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Poll: Kimbo vs. Mitrione
By: Mike Fridley
The map below displays regional data for the current poll. Refresh (F5) to update:
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New Questions: Slice, Edgar, Elbows & More
By: Jake Rossen
D. Mandel/Sherdog.com
Is the “12 to 6” elbow prohibition necessary?
By the time he had landed his fiftieth strike from mount, Jon Jones could reasonably start spending the winner’s share of the purse. Instead, he regressed into an old-school vale tudo mentality -- odd, since he just started fighting -- and delivered elbows with his fist pointed directly at the ceiling. Play-by-play commentator Joe Rogan huffed at the rule, which seems arbitrary in light of arching elbows being allowed, but point-of-elbow strikes look to have a far greater ability to sink themselves into an eye socket. Jones’ ground-and-pound is absolutely ferocious: it doesn’t need to be blinding.
What do you do with Kimbo Slice? Read more -
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 -
‘TUF 10’ Finale Post-Mortem: KimboMania Running Mild
By: Jake Rossen
D. Mandel/Sherdog.com
If Hulk Hogan was at all plugged in to his surroundings Saturday, he might have gotten the feeling he was witnessing the regeneration of his own carnival business: characters sniping at one another in promos, exaggerating their personalities, then meeting in the ring for some primal reconciliation.
The lone difference: MMA fighters don’t get hurt as badly as wrestlers do.
Take Marcus Jones and Matt Mitrione, with Jones unreasonably upset that Mitrione had perhaps ended the career of friend Scott Junk with an inadvertent poke in the eye; Darrill Schoonover, who fought with all the might of a man trying to overcome the nickname “Titties”; and the biggest babyface of the night, Kimbo Slice, who proved that with a solid base camp and against an opponent with virtually no ground game, he can just about scratch out a win. (As Slice predicted, Houston had a problem: that problem was training for a track meet.) Read more -
Kimbo Reflects on UFC Debut
Video courtesy of UFC.com. 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 -
Video: Slice-Alexander Open Workout
Video courtesy of UFC.com. 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 -
The Overnights: 'Ultimate Fighter 10,' Episodes 11 and 12
By: Jake Rossen
“The Ultimate Fighter 10,” easily the most insincere, labored, and puzzling season of a series that began as a good idea -- “Big Brother” with headlocks -- came to its merciful conclusion Wednesday, but not before viewers were treated to another jaw session between coaches Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson.
Read more
The tension is supposed to be palpable, but both men flex and circle each other with such physical intimacy that one could almost – almost -- get a “Top Gun”/Tarantino vibe from it.
“Let it happen,” Evans says. -
Kimbo 2.0 for Dec. 5
By: Jake Rossen
J. Harrington/Sherdog.com
Kimbo Slice has a future in professional wrestling. He is oddly charismatic, built like someone flipped his myostatin switch, and would probably generate millions for the WWE in fake beard role-play sets.
It’s a role that would allow Slice a steady rhythm of success -- something he’s going to lack in real fighting. The former YouTube attraction is (allegedly) scheduled to face Houston Alexander in a heavyweight fight at Dec. 5’s “Ultimate Fighter” finale: while Alexander isn’t much of a ground technician, he’s played Slice’s brawling game with more frequency and accuracy. Slice will likely lose. Over and over again.
Until then, there will be a hard sell to audiences who want to believe in his chances. Marcus Silveira, who chairs American Top Team and oversees Slice’s training, told Tatame that “the expectation is huge, we’re working hard with him, improving his game, sharing our experiences of training… I believe that he’s gonna get this victory. People will see a better Kimbo.”
Maybe. Or perhaps they’ll just see Kimbo. That seems to please enough people. Read more
