MMA Live gets you ready for Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers on CBS. The crew also examines the rash of injuries plaguing some UFC champions and looks back at another episode of The Ultimate Fighter.
Former "Ultimate Fighter" Joe Duarte did a recent interview with "Naughty America" about his fighting career, his training and his plans on avenging his only career loss. The site will also host a live chat with Duarte this Friday at 11 am PST/2pm EST.
The friction between Rashad and Rampage continues to escalate. Check it out on the sneak preview of tonight's episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights...
Dana White is hopping mad at Roy Nelson and promises fireworks between them as "TUF 10" progresses.
At a gathering of reporters Thursday following the UFC 104 press conference, White fired back at allegations Nelson made of favoritism towards Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, whom Nelson defeated in the quarterfinals of the show.
In an interview with USA Today following Episode 3 of the show, Nelson said concessions were made with Slice that no other fighter received.
"Kimbo's the only one that I know that had an entourage there; he actually had his family there, his management, while the rest of us kind of had to suffer," said Nelson. "The UFC made, we'll say, different concessions for Kimbo. I think he had a media room."
Meanwhile, Nelson pointed the finger at White, whom he publicly called a "puppet master."
"He's on the show saying we did that show for Spike after, where he's saying Kimbo's list, anything Kimbo put down, he got in minutes," said White on Thursday. "We'd write it down, we wouldn't get it for two days. What a bunch of crybabies. Let me tell you what: not only did Kimbo not get any special treatment on the show... the only difference between Kimbo and all the other guys was that if Kimbo made it into the UFC, he had a bigger contract than the other guys. That's it. I said that the day we did media day before the show even started. It kills me."
White went off on allegations that Kimbo got special communication privileges, particularly, the use of a phone during the show.
"Roy Nelson is a moron," said White. "He's an idiot. The guy really is that dumb. Never once did this guy use the phone to call anybody, and you'll actually see later on as the show progresses, there's a situation that happens where I have to get on the phone, and then I put (Kimbo) on the phone. He didn't get any special privileges, and even if he did, I'D (EXPLETIVE) TELL YOU! You're damn right, we gave special privileges, we pulled seven million viewers with him. If he wants to use the phone, he can use the (expletive) phone. He didn't. We didn't give him any special privileges. Roy Nelson is a moron. Interview him sometime, you'll find out."
Nelson was unavailable for comment on White's remarks.
LOS ANGELES -- UFC president Dana White doesn't buy Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's claims he was poorly edited on "TUF 10."
Posting on his personal blog last week, Jackson decried the show's portrayal of him and his team as they dealt with a disastrous showing in team competition.
"They edited the show to make me look like I didn't care about my team, but as you can clearly see I was coaching against a T.U.F. show champion and he came from the Ultimate Fighter so he knows how to play the camera and be fake," wrote Jackson.
Evans, the opposing coach on the show and TUF champion in question, has led his team to a complete shutout of Team Jackson, and has not been shy about gloating to "Rampage."
At a gathering of reporters following the press conference for UFC 104, White, in so many words, told Jackson to suck it up.
"When you don't look good on the show--editing, editing!" White said. "It is what it is. There's no way to edit. We don't dub him. We don't voice him over. People don't like the way they look sometimes on the show. I've been not crazy about the way I look on the show sometimes. It happens."
White and Jackson have hit the skids following Jackson's decision to portray B.A. Baracus on the upcoming movie remake of "The A-Team." Weeks after Jackson's announcement he would retire from fighting, the two are still on the outs, though White said he wished Jackson luck if he truly wanted to pursue acting.
However, when asked Thursday if he would meet with Jackson to smooth the situation over, White said, "if he wants to meet, he can come down here and meet with me. I'm not going to chase him."
Check out Spike TV's "leaked" scenes from Wednesday, Oct. 14's episode of The Ultimate Fighter: The Heavyweights, where Marcus Jones is lobbying hard to get a fight...
Dan Henderson joins MMA Live to discuss his contract status with the UFC and much more. In addition, a preview of WEC 43, a look back at DREAM.11 and The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights.
Although he was eliminated from The Ultimate Fighter competition with a loss to Roy Nelson last week, it's not over until it's over, and Kimbo Slice makes a bid this week to step in for his ill teammate, Marcus Jones.
Kimbo Slice was eliminated in his first bout on Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, losing to former IFL champion Roy Nelson. But it's being hinted that he could be returning sooner rather than later...
It's being billed as the biggest fight in Ultimate Fighter's 10-season run... and it probably will be. This Wednesday night, former YouTube sensation Kimbo Slice meets his first test in a UFC-related bout, facing former IFL heavyweight champion Roy Nelson in the Octagon on The Ultimate Fighter: The Heavyweights...
An extended preview of the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. Season 10 features the heavyweights, including the introduction of Kimbo Slice to the fold, and coaches Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans.
Spike TV has released an extended preview of "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 10, which debuts Sept. 16 at 10 p.m. following Ultimate Fight Night 19 in Oklahoma City.
UFC president Dana White is always out there pushing his product, marketing the brand. But when it comes to the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series, he went to great lengths to make it clear that he really does believe that the next season will be the best they've ever done... and he's not just selling his product.
"I don't want to sound like a promoter and like I'm trying to sell you guys on (The Ultimate Fighter) Season 10. (But) it's the best television we've ever done," he stated emphatically to small group of reporters over UFC 100 weekend.
"From the second it starts until the second we end... Andrea, she's the producer, she said to me at the end of this thing, I honestly don't know what they're gonna do. There's so many things, there's so many stories; she says we could have a 10-disk DVD set on this thing, there's just so many story lines and so much crazy (expletive) going on.
"When I say crazy (expletive), I'm not talking about guys (urinating) in fruit and stuff like that. I'm talking real television. I'm talking real good stuff."
Season 10 is dubbed "The Heavyweights" featuring 16 men in the UFC's heaviest weight class, including the controversial Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, former IFL champion Roy Nelson, several former professional football players, colorful UFC veteran Wes Sims, among a wide assortment of personalities and skill levels.
The coaches for Season 10 are no less interesting. Former UFC light heavyweight champions Rashad Evans and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson have a healthy disdain for each other that will carry over into a December showdown following the end of the season's run on Spike TV.
Spike TV and the Ultimate Fighting Championship will officially reveal the full cast of the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series, dubbed "The Heavyweights," on Friday, July 10 at the UFC Fan Expo.
According to representatives of Spike TV all 16 fighters will be available for autographs from 11 a.m. until noon at UFC Fan Expo Booth #149 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
Aside from a load of rumored participants, the only fighter officially revealed thus far has been Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson.
The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 Finale finished in a flurry with the UFC designating three Fights of the Night -- a first in the promotion's history -- and Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida immediately being mentioned as a Fight of the Year candidate.
The reality series finales aren't typically counted on for live ticket revenue, but season nine's sold out for an official tally of $498,650.00 at the gate, based on 1,801 tickets sold and 326 comps, according to Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
ESPN's MMALive recaps The Ultimate Fighter Season Nine Finale, Bellator's season ending event featuring Eddie Alvarez and Hector Lombard, and Strikeforce in Washington, plus the political situation subverting MMA legislation in New York.
Ultimate Fighter season nine is now in the books, but the UFC and Spike TV is already hitting the circuit to promote season 10, dubbed "The Ultimate Fighter: The Heavyweights," featuring Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson and 15 other heavyweight fighters. Here's the first promotional spot from Spike.
Will this be the biggest Ultimate Fighter season ever? Will Kimbo prove himself? We'll find out on September 16.
ESPN 1100 and Cagewriter.com's Steve Cofield interviews Joe Stevenson as he prepares to step into the Octagon against Nate Diaz at The Ultimate Fighter season 9 finale.
The ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter comes to a close Saturday night in Las Vegas and on Spike TV. Team U.K. has made its presence known, owning three of the four finalist spots.
In the main event, lightweights Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida battle it out to determine in hopes of the winner being next in line for a UFC lightweight title shot. Main Bouts:
TUF 9 Lightweight Finals: -Ross Pearson (8-3) vs. Andre Winner (9-2-1)
TUF 9 Welterweight Finals: -Damarques Johnson (9-6) vs. James Wilks (5-2)
-Diego Sanchez (23-2) vs. Clay Guida (25-9) -Kevin Burns (7-2) vs. Chris Lytle (28-17-5) -Joe Stevenson (31-10) vs. Nate Diaz (13-3)
Preliminary Bouts: -Melvin Guillard (21-7-2) vs. Gleison Tibau (17-6) -Tomasz Drwal (15-2) vs. Mike Ciesnoleviscz (17-3) -Edgar Garcia (7-0) vs. Brad Blackburn (13-9-1) -Cameron Dollar (2-1) vs. Jason Dent (18-9) -Frank Lester (3-2) vs. Nick Osipczak (3-0)
Ultimate Fighter season 9 U.S. fighter Cameron Dollar talks with ESPN 1100 and Cagewriter.com's Steve Cofield about his upcoming fight on Saturday night at the finale and controversy surrounding him this season.
The final finalist will be determined on Wednesday night's episode of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV. Frank Lester of Team U.S.A. takes on James Wilks of Team U.K. to determine who will face Damarques Johson on Saturday night in Las Vegas in the welterweight finals.
The lightweight finals are already set with an all-U.K. finish pitting teammates Andre Winner and Ross Pearson against each other. Can Lester pull it off and make it an all U.S. final for the welterweights or will Wilks up the odds of a U.K. sweep on Saturday?
Despite coaching a second season of "The Ultimate Fighter," Quinton "Rampage" Jackson admitted he doesn't watch the show.
"I can never catch it cause it comes on at ten o'clock at night," he told reporters at a media day for the tenth season of TUF. "Either I'm in bed, because I've gotta get up early the next morning, or I'm out doing other stuff. I never even got a chance to watch my season."
Of course, his schedule wasn't the only reason he didn't tune in.
"I have a short attention span... I don't think I could just sit there and watch a bunch of dudes on TV," he continued. "There's gotta be some girls and stuff. I love 'The Ultimate Fighter' and sports, but I just couldn't do it."
The show is now in its third week of filming, and UFC president Dana White said the first day of filming has set the bar high for drama.
If that's true, or if TUF gives more time to ring card girls Edith and Arianny, Jackson may rethink his policy.
By now, it's no secret that Quinton "Rampage" Jackson isn't fond of Rashad Evans. The two went nose to nose after UFC 96 and nearly fought at a recent photo shoot. Jackson is chomping at the bit for a fight with the former champion.
New champion Lyoto Machida was a frequent refrain at a media day for the tenth season of "TUF." Jackson said Evans had it all wrong when he faced "The Dragon."
"I think he was afraid," said Jackson. "That's what made him mess up. He didn't do nothing -- that's what his mistake was. He let Machida do everything.
"Plus, he's talking while Machida was trying to knock him out. He's not defending... he's talking. How you gonna talk while somebody's trying to knock your head off? What do you do? Ask him to stop? What are you doing?"
Jackson's general take on Evans was that he talked too much.
Not exactly an unbiased source for opinion, but Jackson believed Evans lost against Tito Ortiz and Michael Bisping as well.
Would he do things differently against Machida?
For one, he'd take the fight to the champion, he said.
"Yeah," said Jackson. "I'm an aggressive fighter."
The Carmichael Dave Show talks with UFC president Dana White about bringing Kimbo Slice on for The Ultimate Fighter: The Heavyweights and what it took to secure him for the show. You might be surprised!
(Courtesy of Steve Cofield of ESPN Radio 1100 and Cagewriter.com)
Kimbo Slice was sent reeling and EliteXC shuttered its doors after he was KO'd by Seth Petruzelli. Now, Kimbo will emerge with a shot at the UFC as one of the 16 heavyweight competitors on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter: The Heavyweights.
Does Kimbo have what it takes to be The Ultimate Fighter and emerge in the UFC's heavyweight division or will he be shut down in a ratings bonanza on Spike TV?
Michael Bisping was MIA in a recent episode of The Ultimate Fighter, completely missing one of his fighters' bouts. Would you believe that it was a simple case of oversleeping?
Team U.K.'s Dean Amasinger's video blog on Episode 5 of The Ultimate Fighter 9. Yes, we know Episode 6 just aired in the U.S., but the U.K. has a different television schedule than the U.S., so Dean's blogs come in a little later than the U.S. fighters.
At UFC 86 back in July, Forrest Griffin took the first step in solidifying the worth of The Ultimate Fighter reality series as a fight factory for the UFC. He beat Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in a five-round war, and in the process, took his UFC light heavyweight belt, making Griffin the first Ultimate Fighter alum to win a UFC championship.
On Saturday night at UFC 92 in Las Vegas, another Ultimate Fighter milestone will be reached when Ultimate Fighter Season 1 winner Forrest Griffin and Ultimate Fighter Season 2 winner Rashad Evans fight for the title. The bout marks the first time two veterans of the reality series have battled for a belt.
"I think it's a great compliment to Forrest and myself," Evans noted of the distinction of the fight and The Ultimate Fighter ties. "Since I came off the show, I've been trying to keep up with Forrest because he set the tone coming off the show. He did excellent. But I have to show everyone that I can do my thing as well and it just wasn't a reality show."
Evans went on to comment about how he believes that The Ultimate Fighter is producing top tier talent, the superstars of the future for the UFC. "We're in a position right now, to really show that the show works to get the best talent out there and these fighters are going to be the fighters of the future. We're going to be the Chuck Liddells and the Randy Coutures because we have a following because the fans were watching us from the ground up."
Following an impressive victory over Dave Kaplan and a televised apology to Frank Mir -- even though he had been openly critical of Mir all the way up to The Ultimate Fighter Finale on Saturday night -- bad boy Junie Browning is still trying to get under the skin of his Ultimate Fighter 8 cast mates.
One win off the show and Junie believes he should get a rematch with Efrain Escudero, who won the lightweight division's Ultimate Fighter with an impressive performance against Phillipe Nover on Saturday night.
"I definitely would like to get a rematch now (with Efrain), you know what I mean? That was my 20% and I feel like I performed pretty good. If I go train, it wouldn't even be close, for sure," Junie told MMAWeekly.com later that night.
As for Efrain's performance, Junie gave his housemate some credit, but didn't indicate that he was particularly impressed. "I fell asleep half way through, so I didn't get to see it all. It was a smart gameplan, taking Phillipe down; he has strong punches. I give him credit. It's hard to defend his takedowns if he sets 'em up good. If I ever fight him again, that won't be a problem."
But his assessment of Efrain was the least of his critical comments. He had more for the entire cast of The Ultimate Fighter 8, believing he is head and shoulders above them all.
"The way I looked tonight, I'll be twice as good my next fight and then twice as good after that and then twice as good... I'm gonna keep improving. That's the difference between me and the rest of the guys in the house," he assessed. "I have the potential to improve. I don't think the rest of the guys have... open mind sets enough to go different places and improve certain points of their game."
And we all know that was Junie's point of strength on the show, his open mindedness...
Junie Browning was the thorn in everyone's side on season eight of The Ultimate Fighter. He was the instigator, the reactor, the gnat that buzzes in your ear...
After the show was over, many of the other fighters came forward saying that Junie planned to play the bad boy role well before he ever made it to the fighter house.
In a report by Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press, Krzysztof Soszynski said, "To be honest with you, he did everything for show. It was a whole joke to him. Basically he told me the very first day we met - and before our fights to get into the house - he basically said 'If I get into this house, I'm going to be the crazy guy.'"
Efrain Escudero and Ryan Bader echoed Soszynski's statements, but Phillipe Nover only partially agreed. In Davidson's report, Nover said, "He was definitely trying (to be the bad boy) and he was... It's a reality TV show and your true colors will show. Especially after a week or two of being in the house. You can't fake an act for a month straight. He definitely showed his true colors. He was a crazy maniac type of kid."
After he defeated Dave Kaplan by armbar on Saturday night, Junie himself was asked about his "act" on the show by UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan.
"It wasn't all planned. It was just more the fact that I didn't let the cameras dictate the way I was going to act," Browning said about his behavior on the show. "Somebody messed with me, I just snapped. If I'm going to get pissed, I might as well make it entertaining."
Taking the show as a learning lesson, Browning has obviously grown up since the filming finished. He even offered an apology to former coach, Frank Mir, who has been openly critical of his former student on the show in recent weeks.
"I gave (Frank) Mir a hard time on the show. I just want to apologize to everybody, everyone watching and stuff," said Browning. "Mir was actually an awesome coach. It was more my fault. I don't think I would have put up with myself either. I apologize to Mir and the rest of Mir's team, they were awesome coaches."
Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin received a Hummer from UFC president Dana White for serving as a coach on season two of The Ultimate Fighter.
Problem is, the Hummer just isn't Rich's style, so he's putting it up for sale. If you decide to buy Rich Franklin's Hummer, you'll likely get to meet him when you go to pick it up.
Here's the message from Rich's site, announcing the sale of his Hummer:
"Hey guys, it's Rich. I'm putting my Hummer up for sale. I have had this thing since season 2 of The Ultimate Fighter when it was given to me as a gift by Dana White for coaching on the show. It is a cool car and fun to drive, but it draws too much attention my way - and that isn't my style. Most of the 11,000 miles have been put on there by friends and family who have borrowed it. Basically, the car still looks brand new. If you happen to be the one to buy my car - I would love to meet you when you come my way to pick it up."
For a detailed description of Rich Franklin's Hummer, click here. To check out more photos of this tricked out monster, click here.
Rich will be back in action at UFC 93 on Jan. 17 in Dublin, Ireland. He will face Dan Henderson in a light heavyweight showdown in the main event.
Tim Credeur almost stopped fighting before being tapped to be on The Ultimate Fighter.
"I don't know if I was going to quit fighting completely, but I hit 30 and I had been doing this a long time," he told MMAWeekly Radio recently.
"I didn't really see any foreseeable future in terms of me having to support my family. I was kind of in a situation where I was finishing school and it was time for me to get on it about the fight thing or do something else. I have a wife I love very much. Seeing someone you love going through all those trials and tribulations for you trying to follow your dream is kind of tough. I couldn't see myself making the sacrifices and her having to make it too anymore unless there was going to be some light at the end of the tunnel."
The Louisiana native took a few fights before submitting his application to The Ultimate Fighter for consideration. "I took a fight at the end of September with a guy who had 60 or 70 fights and I took a fight at the end of October on one of Rich Clementi's cards and I beat a pretty tough guy from EliteXC."
Luckily for the fans, Credeur was accepted to The Ultimate Fighter and made it to the semi-finals of season 7, losing to Jesse Taylor by decision. When Taylor was kicked off of the show, he came back and lost a unanimous decision to C.B. Dollaway. Credeur recently defeated Cale Yarbrough at UFC Fight Night 14.
"I sent my application in to The Ultimate Fighter and that was it. If I wasn't going to get in The Ultimate Fighter, I would have called it quits," he said. "Just because it was getting to be time where I could see it being the twilight of my career, and still fighting in small shows just wasn't an option for me anymore. I think The Ultimate Fighter saved my career. We'll see how it goes from here."
Credeur is currently preparing for a fight against Nate Loughran on Wednesday night at the UFC's Fight for the Troops on Spike TV.
The most recent season of the "Ultimate Fighter" saw some of the most elaborate pranks ever played on the show and most of them were courtesy of Team Quest fighter, Krzysztof Soszynski, and his bag of tricks.
The fighter recently told MMAWeekly about the secret where he came up with all the ideas for the pranks on the show.
"I was just bored," Soszynski said. "It was so boring in that house, it was all about boredom. It was just my way to release the stress and the boredom. Other guys got into the boos, other guys got into the pee drinking, none of that stuff is what I like to do. So it was just a way to release some boredom."
During the one hour show each week, fans see the random house activity along with training footage and of course the fight, but what people don't regularly see is all the other time that fighters are left with when the training is done for the day.
"20 hours of downtime for six straight weeks, it was just so boring in there that it was just one of my ways of releasing that," he said about the pranks. "They just came to me. Some of them were fun, some of them were dumb, some of them were stupid, some of them were childish, but hey I got through it, I got through the 6 weeks and I was happy with it."
Soszynski said one prank that didn't end up getting played was actually trapping a fighter in their room, but he says the Spike producers wouldn't allow them to go that far as the door being locked would have been seen as a fire hazard so they had to put a nix on that idea.
Zuffa took over anything and everything MMA on television on Wednesday with the WEC on Versus and The Ultimate Fighter and UFC Unleashed on Spike TV.
The final two episodes of The Ultimate Fighter aired back-to-back on Wednesday night to determine the finalists that will clash on Dec. 13 in Las Vegas.
In the light heavyweight division, Ryan Bader scored the win over Elliot Marshal to face Vinicius Magalhaes in the final round at the Palms. Magalhaes defeated Krzysztof Soszynski to make his way to the showdown with Bader.
Phillipe Nover and Efrain Escudero will clash in the 155-pound division final. Nover took care of George Roop to earn his berth, while Escudero choked out this season's bad boy, Junie Browning.
It's a Zuffa night of MMA on television on Wednesday night. The UFC finishes up the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV with the final two episodes of the season beginning at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
WEC 37 takes over Versus at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. The main event features a showdown between bantamweight champion and No. 1 ranked Miguel Torres and No. 7 ranked Manny Tapia.
With the last few weeks of "The Ultimate Fighter" looking more like the seminal gross-out show "Fear Factor," many fans have been wondering what TUF cameras really want to focus on. At the pre-fight press conference for UFC 91, UFC president Dana White addressed critics who said the show was going down the toilet, literally.
According to White, it's not the men who are responsible for the seemingly endless stream of pranks involving bodily-fluids. It's the women, or lack of them.
"I want you to really seriously think about this," White told reporters. "If there were no women on earth, guys would probably never brush their teeth, comb their hair, they'd all be pissing on each other, they'd all be drunk, and god knows what their apartment would look like or your car. It's how guys are."
White said other athletes had corroborated the TUF 8 experience at his trip to a Tony Hawk Foundation skating event, which he documented on his popular video blog.
"I was talking to some of the snowboarders, and the guys who do some of those snowboard videos, where they drop them off in the helicopter, (and they) said there's times they get stuck up there because there's a storm and the helicopter can't come in," White explained. "They said what goes on is exactly like The Ultimate Fighter. It's the way guys are. It's unfortunate and we don't want to look at ourselves that way - that's who we are."
As to whether he would eventually crack the whip on the childish behavior, White shrugged his shoulders. After all, ratings are ratings - pranks and characters like Junie Browning have reversed a trend of declining ratings for the show.
"It is what it is," he said. "It's reality television. Would I sit around and drink piss with a bunch of guys? No, it's not my thing. I wouldn't do it. When they kept eating his food, I thought that was pretty funny. That'll stop you... anybody who's ever had roommates before gets that one. It is what it is. At the end of the day, the only thing I care about is that they step into the Octagon, they're in shape, they fight, and they represent the sport well as athletes."
The question is, are a bunch of urine drinking, semen eating, itching powder infested fighters a good representation of the sport?
Maybe not, but it's a guilty - or dirty - pleasure MMA fans are buying.
Taking their cue from UFC President Dana White, who recently said Kimbo Slice was more than welcome to be a loser on "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show, Spike TV recently released a list of TUF fighters they believe should be the first to introduce Slice to the UFC--or at least its leather glove as it smashes his face.
Here are the former reality show contestants that could put a beating on the bearded one:
1) Michael Bisping 2) Matt Serra 3) Nate Diaz 4) Rashad Evans 5) Amir Sadollah
Commentary on the list pulls no punches, so check it out if you want an entertaining read. It's not hard to tell where Spike's allegiances lie. But then again, they're pretty much spot on. And watching Nate Diaz submit Slice--that would be pure entertainment.
In its December issue, Muscle & Fitness features an exclusive behind the scenes look into The Ultimate Fighter season eight contestants' training regime's and life in the fighter house.
Not only that, but the magazine has an insightful interview with UFC president Dana White available on its website, discussing how hard it is for a fighter to sacrifice a few weeks out of their normal life for the surreal life of reality TV, and the training these guys go through on the show.
Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Michael Bisping, Joe Stevenson. The list goes on and on of fighters that made a start to a very bright future while competing on the "Ultimate Fighter" reality show.
The newest cast for the show, which will feature a U.S. team vs. a U.K. team, started tryouts in the last couple of weeks with record turnouts.
To give fans an idea of what the fighters go through during the initial phases of casting for the show, the team at Suckerpunch Entertainment (suckerpunchent.com) posted some insider's info about the tryouts to crown the next "Ultimate Fighter" and they have been gracious enough to share them with the MMAInsider.
According the report, the fighters first arrive and hurry to register, but then play a waiting game for the day's activities to start. The first round of action was a grappling exhibition in which fighters took on one another in the same weight class for 1 minute sparring sessions.
The fighters went all out for that one minute apparently.
The second round of action is a striking and stand-up clinic, with fighters displaying boxing and kickboxing skills while another fighter or teammate held pads with which to strike. During this time, UFC matchmaker and vice president of talent relations, Joe Silva, could be seen walking around the room looking at the fighters and talking to producers about possible selections.
After many hours of grappling and striking exhibitions, the cast of nearly 800 potential fighters was whittled down to around 100 participants called back for possible selection on the show.
There's still quite a bit of time before the season will begin filming so this tryout was obviously just the first stage to becoming a member of the ninth installment of the "Ultimate Fighter."
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