The UFC was so damn proud of the Edson Barboza-esque knockout that Uriah Hall laid on Adam Cella during last night’s episode of TUF, that they actually made it available on YouTube along with some extended aftermath footage. And come to think of it, I can’t think of a knockout from the show’s history that was more impressive — or more brutal — than this one, especially considering how long Cella was unconscious. Cella did in fact go to the hospital for a CAT scan when he woke up, but it looks like the black dude in the ambulance that they kept showing in promos was footage from a different fight. (Could be the next one, actually.)
Hall’s win makes him an iron-clad front-runner for the $25,000 Knockout of the Season prize, and puts Team Sonnen up 2-0 in the preliminary round. A couple other notable moments from episode 3…
The UFC was so damn proud of the Edson Barboza-esque knockout that Uriah Hall laid on Adam Cella during last night’s episode of TUF, that they actually made it available on YouTube along with some extended aftermath footage. And come to think of it, I can’t think of a knockout from the show’s history that was more impressive — or more brutal — than this one, especially considering how long Cella was unconscious. Cella did in fact go to the hospital for a CAT scan when he woke up, but it looks like the black dude in the ambulance that they kept showing in promos was footage from a different fight. (Could be the next one, actually.)
Hall’s win makes him an iron-clad front-runner for the $25,000 Knockout of the Season prize, and puts Team Sonnen up 2-0 in the preliminary round. A couple other notable moments from episode 3…
– While hanging out at the house, Hall makes reference to the fact that Tor Troeng is a “professional cooker.” Josh Samman points out that the actual term for that is “chef.” Hall feels belittled in the exchange, and vows to go after Samman next. It’s such a thin line between life and death.
– Even before the Hall vs. Cella fight happens, Team Sonnen decides that they’re sending in their #6 pick Kevin Casey to fight next. Bubba McDaniel continues to lobby for a fight against Casey, and is once again overlooked, as Team Sonnen selects Casey vs. Collin Hart for next week’s matchup. At this point, it seems like Team Sonnen is intentionally keeping McDaniel on ice just to mess with his head — and it’s definitely working.
Team Sonnen
Luke Barnatt – quarterfinalist, defeated Gilbert Smith
Uriah Hall – quarterfinalist, defeated Adam Cella
Zak Cummings
Tor Troeng
Jimmy Quinlan
Kevin Casey
Kelvin Gastelum
Team Jones
Clint Hester
Josh Samman
Robert “Bubba” McDaniel Gilbert Smith
Collin Hart Adam Cella
Dylan Andrews
As one could tell from the opening moments of The Ultimate Fighter 17 premiere a couple weeks back, some drastic improvements have been made to the long neglected reality show. The sleek production, the lack of fabricated drama, the fight quality — nearly everything audiences were demanding over the past few seasons seems to have improved for the time being and has been reflected in the show’s much improved ratings.
And tonight’s episode, featuring a showdown between the highly touted Uriah Hall (Team Sonnen) and the all but completely overlooked Adam Cella (Team Jones), promises to deliver not only one of the most violent KO’s in the show’s history, but in the history of the sport. That is according to noted TUF hypeman and occasional UFC president Dana White, of course.
So in order to do a little TUF-hyping of our own (I know right? WHAT YEAR IS THIS?!), we’ve thrown a preview of tonight’s episode above for you all to check out. And indeed, if the audience’s reaction is any indication, then someone is going down in a big way during the night’s main event. Unfortunately for you spoilerphobes, if you freeze frame the video around the 45 second mark, you can see that the fighter strapped to the stretcher appears to be of the African American persuasion. A bit of intentional misleading by the TUF production team, or a massive upset in the making? And more importantly, how many of you Taters will be tuning in to find out?
After the jump: A little more video hype, featuring a sneak peak of Ronda Rousey’s special on Real Sports, which airs February 19th on HBO. Liz Carmouche’s special, on the other hand, will be airing tonight on Lifetime After Dark in the form of a 30-second trailer during the network’s coveted 3 a.m. spot. We kid, we kid; Liz didn’t get a special.
As one could tell from the opening moments of The Ultimate Fighter 17 premiere a couple weeks back, some drastic improvements have been made to the long neglected reality show. The sleek production, the lack of fabricated drama, the fight quality — nearly everything audiences were demanding over the past few seasons seems to have improved for the time being and has been reflected in the show’s much improved ratings.
And tonight’s episode, featuring a showdown between the highly touted Uriah Hall (Team Sonnen) and the all but completely overlooked Adam Cella (Team Jones), promises to deliver not only one of the most violent KO’s in the show’s history, but in the history of the sport. That is according to noted TUF hypeman and occasional UFC president Dana White, of course.
So in order to do a little TUF-hyping of our own (I know right? WHAT YEAR IS THIS?!), we’ve thrown a preview of tonight’s episode above for you all to check out. And indeed, if the audience’s reaction is any indication, then someone is going down in a big way during the night’s main event. Unfortunately for you spoilerphobes, if you freeze frame the video around the 45 second mark, you can see that the fighter strapped to the stretcher appears to be of the African American persuasion. A bit of intentional misleading by the TUF production team, or a massive upset in the making? And more importantly, how many of you Taters will be tuning in to find out?
After the jump: A little more video hype, featuring a sneak peak of Ronda Rousey’s special on Real Sports, which airs February 19th on HBO. Liz Carmouche’s special, on the other hand, will be airing tonight on Lifetime After Dark in the form of a 30-second trailer during the network’s coveted 3 a.m. spot. We kid, we kid; Liz didn’t get a special.
You’d think that Jon Jones would understand the importance of having a tremendous reach advantage, considering it’s one of the key elements of his own success in the UFC. But I’ve already said too much. Read on for our quick breakdown of the best and worst moments from last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter 17: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen, which produced the season’s first middleweight quarterfinalist.
The Good
– The sheer glee on the faces of the castmembers as they enter the TUF mansion for the first time, especially the ones who are used to living a much more humble lifestyle. Not a single one of them goes straight to the booze closet and starts breaking shit. Luke Barnatt is just thankful for six weeks of free food. The house is “astronomically extraordinary,” according to Gilbert Smith. Enjoy it guys, because that beautiful house will soon become…YOUR PRISON.
– Sonnen wearing wind-pants to every appearance in the gym — gotta love it — and the familiar faces among the assistant coaching staff, including Frank Mir (Team Jones), Vinny Magalhaes (Team Sonnen) and Mike Dolce (Team Sonnen).
– Uriah Hall telling Sonnen he wants to fight the best guys in the house, after Sonnen makes it known that he’d like Hall to get an easy road to the finals. Hall’s attitude is a refreshing contrast to Bubba McDaniel, who is fixated on getting the matchups that would give him the best chance of advancing in the tournament, and spends the first half of the episode lamenting how the Smith vs. Barnatt selection puts Team Jones at risk for losing control of the picks.
You’d think that Jon Jones would understand the importance of having a tremendous reach advantage, considering it’s one of the key elements of his own success in the UFC. But I’ve already said too much. Read on for our quick breakdown of the best and worst moments from last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter 17: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen, which produced the season’s first middleweight quarterfinalist.
The Good
– The sheer glee on the faces of the castmembers as they enter the TUF mansion for the first time, especially the ones who are used to living a much more humble lifestyle. Not a single one of them goes straight to the booze closet and starts breaking shit. Luke Barnatt is just thankful for six weeks of free food. The house is “astronomically extraordinary,” according to Gilbert Smith. Enjoy it guys, because that beautiful house will soon become…YOUR PRISON.
– Sonnen wearing wind-pants to every appearance in the gym — gotta love it — and the familiar faces among the assistant coaching staff, including Frank Mir (Team Jones), Vinny Magalhaes (Team Sonnen) and Mike Dolce (Team Sonnen).
– Uriah Hall telling Sonnen he wants to fight the best guys in the house, after Sonnen makes it known that he’d like Hall to get an easy road to the finals. Hall’s attitude is a refreshing contrast to Bubba McDaniel, who is fixated on getting the matchups that would give him the best chance of advancing in the tournament, and spends the first half of the episode lamenting how the Smith vs. Barnatt selection puts Team Jones at risk for losing control of the picks.
– The fight between Gilbert Smith and Luke Barnatt, which Barnatt wins by knockout (flying knee to the head) in round 2. Up until the stoppage, it was a closely-pitched battle, with both men showing off their skills in wrestling and transitions. Unfortunately, Smith’s cardio became a liability later in the fight.
The Bad
– The general lack of support that Gilbert Smith got from his teammates and coaches before the fight, which filled Smith with self-doubt, which led to McDaniel and others calling him out as mentally weak behind his back, then “ambushing” him with their concerns in the locker room. So much for team spirit.
– Jon Jones’s pissed-off reaction to the fight’s result, and his criticism of Smith’s performance, particularly his cardio — as if Jones didn’t have the option to pick a guy who was in better shape and could have better dealt with Barnatt’s length. Look dude, you picked the damn matchup. It would have been nice to hear Jones take some of the responsibility. And hey, reach wins fights. What a concept.
– Bubba McDaniel starting shit with Kevin Casey after the fight, in a desperate (and failed) attempt to influence the next matchup. Sonnen instead selects his #2 pick Uriah Hall to go up against Team Jones’s #6 pick Adam Cella.
As we see in the promo for the next episode, Hall vs. Cella results in one of the most violent knockouts in TUF history.
Team Sonnen
Luke Barnatt – quarterfinalist, defeated Gilbert Smith
Uriah Hall
Zak Cummings
Tor Troeng
Jimmy Quinlan
Kevin Casey
Kelvin Gastelum
Team Jones
Clint Hester
Josh Samman
Robert “Bubba” McDaniel Gilbert Smith
Collin Hart
Adam Cella
Dylan Andrews
The Ultimate Fighter returned last night with the two-hour premiere of “Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen,” and since the show is no longer on Friday nights, we figured we’d give it a look. Full results from the 14 middleweight elimination fights and team selections are at the end of this post, but first, let’s run through what worked, what didn’t, and what really didn’t…
The Good
– Allowing the fighters’ friends and family members to watch their elimination fights. It raised the emotional stakes for the competitors, removed the eerie silence that plagued the elimination rounds of previous seasons, and led to moments like this. Also, Andy Enz’s dad should be hired as an assistant coach. “REFUSE TO LOSE!”
– The stoppages. Eight of the 14 elimination fights ended in the first round. In general, there weren’t a lot of point-fighters or reality-show goofballs on display — just a bunch of raw, aggressive dudes who came to win.
The Ultimate Fighter returned last night with the two-hour premiere of “Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen,” and since the show is no longer on Friday nights, we figured we’d give it a look. Full results from the 14 middleweight elimination fights and team selections are at the end of this post, but first, let’s run through what worked, what didn’t, and what really didn’t…
The Good
– Allowing the fighters’ friends and family members to watch their elimination fights. It raised the emotional stakes for the competitors, removed the eerie silence that plagued the elimination rounds of previous seasons, and led to moments like this. Also, Andy Enz’s dad should be hired as an assistant coach. ”REFUSE TO LOSE!”
– The stoppages. Eight of the 14 elimination fights ended in the first round. In general, there weren’t a lot of point-fighters or reality-show goofballs on display — just a bunch of raw, aggressive dudes who came to win.
– The production values. Did anybody else get the feeling that the show has started trying harder? I think the UFC understands that this Jones vs. Sonnen season needs to work — or else they set up an absurd title fight for nothing.
The Bad
– Josh Samman’s verbal antics. Yelling “Are you guys ready?” after getting on top Leo Bercier was “Say Goodnight!“-caliber lame. And nobody was impressed with the shouts of “HAI!” he unleashed with each Sakuraba-wannabe double-chop and elbow he threw down during the drawn-out finish.
– Jon Jones shouting instructions at Clint Hester during his fight. I don’t know. It just kind of sucked for the other guy. Hester later became Jones’s #1 pick.
– Mentioning that Dylan Andrews grew up in a marijuana grow house, but failing to mention how Tim Williams got all those gnarly scars on his face.
– The Harley-Davidson product placement. Sure, it’s a cool incentive for the season’s winner, but watching Salesman Sonnen straddle on the bike like he was hosting a QVC segment was a bit awkward.
The Ugly
– Nik Fekete getting knocked out in like seven seconds. Yeesh. This guy was just born to be highlight-reel fodder for other fighters.
– “This guy’s name is Collin ‘The Dick’ Hart.”
– Sonnen’s insistence on speaking in rhyme. ”How you gonna deal with the team of steel, and how will you react when I put my boys on the attack.” Worst attempt at hip-hop from a white dude since Dee Dee King.
Complete fight results:
– Adam Cella def. Jake Heun via submission (armbar), round 1
– Zak Cummings def. Nik Fekete via TKO, round 1
– Kevin Casey def. Eldon Sproat via submission (rear-naked choke), round 1
– Tor Troeng def. Scott Rosa via submission (rear-naked choke), round 1
– Clint Hester def. Fraser Opie via decision
– Robert “Bubba” McDaniel def. Ryan Bigler via TKO, round 2
– Josh Samman def. Lou Bercier via TKO, round 1
– Kelvin Gastelum def. Kito Andrews via decision
– Jimmy Quinlan def. Mike Persons via TKO, round 1
– Uriah Hall def. Andy Enz via decision
– Gilbert Smith def. Eric Wahlin via submission (arm-triangle choke), round 1
– Luke Barnatt def. Nicholas Kohring via decision
– Dylan Andrews def. Tim Williams via decision
– Collin Hart def. Mike Jasper via submission (rear-naked choke), round 1
Sonnen wins the coin toss, and chooses to select the first fighter. The picks shake out like this…
Team Sonnen
Luke Barnatt
Uriah Hall
Zak Cummings
Tor Troeng
Jimmy Quinlan
Kevin Casey
Kelvin Gastelum
Team Jones
Clint Hester
Josh Samman
Robert “Bubba” McDaniel
Gilbert Smith
Collin Hart
Adam Cella
Dylan Andrews
Jones gets to select the first matchup, and decides to have Gilbert Smith take a run at Sonnen’s towering #1 pick, Luke Barnatt. It’s a very risky move — Smith could be walking into a death-trap, and losing the ability to pick the matchups would put Team Jones at a serious disadvantage. But if Smith manages to beat Barnatt, it would be a demoralizing loss for Team Sonnen right off the bat. We shall see…
In either case, Sonnen recently appeared on his favorite venue for trolling the MMA world, The Jim Rome Show, and picked up where he left off in regards to the now disgraced cyclist, even delving into how Armstrong had threatened to sue him for his statements at one point:
Why are they calling him a bully? That’s what I can’t wrap my mind brain around. Lance is a dweeb, the only thing he’s missing is the tape on the glasses and the high water pants. That guy couldn’t get respect at the local Honky Tonk in my hometown. He threatened to sue me so I threatened to kick his ass and the whole thing went away.
In either case, Sonnen recently appeared on his favorite venue for trolling the MMA world, The Jim Rome Show, and picked up where he left off in regards to the now disgraced cyclist, even delving into how Armstrong had threatened to sue him for his statements at one point:
Why are they calling him a bully? That’s what I can’t wrap my mind brain around. Lance is a dweeb, the only thing he’s missing is the tape on the glasses and the high water pants. That guy couldn’t get respect at the local Honky Tonk in my hometown. He threatened to sue me so I threatened to kick his ass and the whole thing went away.
Look, I get it and I’m kidding but Lance did do some bad stuff and he was a jerk about it. Yeah, he hit me up with the whole ‘I’m gonna sue you’ routine and I hit him back with the whole ‘I’ll kick your ass’ routine. That’s it, that’s where it ended. I thought he was going to go through with the lawsuit but he did not.
So there you have it, Potato Nation: Oregon is apparently such a backwards, underdeveloped state that it still has local Honky Tonks at which the townspeople must throw down to earn respect. That’s what we were supposed to take away from this, right?
You can listen to Sonnen’s entire interview here, and we’d highly recommend it. Sonnen barely lets Rome get the introduction out of the way before he starts attacking Armstrong for using PED’s “to do something that my six year-old niece does up and down the driveway every day,” and it only gets more entertaining from there.
Hopefully the 17th season (!!!) premiere of The Ultimate Fighter tonight won’t absolutely suck, because Sonnen has simply put too much effort into his convoluted attempts at hyping the season up to let it go unnoticed.
