BlurayMMA.com

The Ultimate Fighter 9 - Team USA vs Team UK

Rob Browning the brother of last season’s entrant and attention seeker Junie Browning wasting no time in getting himself noticed on camera and in the process wound up a lot of people. Browning indiscriminately launched eggs at his fellow TUF 9 contestants from a far. He didn’t seem to care who he annoyed regardless of being British or American. His notoriety earns himself the nickname 15 minutes as appears so keen to have his own 15 minutes of fame.

Team USA still needed one more Welterweight fighter and one more lightweight fighter to be decided in tonight’s eliminations before the series can progress to team versus team. First up the welters.

Kiel Reid fought it out with Frank Lester for the remaining place with the welters on the squad. Lester pre fight told us he wanted to stand and duke it out but gets taken down by Reid. Reid is dominant on the deck, wrestling looks to be his strong suit. The fight ends by Reid inadvertently knocking himself out when he takes down Lester hitting his own head into the floor of the octagon. Lester had a Kimura submission hold on him but Reid was out and unable to tap out. An unfortunate loss to Reid but anything can happen inside the cage. Frank Lester advances to the TUF house joining Dan Henderson’s Team USA.

The second and last Team USA decider saw Rob Browning compete against Jason Dent for the remaining lightweight spot. Would Rob Browning make it as far as his brother? We were about to find out. Into the bout there were good exchanges from both mixed martial artists until Dent overwhelms Browning on the mat utilising a ground and pound assault for the win. Dent to stay, Browning to go home to everyone else’s pleasure.

The final squad for Team USA

U.S. welterweights

Frank Lester

Mark Miller – Chicago

Jason Pierce – Iowa.

DaMarques Johnson – Salt Lake City

U.S. lightweights

Jason Dent

Richie Whitson – Alaskan residing in California

Santino DeFranco – IFL

Cameron Dollar – Colorado Springs

Next episode the competition between the two nations kicks off now all team members have been decided following the elimination bouts. Dana White flips the TUF coin, Team USA win the toss picking the first fight between the rival nations.

Make sure you tune into Virgin 1 every Sunday at 11pm in the UK on Freeview, Sky or Virgin Media. If you have Setanta Sports you can catch the episode repeated each Wednesday. Over in the States the programme is aired on Spike TV.

MMA blog by Dynamite Duane

duane@bluraymma.com

www.myspace.com/dynamite_duane

Bob 'The Beast' Sapp

Former World Wrestling Entertainment star and up-and-coming mixed-martial-arts heavyweight fighter Bobby Lashley (2-0) will fight former NFL lineman and kickboxer Bob Sapp (10-3-1) on June 27.

Lashley, an American Top Team fighter, announced the super-heavyweight fight with a Monday Twitter posting.

Lashley, who defeated Joshua Franklin and Jason Guida in his first two pro bouts, will now take on a competitor who will surely sell some tickets but likely to do little to help him mover up the MMA ladder.

The fight takes place at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Miss., for an upstart (and currently unnamed) MMA promotion.

While a victory over Sapp will likely do little to help Lashley’s reputation in the industry, the K-1 kickboxer does present a legitimate challenge based on his size alone. The approximately 350-pound Sapp will likely outweigh Lashley by 100 pounds on fight night, and his 6-foot-5 frame should give him a reach advantage.

Sapp is 5-1 in his past six MMA fights. He last competed at the Dec. 31 K-1 Dynamite!! show in Japan, where he defeated Akihito Tanaka (who was dressed as a cartoon character) with a first-round TKO.

- Coming from a background as a fan of pro wrestling personally I can’t wait for this one having followed both fighters. It is these type of fights that draw in the casual fan and keep it interesting. Brock Lesnar versus Sapp most likely will never happen due to the weight restrictions in the UFC but this fight will be the nearest match up to it.

 Also worthy of note Lashley appeared for wrestling promotion TNA last weekend for their annual Lockdown PPV. Will the MMA world take Lashley seriously if he chooses to do both worked pro wrestling and real mixed martial arts competition?

MMA blog by Dynamite Duane

duane@bluraymma.com

www.myspace.com/dynamite_duane

Gina "Conviction" Carano

This time around I decided to do something a little different by sharing some of the many MMA gems available to view for free on the net.  All of the videos can be viewed at youtube.com or google video.

First off we go back in time to 1995, going behind the curtains following Rickson Gracie’s story as he took part in the Vale Tudo tournament in Japan. A time before MMA had made it mainstream with an established set of rules. This was the No Holds Barred era of fighting. Just two years previous the first ever UFC took place dominated by Rickson’s brother Royce in 1993. Rickson is a true legend of fights sports and a master of Jiu Jitsu. I don’t wish to take anything away from his abilities and achievements but the power the Gracies seem to exert in altering rules make you appreciate how successful Dana White has been in making MMA a fair contest. The main appeal of the early contests were to see which martial art style was superior. Much has changed, now every fighter must be confident in all areas.

The documentary is around 90 minutes long and is a great incite into the world of the Gracies and a chance to see what MMA used to be.

Choke – a Rickson Gracie Documentary

http://video.google.ca/videoplaydocid=4878207955834503993&ei=jLaOSZGUDpLW-gGkhsD9CQ&q=rickson+gracie+choke&hl=en

Next a few short videos featuring MMA fighter Gina “Conviction” Carano one of the most well known female fighters. Gina crossed over as mainstream star in the US following her stint on American Gladiators as Gladiator Crush.

The first part also features former UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy ‘The Natural’

Couture along with Pancrase legend Bas Rutten. They discuss women competing in the cage. Some male fighters namely Karo Parisian do not feel comfortable with an attractive woman like Carano competing in the cage. If she were not so easy on the eye would his be different? Carano is one tough cookie do not be fooled! She trains with Randy Couture and his wife Kim Couture.

In part 2 the panel discuss American Gladiators and her role as Crush. Other items include Laila Ali daughter of boxing icon Mohammed Ali and the co presenter alongside Hulk Hogan on the show. 

Inside MMA – Gina Carano (1 of 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjnJDbO9bkA

Inside MMA – Gina Carano (2 of 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikAlrv3L2Zs

Here’s another video of Gina from America Sports channel Sho Time 2007.

EliteXC: Meet Gina Carano

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1o1Aa3Vjvg

Gina Carano Tribute

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiG0TKPDhjk

Since the demise of EliteXC Gina’s contract is now with Strikeforce, we will be looking more closely at the promotion very soon here at bluraymma.com

MMA blog by Dynamite Duane

duane@bluraymma.com

www.myspace.com/dynamite_duane

Dana White with Henderson and Bisping TUF 9 coaches

Since Dan Henderson came off victorious over Rich Franklin it would be the former Olympian filling the role as coach of Team USA. So who would be the 8 American mixed martial artists to represent their country? Tonight Dana got the contests underway to whittle down from 16 to 8 fighters.

If you recall from the sneak preview not everyone was fully prepared for this chance of a lifetime at winning a contract fighting inside the UFC Octagon. 2 fighters had not reached the required weight in time for the elimination fights. Dramatically in front of Dana White, Dan Henderson and the other entrants, welterweight Jason Pierce collapsed in a heap. Despite this Pierce wasn’t dismissed. The demand of cutting weight in a too short a time had taken a toll on the guy.

Another contestant upon medical examination was discovered to have evidence of Herpes visible on his head, John David was sent home straight away. Christian Fulgium the second fighter to not make it as far as the elimination stage just couldn’t cut the weight in time despite being given extra time so he quit.

So two fighters down out of the 16 Dana promised 2 more fighters to be revealed later on.

Kicking things off from the welterweights we saw Mark Miller best his friend and training partner Kevin Knabjian after 2 rounds with a TKO victory. Looked tough for them both being buddies as only one could advance to the TUF house.

Second fight was the first for of the lightweights, as Richie Whitson of California took on Paul Bird in a decent fight. Whitson got the win via rear naked choke.

The 3^rd fight saw the super strong Waylon Lowe completely dominate Santino Defranco in the 1^st round. It appeared to be all over as Defranco turtled up taking a pounding but referee Steve Mazzagatti kept him in it. Come round 2 Defranco came back with vengeance, launching at Lowe kneeing him straight on. He follows up by submitting with a chokehold to gain the win. It’s quite possible another referee would have stopped it in round 2 but then we wouldn’t have that amazing come back which made exciting viewing.

The next decider were between welters Berger and Jason Pierce. Remember Pierce the fella who fainted? Well he stayed the distance of the full 3 rounds winning by a decision.

Another pair of lightweights entered the cage – Cameron Dollar and Tom Hayden. The 1^st round is won by Hayden, which counted for little as Dollar came back in the 2^nd round submitting his opponent to win.

Sixth bout of the night saw Muay Thai kick boxer Roy Elbe get beaten on the ground from Damarques Johnson impressively winning via ground and pound.

So six members of Team USA decided and here they are below:

U.S. welterweights

Mark Miller – Chicago

Jason Pierce – Iowa.

DaMarques – Johnson Lake City

U.S. lightweights

Richie Whitson – Alaskan residing in California

Santino DeFranco – IFL

Cameron Dollar – Colorado Springs

Six made it into the house and onto the show, leaving space for two more competitors but to get into the house you have to fight first. Dana then introduced us to 2 extra guys in with a chance. One turned out to be Rob Browning brother of Junie Browning the fighter up to all the shenanigans on TUF 8. 

You can catch the new episode this Sunday at 11pm on Virgin 1 in the UK and if you missed last weeks view it again on Setanta Sports 1. You lucky people stateside get to see it all before us Brits on Spike TV Wednesday evening.

GSP VS BJ Penn UFC 94 - the ratings winner

(PRESS RELEASE) — Replay Of Event Headlined By Georges St. Pierre And B.J. Penn Ranks As The #1 Program Among Men 18-34 In All Of Television (Cable And Broadcast) During Its Time Period

The long anticipated welterweight championship battle between champion Georges St. Pierre and challenger B.J. Penn proved to be as compelling to audiences two months after it took place, as Spike TV’s replay of UFC 94 (originally airing on pay per view on January 31) was the #1 program among Men 18-34 in all of television (cable and broadcast) during its time period on Saturday, April 11 (9:00 PM – 12:00 AM, ET/PT). It was also the highest-rated telecast among Men 18-49 on cable for the entire day.

Headlined by the title bout between St. Pierre and Penn, UFC 94 peaked with 2.4 millions during St. Pierre’s successful title defense, as he won the fight due to a referee’s stoppage after the completion of the fourth round. The entire fight card, which included Lyoto Machida’s KO of Thiago Silva to establish #1 contender status in the light heavyweight division in a battle of unbeatens, averaged 1.9 million viewers for the 3 hour telecast.

Overall, UFC 94 on Spike TV drew a 1.4 household rating and a 1.6 among Men 18-49 (878,000), a 1.3 among Men 18-34 (387,000) and had an average audience of 1.9 million viewers. By comparison, HBO’s live coverage of “World Championship Boxing: Winky Wright vs. Paul Williams” on drew 1.5 million viewers.

At last what seemed like a long wait is over! The new season of The Ultimate Fighter premiered this past Sunday on Virgin 1 here in the UK (Wednesday on Spike TV over in the States, hot on the heels of Ultimate Fight Night 18). 16 British fighters entered but only 8 would make it through joining Michael Bisping’s Team UK in Las Vegas.  First of all to decide who would be staying on British soil and who would earn the opportunity of a lifetime, following in the footsteps of TUF winner Bisping there would be 8 fights fought over standard UFC rules with duration of 3 x 5 minute rounds.

This first episode took place just before the fight pitting Rich Franklin and Dan ‘Hendo’ Henderson, the decider of Team USA coach from UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland back in January. Hence both Franklin and Hendo being present since at that stage Dana White and co didn’t know which combatant would coach the Americans. Fast-forward in time we now know Hendo edged out the win over Franklin taking the decision following 3 gruelling rounds of octagon action. The great usefulness about the TUF series is not just fantastic television each week but the dual purpose of creating new UFC stars while booking 2 established UFC fighters for a big money fight afterwards, when the coaches clash one on one.

The elimination bouts soon got underway on Bisping’s home turf, the Wolfslair training facility, located in Widnes near Liverpool.

First up was Bisping’s first protégé of the night – Gary Kelly, a fellow member of Wolfslair gym, taking on Andre Winner. Despite all the encouragement from Bisping Kelly wasn’t triumphant in the octagon. Andre lived up to his name winning in fine style knocking out Gary Kelly, who was on dream street! This first fight showed what a tough group of competitors had been amassed from the British ranks of mixed martial arts. First lightweight decided for Team UK, 3 more to go.

Another pair of lightweight mixed martial artists entered the cage. Jeff Lawson fights out of The Bulldog gym in my hometown – Bournemouth. Lawson a submission specialist and one of the most experienced Brits selected. His opponent striker James Bryan hailing from Bath did not fare well against the vastly more experienced Lawson. Lawson submitted Bryan to join Andre Winner on Team UK.

First of the welterweights saw James Wilks tapout Che Mills to go through. Mills’ loss was an upset considering his calibre, but that’s the way it goes in the world of mixed martial arts.

The fourth cage conflict saw Martin Stapleton of Rochdale brutalise Dan James of Swansea, giving the military man a win via tapout.

Next to go was AJ Wenn eliminated by Ross Pearson from Sunderland, another impressive mixed martial artist winning by TKO in the second round.

The second welterweight fighter to make it through would be Nick Osipczak a resident of London, who bested Tommy McGuire of Peterborough with a TKO win.

Third fight from the welterweights featured the biggest name so far – Alex Reid, a recognised face on the UK cage fighting circuit. I first saw him on ITV’s Cage Combat programme way back in 2002. Reid faced off against Dean Amarasinghe of Nottingham a younger lesser-known fighter with a lot going for him. Reid a master of showmanship lasted the full 3 rounds thanks to his experience but it was Dean who surprised besting the veteran receiving the decision. The better man won on the day but it would have been interesting to see Reid’s antics on the show, as he is a real character.

One final decider to go, giving one more opportunity for a member of the Wolfslair to make the squad. David Faulkner would be the fighter and he got the job done, defeating James Bateman grabbing a tap-out victory via Heel Hook.

So here we have it, listed below are the Brits who flew out to Las Vegas.

Team UK – The Lightweights:

Andre Winner – London

Jeff Lawson – Bournemouth

Ross Pearson – Sunderland

Martin Stapleton – Rochdale

Team UK – The Welterweights:

David Faulkner  - Liverpool

James Wilks

Nicholas Osipczak – London

Dean Amarasinghe – Nottingham

For a complete low-down on all the shows entrants see my previous blog: http://bluraymma.com/blog/the-ultimate-fighter-us-v-uk-on-virgin-1/

From the brief glimpse of next weeks show it appears the Yanks are not fully prepared. We witness entrants struggling to make weight and collapsing in a heap under the strain.

Make sure you set a reminder on your Sky planner and series link it for Virgin 1 Sundays at 11pm – you don’t want to miss a single episode!

Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Sommet Center in Nashville, TN

With one night remaining to the premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter season 9 in the US we welcome another instalment of UFC action as Ultimate Fight Night 18 airs live on Spike TV tonight. Dana and the team continue to help build up the next batch of UFC fight stars as many young fighters from TUF and the WEC are given another chance to shine in the octagon tonight.

With one night remaining to the premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter season 9 in the US we welcome another instalment of UFC action as Ultimate Fight Night 18 airs live on Spike TV tonight. Dana and the team continue to help build up the next batch of UFC fight stars as many young fighters from TUF and the WEC are given another chance to shine in the octagon tonight.

I’m looking forward to seeing Junie Browning back in action once more, a fighter who deserves to be where he is judging by his last outing of the Zuffa brand. He got himself noticed with his on screen shown on TUF 8 but now his MMA skills are showing through.

The full card:

TV bouts

Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann

Ryan Bader vs. Carmelo Marrero

Tyson Griffin vs. Rafael dos Anjos

Cole Miller vs. Junie Browning

Preliminary card

Gleison Tibau vs. Jeremy Stephens

Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Horwich

Tim Credeur vs. Nick Catone

Brock Larson vs. Jesse Sanders

Jorge Rivera vs. Nissen Osterneck

Rob Kimmons vs. Joe Vedepo

Tim McKenzie vs. Aaron Simpson

Steve Steinbeiss vs. Ryan Jensen

Hold tight for some more hard-hitting scraps from MMA!

Alongside UFN and TUF from the UFC there is a whole lot more coming your way throughout the month of April in the world of MMA, see the full list below:

Apr. 1 UFC Fight Night 18

Apr. 2 The Ultimate Fighter 9 debut

Apr. 4 Bellator FC debut

Apr. 5 WEC 40

Apr. 5 DREAM.8

Apr. 10 Bellator FC, Week 2

Apr. 11 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz

Apr. 17 Bellator FC, Week 3

Apr. 18 UFC 97: Redemption Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

Apr. 18 PFC: Hybrid Card