This Wednesday marks the beginning of season number 13 (ever notice how in North America, show's are classified as "seasons", but over in the UK they classify them as "series", even though the show has been on 4 or 5 years. Don't understand? me either) of UFC's runaway reality show hit, "The Ultimate Fighter". The weight class of choice for this season are welterweights, with several names going for tryouts, including James Toney (NO! not the boxer that got beat up by Randy Couture, but a white fellow by the name of Jamie "The Ghost" Toney) and Gina Carano's former squeeze, kickboxer Kit Cope.
In the end though, it wouldn't matter who did make the show, because everybody is more or less focused on the coaches for this season : Heavyweight mainstays Junior Dos Santos and former kingpin of the division, Brock Lesnar. The 2 will face off in a #1 contender match to determine who Cain Velasquez will make his first defense against in Vancouver at UFC 131 on June 11th.
Looking at Lesnar, there's no doubt the only reason he was tagged as a coach for this season was for one reason : A ratings windfall. The highest rated season was the "Heavyweight" season coached by "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad Evans. The reason being was street fighting phenom Kimbo Slice, who fans either wanted to see get the contract or fall flat on his face (if you haven't watched the season....well, just look where Kimbo's career ended up).
All in all though, it appears that while Lesnar doesn't have as much experience as other coaches, he was smart enough to bring in guys that knew what they were doing : By bringing in names such as Marty Morgan, Erik Paulson, Rodrigo "Comprido" Medeiros, Greg Nelson and Luke Richardson, all guys that helped the former WWE star make the transition to MMA. It was also reported by MMAJunkie that Lesnar "bonded" with a his team, as he said that 5 and a half weeks wasn't too long of a period to get to know anybody, but due to the time together with his fighters he tried to influence them as best he could. How they were there for the "opportunity" he received from UFC president Dana White to go and fight.
All in all, well spoken for a guy who's biggest claim to fame in MMA circles is fingering the crowd and lipping off sponsors of the UFC, including Bud Light following his title win over Frank Mir. He said the coaching gig also gave him the opportunity to get even with Cain Velasquez for taking his title.
Well, technically Brock, The UFC gave you that opportunity...they just want you to get them a ratings spike so they get renewed for a couple more seasons and see if you can get a title shot in the process.
In all honesty, I'm not sure how Lesnar will actually fare as a coach not being a people person (he hid out in the woods following his title loss) , But having him as a coach will make for some over the top, smash mouth, must see TV.
-In other news, MMAJunkie is reporting that Mr. Ja....sorry, CHAEL Sonnen's sentencing date has been re-scheduled. Originally slated to take place yesterday, March 28th, it will now take place on April 8th in Portland, Oregon.
-The Fighter Payroll came out for last weekend's Ultimate Fight Night 24 from Seattle. the $537,000 US payroll was topped by the main event's loser, Antonio Rogerio Noguiera at $90,000. Phil Davis earned a mere $34,000 with 17k from that coming from a win bonus. The big bonuses were from Jonny Hendricks (who earned $55,000 for KO of the night), "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung ($55k for Sub of the night, as well as a jump in those T-shirt sales), and Michael McDonald and Eduardo Figuroa (for Fight of the Night).
-M-1 Global had a card on Friday, broadcast live on Showtime. None of the MMA sites I cruise had any mention of it, but it was their loss. 4 action packed fights, with a couple of fighters (Magomed Sultanakhmedov and Alexander Sarnavskiy) definitely showing their potential. Even the refereeing wasn't subpar. They knew exactly when to stop a fight, and pointed to the judges before fights started. Its a shame that with the MMA landscape the way it is now, that they won't get a sniff of the bright lights and big time atmosphere of the UFC.
get a hold of me anytime at mmarmaggeddon@gmail.com
Until next time, fight fans.
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