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The penultimate episode of Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter concluded on Wednesday, revealing the finalists of the middleweight tournament (specifics on that later).
Meanwhile, UFC 115 is set to air this Saturday night in Vancouver, Canada. The TUF Finalists will faceoff one-week later. Effectively, the UFC’s PPV event will serve as a lead-in for their free Spike TV TUF 11 Finale. That is tantamount to dining at a restaurant and receiving your appetizer after your main entrée.
Never have the coaches fought before the TUF finalists, so it’ll be interesting to see how this pans out in relation to PPV buys.
Why is this rearwards progression taking place?
Ortiz Chucked Aside
What was Tito Ortiz doing in TUF 11 with a bad spine anyways? What about his "fractured skull?"
It’s easy to side with Chuck and dismiss Tito’s coaching gig as no more than an opportunity to pimp his clothing line, Punishment Athletics. But the truth is he was cleared by a UFC approved doctor beforehand.
When Tito returned to the UFC last year, many were skeptical of his worth to the UFC. He had lost many of his last fights, and the game appeared to have passed the former champion by. Dana White has cunningly used Tito, both as an emergency main event, and as a recognizable company spokesman. Oops.
If Chuck loses to Rich Franklin convincingly, Dana may give Chuck one last parting gift before he forces him into retirement (again): an Octagon with Tito Ortiz in it.
“Guard” Back on Top
Let’s face it, since the mystical Royce Gracie days, when it was revered as half-magic/half-technique, “The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Guard” has taken a public image hit.
Uneducated homophobes, and even pound for pound Fighter Jon Fitch, have attacked the guard as being ineffectual or just plain unnecessarily intimate.
Involving military personnel in the last week’s episode was keen marketing on Zuffa’s part. Just their presence alone adds to their legitimacy as a budding sport. But what I liked best, was when you heard a member of our armed forces ask them (paraphrasing):
“We’re taught to always fight standing, and if we’re on the bottom, that’s a dangerous place we don’t want to be in, and I know you guys know sweeps and reverses, so we’d love to learn some of that.”
Wow. Army officers curiously asking mixed martial artists to teach them “the guard”? Don’t ask, and don’t tell middleweight contender Chael Sonnen this. He’s much too “Republican” to employ “the guard”.
Sideshow Bob Meets Jersey Shore
Jamie Yager was unquestionably the most spurned cast member of TUF 11. His pompous ego and loudmouth antics found him a minority of allies and an ever-expanding list of potential cast-mate matchups.
After a series of nimble, lightning-quick knockouts, Yager suffered a mortifying awakening at the hands of the always-smiling Josh Bryant.
Former junkie Court McGee continued to erase his melancholy history by eliminating Hawaiian Brad Tavares in a thrilling back and forth semi-final bout. McGee was serendipitously handed a second chance after losing a close decision to fabulous fighter, Nick “The Promise” Ring (despite being in the same weight class, don’t expect to see Nick Ring and Chael Sonnen ever forming a training partnership).
Kris “The Savage” McCray, the weekly scrapper, stands as the last man from recently defunct Team Ortiz.
When Dana promised us a new wrinkle in this season’s formatting, we were all disappointed to learn it was simply a “wild-card” opening that would allow a defeated fighter another chance in the tourney.
Now this new format is poised to produce a new winner.
Rich Franklin versus Chuck Liddell: The Ace up Dana’s Sleeve
When Tito notified Dana he was pulling out of the end of the season bout with Chuck, Dana had to think swiftly. He needed both a coach and a suitable opponent for The Iceman, and Rich was ideally suited for both roles.
First, in his abbreviated tenure as coach, he successfully engineered a crafty cerebral game plan for Kris McCray, allowing Kris to avenge his sole loss against cast-mate Josh Bryant.
Secondly, Rich will gauge Liddell’s diminishing skills much better than Tito would have.
Superfight, SuperLate
From June 2005 until October 2006 (Rich’s reign as Middleweight Champion), Rich and Chuck were champions of the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight division, respectively.
That sixteen-month period could have provided a stellar superfight between the bruising pair, but instead it happens this Saturday — sans title implications.
Better late than never.
Will Franklin force the iconic Iceman to hang up the gloves once and for all?
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