The Ultimate Fighter 8: Episode One Live Blog
Let the live coverage continue!
Welcome to MMAFrenzy.com’s live blog of The Ultimate Fighter 8 “Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir”.
As most of you know by now this seasons coaches are UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir.
The fighters immediately enter the UFC training facility and UFC president Dana White announces that just like last season 32 fighters will compete for their spot in the house, though this year he have two weight classes: lightweights (155 pounds) and light heavyweights (205 pounds).
Before Dana gives his typical TUF speach to this year’s cast one of the fighters faints, but it’s just a mixture of heat and nerves, not a medical issue so he’s okay to continue.
We’re briefly introduced to Nogueira, the only fighter to ever to hold a title in both PRIDE and the UFC, and Mir, a previous heavyweight champion.
White concludes his speech and the fighters are dismissed to get prepared for the weigh-ins. Both coaches observe the fighters preparing to get a feeling for who they are, what skills they possess, and ultimately who they want on their team.
The weight cutting segment focuses on the brother of UFC lightweight Clay Guida, light heavyweight Jason Guida, who must drop 11 pounds to reach the 205 pound light heavyweight limit. White says Jason was 205 pounds “we thought”. Uh oh! Guida says he’s getting older and needs to get into the UFC or get a real job but he’s having a problem cutting down due to severe cramping.
The fighters hit the scales to weigh-in for the first round of fights and everyone seems to make weight except for Guida. The doctor says Guida’s blood pressure is a little low (to which Guida responds “What!”) but the doctor and NSAC director Keith Kizer allow Guida to hit the scales. He weights in at 207 pounds, one pound over the 206 pound limit for the fights, and despite pleading his case to cut the final pound to the comission he’s ultimately dismissed from show.
Mike Stewart, an alternate cast member, is brought in to replace Guida and weighs in at 203 pounds completing the opening round weigh-in process.
The first sixteen fights allow the coaches to evaluate the fighters so the assistant coaches corner the fighters and Mir and Nogueira sit with White and analyze the fights.
All of the fights are two, five-minute rounds with the winner earning a spot in the house and the loser going home.
First up is light heavyweights Mike Stewart vs. Krzysztof Soszynski and Soszynski stuns Stewart in the opening moments with a big right and follows it up with more punches to force a quick referee stoppage. Soszynski is in and Stewart is out.
A lightweight bout between Fernando Bernstein and Dave Kaplan is up next and Bernstein shows superior striking early, controlling the pace and pummeling Kaplan. Kaplan looks strong midway through the round, tagging Bernstein with combos. Kaplan goes for a takedown and he puts Bernstein on the canvas then takes his back, sinks in hooks, and locks up a rear naked choke that forces Bernstein to tap. Dana quips that Bernstein, nicknamed “The Machete”, is more like a butter knife. Bernstein is gone while Kaplan earns his spot in the house.
Lightweights Joe Duarte and Phillipe Nover (the guy that fainted) square off next. They touch gloves and we’re underway. Nover is agressive early but hits Duart in the groin and they’re halted temporarily to allow him time to recover. We’re back underway shortly and they clinch the fence and fight for position. More knees from Nover in the clinch as neither fighter is able to gain the clear upper hand. They’re separated and restarted Nover connects with kics. Duarte connects with a solid combo that trips Nover to the canvas and Duarte works from half-guard. Nover gives up his back and Duarte gets in hooks and looks for the choke finish but Nover lands repeated punches to the face of Duarte to close out the round strong. Mir and White are impressed by Nover’s agressiveness and round two is underway. Nover is quickly on top of Duarte and takes his back before sinking in a rear naked choke that forces Duarte to tap. White remarks that he made fun of Phillipe ever since he came onto the show as he’s the fighter who fainted he and the coaches agree that he looked strong in his opening bout and White adds “He ain’t ‘fainting Phillipe’ any more”. Duarte, one of the season’s most talked about cast members
Up next is light heavyweight Jules Bruchez, a self-proclaimed farmboy, and Eric Magee and Jules picks up the win via rear naked choke in the opening round but is a bit too cocky after the win prompting White, Nogueira, and Mir to have a good laugh at his antics. Bruches is in while Magee is going home.
Vinicius Magalhaes advances into the house with a win over Lance Evans, the brother of previous Ultimate Fighter winner Rashad Evans, defeating Evans via technical knockout due to a broken rib.
Antwain Britt moves into the next round with a majority decision victory over Ryan Jimmo.
Brian McLaughlin was dominating his fight over Brandon Garner but was tagged with an illegal knee to the head while on the ground. The fight is ruled a no contest due to the accidental nature of the foul but McLauglin is moving on based on his performance while Garner is sent packing.
A battle of lightweight trash talkers is on tap as Junie Browning, who impressed Dana White in the tryouts by submitting his opponent with White’s choice of submission (a triangle), takes on Jose “Dawg” Aguilar. Browning connects early but briefly gets in trouble when they first hit the mat. He escapes Aguilar’s submission attempts and works ground and pound before going back to their. More solid striking from Browning on the feet before they head back to the canvas. More submission attempts by Aguilar are evaded and Browning works from side control. After an extended series of ground and pound Junie gets mount and drops more punches and elbows from the top. Aguilar survives the round but he’s unable to continue and Browning moves on. White remains impressed with Junie after the fight. A sign of things to come? Junie finishes out the show by adding “I heard there’s free alcohol in the house. That ain’t good”.
And that’s all for the debut of “The Ultimate Fighter 8″ folks. Join us next Wednesday for another Ultimate Fighter 8 live blog of the final eight opening round fights including one in which the winner is unable to more into the house due to an injury.
Is Jason Guida fat?
Not fat, a little out of shape I’d say. I don’t think he came into this with the understanding that he’d have to make weight so quickly but that’s entirely his fault and ultimately his loss if he doesn’t make it back to the UFC eventually.
that dude that quit to Junie looked better than some of the others. He was trying some submission attempts while getting beat down, kinda Brock-Frank style, but not quite.
Go team Mir…
And now we know why Brandon Garner can fight in Raleigh in October….
wow only 1 pound over and got cut? how would you feel.
Josie And Junie were very good interviews. Always a class move to connect yourself to Hitler.
Anyone hate the idea of US/UK in season 9?
Junie is da man but Josie was looking like he might have been da man - Junie reminds me of that guy that beat Matt Hughes 2x in a row in top speed?
Dietrich,
I think it should be interesting, the US has a bigger pool of talent to draw from though, hopefully they’ll do well. I usually like the opportunity to pull for my country over another one…too bad Anderson Silva is Brazilian…
Yeah i dont like the idea of US/UK in season 9 cause i dont want the show to be like the contender where they have those kind of things. I would still watch it but only if they have a UK coach with that team and a US coach with the US team.
Dennis Hallman - that’s the guy. Submitted Matt Hughes in 20 seconds flat and 17 seconds flat.
I think the US-UK idea at least adds something new to the show, which is very much needed. I’ll have a full write up about TUF 9 tomorrow but my initial reaction is that I think its a good idea and if executed right could be one of the better seasons of the show.
Yeah Dietrich there were actually a lot of spoilers out before the first episode even aired. It’s been out for a month now that Guida got cut, Duarte was announced for a card recently, Garner’s fighting in Raleigh, and there’s been other spoilers released as well.
@Kris your website by far killed BE with the responses to UFN 15 congrats my friend
I looked at jason guida on sherdog and he shows fighting 185 weight class, wheather he didn’t plan on fighting that quick is his fault knowing he would fight at 205 he should have came in a little closer, weve all watched the other seasons and you have to be ready at any time.
great fight tonite by clay though !!!
wat happened to machida and silva being big nogs assistant coaches?
is Aguilar’s real ‘nickname’ “Dawg” or is it because he uses the word dog every third word? maybe a coincidence? maybe not
i dunno dawg, its prolly just a coincidence dawg, know what i mean dawg…
looks like its a dawg eat dawg world and he was mroe bark than bite. although he did seem to face the toughest opponent in the class this season
Jason Guida fought at 205 as an alternate for Vernon White when he couldn’t fight due to that drug test he failed for weight cutters or somethin. Anyhow he was heavy for a 205 and all but seriously 11lbs is NOTHING he should have been freaking out about. I don’t wanna sound like I’m not coming from experience. I wreslted in Highschool and Trained/fought Muay Thai. 11lbs can be cut with relative ease for people wiht 5% body fat, and for those with les (forrest griffon and GSP come to mind) it’s still atainable in 24 hours, it just sucks. He dehydrated himself too fast was the problem. Killed his blood pressure and caused cramping. With his size and extra weight 11lbs could have come off easy. 3 lbs by stopping his water intake that night alone, around another 3 lbs from stopping the food intake. Then a slow but constant workout to build the sweat and wearing those bags man once you start a sweat it’s hard to get it to stop. a hot bath, there are a million ways. He just did it wrong. Looked sloppy too.
is there anyway to see this episode online??
Thought is was a good show. Mir is going to get on my nerves like he does on WEC broadcasts. I like the idea of a US/UK TUF 9. Could be a good change of pace.
I have no sympathy for guys that can’t make weight. Sorry, but if you want to be in a weight class you prepare for it. If you don’t have experience cutting weight, consult someone who does. Watching guys like St Pierre, Hughes, Franklin, and tons of others that cut insane amounts of weight and just accept its what they need to do for their job. If he watched last season he knew very well what to expect in terms of a time frame. And should have come in already shedding the pounds in stead of starting when he got there.
So, the UK/US TUF is exciting for one reason and one reason only, because they can bring Ross Poiten back. Heck yeah. But the truth is the talent pool over here is getting pretty tapped. I don’t know how many smaller shows are offered over there, so maybe there be some badarse dudes from that side.
I get the pragmatics (same language, UFC contracts with the UK, etc) of doing this type of show with the UK. But if they are doing a US/some other country show, I’d much rather see Brazil than the UK.
I agree MMAFan,
But not everybody in America can speak Portuguese. Unless your Max Cavalera you won’t know what they are saying.
Dietrich,
That idiot said something about being badass like Hitler in the “BC” times. Hitler……Before Christ!!! I was unaware Christ was around during WW2.
I never caught that.Wow what an idiot. Thats one way to endear yourself to the public.
ANYONE WHO MAKES THE TUF SHOW NEEDS TO ARRIVE WEIGHING THEIR PROPER WEIGHT! WTF IS SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND! It’s like a dress code….
Amen KOuch