Tag: TUF 19

TUF 19 Finale Results: Frankie Edgar Destroys BJ Penn, Penn (Kind of?) Retires for the Umpteenth Time


(Photo via Getty)

The TUF 19 Finale headlined by BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar is now officially a candidate for saddest card of all time–not because of the entertainment value of the card, but because of what happened in the main event.

BJ Penn looked…old. He looked old, slow, and generally terrible. He came out with this bizarre, vertical stance reminiscent of a pose a non-fight fan would do if they were parodying a boxer. It looked really strange. Nor did it suit Penn’s style. His footwork couldn’t keep up with Edgar, nor could his hands. Edgar tagged Penn at will, and even managed to take the Hawaiian down at will. This was doubly depressing because Penn’s takedown defense used to be legendary. Eventually, Edgar landed a prolonged flurry of ground and pound in the third frame, prompting a stoppage.

BJ Penn didn’t fight like BJ Penn, and he admitted to it after the fight. He (rightly) stated he didn’t belong in the cage, and hinted he was going to retire.

But there were other important fights on the card–namely the TUF 19 finals.


(Photo via Getty)

The TUF 19 Finale headlined by BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar is now officially a candidate for saddest card of all time–not because of the entertainment value of the card, but because of what happened in the main event.

BJ Penn looked…old. He looked old, slow, and generally terrible. He came out with this bizarre, vertical stance reminiscent of a pose a non-fight fan would do if they were parodying a boxer. It looked really strange. Nor did it suit Penn’s style. His footwork couldn’t keep up with Edgar, nor could his hands. Edgar tagged Penn at will, and even managed to take the Hawaiian down at will. This was doubly depressing because Penn’s takedown defense used to be legendary. Eventually, Edgar landed a prolonged flurry of ground and pound in the third frame, prompting a stoppage.

BJ Penn didn’t fight like BJ Penn, and he admitted to it after the fight. He (rightly) stated he didn’t belong in the cage, and hinted he was going to retire.

But there were other important fights on the card–namely the TUF 19 finals.

In the middleweight final, Eddie Gordon ran through Dhiego Lima. To say he blitzed him would be an understatement. Gordon ran across the cage and started just bashing the shit out of Lima, who folded against the constant pressure. That’s honestly as technical as we can get. The fight was a pure beatdown, plain and simple.

We didn’t think a mugging like that could get more ferocious and violent…but then we watched Corey Anderson vs. Matt Van Buren. Anderson lived up to his ridiculous “Beastin’ 25/8″ nickname and beasted through Van Buren more dramatically than Gordon destroyed Lima!

Overall, it was a pretty entertaining night–a shame it had to end in such a disappointing yet entirely predictable way.

Here are the night’s complete results:

Main Card:

Frankie Edgar def. B.J. Penn via TKO (R3: 4:16)
Corey Anderson def. Matt Van Buren via TKO (R1: 1:01)
Eddie Gordon def. Dhiego Lima via TKO (R1: 1:11)
Derrick Lewis def. Guto Inocente via TKO (R1: 3:30)
Dustin Ortiz def. Justin Scoggins via split decision (29-28 28-29, 29-28)

Preliminary Card:

Kevin Lee def. Jesse Ronson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Leandro Issa def. Jumabieke Tuerxun via submission (armbar) (R3, 3:49)
Adriano Martins def. Juan Manuel Puig via first-round KO (2:20)
Patrick Walsh def. Daniel Spohn via unanimous decision 29-28 X3
Sarah Moras def. Alexis Dufresne via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Robert Drysdale def. Keith Berish via submission (rear-naked choke) (R1, 2:03)

Uh, Guys, You Might Want to Check Out What TUF 19 Finalist Corey Anderson’s Nickname Is

Ron “H20” Waterman. Justin “Nsane1” McCully. Jorge “The Naked Man” Ortiz. Just a few examples of why MMA fighters should never, ever be allowed to give themselves a nickname. And now, the latest and perhaps most tragic entry into the Bad Fighter Nickname Hall of Fame: TUF 19 finalist Corey “Beastin 25/8” Anderson.

I………………………..I just…………

Beastin 25/8. Beastin 25/8. I’ve said it aloud at least a dozen times already, placing emphasis on a different beat of the phrase each time, and I still haven’t cracked the code. Of all the combinations of all the words and numbers possible, he came up with fucking bee sting 25/8.

How have we allowed this to happen? I mean as, like, a collective species of likeminded individuals. I feel cold and ashamed and confused and cold and also ashamed.

Ron “H20″ Waterman. Justin “Nsane1″ McCully. Jorge “The Naked Man” Ortiz. Just a few examples of why MMA fighters should never, ever be allowed to give themselves a nickname. And now, the latest and perhaps most tragic entry into the Bad Fighter Nickname Hall of Fame: TUF 19 finalist Corey “Beastin 25/8″ Anderson.

I………………………..I just…………

Beastin 25/8. Beastin 25/8. I’ve said it aloud at least a dozen times already, placing emphasis on a different beat of the phrase each time, and I still haven’t cracked the code. Of all the combinations of all the words and numbers possible, he came up with fucking bee sting 25/8.

How have we allowed this to happen? I mean as, like, a collective species of likeminded individuals. I feel cold and ashamed and confused and cold and also ashamed.

There’s no way he’s always had that nickname, right? I know he’s only been competing a few years, but please, someone tell me that Corey Anderson has not been allowed to carry on with that nickname for this long.

Do you think Corey came up with it himself? Or do you think at some point during his training camp, one of his teammates saw him really cranking out those last few squats and was all like, “Man, you so tough, you don’t train 24/7, you train 25/8! You a beast, man!” and then Corey stopped dead in his tracks and was all “What did you just say?”

Can you imagine how Bruce Buffer is going to sound pronouncing this verbal diarrhea while channeling the power of Thor’s hammer with his voice? Do you think this will be the nickname that makes him finally crack and just burst out laughing like Steve Harvey on Family Fued? Bad enough Bruce is whoring out his vocal skills to set fighters voicemails these days, but now he has to be subjected to this?

Why, oh why have you forced me to rack my brain like this, Corey? Is this some kind of next level trolling, or did you serious think this was a snappy, original nickname? SOMEONE HELP ME UNDERSTAND THIS.

*********

I would just like to point out what several redditors already have, which is that Mr. Anderson’s nipples appear to have been photoshopped out and replaced with those of a pregnant steer. He also appears to have earned all 4 of his professional wins by neither submission, TKO, or decision, which says alot about his skillset as fighter. I almost want to root for him in his fight against whoever the other TUF 19 light heavyweight finalist is at the show’s finale this Sunday (?), but I simply can’t in good conscience.

Good luck, other TUF 19 finalist whose name I do not feel like looking up. I am in your corner.

–J. Jones

This 4-Minute Video Pretty Much Sums Up The Entire Season of TUF 19: Penn vs. Edgar (and TUF in General)

“I have a question for both of you,” asks Dana White to BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar just moments before the three begin deliberating semifinal matchups on last night’s episode of TUF 19, “Is this the season of guys who just don’t want it?”

“F*cking exactly,” Penn quickly chimes in, while Edgar opts to remain silent. I swear, that Edgar fellow is too nice for his own good and it’s going to get him hurt one day.

But perhaps more interesting than White’s assertion of this season’s cast — who combined have finished just one fight inside the distance since entering the house — is how it applies to the excruciatingly dull season that TUF 19 has become, and truly, The Ultimate Fighter program as a whole.

I know, I know, we here at CagePotato hate everything MMA, UFC, and especially, T-U-F. We’ve had it out for The Ultimate Fighter from the get-go — the “get-go” being somewhere around season 15. We’re just h8ers who can’t appreci8 TUF because we’re all overw8 noobs who can’t get d8s, don’t trane UFC, etc. And that’s fine, but even the biggest TUF apologist would find it hard to declare that this season has been memorable in any way whatsoever (although I’m sure a few of you will try in the comments section). The fights have sucked, Penn and Edgar have been non-factors at best, and the fights have sucked. Did I mention the fights have sucked? Because they have.

“I have a question for both of you,” asks Dana White to BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar just moments before the three begin deliberating semifinal matchups on last night’s episode of TUF 19, “Is this the season of guys who just don’t want it?”

“F*cking exactly,” Penn quickly chimes in, while Edgar opts to remain silent. I swear, that Edgar fellow is too nice for his own good and it’s going to get him hurt one day.

But perhaps more interesting than White’s assertion of this season’s cast — who combined have finished just one fight inside the distance since entering the house — is how it applies to the excruciatingly dull season that TUF 19 has become, and truly, The Ultimate Fighter program as a whole.

I know, I know, we here at CagePotato hate everything MMA, UFC, and especially, T-U-F. We’ve had it out for The Ultimate Fighter from the get-go — the “get-go” being somewhere around season 15. We’re just h8ers who can’t appreci8 TUF because we’re all overw8 noobs who can’t get d8s, don’t trane UFC, etc. And that’s fine, but even the biggest TUF apologist would find it hard to declare that this season has been memorable in any way whatsoever (although I’m sure a few of you will try in the comments section). The fights have sucked, Penn and Edgar have been non-factors at best, and the fights have sucked. Did I mention the fights have sucked? Because they have.

What could Dana White have expected, honestly? When it was first announced that Penn, a recently retired legend who has dropped 4 of his past 6 fights, and Edgar, a former lightweight champion who has beaten Penn twice, would serve as coaches this season and then meet in a completely unnecessary trilogy bout, at featherweight, there was almost a universal reaction of “Wait, WTF?!” Not only has Penn never fought at featherweight before, but the dominant fashion in which Edgar last defeated him didn’t exactly have fans screaming for another go. And what would a win even mean for Penn? A temporary stay of execution from retirement? A chance to get leg-kicked into oblivion by Jose Aldo?

Coming off the ratings kersploosh that was TUF 18 and with at least two international seasons of the show running at all times (and receiving their own, garbage-ass finale cards, no less), it is safe to say that fans are all tapped out of the trite and plain boring entity that is TUF. Even worse, the booking of Penn and Edgar as coaches for TUF 19 seems to indicate that the UFC might be feeling the same effects as well.

But TUF is all about the fighters, right? Right, except that this season’s contestants (Dhiego Lima excluded) seem as if they could not give less of a fuck about getting their skulls bashed in for a chance to earn 8k/8k a fight for the next five years (and I almost forgot, that sweet glass plaque!). Nor do they seem swayed by White dangling the $25,000 “Knockout/Sub/Fight of the Season” bonuses like a carrot in front of their face in the above video.

“$50,000 is life changing!” says White, who proceeds to drop $200,000 in casino chips and drunkenly purchasing a smart car just because.

I’ve always had this theory about UFC cards, where if the first few fights end in an underwhelming decision, the rest of the card is doomed to follow in the same fashion. The fans become fatigued, the fighters realize that most fans at home have already tuned out, and it just becomes another long day at the office. I haven’t been wrong on that many occasions.

Those underwhelming undercard fights are the last 5 or so seasons of The Ultimate Fighter in this scenario, in case you didn’t get the metaphor.

Nothing short of a miracle is going to pull TUF out of the hole it’s been in, although I do hold out hope that an all-womens season with some actual stakes on the line will at least give us a reason to watch it again. Save a brutal KO in the premiere episode and a baffling judging/referee calamity in episode 7, TUF 19 has been decidedly absent of any notable moments. The same can be said about TUF 18, 16, the “Live” season (LOL!), and countless others.

I don’t even need to beat the dead horse that is the UFC’s obvious oversaturation issues anymore. The proof is in the semen-covered sushi pudding. And to answer Dana’s question, no, we don’t want it.

–J. Jones

The Officiating Was So Bad on ‘TUF 19? Last Night That It May Have Literally Changed the Sport

(Props: TheUltimateFighter on YouTube)

If you’ve been skipping this season of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn, you’re missing out on some elite-level pumpkin carving and cross-dressing. Also, universally-reviled referee Steve Mazzagatti made another controversial decision during last night’s episode, and jeopardized his career in the process.

First, Mazzagatti deducted a point from Roger Zapata for an illegal “12-to-6” elbow during the “Sudden Victory” round of his fight against Ian Stephens. Though Zapata was warned about throwing 12-to-6 elbows before the point-deduction, the shot that actually led to the penalty was verrrrry questionable. (Skip to 0:54-0:58 in the above video and tell us what you think, then brace yourself for Team Penn assistant coach Mark Coleman roaring gibberish in anger.)

UFC president Dana White stormed out of the gym rather than watch the fight continue. If only it ended there, guys. If only. Here’s what happened next, as described by FightOpinion:


(Props: TheUltimateFighter on YouTube)

If you’ve been skipping this season of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn, you’re missing out on some elite-level pumpkin carving and cross-dressing. Also, universally-reviled referee Steve Mazzagatti made another controversial decision during last night’s episode, and jeopardized his career in the process.

First, Mazzagatti deducted a point from Roger Zapata for an illegal “12-to-6″ elbow during the “Sudden Victory” round of his fight against Ian Stephens. Though Zapata was warned about throwing 12-to-6 elbows before the point-deduction, the shot that actually led to the penalty was verrrrry questionable. (Skip to 0:54-0:58 in the above video and tell us what you think, then brace yourself for Team Penn assistant coach Mark Coleman roaring gibberish in anger.)

UFC president Dana White stormed out of the gym rather than watch the fight continue. If only it ended there, guys. If only. Here’s what happened next, as described by FightOpinion:

“At the end of the third round, two of the judges had scored the round a 9-9 round but one judge scored it a 10-8 round in favor of Stephens. When Mazzagatti announced the winner of the fight, he raised Zapata’s hand and called him “Ian Zapata.” Everyone went crazy. Mazzagatti tried a do-over and said “Roger Zapata” but the UFC editors made sure to leave the mistake in. White blew a gasket and said it was impossible for the judges to give Zapata the win given that he lost a point in the third round. Dana claims that since only one judge declared a winner after the third round that the judges were asked to pick an overall winner (PRIDE-style) and they picked Zapata.”

During his Wednesday appearance on UFC Tonight before the episode aired, Dana White said that the TUF fiasco resulted in some positive changes within the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Though he kept his language vague, keep in mind that Mazzagatti has yet to work a UFC card in 2014, and former NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer resigned at the beginning of this year. To put it another way, people might have lost their jobs over a goddamned episode of TUF. As if we need another reason to put this show out of its misery…

So Here’s That Absolutely Brutal KO From Last Night’s TUF 19 Premiere [VIDEO]

After sitting through a TUF Finale card that felt longer than Moses’ trek across the desert, I can’t imagine that many of you stuck around to catch the premiere episode of a TUF season headlined by the most nonsensical coaching matchup since Jones vs. Sonnen. You would have missed some stellar action if you had checked out early, however, as last night’s premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter 19 featured some thrilling wars and even more spectacular knockouts. Knockouts like the one above, which went down in a light heavyweight contest between Daniel Spohn and Tyler King.

In the first fight of the night, Spohn started things off with a body kick that sounded worse than it probably was, prompting King to rush in with his hands down, arms out, and chin up (Marcus Jones style!). Remaining calm, Spohn managed to evade King’s mummy-esque attack, then proceeded to truly mummify him with a blistering right hook. As if the punch that shut King’s lights off wasn’t bad enough, his momentum sent him crashing head first into the mat with a sickening thud. Why Spohn felt the need to add an additional pair of punches to his clearly unconscious opponent is beyond me, but hey, sometimes these things happen in MMA.

The fight’s aftermath was a harrowing moment to say the least, made all the more difficult to watch after we were informed that King’s mother was in the audience. But it’s like Penn said, “This is a rough sport…and maybe sometimes you shouldn’t bring your mom.” Unless you’re Manny Pacquiao, of course.

After the jump: An equally brutal almost-kneebar from the war that was Mike King vs. Nordine Taleb.

After sitting through a TUF Finale card that felt longer than Moses’ trek across the desert, I can’t imagine that many of you stuck around to catch the premiere episode of a TUF season headlined by the most nonsensical coaching matchup since Jones vs. Sonnen. You would have missed some stellar action if you had checked out early, however, as last night’s premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter 19 featured some thrilling wars and even more spectacular knockouts. Knockouts like the one above, which went down in a light heavyweight contest between Daniel Spohn and Tyler King.

In the first fight of the night, Spohn started things off with a body kick that sounded worse than it probably was, prompting King to rush in with his hands down, arms out, and chin up (Marcus Jones style!). Remaining calm, Spohn managed to evade King’s mummy-esque attack, then proceeded to truly mummify him with a blistering right hook. As if the punch that shut King’s lights off wasn’t bad enough, his momentum sent him crashing head first into the mat with a sickening thud. Why Spohn felt the need to add an additional pair of punches to his clearly unconscious opponent is beyond me, but hey, sometimes these things happen in MMA.

The fight’s aftermath was a harrowing moment to say the least, made all the more difficult to watch after we were informed that King’s mother was in the audience. But it’s like Penn said, “This is a rough sport…and maybe sometimes you shouldn’t bring your mom.” Unless you’re Manny Pacquiao, of course.

After the jump: An equally brutal almost-kneebar from the war that was Mike King vs. Nordine Taleb.

I don’t mean to speak in hyperbole, but the middleweight battle between Mike King and Nordine Taleb* (which served as the final fight of the episode) might have been the greatest elimination fight in the history of the The Ultimate Fighter. It had everything; knockdowns from both sides, some great grappling exchanges, and an amazing amount of heart on display. Although King appeared to be down and out at the start of the decisive third round, he managed to grit out a tough win and nearly pulled off this absolutely insane kneebar in doing so:

If that isn’t one of the greatest MMA reaction gifs of all time, I’ll eat my hat.

So yeah, this season of The Ultimate Fighter is off to a promising start. Maybe get excited for it? I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore. Anyways, your TUF 19 teams are as follows:

Team Edgar
Cory Anderson
Patrick Walsh
Matt Van Buren
Todd Monaghan
Ian Stephens
Dhiego Lima
Eddie Gorman
Hector Urbina

Team Penn
Anton Berzin
Josh Clarke
Daniel Spohn
Chris Fields
Mike King
Tim Williams
Cathal Pendred
Roger Zapata

*By the way, if Taleb looked familiar, it’s because he had just picked up a win over Vik Grujic at the TUF Nations Finale. 

–J. Jones

Dana White Promises “A Knockout That Beats Uriah Hall’s” on TUF 19 [HOORAY?]

(And when Cella was just lying there all comatose while everyone was fearing for his life? FUCKING. AWESOME.)

As MMA fans, it’s safe to say that we can appreciate a good knockout when we see one. The timing, the precision, the simultaneous grace and utter devastation — these are all factors we take into account when, say, deciding the greatest knockout of the year. But as we are continuously reminded in the aftermath of knockouts like the spinning back kick Uriah Hall hit Adam Cella with on TUF 17, the line between a brilliant knockout and a hard-to-watch knockout is a thin one. As amazing as these displays of technique are to witness, they can often leave a sour taste in one’s mouth when the victim appears to be seriously injured as a result.

So perhaps we’re in the minority here, but when Dana White recently attempted to hype the 19th season of TUF by promising fans “a f*cking scary knockout,” we were less than enthused (okay, sarcastically enthused) to say the least (via Fox Sports):

We had the fights to get into the house yesterday on The Ultimate Fighter, probably the nastiest f-king knockout.  It beats Uriah Hall knockout. Was Uriah Hall not one of the sickest knockouts you’ve ever seen?  This one beats it.  Picture how f-king scary this knockout is.

On one hand, this could just be another instance of White attempting to stir up some buzz for a season of TUF that he knows no one is interested in. On the other, should we even be excited by this news?


(And when Cella was just lying there all comatose while everyone was fearing for his life? FUCKING. AWESOME.)

As MMA fans, it’s safe to say that we can appreciate a good knockout when we see one. The timing, the precision, the simultaneous grace and utter devastation — these are all factors we take into account when, say, deciding the greatest knockout of the year. But as we are continuously reminded in the aftermath of knockouts like the spinning back kick Uriah Hall hit Adam Cella with on TUF 17, the line between a brilliant knockout and a hard-to-watch knockout is a thin one. As amazing as these displays of technique are to witness, they can often leave a sour taste in one’s mouth when the victim appears to be seriously injured as a result.

So perhaps we’re in the minority here, but when Dana White recently attempted to hype the 19th season of TUF by promising fans “a f*cking scary knockout,” we were less than enthused (okay, sarcastically enthused) to say the least (via Fox Sports):

We had the fights to get into the house yesterday on The Ultimate Fighter, probably the nastiest f-king knockout.  It beats Uriah Hall knockout. Was Uriah Hall not one of the sickest knockouts you’ve ever seen?  This one beats it.  Picture how f-king scary this knockout is.

On one hand, this could just be another instance of White attempting to stir up some buzz for a season of TUF that he knows no one is interested in. On the other, should we even be excited by this news?

Rewatch the video of Hall’s KO, or Matt Riddle’s KO of Dan Simmler, for that matter, and ask yourself: Should this really be a selling point for our sport? It’s kind of contradictory to declare that our sport is so much safer than boxing one day — which, it barely is — and then promote this kind of uber-violence the next. While there are surely some MMA fans out there who follow the sport to satiate their own sadism, not everyone of us adopts a “Just Bleed” guy mentality towards fighters. Likewise, the UFC should be past the point where it needs to hype the brutality of the sport in order to get people interested.

But who knows, maybe ol’ DW is simply speaking in hyperbole again. Or maybe TUF 19 will feature a KO that leaves a fighter in a coma for a week. No matter the case, “scary” should probably be on the short list of words *not* to use when describing a knockout in a positive manner. That is, if you’re ever hoping to convert the Tim Rothfield’s of the world to our fine sport.

–J. Jones