Out of Town

Hey guys, I'm heading out of town for a few days of golf and the Supercross in Atlanta. I'll try to update when I can. I'll be back in town on February 26th with the latest updates, news and notes for you to comment on.

Spoilers for TUF 7

“The Ultimate Fighter 7,” which debuts April 2 on Spike TV, features UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson and season-one winner Forrest Griffin as coaches. Unlike past seasons, the show will feature 32 — not 16 — middleweight fighters vying for a UFC contract.

The latest rumored cast includes:


Paul Bradley (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
Matt Brown (7-6 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
Steve Byrnes (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC)
Timothy Credeur (9-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
Mike Dolce (3-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
C.B. Dollaway (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
Gerald Harris (6-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
Mike Marrello (6-1-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
Prince Mclean (4-5 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
Aaron Meisner (3-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
Reggie Orr (4-5-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
Jeremiah Riggs (1-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
David Roberts (5-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC)
Amir Sadollah (0-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
Brandon Sene (2-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
Dan Simmler (0-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
Jesse Taylor (6-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC)
Luke Zachrich (7-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC)

Every season, TUF gave us at least 2 or 3 fighters we got to root for or root against. It's a great way to learn who the fighters are, and see what sacrifices they make to chase their dream.

The only problem with 'The Ultimate Fighter' series is each season the talent gets just a little bit watered down. All you have to do is check out the first season compared to the most recent. TUF 1 produced some serious superstars that are still competing to this day. About 70% of TUF 1 is still in the UFC. Already the UFC has released most of the last seasons fighters. With each season, the talent suffers a bit. It's comparable to expansion teams in baseball or football. With each new team, the talent drops down a peg.

It's not going to hurt the UFC as every bit of publicity is good, and as we get hooked more we look forward to new seasons of TUF. However, with each season, there will be less and less fighters that keep our attention.

Kimbo KO's Tank in 1st Round

The legend of Kimbo Slice continues to grow as the YouTube Internet sensation continued his emergence in mixed martial arts, knocking out Tank Abbott in just 43 seconds of the first round of their heavyweight match-up.

Abbott charged across the cage to start the fight and worked to take Kimbo down, but the hometown fighter resisted and unloaded numerous punches on Tank.

The fight was stopped for a moment as Abbott went down on the ground. Kimbo unloaded shots to the back of Tank’s head and the referee stopped the action to warn the Miami native about the illegal punches.

After the restart, Kimbo simply came after Abbott with everything he had in his stand-up arsenal, hitting shot after shot on Tank, and landed a huge right hand that put Abbott down on the mat, face first, ending the fight. Despite all the pre-fight build up between the two fighters, Kimbo expressed his respect for Abbott when the bout was over.

“I got a lot of respect for Tank,” said Kimbo in his post fight interview. “I always watched him growing up as a shorty. This was one of my dream fights along with (Mike) Tyson. To get in the ring and bang with Tank.”

Antonio Silva and Ricco Rodriguez fought a very tough and competitive fight in the heavyweight division with Silva winning a split decision over the former UFC champion.

The first round saw Silva work his stand-up game, using effective jabs and hooks to keep Rodriguez at bay, but eventually Rodriguez managed to get the takedown and land his ground and pound attack to close out the session.

Silva dominated the second round with an aggressive ground and pound attack of his own, which opened a cut under Rodriguez’s eye. The doctor was called into the cage to check the fighter, and the bout was allowed to continue.

The third round saw both fighters exchange takedowns with Silva taking the first half of the round and Rodriguez closing out the five minutes with his ground attack.

Every round saw a competitive side from each heavyweight, but in the end Antonio Silva came out on top in one of his toughest matches to date and moved him one step closer to possibly contending for the first ever EliteXC heavyweight championship.

“Gary Shaw, I want the (heavyweight) belt,” said Silva in his post fight comments. “I want the belt.”

Scott Smith debuted with a thunderous knockout over Australian Kyle Noke in his EliteXC debut, winning in the second round. In the first session, Smith struggled with Noke’s reach as the Aussie used a very effective jab to work his boxing over on Smith.

The second round didn’t last long as Smith absolutely unloaded a right hand that put Noke down. He landed one more shot for good measure as the referee rushed in to stop the fight declaring Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith the winner.

Afterwards, Smith talked about a possible match-up down the road with current EliteXC middleweight champion Robbie Lawler that would likely promise a slugfest between two tough 185-pound fighters.

In other fights, Yves Edwards knocked out Edson Berto with a ridiculous jumping knee that will be a highlight on you tube for a while. Brett Rogers def. James Thompson by KO at 2:24, R1. Yosmany Cabezas def. Jon Kirk by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 0:58, R2. Dave Herman def. Mario Rinaldi by TKO (strikes) at 0:33, R3.

What does this mean for Kimbo? Not much yet as he's still getting his feet wet. Tank isn't quite the credible opponent to throw Kimbo into the talk of the great MMA fighters. There are already rumors that he would be a likely opponent for Ken Shamrock. Something tells me, they're going to treat this situation very delicately.