Four NFL Veterans Join Kimbo on TUF 10 Cast
After learning yesterday of the first cast member on The Ultimate Fighter 10, backyard brawler-turned-mixed martial artist Kimbo Slice, MMAjunkie has confirmed that four NFL veterans have been cast for the heavyweights-only season.
Added to the cast were Marcus Jones (4-1), Matt Mitrione (0-0), Brendan Schaub (4-0) and Wes Shivers (0-1). A fifth former player, Rex Richards, was also reportedly tapped for the show, which began taping on Monday, but recently suffered a partial MCL tear that forced him to withdraw from the competition.
The Ultimate Fighter 10: Heavyweights, which features light heavyweight contenders Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans as coaches, will debut on September 16 following UFC Fight Night 19 on Spike TV.
Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest Ultimate Fighter news, as we’ll pass along more cast members and other news and notes as it becomes available.
[Pictured: Marcus Jones]
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Has anyone heard the complete roster for this show? I am from South Dakota, and I heard there was a local kid on the show – so it would be cool to see that. Granted, the last time we had a SD kid represent our state, Noah, he quit the show bc his girlfriend was going to dump him… so doesn’t really help our image much! That and Travis Lutter – a former HS and college wrestler who cant make weight (to fight Anderson Silva). Sad..
damn Rex Richards was probably the best prospect out of all the former NFL guys other than Jones
I saw Marcus Jones fight at WFC 8 in Tampa… He got KO’d by Daniel Perez fairly quickly. Go look it up, not very impressive. But I hope he has been training so he can help help put Tampa on the MMA map. (No offense Matt Arroyo;)
Yeah I saw that fight(and agree) but other than that fight he’s been pretty dominant with no fight getting to the end of the first though. I’d be willing to bet he’s been training his ass off for this.
Hey Chrisl… If you were at that fight do you remember the fight between Angela Magana and Jessica Aguilar? That was the best fight of the night! (except for the verbal tapout for the oppenents blood in her eye) Why don’t they have TUF 11: WOMEN!!! Those ratings would kill anything that Kimbo could bring.
I have to say some of the women’s fights have been pretty intense. Wasn’t there that night but knew some people with a video of it.
The issue w/ women in the UFC is simple IMO, anyone who is hesitant about MMA will be more hesitant about seeing women fighting because “women shouldn’t be violent”. With the UFC being the face of MMA in the US(there’s no argument that it is). The UFC doesn’t want to deal with that while trying to get approval. Also the women’s divisions are not very deep or structured so it makes it harder to really draw up a true women’s division that is for more than show.
Wow…seems to me they could have got some guys with more experience. They don’t want to make it look like they’re TRYING to give the competetion to Kimbo!
I guess there are still names to be released…
TUF 10 isn’t shaping up to be a clinic on MMA technique, thats for sure, nor a legitimate exercise in finding the next great HW. NFL castoffs now joining Kimbo Slice sort of slots this TUF into the “more TV than MMA” catagory.
I’m wondering if a full roster has been announced, and if it has, does anyone have one handy? So far this is shaping up to be a sort of cattle call for MMA wannabes from other sports or pursuits. I’m also wondering if the UFC plans on filling out the rest of the TUF 10 roster with guys from sumo wrestling, pro wrestling, bodybuilding, and strongman contests, or will there be any actual MMA HW’s in the mix.
From what I’ve seen to date, even a half-trained MMA fighter with a decent background in wrestling or BJJ will run roughshod over a roster of footballers and Internet bum fight celebrities…
Before you rush to judge these guys you should check them out first. These guys are more than half trained fighters. Plus I seem to remember a guy who won TUF w/o a professional fight. Plus these are just four guys… we still do not know about 11 other guys.
Who won TUF w/o a professional fight?
Amir had no professional fights
I’d put Michael Westbrook (not on the show, but proving a poit – be patient) against a lot of the lower-middle guys in the UFC at his weight class, which is where any TUF winner comes into the UFC.
Just because they are former NFL doesn’t mean they are suddenly not legitimate MMA fighters.
These are just more Desperate attemps to make a good season of TUF. I really think that the
UFC is in a little trouble as far as future REAL talent especially at HW. I hope our sport can keep growing. I just don’t see it turning out to be as exciting as the past bouts we’ve all come to love. {LIddell\Couture} LIddell \Wandi] And so on. If the UFC can’t find ligitimate contenders to challange for the belts after our NOW roster gets a little more thinned down look for more circus acts. GO KIMBO
The issue at heavyweight is the same for college wrestling most of the best big athletes play other sports and it’s only a side job. It’s tough to find that rare combination of athleticism and skill in heavyweights because you usually only find one or the other. Lesnar is the exception and not the rule for heavyweights really. I think when the old names start to cycle out of the sport by then there will be a solid group. Most fighters do not peak until they hit 30 and there is such a young group in the UFC that a lot of these guys are going to start hitting at the same time and then sparks may fly. It may not be the headlining bouts at first but rest assured they will end up there.
FYI in response to what you said about Kimbo already, I still don’t respect him as a fighter because he hasn’t earned it but he did show some humility by joining the show with lucrative offers out there. Personally though I think he gets KO’d, if he fights Marcus Jones someone is going to sleep quickly and Marcus is quicker so I’d say it’d be Kimbo.
Chris L,
Yeah dude you said it perfect. I feel that way about cain velasquez. I think he’s well rounded and doing really well, but i don’t see him as a dominant force yet or as the champ, but i do see him getting better and in your words “peaking” a little later on.
How can anyone not respect anyone as a fighter?!?! If they have the balls to step in and fight someone – I respect them! I may think they are not a great fighter – or person, but you have to respect the fact they got in there to fight!! I know I never would get in there and fight!!!
Jason- Same way I wouldn’t respect a drug dealer who wants to be a pharmacist. When Kimbo first got into MMA I took issue because he was everything that got the sport banned in the US. So until I see him commit to the sport alone I won’t think of him as being any better than half the drunks and jerks that get into a fight at a bar.
Yo, Kimbo should of stayed in the “Backyard Bralws” He has no place in the UFC and I like Kimbo. I never said YOU Spacifically chrisL liked or respected him I said damn near EVERYONE on the site talked sh*t about him and will JUMP on the bandwogon ala MACHIDA if he wins. I garuntee he won’t. I’m done on this stupid subject Dana should of just put him in the UFC and we would really have somethin to talk about. O’yeah I guess GSP PEAKED a lil early then.
believe me I wasn’t taking it personally. I don’t think GSP has peaked yet but that’s me. He’s also an exception to the rule how many champs have been his age. Very few GSP’s in the world.
Please tell me how Kimbo has not earned fighting in the ufc???
Sooo What he use to backyard brawl, or bar fight, who hasn’t??? He committed to mma totally already and trained with mma coaches and fought in mma only league so what part of deserving to fight in the ufc is lacking…
If the president of the ufc dana white and ufc crew who signs the paychecks puts him in a show or gives him an opportunity then IMO he shouldn’t be critized by sofa coaches saying he doesnt deserve a shot.
A man has the right to feed his family especially if he giving an opportunity to do it RIGHT…
He not talking bad about the ufc, or backyard fighting anymore or fight in mma freak monster shows or boxing Timmmmehh sylvia sooo hey let’s just sit back and watch the fire works gents!!!
I stand for the most part corrected, and will reserve future judgements until such time that they can be substantiated or disregarded. I will add that if the UFC wants to promote itself as the world’s premiere MMA organization, they seriously need to recruit HW talent from somewhere other than backyard brawls, and not set themselves up as a haven for athletes from other failed endeavors [NFL, WWE, etc.] or abandoned pursuits.
As to Kimbo Slice specifically, I would have less of an objection if he’d won some fights against decent competition, and/or perhaps showed some sort of aptitude towards an even partially complete MMA skillset.
Even a reality show like TUF needs to have some sort of standards if the sport is to achieve the mainstream and worldwide market share that Dana White has said repeatedly that it is destined for.
Hopefully my fears will prove groundless, and TUF 10 will be a quality MMA HW competition, with no one getting seriously injured and the most talented fighter securing the contract…
Your fears are fine and they do hold water so no worries. I think a big issue is how people have started to view The Ultimate Fighter. The original idea was to add depth to the roster at each weight class. The thing is with the recent success of TUF alum and the public eye these guys are in everyone expects a lot pretty quick because of the names(I can go on but I won’t). They didn’t actively seek out Kimbo, Kimbo called Dana’s bluff.
As for the rest as far as the former NFL guys here’s a few numbers… there are 119 Division I teams(not including FCS, D2,D3 and NAIA) averaging a roster of 90 guys so you have about 10,710 guys playing college football there are 61 guys on each NFL team(including practice squad) so that breaks down to 1,952 guys who have a job in the NFL… so it’s not exactly easy to make it in the NFL. So in order to make onto one of those rosters you have to damn good, athletic, and willing to work hard. Someone who “sucks” in the NFL is better than 8,000 guys who don’t make it. So for these guys to not make it in the NFL is not a big knock on them…hell Lesnar didn’t make it in the NFL.
So the thing is that you know you’re getting athletes, you know they’re hard workers, and you know they’re hungry. I don’t expect the winners to be challenging for the title in a year. It took Forrest 3 years before he challenged for and won the belt. Plus they’ve already got a good rising class of heavyweights(Velazquez, Kongo, Carwin, Lesnar, etc) now so I really think this is just adding depth but I am being optimistic. I hope for the same things you do but don’t worry about being a lil nervous. I still maintain that Kimbo can’t do anything to ruin the reputation of TUF that Jesse Taylor didn’t already do.
meant to have a period in between in and everyone in the first paragraph my bad..
chrisl
Great points!!!
Marcus Jones is going to be a beast on the show. I hope he knocks Kimbo on his ass.
Really good point about Jesse Taylor, chrisl, as well as your “numb3ers” on the topic.
And I’m probably as guilty as anyone of having an altered view of TUF as the years have gone by. I think I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the hell out of the HW TUF, and hope for the best for all involved.
I think the problem here is that people have a distorted view of HW fighters. Unless you’re huge at HW (the way it is laid out now), you are at an extreme disadvantage and it iIS better to drop to lhw.
Here’s a thought to illustrate my point…in any combat sport, the best “p4p” fighter is never a heavyweight. Never has been, never will be. Because p4p, Pacquiao is a better fighter than Tyson was, than Foreman was, or than Ali was. P4p, GSP is better than Liddell, Couture, or Fedor. It’s simple and very hard to dispute – the little guys are incredible fighters and there’s a whole lot less of them. (see how well aoki grappled fedor for another example)
great point there dbiz.
To me the issue is that at Hwt anyone can knock out anyone if they have everything in a punch. Too many guys just rely on that fact and try to focus on power in all combat sports. Just watching Paquaio using every thing boxing has to offer skill wise and then watching to heavy weights who just stand and swing until the other falls illustrates your point. I think that as the weight lowers that one punch KO power drops and so guys work on their technique more knowing that’s what will win the fight.
I thought that you had to have a pro record before coming onto the show?
also, im bummed out to see that Micheal Westbrook isnt on the lineup. I think that dudes awesome!
naw no pro record is required but it is preferred. Corey Hill didn’t have one either. You still have to try out in order to get on and you’d really have to show something with out one.
Actually, they changed the rules after Amir. They made it to where you had to have a pro record to get on the show. (I think). Also, Corey Hill lied to them and said he was 4-0, they found out later he never fought pro before.
I didn’t check out the full rules this year since I couldn’t try out due to my neck so I will take you word for it Justin.
i am waiting for them to announce bobby lashley coming on to the cast. i haven’t heard anything about it, he just seems like a very likely contestant. i know us mma fans arent the biggest fans of former wwe guys being in here but lashley is alot cooler dude than lesner. he is also a very big strong man that has won his first couple of mma fights decisevely. not to mention him easily knocking of the older brother of clay guida who was supposed to be on last seasons ultimate fighter but couldn’t make weight. if they can give that guy a shot, how can they not give a man that beat him easily a shot. i would love to lashley and kimbo throw down!!
Filming has already started and he still has confirmed fights upcoming so it is unlikely he will be there.
i’LL BE ROOTING FOR KIMBO!!! YES.
to me, he is someone who is trying to make something of himself. he is working hard, he has been training.
no, he isnt perfect or mr. clean, but thats not what he is here for.
he is a good slugger. his problem is that he got into the game a bit late. but so what. he isnt a superman. but i still like him.
and all the Kimbo bashers, just shot up and give the man a chance.
he is allowed to have a weak chin, kay?
lets see if all his training was good for something.
I think that his fight with tank was fixed, dont get it that tank didnt try to wrestle him down.
i think that the thompson fight should not have been stopped- it wasnt a serious injury, just a burst califlouer ear.
so, to me, kimbo still has to prove himself. but I give him some slack people!
IT’s like this, the NFL players will open up a lot of eyes from that sport toward MMA. This is a smart (money wise) move to get more people into the sport. If these guys have any type of following (I have no idea I don’t watch football) then those fans will more than likely watch TUF which in turn bring more fans to the sport, so outside of the fact that TUF seems to be sliding (albeit slowly) away from what it was designed to do (allow up and coming fighters to showcase), it is getting the sport out there to more people and that’s the real point of the show I think.
Once again this is just my opinion.
I am always down to watch a freakshow :D
I went to highschool with Matt Mitrione, was just a couple years behind him. That man is a machine. He fought in a few local toughman competitions before they were put out of business. He also has a very energetic personality and I am sure he will bring a LOT to the show in that regard. I have only casually watched any MMA fights, I listen to a few shows on the radio that talk alot about MMA and have watched a handful of fights, but I will definitely watch this season of TUF to see how Matt does.
Heck, he is the only reason I found this site, came up in a google search of his name after I heard he would be on the show :)