It’s me again for the second week in a row. This week I’ll talk about The Ultimate Fighter Premiere, Fight Night, the newly announced Brett Rogers vs Fedor fight on CBS, and whatever else jumps in my head (not in that particular order)….now on to the show.
As soon as Fight Night:19 ended, the real reason people tuned into Spike, began. The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights (featuring Kimbo) pulled in over 4 million viewers and promises to be one of the most talked about seasons ever. Of course the talk will most likely revolve around Kimbo and how he’ll fair on the show (sorry Wes Sims, it won’t be you).
What did I think of the season premiere?
I thought it was boring. Although it was cool of the UFC to footnote Roy Nelson’s accomplishment as being the “last IFL heavyweight” champion, I feel they could have highlighted some of his achievements. The whole “Rashad vs Rampage” bit is way too contrived for me and I’m already rooting for Rashad’s team to sweep team Rampage, not because I’m not a fan of any of the guys on his team, but because Rampage just comes off annoying. I have to correct myself, I AM, not a fan of Wes Sims. It also boggles my mind how Nelson was picked fourth by Evans. It’ll be interesting to see how he does on TUF considering he’s the odds on favorite to win.
The first fight didn’t give us any reason to be biting our nails. Rampage picked his own Abe Wagner to fight Jon Madsen and while it was one of the bloodiest fights in TUF history, it was also a horrible way to kick of the season. Wagner did a great job of laying on his back most of the fight and allowing Madsen to tee off with elbows managing to get one of the sickest cuts in recent memory. The “real” season kicks off next week as we finally get to see how the different personalities mesh as they spend more time locked up in the house.
I should also mention Seth Petruzelli was just added back to the UFC’s roster and perhaps could indicate just how well Kimbo fares on the show. Rematch anyone?
Just announced, on November 7th the “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko will square off against Brett Rogers on CBS. As I have said before, I am really pulling for Rogers. As much as Fedor has accomplished and as powerful as he has proven to be, he committed the ultimate sin…he refused to join the big leagues and fight the fights everyone wants to see. Does his management really think fans will rush to the box office to see him fight a relative newcomer? Don’t get me wrong, Rogers victory over Arvloski was impressive and he could very well be a top ten fighter but he’s still unproven. Fedor had the opportunity to prove all his naysayers wrong and show he truly is the best fighter of all time. What did he do instead? He listened to his jackass management and took a less lucrative deal so they can promote M-1 Global. If you don’t know what M-1 Global is, don’t bother looking it up.
Now onto Fight Night…
I didn’t get to watch all of Fight Night this past Wednesday but I had a great excuse; it was my mothers birthday. I did however make it home on time to watch Carlos Condit survive Jake Ellenberger’s vicious blows in the first round and go on to take a unanimous decision.
Condit came over from the WEC having been their last welterweight champion and has really shown the significant difference between the level of talent. Although Condit manage to get the W, he was expected to stop Ellenberger and has ways to go before he proves he belongs being mentioned among the top fighters in the 175 division.
The UFC brass got what they hoped for when they pitted Roger Huerta against Gray Maynard. Maynard walked away with a split decision victory and catapults himself among the top contenders in the lightweight division.
For two rounds Maynard decided it was time to display his stand up skills and attempted one or two take-downs which were stuffed by Huerta. The first round easily went to Roger who landed more strikes and seemed to have “The Bully” reeling. The second round was much closer with Gray Maynard landing the harder shots and buckling Huerta late in the round. Then in the third Maynard broke out his blanket and took Roger down and did a good job of keeping him there. When Gray was able to secure a Kimura attempt Huerta showed what he is made of. Refusing to tap, “El Matador” allowed his shoulder to be twisted around and even managed to improve his position only to be taken down again. Huerta leaves the UFC with nothing but praise after his demonstrating his never give up attitude and will now focus on his three-film deal with Lionsgate.
The main-event was a pretty exciting one considering it featured two of the most underachieving youngsters in the UFC. Nate Diaz and Melvin Guillard put on a fight worthy of closing out the show and I actually found myself rooting for Guillard. As usual Diaz looked pedestrian on his feet and Guillard squandered another opportunity to climb the ranks of the 155lb division. In what had to be an awful attempt to evoke the Ali “Rope-a-Dope”, Guillard backed up against the cage in hopes of luring Nate Diaz. As Diaz moved forward Melvin lunged and missed with a right hand and left his neck exposed, allowing Diaz to secure the choke.
In other MMA stuff….
UFC 103 takes place this Saturday and despite being denied media credentials by the UFC brass, I will still tune in to watch. Expect to see Vitor Belfort and Rich Franklin to put on a good fight.
If you are in the New England area on September 26th make sure to get tickets to the World Championship Fighting show at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington Ma. Their last show featured one of the best nights in MMA with every fighter featuring great action. Look for their next show to be the same. If you need any extra incentives the man everyone is talking about ,Kimbo Slice, will be in attendance. You can get your ticket at www.wcfighting.com.
