Dana White's UFC 90 Vlog: Episode 1

by Luke Thomas on Oct 21, 2008 2:21 PM EDT in News Comment 38 comments

[UPDATE] by Nick Thomas - Changes to TUF 9 tryouts on Monday in Rosemont, Illinois:

We are now looking for 155’s & 170’s. Unfortunately they are no longer considering 185’s. I’m so sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you or your fighters. Dana has also changed the requirements. The fighters must have fought at least 3 professional fights. Don’t even bother sending anyone to the tryouts unless they have a pro record.

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You ready fuckers?

Dana should introduce everything.

by Eugene Schelfaut on Oct 21, 2008 2:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I was just wonder what people would think if the NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, went into a meeting with a team, or officials, with a camera present and said, “You ready fuckers.” The media would shit. If Dana doesn’t say something like that, people would wonder what’s wrong with him.

by Cannon Jacques on Oct 21, 2008 10:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This is more like an audition for gay porn

“I wanna see you grapple…start on your knees…just try shit. If you have a mouth piece, wear it. Stay on your knees!”

by the exit on Oct 21, 2008 2:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Wow, really funny. You know, it’s the first time I’ve heard that comment in regards to MMA and grappling. Very original. Kudos.

by LiuLang on Oct 21, 2008 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not the action itself...

but the direction. That was obviously what the comment was directed at. Lighten up.

by the exit on Oct 23, 2008 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

how incredibly unfunny.

by banter on Oct 21, 2008 5:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wesley Murch

I think I heard Dana mention his name during the callouts… He was one of the guys that got eliminated during this seasons first episode. Wonder if they’ll give him another shot.

by lucas_x on Oct 21, 2008 2:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The fighters must have fought at least 3 professional fights.

What the fuck? Did they already forget their last season was won by a 0-0 fighter?

Fucking UFC. They’re really doing their best to run TUF into the ground.

/irritated

by Michaelthebox on Oct 21, 2008 4:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

They are mixing it up a bit…calm down.

by banter on Oct 21, 2008 5:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Mixing it up by selecting out those fighters who can be both tremendous talents and have the most to gain by going on TUF?

TUF is becoming less and less valuable to the top prospects who are already experienced. The best way to get talent on TUF is now to go to untapped regions and to bring in talent that is fairly unknown, ie has few or no professional fights.

Britain may be a somewhat untapped region, but by rejecting inexperienced fighters, they’re automatically rejecting some of the best talent available to them.

by Michaelthebox on Oct 21, 2008 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Watch out Dana

Apparently Michael’s ready to take your job.

by MMARich on Oct 21, 2008 5:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They will swoop and take whoever they missed later on. Calm down. Where are they going to go?

by banter on Oct 21, 2008 6:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The issue isn’t about grabbing the talent. The issue is about the show. They’re struggling very badly to keep the show relevant for the next few seasons, as ratings continue to go down. There are several culprits for this drop, but one of the big culprits is the fact that the talent level continues to deteriorate.

I simply don’t see why the UFC wants to prevent the best fighters from getting on the show just because they don’t have pro experience. They’re struggling to get top talent as it is.

by Michaelthebox on Oct 21, 2008 6:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

MMAPayout.com has learned that The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 Episode 5 did a 1.1 household rating and 1.4 million viewers. After a series low .8, TUF recovered strongly doing a 1.4 on last week fueled by the antics of Junie Browning. The number for this week seems to have settled back into the 1.1-1.2 range that marked the first couple of episodes of the season.

Not incredible but not bad. I am sure everyone is happy with anything over 1.

by banter on Oct 21, 2008 6:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Its still deteriorating over time, though. Just because it hasn’t reached the level of “man these ratings totally suck” is no reason not to try and maintain or improve the quality of the show.

by Michaelthebox on Oct 21, 2008 6:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Show is still great…a few Brits with under 3 fights isn’t going to stop it no matter.

by banter on Oct 21, 2008 7:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

sigh

Fine, lets never criticize anything about TUF.

by Michaelthebox on Oct 21, 2008 7:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

There is plenty to complain about…just now sure what throwing f-bombs accomplishes…

Oh wait…I hate it when Dana does that. Low class.

by banter on Oct 21, 2008 7:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Or they’re trying to not have a bunch of scrap and play the odds that people with records will be more experienced and better than those who don’t.
Just because one person with an 0-0 record won doesn’t mean he wasn’t a small diamond in a giant rough. And who is to say that he would have won had this stipulation been in effect for his season anyway.
Moral of the story: Calm down brah, this makes sense and is something that probably should have been introduced a long, long time ago.

by Simco on Oct 21, 2008 10:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sounds like Abdul Mohamed is this year’s ringer for the UK side… from what I had heard, he already has a UFC contract in hand

by smoogy on Oct 21, 2008 4:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Nope

Abdul last fought at Cage Gladiators 7, where he lost by triangle choke to Luciano Azevedo. That said, his overall record is 14-6-2 which – like his physique – is pretty solid. To quote paraphrase the film Snatch, he’ll be “Mohamed, I’m hard, Bruce Lee” :)

by VikingPhotography on Oct 21, 2008 4:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I like that when speaking candidly they have 170-ish fighters there.
When speaking to a camera they have over 200.

by Simco on Oct 21, 2008 4:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Think a bit

Possibly through the magic of editing Dana was speaking at two different times and the number may have changed. Duh.

by MMARich on Oct 21, 2008 5:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No kidding

by LiuLang on Oct 21, 2008 7:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It is a possibility that more people showed up throughout the day.
It is also a possibility that there is an application and registration due before that day and people aren’t just walking up off the streets.
(insert self-righteous snarkiness)

by Simco on Oct 21, 2008 10:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

and its possible not all those people who filled out an app showed up until later.
(takes a self-righteous sip of tea)

by banter on Oct 22, 2008 7:38 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m not really buying the applications done before hand.

I don’t think Zuffa would send out a notice like the one in the update if there was a pre-registration process.

If people registered in advance, they would probably notify all the 185ers and people with less than 3 pro fights and tell them there was a change of plans, not just sound out a notice/press release like they did.

by Phildo on Oct 22, 2008 9:45 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You do realize this was over an entire day right?

by banter on Oct 21, 2008 6:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

anybody care to explain to someone who doesnt train why heel hooks would specifically not be allowed??

by dt3 on Oct 21, 2008 5:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Because if they are applied quickly you can blow someone’s knee out before they have a chance to tap.

by zeroword on Oct 21, 2008 5:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

In lower BBJ class they don’t do any leg locks at a lower level. Maybe a strait lock, but mostly they stay away. They don’t know the level of the guys so they create a level playing to just get a feel of where there ground game is at.

by szucconi on Oct 21, 2008 5:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Some grappling tournaments ban them outright even for experts, not just novices.

Some submissions are 0 to 60 in .6 seconds and people don’t have a chance to tap. Masakazu Imanari taps people with heel hooks in this way. As soon as he latches on, he’s breaking your ankle/knee.

by Luke Thomas on Oct 21, 2008 5:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Heel Hook question

dt3 asked a good question, and got a good answer, so I’d like to ask a related question: Why don’t heel hooks seem to work in competition anymore? Seems like no one ever taps to them and no one suffers damage (I’m sure there’s a couple fights that disprove this, but proportionately you rarely see a fight-ending heel hook in the UFC anymore). I seem to remember Bas Rutten saying something about, “It doesn’t cause real damage, it just hurts.” But this whole “blow someone’s knee out” would seem to refute that. Do any of you guys know the answer? I’ve been wondering about this for awhile …

"It's like a flying knuckle sandwich." --Rogan
"And many men have eaten it." -- Goldy

by thetakeover on Oct 21, 2008 7:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Well, its not as if heel hooks are high percentage like armbars or triangles. They are actually fairly hard to pull off.

The second part is that most fighters – even at the upper echelon – aren’t very good at them. Finding a leg specialist who can pull off the submission is hard to do and even harder to find one to train with. Most guys don’t have the background or training to be super skilled at them.

by Luke Thomas on Oct 21, 2008 9:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

But

Go watch Imanari vs. Mike Brown or Imanari vs. Jean Silva as an example of a highly effective, quick heel hook.

by Luke Thomas on Oct 21, 2008 9:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good question and good answer. They told us not to do them in white belt class and I already have bad knees, so I didn’t even think to ask them to explain.

by szucconi on Oct 22, 2008 1:35 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What's with all the grappling...

No wonder the stand-up in MMA is so bad. There’s a slant towards ground fighting. Not saying ground fighting isn’t important, but don’t make it obvious. I guess you need people like Junie Brown on TUF. Without characters you won’t have a show. Just be a bunch of dudes wrestling each other.