If you missed TNA Impact Wrestling Sacrifice 2012 you missed one of the better pay per view events in TNA history. Bobby Roode and Rob Van Dam topped off a fast paced show with one of the most exciting matches of the year.

I tend to be more critical of TNA Wrestling on a week to basis than I’d like to be. Unfortunately they just have a great knack of making moves in and out of the ring that makes you scratch your head. At the same time I think it is important to give the company props when deserved and in my mind they deserve all of the props they can get for an outstanding Sacrifice event on Sunday night.

Bobby Roode retained the TNA Impact Wrestling world heavyweight championship defeating former champion Rob Van Dam in a ladder match. As far as TNA pay per view main-events, I’d rank this as one of the top main-events in company history. Now purists (or if fans with the last name Cornette) will probably hate this match due to the excessive high risk bumps you get from a ladder match. But if you like crazy, action-packed, crazy bumping ladder matches than this is right in your wheelhouse.

The finish of this one was weird to say the least. I have seen a few reports that have called it a botched finish, yet I am not so sure it didn’t go exactly as planned. Roode was climbing the ladder when RVD tied to jump towards him to stop the climb. Van Dam landed with his knee or ankle twisted and tangled between the rungs. It looked sick! Both guys tried once again to climb the ladder. Roode kicked RVD off the ladder, grabbed the title, and retained.

I am becoming a bigger Bobby Roode fan by the week. I’ll admit that I didn’t get it and was critical of the push and title run early on. However, I can admit that I was dead wrong on this one. The guy has worked his butt off putting on very good-great matches every time he has had the spot on pay per view. The kid is a workhorse and has done more to put an emphasis on championship matches than anyone has in a long time. His promos and presence are just as good and I think TNA has a great thing going with Roode in the championship spot.

The other highlight of the night for me was the Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles match. This one reminded me a lot of those early Randy Orton vs. Christian matches where both were babyfaces. Angle got the win here with a heel hook in a great match if you are into those babyface vs. babyface matches (which I am). Even better, the post match set up a feud with Kazarian and Christopher Daniels vs. Angle and Styles in what has potential to be the feud or match series of the year. Kazarian and Daniels beat down Styles after the match and Angle made the save. All of the sudden I have a big reason to start tuning in on Thursday nights.

The fail of the show and believe me there is one big fail on every TNA show goes to my least favorite pushed wrestler in Ken Anderson. Anderson defeated Jeff Hardy in a fairly average match which was not nearly as exciting Jeff’s recent matches in TNA. Referee Earl Hebner botched the finish here and counted to three after Hardy kicked out. That is a big fail but the huge fail came when Anderson threw a temper tantrum following the match…in which he just won! Yes, it was a screwed up finish but nobody had to know that at home. Instead, Anderson looks like an idiot getting mad after he just defeated Jeff Hardy because the 5,000 people watching didn’t see his last few spots. This was bush league to me and probably looked very odd to the casual fan who couldn’t make heads or tails of what was going on.

Overall the show was pretty damned good with two great main-events. It should be noted that whether it is coincidence or not that believe it or not, Dixie Carter nor Eric Bischoff were reportedly at the show. So TNA has its best show in ages with Dixie and Eric reportedly out of the building. I’d say that is a little more than just coincidence.

Full TNA Impact Wrestling Sacrifice 2012 results & winners…
Kazarian and Christopher Daniels defeated Magnus & Samoa Joe to win the tag team championship
Gail Kim defeated Brooke Tessmacher to retain the Knockouts championship
Devon defeated Robbie E & Robbie T to retain the TV title
Mr. Anderson defeated Jeff Hardy
Crimson defeated Eric Young
Bully Ray defeated Austin Aries
Kurt Angle defeated AJ Styles
Bobby Roode defeated Rob Van Dam in a Ladder Match to retain the world heavyweight championship

New Brock Lesnar Carnage Tees at WWEShop.com!

Daniel Bryan Yes Authentic T-Shirt

WWE: Extreme Rules 2012 DVD

NEW: Official Licensed T-Shirts at WWEShop.com!

Grab discounted WWE DVDs, merchandise, t -shirts, figures, and more from the WWE Shop on Amazon.com

It was smiles this week in the TNA Impact Wrestling camp when it was announced that they had signed King Mo Lawal as part of a dual MMA and wrestling contract. Yet a closer look at the signing has me wondering whether Dixie Carter was suckered by Bellator and Spike TV.

I really don’t like to be a nitpicker when it comes to TNA Impact Wrestling but this one had me scratching my head. On the surface it looks like a good deal for the company. As part of the deal they get a recognized MMA fighter, dual promotion on Bellator, and in a favorable position with Spike TV. However, once I started taking a look at this deal in detail I started wondering if signing Mo was really a good idea after all.

The first thing that immediately jumped out at me here was how this deal came about. Dixie Carter on a conference call stated that nobody knew of the deal but her, Mo, Spike, and Bellator. She stated that her and Mo talked storylines without consulting anyone in creative. This sent off a red flag to me and is exactly why there are more days than not where you sit back and have to feel sorry for the poor people in TNA that have to answer to this woman.

It is one thing for Vince McMahon to secretly sign someone and come up with ideas but it is a whole other idea for Dixie to do it. In this case, Dixie is now pushing a guy on her creative team that they may not even want. Additionally, you now are disrupting whatever plans the creative team had over the next several weeks and months with King Mo. Can the creative team really get behind a guy they may not have even wanted or will they secretly sabotage his push to prove a point to Dixie? It sounds cynical but if you have been around the wrestling business, you will understand that what I am saying is not some kind of crazy conspiracy theory. That is going to be the first and biggest hurdle with King Mo.

Second, this man has very little pro wrestling experience. Who knows how well he will pick up pro wrestling? Maybe he gets it quick and pays off immediately but there is very little precedence that says he could. Even Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar had extensive training in OVW before they were brought up to the WWE. Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn both had pro wrestling experience before signing with the WWE. Dixie Carter is sitting around plotting angles for a guy that could get into the ring and become a big embarrassment. Let’s face it. TNA’s track record of taking non-wrestlers and putting them in the ring (Jenna Morasca, Jersey Shore kids) isn’t very good.

Three, you now look like a follower rather than a leader. King Mo and Brock Lesnar are completely different animals. However, to the casual eye you look like the company that is trying to imitate the WWE by putting an MMA guy in the ring. On top of that, you are putting an MMA guy in the ring that probably not even a quarter of your audience even heard of. Perception can sometimes be reality and while the situations are a lot different, some may see them the same.

Four, King Mo was not a big MMA star. He wasn’t even in the UFC. TNA had a bigger star in Bobby Lashley who was a dual MMA/pro wrestling star and he did nothing for them. If they couldn’t get it right with a pro wrestler who was fighting MMA how will they get it right with an MMA fighter doing pro wrestling? Mo has only headlined one MMA event in his career and that was on Showtime! This isn’t as if you are bringing over a known MMA quantity. Quite frankly TNA would have been better off bringing in an unknown pro wrestler and giving him an MMA gimmick. It is one thing for the WWE to bring in the biggest draw in MMA and it is another for TNA to bring in a guy that a very small audience is familiar with.

Five, there is baggage here with Mo. For one, he is under suspension right now for testing positive for anabolic steroids. Yes here we go again with another wrestler being signed coming off a drug suspension. Two, Mo was fired after calling a member of the Nevada State Athletic Commission a “racist b*tch” on Twitter. Everyone is entitled to meltdown once in a while but is the guy you want out there as one of the faces of your company? Heck with as much crap as Dana White has put up with from his fighter going over the line on Twitter even he wasn’t comfortable with that and fired Lawal.

Six, what happens if Mo goes into Bellator and loses his first fight? In the world of MMA strange things happen and unless you are fixing the fight, Mo has just as much a chance of losing as he does of winning. What happens after he has gone through a bunch of TNA wrestlers and he comes up short or even gets dominated in Bellator? You have spent the last several months telling your audience what a tough guy Mo has been, beaten several of your name wrestlers, and yet at the end of the day he is no tougher than half of your roster in the eyes of the TNA fans. What now? In the case of Brock, WWE fans have seen Brock kick some major butt in the UFC. Even more, Brock won’t be fighting while wrestling. Mo does have a great MMA record but who knows how healthy he is and where his head is at when he fights in Bellator. TNA can wind up looking like a big joke when this whole thing is said and done.

Seven, could this money be better spent elsewhere? There is a former WWE wrestler out there on the sidelines who was pretty darn good when he had the opportunity to shine and his name is John Morrison. I don’t know what the situation is between him and TNA but over the long run I can’t help but think an investment in Morrison would better benefit the company than investing in a part-time MMA fighter who has barely wrestled.

The only people this deal makes sense for is Spike TV and Bellator. Both companies will keep Mo on television weekly up until he gets cleared to fight. I think there is a much better chance of getting a pro wrestling fan who sees Mo to tune in to watch him fight in MMA than getting any MMA fan who doesn’t like pro wrestling to all of the sudden care about watching Mo wrestle in TNA. This deal keeps Mo busy in the interim keeping him away from signing with any other MMA company. For Spike and Bellator it is a win-win. When only two are benefiting in a three-way deal someone is getting suckered and in this case I think we know who that is.

Could this thing work out for TNA? Honestly I have never seen anything work out for TNA in the ten year history of their company. They have tried everything from using MMA fighters (Tito Ortiz, Ken Shamrock) to using mainstream celebrities (Jersey Shore, Survivor stars), to bringing in legendary pro wrestlers (Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair) and nothing and I mean nothing has made a difference in pay per view buyrates or television ratings over the long haul. I can’t imagine that King Mo will be that guy.

New Brock Lesnar Carnage Tees at WWEShop.com!

Daniel Bryan Yes Authentic T-Shirt

WWE: Extreme Rules 2012 DVD

NEW: Official Licensed T-Shirts at WWEShop.com!

Grab discounted WWE DVDs, merchandise, t -shirts, figures, and more from the WWE Shop on Amazon.com

Dominick Cruz will miss his UFC 148 fight with Urijah Faber and could miss up to a year with a torn ACL. Dana White has announced that the UFC will create another interim title while Cruz is gone, once again wasting our time with a phantom title which in the end will render meaningless anyway.

Once I heard that Urijah Faber will fight an unnamed opponent at UFC 148 for this interim title my blood pressure started boiling. If there is one thing that is starting to become a pet peeve of mine it would be these meaningless UFC interim titles. Once again the UFC will try and pass this farce off as a real championship match when in the end, this title means as much as the fake belt that Chael Sonnen has been walking around with for the last several months. Quite frankly Sonnen’s belt may mean more!

It really came to a head for me when Carlos Condit “won” a phantom UFC interim championship at UFC 143 from Nick Diaz. Condit jumped into the fight after Georges St-Pierre suffered an injury that took him out of the fight and out of competition for up to a year. It wasn’t so bad that Condit won the fight but really set me off was when Condit announced after the fight that he would not take another fight until GSP returned, opting to sit out and wait to fight St-Pierre than defend his phony title. Wait, what?

Let me get this straight. The UFC went to the trouble of creating this interim welterweight title because Georges St-Pierre wouldn’t be able to fight until November. I would imagine the idea behind this would be to keep a championship belt active while GSP sat out for ten months. Now the UFC has a situation where the interim champion is sitting out nine months to wait and fight the real champion. So what is the freaking point of an interim champion when the interim champion is telling you not only does his title not matter, he isn’t fighting either?

Quite frankly the UFC overplayed their hand with the welterweight title and are about to do it again with the bantamweight title. By having an interim title, the UFC are going to miss out on the GSP vs. Diaz money fight. Instead of going right to Diaz, GSP now has to go to Condit since Condit is the interim champion. Could the UFC go with Diaz vs. GSP anyway? Sure they could, but it really wouldn’t make much sense in the grand scheme of things.

The UFC is about to make that same mistake again with Faber. Faber vs. Cruz is the money fight here. They have a storied rivalry which has taken center stage thanks to The Ultimate Fighter Live. By creating an interim title, the UFC now has to bank on Faber not only winning that fight, but at least one more by the time Cruz returns. Could he do it? Yes, but the odds are against it. So what happens when Cruz comes back? A year from now he’d have to fight the interim champion and depending upon where Faber is at during that time, a championship fight may not even make sense. I don’t know how you ever get back to Faber vs. Cruz if Faber is an ex-champion in the midst of a losing streak when Cruz does come back.

The irony here is that every fighter that has ever won an interim title in the UFC will tell you flat out that the title means nothing. Every one of those fighters continued to call out the champion and acknowledge that they aren’t holding the division’s legitimate title. There aren’t a whole lot of professional athletes that would have the nerve to say otherwise.

The UFC has two options here. One would be to just strip the champion of his title and make that interim title fight an actual championship fight (such was the case when BJ Penn fought Joe Stevenson when Sean Sherk tested positive for PEDs). The other of course would be to just keep the championship belt on the champion, allow him to recover, and pick things up where the UFC left off.

I am inclined to think that stripping the champion of the belt would be the best option. Is it fair? Maybe not, but if a champion isn’t active for a year those are the breaks. The champion should be given an immediate title shot upon his return. Everyone wins here as the division isn’t put on hold, the UFC can continue booking title fights, and those title fights actual mean something.

At the same time, allowing the championship to remain with the champion while he is idle isn’t a bad choice either. Would it really kill business for the UFC to leave the bantamweight title on Dominick Cruz over the next year? No, but it would make fighters in the division cautious about picking the right opponent. No contender wants to take himself out of the game by making a bad business decision. It isn’t fair to those fighters, which makes me think that just stripping the champion outright makes the most sense.

I took a look at all of the past interim UFC championship fights. There is no real good reason in my mind that the champions weren’t stripped for their titles as opposed to creating these secondary belts. It is time to end this farce and either strip the titles from the champions or give the champs time to recover and defend their belts. The only bad choice here is to continue with these phony, meaningless title fights, telling fans they are getting something they aren’t.

There is no perfect answer here. Either way you will risk your money fights but advertising a phony title is not the answer. End the interim title fights and move on!

UFC Presents: The Ultimate Fighter, Season 1- Uncut, Untamed and Uncensored!

UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans DVD

UFC shirts and videos on Amazon.com

Introducing the Official UFC Apparel of Jon Jones! Walkout Shirt & Performance Gear.

In what has to be a first, a well known MMA fighter has signed a dual deal allowing him to fight and wrestle in a co-promotional effort. Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion King Mo will wrestle for TNA Impact Wrestling and fight for Bellator under the terms of a new deal.

Twitter reporter or as he calls himself “hobbyist” Front Row Brian broke the news on his Twitter feed Wednesday. I have become a big fan of Brian’s reporting and in my opinion he is the tops at breaking stories in MMA. It is amazing at times how quickly he gets the news out as opposed to the journalists paid to do the same thing.

King Mo is currently serving a suspension for testing positive for PEDs. Mo was released from Strikeforce after he suggested that some of the questioning he received in his NSAC hearing was racially based. As a free agent some speculated that Zuffa would sign him back and move him to the UFC. Brian also reports that Zuffa retained matching rights and could have matched the offer if they wanted to keep him. The Bellator and TNA dual signing is certainly one that I never would have expected. Mo’s deal is a four fight deal for $90,000 to show and $30,000 to win.

According to Brian, Mo will first start wrestling for TNA Wrestling. Remember, he can’t fight for awhile as he is serving a suspension. His appearances on both promotions will act as co-promotion for each brand. Brian also reports that TNA is most interesting in starting a program with Sting and Mo first and then Mo vs. Kurt Angle.

I have to admit that I am already scratching my head at Sting vs. Mo. Granted, this is only an initial idea but I couldn’t think of a worst way to debut Mo. I can’t imagine that they could have a great match or anything close to what Mo vs. Angle would be. I can’t help but think Samoa Joe would have been a better opponent to use to introduce Mo. Additionally I am stunned that they would bring Mo in as a heel. The guy has natural charisma and has big time babyface written all over him. Again this is all preliminary but if this is the plan, it isn’t all that well thought out in my opinion.

I think the big winner here is Bellator who will have their star on Spike TV every week promoting the idea he will be fighting for real in their company. My hunch is that you will have more pro wrestling fans inclined to follow Mo to Bellator as opposed to MMA fans getting excited about watching Mo wrestle in TNA. I do think he’ll grab some MMA fans early on out of intrigue but it wasn’t as if Mo was a big draw in MMA to begin with.

King Mo is a big pro wrestling fan and should do well in the TNA Impact Wrestling rings. Mo was recruited by the WWE before getting into MMA and almost went down this road before. Mo is an accomplished amateur wrestler and has the potential to be the biggest star in TNA Impact Wrestling if they do things right.

Dave Meltzer describes Mo’s wrestling interests, “Lawal is a lifelong pro wrestling fan who always aspired to go into pro wrestling after the Olympics in wrestling.  He failed to make the 2008 Olympic team, but ended up doing MMA, where he was Strikeforce light heavyweight champion at one point.”

Booking idea aside, I do like the idea that Impact Wrestling is going out on a limb here. This is uncharted waters for those in charge at TNA. That could be a good or a bad thing but at least for now, everyone is talking about Impact Wrestling and that is a very good thing.

I highly recommend following Front Row Brian on Twitter for the best and latest breaking MMA news and rumors.

New Brock Lesnar Carnage Tees at WWEShop.com!

Daniel Bryan Yes Authentic T-Shirt

WWE: Extreme Rules 2012 DVD

NEW: Official Licensed T-Shirts at WWEShop.com!

Grab discounted WWE DVDs, merchandise, t -shirts, figures, and more from the WWE Shop on Amazon.com

Brock Lesnar walked into the UFC with one MMA fight under his belt & left almost four years later as a former UFC world champion with wins over elite heavyweights. Now retired, Brock’s UFC run begs to question whether or not Brock Lesnar should go into the UFC Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame is one of the most debated topics in sports. Whether it is football, baseball, boxing, or even the UFC, there is no shortage of opinions as to what a true Hall of Fame athlete is. Yet a look at Hall of Fame athletes in sports all over the world makes the criteria more muddy every day. The UFC Hall of Fame is no exception.

Brock Lesnar is a name that will always remain polarizing in MMA. Lesnar had the dual distinction at one time of being the most hated fighter in MMA yet being the biggest drawing card the sport has ever seen. Lesnar’s credentials were questioned from day one whether it was getting a UFC contract, getting a UFC championship shot, and now whether or not Brock is a Hall of Fame fighter. While the debate among hardcore MMA fans may be simple, an objective look makes this a puzzling question.

Before we talk about Brock’s Hall of Fame credentials, let’s take a look at the current roster of fighters in the UFC Hall of Fame.

Mark Coleman
Randy Couture
Chuck Liddell
Ken Shamrock
Royce Gracie
Matt Hughes
Charles Lewis
Dan Severn
Tito Ortiz (Dana said that Ortiz will go in the Hall of Fame when he retires)

A look at that list makes one thing abundantly clear. There is nothing clear or common about the credentials to be a UFC Hall of Fame fighter. Quite frankly I did not even realize that a couple of those names were on the list. Let’s break the list down and try and find some kind of common ground between the fighters.

Taking Charles Lewis out of the equation, everyone on the list but Royce Gracie is a former UFC champion. For Shamrock and Severn, it was the UFC Superfight championship while the other fighters held UFC class championships. Coleman only had one successful title defense as heavyweight champion. Couture and Hughes are the only fighters to have multiple title reigns. Gracie, Liddell, and Hughes are the only fighters on this list I’d claim that changed the game. Liddell is probably the only fighter on the list that has mainstream appeal outside of the UFC, although Randy could join him after a few more movie roles. In other words, this list is all over the place.

My gut instinct without looking at the list is that Brock is not a UFC Hall of Fame fighter. However once I look at the list and break it down I start to think much differently. I was a big fan of Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn’s during the early UFC days but Brock is certainly more Hall of Fame worthy than those two guys. As for Mark Coleman, you may as well get Brock’s plaque ready once you let him in because there is no way that Coleman is more Hall of Fame-worthy than the former UFC champion.

In terms of win/loss, Lesnar went 4-3 in the UFC. Those aren’t Hall of Fame numbers in itself, but you need to look closer at the numbers. Lesnar came into the UFC with one MMA fight under his belt and beat Frank Mir, Randy Couture, Heath Herring, and Shane Carwin. The wins over two former UFC world champions with little experience are huge in my opinion. Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Mark Coleman, and Tito Ortiz didn’t face the best as Lesnar did in their primes and come out on top as often as Brock. Lesnar had two successful title defenses, one more than Coleman had with the UFC title. But let’s forget about what Brock did inside the octagon, let’s look at the impact he made on the UFC outside of the events.

Let’s talk Royce Gracie for a moment here and I know I am going to open myself up for criticism from Gracie disciples for this one. Why is Royce in the Hall of Fame? For winning favorable matchups in the inaugural UFC tournaments? For being dominated years later by Matt Hughes? No, Royce is in for his contributions to the UFC and helping the UFC get off the ground. How about Brock Lesnar’s contributions? I would argue that Brock’s record of wins in the UFC are a lot more impressive than Royce and I would also argue that Brock did just as much to help grow the UFC if not more than Gracie.

Brock became the biggest draw in MMA history during his prime. He shattered previous numbers and opened the UFC up to new eyes, new markets, and a new audience. Whether it was because people liked him or hated him, Brock put the asses in the seats. Three years later and Brock still holds the record for the biggest UFC buyrate with his headliner at UFC 100. If you want to talk about a game changer, if you want to talk about a fighter that made just as much if not more of an impact outside of the octagon than inside, and if you want to talk about a fighter who became the biggest star in the sport, you have to talk about Brock Lesnar…and the guy did it in just a couple of years.

As the sports biggest draw during that period, Brock brought more fans to the UFC during that time than any other fighter before or after him. The numbers don’t lie and with those numbers came more money for the UFC and any fighter that fought on a Brock card, more exposure to mass sports media that recognized the casual interest in Lesnar, and brought more new fans to the UFC than any other fighter in company history.

Putting Brock into the Hall of Fame would make a lot of MMA fans angry. Unfortunately it isn’t their Hall of Fame. If the only people in the Hall of Fame were Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, and Matt Hughes, than I could see your argument. But you can’t tell me that Brock isn’t just as worthy as all of the other guys, one who with all due respect was not even a UFC fighter.

I think Brock Lesnar gets into the UFC someday. Dana White is a money guy and at the end of the day Brock brought more money to the UFC in a shorter time period than anyone else that has ever stepped into the octagon. Some in the MMA community may not appreciate what he achieved but I think the people in charge are smart enough to reward Brock for his MMA accomplishments in and out of the octagon.

If Mark Coleman, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, and Tito Ortiz belong in the Hall of Fame, than there is no question in my mind that Brock Lesnar deserves the same honor for his contributions.

Brock Lesnar’s autobiography – Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival

WWE – Brock Lesnar – Here Comes the Pain DVD

New Brock Lesnar Carnage Tees at WWEShop.com!

DeathClutch Brock Lesnar “Swordsman” UFC MMA T-Shirt #5

The Ultimate Fighter Live is producing one of my favorite seasons in UFC history, yet it is also producing the lowest ratings in TUF history. Since everyone else under the sun has blogged about how they would fix the show, I figured I would give my two-cents as someone who watches weekly.

I want to say upfront that I am a big fan of this season’s TUF. I love the coaches, I love the dynamic, I think the fighters are arguably more skilled as a whole than almost any other season past the first few, I love the live aspect, and I just think the show is great. Maybe it is because the last couple of seasons were some of the least interesting in show history but the bottom line here is that I think this is a great show.

Unfortunately the greatness of the season isn’t finding its way into a large number of homes. TUF is currently experiencing its lowest ratings in show history. As much as Dana White can try and spin the ratings as a positive, the show is a ratings bomb in comparison to past seasons. While the move to FX is probably the biggest reason, I also think after 14 years the show can use some tweaking. Here are just a few ideas moving forward to improve The Ultimate Fighter and get back some of that audience the UFC left behind on Spike TV.

Add Commentary – This is a no brainer and is something that has been suggested in just about every article or blog I have written about improving TUF. The idea of two fighters you don’t know fighting in a gym is not very appealing to the casual eye. Adding some commentary would give the fight some more perspective, educate the audience to the moves and sequences, and help create some much needed drama in those lagging situations. The Contender had commentary and I think it made a big difference in creating drama during that great first season of the boxing reality show. Jon Anik is already there, give him a microphone, a partner, and let’s get some announcers into the mix.

Produce another Comeback season – One of my favorite seasons of The Ultimate Fighter was the Comeback. The comeback brought together a bunch of struggling UFC fighters that fans already knew and gave them one last opportunity to hold on to their coveted UFC job. I tend tune out quickly during most TUF seasons because quite frankly I have little interest in watching amateur fighters with little technique fight in a gym with 30 people.

The reason I loved the Comeback season was because every fight had technique and was just as good as a fight you would see on pay per view. There is also something different about watching a fighter who finally achieved his dream struggle with losing it as opposed to a young fighter that improved quickly and didn’t work for it nearly as hard. There are a lot of fighters in the UFC under contract that are either one fight away from being cut or on the verge of being cut immediately so they would have no shortage of talent available. Let’s bring it back!

Stick to light heavyweights and heavyweights – I know this one is going to draw the ire of hardcore MMA fans but the fact of the matter is that casual fans want to see big guys throwing down as opposed to smaller, faster fighters. Hey listen, I think this may be the best season in TUF history when it comes to fights. But I am also the hardcore MMA fan that is going to watch the show no matter what. The reason a heavyweight title fight does so well on pay per view is because fans think they are going to see knockouts. Casual fans don’t understand that they have just as good a chance of seeing a knockout with the lighter weight classes. If you want to bring in some new eyes they need to see fighters that are bigger than they are slugging it out and looking for a knockout.

Open up the gym to fans – There are already too many UFC shows as it is so I would never endorse adding another live event, especially weekly. However, there are a couple of different ways the UFC can add a live audience and more excitement to the fights. The best way to do this would be to open up the UFC Gym to a limited number of live fans. The UFC could even scrutinize the list and only invite Fight Club members, making sure you are getting a rabid fan in the building as opposed to a casual fan off the street.

Having a full house of fans in the gym going nuts for a fight could not only add a whole new dimension of excitement to the show, it could make future stars. A viewer sitting at home watching an audience chanting the name of a fighter because he had an exciting fight may see that fighter as someone different than just an inexperienced amateur fighter. Another way to add an audience would be to bring the fights to a sound stage somewhere and give away free tickets like TNA Wrestling does, although I think opening up the gym is a much better way to accomplish the same thing.

Eliminate preliminary fights – I know Dana White loves the preliminary fights but I absolutely detest them. There is nothing more boring to me than watching a two hour show of back to back to back to back amateur fights with little technique or excitement. Remember, these are all fighters who can’t get into the UFC. So now you are doubling the amount of amateur fighters which means you are really getting some bottom barrel fights in there. Outside of the fights they sit the coaches there and eliminate any kind of tension the two may have by putting them together as commentators.

While this season did have some killer preliminary fights, I still tuned out. The whole point of a reality show is to provide some color and entertainment outside of just fights. In addition, you are taking away time from getting to know the winners by shuffling them in and out for more fights. If people wanted to watch two hours of amateur fights that badly, local arenas would be turning crowds away. The problem here is that you bore casual viewers out of TUF early and rarely do they come back.

Bring back fighter challenges – The early days of The Ultimate Fighter had challenges where fighters had to compete in different games like obstacle courses, etc. in order to win fight advantages. I don’t think you need to go back to putting fight advantages on the line but I think you can bring back the challenges for monetary gain, some hard green cash. As much as I love MMA some of these episodes of The Ultimate Fighter can get boring when it is just training and fighting. I know you are putting your athletes at higher risk for injury but they face those same risks by training and fighting. I think the training could provide a different element and allow fighter personalities to shine.

Allow fans to pick the fights for the first two rounds – I love this one and I am really surprised with as much social media innovation the UFC has done that they never got the fans involved in the show. At the end of the day it really doesn’t matter which team wins because I find TUF to be a pretty level playing field when it comes to making fights. I think the UFC should allow the fans to pick weekly fights either through social media or a phone poll. This would give the fans a more vested interest to tune in every week as well as increase social media awareness (every little bit helps). There is certainly a lot of tweaking that would have to be involved here and it is always dangerous when you take control of the show out of your hands but desperate times call for desperate measures. Give the power to the people!

UFC Presents: The Ultimate Fighter, Season 1- Uncut, Untamed and Uncensored!

UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans DVD

UFC shirts and videos on Amazon.com

Introducing the Official UFC Apparel of Jon Jones! Walkout Shirt & Performance Gear.

One of the biggest UFC fights of the summer of 2012 may have to wait until the summer of 2013. The battle of The Ultimate Fighter Live coaches Urijah Faber vs. Dominick Cruz is off. Multiple reports confirm that Cruz will miss up to a year with a torn ACL.

This is devastating news to the UFC, Cruz, and Faber. Cruz and Faber are opposing coaches on this season’s The Ultimate Fighter. While ratings may down, there are still close to 1 million viewers watching the show every week. Once again, The Ultimate Fighter loyal viewers will be left hanging without a payoff after investing several weeks into the program.

For Cruz and Faber the timing couldn’t be worse. Cruz and Faber have drawn up more interest in this fight than any of their two previous bouts. Their exciting second fight and tension on the television program has really boosted the interest in this fight. Timing is everything in sports and it will be very hard to imagine these guys getting this kind of opportunity at this time next year.

Urijah Faber reacted immediately with a video message addressing the cancelled fight.

“I’m sure everyone has heard the terrible news that Dominick Cruz tore his ACL. There’s a lot of rumors rolling around about the whole situation, possibly that Ronda Rousey is the one who made it happen. It sucks for everybody, especially myself and Dominick. I wish him a speedy recovery — you don’t wish that on anybody. I know he wanted to scrap. Now, I’m just waiting to hear what happens. I’m thinking an interim title fight — [Dominick] has been out almost 1.5 years now — once this surgery goes through it’s going to be another nine months. I’m hoping for a top contender: Renan Barao, in my opinion is next up with Michael McDonald after that and Ivan Menjivar after that. I’m just waiting to see — I know as much as you guys do, but I’m ready to scrap on July 7. And, as far as I’m concerned, that’s when it’s going down.”

At this point Faber’s opponent is up in the air as is the future of The Ultimate Fighter. When Tito Ortiz was injured during a season Dana White pulled him from the show and replaced him with Rich Franklin. I can’t imagine White pulling Cruz after the tremendous job he has done this season but he did set a precedent. In that case I can’t imagine them putting Renan Barao in there as a coach since he doesn’t speak English. At the same time, I think Barao is more deserving of the fight than McDonald so we’ll have to see how this plays out over the next few days.

According to one report, Cruz actually injured his ACL last week. Reportedly the UFC covered it up this past Friday on the live TUF broadcast. The idea behind this was that tests had not come back and it was not known how severe the injury actually is. Rather than jump the gun and make the announcement, everyone wanted to wait until all tests were done. I can’t imagine that this isn’t addressed on this week’s TUF broadcast.

While losing any championship fight is bad for the UFC, they actually dodged a bullet with this one. By moving Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen 2 to UFC 148, the damage of the missed fight will be minimal. Faber will also get his interim title shot likely on this show, thus keeping two title fights on the card. If not for moving Sonnen vs. Silva, this card could have taken a huge hit.

The idea of Faber fighting for the interim title makes sense but this could put the potential fight with Cruz at risk. Faber would have to win one-three fights between now and next summer to remain champion during Cruz’s return. The likelihood of Faber winning two-three fights is not very good. So what happens then? Cruz should get an immediate title shot upon his return but the money fight is with Faber. The UFC will have to keep their fingers crossed hard all year that Faber can retain the title and stay strong for the Cruz fight.

I am real disappointed and feeling for Dominick Cruz. I have grown to become a huge fan of Cruz’s during this season of The Ultimate Fighter. The dedication he has brought to coaching and the flashes of brilliance he shows every week he is teaching his fighters has given me a much higher appreciation for Cruz. I can honestly say that he has become one of my favorite fighters after watching the show. I can’t imagine that most people watching don’t feel the same way and were hoping to see him blast Faber in July.

Here is to a speedy recovery for the champ.

UFC Presents: The Ultimate Fighter, Season 1- Uncut, Untamed and Uncensored!

UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans DVD

UFC shirts and videos on Amazon.com

Introducing the Official UFC Apparel of Jon Jones! Walkout Shirt & Performance Gear.

The excitement for a lot of fans wasn’t so much BrockLesnar quitting the WWE but instead it was the man who did the quitting for Lesnar. Yes it was Brock’s original WWE manager Paul Heyman who returned to read the statement as the latest twist in Lesnar’s story.

It was certainly a sight to be seen for longtime Heyman fans and ECW fanatics. Heyman strutted down the aisle as only he can this past Monday on RAW and returned as Lesnar’s legal representative. Heyman proceeded to read a statement by Lesnar which was punctuated by Brock quitting and Heyman showing the wrestling world that he remains one of, if not the best promo man in the business.

In case you missed it here is a transcript of the statement that Heyman read to the millions of fans tuning in this past Monday night watching WWE RAW.

“I came back to bring legitimacy to WWE. That’s exactly what I did. And how was I rewarded? With the same corporate BS and politics that led me to leave 8 years ago. I don’t regret what i did to John Cena – I embarrassed him. Another guy i embarrassed was HHH. He’s always been jealous of me. HHH lasted nearly 1 hour in a Cell with the Undertaker but he couldn’t last 1 minute in a fight with me. HHH tried to push his weight around because now he has an office job. I had an agreement with the company and he broke it – so I broke his arm. I don’t care about HHH. I don’t care about you people. And I don’t care about the corporate suits at WWE because I, Brock Lesnar, am NEVER COMING BACK. Because I, Brock Lesnar, quit.”

Heyman’s appearance on RAW wasn’t as big of a surprise to fans following Twitter. CM Punk had teased all day on his Twitter that he was hanging out with an old friend. Punk then posted a picture of Heyman on Twitter getting ready to come out right as RAW went to commercial.

Fans went nuts on Twitter after Punk posted the picture and were ready for Heyman’s appearance. While that all sounds like a lot of fun the idea of Punk tweeting about hanging around with the man who is identified as Brock Lesnar’s legal spokesperson, the same Brock brought in by John Laurinaitus who Punk confronted with hatred earlier in the show really doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I have to question if Punk sending out that tweet (which I am sure he had approval on) was really the right guy to do it? Between that, Triple H holding Floyd Mayweather’s belt over his head with his “broken arm”, and Cena wrestling in the dark match on RAW without a sling on, I have to wonder if the WWE is getting too far away from kayfabe and ignoring their own storylines outside of the shows a bit too much.

The irony here is that you have had a handful of wrestling personalities speculating over the last few weeks that Heyman has been involved in the booking of Brock Lesnar. Dave Meltzer reported on his F4WOnline.com podcast over the weekend that Terry Funk told him that Heyman’s hand prints were all over the angle. It would appear that the Funker is a pretty smart man with a branding iron.

I don’t know how often Heyman will be used in the storyline and quite frankly, he may not know the answer to that question right now. It is a brilliant move bringing back Heyman as Lesnar’s spokesman simply due to the limited number of dates the WWE has on Brock over the course of his contract. Lesnar is signed for one year, but is limited on the dates. With having Heyman around and Brock “quitting”, the WWE can keep Brock a part of the weekly RAW shows without necessary flying Brock in every week and wasting one of his dates. The last thing the WWE needs is to be out of dates come WrestleMania 29 which would put Brock in a highly advantageous negotiating position for a new deal.

Heyman has kept his nose out of the wrestling business since leaving the WWE other than a flirtation with TNA Wrestling. In all honesty that is a shame as the wrestling business needs Paul Heyman. Heyman walked out on RAW after a lengthy absence and immediately became the best promo guy in the company. It is amazing to think that you have someone like Heyman and another guy like Jim Ross who are so great at what they do, yet they sit at home with little interest from the WWE.

As for the Lesnar storyline, I think having Heyman around is great. I know a lot of fans sounding off in the social media felt that Lesnar’s biggest weakness since returning were his promos. I completely disagree. I thought that Lesnar promo/montage was phenomenal leading up to the Cena match and I enjoyed his contract negotiation segment with Laurinaitus. However, at the end of the day you can’t help but think that having the Lesnar/Heyman package back together again is anything but a great thing for the WWE.

All of those booking critics so fast to predict the end of Brock Lesnar’s drawing power after he lost to John Cena should think twice before jumping off a bridge only hours after a booking decision. Heyman’s presence changes the game and by the time Triple H vs. Brock rolls around, I don’t think anyone is going to pass on this or Brock’s future matches simply because he lost at Extreme Rules.

It also could be a little more than a coincidence that Heyman is strutting back into the WWE less than a monther before the WWE releases The Biggest Matches in Ecw History DVD.

New Brock Lesnar Carnage Tees at WWEShop.com!

Daniel Bryan Yes Authentic T-Shirt

Grab discounted WWE DVDs, merchandise, t -shirts, figures, and more from the WWE Shop on Amazon.com