THE MMA WEEKLY WRAP UP for 6-23-08

Hi and welcome again to the MMA Weekly Wrap Up. This is were you can find all the latest Combat Sport related news and happenings found on the Internet.

TUF 7 FINALE LIVES UP TO THE HYPE

Okay, in case you haven't been keeping up with The Ultimate Fighter reality show this season (don't worry, neither have I and neither have a lot of people; the ratings are down!) we'll catch you up with the preview teaser for last week's show.



So here's what happened. The last episode was televised on Wednesday with a live broadcast of the final match on Saturday.

During Wednesday's show, CB Dollaway fought against Amir Sadollah in the last semi-final fight.

Dollaway seemed to give the stronger showing during the first two rounds, ripping a terrible cut under Sadollah's right eye with some terrible ground-n-pound, elbow strikes. However in the last round, Sadollah reverses out of a rear naked choke hold and comes out on top with a nice arm bar, forcing CB to tapout.

Looks like it's going to be Amir Sadollah against Jesse Taylor in the final match... but wait!?

Turns out that after the show was finished shooting at the UFC house, Jesse Taylor decided to hang out in Vegas for a while and celebrate his success. While staying at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino, (Coincidentally owned by Zuffa, LLC President and UFC financial backer, Lorenzo Fertitta) Taylor decides to go on a drinking spree.

After harassing female guests and threatening security guards, Jesse returns to his limousine, where he then begins smashing out the car's window.

Now, while it may or may not be true that "Whatever that happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas;" One thing is certain... Anything that happens in Vegas is on video somewhere!

Naturally, Dana White gets a hold of the security video from the casino and faster than you can say "Contract Canceled," Taylor is out on the street.

The shows two loosing finalists, CB Dollaway and Tim Credeur are quickly brought back in for another match to see who will face Sadollah in the Final.

In a close fight, CB gets the better of the stand up exchanges and wins by unanimous decision.

On to Saturday night, after all the drama of the TUF season, it actually becomes a rather exciting rematch between Dollaway and Sadollah. The fight starts out with Dollaway taking Amir down early, but Sadollah fights well on the ground. He wraps himself up around CB and sneaks in... you guessed it... another armbar!

CB gives Amir a tap on the leg and the referee breaks them up. Sadollah wins!

Wait, hold on. Now, CB begins to protest... apparently he didn't 'mean' to tap... it was an accident... a mistake. A quick review of the UFC rulebook uncovers that there are no takebacks in mma - Amir Sadollah gets the trophy.

TUF 7; Drama all the way up until the very end! Can't wait for Griffin vs Jackson at UFC 86.


Dana White’s (Not So) Big Announcement

As we reported last week, UFC President, Dana White made a "big" announcement this week. Turns out (as expected) all of the juicy Internet rumors were wrong.

The "big news" is that Zuffa Owner, Lorenzo Fertitta is stepping down from his position as CEO of Station Casinos to help Dana expand the UFC. (I think maybe somebody is getting a bit nervous about Affliction.)

Together, Dana and Lorenzo plan to make Ultimate Fighting the most popular sport ever... and also to take over the world or something. -Seriously, those two look like the evil villains found in every comic book. They must be up to something.

Kim Couture Suffers an Ugly Loss

Wife of MMA legend Randy 'the Natural' Couture, Kim Couture had another mma fight at "Free For All: A Night of Combat,” at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

During the opening moments of the fight, Couture's opponent, Kim Rose, rocked her with a looping, overhead right that broke both her nose and her jaw. To her credit, Couture lasted the fight and continued to mix it up, however Rose's onslaught proved to be a bit too much.

Kim Rose took a well deserved win in this fight.



You can find Round 2 and Round 3 on these links.


UFC vs. Affliction JuLy 19th

As we reported last week, The Affliction MMA Clothing Line will sponsor its first event July 19th. The event will feature much anticipated fights between Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Silva, as well as Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao and Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell.

Affliction is pulling out all the stops to make this a successful debut. CagePotato.com even reports that they've hired the band, Megadeath to play during ring entrances.

The UFC isn't taking this new threat lightly. In an attempt to split the Affliction's PayPerView sales, the UFC is holding a special Fight Night event on Spike Television, featuring Anderson Silva moving up to 205lbs to face James Irwin.

Here's a quick promo of what Dana White has planned.

So, who to watch? Anderson Silva or Tim Silvia? Blow $40.00 on PayPerView or watch on (the already paid for) cable?

It's a tough choice in these rough economic times. -$40.00 is almost 1/2 a tank of gas!

However, I've come across one quick bit of drama that might make the Affliction Event Very interesting.

According to CagePotato.com, while at the Adrenaline Fights held in Chicago last week, Tim Sylvia was seen attending the fights with Andrei Arlovski’s ex-girlfriend, Patrycja Mikula.

In case you don't know who Mikula is, here's her picture.




Now, Arlovski and Sylvia aren't scheduled to fight, but a girl who looks like that could certainly bring out the beast in some people. - I'm just sayin.

Anyway, that's going to do it for this week. Check back again for more news and happenings in the world of Combat Sports.

Until then, Train Hard and Fight Dirty,

Respectfully,

Rick