Filed under: UFC, NewsLAS VEGAS — In case you couldn’t tell by watching him fight, TUF 14 featherweight finalist Diego Brandao is something of a Wanderlei Silva fan. Actually, maybe fan is the wrong word. Brandao’s more like a disciple, which is why h…
LAS VEGAS — In case you couldn’t tell by watching him fight, TUF 14 featherweight finalist Diego Brandao is something of a Wanderlei Silva fan. Actually, maybe fan is the wrong word. Brandao’s more like a disciple, which is why he was thrilled to hear that his fellow Brazilian and MMA inspiration has been following his run on the UFC’s reality show.
“I want to fight like Wanderlei Silva,” Brandao said earlier this week. “That’s why I’m in MMA now, is Wanderlei Silva. The way he fights, he makes everybody in Brazil put their hearts in their mouths.”
Brandao was understandably ecstatic when he finally got to meet Silva in Vegas this week, and even more excited when he got a word of encouragement from “The Axe Murderer.”
“He told me to go kill the guy. I was so happy.”
But ‘happy’ isn’t a word most of his TUF 14 castmates would likely use to describe Brandao, who at times seemed almost dangerously intense. Some of his colleagues didn’t know how to take that, he said, but to Brandao it seemed like the only sensible approach to a sport that involves fighting other men in a cage.
“When I first get in the house, people think I’m crazy,” he said. “But I’m not crazy, bro. This is MMA. For me, it’s very serious. You can get hurt if you don’t train hard, aren’t focused. You can get [your] jaw broken, knee broken, armbar. I’m ready for that. I’m not crazy, I’m just focused on every fight.”
So far it’s yielded memorable results for the 24-year-old Brazilian. He ran through his competition on TUF, and is among the heaviest favorites on Saturday night’s finale fight card, where he’ll take on fellow finalist Dennis Bermudez, with Silva watching in the crowd.
The best part, Brandao said, is all the good he’ll be able to do for his family back home in Brazil with the money he’ll make for this fight, win or lose. They might not have gotten to watch his reality show stint along with the American audience, but they’ll reap the rewards along with him, he said.
“I feel very proud of myself. I’m going to be able to help my mom. She doesn’t know what’s going on now, but pretty soon she’s going to find out.”
(Brandao vs. Casteel @ Evolution 1, 10/30/10. Fight begins at the 1:58 mark and ends 40 seconds later. The ref is kind of a dick afterwards. Props: landsharkian)
As Johnny Bedford observed on Wednesday, TUF 14 featherweight finalist Diego Brandao is not unbeatable; in fact, he entered the reality show with a journeyman’s record of 13-7. But when he’s on his game, he’s as dangerous a fighter as you’ll ever see. Here’s a video from Brandao’s pre-UFC career, in which he starches Michael Casteel with a counter right hook within the first minute of their fight. It’s that kind of power that could give Dennis Bermudez serious headaches when they meet up at the finale show tomorrow night in Las Vegas. Was Michael Bisping right to predict future UFC stardom for the Madman from Manaus?
(Brandao vs. Casteel @ Evolution 1, 10/30/10. Fight begins at the 1:58 mark and ends 40 seconds later. The ref is kind of a dick afterwards. Props: landsharkian)
As Johnny Bedford observed on Wednesday, TUF 14 featherweight finalist Diego Brandao is not unbeatable; in fact, he entered the reality show with a journeyman’s record of 13-7. But when he’s on his game, he’s as dangerous a fighter as you’ll ever see. Here’s a video from Brandao’s pre-UFC career, in which he starches Michael Casteel with a counter right hook within the first minute of their fight. It’s that kind of power that could give Dennis Bermudez serious headaches when they meet up at the finale show tomorrow night in Las Vegas. Was Michael Bisping right to predict future UFC stardom for the Madman from Manaus?
Filed under: UFCLAS VEGAS — On Thursday morning at 9 a.m. the UFC PR staff spread this season’s Ultimate Fighter finalists out across two conference rooms at the Palms hotel and casino and introduced them to one of the less glamorous aspects of life i…
LAS VEGAS — On Thursday morning at 9 a.m. the UFC PR staff spread this season’s Ultimate Fighter finalists out across two conference rooms at the Palms hotel and casino and introduced them to one of the less glamorous aspects of life in a big time fight promotion: the dreaded pre-fight interviews.
“It’s going to be about an hour of talking,” UFC director of media relations Ant Evans explained as he sat TUF 14 bantamweight finalist T.J. Dillashaw down to begin a series of rapid-fire phone interviews. One look at Dillashaw’s face, and you could see he wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about the idea.
It could be worse, Evans explained. He could be like Michael Bisping and “Mayhem” Miller, who had two or three hours of interviews scheduled. Somehow, this failed to raise Dillashaw’s spirits.
“It’s just so fast,” he told me later, once it was my turn to monopolize his time. “You’re used to not very much media attention at all, and suddenly it’s a lot.”
That’s the case for all four of this year’s finalists. In general, bantamweights and featherweights don’t get as much love as the bigger fighters on the MMA scene, and the spotlight is even dimmer outside the UFC. After fighting their way onto the reality show and then earning a spot in the finals, they’re all finding out for the first time what it’s like to stand in the spotlight. Each has his own way of adjusting to this new life on fight week.
“The first time, I cried when I saw [myself] on TV,” said featherweight Diego Brandao. “It was crazy.”
Brandao’s opponent for Saturday night’s finale — Dennis Bermudez — played it a little cooler. In the next room over, sitting with his coach, Bermudez shrugged off the media pressure.
“I did a lot of high school newspaper articles for wrestling, stuff like that,” he said. “For me, it’s like a bunch of those, I guess.”
What he was happiest about was simply being out of the TUF house and free to move about, he said. People keep telling him that his career is about to be defined by how he performs against Brandao, who seems to have instilled a deep terror into most of his previous opponents, but Bermudez isn’t sweating it just yet.
“My mindset is, it’s another fight. People are like, it’s the biggest fight of your career. Well, it’s the biggest fight of my career right now. I’m sure I’ll have bigger fights later on.”
Bantamweight John Dodson — the only fighter who was all smiles even early in the morning, practically bouncing out of his chair with enthusiasm — is taking a similar approach. It’s not a must-win, he said. Especially not for a guy who’s really a natural flyweight, just waiting for the UFC to open the division up. The way he sees it, if he puts on an exciting fight, people will remember him regardless of whether he wins or loses.
For Dodson, the show was a bit of a mixed bag. He was painted as a traitor at times for sharing fight pairing news with the opposing team, and drew the ire of his coach, “Mayhem” Miller, who Dodson did a spot-on impression of as he mimicked Miller’s cry of, “Dodson, whyyyy!?!“
“I’m not going to lie, it’s still cool to have him talking about me,” Dodson grinned.
In fact, that’s his take on all the buzz surrounding his reality show stint. That’s why he thanked those who hated him most during the show’s run.
“People were asking me, why are you thanking the haters? It’s because, if I don’t have any haters, then it means I wasn’t doing anything right. There’s a reason people were talking about me.”
And while it’s nice to be talked about, both Dodson and Dillashaw are hoping that theirs is the fight that becomes the focus of the good kind of post-event talk rather than the bad. You can be a hero or a villain, but one thing these up-and-comers have learned is that you just can’t be boring.
“I don’t want to put this pressure on myself like I have to win this fight, because I really don’t,” said Dillashaw. “This sport’s for entertainment. I just need to go out there and put on a show. I’m going to win, but I’m going to put on an awesome show and go a hundred miles an hour.”
Just don’t tell him that reward for success is more interviews. You don’t want to send the poor guy in there with mixed emotions.
The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale is just two days away, and though the bookies haven’t given us much to work with, we decided to throw y’all some last minute betting advice come fight night in case you plan on bluffing the piss out of Johnny Chan in the Palms Casino afterward. Check out the betting lines, courtesy of BestFightOdds, along with the almighty wisdom of the Great Potato, below.
The Main Event: Let’s get right to it. Bisping has a lot of advantages going into this fight: he’s never been submitted, which is Miller’s bread and butter, he’s fought more in the past year, and he has considerably less pressure on him than Mayhem, who is out to prove to casual and hardcore fans alike that he is more than just a goofball TV personality. And we all know that Bisping will do anything, and I mean anything, to destroy those who slander him publicly, so Miller will most definitely be facing at a steep hill to climb for his first appearance in the octagon since 2005. But there are a couple crucial outside factors here. As Miller has stated, he is one hard headed son of a bitch, and despite what Bisping’s record says, have we ever seen him truly overwhelm an opponent as tough as Mayhem on the feet? You could argue Denis Kang, but I would respond to that argument with a pat on your head and a condescending chuckle.
The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale is just two days away, and though the bookies haven’t given us much to work with, we decided to throw y’all some last minute betting advice come fight night in case you plan on bluffing the piss out of Johnny Chan in the Palms Casino afterward. Check out the betting lines, courtesy of BestFightOdds, along with the almighty wisdom of the Great Potato, below.
The Main Event: Let’s get right to it. Bisping has a lot of advantages going into this fight: he’s never been submitted, which is Miller’s bread and butter, he’s fought more in the past year, and he has considerably less pressure on him than Mayhem, who is out to prove to casual and hardcore fans alike that he is more than just a goofball TV personality. And we all know that Bisping will do anything, and I mean anything, to destroy those who slander him publicly, so Miller will most definitely be facing at a steep hill to climb for his first appearance in the octagon since 2005. But there are a couple crucial outside factors here. As Miller has stated, he is one hard headed son of a bitch, and despite what Bisping’s record says, have we ever seen him truly overwhelm an opponent as tough as Mayhem on the feet? You could argue Denis Kang, but I would respond to that argument with a pat on your head and a condescending chuckle.
Now let’s talk about grappling, shall we? Miller showed that he could roll with the best in his five rounder against Jake Shields, at one point even managing to catch the Cesar Gracie black belt in a rear naked choke late in the second round. Granted he would go on to lose that fight, but it’s not crazy to think that if Miller can take this fight to the ground, then he could hold a distinct advantage. But Miller has said that he plans to keep it standing, so it really comes down to whether you think Bisping can finish Miller on the feet (or at least jab and jog a decision over him) and whether or not Mayhem will allow that to happen.
The TUF Finals: Since we’ve recently been made aware of the fact that Dodson has the ability to KO you back to your hometown, he’s looking pretty good as a modest underdog. He’s easily the quicker of the two, and probably more athletic. But if Dillashaw can do anything, it’s take you to the mat and unleash a clinic of ground-and-pound. And though Dodson has been able to spring to his feet quickly after being taken down in his time on the show, he has still shown the ability to be taken down, and to far inferior grapplers than Dillashaw, nonetheless. The wrestling game is going to determine the winner of this one, and I think Dillashaw will come out on top.
I’m not totally counting out Dennis Bermudez, but I’m pretty damn close to. Diego Brandao is a killer, ladies and gentlemen, and if Akira Corissani was able to tag Bermudez as much as he did, then someone with Brandao’s power will surely put him away. Plus, can any of you remember the last TUF contestant to run through all three of his opponents on the show via first round TKO? I’ll give you a hint; he’s also fighting Saturday, and he won last season’s The Ultimate Fighter. Brandao has got this one.
The Other Fight: Yves Edwards is a tough, well rounded veteran who has the tools to put just about anyone in trouble, and given Ferguson’s lack of octagon experience, we’ve yet to see both his chin and ground game tested. But Ferguson is a precise striker that has an ability to punish your jaw worse than a Now & Later, and since Sam Stout already showed him the road to Edwards’ off button, expect Ferguson to sprinkle that road with the teeth of the “Thugjitsu Master” en route to a second or third round TKO.
Official CagePotato Parlay: We’re going balls out for this one and parlaying the entire main card. Since the fate of mankind lies in his hands (and we’ve always loved a good underdog) it’s going something like this:
But before we put this sumbitch to bed, we have two more semi-final fights to get through. John “The Snitchin’ Magician” Dodson is training for his bantamweight face-off with teammate Johnny Bedford, while Bedford blatantly creeps on him the whole time. Coach Mayhem decides he won’t corner either man, leaving that responsibility up to the assistant coaches.
Says Dodson: “I only got taken down once, by Prince [John Albert], and I’m never going to get taken down again.” But taking Lil’ John down is, in fact, Bedford’s gameplan. And he doesn’t think Dodson has the power to hurt him. Dodson giggles and poses in the face-off after weigh-ins. Once again, we marvel at how small this man is, and how he should really be competing at 125, if such a division existed in the UFC. And once again, his size disadvantage probably won’t matter one damn bit.
(Gentlemen, please. You can *both* eat dicks. / GIF via IronForgesIron)
But before we put this sumbitch to bed, we have two more semi-final fights to get through. John “The Snitchin’ Magician” Dodson is training for his bantamweight face-off with teammate Johnny Bedford, while Bedford blatantly creeps on him the whole time. Coach Mayhem decides he won’t corner either man, leaving that responsibility up to the assistant coaches.
Says Dodson: “I only got taken down once, by Prince [John Albert], and I’m never going to get taken down again.” But taking Lil’ John down is, in fact, Bedford’s gameplan. And he doesn’t think Dodson has the power to hurt him. Dodson giggles and poses in the face-off after weigh-ins. Once again, we marvel at how small this man is, and how he should really be competing at 125, if such a division existed in the UFC. And once again, his size disadvantage probably won’t matter one damn bit.
And it’s go time already. Bedford remarks that Dodson likes to smile after getting hit, but he won’t be smiling in this one. Dodson’s rebuttal: “You ain’t gonna get me dog. You know why? I’m awesome, you’re not.”
Round 1: Bedford and Dodson both land with leg kicks and punches. Bedford fires a pair of high kicks. Bedford shoots in, Dodson defends. Dodson lands a lightning fast knee/punch combo. Bedford tries to clinch and Dodson launches a flurry of inside punches. Dodson sticking and moving, landing counters. Bedford tries to clinch again, but Dodson is too slippery. Bedford with a left. Dodson lands two leg kicks. Bedford clinches and throws some knees but eats a punch as Dodson escapes. Bedford finally gets a takedown, but Dodson is up and out. Bedford tries to swagger-jack Jon Jones with a rolling backfist that misses wide. Dodson fires a looping hook. Bedford dashes forward with a knee, but can’t grab on. Bedford goes body/head with punches. Dodson catches a kick and dumps Bedford down. Bedford gets up and Dodson seems to punt him in the nuts on the way up, but Bedford is unfazed. They scrap to the bell. “I lost that round, didn’t I,” Bedford asks his corner. Yeah, pretty much.
Round 2: Dodson in a great rhythm, landing his counterpunches and exiting. He slaps in an inside leg kick. Now Bedford catches a kick and slugs Dodson against the fence, forcing him to retreat. Dodson lands to the body. Dodson connects on a stiff left that drops Bedford, and follows it up with some wild masturbation punches until Bedford’s soul leaves his body. And so, John Dodson will be facing TJ Dillashaw at the TUF 14 bantamweight finals on Saturday night.
“He looked like a monkey trying to open up a coconut when he was bashing on Bedford’s head” says Louis Gaudinot, an observation that’s equal parts offensive and accurate.
The doctor asks Bedford where he is, and he guesses Ohio. Now what were you saying about Dodson’s power?
Back at the house, Diego Brandao menacingly sharpens a meat-cleaver in the backyard while Bryan Caraway chills in the hot tub, trying to not look terrified. As Coach Bisping puts it, ”Look, I’d be scared of the guy, and he’s only the size of my leg!” Brandao says something about weening TUF so ee can buy house for ees mother.
Caraway just wants to keep his guts on the inside of his body. According to his own calculations, he threw up before his first 30 MMA fights, but is currently riding a three-fight streak of not throwing up. The sport gives him such anxiety that he hates it sometimes. Mayhem tries to talk him down from the ledge. At the end of the day, it’s better to be a UFC fighter than a Starbucks barista. Unless you love coffee and hate fighting, in which case it’s worth it just for the employee discount.
Bedford steps in as the voice of reason: “I’ve seen Diego lose in person. He’s definitely beatable. Bryan’s one of the most experienced guys here.”
But now that his fighter is considered such a massive favorite, Bisping bravely offers to bet Miller $100 on the fight. You can tell that Miller doesn’t want any part of this, but since Bisping made the challenge publicly, in front of both fighters and their teammates, Mayhem gamely accepts.
It’s the last night in the house, and the guys are gettin’ cray-cray. Mayhem rides through the house in his undies. A beer-pong tournament ensues. Meanwhile, Brandao is getting pissed off because he actually has to fight the next day and all this ruckus is fucking with his focus. Still, an angel appeared to Brandao in a dream, and told him he’s going back to Brazil to help a lot of families for Christmas. So he’s got that going for him.
“The pressure’s just as much on him,” Bryan says, not sounding too convinced. Meanwhile, Diego is upstairs beating the shit out of a box-spring.
And here it is, TUF 14′s final battle…
Round 1: Brandao opens with high kicks. Caraway shoots in to clinch, Brandao defends and escapes. A big haymaker from Brandao glances off the top of Caraway’s head. Caraway shoots, Brandao sprawls. Big kick from Brandao. Caraway returns fire. Brandao tries a superman punch, Caraway grabs him and pushes him to fence. Brandao knees him off. Brandao lands a leg kick that spins Caraway around. Brandao with a body punch, Caraway with a left hook. Hard leg kick from Brandao. Caraway shoots and misses, Brandao makes him pay with punches. Brandao lands another hard leg kick spins Caraway 360 degrees. Brandao fires an overhand right, Caraway mimics it. Brandao launches a flying knee that drops Caraway. Brandao starts jackhammering punches from the top. Caraway does his best to move around on his back and avoid damage. Caraway finally gets up but he’s still dazed, and gets dropped by another punch. More ground and pound. Caraway is tough as fucking nails and won’t quit. He gets up again, Brandao slugs him and Caraway collapses to his back. Another punch from Brandao finally finds Caraway’s off button. That’s three straight first-round knockouts for Diego Brandao. He’ll meet Dennis Bermudez in the featherweight finals.
The first thing Brandao does after the fight is threaten to smash Bermudez for talking shit the night before, a charge that Bermudez denies. Bisping’s prediction: “Diego kills Bermudez and goes on to be a big star in the UFC.” Now that he’s in the finals, Brandao promises to buy his mom a house, get his brother out of the drogas, and change his life. Seriously? They’re still just paying you guys $10k/$10k, right?
Before it’s time to leave, Dana has the coaches rub their foreheads together in one last face-off before their live fight at the Finale on Saturday. “Welcome to the UFC, dickhead,” Bisping says. “Back to the little leagues after this. Go find another TV show to present.”
“I feel like my whole life has been building up to beat this one bully,” Mayhem says.
Come back to CagePotato.com on Saturday night for our liveblog of the TUF 14 Finale main card. The full lineup looks like this:
Main Card (Spike TV, 8 p.m. ET)
– Michael Bisping vs. Jason Miller (MW)
– John Dodson vs. T.J. Dillashaw (BW)
– Diego Brandao vs. Dennis Bermudez (FW)
– Tony Ferguson vs. Yves Edwards (LW)
Preliminary Card (Facebook)
– Dustin Pague vs. John Albert (BW)
– Louis Gaudinot vs. Johnny Bedford (BW)
– Marcus Brimage vs. Stephen Bass (FW)
– Josh Clopton vs. Steven Siler (FW)
– Bryan Caraway vs. Dustin Neace (FW)
– Roland Delorme vs. Josh Ferguson (BW)
Filed under: UFC, NewsThe Ultimate Fighter season 14 finale is set after Wednesday night’s episode determined the divisional championship pairings to take place at The Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The Ultimate Fighter season 14 finale is set after Wednesday night’s episode determined the divisional championship pairings to take place at The Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas on Saturday.
In the bantamweight class, John Dodson advanced to the final and will face TJ Dillashaw, while Diego Brandao navigated his way through the featherweight brackets to meet Dennis Bermudez.
Those were two of the eight pairings announced by the UFC following completion of the series.
Dodson faced heat from his Team Miller group all season long for leaking inside information to the opposition, and fellow semifinalist Johnny Bedford vowed revenge, but Dodson had the last laugh with a spectacular second-round KO.
He’ll face Dillashaw in the finals. Dillashaw had previously defeated Dustin Pague to advance.
Brandao notched his third straight first-round knockout victory in advancing to the final, where he’ll be matched up against Dennis Bermudez. Interestingly, Bermudez also finished all three of his TUF fights thus far, two by TKO and one by submission.
Also taking place on the main card, televised on Spike, is a bantamweight bout pitting the colorful Louis Gaudinot and Johnny Bedford. All three of those bouts, along with a lightweight fight with veteran Yves Edwards against season 13 winner Tony Ferguson will support the main event bout between coaches Michael Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller. The full card is below.
Main Card
Michael Bisping vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller
Diego Brandao vs. Dennis Bermudez
John Dodson vs. T.J. Dillashaw
Yves Edwards vs. Tony Ferguson
Louis Gaudinot vs. Johnny Bedford
Preliminary Card
Stephan Bass vs. Marcus Brimage
John Albert vs. Dustin Pague
Roland Delorme vs. Josh Ferguson
Steven Siler vs. Josh Clopton Bryan Caraway vs. Dustin Neace
LAS VEGAS — In case you couldn’t tell by watching him fight, TUF 14 featherweight finalist Diego Brandao is something of a Wanderlei Silva fan. Actually, maybe fan is the wrong word. Brandao’s more like a disciple, which is why he was thrilled to hear that his fellow Brazilian and MMA inspiration has been following his run on the UFC’s reality show.
LAS VEGAS — On Thursday morning at 9 a.m. the 
