View Full Version : The Ultimate Fighter Series 2 Thread
The 2nd series of the show has now started in the US, hopefully Bravo will pick it up eventually, but until that time remember to add spoiler tags to any episode spoilers :)
For those who didn't see the first series, its a bit like the Contender, except it got a 2nd series and the Contender didn't :) They also show complete fights, with no irritating music or random slo-mos, unlike the Contender did.
The premise of the show is that 18 mixed martial artists compete for 2 UFC contracts. There are 9 heavyweights(>205lb) and 9 welterweights (=170lbs). Each week, 2 fighters face off and the loser is eliminated, at the end the last "surviving" Welterweight and heavyweight each get a contract.
Episode 1 spoilers
I was quite disappointed that we didn't get to see a fight at the end and the episode had much more of the "reality" element than the MMA element in it, but you expect the first ep to be more of an "introduction" show, so I still have high hopes for the future.
I am surprised that they seem to have selected a few welterweights who weigh ~190lbs- as we seen, cutting 20lbs is difficult and dangerous. I hope we dont get any more "forfeits" because guys cant make weight.
mitch316
24-08-2005, 18:09
my pick for the welterweights is jorge gurgel
Bit of a non-event that first ep, but as with the last series it really gets going a few episodes in. Glad to see weekly fights rather than just those dull team challenges.
Andrew WK
25-08-2005, 10:29
For those who didn't see the first series, its a bit like the Contender, except it got a 2nd series and the Contender didn't :)
Newsflash: The Contender did get a second series, it's just changing channels that's all. :clap:
Newsflash: The Contender did get a second series, it's just changing channels that's all. :clap:
But, will it be any better? :)
Seriously though, if you liked the Contender you should check this out too,even if you are new to MMA. The first series of TUF brought a lot of new fans to the sport.
my pick for the welterweights is jorge gurgel
Just from what I have read, he certainly has a good record at 9-1, all wins by submission and in the "real world" he trains with Rich Franklin which gives him an advantage on the show.
I think I will wait a couple of weeks before I start picking the winners :)
Andrew WK
25-08-2005, 11:46
But, will it be any better? :)
Seriously though, if you liked the Contender you should check this out too,even if you are new to MMA. The first series of TUF brought a lot of new fans to the sport.
Funny you should mention that, I am a big fan of UFC and buy watch all of the PPVs. I plan on buying series 1 of this on ebay at the weekend (no Sky, very limited access to computers) and am expecting good things of it. Obviously I already know who won it from seeing the PPVs but I wouldn't have thought that would affect my enjoyment.
Yeah, you should still find it good to watch, even though you will already know the outcome of some the fights - enjoy :)
slightly dissapointed with some of the characters in the start of s2 of this! thouroghly enjoyed s1 and thought it made great reality tv...
we'll deffo see a fight next week and hopefully some of the bigger ego's start to clash like they did in s1 :)
we'll have to wait to see what ep2 brings to the mat though!
G
PockyMonster
27-08-2005, 01:52
I plan on buying series 1 of this on ebay at the weekend
I didn't think S1 retail discs were available yet? Beware of pirates, don't pay for them.
I didn't think episode 1 was a non event at all, 1x01 didn't have a fight on it either from memory, so the fact we came close to one built it up more.. shame it didn't happen. The entire batch simply isn't up to the standard of the others, even Thackers looks good compared to a lot of them, he never pussied out.
I'm watching Luke, he's the most mentally prepared one of the lot, and for a large amount of the episode the jocks treated him as a joke, including the one who couldn't bear to be there for more than a day.. HE was the real joke. I think he's going to be an excellent fighter in the ring. Season should be enjoyable, but whether it'll be up to the quality of s1 (great characters in the fighters and "theres no way you could write this!" storylines) I'm not yet sure...
yeah hopefully Luke proves them alll wrong, he definetly seemed to be in better shape than the majority of them.
Cant wait for the next episode of this, dont normally go for shows like this, but the UFC format and the fact that they all live together and train together and start to grow bonds with each other then eventually you know they are going to have to knock the living crap out of each other is a brilliant idea :p
G
Andrew WK
30-08-2005, 09:15
I didn't think S1 retail discs were available yet? Beware of pirates, don't pay for them.
I'm more than happy to pay around a fiver for the complete series as I did with The Contender which was good quality and had proper artwork. Unfortunately my current circumstances mean I can't watch this or download it off the net so it's the only way I'll be able to see it.
Episode 2
Took me a while to "acquire" this episode, but it was worth the wait. Enjoyed the episode, we had the teams being picked, the task and a decent fight at the end.
I thought the task was interesting, surprised they didn't start punching each other :D , probably told "grappling only" off-camera. Was glad Luke got the plaudits for winning the task after he was picked last.
The look on Dana's face when Melvin told him he wanted to quit was priceless :lol:
As I said, I thought the fight at the end was decent, but Melvin did seem to "choke", he was far too cautious. It happens a lot in MMA with these big mouth guys, they talk themselves up so much that they cant handle the pressure when they get to fight.
Looking at the clips for ep3, I wouldn't be surprised if we seen him back as Josh had his arm in a sling, although they also said Melvin had a broken hand from the fight.
good episode, also glad to see the underdog as it where getting some good praise and also for him to let the fighter from his team go ahead with the fight!
hopefully it gets a bit more heated in the house as well, I think thats what made last seasons show so good, out of the ring they where fighting as much in the house which made for great TV :p
G
Episode 3 and its still missing something from last year.
As expected we had 1 guy leave injured, a replacement arrive, a challenge and a fight - with the remaining time being padded with complaints over injuries. What happened to the random silliness that was going on in the house last year: there arent any characters in there that come close to providing the entertainment that Chris Leben did.
Hopefully it will pick up a bit, so far its fairly dull with the fights themselves not being quite enough to match up to last time.
I would agree it has been nowhere near as good as last year yet, but still quite enjoyed the episode.
Matt Hughes looks like he could turn out to be the most interesting "character" on the show. I found his facial expressions when talking to Rob very funny, he just didn't like the guy. He also took an instant dislike to the new guy and didn't appreciate that face waving thing etc. (strange guy) and made him pay :lol: . He goes after Jorge next week.
i'm still waiting on Luke "Skywalker" to prove himself more than any of the others!
He looks like the most dedicated guy on the show this year and really cant wait to see him fight!
This weeks fight looked like it could have been really good if they kept it standing instead of this take em to the floor, ground and pound and then rub my crotch in your face style fighting those 2 huge guys where upto :p
It can only get better I hope :)
G
p.s also love the Right Guard Extreme sponsoring, without fail, everyweek we see some hapless contestant in the bathroom with his stick of deoderant :p
p.s also love the Right Guard Extreme sponsoring, without fail, everyweek we see some hapless contestant in the bathroom with his stick of deoderant :p
That is actually a really good sign for MMA, a huge company like Gillette (owns Right Guard) would have had nothing to do with the UFC 2 years ago, shows how far the sport has moved into the mainstream.
PockyMonster
12-09-2005, 13:01
One of the main problems with the new season is, they're doing 3 x 5min rounds for the weekly fights.. when a fight like 2x02 goes the distance, it eats up a really big chunk of the episode (44mins in total).. its a pain.. if it was on HBO or something it'd be a 60min show and would have a lot more breathing space. Currently it feels like they don't have enough time to do and show everything they want to :(
Its been a fun enough season so far, not as crazy as s1 but i don't think we were expecting that anyway. I still really want to see Luke fight.
Spinning Plates
12-09-2005, 20:48
I'd definately rather have 3 rounds, infact that is one big improvement over the 1st season imo. If Bonnar/Southworth from last season had a 3rd round it may not have been as controversial.
Anyway it's the Welterweights up tonight and I'm expecting a great fight. From the clips the challenge looks really good, some hang tough climbing frame deal where you have to take other fighters down from while staying on yourself.
Southworth was a mong anyways! Glad Bonnar went thorugh, but I know what you mean about the 3x 5 minute rounds! That stuff will eventually sort the men from the boys!
When is the next episode due? I'm losing days here, not sleeping much and work is hectic!
Episode 4
Thought the reality side was pretty interesting, Jorge completely manipulated Marcus to fight Joe which was a terrible match for him, but smart play by Jorge, getting the 2 competitors he felt were his biggest threat to face off.
I just wish they would show more of the training during the show, that is really what the show should be about and I think it would give us a better idea of what ALL the fighters strongest and weakest elements are, which we really only discover when they fight. They have Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin as "coaches", but all we see of them coaching are brief clips before the final fight.
dmb6473a
16-09-2005, 18:52
I think this series would be ok if I didn't have the natural reaction of comparing it to the first season. As it is, I'm currently bored with it. There are no characters who actually stand out from the crowd (even the speccy jedi boy doesn't get much tv time). I don't think I could name any of them.
It also seems like the same thing every week. First we get an injury. Then we get someone who the rest think is weak because of how they perform, or because they're complaining about an injury. This macho nonsense has gotten old after 4 weeks.
Still, it can only get better, and I never saw Bonnar or Griffin as anything special in the first few weeks of last year. So hopefully it'll improve.
Episode 5
Well, Im not going to argue with Dana White's comment: "the absolute beep-iest fight I have ever seen in my whole life" :shrug: Dull fight filled with failure to do anything on both sides - and that filled half the show.
Hide and seek was a laugh, but other than that it was fairly dull again. Yet another "maybe it will pick up a bit next week" episode :(
Ah well, Pride's Bushido Tournament is next weekend, so there should be some decent MMA action regardless :clap:
pretty much what derek said, damn abysmal episode and possibly the worst match up we're hopefully gonna see! I'm pretty certain I coulda got in the ring with either of those muppets and gave a little more effort, shocking!
If i was in Danas shoes, I would be asking questions!
G
mitch316
21-09-2005, 07:04
am i the only one who thinks mat hughes is a complete tool?
am i the only one who thinks mat hughes is a complete tool?
...but he makes the show interesting, Chris Leben was a tool too, but he made season 1.
I too thought episode 5 was pretty rubbish, probably the worst yet. Next weeks looks like it will be a lot better judging by the trailer, so I'm not giving up on the series just yet.
Why dont they take them out and get them all drunk like last season, made a couple of very good episodes. :thumbs:
dmb6473a
25-09-2005, 15:42
am i the only one who thinks mat hughes is a complete tool?
No, you aren't. To say that I've lost a lot of respect for him over the past five weeks is an understatement.
Leben was a tool in the previous season, but he was one of the young immature trainees, and not the person that they're supposed to be looking up to. Hughes could learn a lot from Couture, Liddel and Franklin.
mitch316
25-09-2005, 16:02
No, you aren't. To say that I've lost a lot of respect for him over the past five weeks is an understatement.
Leben was a tool in the previous season, but he was one of the young immature trainees, and not the person that they're supposed to be looking up to. Hughes could learn a lot from Couture, Liddel and Franklin.
thats exactly was i was thinking.i look forward to gsp taking his title away from him.
ps even more looking forward to bushido tourney this weekend
Personally I like the guy more since seeing him on the show. And anyway, most of the guys he has "abused" deserved it, especially that new guy who came in. The whole Jorge vs Hughes thing is just being edited to look more serious than it actually is, he is just kidding around with him, they know each other before the show and have trained together.
dmb6473a
28-09-2005, 21:37
Week 6 - Best show so far by a mile. It was excellent before the fight, but that just moved it up another level.
The challenge has to be seen to be believed. :notworthy
EDIT - Oh, and I forgot to mention. Hughes is still a tool, and everyone seems to agree (including Dana White). :lol:
mad props to mike and joe for such a poundingthey took in the challenge!
serious strength and stamina for that challenge!
excellent ep, just sad to see that welterweight go though, I think he was the centre of most stories and action through this season so far...
G
Voodoo dragon
28-09-2005, 21:47
Does anyone know when this will be shown in the UK?
Yup, far better fight this week.
Outcome was fairly obvious though: since Gurgel was hobbling around on crutches at the last UFC PPV. I doubt we've seen the last of him: he had more personality than the rest of the competitors put together, and did ok in his fight until his knee went. Assuming hes fit I expect he'll be involved in the finale event.
Yup, far better fight this week.
Outcome was fairly obvious though: since Gurgel was hobbling around on crutches at the last UFC PPV. I doubt we've seen the last of him: he had more personality than the rest of the competitors put together, and did ok in his fight until his knee went. Assuming hes fit I expect he'll be involved in the finale event.
I didn't see him at UFC 54 so I was pretty surprised by the outcome of the fight. Especially since you often get a good idea of who is going far by how often they show each guy getting interviewed- so I thought Jorge was going to be in the finals. :)
It was a very good episode and a very good fight, hopefully it can maintain this level and doesn't go back to the standard of the previous eps.
PS. Still think Matt Hughes is the best thing on the show :notworthy
Episode 7
Wasn't as good as last week, but still a good episode. Hughes just clearly hated Jason, I got the impression he was even slightly disappointed he had actually beat Jorge and didn't hesitate to throw him off the team when given the chance :lol: .
The fight at the end was reasonable, pretty entertaining thanks to Seth's kicks, couldn't understand Dan not pushing in the third though. I imagine when Seth fights in the UFC he would drop down to light heavyweight, he is too small to be a top heavyweight.
I found this weeks episode a little disappointing, well the final fight anyway.
Hopefully next weeks will be a little more exciting seeing as they are all due a telling off for not putting much effort into their fights.
:clap: :clap: :clap:
now thats what i'm talking about! Luke Cummo V's Anthony Torres! What a brutal fight, thought Anthony could have pulled it back a few times in the 1st, but after the rear naked choke he had on Luke, he lost it after that! What an intense fight I thought, definetly the best of the season so far. Always knew Luke would be a tricky opponent for anyone, but this just proves that he is beyond lethal. He seemed to get more satisfaction and enjoyment towards the end though, just after he cut Torres eyebro open, seemed to be animal like, bloody brilliant!
Hope he goes onto win it now, not really into the mexican guy getting the title!
Next week could prove a definite top episode for the heavyweights :)
:clap: :clap: :clap:
:clap: :clap: :clap:
now thats what i'm talking about! Luke Cummo V's Anthony Torres! What a brutal fight, thought Anthony could have pulled it back a few times in the 1st, but after the rear naked choke he had on Luke, he lost it after that! What an intense fight I thought, definetly the best of the season so far. Always knew Luke would be a tricky opponent for anyone, but this just proves that he is beyond lethal. He seemed to get more satisfaction and enjoyment towards the end though, just after he cut Torres eyebro open, seemed to be animal like, bloody brilliant!
Hope he goes onto win it now, not really into the mexican guy getting the title!
Next week could prove a definite top episode for the heavyweights :)
:clap: :clap: :clap:
Really i thought it was a little disappointing :?:
Really i thought it was a little disappointing :?:
:?: What was disappointing??? Very good episode/final fight imo.
I liked Luke from the start, but didn't really expect him to do that well in the show and didn't expect him to have the skills he showed in that fight, I was pleasantly surprised.
I think both these guys were 2 of the least experienced in the show with 8 pro MMA fights between them. Luke clearly had far better cardio than Anthony in this fight, but Anthony did well to stay in the fight as he took some big kicks, knees, elbows and punches in the fight. Luke did look like he could fight another 3 rounds at the end.
Looking forward to next weeks show.
d3mon, can you explain the reason you thought it was dissapointing?
I cant really remember much about the actual show or the special event, but I thought the fight was brilliant...which at the end of the day is all that counts.
Glad i'm not alone in thinking it was a decent fight, thought I was losing it there for a second :p
G
Episode 9
Not a bad episode. The fight at the end was poor in itself, but the interaction with the corner made it interesting and it was fun to see Rashad take out Matt's main guy.
Mike, like so many others, just completely choked in the TUF ring, his energy was completely zapped after the first few minutes. He made Rashad look much better than he actually is imo.
Semis start from next week and they have teammate vs teammate at this stage, we have left:
Welterweights
Hughes:
Joe Stevenson
Luke Cummo
Sammy Morgan
Franklin:
Jason Von Flue
Heavyweights
Franklin:
Keith Jardine
Seth Petruzelli
Rashad Evans
Hughes:
Brad Imes
We also have an alternate coming back for team Franklin so someone must be injured and (I assume) illiminated- imo it has to be either JVF (cuts) or Rashad (I think he may of injured his hand in the fight when he missplaced a punch and hit Mike's forehead).
Firstly i re-tract my comments about last weeks fight now i have watched it properly
My god, what happened i was expecting much better things from Mike, it just never happened, if i could be bothered i would go back and count his punches thrown in that match, cos he would have struggled to hit double figures!!!
I think it was obvious what was going to happen in the end fight due to the editing skills applied, making out as if he was the best fighter out of the bunch, only to end up having the worst outing of all the fighters so far (and probably in both series!!)
I am interested to see who is coming back to fight as i suspect its that brazillian bloke who took a beating a couple of episodes back (Rich Franklin's buddy) to replace the badly battered Von Flue (Sp?)
Anyway hopefully the final few fights will re-ignite some enthusiasm from the remianing fighters as overall the standard of fighting has been fairly poor.
Is it just me or does Luke appear to be the only one eager to fight and win?
They can all train hard but it doesn't count for **** if you cant put it to use in the cage.
I for one am becoming a bigger fan of PFC and begining to lose interest in UFC (sorry if that statement is OT), the standard is dropping and they seem to be more interested in the money than the fighting these days!!!
I remember the good old days of UFC 1 and 2 and even up to the glory days of Tito, BJ Penn amoungst others, it seems to have gone all soft and "American".(Again, sorry if that statement is OT as well).
Oh well rant over :)
Firstly i re-tract my comments about last weeks fight now i have watched it properly
My god, what happened i was expecting much better things from Mike, it just never happened, if i could be bothered i would go back and count his punches thrown in that match, cos he would have struggled to hit double figures!!!
I think it was obvious what was going to happen in the end fight due to the editing skills applied, making out as if he was the best fighter out of the bunch, only to end up having the worst outing of all the fighters so far (and probably in both series!!)
I am interested to see who is coming back to fight as i suspect its that brazillian bloke who took a beating a couple of episodes back (Rich Franklin's buddy) to replace the badly battered Von Flue (Sp?)
Anyway hopefully the final few fights will re-ignite some enthusiasm from the remianing fighters as overall the standard of fighting has been fairly poor.
Would be surprised if Jorge came back, it has been confirmed he wont be fighting on the finale because he has had knee surgery, so unless he came back and injured it further, it must be someone else.
Is it just me or does Luke appear to be the only one eager to fight and win?
They can all train hard but it doesn't count for **** if you cant put it to use in the cage.
For whatever reason, some guys just freeze up when they get in the ring, perhaps it is because of the lack of a live crowd which creates a strange atmosphere or possibly because of the pressure since its there big chance and there are a few million people watching.
I for one am becoming a bigger fan of PFC and begining to lose interest in UFC (sorry if that statement is OT), the standard is dropping and they seem to be more interested in the money than the fighting these days!!!
Both organisations have there peaks and troughs, Pride had a very poor run at the start of the year in terms of poor shows, but have came back again after the Bushido Tournament and Final Conflict.
Yawn, another weak episode saved only by Matt being amusing.
Have the guys entering this show learned nothing from season 1, or from the sport in general? Winning is nice, but winning will not guarantee you a future. Entertaining the crowd: win, lose or draw, will get you another chance. It seems too many of them are just so desperate not to lose they freeze when it matters.
Rich is starting to get annoying with the goody goody whiter than white way hes being presented. Between this and the 'Beyond the Glory' UFC documentary (also shown this week) its getting rather sickening. The documentary is worth a watch: nothing most people wouldnt know already but a decent batch of interviews and some rather amusing editing :) Dana White doing his 'its a sport, these are intelligent guys not street fighters' thing. Cut to Tank Abbott :lol:
What the hell was Mike Whitehead upto??? My 9 year old niece could have whooped his ass! Although Rashed beat him, I think he could have KO'd him in the 2nd round, in fact, after round 1, Rashed could have pulled Mike's pants down and spanked him and he wouldn't have fought back! Very dissapointing effort from what looked to be the best Heavyweight :(
Lets hope the final matchups fair a wee bit better eh!
G
What the hell was Mike Whitehead upto??? My 9 year old niece could have whooped his ass! Although Rashed beat him, I think he could have KO'd him in the 2nd round, in fact, after round 1, Rashed could have pulled Mike's pants down and spanked him and he wouldn't have fought back! Very dissapointing effort from what looked to be the best Heavyweight :(
Lets hope the final matchups fair a wee bit better eh!
G
I was thinking Keith must be the best heavyweight since no-one wants to fight him, Matt Hughes didn't even give MIke the option of fighting him :shrug:
Cracking fight between Luke and Sam, best of the season so far i reckon. Pretty even first round with Luke managing to restrict an armbar for the last few seconds. They both came out thumping for the 2nd, Sam rocked Luke then Luke rocked him back with Sam dropping to a knee. Soon to be followed up with a accurate knee dropping Sam straight to the canvas, one hammerfist l8r the fight is stopped. Good victory.
Next weeks fight Keith v Rashad should be interesting. Keith must have said about ooooh 15 words all season so he needs to be impressive in the octagon. Joe will maul Jason, a few elbow strikes and jasons face will be opened up....if he evens makes it that far. Marcus is back as an alternate..so he could infact get a 2nd bite at Joe, he will lose again as i see Joe winning this weight class outright. He is too good on the ground for Luke.
Brad v Seth is hard to call, Brad wasnt very impressive earlier in theseason so i think Seth will have the advantage, plus he has fought bigger guys, including beating Bob Sapp i believe :thumbs:
Shaping up for a last few good eps...
Cracking fight between Luke and Sam, best of the season so far i reckon. Pretty even first round with Luke managing to restrict an armbar for the last few seconds. They both came out thumping for the 2nd, Sam rocked Luke then Luke rocked him back with Sam dropping to a knee. Soon to be followed up with a accurate knee dropping Sam straight to the canvas, one hammerfist l8r the fight is stopped. Good victory.
Next weeks fight Keith v Rashad should be interesting. Keith must have said about ooooh 15 words all season so he needs to be impressive in the octagon. Joe will maul Jason, a few elbow strikes and jasons face will be opened up....if he evens makes it that far. Marcus is back as an alternate..so he could infact get a 2nd bite at Joe, he will lose again as i see Joe winning this weight class outright. He is too good on the ground for Luke.
Brad v Seth is hard to call, Brad wasnt very impressive earlier in theseason so i think Seth will have the advantage, plus he has fought bigger guys, including beating Bob Sapp i believe :thumbs:
Shaping up for a last few good eps...
Just finished watching it and couldnt agree more :thumbs:
Argubly the best episode and fight of the season, hoping for more of the same next week. It should be interesting seeing Matt and Rashad working together and it will be good finally seeing Keith fight. It will also be interesting to see if it will be marcus or Jason fighting Joe. I have read a couple of things on the net saying that Marcus is A LOT better than he looked in the first fight so, if he does step in, hopefully he shows this.
dmb6473a
29-10-2005, 11:02
God knows how this show is going to get edited, should it ever make it to a UK channel. I've never seen so much blatant product placement. It's like an hour long advert for Xyience, Right Guard (cue a long close-up) and a little bit of the US Army thrown in! :lol:
God knows how this show is going to get edited, should it ever make it to a UK channel. I've never seen so much blatant product placement. It's like an hour long advert for Xyience, Right Guard (cue a long close-up) and a little bit of the US Army thrown in! :lol:
Yeah it reminds me of the Truman Show, with guys trying to make plugging sound like natural conversation.
Franklin: "Do you need another tub of Xyience?"
Keith's main contribution to the episode: "Yeah, I go through that stuff like crazy, I call it the food of the gods"
:lol:
as has been said before about the product placement, it's only a good thing for the UFC as it gets them more air time and a bigger audience to sell to...
anyways, what an awesome match up, didnt think Sam was upto much and he definetly proved that wrong! Luke got rocked and recovered from it pretty well I thought, very impressive. Round 2 though, some heavy punches where thrown and Luke more than proved himself to the doubters and to the coaches, I reckon he is going to be an awesome final matchup!
The way I see it just now is Joe Stevenson and Luke Cummo fighting it out in the final, . And that is really going to be a brutal fight I think :D
Roll on next week for Rashad and Keiths fight, starting to feel like a proper show now, before it seemed to be a bit of bore watching some of the fights that had been hyped up and they ended up being gash!
G
I see Semi-final #2 aired last night on spike TV and Semi-final #3 + #4 are being aired tonight. So these are the last two episodes before the final :D
Just seen Episode 11, working on Episode 12 now.
Episode 11
Another good fight this episode, very exciting. Thought Rashad was finished in the 2nd and it was all down to the third round. I was glad Rashad won, he definately deserves to go through after fighting 3 times, performing well in the 2nd and 3rd fights. He has also contributed more to reality side of the show than Keith.
No messing around in this episode just straight into the fights. First up Joe v JVF . JVF still looked pretty roughed up from previous fights but was cleared by the doctor for fighting, this sent Marcus packing his bags. 1st round started slowish with both guys standing up and trading a few punches, this lasted until joe got caught and a small cut opened up. He decided time to bring this to the ground. Joe had total control on the ground dropping some good elbows before JVF let a loose arm get caught and was armbarred, game over :thumbs:
Final - Joe vs Luke. Interesting clash of styles, very hard to call but i think Joe still has the advantage. He isnt gonna trade for one minute with Luke cause he will get tagged. Joe to win by stoppage i guess.
Seth vs Brad. Big guy vs very big guy. Both looked in good shape and ready for the fight. 1st round seth came out all guns blazing letting go a few good front leg kicks, he dominated the first 3 minutes of the round with Brad trying to keep him at distance. End of the round Brad seemed to waken up a bit and managed to land a few shots. 2nd round Seth seemed intent on keeping Brad on the ground, much to Rich Franklins annoyance, Rich wanted Seth to fight on his feet. Seth was in Brads full guard most of the round doing nothing but taking elbows and body shots, nothing too damaging but Seth didnt work at all. 3rd round - Seth looked tired/in pain and it really showed. Brad was on top of him laying down plenty of punishment, elbows, punches to side of head, body etc.. The whole round. Judges decision. Brad.
Well deserved victory for the big guy, he worked the whole fight and wanted it more. I reckonned Seth would take it but Brad impressed me. In fairness to Seth his ear was wrecked, it looked like a doughnut strapped to his head :lol: that had to hurt like hell.
Final - Rashad vs Brad. None of the heavyweights have really stood out, and these two are nothing "special". Rashad has a good ground game and will need to be on top form to beat Brad. Brad however has the massive size advantage and could make it pay. Ill go for the underdog Brad i think....just to be different.
So roll on the Final night. Will be interesting to see Diego in action again, he is gonna have a tough night as Diaz is a tough operator.
I see a few of the other guys have a redeeming chance, Melvin the mouth is back along with Keith, Marcus, Sammy and Josh.
Im still not convinced with the direction UFC is going. None of the heavyweight fighters are a genuine contender in this class...yet. I will give credit to both Joe and luke though, both look like they could do well in the future. Roll on the finale and UFC56 soon after :thumbs:
Thought Seth looked tired fairly early on in that fight, thats why he was looking to go to ground, looking to scrap the decision. We have to remember these guys are given very little time to prepare for each individual fight and I feel this really disadvantaged Seth in this fight - from his first fight we can see he is generally has much better cardio. I think Rashad will beat Brad in the finals due to his experience.
I would agree that none of the "heavyweights" will make a dent in that division, probably see Rashad, fighting at LHW which they will have a slightly better chance as he is too small to be a heavyweight.
Seth's ear :gag:
Picks for the finals: Joe and Rashad.
Finals Line up
Prelims
Heavyweight Bout
Kerry Schall VS Keith Jardine
Welterweight Bout
Melvin Guillard VS Marcus Davis
Welterweight Bout
Sam Morgan VS Josh Burkman
Main Card
Welterweight Bout
Kit Cope VS Kenny Florian
Middleweight Bout
TBD VS Mike Swick (If he has recovered from injuries)
WW Final
Luke Cummo VS Joe Stevenson
HW Final
Brad Imes VS Rashad Evans
Welterweight Bout
Nick Diaz VS Diego Sanchez
anyone watched the finale yet? gonna watch it later on when I get a chance, can't wait actually :D
G
Will be watching tonight. Trying to avoid the spoilers!
Ill avoid posting any spoilers then incase temptation gets the better of anyone.
We've all (from what Ive read anyway) been waiting for season 2 to pick up. Lets just say it finally does ;)
lol
it really aint got much more of a chance really for it to pick up has it Derek :p
roll on season3 and a better mix of talented fighters and personalities!
G
Season 1 Finale is a hell of a show to live upto.
Tell me about it !
I watched the Bonnar v Monkey Boy round again the other night what a decent round looked like! So much respect for those 2 !
Only seen Forrest fight once after and never seen Bonnar yet...
Season 1 Finale is a hell of a show to live upto.
Thankfully this show not only lived up to the Season 1 finally, but it surpassed imo, every fight on the show was of a very high standard.
As Dana White said, Cummo vs Stevenson was Griffen v Bonnar, but on the ground, was routing for Luke to pull it out, but Joe deserved the decision - bit too cocky during the fight for my liking though. I hope we see both guys again.
Rashad vs Brad was not a classic in terms of technique but a very exciting fight to watch. Rashad was gassed after the second round, but I thought he deserved the win due to his far superior striking. The sad news after this fight was that Brad's mother died of a heart attack a few hours later.
Diaz vs Sanchez was a superb fight between 2 excellent ground fighters. Diego has won over many of his critics with this clear cut decision win over a top 5 welterweight.
Florian vs Cope was a good fight too, but it should have been finished at the end of the first round- Cope should have tapped instead of allowing himself to be injured and lived to fight another day.
Well looking forward to the 3rd Season now, I think they can make quite a few improvements if they are willing to learn from the mistakes of this series. Although I did think the Second season really did pick up from the Gurgel vs JVF fight and this really good final show did redeem it in my eyes.
For info: this series starts showing on Bravo from 5th December - tell your friends :).
Thankfully this show not only lived up to the Season 1 finally, but it surpassed imo, every fight on the show was of a very high standard.
As Dana White said, Cummo vs Stevenson was Griffen v Bonnar, but on the ground, was routing for Luke to pull it out, but Joe deserved the decision - bit too cocky during the fight for my liking though. I hope we see both guys again.
Rashad vs Brad was not a classic in terms of technique but a very exciting fight to watch. Rashad was gassed after the second round, but I thought he deserved the win due to his far superior striking. The sad news after this fight was that Brad's mother died of a heart attack a few hours later.
Diaz vs Sanchez was a superb fight between 2 excellent ground fighters. Diego has won over many of his critics with this clear cut decision win over a top 5 welterweight.
Florian vs Cope was a good fight too, but it should have been finished at the end of the first round- Cope should have tapped instead of allowing himself to be injured and lived to fight another day.
Well looking forward to the 3rd Season now, I think they can make quite a few improvements if they are willing to learn from the mistakes of this series. Although I did think the Second season really did pick up from the Gurgel vs JVF fight and this really good final show did redeem it in my eyes.
For info: this series starts showing on Bravo from 5th December - tell your friends :).
Christ, bad news for Brad :( Kinda puts a dampener on it.
What an amazing card though, not one bad fight.
I expected Florian to get knocked out early tbh. I didn't think he stood a chance standing up with Cope but he finally showed how good he is on the ground, something everyone seems to have been preaching about but I had yet to see it.
Like you, I really wanted Luke to pull it out. It was like watching a movie when he kept slipping out of Joe's ground and pounds and doing his ninja stance. :lol: I'm surprised Dana didn't give Luke a contract there and then like with Bonnar in the first season. Can't wait to see more of them.
I thought the Rashad vs Brad fight would've been totally one sided for Rashad but Brad was fantastic. Unbelievable For a guy who has only been fighting for just over a year, although to be fair it was more of an out and out boxing match rather than MMA. :D Rashad was impressive though.
Sanchez vs Diaz was crazy. I think Sanchez put it perfectly with "2 lizards fighting" :lol: I wish Diaz would have tested Sanchez' chin though, still haven't seen him take a solid punch really.
: I'm surprised Dana didn't give Luke a contract there and then like with Bonnar in the first season. Can't wait to see more of them.
The decision was more clear cut than Griffin/Bonnar as Joe clearly pulled out the points victory. Also, I think everyone knows now that many of the losers on the show will show up anyway, so no real point in giving him the contract, although I was half expecting it at the time
Wow :notworthy very good card. Florian pulled off a cracking victory to start things off. Joe and Luke was always a conflict of styles and Joe wanted it on the ground v quickly. Luke did impressively well but Joe earned the victory. Well done to both. Rashad and Brad never struck me as top class heavy weights, but for the 1st three minutes of round 1 Brad looked very impressive. Then he got tagged. Thats pretty much how it continued. Victory to Rashad. Rashad has the fast hands and a drop in weight could give him the extra stamina to last three tough rounds cause he was done after the 2nd. Brad continues to impress me every time i see him and will return hopefully a bit more skilled from the Miletich camp. Diego v Diaz was a real war. Diaz did a cracking job of keeping the heavy shots from landing, but was never too much on the offence. Awesome pace for the full 15 mins. Diego took the decision. Personally i think Diaz was owned and his comments after the fight were unjust. Hopefully a rematch in the coming year or so will be setup.
Roll on UFC56. Victories for both Hughes and Franklin but both fights look to be tough.
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