Bisping and Henderson - coaches clash.
The series continues with Team USA trailing 3 to 4 but they are gaining on Mike Bisping’s Team UK. Last time we find out Jason Pierce had lost his opportunity. Dana White meets with the Welter weight fighters to see who wants it the most to take Pierce’s spot versus David Faulkner. Frank Lester is the man begging for the chance to enter the octagon again despite having his teeth knocked out last time. Dana admires his heart and so chooses Lester despite his war wounds.
Bisping is not happy with Henderson and the change of training times, he doesn’t want to switch just because Dan Henderson says so. The reason for the change is due to Frank Lester not being 100% for the clash with Dave Faulkner. A wound up Bisping squirts water at DaMarques Johnson, the guy he thought made a racist comment at him during the tennis game coaches challenge previously. After it was explained DaMarques was the wrong man Bisping apologises for his antics.
In an attempt to sort his gag reflex problem Dave Faulkner visits a hypnotherapist. But did the therapy do the trick?
So here we have it the final preliminary of the season from the welters. Bisping has a lot riding on Faulkner, for one he a fellow Wolfslair fighter and secondly if he loses to Lester Bisping’s Team UK will no longer be in the lead but neck and neck with the Americans.
Round 1) A close first round with Faulkner taking a slight advantage.
Round 2) Well Faulkner wasn’t totally cured of his gag reflex problem since the gum shield flew out causing referee Steve Mazzagatti to call for a time out early on in the round. American Lester makes good use of the Muay Thai clinch piling in some strong knee strikes. Faulkner appears tired but manages to land some good punches to Lester. Another closely fought round. Dana declares a third round to decide the winner. Mean while in Faulkner’s corner the Team UK coach Bisping is having a hard job encouraging the Liverpudlian to continue. Despite all the words of encouragement Faulkner gives in to his body, the third round wasn’t to be.
A dark day for Team UK but only Faulkner does how he feels. Frank Lester deserves the victory, the guy has a ton of heart, you got to admire that him taking this fight and winning coming off a loss so soon and losing his front teeth.
Team UK 4 – 4 Team USA
Bisping is gutted to be blunt. Storming off for a breather he takes 4 remaining contestants to one side for a chat preparing them for the semi finals away from Faulkner. Bisping has got to feel disappointed since David Faulkner was the fighter he talked up so much being a fellow Wolfslair team member.
Episode 10 the semi final picks plus two welters clash in the cage.
Make sure you tune into Virgin 1 every Sunday at 11pm in the UK on Freeview TV, Sky or Virgin Media. Setanta Sports subscribers can catch The Ultimate Fighter second showing every Wednesday. Over in the States the programme is aired on Spike TV a few days earlier.
Check out my brand new UFC blog by visiting http://blurayufc.com/ the sister site of bluraymma.com
MMA blog by Dynamite Duane
Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping is pleased to be in the lead once again but will
Team UK maintain their lead over their American counterparts – Team USA?
The next pair of Welter Weights to compete on TUF 9 will be Brit and Wolfslair graduate David Faulkner taking on the American Jason Pierce. A bit of an odd matchup in the sense that these 2 have bonded well and become good mates. All of that will have to be left behind when they enter the UFC octagon.
Ginger haired Richie Whitson has the contagious skin condition Impetigo,
fellow American Jason Pierce is paranoid about catching it, hoping to prevent the spread to him and everyone else he sprays a can of disinfectant all over the TUF house.
Pierce has an ankle injury giving him bother in trainin, which doesn’t bode well going into his fight versus Faulkner.
Mike Bisping employs the use of a slegde hammer and a massive 6 foot wide tractor tyre for Team UK fighters which doesn’t go smoothly to say the least! One wack of the hammer misses the tyre denting the floor while someone else breaks the mat!
Back over in the American camp Pierce grumbles about the way he is being pushed physcially. Dripping in sweat Pierce quits the sparring session inside the cage. Some of his team mates get the impression Pierce does not want to fight Faulkner. We have the same old story of Team USA not sticking together as a unit.
You remember the sledge hammer incidents? Well there was one more, Faulkner accidently hit his own leg causing himself an injury resulted in the need for antibiotics due to infection. Pre fight it doesn’t look for positive for either welter weight fighter.
Time for some fun games as this week is the Coaches Challenge. UFC main man Dana White chooses tennis of all things. The money on the table is $1500 each for the winning team. Dan Henderson turns out to the better man on the court and there is a lot barracking from the USA team mates. Bisping wins some games but ultimately gets thrashed by Hendo to the pleasure of the American TUF 9 contestants. Bisping was peeed off at the jibes aimed at his pale legs.
The programme makers keep us in suspense as to wether the welter weight matchup will happen as a lightweight clash is announced for between American Richie Whitson and Brit battler Ross Pearson from Sunderland. Dan Henderson has high hopes for Whitson one of his proteges. Before their fight Richie celebrates his birthday with a surprise cake complete with candles courtesy of the UFC.
Both Whitson and Pearson make the required 155 lbs weight bracket at the weigh-ins. Pearson looks to be a real force to be contended with for Whitson.
Round 1)
The fight is a real rough and tough brawl. Whitson receives a slamming from the aggressive Pearson. During Whitson’s takedown attempt on Pearson the Brit strikes the American straight in the face kneeing him. Due to Whitson’s position the blow was illegal, consequently he Ross Pearson loses one point and Whitson is allowed a timeout. The timeout does ginger haired Whitson no favours as Pearson snatches a the tapout victory via Armbar submission. A win for Pearson and Bisping’s Team UK extend their lead over their American opposition.
UK 4-2 USA.
The action and excitement gets better each week. Next we’ll finally see what transpires between David Faulkner and Jason Pierce.
Make sure you tune into Virgin 1 every Sunday at 11pm in the UK on Freeview TV, Sky or Virgin Media. Setanta Sports subscribers can catch The Ultimate Fighter second showing every Wednesday. Over in the States the programme is aired on Spike TV a few days earlier.
MMA blog by Dynamite Duane
2 Nations, 1 octagon - The Ultimate Fighter 9
The war for the UFC contract begins as nations collide. Finally Team UK and Team USA battle it out following the elimination fights to decide the final members of Dan Henderson’s Team USA. As episode 4 begins Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping arrives at The Ultimate Fighter training facility in Las Vegas where he introduces us to his two assistant coaches for the series. Mario Sukata specialising in wrestling and submission along with Dave Jackson for Muay Thai training. In fact they are the duo that keep Bisping in top cage condition back at the wolfslair near Liverpool. We get our first opportunity to see Team UK in training. Bisping takes his new recruits through their paces and he is not easy on them. Already the programme is portraying Bisping as the villain of the series as they highlight all his banter with Henderson and his team when they meet.
As you will recall from episode 3 Hendo has the pick of the first fight thanks to the toss of the TUF 9 coin. And so it is decided, the first pairing between the welterweights is Mark Miller of Team USA, taking on Nick Osipczak representing the United Kingdom.
Due to Bisping arriving late in the US due to Visa issues he takes the opportunity to review Mark Miller’s previous fight on tape to plan a strategy with Sukata and Jackson. Their main strategy is for their man to take the action to the deck, which will be unexpected.
Discovering a Team UK t-shirt Team USA decide it is fair game holding the garment for ransom. Yes the game of silly buggers has commenced! The t-shirt is scrawled on claiming 1-0 to Team USA. We discover the shirt belongs to Dave Faulkner who doesn’t appear terribly bothered. But it doesn’t end there, next Ross Pearson’s wrestling shoes are found discarded and they too are defaced with similar sentiments. Ross Pearson does not take it so well, he is not a happy chappy but you can’t blame him eh? Bisping’s responds by telling his squad to keep a level head about it all and rise above it.
Pre fight both Mark Miller and Nick Osipczak sound confident for their forthcoming confrontation inside the cage.
Round 1)
Fight time! Nick utilises the strategy as planned by his coaching team, swooping in for a takedown on the American fighter. On the ground a grappling battle ensues. During the round Miller appears to tap whilst held tight by Nick’s guillotine choke but he breaks free to drop some bombs on the British mixed martial artist. First round to Nick Osipczak.
Round 2)
As the round progresses Miller cinches in a deep guillotine hold on the Brit appearing momentarily like it is all over for the Londoner but fortunately the canny combatant sneaks out. It is a struggle of wills on the ground as the second round progresses until both fighters are upright. Out of nowhere Nick knocks Miller clean out with an awesome kick sending the American crashing to the canvas.
One nil to Team UK! A phenomenal start for Bisping’s Team UK, bagging the first victory.
Make sure you tune into Virgin 1 every Sunday at 11pm in the UK on
Freeview TV, Sky or Virgin Media. Setanta Sports subscribers can catch The Ultimate Fighter the second showing every Wednesday. Over in the States the programme is aired on Spike TV.
MMA blog by Dynamite Duane
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
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
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
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 3rd fight saw the super strong Waylon Lowe completely dominate Santino Defranco in the 1st 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 1st round is won by Hayden, which counted for little as Dollar came back in the 2nd 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.