Diego Sanchez - Image: Zuma Press

It was in that second round that Diego used over a dozen brutal elbows from his back to cut holes into Guida’s scalp, turning the next two rounds into a bloody mess. Both could have gone either way on the judge’s scorecard, but in the end it was Diego Sanchez who was awarded the split decision.

In other fights, Joe Stevenson (an EveryJoe favorite for obvious reasons) proved he’s not a has-been by out-wrestling Cesar Gracie disciple Nate Diaz on the ground, winning the first two rounds with a number of nifty reversals and rolls. At one point Joe Daddy caught the young Diaz in a crucifix, trapping both his limbs and hammering on his face. Nate spent the time trying to get something going off his back but only had success in the third round when the fight stayed on the feet.

While there’s no doubt Nate Diaz is a talented prospect, I think it’s time the UFC sent him back to the prelims for more seasoning. It sucks to say that because he’s always a pleasure to watch fight, but better that than have him lose again and wash out of the UFC like another talented prospect who was pushed too hard too early: his brother Nick Diaz.

As for the actual Ultimate Fighter finals, UK welterweight James Wilks seemed like a different man as he drubbed Team USA’s DaMarques Johnson on the feet and ground before sinking in a choke in the dying seconds of the first round. Johnson seemed as shocked as I was with Wilks’ transformation and spent the entire fight trying to survive the onslaught. While I’m going to wait and see if Wilks can repeat this kind of performance against a UFC vet before writing his name on all my school binders in sparkle marker, there’s no doubt this victory will make him an instant star in England.

UK fighter Ross Pearson was less impressive as he defeated Andre Winner via decision in a slow and methodical three round battle. Both fighters spent a lot of time stalemating each other in the clinch, but Pearson won the fight with crisper striking. If you’ve tivo’d this event and take a more selective approach to which fights you want, I’d say you won’t miss much by skipping this one over.

Last but not least, Kevin Burns attempted to pass gatekeeper Chris Lytle but got smacked back down. While Burns started strong and nearly knocked Lytle out (something no one has ever managed to do), he gassed halfway through the second round and spent the rest of the fight eating decent but not conscious-threatening combinations from Lytle. Burns also accidentally kicked Lytle in the junk three times, making hm one of the most unintentionally dirty fighters in the UFC. This fight went to the scorecards where Lytle was declared the winner, two rounds to one.

Overall this was a solid event, although it felt like the three hour show had about an hour’s worth of commercials.

Post from: EveryJoe

Sanchez beats Guida in TUF9 bloodbath

Bas Rutten

Unfortunately, Bas Rutten claims that around the time of the Ken Shamrock fight, Kimbo stopped listening to him and actually started to get worse. Here’s what he told Fighters Only magazine about the situation and why he will never train Kimbo again:

“I misjudged him, he turned into a whole different person. I told him a few weeks ago, I had a sit down with him. I told him that he was an asshole and that I have zero respect (for him] and I cant train people that I have no respect for. Can’t ever,” Rutten told Fighters Only in a recent interview.

“He just turned into a different guy, he didn’t need to do the things that I told him to do. He wasn’t going to go to the ground, you know? The day before the [Petruzelli] fight, I told him I wanted to go over heel hooks and escapes, and he said “Nah, its not going to go to the ground”.

I said ‘Ha, I like that attitude – but what if it does go to the ground?’ but he said ‘Its not going to go’. So I said OK, but don’t let me tell you ‘I told you so’ if he snaps your fuckin’ leg in half. He said ‘I don’t know if that’s a good thing for you to be telling me mentally, before a fight’! I said ‘I don’t think its a good thing for you not to be doing what I tell you, before the fight”!

Bas Rutten is not someone you want to disagree with. A pioneer of the sport who used to fight in Japan alongside Ken Shamrock in the early 90’s, he became an internet celebrity due to his amusingly violent bar fighting instructional dvds, and was featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto 4. While he’s one of the most entertaining jokers in the industry, his training chops are solid and Kimbo Slice has an even tougher hill to climb now that Bas has excommunicated him from his circle.

Post from: EveryJoe

Bas Rutten: “I have zero respect for Kimbo”

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Marcus Jones - Image: Zuma Press

Those debating how well Kimbo Slice will do on the Ultimate Fighter haven’t had much information to work with one way or the other. Without knowing who he’s going up against, how can you assume he’s going to fail or succeed? But now the full 16 heavyweight roster for the Ultimate Fighter 10 has been sniffed out, and rather than try to speculate on their skill level, I’m just going to order them from most intriguing to least:

• Kimbo Slice: Mr Youtube Sensation himself, Kimbo Slice took Dana White up on his challenge to get into the UFC via the Ultimate Fighter.
• Roy Nelson: Former IFL heavyweight champion the UFC refused to sign because he was too fat. Seriously.
• Wes Sims: Went 0-3 in the UFC a few years ago. Can never seem to beat anyone above regional level, and even then it’s often a toss up.
• Marcus Jones: NFL defensive end from 1996 to 2002. Training MMA since early 2007.
• Matt Mitrione: Former NFL player and MMA virgin. Trains with UFC fighter Jake ‘the Blanket’ O’Brien.
• Wes Shivers: NFL veteran and a late replacement for Rex Richards (who was also in the NFL … real invasion this season, huh?).
• Jim York: New Zealand fighter who shares a common opponent with Kimbo Slice in James Thompson. York managed to knock Thompson out in the first round.
• Justin Wren: A gigantic guy who has more wrestling trophies than most colleges do.
• Mike Wessel: Wessel made it into the UFC by accepting a fight on a week’s notice. He lost, but was given a spot on TUF as a consolation prize.
• Scott Junk: Another fighter who dropped the ball the first time the UFC gave him a try in 2007.
• Zak Jensen: Wrestler out of Minnesota, has a 7-3 record with losses to TUF alumni Brad Imes and Mike Whitehead.
• Darrill Schoonover: US Army veteran with a 10-0 pro and 5-0 amateur record.
• Brendan Schaub: Trains out of Greg Jackson’s gym and is a Shane Carwin sparring partner.
• Jon Madsen: Newb fighter out of Matt Hughes’ gym
• Tom Blackledge: 8-6 fighter out of Michael Bisping’s camp.
• Abe Wagner: Mystery man out of Nebraska with a 6-2 pro record

Fortunately for Kimbo, he doesn’t have to be the best out of the 16 … he just has to be better than the three fighters he’ll need to beat to make it to the TUF finale.

And just to get a few more TUF related tidbits out of the way so we can move on to other MMA related insanity, UFC president Dana White revealed in Germany that the Ultimate Fighter has been renewed through season 14 and another US versus UK season was on it’s way.

Post from: EveryJoe

Complete Ultimate Fighter 10 roster leaked

Although he hasn’t fought since October when he lost, expect to see much more of Kimbo Slice. It was recently announced that he’ll be on The Ultimate Fighter — the popular reality television series on Spike.

MMA fans were already excited after it was announced that Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson were going to be coaches in the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter. Now with Kimbo Slice added to the equation, the excitement will be undeniable.

Even if he isn’t the most polished MMA fighter, Kimbo Slice is extremely popular. In fact, the highest rated MMA fights on television featured the 35-year-old fighter. Originally rising to fame with help of his street brawls that were made popular on YouTube, Kimbo Slice remains arguably the most popular MMA fighter in the United States.

Will Kimbo Slice survive on TUF 10? This video examines that question:

Post from: EveryJoe

Kimbo Slice to be on TUF 10

The Ultimate Fighter Logo

Season 10 will feature all Heavyweights, with 16 coming in to fight for a chance at a contract with the UFC. This is the first time Heavyweights have been on The Ultimate Fighter since season 2 when Rashad Evans started his climb in the UFC. This is the second time Jackson has coached and the second time he’ll be coaching and fighting against a TUF winner.

Evans recently lost his light-heavyweight title to Lyoto Machida at UFC 98.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 will premiere on September 16th on Spike tv.

Post from: EveryJoe

Rashad Evans & Rampage Jackson For TUF 10

Image: The Ultimate Fighter 9 logo

Jason Dent and Jeff Lawson are chosen to fight next. David Faulkner and Michael Bisping train but Falkner can seem to keep his “Gum-Shield” in his mouth. He says he’s always had a sensitive gag reflex and Bisping is worried that it may cost him the fight. His Staph infection doesn;t seem to be a big issue in this episode though.

Dana tells Pierce that he’s not going to fight and Pierce is upset, but we knew it was coming. Now someone else is going to fight in his place.

Lawson says he plans on submitting Dent with an armbar as he has submitted most of his opponents, however during the fight he can’t get one. Dent and lawson trade pnches here and there and Lawson gets a few takedowns but Dent’s defense seems to work pretty well but makes for a borning fight.

Lawson gasses out quickly in the second but almost takes dent out with a flying knee. Lawson goes for another takedown attempt but Dent get’s lucky and catches him in an anaconda that he executes pretty well. Lawson submits and later on expresses that he’s not so much dissapointed that he lsot the fight but that he planned on taking his family on holiday with his winning.

Dana is not very impressed with Dent’s win but Team USA is pretty happy to almost even the score against Team UK. Earlier in the show Henderson took them out for some cardio training in the form of Ultimate Frisbee and they had fun and actually looked like a team for once.

That’s about it in the short-and-sweet. I’m hoping they choose faulkner’s opponent wisely and I really don’t need to see Frank Lester get a third chance in the octagon. He got lucky in his first fight, looked like he got hit by a truck after his loss and I really don’t care to see him fight again. Frankly I wish they would bring another fighter in that isn’t already in the house and send Pierce packing.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Ultimate Fighter 9 Episode 8 Recap

Junie Browning showed some impressive skills when he fought Jose Aguilar on the first episode of The Ultimate Fighter 8. He made short work of Aguilar and impressed both Dana White and Frank Mir.

It wasn’t long after that we saw an alcohol fueled Junie Browning start acting childish and getting upset. Some pushing ensued but nothing serious happened. It didn’t stop there though, it happened a few times and the last time was shortly before Browning lost in the semifinals to Efrain Escudero.

In a recent article on MMA Junkie, Frank Mir talks about Browning and his placement on tomorrow night’s Ultimate Finale Fight card. He doesn’t feel that Browning deserves to be on the card and feels that the UFC has given him an undeserving opportunity.

"As far as him being on the main card, it does reward his behavior," Mir said. "I think in the future, it shows people who get on the show that as long as they act like a moron and idiot that they get to have time. And that face time equals money, so maybe they don’t have to put that much effort into fighting."

Since the show, Junie has moved to to Las Vegas and has been training at Xtreme Couture. Junie’s biggest complaint on the show was that he wasn’t getting good training. I can agree because from the footage we whenever really saw a lot of Frank Mir getting involved in training. He was sitting against the wall most of the time. Like I said though…that’s only what we saw on TV. If I were to state my opinion on just watching the show I would say that Mir is a good fighter but not a good coach, but that would be an unfair statement.

I think we can expect a good fight between Browning and Dave Kaplan on the Finale. Both showed some promise during the casting fights but neither of them showed much during their fights. Maybe we’ll get to see just how good the both of them are and who’s the better fighter. Kaplan claims he’s never been knocked out and Junie has shown that he can take a punch as well as throw some strong one. We’ll see what happens on Spike TV on Saturday.

Post from: EveryJoe

Frank Mir Speaks Out About Junie Browning

Light Heavyweights

• Ryan Bader vs. Eliot Marshall
• Vinny Magalhaes vs. Krzysztof Soszynski

Lightweights

• Junie Browning vs. Efrain Escudero
• George Roop vs. Phillipe Nover

It’s hard to believe this season is almost over. Seems like it went by pretty quick.

Also on Wednesday night is WEC 37, where we will see Miguel Torres defend his Bantamweight championship title against Manny Tapia. This even will also be the last Light Heavyweight fight (Mark Munoz Vs. Ricardo Barros) in the WEC before the weight class is dissolved in 2009. This fight will probably not be televised though. Other fights on that card are:

• Brian Bowles vs. Will Ribeiro
• Wagnney Fabiano vs. Akitoshi Tamura
• Joseph Benavidez vs. Danny Martinez
• Johny Hendricks vs. Justin Haskins 
• Mark Munoz vs. Ricardo Barros
• Blas Avena vs. Kevin Knabjian
• Diego Nunes vs. Cole Province
• Alex Karalexis vs. Bart Palaszewski
• Hirouki Takaya vs. Cub Swanson
• Shane Roller vs. Mike Budnik

Post from: EveryJoe

MMA on TV This Week

WEC 37 starts at 8 pm with 4 fights to air so it should be over by the time The Ultimate Fighter comes on at 10 pm on Spike TV. This Torres Vs. Tapia fight should be a great fight. Also Brian Bowles will be fighting Will Ribeiro and Bwoles fights are always pretty good bouts.

ProElite has had their Promotional licenses reinstated by the California Stat Athletic Commission, so Jake Shields is not a free agent just yet. Like all the other EliteXC fighters, he’ll have to wait it out to see what happens in the near future.

If George St.Pierre beats B.J. Penn, he could be facing Anderson Silva next by moving up in a weight class. Of course this is just a rumored thing right now, but Dana White spoke about it at MMAWeekly.com. That would be a fight to see.

Image Source: Newscom.com

Post from: EveryJoe

End Of Week MMA Update

The final Lightweight fight aired last night on UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter with Team Noguiera’s John Polakowski facing Team Mir’s George Roop.

John Polakowski, while seeming like he has a bit of ADHD was the favored pick of this fight due to the fact that George Roop injured his hand pretty badly during practice when he got it caught in the fencing of the octagon. However during the fight he was throwing a lot of good left hands and feet and going for some take downs. Polakowski was trying to throw a lot of punches and landed a few good ones during the second round that made Roop a little wobbly. He wasn’t throwing any kicks though, afraid to be taken to the matt where it is painfully obvious that his skills are very limited. After two rounds it went to the judges with both fighters looking battered and beaten. The judges scored a unanimous decision for George Roop.

Back at the house some of the fighters were out in the pool and hot tub and a few of the other fighters in the house started throwing various pieces of food down at the fighters in the pool. One of the pieces of food being a porch chop, hit Junie Browning in the head and he almost went ballistic. Previews showed Junie flying off the handle again on next weeks episode with another sit down with Dana White and Junie Browning.

Dana White and the coaches got together and brought the fighters in to determine the match ups for the semifinals. Next week begins the semi-finals with the following fights set to take place:

Light Heavyweights

• Eliot Marshall vs Ryan Bader
• Vinny Magalhaes vs Krzysztof Soszynski

While I think it looks good for Ryan Bader, the match between Vinny and Krzytof should prove interesting seeing that Krzytof has some pretty good stand up and minimal Jiu Jitsu, while Vinny is just the opposite. I imaging that Krzytof will want to keep it standing.

Lightweights

• George Roop Vs. Philipe Nover
• Junie Browning Vs. Efrain Escudero

Roop Vs. Novar should be a good match but I don’t think Roop’s ground game is as good as Nover’s. The Browning vs. Escudero match is going to be more of a grudge match as we saw some drama between them in the beginning of the season. Hopefully Junie has been paying attention to his weight and that won’t be an issue again.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Ultimate Fighter 8.10 Recap