dwizzle1's ProElite.com Blog

EliteXC and Kimbo Slice Not Going Away: "Heat" Review and Results

dwizzle1 — Mon, 6 Oct 2008 20:38:00 PDT

EliteXC and Kimbo Slice Not Going Away: "Heat" Review and Results

Written by Derek Wizzle

EliteXC had another prime time event on CBS last Saturday night, and the show was full of surprises and exciting matches.

The main event was scheduled to be Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock but Shamrock was not allowed to fight due to a cut he sustained near his eye.

EliteXC officials had to scramble to find another opponent for Kimbo, and they found one in Seth Petruzelli. Petruzelli was scheduled to fight Aaron Rosa on the prelim card that evening but he took the place of Shamrock in the main event instead.

Kimbo had prepared for months for Shamrock, and all of a sudden, he had a new opponent.

The main event only lasted 14 seconds as the fans in Florida at the BankAtlantic Center were shocked to see Kimbo lose by TKO in the first round to Petruzelli.

The Kimbo critics came out in full force after the fight and started to hurl insults and trash the former street fighting legend.

They said that Kimbo's 15 minutes of fame are over and that he will not be heard from again. Some said he was nothing but a freak show and that he was exposed.

What the critics need to realize is that Kimbo never was mentioned as a contender for the title, or a great MMA fighter.

Kimbo has been quoted numerous times as saying he is just a baby in this sport, and that he has a lot to learn.

No EliteXC official proclaimed him to be this great MMA fighter who was a title contender. Basically, Kimbo is just a rookie in the sport with only four professional MMA fights.

Fans love Kimbo and want to see him fight regardless of him losing or winning. He is a superstar with a lot of charisma, and he has that "it" factor which connects with fans and sponsors alike. Fans enjoy his brawling style and aggressiveness, even though that may have led to his first loss to Petruzelli.

They watch his fights to see him either get knocked out or knock someone out. Who doesn't like to see a fighter who brings it each and every time he steps into the cage?

People should be giving Kimbo props for taking the fight with another opponent that he was totally unprepared for and knew nothing about.

Imagine if the Dallas Cowboys prepared to play the Redskins, and on the day of the game, the NFL told them they would be playing the Patriots instead. The Cowboys would not be focused and in disarray.

This is how Kimbo must have felt going into the fight with Petruzelli.

During his pre-fight interview with CBS reporter, Karen Bryant, Kimbo seemed focused but his mind didn't seem right at all. Who could blame him under these circumstances?

This is not the end of Kimbo, far from it. This is just the beginning for Kimbo and you can expect him to continue to bring it in his future fights.

Speaking of fighters who bring it, Benji Radach and Murilo "Ninja" Rua took it to each other in the first fight of the night on CBS.

This fight was action-packed from the beginning to the end. Radach won in the second round by TKO, and fans can't wait to see Radach fight again.

He was very aggressive from the start and never let Rua relax.

The next fight was between the face of women's MMA, Gina Carano, against Kelly Kobold. Carano won by unanimous decision after three rounds.

Carano displayed a lot of nice muay thai skills, but the match was just too short. Women fighters fight three minute, three round fights.

Hopefully the women will be allowed to fight five minute rounds just like the men do in the near future.

The next match was between heavyweights Andrei Arlovski and Roy Nelson. Everyone was expecting a knockout from Arlovski and he delivered in the second round.

Jake Shields and Paul "Semtex" Daley fought for the EliteXC welterweight title, and Shields came out the winner to retain his title.

Shields won by armbar in an exciting back and forth match. Daley was superior in the stand-up, but Shields owned Daley on the ground.

Overall, this was another great show that EliteXC put on for MMA fans. The fans got to see some spectacular knockouts and a huge upset win by a fighter who was not even supposed to be in the main event.

Although some fans were disappointed that Shamrock could not fight Kimbo, EliteXC, Kimbo, and Petruzelli, all stepped up and made the best of a difficult situation.

The haters and critics continue to say that EliteXC is going to go out of business, but just like Kimbo, EliteXC is far from done, and not going away.

You can bet that EliteXC and their talented group of fighters will continue to bring MMA fans more exciting fights and action for a long, long time.

UFC 88: "Breakthrough" Review and Results

dwizzle1 — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 6:12:15 PDT

UFC 88: "Breakthrough" Review

Written by D. Wizzle

UFC 88 did not disappoint as the main event between Rashad "Sugar" Evans and Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell ended in a knockout by Evans.

Evans shocked the world by knocking out "The Iceman" in the second round.

Liddell was going for an uppercut when Evans connected with an overhand right which knocked Liddell out cold.

Most fans expected Liddell to win because he was the better striker of the two.

Liddell pressured Evans throughout the whole fight while Evans patiently waited for an opening.

Evans was dancing the whole night. He danced before the fight, during the fight, and after the fight.

Some people are turned off by Evans' dancing and consider it to be nothing more than showboating.

Fighters such as Matt Hughes have been turned off by Evans' so-called showmanship.

Unfortunately for the Evans' bashers, Evans danced all night long on Saturday.

Evans was a big underdog but if you looked at the match-up more closely, Evans had a very good chance to win.

The undefeated fighter from Niagara Falls was a lot faster and more athletic than the older Liddell.

Liddell was never able to catch Evans with a lot of good punches due to the speed and great footwork of Evans.

Round one was very slow-paced as both fighters were feeling each other out.

The second round was much like the first round until Evans connected and ended the fight.

Evans should get a title shot against UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.

As for Liddell, he will have to probably win two or three fights in order to get another title shot.

The media asked him if he was going to retire and he said no.

Why does the media always ask fighters if they are going to retire after a tough loss? It is ridiculous.

Liddell shouldn't retire but he does need to keep his hands up instead of dropping them so low that a fighter such as Evans can easily connect.

Maybe Liddell needs new trainers and sparring partners as well to keep his training fresh and get new ideas from other trainers and coaches.

If Randy Couture loses to Brock Lesnar in November, you can bet the media will ask the 45-year-old Couture if he plans to retire.

In other fights, Dong Hyun Kim defeated Matt Brown by split decision.

Kim clearly defeated Brown and dominated the first and third rounds of the fight.

The biased UFC commentators, Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan, kept on insisting that Brown won the fight even though anyone with a unbiased opinion knew that Kim had won the fight.

Kim had a few takedowns in round three and also cut Brown.

In round one, Kim almost finished the fight with a standing rear naked choke.

The crowd in Atlanta was very racist and booed Kim throughout the fight.

The disrespectful fans and UFC commentators were all over Kim after the judges awarded the decision to him.

The South Korean was very gracious after the fight and displayed nothing but class despite all the hostility thrown his way.

In another exciting fight, Nate Marquardt defeated Martin Kampmann by TKO in the first round.

Dan Henderson defeated Rousimar Palhares in a dull match. Palhares kept on going for takedowns which Henderson defended throughout the three-round fight. Henderson won by unanimous decision.

In the co-main event of the evening, Rich Franklin moved up a weight class to fight Matt "The Hammer" Hamill. Franklin won with kick to the liver which dropped Hamill. Franklin started to rain down punches on Hamill and the referee stopped the fight.

Overall, this was a good UFC pay-per-view. There were five fights on the main card and three ended by TKO.

The next UFC show will be on Spike TV on September 17.

UFC 88: "Breakthrough" Preview

dwizzle1 — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 17:47:14 PDT

UFC 88: "Breakthrough" Preview

Written by D. Wizzle

The UFC will be making their first appearance in Atlanta on September 6 for a pay-per-view show entitled "UFC 88:Breakthrough."

This event will be taking place at the Philips Arena and the first match will take place at 8:00pm ET.

The pay-per-view show will begin at 10:00pm ET.

The main event will be a match-up between Rashad "Sugar" Evans and Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell. The winner of this match is likely to be the next in line for a title shot against UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Forrest Griffin.

It is very well known that the UFC wants Liddell to win so they can match him up with Griffin for the title at the end of the year.

This probably means that if Evans wants to win this fight against Liddell, he better knock him out or submit him, because he most likely won't get a decision in his favor if the fight goes to the judges.

Evans has a 16-0-1 record while Liddell is 21-5.

It will be the first fight of the year for both fighters.

Evans is coming off a victory over Michael Bisping and Liddell is coming off a victory over Wanderlei Silva.

The Iceman will want to keep this fight standing, but he must be able to avoid a takedown by Evans.

While Evans' stand-up is solid and improving, the edge goes to Liddell on the feet.

Liddell hits very hard and his game plan is to knock out Evans with his fists.

Evans was a wrestler in college and will probably try for some takedowns and slams. Liddell has a great sprawl though and won't be easily taken down.

For Evans to win, he must withstand the heavy hands of Liddell, and then do some damage with kicks and punches.

Evans can try to utilize kicks since he doesn't have to worry about The Iceman trying to go for a takedown.

Evans has never tasted defeat before in his professional career, but this will be his toughest challenge yet.

One advantage that Evans has is that his training partner, Keith Jardine, fought and defeated Liddell last year. Jardine is sure to have given Evans some tips on how to fight Liddell.

Evans is younger and more athletic than Liddell and will probably be in better shape than Liddell. Conditioning will be a factor if this fight goes more than one round.

Besides the main event, there are other fights on the ten-fight card that are intriguing.

Rich "Ace" Franklin will move up a weight class to take on Matt "The Hammer" Hamill in a light heavyweight battle.

Hamill is a big light heavyweight fighter and will be much bigger and stronger than Franklin.

Franklin was a big middleweight fighter and is now a small light heavyweight fighter.

It will be very interesting to see how Franklin contends with the strength of Hamill.

Although Franklin no longer is the UFC middleweight champion, he is still one of the more popular fighters in the UFC.

Hamill is known for being a cast member on The Ultimate Fighter and also for being deaf.

Other notable fighters on the card include Dan Henderson, Karo Parisyan, Ryo Chonan, and Matt Brown.

The card is stacked from top to bottom, and the fans in Atlanta will be in for an exciting night of action and intensity.

ShoXC:"Elite Challenger Series" Review and Results

dwizzle1 — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 4:31:00 PDT

ShoXC: "Elite Challenger Series" Review and Results

Written by D Wizzle

EliteXC had another exciting ShoXC show on Showtime last Friday night at the Table Mountain Casino in Friant, California.

The main event featured a rematch between light heavyweights Po' ai Suganuma and Jared Hamman.

There were five fights in total on the televised card, and all five fights had its moments.

Many of the fighters on the card were not well known and were trying to make a name for themselves. This made a lot of the fights exciting and thrilling as all the fighters were out to prove that they belong in EliteXC.

Suganuma, a training partner of B.J. Penn's, defeated Hamman a few months ago in a controversial ending. The fight lasted only 15 seconds after Suganuma landed a flying knee to Hamman which forced the referee to stop the fight.

Hamman was victorious this time as he ended the fight in the first round after several vicious hammer fists to Suganuma.

Suganuma had the advantage early on in the fight, and it looked like it could end quickly again, but Hamman was able to withstand the early onslaught and then go on the offensive.

Commentators Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quardos mentioned a possibility of a trilogy as they could see these two fighters going at it once again.

The first match shown was between Keith "KO Kid" Berry and Ray "Lights Out" Lizama.

This was a great fight to start the show as these two fighters entertained the fans with a stand-up war.

Berry won the first round by utilizing the plum clinch and delivering some nice knees and punches to Lizama.

Lizama was able to escape a rear naked choke by Berry which almost ended the fight.

In the second round, Lizama rocked Berry with punches which had the 20-year-old retreating. Somehow, Berry was able to come back strong and started to deliver some shots to Lizama.

Eventually, Lizama started to land his right hand again, and Berry finally went down after two overhand rights to his body.

This was a big upset as Berry was favored to win because Lizama only had a 5-5 record coming into the fight, and was also fighting on late notice.

Lizama was a replacement for Reggie Orr who backed out of the fight with Berry.

The fight was at a catch-weight of 190 pounds. Lizama looked a lot bigger than Berry.

The second fight was a women's match between veteran Debi Purcell and Rosi Sexton from Manchester, England.

Round one was boring as they were just clinching and positioning against the cage.

Round two was better, and the hightlight was Sexton's superwoman punch which was countered nicely by Purcell's leg kick.

Purcell started round three off with a spinning back fist.

The round was as close as the first two. Sexton attempted a nice cartwheel guard pass which Purcell was able to nullify.

The fight went to the judges and Sexton was awarded the win by split decision.

Fabricio "Morango" Camoes made quick work of Sammy "The Squeeze" Morgan in the first round with a rear naked choke.

The fight only lasted 47 seconds as Camoes was able to slam Morgan down to the mat and get full mount on his opponent.

Once Morgan gave his back, Camoes secured the choke for the quick victory.

UFC fighter Diego Sanchez was in Camoes' corner.

Camoes said that he wants to face some big names now and mentioned EliteXC lightweight champion, K.J. Noons, as a potential future opponent.

In another fight, Cyrille Diabate defeated Jamie Fletcher by unanimous decision.

Diabate reminds me of UFC fighter Corey Hill as they both are very tall and have bald heads.

Diabate controlled most of the fight, although he was taken down a few times by Fletcher.

Fletcher's face was extremely bloody thanks to a cut to his eye.

Diabate said he wants to fight Rafael Feijao next.

This show was not as hyped as a UFC pay-per-view show, but the fights on this card were better and more entertaining than what the UFC has offered MMA fans of late.

Highlights of the show include the great war between Berry and Lizama, Camoes' submission win over Morgan, and the non-stop brawl in the main event between Suganuma and Hamman.

The winners of the non-televised fights were David Douglas, Katrina Alendale, Jesse Brock, Lucas Gamaza, and Robert Vargas.

UFC 87: "Seek and Destroy" Review

dwizzle1 — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 5:06:30 PDT

UFC 87: "Seek and Destroy" Review

Written by D Wizzle

UFC 87 was held in Minnesota last Saturday night as Georges St. Pierre outskilled and overwhelmed challenger Jon Fitch to retain the UFC welterweight title. GSP won by unanimous decision over Fitch in their five-round battle.

GSP was very dominant throughout the whole fight and left no doubt as to who the winner was.

Another impressive fighter that night was Minnesota's own Brock Lesnar. Lesnar dismantled Heath Herring for three rounds to win by unanimous decision. All three rounds played out the same way as Lesnar would get Herring on the ground and just pummel him repeatedly with punches and knees.

The other three winners on the main card were Kenny Florian, Robert Emerson, and Demian Maia.

Florian fought a smart fight against Roger Huerta to win by unanimous decision. Florian is in line to get a shot for the lightweight title in the future with this win. This fight was exciting and one of the more competitive fights of the night even though the judges' scores (all three judges scored it 30-27 in favor of Florian) did not reflect that.

This UFC show was one of the best shows I have seen by them in a long time. Their shows lately have been boring and lackadaisical but I can't say that about UFC 87.

GSP put on a clinic in defeating Fitch in every which way possible. He proved that he is the best welterweight fighter in the world, and on a whole different level than any other fighter.

Robert Emerson's quick knockout of Manvel Gamburyan was entertaining, and Maia showed great ground skills in defeating Jason McDonald.

Lesnar proved to be a beast and a threat to everyone in the UFC's heavyweight division. He is so much bigger than most of the heavyweights, and if he takes his opponent down, there is almost no way they can get back up due to Lesnar's size advantage and strength.

Lesnar made Herring look small and Herring is about 6'4 and 250 pounds.

Overall, this was a decent show put on by the UFC. I can't find too many faults, but I wonder why the Maia vs. McDonald match was the first fight on the pay-per-view. The fans don't care about these two guys. The fight may have been good but the fans still aren't too excited about these two fighters. Fans don't know much about them or think they are true contenders for the middleweight title. Since three of the fights went to a decision, we did not get a chance to see any prelim fight but one.

The UFC showed the Cheick Kongo beatdown of Dan Evensen right before Lesnar's match.

What fans will remember most about UFC 87 was GSP's dominant victory over Fitch, and B.J. Penn storming the cage after the main event to challenge GSP to a match. If UFC president Dana White and matchmaker Joe Silva decide not to put this fight together yet, they can have Florian challenge Penn, and Thiago Alves challenge GSP to title matches.

UFC's next pay-per-view show will be on September 6 in Atlanta when Chuck Liddell takes on Rashad Evans in the main event.

MMA Fighters and Insiders Pick Winner of GSP Vs. Fitch

dwizzle1 — Fri, 8 Aug 2008 17:29:12 PDT

MMA Fighters and Insiders Predict Winner of GSP Vs. Fitch At UFC 87

Written by D. Wizzle

MMA fighters, insiders, and ring girls give us their pick on who will win this Saturday night when Georges St.Pierre defends his welterweight title against challenger Jon Fitch at UFC 87.

Anthony "Rumble" Johnson (UFC welterweight fighter) : I hope my boy Fitch wins, but GSP is no bitch, so I hope whoever shows up and wants it the most, wins.

Josh "The Punk" Thomson (Strikeforce Lightweight Champion): Fitch, Fitch, Fitch, Fitch!!! OH, did I say Fitch??!!! (Laughs)

Stephen Quadros (MMA analyst and commentator): I pick GSP to retain his belt not because Jon Fitch isn't good, or doesn't deserve a shot at the title. He most certainly does! The problem is that the champion is better in more facets of the game than Fitch is. Long story short, I don't think there is a 170 pound fighter in the world today who can beat Georges St.Pierre.

Nicole Craner (Strike Force Ring Girl): GSP...because there is no one like him. His work ethic is phenomenal. I think it will go the distance though.

Keith "KO Kid" Berry (KOTC Middleweight Champion and EliteXC fighter): I think GSP will win a unanimous decision over Fitch. GSP is on another level than anyone in his division. It's insane.

Nate Moore( Gladiator Challenge fighter fighting out of American Kickboxing Academy): As a training partner to Fitch, I will obviously be biased towards thinking Fitch will be the winner. However, I can tell you that Fitch is the more intelligent and mentally prepared fighter. Jon will undoubtedly stick to his game plan and grind out a well executed fight. Aside from having the side advantage, Fitch had a near perfect training camp, and he will be ready to give St.Pierre a five round war if necessary.

Elaina "Beef" Maxwell (Strikeforce fighter from Cung Le's gym): I think Fitch will win by decision because GSP usually takes his opponent's best attribute and beats them with it. Fitch isn't imbalanced in one area, which means he is a well-rounded fighter. He's not good in one area and bad in another. This will definitely be a chess match, a close fight, and a war of wills.

Darren Uyenoyama (Dream and Strikeforce fighter ): I really want Fitch to win. I like his approach as a competitor and his hard work ethic. There are definitely some positions he can beat GSP in. However, GSP is very consistent and keeps a constant pace throughout his fights. He also recovers very well so it's not going to be easy. It's going to be a classic match of boxer vs. brawler. The fan in me wants Fitch to win, but the analyst in me says the odds are on GSP.

Crooklyn (host of CageSide Live ): I'm hoping Fitch takes it. He's a powerhouse, has terrific wrestling, very decent jiu-jitsu, and has very good cardio. I just see those factors playing out more definitively than any of GSP's previous opponents. Let's hope I'm right because Jon Fitch is a friend of mines, and I want him to have that belt!

Michael Toney from Dominance Fight Gear (co-author of MMA book, "Tales From The Cage"): GSP by decision. I think it will be a very tactical fight, and potentially a little boring. GSP is in his prime, and is going to be very tough to beat.

Gabe "Godzilla" Ruediger (Team Quest fighter) : It's an interesting match up. I think Fitch is one of the few fighters who can give GSP a run. Both of them are very well-rounded and can usually dictate where the fight happens. That's where this fight is interesting. I'm going with GSP by decision although I wouldn't be suprised if Fitch won the same way.

Jason Von Flue (The Ultimate Fighter 2 contestant and former UFC and Strikeforce fighter ) : I'm thinking GSP by decision. It will be the same fight as GSP vs. Koscheck.

Damon Gee (CEO of KNOXX Gear): I like Fitch because he is a very determined fighter. He gave up a lot to move to San Jose and improve his game in order to become the best fighter in the world. He has a lot of heart and training is his life.

D Wizzle ( D Wizzle's World): Jon Fitch has never fought anyone as good as GSP in his career. Beating the Chris Wilsons and Josh Burkmans of the world is different than defeating the best welterweight fighter in the world today. Fitch will hang in there for the first few rounds, but GSP is more athletic and talented, and he will win by TKO in the third or fourth round. Fitch's win streak ends in Minnesota.

EliteXC Saturday Night Fights: Full of Action and Knockouts

dwizzle1 — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 6:41:00 PDT

EliteXC Saturday Night Fights: Full of Action and Knockouts

Written by Derek Wizzle

EliteXC had their second prime time show last Saturday night and the main event was a middleweight title bout between champion "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler against challenger Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith.

The show was held at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, California.

The main event was a rematch between Lawler and Smith as these fighters fought to a no- contest decision a few months ago due to an accidental eye poke by Lawler which affected Smith's eyesight in the third round.

Saturday's show was thusly titled "Unfinished Business" and CBS showed four of the fights on the card.

All four of the fights ended without any controversy as all the winning fighters finished their business.

The winners of the fights shown on CBS were Lawler, Cris Cyborg, Jake Shields, and Nick Diaz.

Lawler, Diaz, and Cyborg defeated their opponents in the second round by TKO, while Shields easily defeated Nick "The Goat" Thompson early in the first round with a guillotine choke to become EliteXC's first welterweight champion.

Lawler showed why he is the EliteXC middleweight champion by delivering a series of knees to Smith's stomach in the second round to win by TKO. The first round was a feeling out process by both fighters but there were fireworks in the second round.

Both fighters were bloodied up in the second round, and Smith looked like he had the advantage until Lawler started to connect with his punches and knees to end the fight.

Although there were a lot of impressive performances on the show, the fighter that opened up the most eyes was Cris Cyborg. Cyborg defeated the heralded Shayna Baszler in the only women's fight of the evening.

Baszler is known for her submissions but Cyborg avoided all her submission attempts in the first round. In the second round, it appeared that Baszler was tired from all her previously unsuccessful submission attempts.

After Cyborg got Baszler in the Muay Thai clinch and landed some knees in the second round, she proceeded to hit Baszler with a flurry of punches which knocked Baszler down.

In the unintentionally funny moment of the night, Cyborg thought the fight was over and jumped onto the top of the cage to celebrate with the fans. She raised her arms in victory while having her back to Baszler and the referee, Steve Mazzagatti. Unbeknownst to her, Mazzagatti had not called off the fight.

This gave Baszler the chance to recover from the damage inflicted by Cyborg's right hand and knees, but Mazzagatti finally had to call a stoppage to the fight about a minute later after another Cyborg right hand knocked down Baszler for the second time in round two.

Cyborg will possibly challenge Gina Carano in the future. If she doesn't fight Carano next, I could see her having a fight with someone like Kaitlin Young.

Carano was in attendance at ringside along with another EliteXC superstar, Kimbo Slice.

Diaz, a Stockton native, received the loudest ovation of the night. He defeated Thomas "Wildman" Denny in a slugfest.

All four fights on CBS were wildly entertaining and exciting. Unlike many of UFC's shows and broadcasts, the fights were action-packed and the announcers were very professional and articulate.

Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo, and Frank Shamrock all did a nice job calling the action, and Karyn Byrant did a good job asking questions while interviewing the fighters.

The only problem I had with the show was that their was a short lull before the main event got started.

MMA fans could not ask for a better night of fights. The winning fighters all won decisively and did not leave their fights to the hands of the judges.

Wilson Reis, Rafael Feijao, and Antonio Silva were all winners in fights that were seen on the cable network, Showtime, right before the CBS show aired.

Reis defeated the very tough Bryan Caraway by unanimous decision after three rounds. Caraway got the better of Reis standing up, but Reis was able to take down Caraway multiple times in the fight.

Caraway did do a very nice job scrambling and getting up from the takedowns. Caraway reportedly suffered a dislocated kneecap while training for the fight and his knee probably affected him during the fight.

Feijao won by TKO over Canadian Travis Galbraith in the first round. Feijao was very impressive and looks to be a force in the light heavyweight division. Silva defeated Justin Eilers by TKO in the second round to become the first ever EliteXC heavyweight champion.

Overall, MMA fans have to be pleased with the show. It was a very successful night for EliteXC and CBS as the show came off very well on television, and the fans got to see hard-hitting action and decisive clear-cut victories without any controversy.

The next CBS broadcast of EliteXC's Saturday Night Fights will be on October 4 and will feature Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano.

UFC Fight Night 14: Boring and Lethargic Fights

dwizzle1 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:37:39 PDT

UFC Fight Night 14: Boring and Lethargic Show

Written by Derek Wizzle

UFC shows never seem to live up to its hype anymore. UFC Fight Night 14 was just another example of a terrible show with too many mismatches or lethargic performances from the fighters.

It was a good thing that I had the Affliction show on at the same time so I would not fall asleep. There were a lot of exciting matches on the Affliction show, and I was watching that show more than I was watching the UFC broadcast.

CB Dolloway had a nice submission win over Jesse Taylor to start the UFC broadcast on Spike TV but the Kevin Burns fight against Anthony "Rumble" Johnson made fans very angry.

Burns established himself as one of the most feared and dangerous fighters in the planet after the fight, and I don't think many fighters will want to sign to fight him in the very near future. He might be more dangerous than fighters like Fedor or Anderson Silva right now. Sure, you might get knocked out by those two fighters but you could lose your eyesight fighting Burns. Burns' fingers poked and scratched Johnson's eye about four or five times in the match.

Burns showed no class and sportsmanship when he tried to go for the kill and attack a fallen Johnson after another eye poke in the final round. Burns pretended he didn't know what had just happened and even deceived the referee who stopped the fight and awarded the TKO victory to Burns.

Frankie Edgar and Hermes Franca had an uninspiring three-round fight which ended in a decision and the other three matches on the main card were all mismatches or lethargic.

Brandon Vera was supposed to defeat Reese Andy and he did but it was one of the worst fights of the night. Andy reminds me of former UFC fighter, Sean Salmon, for some reason. I guess it is because they are both wrestlers and short.

Heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez easily defeated UFC veteran Jake O' Brien in the first round, and Silva quickly dismantled the overmatched James "The Sandman" Irvin.

I was really glad the Affliction show was on because the show was way more exciting than the UFC's show. Vitor Belfort, Andrei Arlovski, Josh Barnett, and Fedor Emelianenko all had great fights that got fans really excited on Saturday night. Affliction's show had way more action and excitement than any of the UFC shows in the past few months.

There is more MMA action this weekend as EliteXC has their second big show on CBS and Showtime on Saturday night. This show should be very exciting and the fights should be way more competitive and intriguing than the fights on UFC Fight Night 14.

There will be three title fights and also a women's match as well.

If the UFC continues to have bad shows with boring fights and questionable judging and officiating by the judges and referees, MMA fans will tune in instead to shows by their competitors such as Affliction and EliteXC if they haven't already.

You can count me as one of those fans.

EliteXC Fighter Bryan Caraway Interview

dwizzle1 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:13:00 PDT

EliteXC Fighter Bryan Caraway Interview

Written by Derek Wizzle

Bryan "KidLightning" Caraway is a featherweight fighter from the state of Washington. He has a 10-2 professional record and is coming off a big win against Alvin Cacdac at the last Strikeforce show in June. Nine of his wins have been by submission.

This interview was done right before it was announced that Caraway's next fight would be against highly touted Wilson Reis at EliteXC's next big event on July 26 in Stockton, California. The show will be on Showtime and on CBS.

Hey Bryan, how's it going? Congratulations on your win at Strikeforce!

Thanks! I was stoked to be fighting for Strikeforce.

Your style of fighting was listed as "Cowboy Karate" at Strikeforce. Can you give me a definition of that?

Yea, we are from the Northwest so we're a bunch of tough country dudes with technique! It's really just supposed to be funny and it keeps everyone guessing.

You looked really good against Alvin Cacdac. You were on him from the start and eventually forced him to tap from the rear naked choke. Did you expect to have such an easy fight?

I never expect to have an easy fight but I trained really hard for it, and I knew he was a stand-up guy so I figured he couldn't hang with me on the ground. It actually went EXACTLY how we planned it.

Your girlfriend Miesha Tate fought on the card and won also. Is that the first time you guys were on the same card together?

Yea, it was pretty cool!

Were you more nervous about your fight or her fight?

A different kind of nervous for her. I always throw up before my fights because I'm so competitive, and I hate losing more than anything. But for her, I'm worried about her getting hurt or jacked up!!

The crowd booed when you won since Cacdac was from San Jose. How did it feel to win against the hometown fighter with the crowd booing you?

Well, winning always feels awesome, but that adds a little zing to it! (laughs)

Do you have a nickname?

Yea, it was "The Kid" for a long time because I started fighting when I was only 19 so Dennis Hallman nicknamed me "The Kid" but everybody I trained with said I'm lightning fast so now its "KidLightning."

How is the MMA scene in Washington?

The amatuer MMA scene has blown up huge and the pro scene is growing as well with Strike Force coming here. As far as the Northwest, MMA is huge in general and I believe we produce the toughest fighters around.

Where do you train at and who are some of your trainers and training partners?

Well I trained at Yakima MMA with Rich Guerin while I was in college for about three years so he was really influential in who I am today as a fighter. I originally started with Hallman for a little while, and then he introduced me to Rich because he was a lot closer to where i went to school. But now, I moved back over to the Olympia area a few months ago and I'm training with Dennis Hallman again. I have some good training partners like Eddy Ellis, Matt Lininger, Wesley Welch, Cory Devela, and just recently Mike Joy. I also go and train with Lyle Beerbohm, Sterling Ford, and Cody McKenzie. We make trip up to Ivan Salaverry's gym, and drive down to Team Quest a lot and I train with some real tough guys there like Matt Lindland, Chael Sonnen, Ryan Shultz, Ian Loveland, Zack George, Dave Jansen, Nathan Coy, and Ed Herman. All the Quest guys are cool.

Of all your wins so far in your career, which one was the most satisfying?

Uh, I don't know... probably the Strikeforce show is up there when I dominated Noah Thomas. Noah was supposed to fight Josh Thomson, but Josh got cut so they called me up on short notice, and I was supposed to get beat up but it was totally the opposite. He then got on TUF 5 so that makes it even better that i beat him.

Are there any opponents that you would like to fight next?

I just wanna fight who ever is gonna get me to that next level and noticed that much more!

What part of your game do you think you need to work on the most?

I like to think I'm pretty well rounded but probably if I had to pick, it would be stand-up.

How is your stand-up?

My stand-up's actually pretty slick so I'm told, but being a wrestler forever, I'm more comfortable on the ground. I just need to get more confidence in my skill on my feet.

Thanks a lot for your time Bryan. Congrats on the win again and I hope to see you fight again soon. Do you have any final words for the fans out there?

Just watch out for me! I'm gonna be coming up for sure. I live, eat, and sleep fighting. Training is all I do. I'm focusing my whole life on fighting so you better believe I'm gonna be the champ!! Thanks for the interview! Stay up.

Gladiator Challenge "Summer Showdown" Summary and Results

dwizzle1 — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 4:04:00 PDT

Gladiator Challenge "Summer Showdown" Summary and Results

Written by Derek Wizzle

Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco was host to Gladiator Challenge's "Summer Showdown" event last Friday night. There were ten fights in total, and only three of the fights ended in a decision.

Most of the fights were hard hitting and exciting. The most exciting fight was a fight that ended up in a split decision.

Zak Bucia was awarded a split decision after a three round war. The match was a back and forth tussle but the match stalled in the third round as both fighters were gassed.

The crowd was really into this fight and it was the fight of the night.

The decision could have gone either way as the fight was very competitive and even. They both had their moments offensively landing kicks and punches. Bucia was caught in a triangle but was saved by the bell in the first round.

The main event was between Kurt Osiander and Nate Moore. Osiander is a black belt instructor at the Ralph Gracie Academy in San Francisco. Moore fights out of the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) in San Jose.

90% of the crowd was on the side of Osiander as it appeared that all of his students were in attendance.

Believe it or not, the main event ended faster than the main events at the UFC and Affliction shows over the weekend.

Much to the displeasure of the crowd, Moore knocked Osiander down with a flurry of punches and the referee had to stop the fight after only six seconds.

Osiander never had the opportunity to try to take down Moore, and attempt to submit him.

UFC welterweight fighter, Jon Fitch, was in Moore's corner. Fitch also cornered for another AKA teammate, Wayne Phillips, who lost a unanimous decision to Joey Armstrong.

The Ralph Gracie Academy students left Kezar Pavilion stunned and disappointed.

Another fan favorite, Justin "The Hero" Hoglund, also lost as his fight was stopped in the second round due to a cut. Hoglund, who trains at Ralph Gracie's Academy, had a cut that was opened up by his opponent, 19-year-old Gabriel Solorio in the first round.

Solorio was booed heavily and the ending didn't help endear him to the pro-Hoglund crowd. Solorio told me after the fight that he didn't let the boos get to him.

"There was a lot of hate there. I didn't let the crowd get to me. I knew what I was trying to do and I did it," said Solorio."I wanted to stand up and trade some punches, but he wanted to go against the cage and clinch. It started working good for me so I beat him at his own game."

In a battle of heavyweights, John Devine defeated Richard Blake by TKO due to strikes. Blake protested the stoppage by the referee to no avail. The fans were not pleased with what they thought was an early stop to the fight, and some of them started to throw t-shirts into the cage.

The t-shirts the fans were throwing into the cage were the shirts thrown into the crowd by the ring card girls in between rounds.

A fighter that really impressed me was a middlewight named Raul Castillo. Castillo mounted his opponent, Josh Neal, and delivered some vicious punches to end the fight at the 1:36 mark of round one.

Castillo is now 5-0 with four of the wins via TKO. He is definitely one fighter to keep an eye on.

The other winners from Friday night were Ryan Bastianelli, Matt Greene, Larry Mays, and Mike Fazzino.

Mays won his fight over Will Davis due to a verbal tapout at the end of round two.

Fazzino defeated San Francisco police officer, Bryan Lujan, by TKO due to strikes at the 2:18 mark of the first round. Fazzino took him down and then started to rain down repeated punches which forced the referee to end the fight.

It was a chilly and cold night, but the women in the building were very hot. There were lots of beautiful women dressed in short tube tops, dresses, and miniskirts.

The crowd was very lively and raucous throughout the course of the evening.

Although none of the fighters on the card are household names, most of them fought valiantly and impressively. The fights were mostly entertaining and the atmosphere inside Kezar Pavilion was electric.

The Bay Area MMA fans who watched "Summer Showdown" all seemed to have a good time even though a lot of them left disappointed due to some of the fan favorites losing.

Overall, the night was a huge success for Gladiator Challenge and the promoters, Full Contact Promotions, as the fans enjoyed over three hours of entertaining MMA fights.

UFC 86: One of the Worst Shows Ever

dwizzle1 — Wed, 9 Jul 2008 16:33:00 PDT

Written by D. Wizzle

UFC 86 was one of the worst shows the UFC has produced. The fights last Saturday night in Las Vegas were boring and lackluster.

Four of the five fights on the main card ended in decision. Those fans who wanted to see exciting submission or knockout wins were out of luck. The fans who were live in the Mandalay Bay Events Center did get to see four prelim fights which all ended in either knockout or submission.

Even the biggest Forrest Griffin fan could not truly justify him winning the UFC Light Heavyweight Title against Rampage Jackson. Griffin did not do enough to obtain the title and was knocked down in the first round.

A lot of fans that I talked to are angry about the outcome and plan to boycott future UFC events. Some believe the UFC is more like the WWE these days and turning into more of a circus than a legitimate sporting event. I was excited about the main event but the other fights on the main card were just horrendous.

None of the fights on the main card were particularly interesting to begin with. Even hardcore MMA fans could not be excited about a fight between Patrick Cote and Ricardo Almeida. The UFC tried to brainwash fans into thinking this was a important fight but most fans were not fooled at all. The fight did not live up to its hype at all as Cote won by split decision in a three-round snoozefest.

Joe Stevenson is a good fighter but he lost some of his luster after losing to B.J. Penn. Stevenson did not look good at all against Gleison Tibau, but he was able to secure a guillotine when Tibau tried to shoot in for a takedown in the second round. Tibau had no choice but to tap and give Stevenson the win.

In other fights, Tyson Griffin defeated Marcos Aurelio by unanimous decision. The fight started off the pay-per-view and was a precursor of things to come as the fight was dull and underwhelming. Josh Koscheck defeated Chris Lytle in one of the bloodier fights in recent memory. Lytle lost a huge amount of blood during the three-round battle.

It was quite disgusting and awful to watch. The fight was not entertaining at all as Koscheck had the advantage throughout the one-sided affair.

Fans were probably wishing that the referee would stop the fight in the second round when Lytle was bleeding profusely.

We did get to see one knockout as the UFC aired the Melvin Guillard match against Dennis Siver. Guillard made quick work of Siver as he won by TKO in 36 seconds.

Although Guillard is not currently one of the UFC's top fighters, he is one of their more exciting fighters. The UFC should have had Guillard start off the pay-per-view portion of the show, but instead they relegated him to prelim status.

Overall, this event was one of the worst shows I have ever seen. I was truly excited about the main event, but the fight could not save the poor undercard. The controversial ending did not help me enjoy the show either, and caused bitterness among fans.

Let's hope the fights on July 19 will be much better and entertaining. Affliction will have their first show that day, and the UFC is countering with their own show free on Spike TV.

Rampage Jackson Loses Belt to Griffin At UFC 86

dwizzle1 — Sun, 6 Jul 2008 20:30:44 PDT

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson lost his UFC light heavyweight title Saturday night to challenger Forrest Griffin at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Griffin won by unanimous decision much to the shock and dismay of MMA fans. The decision by the judges to award the win to Griffin was very controversial and unfair. Rampage did enough to win the fight and I had him winning at least three of the five rounds. Griffin won the second round and prehaps you could give him the last round. Griffin had Jackson in full mount in the second round and could not even do much damage and end the fight. Some fans on Internet message boards are so angry about the controversial decision that they have promised to never buy another UFC pay-per-view ever again. You can't blame fans if they think the fix was in. Dana White would love nothing more than to have the first winner of The Ultimate Fighter become champion. He got his wish Saturday night. The crowd reaction in the arena for each fighter was basically split along racial lines. There were more white fans in the arena so Griffin got the loudest cheers and Rampage got the loudest boos. C-list celebrity Mandy Moore was seen on the pay-per-view broadcast rooting wildly for Griffin. Griffin looked surprised that he had won after the decision was announced. He had a sheepish smile on his face as he was being interviewed by UFC commentator, Joe Rogan. The judges need to be investigated as they have as much credibility now as NBA referees. Dana White is acting like David Stern and Vince McMahon rolled into one. If Griffin had lost, he would not have complained at all. Griffin's fans may have had a legitimate gripe when Griffin lost to Tito Ortiz by decision a few years ago, but they cannot honestly say that he got the better of Rampage last night. There will probably be a rematch and rightfully so. Jackson said he may have had some cage rust due to not having fought in nine months. Griffin did not deserve the victory at all and this match has put a cloud of suspicion over the UFC and Dana White. I think it was during round three or four that Rogan said on the broadcast that Griffin was clearly winning the fight. I should have realized something fishy was going on after Rogan's surprising comment. Controversy sells and a rematch between the two fighters would make the UFC a lot of money. Unfortunately for the UFC, many fans are pissed off and refuse to pay for another UFC event ever again. You can count me as one of those fans.

Strikeforce: Melendez vs Thomson Recap and Notes From San Jose

dwizzle1 — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 3:10:00 PDT

Strikeforce: Melendez vs Thomson Recap and Notes From San Jose

Written by Derek Wizzle

Strikeforce returned to the HP Pavilion in San Jose Friday night with 12 fights on the card. The 7,488 fans in attendance saw a great main event between Strikeforce World Lightweight champion, Gilbert "El Nino" Melendez and challenger Josh "The Punk" Thomson.

The crowd was really into the fight right from the beginning. Half the crowd was cheering for Thomson and the other half was rooting for Melendez.

Thomson dominated the five-round battle and took the belt away from Melendez convincingly. Thomson controlled the whole match, and left no doubt as to who the winner would be before the decision was even announced.

Thomson won by unanimous decision and all three judges scored the fight 50-45.

"The Punk" was clearly the better fighter that evening. He was very confident and was having a lot of fun inside the cage. After every round, he played to the crowd by smiling and winking to the fans. Those antics probably antagonized his opponent even more.

"El Nino" didn't do a good job of trying to take down Thomson. In the post-fight press conference, Thomson mentioned that Melendez was wary of a knee to his face if he tried for takedowns. He said that Melendez remembers his bony knees finding its mark during their sparring sessions with each other in the past. This is why he felt Melendez did not try for takedowns as much.

Thomson credited his trainer, Javier Mendez, and training partner, Josh Koscheck for preparing him for the fight. Mendez developed a great game plan for his fight and Koscheck helped him a lot with his wrestling.

"The Punk" also mentioned that he had a rough training camp as he was sick, and then had a staph infection prior to the fight. He was on antibiotics for the last three weeks.

Melendez admitted that Thomson was a better man that evening and that he could not slam Thomson for some reason. He said he was really looking forward to having a beer.

Both fighters welcomed a rematch. Thomson said he only wants to fight guys who are in the top 10 and he had no pressure to win since he was such a heavy underdog. Thomson once again said he wanted to fight Takanori Gomi.

The other American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) fighters who won that night were Bobby Southworth and Billy Evangelista.

Southworth, the Strikeforce World Light Heavyweight champion, avenged a previous loss to Anthony "El Toro" Ruiz by winning by unanimous decision.

This was the worst fight of the night, and Southworth did not gain any fans in his victory. The crowd became hostile during the third round and started to boo loudly.

The two fighters were not doing anything but sweating profusely during the five-round championship fight, and the fight wore on the fans. It seemed like they were holding on to each other the whole night.

This match was almost as bad as the Southworth vs. Vernon "Tiger" White fight a few years ago in this very same arena.

Hopefully Strikeforce can groom Renato "Babalu" Sobral for a title shot soon against Southworth.

Billy Evangelista defeated Nam Phan in a very controversial decision. Evangelista won the first round, but most of the fans agreed that Phan won the last two rounds of the fight by being the aggressor and taking the action to Evangelista.

Phan was shocked he lost and put his hands on his head in shock. He quickly exited the cage in disgust as he was very disappointed.

The crowd booed once the decision awarding the fight to Evangelista was announced.

Cung Le's fighters had a rough evening as all three of his students lost.

Anthony Figueroa lost again to Fight and FItness member Chris Cariaso. Cariaso had defeated Figueroa via unanimous decision before, but this time he won with a choke. The guys from Fight and Fitness in San Francisco seem to have Figueroa's number, as he has now lost to Cariaso twice, and in his previous fight, he lost to Darren Uyenoyama.

In the only women's bout of the night, Elaina "Beef" Maxwell lost by unanimous decision to Meisha Tate. Maxwell was unable to keep the fight standing as Tate was able to take her down a few times and control the fight.

This fight was a crowd pleaser even though the hometown girl was the loser.

Jose Palacios lost his first MMA fight to Bobby Stack by unanimous decision. This fight could have gone either way, and Palacios said that he wants a rematch since he disagreed with the decision by the judges.

Raymond "The Real Deal" Daniels made his highly anticipated MMA debut on this show. Daniels is the star of the World Combat League, and some media outlets even called him the "next Cung Le" which is high praise for any young fighter.

Unfortunately for Daniels, "The Real Deal" fought more like "The Fraud." He did not live up to expectations and was choked out by his opponent, Jeremiah Metcalf, in the second round.

This fight was totally one-sided except for a guillotine submission attempt by Daniels early in round one. Daniels has the charisma to be a star, but he needs to show some more offense next time, and keep the fight standing. He already proved to be a good showman by coming out dancing to 50 Cent's song "Don't Push Me" when he walked to the cage.

Some of the prelim winners that were impressive were Alexander Trivino, Jorge Interiano, and Bryan Caraway.

Trivino, who trains at Frank Shamrock's school in San Jose, won in 37 seconds by submitting Eric Jacob with an arm-bar in the first fight of the night.

Light heavyweight fighters Jorge Interiano and Travis Johnson made their MMA debuts against each other in the second prelim fight of the night.

Johnson was announced by the PA announcer with the nickname "The Last Dragon" which garnered a lot of chuckles.

Interiano landed more punches than Johnson and had a lot more stamina than the former kickboxer. The fight ended after the second round ended due to doctor's stoppage which sealed the victory for Interiano.

Bryan Caraway fought San Jose's Alvin Cacdac in another prelim bout.

Caraway called his fighting style "Cowboy Karate."

Cacdac's hightlight moment was coming out to Young Jeezy's new single, "Put On" which had fans bobbing their heads and cheering. It was all downhill for him after that as he was forced to tap out when Caraway caught him in a rear naked choke early in the first round.

In other prelim fights, Cyrillo Padhillo defeated Jesse Jones by unanimous decision, and in the final fight of the night, Eric Lawson defeated Jesse Gillespie with a rear naked choke.

Fans quickly exited the arena right after the main event so not a lot of people got to see Lawson's victory. You can't blame the fans as it was getting close to midnight, and they had already seen over five hours of fights.

Overall, this was a good night of fights even though we were subject to watching another dull five-round Bobby Southworth championship fight. The main event lived up to its hype and the fans left happy and entertained.

The next Strikeforce show will probably be in September and be held at the Playboy Mansion.

Ultimate Fighter Season 7 Finale Review

dwizzle1 — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:35:42 PDT

Season 7 of The Ultimate Fighter ended last night at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas. There were 12 fights scheduled on the card and Spike TV aired six of the fights.

Most of the fights shown were boring and dull. There were many things better to do on a Saturday night than watch these unspectacular fights.

Only MMA fans who enjoy watching fights go to a decision would have enjoyed the televised fights.

The first fight shown was Matt Riddle against Dante Rivera. This match was supposed to be a grudge match as these two did not get along on the show. I don't think too many fans cared about this rivalry, and I don't think many people would have been mad if this fight was a prelim instead of being on the main card.

Riddle, as expected, won by decision over his older opponent.

The next fight was between Jeremy Stephens and Spencer Fisher in a battle of lightweights. This fight was more entertaining than the first fight but it ended in a decision too. The veteran Fisher dominated most of the action and it was another one-sided affair.

The best fight on the show was next as Diego Sanchez fought lightly-regarded Luigi Fioravanti. It was a closer battle than many anticipated as Fioravanti was able to avoid most of Sanchez's takedown attempts. Fioravanti never inflicted much damage to Sanchez, and Sanchez was able to win via TKO in the third round.

Amir Sadollah once again defeated C.B. Dolloway by arm-bar to win The Ultimate Fighter championship for Season 7.

In the night's main event, Kendall Grove easily defeated veteran Evan Tanner by decision. Grove, who surprisingly was a underdog for this fight, used his reach advantage to control Tanner for much of the bout.

Tanner was bloodied early but never gave up and showed a lot of heart and tenacity in not allowing Grove to finish him off with a knockout. Tanner knew he was not going to win if the fight came down to a decision, so he started to go for broke in the last round and tried to land haymakers.

Most of the fights on the card were one-sided and not too entertaining.

One fight between Cale Yarbrough and Tim Credeur got cancelled due to Credeur testing positive for an illegal substance. I don't think fans felt slighted at all with that fight having to be called off as both of these fighters are far from superstars.

Since a lot of the fights went three rounds, Spike TV only showed one prelim match featuring Drew McFedries against Marvin Eastman.

McFedries looked really good and won by TKO due to strikes in the first round.

The fights that were televised left a lot to be desired. Some of the prelim fights that were not shown were probably more entertaining as they ended by knockout or submission.

The UFC's next big show is July 5 when Rampage Jackson takes on challenger Forrest Griffin for the UFC Light Heavyweight title.

Hopefully that pay-per-view show will be much better than the last few UFC shows which were lacking in excitment.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 7: Worst Season ever

dwizzle1 — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:55:26 PDT

Season 7 of The Ultimate Fighter thankfully ended last night. Of all the seasons, this was the worst season yet.

Many fans of the show were disappointed with the lack of quality fighters and personalities on the show. There was not a lot of entertaining drama at all.

I was really looking forward to this season because of the coaches, UFC champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Forrest Griffin. Jackson and Griffin are both funny guys in different ways with engaging personalities. Unfortunately, this did not come across at all on the show.

The season was a total drag and the fights were boring and lackluster. The most exciting fighter was probably Amir Sadollah. Sadollah will be fighting C.B. Dolloway this Saturday night to see who will be this season's "Ultimate Fighter." The winner also secures a contract with the UFC.

More than half of the fighters on the show probably won't even step into a UFC cage ever again. Most of them did not show any star quality or enough talent to garner a second chance in the UFC. The UFC has been able to make stars out of the show, but they will be hard-pressed to find a star or main eventer from this season's cast members.

One fighter who I think has potential is Matthew Riddle. The youthful fighter was eliminated on the show but showed a lot of heart and ability in his loss to Tim Credeur.

The rest of the fighters were none too impressive. Some of them talked a good game but showed nothing inside the Octagon.

Just like recent seasons, there were a lot of sophomoric stunts orchestrated by the fighters,. They also drank a lot of alcohol and destroyed the house.

Every single episode was boring and dull. I often turned to MTV to watch The Real World instead of Spike TV on Wednesday nights. The drama on that show seemed more real and interesting than the drama on The Ultimate Fighter.

The producers of the show and Dana White need to figure out a way to make this show better. I don't know how ratings were for this season, but I can't help to think that they were not very high.

Next season of The Ultimate Fighter will be coached by heavyweights Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. It should be airing in the fall of this year.

I certainly hope that next season will be much better than Season 7. Maybe a new cast of characters is what the show needs or prehaps more drama?

Whatever it is, Dana White and Spike TV must find the formula to make The Ultimate Fighter must-see TV again, or viewers won't be tuning in.