The Flog!

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 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