TUF, new season.

[nopictures]

I won't count serra out against hughes, but it is pretty hard imagining him beating him.

 

[nopictures]

Speer vs Koppenhaver was pretty interesting.

The first round was pretty intense as it saw Jon catching Tom on the chin with a swift right that eventually lead to a rear naked choke with Tommy struggling with the arms pressing into his windpipe and the stream of blood pouring down his face. Towards the end of the round however, Tommy escaped and put Jon on his back, landing...inexperienced though well placed punches, and vicious elbows.

The second round saw a leg kick, a catch, and Jon on his back again, with Tommy attempting arm bars and dropping bombs the whole while. Jon weathered the storm of punches and brutal elbows, with occasional retaliation of his own, but by the end of the second round it was clear who won the fight.

Speer by unanimous decision.

I think if Speer can get some decent hand speed he could go far (though he did a great job at stuffing Jon's attempts to stand up), but I believe his victory came about mostly due to his physical gifts and heart.

(I just looked at the TUF site and apparently Speer is from MN. Just like me.

f**k YEAH

I often wonder why I've never considered doing this stuff myself, for a nerd I'm in pretty good shape, played football and baseball until the end of highschool and apparently I have the regional advantage too...hell Joey Abell, Lesnar, Speer, Sherk...wait, that Georgieff guy is from mn too? ;_;...oh well, we can't all be winners I guess

)
Edited by: nopictures

 

[jared]

Roger Huerta also trains in Minnesota I believe.

 

[reclaimsocal]

I'm pretty interested in seeing Speer fight again. Clearly in this fight he looked to win based upon his sheer strength and will, but he also took that hard shot to the forehead and may have kind of been disoriented instead of simply inexperienced. He definitely has the makings of a good fighter, anyone who can do what he did last night in coming back has what it takes. I thought he was done for, and he kept fighting and fighting to get out of that choke. I felt kind of bad for the other guy, he clearly is an emotional wreck, but has decent potential as well.

 

[guest301]

I'm pretty interested in seeing Speer fight again. Clearly in this fight he looked to win based upon his sheer strength and will, but he also took that hard shot to the forehead and may have kind of been disoriented instead of simply inexperienced. He definitely has the makings of a good fighter, anyone who can do what he did last night in coming back has what it takes. I thought he was done for, and he kept fighting and fighting to get out of that choke. I felt kind of bad for the other guy, he clearly is an emotional wreck, but has decent potential as well.

I felt bad for the other guy as well and the "War Machine" clearly needs a support group of his own peers in MMA. A girlfriend would do him some good as well.It was arguably the best fight this season so far and I look forward to the next time I see Speer fight.

 

[nopictures]

Roger Huerta also trains in Minnesota I believe.

I didn't even think of him, really. He's a decent fighter (a bit overrated and can-fed one, but a good fighter overall regardless), and hell, he doesn't seem like that bad a guy. All in all though I'd rather root for and follow a minnesotan farm boy like Speer than a media darling mestizo "minnesotan" that comes to the ring draped in a mexican flag, which is why I didn't think of him right off the bat.

why is Bowman still on the show? After his pitiful performance in the cage you'd think he wouldn't want to have his face anywhere on near the wrong end of a television...he's definitely more proof regarding some people's speculation that they dont "take the best fighters"...
Edited by: nopictures

 

[White Shogun]

If Mexico is so great, why doesn't Huerta train in Tijuana?

 

[guest301]

If Mexico is so great, why doesn't Huerta train in Tijuana?

He probably doesn't want to get distracted by the horse + woman show that goes on in that town or so I have heard all my life. Don't know if it's actually true and don't need a confirmation.

 

[nopictures]

Go Speer! His standup was WAY improved over his last fights. Looks like we may have yet another minnesotan entering the hallowed realm of mma, too bad for George though :/

Mac Danzig and Tommy Speer, I think this is the best finals matchup ever in TUF. I hope the fight lives up to my huge expectations, I have a feeling this is gonna be good.Edited by: nopictures

 

[White Shogun]

Amazing! Two of the whitest white dudes to ever grace TUF with their presence end up in the Finals, instead of any of the black and minority affletes of all stripes that were on this show.

I don't care who wins, but it should be a great fight!

 

[guest301]

I am rooting for the farm boy Speer(a young Matt Hughes). You are right Shogun, you couldn't have two whiter guys than the vegan Danzig and the Farm Boy Speer. Looking forward to Saturday night.Edited by: guest301

 

[reclaimsocal]

In case anyone was interested....

The Full Fight Card for Saturday Night

Roger Huerta Vs. Clay Guida
Tommy Speer Vs. Mac Danzig
Jared Rollins Vs. John Koppenhaver
Billy Miles Vs. George Sotiropoulos
Ben Saunders Vs. Dan Barrera
Troy Mandaloniz Vs. Richie Hightower
Matt Arroyo Vs. John Kolosci
Roman Mitichyan Vs. Dorian Price
Paul Georgieff Vs. Jonathan Goulet

Of course Spike probably won't televise most of them, but there are some interesting matchups amongst the losers. I'm interested in seeing how Billy Miles does against George Sotiropoulos, because he seemed to have a major case of stagefright in his first round loss. The question is, does he really suck, or can he bounce back against a good opponent? Roman Mitichyan is the guy who was injured in the first episode and freaked out when the doctor wouldn't clear him, should be interesting to see him fight Dorian Price, I'm guessing he annihilates him. The fight between Troy and Richie should be a couple of dolts going out and beating each others brains in, because neither of them showed that they could do much else.

 

[Stonewall]

I've been following the show and I like both Speer and Danzig. I'd like to see both of them get UFC contracts, they are each very marketable and great ambassadors for the sport. Their backgrounds and experience levels may be different, but they are each extremely hard workers, totally focused, and mentally tough.


Good luck in the long run to both, you've each earned to be where you are now.

 

[guest301]

It seems like Danzig grew up during the show and became much more personable towards the end. It seems like alot of vegans are pricks but Danzig seemed to change during the course of the show. He was pretty much a loner and a complainer and very disrespectful of the other fighters at the beginning of TUF.

PS. I think Chris Leben grew up during his time on TUF during the first season and we all know what kind of a bad-ass fighter he is now.Edited by: guest301

 

[White Shogun]

Wow... Mac Danzig made short work of Tommy Speer in the TUF Finale. He dominated Speer, took him down, got mount, forced Speer to give up his back, and choked him out. Awesome display by Mac Danzig.

The rest of the fight so far were great. Fight of the night so far had to be War Machine's win over Jared Rollins in a three-round war. There was lots of blood spilled, lots of back and forth both guys were almost KO'd before Koppenhaver got what became the last mount of the fight and won by TKO.

 

[nopictures]

This was a great night of fights, despite Huerta's "la raza" victory (actually, come to think about it, I think I hate the fact a white fighter doing the same thing would probably be fired more than Huerta's actual comments). That and the fact he is as he says "the si poster boy". the war between Koppenhaver and Rollins was brutal, Rollins had impressive power from the bottom but it didn't save him in the end.

 

[JD074]

the war between Koppenhaver and Rollins was brutal, Rollins had impressive power from the bottom but it didn't save him in the end.

Those referee stand ups just about did Koppenhaver in. Especially the stand up in the 3rd round. I looked at the clock and it was only a minute into the round. WTF!! Why stand them up so soon? Koppenhaver was active enough on top for those stand ups to be unwarranted. Rollins showed no signs that he could get up from his back. Although he was landing those nasty elbows from the bottom, Koppenhaver most likely would have won a comfortable decision if there hadn't been any stand ups. If they're inactive, fine, but Koppenhaver was not inactive.

This has become an interesting aspect of MMA. They let a popular fighter like Couture stay on the ground as long as he wanted in his fight against Sylvia, for the most part (especially the first round.) They showed the Silva/ Marquardt fight this week, and I thought that was a premature stand up when Marquardt had him down. The stand up in the Gonzaga/ Cro Cop fight was unnecessary. And there was absolutely, without question a premature stand up in this fight. So I wonder how often stand ups benefit a popular fighter, but not so much less popular ones. Edited by: JD074

 

[White Shogun]

I agree JD, there does seem to be some bias on the part of the referees for the favorites. I don't know if this is because they are subconsciously manipulated by fan noise, the 'Michael Jordan effect,' or if they are actually given instructions before the fight to watch for openings like that.

 

[guest301]

This was a outstanding and very entertaining show the UFC put on last night. The Guida/Huerta fight was non stop all the way into the third round and Guida was winning in my opinion until Huerta finally wore him down with strikes and got the submission. I would love to see a rematch. The J-rod/ Koppenhaver fight was even better and I don't know if I have ever seen a better elbow striker from the ground than J-Rod. I didn't think much of his MMA ability on the show but he was impressive in his loss. Those guys were soaked in each others blood and probably turned the stomachs of any bleeding heart just channel surfing by. A great fight card all the way around except for the lame performance Barrera put on in the opening match, he didn't try to win the fight, just survive it.

 

[nopictures]

I was thinking the same thing JD, Kopp was clearly active on top in the third round, when they stood them up I was like "WTF" and Kopp was clearly dog tired. When J-Rod showed that he had that much energy after he stood them back up I thought they basically just gave Rollins the victory. That escape by Kopp was a thing of beauty though. Great f**king match.

 

[reclaimsocal]

I'll tell you what, when Speer came out to Amarillo Sky and then Danzig came out to some (c)rap music, I was hoping that somehow Speer would pull it out. I think his downfall is that he went back to his small time training facility. I admire his loyalty to his roots, but if he wants to reach his potential he is going to need to hook up with one of the major players.

The "other" negro fighter lost in only 23 seconds to Roman Mitichyan by ankle lock. I wonder why they didn't show that one? ; ) It's not like 23 seconds would have killed much air time....