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

[cleslie92]

Have to agree on the Richie thing. I totally understood last week when they said that the place had been won by an Aussie and had to go to an Aussie, but it was a bit off when X got straight through after losing. Now a Brit is injured, having won the place for the UK very impressively, but Dana just arbitrarily decides the place goes to an Aussie. After changing their minds so many times over Manny's place, it seems they just saw this as a way to re-dress the balance to stop Team UK dominating. Still think they will though...

 

I could see X beating Whittaker, but I think Parke .vs. Fletcher is as close to a lock as you can get.

[David]

Oh and that Team Aus striking coach...what a twat. The words "mid life crisis" spring to mind. I wonder if this was the episode with the rumoured car park brawl they couldn't show.

When he offered to fight the UK striking coach they should have thrown in a quip about having him drug tested first, just to really make him go all Ken Shamrock on them.

[wandshogun09]

Anyone had trouble seeing episode 10? It was on the EPG for Thursday morning at 2am, I Sky+'ed it to find football instead. It's meant to be on at 2.15am on Saturday morning now. What are ESPN playing at with this shite?

 

For anyone who can't wait until Saturday, you can do what I did and watch it here;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=LgLMXCvinto

 

Apparently people have had issues with the loading times but I had no problems with it personally.

 

Anyway....SPOILERS....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good show again. Pretty good fight as well. Slowish start but heated up nicely. I think Brendan was a bit jittery. The way they were both talking on the weigh in part was quite telling. Brendan seemed to let the team mates thing effect him a bit but Norman wasn't phased. Bit of inexperience showing there for Brendan I think.

 

Good fight though. Although, Norman noticably faded later on. And I think if it's Freakshow he ends up fighting he'll struggle with the Freak's reach and striking.

 

The coaches challenge was a fun one to watch. Georgey again being a cock as soon as he got there. "Wipe that look of your face". What is he Dean Amasinger's dad or something? Does he think everyone's terrified of him? The challenge itself was fun and to be fair Sots took the loss on his suspect chin in the end.

 

Best part of the show though...the return of...

 

 

Russell Bandingo.

 

Loved that part with him doing the whole Steve Irwin bit. "Yer've gotta watch out fer the low kicks but once yer've got the noose around 'im 'e's 'armless". His Aussie accent sounds quite Irish at times though.

 

Aussie vs Aussie next week then. We didn't see enough of Rob Whittaker that told us much so it's not an easy one to call. Gut feeling is that he'll catch Xavier though and probably stop him.

 

This has been one of my favourite TUFs ever to be honest. I've enjoyed the lot. A lot of that is down to Colin Fletcher, some is down to the novelty of the country vs country aspect and a much bigger part of it than I expected going in is down to the Pearson vs Sots rivalry. I really didn't expect this to turn into a grudge match like it has and now I can't wait to see how it all unfolds in a few weeks.

[Egg Shen]

i'd fucking love to have a go at a destruction derby, it looks like great fun.

 

What's with the George/Amasinger feud? they seem to hate each other more than Ross/George.

 

Wasn't too impressed with Norman to be honest, outside of some decent ground and pound whilst in the guard he didn't show me anything that proves that he's 'UFC calibre'. Fighters always seem to improve before the finale's though so hopefully that's the case.

[jimufctna24]

What's with the George/Amasinger feud?

Yeah I noticed that.

 

George has some temper on him. Maybe it went back to the book incident.

 

This season is just brilliant. Made me forget the stench that was TUF Live.

[wandshogun09]

George has some temper on him. Maybe it went back to the book incident.

 

Even the book incident was overblown though. Amasinger's always seemed like an easy going bloke to me, it was a total overreaction. He needs therapy. People can say about editing all they want but you can't edit someone enough to make them look that much of a twat without some help from the twat himself.

 

He comes across like the type of guy who thinks everyone should be intimidated by him. Wipe that look off your face? Why doesn't he wipe that 'I just smelt a fart' look of his face for once? I mean look at the miserable sod in these pictures from various times in his past.

 

 

 

[wandshogun09]

I posted this in the MMA news thread but it's to do with this event so fuck it...

 

Joe Martinez (WEC's old ring announcer) will be back on the mic at UFC on FX 6. Obviously with them holding shows on consecutive nights, one in Vegas and the next night in Australia, Buffer wasn't making it to both. This will be the first UFC Buffer will have ever missed since he started in full time 1997 (?).

 

Glad to see Martinez get the gig.

 

 

"Make some noooooiiiiise...Are you...rrrrrrrready?"

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Good to see they've got an American announcer with some credibility. I was worried they'd pick a local Aussie announcer, which I think would make the show look a bit bush-league. Awesome Christmas revamp of the avatar and sig too Wand.

 

Last weeks Smashes didn't greatly appeal to me, in all honesty because it lacked the country vs. country aspect, really illustrated how important that aspect is to the success of this season. Pretty sure the one this week will have Freakshow vs. Richie Vas, really keen for that one. Actually, even if Freakshow was facing a fellow Pom, I'd probably still be into it as Freakshow is by far the most likable fighter in the house. Hoping he wins, but Richie gives a good account of himself in the process.

[wandshogun09]

Awesome Christmas revamp of the avatar and sig too Wand.

 

Chokeout sorted that out in his smashing (see what I did there?) Christmas sig thread. Ask him nicely and get Brock a hat Shane.

 

I think even with a loss to Freakshow, Richie will be given a break. He's fighting above his natural weight and win or lose as long as he gives a good show in the fight they'll have him back.

 

He'll get on the finale at least most likely. As long as he wins on there then he'll probably drop to 145 for his next UFC fight. Francisco Trinaldo, Louis Gaudinot and going way back Kenny Florian among others all dropped to more natural divisions after TUF.

 

Speaking of TUF, did anyone read recently that Chael Sonnen turned down a chance to appear on TUF 1? And Jon Jones was turned away at the trials one year because he was a year too young? I've heard the likes of Jon Fitch and Denis Kang tried for TUF 1 as well and Frankie Edgar and Clay Guida tried out for TUF 5. Amazing some of the talent who didn't make it on. Some were signed to the UFC outright instead but a lot weren't at the time.

[herbie747]

Loving this season. George is such a twat - my wife can't stand his smug face either. Hope Ross kicks his head in. Looking forward to it...

[wandshogun09]

Stear clear of the MMA news sites if you haven't seen this week's show yet I forgot it aired last night in the US and I've just gone on MMAJunkie and spoiled the welterweight final for myself.

 

Bollocks.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

So what's the deal with international distribution? I thought Australia got it first on FX, then you guys on ESPN, then the rest of the world on UFC.com. You said "aired in the US", is there a TV deal in place?

 

Anyway, as for the show... Xavier is absolutely terrible. Robert seemed like the odds-on favourite to me, but I thought Xavier would put up some semblance of a fight, especially if the fight was kept standing, as Xavier is meant to have 'heavy hands'. The knockdown punch looked like a shove at first, I thought Robert just pushed him to the floor and followed up with punches until I saw the replay. Robert is highly impressive on the show, and I could see him beating Brad at the Finale, but Xavier was just completely outclassed. Disappointing. The UFC seem to like him, given the extra chances and the large amount of screen time here, so he probably gets a spot on the Finale undercard, but he's nowhere near UFC-calibre. Felt bad for him after the talk of his son watching the show.

 

And holy crap, George showed positive emotion. Easily the standout moment of the episode.

 

Roll on next week! I was disappointed that I got the weeks/weight classes mixed up before, but Freakshow finally fights again. I feel slightly bad that I'm almost barracking for him over an Aussie, but the man is a legend.

 

EDIT: In updating the original post for the fight card, I came across the news that Ednaldo Oliveira is injured and as a result, Sozsynski has been pulled from the card. Balls, I was really looking forward to seeing him fight again.

[Egg Shen]

i wouldnt be surprised if Xavier gets a spot on the finale, he's definitly one of the more memorable characters from the show, seems like a good guy as well.

[wandshogun09]

I thought Xavier was the most annoying fighter on Team Aus myself but to be fair he was a lot less annoying as the show went on. Maybe the cameras and the occasion got to him early on or something because he was a right twat early on. I think losing humbled him as well.

 

I think they will have Xavier vs Ben Alloway on the finale. They might prefer a UK vs Aussie fight but they can still have a few of them. Xavier vs Ben makes sense after the beef over Ben viewing X as "an easy fight".

 

While Freakshow is probably the most skilled fighter in the house, certainly the most entertaining, Rob Whittaker's looked like the most dangerous to me. It's hard to tell much from how short the fights were but he's got power for sure.

 

I think him and Brad Scott will be a great fight because I don't think Brad will go away easily. I'll pick Freakshow to submit Vas and go on to beat Norman on points in the finale.

 

Then Pearson to smash Sadsack Sots

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

WARNING- SPOILERS BELOW, ALTHOUGH IF YOU CLICK ON THE NEWEST POST ON A THREAD MARKED 'SPOILERS', YOU KINDA DESERVE WHAT YOU GET...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, holy hell, what a way to end the show. A real David vs. Goliath battle, and David was kicking arse in there. I had Richie handily winning that fight until the finish. Even Pearson said that he could have won that first round bigger if he mixed in a takedown. As it was, Richie's slip in the last 15 seconds might have caused an inept judge to score it for Freakshow, but Vas was the aggressor, outstriking Freakshow through most of the opening frame.

 

I'll pick Freakshow to submit Vas and go on to beat Norman on points in the finale.

 

The beginning of your prophecy is dead on, Wand. A keylock sort of from the bottom, while being in Richie's side control but not quite as Freakshow halfway swept him- what the hell! That was nuts! I didn't catch it the first time, I thought Richie had given himself a freak injury in the takedown or something.

 

MMATorch have released the full card for the Finale next week, and some interesting choices made. I've updated the original post with the changes. No additional Aus vs. UK fights, but two Aussies will face off, and two Poms will fight as well. Ben Alloway vs. Manny Rodriguez and Brendan Loughnane vs. Mike Wilkinson. I'm really surprised that they didn't mix nationalities with the matchmaking. Also, Manny returned pretty damn quickly from a broken leg. That would have occurred in August maybe, and he's fighting in December? Tough bastard. Benny Alloway deserved a spot with the war he had in the semi finals with Brad Scott, it easily could have been him in that final. I expected Wilkinson to get in somewhere, an eye injury isn't going to keep a fighter out for months on end.

 

A bit disappointed that Richie Vas didn't get a spot. I liked his first fight, despite getting thoroughly beaten he kept fighting hard. He showed an upbeat personality the whole way through, and he officially made me a full on fan with the fight against Freakshow. That's about as close as modern UFC gets to an open weight fight, a guy that fights at 135 fighting a guy that has fought at 170. It's obviously not a matter of him not deserving a spot, maybe the elbow was too jacked to make this fight, or maybe UFC are allowing him time to get back down to bantamweight for a future UFC fight.