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Want to know Dana White's big announcement? Want to know what the fuss is all about in the Huerta-Guida and Rollins-Koppenhaver fights?
For TUF results,commentary and so on click here
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John Koppenhaver is profiled in this piece. Koppenhaver was Roman Mitichyan's replacement and has yet to fight this season.
Thanks to Mike Informer.
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The past few days, we've sked you the fine readers to pick the biggest "pooosie" in the past few seasons of TUF. Only 2 of the choices got any votes and the winner is Gabe Ruediger.
The Results...
The next poll is more staff/halloween fun!
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1.2
It is in the 1.0 to 1.2 range the show has been in since the debut garnered a 1.5 rating. The show is helped by the fact that replay numbers have still been pretty good.
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This poll proved more popular than I thought, I figured only the staff would have opinions, but that was clearly not the case.
Sadly, Wade is not legally bound to do whatever the poll says but if he does dress up as HG, he has us to thank.
The results...
Well Wade, now you know where you stand. The only people who said "no" only did so because of the humiliation it would cause HG himself.
Speaking of knowing where people stand, that leads us to our next question which deals with The Ultimate Fighter?
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If you watched episode 3 of The Ultimate Fighter, then you surely saw the part where John Kolosci was sick on the day of his fight against Billy Miles of Team Hughes.
Well, reading his Reaction blog we find out that his chest cold or flu (it is what he thought he had) was actually a bronchial infection.
Somewhere, Roman is proud and Joe is still trying to get his girl to stop laughing at him.
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The only thing I can say about this is Yay, son!
For Huerta this will be a major step-up in UFC competition as his 4 victories this year have all come against men making their UFC debut. Guida is coming off of a victory over Marcus Aurelio at UFC 74 while Huerta was victorious over Alberto Crane on the same show.
I'd say that after BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson, and a fight I'd love to see between Tyson Griffin and Kenny Florian this is the Lightweight match I'd most want to see.
The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale will take place on 12/08 and air on SpikeTV. The last 2 men in the Welterweight season will compete to determine the Ultimate Fighter on that night. One man who won't be competing is Joe Scarola because he wussed out.
The rest of the card will be made up from other alumni from this season of TUF and other participants.
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1.05 with 1.3 million viewers. The replay last week did a 0.66 which made the overall audience pretty good. The replay for this week's show is on as I type this having followed the 2 hour debut of iMPACT.
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TNA did a 0.91 last night while a replay of TUF 6 from the night before did a 0.66 rating. Maybe Euan's head won't explode quite so much now.
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1.0, Euan's head may explode.
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TNA iMPACT started the night off for SpikeTV with a 1.1 Rating.
A replay of the first episode of The Ultimate Fighter 6 did a 0.6 rating.
The Countdown to UFC 76 that followed did a 0.5 Rating.
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A good night for the UFC all things considered.
The hold from the end of Fight Night to throughout TUF is a good sign. No idea of quarter hour breakdowns though.
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Welcome to a column that will become a semiregular feature here where I just talk about some of the things on my mind regardless if they're connected or not. My mind isn't cluttered often, usually it is empty, so I can't say how often you'll see these but I hope you enjoy them.
I'm not saying you need to agree or disagree with these thoughts, I'm just giving you a peak in to my thought processes. Yeah, its dangerous but what would life be like with out a little danger?
Someone and I'm sorry I don't remember who otherwise I'd drop their name did a quick assessment today of the ECW roster. Factoring out injured/suspended wrestlers, women, and announcers there are exactly 12 performers on the roster. If TNA has too many people for a one hour show, ECW has too few.
So you spend your money for a ticket to Unforgiven and while you don't know the main event when you purchase the ticket you get excited when you find out it is John Cena Vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship. Then you go to the show, you get a 5 minute match and then a disqualification ending. Then you see Jonathan Coachman book a Last Man Standing match for the next PPV. Talk about not getting what you paid for, perhaps WWE was mad at Memphis for hosting that Hulk Hogan Vs. Big Show match?
The talk has been that when TNA is moved to 2 hours on Spike that we will see an increase of in-ring time. I believe that this will actually be the case but I also believe it won't do any good. The storylines are bad, and the way TNA matches go, instead of getting interference now at the 4 minute mark you'll get it at the 6 minute mark.
On a PPV that will feature: A Women's Gauntlet, a Reverse Battle Royal, A Tables Match, an Ultimate X Match, a Must be a winner match, a Monster's Ball match and that's only what we know so far, the real gimmick match is a singles match with no stipulations. Remember when TNA booked its first ever cage match and then waited another year before having another? Now we get a stip every week and sometimes multiple stips layered on top of one another. Eventually every match will have a gimmick and the real gimmick matches will be singles matches with no stips.
I don't know what the reasoning is behind Triple H beating the tag team champions clean on Raw, then laying out the #1 challengers to those belts. Sad thing is that because of how much cash the WWE has they don't have to know the reasoning either.
If you're Cade/Murdoch and London/Kendrick maybe you breathe a sigh of relief knowing that less people saw you get slaughtered then might otherwise have.
I miss them and the Fantastics and the Rock N' Roll Express, but we can't go back to those days because anyone with the power to try has no desire to do so.
I'm just going to say it. If there is one guy on the WWE roster who deserves the distinction of being WWE champion for more than a year besides John Cena, I don't know who it is.
Cena is a hard worker, he has a unique connection with the crowd, he loves the wrestling business and he does everything the company has asked him to do. If giving him a year rain was their way of rewarding him for hard work and loyalty then I'm glad they decided to award someone for those things. I'm not Cena's biggest fan but in terms of his title reign, I've got no issue with it. In fact, in the age of title changes not meaning anything, Cena keeping the belt an entire year is kind of cool.
Roman's freakout in the Doctor's office will remain funny as long as I'm able to imitate his accent. They didn't bury the guy which makes me suspect that he'll be back.
I don't like the new rule but I'm willing to give it a chance. I don't like that the result of the fight doesn't determine who picks the next fight. I'd love to see Matt Hughes push Matt Serra's buttons in the way Jens Pulver did to BJ Penn last season. Maybe the show will prove me wrong, so I'll wait and see.
Matt Serra is the real prick. I'm sorry but maybe Matt Hughes is cocky and arrogant. If that's really the case, maybe it is because he's Matt Hughes!! Serra's the one that does all the talking and name calling and he's the one we're supposed to be sympathetic for? Also, I love Hughes mastery of Serra's paranoya with Joe in the first episode. Matt had no intention of picking Joe at all but forced Serra to pick him first in order to make sure Hughes couldn't, and it is clear to me that Joe wasn't #1 pick material.
It is tough for me to do those rankings right now. The fact is the division is in a bit of a mess. If we set the limit at 155 LBs what does that mean for Takanori Gomi and Joachim Hansen and guys like that who fought above that in Pride? Add to that the uncertainty around the UFC Lightweight championship and in many ways the class is just too messy to sort out. I may put those on hold for now, see if things straighten out in the next little while before revisiting them. I intend to update my rankings after UFC 77 next month. “I’d like to make out with Gina, but I am here to knock her out. Either way she wants it, though, is fine. with me.”
This one quote at the press conference uttered by Tonya Evinger set off an entire sequence of events for this past weekend's EXC 'Uprising' show which perplexes me.
The quote was brought up during the fight and prompted an exchange between Bill Goldberg and Mauro Ranallo which sparked a lot of debate on internet message boards. Goldberg said: I'm not going to touch that one with a 25 Foot pole.
Ranallo responded with: I'd like to touch it with a 25 Centimeter one.
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I called Ranallo's remark a Jerry Lawler comment since that's the kind of thing you'd hear on Raw. But, when I started to see search after search for Mauro Ranallo 25 CM or Gina Carano 25 CM, I knew people were going to be talking.
Look, people are mad because they think that Ranallo degraded Women's MMA with his comment. There was even speculation that this might cost him his EXC gig which is what would be an outrage to me. First, it isn't as though Showtime is the family friendliest network on the air. Second, the guy made a joke. There seems to be a double standard imposed on men and women. Nobody would think much of it if a room full of women had made sexual remarks relating to the guys involved in any of the other 4 bouts on the card. I know women who watch MMA for the bodies and not the sport, isn't that degrading the athletic accomplishments of the men? If that kind of thing isn't actively discouraged then why is it not ok for the reverse? I should note that I don't even think that Ranallo's comment degraded women's MMA at all but if you did I'd like to hear whether or not you think it would be ok for women to do the same during a men's bout.
However, there was a quote that I thought could have done serious harm to Women's MMA and the sport in general. Gina Carano said after submitting Evinger that: I put her in the choke and I wanted to squeeze her until she couldn't breathe. Why won't you diiiiiiieeeeeee~!!!!
Lets just say scanning referral logs brought up no hits related to that comment yet that was arguably worse than anything uttered by Ranallo or anyone else. Sure, I know that Carano wasn't speaking litterally and trying to join the chris Benoit society for pro athletes and I know she said it in the heat of victory. However, to me neither of those things is a good excuse. Just imagine one of the 6,000,000 talk shows that exist today getting ahold of that clip and leading off an MMA story with it and not providing any context? Comments like that don't do the sport any favors whatsoever and anyone that wants to see the sport thrive should've been complaining about that comment more than anything else.
Hey, I have nothing against Gina Carano at all. I know she's popular, checking my referral logs is always a good reminder of that fact. I'm not even saying that Carano shouldn't be the face of Women's MMA.
I think that if EXC is trying to protect Carano by feeding her opponents they believe she can beat, eventually the bloom will come off the rose and it might not even be Gina's fault. Women's MMA is a relatively new sport and compared to the men there's just not as much top-flight competition. This makes it harder to hide or protect someone because there's fewer trees in that particular forrest.
The Amanda Buckner's, Tara LaRosa's and Shayna Baszler's of the world need to be factored strongly in to Gina Carano's future if EXC wants people to take their women's division seriously.
Well, that's what's on my mind right now. I've hope you've enjoyed this piece. A lot of this was discussed by Art Shimko and myself on the lost podcast so it is good to get this stuff out.
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Time is running out. Wednesday night is 'Fight Night 11. You can make your picks and read those of others by here plus, don't forget to toss those coins.
Also, Art will have live coverage of Fight Night 11 here on the site.
Then, stay tuned for the Ultimate Fighter season 6 premier and there'll be a reaction piece to it from someone on the site shortly following, maybe myself, maybe Art will write something, maybe we'll write something together. Plus, Euan will be along with a thursday recap of TUF.
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www.theultimatefighter.tv
SpikeTV has decided that rather than call it TUF 6, they'd refer to it as 'Team Serra Vs. Team Hughes'
Of course, I bet we get another "I don't know why these guys are so wrapped up in the team concept" promo from Dana White.
They say one thing, and do something else...if it weren't for their profitability, good business sense, strong fanbase and popularity, and great marketing I might think they're TNA. So I guess they're not too far from WWE which also has all of those things, but I can still tell them apart cause UFC's death rate is a lot lower.
No, I have no idea why I got on that tangent.
Yes I do need to get some sleep.
No, I don't care that you find my answering questions you haven't asked to be strange.
Yes, Euan is just as offensive when we're not recording as he is when we are.
No, and how did you know that?
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THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER®: TEAM SERRA VS. TEAM HUGHES” PARTICIPANTS ANNOUNCED
New Season Premieres Wednesday, September 19 At 11:00pm On Spike TV
New York, NY – August 27, 2007 – From the mountains of Geelong, Australia to the potato farms of Rupert, Idaho to the bright lights of Hollywood, sixteen
of the best up-and-coming mixed martial arts fighters in the 170 lb. division have gathered from around the globe in Las Vegas for the new season of Spike
TV’s The Ultimate Fighter: Team Serra vs. Team Hughes. At stake is a six figure contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship®, the premier mixed martial
arts organization in the world. For the sixth season, premiering Wednesday, September 19 at 11:00pm ET/PT, UFC® Welterweight Champion Matt Serra and former
UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes will serve as coaches.
Hughes and Serra will fight each other in a UFC pay-per-view event after the series finale in December. The series will assume its regular timeslot of
Wednesdays at 10:00pm on September 26.
The cast for “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Serra vs. Team Hughes”:
Matt Arroyo, Daniel Barrera, Blake Bowman, Mac Danzig, Paul Georgieff, Richie Hightower, John Kolsci, Troy Mandaloniz, Billy Miles, Roman Mitichyan, Dorian
Price, Jared Rollins, Ben Saunders, Joe Scarola, George Sotiropoulis, and Tommy Speer.
During the six-week Ultimate Fighter competition, the sixteen
men endured a grueling regimen of jiu-jitsu, judo, muay thai, karate, boxing and wrestling. The intense competition between the fighters continued after
they left the gym – at The Ultimate Fighter House. These warriors were forced to live together, knowing that any day they might be forced to fight each
other in the famed UFC Octagon™.
In each episode, opponents from each team are selected to square off in battle, officially weighed in and then, in front of their teammates, coaches and
the Nevada State Athletic Commission, face off in two five-minute rounds with a sudden death third round in the event of a draw.
Over the first five seasons, the show has delivered approximately two million viewers each week, often beating the NBA, NHL and NCAA football and basketball
regular season telecasts head-to-head on Thursday nights with men 18-34.
Craig Piligian of Pilgrim Films and Television, Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White of Zuffa, LLC, and Kevin Kay of Spike TV are the show's
executive producers. Brian J. Diamond, senior vice president, Sports & Specials, Spike TV is co-executive producer and Christopher Martello is executive
in charge of production for Spike TV.
Spike TV is available in 91.6 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world’s
leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.
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The following quote comes from this UFCJunkie.com article talking about season 6 of TUF. “Now, what we’ve done is this. With the coin toss, you pick the first fighter or you pick the first fight. But if you pick the first fight, it only means
you get to pick that one matchup because after that, it alternates.“
In other words, a coach can’t go on a winning streak and play matchmaker for an extended period of time.
“We wanted to make the whole process a little more balanced going forward,” Diamond said.
In my opinion this is a pretty dumb move that cuts down on the drama of the show. One of the things that made last season so entertaining was wondering how many weeks in a row Jens' team could win and pick the fights before B.J. Penn had a meltdown. Now, with them alternating every week, I don't see the drama in that.
I've got no objections to the coaches picking the fights that pick off the weakest members of the other team all in a row. If anything it helps to ensure that the best fighters move on which theoretically makes for better fights. Really, this rule doesn't even prevent coaches from putting their best guy against the weakest on the other team it just makes them alternate every week.
Silly rule change that really changes nothing save for making things between coaches less dramatic...and really at this point why not just forget teams and coaches and just have Dana pick the fight every week. Hell, to Dana the team concept is stupid so why not junk it? Sure, you don't get to promote a fight between the coaches for a PPV but hell you've just decreased the tension by about 50% anyway.
I vote thumbs down. Maybe I'll be wrong, but I'm not prepared to bet on that.
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Luke Cummo is the one responsible for this getting out there, so you'd think that he would know.
Fight Night 11 will air on SpikeTV Wednesday Night September 19 from 9:00 to 11:00 PM ET right before the premier of the Ultimate Fighter 6 which features a cast of 16 welterweights.
Crocota is coming off a loss to Paul Tayler at UFC 70 back in April and probably needs a win to be invited back to the UFC. Luke Cummo defeated Josh Haynes at UFC 69, also in April and is a little more secure in his future.
The card as it stands:
This card isn't loaded with stars, but I like watching a number of these guys fight, namely Thomas, Fisher and Swick. Martin and Leben could also be entertaining.
Stumble it!
