Tag: Jon Anik

Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz are Officially Your TUF 15 Coaches

Dominick Cruz UFC ring girls Kenda Perez Brittney Palmer MMA photos
(I know they’re beautiful, Dominick, but just because you promised to get them on TV doesn’t mean they qualify as assistant coaches.) 

The UFC announced yesterday that the fifteenth season of its reality show, The Ultimate Fighter, will feature current bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz and long time rival Urijah Faber as its coaches when it debuts on FX this March.

The pair last met in July at UFC 132, where “The Dominator” earned a unanimous decision nod and evened the score between the two in an exciting back-and-forth battle.Their initial meeting dates back over five years to the glory days of the WEC, where Faber scored a guillotine choke over the current champ within the first two minutes.

Since their UFC 132 Fight of the Night earning brawl, Cruz has scored another unanimous decision win over Demetrious Johnson, whereas Faber recently picked up a second round submission victory at UFC 139 over the man to lose the WEC bantamweight title to Cruz, Brian Bowles.

Dominick Cruz UFC ring girls Kenda Perez Brittney Palmer MMA photos
(I know they’re beautiful, Dominick, but just because you promised to get them on TV doesn’t mean they qualify as assistant coaches.) 

The UFC announced yesterday that the fifteenth season of its reality show, The Ultimate Fighter, will feature current bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz and long time rival Urijah Faber as its coaches when it debuts on FX this March.

The pair last met in July at UFC 132, where “The Dominator” earned a unanimous decision nod and evened the score between the two in an exciting back-and-forth battle.Their initial meeting dates back over five years to the glory days of the WEC, where Faber scored a guillotine choke over the current champ within the first two minutes.

Since their UFC 132 Fight of the Night earning brawl, Cruz has scored another unanimous decision win over Demetrious Johnson, whereas Faber recently picked up a second round submission victory at UFC 139 over the man to lose the WEC bantamweight title to Cruz, Brian Bowles.

TUF 15 will feature contestants in both the welterweight and lightweight divisions, and for the first time in the shows history, all fights will be held live. Additionally, MMA Live’s Jon Anik will be taking over as the show’s host.

It will be interesting to see if Cruz can push the buttons of the notoriously laid back Faber, or if the need for reality style drama that plagues the show will be pushed entirely on the competing fighters this time around. Who knows, maybe one of the coaches will play the role of misunderstood heel/uber jackass to boost up ratings. One thing’s for sure, when these two complete the trilogy at the show’s finale, it will definitely be a lot more competitive than Miller/Bisping.

-Danga

Quote of the Day: Nate Quarry Has What The UFC Needs, Commentating-Wise


(When The Walking Dead didn’t call him back, Quarry knew he was bound for the UFC once again.) 

Nate Quarry has always been a charismatic guy; not only was he the first fighter ever to ink a sponsorship with a basketball shoe company, but anyone who’s ever seen his epic clowning of Kalib Starnes and post-fight speech thereafter knows the man has character in spades. More aware of this than anyone is Quarry himself, who recently began angling for a UFC commentating job on the popular mixed martial arts forum The UG:

I want to be an on-air personality for the UFC. There I said it … My qualifications? Well, I’ve been a fighter for the past 14 years. I’ve trained with some of the legends of the sport and even cornered them for some of the greatest fights in UFC history. I was there when the UFC went from 5 shows a year to being in every home in America. And, I know my ish. Plus, I’ve been a public speaker since I was 7 years old, standing up in Church and giving Bible readings. Last year I spoke at a TEDx conference where it was me, a mike and 300 business people for 18 minutes. And now I travel around the country speaking on behalf of my XLIF back surgery that game me my life back. Not to mention I hosted my own tv show on Comcast called American Cage Fighter. It was only broadcast in Nor Cal but was really well received and replayed every day of the week. Do I have your support?

Simply put, yes Mr. Quarry.


(When The Walking Dead didn’t call him back, Quarry knew he was bound for the UFC once again.) 

Nate Quarry has always been a charismatic guy; not only was he the first fighter ever to ink a sponsorship with a basketball shoe company, but anyone who’s ever seen his epic clowning of Kalib Starnes and post-fight speech thereafter knows the man has character in spades. More aware of this than anyone is Quarry himself, who recently began angling for a UFC commentating job on the popular mixed martial arts forum The UG:

I want to be an on-air personality for the UFC. There I said it … My qualifications? Well, I’ve been a fighter for the past 14 years. I’ve trained with some of the legends of the sport and even cornered them for some of the greatest fights in UFC history. I was there when the UFC went from 5 shows a year to being in every home in America. And, I know my ish. Plus, I’ve been a public speaker since I was 7 years old, standing up in Church and giving Bible readings. Last year I spoke at a TEDx conference where it was me, a mike and 300 business people for 18 minutes. And now I travel around the country speaking on behalf of my XLIF back surgery that game me my life back. Not to mention I hosted my own tv show on Comcast called American Cage Fighter. It was only broadcast in Nor Cal but was really well received and replayed every day of the week. Do I have your support?

Simply put, yes Mr. Quarry. Though it is a shame to know that we likely won’t ever see him fight again (he hasn’t competed since a second round TKO loss to Jorge Rivera back at UFN 21 in 2010), it would be nice to hear an actual fighter’s take for once when it comes to the action unfolding inside the octagon. Kenny Florian provides this from time to time, but establishing a fighter on a more permanent basis would be a great move for the UFC.

For those of you who might have forgotten, Quarry was a contestant on the very first season of The Ultimate Fighter and could add an interesting perspective when it comes to the ever growing number of TUFees fighting in the octagon. The man is also a ten fight UFC veteran who has overcome near insurmountable odds in order to continue competing professionally.

But the problem here is Quarry’s timing. Aside from their recent signing of former MMA Live host Jon Anik to cover various UFC related gigs, including a role as play-by-play announcer for the UFC’s fights on FX and FuelTV, the UFC has also brought over commentator Todd Harris to handle their pre-fight shows since their absorption of the WEC. So where exactly could Quarry fit in? Perhaps Anik needs a color commentator for the FX and FuelTV shows, and there’s no way Quarry could be any worse at it than Troy Aikman.

So what say you, Potato Nation, would you like a little more of “The Rock” in your lives?

-Danga  

MMA Girls in Sexy Halloween Costumes Bring You the Fix Friday Link Dump

The very powerful Kenda “Cleopatra” Perez pictured [above]. Dana White urges gay fighters to “come out”: here. Bellator 56: Askren vs. Hieron weigh-in results: here. Chuck Liddell‘s appearance on NBC sitcom, Parks and Recreation: here..

The very powerful Kenda “Cleopatra” Perez pictured [above].

Dana White urges gay fighters to “come out”: here.

Bellator 56: Askren vs. Hieron weigh-in results: here.

Chuck Liddell‘s appearance on NBC sitcom, Parks and Recreation: here.

Dana White believes signing Jon Anik was key to bringing the sport mainstream: here.

UFC 137: Penn vs. Diaz live and official weigh-in results at 7pm ET (4pm PT): here.

Bellator will cover medical expenses including surgery for their women’s champion, Zoila Frausto Gurgel: here.

It was announced that a stuntman died on the set of the Expendables 2, which will again feature Randy Couture: here.

Enjoy our favorite MMA girls confusing us by being sexy and scary below: (Actually, now they sound more like your girlfriend than you realized.)

Kenda Perez:

Arianny Celeste:

Stephanie Ann Cook:

Natasha Wicks:

Jon Anik to Take Over From Arianny Celeste as Host of ‘Ultimate Insider’ Show

(Video courtesy of YouTube/HeavyMMA)

How could he do this to that poor girl?

It looks like Jon Anik’s role with the UFC won’t be limited to just play-by-play broadcasting. The former ESPN host and broadcasting veteran told Heavy.com’s Megan Olivi yesterday following the UFC 137 press conference that he will also be taking the reins from Arianny Celeste as the host of the Ultimate Insider show and will also possibly be hosting a UFC radio program.


(Video courtesy of YouTube/HeavyMMA)

How could he do this to that poor girl?

It looks like Jon Anik’s role with the UFC won’t be limited to just play-by-play broadcasting. The former ESPN host and broadcasting veteran told Heavy.com’s Megan Olivi yesterday following the UFC 137 press conference that he will also be taking the reins from Arianny Celeste as the host of the Ultimate Insider show and will also possibly be hosting a UFC radio program.

Anik, who told Olivi that his gig with ESPN only saw him work about 20% of the time on MMA-related content said that he would only have left ESPN for a role with the UFC and was happy to have gotten the call. At the risk of receiving an angry phone call tomorrow afternoon, we will just say that Anik should add some credibility to the show.

Let’s just hope for our sake Jon doesn’t take us behind the scenes on the set of one of his lingerie photo shoots or we may be eating our words.

UFC Signs ‘MMA Live’ Host Jon Anik as Newest Member of Broadcasting Team

Filed under: UFC, NewsLAS VEGAS — For years, Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg have been the UFC’s official broadcast pairing, but with the promotion’s growth and exploding events schedule, they will no longer be the only ones.

On Thursday, the promotion a…

Filed under: ,

LAS VEGAS — For years, Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg have been the UFC‘s official broadcast pairing, but with the promotion’s growth and exploding events schedule, they will no longer be the only ones.

On Thursday, the promotion announced that they have signed ESPN’s Jon Anik to a deal to make him a part of the company’s upcoming schedule of shows on FOX networks.

The UFC recently signed a seven-year deal with FOX, and White said Anik would be the play-by-play man for events that air on FX, and he’ll also have a to-be-determined role on the upcoming, revamped Ultimate Fighter.

There has been no decision on Anik’s broadcast partner, though according to White, a search is underway.

“Believe me when I tell you, our schedule over the next couple years, Jon’s going to be very busy here in the UFC,” White said. “He’s going to wish he was still on ESPN.”

Anik, who has been the host of ESPN’s “MMA Live” show since its inception in 2008, said it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

“This is where I wanted to be,” he said. “If I was leaving ESPN, there was one destination, it was the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It’s a dream come true.”

Anik is expected to host one more edition of “MMA Live” before he begins his new role with the UFC.

 

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Helwani Interviews Marquardt, Twitter Asplodes

“Doc comes back and says, ‘Nate, you have the testosterone levels of a 35 year old man,’ and I just broke down. ‘Doc,’ I told him, ‘I’m only 32! Is there anything you can do to help me?’”

You have to hand it to the team at MMAFighting for nailing down the exclusive with Nate Marquardt yesterday. Everybody wanted to talk to him, but it was Ariel Helwani who welcomed Marquardt and manager Lex McMahon to the microphone for a heart to heart. Mike Chiappetta provided the Cliff’s Notes version of the interview to get the ball rolling on Twitter, and the discussion quickly took off.

The short interview was dissected and commented upon in real time on Twitter, and the reactions continued throughout the evening. What follows is only a *small* sampling of Twitter’s response to Nate’s release and the subject of Hormone Replacement in MMA. Keep in mind that Marquardt already has a Twitter dedicated to getting him back in the UFC, and a matching hashtag #BringNateBack that saw plenty of use yesterday as well.

It was also interesting to note that a lot of Zuffa fighters were unwilling to touch the subject. Usual Tweeting suspects were strangely silent on the hot topic; take from that what you will. On the other hand, there were a few fighters who had some choice words on the subject, and they did not beat around the bush.

Go ahead and wade through this collection of Tweets from yesterday, and then share your expert analysis and vital opinion in the comments. Is Nate a good guy that has made some bad choices? Is he a nefarious schemer looking to get any advantage he can? What about the larger issue of HRT/TRT/PEDs in MMA? Should Dana continue to clean house until fighters learn to stay away from anything questionable? Should athletic commissions just legalize everything from horse steroids to heroin?

After all, PRIDE was awesome, right?

[RX]

“Doc comes back and says, ‘Nate, you have the testosterone levels of a 35 year old man,’ and I just broke down.  ‘Doc,’ I told him, ‘I’m only 32!  Is there anything you can do to help me?’”

You have to hand it to the team at MMAFighting for nailing down the exclusive with Nate Marquardt yesterday. Everybody wanted to talk to him, but it was Ariel Helwani who welcomed Marquardt and manager Lex McMahon to the microphone for a heart to heart. Mike Chiappetta provided the Cliff’s Notes version of the interview to get the ball rolling on Twitter, and the discussion quickly took off.

The short interview was dissected and commented upon in real time on Twitter, and the reactions continued throughout the evening. What follows is only a *small* sampling of Twitter’s response to Nate’s release and the subject of Hormone Replacement in MMA. Keep in mind that Marquardt already has a Twitter dedicated to getting him back in the UFC, and a matching hashtag #BringNateBack that saw plenty of use yesterday as well.

It was also interesting to note that a lot of Zuffa fighters were unwilling to touch the subject.  Usual Tweeting suspects were strangely silent on the hot topic; take from that what you will.  On the other hand, there were a few fighters who had some choice words on the subject, and they did not beat around the bush.

Go ahead and wade through this collection of Tweets from yesterday, and then share your expert analysis and vital opinion in the comments.  Is Nate a good guy that has made some bad choices?  Is he a nefarious schemer looking to get any advantage he can?   What about the larger issue of HRT/TRT/PEDs in MMA?  Should Dana continue to clean house until fighters learn to stay away from anything questionable?  Should athletic commissions just legalize everything from horse steroids to heroin?

After all, PRIDE was awesome, right?

[RX]