There are many reasons that someone needs to win a fight. They might be fighting to save their job. They might be fighting to save their career. They might be fighting to prove that they are finally ready for a title shot…
There are many reasons that someone needs to win a fight. They might be fighting to save their job. They might be fighting to save their career. They might be fighting to prove that they are finally ready for a title shot. They might be fighting to prove that they truly belong in the UFC.
From the knockout artist, to the budding contender, to the rookie looking to cut his teeth, we all have our roles to play. This is a look at the fighters from this weeks’ UFC on FUEL: Sanchez vs Ellenberger event.
Recently, the UFC has wrapped season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter.The popular mixed martial arts reality show has yielded many notable fighters, launching the careers of over 100 fighters, some later becoming contenders and champions in their respective …
Recently, the UFC has wrapped season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter.
The popular mixed martial arts reality show has yielded many notable fighters, launching the careers of over 100 fighters, some later becoming contenders and champions in their respective divisions.
Now, after 21 champions have been crowned from the TUF series, here are where they all stand opposite of one another based on overall performance and relevancy.
Former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar faced off against future UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos on The Ultimate Fighter 13 and came out with some pretty low ratings in what would be the second-to-last TUF on Spike.Spike TV executive Kevin …
Former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar faced off against future UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos on The Ultimate Fighter 13 and came out with some pretty low ratings in what would be the second-to-last TUF on Spike.
“Look, the Brock Lesnar season just wasn’t that good. Let’s be honest. It wasn’t the Brock that the audience expected,” said Kay. “The audience wanted Brock the bad guy, and Brock was more of a good guy, and I don’t think it was that great a season.”
Having Lesnar coach The Ultimate Fighter was expected to boost ratings of the reality MMA show. Unfortunately for Spike and the UFC, Lesnar wasn’t the guy everybody expected, and having him next to the insanely nice JDS did nothing to cause the fights that reality fans come to expect.
Add in the fact that the show didn’t really have any marketable stars and barely any great fight moments, and the show just couldn’t get ratings up, leading to speculation of how the UFC would make this last season of TUF better.
Lesnar was also supposed to fight JDS at UFC 131 in Vancouver, but due to a second bout with diverticulitis, Lesnar pulled himself from the card.
JDS went on to beat Shane Carwin by unanimous decision and get his shot against Cain Velasquez for the UFC title.
At UFC on Fox 1, JDS beat Velasquez by first-round knockout and claimed the title. JDS is now out with a knee injury, and Lesnar faces Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 on New Year’s Eve in his first fight since his knockout loss to Velasquez in October of 2010.
The Ultimate Fighter is a show that has become pretty boring and stale the last couple of seasons. Since The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, the show has become almost unwatchable because nobody knows the fighters on the show and there are no good stor…
The Ultimate Fighter is a show that has become pretty boring and stale the last couple of seasons. Since The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, the show has become almost unwatchable because nobody knows the fighters on the show and there are no good storylines.
The early days of The Ultimate Fighter launched careers and many have become world champions in their respected weight classes. Now, the winner is usually someone who no one has ever heard of and honestly no one cares who wins the show.
The rumors are out that Dominick Cruz will go up against Urijah Faber on the next installment of TUF. The two men actually do not like each other so that may create a watchable show. But I do believe that there are better options out there.
Nijem told host Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of “The MMA Hour” that it was his pride that got in the way, and that, along with a Ferguson left, saw his dream of being a TUF champion go out the window.
“It wasn’t nerves as much as my pride got to me a little bit,” Nijem said of his knockout loss to Ferguson. “Tony’s a really good striker, hits hard and has good head movement. People said, ‘You’ll get knocked out if you stand with him,’ and the critics were right on that. I just learned from that to play to my strengths and not play to their strengths.”
Nijem (4-2, 0-1 UFC), who trains at The Pit Elevated camp in Utah along with TUF 11 champ Court McGee, made his reputation in the TUF house as a fun-loving competitor who would go to just about any length for a laugh – including disrobing, leading to his “Stripper Ramsey” nickname catching on. He said bringing a relaxed attitude to his fight game should help him get back in the win column – but if it doesn’t, he can live with it.
“I’m a much better fighter when I’m just out there having fun,” Nijem said. “As long as I’m just out there for the right reasons, I’ll be successful and won’t have any regrets after the fight. If I execute my game plan and still lose and have fun, that’s all I can expect out of myself.”
Nijem fought at welterweight on Season 13 of TUF, but for his UFC 137 fight Saturday against Danny Downes (8-2, 0-1 UFC), he drops back to lightweight. It’s a weight he believes will be beneficial to him because of his size.
The Palestinian-American fighter, who wrestled collegiately at Utah Valley University, said 155 will be a tough cut for him, but one he thinks will pay off. He fought at lightweight once before moving to welterweight for a shot at the UFC in the spring during his TUF season.
“I was fighting at ’55 before I went on the show, kind of bouncing around between (lightweight and welterweight),” Nijem said. “I just feel my size can make up for my lack of experience in the ring. ’55’s a pretty big cut for me. If I was on the show at ’55 the season before, I don’t think I would’ve performed as well. ’70 was a good opportunity for the show, and be able to drop back down to ’55 after.”
Against Downes, Nijem faces an opponent also in search of his first UFC win. The Duke Roufus-trained fighter lost a unanimous decision to Jeremy Stephens at the TUF 13 Finale in June after going 1-1 in the WEC before the merger.
Nijem said he knew from seeing Downes’ fight against Stephens that he might be hard to finish, but believes his skill set can top Downes’.
“Danny is a tough opponent – he’s the kind of person you can never count out,” Nijem said “He’s in shape, he hits hard and he’s there to fight. He’s not easy to finish. But I feel I’m a better fighter, more explosive, more athletic and I’ll be bigger the day of the fight. I’m obviously the better wrestler and grappler. This is a winnable fight for me, but Danny’s tough and I’m … getting ready for a three-round grind.”
Nijem and Downes fight on the preliminary card of UFC 137 on Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Their lightweight fight will be one of four prelims that will stream live on the UFC’s Facebook fan page.
UFC 137 is headlined by a welterweight contenders bout between former lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn and former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz. That fight became the main event when welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre had to pull out of his title fight against Carlos Condit with an injury last week.
Nijem told host Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of “The MMA Hour” that it was his pride that got in the way, and that, along with a Ferguson left, saw his dream of being a TUF champion go out the window.
“It wasn’t nerves as much as my pride got to me a little bit,” Nijem said of his knockout loss to Ferguson. “Tony’s a really good striker, hits hard and has good head movement. People said, ‘You’ll get knocked out if you stand with him,’ and the critics were right on that. I just learned from that to play to my strengths and not play to their strengths.”
Nijem (4-2, 0-1 UFC), who trains at The Pit Elevated camp in Utah along with TUF 11 champ Court McGee, made his reputation in the TUF house as a fun-loving competitor who would go to just about any length for a laugh – including disrobing, leading to his “Stripper Ramsey” nickname catching on. He said bringing a relaxed attitude to his fight game should help him get back in the win column – but if it doesn’t, he can live with it.
“I’m a much better fighter when I’m just out there having fun,” Nijem said. “As long as I’m just out there for the right reasons, I’ll be successful and won’t have any regrets after the fight. If I execute my game plan and still lose and have fun, that’s all I can expect out of myself.”
Nijem fought at welterweight on Season 13 of TUF, but for his UFC 137 fight Saturday against Danny Downes (8-2, 0-1 UFC), he drops back to lightweight. It’s a weight he believes will be beneficial to him because of his size.
The Palestinian-American fighter, who wrestled collegiately at Utah Valley University, said 155 will be a tough cut for him, but one he thinks will pay off. He fought at lightweight once before moving to welterweight for a shot at the UFC in the spring during his TUF season.
“I was fighting at ’55 before I went on the show, kind of bouncing around between (lightweight and welterweight),” Nijem said. “I just feel my size can make up for my lack of experience in the ring. ’55’s a pretty big cut for me. If I was on the show at ’55 the season before, I don’t think I would’ve performed as well. ’70 was a good opportunity for the show, and be able to drop back down to ’55 after.”
Against Downes, Nijem faces an opponent also in search of his first UFC win. The Duke Roufus-trained fighter lost a unanimous decision to Jeremy Stephens at the TUF 13 Finale in June after going 1-1 in the WEC before the merger.
Nijem said he knew from seeing Downes’ fight against Stephens that he might be hard to finish, but believes his skill set can top Downes’.
“Danny is a tough opponent – he’s the kind of person you can never count out,” Nijem said “He’s in shape, he hits hard and he’s there to fight. He’s not easy to finish. But I feel I’m a better fighter, more explosive, more athletic and I’ll be bigger the day of the fight. I’m obviously the better wrestler and grappler. This is a winnable fight for me, but Danny’s tough and I’m … getting ready for a three-round grind.”
Nijem and Downes fight on the preliminary card of UFC 137 on Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Their lightweight fight will be one of four prelims that will stream live on the UFC’s Facebook fan page.
UFC 137 is headlined by a welterweight contenders bout between former lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn and former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz. That fight became the main event when welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre had to pull out of his title fight against Carlos Condit with an injury last week.
Anthony “Showtime” Pettis closed out the WEC organization’s existence with a bang and a loud announcement: I’m a threat to anyone and I will end fights in a spectacular fashion. Since capturing the WEC lightweight championship at WEC 53 with the k…
Anthony “Showtime” Pettis closed out the WEC organization’s existence with a bang and a loud announcement: I’m a threat to anyone and I will end fights in a spectacular fashion.
Since capturing the WEC lightweight championship at WEC 53 with the kick heard around the world against Ben Henderson, Pettis stumbled into UFC competition.
Pettis was slated to be the No. 1 contender for the lightweight title that was supposed to be settled at UFC 125. In light of the draw that happened between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, a monkey wrench was thrown in Pettis’ plans.
Since those two were occupied in preparing for a rematch, Pettis elected to stay busy and fought Clay Guida at the Ultimate Fighter 13 finale. Guida dominated with his wrestling and ignored the submission attempts from Pettis en route to a unanimous decision victory.
No longer the No. 1 contender in a muddled lightweight division, Pettis has to fight his way back to the top. Jeremy Stephens stands in his way on Saturday night. In order for Pettis to get back into title contention, he probably needs two or three solid wins while the title picture clears up.
A win versus Stephens won’t put Pettis in a title fight, but it will put him up against one of the top-tier fighters to get himself back in the talk for a title fight. Perhaps he can be the introduction into the UFC for Gilbert Melendez? Who knows, but a win will do a lot for his title aspirations and his psyche.
Former heavyweight champion 
For young fighters trying to make their names through the