The Ultimate Fighter

[the pinjockey 0]

I thought it was a fine stoppage. Anytime you crumple the way Hoger did it gives the appearance of being finished and then when he just turtled right away, instead of grabbing a hold of Forrest, it probably confirmed in McCarthy's eyes he was done.

[Guest bottyboy]

There they go rolling around the mat.

[AboveAverage484 0]

Oh, why the fuck did Bonnar let go of the kimura, it looked good!

 

Oh well, he just won with the triangle. Swick just sat there, he should have turned and tried to throw Bonnar's leg over his head, but he just sat there and got caught in an armbar, Nogueira style.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Triangle Choke/Armbar combo. Ouch.

[the pinjockey 0]

I don't think I ever heard a gurgle like that before from the guillotine. I thought he had no shot of getting out once they rolled and you saw Bonner's face

 

So now we have Swick, Shoenauer, Southworth and Hoger to put together the last two fights for the finale. I have to think they'll go Southworth/Hoger after the last couple episodes.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Forrest looks strange with hair in that promo.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Hoger didn't even seem to care that he got beaten. And I think he contriubted way too much to his "master plan" to why he got to the finals.

 

I didn't expect Bonnar to submit Swick, let alone that quickly

[Styles 0]

Anyone have the lyrics to the theme song? It's such bad rap-metal shit but it's so damn catchy! Let me try to help you guys out:

 

THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THE ULTIMATE IS WAR THEY ARE THE MODERN WARRIORS

ANOTHER HIT IS LANDING

ANOTHER HIT IS LANDING

STEP TO THE LJSDJFSLKJLKSAJFSjLKDJFSLJSFD

 

(chorus)

BOOM! YOU'RE GONNA GET HIT

YOU'RE GONNA GET KNOCKED OUT

YOU'RE GONNA FEEL IT

THIS IS THE ULTIMATE

There is no substitute for the Ultimate, it's what's in store

Bear witness to the fitness of the modern warrior

And it goes BOOM-another hit is landed

BOOM-another hit is landed

(?)...the strike from a vypor, the training's the challenge-The Ultimate Fighter

You're gonna get hit, You're gonna get knocked out

You're gonna feel it, this is the Ultimate

 

I've got it all except that part with the ?

 

Anyway, glad to see that asshole Sam eat a knee. Happy Forrest could fight and won.

Swick was just overmatched since he's truly a Middleweight, but I thought he had Bonner done in that front choke.

 

Can't wait for this Saturday!

[Youth N Asia 0]

And daaaaamn, as bad as Koscheck's face looked right after the fight with Diego, it looked twice as bad after he got cleaned up and the bruises settled in.

 

If Bonnar wasn't so damn big Swick would have had him choked out early.

[AboveAverage484 0]

Swick is way too small for a LHW, he's a natural MW and Bonnar had like 13 lbs on him in that fight.

[starvenger 0]

Swick is way too small for a LHW, he's a natural MW and Bonnar had like 13 lbs on him in that fight.

They should've went for a Leben/Swick rematch on Saturday...

[RedJed 0]

Swick is way too small for a LHW, he's a natural MW and Bonnar had like 13 lbs on him in that fight.

They should've went for a Leben/Swick rematch on Saturday...

Agreed. They had a hell of a fight last year for WEC (they had a Best of show on HDNet a few weeks ago that showed it). Actually Leben, with all the drama shit that happened on TUF, has lined himself up for potential drawing matches with at least half of the guys on the show - Josh, Southworth, Swick, etc.

 

Now that this season of the regular shows is over, definately felt it delivered well above anything I expected. I was always a casual UFC viewer (bought the UFC ppv with Shamrock-Ortiz and always watched the older shows on videotape) but the show definately has peaked my interest again and now gets me wanting to check out some of the stuff I've missed the last few years. Any thoughts on what shows to start with?

 

UFC seems to have a real strong future with this concept as well as this live show Sat and the ppv then right after in the month. If they end the ppv with a strong lead-in to the next ppv (maybe have Ortiz start some more shit with Shamrock? Perhaps surprise everyone and have a major PRIDE fighter show up?) they are on a roll for sure.

 

I just wonder what, if anything, they could work to improve on for a 2nd season. I think they should have gotten some better fighters overall, but thats easier said than done. Sam, for example, just seemed to me like he should have never been in this competition in the first place. Same with that first guy who got eliminated.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

It's kinda hard to believe that the show is over. It never dawned on me that it was the _finale_ until the announcer at the end said it was. It's so fun to see UFC hype up its PPV's on National cable television, and I think they did a good job hyping the Saturday show.

 

Sam didn't look very impressive out there, despite his high kicks. I didn't like his strategy of back off, back off, back off, since he never moved-in at the right times like, say, Fedor would. Forrest finished well.

 

Swick did a nice reversal on the ground there out of nowhere that should get some love. Bonnar was the bigger guy and Swick still swept him. Great finish by Bonnar, and this is the right finals for the LH division, as either guy could win (which they brought up) and either guy would make for a good fighter in the UFC.

[Guest jumpingbombangel]

This is what I see on closed captioning about the opening theme lyrics:

 

There is no substitute for the ultimate of what's in store

Bear witness to the fitness of the modern warrior

And they go boom, another hit has landed

Boom, another hit has landed

Nothing can stop it the strike of a viper

The training, the challenge, the ultimate fighter

 

You're gonna get hit

You're gonna get knocked out

You're gonna feel it

This is the ultimate

[Lei Tong 0]

Swick needs all kinds of love for last night's performance. Seriously, not many guys can bounce back from a KO loss like he suffered against Leben and then do as well as he did vs. Bonnar last night. I'm also glad that everyone seemed to mention how good Mike would do back at 185lbs, as it would seem to be an indicator that the UFC would still be interested in him as a MW.

 

Hoger, on the other hand, just couldn't pull the trigger. Forest is usually a slow starter, and inside it looked like Sam might have an advantage in power, yet he never bothered to bring the fight to Forest, though he still landed the front kick effectively at times.

[Guest Brian]

They have a ton of middleweight potential now. Between Swick, Sanchez, Koscheck, and Leben (and even Florian if he decides not to drop), they have a great launching point for the future of the division.

 

God, I loved that first round of Bonnar/Swick. I need more.

[Lei Tong 0]

Actually, it's quite ironic that the two MW finalists are bulked up welterweights who will probably drop down in weight upon the show's conclusion.

[Guest Brian]

Diego's a welterweight? Damn.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

I wanted Swick vs Bonnar to go on more as I was diggin' what they were doing and yes, count me in as one of those people who thought Stephan was fucked when Mike sunk the guillotine in.

 

I'm expecting Diego to beat Florian fairly easily but Griffin vs Bonnar should be a war.

[starvenger 0]

Diego's a welterweight? Damn.

It's only obvious if you put Diego next to Koschek, Leben or Sanford. I think those three might have been the only natural middleweights. I think they've mentioned that Florian fights mostly in the lightweight division. The rest (Quarry, Rafferty and Karalexis) would seem to be in a welterweight zone.

[the pinjockey 0]

They are going Southworth/Hoger and Swick/Schoenauer for the finale.

 

Final Card

 

Main Card:

Shamrock/Franklin

Bonnar/Griffin

Florian/Sanchez

 

Prelims:

Southworth/Hoger

Swick/Schoenauer

Quarry/Sincaid

Leben/Thacker

Koscheck/Sanford

Rafferty/Karalexis

[Lei Tong 0]

Quarry is a pretty legit MW (size-wise) from what I've seen, and that chubby bastard Sanford may have been able to go even lower in weight were he not already past his physical prime.

[starvenger 0]

Quarry is a pretty legit MW (size-wise) from what I've seen, and that chubby bastard Sanford may have been able to go even lower in weight were he not already past his physical prime.

I was basing it off of the pic that Rudo had for a while - Nate looked pretty small in stature, and comparable to Diego. But you know better than me - after all, I'm just guessing about sizes.

[Guest M. Harry Smilac]

Florian is gonna get killed unless he gets to the ground with Diego and turns out to be a badass there.

 

He only stood up with Leben so i'm not too sure as thats all I have to base it on.

 

One thing I noticed last night is that it seemed kinda sad that some of these guys haven't been able to get in to the UFC but in their speech and speaking they already seem like they've taken about one hundred too many kicks and punches to the head.

 

Diego especially and after Forrest made that comment last night towards the end of the episode or during the preview for next week about winning or losing I couldn't help but remark "Did he learn that in math class?"

[AmericanDragon 0]

I saw this on Sherdog and thought it was hilarious.

 

[Guest HungryJack]

Most likely because you are stupid. Seriously though,the finale will be good stuff. I look forward to copping the DVD if the prelims are included.

[razazteca 0]

So does that mean that Bobby "Jax" Southworth will be his name in UFC?

[Guest Deft]

I'll be missing Sam. He was a better heel than 90% of the WWE roster.

[Guest bort]

Swick put on a really good perfomance, looked better in losing then Kenny did in his win. Of of the prelims i think Swick/Schoenauer will be the best fight, both guys looked good in there fights, its really the only fight that could go ethier way i think

[Youth N Asia 0]

Dana White interview from Observer.

------------

 

 

http://www.liveaudiowrestling.com/wo/news/...t.asp?aID=12889

 

4/7/2005 4:24:00 PM

Dana White talks about Saturday's show, Tito negotiations, TV negotiations, wrestling vs. boxing viewers and more

 

 

 

 

Jason Milloff

[email protected]

 

 

This week, I had the opportunity to interview Dana White. Mr. White has

been the president of the UFC since Zuffa took over ownership of the

company, I will present this interview as a forum for Mr. White to

express his views and withhold any comments that I may have for future

articles.

 

 

 

Dana White Interview

 

 

Question: How are things shaping up for "The Ultimate Fighter" finale

on April 9th?

 

Dana White: "Everything is coming together real well. We are actually

about to have a staff meeting here in 2 minutes to make sure everything

is on track."

 

 

 

 

Question: After the show had finished filming, you had referred to the

experience as a "nightmare." Is there anything you learned from the

experience or from the feedback of the viewers that will help improve

the show upon its second season?

 

Dana White: "It was definitely harder than I anticipated. We were

there filming non stop every day but it was much harder on the fighters

themselves. That's all those guys did 24/7. They were not allowed to

watch TV, listen to music, read, or basically have contact with the

outside world.

 

I think there are some things in the show that we think we can change

and make better for Season two. I think Season two will end up being a

great show for the simple fact that there are going to be heavyweights

competing."

 

 

 

 

Question: Were their any particular fighter/fighters from the show,

regardless of if they won or lost, that you feel are at the UFC level?

 

Dana White: "I was very happy with the cast. As far as the question

goes; obviously the finalist. I also really liked Nate Quarry and Mike

Swick. There were alot of guys I liked."

 

 

 

 

Question: During the show, there seemed to be some friction between

Bobby Southworth and yourself. Was that an accurate portrayal of the

relationship?

 

Dana White: "Bobby and I butted heads a couple of times. You have to

understand and put it in context though. We were together everyday.

Guys would start to go crazy because of the living situation and being

locked up in the house. You got to understand; there was alot of

footage that you did not see. There's about 4,000 hours of footage and

you guys get to see 44 minutes of it on Monday. Me and Bobby had some

good times as well (laughing)."

 

 

 

 

Question: Are there any plans to air the fights that might not be shown

on April 9th?

 

Dana White: "Those fights will not be shown during the April 9th show.

We don't know what we will be doing with that footage but we going to do

something with it. Those fights could end up airing on Spike TV at a

later date but at this time we are not sure."

 

 

 

 

Question: Ken Shamrock is the biggest pay per view draw in the company.

Why put his fight on free TV instead of using his remaining fights to

increase PPV buys?

 

Dana White: "I think Ken Shamrock is one of the most famous fighters in

the UFC. We want the finale to go out with a bang. Putting Ken in the

Main Event made sense to us."

 

 

 

 

Question: As the sport of Mixed Martial Arts evolves, the fighters will

want to see increases in their contracts as well. Tito Ortiz is a

recent example of this. Have you ever considered offering the fighters

a certain percentage of PPV revenue if it reaches a certain level of

buys? This would help motivate the fighters to promote the event and if

the number of expected buys are not met, Zuffa loses nothing on the

deal.

 

Dana White: "Maybe they already have that (laughing). We have done

alot of great things in the last few years but this sport still isn't at

the level of boxing as far as money is concerned. I think the fighters

are getting exactly what they should be paid. We run this thing like a

business and these guys make a percentage of what comes in.

 

The way it works for boxing is different. HBO will pay 3 million

dollars to make the Floyd Mayweather vs Arturo Gotti fight. Bob Arhum

will then go out and negotiate with Mayweather and his camp and so on.

He takes no risk. There is no risk for those guys. Promoting boxing is

simple. A little kid could do it! Here at Zuffa, in promoting Mixed

Martial Arts, we are the ones taking the risk. We put up the money for

all of the stuff. We market it, promote it, pay for the venue, and

everything else. It's a whole different ball game. Comparing MMA to

boxing is like comparing apples to oranges."

 

 

 

 

Question: How are the negotiations going with Tito Ortiz?

 

Dana White: "I have not negotiated with Tito Ortiz at all. We haven't

even talked to Tito."

 

 

 

 

Question: Do you feel that future money making matches involving Tito

Ortiz versus Chuck Liddell, Ken Shamrock, and even Lee Murray can

justify the kind of money he wants per fight on a new deal?

 

Dana White: "No."

 

 

 

Question: Will you be going over to the Pride Grand Prix Tournament

with Vitor Belfort and will Belfort still be involved in future UFC

matches, regardless of how he does in the tournament?

 

Dana White: "Vitor Belfort is a UFC fighter that you will see in the

future, regardless of how he does over there. I will be going over

there to support him as our UFC representative."

 

 

 

 

Question: How do you respond to critics who feel that the UFC comes off

looking weak by sending fighters over to Pride when the favor is not

returned?

 

Dana White: "I'm counting on them returning the favor. As far as us

looking weak over there, that doesn't bother me at all. I say it every

day. I will put my fighters up against any of their guys. Any day they

want to send Vanderlai Silva over here to fight Randy Couture or Chuck

Liddell, we can do it! I mean that's what it is all about. I'm in this

thing to see the best fights."

 

 

 

 

Question: In the past, you have stated that the UFC's demographic

audience is made up of more boxing fans than that of fans of Pro

Wrestling. With "The Ultimate Fighter" retaining a large percentage of

its Pro Wrestling lead in; has your feelings changed on that subject?

 

Dana White: "No not at all because TUF is a whole different thing.

There is a lot of storylines involved with that show. It's like a soap

opera where you tune in every week to see what is going to happen with

the guys. The difference being that they fight for real. TUF is right

up the alley of the WWE's fan base because of the storyline aspect of

the show.

 

Our Pay Per Views are geared more towards a traditional boxing audience.

It's for guys who like real fights. We have done studies on it, in

regards to our pay per views, and they are definitely viewed more by

those with a taste for boxing."

 

 

 

 

Question: Is there any concern of media backlash is regards to signing

Sean Gannon?

 

Dana White: "There is no real backlash we can get. We are a legitimate

sport. We are sanctioned in every state in this country that would host

a big boxing event. As long as Gannon comes in and fights by the rules

of the Nevada State Athletic Commission or wherever we might be, what

difference does it make?"

 

 

 

 

Question: Are there any plans to crown a UFC lightweight champ?

 

Dana White: "No, not anytime soon. Yves Edwards is the guy who I

consider as our lightweight champ. I am probably going to send him over

to one of those tournaments in Japan. I like to keep our guys active

and making money. The guys who fight for me our loyal and they know we

treat them well. I don't hold anyone back from anything.

 

In the American market now, we just don't have a slot for a lightweight

champion. I would still put my name and the UFC name behind Yves

Edwards. I would love to send him over to Japan as a representative of

our company for the upcoming Bushido tournament. He could go over there

and make some money and probably win the thing. That's what makes this

whole thing fun anyways, right?"

 

 

 

 

Question: Are there any plans for a female division?

 

Dana White: "Well, that is going to take awhile. We are just getting

people use to the guys fighting. The show on April 9th will be the

first time that a MMA match will be televised on free TV and the sport

has been around for 11 years. That in itself is huge."

 

 

 

 

Question: Will we ever see a UFC tournament, similar to that of the

Pride Grand Prix?

 

Dana White: "No, not where you see a guy fight twice in the same night.

I don't think you will ever see that in the U.S. with the commission."

 

 

 

 

Question: Let me throw three names at you; Jens Pulver, BJ Penn, and

Jeremy Horn. I hear from alot of fans who want to see these guys back

in the UFC. Are you interested in signing any of these three fighters?

 

Dana White: "You know, it's funny. People always say that they want to

see them in the UFC so bad but when they were here, people weren't that

crazy about them. Everybody was bitching about Jens Pulver, saying that

every time he fought that he would stall and was boring.

 

People could have cared less about BJ Penn. He never sold any tickets

or Pay Per Views. Who was the other one, Jeremy Horn? You should know

what I mean. I find that statement funny.

 

I like Jeremy Horn, and Jens. BJ and I are friends. I just don't think

that there are that many people that are excited to see them back in the

UFC. BJ just fought in Japan and both times they did not even put him

on television. He's not selling any tickets over there either. I went

to go see him fight Gomi in Hawaii and the place there wasn't even sold

out."

 

 

 

 

Question: Any opinions on Pride possibly promoting in the United States?

 

Dana White: "I think it would be great. We need as many shows out

there as possible. Even in regards to the smaller shows; they are all

great for the sport. More active fighters out there mean we have a

bigger pool to choose from. It will eventually mean more money as well.

We need all these shows for the sport to grow."

 

 

 

 

Question: I have been hearing reports that the Tito Ortiz vs. Vitor

Belfort PPV did over 100,000 buys. Is that correct?

 

Dana White: "That would be great (laughing), Over a 100,000 would be

awesome. We don't give out our PPV numbers."

 

 

 

 

Question: Is there a projection that you are hoping for in regards to

the number of buys for the Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell PPV?

 

Dana White: "That's a tough one. You know I would like to do numbers

like the last Eric Morales boxing fight. I hear they did 400,000. I

would love to do how much the WWE probably did last night. How many did

they do, you know?"

 

Interviewer: I think Wrestlemania this year might have done around

750,000 buys.

 

Dana White: "Trust me. Call me after doing 750,000 buys. I will be

doing cartwheels around the office!!! That is awesome. That is where I

some day hope to be."

 

 

 

 

Question: Is there a realistic TV rating that you are hoping to get for

the TUF finale?

 

Dana White: "Well, we are hoping to crush our highest weekly rating so

far which is a 2.03. We are hoping to crush that for the finale."

 

 

 

 

Question: Do you have any advice for upcoming fighters who want to make

it to the UFC one day?

 

Dana White: "They need to start out in these smallers shows like the

WEC, the AFC down in Florida; there are small shows all around the

country where guys fight. We pretty much keep our eyes on all of them.

We like to see who is up and coming, who they just beat, and those type

of things. We realy keep a good eye on it. They just need to get their

game down and start fighting in one of these smaller shows."

 

 

 

 

Question: Mr. White, I thank you for your time. You can close the

interview out with anything you want to put out there.

 

Dana White: "Right now we are negotisting with Spike TV and we are

hoping that they will be the home of the UFC. "The Ultimate Fighter"

is the 3rd highest rated show on Spike TV, trailing only RAW and CSI.

It is the #1 origonal program on the netowrk. It nearly doubles what

the NBA does on ESPN for regular season games and nearly does 6 times

the numbers that the NHL did on ESPN 2. We hope to do alot of things

with Spike TV in the future."

 

 

 

Final Thoughts:

 

I would like to thank Dana White, Dave Meltzer, David Schwarz, Brika

Reese, and Spike TV. I will be back this weekend for my final TUF

report for the season. I will save my farewells until then. I can be

reached at [email protected].