Saturday, June 20 10:46 pm PT: UFC President Dana White threw a curveball to home plate Saturday when he announced the promotion is eying Brazilian Vitor Belfort to return to the fold to face middleweight champion Anderson Silva in the future.
A 19-year-old Belfort became one of the promotion’s first bona fide stars under Semaphore Entertainment Group’s reign between 1997-1998. Belfort (18-8) was also the UFC’s light heavyweight champion for a short spell in 2004, but has since jumped between Pride Fighting Championships, Cage Rage, and Affliction in recent years.
In one big way, the announcement is not a surprise. The UFC needs capable opponents to match against Silva, who has steamrolled through the entire 185-pound division in the last two years. Actually, capable isn’t good enough anymore. It has to be an adversary the promotion can really get behind,
Saturday, June 20 8:25 pm PT: Up Next: Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida
Is anyone more of a lockdown artist than Guida? He’s on you like cobwebs, shutting out your game and reducing you to thoughts about how best to get him off. It’s strangely entertaining. Sanchez has more tools to win -- better wrestling to keep Guida at bay, better striking -- but Guida having played spoiler to Nate Diaz and Mac Danzig
recently is a role he’s clearly enjoying. It is well within the realm of possibility that -- barring Sanchez summoning the power of the elements indoors -- Guida could fatigue him in the clinch and win a
decision.
Round 1
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Guida's trainer slaps him across the face
repeatedly. Not to be outdone, Sanchez has his corner shoot him in a
non-vital area with a small round.
Sanchez comes out like he's on amphetamines, throwing a series of
punches that snap Guida's head back. Clearly not enjoying it, Guida
takes him down. Back standing, Guida eats a kick to the face that
should've taken his jaw off -- instead, he tolerates only temporary
paralysis before continuing to fight.
Round 2
Having failed to decapitate Guida, Sanchez now tries ripping his arm
off. Guida is content staying in guard, stifling Sanchez standing, and
not spitting out molars at a Denny's later tonight. The work nets him
the round, but he looks a bloody mess.
Round 3
Guida looks like a homicide victim who's still breathing. Sanchez
wants to open up on the feet, but he appears skittish about being
taken back down. Too late: Guida plays the Persian rug game. He's got
control, but it's Sanchez who has been making effort from the bottom.
Good luck scoring this one.
Decision:
Split decision for Sanchez. Justifiable. Guida slinks off to buy some
Tony Robbins CDs.
Saturday, June 20 8:18 pm PT: Up Next: Damarques Johnson vs. James Wilks
This is what separates fighters from normal people: Johnson lost his
first two pro fights, but kept at it anyway -- long after you or I would
be exploring an exciting new career in roof tarring. Johnson’s
stand-up is probably going to be sufficient to batter Wilks, who made
his way to the finals after defeating a pre-pummeled Frank Lester in
the semis.
Round 1
Johnson sports the US flag shorts, making it very easy for the
beer-and-nacho crowd to keep their cheering straight. It gets violent
quickly. Wilks is proving sturdier than expected, unloading on Johnson
early. He tries a "compression lock" on Johnson's leg, more by
accident than design. Then Wilks locks in a rear-naked choke for the
win. The UK sweeps both finals. Wilks will go home to a party, a
contract, and a TiVo full of "Doctor Who"; Johnson gets squat.
Saturday, June 20 8:02 pm PT: Joe Rogan interviews Brock Lesnar--sporting a very sinister-looking facial growth--via satellite. Lesnar resembles an oil barrel with a head.
On behalf of Spike, Lesnar accepts a giant pair of gold-plated antlers for some "Guy's Choice" awards show, having been unable to attend. I'm sure that dangling thread in his life was really eating at him.
Saturday, June 20 7:23 pm PT: Up Next: Chris Lytle vs. Kevin Burns
Lytle is durable, well-rounded, and can make good fighters look
ineffective, but I’m not entirely convinced there’s a lot of suspense
to his career. He can’t beat anyone on a high level, and if he hasn’t
“peaked” in the ten years he’s been competing, it’s not likely to
happen now. He’ll beat Burns, but whether that means anything is open
to debate.
Round 1
Lytle and Burns box. When Burns breaks the pace by throwing a kick, it
lands low. Burns buckles Lytle's knees and tries to go in for the
kill. Burns really turns it on in the closing moments; Lytle stumbles
backward, inebriated.
Round 2
60 seconds can really do wonders for a guy: Lytle opens by backing
Burns up and shows little sign of trauma from the earlier flurry.
Goldberg babbles some preamble about Lytle being a firefighter and
Burns nicknamed "the Fire" and I know where it's going so I stick
gauze in my ears. Burns punts him in the yams again. And a third time.
Herb Dean has to seriously consider deducting a point. He doesn't.
Round 3
Rashad Evans is spotted in the crowd, and appears to have recovered
physically -- if not emotionally -- from being karate's heavy bag.
Burns has been sliced open. Judges, sociopaths all, will be swayed.
Lytle comes forward. Burns is tired, bleeding, and locked in a cage
with an angry man who will get money for hurting him. This is when a
career in fighting begins to suck. Burns makes it to the end, though.
Decision:
29-28 for Lytle. "The firefighter has put out the fire," Goldberg
says. Argh. Dana White mentions Vitor Belfort could be headed to the
UFC to face Anderson Silva. Belfort's 8/1 fight with Jorge Santiago
could euthanize that idea in a hurry.
Saturday, June 20 7:13 pm PT: Up Next: Ross Pearson vs. Andre Winner
Whoever loses, Michael Bisping wins: both Pearson and Winner are
Brits, which means UK team coach Bisping can get bragging rights
regardless of the outcome. (Fortunately, he’s modest about these sorts
of things.) Some unfortunate handicapping comes courtesy of Winner
himself, who told the Sun in May that “I
was confident of Ross beating all of the lightweights in the
house.” So there you go.
Round 1
For the lightweight "TUF" title: taking that into consideration,
shouldn't these final fights be five rounds? Maybe split the
difference and call it four? Both guys look tightly wound. They're
also wearing virtually identical fight shorts, which should infuriate
In Touch Weekly. Winner seems content to push Pearson into the cage
and hope he spontaneously combusts or something. Alternative strategy:
knee Pearson in the groin. Stilted round: Winner finishes with a
theatrical flurry.
Round 2
Bisping is spotted on camera, which prompts the crowd to boo. So
Bisping applauds himself, which is very much in character. Pearson and
Winner are content to fight as though they're in a phone booth,
sticking to each other in the clinch and trading knee strikes.
Round 3
Twelve minutes in, both fighters realize it's incredibly difficult to
end a fight from the clinch and decide to open the distance. For about
30 seconds. The crowd is on their best funeral behavior. Winner is
likely to take this for being the more aggressive hugger. "How good is
this?" Goldberg asks. Of course he did. Who was the idiot who
suggested this should have gone four rounds?
Decision
29-28 for Ross Pearson. Turns out Winner was right. UFC President Dana
White hands Pearson a gigantic piece of glass that threatens to topple
over the ring girl. The "six-figure contract" gets a mention.
Saturday, June 20 6:40 pm PT: Keep refreshing this page for the latest from tonight's "Ultimate Fighter: Team US vs. Team UK" finale. It's xenophobia brought to you by "Rob Zombie's Halloween II."
Up Next: Joe Stevenson vs. Nate Diaz
Until Sean Sherk fights Corey Hill, this is likely to be the biggest
size disparity you’ll see in the lightweight division: the 5’7”
Stevenson takes on the 6’0” Diaz. I’ll spare you the “tall order”
hackwork, but Stevenson is just 1-3 since January of 2008, and if he
can’t get past the bear trap that is Diaz’ guard, his tenure in the
UFC could be ending. Shortly.
Round 1
Buffer approaches each fighter menacingly during introductions.
Stevenson employs the curious strategy of sending Diaz where he's most
comfortable: fighting off his back. But he does well early on,
snagging Diaz in a kind of reverse crucifix control that looks like a
page torn from the Kama Sutra. Stevenson had complete control of the
round. Nate lifts his hands. If the judges are that easily swayed,
there's no hope for anyone.
Round 2
Diaz performs the patented bee-swat striking technique; Stevenson
prefers his chances on the ground -- no wonder, with Diaz' 6-7"
reach -- and ties him up. This goes on for five minutes. Diaz doesn't
have a solution for Stevenson's strong-arming.
Round 3
After a scramble, Diaz scores his first takedown of the night. Unless
two of the judges are Nick and Cesar Gracie, it's not going to be
enough. This is the Stevenson people were expecting when he debuted.
Maybe this Greg Jackson character knows a thing or two after all.
Decision:
Stevenson 29-28 across the board. A stay of execution.
Saturday, June 20 12:18 pm PT: If you woke up today in the mood to watch someone bleed all over a Burger King logo, you're in luck: Spike’s ninth “Ultimate Fighter” season concludes tonight at 9 PM ET.
Check back here for live fight previews, after-round coverage, and subtitles for UK participants.
Saturday, June 20 12:30 am PT: When “The Ultimate Fighter” premiered in 2005, fandom could barely conceal distain for what it perceived were a bunch of reality TV tomato cans, flash-frozen and easily consumed by veterans.
As it turns out, the show has spawned two light heavyweight champions, several legitimate contenders and one returning veteran (Matt Serra) who pulled off the upset of the decade when he gave Georges St. Pierre a Catholic school spanking at UFC 69.
Two more winners will be crowned on Saturday. Plus, season one winner Diego Sanchez faces Clay Guida in what will almost certainly be three rounds of anaerobic attribution.
Friday, June 19 12:00 am PT: Two of the world’s premier middleweights will collide when Sengoku champion Jorge Santiago meets the mercurial Vitor Belfort at Affliction “Trilogy” on Aug. 1 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The 185-pound showdown will help anchor one of the summer’s most anticipated events.
Based out of American Top Team, the versatile Santiago (21-7) will carry a nine-fight winning streak into the match. The 28-year-old Brazilian last appeared in January, when he choked Kazuo Misaki unconscious to win the Sengoku middleweight crown. He holds victories against reigning Maximum Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder Trevor Prangley and UFC veterans Derrick Noble, LaVerne Clark and Kazuhiro Nakamura. Santiago has delivered 20 of his 21 career wins by knockout, technical knockout or submission.
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