Former MTSU student and Murfreesboro, Tenn. native Shane Primm has survived the first episode of "The Ultimate Fighter," sort of.
The first episode featured eight fights and saw nine fighters eliminated (eight fighters who lost their preliminary bouts plus Jason Guida, who didn't make weight). So far, so good for Primm. Primm didn't fight in the season debut, so there's still no telling whether or not he made it into the fighter house.
The good thing for Primm is that it appears that many of the favorites in the light-heavyweight class fought on the first show. Antwain Britt, Ryan Jimmo, Krzysztof Soszynski and Vinicius Magalhaes all fought on the first show. Magalhaes and Soszynski have to be considered among the favorites to win the competition while Britt and Jimmo were highly touted prospects.
Also eliminated was Jason Guida, who was the most experienced fighter on the show with 34 professional fights. UFC fighter Clay Guida's brother was unable to make weight, and while he wasn't considered a prospect or a favorite to win the whole thing, there were definite expectations for him to win at least a fight or two.
Another fighter of note that did not advance in the 205 lbs. division was Lance Evans. Evans is not considered a prospect nor was he expected to be a mover and shaker during "TUF" but he is well known for being UFC light-heavyweight contender Rashad Evans older brother.
While Primm's opponent for the next episode is unknown and this week's episode eliminated a lot of tough bouts for the 23-year old.
Ryan "Darth" Bader is 7-0 and trains out of Arizona Combat Sports. ACS is a very respected gym that serves as the training home for last season's "TUF" finalist C.B. Dollaway and WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner. Of the twelve fighters that are not eliminated, Bader has to be considered one of the top five favorites.
Kyle Kingsbury (7-1) trains out of American Kickboxing Academy which boasts numerous current and former UFC fighters, including Mike Swick, Josh Koscheck, Cain Velasquez, Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson, Rich Crunkilton and Paul Buentello. AKA can certainly boast a roster full of top-level fighters. Kingsbury also will be one of the bigger competitors considering he used to compete at heavyweight and has a 6' 4" frame.
Eliot Marshall (5-1) trains in Colorado in the well traveled Duane "Bang" Ludwig's camp. He also is a former Ring of Fire light-heavyweight champion. ROF is a smaller promotion which has served as a platform which fighters can cut their teeth before hitting the big time. Marshall has trained with former ROF vets Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, now a contender for Varner's WEC title, Luke Caudillo, a UFC vet, and Shane Carwin, one of the UFC's top heavyweight prospects.
Tom Lawlor (4-1) should be no stranger to Primm, considering Primm's only pro fight was against Lawlor. While Primm did win that contest, it was a disqualification 24 seconds into the first round. Lawlor trains with one of the top camps in the nation in American Top Team. ATT is the home of numerous elite fighters, including Thiago Alves, Marcus Aurelio, Mike Brown, Roan Carneiro, Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante, Yves Edwards, Luigi Fioravanti, Wilson Gouveia, Denis Kang, Jeff Monson, Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva, Thiago Silva and many, many more. In fact, there are at least 22 fighters from ATT that have fought in either the UFC or the defunct PRIDE organization. Who knows how good Lawlor is, but he certainly comes from a top camp.
As promised, I am posting the link to my story about Primm. Take a look at it if you want to know more about him.
http://media.www.mtsusidelines.com/media/storage/paper202/news/2008/09/15/Sports/Former.Mt.Student.To.Compete.For.Ufc.Contract-3430307.shtml
I hate to sound biased, but I have talked to him twice (once over the phone and once in person) and he seems like a good guy, so I'll definitely be rooting for him on the show
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Friday night game makes it worth staying in
In what will probably turn out to be the best game that nobody saw this weekend, USF was able to pull out a win against Kansas thanks to some last-minute heroics from kicker Maikon Bonani.
Considering that ESPN has been saturating the viewing public with its coverage of the "Collision at the Coliseum" between Ohio State and USC, it wouldn't be surprising to know that many viewers were unaware of the clash between the No. 13 Jayhawks and No. 19 Bulls, but in case you missed it, here's a brief recap of the game.
Kansas gained an early lead when quarterback Todd Reesing hooked up with Jonathan Wilson for a 36 yard touchdown pass 6:09 into the game. The Jayhawks added a field goal to build a 10-0 first quarter lead.
USF got on the board in the second quarter when Bonani connected on a 34 yard field goal. Kansas responded by scoring a touchdown and field goal to bring the Bulls' deficit to 20-3 with 3:24 left in the first half. However, the Bulls were able to score on a 28 yard rush from quarterback Matt Grothe to head into the locker room with a manageable 20-10 deficit.
USF started the second half with a vengeance, outscoring the Jayhawks 17-0 in the third quarter. If you add in Grothe's pre-halftime touchdown and a touchdown pass in the first minute of the fourth quarter, the Bulls scored 31 unanswered points.
Kansas was not ready to quit though. The Jayhawks scored two touchdowns to even the score at 34, and with just under two minutes to go, were looking to march down the field to get the game-clinching score. From his own 40 yard line, Reesing chucked a pass downfield into the Bulls' territory and was picked off by Nate Allen who returned the interception 40 yards to the KU 27.
The Bulls ran the ball, called a timeout and left their fate in the hands of the freshman Bonani. Bonani kicked the 43 yarder into the air and after the ball appeared to be headed wide right, it curved in to narrowly squeeze through the goal posts.
The USF players then swarmed the field and put the Brazilian kicker on their shoulders as they carried him to the sideline in an inspiring moment.
It was an exciting finish to a game that had more twists than an M. Night Shyamalan film.
It's going to be unfortunate that the one memorable moment from the game will be Reesing's costly interception. One could say he cost them the game, but without its junior quarterback, Kansas wouldn't have been in the game.
Reesing finished the game 34 of 51 for 373 yards with three passing touchdowns to go along with a rushing touchdown, and, aside from his last-minute interception, committed no turnovers.
In fact, both QB's played well.
Grothe, in an equally gutsy performance, completed 32 of 45 passes for 338 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 30 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
These two quarterbacks are probably the best signal-callers in college football that won't play in the NFL. Both of them are good passers with above-average wheels for a quarterback. Unfortunately, another trait they share is that they're both short. Reesing is listed at 5-11, while Grothe checks in at 6-0, and those heights are probably generous by an inch apiece.
The quarterbacks weren't the only impressive performers tonight--George Selvie, USF's star defensive end, is an absolute beast. Selvie already has a lot of NFL buzz around him and it's easy to see why. He was blowing by the Kansas tackles and was often in the backfield before Reesing had finished dropping back. While he is a little small for a pro defensive end, Selvie has some serious athletic ability, and the NFL draft has seen plenty of sub-260 lbs. ends taken in the first round in recent drafts. Who knows, maybe we'll see Selvie do something akin to what Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman did when he entered the draft.
Merriman was listed at 245 lbs. in college, but showed up at the combine tipping the scales at a much heavier 275 lbs. which improved his stock.
Now onto the coverage of the game.
Perhaps I've been a poor college football fan this week, but I was unaware these two were going to be going at it tonight until I saw the game mentioned on the ESPN bottom line while watching SportsCenter. It's a shame that this game received such little attention from the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
ESPN has been so busy giving the OSU-USC game the Super Bowl treatment, that no other football story, other than the Vince Young fiasco, has received any attention. Every sports radio and TV program has had such a fetish with "Beanie" Wells' injured foot, that they forgot to mention there would be a contest between two top-20 teams...in primetime...on Friday...with a baseball game between the Rays and the Yankees the only other sports programming on television.
Part of the problem could be that both these teams are relatively new to the national spotlight. USF has been competing in the Big East for less than a decade and Kansas has toiled in mediocrity for what seems like forever. Kansas Head Coach Mark Mangino provided a hilarious quote last season when he said about the Jayhawks' ineptitude in football, "Anybody can have a bad century."
These two squads weren't even relevant until last season when both put together great seasons and were nationally ranked for much of the season, but the tradition for both of these programs lies mostly in the 2007 season. They don't have the NFL pedigree of a USC or a tradition like Ohio State, but USF and Kansas look like programs on the rise and tonight can't hurt either teams' reputation.
I really hope the Buckeyes-Trojans game (I won't be watching it since MTSU will be playing Kentucky at the same time) turns out to be a real barn-burner, because if not, then everyone may have just missed the best game of the weekend.
Considering that ESPN has been saturating the viewing public with its coverage of the "Collision at the Coliseum" between Ohio State and USC, it wouldn't be surprising to know that many viewers were unaware of the clash between the No. 13 Jayhawks and No. 19 Bulls, but in case you missed it, here's a brief recap of the game.
Kansas gained an early lead when quarterback Todd Reesing hooked up with Jonathan Wilson for a 36 yard touchdown pass 6:09 into the game. The Jayhawks added a field goal to build a 10-0 first quarter lead.
USF got on the board in the second quarter when Bonani connected on a 34 yard field goal. Kansas responded by scoring a touchdown and field goal to bring the Bulls' deficit to 20-3 with 3:24 left in the first half. However, the Bulls were able to score on a 28 yard rush from quarterback Matt Grothe to head into the locker room with a manageable 20-10 deficit.
USF started the second half with a vengeance, outscoring the Jayhawks 17-0 in the third quarter. If you add in Grothe's pre-halftime touchdown and a touchdown pass in the first minute of the fourth quarter, the Bulls scored 31 unanswered points.
Kansas was not ready to quit though. The Jayhawks scored two touchdowns to even the score at 34, and with just under two minutes to go, were looking to march down the field to get the game-clinching score. From his own 40 yard line, Reesing chucked a pass downfield into the Bulls' territory and was picked off by Nate Allen who returned the interception 40 yards to the KU 27.
The Bulls ran the ball, called a timeout and left their fate in the hands of the freshman Bonani. Bonani kicked the 43 yarder into the air and after the ball appeared to be headed wide right, it curved in to narrowly squeeze through the goal posts.
The USF players then swarmed the field and put the Brazilian kicker on their shoulders as they carried him to the sideline in an inspiring moment.
It was an exciting finish to a game that had more twists than an M. Night Shyamalan film.
It's going to be unfortunate that the one memorable moment from the game will be Reesing's costly interception. One could say he cost them the game, but without its junior quarterback, Kansas wouldn't have been in the game.
Reesing finished the game 34 of 51 for 373 yards with three passing touchdowns to go along with a rushing touchdown, and, aside from his last-minute interception, committed no turnovers.
In fact, both QB's played well.
Grothe, in an equally gutsy performance, completed 32 of 45 passes for 338 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 30 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
These two quarterbacks are probably the best signal-callers in college football that won't play in the NFL. Both of them are good passers with above-average wheels for a quarterback. Unfortunately, another trait they share is that they're both short. Reesing is listed at 5-11, while Grothe checks in at 6-0, and those heights are probably generous by an inch apiece.
The quarterbacks weren't the only impressive performers tonight--George Selvie, USF's star defensive end, is an absolute beast. Selvie already has a lot of NFL buzz around him and it's easy to see why. He was blowing by the Kansas tackles and was often in the backfield before Reesing had finished dropping back. While he is a little small for a pro defensive end, Selvie has some serious athletic ability, and the NFL draft has seen plenty of sub-260 lbs. ends taken in the first round in recent drafts. Who knows, maybe we'll see Selvie do something akin to what Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman did when he entered the draft.
Merriman was listed at 245 lbs. in college, but showed up at the combine tipping the scales at a much heavier 275 lbs. which improved his stock.
Now onto the coverage of the game.
Perhaps I've been a poor college football fan this week, but I was unaware these two were going to be going at it tonight until I saw the game mentioned on the ESPN bottom line while watching SportsCenter. It's a shame that this game received such little attention from the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
ESPN has been so busy giving the OSU-USC game the Super Bowl treatment, that no other football story, other than the Vince Young fiasco, has received any attention. Every sports radio and TV program has had such a fetish with "Beanie" Wells' injured foot, that they forgot to mention there would be a contest between two top-20 teams...in primetime...on Friday...with a baseball game between the Rays and the Yankees the only other sports programming on television.
Part of the problem could be that both these teams are relatively new to the national spotlight. USF has been competing in the Big East for less than a decade and Kansas has toiled in mediocrity for what seems like forever. Kansas Head Coach Mark Mangino provided a hilarious quote last season when he said about the Jayhawks' ineptitude in football, "Anybody can have a bad century."
These two squads weren't even relevant until last season when both put together great seasons and were nationally ranked for much of the season, but the tradition for both of these programs lies mostly in the 2007 season. They don't have the NFL pedigree of a USC or a tradition like Ohio State, but USF and Kansas look like programs on the rise and tonight can't hurt either teams' reputation.
I really hope the Buckeyes-Trojans game (I won't be watching it since MTSU will be playing Kentucky at the same time) turns out to be a real barn-burner, because if not, then everyone may have just missed the best game of the weekend.
War Machine released by the UFC
The former Jon Koppenhaver, who, in Chad Johnson-like fashion, has legally changed his name to "War Machine" has been released from his contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championships according to mmajunkie.com.
The reasons for Mr. Machine's release apparently center around a blog post he made regarding the recently deceased Evan Tanner and for turning down a fight because he felt his opponent was not as well known as he would have liked.
Unfortunately for War Machine, his name doesn't resonate with enough fans for him to bring about such a grievance.
All of his popularity was derived from his stint on the Spike TV reality show, "The Ultimate Fighter," where he lost his only fight on the show and looked bad doing it. While on TUF, he was accused of possessing a lack of confidence, refusing to listen to coaches and just having a bad attitude.
Koppenhaver, War Machine, whatever you want to call him, was able to save some face on the TUF season six finale when he defeated cast mate Jared Rollins via TKO at 2:01 in the night's Fight of the Night. Rollins had War Machine mounted and was raining down punches when an exhausted Koppenhaver was able to reverse positions on Rollins and land some punches of his own before the referee stopped the fight.
The UFC is going to miss War Machine like it would a toothache. It is laughable that a guy with a 5-2 pro record, according to sherdog.com, and a 1-1 record in the UFC would have the audacity to pick his own opponents. Considering he would likely have been relegated to the untelevised, undercard portion of any UFC card he would appear on, what should he care who his opponent is? He should be more concern with getting some wins inside the octagon, because unless you're Brock Lesnar or a late replacement, you are not going to get on the main card with a 5-2 record when your five wins came against fighters that are a combined 18-28. In fact, had he accepted the proposed fight with Brandon Wolff and won, he could build on that victory and inch his way towards the televised portion of the fight card.
Instead, it looks as though Koppenhaver is going to have to hit the regional circuit again and start over with his career.
In other TUF-related news, I recently conducted an interview with season eight participant Shane Primm, a former MTSU student and Murfreesboro, Tenn. native. Primm now lives in Tampa, Fla. and trains at Gracie Tampa with renowned trainer Rob Kahn.
Primm is the fourth fighter from Gracie Tampa to appear on TUF. Allen "Monsta Lobstah" Berube, Matt Arroyo and Brandon Sene each appeared on the fifth, sixth and seventh seasons, respectively.
When I write my article for Sidelines, I will post a link for anyone interested.
Also, here's the link to the story on mmajunkie.
http://mmajunkie.com/news/5275/war-machine-ufc-cut-me-over-declined-fight-evan-tanner-comments.mma
The reasons for Mr. Machine's release apparently center around a blog post he made regarding the recently deceased Evan Tanner and for turning down a fight because he felt his opponent was not as well known as he would have liked.
Unfortunately for War Machine, his name doesn't resonate with enough fans for him to bring about such a grievance.
All of his popularity was derived from his stint on the Spike TV reality show, "The Ultimate Fighter," where he lost his only fight on the show and looked bad doing it. While on TUF, he was accused of possessing a lack of confidence, refusing to listen to coaches and just having a bad attitude.
Koppenhaver, War Machine, whatever you want to call him, was able to save some face on the TUF season six finale when he defeated cast mate Jared Rollins via TKO at 2:01 in the night's Fight of the Night. Rollins had War Machine mounted and was raining down punches when an exhausted Koppenhaver was able to reverse positions on Rollins and land some punches of his own before the referee stopped the fight.
The UFC is going to miss War Machine like it would a toothache. It is laughable that a guy with a 5-2 pro record, according to sherdog.com, and a 1-1 record in the UFC would have the audacity to pick his own opponents. Considering he would likely have been relegated to the untelevised, undercard portion of any UFC card he would appear on, what should he care who his opponent is? He should be more concern with getting some wins inside the octagon, because unless you're Brock Lesnar or a late replacement, you are not going to get on the main card with a 5-2 record when your five wins came against fighters that are a combined 18-28. In fact, had he accepted the proposed fight with Brandon Wolff and won, he could build on that victory and inch his way towards the televised portion of the fight card.
Instead, it looks as though Koppenhaver is going to have to hit the regional circuit again and start over with his career.
In other TUF-related news, I recently conducted an interview with season eight participant Shane Primm, a former MTSU student and Murfreesboro, Tenn. native. Primm now lives in Tampa, Fla. and trains at Gracie Tampa with renowned trainer Rob Kahn.
Primm is the fourth fighter from Gracie Tampa to appear on TUF. Allen "Monsta Lobstah" Berube, Matt Arroyo and Brandon Sene each appeared on the fifth, sixth and seventh seasons, respectively.
When I write my article for Sidelines, I will post a link for anyone interested.
Also, here's the link to the story on mmajunkie.
http://mmajunkie.com/news/5275/war-machine-ufc-cut-me-over-declined-fight-evan-tanner-comments.mma
On the interweb
Hello everyone and welcome to Outside the Pocket. I will be blogging about sports with heavy emphasis on mixed martial arts, football and (as the season nears) basketball. Look for my first real post to come very soon.
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