You’d think the dramatic change in format would be the biggest talking point leading into FX’s first season of the seminal MMA reality show The Ultimate Fighter. After all, for the first time ever, the show will be filmed and the fights disseminated li…
You’d think the dramatic change in format would be the biggest talking point leading into FX’s first season of the seminal MMA reality show The Ultimate Fighter. After all, for the first time ever, the show will be filmed and the fights disseminated live instead of weeks later on tape delay.
There will be less time for the producers to come up with manufactured drama and storylines. Instead, we should expect a much rawer, real-time product. It’s a huge shift, but one being overshadowed by another shocking announcement. The UFC will finally feature homosexuality as more than just subtext.
Contestant Dakota Cochrane says he isn’t gay. Desperate for cash, he did however star in gay pornography. Will this be a topic of conversation in the fighter house? Will he be taunted and perhaps ridiculed? Yes. Does MMA have a track record of handling homosexuality in a nuanced and intelligent way? No.
Things could get interesting quickly. No one knows what to expect. Even UFC president Dana White seems curious about exactly what will happen:
I don’t know if I have 15 homophobes here or 15 guys who could care less about it. I have no idea. No one has been talked to on the show. ‘We have a very sensitive issue.’ None of that has happened. We don’t do that [expletive]. Whatever happens in that house happens, and then I’m going to have to deal with it. If there’s some crazy [expletive] going on, you know how it works with me. I’m going to be fair and do the right thing. But if stuff crosses the line and bad things happen, I guess I’m going to be going over there a lot.
In past seasons, things have escalated out of control. Think Chris Leben going on a rampage after being called a “fatherless bastard.” Think semen-covered food. Think the amazing confrontation between Nate Diaz and Karo Parisyan.
And none of those situations had the added flame bait of a past in gay porn. Am I a bad person for having popcorn ready and eyeballs prepared to be glued to the screen? Business, as they say, is about to pick up on The Ultimate Fighter.
March isn’t the most exciting month when it comes to MMA action, so you can expect a few slow news days here and there. That’s pretty much what we experienced on Thursday.But never fear. I’m still here to point you towards the latest and greatest from …
March isn’t the most exciting month when it comes to MMA action, so you can expect a few slow news days here and there. That’s pretty much what we experienced on Thursday.
But never fear. I’m still here to point you towards the latest and greatest from the MMA world in your Friday edition of the UFC Morning Update.
Edgar Favored Over Henderson in Rematch
This is quite the surprise. Frankie Edgar, who made history as the first UFC champion ever to go into consecutive title defenses as the betting underdog, is once again the favorite for his summer rematch with Ben Henderson.
Edgar opened up at -125, while Henderson sits at -105.
Two things about this:
If you’re a fan of Ben Henderson, the time to jump on this number is right now. In just a few days time, it’s almost guaranteed that the number will move in favor of Henderson. He’ll be the favorite by the time next Friday rolls around.
I’m a little surprised that Edgar opened up as the favorite. In my eyes, Henderson handily won the last fight, and he’s only going to do better the second time around. Of course, you could make the same case for Edgar. But I think Henderson wins the rematch by an even bigger margin, leaving no doubt who the lightweight champion is.
New Written Series Focuses on Grudge Training Center
I’ve long maintained that Ben Fowlkes of MMAFighting.com is one of the best writers in the MMA game, and he proved it with part one of a series focusing on one year inside the Grudge Training Center in Colorado.
Fowlkes had planned on doing a book, but ultimately decided that he didn’t have enough material to tell the story in book form.
Luckily for us, he’s releasing one part of the story each week. The first part is called A Hard Winter, and you should make time out of your morning to read it.
Maybe because he had no idea what was coming, or maybe because it was his natural state, Wittman had every reason to smile as he wheeled his desk chair around the cramped little office inside the Grudge Training Center in Wheat Ridge, Colo., using the pictures that covered all four walls as starting points for one story after another about his strange life in the fight game.
Each photo, some framed, some just ripped from magazines and tacked to the wall, was a story in itself. Each story led to another, which then led to another and another. Each story began with the same bursting enthusiasm from Wittman, who always seemed so full of energy he could hardly keep himself in his chair. Each story usually ended badly for someone, if you stayed with it long enough.
Promotion Admits Shock Over Brandon Saling’s Past
The fallout over one-time Strikeforce fighter Brandon Saling’s past continues. Saling already had his fighting license revoked by the Ohio and New Jersey athletic commissions for falsifying information on his license application.
“I was really as surprised as everyone else that knew Brandon to be quite honest. I can’t say I had a lot of direct one-on-one contact with him, he’s usually dealt with our matchmaker, but the times that I’ve seen Brandon and watched him interact with other fighters and fans, we would have never have seen this coming. We were very surprised,” Kalikas told MMAWeekly.com.
“Obviously, we weren’t aware his criminal record or his tattoos, or what they stood for. Obviously, that’s something we wouldn’t condone. Our state athletic commission is investigating the matter, and we’ll let them do their job and leave it their hands at this point. We had no idea and if we did, we certainly wouldn’t have allowed him to fight and represent the NAAFS.”
Videos of the Day
Dana White unedited media scrum from UFC on FOX 3 press conference: Dana White is easily the most accessible sporting organization executive in the world. White participated in his traditional media scrum after the UFC on FOX 3 press conference, and we’ve got the unedited video of the entire thing.
Gene LeBell says Ronda Rousey would beat Bruce Lee: “Judo” Gene is one of the best characters in the history of martial arts. He’s well-versed in the art of entertainment, and this latest gem is no exception.
Tim Sylvia shows off his cardiovascular training: For whatever reason, Tim Sylvia decided to post a video of his cardio workout to The Underground. It’s Sylvia’s latest attempt to prove that he’s ready for a UFC comeback…a comeback, I should mention, that is never going to happen. Part of me feels bad for Sylvia here, and part of me hopes he continues to make these videos well into the foreseeable future for my own entertainment.
For years the battle cry was simple. MMA fans believed in it to their cores. Those within the industry did as well.”Mainstream.”It’s what we all wanted. All we’ve ever wanted.Hard-core MMA fans have always believed, and probably always will that all it…
For years the battle cry was simple. MMA fans believed in it to their cores. Those within the industry did as well.
“Mainstream.”
It’s what we all wanted. All we’ve ever wanted.
Hard-core MMA fans have always believed, and probably always will that all it takes to convert a sports fan into an MMA fan is access. If people just had the opportunity to see the purity of the competition. The salt-of-the-earth athletes. The excitement that can only be generated by full on fisticuffs.
How can you not love the courage, the discipline, the pure metal balls it takes to step into the octagon with the baddest kid on the block? The path from newbie to message-board savant can be walked in just weeks. It doesn’t take much to become a full-fledged UFC fanatic.
The sport is halfway there.
We have the mainstream in our grasp: Fights on Fox, FX and Fuel allow unprecedented access to America’s sports fans. Dozens of other TV deals put the world at Zuffa’s fingertips.
But that’s only part of the puzzle.
Mixed martial arts hasn’t seen that transcendent figure, the man or woman who takes that access and molds himself or herself a merchandising and endorsement empire.
There hasn’t been a John McEnroe, a Dale Earnhardt or a Hulk Hogan.
For the most part, even the most popular UFC fighters are interchangeable in the eyes of non-fans. There is no fighter who everyone knows by one name, no athlete who has crossed the divide into true celebrity.
We all thought Georges St-Pierre would be that guy: The fighter who became synonymous with the sport. He seemed well on his way. Endorsement deals were struck with Under Armour and Gatorade. Could Nike or Pepsi be far behind?
Somewhere along the path to Kobe or Peyton status, GSP lost steam. Was it the simple fact that a fighter is only in the spotlight a couple of times a year? Was it St-Pierre’s notorious disdain for media and sponsor appearances? Or is it something more?
Thursday, St-Pierre signed a new sponsorship deal. It wasn’t with Coke. It wasn’t with Sony. It wasn’t with Converse or adidas. It was with Hayabusa, an MMA niche brand that serves a very specific audience. Is this a sign?
Perhaps the mainstream isn’t quite ready for MMA.
We spent years knocking on the door. Numbers (and a ton of young eyeballs) forced the door open, maybe before the general public was quite ready.
The UFC is on the cusp of something special. But St-Pierre’s failure to capitalize is an indication sports fans aren’t quite ready to grasp MMA with both hands and make it a part of their lives.
Your unintentional comedy of the day comes from UFC middleweight Alan Belcher, who told CouchFighter that he may have a unique game plan heading into his UFC on FOX 3 fight with Rousimar Palhares:I feel honored the UFC family wanted me to be on [the FO…
I feel honored the UFC family wanted me to be on [the FOX] card and believed in my abilities and show the fans that I’m gonna be a champ. I’m one of the top contenders and I’m ready to prove it. I’d be stupid to try and force a grappling match. I’m gonna use my strength, my strategy, not that I can’t grapple, but he can’t really strike that good. It’s a huge advantage for me just by keeping it on the feet. He’s gonna have to get me in one of those situations and I’m not gonna let that happen. Best of luck to him, I don’t think he’s gonna get a hold of me and do anything. I’m a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Some people might be surprised but I’ll give him a nice little run on the ground and may submit him.
I don’t want to slander Belcher’s ground skills. He’s a very good ground fighter and has the submission chops to give just about anyone in the middleweight division a run for their money.
But Palhares, obviously, is not a run-of-the-mill ground fighter. Put simply, he’s one of the very best in mixed martial arts, a wizard with leglocks and the kind of grip strength that allows him to grab onto you and never let go until he’s ready to do so.
He’s also one of the most vicious submission artists in the game. Look at the heel hook he applied to Tomasz Drwal back in 2010 for a perfect example. Not only did Palhares injure Drwal, but he refused to let go of the submission once Drwal tapped out. For that little transgression, Palhares was suspended for 90 days.
Let’s hope, for his sake, that Belcher is kidding about giving Palhares a run for his money on the ground. If he insists on using that game plan, he’s going to find himself in a world of hurt.
We’re just two days away from the premiere of The Ultimate Fighter Live, and one of the more intriguing storylines going into the elimination fights has been that of Dakota Cochrane and his history with gay pornography.You’ve probably heard the story b…
We’re just two days away from the premiere of The Ultimate Fighter Live, and one of the more intriguing storylines going into the elimination fights has been that of Dakota Cochrane and his history with gay pornography.
You’ve probably heard the story by this point. Cochrane was desperate for money during his college years and was lured into filming gay pornographic films for a lot of money. Cochrane regrets the decision and isn’t trying to hide it from anyone; he disclosed the information to UFC officials and executives from FX during the tryout process.
Cochrane isn’t really sure what he’ll be facing if he makes it into the house. I’d like to believe that all of these fighters are intelligent enough to understand Cochrane’s decision and not make a big deal of it. I’d like to believe that, but I’m also not naive enough to believe it’ll actually come to fruition.
One fellow Ultimate Fighter cast member isn’t giving it a second thought. Urijah Faber told MMA Weekly that he has no problems coaching Cochrane in the house, and if the guys in the house decide to make fun of him, well, they’ll ultimately end up having to face him in the cage.
I’m interested to see where his head’s at with the whole thing. That will be a big deciding factor on how everyone else deals with it. It’s going to come up, there’s no doubt about that. It’s not a subject that just gets looked over.
If these guys want to make fun of him or pick on him or whatever, they may be getting beat up by him, so I wouldn’t make him look too bad cause if you’re going to break a guy down and he beats you up then that kind of makes you look bad.
I don’t have a problem coaching the kid. I would maybe talk him out of doing something so degrading to himself if it comes up again, but other than that just wish the best for him.
Cochrane’s story is just one of several intriguing aspects going into this show.
The UFC’s venerable reality show takes a new turn on Friday night when the first-ever season of The Ultimate Fighter Live debuts on FX.Fourteen seasons of the show have provided us with plenty of forgettable moments and easily-dismissed fighters. But t…
The UFC’s venerable reality show takes a new turn on Friday night when the first-ever season of The Ultimate Fighter Live debuts on FX.
Fourteen seasons of the show have provided us with plenty of forgettable moments and easily-dismissed fighters. But there have also been plenty of gems to emerge from the show, especially during the early days when the series featured a crop of talented fighters all trying to make it into the UFC.
Those were the good old days. It’s been a long time since we discovered a true championship prospect lurking in the Ultimate Fighter house. Season 14’s bantamweight and featherweight crop may ultimately produce new contenders at 135, 145 and flyweight, but it’s still too early to tell. These days, most of the truly talented fighters find their way into the UFC without having to go through the rigors of the TUF filming process, which means we’re often left with mid-level fighters who may never sniff championship gold.
But despite all of that, The Ultimate Fighter still has a role to play. It has produced champions and contenders in the past, and perhaps it’ll do so again someday. With that in mind, let’s take a look back at the 10 best fighters to ever emerge from the Ultimate Fighter house.
These are the best of the best. They are the men who went into the house with a dream and emerged as long-term superstars and title holders.
You’d think the dramatic change in format would be the biggest talking point leading into FX’s first season of the seminal MMA reality show The Ultimate Fighter. After all, for the first time ever, the show will be filmed and the fights disseminated live instead of weeks later on tape delay.