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| Bobby Lashley, Jeff Monson victorious at MFA ‘There Will Be Blood’ Posted: 14 Dec 2008 05:45 AM CST
Looks like Brock Lesnar isn’t the only WWE import making some noise in the heavyweight division. Former WWE superstar and three-time collegiate national champion wrestler Bobby Lashley made his long awaited mixed martial arts debut last night at Mixed Fight Alliance: "There Will Be Blood" from the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The American Top Team rookie needed just 41 seconds to dismantle boxing and jiu-jitsu fighter Joshua Franklin, who was not allowed to continue after ringside doctors examined a cut that was opened during the initial onslaught. Lashley (1-0) is currently under contract with the American Fight Leauge (AFL), but was permitted to make his MMA debut under the MFA banner because the AFL has decided to hold off on its first event until Spring of 2009. Lashley is 32 years old, which isn't young in today's mixed martial arts world, so he'll have to keep booking fights if he hopes to build up a resume impressive enough to get him to his ultimate goal: The Ultimate Fighting Championship. The soft-spoken Lashley has not been shy about announcing his desire to fight under the Zuffa Banner and names none other than Brock Lesnar as an opponent he hopes to face somewhere down the road. But first things first. Lashley still has a lot to prove. His background in wrestling along with his size and strength should be an advantage against most opponents. Then again that all goes out the window if the big man can’t take a punch. We shall see. In main event action, former UFC heavyweight contender Jeff Monson avenged a loss to former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez at UFC 35 back in 2002 with a dominating unanimous decision win. "Suave" (34-10) has battled drug, alcohol and weight issues throughout his career, but he's been very active in the professional fight game over the past year and a half. Since last July, he's competed in ten different matches, producing a record of (7-3) during that time, including a current five-fight win streak. A streak "The Snowman" ended last night. Monson has also put together a few wins recently on the smaller circuit. He competed in a "Beatdown" event two months ago in North Dakota, recording his second victory of 2008 with a first round submission over Jimmy Ambriz. His only loss of the calender year came at Sengoku: ‘Second Battle’ back in May where he was beaten on the scorecards by top five heavyweight Josh Barnett. At one point in his career "The Snowman" had recorded 16 straight wins, including three inside the UFC's Octagon. His only losses since the turn of the century have come to Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Pedro Rizzo, Tim Sylvia, Ricco and Barnett. Don’t be surprised to see more of Monson - and Lashley in early 2009. |
| UFC The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 Finale fighter paydays and salaries Posted: 14 Dec 2008 02:41 AM CST
MMAmania.com (www.mmamania.com) has received the fighter payouts for UFC The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 Finale from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) for the event held on December 13 at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Clearly, it appears that all the TUF 8 contestants received the same deals ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win). Escudero and Bader, however, also earned long-term "six-figure" contracts for their wins in the finals over Nover and Magalhaes, respectively. Here are all the TUF 8 Finale payouts: Efrain Escudero - $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win) Vinicius Magalhaes - $8,000 Wilson Gouveia – $36,800 (including $18,400 to win) Anthony Johnson – $18,000 ($9,000 t show, $9,000 to win) David Kaplan - $8,000 Shane Primm – $8,000 Jules Bruchez – $8,000 George Roop – $8,000 Tom Lawlor – $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win) John Polakowski – $8,000 Keep in mind the salaries listed above do not include fight bonuses, sponsorships, percentages and other unofficial payments. For example, fighters receive bonuses for "Submission of the Night," "Fight of the Night," and others. |
| The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale recap and final thoughts Posted: 14 Dec 2008 02:40 AM CST
I wouldn’t say it was a night of underdogs at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 Live Finale, but I’m pretty sure I saw Simon Bar Sinister handing out bottles of Pure Distilled Shrinking Water. The TUF 8 Finale was an entertaining event, mostly because things (for the most part) didn’t always go as expected. In one of the night’s many surprises, Junie Browning opened the show (and set the tone) with a stellar performance against Dave Kaplan that saw the self-proclaimed bad boy of TUF transition from wasted talent to serious contender. I understand that Dave Kaplan is not a ranked lightweight, but Browning’s impeccable display of striking, grappling and yes, even conditioning made me wonder if I could have possibly been watching the same fighter who nearly got himself booted from the SpikeTV reality show for being a Grade A imbecile. It appears that Junie Browning is indeed for real. I guess my only question now is: What the heck took so long? Had Browning gone through the season with the same intensity that he displayed last night, he may very well have been fighting in the last bout on the card instead of the first. Speaking of first and last, hopefully this is the first and last time we’ll see the likes of Jules Bruchez in the UFC. I don’t think there’s one negative thing to say about his character or personality, but inside the cage he looks lost and underwhelming. Still, I’ll take ten "Family" Jules before I take one Shane Primm. Normally guys flop to the canvas and cling to an opponent’s leg after they get rocked. Primm seemed to be using that strategy as his primary method of offense. It was definitely offensive. I guess my biggest complaint is that guys like Primm can get themselves hurt by mailing it in. He fought rather timidly and didn’t look like he was in very good shape. I’ll never fault a guy for losing but it’s hard to get excited about a fight when it’s obvious that one of the combatants doesn’t want to be there. Kevin Burns probably didn’t want to be there when he woke up from the nasty KO he received at the feet of Anthony Johnson. In what could have been Fight of the Night (if not for Dana’s obsession with Junie Browning), Burns ate a flush high kick in the third round that will immediately join Cro Cop-Gonzaga and Salmon-Evans in the UFC’s head kick hall of fame. If they really want to spice up the highlight reel, the production booth should also add some of the footage from the post-kick celebration by Johnson. It could be the worst display of the worm since Scotty Too Hotty pinned Dean Malenko for the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship. And while we’re on the topic of the WWF, did anyone else laugh at Vinny Magalhaes when he got rocked by Ryan Bader and hit the floor like Sean Michaels over-selling a chair shot? Congratulations to Bader for the victory. I was convinced he was getting subbed but he played it smart and kept it standing long enough for Mags to make a mistake. As far as I’m concerned, the jury is still out on the future of Ryan Bader. Yes he won the TUF title, but I’m a firm believer that you don’t know what a guy is made of until he’s faced with adversity. No one from Season 8 really put him to the test and right now all I know is that he’s a great wrestler and a decent striker. In a division that employs guys like Shogun, Rampage, Wanderlei Silva and even the melting Iceman, decent just isn’t going to cut it in today’s UFC. Just ask Jason MacDonald. J-Mac is a decent striker and a very good grappler, but the increasingly fragile Canadian will be spending so much time at the middleweight gate after his loss to Gouveia he could probably qualify for a pension by the next pay-per-view. Gouveia dropped him in the first and showed a perfect example of how to finish a grounded opponent, but I’m going light on the praise since he failed to make weight for the bout. He has since apologized and wants to continue to compete at middleweight, going so far as to promise that missing weight ‘will never happen again.’ Time will tell. Speaking of time, how badly did Phillipe "Movin’ On" Nover want an extra minute in the third round against F. Rye Aine in the lightweight finals? Like so often, wrestling was the difference. Escudero came out and I honestly expected him to fight ‘not to lose.’ Boy was I was wrong (as usual). Efrain was aggressive and intelligent. He pushed the pace and used his formidable wrestling skills not just to take Nover down and keep him grounded, but to set up different angles and land big shots. Nover was visibly frustrated and couldn’t get much going until the final thirty seconds of the fight. Duckman had everyone’s attention during the season, but Escudero just flat outworked and outclassed him when it counted. It was a special moment to see him win knowing how much he wanted this to honor his late father. I’m not too worried about Nover. He’s already proven that he can fight, now he just needs to align himself with an elite camp and get to work on his wrestling. As for the new lightweight champ, it’s going to be a long road ahead. There is no shortage of talent in the UFC 155lb division but he’s young, gifted and ready to accept a rematch with Junie. You heard it here first. Now that we’ve sorted our TUF chips, there still remains some unfinished business between coaches Frank Mir and Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira, who are set to do battle at UFC 92: "The Ultimate 2008″ from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 27. This one’s for jiu-jitsu bragging rights, as well as the chance to face Brock Lesnar to finally name an undisputed heavyweight champion. Not to mention it’s on a card that also features Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva. Don’t even think about missing it. |
| The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 Finale bonuses and awards Posted: 14 Dec 2008 01:56 AM CST
The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada has officially wrapped, which means that it's time for those select fighters who went above and beyond in their respective fights to get a little extra grease for their efforts. To the tune of $25,000 each. The promotion dished out its standard post-fight monetary bonuses to four out of the 20 fighters on the card. And it shouldn't come as a shock whose wallets are leaving Sin City a wee bit heavier. In addition to their base salaries, the UFC awarded lightweight scrappers Junie Browning and Dave Kaplan for their two rounds of brisk action. It was a dominant performance by Browning that was just one of many surprises at the live finale. Krzysztof Soszynski took some time to get the kinks out but eventually locked up the arm of a very timid Shane Primm in the second round of their light heavyweight affair. Soszynski cranked in a Kimura that for a moment looked like it was headed to the land of Al-Hassan until the Primm Reaper wisely tapped out. Welterweight Anthony Johnson took home knockout of the night with his thrilling third-round head kick on Kevin "Montgomery" Burns. "Rumble" was mired in a back-and-forth battle with the Iowa native until a go-for-broke leg kick met the jaw of Burns and put him to sleep. You could probably make the argument for Burns and Johnson getting Fight of the Night honors based on the duration of the fight and the fact that it was a little more evenly matched, but the UFC saw Browning vs. Kaplan as the night’s finest display of fisticuffs. Here are the special fight bonuses for "The Ultimate Fighter 8 FInale:"
Again, each fighter received $25,000 extra for their performances in addition to their respective base salaries, which we will pass along shortly. |
| The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale results, coverage and winners LIVE tonight! Posted: 13 Dec 2008 01:32 PM CST
Click the banner above or right here for up-to-the-minute results and blow-by-blow coverage of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 Finale. If you're going to leave comments and discuss the fights with all the other MMAmania.com readers be sure to do it on the main TUF 8 Finale results post and not this one. |
| Phillipe Nover video on Efrain Escudero fight, fainting, TUF 8 and much more Posted: 13 Dec 2008 08:59 AM CST He predicts to knockout Escudero in round one later tonight: |
| UFC Quick Quote: Brock Lesnar is the new PPV King Posted: 13 Dec 2008 08:37 AM CST
– Yahoo!Sports.com reflects on the year that was, highlighting the emergence of UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar as the new pay-per-view (PPV) powerhouse. Lesnar, of course, brings in a whole new audience because of his days as a professional wrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). His fight against Randy Couture (just the fourth of his pro mixed martial arts career) raked in more than 1 million buys — it was the second most successful event for the promotion ever. The New Year should be very interesting indeed now that Lesnar starts of the 2009 fight campaign atop the heavyweight division. It will also likely be a very lucrative year for the promotion if current trends continue. |
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