...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief Things just got a whole lot more interesting in the world of the Ultimate Fighter. Filming began Monday for the tenth season of the UFC reality show on Spike, and this season features a 16 man heavyweight tournament with teams coached by Rashad Evans and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. One of those heavyweights will be a name that every MMA fan will recognize...Kimbo Slice.
Kevin Iole at Yahoo! Sports reported Monday night that UFC President Dana White has confirmed that Slice is a member of the cast. White had hoped to keep Slice's involvement secret until a media day at the UFC Training Center in Las Vegas. He has on numerous occassions called out Slice in multiple venues, especially after Slice's loss to Seth Petruzelli on the final EliteXC card on CBS last October, and he's also stated the only way Slice would be in the UFC is to fight his way through the Ultimate Fighter reality show.
That's coming to fruition now as Slice embarks upon six weeks in the Ultimate Fighter house and this tournament to crown the next heavyweight Ultimate Fighter. Iole speculates that Slice may not fight until as late as possible for ratings reasons, and also reveals December 5th as the date for the live finale. This season's cast is sure to be revealed soon with this first name out there, so stay tuned for more.
Penick's Analysis: Well, this is one of those "out of left field" developments, but it's a great move. Kimbo Slice was not going to be taken seriously by many people as an MMA fighter with what he was being given as competition and the fact that he really epitomizes the thug street fighter image that so many mainstream people have for the sport and it's fighters. With him going on the show and proving himself in this tournament format, or not, the UFC has found a way to either develop him as their own or show him for what he is as an MMA fighter. If he gets himself to the finale the ratings will be huge, and even if he doesn't, with him, Rashad and Rampage all on one season this could be one of the more entertaining editions this show has ever produced. This is a great move on many levels right now, and should be very interesting television come this fall.
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
