Appreciation, UFC Style

Some interesting financial facts about the UFC as reported in Forbes magazine in the May 5th edition:

$2,000,000 - Purchase price paid by Zuffa, LLC in 2001 for UFC
$1,000,000,000 + - Estimated current value of the UFC.

145,000 - Pay per view buys of UFC events in 2001
5,100,000 - Pay per view buys in 2007

TUF Season 1 Coaches Reloaded: Chuck Liddell

I caught a good chunk of Spike's rerun of TUF Season 1 last weekend and it made me realize how fast and how far the sport of mixed martial arts has come since that first season reality series originally aired. Especially in the case of the two coaches of that original series.

This post will discuss Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell's road since that seminal first season. Liddell would go on after the TUF 1 Finale and beat Randy Couture and become the Light Heavyweight champ.

Flash forward to a fight with Quentin "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 71. By this time Chuck had defended his title 4 times and appeared to be as dominant a fighter as there had ever been in MMA. He stalked opponents waiting for the opportunity to catch them with a looping right and finish them off in a frenzied flurry of damaging violence.

Rampage surprised the MMA world when he knocked out Liddell in the first round. Chuck's next matchup at UFC 76 against "The Dean Of Mean" Keith Jardine found him losing a split decision.

He looked great in the long anticipated bout at UFC 79 against Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva where he got the hard fought decision win.

Then he gets knocked out in a big way in the most recent UFC 88 bout against "Sugar" Rashad Evans in the second round.

MMA stands still for no fighter. It is a quick ride, that is only recommended for the warrior that can focus on the game and continuously round out their game with a full arsenal of weapons and focus.

This past week found rumors of a Chuck Liddell vs. Anderson Silva fight, where Silva would move up to the light heavyweight 205 pound division.

Chuck has been the face of the UFC since the original season of TUF. He looks the part, acts the part, and also had been knocking dudes out.

I'm sure the next wave of up and coming fighters all want to fight Chuck since he is most likely someone they have watched since they began training for MMA competition. But Chuck should not allow this path to be travelled.

Evans proved that Chuck has become predictable in his fight plan and execution. Where Wanderlei (Silva) was happy to go toe to toe in a slugfest with Liddell, Rashad waited and baited Chuck through the first round and then took advantage of his unwillingness to protect himself and attempting to win matches with a single blow.

Chuck's future is squarely in his own hands. I don't think he's missing a step, I just think that the fight game has changed to true mixed skills combat, and Chuck has gravitated to a predictable and limited game plan.

Chuck can see a resurgence if he is willing to go back to mixing in a ground game with Jits, grappling, and dirty boxing.

If not, this Chuck fan fears that he will receive more defeats that make the end of his legacy appear as nothing else than a tomato can shadow of his former self that the UFC and other fighters alike use to gain access into the UFC and climb the ladder in the 205 Light Heavyweight class.

UFC Fight Night Pick'em

Welcome to Smashmouth MMA's premier of our new Pick'em feature where the contributing authors make their picks public for an upcoming MMA event.

Event: UFC Fight Night
Headline Fight: Nate Diaz vs. Josh Neer
Date: September 17, 2008
Venue: Omaha Civic Auditorium

Nate Diaz (9-2-0) vs Josh Neer (24-6-1)

• brokenstyle - Nate Diaz


• MajestyEarl - Josh Neer


• MMA Daddy - Josh Neer

Clay Guida (23-6-0) vs Mac Danzig (19-4-1)

• brokenstyle - Clay Guida


• MajestyEarl -Clay Guida


• MMA Daddy - Clay Guida

Ed Herman (16-5-0) vs Alan Belcher (11-4-0)

• brokenstyle - Alan Belcher


• MajestyEarl -Alan Belcher


• MMA Daddy - Ed Herman

Houston Alexander (8-3-1) vs Eric Schafer (11-3-2)

• brokenstyle - Eric Shafer


• MajestyEarl -Houston Alexander


• MMA Daddy - Eric Schafer

Alessio Sakara (16-7-1) vs Joe Vedepo

• brokenstyle - Alessio Sakara


• MajestyEarl -Alessio Sakara


• MMA Daddy - Alessio Sakara

Wilson Gouveia (10-5-0) vs Ryan Jensen (13-4-0)

• brokenstyle - Wilson Gouveia


• MajestyEarl -Ryan Jensen


• MMA Daddy - Wilson Gouveia

Joe Lauzon (15-4-0) vs Kyle Bradley (13-5-1)

• brokenstyle - Kyle Bradley


• MajestyEarl -Joe Lauzon


• MMA Daddy - Joe Lauzon

Jason Brilz (15-1-1) vs Brad Morris (10-3-0)

• brokenstyle - Jason Brilz


• MajestyEarl -Jason Brilz


• MMA Daddy - Jason Brilz

Drew McFedries (7-3-0) vs Mike Massenzio (10-2-0)

• brokenstyle - Mike Massenzo


• MajestyEarl -Drew Mcfedries


• MMA Daddy - Drew McFedries

Dan Miller (8-1-1) vs Rob Kimmons (21-3-0)

• brokenstyle - Dan Miller


• MajestyEarl - Rob Kimmons


• MMA Daddy - Rob Kimmons

The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 Debuts Tomorrow Night On Spike TV

Season 8 of the UFC's classic reality series The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) begins tomorrow night on Spike TV at 10 pm. This latest installment is directly after Spike TV's pay free offering of UFC Fight Night Live at 8 pm.

In order to eliminate the publicity whore phenomenon that plagued the first 6 seasons, Season 8 will have the same "fight for the right" mini tournament at the beginning that refreshed the franchise in Season 7. Fighters prove they are there to fight before the show's team play begins.

There will be 16 fighters matching up in each weight class of Lightweight (155 pounds) and Light Heavyweight (205 pounds) in the first two episodes, with the winners of those bouts earning the right to be on the show.

16 fighters will try to coexist in the same house without the outside influences of reading materials, TV, radio, internet, music, or phone contact.

Former Heavyweight (206 - 265 pounds) champ Frank Mir and current interim Heavyweight champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will act as coaches for the two teams each consisting of 8 Lightweights and 8 Light Heavyweights.

The season will culminate with final bouts for each weight class where the prize is a 6 figure contract in the UFC. The coaches will matchup soon after the finale at a UFC event to determine who will fight for the Heavyweight title against the UFC 91 winner on November 15 against Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture.

This series should prove to be action and drama packed as the mixed martial artists compete to make their UFC dreams a reality. Whether you are a seasoned mma vet or a relative newbie to the sport, this is a great way to get a weekly mma fix.

Renzo Gracie Featured At U.S. Sports Film Festival

A film documentary on brazilian jiu jitsu legend Renzo Gracie will be featured at the upcoming U.S. Sports Film Festival next month.

The 3 day event is a new film festival, hosted in Philadelphia next month on October 23rd.

Renzo Gracie is the grandson of Carlos Gracie, the founder of the brazilian jiu jitsu discipline known as Gracie Jiu Jitsu.

Gracie Jiu Jitsu was a fierce weapon in the early days of MMA promotions like UFC and Pride when competitions were held in a tournament format and matched up discipline against discipline.

Story Source

Matt Hughes Blogs About Evan Tanner's Untimely Death

UFC Champion Matt Hughes posted his thoughts on Evan Tanner's passing on his website blog.

Spike To Replay TUF Season 1

Spike TV will replay Season One of the Ultimate Fighter in marathon fashion beginning this Saturday, September 13 at 9pm et/pt.

UFC President Dana White has stated that the UFC might not be in existence if it weren't for the huge breakthrough popularity of the reality series. The season apexed perfectly in the finale with a huge light heavyweight showdown between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonner that was non stop action. Current light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin won the bout in an airing that proved to be a ratings buster.

Many fighters on the first season's roster are main contenders in mma today. Click here to check out the lineup of fighters.

Former UFC Middleweight Champ Evan Tanner Dead At 37

It was reported today that fan favorite and former mma champion Evan Tanner was found dead near his camping spot in the California desert.

Tanner was officially listed as missing last Friday, after not responding to friends text messages since Wednesday. Cause of death is currently unknown.

Evan Tanner 1971 - 2008

Story Source

UFC Light Heavyweight Division Changed With One Punch

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell (21-5) got knocked out at tonight's UFC 88:Breakthrough, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia.

Although his opponent Rashad Evans (16-0-1) is undefeated in the UFC and 10 years Liddell's junior, this was still a huge upset by most standards in mixed martial arts.

The 1st round was a slow one with much measuring by each fighter of their opponent. The 2nd started with more action and at 3:10 in the 2nd, Evans flashed an exaggerated left jab fake leading Liddell to throw an uppercut that missed, and a sweeping right hand delivered a solid one punch KO to the Iceman, leaving him unconcious for quite some time on the canvas.

Evans won the second installment of the UFC's reality TV series "The Ultimate Fighter" in late 2005. Rashad "Sugar" Evans has put together an impressive string of wins and one draw during his time in the UFC.

This is the 2nd groundbreaking performance recently by a TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) reality show veteran in the light heavyweight division. Earlier this summer, Season 1 winner Forrest Griffin won the title in an impressive win against veteran and fierce mma fighter Quentin "Rampage" Jackson.

Rashad Evans fights out of the Greg Jackson led fight camp in Albuquerque, Jackson's Submission Fighting.

MMA Glossary Of Terms

This list will grow over time as terms are added. Have a term you don't understand? Leave us a comment and we will add it to the list.

• Jits - Refers to the Jiu Jitsu martial art discipline.
• Tomato Can - This term comes from boxing and refers to a fighter of low ability that other fighters use to work their way up the ranks or use to keep busy or pad their wins.