The new season of The Ultimate Fighter kicks off Thursday, April 6 on Spike TV. From what I hear, the fighters they’ve brought in from the UK are the real deal. It should be a good season if they keep the Tito-Shamrock crap to a minimum. I want to see up-and-coming fighters, not two media whore coaches who will never challenge for a title again in their careers making the show all about themselves.
FYI, we still have general MMA discussion going on in this thread.
I’m looking forward to it, although I find the concept somewhat suspect, since you can get into the UFC through regional boughts anyway (although not a guaranteed payday). Still, any excuse to see more MMA fights, I’m for.
They’re definitely going to play up the Tito/Shamrock conflict, but who really cares anymore? I’ve caught Shamrock on a few Pride fight repeats, and he keeps getting his ass handed to him. 42 is just not a competitive age bracket.
Yeah, even though I find myself doing it all the time, it’s tough to complain about free MMA on cable. While it’s true that a lot of these guys would probably find their way in to the UFC through small organizations (especially the Cage Rage guys in England), TUF has been a way for the UFC to build new stars. Guys like Leben, Bonnar, Forrest, Diego, etc… are stars because of the exposure they get. Hell, Bonnar is headlining Ulitimate Fight Night after just 2 official UFC bouts. Griffin is headling UFC 59. That’s what the UFC is trying to get out of TUF 3. Of course, that won’t happen if the entire focus is on Tito and Shamrock.
I was taking some down time this past Sunday, and caught all of UFC 2. Very compelling stuff, I thought. Thanks for the update on this, I’ll definately be looking forward to the new season this Thursday.
Tonight’s the night. It’s going to be interesting to see if they have a bunch of quitters like they did last season. One guy drops out because he couldn’t cut another 2 pounds. Another guy quits because he says he doesn’t like the cameras (The real story is that he couldn’t take the workouts with skilled heavyweights). Another guy blows out his good knee during the first few days. Winner of the first fight gets a broken arm. After that, we got a lot of fights that were boring lay-and-pray decisions. I guess they can’t do much worse than that.
One guy to keep your eye on is Michael Bisping. Like Diego Sanchez and Joe Stevenson were clear Seasons 1 and 2 favorites going in, this guy is considered by most to be the class of the 205’s this season.
Also, don’t forget we get a couple of hours of free MMA with Ultimate Fight Night 4 starting at 8:00 Eastern tonight.
Wow, even I could see that guy that lost didn’t know what the hell he was doing on the ground. You have your back to the guy, and you just lay there? Durh. The redheaded guy is cracking me up, though. “I’m ready to fight right now. I think I’ll go take a nap.”
And I like the new rules about how everyone fights, and there’s an extra $5000 incentive for a knockout or submission.
Man, everyone (including his own team) just hates Shamrock, don’t they?
Shamrock, who according to the poster they kept showing “sees dead people,” doesn’t look like much of a coach. I’m trying to remember the last good fighter to come out of his Lion’s Den. He said last night that he doesn’t really know jiu-jitsu. And instead of bringing a jiu-jitsu coach with him he brings a nutritionist? Tito’s guys, on the other hand, have Dean Lister to roll with. I guess with the way they edit the show, they are setting up a contrast in coaching styles. Tito is their friend and peer. Shamrock is their boss. To be honest with you, as short of a time as they are there, I don’t know how much the coaches’ training will really matter. It’s not like the Season 1 guys all came out with Chuck’s looping power punches or Couture’s amazing takedowns.
I like the new format, though, where they have scrapped the challenges. Now it’s just training and fighting and everyone has to fight. I’m loving the British guys and that redheaded kid. It’s going to be interesting also to see the deaf guy fight. Will Tito even bother yelling out instructions?
Yeah, Shamrock seems like a douche but in the short amount of time these guys are here, or at least for the timebeing, I doubt not training in jj will be a big deal. Did like Tito’s coaching style and seemed like a likeable guy. Anyway, like last year, it all depends on who shows up and who shrinks under the lights, skills be damned. That said, the kid last night who lost was absolutely clueless.
due to some tivo problems, all I saw was the fight at the end, I always like to see a guy with penciled in eyebrows get his ass kicked. But just from the commentary during the fight Tito seemed like a good coach with a bad student. I think these guys can pick some things up from the coaches. In season 1 Chuck gave a guy great advice (forget who) ab out throwing a right cross everytime over the other guys left jab and the guy landed a bomb immediately like it was some kind of magic trick.
I don’t mean they can’t pick stuff up but given the time constraints, especially at the beginning of the show, and limited exposure to certain MMA styles, most of these guys are better served learning to defend against something their opponents are proficient at as opposed to trying to learn arm bars, etc. If I don’t know squat about bjj or grappling and I have to fight, I want to know how to defend against it and not waste my time trying to learn submissions that take years to master.
New episode tonight. Two of the LHWs will be fighting.
Ross Pointon was 4-6? And that’s fighting on smaller shows. How the hell do you get a shot at the big time with a 4-6 record? I guess one of his losses was to Michael Bisping at LHW, but still. He looked completely overmatched against Kendall. When you are a brawler with no ground game giving up 9 or 10 inches in height and 7 or 8 inches in reach, you are in trouble. Ross had the right idea to start with leg kicks, but he had to close the distance to do any real damage. Kendall was good with his takedowns and elbows. Ross did a decent job using the fence to stand up, but stupidly gave his back to Kendall repeatedly, despite Ken screaming over and over “Don’t give him your back!” and “Turn into him!” I guess Ross just wasn’t that good.
I’m still looking forward to seeing Bisping, Tait, and the deaf guy Matt fight. I just looked up Matt Hamill’s record on Sherdog.com and I can’t find anything. Apparently, this guy’s never fought professionally before. That’s not a good sign.
I also want to see that red headed smack talker fight too, Tito said he’d pick him last just to piss him off though. And the brother who’s missing half of his teeth should be an entertaining spectacle in the octagon. I like how Bisping is pissed about the deaf guy getting too much attention from Tito, apparently he blows up about it next ep. The look on Calib Starnes’ face at all times is bothersome. That sawed off british guy was a joke, he defended a choke worse than some dude in the first round of ufc 1. When I saw the 4-6 record I was also astonished, how the hell did he get on the show? apparently he lost to Fedor, Crocop, Arlovski, Liddel, Couture and Royce Gracie. Who were the 4 guys he beat? extras from Snatch? THe bst part of that last episode was when Shamrock and his roided out posse strolled by Tito like Travolta in Stayin Alive and Tito stonewalled him and then said he didn’t give autographs to kids.
Last night’s episode had to be one of the goriest that I have ever seen on the show. (It’s hard to be Forest’s finale fight from season 1)
Nobody has impressed me yet. Everyone who has fought so far looks like they would get their ass handed to them by anyone who has lost in an actual UFC fight.
And Shamrock appears to know next to nothing about UFC training. Not sure if that’s creative editing, possibly to explain why his fighters keep losing.
I don’t like any of the fighters on Shamrock’s team. I especially hate Tait and the redhead kid.
I’m starting to like Tito more and more after watching him with his team.
It sounds like TUF Season 4 will be with established UFC fighters, trying to win a title shot. Can’t wait to see who they pick. Filming is to start this week.
Quote:
| Originally Posted by Del Griffith I’m starting to like Tito more and more after watching him with his team. |
I definitely agree with that. I thought Tito would be the problem, mostly from his UFC reputation, but this series has really put him in a new light. He seems like a great couch, with a good future of transitioning to that career after his fighting days are behind him
Shamrock always seemed like a jack-ass, and this series has just confirmed it.
I hate smack talking, so I really enjoyed last night’s outcome.
I feel sorry for the guys on Shamrock’s team. What a shitty coach…
Yeah, he’s awful. No wonder none of the “Lion’s Den” guys ever do anything. He’s coaching them like you coach a company softball team, but with more 'roids. He sits there and tries to pep talk, then says, “Ok, you guys go work out, and maybe I’ll critique you. Now, let’s watch some film of my favorite fighter–me.”