Mailbag: TUF fishbowl staying as-is

Expect outlandish behavior to continue on "The Ultimate Fighter" as Dana White doesn't plan to make any changes.

The winner of Saturday's light heavyweight fight at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland, between Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson will become a coach on the upcoming season of "The Ultimate Fighter."

And though the show remains popular, the UFC has heard a lot of criticism about the antics of the fighters in the house. Fighters have gotten out-of-control drunk, urinated and ejaculated on food that others ate and exhibited much other lewd and raunchy behavior.

The man who could put an end to it, though, says he's not changing a thing. UFC president Dana White said he's not going to require the fighters to change anything about the way they behave. That means alcohol stays in the house and the fighters are free to do what they please when they please.

"If you take any young guys, from a frat house, and put them alone and together you're going to get that kind of stuff," White said. "Welcome to dealing with young guys. I've talked to the pro skaters and snowboarders and they helicopter guys up to a house and sometimes they get snowed in. They told me that some of the [expletive] that happens with those guys makes what happened on 'The Ultimate Fighter' look like a joke."

White said the show puts the fighters in a fish bowl and allows him to learn whether he's interested in adding them to the promotion. He said he gains a lot of information he wouldn't have were he to restrict their behavior.

With that, let's get to the reader questions and comments. My answers are in italics after the questions.

DAMPENS THE ENTHUSIASM

I'm really looking forward to the upcoming main event at UFC 93 between Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson. However, the whole, "Winner gets to coach opposite Michael Bisping on the next season of TUF" really takes away some of the excitement. It's my understanding that this fight is at 205 pounds. Then why force the winner back down to middleweight to fight Bisping? Does another win at 185 really mean anything to a guy like Franklin? The coaching spot and Bisping fight is almost like a punishment to

Franklin or Henderson. As long as Anderson Silva is still dominating middleweights, I would prefer to see both Ace and Hendo stay at 205. What do you think?

Alan Grafton

Kansas City, Mo.

The Franklin-Henderson winner will fight Bisping at 185 pounds, though Franklin and Henderson are meeting Saturday at 205. This is because Bisping dropped from light heavyweight to middleweight last year. The way White spoke Monday, it sounds as if Franklin and Henderson will spend most of their time at light heavyweight. I do think he'll cherry pick good fights for each guy and if that means they move back and forth between divisions, they will. But he spoke Monday as if he sees both Franklin and Henderson more as light heavyweights rather than middleweights.

BOXING MENTALITY CREEPING INTO MMA

I am starting to see some of the bad signs in MMA that is so prevalent in boxing. The talk regarding future matchups is becoming littered with "will this be an interesting or marketable matchup?" They should instead be asking who is the best fighter in the division. This has hurt fighters like Lyoto Machida, who I believe is comparable to Anderson Silva as the best pound-for-pound fighter. Machida is not only undefeated, he also has wins over Tito Ortiz, Stephen Bonnar and is one of only two fighters who

have victories over Ace Franklin. Yet he has been in the UFC for almost two years without a title shot.

Tadd Dickey

I would be plenty scared if that thinking invaded MMA, Tadd, but I don't think it has, really. You see the best fights regularly in MMA, which you don't always see in boxing. Having said that, you must recognize that MMA promoters are running a business and have to sell tickets and pay-per-views. Thus, they have to put on fights their customers, the fans, want to see. Machida has been hurt, no question, by his style. But he's also in the UFC's deepest division and Machida is a guy who couldn't finish David Heath or Sam Hoger. I don't say that derogatorily, but those are the kinds of guys a title contender should put away. Having said that, I expect Machida to get his chance in the first half of 2009, provided he gets past Thiago Silva at UFC 94 on Jan. 31.

HENDO-FRANKLIN WINNER TO GET TITLE SHOT?

Hey Kevin, I always look forward to reading your mailbag, but this is my first time sending you a question. I was just wondering if you thought that the Dan Henderson-Rich Franklin winner will be the coach for the next season for "The Ultimate Fighter"

opposing Michael Bisping and if you think so, would that fight be for the next shot at Anderson Silva? Also I was wondering if you think the UFC would have a Randy Couture-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira fight, since they both lost out in the heavyweight tournament.

Steve Briner

Kissimmee, Fla.

Steve, as I said above, the Henderson-Franklin winner will face Bisping after the show's conclusion in a middleweight fight. If Franklin comes out the winner, beating Henderson and Bisping, he definitely won't get a fight with Silva, who has twice knocked him out. There is a chance Henderson could if he were to win, since he started off strongly against Silva and won the first round. Bisping, I believe, would have the best shot at getting a bout against "The Spider" with a win, though. I do think there is a real possibility we could see a Couture-Nogueira fight this year.

LICENSING REQUIREMENTS

Recently, there has been some news regarding fighters such as Antonio Silva and Gilbert Yvel and state licensing. I was just curious, what steps do fighters need to take in order

to get licensed by a particular state commission? Also, I was just wondering if you've heard any news about the monumental UFC 100? I've heard a rumor that all five belts will be on the line. What are some things/fights you'd like to see?

David N.

Short Hills, N.J.

Each state has different requirements for the fighters to be licensed. But the fighters generally must pass a battery of medical tests and prove their fitness to fight. In some cases, they might have to prove they're skilled enough. The cases of Silva and Yvel involve California and things that occurred in other jurisdictions. Silva is suspended in California (and thus in the U.S.) because he failed a steroid test. He fought in Japan despite the suspension, because Japan for some reason does not honor U.S. suspensions. So California will punish Silva for that and almost certainly will extend his suspension. Yvel was involved in some questionable incidents during fights and will have to answer questions from the commission, but he'll be licensed.

As for UFC 100, I specifically asked White about putting all five belts up and he said no. He said there's not enough time to do it on the possibility that all five go the distance. He also said he's still not sure of the venue. One suggestion for a fight I'd make is to do a one-off and allow Fedor Emelianenko to fight Randy Couture. It's a bout MMA fans have longed to see. The UFC wouldn't want Emelianenko to beat its champion and then leave the promotion, but Couture is not a champion and is near the end of his career. Having that fight would prove the UFC is attuned to the fans' interests and wouldn't hurt their long-term business.

LEITES' SHOT UNDESERVED

I was surprised to find out that the UFC is offering middleweight champion Anderson

Silva a fight against Thales Leites. I don't understand how Leites' resume grants him a title shot, and I wonder if the UFC got the message from Silva when he fought Cote. I'd much rather see Yushin Okami just fight Silva first.

Kevin Stianchi

Bridgewater, N.J.

Leites defeated Nate Marquardt last year. Given the high esteem in which White holds Marquardt, that fight alone I'm sure convinced the UFC president to give Leites the shot. Okami would probably have had one by now had he not injured his hand last year and missed several months.

TORRES RANKED TOO LOW

Kevin, in talking with other fans of MMA, we've pinned down why we're upset about the current Yahoo! rankings, and why we feel Miguel Torres is getting disrespected. No one is going to argue Silva or Fedor being 1 and 2 in any order, but Torres should be third, at

least. Why? Neither Penn, nor St. Pierre, have been dominant in their careers. Penn supposedly has all the potential in the world, and now he's focused. Gee … great. St. Pierre definitely has all the skill in the world, but he has focus issues. Torres has results. Torres is a better fighter than these guys. You know Miguel's past is common knowledge now. He used to fight guys quite bigger than him. He could move up a weight class and own it if he so chose to. Deep inside, everyone knows this is true. Deep inside, no one can say Penn or St. Pierre are dominant. Yet. I have no doubt they can be. Sorry to keep writing you about this, but the Yahoo! rankings are the only thing bugging me about MMA right now, save for the mockery Japan made of the sport on New Year's Eve.

Edward

Raleigh, N.C.

Torres is fifth in our rankings and, as much as I like Torres, I have no problem with that. Fighters who are good enough to even be considered for the top 10 are so close in ability, it's hard to separate them. I disagree vehemently with you about Penn and St. Pierre, though. Look at the fighters St. Pierre has beaten (Matt Hughes twice, Penn, Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Matt Serra, Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg, Jason Miller, Jay Hieron, Karo Parisyan, etc.) Penn doesn't have that long list of wins, but he has wins over Hughes, Sherk, Takanori Gomi, Serra and Joe Stevenson and many feel he should have beaten Machida in their heavyweight fight in 2005.