UFC 164 results and gifs: Pettis taps Henderson

Another UFC in the books, and we have a new lightweight champion.

Anthony Pettis def. Benson Henderson via verbal submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:31 – wins UFC lightweight championship

I’d thought the most likely outcome for this fight would have involved Bruce Buffer keeping everyone on the edge of their seats as he read the judges close scorecards. Ben Henerson i snot generally the kind of man that get’s finished even if his opponent is Anthony Pettis and we saw evidence of that in their fist fight.

The round started with some control against the cage from the champion that Pettis was able to survive without taking too much punishment. No-one stamped their authority on the fight until the challenger rattled off four consecutive right kicks to the body. THese weren’t even on Henderson’s live side, but he was visibly affected by their thunderous impact. From there, it looked like Pettis made the first error of the fight bey truing a flashy cartwheel kick and ending straight on his back in guard.

However, he used this to his advantage very quickly, controlling Bendo’s position and switching his hips tight and quick to lock in an armbar. A few seconds later and a futile attempt by Henderson to escape and the verbal tap came.

In the post-fight interview the new champ was calling out José Aldo, but I think he’ll probably have to defend his new 155lb prize a couple of times before the Brazilian makes his way up to  challenge for the belt. I can;t see the UFC brass letting him drop to featherweight. I also see Pettis handling anyone the lightweight division has to offer. If I had to pick one man to give him problems it would be Gilbert Melendez, but considering how capably Showtime has handled his last four opponents I would say he will have a rough go at that.

Josh Barnett def. Frank Mir via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:56

Josh Barnett got a win in his return to the UFC after nearly a decade with a TKO of the always TKO-able Frank Mir. He had a perfect gameplan, rushing Mir early and throwing a barrage odf strikes to the head and body. I honestly thought he was on the way to screwing everything up when knees started missing their mark, the face became the secondary target and Mir started firing back, but I need not have had any doubt as Barnett delivered a knee which crumpled the former champ to the mat and brought the stoppage.

I think the stoppage was a tad early, but not terrible. Mir should have been allowed the chance to recover (which he did seconds later), but if Barnett had been able to throw a couple more punches Mir would have had his lights out in short order. Where’s Dan Miragliotta when you need him.

Barnett has set himself up for some high-profile fights at heavyweight now, but I don;t think he’ll ever really be in for a title hunt with guys like Velasquez, Dos Santos and Cormier around. Mir has lost three straight but still has a place in the division. He’s a good fighter who’s lost to three top 10 fighters and he could still crush most heavyweights with ease. His title hunting days are over though.

Chad Mendes def. Clay Guida via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 0:30

Chad Mendes is a stone-cold killer, and really proved it by grabbing a fourth KO in a row against a notoriously impossible-to-KO fighter.

Clay Guida had nothing for Mendes in the grappling or striking departments, and when the Team Alpha Male prospect finally uncorked the kind of punches that had the potential to end the fight the fight was well and truly ended.

Mendes is ready for an Aldo rematch now. He might not win, but I don;t think he’ll get blown up like he did last time. He’s by far and away proved himself to be the number one contender and improved his skills enough that a rematch is still compelling. If he is given one more fight before he gets that chance you won;t find me complaining though. It will just be another chance for us to see hime flex his skills and blow up another 145 pounder.

Ben Rothwell def. Brandon Vera via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:54

This could finally be Brandon Vera’s ticket out of the UFC. He fought quite well at first, but he couldn’t stop Rothwell putting him up against the cage and when the big mid-westerner finally turned on the power Vera was helpless.

Big Ben might want to be careful what he asks for in his post-fight interviews though. A fight with Travis Browne is likely to nring one thing his way. A severe ass kicking.

Dustin Poirier def. Erik Koch via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)

This was the fight of the night for sure (despite what the official list of UFC bonuses might say). A back and forth battle with high offensive output in all areas of mixed martial arts. It looked like Poirier was done for when he was caught in a tight triangle early in the first and even when he finally managed to escape he looked like he was close to passing out. However, he gritted his teeth and swung the momentum back in his favour.

After this excellent punch ‘The Diamond’ rained down blows on ‘New Breed’ until the end of the round before following up with a second round of dominance. The punishment he dealt out in the first was so great in fact, that two judges gave him a 10-8 score despite the trouble he’d been in earlier on.

To his credit, Koch came back and won the third round, but unless he was about to score a finishing blow or hail-Mary submission the fight was Poirier’s.

Whatever the outcome of this fight my sentiments would have been the same as they are now. I can;t wait to see these young exciting fighters matched up with other high-quality featherweights for years to come. Boredom will never be an issue with these men fighting.

Prelim results

The official fight of the night was Hyun Gyu Lim’s destruction of Pascal Krausss. This was a hugely entertaining few minutes of violence, and striking to see how ENORMOUS Lim is at 170lbs. With reckless gameplanning like that he won’t be troubling the division’s elite any time soon, but he will definitely give some top-25 fighters some trouble and provide some outrageous excitement whether he’s delivering the damage or eating it.

The Jacaré award for upkick eating goes to Kyung Ho Kang, who pretty much lost his fight with Chico Camus as a result of taking this beauty.

The early contender for submission of the night was this nice guillotine from Magnus Cedenblad in the night’s opening contest.

Finally, I can’t not mention the slop-fest that was Soa Palelei win over Nikita Krylov in his return to the Octagon. The big Aussie was not impressive in his first UFC fight all those years ago, and broken rib or not, he was not impressive here. The blame can;t lie squarely at his door though. I’d herad Sherdog.com’s Jordan Breen describe how bad Krylov was on Friday, and the young Ukrainian scertyainly lived up to his billing. He played right into Paleelei’s limited abilities and deserveddly got beaten. I guess these horrorshow fight sare a bit of fun every once in a while, but I hope most of this sort of thing is reserved for the likes of Bellator and World Series of Fighting in future. It was BRUTAL to watch.

Gleison Tibau def. Jamie Varner via split decision (29-28, 27-29, 29-28)
Tim Elliott def. Louis Gaudinot via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
Hyun Gyu Lim def. Pascal Krauss via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:58
Chico Camus def. Kyung Ho Kang via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Soa Palelei def. Nikita Krylov via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:34
Al Iaquinta def. Ryan Couture via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Magnus Cedenblad def. Jared Hamman via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:57

Don’t forget to follow TRIANGLECHOKEMMA on facebook and twitter

Dana White UFC 164 post fight media scrum

Dana gets on the mic with the assembled media to chat all things UFC 164.

For those familiar with Dana White, you will also be familiar with his brutal honesty. Occasionally this might be grossly misinformed, just plain wrong or controversial to the point he gets into a bit of bother with the media.. However, his there are times when his insistence on calling a spade a spade is admirable, particularly in the case of his criticism of the Soa Palelei/Nikita Krylov fight. That fight really deserved to be slammed, and the UFC president duly obliged.

Don’t forget to follow TRIANGLECHOKEMMA on facebook and twitter

UFC 164 post fight press conference

Dana White and UFC 164 fighters sit down with the media after the conclusion of last night’s event.

New lightweight title holder Anthony Pettis fields questions for the first time as champion, including his future defending the belt and a potential fight with featherweight king José Aldo.

Don’t forget to follow TRIANGLECHOKEMMA on facebook and twitter

UFC 164 Henderson vs. Pettis 2 weigh-in results and video

Every fighter was on weight for UFC 164 earlier today in Milwaukee, so there’s not too much to say really.

A few thoughts:

• Gleison Tibau us far too big to be a lightweight!
• Erik Koch and Dustin Poirier are still in the infancy of their MMA careers, but you won’t find many better or more intense fighters out there. Prepare for fireworks.
• When I hear Brandon Vera was moving back up to heavyweight I was skeptical. When I heard he weighed in at 241 pound I though his return to the division was bound to be a disaster. However, having seen his frame, he’s thicker, not just heavier. If he can keep a bit of speed from 205lbs he could give Ben Rothwell some trouble and revitalise his career.
• You would thing Chad Mendes had just dropped from the weight class above. He dwarfs Clay Guida. I predict an uncomfortable ride for The Carpenter tomorrow night.
• Henderson and Pettis look ready to go right now. This ssi very exciting.

Full preview to follow, though I’m not sure how coherant it will be. I think the breakdown of the main event might just be a list of superlatives, because this is the rematch of one of the top 5 best fights ever, and for my money the most exciting match possible to make in MMA right now.

Main Card

Benson Henderson (155) vs. Anthony Pettis (154.5)
Josh Barnett (255) vs. Frank Mir (248)
Clay Guida (146) vs. Chad Mendes (145)
Ben Rothwell (262) vs. Brandon Vera (241)
Erik Koch (145) vs. Dustin Poirier (145.5)

Prelims

Gleison Tibau (155) vs. Jamie Varner (156)
Tim Elliott (125.5) vs. Louis Gaudinot (125)
Pascal Krauss (170) vs. Hyun Gyu Lim (171)
Chico Camus (135) vs. Kyung Ho Kang (136)
Nikita Krylov (236) vs. Soa Palelei (265)
Ryan Couture (156) vs. Al Iaquinta (156)
Magnus Cedenblad (185) vs. Jared Hamman (185.5)

Don’t forget to follow TRIANGLECHOKEMMA on facebook and twitter

TUF Live Finale results: Kampmann stuns Ellenberger with dramatic KO

Though The Ultimate Fighter Live Finale was lacking very much high-quality or relevant action, it was still an entertaining little affair, capped off with the culmination of a proper feel-good story and a spectacular fight between 2 fighters with welterweight title aspirations.

Martin Kampmann def. Jake Ellenberger via knockout (knees) – Round 2, 1:40

I’d mentioned that I thought that Martin Kampmann could win this fight if he could weather Ellenberger’s early storm, and capitalise on ‘The Juggernaut’s’ suspect gas-tank. I thought that Ellenberger would still win though, and that looked likely when he landed a left hook right on the button that crumpled the Dane.

Kampmann quickly recovered, and completely stifled any offence from his opponent for the rest of the round. I remember being totally convinced that this was his fight to lose now. He had proved he could handle what Ellenberger could throw at him, and he just had to wait for an opportunity. I did not expect that to come at the start of the next round, when Ellenberger was wobbled with a hook, and then finished with a couple of precision knees to the face.

This is a HUGE win for Kampmann, and one that looks like it sets him up for a #1 contender’s match with Johny Hendricks later in the year. I’d have Hendricks as the favourite, but how can you count out the great Dane after his last 2 comeback wins?

Mike Chiesa def. Al Iaquinta via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:37 

Sometimes it’s just nice to see a proper heartwarming story in MMA. Mike Chiesa lost his dad just as filming started, and he’ managed to win the whole show even with that huge weight on his shoulders. This result was a bit of an upset, but you wouldn’t have thought so from watching the fight. Chiesa was able to effortlessly take Iaquinta’s back and lock in the submission, choking him completely unconscious for the win.

Chiesa probably won’t make any great waves in the lightweight division, but he does seem to be a talented grappler who could be a serviceable fixture on FX and FUEL main cards if he can become a more well rounded fighter. Iaquinta probably has a similar future. He is raw, but there seems to be some talent there in all areas that suggests he could be moulded into a relatively successful fighter.

Charles Oliveira def. Jonathan Brookins via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 2:42

‘Do Bronx’ was arguably the most impressive fighter on the card on Saturday, earning himself a good win over a credible opponent. Both fighters exchanged knees and punch combinations early in the fight, with Oliveira landing some particularly significant punches that wobbled Brookins, while Brookins was able to bloody-up Oliveira.

Midway through the 2nd frame Brookins looked for a guillotine choke, but Oliveira was able to pull his neck out of danger. Up against the fence, he was then able to work his way into mount and find the elevation he needed to slide in a guillotine of his own using a D’arce grip.

I don’t think it’s too far out of the question that we could be seeing this guy fighting the division’s elite for title contention in the not too distant future. He is now fighting at the right weight class for himself, his striking is good, his submissions are about as slick as you can get in the UFC, and he is a young man indeed. At the very least, I expect many more exciting fights in the future.

Max Holloway def. Pat Schilling via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Pat Schilling won the evening’s race to the bottom as 2 fighters with a 0-1 record in the promotion inexplicably faced off to keep their jobs on the main card of a UFC event. Max Holloway will really have to be matched up well to survive in a 145lb division which is growing by the month, but he certainly has potential and he could grow into a half-decent fighter if he is given he opportunity to develop. His boxing was clearly above average as he mixed up precision punches that landed all over Schilling, including some vicious body punches that helped him control the pace of the fight.

Justin Lawrence def. John Cofer via knockout (kick) – Round 3, 0:19

I wasn’t even going to mention this fight, but Lawrence’s great high-kick KO means that it gets a mention. He got a nice $40,000 knockout of the night bonus for his trouble too.

Undercard results:

Daron Cruickshank def. Chris Tickle via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Myles Jury def. Chris Saunders via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 4:03
Sam Sicilia def. Cristiano Marcello via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:53
Joe Proctor def. Jeremy Larsen via TKO (knee and punches) – Round 1, 1:59
Erik Perez def. John Albert via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:18

Don’t forget to follow TRIANGLECHOKEMMA on facebook and twitter.

The Ultimate Fighter Live Finale preview.

Ellenberger and Kampmann stare each other down after yesterday’s weigh in.

The first season of The Ultimate Fighter Live concludes this evening with it’s live finale, featuring a 5 round headline bout between welterweight contenders Martin Kampmann and Jake Ellenberger. 

The main event, the TUF final and the featherweight fight between Jonathan Brookins and Charles Oliveira are interesting, but there’s not too much else to get excited about on this fight card. I’m not saying that the fights won’t be exciting, but there is not too much action between relevant fighters with significant standings in their divisions. Also, there’s no fight for Andy Ogle, boo-urns to that. With that in mind, here’s a preview for the fights that I think actually matter.

Welterweights, 5 rounds – Jake Ellenberger vs. Martin Kampmann

Jake Ellenberger is being heavily favoured in this fight, and with good reason. ‘The Juggernaut’ is an apt nickname, as he has face-melting power and a killer instinct that he combines to put fighters away quickly and violently. Kampmann is a good technical striker, but he tends to be ineffective when he is put under pressure by technically proficient power punchers, and that is exactly what he is facing. Ellenberger also has a good wrestling game that he can use to put opponents on the deck, and against a fighter without a dynamic guard game like Kampmann that is a huge asset.

The only thing that could stop Ellenberger winning this fight is his gas tank. This led to his only loss in the UFC when he faded after a brilliant 1st round against Carlos Condit, and made the 3rd round of his last fight against Diego Sanchez very sketchy indeed. As we know from Kampmann’s last fight with Thiago Alves, he is dangerous until the final bell, and he has a very underrated submission game that he can implement for shocking effect. If this fight was 3 rounds I would suggest betting the house on Ellenberger, but seeing as it could go 5, there is a definite chance that Kampmann could take advantage of fatigue and pull off the upset.

TUF lightweight final –  Mike Chiesa vs. Al Iaquinta

The clichéd striker vs. grappler match-up, even though Iaquinta is competent in the grappling department too. I think this fight is actually going to boil down to the simple question of whether Chiesa can keep Iaquinta pinned to the mat for 3 rounds. The answer to that will probably be no. Iaquinta has good takedown defence, and he is capable of scrambling to his feet if he is taken down. Also, and this is a bit of wild speculation on my part, as a student of Matt Serra I can only imagine he has a decent BJJ game to boot.

On the feet Iaquinta is vastly superior to Chiesa, who has porous striking defence. I fancy Iaquinta to start connecting with punishing frequency after a feeling-out process in the first round, and leave with a TKO victory in the 3rd round.

Featherweights – Jonathan Brookins vs. Charles Oliveira

Both of these fighters have recently moved down to 145lbs after suffering setbacks at lightweight, and they have promptly won their first fights at their new home. Oliveira can threaten with leg-kicks and a dynamic submission game, wheras Brookins success generally comes with a grinding style utilizing clinch work and dirty boxin, as well as ground and pound if he can actually get the fight to the mat.

Brookins is a smart fighter, so I would expect him to close distance to avoid ‘Do Bronx’s’ rangy strikes, push him up against the fence to stifle any more offence, and punish the young Brazilian. He’ll have to be wary of a lighting-quick subission attack (I’m sure Oliveira wouldn’t even hesitate to pull guard), but I would expect Brookins to be too strong to give up position, and he’ll take the UD victory.

Here’s the full line-up for tonight’s even.

tMain Card

• Jake Ellenberger vs. Martin Kampmann
• Mike Chiesa vs. Al Iaquinta
• Jonathan Brookins vs. Charles Oliveira
• Max Holloway vs. Pat Schilling
• Justin Lawrence vs. John Cofer

Prelims

• Daron Cruickshank vs. Chris Tickle
• Myles Jury vs. Chris Saunders
• Cristiano Marcello vs. Sam Sicilia
• Jeremy Larsen vs. Joe Proctor
• John Albert vs. Erik Perez

Don’t forget to follow TRIANGLECHOKEMMA on facebook and twitter.

The Ultimate Fighter results. Andy Ogle bows out

Al Iaquinta (centre) and Andy Ogle (far right) train for their quarter final fight with coach Urijah Faber

The semi-finals have been decided for this season’s TUF, after Al Iaquinta and Vinc Pichel overcame Andy Ogle  and Chris Saunders respectively in the second set of quarter-finals.

The Pichel/Saunders fight came first, and ended with a bit of controversy after most people thought that Saunders took the 1st round, with Pichel taking the 2nd. I would disagree with that. Almost every analysis of the first round says that the round was close and could have gone either way, but if pressed Sauners had to be the winner. I would ask why? 10-10 rounds exist in MMA, and that’s how I would score the 1st round, giving Pichel a 20-19 victory.

In the fight that everyone was waiting for, Tynemouth MMA legend Andy Ogle fell short to one of the tournaments Al Iaquinta. Ogle looked tentative circling his opponent, trying to find his range, but eventually he started landing and scoring points, though Iaquinta was defending well and landing punches of his own. One of these counter attacks dropped Ogle, and though he got to his feet, he went straight back down again as he got absolutely decked by an ENORMOUS right elbow from Iaquinta, who followed up with an academic hammerfist before ref SteveMazzagatti stopped the fight.

gif via mma-core.com

Ogle remained upbeat after the fight and I’m sure he will get a chance in the UFC at the The Ultimate Fighter Live Finale next month. As I’ve mentioned before, I am biased towards Ogle being a fellow Geordie, but Jon Anik also stated that he has become a fan-favourite, and that is also the impression I get from around the internet.

To round off the show, the semi-finals were announced. They are Mike Chiesa vs. James Vick and Vinc Pichel vs. Al Iaquita. An interesting pair of fights for sure.

Also, because of Dominick Cruz’s knee injury, Renan Barao was announced as Urijah Faber’s new opponent at UFC 147 for the UFC interim bantamweight title.

Don’t forget to follow TRIANGLECHOKEMMA on facebook and twitter.

MMA news catch-up

Due to work/Newcastle United/hangovers I have been sadly unable to post over the last week, so here’s a quick recap of the important goings on in MMA over the last week.

On Friday night at Belllator 63, David Rickels, Karl Amoussou, Ben Saunders and Bryan Baker advanced to the semi-finals of the Bellator Season 6 Welterweight Tournament. While Saunders and Baker were slightly underwhelming, Amoussou and Rickels impressed with first-round stoppages of their opponents. I expect Saunders will remain a serious threat in the tournament despite the laboured nature of his victory, but Baker may run into trouble if he is forced to a battle of attrition and his stamina is seriously tested. Karl Amoussou could well be the new favourite to go all the way and secure a fight with the Ben Askren/Douglas Lima winner. highlights of the event in the video above 

In the fourth episode of TUF Live: Team Cruz vs. Team Faber, Al Iaquinta took a hard fought decision over Miles Juryin an entertaining fight that went the full three rounds. Iaquinta had the best of the striking exchanges, and it was really only when Jury managed to lock-up with him that he looked like he might be in some danger. However, Jury did not manage or even attempt to grapple with Iaquinta anywhere near enough to win either of the first two rounds in my opinion. The judges thought otherwise, and the fight went into the third round where Iaquinta carried on as he had done in the previous rounds, winning relatively comfortably.

It was a risky strategy for Team Cruz to pick out such a dangerous fighter for Jury to face, and it did not pay off. With Team Faber in control, next week’s fight was decided as Mike Chiesa vs. Jeremy Larson.

On a final note, how do these shows over-run so much? Surely the producers know that the fight at the end could go for up to 15 minutes, yet they don’t plan accordingly, and my recording cuts off before the end. Of course there are ways to fix this at home but it seems unnecessary as it could easily be solved by sorting out the show’s running time.

In Andy Ogle news, the geordie representative of the show seemed to jump at the chance to fight injured Mike Rio when Daron Cruickshank suggest he might be a weak link as an older member of Team Cruz, even despite the fact that they seemed unaware of his knee injury he suffered during the previous week. Unfortunately the fight was not made, but hopefully we’ll get to see Ogle in action, and get himself a place in the quarter-finals next week.

The major news of the week was that Alistair Overeem has tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone (as we all feared would happen one day), and will likely be suspended and be unable to challenge Junior Dos Santos for the UFC Heavyweight title in 7 weeks. Dana White had a typically unreserved reaction to this news.

“It’s beyond – what’s the word I’m looking for – it’s beyond belief. It’s beyond comprehension. You’re an absolute moron, a brain-dead absolute fucking dummy. It goes beyond a guy have any common sense whatsoever.”

Nothing has been decided yet due to the fact that Overeem has not actually been suspended yet, though White made it clear that this was a big problem for the upcoming event.

I don’t have a plan B

To me, it seems fairly obvious what the plan B should be. They have a main card consisting entirely of heavyweight fighters and they can fight one of a few solutions there. Pick either Cain Velasquez or Frank Mir to fight Dos Santos. Mir has been winning fights, and Velasquez would have the chance of a rematch. Whomever does not get the call will have the opportunity to beat someone else up to guarantee the next title shot. They have 3 more fights to pick another opponent for either of these men, and it wouldn’t take too much negotiating this far removed from the event to completely resolve this situation. Another alternative would be to encourace Fabricio Werdum to take the shot, or get matched up with Mir/Velasquez.

Whatever happens, Overeem is is some serious hot water with the UFC after assuring them no problems of this nature would arise during his UFC tenure. He is a potentially valuable commodity for the promotion, but I’m not sure if such a huge transgression such as this will be tolerated.

TUF Live: Cruz vs Faber Episode 2 recap

the first ‘proper’ episode of this season of The Ultimate Fighter was an entertaining one. Teams were picked, rivalries were formed, one fighter faced some extreme adversity, and perhaps most importantly, the fight that took place at the end of the show was a good one.

Once the fighters had settled into their new home for the next 3 months, the time came for the teams to be picked. Faber won the toss, and chose to pick the first fight, which left Cruz with the first pick. THe teams came out like this (in order)

Team Cruz

Justin Lawrence, Sam Sicilia, Myles Jury, Mike Rio, James Vick, Vinc Pichel, Chris Tickle, Jeremy Larsen

Team Faber

Al Iaquinta, Cristiano Marcello, Daron Cruickshank, Joe Proctor, Mike Chiesa, John Cofer, Andy Ogle, Chris Saunders

There were not too many surprises in the order of picking, with the likes of Lawrence, Mercello, Sicillia and Cruickshank getting snapped up early. I was intrigued by Al Iaquinta becoming Faber’s first pick, though perhaps it was unwise to get to caught up in how quickly certain fighters got thorugh their qualifying fight. Iaquinta obviosly has a solid, well rounded game that Faber and his team are well aware of.

Happily, Newcastle’s own Andy Ogle was not the last fighter picked as many had expected, and he was obviously thrilled to get join Urijah Faber’s team.

The rest of the episode was nothing new to TUF fans. There was not a great deal of insight on the actual coaching techniques utilised by each team, and the main focus of the episode was a bit of an introduction to Jakmes Vick and Daron Cruickshank once they had been selected to fight. Interestingly, there was not much effort made to paint either Faber or Cruz as hero or villain, and each was allowed to shine as a positive influence on the fighters in their team. Each contestant had a great deal of positive things to say about their coach.

The story running alongside the fight preparation in this episode was Michael Chiesa’s grief at his father’s death. He had died just hours after Chiesa’s qualifying fight was broadcast the previous week after a long battle with illness. Credit to the UFC and Dana White, the whole issue was handled in a very appropriate and sensitive manner. Chiesa was supported and allowed to travel home to be with his family for the funeral for a couple of days before returning to the UFC training centre with a renewed determination to win the series. This ordeal has surely provided every viewer with someone to root for. Chiesa seems like a very likeable character, and who can resist a story of a fighter overcoming adversity in the form of a bereavement and attempting to honour his father’s memory by winning the show.

On to the whole purpose of the show, the fight. In the build up, Cruickshank looked composed and confident, Vick looked nervous. The fight was Cruickshank’s for the taking, and it certainly looked like that would be the case early on as he threw all sorts of kicks, many of which landed. Vick could not get into any sort of rhythm, and looked completely lost in the cage.

However, Cruickshank let this early success go to his head and he got cocky. He ran in for a takedown and caught a knee (which had been thrown as a kick) clean on the chin, and slipped instantly into dreamland. Vick didn’t need to follow up with punches, his opponent was OUT. Vick was understandably pleased, but remained humble in his post-fight interview. Big props to Jon Anik for delivering the icing on the cake to Cruickshank by reminding that he now had a further 3 months in the house, with basically no real reason to be there.

Good night!

Post-fight, a rather amusing turn of events took place. Cruz, now in control of the match-ups chose Justin Lawrence to fight, and then asked Faber to choose his top guy to step up as well. No one had the balls to do it, so Cruz picked Faber’s No. 2 guy Cristiano Marcello, for what should be an intriguing fight next week.

The Ultimate Fighter Live: Cruz vs Faber – First Episode impressions

The first episode of the new, revamped version of The Ultimate fighter has come and gone, leaving us with plenty of talking points with regards to the new format of the show as well as the fighters that fought to make their way into the TUF house. I’m going to ignore the underwhelming ratings from U.S. TV and focus on the good and bad of the new format and the fighters.

The fighters

• The vast majority of the fighters involved did themselves proud by fighting hard and looking for the finish. The UFC has dangled a $5,000 bonus for fight finishes in TUF in the past but it has rarely resulted in an increase in finishes. Whether it was for the money, desperation to not have their fate decided by a 1 round decision, or an attempt to impress Dana and the coaches, there was barely a fighter who did not leave everything in the cage as they searched for an explosive end to the fight.
• Despite their in-cage performances, the fighters still seem like they’re going to be yet another selection dim-witted buffoons, without a shred of intellect between them. Prepare for some painful comments in the talking-head sections of future shows.
• Cristiano Marcello looks to be one of the early favourites thanks to his experience as a fighter, experience as coach to some of the best fighters of all time, and legitimate BJJ credentials. He displayed true black-belt level grappling, smoothly transitioning around Jared Carlsten (an Eddie Bravo black belt) and setting up an easy rear-naked choke to proceed into the house.
• Sam Sicilia looks like a lightweight Johny Hendricks, and acted like one, knocking out his opponent in 8 seconds. I’m not sure if the referee was a little early on the stoppage, though allowing Erin Beach time to recover may have resulted in little more than several more punches to the face and the same result. Big KO power at lightweight is rare, so it will be interesting to see if Sicilia can repeat the feat throughout the season.
• Chris Tickle may have the least intimidating name, but he also impressed with a quick KO in the opening seconds of his fight with Austin Lyons.
• Newcastle lad Andy Ogle looked lively early in his fight with Brendan Weafer, and did well to keep his composure and survive as Weafer, who was a much bigger fighter, attempted to lock up a triangle-choke for most of the fight. He was able to pick some shots and win the decision. However, he should never have got himself into that position, and he looks like he will have a serious size disadvantage against most of the other fighters on the show. Here’s hoping he can go further than most of the other British fighters that have been on TUF recently.
• I can’t wait to see Justin Lawrence and Daron Cruickshank again after their striking displays in this opening round of fights. Flashy kicks go a long way to attracting interest, and when they are used effectively, they can lead to some spectacular results. After his KO of WEC veteran James Krause I would have to imagine Lawrence proceeding farther in the tournament, but however both fighters do they should provide excitement.
• Vinc Pichel, Myles Jury and Michael Chiesa all look like they could be a threat in this tournament.
• It was a shame that Jon Tuck broke his toe, as he looked like he had the beating of Al Iaquinta. That, and it must have hurt like hell, ugh!

The new TUF format

• 1 round fights are a horrible way to decide who gets into the TUF house. Fortunately half of the fights ended with finishes, and half of the decision were not close, and didn’t look like they would have been if they’d gone another 2 or 3 rounds. This could be a problem in future.
• With that said, the constant flow of fights, fighter profiles, brief interviews kept the show ticking along nicely. Each break was actually necessary to add as breathing space between what was often 5 minutes of furious action. Once again, my opinion of this may chance in future seasons if we see, for example, a group of light-heavyweights taking part in a series of 1 round clinch/lay-and-pray -fests.
• The continued lack of commentary on TUF shows is as welcome, but this kind of fight presentation will never completely come into its own until each fighter has a proper team and set of coaches barking orders at them for a full fight. The sparse comments from Cruz, Faber and Dana White were reserved, and not substantial enough as a companion to the fights.
• Everything else from the White/Cruz/Faber trio was excellent. Little vignettes between fights were interesting and gave a nice little insight into the fighter’s opinions. They were also very cordial with each other, which was nice to see. Dana was not shouting for what must be the first time in his life, and was almost the perfect middle-man, providing questions for Cruz and Faber.
• Jon Anik is a good presenter, but his announcements after each fight were abrupt and unnecessary. The little interviews with fighters straight after their victories were a nice touch though.
• This was a one off episode. The show on Friday will be the real test, as that will be for the format that will be stuck to for the rest of the season. For what it’s worth, this show was handled very well.

Overall, it was a good first episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Cruz vs. Faber. Hopefully the UFC can build on this and embrace this change of format and change the content of the regular episodes that will be coming up in the next few months.

Hopes for future episodes

• Focus on the training – too often in the past, TUF has spent most of its time getting to know the contestants by showing their idiotic antics in the house. It would be nice to see what kind of a fighter each guy is, and present them through their attitude to training rather than observing how they react to having water poured on their pillow.
• Focus on the trainers – Amongst others I spotted UFC fighters Phil Davis and Ross Person form Cruz’s gym helping out with fighters in this first episode. No doubt we will also see the likes of Chad Mendes and Joseph Benavidez helping Team Faber in the near future. This is a good opportunity to give some more quality UFC fighters some exposure.
• Focus on the coaches – And not just how they’re getting under each other’s skin. Cruz and Faber are both fantastic fighters and notoriously hard workers. They will be preparing for their fight during the season, and it would be great to see a bit of a spotlight on how the highest level fighters train on a week-by-week basis

Even without these improvements, the fact that there are 16 lightweights getting ready to fight for a UFC contract leaves me in no doubt that we can at least look forward to some entertaining fights this season. Add to that two quality bantamweights as coaches with engaging personalities and great teams backing them, and we could have one of the best TUF seasons yet.