The 10 Greatest TUF Winner Fails of All Time

(Where’s your glass trophy now, playboy? Props: thesun.co.uk)
By CagePotato contributor Jim Genia
In a perfect world, The Ultimate Fighter would give us an up close and personal look at some of the most promising mixed martial artists out there, vyi…

Dan Henderson Michael Bisping
(Where’s your glass trophy now, playboy? Props: thesun.co.uk)

By CagePotato contributor Jim Genia

In a perfect world, The Ultimate Fighter would give us an up close and personal look at some of the most promising mixed martial artists out there, vying for greatness in the crucible of combat. But in reality, it’s become a perversion of manufactured drama and prefabricated stars — stars made bright not by the depth of the competition they must face but by the trouncing of whatever hapless wannabes a SpikeTV producer chose at the tryouts. You see, it stopped being about “who’s the best” a long time ago, and was twisted into “who makes for the best TV,” so what we get now is more Jersey Shore than Ultimate Fighting Championship, only instead of Snooki and JWoww’s cleavage we get an IFL champ or Sengoku veteran beating the ever-loving crap out of people with maybe a handful (if that) of fights.

That’s why, when a TUF winner loses in Octagon — sometimes after facing real UFC-level competition for the first time — it’s totally awesome! Because, sure, Michael Bisping, Joe Stevenson and Mac Danzig are tough, likeable guys, but don’t try to fool us into thinking they’re the definition of “badass” just because they defeated a personal trainer from New Orleans, a boxer from Maine and some kid who should be working on a farm. We’re not the ignorant general public flicking through the channels, we’re knowledgeable MMA fans. We know better!

Therefore, here, in no particular order, is a list of the ten greatest TUF winner fails of all time. It’s a list based not on animosity towards any particular fighter, but on animosity towards the Spike TV executive who skipped over the few hundred fighter hopefuls with real talent and real skill, and instead chose the clown with the funky hair, the drinking problem and the propensity for trashing houses…

Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson, UFC 100
British fighter Michael Bisping was a stud in the UK MMA scene (which is a lot like saying you’re a gold medalist in the Special Olympics) when he got the call to compete on TUF, and he took Season 3 top honors after beating, well, pretty much no one of note. But he continued to rack up wins on the pay-per-views, defeating such marginables as Elvis Sinosic, Charles McCarthy and Jason Day. However, TUF 9 saw him pitted against Dan Henderson as an opposing coach, and we were supposed to believe the inevitable Octagon conflict between them would be competitive. It wasn’t, and fans everywhere rejoiced over a knockout so devastating Bisping has no recollection of anything to do with the weekend of July 11, 2009 and about nine days before and after.

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And Now He’s Fired: Efrain Escudero

(Poor kid. He didn’t even get a chance to go on a three-fight losing streak. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com)
Following his submission loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC Fight Night 22, TUF 8 lightweight winner Efrain Escudero has been released f…

Efrain Escudero Charles Oliveira UFC Fight Night 22
(Poor kid. He didn’t even get a chance to go on a three-fight losing streak. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com)

Following his submission loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC Fight Night 22, TUF 8 lightweight winner Efrain Escudero has been released from his UFC contract. Escudero confirmed the news last night via Twitter, writing "I was released by the Ufc today speaking to strikeforce and bellator. Taking a week off and make my way back!!!!!"

Escudero becomes just the second Ultimate Fighter-winner to be pink-slipped in the show’s five-and-a-half-year history; TUF 4‘s Travis Lutter got canned in April 2008. TUF winners tend to get a lot of leeway in their UFC careers — check out the spotty records of guys like Mac Danzig and Kendall Grove — but missing weight and garbage-ass performances will get you on the UFC’s bad side no matter who you are. Escudero struck out big time last week when he missed weight by an unacceptable four pounds, then lost to an up-and-comer in a fight that was entertaining despite Efrain’s best efforts to stall.

We’re sure Effy will land on his feet, and may even battle his way back to the UFC one day. But between this and Todd Duffee‘s firing two weeks ago, it seems like the UFC is becoming less interested in giving second (or third) chances to fighters who aren’t performing up to expectations.

Efrain Escudero Cut by UFC, Looking at Bellator, Strikeforce

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, NewsFive days after losing to Charles Oliveira, former Ultimate Fighter winner Efrain Escudero has been released by the UFC.

Escudero said on Twitter that he learned of the news Monday and is already planning t…

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Efrain EscuderoFive days after losing to Charles Oliveira, former Ultimate Fighter winner Efrain Escudero has been released by the UFC.

Escudero said on Twitter that he learned of the news Monday and is already planning to talk to a couple of other mixed martial arts promotions.

“Hello true fan I was released by the Ufc today speaking to strikeforce and bellator,” Escudero tweeted. “Taking a week off and make my way back!!!!!”

CagePotato Stats: The MMA Weigh-In Failure Leaderboard

(The moral of the story? When Gina Carano does it, it’s awesome. When Paulo Filho does it, it’s terrible. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)
Anybody can be forgiven for missing weight by a half-pound — as long as it doesn’t become a …

Gina Carano naked nude weigh-ins photos EliteXC Kobold towel
(The moral of the story? When Gina Carano does it, it’s awesome. When Paulo Filho does it, it’s terrible. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com
)

Anybody can be forgiven for missing weight by a half-pound — as long as it doesn’t become a habit. But when an MMA fighter comes in a full four pounds heavy, as Efrain Escudero did this week for his doomed UFC Fight Night 22 bout against Charles Oliveira, it tends to raise some eyebrows. As we’ve done previously with steroid busts, we decided to catalog the worst scale-fails in MMA history, arranged by number of pounds over the limit. When the information was available, we also listed the punishments the fighters were given, along with their excuses for missing weight, which range from injuries to salt water to the dreaded "menstrual period." This is by no means a definitive list — but we’d like it be, eventually. So if you know of any other occasions where fighters missed weight by four pounds or more, or missed weight for multiple fights, please let us know in the comments section.

Nick Diaz @ EliteXC: Return of the King
Weigh-in date: 6/13/08
Weight: 169.5, 9.5 over limit
Punishment: Diaz forfeited a portion of his fight purse to his opponent, Muhsin Corbbrey.
Fight result: Diaz by third-round TKO
Excuse: After arriving in Hawaii, Diaz said he "went in the salt water and absorbed a lot of sodium or something." In Cesar Gracie’s version of the tale, Diaz got sick after accidentally ingesting the water. Nick reached out to Corbbrey when the weight-cut was looking grim, and made a deal to hold the bout at a catchweight.

Dale Hartt @ Ringside 7: No Escape
Weigh-in date: 6/17/10
Weight: 163.4 pounds, 8.4 over limit
Fight result: Hartt lost to Guillaume DeLorenzi by second-round TKO (shoulder injury)

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UFC Fight Night 22 Live Blog: Efrain Escudero vs. Charles Oliveira Updates

Filed under: UFCThis is the UFC Fight Night 22 live blog for Efrain Escudero vs. Charles Oliveira, a catchweight bout on tonight’s UFC on Spike TV event from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.

Escudero (13-1), the winner of season eight’s The Ul…

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This is the UFC Fight Night 22 live blog for Efrain Escudero vs. Charles Oliveira, a catchweight bout on tonight’s UFC on Spike TV event from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.

Escudero (13-1), the winner of season eight’s The Ultimate Fighter, suffered his first career loss in January against Evan Dunham and bounced back with a victory over Dan Lauzon in May. Oliveira (13-0) is a jiu-jitsu guy who impressed in his UFC debut at UFC on Versus 2 in August, tapping out Darren Elkins with an armbar and in the process earned the Submission of the Night.

The live blog is below.

Charles Oliveira Submits Efrain Escudero at UFC Fight Night 22

Filed under: UFCOne of the most exciting young prospects in mixed martial arts got the biggest win of his career Wednesday night at UFC Fight Night 22, as Charles Oliveira beat Efrain Escudero with a beautiful standing rear-naked choke in the third rou…

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One of the most exciting young prospects in mixed martial arts got the biggest win of his career Wednesday night at UFC Fight Night 22, as Charles Oliveira beat Efrain Escudero with a beautiful standing rear-naked choke in the third round of what had been a very competitive fight.

At the age of 20, the Brazilian Oliveira has already developed a well-rounded game, as he showed against Escudero by hurting him standing up with an array of kicks before eventually using his excellent jiu jitsu to win by submission. Escudero also has a little bit of a mean streak in him, as he really went for the kill in the third round after Escudero hurt him with a knee to the groin. At one point in the second round Oliveira even did a little Anderson Silva routine, dancing around in front of Escudero and then interrupting the dancing to land a couple strikes.