Another Ultimate Fighter Finale with a Twist

The latest season of The Ultimate Fighter culminated in a fight between the finalist and the semi-finalist he'd already beaten coming back for another fight due to drunken rampage by the other finalist. If that didn't make sense then good, its not really supposed to.

The finalist who got booted, Jesse Taylor, will be back. He's a character, he's a really good fighter and now his return can be hyped up. If he does reasonably well then we'll likely see a rematch of the supposed to be finale of Amir against Jesse.

I have to say that I thought Amir took the fight-off and repeat of the semi-final in stride. I would have been pissed off about it really. He just beat CB and now CB gets another chance at winning the show even though he had been eliminated? Kind of bogus. But that's what has to happen when the unknown happens.

The finale was not the fight of the night. I'd have to give that one to Spencer Fisher against Jeremy Stevens. I have become a big fan of Spencer Fisher and his lightning punches. The guy is a great fighter and provides a good fight regardless of who's fighting against. I would have liked to have seen Matt Brown vs Matt Arroyo. And I did enjoy seeing Diego Sanchez kick some ass over Luigi Fiorvanti.

Next weekend is the Pay-Per-View light heavyweight championship fight between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, the champ, and Forrest Griffin. I'd like to see the fight but I'm not seeing myself drop forty five or fifty bucks for it. Let's see who else is on the card. Okay, some Melvin Guillard, some Cole Miller (Jay's UFC twin), some Josh Koscheck, and some Tyson Griffin. Not a bad card at all and I'm sure some of these fights are going to be solid.

I'll be curious as to what the next season of TUF brings, I like how the show keeps evolving to improve itself and provide more balanced fights and less focus on the annoying house drama. Actually, my idea was to keep the current regular show format but add another half hour behind-the-scenes at the house show for the viewers who want more background (and their girlfriends/wives who get squeemed out by the fights themselves).

Amir is a different kind of Ultimate Fighter and I'm going to enjoy watching his future fights. I think he will be able to go as far as he chooses to go.

TUF Review and Preview

Last night was the special extended episode of The Ultimate Fighter before the big finale show that would see the coaches fight for the Light-Heavyweight title as well as the two show winners fighting for the show crown.

After the opening credits, the show jumped straight into one of the most anticipated matchups of the season, Amir against CB "He of the permanent smirk". I've got nothing against CB, he's been a good fighter, is big, strong, fast and dominated his fights. But Amir was the underdog and I just have a tendency to go for the underdog.

It was a great fight. Really. Two and a half rounds of back and forth fighting. Amir's stand-up was better than CB's and CB's ground game was just a little better than Amir's. But Amir impressed me throughout the fight, his flying knees, his combinations, his aggression and absolute iron jaw. Also, he was totally unfazed by a nasty gash under his eye and blood going everywhere.

CB, on the other hand, who'd looked so powerful in his previous fights, didn't look overwhelming, didn't strike fear into Amir's heart and, as the fight wore on, showed that his conditioning wasn't quite what it could have been. In other words, he gassed out and his pace of fighting slowed considerably. He was still throwing big punches but they were telegraphed and Amir was able to slip many of them without trouble.

In the end, Amir was able to catch CB in an arm bar and force him to tap out or risk getting his arm broken or ligaments torn. It was a great fight.

Plus, big props to the UFC for the way they showed the fight. The first two rounds of the fight were shown without a break, five minutes of fighting, a fade to black and then back to five minutes more of fighting for the second round. It was a great way to show the fight and I almost felt guilty using my 30 second advance on my Tivo to get right back to the action. Almost.

After CB's defeat, the show switched gears to what happened after the fighters were released from the house for a couple of days. Jesse Taylor, the other finalist and renowned nutter, partied too hard and his ego got too inflated. He kicked out a limo window and then freaked out a bunch of women in a bar. All of which might have been forgiven but when security showed up, he got aggressive and started shouting that he was a UFC fighter. Which, as anyone who's got a passing knowledge of UFC President Dana White, is a serious, serious breach of decorum. He ended up getting booted out off the show and out of the UFC.

Kind of a shame but he should have known better and should have kept his shit tight instead of getting drunk and stupid.

After Jesse's ejection, there was no one to fight Amir in the final so they brought back CB and Tim, who'd been beaten by Jesse to get to the final. They would fight to see who would advance to the final. What I thought was going to be a fairly one-sided match, with CB dominating Tim, turned out to be one of the best fights of the season. It went the full fifteen minutes and stayed mostly standing up where Tim demonstrated some surprisingly effective and quality striking. In the end, CB was able to eke out the victory and rematch with Amir for the final.

One hell of a great night of MMA! I'm looking forward to the finale not just for the CB and Amir rematch but because it'll also see Forrest and Rampage squaring off for the title. Rampage is a great show and a fantastic fighter, Forrest is almost always underestimated and always, always comes in to a fight in superb condition and has a great big heart. It should be a kickass fight too!

TUF Finale

Mac Danzig against Tommy Speer

Technique against Power

Skill against Heart

Skill and technique overcame power as Mac pretty capably and handily whooped Tommy to win this latest season of The Ultimate Fighter. It wasn't an especially good fight though.

The best fight of the night was the main card, Huerta vs. Guida. Two very dynamic and dangerous fighters who put on a great show. Guida was leading after two rounds but Huerta got him in a slick arm bar and that was that.

With how dynamic and exciting MMA fighting is, I can't understand why anyone is interested in boxing at all anymore.

Now That's a Finish!

I didn't want anyone to try and spoil last night's Ultimate Fighter episode so I stayed up to watch it and I was really glad I did.

** SPOILER ALERT ** Do not read any further if you have not watched the episode and do not want it spoiled.

I didn't expect Matt Arroyo to drop out at all but he did have a cracked rib and that'll mess with your body as well as your head so I can't fault him. And I think it was bunkum that Mac had to fight John twice, the second fight to get into the finals. But he kicked his butt again. The rest of John's team came off like total lame suckers who didn't want to fight at all. Richie Hightower pretended to want to fight Mac but he really and truly did not and he fooled no one, Mac would have enjoyed beating him down too much. And Richie knows he's outclassed by Mac, by a good margin.

The real fight was Tommy against George. Power against skill. Technique against farmboy muscle and determination. Most folks had given the fight to George since he's such a better schooled fighter. But Tommy's strength can be overwhelming. I don't think he meant to poke George in the eye with his thumb but it happened and George couldn't see very well for a bit.

And then Tommy landed some good rights, dropped George and then jumped on him and knocked him out cold, a first for George. Tommy looked much sharper, more focused and stuck by his fight plan, basically to use his size and power to overwhelm George, which he did in impressive fashion. How much of a factor was the thumb in the eye? Hard to say but George really should have taken all the time he could to let the eye settle down and clear up for him.

But he didn't and paid for it by kissing the canvas and really being knocked cold. And, as a result, Tommy Speer made an extra five thousand bucks.

Saturday is the big finale show with Mac against Tommy, I'm not sure who's going to prevail. Mac is a very solid all around fighter with alot of experience, confidence and skill where Tommy is very strong and gaining skills rapidly. It should be a good fight and it makes me smile to know that all of Serra's fighters have been eliminated.

I'm still pissed that Serra got hurt and can't fight Hughes for the title but accidents happen and its hard to hold it against him, too much.

So, after a pretty limp season full of loser drama (Joey wants to go home to his girlfriend, Mac is a grump, the upper decker incident, blah, blah, blah) with annoying coaches (Serra is a painfully irritating person, Hughes is a Bible-thumping egoist) and alot of pretty soft fights (one fighter shows up, the other looks like a deer caught in the headlights) but, at the end of the season, a good finish can make up for a pretty poor start and middle.

And last night was a good episode with good fighting (props to John for taking the semi-final fight after Matt got hurt) and a big knockout of, who had been, the top dog in the house.

Finally, A Good Week in Reality TV Land

The last of the preliminary bouts on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) took place and Tommy "Farmboy" Speer pretty well pounded the crap out of Warmachine. Warmachine landed an early blow between Tommy's eyes that made him bleed alot and nearly choked him out early in the first but that was all he was able to do. Tommy dominated him and really pounded him good. Hard enough to make Warmachine not be able to get back to his corner under his own power and then he fell off his stool.

A good, if bloody, fight.

And Jean-Robert, the fat, greasy slimeball poker player on Survivor finally got rejected by the rest of the survivors and booted. The guy is my second least favorite player of all time, behind the most annoying reality wanker of all time who won't even be named here because it probably gives him a stiffy to know how much people still hate him. But he's the scraggly dink that Danny Bonaduce tossed off of him and sent him in for a whole bunch of facial surgery after he used his face as a landing pad a few weeks or a month ago.

I still dislike Matt Serra on TUF but his day of reckoning is coming and it'll be hard for him to talk while he's getting his ass kicked.

Now all I need is for my lip to heal up and I'll be a much happier camper again.

The Ultimate Fighter: Another Review

I just watched the latest episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Hughes vs. Serra.

It was probably one of the worst fights I've ever seen on the show. George from "Team Serra" is a selfish douchebag who flew off the handle on his teammate when he was asked a pretty simple favor. J-Rock from Team Hughes was all muscle and bluster and demonstrated almost nothing in the ring. He just couldn't pull the trigger and engage.

It was lame, just like most of this entire season has been lame. Easily the worst season yet.

I hope Tommy "Farmboy" Speer vs Warmachine next week turns out to be a better fight. It damned well better. Or I'm about done with this season altogether.

And I'd really like to have a "Mute Matt Serra" button on my remote. The guy is about the most annoying guy ever. Not that Matt Hughes is much better but at least he doesn't have that freakin' voice.

The only thing I have to look forward to is watching Hughes pound the whiny, annoying snot out of Matt Serra at the end of the season.

The Ultimate Fighter: Season Six Review

I finally got a chance to watch this last week's episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Hughes vs. Serra. This week's fight was between goofy but tall Ben Saunders and burly but God-jabbering Dan Cabrera.

What I've concluded is that I pretty much dislike both coaches. Matt Serra because he's the protypical pudgy, loud New York/New Jersey-er. You can always tell one, you just can't tell him much.

And Matt Hughes? Well, first off, he's an asshole which is a bad place to start. Don't get me wrong, he's a fantastic fighter but that seems to work against him in this show's format. Aside from the first fight, his team has lost each fight. And he takes out those losses on his team. He thrashes on one of the fighters to "teach" them. He is divisive and then there was the whole Bible lesson earlier in the season and the team prayer crap.

Look, I don't fault people for their religious beliefs, believe what you like but keep your beliefs to yourself. Do not try to foist your beliefs on other people, do not assume your beliefs are superior and do not attempt to convert people. Follow those simple rules and we don't have a problem but Hughes has no problem trying to work in his belief systems.

In the last episode, Dan was prepping for his fight and going a little too balls out (he dropped a knee on a teammate's nuts while grappling) so Hughes stepped in and basically kicked his ass all over the mat. At some point, Dan's hand got squashed and it swelled up to nearly three times normal size but that's beside the point. Matt Hughes takes out his aggravation at losing matches on his fighters. And that makes him Captain Asshole in my book.

The fight itself was a pretty good one, bloody and dynamic. The first round clearly went to Dan, the second to Ben so I was looking forward to a third round to break the tie. But the judges didn't see it that way and Ben won the fight by taking both rounds. Even Dana White, the president of the UFC, said it was a horrible call and ended up giving each fighter $5000 to help compensate. I'd imagine those judges will never work in the UFC again, nor should they since they completely and utterly muffed the call.

This is kind of a lame season for me. I can't stand either coach and most of the fights have been below average. And there was the whole Joey bullshit early in the season, basically the guy lost the first fight and then wanted to quit and go home. Only he was Serra's pal and they drug out the process for weeks until everyone had finally had enough of his shit and he left.

Two more weeks of preliminary bouts including Tommy Speer who pounded on Ryan a few times. He's one of the better fighters since he's not fought yet so I'm looking forward to that. And I'm looking forward to Serra and Hughes beating the hell out of each other in the finale. I expect Hughes will win but you never know.

We Are in Reality Heaven!

The new season of The Ultimate Fighter (Matt "Teh Dominator" Hughes vs. Matt "Da Pretenda" Serra) starts tonight and the new season of Survivor: China starts tomorrow night.

Woot!