In a night filled with many impressive finishes, The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale held an entertaining collection of fights across six different weight divisions.Most important of all was the main-event matchup featuring TUF 10 competitor …
In a night filled with many impressive finishes, The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale held an entertaining collection of fights across six different weight divisions.
Most important of all was the main-event matchup featuring TUF 10 competitor and TUF 16 coach Roy Nelson, a standout personality in the UFC roster for his size and attitude.
In what would’ve been a massively important fight for his division, Nelson was originally scheduled to face former interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin.
Unfortunately, Carwin’s constant injuries caught up to him, causing fellow TUF 10 alumnus and former NFL player Matt Mitrione to step in on short notice.
Further down the card, there was a good bit of drama between Melvin Guillard and Jamie Varner, along with more solid performances from the TUF finalists and two more heavyweights.
As usual, we’re here to break down those fights along with everything else on the card, separating the real losers from the real winners of The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale in Las Vegas. Click along as we recap the entire event for you at Bleacher Report MMA.
The main event of The Ultimate Fighter 16 was supposed to serve as a one-on-one bout between coaches Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin, but Carwin had to pull out of the fight a few weeks ago with a knee injury. Matt Mitrione stepped in his place, giving us …
The main event of The Ultimate Fighter 16 was supposed to serve as a one-on-one bout between coaches Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin, but Carwin had to pull out of the fight a few weeks ago with a knee injury. Matt Mitrione stepped in his place, giving us the main event of Saturday night.
The fight featured an exciting striking battle between two heavy hitters, but it was Nelson’s power that overcame Mitrione’s technical onslaught.
What We’ll Remember About This Fight
The uppercut that was the beginning of the end was memorable. Everyone fears Roy Nelson’s overhand right, but it was the uppercut that snuck in there and stunned Mitrione. The knockout was impressive and keeps him relevant in the heavyweight division.
What We Learned About Matt Mitrione
Mitrione is a great prospect in the heavyweight division and he is going to be a great fighter in the future. His striking is impressive, and even though he got caught by Nelson, he is still a fighter to watch at 265 pounds.
What We Learned About Roy Nelson
It’s hard to say we’ve learned anything about Roy Nelson. He is a power puncher, which we already knew. He beats guys he is ranked ahead of, which we have seen in the past. The question is, can he make the move to the upper echelon of the heavyweight division? That has yet to be seen.
What’s Next for Mitrione
Mitrione needs to go back to the drawing board here and look to improve. His striking defense looked good in the beginning of the fight; he just got caught by a mauling punch. Pat Barry won earlier in the night, so putting them in the cage opposite one another may make sense.
What’s Next for Nelson
Nelson should get another chance to fight a top contender in the heavyweight division. However, most of the top heavyweights are locked into future matchups. Therefore, a fight with Cheick Kongo, a guy who was asked to fight Nelson before Mitrione but turned the fight down, makes sense.
(Mitrione refused to undergo VADA drug-testing. Nelson refused to shampoo the crabs out of his beard. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle. For more photos from this set, click here.)
It doesn’t matter if you haven’t watched a single episode of The Ultimate Fighter this season. (Spoiler alert: You haven’t). Tonight’s TUF 16 Finale on FX is still one of the greatest free cards of the year, partly because there aren’t any TUF also-rans mucking it up.
Taking us through the play-by-play this evening is Level 8 Liveblog Wizard Anthony Gannon, who will be updating us with main card results after the jump beginning at 9 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and please, please, please, leave us some comments in the comments section.
(Mitrione refused to undergo VADA drug-testing. Nelson refused to shampoo the crabs out of his beard. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle. For more photos from this set, click here.)
It doesn’t matter if you haven’t watched a single episode of The Ultimate Fighter this season. (Spoiler alert: You haven’t). Tonight’s TUF 16 Finale on FX is still one of the greatest free cards of the year, partly because there aren’t any TUF also-rans mucking it up.
Taking us through the play-by-play this evening is Level 8 Liveblog Wizard Anthony Gannon, who will be updating us with main card results after the jump beginning at 9 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and please, please, please, leave us some comments in the comments section.
A’ight CP Nation, let’s get this shit going. I don’t know about you, but I’m in need of some serious tusslin.’ One more crappy season of The Ultimate Fighter in the books. One more six figure contract, whateverthefuck that even means anymore. One more searing disappointment. And one more deflated hard-on by actually buying Dana White’s “This is the craziest season ever” bullshit. The show has become so excruciating it’s almost embarrassing to admit watching it, kinda like admitting you cried at the end of The Notebook, not me, but ya know, some of you bitch-asses probably did. Well, at least this season we got to see Julian Lane wig out and give us a line that quickly became more famous than he’ll ever be, “Let me bang, bro.”
Here are the preliminary results:
Tim Elliot beat Jared Papazian by unanimous decision, and by the looks of the scores it was a pretty severe beating, 30-25 (twice) and 30-26.
Mike Rio beat John Cofer by third round armbar.
Hugo Viana beat Reuben Duran by first round knockout.
TJ Waldburger beat Nick Catone by second round triangle. Thankfully I missed this cause it’s on the suck-ass FUEL channel no one gets.
Rustan Khabilov beat Vinc Pinchel by first round KO (suplex and punches). A KO suplex slam, on FUEL, mother fucker!
Johnny Bedford beat Marcos Vinicius by second round KO. Probably the best undercard ever…on FUEL.
Mike Pyle beat James Head by first round TKO. Greeaaaaaat!
Joe Rogan informs us that the Jamie Varner/Melvin Guillard fight was scratched due to Varner throwing up backstage, possibly the result of a difficult weight cut. And that’s just great cause that was the best fight on the card.
Jonathan Brookins vs Dustin Poirier is up first.
If you’ve never seen Fightville, shame on you. It’s always on On-Demand and features Dustin “I Desperately Need a New Nickname” “The Diamond” Poirier as he makes his way through the southern Louisiana MMA scene, which is an interesting local circuit to say the least. And you should feel twice as shamed if you’ve never visited that region of America. You can drive for hours without seeing a single human being, and when you finally do see that human being it may very well be some old-ass scary lady selling gumbo outside her shanty. And for $1 a bowl, no you do not get to ask what’s in it, but trust me the possum and squirrel down thar is dang tasty. Anyway, although he’s coming off a pretty brutal submission loss to the Korean Zombie, Poirier is a fighter to watch out for. He’s a nasty striker who is now at ATT to try and tighten up his grappling.
Brookins is a guy who wishes he won The Ultimate Fighter five years ago when TUF winners were coddled and given respectable billing against winnable opponents (see – Michael Bisping). Instead, Brookins is the new breed of TUF “champion,” who just two years and three fights into his UFC tenure is in danger of falling into the pit of obscurity because he’s been paired against guys like Erik Koch and Charles Oliveira. That being said, Brookins’ strength lies in his scrappiness. He likes to clinch, wrestle, make his fights ugly, and rock creepy braids. Hey, that’s just how they roll down in Fraggle Rock.
Round 1: Here we go. They trade leg kicks. Brook with a body shot. Swarms on him, busting him up. Damn, a bunch of shots, a knee, all kinds of hurt. Dustin grabs a hold of Brookins and pushes him into the cage. He seems recovered. Brookins with another big shot. Dustin with an elbow. Dustin charges in, does no damage but pushes Brookins into the cage, Brookins reverses, and they seperate. Brookins with a right, Dustin answers with a nice hook to the chops. Nice knee by Dustin. Body shot by Dustin. Uppercut by Dustin. Brookins has his chin up as usual, and Dustin clips it, rocks him, but he’s okay. Dustin lands another uppercut in the clinch, and now he’s going for a d’arce choke, and he gets the tap! That was sweet.
The official announcement is the d’arce choke at 4:15 of round 1.
Arianny and Britney are looking lovely tonight, as usual. I’d like to eat Arianny’s liver with some black-eyed peas and a nice Colt-45. For Britney, I’m thinking of the tongue with haricot verts and a fine asti spumante.
Vinc Pichel vs Rustam Khaboliv from the undercard is up next, and even though we already know the result so what, it’s a damn suplex knockout so let’s do this shit.
Round 1: Rustam shoots for a takedown, Vinc defending, but goes down eventually. Working some ground and pound from half guard. Vinc gets up, and gets LAUNCHED! He’s up again, and he gets tossed again, brutal! Rustam lauches him yet again, and commences to pound the side of Vinc’s head until the ref steps in. He was done from the suplex, the shots were just cherries on top. Awesome performance!
Thank God they showed that fight. We haven’t seen a guy get launched like that since Nate Diaz made his ill-advised move to welterweight and got bounced around by Rory McDonald.
Pat Barry and Shane del Rosario are up next.
How can you not love Pat Barry? The man is proof-positive of how far an interesting personality can take you. Sporting a 4-5 UFC record is usually not the makings of a securely employed man. However, being a kill-or-be-killed type (of nine UFC fights only one has gone to a decision) can negate a less-than-stellar record, and being a character doubles down on that. Add to that equation that beside a hard-ass leg kick, Barry is a kickboxer who doesn’t seem to be all that good at it, and we have the makings of a marketing genius here.
Del Rosario is another guy who has an impressive striking background, although he’s someone who can back that up with some cred – Rosario is actually the first American to win the WBC Muay Thai heavyweight title.
Neither of these guys is winning grappling tournaments either, although Rosario can tap a fool, at least a non-grappling fool such as Lavar Johnson, whereas Barry couldn’t despite being in side control, mount, and having Johnson in an armlock. What does that mean? This one has all the makings of a barn-burner.
Hmm, a Bellator on Spike commercial during UFC on FX, interesting. Guess bitter rivals can all get along when dollars are exchanged.
Round 1: It’s on. Shane opens hard to the body with a kick, Barry responds with a thumping leg kick. They clinch, and Shane delivers a couple knees. And a couple to the thigh up against the cage. Those don’t look fun. Shane tries for a takedown, Barry defends. Shane has Barry against the cage, knees him to the ribs again. And again. Shane fires one o the side of the head, then sends a knee to the gut. Barry finally escapes the position. Barry with a jab, then a leg kick. Shane shoots in again, Barry defending, but gets it and takes Barry’s back. He’s got a hook in, and going for the choke. He let it go, but Shane is still on Barry’s back. Now he’s going after an arm, now an omoplata. Jesus this is insane. Now he’s trying to take Barry’s back again, but falls off and ends up on the bottom. The round ends with Barry hugging Shane in side control. 10-9 Shane
Round 2: Shane opens with a jab, misses an uppercut. Barry rocks the shit out of him with a hook, then swarms in and knocks Shane the fuck out! Nice.
Damn, Barry cracked him with like five solid hooks, and when the doc tried to grab his arm, he jerked it away like, “Got awff me, son!” That was smooth.
The official decision is in, and it’s a KO at 0:26 of round 2.
Barry is teary-eyed, damn talking about the Connecticut shooting and hugging his kids. He hugs Rogan. Touching scene.
Cool, Mike “King Mullet” Pyle vs James “Sloppy” Head is up next.
And the Southern Comfort commercial with the fat dude walking down the beach could be the best thing ever.
Round 1: They touch and it’s a go. Head with a left hook, misses. Head charges in with a shot, and a few knees. Pyle delivers a knee of his own. They seperate. Pyle with a jab to the chest. Head forces the clinch, and throwing body shots. Pyle with a nasty knee, knocks Head down, then finishes him off. Very sweet, and the mullet makes it that much more badass.
Pyle thinks this win should put him into the Top 10. Not so sure about that, but three straight KOs is a nice run.
Colton Smith vs Mike “Metro” Ricci is up next.
Colton Smith is a lifelong wrestler and an Army Ranger. He will grab a leg and hold onto said leg for however long it takes to get the takedown, could be 30 seconds, could be four minutes and 59 seconds. That’s just how the dude rolls.
Mike Ricci is MMA’s first legitimate metrosexual (not that there’s anything wrong with that). He likes to shop, sip vino from the proper glass, vilify those he considers beneath him, and beat dudes up. And he absolutely despises when his friends change their hairstyles and fail to inform him. Hey, that’s just his thang.
I kinda like that Ricci doesn’t fit the typical mold. Sure, I consider him an arrogant prick too, but it’s nice to have a guy in the finals who, aside from a couple tats, doesn’t so easily fit into the sterotypical fighter package.
Damn, Colton’s old lady is fine. He’s kind of a fucked up looking dude. Pays to be a badass.
Has anyone else noticed how much Tristar guys love wearing tights? What’s up with that? Is that a Canadian thing?
Round 1: D White’s favorite ref is in charge, and it’s time to get it on. Colton ducks a high kick and shoots for a leg, Ricci defends. He’s got Ricci against the cage, working a body lock. Ricci goes down, looking to cage walk back up, and does. Colton’s got his back though, and drags him down. Ricci up, but Colton is all over him. He’s got a hook in, looking for the other. He takes Ricci down, gets the other hook in, looking for a choke. He’s softening Ricci up with head shots. They’re playing wrist control here. That’s a sucky position to be in for Ricci. Ah shit, he loses the position, and Ricci is up. Kick by Colton misses. Ricci throws a punch, Colton wraps him up again. He’s got underhooks, and takes Ricci down again. 10-9 for Colton.
Round 2: Ricci opens with a kick, but takes a nut shot. Ricci looks to the ref for help, but he aint having it, Colton attacks. Mazaghatti gives D White yet another reason to hate him. Colton takes Ricci down, working some ground and pound. Colton is trying to sneak those hooks in again. He’s got em, and going for a choke, but Ricci escapes out the back door. Colton takes his ass down again, and he’s dominating Ricci. Colton just smashed Ricci in the back of the head, has his hooks in again. He’s working that arm under the chin, but can’t get it. He’s sticking to Ricci like a glue trap, just relentless. Going for that choke again, but it looks like Ricci will survive the round. Round ends with Colton peppering Ricci’s mug with patty cake shots. 10-9 for Colton.
Round 3: Ricci with a body kick, but staying true to form, Colton takes him down, working that choke again. Ricci just cannot get anything going here, Colton is all over him, has his back, hooks in, just dominating him. Colton moves to mount, Ricci gives up his back again, working some shots to the side of Ricci’s head. Ricci should try something drastic, like an indian burn or a titty twister, shit something. Ricci tries to turn into Colton, but that aint happening. Ricci is either very good at defending chokes or Colton is very bad at applying them because he’s had Ricci’s back for the majority of the fight. Oh, Ricci reverses the position, has Colton’s back! Going for an armbar, holy shit! But no, Colton escapes, and that is a wrap. 10-9 for Colton and the clear victory.
The official decision is 30-27 (twice) and 30-26 for Colton Smith, the latest Ultimate Fighter, yada, yada, yada. Although he does get a Hog out of it, so that’s sweet. Colton pays mad respect to Ricci, to the troops, and to the good lord.
And the main event is next, Roy Nelson vs Matt Mitrione
It’s good to be a heavyweight. Not only do they generally make more money, but most of them don’t have to worry about cutting weight. Mitrione rolled out to the scales and didn’t even bother taking his jeans off, mocking the lighter weight fighters who had to starve themselves, swallow laxatives, and erase years from their lives by spending excessive time in the sauna.
Nelson took part in the clowning by willingly taking his shirt off, even though he didn’t have to, allowing his fabulous double DDs to freely flop around. And by sporting 17 pounds of lice-infested beard, yet still coming in 13 pounds under the limit.
Mitrione has moved his training camp down to the Blackzilians, even though he’s neither black nor zilian. And he rolls out to “Simple Man.” Respect!
“Big Country” rolls out to “We Will Rock You” with that fucked up beard and Pretorian gear out de ass.
Chris Lytle is in Mitrione’s corner. Let us all bow to Maximus.
Round 1: Herb Dean is the man, and it’s on. Matt opens to the body. Then a high kick, blocked by Nelson. And another. And another. Roy bull rushes him into the cage, working for a takedown. Matt reverses, and delivers a knee. Matt lands an elbow on the seperation, then lands a right hook. Oh, body kick by Matt. Roy firing back, lands a couple decent shots. They trade jabs. Nelson with a huge uppercut, and descends on Mitrione, scoring the TKO. Jesus!
It was an uppercut, then a left/right combo to knock Mitrione on his ass, then a few academic shots on the ground. Very impressive performance.
Roy Nelson with a TKO at 2:38 of the first round.
Eleven fights: only two decisions, with three submissions and six knockouts. I’d say Dana White has a pretty solid boner right about now.
In a sport where going with the flow seems to be the normal trend, Roy Nelson is a man apart. The Season 10 TUF winner has not been afraid to buck the system at every turn, no matter the additional criticism it may bring. Over his three years with the …
In a sport where going with the flow seems to be the normal trend, Roy Nelson is a man apart. The Season 10 TUF winner has not been afraid to buck the system at every turn, no matter the additional criticism it may bring. Over his three years with the UFC, “Big Country” has fallen in and out of favor with UFC President Dana White on several occasions. While this may be the shaky ground other fighters look to avoid, Nelson keeps on keeping on.
The reality is, Nelson is a man of conviction. Opinions from his fellow fighters or the men atop the promotion are of no concern to him because the 36-year-old Las Vegas native has absolutely zero issues with forging his own path through the sport.
He isn’t afraid to make waves by bringing difficult questions to the table, and no matter how much scorn it may bring, Nelson’s toughness inside and outside of the cage have put him in the interesting position to shake things up. His opinions may make him unpopular with his UFC boss, but his willingness to throw down has made him a favorite amongst the organization’s fan base.
He is afforded this platform due in large part to the fact Nelson always “shows up” to fight. His exciting style and durability have made him a commodity in an organization that has been ravaged by injury. Despite illness or changes in opponents, Nelson will always make that walk to the Octagon, and once that cage door closes, he’s going to give everything he has until the final bell sounds.
This is the exact mentality he will carry into his bout tonight with fellow TUF 10 alum Matt Mitrione in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale.
Despite preparing to face fellow slugger Shane Carwin for the second time, and having the Team Grudge heavyweight withdraw due to injury once again, the show will go on because of Nelson’s willingness to fight whoever the UFC puts in front of him.
Will defeating Mitrione get Nelson closer to the title shot he’s been searching for since coming into the UFC? No it won’t, but what it will serve to prove is that when Nelson’s name is on the bill, fans are going to get to see him fight, and things of this nature have been “hit or miss” for the UFC in 2012.
The Art of the “Old School” Scrap Mentality
It’s a common thing these days to hear fighters and promoters talk about an “anytime, anywhere” brand of toughness. While this may sound good in a buzzword sense, few mixed martial artists actually embody the sentiment.
Nelson, however, carries the flag when it comes to representing the old-school mentality the UFC was built upon.
It doesn’t matter whom the UFC matches him up against, a fight is a fight to Nelson. When his original opponent at UFC 117, Cheick Kongo, withdrew due to injury, the former IFL champion immediately stepped up to face future champion Junior Dos Santos.
While the bout ultimately resulted in Nelson’s first loss under the UFC banner, he became the first man to take JDS to the judge’s cards. In a fight where he survived a nasty first round, the MMA veteran regained his footing, and was trading heavy leather with “Cigano” until the final bell.
Nelson looked to bounce back into the win column in his next outing against former champion Frank Mir at UFC 130, but was defeated in a one-sided decision. White criticized Nelson’s performance and in turn, the Team Country Club leader answered back by showing up to his next fight against Pride legend Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic in leaner fashion. He was able to score a second round TKO over the Croatian and regain his place in the increasingly competitive ranks of the heavyweight division.
After facing another setback against Fabricio Werdum at UFC 143, Nelson was slated to face Antonio “Big Foot” Silva in the UFC’s all-heavyweight showcase at UFC 146. The events that transpired in the lead-up to the event serve as a perfect example of Nelson’s willingness to fight despite shifting circumstances.
Originally scheduled to face Silva, the debacle that forced former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem from the event created a complete shift in the card’s line-up. During this process, Nelson’s opponent changed twice, and after the initial replacement Gabriel Gonzaga withdrew due to injury, journeyman Dave Herman stepped in on two week’s notice.
Where other fighters would have asked to be taken off the card due to a lack of preparation time, Nelson charged on and scored a first-round knockout over the Indiana native.
Much like the Mitrione fight, defeating Herman carried little upside. On the other hand, had Nelson lost to “Pee Wee”, his stock would have bottomed out and his job with the UFC could have become non-existent. In the business of MMA, these are the circumstances that force fighters to make safe decisions. But for a fighter like Nelson who thrives on testing himself, there is only one way to move forward, and that is to fight.
The Roy Nelson Way
As the sport continues to grow and the trend of trash-talking continues to become the norm, Nelson refuses to waiver. He wears his heart on his sleeve and speaks his mind, and regardless of the potential backlash. This is simply “Roy being Roy,” and whether you like it or not, he isn’t going to change his ways to fit into the easy way of things.
I’ve personally known Nelson for quite some time and over the years, Nelson’s straight talk has assisted in my navigation, not just of the MMA world, but through the sometimes rocky waters of life itself.
“Get a backbone Finley,” he has said to me on more than a few occasions. While he has always said it with a chuckle, it doesn’t make the words carry any less meaning. The sport of MMA is a business, and in many ways, life reflects the business world as well, and going forward with an iron chin, a sharp mind and a huge heart is a formula I’m proud to say I’ve adapted.
The Roy Nelson way may not always be the most popular. It is, however, a path you can travel where you can look at yourself in the mirror at the end of the day, and be proud of who you are and the way you handle your business.
When I first read that headline, I had the same gut reaction most people had. “Roy Nelson, obviously.” After all Roy Nelson is, according to many lists, a top-10 heavyweight, fighting against a relatively popular, but not highly-ranked, Matt Mitrione. …
When I first read that headline, I had the same gut reaction most people had. “Roy Nelson, obviously.”
After all Roy Nelson is, according to many lists, a top-10 heavyweight, fighting against a relatively popular, but not highly-ranked, Matt Mitrione. Mitrione is a dangerous opponent. Very dangerous, even.
He has beaten some solid heavyweights and owns solid hands. He is more than capable of using his serious reach advantage to land a few big hits early, then snowball the same way Frank Mir and Fabricio Werdum did.
Really, though, Matt Mitrione is the fighter with far, far more at stake here. Why?
Because of life.
As we see more and more with mid-level UFC fighters, Matt Mitrione is having tough times financially. He joins guys like Pat Barry and Tom Lawlor in the “I have no money” club. This, after all, comes with the territory. Mitrione‘s last fight was a loss to Cheick Kongo in October 2011. You can listen to his candid, honest discussion on fighter pay with The MMA Hour here (fast forward to 16:00 to get to that specific discussion).
Now, Matt Mitrione is coming in to fight Roy Nelson—an opponent who is widely favored to win and a considerable step above his last opponent (who, again, beat him). We all know that Roy Nelson is a solid heavyweight fighter, so I won’t go in-depth about that. Suffice it to say, this is a very difficult fight for Matt Mitrione to step into on any kind of schedule, never mind short notice after a year out of the cage.
Headlining a card, Mitrione is looking at a decent payday. However, if you look at the UFC over the couple years, it is perplexingly trigger-happy when it comes to booting out heavyweights. Todd Duffee, who became an overnight sensation with his seven-second knockout of Tim Hague, was booted from the UFC for still vague reasons. TUF10 castmate to Nelson and Mitrione, Jon Madsen was inexplicably ejected from the promotion in 2011 despite amassing a 4-1 record in the UFC.
It is very, very possible that we could see Mitrione gas against Nelson, do just enough to survive to get a boring decision, lose and get cut from the UFC. It is comparably likely that we could see Mitrione get knocked out in the first round (which is something Nelson tends to do to inexperienced opponents), then lose one more time and, once again, get cut.
Obviously, the flip side is that if Mitrione scores a big win over Nelson (keep in mind, Nelson survived three rounds with Junior dos Santos), he rockets up the division’s rankings. With that comes increased exposure, sponsorship deals, endorsements, better placement on fight cards and so on.
This is a gamble. Every MMA fight is. But when you’re a father of three watching your checkbook get redder and redder, month after month, Matt Mitrione just plain has to feel some level of pressure, especially working for a company as willing to throw pink slips around as the UFC. The pressure increases even more now that Zuffa is probably going to be looking to lighten its roster a bit, given Strikeforce’s imminent closure and the addition of a women’s division.
Really, it’s obvious who has more on the line. As much as Dana White hates Roy Nelson, his future with the UFC is on solid footing, at least through this fight. Mitrione, meanwhile, is just another pawn the UFC is willing to move towards the bottom line at the end of the board that may or may not survive the game.
Looking back on this after writing it, it’s a macabre picture I’ve just painted. Still, it is true.
While MMA is undoubtedly entertaining for you and me, for the fighters, it’s their livelihood. When you’re in Matt Mitrione‘s position, the financial security of his family is on the line when he steps into that cage.
Financial security is a lot to have on the line when you have four people counting on you. Divisional rankings and the title picture don’t even come close to that.
We know it’s confusing, so we’ll try to make this as clear as possible…
– The weigh-ins for tomorrow night’s TUF 16 Finale are scheduled for today at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT, and you can watch them live in the player above. We’ll be liveblogging the FX main card broadcast tomorrow night beginning at 9 p.m. ET.
– Fun fact: Melvin Guillard plans on getting the lightweight title when he’s 35 or 40, so that he can retire shortly afterwards, rather than fade into obscurity like other guys who have fought for the title. It all makes sense now.
– We’ll be putting today’s weigh-in results after the jump. You’re welcome.
We know it’s confusing, so we’ll try to make this as clear as possible…
– The weigh-ins for tomorrow night’s TUF 16 Finale are scheduled for today at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT, and you can watch them live in the player above. We’ll be liveblogging the FX main card broadcast tomorrow night beginning at 9 p.m. ET.
– Fun fact: Melvin Guillard plans on getting the lightweight title when he’s 35 or 40, so that he can retire shortly afterwards, rather than fade into obscurity like other guys who have fought for the title. It all makes sense now.
– We’ll be putting today’s weigh-in results after the jump. You’re welcome.
FX main card
Matt Mitrione (257) vs. Roy Nelson (252)
Mike Ricci (171) vs. Colton Smith (170)
Pat Barry (238) vs. Shane del Rosario (244)
Melvin Guillard (156) vs. Jamie Varner (156)
Jonathan Brookins (146) vs. Dustin Poirier (146)
FUEL TV prelims
James Head (171) vs. Mike Pyle (171)
Johnny Bedford (136) vs. Marcos Vinicius (136)
Rustam Khabilov (155) vs. Vinc Pichel (156)
Nick Catone (171) vs. T.J. Waldburger (170)
Facebook prelims
Reuben Duran (136) vs. Hugo Viana (135)
John Cofer (156) vs. Mike Rio (156)
Tim Elliott (126) vs. Jared Papazian (126)
In a sport where going with the flow seems to be the normal trend,