Episode five of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 gets underway and surprisingly enough we get to enjoy an episode that doesn’t begin with the immature antics of Junie Browning.

Well not really, but it felt good to pretend for a few seconds.

Anyway, the guest appearance by current UFC middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva should easily cleanse away the grimy residue left on our collective consciousness by Junie’s previous screen time.

Having said that, we pick right up from last week when Loco Ono vaulted into the cage to confront a victorious Efrain Escudero and falls right into the waiting arms of coach Antonio Nogueira.

Probably not the person you want to have restraining you - unless of course you list “passing out” as one of your favorite hobbies.

Junie is led out of the cage after embarrassing himself and ruining what happened to be a very entertaining fight between Escudero and Nelson. Dana White cites the absence of Director of Nevada Athletic Commission Keith Kizer as the only reason Junie was not expelled for cage diving.

As if Dana was unable to make that call.

Continue reading ‘The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8: Episode 5 recap and discussion’

Another quality match could be added to an already stacked Elite XC: “A Night of Champions” lineup on November 8 in Reno, Nevada, between undefeated heavyweight Brett “The Grim” Rogers (8-0) and former UFC number one contender Paul “The Head Hunter” Buentello (26-10).

FiveOuncesOfPain.com was apparently able to confirm the rumored bout.

Rogers is a knockout artist … plain and simple. He’s won each of his fights by early stoppage and hasn’t had an opponent last even 2:30 yet while fighting for Elite XC.

His first fight for the promotion was at “Renegade” last November in Corpus Christi, Texas. He submitted Ralph Kelly in the first round with strikes. In February at “Street Certified” he took out James “The Colossus” Thompson and in May he knocked out Jon Murphy in the first televised fight of the company’s debut on CBS in Newark, N.J.

During the post event press conference for the Murphy fight, Brett called out fellow heavyweight Kimbo Slice for an unimpressive showing in the night’s main event. A rivalry was born, but Elite XC had other plans for Slice for the time being.

It was speculated that the two would face each other early in 2009, but Kimbo’s loss to Seth Petruzelli last week more than likely threw a big wrench into those plans.

Rogers now finds himself on a short list of candidates in line for a shot at Antonio Silva’s title … even shorter if the belt becomes vacant on October 22 following the champ’s steroids appeal in Los Angeles. The point is that a win over a respectable name like Paul Buentello could land “The Grim” in a world title fight in early 2009.

He’ll need to bring his A game facing a guy like Buentello, however. The American Kickboxing Academy member likes to swing for the fences and he has plenty of knockout power in both hands if he lands. He’s also very experienced with 26 professional fights, including four in the UFC.

“The Head Hunter” most recently won a unanimous decision over Gary Goodridge at Affliction: “Banned” in July. Goodridge was a late replacement for Aleksander Emelianenko, who couldn’t get cleared at the last minute.

Clearly this is going to be a stand and trade type of fight and an early stoppage of some kind seems likely as well. Both these guys are finishers, and combined between the two, only two fights have gone the distance.

It’s safe to say somebody’s going to sleep in this one.

“A Night of Champions” already had a fight card rich in talent. So much so in fact that this announcement, as well as the promotion continuing to report that “Feijao” Cavalcante will be competing on the card, means the women’s match between Kaitlin Young and Sarah Kaufman could very likely be moved to the untelevised under card.

Though no announcement has been made by Elite XC at this time. For more on “A Night of Champions” click here.

The Florida State Boxing Commission (FSBC) recently issued its list of medical suspensions for Elite XC: “Heat,” which took place on Saturday, October 4 at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida.

Brazilian Murilo “Ninja” Rua was suspended indefinitely by the FSBC due to his second round knockout loss to Benji Radach in the first fight of the main card. Rua was out for a few minutes, and had to be taken to the hospital afterwards.

Main event loser Kimbo Slice will sit on the sidelines for the next 30 days following his 14 second loss to last minute replacement fighter Seth Petruzelli.

Slice’s original opponent Ken Shamrock — who could not get clearance to fight after getting cut in warm ups only hours before — was not suspended at all by the commission since he did not compete.

Here’s the complete list of “Heat” injuries and their medical instructions:

Kimbo Slice –- Kimbo has been suspended for 30 days.

Murilo “Ninja” Rua -– “Ninja” has been suspended by the FSBC indefinitely or until cleared by a doctor to fight.

Roy “Big Country” Nelson -– “Big Country” is suspended for 60 days following his second round technical knockout loss to Andrei Arlovski.

James Edson Berto -– Berto is suspended 30 days after being on the wrong end of a technical knockout loss to Conor Huen.

Just a quick reminder: Fighters often return to action much quicker once doctors give them the green light. The lengthy suspensions are just a precaution in most cases.

For complete results and coverage of the “Heat” click here.

See more at Bisping.tv

Nick Diaz has always been open about how much he loves fighting in Japan and how he feels about the way the nation embraces and respects the sport. He’s also stated in the past he feels the Japanese rules with a ring and no elbows on the ground favor traditional martial arts.

Basically, the Stockton native likes the way the Japanese approach the fight game. In fact, he recently confirmed through GracieFighter.com that he will return to fight in “The Land of the Rising Sun.”

Here’s a snip:

“Dream pays Nick Diaz in full from his last bout in May. Diaz agrees to return to fight in Japan, however at this point it is unclear for which organization.”

There have been rumors all summer that Diaz would face “Mach” Sakurai for the DREAM welterweight title during his next trip out there, but Diaz had problems getting paid for his last fight with the promotion against Katsuya Inoue at DREAM 3 on May 11.

He was reportedly owed $100,000 by the Japanese mixed martial arts promotion for the first round technical knockout win over Inoue. He is now clearly skeptical about doing business with them again.

Here’s a report posted on GracieFighter.com dating back to August 1:

“Diaz could be cleared to fight Mach Sakurai in Dream at the end of September. Diaz has wanted to fight Sakurai for the Dream Champioship Belt, but a stumbling block to this fight has been that as of now Dream has still not paid him a cent for the last fight he participated in for their organization almost 3 months ago.”

Obviously the “Mach” fight didn’t happen in September, but isn’t completely out of the question for a future DREAM event now that they finally coughed up the money … even if it was five months late.

For now, however, Diaz is set to face Eddie Alvarez in Reno, Nevada, on November 8 at Elite XC: “A Night of Champions” for the vacant company lightweight belt.

Vot a cahntry!

Affliction and M-1 Global, the Turner & Hooch of mixed martial arts, are the latest tandem to join forces in hopes of expanding their share of the market in the combat sports world.

And “The Donald” makes three.

The trio are expected to announce a new partnership during a press conference tomorrow around noon at the Trump Tower in New York City. In attendance will be Donald Trump, Affliction’s Tom Atencio and M-1 Global’s Vadim Finkelchtein.

With current WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko perched atop the bow of the partnership like a wooden maiden, Trump will likely announce the fruition of “Fighting Fedor” and M-1 Challenge.

Fighting Fedor is a reality show that pits sixteen fighters against each other in a sequestered environment with the winner getting a shot at the current title holder.

Sound familiar?

See for yourself:

Unfortunately the series has been in pre-production longer than Duke Nukem Forever and despite the hackneyed narrator trying to sell us the premise as “Groundbreaking” and “The likes of which have never been seen before on American television“, that sales pitch only works on people without SpikeTV - or brains.

Not to mention the ending is a bit anti-climatic. Imagine if Amir Sadollah had to fight Anderson Silva at the conclusion of the Ultimate Fighter 7.

M-1 Challenge on the other hand, has already been taking place around the world. It has also produced some quality fights - though the premise is basically The International Fight League (IFL) on tour.

A summary from the M-1 Web site:

M-1 Challenge is a series of events planned to be held in different places of the Earth where the 10 best MMA clubs compete against each other.The Challenge introduced by Vadim Finkelstein presents an international team competition among young prospective fighters who aspire to gain more experience and prove themselves at the international level. The most talented ones will earn an opportunity to be chosen to partake in major M-1 events. The teams consist of 5 athletes (in every weight class), one trainer and one coach. Every participating country brings two complete teams which then compete against each other. Every team members fights at least 4 times totally.

The idea has merit, but again the question remains as to how they will capture a stateside audience that has already been branded by the UFC.

Outside of Fedor, how many fighters come to mind when you think of M-1 Global?

The absolute worst case scenario for all parties involved is a defeat by Emelianenko at the hands of Andrei Arlovski at their upcoming Affliction bout in early 2009.

UFC President Dana White has already watched one promotion collapse at the hands of a fighter the UFC didn’t want when Seth Petruzelli knocked out Kimbo Slice. Imagine his joy if Arlovski stopped Fedor in similar fashion.

Stay tuned for more of the finer details following tomorrow’s presser.

Light heavyweights Andre Gusmao (5-1) and Antonio Mendes (15–3) will look to score their first wins inside the Octagon when the two clash at UFC 93 at the O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland, on January 17, according to WrestlingObserver.com.

Gusmao was undefeated until he locked horns with the up-and-comer Jon Jones at UFC 87: “Seek and Destroy” in August, losing via unanimous decision in his debut for the promotion (and enduring some low blows that may or may not have been illegal).

Prior to joining the UFC, Gusmao competed in the International Fight League (IFL). In fact, his first round knockout win (knee) of Mike Ciesnolevicz sealed the victory for the Renzo Gracie-led New York Pitbulls at the 2007 Team Championship Final in September 2007.

Mendes, too, was on a nice run before he made his Octagon debut against Thiago Silva at UFC 84: “Ill Will” back in May. The Brazilian lost via submission (strikes) in the first round. Before the loss, Mendes was on an 11-fight win streak, competing primarily in his native Brazil and throughout Europe.

Rich “Ace” Franklin (24-3) and Dan “Hollywood” Henderson (23-7) — two of the world’s most elite 205-pound fighters — will headline UFC 93. Also featured is the return of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua as he takes on UFC pioneer Mark “The Hammer” Coleman.

To check out the latest UFC 93 fight card and rumors click here.

UFC action figures aren’t the only collectibles that will soon hit store shelves — trading cards are now in the production pipeline and will be available sometime in 2009.

The mixed martial arts promotion recently announced that it had struck a three-year deal with Topps — the leading creator and marketer of sports and related trading cards and entertainment products — to produce trading cards and stickers that feature “current, future and former UFC athletes.”

Here’s a snip from UFC President Dana White on the agreement:

“We are excited to be working with Topps to showcase our incredible athletes on UFC trading cards. We look forward to having great success with Topps, and to giving UFC fans a product they can collect and trade with other fans of our sport.”

Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes, Brock Lesnar, Royce Gracie, Forrest Griffin, Quinton Jackson and many other fighters are expected to be featured in the initial series.

In addition to these top athletes from the promotion, Topps will also include the most memorable moments inside the Octagon, from UFC 1 all the way up to UFC 91: “Couture vs. Lesnar” on November 15.

It is, after all, going to be the “biggest fight in UFC history.”

For more from “The Spider,” who is adamant that he will retire as soon as 2009 when he satisfies the remaining fights on his contract, head over to The Sun.

Props: Chicago Sun-Times

Quoteworthy:

“UFC star Patrick Cote, who will challenge middleweight champ Anderson Silva on Oct. 25 at Allstate Arena, will join us for a live chat on Wednesday at 3 p.m. We’ll start the chat at 2:30 and will have videos, polls and more.”

Definitely check it out and ask some questions before the “Predator” wades into battle against Anderson Silva at UFC 90 on October 25. Remember that the chat takes place local time in Chicago.