The Ultimate Fighter

[JBMasterAngler]

Anyone watching this season of TUF? I don't catch every season, for me it depends on who the coaches are. I really like Chael Sonnen as a coach! He's really giving these guys some good advice. Will he beat Jones? Most likely, no. But it should still make for a pretty good fight. I'm also glad that Bubba dude lost, and by a choke out.

[mrklean]

Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't the winning fighters coach usually the won who ended up winning the coaches fight? I don't know the total record but I know rampage lost both times shamrock back in the day and a few others?

[JBMasterAngler]

Quite a few of the coaches in the last several seasons got hurt, so the original showdowns never even took place. Roy Nelson was supposed to fight Shane Carwin, Carwin was replaced by Matt Mitrione. Junior Dos Santos was supposed to fight Brock Lesnar, Lesnar was replaced by Shane Carwin I think? Chuck Liddell was supposed to fight Tito Ortiz, Ortiz was replaced by Rich Franklin. I think Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort were supposed to fight too, but that fight never happened either.

[caseymcq]

I don't know the total record but I know rampage lost both times shamrock back in the day and a few others?

Lost to Forest Griffin and then Rashad Evans.

Jones had a chance to fight Chael last year when Dan Henderson got hurt... Pulled out of the fight... It will be interesting to see how this fight goes...

Sonnen is a really good fighter. He was beating Anderson Silva in their first fight for the first four rounds and then got caught in a triangle choke. Second fight he took it to him in the first round and then lost on a mistake in the second.

[mainbutter]

Sonnen is a really good fighter. He was beating Anderson Silva in their first fight

While taking TRT without a TUE. He kinda got manhandled their last meet-up, and I'm not a person who thinks Silva is as unbeatable as most.

[mrklean]

speaking of TRT i was very happy to see White's stance on it now if you really need it hes gonna test you nonstop to make sure your not abusing it

[caseymcq]

While taking TRT without a TUE. He kinda got manhandled their last meet-up, and I'm not a person who thinks Silva is as unbeatable as most.

You're right, I had forgot about that. He had the TUE in the last fight but not the first one.

[Fish Head]

Jones had a chance to fight Chael last year when Dan Henderson got hurt... Pulled out of the fight... It will be interesting to see how this fight goes...

Chael's willingnes to take that fight on 8 days notice is what got him the TUF coaching gig and the next title shot. Even though there were several other fighters more deserving.

[caseymcq]

... Even though there were several other fighters more deserving.

Definitely agree with that... I don't think he had fought at the UFC light heavyweight since 2004 and to be catapulted to a title fight seemed a little hokey. I guess Shogun and Machida had turned down the fight with Jones though.

[JBMasterAngler]

Putting Chael Sonnen on the show means better ratings I'm sure. He is quite the character after all. I think he also may bring more PPV sales. But like I said earlier, while watching this show, he's really showing off how good of a coach he is.

Sonnen will be competitive, but I think he's just too small for Jones. Now with Machida beating Henderson, he should clearly be the #1 contender. I'm not sold on that Gustaffson guy from sweden. And then down the road I think we'll see Sonnen vs. Vitor Belfort. Belfort has been very critical of Sonnen for getting this fight with Jones.

[Fish Head]

Actually I think Sonnen is doing a great job coaching. I think he's not only helping these guys technically, but seems to be doing a great job with the mental aspects of fighting. Jones will kill him in the fight though.

I think we can all say that its a safe bet Uriah Hall will be in the finale. Even though they won't release that information yet, Uriah already has a NOS endorsement and you see him in their commercials. He was sitting ringside at UFC 157.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrYmRS59uK8

[mainbutter]

Replying to a Sonnen tweet announcing a Team Quest seminar, "Bigfoot" Silva replied:

"You will show how to get out of a triangle?"

A downside to a recent promotion at work is that I miss the second half of this season of TUF, working every tuesday night during that time slot! This has been a better season than most as of late, I've been worrying that they were running out of fresh talent after pounding through a dozen seasons. Top tier MMA fighting doesn't seem to be a sport that is easy to recruit excellent talent for.

[Fish Head]

A downside to a recent promotion at work is that I miss the second half of this season of TUF, working every tuesday night during that time slot!

Record it. If you don't have a DVR, I'm pretty sure you can watch it latter on line. So far it's a good season.

I'm glad last season Dana didn't put anyone on the finale card except the 2 guys fighting in the finale. There were mostly boring fights last year. Much better this season!

[JBMasterAngler]

MMA is still a fast growing sport. We're just now entering the generation where kids are growing up specifically training to be MMA fighters, as opposed to getting into the sport with a different background, wrestling, jiu jitsu, etc.

Right now Jon Jones is an absolute phenom, but in 10 years those types are going to be common in every weight division.

[Fish Head]

MMA is still a fast growing sport. We're just now entering the generation where kids are growing up specifically training to be MMA fighters, as opposed to getting into the sport with a different background, wrestling, jiu jitsu, etc.

Right now Jon Jones is an absolute phenom, but in 10 years those types are going to be common in every weight division.

I agree.

[Fish Head]

Has anyone been watching TUF this season? This is definitely one of the better seasons I've seen. There have been a lot of finishes.

All I have to say is...Uriah Hall. No one wants to be in the octagon with this guy. Bubba didn't want to fight him and he was knocked out in less than 10 seconds. His last 2 fights are some of the most devastating knockouts ever on TUF. As soon as the fight ended last night, Chael Sonnen walked in the cage and told Uriah that "you are a title contender right now". Fun to watch.

[JBMasterAngler]

He is definitely a beast! It just doesn't seem he's all there mentally though. If someone can test his will, they might be able to break him. I'm picking him to meet Josh Samman in the finals...who might be able to test him, but I'm still picking Hall to win. And I agree with Sonnen, he'll be able to fight legitimate contenders right from the start!

[The Grebe]

Hall has been in with two guys that weren't high caliber mixed martial artists...not even that good of fighers as mixed martial artists go. Not in my opinion anyways. That first guy was landing some stuff on Hall and pushing him around until he took that kick to the gourd.

Bubba was a big talker right from the start and he just didn't have the stuff to back it up....he was scared of Hall going in. He had the tools, they all have the tools, he just didn't know how to use them very well when they were needed...he came with a tack hammer when he should have brought a maul! As long as he has been a fighter and at the age he is at, he might want to consider doing something different with his life.

Uriah Hall will be tested at some popint to see if he has anything in the stretch, to see how he deals with adversity when he gets pounded on a little, or someone takes him to the mat. If he weathers those storms and comes up winning, then we probably have another gem to watch in the future. Silva took a pounding from Sonnen for almost 5 rounds and he still found a way to win. Jones is the same way he gets touched now and then, but he works through it and uses his tools to end the fights.

[Fish Head]

As Great as Uriah has looked, I think Kelvin stands a real shot at him. Uriah fights pretty upright and I think Kelvin will take him down. We all saw what Kelvin can do on the ground with 2 rear naked chokes in 3 fights. Josh had a very good all around game and Kelvin made easy work of him on the ground.

I still favor Uriah to win, but I give Kelvin a decent chance… more than any other fighter this season because of his ground game. I guess I just haven't seen enough of Uriah on the ground yet, and I think his takedown defense may be his weakness.

[The Grebe]

Thats a good accessment, I'll agree with that. He looked kinda ordinary with the guy he was in with last? The guy just followed him around and got punched in the face alot. Still, he was able to land a couple of dingers on Hall and took him down a few times....that last time didn't work out so well for him though, ouch!

I would have liked to see him fight that guy that got defeated by the 21 year old. If he could have gotten through him, who I thought was pretty well rounded for just starting out, then I would have been more impressed with him. He is definately in the top 3 on the show, but a contender like Sonnen said? Whoa, he has to make his bones first!

It will be interesting to see how he fairs out against the kid? The kid seems to have some pretty good take down skills and he seems to know what to do once he gets the guys down? He has a pretty good solid looking square head, looks like he can take a punch, he may need that attribute when him and Hall meet. If Hall gets through the kid, then he is probably someone we should watch for down the line!

[JBMasterAngler]

I liked what i saw from Hall. His opponent was clearly too scared to fight, so Hall dictated the pace, and didn't try to over do anything. He showed lot's of discipline keeping up that sort of pace, and sticking with what was working. And then when he finally did get taken down, he outworked the guy from the bottom, and then reversed positions and took him out.

I like Kelvin a lot, and I think he'll have no problem pressing the action. So it should make for a good fight tonight. I hope he does get some takedowns, because I'm interested to see how Hall will react to effective aggression. Win, lose, or draw, Kelvin hopefully will compete at 170 pounds in the future. He definitely looks like he has the extra weight to lose, and he would just be more effective at that lower weight.

[The Grebe]

Another good accessment. Kelvin beat Hall last night, but it was a good fight and it showed more of Hall then just putting him in with bodies to pound on....I believe that we are going to see alot more of Mr. Hall once he gets some high caliber training under his belt. Same with Kelvin, at a lower weight of course.

The thing that surprised me was how good Bubba looked? Where was all that offense when he was on the UF series? Had he fought on there the way he fought last night, he would have been alot more interesting. The guy he fought last night wasn't the greatest in any department....with all those muscles, he couldn't even out muscle Bubba, but Bubba showed he is a little more dimensional then what was seen of the UF.

[JBMasterAngler]

The commentators mentioned it during bubba's fight...during the show they fought all those fights in just a several week window. Bubba had a really hard time maintaining the 185 pound weight limit for that amount of time.

The fight between Uriah and Kelvin could've gone either way. But yeah, even in the loss, Hall showed alot! And I see him still becoming a legitimate contender. Although I'd like to see him fight someone not from the show, a fight against Josh Samman would be good for him.

Because Kelvin is only 21, they can take their time grooming him into an elite fighter. Get him down to 170 and bring him along slowly against the right guys.

[The Grebe]

Josh Sammon, thats the name I was looking for earlier....I'm terrible on names, in one ear and out the other. Your right, him and Hall (Hall is an easy name to remember)would make a good match up I think? Thats another guy to watch for in the future.

[CANOPY SAM]

I thought the fight between Uriah and Kelvin seemed a little staged. Uriah's slam dunk blows are with his feet, and did he even throw a decent kick through this whole fight?

Kelvin fought hard, 110% thru every round. Uriah just seemed to be watching it all happen. Like he was just holding back.

When it was all over I couldn't help thinking Uriah already had a place locked into the UFC. Everyone saw this guy's potential, and he'd been offered a contract before this "final" ultimate fighter match was even in the books, regardless of the outcome.

Kelvin winning this match is a great story. Young kid, coming from almost nothing, winning the big contract and changing his life.

Not saying it couldn't be possible. It just didn't seem like Uriah was really trying to win.

These guys sure are a different breed of duck. The feature fight was awesome between the California Kid and his best buddy of many years. It takes a couple big men to try and repeatedly punch each others lights out, then brush each other off and hug after the fight! I know, I know, it's their job, but I'd really have a tough time beating the cr_p out of my best friend.