Finale is French for Mostly Uneventful

I’d like to think I’m like most fans of MMA when I sit down to watch an event. As a martial artist I appreciate the intricacies of MMA. I realize that there is strategy and timing and hours of training that goes into just one fight. But honestly, I mostly want to see someone get knocked the fuck out!*

So when Spike broadcast The Ultimate Fighter Finale on Saturday night I was supremely excited in anticipation of previously mentioned knock out. No such luck.

Although some of the fights were pretty good, I wasn’t blown away by any fight. As a matter of fact, I think the best fight of the evening was the finale fight between Amir and C.B. I was very, very, very happy that Amir won, controversial or not. (Seriously though, C.B. clearly tapped out.)

Matt Riddle vs. Dante Rivera Matt looked fantastic, but I felt like he should have been able to finish Dante off pretty quickly given his strength and speed over Dante. I was never a fan of Dante and thought he was highly overrated from the get go. I doubt we’ll be seeing  much of him in the UFC and if by some miracle he ends up on a future fight card, I just don’t think he has the skill needed to be a real contender in the UFC.

Spencer Fisher vs. Jeremy Stephens I am a big fan of Spencer “The King”Fisher. He’s a good fighter with a lot of heart which is all I look for in a good fighter. I was impressed with his performance and I am happy he got the “W”.

Diego Sanchez Vs. Luigi Fioravanti I love Diego Sanchez. He’s a fierce fighter who strives for nothing but perfection. Luigi was a tough competitor for Diego and I think Diego showed us that he has truly grown as a fighter since his loses and I am hungry for a rematch between him and Josh Koscheck.

Amir Sadollah vs. C.B. Dollaway What can I say? If you doubted it the first time, he came back and did it again but faster!

Kendall Grove vs. Evan Tanner I am sure Evan was a fantastic fighter in his day, but he is clearly past his prime. Some guys and fight well into their 40’s (generally considered well passed your prime in most sports) such as Randy Couture and Chuck Lidell, but unfortunately I don’t think Evan Tanner is one of those guys. Sorry Evan. And to be honest, I don’t think Kendall Grove looked that good against Evan. His performance was okay, but only in comparison to the aging Evan Tanner.

Overall, I am glad I didn’t have to pay for it, but I am glad I watched it.

(*A tap out or stoppage is just as acceptable.)

I Didn’t Get It

I didn’t get it.

I’m not sure if I just missed an important element somewhere in the movie, but I just didn’t get it.

I was really enjoying the first 45 minutes of the movie. Javier Bardem’s characters is really intense and quite enjoyable to watch on the screen. This was Tommy Lee Jones’ best role since The Fugitive.

Fuck you Oscar. You don’t know shit.

Right For All The Wrong Reasons

So last week Jesse Taylor defeated Tim Credeur to become a finalist in the 7th season of The Ultimate Fighter. I promptly wrote a post entitled, “Why ‘JT Money’ Won’t Make it in the UFC”. I described how Jesse’s fighting style (mostly laying on top of his opponent and running the clock out) just wouldn’t work very well if he ever got into the UFC.

I was right, but for all the wrong reasons.

If you didn’t watch last weeks episode this is going to be a bit of a spoiler for you. Jesse Taylor was disqualified from the finale. First time in the 7 season of TUF someone has been disqualified after the show was over.

Apparently, Jesse decided to stick around after everyone went home (to rest until the finale) and he got really, really drunk and did some really, really stupid things. Eventually it got back to Dana White and he was not happy at all with Jesse’s behavior. Now I don’t believe we got the whole story (there were other guys from the show with him, but they weren’t reprimanded as far I know) but the short end of it is Jesse was kicked off.

Good job, bro.

In other news, my man Amir came through and defeated C.B. Dollaway to become the other finalist. But since Jesse was disqualified, C.B. and Tim had to duke it out to see who would face Amir in Jesse’s place and no big surprise C.B. won. So the finale will be a rematch (a first in TUF history if I’m not mistaken) between C.B. Dollaway  and Amir Sadollah.

If you haven’t figured it out by now I am routing for Amir.

Why “JT Money” Won’t Last in the UFC

Last night on the second to last episode of The Ultimate Fighter, Jesse Taylor (aka “JT Money”) fought in the first semi-final match with Tim Credeur for a spot in the Finale on June 21 on Spike TV.

It was yet another lackluster fighter from Jesse where he (as he puts it) “imposed his will” on his opponent, or as the rest of us saw it, he layed on top of his opponent and used his strength and wrestling skills to make it a 15 minute hump session.

Now, that is not to say there weren’t a few exciting moments during the bout, but mostly those moments were exclusive to Tim Credeur and his submission attempts.

To be honest, Tim didn’t do such a hot job either. His corner kept screaming for him to go into butterfly guard and sweep Jesse, but time and time again Tim had Jesse in full guard and was just eating the occasional punch from Jesse. (Of course, its always easier to tell people what they should be doing when you aren’t getting punched in the face yourself.)

When Tim did listen to his corner he had some really great moments where he would almost get Jesse in a submission hold and somehow Jesse would weasel out of it and again lay on top of Tim like a dead hooker.

In the end, it was Jesse who ended up with the “W” and it is Jesse who will most likely meet with C.B. Dollaway (unless Amir pulls something out of his ass) in the Finale. If C.B. and Jesse are the 2 left standing and through some sheer miracle Jesse manages to hump C.B. to a win (doubtful, but anything is possible) he will be (in my opinion) the most uneventful fighter to win The Ultimate Fighter to date.

Speaking of which, if you haven’t been keeping up with the UFC roster, you might want to go check to see how well your favorite fighter is doing because Dana White and the UFC have been cutting some of the less exciting (or poor performers) out of their contracts. The list includes Travis Lutter (TUF 4 Winner), Din Thomas, Tommy Speer (TUF 6 Runner Up), Kalib Starnes, and Jake O’Brien. There are more and the list will continue to grow as the UFC decides to cut out the fat.

All that to say, if (and that’s a big IF) Jesse was to win the whole enchilada and become this season’s Ultimate Fighter, he would be facing some tough (no pun intended) competition that wouldn’t just take his consummate ring humping lying down (pun intended). Especially some of the veterans who have excellent takedown defense and great stand up (Lidell, Jackson, Griffin).

I predict that his career would be short lived in the UFC unless we can see something other than his humping, which is pretty much top notch stuff.