Jacob “Stitch” Duran is one of the most familiar faces any time a major MMA or boxing event takes place. He’s the guy responsible for making sure his fighters are taken care of between rounds and no cut gets too severe. Duran routinely works with famed…
Jacob “Stitch” Duran is one of the most familiar faces any time a major MMA or boxing event takes place. He’s the guy responsible for making sure his fighters are taken care of between rounds and no cut gets too severe.
Duran routinely works with famed boxers Wladimir and VitaliKlitschko, and is also the cutman of choice for several UFC fighters including former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.
Duran is famously known for his in-between round work when Griffin battled former Pride champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua back in 2007 when a large cut opened on his fighter’s head that could have very well ended the fight.
Luckily, Duran was able to stop the bleeding long enough to allow Griffin to continue and he eventually submitted Rua in the third round.
A year and a half earlier, Duran was in Griffin’s corner for one of the most monumental occasions in UFC history when he battled Stephan Bonnar for the first ever Ultimate Fighter crown.
Griffin and Bonnar went to war for a full 15 minutes, and Duran was there in between every round to make sure his fighter was cleaned up and ready to go for the start of the next five-minute session.
Even Duran, who was busy focusing on his fighter’s safety during the bout, knew something special was happening with Griffin and Bonnar and remembers a post-fight moment when even he couldn’t contain his happiness for his corner.
“Being a cutman, supposed to be pretty neutral, but as we’re waiting there for the decision one of Forrest’s trainers looks at me and says, ‘Stitch, I’m not gay, but I’ve got to give you a kiss for taking care of Forrest,'” Duran said of the historic fight.
Check out this interview with Stitch as he takes a look back at Griffin vs. Bonnar 1 from The Ultimate Fighter finale in 2006.
UFC President Dana White’s worst fears did not come to reality after the Nevada State Athletic Commission decided who would referee the upcoming fight between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman at UFC 162 on Friday. In a meeting held by the commission in…
UFC President Dana White‘s worst fears did not come to reality after the Nevada State Athletic Commission decided who would referee the upcoming fight between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman at UFC 162 on Friday.
In a meeting held by the commission in Nevada on Friday, veteran referee Herb Dean was chosen as the official that will oversee the upcoming bout between Silva and Weidman for the UFC middleweight title.
This will come as happy news to White, who spoke out just a few weeks ago about referee Steve Mazzagatti following his perceived misstep in not stopping the fight between Josh Burkman and Jon Fitch on time during the World Series of Fighting 3 event in Las Vegas in early June.
For years, White has ripped Mazzagatti as one of the worst referees in the sport, but stated several times that his pleas routinely fall on deaf ears when it comes the Nevada State Athletic Commission assigning him to major fights.His worry following his latest rant was that the commission would somehow punish him for his comments by assigning Mazzagatti the main event at UFC 162.
Speaking with the media following the conclusion of UFC 161, White expressed his feelings about Mazzagatti and the commission on the matter.
They’ll make him the main event now. Now because I said this, the Nevada State Athletic Commission will give him the (Anderson) Silva fight (at UFC 162).It’s not corrupt when you talk about the Nevada State Athletic Commission and the fact that they keep doing this, it’s complete and total ego. Because I keep complaining, they will keep putting him front and center.
The commission either wasn’t listening or didn’t care what White had to say because Dean will get the assignment to referee one of the biggest fights on the UFC roster in 2013.
Dean is routinely praised as the best referee in the sport, and he will oversee the upcoming fight pitting the longest reigning champion in UFC history against the undefeated challenger in Weidman.
The judges for the crucial title fight will be Marco Rosales, Adalaide Byrd, and Patricia Morse-Jarman, who all have veteran experience in MMA as well. The judges may have an easy night, however, because in his 16 fight career with the UFC, Silva has only gone to decision a total of two times.
This will also be the fourth time Dean has refereed a title fight with Anderson Silva serving as the incumbent champion.The last fight Dean oversaw was the UFC 134 bout when Silva defeated YushinOkami in 2011.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Spike TV and Bellator both have high hopes for their new reality show Fight Master: Bellator MMA, but last week’s ratings were not nearly what the network and promotion likely had in mind. Going head-to-head with the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, the debut…
Spike TV and Bellator both have high hopes for their new reality show Fight Master: BellatorMMA, but last week’s ratings were not nearly what the network and promotion likely had in mind.
Going head-to-head with the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, the debut episode of the new MMA reality program pulled in 432,000 average viewers over the one-hour broadcast.
The numbers were obviously much, much lower than what Spike TV officials anticipated, but with no major sporting events to battle with on Wednesday nights, episode two fared much better.
According to the Nielsen Ratings received by Bleacher Report on Thursday, the second episode of Fight Master averaged 545,000 viewers this week, up 26 percent over last week’s offering.
In the key demographics, Fight Master posted 25 percent higher ratings among males between the ages of 18-49 and got a huge boost in the coveted 18-34 male market with ratings spiking 54 percent higher than last week.
While the numbers certainly aren’t in the same league as The Ultimate Fighter when it was airing on Spike TV, the improvement is a good sign for the future.
Spike TV officials told Bleacher Report last week that while they were not happy with the results for episode one, it wasn’t time to hit the panic button just yet.
Spike TV Senior Vice President of Communications David Schwarz broke it down when last week’s ratings came out.
We feel that a few hundred thousand people went over to watch one of the best hockey games you’d ever seen.We are disappointed, but we feel like people will find the show and like all reality shows it might take a few nights.
Season 14 of the reality show, which was the final year The Ultimate Fighter ran on Spike TV, averaged 1.5 million viewers per episode.
The UFC reality show routinely earned well over one million viewers per episode with certain offerings jumping even higher.
This is Bellator‘s first try in the reality-show game, but with a top-notch coaching staff—including UFC Hall of FamerRandy Couture, Greg Jackson and Frank Shamrock—leading the way, its hope is to continue to build viewership as the season moves forward.
Fight Master: Bellator MMA will be going solo on Wednesday nights until July 31 when Bellator‘s live show returns for another card on the same night.
MMA’s Great Debate Radio returns for Thursday’s show with guests including newly signed Bellator fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson as well as UFC 162’s Tim Kennedy, plus all new debate surrounding Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre. Jackson joins the…
MMA‘s Great Debate Radio returns for Thursday’s show with guests including newly signed Bellator fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson as well as UFC 162’s Tim Kennedy, plus all new debate surrounding Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre.
Jackson joins the show today to discuss his new deal with Bellator and TNA wrestling as well as his new reality show and movie deal.
The former UFC champion will also detail the good and the bad of dealing with Pride Fighting Championships, the UFC and Bellator over the years.
UFC middleweight Tim Kennedy also stops by to talk about his upcoming debut at UFC 162, and how he was hoping for a different opponent other than Roger Gracie.Kennedy will also discuss his opinion on the newly instituted UFC Code of Conduct.
Finally, the debate heats up today with all new topics covering the hottest news in the industry.
Today’s topics include:
—Anderson Silva says GSP had the chance to fight him and didn’t.Do you believe GSP is ducking Anderson at this point?
—Ronda Rousey says she would love to beat the s—t out of Bryan Caraway. Fair or foul to make these kinds of comments?
—Tim Kennedy is the latest fighter to trash the UFC’s pay structure—does the UFC have to start worrying about these types of stories now?
—Eddie Alvarez and Bellator could possibly not make it to trial before September 2014. How damaging will this be to his career and do you believe a settlement will happen?
This is MMA’s Great Debate Radio for Thursday, June 27, 2013
(If the embeddable player does not work click HERE to listen to the show. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcastvia iTunes or listen via Stitcher Radio)
From his time on The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes to now, show winner Norman Parke has learned a lot, especially since uprooting his life to train exclusively in the United States.Parke has now spent two full fight camps at Alliance Training Center wh…
From his time on The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes to now, show winner Norman Parke has learned a lot, especially since uprooting his life to train exclusively in the United States.
Parke has now spent two full fight camps at Alliance Training Center where he works alongside fighters like UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, Phil Davis and other top MMA competitors to better his own game.
The young Irishman has his next test in the Octagon coming up at UFC 162 against KazukiTokudome, but this is just the first step to what he hopes is a long, prosperous career.
Despite his relative novice status as a UFC fighter, Parke believes he’s going to quickly make an impact in the lightweight division, starting with his fight on July 6.
From there it’s only onwards and upwards to face the best of the best in the division. Even though he’s not ranked yet, he knows it will happen sooner or later.
“I’m not top 10 already, I’m training here with animals everyday and it’s just a matter of time,” Parke said. “I know you’ve got to work your way up the ladder and stuff like that, but I know if I was to fight anyone in the top ten straight away I would give them a run for their money no problem.”
Check out this exclusive one-on-one interview with Parke ahead of his fight at UFC 162 where he talks training in America, his fight with Tokudome and much more.
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is right in the middle of her first stint as Ultimate Fighter coach for season 18 of the reality show opposite longtime rival Miesha Tate. The show debuts on September 4 and will be the first time in histo…
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is right in the middle of her first stint as Ultimate Fighter coach for season 18 of the reality show opposite longtime rival Miesha Tate.
The show debuts on September 4 and will be the first time in history that both men and women will be featured on The Ultimate Fighter.Bantamweight fighters from both divisions will square off, with Rousey and Tate as coaches, leading into a finale tentatively scheduled for December.
Just a few weeks ago, UFC president Dana White commented how the show has been quite taxing with Rousey and Tate going at each other every day in the gym to the point where he was reminded of another famous Ultimate Fighter coaching feud (via Jeff Cain of MMAWeekly):
It’s going exactly the way you’d expect it to be going—bad.Miesha and Ronda hate each other.It’s like literally crazy drama every day.It’s Ken (Shamrock) and Tito (Ortiz) type stuff.I don’t even know if some of that stuff will make TV. It’s bad.Those two do not like each other and their camps do not like each other.It is pure f—king mayhem every day.
For her part, Rousey didn’t quite unleash that much vitriol for Tate and her time on TUF so far, but it’s been a painstaking process that has taken its toll on her.
“So far it’s tiring.It’s every day, and it’s been a very exciting season, but it’s also been very taxing on everybody,” Rousey said during a Metro PCS chat on Wednesday night.“I think we’re all going to be very happy to get home.I’m sure all the fans will be happy with the result.”
Her coaching battle with Tate will certainly be one of the most interesting pieces of this season.The two fighters have been connected with each other for the better part of the last couple of years while competing in Strikeforce before moving over to the UFC in 2013.
Rousey rarely holds her tongue when it comes to Tate, but on Wednesday sarcasm seemed to be her best friend when talking about her fellow Ultimate Fighter coach.
“We’re fantastic,” Rousey said about her working relationship with Tate.“We cooked cupcakes together last night, had a sleeping party and braided each other’s hair.”
It also appears there is no love lost when it comes to Rousey and her dealings with Tate’s team of coaches, most notably her boyfriend and fellow UFC bantamweight Bryan Caraway.Rousey has never been much of a fan of Caraway, and she still harbors more than a little ill will towards him, probably only magnified after being forced to deal with him daily on the reality show.
Rousey pulled no punches when asked whom would she face if she could do one crossover superfight, because there is only one name on her list.
“People ask me this question all the time and it’s the same answer all the time—I would love to beat the s—t out of Bryan Caraway, but apparently it’s not legal,” Rousey said.“And he seems like the kind of b—tch that would sue me. Big time.”
If those comments are the tip of the iceberg, TUF 18 certainly appears to be a powder keg just waiting to explode. The producers will probably be working overtime to bleep out what will likely be a lot of four-letter words peppered throughout the broadcast.
Stepping away from her rivalry with Tate, Rousey did answer a question everyone has been curious about since the show was announced—how is the dynamic with men and women living in the TUFhouse together for the first time?
“Surprisingly it’s much more professional than I would have thought,” Rousey revealed.“I wouldn’t say it’s an overly sexual season, but I think it’s a much more emotional one.”
The filming on the show will continue for the next few weeks until it wraps and finally airs on the new Fox Sports 1 network starting on Wednesday night, September 4 at 10 p.m. EDT.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
UFC women’s bantamweight champion