UFC acknowledges “Big” John’s retirement

UFC.com has an article written by Thomas Gerbasi which pays tribute to the career of long time UFC referee, “Big” John McCarthy.

After the UFC didn’t make a mention of his retirement during his last bout as a referee at the Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale, many fans were upset and felt the UFC were disrespecting the many years of service McCarthy had provided them. The UFC.com article however seems to suggest that is how McCarthy wanted it:

John McCarthy – who retired as an active referee following last weekend’s main event – was noticeable by being barely noticeable, making all the right moves and all the right calls, a fitting end to a 13 year journey that saw McCarthy become as much a part of the UFC as the great fighters who have graced its Octagon.

The article goes on to outline the role he has played in the organisation since his appointment as referee at UFC 2 and also has a few parting words from McCarthy at the end of the article.

Sure it may only be an article on the UFC’s website and the services he’s lent to the UFC over the year’s should be honoured more in the future (induction into the Hall of Fame perhaps?) but at least the UFC isn’t just sweeping him and his legacy under the carpet because he has decided to part ways for non Zuffa related MMA programming.

New writer for The Sam Blog

Attention reader(s) there is now a second writer on this website.

His name is Paul Cupitt. Yes that would make him my brother which is a couple of steps above having my mum as a writer.

He’ll be posting articles every now and then and will contribute his own set of rankings and other pieces of information here and there.

Huzzah for the 100% staff increase.

Cooler heads prevail as Sherk gets stripped of title

As two of the most promising prospects in the lightweight division battled it out yesterday at the Ultimate Fighter Finale, the champion of the division, Sean Sherk was suffering the consequences of losing his own battle. The battle to keep his Lightweight belt.

The UFC management decided to strip Sherk of his title after the California State Athletic Commission found him guilty after his UFC 73 title defense against Hermes Franca when he tested positive for a banned substance. This decision means now that the UFC 80 main event between Joe Stevenson and B.J. Penn will be upgraded from an Interim Title Fight to a fight for the vacant Lightweight belt.

This decision made by the UFC in my opinion was a tough call but the right call. Whether or not you believe Sherk when he says he is innocent, the bottom line is he was found guilty by the CSAC and the UFC had to act accordingly.

If the UFC did not strip Sherk then people from outside the sport looking in, such as the mainstream media would have only seen a fighter who is the champion of his weight class get convicted for steroids by an athletic commission but not punished by the organisation he belongs to. Being weak on steroids is not a tag the UFC wants when they are on the cusp of mainstream acceptance.

The UFC is also right now attempting to get MMA sanctioned in every state in the US. How would it look to the various athletic commissions who have not sanctioned MMA when the premiere organisation is seen to have ignored a ruling by a fellow commission?

The fight between Penn and Stevenson which was set to headline the UFC 80 card in in England would also have been greatly devalued if Sherk kept his title. Having the main event being for an interim title would have been redundant considering the champin was able to return prior to the event taking place. Therefore, stripping Sherk greatly benefits the card as now its for the actual championship. The UFC is putting a lot of effort into expanding into England, and to do that they need appealing cards. A pointless interim title match up would not suffice.

This must be devastating for Sherk who strongly denies any steroid usage. It also doesn’t help his cause, even if he does manage to clear his name, as the impression is left in the minds of the people who do not know the full story that he is a “drug cheat”.

Considering Dana White’s friendship with Sherk, this decision can not have been an easy one. But the damage that could have been caused if the decision was not made means it was a necessary one.

It’s Official: Rampage and Griffin are TUF 7 Coaches

The worst kept secret in MMA has finally been unveiled. Dana White has announced that current UFC light heavyweight champion, Quinton Jackson and the Ultimate Fighter 1 season winner, Forrest Griffin will be rival coaches on the upcoming 7th seaon of the Ultimate Fighter.

On the related article on UFC.com it states that the two will square off for the title after the airing of the show. Filming is set to start early January and the show, which will be featuring middleweights, is expected to air in April of 2008.

Having two of the UFC’s most popular fighters as coaches can only serve to create more intrigue and anticipation for this season. Dana White has also promised a shake up of the Ultimate Fighter format which can only help as well.

However this obviously means that the UFC’s most talent rich division’s belt will be on hold until most likely around June or July next year. That will be at least 9 months since it was on the line at UFC 75.

On behalf of the whole MMA community, ugh.

Results from the Ultimate Fighter Finale

The following are results from the Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale:

Roger Huerta def. Clay Guida via submission (RNC), R3
Mac Danzig def. Tommy Speer via submission (RNC), R1
Jon Koppenhaver def. Jared Rollins via TKO, R3
George Sotiropoulous def. Billy Miles via submission (RNC), R1
Ben Saunders def. Dan Barrera via unanimous decision
Troy Mandaloniz def. Richie Hightower via TKO, R1
Roman Mitichyan def. Dorian Price via submission (ankle lock), R1
Jonathan Goulet def. Paul Georgieff via submission (RNC), R1

That puts me at 5/9 for this event. In my defense the only connection I had with this show was the event recaps on various sites. I might try and do something in the future with this tipping business.

Anyway, this show definantly seemed top quality from all reports. Due to me not being aware if Spike can even be broadcast in Australia I have not been able to see any of these fights. I am however very eager to do so.

P.S. I also stand by my decision not to choose Jonathan Goulet

Results from The Ultimate Fighter 6 Weigh-in

 Main Event
Clay Guida (155) vs Roger Huerta (155)

TUF 6 Welterweight Finale
Tommy Speer (170) vs Mac Danzig (168.5)

Ben Saunders (169) vs Dan Barrera (170)
Jared Rollins (169) vs Jon Koppenhaver (170)
Billy Miles (170) vs George Sotiropoulous (169)
Troy Mandaloniz (170) vs Richie Hightower (170)
Matt Arroyo (169) vs John Kolosci (170)
Roman Mitichyan (170) vs Dorian Price (170)
Paul Georgieff (170) vs Jonathan Goulet (170)

Quick Predictions for TUF 6 Finale

I was originally going to attempt a full preview for the The Ultimate Fighter 6 finale but I’m tired right now and I won’t be on the computer tomorrow. So here are my quick tips for the event.

1. Roger Huerta to win by TKO in the 3rd round over Clay Guida
2. Mac Danzig to win by submission in the 2nd round over Tommy Speer
3. George Sotiropoulous to win by submission in the 1st round over Billy Miles
4. Jared Rollins to win by submission in the 3rd round over Jon Koppenhaver
5. Dan Barrera to win by unanimous decision over Ben Saunders
6. Richie Hightower to win by unanimous decision over Troy Mandaloniz
7. Roman Mitichyan to win by submission in the 1st round over Dorian Price
8. Matt Arroyo to win by submission in the 2nd round over John Kolosci
9. Paul Georgieff to win by whatever the hell he wants whenever he wants over Jonathan Goulet

Let us see how wrong I turn out to be.

George Sotiropoulous: “I didn’t know I had 5 minutes to recover”

On a video interview with TUF 6 semi-finalist George Sotiropoulous on UFC.com, the Australian states that he was unaware that he had 5 minutes to recover from the accidental poke in the eye he suffered from Tommy Speer.

Favoured to make it to the final and fight Mac Danzig, Sotiropoulous was instead knocked down and then pounded out in the first round of his semi final matchup. In the video interview conducted by UFC.com post fight the Team Serra fighter states how after he sufferred the poke in the eye he was seeing double vision.

He goes on to state how he tried to stop the double vision by closing his injured left eye, but at the same time he was met with a thunderous right hand from his opponent which dropped him to the mat, where he was eventually finished.

George Sotiropoulous is now scheduled to fight on the main card of the TUF 6 finale against Billy Miles who was submitted by John Kolosci in the first round of the Ultimate Fighter competition.

Vera still planning on staying at Heavyweight

Talented up and comer Brandon Vera who fought to a decision loss against Tim Sylvia has told TheFightNetwork.com that he is still planning on staying at heavyweight despite the urging by UFC officials to get him to drop down to 205.

I was like “For what? I ain’t moving nowhere” Why would I even think of moving (down)? I have a whole bunch of stuff to do still. I’ve got to beat Tim (Sylvia). I’m not gonna let that one go. Our pathes will cross again, I promise.

Vera’s fight against Sylvia at UFC 77showed the disadvantages of being an undersized heavyweight as “The Truth” was constantly overpowered and muscled around. Vera believes the broken hand he sustained in the first round affected his ability to manoeuvre in the clinch and to this day he is still very dissapointed with his perforamce.

Oh my God that fight sucked so bad; that’s why I wanted to apologize to my fans.

After the fight, people weren’t writing me and calling me and saying, ‘Sorry about your hand. Sorry you lost the fight.’ People were calling, [saying], like, ‘What the fuck was that, Brandon? You’re way better than that.’ I got no love. Everyone was mad at me. When you fight, you’re supposed to leave it out there.

I don’t ever want to fight like that again. To me, that wasn’t even a loss. I didn’t catch an ass whoopin’. I didn’t get beat down.

Vera also told TheFightNetwork that he was offered a fight in March, but had to turn it down due to the broken hand he sustained in the fight with “the Maine-iac”. He declined to name the opponent and is instead eyeing an April return.

There’s no way I can commit to that (possible fight in March). This week, I just started using my hand to pick up stuff like plates. I can cut steak now.

Can Brandon Vera see the future?

I was getting information for the other story I found a link to an interview with Brandon Vera by MMAnews.com conducted on November 9th, 2006.

 

It’s a very good and long interview that centres around Vera’s up and coming fight with Frank Mir at UFC 65 but they also discuss other events at the time. In the second part of the interview, I stumbled upon this…

Luis Cruz: Now let me ask you this, do you think there’s anybody in the UFC light heavyweight division that can beat Shogun?

Brandon Vera: Umm [very long pause]

Luis Cruz: [laughing] That’s a long time to be thinking..

Brandon Vera: I know.

Luis Cruz: [laughs] To me, he’s number one overall.

Brandon Vera: Yeah, Chuck could beat him and honestly I think Forrest Griffin could beat Shogun. His style is different. Like Forrest is a gamer, you know what I’m saying? He’s always game and his style, I think, matches up well with Shogun.

SPOOKY!

And that ends this pointless post.