Dec 11, 2009 - 6:31:24 PM By Chris Park, MMATorch UK Specialist
By Chris Park, MMATorch UK Specialist
After almost three months on air, the tenth instalment of "The Ultimate Fighter" came to its conclusion this weekend. Saturday night began with a double bill of the final two episodes, followed shortly after by the live finale, on ESPN.
After much anticipation over whether Kimbo Slice would be able to step up and be fit to face James McSweeney, the show took several further twists before the quarter final showdown actually happened.
Firstly, to the amazement of Dana White, Kimbo was not exactly falling over himself to step in for Matt Mitrione. After being told he is suffering Arthritis in his knee, Slice looked full of doubt when asked if he would be ready to take on the Brit. He said to camera: "I am in no condition to be fighting a kick boxer like James McSweeney".
The irony of this surprising decision was that even if Kimbo had jumped all over the chance, which everyone had expected him to, he would not be recalled to the competition anyway. Matt Mitrione called in with news that he had doctor's clearance to fight and admitted that he always intended to compete. "I was kind of just literally messing with James, he didn't know if he was fighting me or Kimbo or whoever. It was just a way of keeping myself entertained a little bit too".
Mitrione and his mind games have frustrated and angered McSweeney on multiple occasions and this all came to a head at the weigh-ins. After an intense stare down, the two almost started their bout there on the scales with McSweeney shoving Mitrione while sniping: Get back on the football field where you belong you little bitch."
The fight went ahead the following day with McSweeney landing some nice leg kicks before Mitrione landed some hard shots of his own. Mitrione connected with some power punches that at first, appeared to have McSweeney on the ropes but the Brit was able to regain his composure.
McSweeney shot for the single leg but struggled to take his opponent down. After eventually getting the fight to the ground and taking side control, McSweeney landed some body blows before converting into a guillotine. Mitrione didn't initially appear to be in danger but seemed to tap without any attempt of making an escape. The result saw the Brit ask, "It's over between us, isn't it?" With Mitrione replying: "It's over."
This victory took the Greg Jackson pupil to a semi-final show down with former IFL Heavyweight Champ Roy "Big Country" Nelson. Nelson, in two very lacklustre performances, had eliminated both Kimbo Slice and Justin Wren en route to this semi-final match up. In the early stages McSweeney looked in control, but his premature showboating was ultimately his down fall. Nelson connected rocking the Brit and once he had the fight on the ground he pounded until the referee stepped in to award "Big Country" a TKO victory. The win left Dana White full of praise for Nelson, for the first time this season.
This led us nicely to the live finale which I must say was the worst event coverage I have seen in a long time. There were commercial breaks literally at every breath. As a result viewers missed out on certain pre fight interviews, ring entrances as well as corner pep talks in between rounds.
Once again a choice decision was one of the talking points with Matt Hamill looking like he was close to death when referee Steve Mazzagatti finally pulled John Jones from him. The irony of all of this was that Mazzagatti only stepped in because Jones had thrown an illegal elbow. Had this elbow not been thrown who knows how much more he would have allowed Hamill to take? Hamill subsequently won via disqualification but looked anything but a winner on this evening.
Kimbo Slice won his bout with Houston Alexander in a match up that was not the street brawl that had been advertised. After defeating James McSweeney in the semi final, Roy Nelson knocked out Brendan Schaub at 3:42 of the very first round becoming the first Heavyweight TUF winner since his show coach Rashad Evans won the second season.
That victory not only saw Roy win the knockout of the night, but also the lucrative six figure contract with the UFC.
James McSweeney made his official UFC debut taking on fellow team (Rashad) mate Darryl Schoonover. One thing I did find a little strange was Rashad cornered McSweeney for this fight. I know they were team mates at Greg Jacksons camp long before the show started but it just didn't sit right with me, especially at the weigh ins. As this was the finale to the whole season I would have preferred Evans to have appeared more impartial. I think it would have been more appropriate for Greg Jackson, Keith Jardine or anyone else from their camp to have cornered McSweeney on this particular night.
Despite more transmission frustrations which led to the first minute of the bout not being aired it was a fairly good fight. McSweeney largely dominated the round scoring heavy elbows from the bottom then outworking his opponent all over the mat. McSweeney dropped a huge axe kick to the body with just thirty seconds of the round remaining. Schoonover fought back with a near knockout blow that left the Brit Rocked. McSweeney stuck it out and made it to the end of the round
The second round began with McSweeney dropping his man with a grazing hook to the temple. McSweeney dominated the entire round from the mat. It was the third round with less than two minute remaining that McSweeney threw a combination that consisted of a flying knee followed by a head kick, right hook then a Muay Thai clinch and knee to the head. A flurry of punches followed before the referee stopped the fight awarding the Brit a TKO victory.
All in all it was a relatively underwhelming show with Hulk Hogan making an appearance to plug the deal that's between struck between Spike and TNA. The whole thing made me feel very uncomfortable especially when Hogan delivered on of his old WWF lines to camera. Tito Ortiz will continue his rehabilitation on the next season of TUF opposing the returning "Iceman", Chuck Liddell. The pair will reignite their feud, squaring off for the third time, after the finale next summer.
IT'S OFFICIAL, BUT WHO WILL COME OUT ON TOP, DOWN UNDER?
This week the official announcement was made for UFC 110. The event will take place as reported on February 21 at the Acer Arena, Sydney. The event will be the organisations first trip to Australia and will be headlined by Cain Velasquez and Minotauro Nogueira.
As if that wasn't enough; last week Australian MMA fans were given a match up for the ages. It had been reported that Wanderlei Silva will no longer compete against Yoshihiro Akiyama. Instead the event in Sydney will see Michael Bisping, following his crushing of Dennis Kang, step up to face the Axe Murderer.
After suffering one of the worst knockouts ever, to Dan Henderson, Bisping rebounded impressively against Kang and looks to take a huge step back towards the glory trail.
This is a fight I have wanted to see from the second I heard Silva was making the drop to 185. Bisping will come into this bout with alot of his confidence reinstated having been kicked right back down the Middleweight ladder.
Bisping spoke of his delight at the matchup with mmabay.co.uk: "It's an honour to be fighting someone with the legendary status of Wanderlei Silva. He was a fighter I always looked up to when I was younger and I've always enjoyed his fighting style. That said, I've obviously got to fight the guy, I'm looking forward to the challenge and I'll certainly be doing my best to give the fans all over the world and especially in Australia a fantastic fight."
If reports are to be believed and this fight is close to being signed off then this is an incredibly clever bit of business on the UFC's part. Wanderlei is in the twilight of his career and finds himself as one of the organisations marquee fighters. The reception he was given, by the German fans goes to show the world wide appeal he possesses, hence the positioning of his most recent matchups.
This, in my opinion, is the best utilisation of two key figures on the UFC roster. At this moment in time, Bisping would be wasted on a card in the States against the likes of Nate Marqaurt or Damien Mia. His popularity plummeted stateside since his appearance as the coach on TUF 9 and as the old saying goes: "Any publicity is good publicity". With that in mind and with no UK event set in stone, where better to place public enemy number one, than the headline of the Australian launch against possibly the biggest cult figure in MMA.
Due to the extreme time difference, Spike will still run this event in America as a pay-per-view and my guess is (unlike alot of other overseas cards) alot of American fans will want to tune in, in the hope of seeing Wanderlei finish Bisping in a similar fashion to Henderson.
Wanderlei Silva, although still a hugely dangerous competitor, is a shadow of the old "Axe Murderer" from Pride. Despite this Silva still carries a huge amount of appeal and is a scalp any fighter would dream of having under their belt. Bisping will look to capitalize on Silva's prestige and has the benefit of Quinton Jackson to turn to for advice. Both fighters come into this matchup having been shut down in their penultimate fights, to Henderson and Jackson respectively.
I think the Australian fans will be in store for a great card full of some of the biggest names in MMA today. However with this co-main event I think they could be in for one of the fights of 2010.
BACK IN THE CAPITAL CITY.
Rumours have been circulating that a return to the London O2 could be alot sooner than first expected. It has been confirmed than the UK capital is one of the destinations being considered for UFC: 112 on April 10 2010.
With neither Michael Bisping nor Dan Hardy available for even a co-main event slot, Joe Silva will really have to pull something out of the bag as it is clear a strong headline fight will be required for this one.
Couture vs. Vera was great for Manchester but it was supported by Hardy, Bisping and the rest of the TUF clan. One match up which would serve as the perfect main event would be the returning Quinton Jackson vs. Rashad Evans. Rampage is very popular on these shores and if he really is returning then this fight needs to happen sooner rather than later and at the top of this card, would be a match made in heaven.
With Bisping and Hardy taking on Wanderlei Silva and George St Pierre, respectively, this leaves the door open for an up and comer to steal the show. In February, Michael Bisping was unable to compete at UFC 95. It turned out to be the start of the meteoric rise of Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy, and a similar thing could happen to either Ross Pearson or Andre Winner. Both fighters will be looking to take another step up in class and to once again win big.
One man who really could stand out and shine is Paul "Semtex" Daley. Should he make light work of Carlos Condit on Jan. 2 then he could well be in the co-main event. Matt Hughes has already said he wants to make the trip across the pond to fight on this card and if he is brave enough to take on a hungry lion like Daley then that's one the fans will go crazy for.
James McSweeney will no doubt be making his first (non TUF) UFC appearance and could really cement himself a place with the fans should he win big in front of the UK crowd.
At first thought I wondered who could lead the line on this show but after giving it some thought we could see a pretty tasty card shape up over the next four months. Jackson vs. Evans and Hughes vs. Daley really sits nicely with me so let's just wait and see what happens. You heard it here first!
OTHER NEWS IN BRIEF
-Daily Telegraph sports writer, Gareth A Davies was the only UK journalist to be nominated for the "Fighters Only World MMA Awards." Gareth has been the spearhead of all MMA in the UK press for many years now and deserves huge credit for his contribution to the growth of UK MMA. This is due to his work with The Daily Telegraph and his analyst role on Setanta's "Ultimate Talk" to mention just a few. I hope you all join me in wishing Gareth the best of luck at the awards ceremony later this month.
-UK Lightweight contender Wesley "Two Play" Johnson failed in his attempt to attain the Grand Prix Lightweight crown at the UCMMA event at Troxy. Johnson who despite being tagged twice, by opponent Luke Smith, picked himself off the matt and stood toe-to-toe with Smith and looked like he could pick up a knockout victory. Despite being stopped late in the first round "Two Play" showed Ricky Hatton like heart which explains why he was one of the most popular fighters on the entire card and will not doubt see him back soon.
-There is good and bad news on the injury front where UK fighters are concerned. Paul Kelly does not have broken ribs and will be back in action sooner than expected. However James Wilks, who faced Matt Brown at UFC: 105, has suffered a broken nose and cheekbone in his bout and it is unknown at this point when he will be back in the Octagon.
-Ahead of his title fight with GSP, Dan Hardy told MMA Fanhouse feels it is down to him to hype their showdown."The thing with GSP is he's such a nice guy. Ya know it's a little boring. So I'm going to have to do something to make sure the fans know the fight is going on."
-While discussing an arm bar attempt with mmabay.co.uk, Michael Bisping claimed Dennis Kang was a slippery customer: "His arm was very very slippy, I'm not saying he was greased up but he was certainly slippy, slippier than a man's normal arm".
I hope you enjoyed the round up of the last couple of weeks on the UK scene. I am very excited to see Bisping fight Silva as it has been on my wish list for some time. I will really look forward to the event in London and have put my ideal matchups, for that event, out there.
Chris Park is the MMATorch UK Scene columnist. Please email any comments to Chris at ukmmascene@yahoo.co.uk.
are you serious...if Hughes were brave enough to take on Semtex...or if
Semtex were to make "light work" of Condit...dammit guy...enough with the
homerism. Semtex is a decent stand up figher but on the ground Hughes Pwns
him and Condit (thank god for you) destroys Semtex. Maybe he has a chance
against Dustin Hazelett but I doubt it.
