When BJ Penn ruthlessly submitted Joe Stevenson at UFC 80, I knew the BJ Penn I grew to become an uber fan of had returned to form, and the whole lightweight division was put on notice.

In his post fight interview, he made a statement that still echoes in my head to this day:

“Sean Sherk… you’re dead”

Immediately after this statement, he bolted out of the cage.

Classic BJ.

Sean Sherk has been pretty vocal about his feelings towards BJ since Penn claimed the vacant UFC lightweight title from Joe Stevenson at UFC 80. Sherk was stripped of that title when he tested positive for the steroid Nandrolone

“His comment that he made, I didn’t like that either. And the funny thing is that I’m the one that got boo’d.

BJ has a lot of natural ability, but so do I. I’ve got just as much natural talent as he does, the only difference is I got the mental ability and the heart. Come fight night, you’ll see that. I’m going to make him quit. I’m going to come at him hard and after that first round he is going to realize that after that first round, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll get right up in his face and I’m going to fight. Mentally, I think he’s got some quit in him. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it in the past. If you push him, he’ll quit.

For me, winning the belt again, getting it back, is redemption. It’s about getting everything behind me, getting all that stuff behind me, beating BJ, getting that belt back. It’s all about redemption.

This fight with BJ, it’s personal. He said a lot of things about me that aren’t true and he’s talked a lot of smack. BJ is the kind of guy that he has to hate you to fight you. This will be the first time that I’ve actually fought someone that I have a problem with. So I am looking forward to it.”

I cannot wait for this fight. Sean Sherk has a strong wrestling background, but BJ Penn has serious take down defense, better striking, and jiu-jitsu for days. If Sherk does put Penn on his back, he is going to have to deal with the world class submission skills of “The Prodigy”.

UFC 84 cannot come soon enough.

After a hard fought bout that was as exciting on the ground as it was on the feet, Matthew Riddle succumbed to a Tim Credeur arm bar in round 2.

We open episode 3 with Team Forrest still in control, and Rampage Jackson’s frustration has seemingly increased.

“No doubt about it, Matt Riddle has made me a better fighter. Warrior-to-Warrior, I appreciate that.”

After the Credeur/Riddle fight, Credeur shows a touch of class by offering to buy Matt Riddle an XBOX 360 with his 10,000 dollar fight purse.

“I have been fighting for a long time and you are one of the toughest kids I have ever fought. I owe you an XBOX, I’ll buy it for you.”

Looks like there are no losers in this fight.

In the previous 4 episodes, we have seen Jeremy May make potshots at some of the other fighters on the show. I noticed this around episode 2, and it seems as if the producers are setting us up for some type of showdown or rivalry.

They also do a good job of showing clips of his pompous attitude.

“This house bores you so bad. I definitely miss having sex like 2/3x a day. But hey when I get back I might break my girlfriends back, you know.”

Back at training camp, Quinton Jackson brings one of his training partners, and TUF winner, Michael Bisping. Bisping spars and rolls with the guys, and will provide some inspiration for the team.

“Don’t slack with your training, don’t get drunk at the house. Eat right, get your sleep in. Everything I didn’t do.” Says Bisping, jokingly.

This is a pretty smart move on Rampage’s part; hopefully it will help secure a win for his team.

After training at the TUF gym, Jeremy May is up to his usual antics at the Ultimate Fighter house. He manages to really aggravate Matt Brown and sets up another potential feud. The Dante/Riddle feud didn’t materialize into anything, so watch and see if this turn of events morphs into the first grudge match of the season.

The Ultimate Fighter airs on SpikeTV Wednesdays at 10PM/EST. Tune in to see who is fighting and who comes out on top in episode 5.

To check out “MMA safer than ever, but concussions a risk” from David Avila’s MMA notebook for MSNBC.com, click here.

To check out “Travis Lutter sounds off on the haters and more” from FightTicker.com, click here.

To check out “Amir Sadollah’s Ultimate Fighter Blog (Episode 4)” from Carlos Arias’ Keep Punching blog, click here.

To check out “Organizers scramble to fill void at UFC 85” from Steve Sievert’s Brawl Sports blog, click here.

To check out “Some UFC 83 losers might need plan B” from Sievert’s Brawl Sports blog, click here.

To check out “Black Bear says hats, and audio, off during UFC 83” from Larry Vollmer Jr.’s Inside the Octagon blog, click here.

To check out “Rampage Jackson claims he didn’t call Wanderlei Silva ‘The Chump Murderer,’ audio negates claim” from Vollmer’s Inside the Octagon blog, click here.

My blog is the official posting spot for TUF7 middleweight competitor, Mike Dolce.

Mike was selected to fight in the opening round of the single elimination tournament and, unfortunately, lost his fight. After the loss, Mike made some comments on this blog stating that he was a little over trained and tired going into his fight. Many readers saw this as a cop out , an excuse, or what have you.

Some of the less then flattering comments include :

– yes your blog did make you sound like a [expletive] that was crying about losing a fight.

– Dolce is an alright guy but come on he talked [expletive] and then did nothing. Fights a guy that is tough and ends up losing again. – this blog entry did not really leave me with the feeling that Dolce shouldered the loss as he says. He says that he doesn’t blame anyone else for the loss and that it is squarely on his shoulders. If he really feels that way about the results of the fight why is he talking up the excessive training and the injury in the first place. At least in my interpretation of his blog, Dolce clearly shows how upset he was about those issues. I got the distinct feeling that he did in fact blame the training/coaching of team Rampage for his loss.

Well, it looks like Quinton Jackson agrees with Mike; he even offers an apology. Rampage has his own TUF7 blog on ign.com and made the following comments after reading Dolce’s blog:

I read that Mike Dolce may have thought he was overtrained going into his fight. My bad on that. The thing about Mike Dolce being overtrained is that a lot of those guys came into the show training real hard because they were cast months in advance, and my dumb ass was not aware of that. My whole theory is to not to overtrain guys, just to have them do enough to be ready to fight. Mike Dolce said that he was at his breaking point, but I did not catch it or understand what he was talking about, so we kept pushing him. Had he been more specific or explicit in not wanting to go any further, I would have let up a lot. I made a lot of mistakes with him because I didn’t have enough time to get to know him and what he’d respond to in training. I blame myself for that loss. Mike, if you readin’ this, I’m sorry man.

TICKETS ON SALE FOR HISTORIC ELITEXC FIGHT CARD SATURDAY, MAY 31, PRUDENTIAL CENTER, NEWARK, N.J.

Kimbo, Gina Carano, Robbie Lawler, ‘Hands Of Steel’ Smith, Phil Baroni, Joey Villasenor Among The Standouts Featured On First-Ever MMA Card on Primetime Network Television

Fans seeking to participate in what some regard as the most important fight card in mixed martial arts history, presented by Los Angeles-based ProElite Inc.’s live fight division, EliteXC, have the opportunity to reserve their seats now.

Tickets, starting at $25, for a history-making event Saturday, May 31, at the Prudential Center at Newark, N.J., are available at Ticketmaster locations, by phone at (201) 507-8900, online at www.ticketmaster.com and at the Prudential Center website at www.prucenter.com . Doors open at 5 p.m. ET. The first live fight is at 6:30.

“I’m obviously very excited to come back to New Jersey, which is my home and a place where I served as a member of the board of the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board,’’ said EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw. “Newark is a great city and the Prudential Center is one of the newest, most modern facilities in the United States.

“No one is better at running an event center than AEG. I’m very pleased to be working with them again. From start to finish, it is going to be a spectacular, memorable night of exciting fights and entertainment for fans in the tri-state area. Top to bottom, everybody’s matched tough.

“Kimbo is really excited about returning to New Jersey to fight on May 31. I know he wants to put on a show and continue his magical trip from the street to Elite.’’

The card will be the first-ever MMA event shown live in primetime on network television. “CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS” will air on the CBS Television Network at 9-11 p.m. ET/PT.

The incredibly popular Kimbo Slice (2-0) of Perrine, Fla., will face England’s James “Colossus’’ Thompson (14-8) in what will be a thrilling main event of an outstanding show.

In other televised fights, EliteXC middleweight champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (15-4) of St. Louis, by way of Davenport, Iowa, will defend against Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (13-4) of Sacramento, Calif.; Gina Carano (5-0) of Las Vegas, Nev., faces Kaitlin Young (4-1) of Circle Pines, Minn., in an excellent women’s fight at 140 pounds; Phil Baroni (10-9) of Long Island, N.Y., faces Joey Villasenor (25-6) in a 185-pound scrap and unbeaten Brett Rogers (6-0) of Minneapolis throws down with Jon Murphy (4-2) of Minersville, Pa., in a heavyweight match.

The Lawler-Smith dispute, scheduled for five, 5-minute rounds, figures to be a slugfest. The other fights are slated for three, 5-minute sessions with the exception of Carano-Young, which is set for three, 3-minute rounds (see Fighter Pages below).

Matchups for non-televised, undercard bouts that will be streamed live at ProElite.com will be announced soon. Fans can watch pre- and post-fight interviews only at ProElite.com.

Kimbo, who’s trained by the respected legendary fighter and trainer, the no-nonsense Bas Rutten, has required all of 62 seconds to dispatch of his initial two MMA opponents. Kimbo, aka Kevin Ferguson, has shown ferocious striking skills but has yet to be taken to the ground.

“We’re continuing to work on polishing his striking and we’ve changed his stance, which has made him an even better striker,’’ Rutten said. “He is more explosive now and fit. But for a guy who has had only two MMA fights, Kimbo continues to do everything right.

“He is going to surprise everybody with his ground game, especially those who believe he doesn’t have one. After about 200 street fights, he is putting it all on the line and taking a big risk. James Thompson is going to be a great opponent.’’

Already a major MMA attraction, Kimbo made a name for himself on the Internet where videos of the bald, bearded, menacing-looking former underground bare-knuckle street fighter have been downloaded literally millions of times on YouTube.

Kimbo registered a 43-second, first-round knockout (punches) over Tank Abbott in his last start Feb. 16, 2008, in Miami, Fla. Dangerously explosive and always one punch away from ending a fight, Kimbo won his MMA debut Nov. 10, 2007, stopping Bo Cantrell in 19 seconds.

“I’m looking forward to fighting Thompson in Newark on CBS,’’ said Kimbo, who recently re-signed with EliteXC. “But I love to fight and always look forward to fighting. It really doesn’t matter where or against whom. Everybody knows that.

“To all the MMA fighters who continue to disrespect me, to all those who say I don’t have a ground game, I lack this, I lack that, I say, ‘stop talking and bring it on. I’m ready.’ ’’

Thompson, who trains with Randy Couture at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, could be Kimbo’s toughest test. Since going pro in January 2003, the former Pride and Cage Rage fighter has defeated the likes of Dan Severn, Japanese judo legend Hidehiko Yoshida and Don Frye.

The 29-year-old, six-foot-five Thompson possesses significant advantages in age (three years), height (three inches) and experience. The Brit has fought all over the world.

But the key may be whether a veteran known for heavy hands will come out and look for takedowns and try to use his size to wear down Kimbo from the top position on the ground.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for me and I will have a solid game plan for it,’’ said Thompson, who has won four times by submission. “The world will be watching. I’ll be ready.’’

Long regarded as one of the world’s most gifted middleweights, Lawler will be making the first defense of the EliteXC belt he won in dramatic, convincing fashion with a third-round TKO (strikes) over defending champion Murilo “Ninja” Rua on Sept. 15, 2007, in Honolulu.

“I fought a smart and controlled fight and kept my distance, but that is how I fight these days,’’ Lawler said. “I told my corner after the second round that I was going to knock him out.’’

Lawler rocked and mocked Rua several times before dropping him with a left hand. After a series of jackhammer right hands and two more lefts, the referee halted matters at 2:04.

While he performed with poise against Rua, the crowd-pleasing Lawler is known for an aggressive, unbashful, at times swing-for-the-fences style, and for putting as much heart and bad intentions behind his punches and lethal flying knee attacks as anyone could expect.

“Every fight’s big, at the time,’’ said Lawler, who recently re-signed with EliteXC. “You live by the moment, fight for today. May 31 is obviously a big fight for me, and more people will be watching. But once I’m in the cage, they’re (his fights are) all equal.”

Smith is a “freestyle” fighter and knockout artist who comes out throwing bombs with an abandon that’s made him a huge fan favorite. Aptly nicknamed “Hands Of Steel’’—he’s a union field foreman in his family’s steel business – he’s won 11 of his fights by KO or TKO.

But one of the most dangerous strikers in the business also owns a strong wrestling background and possesses terrific cardio. Smith’s two other triumphs were by submission

In his EliteXC debut, Smith rallied after losing the first round to knock out Kyle Noke at 0:07 in the second. Two brutal, picture-perfect right hands did all the damage.

“I didn’t fight the first round like I usually do, but I started to get comfortable and find my range toward the end of it,’’ said Smith, who has won nine times in the first round. “I came out pumped for the second and made up for it. Once I got inside – bam—I knocked him down.”

Until numbing Noke, Smith was best known for his dramatic comeback victory over Pete Sell in perhaps the most totally unexpected, shocking ending to a MMA fight in history.

“Fans know I come to war, that I’m a fighter,’’ said Smith, who rallied from the brink of defeat to score a second-round knockout over Sell Nov. 11, 2006. “I think they love that I engage and I keep punching until I knock you out. They can read that when they watch me in the cage.’’

Since its inception, EliteXC has consistently included women’s fighters on its cards. None is more popular than Carano, the most recognizable female MMA fighter in the world.

Carano, aka “Crush” on American Gladiators, will be making her first start since she got up from a hard early takedown to record a 2:53, first-round submission (rear naked choke) over Tonya Evinger on Sept. 15, 2007, in Honolulu.

“When she got me down, I knew I couldn’t freak and had to keep my composure,’’ said Carano, who celebrated her first submission by running around the cage. “After reversing her, I considered standing up. But I’ve been practicing working on top, so I just went through with it.’‘

It’s apparent the moment you meet Carano that she’s the epitome of strength; a strong woman: mentally, spiritually and physically. Yes, she is more than a pretty face. And the Muay Thai specialist also is smart enough to know she had better not underestimate Young.

“I don’t take anyone lightly,’’ said Carano, who trains at Xtreme Couture gym and also recently re-signed with EliteXC. “I’ve got a big target on me.’’

Carano, who’s not afraid to hit or get hit, garnered national notoriety in 2007 for her quote: “We’re not hitting tennis balls. We’re hitting people. Isn’t that more exciting?”

The talented Young, a devastating striker with excellent skills and a solid Muay Thai background, is excited about getting the chance to test her skills against Carano.

“I’m totally pumped,’’ Young said. “Gina always comes to fight and doesn’t seem to have an off day. I think on paper we are probably even. One of my greatest advantages is definitely that I have a very aggressive striking style. I think it’s more aggressive than Gina’s.’’

Young won her pro debut with a second-round TKO on Oct. 4, 2007, and then gained instant notoriety the following Nov. 24 by registering three devastating first-round knockouts to win a HOOKnSHOOT eight-woman, single night tournament in Indiana. Total fight time: 1:53.

Baroni is a flamboyant, trash-talking, KO artist who exploded on the scene in 2001.
MMA fans may love or hate him, but they can’t ignore a true showman and personality who always makes for entertaining, memorable, non-stop slugfests. His entrance alone, some say, is worth the price of admission. He is of the best interviews in all of sports.

With his pulverizing punching power and dynamic energy that triggers an edgy persona, Baroni truly believes—sometimes until his very last breath—that he’s going to win every time.

Baroni, who’s fought the best, may not always back up his words but he’s tough and courageous and one would be hard-pressed to find a fan seated during one of his fights.

“I am sick and tired of what’s been going on and someone’s going to pay and that someone is Villasenor,’’ said Baroni, who has lost two in a row (both were world title fights). “I am going to knock the s—- out of Villasenor and then go after one of the champions again.’’

Villasenor is a well-conditioned, determined, battle-tested, well-rounded veteran who’s always been willing to fight anybody, anytime, anywhere.

“I’ll fight whoever they put in front of me,’’ said a native of Albuquerque, N.M., and a protégé of MMA guru, Greg Jackson. “You can bet there will be a lot of fireworks in this one.’’

A former King of the Cage champion, Villasenor enters this one with momentum, having won his last two starts, including an exciting 4:45, first-round knockout over Ryan Jensen in a rousing battle that featured numerous exchanges on March 29, 2008, in San Jose, Calif.

“He caught me with some shots but then I really connected with that right hook,’’ said Villasenor, who stopped Jensen with a series of combinations followed by the punishing right.

Rogers, a big, scary, intimidating sort, will be making his third consecutive appearance for EliteXC. “I’m extremely happy working for them,’’ he said. “EliteXC is a great organization and nothing compares to how I’ve been treated by them. They definitely take care of their guys.’’

The hard-hitting six-foot-five, 27-year-old Rogers has ended his last four fights in the first round. Only one of the relative newcomer’s fights has made it to the second. “When I touch you with my fists, you are going down,’’ said Rogers, a member of Team Bison who has only been training two years.

Rogers got involved in MMA to keep him off the streets. “Life for me has never been easy,’’ he said. “I’d always lived in bad areas, terrible environments, first where I grew up on the south side of Chicago, and then in Minnesota where I moved to in 1992.

“You had no choice but to learn to pick things up. I’m a patient man but everyone has a breaking point. But I knew it was better to train and fight pro then fight on the streets. If I am going to fight, it had better be for the right reasons and get me paid.’’

Murphy scored a career-best 0:19, second-round knockout over Dave Huckaba in his last outing on Aug. 25, 2007, in Jackson, Miss. He dropped Huckaba with a series of punches, the most damaging of which were four vicious right hands.

The following December the former middle linebacker at Syracuse University underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Murphy was back in the gym by early January ‘08. Before resuming training, however, he had a complete hair makeover.

On New Year’s Day, Murphy, who hadn’t seen the inside of a barbershop since October ‘05, shaved his shoulder-length hair and donated it to Locks Of Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to children under 18 who suffer from long-term medical hair loss.
“I had known about them for about a year,’’ Murphy said. “It took a while for my hair to grow the required 10 inches it took to donate. I wound up donating about 15 inches.’’

For more information on EliteXC and other MMA-related stories, including bios, video-on-demand, photos, stats, Fantasy Fight Game TM and more, please visit ProElite.com and EliteXC.com.

Down but not out…

So this episode picks up on the tail end of my fight with Jesse.

Jesse fought hard and was an ox in the cage, especially in his comfort zone – on the mat. I should have been able to execute my game plan better, but could not, and paid for that. The opportunity gave me a great reference to pull from in the days and weeks to come in an effort to put myself back into contention, which was my only thought from the second Herb Dean woke me up on the floor of the octagon.

With that fight behind me, I knew I would not be fighting in the foreseeable future. Mine was the first “tournament” fight of “The Ultimate Fighter 7” and there were seven more fights to go in this round before I would be eligible to re-enter the tournament due to default. If I was truly out of the tournament, then I was out for good. But if I had any chance at all to get back in, I was not going to squander it by getting drunk and blowing my diet.

In my mind, someone was going to drop out, and a spot would open up.

My spot.

And I would be ready.

Walking back into the fighter house that afternoon, I was embraced by my peers, who all offered accolades and notions of encouragement. Among most, the consensus was that I fought my heart out to the very last second, opting to pass out rather than tap out. It’s a move respected by true fighters, and not yet understood by casual fans, though I didn’t quite grasp what was being conveyed until later that night while lying alone in my bunk.

I thanked the guys, grabbed a shower and a bite to eat, and took a much needed power nap. Team Rampage was training at 5 p.m. and I’d be damned if they took the mat without me!

Dante and Riddle

Dante Rivera is one of my good friends from back home in NJ. I was his first strength coach nearly five years ago when he was training with Kurt Pellegrino under the legendary Renzo Gracie and Ricardo Almeida. Team Renzo/Almeida is very much a family, and each of the students are bonded as brothers.

Dante and I became very close in those days, and I was excited to see him make the house with me, as well as my other good friend and Team Quest teammate, Gerald “Hurricane” Harris.

It should be of no surprise that the three of us teamed up right away and grabbed the best three-man bedroom in the house. The only room with its own full bathroom!

In the bedroom next to ours, Matthew Riddle, Matt Brown and Amir Sadollah planted their own stakes, sharing a bathroom with Brandon “Mohawk” Sene, Cale Yarbrough and Dan Cramer.

Matthew Riddle is a big, bungling kid. Kind of like a sweet rottweiler puppy that keeps crapping on the floor, but you can’t really get mad because he just doesn’t know any better.

Riddle and I got along right away. We’re both southpaws from the East Coast and the only two guys with knockouts in the 32-man tournament. We argued as to whose KO was better and both agreed that mine was more technical, but his was more memorable. Fair enough (but I still like mine better!)

What you saw of the “Dante and Riddle Show,” as it came to be known, was a pretty accurate depiction of the events as they transpired.

But more about that in the weeks to come…

Jumping to the action, I knew Tim Credeur had his hands full with Riddle. By fight time, both teams had been training together for a full week, and for us that meant 14 hardcore workouts together. I had seen Credeur fight my teammate, Chael Sonnen in Bodog, and I spent the better part of 30 hours battling Riddle in the gym. I remember thinking that this was a good match-up for Team Rampage.

Credeur is a legit Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and had been tested in international competition. His confidence was pretty high going into a fight with some punk kid who had one more MMA fight than hairs on his chin…exactly two!

But Riddle was a high school national wrestling champion and had been drafted by one of the top wrestling colleges on the East coast. Plus, he’s a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt with numerous submission victories over a few black belts in grappling tournaments. Not too shabby.

I was fortunate to corner Riddle for his fight and was impressed with his composure during the warm-ups. This kid had competed thousands of times in his, and today was just another competition.

Through the thin walls of our locker room we could hear Tim and Team Forrest screaming, yelling and slamming each other around. Not good before a fight. It seemed to me that Tim was activating too soon and starting the adrenaline dump way too early, while we on Team Rampage were keeping things fun but focused on the job at hand.

The fight itself was a battle of attrition – a seesaw of events with both guys left bleeding.

Tim proved to be too grizzled for the newcomer and exploded on a textbook armbar when Riddle lost position while trying to hit an Eddie Bravo “Twister.”

Ya can’t fault a kid for trying!

Afterwards, Riddle kept to his “Chipper” persona, especially after Credeur came into our locker room and promised to buy Riddle a brand new X-Box 360 with the $10 G’s he had just won by tapping Matthew out of the tournament.

Credeur took one step higher in my book for being a true class act.

Tune in next time as the house and the cage explodes!

Mike Dolce is a cast member of “The Ultimate Fighter 7.” He is a professional fighter, strength coach and sports nutritionist. For more information, and to read past blogs, go to www.MikeDolceMMA.com

Episode 4 – After Jesse Taylor defeated Mike Dolce in the opening round of the single elimination middleweight tournament, Team Forrest has control.



Jesse Taylor decides to knock a few drinks back after his victory , and consequently, the first installment of TUF house destruction begins. On a side note, the producers of TUF 7  do a great job of making Jesse Taylor look like a complete dope.



In episode 4,the groundwork is laid out for a feud between Matthew Riddle and Dante Rivera begins.

“Dante’s a character. I just bust his balls and he busts my balls.  It’s fun” says Riddle.

“Riddle is always running his mouth, and who knows what he is even talking about half of the time. He’s pretty sarcastic so I like to
break his chops here and there. “ Claims Rivera.

At this point in the show, it seems like they are ribbing each other in a joking fashion, but maybe this will lead to something more serious down the road. Rivera publicly states that if he ever lost to Matthew Riddle, he would retire.



Let the drama ensue.



Over at the TUF training facility, Rampage pushes his team pretty hard during practice. This allows Rampage to see what his team is made of. The team speculates about the upcoming fight. Since Team Forrest has control, they have to get inside the mind of Griffin and try to figure out who he will select from Team Rampage to fight next.

“Forrest looks stupid, but he isn’t as stupid as he looks…so I am pretty sure he is going to put his best guy against one of my worst
guys.” says Rampage.

*** SPOILER ALERT – If you don’t want to know who is chosen to fight before tonight’s episode, then don’t read any further. ***



















Seriously don’t….

















OK – back to the action.



Forrest Griffin selects Tim Credeur from his team and says Credeur’s opponent will be Matthew Riddle. Earlier in the episode, Riddle was going on and on about how he couldn’t wait to fight; his wish has been granted.



You may recall that Matt Riddle was the guy that broke Dan Simmler’s jaw in episode two; this was one of the worst knockouts in the history of mixed martial arts.





“Tim approached me and thought that him and Matt Riddle would be a good fight and I had no problem with it. Obviously Riddle is a tough kid with heavy hands. He poses some threats to us but Tim is one of our better guys and I think he can take him. He does too and that is the important thing.



“This is going to be an interesting fight.  You know Matt Riddle is a big kid. He is a young strong kid, but he doesn’t have a lot of experience. Credeur is very experienced. This kid has like 15 fights. He has trained with all of these great guys; he has only lost to two really great guys. It’s going to be interesting to see this young aggressive strong kid with only two fights, against a guy with a ton of experience with 15 fights “ says Dana White”





And an interesting fight it was. If this fight is indicative of the fights we are going to see this season, then this will no doubt be the best season of “The Ultimate Fighter”. This fight was a war on the ground and on the feet.



Who won?



Watch and see. “The Ultimate Fighter 7” airs on Spike TV tonight at 10PM EST.

A few weeks ago, I posted a blog about Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s appearance on the nationally syndicated Opie and Anthony radio show. I posted a few random comments made by the UFC light heavyweight champ. In one of those comments, Jackson said Wanderlei Silva refered to Wanderlei Silva as the “Chump Murderer”, not the “Axe Murderer”.

I just came across an interview published on www.fighthype.com. The interviewer, Percy Crawford, asks Rampage about the controversial comment made about Silva:

I didn’t call Wanderlei the “Chump Murderer.” I ain’t never said nothing like that. That is kind of disrespectful. I just said he was fighting chumps. If people want to put words in my mouth, they need to grow the hell up. I don’t care nothing about some fans getting mad because I’m being a fighter.

Later in the interview:

I can say whatever I want. I am in America and part of being in America is that we have freedom of speech, but I did not say Forrest Weakchin and Wanderlei Chump Murderer. I did not say those words.

This is where the discrepancy lies. I am not sure what controversial comments were said about Forrest, but Quinton blatantly calls Wanderlei “The Chump Murderer”.

I listen to Opie and Anthony every day. I remember this interview very clearly because it is not very often that Opie and Anthony book UFC fighters; when they do I make sure I listen very carefully.

According to the audio from the Opie and Anthony show, Quinton blatantly called Wanderlei “The Chump Murderer”.

Download:

I’d like to start off by saying that I buy every single UFC PPV. In case you haven’t figured this out, I love mixed martial arts. If I know a fight card is less then stellar, as was the case for UFC 83, I will still fork over 45 of my heard earned dollars to ZUFFA LLC so that I can watch the stars of the Ultimate Fighting Championship beat each other up.

A few weeks ago I went to the Black Bear in White Plains to grab some dinner and a beer or two or five. When I arrived at the pub, I saw a UFC 83 poster and my curiosity was immediately piqued. I asked the bartender about the poster and he told me that the Black Bear would be playing UFC 83 on every TV, including a large projection screen, and all of the speakers would be on for the fight.

Now that sounds pretty cool. My brother and I decided that instead of purchasing the PPV, we would go to the Black Bear to check it out. This was not a decision we made to save money; we knew we would be spending money on food and drinks and in the long run it would probably cost more then ordering a pie and watching the PPV at one of our places. The idea of being able to watch the PPV on 8 different LCD’s and have high definition audio blaring through surround sound speakers is what sold us on the idea. We arrived at Black Bear, paid our $5.00 cover and sat at a table.

We got there early so we could secure a good spot, and that is exactly what we got. We had clear view of every TV in the place. We ordered some food and waited patiently. The Yankee game was on so that helped kill some time until the PPV pre show which begins at 9:30. Around 9:00PM “DJ Buttaz”, pronounced Butt-Uh-ZZZ – emphasis on the ZZZ, gets on the “ones and two’s” and starts playing all of the greatest hits from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and today. I assume his name is DJ Buttaz because his musical compositions are as smooth as butter. Good one.

9:30PM comes around and DJ Buttaz is still playing his awful brand of #1 hits from the last 3 decades. Some concern was starting to set in because I wanted to watch the UFC 83 pre show. I realize it’s the same 7 minutes of pre fight hype that loops until the PPV begins, but I still like to watch it. I asked the waiter what was going on and he said the audio would turn on once the fight started.

9:55PM hits and “DJ Buttaz” makes an announcement that the fight audio would turn on in about 20 minutes. The fight starts in 5 minutes! When 10:00pm rolls around, the owners of the bar switch the TV’s over to the UFC broadcast. No audio, though. Buttaz is still spinning the jams. I see the familiar gladiator intro, but no opera chorus, no “Face the Pain” intro music, no pre fight trash talking interviews, nothing. Instead, we were treated to “867-5309 Jenny” . I had invited my friend Germain to come to the Black Bear and I am happy he opted to watch the fight at home. The gladiator intro is his favorite part of the whole event and he would be pretty disappointed if he did not get to hear it.

Twenty minutes passes. We can’t hear any of the commentary from Mike Goldberg or Kenny Florian. DJ Buttaz just couldn’t resist playing as many hits as possible before he was forced to switch audio over to the PPV.

After missing the walk in music of Mark Bocek, Mac Danzig, and half of Bruce Buffer’s announcing, the audio switches over to the fight. Awesome. The night is finally underway and we can now enjoy ourselves. That familiar excitement sets in; the excitement that you feel about once every six weeks when a UFC PPV goes live.

After Danzig chokes out Bocek, I am eager to hear what Danzig has to say. I wouldn’t get to hear his post fight commentary, though, because DJ Buttaz decided that it was more important to play the Bee Gee’s then it was to let people hear the fight audio they paid for.

This would happen the rest of the night. We got audio for the fight, and crappy music immediately after the bell sounded for third round or when a fight was finished. The only time we could hear what was going on was during the actual fight. It was discouraging, it was annoying, and I will NEVER go back to the Black Bear to watch a UFC PPV.

Another highly annoying incident occurred right at 10:00 PM as the PPV was about to start. My brother and I were wearing baseball caps. We didn’t think much of it because, you know, we were at a bar that was playing baseball games and UFC fights. Not exactly the atmosphere that suggests patrons don a black tie and tuxedo. From the corner of my eye I catch a bouncer all but sprinting toward us. This clown even hops over a table to get to our sitting area. God forbid he say excuse me to the four people blocking his path to get to our table. This is a man on a mission. Look out fellas, this guy means business!

My mixed martial arts training has me immediately thinking I should get into my defense stance and deliver a push front kick to the mid section of this guy who seems to be charging right at me. I decided against that, though, because I wanted to see the PPV. Besides, I could take him down if I had to and dispose of him from there if any immediate threat came to light.

After all of the dramatics, he gains access to our table and tells us that you can’t wear hats inside the Black Bear, a bar that plays baseball, basketball, football, NASCAR, and now UFC fights.

We remove our hats. At this point we realized what a huge mistake we made, but we didn’t want to miss the first fight so we opted to stay instead of leaving. The bouncer was bobbing and weaving through other bar patrons to let other people know they had to remove their hats. It was of most importance that this clown maintains the integrity of a bar that plays sports non stop.

I will never, EVER, EVER return to the Black Bear to watch a UFC fight. I’m so annoyed at that place I probably wouldn’t even return for a beer.

If you are going to charge people to watch a fight, let them hear it. They advertised on their website that the fight audio would be on. I even called to double check and was told that we would be able to hear the entire fight.

Also, figure out whether you want to be a yuppie bar or a sports bar. If I come to watch the Yankee game, chances are I might wear a Yankees hat. Ironically, I was wearing a UFC hat that I won during the weigh in at UFC 55.

As the surly comedian Jim Norton would say, the Black Bear STINKS, and I don’t like it.

To check out “Dan Henderson looks for his next challenge” from David Avila’s MMA notebook for MSNBC.com, click here.

To check out “If Serra loses to GSP, Matt Hughes will be waiting” from Larry Vollmer Jr.’s Inside the Octagon blog, click here.

To check out “UFC 83 preview: Mental edge to Serra” from Steve Sievert’s Brawl Sports blog, click here.

To check out “TUF 7 Episode 3 in a fighter’s shoes” from FightTicker.com, click here.

To check out “Amir Sadollah’s Ultime Fighter Blog (Episode 3)” from Carlos Arias’ Keep Punching blog, click here.

To check out “Serra relishes underdog role” from Carlos Arias’ Keep Punching blog, click here.