Planet Tapout 6.19.07: Ranking the TUF Fighters Part 1!
Posted by Lotfi Sariahmed on 06.19.2007
The 5th season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show is set to close this Saturday night with The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale! The card is highlighted by the rematch between B.J. Penn and Jens Pulver and the lightweight finals between Nathan Diaz and Manvel Gamburyan! This week on Planet Tapout, Lotfi Sariahmed gives you part 1 of a two part series where he evaluates the fighters from the reality show! This week Lotfi looks at some of the notable fighters from seasons 1-3. All that plus This Week in Fight Picks here on Planet Tapout!
Welcome back everybody. Did you miss me? No? Well let's pretend at least. Welcome back to Planet Tapout here on 411mania.com. I am the man to lead you through the madness, Lotfi Sariahmed. There are so many things to talk about following UFC 72 and looking ahead to two more big cards this weekend. But first, I asked and I received. Who would have thunk it? Time for the mailbag!
Hey Lotfi, I'm a fan of your column and agree with a lot of what you said. UFC 72 is looking rather lack-luster. Outside of the main event and Guida/Griffin there isn't anything that really interests me. The STRIKEFORCE card on the 22nd you mentioned I feel has a much better line-up.
I'm not worried that we will see another card like on PPV in the future. With a number of Pride fighters coming or rumored to come to the UFC, the depth of their weight divisions has really increased. UFC 73 certainly lives up to its name and UFC 74 is looking just as good.
Well Darius, the card didn't turn out to be that horrible. Okami v. Franklin was a weaker fight. Forrest Griffin was too attentive beating Hector Ramirez but the Tyson Griffin v. Clay Guida fight definitely delivered. But it still left a lot to be desired. Darius also brings up a good point though talking about the UFC 73 and UFC 74 cards. Both cards are looking insane and you'll be kicking yourself if you miss either card. But like I said in the column, the most important aspect of this column for me is going to be the PPV buys. The UFC is hoping it did "x" amount of buys off UFC 72. I don't know what that number is. But if they hit it or did even better you can guarantee the UFC won't think twice about putting on another card in the future like UFC 72.
As for Adam, he is already looking forward to the Stacked card in Sac-Town.
Hey,
How's it going? I'm going to be attending UFC 73 in Sac-Town. This will be my
first UFC event I will attend. I was just wondering if you knew generally what
time weigh-ins start? Thanks for reading this e-mail.
-Adam
Never a problem Adam, never a problem. You probably couldn't have picked a better card to go to for your first UFC event. The Stacked card (pun very intended) includes a lightweight title fight between Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca and a middleweight title fight between Anderson Silva and Nate Marquardt. There are also two other huge fights with Tito Ortiz taking on Rashad Evans and Heath Herring taking on Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira. Yep, that's a Stacked card. As for the weigh-ins Adam, I did a little research to try and find your answer. For the UFC weigh-ins before a PPV, they're almost always the day before the event (so in this case July 6th) sometime in the afternoon around 1 or 2pm. It's usually in a locale close to where the actual event is taking place but you're going to want to double check on that. Once we get closer to the PPV more information will become available. Hopefully that helps you out.
Thanks once again for the emails this week and of course I'm always open for me. So send me your love, hate, thoughts, questions, comments and recipe ideas to PlanetTapout@gmail.com . Now lets get into this week's topic.
As I previously mentioned, there are two big cards this weekend. STRIKEFORCE is putting on a great card in San Jose on the 22nd. The card includes a main event of Phil Baroni taking on Frank Shamrock. But if you've already maxed out your PPV budget for the month, there's always The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale the next night on the 23rd. The main event pits the coaches on the show BJ Penn and Jens Pulver. There are the finals of the lightweight tournament as well between Nathan Diaz and Manvel Gamburyan. It seems like so long ago that Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar went toe-to-toe in that epic battle at the Finale of season one that forever changed MMA. So in this edition of Planet Tapout, I'm giving you the first of a two part series where I will evaluate each season of the show thus far. I'll separate the noteworthy fighters from each season into three categories; studs, solid fighters, and other fighters of note. This week we'll take a look at the first three seasons. Next week I'll finish up with the last two seasons and evaluate each season overall. Lets get started.
Ah, remember when things were fresh, new and exciting?
Studs
None.
The two fighters I thought about putting in here were Josh Koscheck and Diego Sanchez. While I'd love to put both fighters in this category I just can't do it yet. They both left me with too many questions before I could tab them as studs. I'll explain when we moved to the next category.
Solid Fighters
Josh Koscheck—Whether you're a fan of the former wrestler from Edinboro University or not, you can't deny he's quickly improving as a mixed martial artist. Obviously he has the ground skills with his wrestling but his scariest fight so far in his UFC career came against Jonathan Goulet. That's when Koscheck showed he had a stand-up game to go along with his wrestling. Couple that with his training at AKA, he could eventually turn into one of the top welterweights in the world. I didn't put him as a stud yet though for two reasons. While he won his bout with Diego Sanchez at UFC 69, it wasn't exactly the most exciting of fights. Koscheck did the bare minimum to win. If he wants to be considered one of the best in the world, he's going to get his chance at UFC 74. He'll be fighting an angry Georges St. Pierre. If he beats GSP, he could be the second fighter from the reality series to hold a belt.
Diego Sanchez—When "Nightmare" is at the top of his game, there aren't many fighters that can keep up with his pace. He's always capable of putting on a fight that's candidate for "Fight of the Year." But in his bout against Koscheck, he was more concerned with shutting Koscheck up than fighting his fight. He never changed up his strategy during the bout and it cost him dearly. Now he's set for his own stiff test at UFC 74 where he's rumored to take on Hayato "Mach" Sakurai. Let's see how Sanchez bounces back.
Forrest Griffin—It's hard not to love Forrest. His personality just makes him a very likeable guy. He bounced back from his knockout loss to Keith Jardine by beating Hector Ramirez at UFC 72. It wasn't an impressive victory, but it was one he absolutely needed. I think the rematch between Forrest and Tito Ortiz needs to happen sooner rather than later.
Other Fighters of Note
Kenny Florian—I don't really know what to make of Florian yet. He's certainly not a bad fighter. But his two biggest wins so far have come against Sam Stout and an over the hill Dokonjonosuke Mishima. Sean Sherk dominated him in at least four rounds of their five round title fight. He's fighting Alvin Robinson at UFC 73 in a bout that won't clear too much up.
Alex Schoenauer—We always like to show a little IFL love on the Planet. The Argentinean Schoenauer is a part of the Los Angeles Anacondas who own the #1 seed in the IFL playoffs as they get underway August 2nd in New Jersey. Schoenauer will be taking on Mike Ciesnolevicz in the semis as the Anacondas take on the defending champion Silverbacks.
Mike Swick—He was doing well at middleweight until the loss to Yushin Okami. Now he's moving down to welterweight where his own gym, AKA, holds two top 10 welterweights in Koscheck and Jon Fitch. I'll reserve judgment on Swick until he gets a fight or two at 170.
Stephan Bonnar—Lets see how he does without steroids. The comeback starts at UFC 73 against Mike Nickels
Chris Leben—Went from fan favorite with an iron chin to resident crybaby probably headed to ICON.
Nate Quarry—The nice guy from season one who was thrown into a title fight too soon against Rich Franklin. He's had some back issues that have kept him out but hopefully we'll get to see him again in the UFC.
Alex Karalexis—Another one of the nice guys from season one who has landed a spot in the WEC fighting at lightweight. He's won his last four fights and with the new TV deal the WEC landed with Versus, you should expect to see Karalexis get pushed.
If once was good twice should be even better, right?
Studs
Joe Stevenson—I debated putting Stevenson here for a while but in the end I thought it was the right decision. I consider the loss to Josh Neer nothing more than a hiccup on the road to his eventual lightweight title reign. He's a monster on the ground and has good enough stand-up to hang with anyone in the division. The only man that could give him some trouble in a title fight is the current champ Sean Sherk. But I think Stevenson is talented enough to handle Sherk and win the belt.
Solid Fighters
Rashad Evans—"Sugar Rashad" was underestimated during all of season two of the show. Then he just happened to win the heavyweight contract. He's 10-0 overall and 5-0 in the UFC including a brutal KO win against Sean Salmon. As I touched on earlier, he has a huge fight coming up against Tito Ortiz at UFC 73. If the former Michigan State wrestler can take out the ground and pound artist in Ortiz, he'll get a crack at one of those top 5 light heavyweights in the world (Liddell, Jackson, Henderson, "Shogun", Silva).
Josh Burkman—He's hovering around the top 10 welterweights in the UFC. He lost a tough bout to Karo Parisyan at UFC 71 but it certainly won't kill him. I think this fight for Burkman will be comparable to Parisyan's loss to Sanchez. Burkman has a great style of fighting and he's always coming at you. But in his first big fight, he gassed by the third and was always trying to go for that flash knockout. He'll learn from the fight like Parisyan learned from the Sanchez bout. He'll be back.
Keith Jardine—Yes, he was an idiot and ran his mouth too much about Houston Alexander. Yes, he deserved to get knocked out because he didn't respect his opponent. But Jardine is still built like a MAC Truck fighting at light heavyweight. He has some great stand-up skills. Greg Jackson's camp in New Mexico has and will continue to do wonders for him. As long as he keeps his mouth shut next time he'll be fine.
Other Fighters of Note
Jason Von Flue—His awkward style has found a nice little home in STRIKEFORCE where he'll take on Luke Stewart this Friday. Besides an occasional UFC appearance, he won't get too much better than this.
Marcus Davis—Here at 411mania.com we were recently asked the question in Fact or Fiction as to whether or not Davis could be the next "forgotten man" in the welterweight division ala Jon Fitch. To that, I said this:
I'm sorry but this is borderline asinine. We're equating Marcus Davis to Jon Fitch? Marcus Davis won't be the "forgotten man" if he beats Jason Tan at UFC 72. He'll be a man who has a nice win streak (9 fights if he beats Tan) but all the wins would be against mediocre talent. Davis is 3-1 in the UFC with wins over Forrest Petz, Shonie Carter and Pete Spratt. Everyone knows about Spratt and Carter but they're far from solid competition. In his two fights against big competition he lost to both Melvin Guillard and Thiago Alves. Where's his impressive win? Jason Tan's not going to do it. Jon Fitch has won his last 12 fights. It also includes wins against Thiago Alves, Josh Burkman, Brock Larson, Jeff Joslin and Alex Serdyukov. Fitch is the "forgotten man" because he has these wins to his credit and hasn't gotten his big test. Everyone at the American Kickboxing Academy raves about him but no one's gotten a chance to see him on the big stage. That's why Jon Fitch is the forgotten man. Marcus Davis hasn't done anything too noteworthy in the UFC of yet and he was on The Ultimate Fighter season 2. Is there an Uber-Fiction option here?
Jorge Gurgel—There was so much hype around Gurgel on the show but so far, he hasn't done much. To be fair, he has been riddled with injuries. He'll take on Diego Saraiva at UFC 73.
Melvin Guillard—Stop taking cocaine.
Mike Whitehead—He's the best fighter on one of the worst teams in the IFL. The Tuscon Scorpions only won four individual match-ups all season; Mike Whitehead won two of those fights. He's a good fighter in a bad situation.
"Da Spyder looks angry"
Studs
None.
But it's hard not to love what Kendall Grove and Michael Bisping could do in their respective divisions.
Solid Fighters
Kendall Grove—Everyone said he's the fighter who improved the most from the start of the show to the Finale. "Da Spyder" is a talented middleweight who needs to continue to learn and continue to grow with different camps. He's a very tall and lanky middleweight. If he learns enough and continues to grow, his body type will make him a tough fight for any of the top middleweights out there.
Michael Bisping—This was almost too easy for the Brit. Once everyone knew who the light heavyweights were for season three of the show, it was only a matter of time until Bisping won the contract. No one challenged him during the show and Josh Haynes couldn't either during the Finale. He faced a bit of a challenge from Eric Schafer in his first PPV bout but he pulled out the win and disposed of Elvis Sinosic in his next bout. He's the center of the UFC's push in England. He fought Sinosic in Manchester and is rumored to be fighting Ken Shamrock in London at UFC 75. Now that fight is a bit absurd, but it shows how the UFC is willing to push their star from season three.
Other Fighters of Note
Rory Singer—He came off as that "annoying" guy during season three but Singer is a talented fighter. His biggest problem is what's going on in his head. You saw him basically give up a rear naked choke to Ed Herman in his loss on the show. Then at UFC 72, after beating up Jason MacDonald the first round of their fight, he forgot to show up for the second round. He's holding himself back from being as good as he can be.
Ed Herman—He's a great ground fighter but he needs to develop a respectable stand-up. His win over Scott Smith at UFC 72 was impressive, but if you put him up against someone with some sort of takedown defense Herman is in trouble.
Kalib Starnes—He was on the right end of that TUF elimination bout between Chris Leben and himself at UFC 71. But he didn't look too great getting that win. He needs to put a string of wins together against the B & C-level middleweights in the division before we make too much of him.
Josh Haynes—Needs to decide what weight he wants to fight at before he can make some noise in the UFC.
Matt Hamill—We know he's an amazing wrestler but what about his stand-up game? He showed no signs of anything resembling a stand-up game during the show or in his bout against Seth Petruzelli. He needs a stand-up game and then he could be dangerous.
Noah Inhofer—Remember him? He's the guy who left the show because his girlfriend of less than a year thought he might be cheating on her. Despite the decision to leave the show, Inhofer is fighting this weekend. In fact, he's the co-main event. He's taking on Josh Rhodes on the CFFC 5 card where Kimbo Slice will take on Ray Mercer.
This Week In Fight Picks!
STRIKEFORCE—June 22nd
Eugene Jackson over Danny Higgins
Mike Pyle over Aaron Wetherspoon
Jason Von Flue over Luke Stewart
Duane "Bang" Ludwig over Paul Daley
Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett over Victor "Joe Boxer" Valenzuela
Cung Le over Tony Fryklund
Josh Thomson over Nick Gonzalez
Paul Buentello over Carter Williams
Joey Villasenor over Falaniko Vitale
Phil Baroni over Frank Shamrock
The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale
Matt Wiman over Brian Geraghty
Leonard Garcia over Allen Berube
Gray Maynard over Robert Emerson
Cole Miller over Andy Wang
Joe Lauzon over Brandon Melendez
Thales Leites over Floyd Sword
Roger Huerta over Doug Evans
Manvel Gamburyan over Nathan Diaz
B.J. Penn over Jens Pulver
CFFC 5
Kimbo Slice over Ray Mercer
And with that Planet Tapout is once again in the books. And for those of you that bet the under on how long this column would be around, I'm sorry. They haven't fired me yet. As always send me your thoughts, questions, comments whatever to PlanetTapout@gmail.com . It's been a pleasure and make sure you come back next Tuesday for another edition of Planet Tapout! This week in fight cards gives us STRIKEFORCE on the 22nd and The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale on the 23rd. And don't forget the debut of Kimbo Slice on the 23rd either as he takes on Ray Mercer. Enjoy the fights everyone.
Credit Buddytv.com, bigbtv.com, and eagleentertainment.com for the pictures
