The 32 Names for The Ultimate Fighter 7

by Nick Thomas on Mar 7, 2008 4:04 PM EST

Are in an article on Yahoo.com:

"The new format will give us two incredibly intense episodes to launch the season and will weed out some of the guys who might not have the heart and desire that it takes to become a UFC fighter," said White.

Update [2008-3-7 10:19:51 by Luke Thomas]:: One matter of concern is the inexperience factor for this season's fighters is arguably worse than last season's:

Paul Bradley (5-0 in small shows) is known to only the most ardent fans. Steve Byrnes fought once in UFC, losing to Logan Clark on December 13, 2006. Mike Dolce went 0-3 last season with the International Fight League. Gerald Harris, 6-2, with both losses last season in the IFL, is a genuine prospect with real wrestling ability. Dante Rivera, 10-2, also fought last year with the IFL.

Before the final week of the season, White said there was one fighter whom he thought was going to come out as a genuine star from the season, but he still had to win one more match to get into the finals.

The other 27 names starting out are David Baggett (4-2), Matt Brown (4-2), Erik Charles (0-0), John Clarke (5-2), Daniel Cramer (0-0), Tim Credeur (9-2), Clarence Dollaway (0-0), John Hall (3-3), Nick Klein (3-0), David Mewborn (0-0), Mike Marrello (7-1-1), Jeremy May (5-5), Prince LaDonas Mclean (4-5), Aaron Meisner (2-0), Reggie Orr (4-5-1), Matthew Riddle (0-0), Jeremiah Riggs (1-0), David Roberts (5-7), Nick Rossborough (0-0), Amir Sadollah (0-0), Patrick Schultz (0-3), Brandon Sene (2-0), Dan Simmler (0-0), Jesse Taylor (6-2), Cale Yarbrough (0-0), John Wood (6-3) and Luke Zachrich (7-1). Records are courtesy Sherdog.com’s Fight Finder.

This is not very promising, to say the least. It's painful to know people are getting a concept of the level of UFC talent based on guys who by and large are not UFC-caliber fighters. I suppose the intense crucible that this season promises in more fights and less drama is a step in the right direction. And the more distance the show can create between "TUF contestants" and "the UFC" will prove that only a select few are really capable of competing in the UFC. I just wish there were a way to create match-ups that worked best for television, as opposed to letting teams or the tournament format itself decide who fights who.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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Comments

Re: The 32 Names for The Ultimate Fighter 7

... I've never realized how much smaller Rampage is compared to Griffin! I thought it was the other way around.

Sorry. This is just hitting me now.

Also, I suppose the inexperienced guys are gonna end up as fodder for the more talented guys during the early weeks of just pure elimination.

by Gong on Mar 7, 2008 11:38 AM EST reply actions

Re: The 32 Names for The Ultimate Fighter 7

I wouldn't be surprised if the guy that White is talking about is Gerald Harris. He was an All American (I think) at Cleveland State and was wrestling partners with my teammate Stipe Miocic.

He's a good looking black dude that is also a comedian. I have a feeling that he is going to play well on camera.

by penxv on Mar 7, 2008 12:10 PM EST reply actions

Re: The 32 Names for The Ultimate Fighter 7

Well MMAJunkie did a few stories on the guys joining tuf this season and it seems that although they lack experience that alot of them have good credentials in either grappling wrestling or kickboxing. It's been awhile but I remember Aaron Meisner was a MT or kickboxing champ in some small American promotion. The rest are up I'm gonna go look

by Yasnian on Mar 7, 2008 12:25 PM EST reply actions

Re: The 32 Names for The Ultimate Fighter 7

I'll take C.B. Dalloway for the win. I've seen him a few times thanks to Mark Cuban, and he is a monster.

One of my friends is one of the owners of Sprawl and a couple others work under him. They were in Vegas recently and met a bunch of the fighters. one of the guys is just starting work at Sprawl, so he was pretty excited to share hi sexperience, lol, he is about 6'1" and 230 and pretty lean. He said Forrest is huge, taller and heavier and really broad. he seemed pretty surprised at how big he was to be fighting at LHW. I suspect he may be one of the bigger lhws out there.

by BJJDenver on Mar 7, 2008 12:25 PM EST reply actions

Re: The 32 Names for The Ultimate Fighter 7

lololol!!!

make that "his experience"!

by BJJDenver on Mar 7, 2008 12:26 PM EST reply actions

Re: The 32 Names for The Ultimate Fighter 7

Why so many 0-0 records? There must be more experienced fighters out there...are smaller orgs picking them up before TUF can, or does DW & Co. figure the TUF name will sell itself??

by Scott C. Broussard on Mar 7, 2008 12:55 PM EST reply actions

Re: The 32 Names for The Ultimate Fighter 7

There could be any number of explanations, but remember that skill plus television marketability is the equation they work with. So, whatever television intangibles they have also play a roll. And if they come from an elite camp like ATT, they probably get a little more of a nod than someone who is 5-1 in Tulsa, OK and trains with "Crazy Steve's Ultimate Dojo Fight Camp" or some such.

by Luke Thomas on Mar 7, 2008 1:00 PM EST up reply actions

Re: The 32 Names for The Ultimate Fighter 7

I think that if the show can yield a few solid prospects for a shallow division (that being Middleweight), I'm all for it.

The problem with the program, as has been noted elsewhere, is that the top young fighters don't need to get on the reality show to get noticed anymore. Also, Its a balancing act between what Spike wants in terms of drama, and what UFC wants in terms of fighter quality.

I think the elimination fights scheduled for the first two weeks is a good idea.

by CLNicholson on Mar 7, 2008 1:26 PM EST reply actions

Re: The 32 Names for The Ultimate Fighter 7

Some of the 0-0 records aren't correct. For instance, the guy Erik Charles is listed at 0-0 but his actual record is 7-7. If you look at fcfighter.com's database he's listed under Erik Charles Russell. I promise that's him. And like somebody else just mentioned, the guy won the golden gloves in NY state a couple years back. Actually, I think he might have more actual fight experience than anyone listed with that record.

by dropkick101 on Mar 7, 2008 7:29 PM EST reply actions

Re: The 32 Names for The Ultimate Fighter 7

Your right man, maybe its a tactic by Spike to get people talking but I think the writer from yahoo just made some mistakes such as confusing PATRICK Schultz who's NOT on the show with PAT Schultz who IS. PAT Schultz is 6-1-1. PATRICK Schultz is a different dude.

Check out sherdog.com:

http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=11564

It says PAT is 5-1-1 but they're missing his last fight. PAT Schultz is the real deal. The one loss came to a beast named JOSH DIEKMAN who was 25-30 lbs heavier. PAT fought at Heavy Weight in a grudge match:

http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=13322

The tie was with a psychopath named Jerry Speigel. Jerry is a tough guy who'll fight anyone.

http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=5147

-Regg

by coolregg on Mar 9, 2008 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions