The Ultimate Fighter 7: A different twist

The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale takes place this Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. Below the fold is a fight card with the bouts that will take place at the Pearl at the Palms. The UFC promised us some twists that have never happened and a finalist getting kicked off the show is certainly a new twist. Another twist that may not be as large as JT Money getting the boot for going on a drunken crusade through a Fertitta owned casino is that many of the cast members of the show did not make the finale. Here are my thoughts…

In previous seasons every fighter on the Ultimate Fighter show was given an opportunity to showcase their skills in the Octagon in front of a real audience after the season ended unless they were kicked off the show for fighting. Last season was no different but a new change was that one month after the finale, fighters such as Richie Hightower, John Kolosci, Dorian Price, Paul Georgieff, Dan Barrera, and Billy Miles were all cut. The UFC has stated that their rosters and divisions have to many fighters and they need to thin out the fields.

This season I wrote an article at http://www.fightticker.com/ called TUF 7 Blogs: Ultimate Fighters or Ultimate Writers. The main point of the article was that this season had an unusually large number of cast-members blogging about their experience on the show, a trend I believe that was successfully started by Matt Serra in Season 4. I assume that this was a way for the UFC to better market it’s failing show by having the contestants tell their tales weekly in the form of a written blog. Wisconsin Combat Sports was lucky to have Nick Klein of Twisted Fitness discuss the behind the scenes details for us each week and I thank him for it.

As the weeks continued and the show progressed I would continue to notice that several non-TUF 7 contestants were being added to the card, which is somewhat normal. But as it continued, I noticed seven fights that were non-TUF related on the card, meaning only that several fighters from this season were not going to get the opportunity to fight in the finale.

What’s surprising is that the UFC didn’t tell many of these fighters until weeks into the television season and after tickets had already gone on sale that eight of the sixteen contestants would never get their shot in the finale. While I am aware that MMA and fighting is a cutthroat business, it’s this writer’s opinion that these guys got the shaft in a big way. Many of the fighters went home and began to train for a fight that they believed was going to happen only to find out that it wasn’t; not only that but many also blogged about the experience to help out the show. If that’s not a kick in the balls I don’t know what is.

I just wanted to personally thank Nick Klein for blogging at Wisconsin Combat Sports this season and sharing his experiences with us and letting us behind the scenes. My advice is stay strong, train hard, get a few more wins under your belt and you’ll get back in the UFC or with another major organization very soon. Good luck.

Here’s the card:

The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, NV
06/21/2008

Main Card

Main Event
Kendall Grove vs. Evan Tanner
The Ultimate Fighter 7 Championship
C.B. Dollaway vs. Amir Sadollah
Luigi Fioravanti vs. Diego Sanchez
Spencer Fisher vs. Jeremy Stephens
Matthew Riddle vs. Dante Rivera

Preliminary Card

Josh Burkman vs. Dustin Hazelett
Marvin Eastman vs. Drew McFedries
Matt Arroyo vs. Matt Brown
Jeremy Horn vs. Dean Lister
Tim Credeur vs. Cale Yarbrough
Rob Kimmons vs. Rob Yundt

TUF 7 Blogs: Ultimate Fighters or Ultimate Writers

We are now three episodes into the Ultimate Fighter and Dana said there would be some twists this season. Bringing on 32 fighters instead of the customary 16 was definitely different, but the second biggest twist I have noticed is that many of the fighters are now blogging about their experience on the Ultimate Fighter.

The first fighter I can recall blogging about his experience on the Ultimate Fighter show is Matt Serra. He did it for the fourth season or the comeback season, in which he became the Ultimate Fighter and earned the right to fight GSP. For the most part, I remember his blogs to be very entertaining and enjoyable, although I can’t for the life of me remember what site he blogged for. The UFC must have been entertained as well because they had Serra and Hughes both blog for UFC.com in season six.

This season I have noticed that at least half of the cast members have a blog out on the internet documenting their experiences on the show. This is the equivalent to all previous seasons combined. Of the eight blogs I came across, half are from Team Forrest and half from Team Rampage.

MMA Junkie kind of overdid it by having two fighters blog about this season with C.B. Dollaway and Luke Zachrich. At least both guys fought on different teams to give it a different perspective.

Matt Brown of Team Griffin and Dan Cramer of Team Rampage both landed gigs writing at MMA Weekly and UFC.com. Amir Sadalloh of Team Forrest landed a spot with the online version of the OC Register and Mike Dolce of Team Rampage is blogging for LoHud, which is also owned by a newspaper called the Journal News in New York. Brandon Sene of Team Rampage is blogging for Pramit Mohapatra’s new site Fight Ticker and Nick Klein of Team Forrest is blogging for his regional MMA website, Wisconsin Combat Sports.

At a time when I believed that blogging was on the decline, never before have MMA fans been given so much behind the scenes information. I have been regularly reading the Nick Klein and Brandon Sene blogs as I am a writer for Wisconsin Combat Sports and a regular at Fight Ticker. Needless to say both are excellent and talented writers. Here are some links to blogs from cast members:

(alphabetical order)

Matt Brown – Team Griffin – Blogs for MMA Weekly

Episodes 1 & 2

Dan Cramer – Team Rampage – Blogs for UFC

Episode 3

Mike Dolce Blogs – Team Rampage – Blogs for Lo HUD

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

C.B. Dollaway – Team Rampage Blog – Blogs for MMA Junkie

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Nick Klein Blogs – Team Griffin – Blogs for Wisconsin Combat Sports

Episode 1

Episodes 2 & 3

Amir Sadalloh – Team Griffin – Blogs for OC Register

Episode 2

Episode 3

Brandon Sene – Team Rampage – Blogs for Fight Ticker

Epidsode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Luke Zachrich – Team Griffin Blog – Blogs for MMA Junkie

Episode 2

Episode 3

Here are the teams chosen in Episode 3

Team Rampage Jackson

C.B. Dollaway, Matt Riddle, Paul Bradley, Daniel Cramer, Gerald Harris, Mike Dolce, Jesse May, and Brandon Sene. *Patrick Schultz replaces Paul Bradley.

Team Forrest Griffin

Tim Credeur, Amir Sadollah, Jesse Taylor, Matt Brown, Cale Yarbrough, Dante Rivera, Nick Klein, Luke Zachrich.

This article was originally posted on Fight Ticker on 04-18-2008.

Solomon Hutcherson Defeats George Allen

Former Racine resident, Freestyle Academy member, and Ultimate Fighter Season 3 star, Solomon Hutcherson recently defeated George Allen in North Carolina. The ISCF or International Sport Combat Federation – Unleashed card took place at the USMC – Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. The win is Hutcherson’s third straight and brings his MMA record up to (9-4) according to Sherdog. The loss is Allen’s third straight and drops his record to (12-14-1). His last win came over three and a half years ago to Damien Stelly in August of 2004.

I apologize for being a little late with this Solomon Hutcherson news, but this one flew pretty low under the radar. In other Team Dagger news this week, Hutcherson’s teammate Kendall Grove announced on his official website that he will face off against Evan Tanner at the Ultimate Fighter Finale 7 on June 21. Wisconsin fighter Nick Klein should also be on the card. Wisconsin Combat Sports will keep you up to date with any Solomon Hutcherson news if and when it becomes available.

To read my other Solomon Hutcherson articles click below:

Solomon Hutcherson vs. George Allen

Solomon Hutcherson Fight Tonight In Canada Cancelled

Racine’s Solomon Hutcherson to Fight Amir Rahnavardi

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Combat Sports on 04-08-08.

Wisconsin Fighter Nick Klein Earns His Spot on the Ultimate Fighter

Last night the Ultimate Fighter Season 7 debuted on Spike TV after the Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon Fight Night in Broomfield, Colorado. Sun Prairie’s Nick Klein arrived at the UFC training facility in Las Vegas, Nevada with a total of 31 other fighters. What’s different than previous seasons is that this season the 16 lucky contestants will have to earn their spot on the show by fighting, which was a surprise to all of the fighters when they arrived. The fighters were given 48 hours to make the 185lb weight limit before they were matched up with opponents, the winners could stay and the losers must go home. Coaches Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson will then select teams after the preliminary fights are completed.

A total of eight preliminary fights were shown in the one-hour episode with the other eight airing next week. Half were shown in their entirety and half were just highlights. In last night’s episode, Nick Klein faced off against a friend of Forrest Griffin’s from Athens, Georgia by the name of Dave Mewborn, who sports a (4-0) record according to Sherdog. The whole fight was not shown but what was shown was a dominant display of jiu-jitsu by Klein. He was shown in full mount, then side control locking up an arm triangle choke, followed by full mount again. Mewborn quickly tapped out and Nick Klein earned his spot on the show.

Of the 32 fighters, here is who made the first round and will be on the show going forward:

Mike Dolce, Nick Klein, Jeremy May, Cale Yarbrough, Amir Sadollah, C.B. Dollaway, Dante Rivera, and Paul Bradley.

Here are the 8 fighters who will sent home due to losing last night:

Dave Mewborn, David Roberts, Prince Mclean, John Clarke, Steve Byrnes, David Baggett, John Wood, and Reggie Orr.

Next week these 16 fighters will battle to earn the 8 remaining spots on the show:

Matt Brown, John Hall, Patrick Schultz, Erik Charles, Daniel Cramer, Dan Simmler, Nick Rossborough, Matthew Riddle, Timothy Credeur, Luke Zachrich, Mike Marrello, Jesse Taylor, Gerald Harris, Aaron Meisner, Brandon Sene, and Jeremiah Riggs.

Wisconsin Combat Sports and our readers would like to congratulate Nick Klein on his win and will keep you posted on Nick’s progress on the show.

For more information on Nick Klein read my earlier article:

Wisconsin Fighter Nick Klein Selected for UFC’s Ultimate Fighter 7

For more photos of the fight check out the gallery at the UFC's website:

Ultimate Fighter Episode 1

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Combat Sports on 04-03-2008.

Wisconsin Fighter Nick Klein Selected for UFC’s Ultimate Fighter 7

This week Nick Klein of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin was announced as a contestant of this season’s the Ultimate Fighter by Dave Meltzer of Yahoo Sports and the Wrestling Observer. Klein is an up and coming fighter who fights out of the Twisted Fitness Gym and also holds a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Madison Jiu-Jitsu Academy which is a Jorge Gurgel affiliate school. Mark Plavcan and Kain Rizzo are purple belt instructors at the academy.

Klein sports a (3-0) professional MMA record according to FC Fighter and has his fighting style listed as Cow-Jitsu, which I assume he learned while growing up on a farm. His professional MMA record dates back to January of 2007 but he also has an amateur bout listed in the database from 2005. All three of his professional wins have come via arm bars, which Klein likes to refer to as “Farm Bars”.

Nick Klein is a two-time NAGA champion and according to his MySpace profile has been studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, and Boxing for five years. He is a college graduate from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Klein is the second fighter from Twisted Fitness to make it onto the Ultimate Fighter reality show. Klein’s teammate Paul Georgieff was a contestant on season six of the Ultimate Fighter show last year. Other Wisconsin fighters that have been cast on the Ultimate Fighter have been Solomon Hutcherson and Brian Geraghty, both of Dave Strasser’s Freestyle Academy during season three and season five.

This season the Ultimate Fighter will feature guest coaches Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Forrest Griffin who will fight each other for the 205lb UFC Light Heavyweight title on July 5th at UFC 86 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show will feature 32 up and coming middleweight fighters instead of the normal 16.

Wisconsin Combat Sports would like to wish Nick Klein best of luck in his run to become the next Ultimate Fighter.

This article was originally published on Wisconsin Combat Sports or www.wicombatsports.com on 03-09-08.