Kimbo Slice - The Ultimate Fighter?

This news broke yesterday and I never got a chance to post anything about it so here it is...

Yesterday, the UFC announced that Kimbo Slice would be a contestant on the next edition of The Ultimate Fighter.

Everybody got that?

If not, let me expand on that. Kimbo Slice, the man who was in the most watched MMA fight in history, will now be relegated to one of sixteen heavyweights fighting it out for the chance to earn a UFC contract. Oh, by the way, he'll be doing this while being coached by either Rashad Evans or Quinton Jackson. If the thought of Kimbo Slice trading words with Rampage doesn't give you a little bit of a flutter, you have no soul... well, MMA soul at least.

My thoughts?

First, this is EXACTLY the kind of thing that will make me watch TUF again after skipping the current season.

Second, like him or not, you've got to give Kimbo MAJOR credit for this. If you are to believe the rumors, he may have gone around his management team to make this deal which is crazy, stupid, and ballsy all wrapped up in a grill-covered ball. He's taking the biggest risk of his life here. If he proves to be a bust and gets KOd in the first round of his first fight, odds are high he'll never get a chance at another major fight. If he somehow works his way through and actually makes the UFC, whew, baby. Katie bar the door because MMA might hit a fresh run of awesomeness.

So, yeah... in short, I'm looking forward to seeing Kimbo on TUF and I just might find myself rooting for him as well.

By the way, this might be the biggest non-losing scenario for a promotion I've ever seen. Dana White remains a promotional genius in the vein of Vince McMahon. If Kimbo fails, Dana gets to mock him forever and show the world that not just any overhyped street fighter can be successful. If he wins, it's the ultimate success story and a chance at some big headlines and buyrates.

I'm suddenly excited about MMA again... for now.

Everyone's A Critic!

Before I start my screenplay writing for the day (still not sure which one to write by the way), I thought I'd get today's post out of the way. I woke up and checked my e-mail to find a comment left by our good friend Poff Daddy...

"What's Happening Big Dog? Hey, I thought you were a baseball and wrestling fan? What? No comment on Yankee stadium closing? No comment on Mick Foley in TNA? Plus the Ultimate Fighter is back and no comment on that? Wow!!! I used to look up to you. You let me down my friend. Lets get back to basics and keep the game plan going when you first started as a young blogger pup. Later Poff Daddy"

God forbid I disappoint anyone with my random ramblings! Let's talk about the topics you want to talk about and forget all about anything that scratches beyond the surface and makes you think a little bit.

Yankee Stadium is closing and that's a horrible thing. It bums me out beyond belief that I wasn't able to get to New York this year to see the House That Ruth Built before it closed up shop for the last time. I understand the need for older stadiums to close for financial reasons but that doesn't mean I have to like it. You're telling me that the Yankees need a new stadium to make money? Nah. They're just greedy. I can't believe Yankee fans let that historic stadium go away without a fuss. I think I'd chain myself in front of the bulldozers if they ever came for my Blue Heaven On Earth. It's just another example of corporate America pissing all over the history that came before it in order to make a buck. God bless Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, and Dodger Stadium - the only stadiums left in baseball with true character.

Mick Foley in TNA? Does anyone really care? Let's look at this rationally. The rumors say he signed a six month contract to do two matches. He's coming in on the face side of this fucked up Millionaires Club vs New Blood Part 2 angle that Vince Russo has decided he should try again after it failed miserably in the dying days of WCW. An old, crippled former wrestler who retired years ago is part of the New Blood? I don't get it. They don't get it. And they likely never will. Jeff Jarrett is back on my TV and without having even watched a second of it, I already want him to go away again. TNA just won't be something worth watching every week until they figure out that they need to clean house creatively - and I mean everyone. You've got one of the greatest minds in the business in the employ of the company - and he's an on-air figurehead and nothing more? You've got another one of the greatest minds in the business as a free agent and you're throwing money at Kevin Nash instead of Mr. Heyman? Look, if TNA wants me to take them seriously, they should take themselves seriously. Throw money at Heyman and put him, Cornette, Foley, and hell, maybe even someone like Bill Watts in a room and see what they come up with. It'd be an explosive room to be in but it'd be a lot better than what they've got on TV right now. All that being said, I'm still thinking of checking out their live show when they're in Anaheim in November. It's been a long time since I've seen Styles and Joe live.

The Ultimate Fighter started up again - and I really think no one cared this time. This concept has been used so many times that what was once fresh, new, and exciting is just recycled crap. Mir and Noguiera as coaches just doesn't have the same fire as Tito and Shamrock or the like. The fighters all seem bland and personality-free. It's just a series of sometimes entertaining fights broken up by moronic frat boy type stunts where they get drunk and break apart the house they live in. Yawn. Dana needs to re-tool TUF and badly because at this stage, I couldn't even tell you who won last season - or the one before that or before that or before that. The Ultimate Fighter winner just doesn't have the same weight that it did before.

So, there you go, my friend.

My thoughts on your thoughts? Try to keep an open mind and think about stuff other than the same stuff you've always thought about. There's a whole new world out there - a dazzling place you never knew. Let me share this whole new world with you.

Random MMA Discussion

At the Wrestling Observer, they had a post where several MMA "experts" discussed a few issues going on in that world at the moment. So, I figured "What a fantastic post idea to steal!"...

...or something like that.

UFC vs Affliction
In case you haven't heard, the UFC decided to put on another free show on Spike. This one will be held on July 19th - the same night, of course, that Affliction is having their debut PPV.

I'm actually of mixed opinion on this. On one hand, it seems like the UFC is getting dangerously close to watering down their own product. It just seems like there's so much UFC on TV now, it's getting a little excessive. You just had a PPV with a shoddy lineup and a very weak main event that you made people drop $40 for and now you're giving out a free show with Anderson Silva? Something's wrong there.

On the other hand, cross-promoting your own show against the competition's has been a long-standing tradition in all sports - especially combat sports. Vince McMahon and Jim Crockett [later Ted Turner/Eric Bischoff] did it to one another to varying degrees of success for years. Affliction is the first promotion that looks like a legitimate threat [talent-wise] to the UFC so why not go for a kill shot before they get going?

Me? I'm still more interested in the Affliction show. Not sure I'm $40 interested but interested nonetheless.


Anderson Silva: 205
Again, if you're unaware, the aforementioned UFC show is going to be headlined by Anderson Silva making his debut in the Light Heavyweight division against James Irvin. Personally, I think this is a bad, bad idea. I understand that the well is running dry for legit Middleweight contenders for Silva to face but you're not having him vacate the Middleweight title so that situation is still unresolved.

I think this is a very risky move. You have a dominant Middleweight Champion that many people tune into to see the wild knockouts. The guy is getting some Mike Tyson-esque buzz. He has gotten so much attention, even the boxing world has taken notice of him. He seems like an opportunity to create a lasting, unique superstar for your promotion.

There was a rumored Silva/Liddell fight for a while. I didn't think that was a good idea either but I liked it better than this. If you do that fight, you promote it as a one-off fight for Silva, testing himself. You draw a MASSIVE buyrate and really don't lose anything no matter the winner. In the Irvin fight, it's a lose-lose situation. If Silva wins, he beat a nobody in the division and proved nothing more than he would have if you'd fed him another Middleweight. If he loses, uh oh... you potentially killed a cash cow.

Honestly, I would have rather seen Silva go the other way, dropping down in weight to take on GSP. Arguably the two best pound for pound fighters in the world going at it? That's a money match too. But maybe they're going to actually let BJ Penn make that challenge now.

Anyways, I usually think Dana is pretty smart with the matches they choose to promote - this isn't one of them.


TUF Finale
Eh. TUF has lost a lot of the magic for me over the past few seasons. At this point, almost none of the fighters do anything to distinguish themselves from the rest. That first season had characters that you could love/hate - hell, I still hate Koscheck and Bobby Southworth to this day when I see them fight. Most of the seasons since then have just been dry in that respect. For a show like this to succeed, not only do the fights need to be interesting - but the people in them need to be interesting too. And lately, they just don't have the kind of characters that you can get behind.

Granted, the two finalists are probably the most interesting. You can get behind Amir because he's inexperienced and looks to be way in over his head. You can rally behind a guy who looks like he should have no chance in hell yet somehow keeps on winning. And CB is a dick. No doubt about that. So, you can root against him.

But there's just something missing. I can't quite put my finger on it but I just don't feel a strong attachment to anyone from this show.

Oh, and last night's show with that jackass getting kicked out of the UFC after the show was over was just ridiculous. Does the UFC realize they don't do themselves any favors when they show these guys get drunk and act like idiots destroying the house every season? The first couple of seasons it was interesting - now it's just embarrassing to watch. There's a reason a lot of people look down on MMA competitors and when the people striving to be the next big MMA star do shit like that, we can see why.