Jon's MMA Juggernaut 09.17.08: The Ultimate Fighter 8 Is Here

Posted by Jonathan Solomon on 09.17.2008

Before the latest Ultimate Fighter season kicks off, check out this quick preview. Will Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir lead their teams to victory or will they compete with Ken Shamrock to become the worst coach in the history of the show? Plus, how well have all of the TUF Winners done inside the UFC since leaving the finals?

It's that time of the year again as we gear up for a new season of The Ultimate Fighter, set to start this Wednesday evening on Spike TV. This season will be coached by heavyweights (interim-champion) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir, the two men scheduled to fight on December 27th at UFC 92. They will coach teams of lightweights and light heavyweights. Much like last season, the first two episodes will be pre-lim fights for 32 men to try and earn a spot in the house. During these fights, both coaches will sit and watch alongside Dana White much to our amusement. According to Dave Meltzer, during tryouts one of the fighters called out submission moves to Dana White before he slapped them on his opponent. That guy MUST win!

After all the spots are filled, teams will be chosen and the season officially kicks off (that's later in the month).

I'll admit now that I know next to nothing about the majority of these fighters going into the show. From a brief glance at some bio's though, there are plenty of interesting prospects and even a few veterans, not to mention the "mystery" fighter who Dana White has been hyping up. I think the UFC is happy with the selection of talent for this season as there are several fighters with a lot of experience. There will be no actors looking for TV time as fighters as was the case with Blake Bowman, no matter how hard the guy tried.

It's no secret that TUF was the saving grace for the UFC (and MMA in the U.S.) three years ago (doesn't it seem like an eternity?) when the likes of Forrest Griffin, Chris Leben, Bobby Southworth, Josh Koscheck, Stephan Bonnar and company were raising hell. Fast forward to today and you don't need to me to tell you how the show has paid off. The main event of the UFC New Year's Eve show on 12/27 will be the second time a pair of Ultimate Fighter winners headline a PPV. UFC 92 however will be headlined by Forrest Griffin defending the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Rashad Evans. Griffin won the first season in spectacular fashion. Rashad Evans won the second season as a heavyweight before dropping down to light heavyweight where he has fought since.

TUF provides the UFC with a great opportunity to find new talent and allow said talent to make a name for themselves in front of millions of people each week on Spike TV. Whether or not that is a positive or negative name is up to them. The means will be there this year to help the 16 fighters grow as professional fighters with solid television exposure.



What do you get when you have a supersoaker, a spiderman-esque net and a Rampage?


You will be hard pressed to find a better coaching candidate than Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Frank Mir is also a knowledgeable fighter and well versed in several fight forms. "Big Nog" has fought a who's-who of MMA fighters around the world in addition to his mastery of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as well as striking and other skills. Frank Mir is well practiced at BJJ and wrestling. The question has been brought up; who would you rather be coached by if given the opportunity to choose? Obviously, unless you had a personal connection with Mir (in the same vein that Joey whats-his-name did with Matt Serra awhile back...the guy who quit the show), you would probably want to be on Big Nog's team. I doubt this season will portray any animosity from the participants as there was in season's past for those on Team Shamrock or (initially) Team Pulver.

The most well known assistant coaches are alongside Nogueira as he called on Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida to be his assistant coaches. Yes, 8 fighters received about three month's worth of direct training from UFC's Brazilian All-Stars. Mir's assistants are BJJ champion Robert Drysdale (he will make his MMA debut in October, not for the UFC) and Rafael Alejarra who has coached Wanderlei Silva on his conditioning. In that sense, I doubt we will see anyone criticize an assistant coach as Matt Serra did once in the past. In fact, if someone even thinks of a bad thought while looking at Anderson, well, I don't need to tell you what would happen..

Ken Shamrock turned out to be a terrible coach during the show with infighting and fighters believing they were ill-prepared against Team Ortiz. Jens Pulver became a fine coach who helped lead Nate Diaz and Manny "Karo's Cuz" Gamburyan to the finals. So, we have seen both ends of the spectrum.

While we hear Frank Mir commentate for WEC on Versus, MMA fans have not seen much of him since he suffered severe injuries from a motorcycle accident a few years back. On the surface, both Mir and Nogueira appear to be mild mannered men. I think it's safe to say we won't see any Tito Ortiz-Ken Shamrock style pull apart's or Quinton Jackson rampage's. Then again, once they get into the gym and begin competing through their team's, who knows what will go down.




Dana White credits these two gentlemen with establishing the sport to millions of new viewers on Spike TV and bringing the UFC boatloads of success.



Remember when you check this season out the success of TUF Champions from the past three years. The series has produced world champions, top contenders, exciting fighters and a few interesting personalities.

Since winning TUF, the fighters have gone a combined 37-12-1 in their UFC fights. That includes a UFC Welterweight Championship win by Matt Serra (by knocking out Georges St. Pierre) and a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship win by Forrest Griffin (by winning a decision over Quinton Jackson). Griffin choked Shogun Rua into submission while Rashad Evans knocked Chuck Liddell out just a week ago and fought Tito Ortiz to a draw.



TUF Alumnus' Michael Bisping and (Light Heavyweight Champion) Forrest Griffin. What a fight that would be. Too bad Bisping is a 185er now.


Those who participated on the show but did not win include a wide variety of names such as Chris Leben, Josh Koscheck, Patrick Cote, Keith Jardine, Matt Hamill, Mike Swick, Stephan Bonnar, Kenny Florian, Luke Cummo, Ed Herman, Shonie Carter, Din Thomas, Pete Spratt, Scott Smith, Robert Emerson, Gray Maynard and others. And yes, Melvin Guillard is one of them, too.

Who is your favorite TUF fighter? I'm always partial for Hamill and Bisping and their feud. We definitely need to see a second fight between them.



Who would you pick in a trash-talk battle? Tito Ortiz or Matt Serra? Late entry = Matt Hughes. Trash talking fans be damned, I doubt Mir and Nogueira will engage in the fine art.


That's it for this week. Enjoy the big night of fights coming up.