The Ultimate Fighter cast officially revealed for season 8
(mmamania.com)With less than one month until its debut on Spike TV on September 17 at 10 p.m. ET, the full 32-member cast of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 has been revealed via SI.com.
This season will feature a mix of light heavyweight and lightweight prospects who will compete in a tournament-style format until one man from each weight class is left standing at the TUF 8 Finale on December 13.
Similar to last season, the contestants will be expected to fight their way into the house in the first episode of the show. UFC Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira and Frank Mir will serve as opposing coaches.
Check out the full TUF 8 cast after the jump.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
* Ryan Bader
* Antwain Britt
* Jules Bruchez
* Lance Evans
* Karen Grigoryan
* Jason Guida
* Ryan Jimmo
* Kyle Kingsbury
* Tom Lawlor
* Ryan Lopez
* Vinicius Magalhaes
* Eric Magee
* Eliot Marshall
* Sean O’Connell
* Shane Primm
* Krzysztof Soszynski
LIGHTWEIGHTS
* Jose Aguilar
* Fernando Bernstein
* Junie Allen Browning
* Rolando Delgado
* Joseph Duarte
* Charles Diaz
* Efrain Escudero
* Brandon Garner
* David Kaplan
* Brian McLaughlin
* Wesley Murch
* Shane Nelson
* Phillipe Nover
* Ido Pariente
* John Polakowski
* George Roop
Why WAMMA Won't Work
(bloodyelbow.com)"Big" John McCarthy explains:
First, if a titleholder from the UFC fights either in the UFC or in another promotion and loses to a fighter not under contract to the UFC, then the UFC just devalued itself and its championship belt. They will not have control of the person who is now considered the top fighter in the world and their belt will be viewed by many people as just another promotional belt instead of the belt that signifies the best fighter in the world at that weight class. People will realize that maybe not all of the greatest fighters in the world fight for the UFC, but that there are other promotions out there that have very good fighters who can fight as good or better than the more popular fighters under contract to Zuffa.
None of this helps the UFC so you can see why they will not be jumping on the WAMMA bandwagon. I can't blame Zuffa at all for looking at this the way it does. They have worked very hard to get where they are. They have their matchmaker in Joe Silva who sets up the matches that Dana White, the president of the UFC, wants to promote. They are a very successful self-contained promotion that has no outside influences telling them what to do. Why would they want to let someone in that can now influence their promotion in anyway?
This is the problem that confronts Dave Szade and Michael Lynch, the chief executive officer and chief operating officer, respectively, of WAMMA. They have a pretty good idea, and I want to see the best fighters in the world fighting each other no matter what promotion they are signed to. Politics and money have a huge influence over all of the combative sports and since that is not going to change, it is going to take a "hell freezing over" moment or a shift in the political power of the sport before you see the UFC and WAMMA working together.
Evan Tanner Could Die In The Desert
(mmamania.com)Seriously. For his latest adventure, Tanner plans, in his own words, "on going so deep into the desert, that any failure of my equipment, could cost me my life." He still needs to address some medical issues before returning to UFC, which he'll probably do upon his return from the desert...if he returns.
Grove Puts Fatherhood, Business Ahead Of Fighting For Now
(mmajunkie.com)Coming off a "must-win" fight against Evan Tanner to poteneitally save his UFC career, Kendall Grove now plans to take time off until early 2009. He plans to be home with his wife and newborn daughter and to open a new school/training facility in Hawaii with fellow Hawaiian fighter Troy Mandaloniz.
Jorge Rivera Daughter Memorial Fund Created
(mmamania.com)Over the past weekend UFC fighter Kenny Florian announced details of a memorial fund set up in honor of Jorge Rivera's daughter Jessica, who died unexpectedly earlier this month. The address to send donations to is below:
USMMA
316 Hartford Ave.
Bellingham, MA 02019
Checks should be made out to Jorge Rivera.
Anthony Johnson Targeting October Return
(mmaweekly.com)Seeming to have put the controversial TKO "eye poke loss" behind him, Anthony Johnson recently noted that while he wasn't happy with the fight's outcome, he's put it behind him and is planning to return to UFC in October. He could be cleared for a September return but Johnson plans to play it safe and wait a little longer.
Sean Sherk: I Want To Fight The Best Of The Rest
(mmaweekly.com)Not content with facing just anyone in the UFC Lightweight Division, former champion Sean Sherk says he wants to face the toughest competition around, the guys that, if he defeats them, will leave no one doubting that he should be back in the mix, fighting for a UFC championship.
Strikeforce October Event On HDNet
(mmaweekly.com)Strikeforce VP Mike Aframowitz announced over the weekend that the promotion's Denver debut event in October wil air live on HDNet. This will be the 2nd event of at least 4 this year HDNet will air per an agreement with Strikeforce.
Nate Quarry Injured in Freak Acciedent
(fcfighter.com)This might be old news, but I hadn't really heard much about Nate's injury.
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight Nate Quarry, who secured a place in the highlight reel of 2008 by chasing Kalib Starnes across the Octagon, is recovering from a freak accident a little over a month ago.
Quarry was at a party in Albany, Oregon, where guests were hitting golf balls into a wooded area. Quarry walked straight into the backswing of a young woman, sending the club directly into his left eye. The force of the blow broke Quarry's Orbital Floor, a bone that keeps the eye in place. Doctors estimate the original cast member of “The Ultimate Fighter” will not be able to compete until November or December at the earliest. Despite the bad turn of luck, Quarry has been a good sport about the whole incident.
“I’m just glad it was me and not some kid or other woman,” Quarry says. “We had grown men swinging these clubs. If it would have hit a kid or a woman, it would have smashed their face.”
Quarry says the injury has stalled a search for a new opponent. A rumored UFC card in Portland is in the window of his recovery period, but he is not aware of any proposed match-ups.
“It would be great to fight in Portland,” he says. “First, I have to heal up from this though.”
Heath Herring Contradicts Himself
(bloodyelbow.com)There have been conflicting reports since the evening of weigh-ins for UFC 87 regarding whether or not Heath Herring or his team made disparaging remarks towards Brock Lesnar prior to their fight. Lesnar and UFC prez Dana White say there were, while Herring has denied saying anything derogatory about the former wrestler (or any of his previous opponents, for that matter).
One thing which neither side has disputed to this point was the fact that Herring refused to walk out to the cage before Lesnar when asked by UFC execs. Herring even said as much on the August 12th episode of Sherdog's "Beatdown" radio show.
Quinton Jackson's arraignment delayed as investigation continues
(mmajunkie.com)Quinton Jackson's scheduled arraignment last Friday on charges following his July arrest was postponed, as police and the Orange County District Attorney's office continue their investigation.
The 30-year-old former UFC light heavyweight champion was arrested on July 15 on suspicion of hit-and-run driving, felony evading and reckless driving. A new arraignment date has not been scheduled.
The delay could put a crimp in the UFC's plans to bring Jackson back to the Octagon as early as November, which, even in our lenient, second-chance society might be premature.
UFC Quick Quote: Patrick Cote will ‘take care of’ Anderson Silva on October 25
(mmamania.com)“We know how to beat Anderson Silva. The only way to beat him is to push the pace. Go forward all the time…. You can’t let him get confident and comfortable in the centre of the Octagon. You have to push the pace for five minutes every round. If I do that, I can catch him. I’ll take care of him.”
– Confident Cote strikes again — this time in the Edmonton Sun via Fight Network radio. The Canadian has been talking quite a good game leading up to his fight against 185-pound demon Anderson Silva at UFC 90: “Silva vs. Cote” at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Ill., on October 25. However, the “Spider” has demolished virtually ever fighter who has adopted the “in your face” strategy inside the Octagon. See James Irvin, Rich Franklin (twice), Nate Marquardt and Chris Leben.
Gabe Ruediger Returning To MMA
(mmajunkie.com)Former TUF 5 castoff Gabe Ruediger is preparing to return to MMA at a fundraiser event on August 30 in Santa Monica, California. Ruediger, coming off neck surgery earlier this year, will face Justin Wilson in a fight at 160 pounds.
Event poster for DREAM 6 on September 23 in Saitama, Japan
(mmamania.com)Official DREAM.6 event poster, featuring the four Middleweight GP finalists (Jacare, Galesic, Mousasi, Manhoef), Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Ikuhisa Minowa, Sergei Kharitonov, Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (but no Nick Diaz) and Hideo Tokoro (who is scheduled to face Atsushi Yamamoto).
Can Lightning Strike Twice For Affliction?
(mmaweekly.com)It's been almost a month since Affliction's debut event and the buzz is still flying. Even though Affliction, on paper, spent a reported $3.3M on the roster for the first show, most fans believe it was a successful event. After all, Andrei Arlovski had possibly his best performance in years against Ben Rothwell. Josh Barnett was successful in his revenge victory against Pedro Rizzo. The main event, albeit short, grew Fedor Emelianenko's legacy even further with his 36-second demolition of former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia.
With all of the success that Affliction had in its debut event, it needs to keep the momentum going. Pay-per-view buys will be crucial to the promotion's success. Affliction does have the backing of multi-billionaire Donald Trump to help its credibility. Affliction vice president Tom Atencio insisted that their debut event did over 100,000 pay-per-view buys, which would be considered a good start.
Herring Moving On, Wants Rematch With Lesnar
(mmaweekly.com)Heath Herring was convincingly defeated by Brock Lesnar at UFC 87 on Aug. 9 at the Target Center in Minneapolis by unanimous decision. Unhappy with his performance and the outcome, Herring looks to the future and would eventually like a rematch with the Division I collegiate wrestling champion and former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar.
Herring had high expectations heading into the octagon against Lesnar, but was caught by a right hand in the opening moments of the bout that sent him and his expectations crashing to the canvas.
"I think that shot pretty much changed the whole dynamic of the fight," said Herring. "I sure would like to know what would have happened if it hadn't landed."
"Once that right hand landed it was like I was fighting half blind, or pretty much blind at that point. It was all pretty much downhill from there," explained the 30-year-old heavyweight. " I just tried to come back and mount some type of offense. Unfortunately, I was never able to mount anything that significant...After getting rocked with a shot like that, and not being able to see, you're more in survival mode."
Jared Shaw on Gary, CBS, and female MMA: "I don’t think it’s just the Gina Carano weight class anymore."
(mmayou.com)Danny Acosta: Can you comment on Gary stepping down?
Jared Shaw: What’s out there is the truth. That is Gary just had a lot going on between family, travel at his age, and his boxing. He’s got really spectacular fall cards: Alfredo Angulo fighting on the 4TH on HBO, you’ve got [Antonio] Tarver-Chad Dawson world title fight on Showtime in October, Sergio Mora contender fight with Vernon Forrest…
DA: EliteXC was definitely steered by Gary’s vision, how will the direction of the company change now that he’s not involved?
JS: I don’t think that’ll change at all. The production remains the same. You have Showtime and CBS as the platform and their people do a fantastic job at producing these shows and making them great for television. All the fights are still in tact, with the same matchmaking team, the same guys completely working for the promotion.
We just don’t have the face, which was Gary. Right now we don’t have a face, but I like to think EliteXC the brand is the face.
UFC 91 - “Rampage” Jackson vs Wanderlei Silva
(mmabay.co.uk)Mmabay have learned from a very reliable source that the main event for the yet to be announced November show, UFC 91, will be between former UFC light heavyweight champion, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva.
Although no location has been determined for the event to take lace at this time, the UFC have been busy in putting together one of the biggest and most anticipated matches in UFC history. Both have aspirations of getting into the title mix and this fight, although very dangerous for both will greatly propel the winner up the ranks for a possible shot next year.
Although coming off a loss and suffering personal problems, Jackson is back in the gym with a new trainer and working hard to be in shape for this one. He will need to be, as he’s faced Silva twice before and was dominated both times. Silva himself has seemingly shaken his losing streak with the kind of performance we are used to against Keith Jardine in May, knocking him out in the first round.
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