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Awards: ‘TUF 10’ Finale
By: Jake Rossen
D. Mandel/Sherdog.com
The Third-Party Winner of the Night Award Kimbo Slice, for getting hit with some good shrapnel in Roy Nelson winning the entire “Ultimate Fighter” eliminator. If you have to lose in the first round, best you lose to the guy who wins the whole dang thing.
The SuperCuts Award Nelson, for saving $14.95 every time he needs a trim by sticking his head into an oscillating fan.
The Goldberg Excellence in Saying Something, Anything, Award Mike Goldberg, on a serious streak in this category, for insisting that if “you are not a fan of Hulk Hogan, you are not a fan…of sports.” Fine, so long as “fan” can mean, “mute astonishment that Hulk Hogan is still ambulatory.” Read more -
5 Questions: ‘TUF’ Finale Edition
By: Jake Rossen
D. Mandel/Sherdog.com
Is the Slice/Alexander catchweight a Kimbo preservative?
The UFC’s occupation with “catchweight” fights continues with Kimbo Slice meeting regular light-heavyweight Houston Alexander at 215 pounds; Slice has already condemned the weight cut as taxing. There are literally dozens, if not hundreds, of heavyweights of every conceivable talent level for Slice to have a run at. Why put him on diuretics? Possible answer: Slice losing via hammering KO to Alexander can easily be explained as being out of his element. Not as easily explained: what he was doing there in the first place.
What is Veach doing for Edgar? Read more -
Primer: ‘Ultimate Fighter 10’ Finale
By: Jake Rossen
T. Goodlad/Sherdog.com
With a midsection like rising dough, Roy Nelson is among the unlikeliest of finalists in the history of the nearly-five-year-old “Ultimate Fighter” television tournament. Despite burning an incredible number of calories in camps, he manages to recoup them and maintain an impressive bulk. If he ever stops training, the Learning Channel will be paying to cut him out of his home.
This is not intended to disparage Nelson, a good fighter, but it is intended to address how casual UFC viewers will feel about a heavyweight contender who looks like the Michelin Man with a bad case of fluid retention. While Nelson was the favorite heading into the season in September, he took a lethargic approach to the finals: against Justin Wren, he actually appeared to have lost. If Nelson is not endearing himself to fans through his charisma or through his fighting, that doesn’t leave a lot left. Read more -
Of Slice and Men: Kimbo/Alexander Rumored for Memphis
By: Jake Rossen
In trumpeting the puzzling charisma of Kimbo Slice on “The Ultimate Fighter,” the UFC has essentially given home to a pet they’ll wind up serving up for dinner. No one gets a free ride in the organization: if you’re friends with promoter Dana White, you’re likely to get treated even more harshly. (Chuck Liddell, fed killer after killer in his twilight years, being exhibit A.)
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Slice won’t be getting any dock workers or veterans approaching senility, but he might luck out by getting a man virtually guaranteed to stand with him: light heavyweight Houston Alexander, a potential opponent for Slice at UFC 107 in Memphis on December 12. (Rumor courtesy Fiveouncesofpain.com.) If Alexander has ever shot in for a takedown in his UFC career, I missed it.
This is about as much of a gift-wrapped opponent as you’re likely to get in the UFC, and it’s still not much of one: Alexander is faster on the draw than Slice, who’s used to the relatively slower speeds of the bigger guys. But there aren’t many alternatives: try to imagine him in a fight with a Cain Velasquez or Pat Barry. You’d have to put crime scene tape around the ring.
