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Cagewriter

Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:00 pm EDT

If the fighters didn't take TUF 10 seriously, why should fans?

By Steve Cofield

It's been a bizarre first seven weeks on the tenth season of "The Ultimate Fighter." Cagewriter trumpeted often back in June that this season was going to be the best ever. The mix of two coaches who hate each other, Kimbo Slice, veteran Roy Nelson and a bunch of heavyweight prospects would be explosive. Much of that has been delivered but the show has encountered one huge problem along the way - did any of these fighters come ready to fight and in tip-top shape?

By the looks of it, either most of the group doesn't train year-round or they were told about the assignment a week before the show.

How much damage does a fight like Matt Mitrione versus Scott Junk do with a casual fan who's giving the sport a try for the first time? They beat the snot out of each other and took massive shots, but they were exhausted three minutes into the fight. Maybe that's why the Kimbo fight was on Episode three, this way Spike/UFC could avoid a massive audience of new fans seeing the embarrassing lack of conditioning on display.

The poor stamina from Mitrione, a former college and pro football player making the transition to MMA, can be excused slightly. Plus he's a meathead. In his Fight! Magazine blog, he explained that he lost his head when he should've been going in for the kill against Junk:

"I was so pissed at Junk for throwing me under the bus that all I wanted to do was punch him in the face. Get back up, get back up so I can punch you in the face again. I knocked him out the first time I caught his kick. He was knocked out. His head hit the ground and the ground woke him back up. Then I started to gas. I didn’t know that that level of tired existed. You see people get that way but I’ve never been there on my own. It was a real big learning experience for me."

Acceptable, right? But Junk? The guy has fought in the UFC. He's a veteran of nine fights. How he does he show up in that kind of shape? He was getting destroyed and that can certainly be fatiguing but he gassed three minutes into the fight. I never thought I'd see anything worse than the conditioning of Wes Shivers and James McSweeney from Episode one, but this topped it.

There are some fighters with lots of potential on TUF 10 but it's being masked by a massive lack of professionalism.

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  1. Sandman
    1. Posted by Sandman Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:15 pm EDT

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    White and his mob buddies need to invent a new show. It should not be that difficult. There are a million possibilities. TUF is old and gets worse each season.
  2. myke r
    2. Posted by myke r Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:18 pm EDT

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    Wes Shivers and James McSweeney was episode 2. That dude Abe getting his head smashed was episode 1. These fights have been horrendous. How can you call yourself a pro fighter and not have the stamina to make it to round 2. Oh yeah, and Dana saying how great this fight was is a joke.
  3. joenamath54
    3. Posted by joenamath54 Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:24 pm EDT

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    'there are some fighters with lots of potential on tuf 10' -cofield
    really steve?? i cant see one of these guys so far that would last a minute with any ufc hw currently on the roster. once again you show your fighting iq is equaled only by your use of the english language. inept.......
    even dana unwittingly threw the whole tuf thing under the bus by bragging about the views slice got. he doesn't give a sh$t about finding new talent off this show. there is none to be had, unless you tell it.. ufc codpiece extraordinaire... stevie the jersey boy cofield.. go jump in the meadowlands hack..
  4. Allen
    4. Posted by Allen Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:25 pm EDT

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    Being " veterans" of the UFC, Sims and Junk make it clear how sad the HW division truly was, and still might be.
    The title to this blog says it best.
  5. AvEnGeRx
    5. Posted by AvEnGeRx Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:26 pm EDT

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    The talent with these heavyweights makes you wonder if the only good challengers are already there in Carwin And Cain.
    This season is all about the feud between Rashad and Rampage and now its for nothing since Rampage is done with the UFC for the foreseeable future.
  6. Allen
    6. Posted by Allen Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:27 pm EDT

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    Come on Joe, Brendan would easily last against the HW division lower and maybe middle acrhy.
    Nelson could certainly bang with them also, until he fell on them and pinned them to the mat.
    There's some talent on this show. It's just been overwhelmed by the lack of talent.
  7. Robert C
    7. Posted by Robert C Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:30 pm EDT

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    Pretty sure that we will not be having another HW Tuf anytime soon. I really thought it was going to be great. I was wrong.
    Bring back the light and middle weights.
    To these guys with no stamina - finish the damn fight early. Mitrione was in good position to finish that fight a few times while he was still OK. But he just didn't go for it.
    The last round was so pathetic I think the judges showed mercy by not going to a 3rd round...and I doubt Junk was complaining about it.
  8. meddic101
    8. Posted by meddic101 Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:30 pm EDT

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    These guys are in the worst shape I have ever seen for anyone that calls themselves "fighters". It's really sad. Can you even think about what an even halfway decent heavyweight would do to these guys. It would be murder. Any top 20 guy would kill them, Kimbo or Nelson included.
  9. athsquare
    9. Posted by athsquare Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:32 pm EDT

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    heavyweight fights are always the worst they always look like 2 whales laying on each other untill the weaker one gives... Thats why brock is the best heavyweight out there cause he fights like a small guy.
  10. Rob R
    10. Posted by Rob R Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:36 pm EDT

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    Hey Joe...That's why it's called POTENTIAL. Some of these guys are still developing. Schoonover is 24, Wren is 22, McSweeney and Schaub are learning the game with Greg Jackson. I wouldn't expect them to do much in the UFC right away, but give it time, man.
    I actually would put Roy Nelson in with a few of the UFC's heavyweights right now. Hell...he took Ben Rothwell to a split decision and he gave Andrei Arlovski all he could handle. He beat Brad Imes and Fabiano Scherner.
    Cofield...McSweeney-Shivers was BAD, man. Watch it again. It's worse than Mitrione-Junk if you ask me. At least Mitrione and Junk TRIED to stay active. McSweeney and Shivers just stood there looking at each other...even at times when it looked like McSweeney had Wes teed up for the KO.
  11. Kevin S
    11. Posted by Kevin S Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:50 pm EDT

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    Definitely the worst season of TUF, but nobody should be surprised with heavyweights.
  12. tdube09
    12. Posted by tdube09 Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:55 pm EDT

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    half of these guys should be fighting at 205.... not 265...
  13. John
    13. Posted by John Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:58 pm EDT

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    The Wes Shivers fight was way worse. These 2 did gas, but at least they had a good fight and there were trying to fight. Overall it seems like the Heavies aren't in the best shape, but isn't harder for heavyweights to be in shape compared to the lighter weights?
  14. tdube09
    14. Posted by tdube09 Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:04 pm EDT

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    roll WEC into the UFC and have a TUF bantamweights. thats just about the only TUF i would watch at this point...
  15. tdube09
    15. Posted by tdube09 Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:04 pm EDT

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    roll WEC into the UFC and have a TUF bantamweights. that's just about the only TUF i would watch at this point...
  16. DustyPeaock
    16. Posted by DustyPeaock Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:12 pm EDT

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    What most of us MMA fans have to realize is the fighters who come onto this show aren't from huge camps or have had true proper cardio training. They think they are in shape but when it comes down to it there is notheing you can do in 6 weeks thats going to help you prepare for even a 5 monute round...let alone 10 minutes. You can help a fighter to punch and kick but its hard to teach cardio. Remember back when Tito was a coach and he had his guys running back and forth carrying their team mates in the hallway. Rashad is a huge [profane] but he understands that cardio wins fights not neccesarily technique all the time.
  17. The Buzzsaw
    17. Posted by The Buzzsaw Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:33 pm EDT

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    it is a bit disapointing to see these guys not in great shape. but being a "fatty myself" i can def. feel the pain. i joined this place called 9traditions which there i train bjj and kickboxing. ive only been traing for 10 months and ive lost 55 lbs since january. im a solid 345 right now at 6'1. so im a big kid. that being said i just had a tourny last weekend and the round where 5 minutes each and they were 2 minutes. i thought i made it through pretty good. but watched the tape and it looked like i was wes shivers. so i feel the pain. but im only 10 months training in... and i did just as good as these guys. these guys are professionals... they need to train like it. by no means am i saying that i could whip their ass haha. im just saying ive felt that pain and i got through it pretty good. im happy with myself. dont beleive me? go to www.9tradtions.com click on the instructors blog and hit october and im named zach. i qualify to go to ireland... but dont count on me going. i need more training
  18. The Buzzsaw
    18. Posted by The Buzzsaw Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:35 pm EDT

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    damn i really need to take an english class.. bear with me guys haha. i dont start college untill nov12th. so my english will get better... haha i osund like anderson silva. im pathetic rofl
  19. The Buzzsaw
    19. Posted by The Buzzsaw Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:36 pm EDT

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    there were "5 mintues each and there were 2 rounds".. sorry for the multiple posts. i should correct myself before i hit post.
  20. James
    20. Posted by James Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:39 pm EDT

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    Sandman is still an idiot. If you think the sport is fixed, why do you watch? Go get a life you moron. As for the article, I agree that the conditioning for these fighters has been atrocious. But I disagree about the level of talent. I haven't seen a single fighter that I think could challenge any of the top 5 heavyweights in the UFC. I seriously doubt any of these fighters will be in the UFC in 2011.
  21. The Buzzsaw
    21. Posted by The Buzzsaw Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:47 pm EDT

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    i dunno james, we havent got to see some of the fighters true potential such as zak jesnen (jk) justin wren branden shuab or domeco rogers (yes he needs work but i think he has potential) the guys on tuf have always looked bad on the show then did good when it was their turn for the ppv. think about it. how bad did kenny florian suck? he was bad. so was koscheck, chris leben. marcus davis. keith jardine. matt hamill. you know it takes time.
  22. Curly
    22. Posted by Curly Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:47 pm EDT

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    I found myself laughing out loud while watcing that fight.
    The fight between Rampage and the door was much more entertaining.
  23. Sandman
    23. Posted by Sandman Thu Oct 29, 2009 3:00 pm EDT

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    @ James
    Hackfest, what are you talking about? You are utterly incapable of reading. My claim is that TUF is old, the talent weak, and that White and friends should create a new show. Almost every person is expressing the same view. Can you point to the sentence where I said "the sport is fixed?"
    You are an utter retard. Please, for the love of God and Country, take "Reading 101" at a JC.
  24. Sandman
    24. Posted by Sandman Thu Oct 29, 2009 3:01 pm EDT

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    Correction: Others are suggesting that this season is weak. I am suggesting that a new show is in order.
  25. Jose M
    25. Posted by Jose M Thu Oct 29, 2009 3:16 pm EDT

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    Did people really think this season was filled with MMA talent. What are people going to do now? Are people going to believe Dana that Season 11 will blow season 10 out of the water, just like season 10 did to 9, etc. LOL

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