 8 inches). Both men had extremely poor cardio and were probably grateful that the match didn’t go to the third round.

The last preliminary fight will be between Michael Wessel and Marcus Jones.

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 1

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 2

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 3

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 4

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 5

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 6

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 8

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 9

ayjay

Ocotber 29, 2009

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 is close to completion of its preliminary bouts. Yesterday’s fight, the sixth, was between Darrill Schoonover from Rashad Evans‘s team and Zak Jensen from Rampage Jackson‘s. Both these men have had problems in the house: Jensen has alienated or has been alienated by his teammates. He has had problems during training with complaints about his shoulder and has even been knocked out during training.

Schoonover has had a severe drinking problem which we just learned about. Evans felt that Schoonover’s drinking was affecting his training, giving him poor cardio. Schoonover said he would not drink, or drink just a little, or wait until after his first fight. He realized that in order to be able to fight he would have to curtail the alcohol.

In addition to the drinking issue, Schoonover had to contend with Jackson’s mocking his physique by constantly talking about his “titties”. This is not the first time that Jackson mocked a member of Evans’s team: he ridiculed McSweeney‘s English accent several weeks ago. In both cases, the mockery caused confrontations during which Evans placed himself between the two men in order to avert a physical battle. Any attempt by an Ultimate Fighter to hit Jackson would cause the contender to be thrown out of the competition.

One of Jackson’s coaches took the “titties” comments and the mockery to the extreme by having a professional artist paint caricatures of Evans’s team on a poster. While very clever (Schoonover with a push-up bra, Madsen in makeup, Evans as a dancing frog [I think]), the poster was offensive, indicative of Jackson’s disdain for Evans and his team. Evans removed the poster before his team could see it and be distracted by it, but told the men about it, and advised them to retain their focus on the competition.

Jensen’s teammates actually had a pool as to when he was going to go crazy and several of them were trying to break him. Tormenting the man will not help him improve his social skills or mental health.

During Jensen’s training for the elimination match, he was cut severely above the right eye, causing Kimbo Slice to jump with joy in anticipation of replacing Jensen. Jensen, however, said that he would still fight. The training went so well that his coaches felt he would win the bout.

Further to Jackson’s ridicule of Schoonover, he and a coach wrote the word “titties” below Schoonover’s name on the brass plaque of the changing room. This juvenile behaviour was to psych him out, I suppose.

Schoonover, with a background in jiu jitsu, judo and submission grappling, has had ten professional fights and won all ten. Jensen was a collegiate wrestler and football player and has competed in “Tough Man” and Golden Gloves competitions. His record is 7-2 and he has a four inch reach advantage.

The fight began strongly with both men striking, locking up and moving to the fence. Jensen attempted a front guillotine (hadaka jime), but was unsuccessful. Schoonover applied some knees and many strikes.

Jensen took Schoonover down landing in guard and did some ground and pound. Schoonover applied a triangle choke(Sankaku Jime) on Jensen as Jensen was throwing strikes to his head. Schoonover kept the legs tightly around Jensen’s head and even though he seemed not to be interested in controlling Jensen’s arm (or protecting his own face as Jensen threw punches), the choke was effective and Jensen was choked out.

The main difference this week to previous weeks is that Jackson was not depressed. His team has lost every match, six in a row now. Even though they have lost, he is planning further pranks.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 is on Spike at 10:00 p.m. Wednesdays E.S.T.

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 1

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 2

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 3

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 4

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 5

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 7

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 8

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 9

ayjay

October 22, 2009

Last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 followed the antics of Zak Jensen, the problems of Matt Mitrione continuing from last week, and the two fighters who were picked by Evans for the elimination bout.

Jensen succeeded in alienating at least one other person in the house and having all the others laugh at him. In addition, he seemed to lack the ability to interact socially with the other men. Evans said the only things that Jensen had going for him were his size and that he’s a wrestler. He was terrible at training practice and, during one session while doing groundwork, was choked out by a teammate.

Amazingly, Jensen was kept on his back and someone slapped his chest in an attempt bring him to. If you know there is no spinal cord injury, basic first aid would have him turned onto his side with the bottom arm extended and the upper leg over the bottom.

Mitrione complained at great length about his shoulder, wanting to ice it after a training session. Evans kept after him about whether it was injured or was just sore.  Mitrione also wanted a cortisone injection in the shoulder. We saw him throw a football and then promptly complain about his shoulder during training. Some of the teammates suggested that Mitrione wanted to wait as long as possible before his elimination fight and the constant complaining about his shoulder would delay his being named to fight.

Jackson appeared depressed and self-involved about the losses his team had experienced. Going into this episode, his team had yet to win a fight, having lost four in a row.

Rashad Evans picked Justin Wren from his team to fight against Wes Sims from Jackson’s. Wren is a young guy, one of the shortest at 6’3″, with a very strong background in wrestling at the high school and university levels. During a year off to recuperate after an injury, he moved on to MMA. He currently trains with Travis Lutter, but plans to move to Las Vegas to work with Frank Mir. Evans thought that Wren was superior to Sims in all areas.

Sims is much taller (6’10″) and has a six inch reach advantage over Wren. He had planned on professional wrestling until Mark Coleman introduced him to MMA. In 2003 while in the UFC, he lost two matches to Frank Mir. He is far more experienced than Wren with over thirty professional matches, winning twenty-two. Kimbo Slice said that Sims wouldn’t tap out – he’d have to be knocked out or hurt.

Sims’s plan was to “stay long and fight tall”. He told the camera that he was going to crush Wren.

Dana White said he knew very little about Wren, but based on size, thought Sims had the advantage.

Although they are close in weight, with about a ten pound difference, Sims towered over Wren. At the sound of the bell, though, Wren was the aggressor, rushing Sims to push him against the fence. Sims stomped on Wren’s feet and applied a knee. In response, Wren took Sims down. Sims seemed to crumple. Wren immediately had full mount, then moved to the side and placed Sims in a ground hold – kata gatame , shoulder lock or hold or arm triangle. (The following video shows the transition from kesa gatame to kata gatame and might be of interest – kesa to kata.) Sims did not fight the hold at all. Herb Dean went over to him and moved Sims’ left arm to determine whether he was conscious. After a few seconds the arm dropped slowly to his side and he was out.

Once again Jackson did not go to his team member in the octagon. In fact, he left the ring area and went to the locker room to discuss the issues of losing all the matches.

Evans caught up with him and told Jackson that he was being himself – selfish.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 is on Spike at 10 p.m. Wednesdays.

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 1

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 2

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 3

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 4

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 6

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 7

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 8

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 9

ayjay

October 15, 2009

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 (TUF10) – Episode 3 screened last night. This episode, highlighting Kimbo Slice, had been promoted extensively for weeks. Coincidentally, The Fight Network announced yesterday that Dana White said Slice would be fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Challenge regardless of the outcome of The Ultimate Fighter. 

Most of the episode revolved around Slice’s training and other people’s opinions of him (he’s humble, hard-working, coachable…). Slice said he wanted to learn jiu jitsu, in fact to learn everything. His training emphasized fighting from his back and getting up from the ground by turning his opponent over. Jackson was very concerned about how Slice would function if he had someone holding him down who had a big belly. While practicing with one of his teammates (with the aforementioned belly), Slice could not get up.

Slice would be fighting Roy “Big Country” Nelson, a very experienced MMA guy, whose specialty is groundwork, who could handle fighting Kimbo and not be intimidated by him.  Nelson’s teammates suggested that he take Slice down, put him in a crucifix hold, and continue ground and pound until the punches were unanswered. Evans stated that Nelson was one of the best guys on the ground, plus “he can bang a bit”.

The coaches once again got into an argument, but this time James McSweeney tried to intervene. Jackson then mocked McSweeney’s English accent further aggravating the situation. Evans stepped between the two men as he thought McSweeney was close to hitting Jackson, which would be cause for expulsion from the show.

At the weigh-ins, Slice came in at 230 with a three inch reach advantage, while Nelson was a huge 264.

When the men came out for the fight, we had a very muscular Kimbo Slice and a rotund Roy Nelson, with the previously mentioned big belly. Round 1 had Slice looking for an opening, throwing a low leg kick, while Nelson tossed out little jabs. Slice was listening to his corner and immediately did what he was told. He attacked with multiple shots while moving forward toward the fence. The men tied up and Nelson pushed Slice against the fence while attempting some knees and a take down. A nice ko soto gake finally worked for the TD with Nelson ending up in full mount.

So the question as to whether Slice could defeat the big belly came up early on. Nelson moved high up on Slice’s torso, trapped Slice’s left arm under his leg and used his left hand to apply many shots to the top of Slice’s head. Slice attempted to maneuver out of the hold, actually helped by Nelson’s moving the two of them such that they were parallel to the fence (allowing Slice to use his feet to push off), but they maintained this position until the buzzer.

Round 2 had Slice using his jabs, applying a huge knee, but again being taken down by Nelson when he got close for the knee. Nelson was in side mount, trapped the arm again, tried ude garami, but ended with shots to the top of the head again, until the referee stopped the match.

White suggested that Slice might fight again during this season. Scenes from the next episode showed Marcus Jones with an injury, implying that Slice might fight in his stead.

Once again this was a fairly terrible fight: Slice couldn’t cope with being held down by a big guy: he needs lots more training on the ground. Nelson is a difficult guy to deal with, mostly a loner who trains himself. This fight may show in his win column, but he couldn’t cope while standing, took his opponent down, and basically squashed him. I wouldn’t be too proud. His first comment after the fight was something about being hungry for a burger.

My thoughts: Heavyweights can be impressive – giant punches and really, heavy kicks – but they are apt to be slow, with the result that many of their fights tend not to be as interesting as those of the lighter men. We have yet to see a good fight this season. When your audience is groaning with boredom and booing at their televisions, your show isn’t very good.

The editing is rudimentary, perhaps due to others’ influences. Why not remove at least some of the repeated conversational fillers, “You know what I’m sayin’?” uttered continually by Slice, Jackson, and even Jones? My answer: “Yes, I know what you’re saying. Stop asking.” Oh, and the fights are boring.  

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 is on Wednesday nights at 10 on Spike.

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 1

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 2

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 4

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 5

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 6

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 7

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 8

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 9

ayjay

October 1, 2009

Last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 (TUF10) had a little bit of everything: squabbles between Jackson and Evans (regarding mat time), Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson talking directly to the camera, training sessions and the problems therein, and another fight with another elimination.

The constant arguing behind false smiles between the two coaches must be stressing out both these guys. Their egos leave little room for anything else. In this episode, Evans’s team were five minutes’ late leaving the mat area, causing Jackson’s blood pressure to rise. Stupid stuff.

As a carrot for further episodes, we watched Kimbo Slice train. Jackson and his people extolled Slice’s talents. Roy Nelson talked about how much he wanted to fight Kimbo Slice, but during training sessions he did not follow direction and worked on his own. One of Evans’s coaches took him aside, called him “uncoachable”, said that he didn’t listen, and wanted him to be serious. He then asked Nelson if he wanted to get knocked out again. When in front of the camera, Nelson said it was a matter of “two masters getting together”. He considers himself a master. Even the most accomplished people have teachers and are then students. There’s always more to learn. His ego needs to be deflated, more than a little.

Jackson picked Evans’s James McSweeney to fight Wes Shivers. McSweeney is an English kickboxer with a record of 136-9, who trains with Evans and Greg Jackson. Shivers is one of the biggest guys in this group at 6’7″, about 270, with a 6.5 inch reach advantage. A former NFL player who worked in law enforcement, he now trains with Alan Belcher.

Each man thought the other did not have the skills to win: McSweeney believed that Shivers would “run out of steam” because of his size, whereas Shivers thought McSweeney didn’t have the skills to win against him. Jackson merely wanted Shivers to beat McSweeney.

Round 1 had McSweeney applying very loud, devastating leg kicks mostly to Shivers’s lead leg. McSweeney got taken down and while Shivers was in half guard, Shivers attempted a Kimura (ude garami) on McSweeney. McSweeney had a difficult time determining distance, but eventually got a punch in. Shivers caught one of McSweeney’s kicks as well.

As Shivers threw his punches (slightly bent over) and moving forward, McSweeney backed up and actually turned his back. He looked as though he were running away. In the latter part of the round Shivers was flat-footed and looked exhausted.

During the break, Shivers had his mouth wide open trying to get air. His corner told him to “move forward”. McSweeney’s corner told him to “keep it simple”.

Round 2 was more of the same: McSweeney delivering devastating leg kicks, Shivers throwing a punch, McSweeney throwing a punch. It was almost a non-fight. No combinations. Both guys huffing and puffing. Several times they both stood looking at each other, hands on hips, trying to catch their breaths, and McSweeney’s turning his back and running away.

At one point, after a hook, I believe, and then a head kick, Shivers went down and McSweeney attempted a front guillotine (hadaka jime) while on the bottom, the most interesting part of the round.

The fight went to decision with McSweeney getting the win. It was an ugly fight, and even if McSweeney has great leg kicks, he turned his back several times and obviously was running away from his opponent.

At the end of the show, Evans chose the competitors for the next episode – Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 is on Spike on Wednesday nights at 10 EST.

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 1

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 3

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 4

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 5

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 6

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 7

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 8

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 9

ayjay

September 24, 2009

The Ultimate Fighting Challenge 103 UFC 103 – Franklin versus Belfort was last Saturday night. In order to generate revenue, or interest people in more PPV, some of the preliminary fights were broadcast on Spike from 9 to 10 p.m. The first thirty seconds or so of the first fight consisted of some of the funniest television we’ve watched in a while (excluding The Big Bang Theory). The fight was between Drew McFedries and Tomasz Drwal, middleweights. As they began the match, the beginning few seconds of audio and video looped for the next 30 or so seconds. Granted, we missed the actual fighting, but it was funny nonetheless.

What we did see were low leg kicks by Drwal and a take down by Drwal with his landing on top. McFedries stood up with Drwal on his back. Drwal applied knees to McFedries hamstrings and head. Both fighters were striking heavily and McFedries looked exhausted afterward.

Just before the buzzer, Drwal achieved another take down and had one hook in, while on McFedries’ back.

Round 2 had Drwal’s strikes connecting. He then took McFedries down again, moving from side mount, to the back. He then applied a rear naked choke (hadaka jime) for tapout.

Efrain Escudero, winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 8, was up next against Cole Miller. The announcers talked about Escudero’s problems making weight and that his health might be a concern. Also Escudero has been seriously injured and has not been fighting since last December.

Although Miller is four inches taller than Escudero and has a two inch reach advantage and tried to use both to his advantage, Escudero was in control from the beginning. Escudero caught Miller’s leg after an attempted kick, threw a couple of punches and let Miller up.

Escudero then took Miller down with a big slam and let him up again. He threw a series of punches, all of which hit their target, left, right, another big right and Miller went down. Two other strikes while Miller was on the ground and the referee stopped the match.

Welterweights Rick Story and Brian Foster were up next. This match had lots of action from both men, with strong, fast striking, and action on the ground. Story took Foster down early on, picking him up and throwing him. While on the ground, Story used his elbows for ground and pound. He moved from side control to half guard while Foster never ceased moving on the bottom, even throwing elbows from below.

When standing again, Story took Foster down again. As Foster rose to his feet, Story landed some punches. Foster threw an upper cut. Story’s nose seemed to have been broken at some point in this exchange.

Round 2 had Foster attempting a head kick. Story took Foster down and was in guard and then half guard. While Foster had Story’s leg trapped, Story accomplished a solid kata gatame (arm triangle), even without having his legs free, which turned into a choke, causing Foster to tap out. Really amazing technique. Fight of the Night.  Submission of the Night.

Southpaws Jim Miller and Steve Lopez, both lightweights, were next to fight. Round one went to Miller: he connected with strikes and leg kicks, attempted a take down, which Lopez avoided by sprawling, and then tried a front hadaka jime.  Miller tried various other techniques when in Lopez’s guard, including wrapping Lopez’s own arm around Lopez’s neck, not a technique you see often, but very effective at trapping your opponent’s arm and aiding in a choke if you’ve got it right.

Round 2 had Lopez fighting far better, looking more confident and relaxed until he threw out his left shoulder, a horrible sight. Referee stoppage by verbal submission.

As for the main card, the fights were varied, but mostly standing. Josh Koscheck demolished Frank Trigg in the first round by a looping right, a shot to the chin and multiple strikes when he was on the floor. TKO referee stoppage in round 1. 

Tyson Griffin threw many leg kicks and strikes in his match against Hermes Franca. As the match went on, Griffin would come in for a quick strike and/or kick and then go out again such that Franca could not tag him. A couple of times Franca tried to grab Griffin’s leg in order to have him close enough to strike.

Round 2 had Franca coming in strongly and both men were trading strikes and leg kicks. Franca then grabbed Griffin’s leg and held on, trying to strike. Griffin approached Franca at angles and threw jabs, leg kicks and upper cuts.  One strike to Franca’s chin caused him to hit the ground. Griffin followed up with multiples strikes. TKO in Griffin’s favour.

Martin Kampmann fought Paul Daley in a short match that had Daley in control most of the time. Daley used lots of combinations, with the most deadly being his left hooks, which were solid and heavy. Kampmann managed to grab Daley and push him to the fence at one point. He then applied knees until Daley escaped.

Daley then rocked Kampmann with another left hook, which he immediately followed up with multiple strikes. TKO referee stoppage.

The match between Mirko Cro Cop versus Junior Dos Santos was a co-main event. Cro Cop is a kickboxer with devastating kicks, but his record in the octagon is mediocre. During  this bout, he threw very few kicks, probably no more than five, and threw few punches. Although the men injured one another with cuts above the eyes and Dos Santos with a mouse below the left eye, Dos Santos seemed to be picking Cro Cop apart, connecting with fast strikes. Cro Cop would grab Dos Santos around the neck and push him away, probably to set him up for kicks, but they didn’t come. A take down attempt early in the match by Cro Cop failed with his landing on the bottom and both men getting up right away.

Round three had Cro Cop as the aggressor, but Dos Santos in control. Dos Santos toppled Cro Cop with huge knees to the body and head (eleven in all). One shot went to Cro Cop’s left eye and Cro Cop tapped verbally.

Mike Goldberg made a comment during this bout concerning Dos Santos which I have to reiterate: “The young, hungry competitor, eight and one overall…” Our reaction was: “The young, hungry competitor ate and won overall…”

The remaining co-main event was between Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort. Franklin was in the center of the octagon and Belfort circled.  Franklin tried a leg kick, but Belfort caught it. He then attempted a left hook and leg kick. His straight rights were not connecting. Belfort kept watching and following Franklin, waiting for the right moment. Belfort eventually threw a big looping left punch and dropped Franklin. He immediately followed up with several shots to the head of Franklin.  Knock Out of the Night.

ayjay

September 21, 2009

p.s. As an aside, I’m grateful that Franklin’s sleazy commercial is no longer being shown (the one in which his “student” rolls her eyes at him).

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 began last night. This is the season of heavyweights with coaches Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans and, as the top dog, or most-looked-forward-to-individual, Kimbo Slice (Kevin Ferguson). In addition to the size factor, the ages of these people are different from previous seasons: most of these guys are aged from mid-twenties to Slice at the high end at 35.

The guys had two hours only in which to show their skills to the coaches. After the two hours, Jackson and Evans picked their teams. Evans seemed interested in guys who could take direction well and Jackson wanted the biggest fellows.

Jackson picked the first fight – his guy, Abe Wagner, against Jon Madsen from Evans’ team. Madsen is 6′ and 240, whereas Wagner is 6’4″ and 265. Madsen’s background is all wrestling. He started in high school and actually won against Brock Lesnar as a kid. He was a Division 1 national wrestling champion at university as well. He trains with Matt Hughes and Robbie Lawlor.

Wagner’s background is in football and basketball, including being a linebacker in university. He is employed as a mechanical engineer and has studied mixed martial arts since 2005.

Madsen’s game plan was to take Wagner down, since Evans said Wagner’s groundwork experience was lacking. Wagner believed he could win the match, that his jiu jitsu was sufficient to win. He also is decidedly larger than Madsen - four inches taller, twenty-five pounds heavier and a five inch reach advantage.

The match began with Madsen taking Wagner down within seconds. Wagner held on to Madsen tightly, but Madsen delivered punches to Wagner’s kidney and ribs and then did some ground and pound. He opened a huge gash in Wagner’s head from the hair down the forehead and there were puddles of blood everywhere.

Round 2 began in the same way as round 1 – an immediate take down which Wagner did not fight. It was a cheap shot, though, as Wagner reached out to touch gloves and Madsen faked him out, taking him down instead. They were made to stand after a while as nothing happened with either man. Madsen looked gassed, but he easily controlled Wagner.

Most of the round consisted of take downs and closed guards. Jackson screamed, “Abe, get up!” many times in the round, to no avail. Wagner did trap one of Madsen’s legs and threw a knee when told to, but got taken down again.

Unanimous win by Madsen.

Jackson walked out after the match and took responsibility for picking the fight.

As for potential in this season, we have Jackson and Evans arguing continually from start to finish in the episode. Clips from next week’s show indicate that the conflict continues. Kimbo Slice is a target in everyone’s sights, so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out. Will the coaches keep him in reserve to ensure an audience or treat him like any other competitor?

The Ultimate Fighter is on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST on Spike.

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 2

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 3

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 4

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 5

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 6

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 7

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 8

Click here to go to TUF10 Episode 9

ayjay

September 17, 2009

UFC 101 Declaration offered a variety of fights and fighters, some fights with surprising results, others not so much. 

Amir Sadollah, winner of an Ultimate Fighter season, but whom we never saw fight afterward, fought Johny Hendricks. Sadollah was seen doing interviews during the last The Ultimate Fighter season quite successfully: he’s personable and camera-friendly, but speaks way too quickly.

Perhaps not having fought for such a long time (for whatever reason) was the problem: his head kick was blocked by Hendricks, although he landed other leg kicks and punches. Hendricks connected with an upper cut at the fence and Sadollah went down at 32 seconds of round 1.

Hendricks may have broken his hand when he blocked the head kick; he cradled his left hand after the match and looked to be in agony. 

Josh Neer fought Kurt Pellegrino for the full three rounds. Their match started with a strong take down by Pellegrino to his being in half guard and applying elbows and punches to Neer. Neer fought from the bottom controlling Pellegrino’s wrist and arm, moving from butterfly guard to full guard. Round 2 had Pellegrino taking Neer down again and Neer’s elbowing from the bottom and trying juji gatame. Neer’s butterfly guards and full and half guards are so good that Pellegrino could not pass.

Round 3 had both men kicking and Pellegrino again taking Neer down. Neer held on to Pellegrino’s wrists, elbowed from the bottom, and tried numerous triangles, all of which were suppressed by Pellegrino.

Unanimous decision in Pellegrino’s favour, however he passed Neer’s guard only once.

The fight between the Georges (Sotiropoulos and Roop) was fast and showed BJJ techniques from start to finish. Roop is a very tall fighter and Sotiropoulos is a more solid, compact man. Sotiropoulos took Roop down several times, moving from guard to side mount to north/south to the other side, whatever he wanted to do. He moved very quickly, perhaps too fast – he didn’t give himself any time to do a submission. Roop did manage to escape from a grapevine, even with the hooks in.

Round 2 had both fighters punching after a take down by Sotiropoulos. Sotiropoulos was sitting in full mount and then side control. He submitted Roop with a Kimura very quickly.

The Shane Nelson match against Aaron Riley went the distance. It was an example of the problems with having fighters who are basically different weights fighting each other. Nelson is perhaps a natural 155 whereas Riley is far heavier, having fought at 170 in the past. Riley dominated Nelson standing and on the ground. He was very aggressive, rushing Nelson and putting him in the clinch, then applying knees and elbows. On the ground, Riley used his weight difference to hold Nelson down and then ground and pound him.

In the third round, Nelson had Riley in his guard, with ankles crossed, but he should have tried to sidle out. Although overwhelmed by Riley, Nelson fought hard throughout the fifteen minutes. Unanimous decision in Riley’s favour.

Kendall Grove‘s match against Roberto Almeida went the distance as well. Grove is six inches taller and has a five inch reach advantage over Almeida. In this match, though, the smaller man was the aggressor: Almeida took Grove down at least six times. Grove attempted a guillotine, a juji gatame and had a body triangle on Almeida but Almeida controlled the fight. When standing, Grove applied some knees, but Almeida’s take downs kept on coming. Unanimous decision in Almeida’s favour.

Anderson Silva‘s fight against Forrest Griffin had lots of media coverage beforehand. Silva’s last two fights were weird and boring, with his showboating and not actually fighting very much. I thought that Griffin would put himself on the line and actually fight as he had against Bonnar and others: he seemed to love the fight. This match was almost on par with Silva’s other recent matches: his opponent was hesitant, feeling Silva out, and Silva started showboating, trying to goad his opponent. His hands were down, he stalked Griffin, who walked backward. Silva switched stances caught Griffin’s kick, punched Griffin a couple of times. Silva connected solidly a couple of times and Griffin went down, but got up immediately.

Silva had his hands down, bobbing and weaving; Griffin could not connect with anything, but continued to walk forward and Silva backward. Silva then threw a little right shot to Griffin’s jaw and the fight was over. Knock out in the first round. Knockout of the Night.

There has to be someone out there who can fight this guy. I understand this fight was awarded Fight of the Night. Not in my book. It was a good fight, but the fight was too one-sided.

The main event of the night was fairly boring: B. J. Penn versus Kenny Florian. Florian was the aggressor in this match rushing Penn and squashing him against the fence while attempting a take down. This happened many times. Florian ground his shoulder into Penn’s side or his stomach, pushed him into the fence and did body shots to Penn’s side. As they broke the clinch Florian would finish with an elbow just before the break.

Penn moved forward following Florian throughout the match and would have a flurry of activity just before the buzzer. At other times, Penn connected with shots when Florian made a mistake or missed his attempt. Penn did not attempt take downs nor was he the aggressor during the first three rounds.

Round 4 had Florian attempting a take down again, but Penn went after him this time, succeeding with his own take down. After some ground and pound, Florian rolled and Penn ended up with Florian’s back, putting the hooks in and had a rear naked choke (hadaka jime) from the grapevine. Penn by submission. Submission of the Night (although Sotiropoulos’s Kimura was on par).

As for Fight of the Night, I think I’ll go with Shane Nelson versus Aaron Riley. Although Riley dominated, Nelson never gave up and fought his way through the entire match.

ayjay

August 10 2009 

Everyone I know who follows the UFC was looking forward to the one hundredth episode; there were to be three huge fights, GSP versus Thiago Alves, Brock Lesnar versus Frank Mir and The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 coaches’ fight between Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping. There promised to be talented fighters, and, hopefully, some thrilling fights and action (physical, emotional and psychological).

The first broadcast match was between a judoka, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Alan Belcher, a muay thai guy. This one went the distance, with strong kicks by Belcher, such that Akiyama’s lead leg was continually whacked, resulting in his limping by the end of round two, and take downs by Akiyama (catching the kicking leg and throwing a straight right). While on the ground, Akiyama ground forearms into Belcher’s face and applied elbows. While standing, the judo guy threw some potent punches and was accurate with his kicks.

By the third round, Akiyama was obviously fatigued and Belcher attacked the lead leg again (as far as I could see Akiyama never changed his stance, a useful thing if your leg is becoming tenderized). Akiyama must also have received a poke to his left eye: his blinking was noticeable, but nothing came of it. Despite being tired, he did a spinning back kick. Belcher did a Superman punch, using the fence to gain purchase, basically launching himself off the fence.

Akiyama had a final take down with a solid left-sided o soto gari and remained on top until the end of the round.  It was a fun fight with both men applying themselves well. Although we thought Belcher won round three, the decision was split in Akiyama’s favour.

Next up were the coaches from The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 – Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping. Henderson had made it known during the series that Bisping was not his favourite person, calling him a “douche bag” and wanting him to stop talking. After the finale of the series, in which three of the four finalists were from the U.K., I think he may also have wanted to prove that the U.S. was capable of winning too.

Henderson is thirty-eight, ancient in fighters’ years against Bisping’s thirty. He looked strong and far heavier than Bisping, who, since his change to middleweight, looks skinny to me. 

The first round had Bisping light on his feet, backtracking most of the time, his legs in an extremely wide stance which had the potential for being off-balance. Henderson kept his eyes on the target and followed Bisping around the octagon, connecting with a leg kick, an uppercut and multiple shots and then, when in the clinch, an elbow. Bisping had a high kick and a looping right punch.

When in another clinch, Henderson used his knees. Bisping tried a take down (against a two-time Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling) and walked into Henderson’s right hand.

During the break, Bisping’s crew told him to move to the right, essentially away from Henderson’s right hand. In the second round, Bisping almost continually moved to the left. Henderson threw a big right, knocking Bisping out on his feet. When Bisping toppled over, Henderson jumped on him and threw another right to his jaw, more than unnecessary. Bisping was unconscious for some time. Knock Out of the Night.

Georges St-Pierre‘s bout against Thiago Alves was up next. In terms of statistics, the most amazing aspect was St-Pierre’s six inch reach advantage, although the men are only one inch difference in height.

Alves is a very strong guy. Taken down by GSP many times (eight?) during the five rounds, he muscled his way up time after time. He was unable to accomplish anything while on the bottom though. St-Pierre did not always control the match and ended up on his back once, an unusual happening for GSP, but he proved that the belt was all his. He took Alves down, would get both hooks in, force Alves to hold all his weight. He would squash Alves against the fence when standing. He switched stances - a useful thing to throw people off and protect your lead leg.

Unanimous decision in Georges-St-Pierre’s favour. GSP was gracious, saying that Alves was strong and young and would become dangerous.

This was GSP’s first fight since “greasegate”, so it was interesting to see how his corner reacted to everything, whether they would change their behaviours. They had maintained that the rubbing of his back was one of the ways they got him to calm down between rounds. That is in fact what they still did. His corner rubbed his upper back, talked to him, forced him to focus his breathing, talked about what they expected him to do in the next round, had him repeat it. When, after round four, he told his corner that he had pulled a groin, they talked him out of focussing on the groin pull. Fascinating psychological aspects to this fighting business.

The main event was between heavyweights Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar. Mir’s background is in jiu jitsu, with most of his fights ending in submissions in the first round. Lesnar is a college wrestling champion and a former WWE guy. Lesnar is also the biggest guy in the UFC right now, weighing in at 265; he might have been 285 on fight night. Mir weighed in at 245. Mir had a haematoma on his right forehead, acquired during practice, and had his left knee wrapped up completely, as well as both ankles.

Lesnar was there to avenge his only loss in the UFC, which was to Mir. He refused to touch gloves to begin the match and, from the bell, attacked Mir. He used an inside leg kick and straight punch, took Mir down, employing all his massive weight chest-to-chest. He held Mir down by grabbing Mir’s neck with his left hand, thumb applying pressure. He then wrapped his left arm around Mir’s head, controlling his head off the mat and punched short shots to Mir’s face and ribs with his right hand.

Round two had Mir on the attack with a flying knee, a variety of punches and a low kick. He was taken down again, though, the same as in round one. This time, however,  he was at the fence and Mir could not protect himself from the onslaught of Lesnar’s punches to the head and face. TKO referee stoppage.

The audience does not like Lesnar and showed their disdain. Lesnar then gave them two one-finger salutes and went around the octagon screaming, spitting and cursing. There was no need for this behaviour. It is not the WWE. He’s rude and obnoxious in the ring.

The final broadcast fight was between Jon Fitch and Paulo Thiago. Fitch is a jiu jitsu guy with wrestling and submissions as a specialty, whereas Thiago is a jiu jitsu guy with strong boxing skills. Thiago also came into the match undefeated.

This match was very technical, mostly on the ground. Fitch took Thiago down multiple times; Thaigo tried front guillotine chokes while Fitch was in his guard. Fitch seemed not to care about the chokes and at one point actually put his head back IN to the choke. Fitch took Thiago’s back with hooks in, applying many punches to Thiago’s face and ribs. In the third round, Thiago was in Fitch’s guard for some seconds, but ended up on the bottom again with another guillotine attempt. Fitch took Thiago’s back, got the hooks in and rolled with him.

Fitch dominated the match and won by unanimous decision. Unlike Lesnar’s fight against Mir, Fitch offered his hand to Thiago to help him up.

As for Fight of the Night, I can’t decide. Akiyama and Belcher’s fight was exciting and busy. It definitely wasn’t Henderson versus Bisping because Bisping didn’t accomplish anything. GSP versus Alves showed St-Pierre’s dominance in all aspects, including stamina. Lesnar versus Mir showed Lesnar’s strength and size mainly. He put his 900 pound body on Mir’s chest and pounded Mir’s face to mush. Then he was an obnoxious buffoon. Definitely NOT Lesnar versus Mir. I think Fitch versus Thiago had more Fitch than Thiago, so that fight is out.

So it could be GSP versus Alves or Akiyama versus Belcher and I’m leaning toward Akiyama and Belcher.

ayjay

July 13, 2009

p.s. The Fight of the Night was given to Akiyama and Belcher.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 Finale (TUF9) was one of the best events the UFC has put on.  Not only was it free (yay), the fights got better and better, from one fight to the next. Even Joe Rogan changed his mind about which fight was the Fight of the Night.

The first broadcast fight was between Nate Diaz and Joe Stevenson. You’ll recall that in his bout with Diego Sanchez, Stevenson kept the fight standing and lost. In this battle, he and Diaz spent a great deal of time on the ground, trading guillotine choke attempts. Stevenson had Diaz at the fence several times applying knees. To avoid knees to the head, Diaz put one knee on the ground, but Stevenson was in control each time.

The best segment of round one had Stevenson trapping both of Diaz’s arms, one with his legs and the other with his arm. Diaz was at the fence and rolled over, but his arms were still trapped, with Diaz on the bottom. Diaz managed to escape, but then got put in a very tight guillotine, which came close to ending the fight.

Round two was more of the same, guillotine attempt by Diaz, Stevenson in Diaz’s half guard, Diaz turtling and Stevenson’s applying knees. Stevenson controlled the round while standing and on the ground.

Round three had Stevenson attempting a single leg take down, but Diaz did an harai goshi, ending up in Stevenson’s half guard and then full guard at the fence. Diaz managed to pass the guard.

Stevenson then did his own take down and kneed Diaz’s side at the fence.

Standing again, Diaz tried a take down and many, wild strikes, but little was connecting.

Unanimous decision in Stevenson’s favour.

The Ultimate Fighter lightweights were up next – Ross Pearson versus Andre Winner. I must admit, I thought Pearson had a wider range of skillsets than Winner, and would completely dominate Winner, who is mostly a stand-up guy.

Almost the entire match was standing, with many clinches at the fence as the men worked for superior positions. (I heard no booing here and this fight was not much different from the UFC 99 fight between Spencer Fisher and Caol Uno in which the audience booed throughout as the fighters jockeyed for position.) They traded knees, used dirty boxing, with Pearson throwing huge overhand looping strikes and Winner a flurry of body strikes just before the end of round one.

Round two had Pearson kicking to the head and body, trying a take own, and connecting with knees, while Winner managed a strong uppercut and knees of his own. The round ended with Winner’s flurry of strikes again.

Round three had the men in the clinch for a good portion again, trading strikes and knees. Pearson’s uppercuts were effective as was his take down of Winner. Winner went down to one knee and up again. While in the clinch, Winner had some shoulder strikes and short jabs. Pearson had a straight jab which rocked Winner.

Unanimous decision in Pearson’s favour, but Winner was not easily dismissed.

Chris Lytle and Kevin Burns came up next. Lytle had fifty-seven professional matches coming in to this fight.  Burns came in with ten. Lytle wanted to have fight of the night and knock out of the night, so we expected big things.

Lylte came out with huge punches, big looping strikes, and big kicks. Burns applied leg kicks, high kicks, body kicks, knees and strikes. He rocked Lytle with an uppercut, tried to deal with him on the floor, but Lytle came to. Burns followed up with many strikes and knees up to the buzzer.

Round two had Lytle rocking Burns with his overhand shots. Burns managed a take down, ending in half guard.

While standing Lytle kept striking Burns’s left side, doing combinations, one strike to the head, the other to the ribs. Burns backed up throughout most of the round, half turning his body as he went.

Round three began with a huge overhand right by Lytle which produced an enormous cut over Burns’ left eyebrow, with blood pouring down his face and chest immediately. That did not stop Burns, though, as he answered with a knee and body kick.

Lytle punched Burns’ left temple again, causing him to stumble. Burns tried head kicks and strikes, but he was exhausted.

Unanimous decision in Lytle’s favour.

The Ultimate Fighter welterweights Damarques Johnson and James Wilks fought next. Johnson mouthed off a great deal during season 9, opinionated, and expressing real hate toward Wilks.  Johnson was also regarded as the U.S. team’s best chance.

What we saw from start to finish of this fight was complete domination by Wilks. He began with strong jabs and knees, such that Johnson was protecting himself at the fence, unable to reciprocate.

Wilks took Johnson down and while in Johnson’s guard, tried a heel hook. Johnson slipped out of it, but a few seconds later Wilks tried it again.  Wilks then trapped one of Johnson’s legs and compressed it, while Johnson struck Wilks on the head many times as he tried to extricate from the leg compression.

While in Johnson’s guard, Wilks tried an oma plata, and as Johnson moved around, the arm got more and more trapped, such that people on our boat were groaning, imagining the worst.

Wilks grapevined Johnson and tried for the choke, but Johnson’s chin was down. For some seconds they fought this until Wilks trapped one of Johnson’s arms with his leg and tried for the choke again. Tapout at six seconds before the buzzer in round one. Technique of the Night.

Wilks’s battle with Johnson had the potential to be fight of the night until Diego Sanchez came out against Clay Guida. Both these fighters have at least two dozen professional fights. Sanchez is a BJJ black belt with one school and brown with his current school. Guida is a wrestler wth fantastic cardio, who came out singing and jumping.

The match went the full three rounds with both men succeeding in take downs and ground and pound. In round one, Sanchez connected with a head kick to Guida and Guida hit the dirt. We thought it was a knock out as his head bounced, but amazingly, Guida got up straight away.

Round two had Guida in Sanchez’s full guard and Sanchez elbowing the top of Guida’s head. Now Guida had blood from his nose and from the top of his head. Sanchez tried a Kimura, but Guida freed the arm and did some ground and pound. He then trapped Sanchez’s arm behind his back (we’d just mentioned it as a possibility).

Round three had Guida chasing Sanchez with strikes and combos. Sanchez really had slowed down by this point, even though he wasn’t the one bleeding profusely everywhere. Guida attempted a take down and Sanchez, an arm triangle, which Guida spun out of. While in Sanchez’s full guard again, Sanchez attempted the Kimura again. Blood was everywhere and Guida was slick, resulting in his avoiding all the arm bars.

Split decision in Sanchez’s favour. Fight of the Night. In the post-fight interview, Guida was still jumping around as he’d been before this brutal match. He’s amazing.

ayjay

June 21,1 2009