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Wednesday MMA: A TV Viewer’s Guide
By: Jeff Sherwood
Wednesday
3:30 a.m. ET MavTV: The Conventioneers
UFC Fan Expo Jason and Matt jump into the trade show octagon at the UFC: Ultimate Fighting Championship Fan Expo.
5:30 a.m. ET FuelTV: UFC 101: The Moves
Learn the secret moves of the best fighters in the world.
6:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: The Ultimate Fighter
Season 16 Episode 12: Semifinal Showdown Two semifinal fights determine which two men will move on to fight in the finale for a UFC contract.
7:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: The Ultimate Fighter
Season 16 Episode 14: Finale Jonathan Brookins vs. Dustin Poirier; Jamie Varner vs. Melvin Guillard; Shane del Rosario vs. Pat Barry; Mike Ricci vs. Colton Smith; Matt Mitrione vs. Roy Nelson. From Las Vegas. (Card subject to change)
10:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Ultimate Insider
Alexander Gustafsson's San Diego training; Joe Lauzon's signature moves; Arianny Celeste poses.
10:30 a.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Ultimate Insider
Flashback Seattle; Heavyweights Collide Experience UFC on FOX 5 from a new perspective; The comeback of Cain Velasquez; Randy Couture analyzes the Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez championship fight.
11:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Tonight
Top 50 UFC Moments in 2012 Part 1
2:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Tonight
Top 50 UFC Moments in 2012 Part 1
2:30 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Ultimate Insider
Flashback Seattle; Heavyweights Collide Experience UFC on FOX 5 from a new perspective; The comeback of Cain Velasquez; Randy Couture analyzes the Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez championship fight.
3:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: The Ultimate Fighter
Season 16 Episode 14: Finale Jonathan Brookins vs. Dustin Poirier; Jamie Varner vs. Melvin Guillard; Shane del Rosario vs. Pat Barry; Mike Ricci vs. Colton Smith; Matt Mitrione vs. Roy Nelson. From Las Vegas. (Card subject to change)
6:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Presents Benson Henderson: Rising Up
Benson Henderson's mother, brother, girlfriend, coach and Benson, himself, reveal the motivations and desires that drive him.
6:00 p.m. ET MavTV: King of the Cage
Steel Curtain 2
7:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Tonight
Top 50 UFC Moments in 2012 Part 1
7:30 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Ultimate Insider
Flashback Seattle; Heavyweights Collide Experience UFC on FOX 5 from a new perspective; The comeback of Cain Velasquez; Randy Couture analyzes the Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez championship fight.
8:00 p.m. ET MavTV: King of the Cage: Classics Vol. 4
A historic collection of match ups.
8:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Reloaded
UFC Rio: Jose Aldo defends his Featherweight title against undefeated Chad Mendes.
9:00 p.m. ET MavTV: King of the Cage: Greatest KO's 2
Devastating knockouts that changed the history of MMA.
10:00 p.m. ET MavTV: King of the Cage
Steel Curtain 1
11:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Unrestricted
An unprecedented and exclusive look deep inside the tense 36 hours leading up to UFC 148.
12:00 a.m. ET MavTV: King of the Cage: Greatest KO's 2
Devastating knockouts that changed the history of MMA.
12:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: UFC: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson
Rousimar Palhares vs. Hector Lombard; Norman Parke vs. Colin Fletcher; Bradley Scott vs. Robert Whittaker; George Sotiropoulos vs. Ross Pearson. From Queensland, Australia. (Card subject to change) Read more -
Tuesday MMA: A TV Viewer’s Guide
By: Jeff Sherwood
Tuesday
6:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Ultimate Submissions
The best submissions by UFC superstars.
1:30 p.m. ET FuelTV: Ultimate Answers
UFC fighters' takes on topics from the hard-hitting to the totally random.
2:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Reloaded
Relive UFC 141, Brock Lesnar versus Alistair Overeem.
7:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: The Ultimate Fighter
Season 16 Episode 14: Finale Jonathan Brookins vs. Dustin Poirier; Jamie Varner vs. Melvin Guillard; Shane del Rosario vs. Pat Barry; Mike Ricci vs. Colton Smith; Matt Mitrione vs. Roy Nelson. From Las Vegas. (Card subject to change)
10:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Tonight
Top 50 UFC Moments in 2012 Part 1
10:30 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Ultimate Insider
EPISODE: 89 Experience UFC on FOX 5 from a new perspective; The comeback of Cain Velasquez; Randy Couture analyzes the Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez championship fight.
11:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson
Rousimar Palhares vs. Hector Lombard; Norman Parke vs. Colin Fletcher; Bradley Scott vs. Robert Whittaker; George Sotiropoulos vs. Ross Pearson. From Queensland, Australia. (Card subject to change)
11:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet Ontario: UFC Central
Hosted by "Showdown" Joe Ferraro. UFC highlights and news.
11:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet East: UFC Central
Hosted by "Showdown" Joe Ferraro. UFC highlights and news. Read more -
Saturday MMA: A TV Viewer’s Guide
By: Jeff Sherwood
Saturday
4:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Post-Fight Show
George Sotiropoulos vs. Ross Pearson Featuring Jay Glazer and MMA analysts recapping the lightweight battle, including interviews and highlights.
5:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Post-Fight Show
George Sotiropoulos vs. Ross Pearson Featuring Jay Glazer and MMA analysts recapping the lightweight battle, including interviews and highlights.
6:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Post-Fight Show
George Sotiropoulos vs. Ross Pearson Featuring Jay Glazer and MMA analysts recapping the lightweight battle, including interviews and highlights.
7:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Post-Fight Show
George Sotiropoulos vs. Ross Pearson Featuring Jay Glazer and MMA analysts recapping the lightweight battle, including interviews and highlights.
8:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: Training Day
The Blackzilians Go behind the scenes with the Blackzilians, Rashad Evans's elite Florida team.
8:30 a.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Post-Fight Show
George Sotiropoulos vs. Ross Pearson Featuring Jay Glazer and MMA analysts recapping the lightweight battle, including interviews and highlights.
12:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC Unrestricted
An unprecedented and exclusive look deep inside the tense 36 hours leading up to UFC 148.
1:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: UFC: George Sotiropoulos vs. Ross Pearson Prelims
Cody Donovan vs. Nick Penner; Mike Wilkinson vs. Brendan Loughnane; Manuel Rodriguez vs. Benny Alloway; Seth Baczynski vs. Mike Pierce; Joey Beltran vs. Igor Pokrajac; Yaotzin Meza vs. Chad Mendes. From Queensland, Australia. (Card subject to change)
4:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: The Ultimate Fighter
Season 16 Episode 11: Fight the Perfect Fight Joey Rivera and Jon Manley face-off to stay in the competition; the tension builds between Michal Hill and Mike Ricci before they enter the octagon; the last two match-ups before the finale are revealed.
5:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: The Ultimate Fighter
Season 16 Episode 12: Semifinal Showdown Two semifinal fights determine which two men will move on to fight in the finale for a UFC contract.
6:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: The Ultimate Fighter
Season 16 Episode 13: Finale Weigh-in Mixed martial artists from Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson and more weigh in ahead of the finale.
7:00 p.m. ET FuelTV: The Ultimate Fighter
Season 16 Episode 16: Finale Prelims Nick Catone vs. TJ Waldburger; Rustam Khabilov vs. Vinc Pichel; Marcos Vinicius vs. Johnny Bedford; James Head vs. Mike Pyle. From Las Vegas. (Bouts subject to change)
9:00 p.m. ET FX: The Ultimate Fighter Season 16 Episode 14: Finale
Jonathan Brookins vs. Dustin Poirier; Jamie Varner vs. Melvin Guillard; Shane del Rosario vs. Pat Barry; Mike Ricci vs. Colton Smith; Matt Mitrione vs. Roy Nelson. From Las Vegas. (Card subject to change) 12:00 a.m. ET FuelTV: The Ultimate Fighter
Season 16 Episode 15: Finale: Post Fight Show Jay Glazer and analysts recapping the battle between Team Carwin and Team Nelson sharing interviews and highlights.
12:00 a.m. ET FX: The Ultimate Fighter Season 16 Episode 14: Finale
Jonathan Brookins vs. Dustin Poirier; Jamie Varner vs. Melvin Guillard; Shane del Rosario vs. Pat Barry; Mike Ricci vs. Colton Smith; Matt Mitrione vs. Roy Nelson. From Las Vegas. (Card subject to change) Read more -
Radio: Koch, Browne, Boetsch
By: TJ De Santis
Live radio returned Wednesday to The Sherdog Radio Network with new episodes of "Beatdown" and "The Savage Dog Show."
Read more
Greg Savage and Jeff Sherwood returned to The Sherdog Radio Network Wednesday for another edition of "The Savage Dog Show." Joining them were UFC fighters Eric Koch and Tim Boetsch.
Koch talked about his recent win over Jonathan Brookins, while Boetsch discussed his upcoming bout versus Nick Ring at this Saturday's UFC 135 event. Savage and Sherwood also took listener calls, emails and tweets.
Jack Encarnacao and Jon Luther returned to The Sherdog Radio Network Wednesday for another edition of "Beatdown." Joining them was UFC heavyweight fighter Travis Browne. The Alliance product faces Nick Ring this Saturday night in Denver at UFC 135.
Check out the shows and our archives by clicking here. -
UFC/Strikeforce Postmortem: Judge Dread, Knockouts
By: Jake Rossen
Leonard Garcia file photo: Sherdog.com
Among Mike Goldberg’s usual duties -- sponsor plugs, broadcast generalship, tanning -- is reciting the standard “Rules of the Octagon” narration over a graphic, which states points will be awarded “based on striking, grappling, aggression, and Octagon control.” At 10 seconds in length, this will never be mistaken for an instructional video, but it’s become very obvious that Nevada judges in attendance Saturday haven’t even bothered with that much.
After handling Leonard Garcia for three rounds, pushing Garcia backward, landing while Garcia whiffed in open-mouthed “offense” and even taking a round with a conceivable 10-8 work effort, two judges ignored Nam Phan and scored the bout 29-28 Garcia. (The third saw it 30-27 Phan, cementing his status as human with two functioning corneas.) It stands next to New Coke, “The Phantom Menace” and the Hula burger as one of the worst decisions of all time.
In typically boorish bureaucratic fashion, these judges will never be asked to explain their scorecard, will never be asked to provide evidence of their competency, and will probably not be reprimanded in any meaningfully way -- all expected outcomes of virtually every other botched job on the planet.
Nothing can suffocate the enthusiasm of fans more quickly than something purported to be “As Real as it Gets” burdened by the inexplicable presence of officials who use a fictitious set of standards to oversee fights. Athletic commissions are assumed to be competent; as we saw with Chael Sonnen’s hearing Thursday, some members can’t even tell the difference between a mixed martial artist and a boxer. At this point, it’s becoming impossible to tell the difference between a fight judge and a brick. Read more -
Primer: UFC/Strikeforce Weekend
By: Jake Rossen
Stephan Bonnar (left): Sherdog.com
Saturday marks the first time the UFC and Strikeforce have aired live programming opposite one another, but there’s really not much to be made of that: Showtime airs in only a fraction of the homes Spike does, making any real comparison of viewership a mess of semantics, demographics, and relative numbers. Dave vs. Jay is a pretty fair ratings match; this one requires a lot of handicapping.
If anything can be figured out, it’ll be based largely on the drawing power of promotional names, not athletes: Strikeforce lost a draw in Herschel Walker last week, while the UFC is dealing primarily with ungroomed “Ultimate Fighter” participants and a well-liked headliner in Stephan Bonnar. The Strikeforce card has more intriguing and rankings-relevant bouts, but its own top draw -- Dan Henderson rematching Renato Sobral -- may be a somewhat muted affair. Unless Sobral can catch Henderson in something, there’s not a lot of breaking news to anticipate.
What’s really remarkable Saturday: Fredson Paixao and Pablo Garza will mark the first time featherweights have under competed under the UFC banner; Will Campuzano and Nick Pace introduce bantamweights the same night. Athletes who work every bit as hard as the rest and who helped bolster an entire company have earned the platform the UFC provides. More than anything, we’ll probably remember the event as the night they finally got what they deserved. Read more
