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TUF 9 - Team UK vs Team USA

Time for the semi final fights to kick off as we draw closer to see which 2 fighters will be crowned Ultimate Fighter in their respective welterweight and lightweight fight brackets . So who will move one step closer to the finale show?

The show starts as Dana White picks the matchups. Dana is tempted to mix it up with teams mate fighting each other but between him, Dan Henderson, Mike Bisping and the TUF 9 contestants they settle on keeping the competition as USA versus UK. Here are the pairings:

Nick Osipczak vs DeMarques Johnson

Andre Winner vs Cameron Dollar

Ross Pearson vs Jason Dent

James Wilks vs Frank Lester 

First of the 4 bouts is between welterweights Nick and Demarques. In the USA camp Jason Pierce the contestant unable to fight is receiving a hard time from his fellow team mates. Richie Whitson is not keen on Pierce being friendly with Brit Dave Faulkner and Team UK in general.

During Johnson’s training session Hendo tells us Johnson is the one he picks as the welterweight winner of the show. Only time will tell if he has backed the right fighter. Usually in Johnson’s bouts he is the combatant boasting a height advantage but this time Nick has a slight edge over the American.

Leading up to the fight the rumour circulates that Pierce is giving away Team USA’s training secrets to the Brits. Henderson challenges Pierce on the matter but is eager to deny. It turns out Nick was behind asking Dave Faulkner to infiltrate Team USA via Jason Pierce.

Pre fight  Bisping is shown pushing Nick hard in training. Mean while DeMarques prays for victory kneeling inside the UFC octagon. In paper it would be fair to say the more experienced mixed martial artist Johnson is the odds on favourite with 13 wins under his belt but the less expierenced Londoner Nick is undefeated at 3 and 0

Round 1) Demarques lands a hard blow on Nick. Nick gets taken down by the strong American wrestler but defends well soon regaining the upright position how Bisping taught him. As round progresses Johnson imposes his will on Nick in the ground game. Right at the end of the 1st round the Brit fighter fights back on to his feet laying into the American nearly finishing him. That what was one heck of an exciting round.

Round 2) Nick takes down DeMarques but unfortunately for the Brit he turns it around snatching top position. Johnson continues to dominate on top throughout the round. At one point during the onslaught Bisping from the Team UK corner protests at what appears to be back of the head stikes aimed at Nick. He covers up, defending just enough to see the fight through to a 3rd and final round!

Round 3) In the standup exchanges Johnson lands a huge knee to the head of Londoner Nick. Aiming a kick at Johnson, Nick is taken down once more. Demarques is strong on the canvas, eventually Nick turns it around taking top position. The fight goes the distance, Johnson won on the score card but it was one hell of a scrap.  The first MMA loss for Nick Osipczak but I’m sure we’ll see more this talented young Brit mixed martial artist.  

Demarques Johnson secures his seat in the final versus the winner of James Wilks and Frank Lester. Next episode on tonight at 11pm on Virgin1 tonight will see the 4 light weights square off in episode 11. The following week showing in US on June 20th will be finale show.  

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.

Fight fans can now follow BluRayMMA(me!) and BluRayUFC on Twitter.

UFC & MMA blog by Dynamite Duane

duane@bluraymma.com

http://twitter.com/BluRayMMA
www.myspace.com/dynamite_duane

The TUF 9 lightweight fighters

This episode we see Brit fighter David Faulkner not struggling with training in the usual sense but trying to get over his gum shield phobia. Dave’s problem is a gag reflex from wearing a gum shield. Something you can do without as a mixed martial artist, seeing as it is essential to protect your teeth inside the octagon.

Mean while in Dan Henderson’s American training camp Jason Pierce is suffering from what is now known to be a Staph infection. It is still unclear wether Pierce is going to fight.

Next up Henderson gives his trainees a timeout  from the gruelling sparring and strength training as Team USA play the Ultimate Frisbee. It’s a game of Frisbee but with a squad of ultimate fighters it is resembling a game of Rugby on a dusty pitch in Arizona. Despite the morale boost of the team game out in the open Pierce with his ailment is a source of negative energy for the his team mates.

The next fight in the lightweight category is decided between Bournemouth Bulldog gym fighter Jeff Lawson against American Jason Dent. Both guys are technically sound MMA practioners. Lawson is the fighter I have been waiting to see since he impressed me on the first episode plus he is a Bournemouth lad so I’m rooting for him.  

Over in Team USA coach Hendo is having problems with Dent who is not open to learning, strange considering this is a once in a life time opportunity for the American mixed martial artist.

Along with being a fantastic grappler and all round exciting fighter Jeff Lawson turns out to be a funny entertaining bloke to watch on TV. This my friends and fellow ultimate fight fanatics is the episode of the pro wrestling match! What a classic moment seeing 3 real fighters Faulkner, Amarasinghe and Lawson donning Lucha Libre style masks acting out WWE wrestling in the TUF 9 house. Not only was it fun to see them vertical suplex each other off the diving board but a great example of Team UK’s bonding. There was me presuming Team USA would get up to tongfoolery of that kind.

Jeff Lawson is fully prepared for the fight ahead of him having recovered from a chest infection earlier in the series. By appearance Lawson does not standout as an obvious tough guy like Brit MMA legend Ian Freeman for instance but watch out for this red devil.

Mean while Dana White questions Jason Pierce if he can fight because a decision needs to be made. Dana is not convinced he really wants it. Could someone else get another crack at it? Who might replace Pierce?

Jeff Lawson’s opponent Jason Dent is sure of himself, expressing confidence in kicking Lawson’s butt.

It’s fight time, Herb Dean is the fight official for this lightweight bout.

Round 1) Lawson is exciting watch, impressing attacking with a Capoirora  style kick. Dorset lad Lawson dominates the 1st round on the mat, attempting numerous submissions to tapout Dent. Dent defends himself managing to last the round but it doesn’t look good for the American fighter.

Round 2)  Another exciting fast paced round which inluded more aerial  assault from Lawson in the form of a flying knee. The problem for Lawson despite the heart he shows he is gassed appearing not to be fully fit to go the distance since his chest infection. Dent on the ground sneaks in an Anaconda choke to take the win by tap out. The chest infection affected Lawson’s cardio but still looked ace despite gassing. If anyone can recommend me a DVD featuring Lawson please let me known.

Dent won but Dana White was not impressed by Dent’s performance. There you have it UK 4-3 USA. We are still ahead but the Yanks are gaining on us.

At the close of the show Dana declares Pierce is not going to fight. The question remains of who will take his place?

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

duane@bluraymma.com

www.myspace.com/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

duane@bluraymma.com

www.myspace.com/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

duane@bluraymma.com

www.myspace.com/dynamite_duane