Five Rounds Of News 05.23.08

Posted by Randy Harrison on 05.23.2008

Five Rounds is back and we're hot on the heels of UFC 84 weekend! I've got previews of the main card bouts along with fight videos aplenty to get you all set for the three huge main event fights! There's also news on the IFL, Affliction, the usual TUF stuff and much much more. It's a holiday weekend here in the US and friends don't let friends...miss the FIVE ROUNDS!!

Introduction

Hello again, friends, and welcome to the main event, championship fight of MMA news, Five Rounds Of News! We've got a lot to cover this week, with the huge UFC 84 card looming, as well as tons of news coming out of Affliction, IFL results and more. A bit of a shorter intro this week so I can touch on a couple of other things, and this may end up being a bit shorter column as I've been struggling with a stomach flu all week. I'm rather low on energy and if I'm not up to my usual standards, you now know why.

The first thing to touch on is something that actually happened to me last night. I was in bed after a particularly violent tussle with my internal illness and I realized that it was the finale of American Idol. Yes, call me all the "gay" names you want to call me, but sue me, it's one of those train wreck shows you can't look away from. Anyhow, I start the program late and after taking various breaks on the DVR to make some emergency evacuations, I was never able to catch up to the live program. It's now about an hour after the show ended and I get to where the two of them are on stage, the envelope has been handed over to Seacrest and he spits out "The winner...of American Idol.....2008....IS!!!........" and my DVR cuts out completely. I literally got to the penultimate moment of the show after suffering through the entire season and didn't get to find out who won. For whatever reason, it struck me as hilarious and I laughed so hard I nearly threw up, for a good twenty minutes or so, before giving up and calling it a night. If anyone actually knows who won and was going to tell me before I was finished this column, LALALALALALALLAALAALALA, I CAN"T HEAR YOU!!! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!! LALALALALALALALALALAAAA!!! Ahem. Actually, I know who won and am glad that that little Monchichi dropped the ball and lost to the guy that actually had some orginiality and talent. The only thing that would have been sweeter is if his little monkey face would have scrunched up and he'd burst into tears upon finding out he'd lost. They'd have earned themselves a fan forever if that had happened.

The other thing to touch on is the Stanley Cup Finals starting on Saturday night and featuring my beloved Red Wings as they face their stiffest test of the playoffs going up against the upstart Pittsburgh Penguins. The boys in Red fought their way through a little scare from the Stars in the Conference Finals but look primed and ready to give it everything they have in the Finals against a tough Penguins team. Marian Hossa, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and others have been lighting up the scoreboard for the Pens and it's going to be up to Chris Osgood to continue to play excellently in net. If he's able to continue to play at the high level he has throughout the playoffs, it will give Detroit's snipers like Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg a chance to fill the net on the other side of the ice and take some of the wind out of their young opponents' sails. This is going to be a tough, back-and-forth series and I think it will end up going either six games or seven, and that home-ice advantage and the depth in playoff experience that Detroit has will end up being the deciding factors in a very close series. Wings in six or possibly seven, and they'll have earned every step of it.

Now that this prolonged intro is out of the way let's get to what you all came for, a heaping dose of MMA news and opinions! The Five Rounds starts....RIGHT NOW!

Round One

Sherk and Penn Get It ON, Because They Don't Get Along

The highly anticipated main event of UFC 84: Ill Will is set to go off on Saturday night in Las Vegas, and this is one of the most aptly-named PPV events since UFC 77: Hostile Territory in October. These two have had a war of words that will probably continue long after the fighting is done, and it appears that they genuinely don't like each other. Sherk has made various statements questioning BJ's heart and his desire to be the best, while Penn has fired back COUNTLESS times with his thoughts on Sherk and the steroid situation. The trash-talk has been flying back and forth for weeks, but finally all of the talking is going to be over and there will be nothing left to do but to close the cage door and settle it in the middle of the Octagon.

This is an interesting fight for a number of reasons outside of what the bad blood I outlined before. This is Sherk's first fight back after his suspension for a positive test for Nandrolone in July and there are lots of questions that need to be answered out of that. Was the test an anomaly like Sherk claims which means there will be no change in his fighting style? Was the test a "real" positive and will it mean that Sherk comes out smaller or weaker than in previous fights? Can he shake off the jitters of performing under so much pressure to deliver a good fight against arguably the toughest opponent of his career? All of these questions speak to Sherk's mental state and I think that it's going to be incredibly telling to see how he looks both physically and mentally when he's walking to the cage and being introduced on Saturday night.

Even further beyond the mental questions, there are the questions in terms of the fight itself for Sherk. Will he be able to use his wrestling to get BJ down to the mat and on his back? What will he do with him once he gets him there and will Penn be able to submit Sherk from the bottom? Can he hang with Penn well enough while the fight is on the feet to even get the chance for the takedown? To say that Sherk won't get any takedowns at all is a little silly since he's probably the best wrestler in the lightweight division and strong as an ox whether he's full of the juice or not. The bigger questions are the last two because we know Penn is always dangerous from the bottom and as he showed against GSP and Joe Stevenson, he's able to strike with precision and do a lot of damage with them. Sherk is going to have to be on the defensive almost as much as he is on the offensive if he's going to have any chance in this fight.

As for Penn, he isn't immune from questions either, though most of them are centering around his newfound passion for fighting and he newly-born love of training. He looked great in his fights against Jens Pulver and Joe Stevenson and he even said on the Countdown show that he finally began to take everything seriously after the loss to Matt Hughes at UFC 63. Whether he can continue to show the discipline he has shown in his last two fights and show up in shape and with a full gas tank will be a HUGE factor in whether or not he can come out on top and continue his reign in the UFC's lightest division. He's shown a new intensity, or rather, the old intensity that he had on his first trip through the lightweight division and he's going to need that intensity when it comes to fight time on Saturday night.

Outside of his gas tank, BJ also showed in the fight with Stevenson that he can work just as well from the top as he can from the bottom, cutting up Stevenson with elbows and punishing him mercilessly before finishing with that iconic image of the rear naked choke that forced blood to spurt from Stevenson's head. He's seemingly going to come into this fight with the plan to put Sherk on his back and punish him with some ground and pound, which actually sounds a lot like what I'm sure Sherk's gameplan is going to be. The thing of it is that BJ is going to be able to still do some good work off of his back and even possibly submit Sherk, while Sherk will only be able to try to get to his feet or try to sweep.

To me, this looks like a fight that is going to serve to prove that the "new" BJ Penn is legit. He's proven in his last two fights that he's more committed to fighting now than he has been in a long, long time, and that spells big trouble for Sherk. The only advantage that Sherk seemingly has is the wrestling, but even once he gets BJ onto his back, he's going to be too busy defending takedowns to be able to do anything from the top position. Everywhere else in the fight, BJ has the advantage and he's going to have the advantage for nearly the entire fight. Sherk will try as hard as he can to keep Penn under control, but there's no way to control Penn at this stage in his career. Penn will win this fight, the only question is how and when.

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Random Strikes

Only a couple of random strikes this week because frankly, I feel terribly and want nothing more than to be in bed right now so that the stomach can stop feeling like it's on a roller coaster while I'm sitting still. I'll focus on the big ones though.


The EliteXC on CBS broadcast set for next Saturday night has a broadcast team. Long-time CBS play-by-play man Gus Johnson has been tabbed to do the main announcing for the show, with Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock providing the color for the show.

This seems like it could be a problem because as we've seen in the past, MMA being announced by people who don't have a background in MMA is a disaster. If Johnson does his homework and comes into this show really prepared, he stands a good shot to do well, especially with two professionals like Mauro and Shamrock by his side. However, if he comes into it and tries to do it like a normal sports broadcast and uses lots of general terms, people will know he's full of shit and not even having a former PRIDE announcer and an MMA legend in the booth with him will help. It would have been far better if they had set Johnson up as the host of the show and post-fight interviewer and left the MMA announcing to people who have experience in the field. This would have given CBS a presence on the show, while avoiding any potential alienation of hardcore fight fans with a PBP man who doesn't know the sport. This is yet another interesting reason to check out the debut broadcast next week, and at least the one thing they did right was to get Goldberg out of the booth.


Mr. Adam Lehman, who last competed for Chaos in the Cage on May 10, 2008, has tested positive for Marijuana. He has been fined $1,000 and his suspension is in effect from the conclusion of the bout through November 6, 2008. This is Mr. Lehman's second violation for Marijuana.

Normally, I wouldn't comment on a marijuana suspension on a low-level show, but with the mood I'm in and how I'm feeling, I bring it up here just so I can use my favorite video for guys that are caught by the drug tests. Mr. Lehman, here's something to take with you into suspension.



They should just play that sound as the guy that failed his test leaves the testing area for every time he takes one afterwards.


San Jose, CA. – The fifth episode of "Strikeforce on NBC", the first-ever weekly mixed martial arts cage fight program on one of the four major national television networks in the U.S, topped the average ratings of both ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," both of which air several hours earlier during weeknights, in the 18-34 year old male category of viewers during the week of May 5, 2008.

The .5 rating drawn by "Strikeforce on NBC" in the 18-34 year old male category beat the ratings of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on four of the five weeknights that the ABC show airs, and tied Kimmel's ratings on the fifth night. The Strikeforce program bested the ratings of "The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson" on all five weeknights and tied the Thursday and Friday night ratings of CBS's "The Late Show With David Letterman" that week, in the same demographic group.

The overall viewership of "Strikeforce on NBC," which airs immediately following "Poker After Dark" every Saturday night (check your local listings for show time), has increased by an astronomical 197%, from 319,000 to 949,000, including a 58% jump between the two most recently reported weeks (949,000 from 602,000).

"We're pleased to see our product gaining momentum on network TV," said Strikeforce CEO, Scott Coker. "The series has proven to be a highly effective way of creating new Strikeforce fans throughout the country and we're looking forward to delivering more action-packed programming to NBC viewers throughout the year."

Co-hosted by mixed martial arts legend, Ken Shamrock, and award-winning ESPN announcer, Lon McEachern, "Strikeforce on NBC" is a 52 week series. Each episode runs 30 minutes and is comprised of fighter profiles as well as Strikeforce MMA fights and highlights.

This is VERY good news for Strikeforce as they're gaining a following,even at an ungodly hour. These numbers also don't include the numerous replays which air on Universal's HD channel, which is how I end up watching the program, albeit on a delay of a few days. This also bodes well for the future of MMA on network TV as any network would have to be at least a little excited about numbers like this. I'm not saying that we'll see them on a Primetime Wednesday night anytime soon since there's still a LOT of growing for the numbers to do before we see that, but it's a strong start to the network experiement for MMA.


James Irvin, who was scheduled to replace Chuck Liddell in the fight with Rashad Evans at UFC 85 has unfortunately gone down with an injury. The Rashad Evans fight has now been taken off of the show.

England is the kiss of death, there I said it. Rashad should just be happy that his fight has been moved because apparently he was risking his life just by heading over there based on all the guys associated with this card that have gone down to major injuries.


Marc Coleman has suffered a knee injury in training and is out of UFC 87. Brock Lesnar will still fight on the show, but his opponent isn't known yet.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch for the Welterweight Title will headline the show.

This is some hot off the wire news that JUST made it in under my self-imposed heaving deadline. GSP/Fitch should be a great fight and will be a main event that the crowd in Minnesota will go nuts for. I don't know how Coleman could have injured his knee in training. There must be some TOUGH guys to roll with in that old folks' home. I kid, Marc, I kid because I somewhat tolerate. You'll always have a little stain from PRIDE 5, but it still sucks whenever someone ends up getting hurt. Good luck in the rehab, Marc and let the speculation for Lesnar's new opponent begin!! Hong Man Choi is out of the South Korean army right?

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Round Two

The Best of The Rest From UFC 84

The rest of the card that is scheduled to be televised on Saturday night is set to be FULL of Light Heavyweight match-ups and showdowns that will set up the direction of the division for a long time to come. Here's my thoughts on the other four match-ups that are guaranteed to be shown on the PPV.


Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes

Silva is on a big roll in the Light Heavyweight division and has himself positioned to be one or two more big wins away from a title shot. In an interesting fact, Mendes has fought three other Silva's previously and has defeated all three of them. For some reason, I think that his streak is going to end up being busted and he's going to be 3-1 against fighters named Silva after all is said and done. Mendes seems to be a banger since he's scored the majority of his wins by TKO, but Silva seems like he's got enough power to be able to be the one that wins the stand-up exchanges. He won them against Houston Alexander and then pounded him out on the mat, and I would expect this fight to end up remarkably similar.


Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic

Reljic makes his UFC debut here and for a fighter to make their debut on the main televised card of one of the bigger UFC shows to come down the pike in some time, there's got to be something there. Gouveia is coming off of the biggest win of his career and is going to look to continue that roll and try to move himself nearer to the top of a deep, DEEP, Light Heavyweight division. Reljic is a submission wizard and is undefeated up to this point, so if he can keep his nerves about him I don't see any problems in him coming out on top in this fight. Gouveia is a tough competitor but I don't think he's going to be able to defend against Reljic's onslaught forever. There's a lot of pressure on Reljic to succeed and unlike his larger Croatian counterpart, I think that he's going to do very well within the Octagon.


Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine

Jardine is looking to get one more big win to firm himself up as the number-one contender and by coming out on top here, he could cement himself in the pantheon of MMA history as the only man to defeat both Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell. Sadly, the man standing in the way of both of those goals is a VERY pissed off Wanderlei Silva. Silva has been trying some different things when it comes to his training, but he's still the same explosive striker he always has been. He showed in the Liddell fight that his chin is still strong, and I don't think that Jardine is going to have the power to put him to the canvas. Silva is ready for one last gasp and is essentially fighting for his UFC career. That will be incredibly motivating for him and I see him rushing forward, pressuring Jardine and finishing him off with one of his trademark flurries of punches in the middle of the bout. Silva gets the win, Jardine gets knocked one notch down the ladder, and the UFC gets another outstanding stand-up war in the ilk of Liddell/Silva or Bonnar/Griffin. What's not to like about excitement like that?


Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida

The goings-on outside of the Octagon have made more news than the actual fight itself, and I'm sure that it's the way that both fighters like it. Ortiz has gotten almost all of the attention on him, which we know he loves, and Machida has flown under the radar, getting hungrier and hungrier for his chance at the spotlight, which is going to serve him well. Ortiz is going to be going into this fight hungry in his own right, with this fight being the last fight that he will have in the Octagon for quite some time. He's going to want to prove Dana White wrong and that's a big motivation for him, but the problem with that is that motivation will only get you so far. Machida is quicker, more talented and is dangerous in all aspects of the fight game. Ortiz came in motivated against Liddell and got destroyed. He came in motivated against Evans and could only manage a draw, though he technically won the fight. Machida is the future of the division and he's going to send Ortiz out of the UFC and into his post-Ocatgon career with a loss. It'll be a tough fight, and probably exciting as all hell, but I don't think that the outcome will be in question at all.


That's my take on all of the main card battles for UFC 84, and here's my picks for the rest of the undercard bouts as well.

UFC 84 Undercard Picks

Carwin def. Wellisch
Kim def. Tan
Yoshida def. Koppenhaver
Clementi def. Etim
Sokoudjou def. Nakamura
Palhares def. Salaverry

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Intermission

I feel terrible so unfortunately there isn't going to be anything crammed in here this week, though I doubt I could top the awesomeness of last week's Automated Phone Sex Video. Oh what the hell, here's a double-KO from LFC 25 that has been making the rounds on the internet this week. Is it real or is it a work? Who knows, but watching guest referee Shonie Carter dance around like a crazy man is good enough for me. Enjoy folks.

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Round Three

Affliction Continues To Make Headlines

The hype machine continues to roll for the huge Affliction debut as an MMA promoter. Their premier PPV show, "Banned" is set for July 19th in Anaheim at the Honda Center and as we all know, the huge main event is set to be former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion, Fedor Emelianenko vs. former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tim Sylvia. Add to that, fights like Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo, and Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao, along with the HEAVILY rumored bout between Ben Rothwell and Andrei Arlovski, and you've got the makings for a huge night of MMA action.

The new promotion held the first of two press conferences earlier this week and it was apparently a resounding success that drew a ton of fans and lots of publicity for the company. Also before the conference, it was announced that the promotion had sold somewhere in the neighborhood of $250,000 dollars in tickets in the first thirty minutes of sales. While this looks like a huge number, one has to realize that that could have been taken care of with only 250 tickets at the highest price range of $1,000. Looking at it with that information makes it seem a little less impressive, though it's still quite the feat because any number of MMA promotions not named UFC would LOVE to have those kinds of numbers from their ticket sales one day in. I'm sure that this fight card will sell well and that there will be a huge crowd on hand, but to suggest that the fight will be sold out with people hanging from the rafters when there were plenty of empty seats for a Chuck Liddell/UFC fight in the same venue is stretching just a bit.

The other bit of news to come out of the press conference is that the undercard of the show will be shown nationally on Fox Sports Net. This is both good and bad news for the company and I'm not sure if it's going to have a lot of say on the ticket sales or PPV buys, but it will certainly expose the product to the public in a big way. FSN has a history with MMA, showing both PRIDE and the IFL, and that will help lend some credibility to the new Affliction promotion, but at the same time, there isn't quite the coverage for FSN on the basic cable packages since most of the FSN channels end up on the second tier of most cable and satellite providers. The other issue is that the K-1 Dynamite show from the LA Coliseum also showed their undercard, live on Showtime and the effect on the buyrate was negligible if not completely non-existent. This is a good deal for exposure for Affliction, but I don't think it's going to be the huge deal that they are making it out to be.

There is a lot of hype going on about Affliction and a ton of bells and whistles that are making it seem like the second coming of MMA, as well as a re-invention in the way the sport is presented and promoted, but really all of that will mean a whole lot of nothing if Affliction isn't able to put together quality cards time after time. Their first event is stacked, but that seemingly exhausts their stable of name talent, which will leave their second show possibly severely lacking in star power. If they put on an epic first event and the second one falls flat, people will begin to feel as if the promotion was a one-hit wonder and they'll write them off without giving them a chance.

There is also the issue of a statement that was made where the Affliction promotion will put on three cards and then re-evaluate whether they wish to stay in the MMA game or whether they move back to doing clothing only. Basically announcing that "if our first three events don't do well, we're folding", isn't going to be a way to gain the confidence of fighters looking for somewhere to fight, or of fans looking for somewhere to spend their entertainment dollar. They had better hope that they are able to make a big splash with this first card and that there will be some goodwill carrying over to the next couple because if not, it could be a short life for the upstart company.

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Links In The Cage

411's Middleweight Rankings!!

411's Interview With Levon Maynard!!

MMA Spotlight!!

411's Fighter Profile of BJ Penn!!

Planet Tapout!!

MMA Fact or Fiction featuring Brad Imes!!

The Double-Leg Breakdown!!

The Ultimate eXperience!!

The Sunday Sprawl!!

The Ground and Pound!!

The History of the UFC!!

The Ultimate Fighter Season Seven Report!!

PRIDE or DIE!!

The Sprawl and Brawl!!

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Round Four

IFL Title Fight Wrap-Up!!

The IFL ran another big show last Friday at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut, highlighted by three main event title fights. There was one new beltholder and two champions that continued their reigns, so let's check out the three title fights and see what went down in the IFL's ring!


IFL Middleweight Championship: Dan Miller def. Ryan McGivern

The one title change for the night and the fight that was probably the biggest upset on the evening as well. McGivern was the one guy that I thought sure wasn't going to have a problem when it came to defending his belt, but he ended up coming up short. Miller surprised me by coming out and holding his own on the mat against McGivern, even stuffing a couple of takedowns and reversing them, using McGivern's strength against him. McGivern made one mistake and it ended up costing him the bout and the title. In that closing sequence, Bas Rutten was right in saying that McGivern should have left his knee to the mat and kept Miller stacked up to avoid the kneebar at all costs. McGivern tried to slip out of it in a move reminiscent of Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir and like Mir, Miller knew what to do when the opportunity arose and he finished the kneebar. A great win for Miller and a shocker that has really opened up the Middleweight division in the IFL as now there are any number of challengers like former champ McGivern, Matt Horwich, Benji Radach and others. Congratulations to Miller on the biggest win of his career and good luck to him in the future defenses of his championship.


IFL Heavyweight Championship: Roy Nelson def. Brad Imes

Imes stepped in at the last minute to fill in for Brandon Lee Hinkle and my hunch was either that it would help Imes immensely because he could kind of sneak up on Nelson a little and catch him off guard, or that Imes wouldn't be able to be ready on such short notice and that Nelson would come out on top. The second ended up coming true, but not before Brad Imes proved that he has a hell of a chin and is one tough son of a bitch. Nelson popped him with a TON of hard shots and Imes kept coming back for more. While some people have questioned the stoppage, saying that it looked a little early, when you add up the cumulative damage of all the blows that nearly knocked Imes loopy earlier in the round, it doesn't seem quite as bad. Sure, Imes could have recovered and pulled guard, but for once it looked like an "early" stoppage was a good thing since things were primed for Imes to possibly be seriously injured if Nelson had been able to continue raining in the punches. Big props to Imes for stepping up for that fight on two week's notice and I would love to see him possibly get another shot at Nelson down the road with a full camp under his belt.


IFL Lightweight Championship: Ryan Schultz def. Deividas Taurosevicius

Bas didn't expect this fight to go the distance and neither did I, but I am rather surprised that it went as long as it did. Just from watching it, I'm convinced that Taurosevicius could kick his way through a tree like a chainsaw if he wanted to. I've NEVER heard kick snap like that before and I'd doubt that it was the mic set-ups. He was right with Schultz every step of the way and those kicks took their toll, but as the fight wore on, he moved away from them a little bit which puzzled me. This was one of the more exciting title fights in the short history of them in the IFL and both men deserve all of the praise that I can heap on this fight. Granted, there might not have been the ton of drama that the Alvarez/Hansen match-up had, but there was some drama at the end of the fourth when Taurosevicius fought his way clear of that rear naked choke attempt. Schultz is one of the premier lightweight fighters in the world and Taurosevicius proved that he can hold his own as well and that he deserves to be thought of when the top prospects in the division are mentioned. Man, oh man does Schultz have a gas tank too. He didn't even look like he was breathing heavily at all during that fight. A good back-and-forth fight that showed where Schultz is in the division and how much he has on the rest of the fighters in 155 pound class in the IFL.

On the whole, another exciting night of action from the IFL, though there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered. Apparently, they are being somewhat propped up by HDNet Fights for the rest of the fiscal year, which could lead to problems down the road for them because if the money isn't there when HDNet pulls that support, they could be gone. The next few fight cards and how they are promoted by the IFL is going to be verty telling on whether they'll be able to survive and thrive or if they'll fade into the MMA history books to leave their best talent to be absorbed by other organizations.

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Random Strikes Part Deux

The UFC 84 Video Station is up and rolling, with fights, fights and more fights to get you ready for the HUGE show Saturday night!!


Lyoto Machida vs. Rich Franklin – Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003



Tito Ortiz vs. Evan Tanner – UFC 30 Battle On The Boardwalk



Keith Jardine vs. Amir Rahnavardi – Gladiator Challenge 5: Rumble In The Rockies



Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson – PRIDE Final Conflict 2003



Sean Sherk vs. Ryuki Ueyama – PRIDE Bushido 2, Part One



Sean Sherk vs. Ryuki Ueyama – PRIDE Bushido 2, Part Two



BJ Penn vs. Duane Ludwig – K-1 MMA ROMANEX

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Round Five

The Usual TUF Stuff

The Ultimate Fighter's seventh season rolls on, and with this past episode, the end of the preliminary round is upon us and we're looking at quarterfinal match-ups for the next few weeks. I'll say this about the episode, there were certainly some high points. Let's take a look at them and give them the Five Rounds treatment.


Forrest's "Man-Period"

To quote Dana White "What the FUCK?". I can completely understand Griffin getting mad at Rampage's statement because honestly, it was something that was said merely to get under his skin. That being said, I have NEVER seen anyone do that to a door in my life. And that wasn't some piddly little flimsy door either, but a HEAVY door. There have been some classic fighter vs. door match-ups in the preceding seasons of the show, but this one takes the cake by a mile. It was also hilarious to see Dana think that Rampage was the one that had ripped the door apart. They managed to piece it back together, but that thing was demolished.


I Hate The Accent, But I'll Give Him A Shred Of Respect

After the fight that he lost, Patrick also made a smart-ass comment to Forrest in the middle of the octagon. After "donkey-konging" the door down, Forrest made a comment that they'd better keep Patrick away from him, and not ten seconds later here he comes. Now at first, I thought this reeked of scripted nonsense that was only going to stir the pot further, but instead, Patrick surprised me by apologizing for his statement and telling Forrest that it was wrong of him to say what he had said to someone like Forrest who deserves all the respect in the world. This was a very refreshing change of pace from the usual macho bravado we see on TUF constantly, and although I still hate the accent and I don't think he's a fighter that would do anything worthwhile in the UFC, he gets a little respect from me for being a man and owning up to a mistake. Big ups to Forrest as well for showing the class to let something like that slide as well. He was in a physical mood and could have easily just brushed it off and kept the conflict going but he showed that he has a brain and took the high road.


The Net Gun Rules YOU!!

That thing looked like it was going to be a TON of fun and the idea that they came up with was to shoot Rampage with the net gun. They figured that he's going to throw a fit if he actually got caught in the thing and Forrest volunteered to do it since if he got pissed, they're already fighting. He managed to sneak up to one of the Octagons during a Team Rampage training session and fired it off up, trapping Rampage up against the cage. Rampage's reaction wasn't exactly the anger that Team Forrest had been banking on though, and he took it like a good sport,which made for some entertainment. Rampage is worried that his family is going to see it and make fun of him, saying that he got netted on national television about a hundred times. "Do I look like a FISH to you?" Priceless.

CB's On Another Level

Last year it was Mac, this year it looks like it's CB that's going to be the guy that everyone is going to have to attempt to beat to get the contract. It was somewhat impressive to see him catch Rampage the way that he did during training and he carried that into the fight with him. CB looked to be a step ahead of Nick for the entire fight and it certainly seemed like it was only a matter of time before he was able to end up securing the victory. It's fitting that they showed him catching guy after guy with a guillotine in practice (Rampage included), when his fight ended in a guillotine. It seems to be his favorite submission move and he looked great in his fight, which only served to validate Rampage's thinking when he chose him with the first pick.


The Quarterfinals Are Set!!

The quarterfinal match-ups were made at the conclusion of the CB/Nick match-up and it looked like most guys thought that Cale or Dan were the weak links, since those were the guys that everyone seemingly wanted to fight. The matches that have been set up for the quarterfinals are as follows:

Jesse vs. Dante
Amir vs. Matt
Dan vs. Tim
CB vs. Cale

Out of these fights, the Amir/Matt match-up stands out as a fight that could be a very entertaining fight and the CB vs. Cale match looks like one of the "lambs to the slaughter" type matches. All eight guys have earned their spots in this next round, but honestly there are only three fights that are toss-up fights and that's stretching it a little. My picks to get through are Amir, CB, Dan and Jesse and if they don't match-up in the semi-finals, I'm expecting to see Amir and CB in the finals.

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Post Fight Wrap-Up

That does it for another week and another edition of Five Rounds Of News! I apologize again if this was possibly a sub-standard edition of the Rounds, but I'll be back next week with a look at all of the fallout from UFC 84, a look ahead to WEC: Pulver vs. Faber as well as all the rest of the happenings in the world of mixed martial arts. From what I hear, there's supposed to be some kind of MMA show on in primtime or something, so I might cover that too. I'll also continue going on and on about the Stanley Cup Finals, since they'll probably still be a hot topic of conversation in my house next week. Until then folks, have a safe and happy long weekend and enjoy the fights!!






Be sure to check out my fellow Canuck, Joe Ferraro and his "Showdown" radio show, every Thursday at 10 PM EST, on FAN 590 or the archives of the show at Showdown Entertainment.