Who Will Win the Race for a Weekly Live MMA Fight Series?

While MMA has seen it’s share of one-off live events as well as the reality TV offered by TUF, the sport has yet to see a true weekly live fight series, akin to a Friday Night Fights offered on ESPN or like the old Tuesday Night Fights offered on USA from the Blue Horizon. Bellator Fighting Championship has recently made indications that a slot may be in the offing on ESPN or ESPN2, possibly as soon as this fall. While all chatter on Bellator’s part is pointing to that conclusion, it remains to be seen if you will see it come to it’s fruition. In the event that they do make the big leap to one of the big two, there would still be the decision to go from a one day tape delay to a true live event. The current set up benefits Bellator’s production pieces that help build human interest in the fighters, so that may be an impediment to live shows even if they do hit ESPN/ESPN2.

While there hasn’t been much public discussion as of late about a live event series on a weekly basis on Spike, that doesn’t mean that those talks haven’t been made behind closed doors. Spike TV officials spoke with MMAPayout.com and intimated there have been “lots of discussions between the UFC and Spike on the topic…but not for this year.” Talks of a live weekly series on Spike TV was first put forward at the time of the UFC’s re-signing with Spike, with the the live show being a possible replacement for a phased out TUF. Since that time there has been little talk on the subject, though. Based on the comments of Spike Execs, this may be something that will take place in ‘10 or ‘11.

A young Steven Seagal got whipped by a 59-year-old

Last night, we highlighted a good interview on mixed martial arts with Deadspin's Drew Magary and Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim. Early on, it was nuts and bolts talk on the current state and future of the sport. Wertheim and Magary said that Dana White may be a liability for the UFC. The best part came when the duo delved into a great story in Wertheim's MMA book, "Blood in the Cage."

Wertheim wrote about a great exchange between "movie" martial artist Steven Seagal and "real" martial artist Gene LeBell. The 59-year-old LeBell was visiting the set of Out for Justice. Seagal talked a little trash to bait LeBell and found out that kicking ass in movies it quite different than doing it in real life.

Listen to Magary tell the story which ended with Segal needing baby wipes and a shower (1:55 mark):

Judo forums give two versions of the story. One says LeBell, who was a stuntman and stunt coordinator, confronted Seagal because he was being too rough with the stuntmen on the movie set. Seagal got froggy and LeBell put him to sleep. The other had Seagal outright challenging the old man and LeBell obliged by embarrassing the movie star.

Audio via Deadspin

TUF UK vs US Episode 5 Ratings

MMAPayout.com has learned that TUF UK/US Episode 5 earned a 1.04 household rating–with a 1.33 in Men 18-49, a .91 in People 18-49, a 1.59 in Men 18-34, .65 in Men 12-17, and an average audience of 1.4 million viewers.

The Qtr hour breakdowns were as follows:

.89
1.03
1.04
1.20

Fighters are a’twitter: Which fighters should you follow?

If you haven't checked out Twitter yet, you should. It's a great way to stay connected to your favorite fighters, and it's a way they stay connected to you. Of course, that connection has gotten some athletes in trouble, but for the most part, it's good, clean fun. Here are a few fighters you should check out on Twitter. 

Amir Sadollah -- Just as he is in interviews, "The Ultimate Fighter" winner Amir is funny and self-deprecating. My only wish is that he would Twitter more often.

Kenny Florian -- The lightweight contender Twitters several times a day, updating fans and friends on his training, and answering queries from fans. The other day, he said he was happy that he didn't have to throw a "chicken wrist," though he still hasn't explained what it is.

Urijah Faber -- The California Kid uses his Twitter to give you a peek into the California lifestyle. He shares pictures and lets his fans know of upcoming appearances and interviews.

Jason "Mayhem" Miller -- Mayhem provides updates that only Mayhem can. My favorite recent tweet of his was, "Man, [expletive] this tweeting [expletive]. you can get all addicted, and be a tweetaholic, hit twit bottom and have to go to tweethab." His Twitter is also a stalker's dream, as he likes to give out his location. Often.

Joe Lauzon -- For nerds, Joe Lauzon's Twitter is a dream come true, because he is proudly a nerd like you. He loves to share his nerdiness on Twitter. For example, "just ordered Wolverine origins movie tickets for thursday night." 

A few others worth following: B.J. Penn, Shane Carwin, Ryan Bader, Arianny Celeste and Joe Rogan. Don't forget to follow Kevin Iole and me, too. 

MMA Live Episode 51

TUF Talk: Team USA is a splintered unit

I'm excited as hell to be representing the USA against the U.K. but not so excited about some of the guys picked to represent the USA. After spending a few days with the team downstairs, I jumped at the opportunity to get into the room upstairs after Kiel Reid and Rob Browning got eliminated. I really like getting some alone time. I'm not the most social guy. Plus everytime I tried to hang around with the U.S. guys it would be nothing but sarcastic comments and remarks.

Even worse was the training, everyone on our team was an expert and wanted to tell you how to do everything better. One guy in particular that was getting under my skin was Cameron Dollar. I was actually nice to the kid for the first few days we were there. There was a day at the UFC training center when he started to cry and said he didn't know if he was gonna be able to make it through. I tried to be a good teammate, give him a pep talk and do what I could to help get him focused. Not even 24 hours after all of this, he started telling all his [expletive] player stories and throwing out all kinds of smack talk. Having 16 guys in one house with no entertainment outlet gets really old, really fast.

The U.K. team on the other hand seemed to be much more mature and polite. Well, with the exception of Michael Bisping, who liked to talk [expletive] trying to mess with our heads. For the most part, I found Bisping funny to be honest. Even though I found the U.K. team more enjoyable to be around, I kind of stuck to myself knowing that we were there to fight them. I didn't want to get to close for comfort.

Dana White said at the beginning this is the best and worst experience of my life. and no truer statement can describe what the Ultimate Fighter was about for me. Being away from my family and my gym was the most difficult thing i've ever had to do. I did love the wish list. We could write down what we wanted and needed, and the next day it would be in our food room.

It was tough to see Santino DiFranco lose to Andre Winner. He looked like he was doing well on the feet landing lots of leg kicks. I think he just got caught with some heavy hits and had he not pulled guard, there could have been a different outcome. DiFranco was our chef for the house. we would have group dinner and I credit him for my being able to cook.

It was a good turnaround to have DaMarques Johnson pull in the first USA win it improved our desire to want to beat the Brits. It was good to be in the house because there was no other distraction. but after a while it makes you restless to want to fight.

Because the sport is constantly evolving and moving in different trends, I think we'e seeing MMA fighters much more well-rounded and technical than in the past. Our pioneers have taught us so many aspects of this sport that the "type fighters" are giving way to more fighters that are well-versed in the "sport" of MMA. The winner and contestants of this season are great examples of that. The great thing about this sport is the constant opportunity to get better and become more informed.

Team USA fighter Jason Dent will now blog each Thursday for Cage Writer. Watch Dent on "The Ultimate Fighter: U.S. vs. U.K." each Wednesday night (10 p.m. ET/PT) on Spike TV.

Canseco and Choi to take the term ‘circus fight’ to new level

Jose Canseco is a 'roided up freak-of-nature who is disliked by pretty much everyone and looks for publicity at every chance. Now if he could only find a freak show fighter to help him jump into the MMA game.

Ahh yes! Hong Man Choi, the 7'2" South Korean who has lost to Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko Cro Cop, is going to fight Canseco at DREAM 9 on May 26 in Tokyo. I'm not sure what Canseco's aim is in trying out MMA -- maybe he's just really broke -- but it should be hilarious. This fight is part of DREAM's open weight tournament, meaning that if he wins, we'll get to see Canseco fight again.

Outside of Fedor and Cro Cop, Choi has just one other pro fight, a win over Bobby Ologun. Canseco's fight experience is limited to celebrity boxing, where he was knocked out by former Philadelphia Eagle Vai Sikahema. Apparently, Canseco's stand-up is pretty awful, so he might want to take a crash course in jiu-jitsu in the next few weeks. Then he might have a hope of submitting Choi; otherwise, Choi's astounding reach advantage will overwhelm Canseco. 

The rest of the card is actually pretty good. Jacare Souza is fighting Mayhem Miller, Kid Yamamoto is taking on Joe Warren, and Mark Hunt will face Gegard Mousasi.

DREAM Open Weight Tournament Announced

DREAM officially announced an “open weight” tournament that will begin at the upcoming DREAM.9 fight card this May.

The “Super Hulk” tournament features fighters from various weightclasses and even a former professional baseball player.

MLB steroid poster-boy, Jose Canseco will be in the eight-man tournament and make his professional MMA debut against Hong Man Choi.

Former DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi will be the smallest competitor in the field and will fight super heavyweight Mark Hunt in the opening round.

Japanese fan favorite Bob Sapp will fight Ikuhisa Minowa while Jan Nortje will match up against Rameau Sokoudjou.

DREAM.9 will also feature the second round of the 2009 DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix and is currently scheduled for May 26 in Japan.

Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes: Who’s Side Are You On?

Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like a good, old fashion grudge, match and on May 23^rd that is exactly what we are going to get as two former champions finally square off inside the octagon!

Former UFC welterweight champions, Matt Hughes and Matt Serra have been at each other’s throats for several years now and will finally get a chance to settle the score as part of the co-main event for UFC 98.

After spending six weeks coaching against each other on the sixth season of “The Ultimate Fighter” on Spike TV, the two were originally supposed to fight each other for the welterweight title at UFC 79 back in December of 2007. Unfortunately, Serra severely injured his back and the fight was cancelled.

Fast forward two years later, and both fighters are coming off dominating losses and are in desperate need of a win.

For Hughes, he was completely outclassed by current welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 79. Only a few months later Hughes also suffered a devastating knock out at the hands of the current No. 1 contender, Thiago Alves at UFC 85.

Matt Hughes was once considered to be the most dominant welterweight fighter in the entire world, but now anytime Hughes in mentioned in a conversation the topic of retirement is always brought up.

Matt Serra also suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of St. Pierre at UFC 83 and is looking to bounce back into title contention with a win over Hughes. Injuries and the birth of his first-born child have kept Serra on the sidelines and he hasn’t fought in over a year.

This is one of the most anticipated grudge matches in UFC history and should go down in the record books as an instant classic.

I am going to go in-depth and analyze the history, the rivalry, keys to victory and the futures of both of these fighters.

Enough chit chat, let’s get this thing started!

The History:

Matt “The Terror” Serra, a long time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, and the first American black belt under Renzo Gracie, began his MMA career in 1999. Serra went undefeated in his first three fights by overwhelming his opponents with his aggressive style of Jiu-Jitsu and finished all three fights in the first round with a submission.

Serra made his UFC debut back in 2001 at UFC 31 against Shonie “Mr. International” Carter in a classic fight. The fight was a three round war with Serra controlling most of the action with his aggressive Jiu-Jitsu base. Unfortunately for Serra, all anyone remembers about that fight was the ending where Shonie knocked Serra out with an incredible spinning back fist that seemingly came out of nowhere.

Since then, Serra has assembled victories over the likes of Yves Edwards>, Kelly Dulanty, Jeff Curran, Ivan Menjivar, Chris Lytle and Georges St. Pierre, as well as losses to the likes of B.J Penn, Din Thomas, Karo Parisyan and Georges St. Pierre.

Serra was a contestant on the “Ultimate Fighter Season 4: The Comeback” and ended up defeating Chris Lytle in the finals to earn a guaranteed title shot against Georges St. Pierre.

Matt Serra became a huge fan favorite while competing on the reality show. Serra has a great sense of humor but he also doesn’t take crap from anyone and he stands up for what he believes in; the altercation he had with Marc Laimon on the show is a great example of that.

In the title fight with GSP at UFC 69, everyone expected St. Pierre to completely dominate Matt Serra. Nobody gave Serra a chance but he went out there and shocked the world by knocking St. Pierre out in the first round to win the UFC welterweight title.

Some people called Serra’s victory a fluke or a “lucky punch”, but I just think that on that particular night Matt Serra was the better fighter and hungry for the gold.

Obviously, Serra lost the title in a rematch to St. Pierre last year but make no mistake about it, Matt Serra is still one of the best welterweights in the world and hopefully he will be able to prove it to you by fighting on a more consistent basis in 2009-2010.

His arch rival Matt Hughes is arguably the best UFC champion of all time and a future inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Hughes has had one of the greatest careers in MMA history, assembling an overall record of 42-7 with notable wins over the likes of Carlos Newton, Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg (twice), B.J Penn, Royce Gracie, Georges St. Pierre, and several others.

Hughes is known best for his freakishly strong wrestling base and brutal ground-and-pound that he developed with several years of wrestling and growing up on the farm. Hughes has what you call “farm boy strength”.

With that strength, Hughes dominated his opponents and defended his Welterweight title for a record of five consecutive victories in a row (a record recently tied by middleweight champion Anderson Silva).

Whether you love the guy or hate him—you have to respect Matt Hughes’ accomplishments and his natural ability. He has come up short in recent outings against Georges St. Pierre and Thiago Alves but a dominant victory over Serra could put him right back into title contention.

The Rivalry:

So why do these guys hate each other and how long has this rivalry existed between them? Well believe it or not they actually used to be friends… sort of.

After Matt Serra lost a split decision to Din Thomas at UFC 41 in 2003, Hughes approached Serra at a bar and the two seemed to strike up a friendship and agreed to train with each other in the future to help build up each other’s weaknesses.

Matt Serra’s perspective of Hughes had changed years later after watching Hughes coach opposite Rich Franklin on TUF Season two.

Basically the “dry sense of humor” of Matt Hughes rubbed Serra the wrong way and he noticed a big change in his attitude from the first time they met.

When Matt Serra won the welterweight title from Georges St. Pierre, Hughes called the victory a “fluke” and stated that Serra isn’t even a top five welterweight and, of course, that pissed Serra off. They were trading words back and forth in interviews and the rivalry and hatred for one another continued to grow stronger.

Matt Hughes thinks that Serra is a bad ambassador for the sport because of his habit of dropping the occasional “f bomb” every now and then (though oddly enough Hughes has no beef with Dana White).

Hughes says that whenever Serra is shown on TV he will not allow his children to watch because of the language that Serra uses.

Matt Serra on the other hand thinks that Hughes is a stuck up jock with an ego the size of Mars. Serra is not a fan of the “dry humor” and thinks Hughes is a prick and a bully.

Serra respects everything that Hughes has accomplished in his career and respects Hughes’ ability, but he hates the guy with a passion and admitted in an interview that he wants to “decapitate” him inside the octagon.

So who is the ‘good guy’ and who is the ‘bad guy’ going into this grudge match?

It’s up to you to decide because every fan has their own opinion and everyone views things differently. I personally am a huge Matt Serra fan and will be rooting him on 100 percent, but I respect both fighters a lot and expect to see a great fight come May 23^rd.

Keys to Victory:

Matt Hughes is a very strong wrestler with underrated submissions and brutal ground-and-pound but his stand up is horrible.

Matt Serra is an extremely talented BJJ black belt, has a very durable chin and very heavy hands. His weakness is in his wrestling ability and where Hughes strength lies.

For Serra to win this fight, in my opinion, he is going to have to work an effective sprawl-and-brawl game plan. Avoid the takedowns and keep the fight on the feet, while showcasing his improved striking ability and look to knock Matt Hughes out.

Serra is very dangerous off his back and has a very good guard, but Hughes is someone you definitely don’t want on top of you because his ground-and-pound is brutal, and he is extremely overwhelming when in the top position.

For Matt Hughes to win this fight he is going to have to take Serra down and control him on the ground with his superior wrestling ability. Serra might be a BJJ black belt, but usually a high level wrestler will cancel out a high level Jiu-Jitsu practitioner in an MMA fight on the ground.

The Future:

Win or lose, I don’t picture Matt Hughes sticking around much longer. He really doesn’t have anything left to prove. Hughes will always be remembered as a true legend of the sport and one of the greatest champions of all time.

While Hughes has hinted at moving up to middleweight after the Serra fight, I really don’t think that is the smartest idea. If he does decide to continue fighting after UFC 98, then I think he should finish out his career at welterweight.

I know I’m probably going to sound biased towards Serra, but I truly believe that he still has what it takes to compete at that high level. Not only that but I also think that Serra still has a lot left to prove because a lot of people still think Serra “got lucky” against GSP the first time.

I’d like to see Serra get the win over Hughes and then go on to fight on a more consistent basis against the likes of Joh Koshceck, Carlos Condit, Martin Kampmann, etc.

Am I saying that Serra will win back his title in the near future? I’d love to say yes but that would just be idiotic to say at this point. Let’s see how he performs against Hughes first and then see how he does against the other studs in the 170 lb. division before even talking about Serra and the welterweight title again.

‘The Ultimate Fighter’ recap: ‘I’m not here to make friends’

After watching the latest episode of "The Ultimate Fighter," I can't help but notice that the show has improved about 1,000 percent. They've made some changes in the format, they've refocused on training and the coaches, and they're even shoehorning two fights into one episode. It's fantastic to see Spike and Zuffa adapt to reactions from fans. Read on to see just how the show has continued to adapt, and of course, that no one on Team USA is here to make friends.

On the previous episode, Nick Osipczak and Mark Miller had a good back-and-forth fight, until Nick's foot met up with Mark's head. Tonight, the U.S. is looking for redemption.

After Mark's loss, the team is headed back to the house, and our own Jason Dent tries a pep talk. He tells the guys to go back to the house, and avoid the smack talk. Considering one of their most experienced fighters had just been knocked out, that seems fair enough. Cameron Dollar does not agree. He will do whatever he wants. He says that he is soooooo cool, that he humped like 70 or 80 girls, even his friend's wife. Goodness, Dollar is like school on Saturday.

Dent is pretty disgusted with Dollar but pulls out the old reliable of all reality TV, "I'm not here to make friends." Jason Pierce admits that he likes hanging out with Team UK more than Team USA because they are nerds, just like him. Ahh, team unity.

Bisping calls the match-up for the first fight of the night -- yes, two fights in one night! -- Andre Winner vs. Santino DeFranco. Henderson says he thinks that DeFranco could win the fight, but he doesn't sound very confident.

Bisping is impressed with Winner's all-around game and speed on his feet. In training, he takes down Bisping, which brings on cheers from Team UK. DeFranco tells the tale of his brain aneurysm, and how fought back to fight. Hendo works with Santino on the clinch, and then says he feels good about this one.

Andre Winner vs. Santino DeFranco (Lightweight)

After about a minute of stand-up, DeFranco attempts a takedown, which Winner stifles. They get back to their feet, DeFranco heads in for another single leg, but again, it's stuffed. About three minutes in, DeFranco again tries for a takedown, but ends up with Winner on top of him. DeFranco tries for an omoplata but can't do it, and Winner commences in ground and pound. Winner is your winner with a TKO stoppage. Bisping yells, "It wasn't supposed to be that easy!" Bisping is also school on Saturday.

Reviewing the fight, Hendo points out that these guys are not sticking to their game plans, and so they are losing. He wants to make these guys mentally tough, but there is only so much he can do.

Why can't we be friends?

Back at the house, Dent annoys his teammates by asking questions and being a bit of a hermit. More jawing happens, but a Dan Henderson training session shuts them up. He has the team training outside, running up stairs, and shadow boxing outside. Hendo wants Damarques to fight Dean, and when he brings up Jason Pierce's potential matchup with Faulkner, Pierce turns into a petulant little boy. "I don't think I'm strong enough to win over him ... He's my friend ... Well, whatever. I'll fight whoever." Pierce, do you not remember that the No. 1 rule of all reality television is I'm not here to make friends?

Team USA can't even complete the simple task of getting into a van. Dollar smacks Miller on the tush, which angers Miller, Damarques is telling everyone what to do, and Dent tells him to shut up and stop mugging for the cameras. Damarques is rather busted because he is, in fact, mugging for the cameras. This kerfuffle requires Dan Henderson to come in and remind the guys that they are fighting for the USA, they need to try to get along. This is a good time to point out that as an Olympian, Hendo was on the wrestling team with some pretty insufferable SOBs. If he could put up with those guys, then Dent and Dollar need to get along.

Henderson announces the next fight, which Dean Amasinger vs. Damarques Johnson. This is Hendo realizing that they need a win, so he's putting out his best fighter. Bisping reviews the tapes of Damarques and tells Dean that he needs to avoid the triangle choke, a specialty of Damarques.' Dean also prepares for the fight by getting his back shaved. Fantastic. Damarques says that cooks don't think about what they're going to cook, they just get in the kitchen and do it. Really? Is that why there are culinary institutes all over the world?

"Where the [expletive] is Bisping?"

As fight time nears, Bisping is not there to help Dean get ready. You can tell that Dean is trying not to focus on the fact that Bisping isn't there, but he has the look of the little boy, checking the stands to see if his father has shown up for his little league game. I felt for the guy, as Bisping is clearly the heart and soul of the team. It's a bit of a slap in the face for him not to show up for Dean's fight. Dana White says that it's the first time a coach has ever done this.

Dean Amasinger vs. Damarques Johnson (Welterweight)

About thirty seconds into the fight, Dean takes Damarques down, and Damarques tries to work a kimura. That doesn't work, so he switches to a triangle choke. That does work, and Dean taps out in the first round. Damarques is happy that he gets the $5,000 that comes with ending a fight, because he can pay child support.

This win boosts Team USA's mood, while Team UK is not a happy bunch. They still don't know where Bisping is. Next week, Bisping comes back, and we find out where he was. Also, it's another episode with two fights. Yippee!

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