OPEN CASTING CALL FOR SEASON 11 OF “THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER”

WHO: Professional Mixed Martial Arts Fighters in the light heavyweight (205 lb) and middleweight classes (185 lbs)
WHEN: MONDAY, OCTOBER 26

Registration is from 8:00-9:00am

Arriving early is encouraged

WHERE:

Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel
9620 Airport Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90045

Phone: 301-337-2800

Open Casting Call for Season 11 of Spike TV’s hit series “The Ultimate Fighter”

Applicants will grapple and hit pads so please dress appropriately and bring all necessary gear.

The series begins taping in Las Vegas in January.
Requirements:

In what may be the most watched episode in “The Ultimate Fighter” history, Kimbo Slice will take on former IFL heavyweight champion Roy Nelson tonight for a chance to advance in the TUF 10 heavyweight tournament.

The casual fan, or youtube monger, will probably think that Kimbo is going to walk through Nelson, especially given Nelson’s less then Herculean physique; I am pretty confident that “Big Country” will be the fighter advancing tonight.

I suspect that Roy will try to showcase some of his stand up and box a bit with Kimbo. If Roy gets caught with some powerful strikes, expect him to seek an immediate take down and utilize his jiu-jitsu skills, which are plenty, in an effort to submit Kimbo. If he doesn’t get caught, I suspect Nelson will probably box as long as he can, then shoot for the take down once he starts to get tired.

Both of these guys have headlined main events in major MMA promotions, and now find themselves fighting for a shot in the big leagues in the confines of The Ultimate Fighter gym. Regardless of the outcome, I am really looking forward to tonight’s episode.

September 24, 2009, New York, NY – Kimbo Slice, the former YouTube sensation, and current aspiring UFC fighter, makes his first trip into the famed UFC Octagon® against former IFL champ Roy Nelson on the upcoming episode of “The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights” on Wednesday, September 30 at 10:00pm ET/PT. The third episode of the new season, the highest rated ever thus far, was taped in early June.

Slice, a member of Team Rampage, will be taking on Nelson from Team Rashad, a fighter with arguably the most impressive resume among this season’s cast. The winner of the bout advances and will need two more victories to qualify for the live finale on Saturday, December 5 from Las Vegas and a chance to win a six-figure contract with the UFC.

Tale of the Tape:

Kimbo Slice:
Age: 35
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 235 lbs
Hometown: Nassau, Bahamas
Trains: Miami, FL – Team Kimbo
MMA record: 3-1

One of the most intriguing figures in the history of mixed martial arts, Kimbo Slice was born in the Bahamas and moved to Miami with his mother and two brothers. A natural athlete, Slice was a star linebacker at Miami Palmetto High School and was later awarded an athletic scholarship to the University of Miami, although he did not play a down there and left after just a year and a half. After college, Slice struggled to make ends meet, and lived out in his car when employment was impossible to find.

Slice eventually found work as a bodyguard and used his natural fighting skills to protect his clients. In Miami, word spread about Slice’s explosive punching power and soon he was a part of an unsanctioned street fighting circuit: all striking, no grappling and the crowd that showed up would decide a winner if both men were still standing at the end of the battle. More often than not, Slice was the one standing, and he became a YouTube sensation as his exploits were videotaped and posted at the speed of broadband for all to see.

Millions of YouTube views later, Slice transitioned into mixed martial arts in order to provide for his fiancée and six children. He fought for the now-defunct EliteXC, headlining the first ever mixed martial arts card on broadcast television. He compiled a 3-0 record before losing to Seth Petruzelli in front of millions of viewers.

Roy Nelson
Age: 33
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 265 lbs
Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
Trains: Las Vegas, NV – Team Big Country
MMA record: 14-4-0

Roy “Big Country” Nelson wants viewers to take one look at him and underestimate him because of his physique. It makes it all the more sweet for him when the referee raises Nelson’s arm at the end of the bout.

Born and raised in Las Vegas, Nelson has always been a gifted athlete. He wrestled and played football and baseball at Cimarron Memorial High School before graduating in 1994. He became a martial arts fan after seeing “The Karate Kid” at a young age and began training in karate and kung fu. He began watching the UFC® in 1994 and, in 2000, began training in jiu-jitsu with one of the sport’s top coaches, John Lewis in Las Vegas. Nelson also served as a training partner to many of the top mixed martial arts fighters in Las Vegas.

Four years later, he made the transition from trainer to fighter and made his pro debut. With a devastating mixture of striking, ground and pound, and submission skills, he has compiled a 14-4 record and held the now-defunct IFL’s Heavyweight title. “Big Country” sustained two recent losses to notable mixed martial arts heavyweights including a KO to former UFC® champ Andrei Arlovski last October and lost a three-round decision to Jeff Monson in March.

Kidglue.com has an interesting article that focuses on some quotes that Rampage made about his retirement from MMA.

While most outlets are focusing on the rift between Dana and Rampage as sole reason for retirement, Kidglue focuses on Quinton’s desire to be a better father and support his family as best as possible.

It’s worth a read. Check it out here.

In a message on his website today, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson announced he is retiring from mixed martial arts.

In a blog post titled “I’m done fighting”, Rampage announced the following:

Cro Cop  admitted Saturday that his fight with up and coming UFC heavyweight Junior Dos Santos was probably his final professional MMA bout.

Cro Cop said: “Maybe the ones who have said that I’m done are right. Obviously, I can’t break my mental block in the Octagon. I have twenty years of training like a spartan behind me. It has caught up with me, my body is broken down. I’ve been worn out.”

I wish Cro Cop would get with a real MMA camp, I think it could revitalize him a bit. His current method of training does  not work and that has been blatantly obvious in his UFC career.

Former NFL and NCAA football superstar Herschel Walker will enter a new chapter in his career as a professional athlete when he makes his debut as a heavyweight in the world’s fastest growing sport – mixed martial arts (MMA) – as part of a multi-fight contract he has signed with world championship promotion STRIKEFORCE.

The 1982 Heisman Trophy winner and two-time Pro Bowl competitor will begin a 12 week training camp next month at San Jose, California’s American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), which plays home to a host of the world’s greatest fighters, including STRIKEFORCE Lightweight Champion Josh “The Punk” Thomson.  The 6 foot 1 inch, 220 pound former running back, who already holds a fifth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and boasts additional training in the combat disciplines of Muay Thai and Kenpo, will be trained by AKA co-owner and head trainer Bob Cook.

“I’ve been training for several years.  I would play college football games on Saturday and then compete in martial arts tournaments on Sunday after church I’m now looking forward to opening up another chapter in my life and to competing in MMA,” said Walker, who recently was a contestant on the second hit season of Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice reality series on NBC.

“I flew to LA last month to watch Herschel train and was surprised to see his advanced wrestling and striking abilities,” said STRIKEFORCE Founder and CEO Scott Coker, a martial arts promoter of over 25 years.  “He’s got work ahead of him, but he’s committed to training at one of the most notable gyms in the sport of MMA so it will be very interesting to watch him progress.”

Walker, a 1999 College Hall of Fame inductee who was also selected to Sports Illustrated’s NCAA All-Century Team that year, has never been one to shy away from the road less traveled.

Following his junior year at the University of Georgia where he had set the NCAA freshman rushing record en route to an undefeated season and Sugar Bowl championship victory over Notre Dame, Walker, a born-again Christian, astonished the sports world by withdrawing from school to play professional ball in the newly formed United States Football League (USFL) rather than wait to enter the NFL draft after the graduation of his collegiate class, a rule maintained by the world’s largest professional football league at the time.

While the vast majority of football players typically follow an intensive weight room regimen, Walker relied on bodyweight exercise, conditioning, and calisthenics while maintaining very little body fat.

Walker was eventually drafted in 1985 by The Dallas Cowboys and established himself as a premiere running back in the league.  In 1986, he was the driving force behind a historic trade

that sent in to The Minnesota Vikings in exchange for five players and six draft picks.

In 12 NFL seasons with four different teams, he became the only player to gain 4,000 yards three different ways – rushing, receiving, and kickoff returns.  He is one of six players to exceed 60 touchdowns rushing and 20 touchdowns receiving and is the only player in NFL history to register a 90 plus yard reception, a 90 plus yard run, and a 90 plus yard kickoff return, all in one season (1994).

Off the gridiron, Walker has achieved a handful of feats, including a seventh place finish in the 1992 Winter Olympics two-man bobsled competition.  He also nearly made the Olympic sprint relay team.

Now 47 years of age, Walker, a native of Wrightsville, Georgia, will look to conquer a whole new world.  It is a challenge he is extremely optimistic about.

“I will go in there and test myself against any 20 year old,” said Walker.  “I know there will be naysayers and I’m fine with that.  I want to prove to people who sit on a couch and don’t do anything but criticize other people that, if you’re a true athlete or martial artist, you’re not old until you can’t get up and walk around anymore.  MMA fighters are said to be some of the best athletes in the world, my plan at the age of 47 is to show the world I am still one of the best athletes as well”

Spike TV will air a portion of the UFC pay-per-view undercard live to its audience for the first time ever, as the network presents bouts from UFC 103 in Dallas, TX commercial-free live Saturday, September 19 at 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT.  This telecast will mark the first time the network will air a fight-card without commercial interruption.

I am not sure what fights will air, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller, Jason Brilz vs. Eliot Marshall, and Robert Emerson vs. Rafael Dos Anjos fights were shown, seeing as each one of those fights has a participant from past “Ultimate Fighter” shows.

Fedor, the #1 Ranked MMA Heavyweight in the World, To Be Seen for the First Time by Broadcast Television Audience

The CBS Television Network will return to the mixed martial arts (MMA) cage with STRIKEFORCE: FEDOR VS. ROGERS, to be broadcast Saturday, Nov. 7 (9:00 PM, live ET/delayed PT). SHOWTIME Sports® will produce the four-fight event with host Gus Johnson calling the action and MMA legend Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo serving as color analysts.

In 2008, CBS aired the first live MMA fights on network television, with three successful events earning time period-winning ratings in all key young adult and young men demographics.  CBS’s most recent broadcast in October 2008 ranked as the night’s highest-rated program on both broadcast and cable in adults 18-34 and men 18-34, topping all other sports programming in those demographics, including the Major League Baseball playoffs and college football.

On Nov. 7, the world’s Number One-ranked MMA heavyweight fighter, Fedor Emelianenko of Russia, will face undefeated American Brett Rogers of Minnesota in the marquee match up. The fight marks the first bout for the highly coveted Emelianenko since his promotional company M-1 Global signed an agreement with STRIKEFORCE to co-promote major events.

“There’s no question this is a sport that is fast becoming a force in popularity and as a business,” said Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President, Prime Time, CBS Television.  “We’re excited to be the platform that will enable millions more to see the athlete regarded as the very best in his sport. The Number One heavyweight on the most-watched network has a very nice ring to it.”

Simply referred to as “Fedor” by fans around the world, the 6-foot, 235-pound Russian is one of the most dominant fighters in the sport.  He is a master of the Russian military combat system Sambo and boasts a record of 30 wins, one loss, no draws with 16 wins by submission, seven knockouts and seven decisions. The 28-year-old Rogers (10-0) is a massive physical specimen standing 6-feet, 5-inches tall and weighing 265 pounds.  He possesses two of the heaviest hands in the sport of MMA, an attribute that has helped him knock out all 10 of his professional opponents.

“It is an honor to have the opportunity to bring the STRIKEFORCE brand to CBS,” said Scott Coker, Founder and CEO of STRIKEFORCE.  “We are looking forward to bringing MMA back to the network and to having the world’s No. 1 heavyweight—Fedor—compete for the first time on live network television against one of America’s most promising young, undefeated stars—Brett Rogers.”

STRIKEFORCE has experienced significant growth since it launched its first MMA promotion on March 10, 2006.  After signing a landmark deal to air live events on SHOWTIME® earlier this year, STRIKEFORCE earned the premium network its highest MMA rating ever on August 15 with Carano vs. Cyborg.  Shortly before the live telecast, the main event principals—Gina Carano and Cris “Cyborg” Santos—were the most searched terms on Yahoo! and Google, while the fight was the most discussed subject on Twitter.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski will appear on MTV’s Bully Beatdown tomorrow night.

Bully Beatdown is hosted by mma journey man Jason “Mayhem” Miller. In the show, people who have been bullied get in touch with Mayhem to get some help dealing with their man-handler. Mayhem confronts the bully and offers them 10,000 dollars to step into the cage with a professional MMA fighter.

The fight consists of 2 rounds. The first round is submission grappling only. If the bully can survive 3 minutes in the cage with the MMA fighter, he wins 5,000 dollars. He loses 1,000 dollars every time he is submitted.

Round 2 is straight kickboxing. The premise is simple. If you survive the 3 minute round, you win 5,000 dollars. If you are knocked out or the referee intervenes to stop the match, you lose all 5,000 dollars.

Here is a preview of the episode.