The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Team Canada vs. Team Australia continued Wednesday evening on Fox Sports 1, showcasing a welterweight matchup between Canada’s Matthew Desroches and Australia’s “Filthy” Rich Walsh. While the Canadians held a 3-1 lead going in to this bout, the man who many considered to be their top middleweight, Nordine Taleb, was eliminated by […]
The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Team Canada vs. Team Australia continued Wednesday evening on Fox Sports 1, showcasing a welterweight matchup between Canada’s Matthew Desroches and Australia’s “Filthy” Rich Walsh. While the Canadians held a 3-1 lead going in to this bout, the man who many considered to be their top middleweight, Nordine Taleb, was eliminated by […]
Perhaps the most unique thing you can say about last year’s TUF: The Smashes was that it showcased the age old rivalry between England and Australia for fans who might not have known how deep-seated it truly went. It not only raised the stakes between teams to a new level, but it also played a role in the verbal (and allegedly physical) on set squabbles between coaches Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos, and culminated in a pretty damn entertaining fight when all was said and done.
And while TUF: Brazil 2 is currently playing LinkedIn to The Ultimate Fighter’s Facebook, there were at least a few of us who were excited to see which rivalry would be showcased on the next other, other version of TUF, which I guess you would label the MySpace of Ultimate Fighters, maybe? I dunno; management keeps telling us that we need to start writing to our key demographic (drunk, agoraphobic 14 year-olds) and I’m just trying to keep up with the times. *stares out window, finishes scotch*
In any case, MMAFighting has passed along word that the next international season of The Ultimate Fighter will showcase the epic rivalry between…Canada and Australia. I may have lost most of my long term memory in that scaffolding accident, but I can’t seem to recall any conflict every existing between the two –it doesn’t help the Wikipedia page for “Canadian military history” is completely blank.
Why the UFC decided to go with this rivalry (or another season of Australians, for that matter) is anyone’s guess, but here are a few rivalries we think would have better suited the next international season of The Ultimate Fighter…
(Yeah, we don’t get it either, buddy.)
Perhaps the most unique thing you can say about last year’s TUF: The Smashes was that it showcased the age old rivalry between England and Australia for fans who might not have known how deep-seated it truly went. It not only raised the stakes between teams to a new level, but it also played a role in the verbal (and allegedly physical) on set squabbles between coaches Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos, and culminated in a pretty damn entertaining fight when all was said and done.
And while TUF: Brazil 2 is currently playing LinkedIn to The Ultimate Fighter’s Facebook, there were at least a few of us who were excited to see which rivalry would be showcased on the next other, other version of TUF, which I guess you would label the MySpace of Ultimate Fighters, maybe? I dunno; management keeps telling us that we need to start writing to our key demographic (drunk, agoraphobic 14 year-olds) and I’m just trying to keep up with the times. *stares out window, finishes scotch*
In any case, MMAFighting has passed along word that the next international season of The Ultimate Fighter will showcase the epic rivalry between…Canada and Australia. I may have lost most of my long term memory in that scaffolding accident, but I can’t seem to recall any conflict every existing between the two –it doesn’t help the Wikipedia page for “Canadian military history” is completely blank.
Why the UFC decided to go with this rivalry (or another season of Australians, for that matter) is anyone’s guess, but here are a few rivalries we think would have better suited the next international season of The Ultimate Fighter…
#1 – Germany vs. Poland (The people of Poland can’t even type “invasio” into Google without reigniting their hatred for all things German.)
There ain’t nothin’ better than a good old fashioned Dubya Dubya Two rivalry*reaches for Copenhagen Snuff* and these two have already established a bitter hatred for one another in one of the wimpiest sports out there: Soccer. Prior to their EURO meeting in 2008, the Polish National Newspaper published an image of their country’s coach, Leo Beenhakker, clutching the severed heads of Germany’s team captains. And go figure, Germany had zero sense of humor about it. Suffice it to say, if the Germany/Poland rivalry can ignite that kind of anger in the world of this nonsense, just imagine how brutal the MMA rivalry could get.
Of course, you gotta have coaches, but that’s the easy part. Dennis Siver is set to face Cub Swanson at UFC 162. Currently, Swanson is listed as a 2-to-1 favorite, so let’s assume he takes the fight for the sake of argument. Siver becomes the head coach of Team Germany and Polish-American slugger Bart Palaszewski is appointed the head coach of Team Poland. Sure, Palaszewski is on a three fight losing streak, but he’s a veteran of the sport with a wealth of experience and one who almost always puts on entertaining fights. Besides, both Pearson and Sotiropoulos were coming off losses when they began TUF: Smashes, so can we just agree that TUF coach fights don’t really matter anymore?
#2 – Canada vs. Mexico
Talk about capitalizing on an opportunity; this happened at the World Baseball Classic this year, you guys. Aren’t those things, like, for charity?
Coaches: Welterweight Diego Sanchez and Rory MacDonald, because who wouldn’t want to see that three ring circus?
#3 – Scotland vs. Ireland
(Pictured here: How every Ireland vs. Scotland soccer match ends.)
You’d have to be a fool not to want to see this rivalry play out in the octagon, and if Conor McGregor has shown us anything, it’s that there’s a ton of untapped potential in that area of the world. Homeless, untapped potential.
Honorable Mention: Ireland vs. Jamaica: The Subtitles.
Coaches: Conor McGregor and 1-0 Scottish phenom Andrew Glenn. To level the playing field, the fight will take place at the Bushmills Distillery at 2 a.m. after Mcgregor is half in the bag.
#4 – The Ultimate Fighter: Paraguay vs. Uruguay – One Guay Out.
OK, this one’s not international per se, but just try and tell us that this isn’t must-see TV.
Let’s face it, reality television has been scraping the bottom of the barrel since it was pushed out as the afterbirth of sitcoms in the early aughts. There are no boundaries anymore, and if you don’t believe me, just ask that last sentence. But if there’s one issue that never ceases to pucker our buttholes, it’s race. Thankfully, Brad Paisley and LL Cool J ended racism last week, so no one should be offended by the concept of pitting the semi-racist North against the super-racist South moving forward.
Can you imagine it? A big line painted straight down the middle of the TUF house, forcing each team to choose whether they want to be able to use the bathroom or the kitchen for the next six weeks. White guys on Team South doing everything in their power to avoid coming off as racist to the television audience. Team-segregated water fountains at the gym. This show would break barriers, you guys.
Coaches: Oh…we are not going near that one.
Like it or not, The Ultimate Fighter has become more about finding enough young talent to fill the UFC’s ever-increasing amount of cards than it has about creating a rivalry between coaches. Sure, the supposed “hatred” between Chael Sonnen and Jon Jones was the lone reason they were booked opposite one another on TUF 17, but just look at how that panned out once the show actually got under way. Fucking excavators and tire pyramids, you guys. So being that we’re stuck with this one, tireless concept until the end of time, shouldn’t we start having a little fun with it?
Are there any other great rivalries that you think The Ultimate Fighter should have gone with? Let us know in the comments section.
(Nick Diaz just released footage of a pretty sketchy situation that he encountered before the UFC 158 weigh-ins. Read more about the so-called “Canadian loophole” right here.)
(Nick Diaz just released footage of a pretty sketchy situation that he encountered before the UFC 158 weigh-ins. Read more about the so-called “Canadian loophole” right here.)
Most MMA fights are about two people utilizing their techniques, their discipline and other talents to see who comes out on top. They indulge themselves in interviews on their opponent whether it will be a fight between two respected fighters or if the…
Most MMA fights are about two people utilizing their techniques, their discipline and other talents to see who comes out on top. They indulge themselves in interviews on their opponent whether it will be a fight between two respected fighters or if there is bad blood between them. It is all about building the hype.
Then they will talk about how they will win their fight whether it be by a spectacular knock out or a beautiful submission. The hype is partly what makes the fight exciting.
Once the fight starts, it is all business. All the talking is now replaced with action. With No. 1 UFC Welterweight Contender, Nick Diaz, the hype and talking doesn’t stop, but neither does the action.
Nick Diaz has been calling out UFC Welterweight Champion Georges “Rush” St-Pierre for some time now. Before Georges was placed on the shelf due to a serious knee injury last year, the fight between GSP and Diaz was suppose to happen.
Instead we ended up with Condit vs Diaz for the Interim Welterweight Championship, which was a great match, but it didn’t quite have the electricity of a GSP vs Diaz fight.
Even while GSP was on the injured list, Diaz was still talking trash to him. GSP took Condit to a five round beating in his last fight and Diaz still continued the trash talking.
That is how Nick Diaz is. He is a trash talking fighter that can back it up with a sick ground game to go along with an unorthodox, yet effective, stand up game.
Just like his little brother, Nate, Nick has that unique stand up game in which he doesn’t throw all of his power into one punch. Instead he will unload with a barrage of what UFC commentator Joe Rogan calls “50% punches”.
Combine those punches with the fact that Diaz is a cardio freak and you have someone that will not stop until your face is messed up.
If you don’t want to get beat up by Diaz standing up, do you take a gamble and take the fight to the ground with a Jiu Jitsu wizard? It is almost a lose/lose situation.
The result equals a mangled face and bruised ribs for the opponent. For Diaz, it is a win. Just ask UFC legend BJ Penn. I have never seen Penn get beaten up the way Diaz beat him up at UFC 137. It was hard for me to watch because Penn is one of the fighters I looked up to when I competed.
And the trash talking to GSP still continued for Diaz.
Diaz finally got what he wanted when St-Pierre expressed himself about the Stockton Native during an interview. The Canadian born fighter stated on how he is offended on how Diaz is and that he deserves a beating and that you will see a Dark Side of the Welterweight Champion.
Dark Side? Does that mean we will see an angry GSP?
The last time a fighter got under the skin of the Welterweight Champ it was in December of 2010 at UFC 124 when he fought Josh Koscheck. Georges busted him up for five rounds with some wicked jabs that resulted in a fractured orbital bone in Koscheck‘s face.
Georges was mad, but he has never been this mad.
Last year, I wrote an article about Diaz and GSP. The article was about Diaz and could he be the one that brings out the finisher in GSP?
I still hope that happens. I want the GSP that made my idol, Matt Hughes, verbally tapout. I want the GSP that broke the nose of Sean Sherk.
I want the GSP that finishes fights in spectacular fashion.
Well those are my thoughts. Now it is time to hear yours. Did Nick Diaz make the biggest mistake of his life by awakening the Dark Side of St-Pierre? Will we see the GSP that finishes fights? Or is this all part of Diaz‘s plan to use Georges’s anger to throw him off his game?
This Saturday in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, we will find out.
(Keep in mind that Rashad makes $300,000 to show. Flowchart rules are officially in play. / Photo via USA Today Sports)
As confirmed by UFC president Dana White, the UFC will make its first visit to the Canadian province of Manitoba for UFC 161, which is slated for June 15th at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre. Two big-name light-heavyweight bouts are already tied to the card.
(Keep in mind that Rashad makes $300,000 to show. Flowchart rules are officially in play. / Photo via USA Today Sports)
As confirmed by UFC president Dana White, the UFC will make its first visit to the Canadian province of Manitoba for UFC 161, which is slated for June 15th at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre. Two big-name light-heavyweight bouts are already tied to the card.
There’s nothing more entertaining than a bad street fight. With that in mind, CagePotato is kicking off a new collaboration with our old friend Gerald Harris, in which the MMA fighter/comedian overdubs some hilarious new dialogue to infamous street fight videos.
There’s nothing more entertaining than a bad street fight. With that in mind, CagePotato is kicking off a new collaboration with our old friend Gerald Harris, in which the MMA fighter/comedian overdubs some hilarious new dialogue to infamous street fight videos.
Most MMA fights are about two people utilizing their techniques, their discipline and other talents to see who comes out on top. They indulge themselves in interviews on their opponent whether it will be a fight between two respected fighters or if there is bad blood between them. It is all about building the hype.