UFC on FX 6/ TUF: The Smashes (Aus vs. UK) Discussion Thread

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

The Smashes season, pitting Australia, the greatest country in the world, against the UK, culminates Saturday Dec 15 Aus time, Friday Dec 14 US time, at UFC on FX 6!

 

UFC on FX: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson

 

 

Main Card

George Sotiropoulos vs. Ross Pearson

Hector Lombard vs. Rousimar Palhares

Robert Whittaker vs. Brad Scott (Smashes WW Final)

Colin 'Freakshow' Fletcher vs. Norman Parke (Smashes LW Final)

 

Preliminary Card

 

Chad Mendes vs. Yaotzin Meza

Joey Beltran vs. Igor Pokrajac

Seth Baczynski vs. Mike Pierce

Ben Alloway vs. Manny Rodriguez

Brendan Loughnane vs. Mike Wilkinson

Cody Donovan vs. Nick Penner

 

'Smashes' Introductory Post below, includes coaches' background and cast members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, the show debuts here in about half an hour (7:30pm local time), and despite mentions across a few MMA topics, I couldn't find a dedicated topic to this international season of TUF. If Brazil got one, so should our one.

 

Aussie coach: George Sotiropoulos (MMA 14-4, UFC 7-2)

 

Sots is a ground wizard with a technically sound striking game, having competed in amateur boxing prior to MMA. He had a great 7 fight win streak going until 2011, where successive defeats to Dennis Siver and Rafael dos Anjos setting back his chances at a title shot. He brings extensive jujitsu knowledge to this competition, having a black belt under Eddie Bravo's 10th Planet jujitsu, and competed in a previous TUF season.

 

 

UK coach: Ross Pearson (MMA 13-6, UFC 5-3)

 

Ross Pearson is a more well rounded competitor, proficient in striking and grappling, and has the distinction of having won TUF 9. His signature win thus far is a FOTN performance over Dennis Siver. After a narrow split decision loss to then-undefeated phenom Edson Barboza, he dropped to featherweight and was less impressive in that weight class, taking Junior Assuncao to a hard fought decision before getting knocked out by Cub Swanson in his last fight. Pearson knows exactly what is required to win a season of TUF, and has a great skill set to impart to his fighters, it's up to the fighters he coaches to do their bit.

 

TEAM AUSTRALIA

 

Lightweights:

Grant Blackler, 23, Sunshine Coast

Patrick Iodice, 19, Gold Coast

Richie Vaculik, 29, Sydney

Ben Wall, 23, Brisbane

 

Welterweights:

Ben Alloway, 31, Gold Coast

Xavier Lucas, 31, Perth

Manuel Rodriguez, 27, Sydney James Vainikolo, 26, Sydney

Robert Whitaker, 21, Sydney

 

TEAM UK

 

Lightweights:

Colin Fletcher, 29, Sunderland

Norman Parke, 25, Bushmills, Nth Ireland

Michael Pastou, 30, Essex Brendan Loughnane, 22, Manchester

Mike Wilkinson, 24, Leigh

 

Welterweights:

Luke Newman, 22, London

Bola Omoyele, 30, London

Valentino Petrescu, 30, Essex

Brad Scott, 23, Melksham

 

Very interested to see how the cast performs, I have very little knowledge of the Aus MMA scene, and even less of the UK scene. I looked up the Aussie fighters on Youtube, and most seem to have pretty good Muay Thai, based on the videos I found, their ground games are yet to be determined, but their Sherdog records have a few submission victories scattered in there as well. Since the fighters have already been revealed, we may not get the entry fights, but definitely hoping to see at least a fight tonight as a preview of what's to come this season.

 

Obviously, Aussies and Brits have a well-documented sporting history, should be good to see tempers flare up in the show. I've never given a shit about cricket, but I love my MMA, so go Sots and Team Aus!

[David]

Is this being televised in the UK at all?

[vealster]

Is this being televised in the UK at all?

 

According to the ESPN website it will be showing at midnight tonight on ESPN.

[ELLIS]

Brad Scott is a lad from my home town. He's a friends nephew and has been making a huge name for himself on events in the South West. Wishing him all the best!

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

*1st episode spoilers below... read on at own risk*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To quote Xavier, "Aussies 1, UK 0!"

 

Good first episode, I like that the show is produced and narrated by Aussies, just because it immediately sets this season apart from the tired franchise. Also, was cool that they didn't have fights to get into the house, I thought that aspect would annoy me, but it allowed us to get to know the fighters better, and built up anticipation for the first quarter-final fight.

 

The intro was decent, I liked Dana's presence on this episode, as he visited both the training center, and the house. As for the fighter house, looked nice but nothing on the scale of the US mansions. As far as I'm aware, the Smashes will only be available online outside the UK and Australia, so it would make sense to cut corners on expense.

 

BUT... they're offering a fair amount of monetary bonuses for fights on this show. $25 000 for KO, Sub, and Fight of the Season, which is okay, but they're doing $5000 for every finish, which could add up quite easily to over $150 000 doled out in bonuses altogether. We're off to a good start with a finish in the first fight of the show.

 

The sparring sessions were definitely a contrast in philosophies, and a shining example of why there's so many fighter injuries in UFC presently. Sots ran a sensible practice session, Pearson had some kind of British Chute Boxe style going, and Michael Pastou is likely out of the competition with a torn bicep before the first fight even started. Ridiculous.

 

As for the fight itself, in the welterweight division (the coin toss was kind of a crock in the new format, being able to choose the weight division of the first fight was a really sucky option)... It wasn't that great. Alloway seemed unsure of himself for a long while, which Sots alluded to in the pre fight. He had his hands down far too low and took a long time to engage. I feared the worst early on as Petrescu was throwing with bad intentions. That said, even though the former circus performer/gymnast (what a story) had Octagon control, he didn't really do much damage and his "dominant positioning" with the clinch wasn't that dominating. When Alloway finally got the trip he was looking for, he seemed far more comfortable and had more clearly dominant positions, and landed some nice elbows to finish the round off.

 

Second round begins, and I'm again shitting bricks as Alloway reaches for a clinch and narrowly misses having his head taken off by Petrescu. At this point, I realise, "Hey, I don't think Alloway's thrown a single punch. He had a couple of feints, some kicks and elbows on the ground, but no punches!" Seconds later, he catches Petrescu with a shovel punch ala' Tito Ortiz, and it's goodnight, sweet prince. Very happy with the Aussie victory but the jury's still out on how good Alloway is, he seemed very tentative standing and much more at ease on the ground, which was a little surprising. Guess we'll see in the semis if he can take a punch and trade.

 

Next week, JDS. Fuck yeah. I was worried this TUF season would get swept under the radar a bit by UFC, but it looks like they're committed to making it a success. I do think it'll do better internationally than the Brazil edition considering the lack of a language barrier. I consider myself a diehard UFC fan and even I struggled with those subtitles.

[wandshogun09]

I've skipped past the spoilers. Looking forward to watching this tonight.

 

Good first post as well. You should make this a TUF/FX 6 joint thread Shane O, with the finals of this show and Pearson/Sots set for FX 6 you could whack a poll up on that fight as well maybe and Lombard/Palhares.

 

Looks like it will be a good show. I quite like the country vs country thing to be honest, at least it's something different which TUF badly needs. I liked TUF Brazil a lot as well just because it had a different feel to it than the US ones.

[Daily Buzzard]

Are the bonuses in Australian or US dollars?

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Yeah, I'll do that Wand, but I'll wait til closer to the FX 6 show to change it, you know how mods can be with MMA topics, they're liable to shut it down because it's too far away Also, it's been announced that Sots vs Pearson is actually the main event, which is a good thing in my book.

 

Not sure what dollar amount it is, Dana never specified either way. The exchange rate is close to even at the moment anyway.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, I'll do that Wand, but I'll wait til closer to the FX 6 show to change it, you know how mods can be with MMA topics, they're liable to shut it down because it's too far away

 

I doubt the thread would be closed because TUF has started and we always have seperate TUF threads. The usual TUF threads have the finale discussion included anyway so this thread will be no different.

 

When I started the TUF Brazil/UFC 147 joint thread it was a while until 147. I started it when TUF Brazil started online and didn't have any problem on here, as far as I know at least. The thread was kept alive anyway.

 

Glad to see Pearson vs Sot has been promoted to main event status. It doesn't really matter as we said before but I think being the coaches on the show there will be more interest in that fight than Lombard vs Palhares by the time FX 6 rolls around. And Pearson vs Sot is more likely to need the later rounds than Lombard vs Palhares anyway. I don't see the latter fight going past 1 round, 2 at most, either way.

[METAL ON METAL]

Enjoyed the first episode, while there was nothing really new on it (that we hadn't seen in the USA vs. UK season), it still felt a lot fresher than the already zombie-like season in the US. Agree with Wand that the team aspect always helps you get into it, gives you more reason to want someone you hadn't heard of previously to win than the random unknown fighters on TUF.

 

Naturally, looking forward to seeing Freakshow in action. Bumped into him quickly in town last week (then oddly saw Phil De Fries an hour later. Sunderland - the Hollywood of UK MMA ), he wasn't giving anything away but promised a good season. Nice bloke as always.

[David]

The sparring sessions were definitely a contrast in philosophies, and a shining example of why there's so many fighter injuries in UFC presently. Sots ran a sensible practice session, Pearson had some kind of British Chute Boxe style going, and Michael Pastou is likely out of the competition with a torn bicep before the first fight even started. Ridiculous.

Didn't Pastou have a bit of a niggle coming in already? Personally I'm hoping he gets bumped. I can tell that he goes to annoy me, so hopefully they replace him.

[wandshogun09]

Finally got around to watching this tonight. Really enjoyed it. As said it's got a fresh feel to it which is always a good thing.

 

To quote Xavier, "Aussies 1, UK 0!"

 

That guy seems like a bit of a knob. Not for saying 1-0 because half the fun of winning is bragging afterwards, I don't blame the Aussies for that. But on first impressions he just seems like a prize twat. Maybe I'll warm to him but he's the only Aussie who's annoyed me so far so I'm hoping he catches a 'Pommie' pasting.

 

I like that the show is produced and narrated by Aussies, just because it immediately sets this season apart from the tired franchise. Also, was cool that they didn't have fights to get into the house, I thought that aspect would annoy me, but it allowed us to get to know the fighters better, and built up anticipation for the first quarter-final fight.

 

Yeah I like the Aussie narrator as well. It's something new at least. Anything that gives the show a new feel is a positive. The dropping of the fights to get in was a good idea I think. There's not so much depth of talent to justify the elimination fights on this season I don't think. Plus you could see interesting characters like Freakshow Fletcher, who will likely make for good TV, not make the cut.

 

I do think it'll do better internationally than the Brazil edition considering the lack of a language barrier. I consider myself a diehard UFC fan and even I struggled with those subtitles.

 

It probably will do better for that very reason. I loved TUF Brazil though. I realize I'm kind of in the minority on that but the subtitles never bothered me at all. Growing up on martial arts movies probably helped me there

 

Didn't Pastou have a bit of a niggle coming in already? Personally I'm hoping he gets bumped. I can tell that he goes to annoy me, so hopefully they replace him.

 

I can see how he'd annoy people but I hope he gets to stay. I never want to see a guy eliminated before he even gets chance to fight. It's a shitty way to have to leave, although either way he'll probably be given a spot on the finale so it's not necessarily over for his chances.

 

I did think a few times though when Pastou was talking, the Yanks will defo need subtitles for him. "Ma ex left me bruv. She left me cuz I was fytin'. I'm here to win this show san." Or something like that.

 

Couple of other points;

 

*So far the Aussies seem a bit boring. I know it's early yet but they seem like a right dour faced lot. And the only one who doesn't (Xavier) seems like a twat.

 

*That Aussie lad on the preview for next week's show looks like he'll be the victim of a bit of bullying/pranking etc from Team UK. There's always one who everyone hates. Ben Wall is his name.

 

This be him

 

Good start. Looking forward to next week.

 

Oh and...

 

 

Freakshow's voice sounds exactly like Ross Noble. It's uncanny. As soon as he started talking my girlfriend came in from the kitchen (yeah I've got her trained ) and said she thought Ross Noble had started "that UFC".

 

[Egg Shen]

im actually pretty surprised that they didn't make any fuss over Freakshow in the first episode, he was just walking around oblivious in his costume. He seems a pretty straight laced guy behind the gimmick though.

 

I'm pretty sure Michael Pastou will be on the finale, Pearson made reference that he was one of the top guys on the team so i expect them to give him a shot on the prelims.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

To quote Xavier, "Aussies 1, UK 0!"

 

That guy seems like a bit of a knob. Not for saying 1-0 because half the fun of winning is bragging afterwards, I don't blame the Aussies for that. But on first impressions he just seems like a prize twat. Maybe I'll warm to him but he's the only Aussie who's annoyed me so far so I'm hoping he catches a 'Pommie' pasting.

 

You must be able to read people quickly. It's really too early for me to form an opinion on anyone on the show yet. Freakshow seems like an odd one based on first sight, be interesting to hear from him properly in future episodes. But overall, the only person that left a definite impression on me (positive or negative) was when the Brits entered the house, whatever prick it was shouting "BRAPP BRAPP BRAPP!" incessantly. What the fuck does that even mean?

 

I did think a few times though when Pastou was talking, the Yanks will defo need subtitles for him. "Ma ex left me bruv. She left me cuz I was fytin'. I'm here to win this show san." Or something like that.

 

Yanks are idiots overall. How can they have such trouble understanding any accent or dialect outside their own? There's one or two that are hard to ascertain, but mostly I can understand a pretty wide range of accents. I understood Pastou perfectly. Maybe I've just been here too long and gotten accustomed to the lingo (right on 9 years, fuck me).

 

So far the Aussies seem a bit boring. I know it's early yet but they seem like a right dour faced lot. And the only one who doesn't (Xavier) seems like a twat.

I think you'll see a change in time. Plus it might be a bit of a culture/humour divide, the whole segment where they talked about being close to the enemy- "hard to get much fucking closer"- had me in stitches. If anything, I thought the Brits staying away from the Aussies was a little weird, but in the formative stages of the competition, they're bound to be a little tense, I think everyone will loosen up in the coming weeks.

 

There's one guy on the Aussie side who could be a bit of a character. Richie 'Vas' Vaculik, he's a former Bra Boy, which is like a surfing gang, they're a bit of a notorious bad-ass group in Australia, like the nWo on surfboards (not quite but yeah). Interested in seeing his personality emerge in the house, based on the gang reputation he could be a bit of a hothead.

[wandshogun09]

Oh yeah that 'BRRRAP BRRRAP' shit had me cringing as well. Think that might have been Pastou actually.

 

Bra Boys? That's what your badasses call themselves Down Under is it? Sound like a right bunch of tits to me.