The Ultimate Fighter 13 closed out one of its most disappointing seasons with a memorable finale. Tony Ferguson won the UFC contract with a fantastic performance over Ramsey Nijem. Yet it was Clay Guida’s upset over Anthony Pettis that had people talking.

Clay Guida has turned into something of a “Mr. Spike TV” for the UFC. Guida fought in his third live The Ultimate Fighter finale special but did something he hasn’t done in his previous two fights…won. Guida defeated Anthony Pettis by unanimous decision in one of his best technical showings to date.

Anthony Pettis was the last WEC lightweight champion before the UFC integrated the WEC into the company. Pettis was set to fight the winner of Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard UFC 125 fight for the UFC lightweight title. Unfortunately nobody expected Edgar and Maynard to fight to a draw and the decision changed everything. An immediate rematch was signed which put Pettis back in play for a fight, a fight that he was supposed to win.

Guida just simply out-wrestled Pettis for three rounds at The Ultimate Fighter Season 13 finale. Guida timed Pettis’ kicks perfectly and took him down at will. Pettis spent most of the fight on his back, yet fought a hell of a fight. Pettis was constantly working for submissions throughout the fight which Guida kept slipping out of. Pettis caught Guida in a real bad way as the second round closed with Guida arguably saved by the bell. Pettis got Guida’s back in the third round for the first time in the fight and looked like he was going to pull off a spectacular come-from-behind win. However, Guida was able to slip out of it and stayed relatively out of harm’s way for the rest of the fight.

I think the amount of talent that Pettis has at 24 is just downright scary. The guy is lethal off of  his back and is one of the most crafty submission fighters in all of MMA. Yet I think Pettis’ youth and immaturity killed him in this fight. Remember, Pettis gained national fame with his kick off of the cage against Ben Henderson. It appeared to me that Pettis was more concerned with making Sportscenter again than defending Guida’s wrestling. Pettis would randomly attempt spectacular kicks throughout the fight only to be taken down by the Carpenter. I think tonight’s loss was a humbling experience for young Pettis and with a little bit of maturity, he could turn himself into a machine.

Pettis came into the fight as a -250 favorite while Guida came in at a +190 underdog. Make no mistake about it, this was a huge win for Guida and an absolute MMA upset.

Guida’s win continues to put the UFC lightweight division in total chaos. The good news for the UFC is that the lightweight division has never been this competitive. Clay Guida, Jim Miller, Pettis, and Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez freshen up one of the more stale divisions in the promotion. Unfortunately the division is at a standstill with injuries to Gray Maynard and the champion, Frankie Edgar. Until they can return and decide a winner, nobody is likely getting a title shot.

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A win over the number one contender would theoretically put Guida to the head of the pack right? Wrong. UFC president Dana White told reporters after the fight that Jim Miller is still ahead of Guida in the pecking order. With Edgar and Maynard potentially fighting at UFC 133 or UFC 134, I think a Guida vs. Miller fight makes a ton of sense. At the same time, there are a ton of rumblings that Gilbert Melendez will be the next fighter to sign a hybrid UFC/Strikeforce contract like Nick Diaz did, with intentions of shooting Melendez right to the front of the line over everyone. Needless to say the division has never been in more doubt or as exciting.

Tony “Where’s Your Kid” Ferguson knocked out Ramsey Nijem in Round 1 to win the 13th season of The Ultimate Fighter. Ferguson continued to train with Brock Lesnar’s camp coming into the fight. Ferguson looked good and exceptionally confident with his hands. Ferguson dominated the fight for the most part and knocked out Nijem with a fast left hook to end the fight at the 3:54 mark of Round 1.

Ferguson is going to be a real tough fighter to market. Ferguson tried after the fight to cut a sympathetic promo telling Joe Rogan how he wanted to be a role model for kids. However, Ferguson was painted as the villain of the season and arguably stepped over the line in the second to last episode of the season with a house fight. Fortunately for the UFC, TUF 13 didn’t draw the same audiences past shows did so maybe Ferguson will get more of a clean slate than past winners.

The early classes of The Ultimate Fighter produced some exceptional talent. Early winners like Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin, and Matt Serra all won UFC championships. Unfortunately the well has dried up for the UFC with Strikeforce, Bellator, and numerous other MMA companies popping up taking fighters who would have probably wound up on the program, thus offering a smaller pool of quality talent to the competition. Since The Ultimate Fighter 4, no winner has gone on to have any kind of resounding success. Ryan Bader would probably be the best prospect at this point, but he was dominated in his last fight against Jon Jones.

Is Tony Ferguson going to turn it around? I doubt it but I never would have predicted that Rashad Evans would be a world champion either.

Full The Ultimate Fighter Finale 13 results…
Tony Ferguson defeated Ramsey Nijem via first-round TKO
Clay Guida defeated Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision
Ed Herman defeated Tim Credeur via first-round TKO
Kyle Kingsbury vs. Fabio Maldonado via unanimous decision
Chris Cope defeated Chuck O’Neil via unanimous decision
Jeremy Stephens defeated Danny Downes via unanimous decision
George Roop defeated Josh Grispi via third-round TKO
Shamar Bailey defeated Ryan McGillivray via unanimous decision
Clay Harvison defeated Justin Edwards via split decision
Scott Jorgensen defeated Ken Stone via first-round KO
Reuben Duran defeated Francisco Rivera via submission

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The UFC is gearing up for one of the hottest summers in company history. MMA fans will get six UFC shows to sink their teeth into over the next three months. The UFC saved the best for last as UFC 134 headlines the summer UFC events calendar.

The UFC have borrowed pro wrestling’s “card subject to change” a lot lately due to a collection of injuries which have taken some of UFC’s biggest summer fights off of the schedule. Four UFC champions will sit on the disabled list this summer giving way for a lot of top contenders to set the stage for the fall and winter of the UFC.

Keeping in mind recent history of match changes, here is a quick UFC 2011 summer events preview. Come back closer to fight day to read full previews of the cards. Today I take a look at the biggest fights of the summer and how they will impact future UFC matchups going forward.

The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale, June 4 Las Vegas, NV - The Ultimate Fighter Season 13 will come to a close (couldn’t come fast enough) on June 4 pitting the welterweights finalists against one another for a UFC contract. In addition to the TUF 13 finals, one of the most exciting fighters in MMA takes the main-event spot as Clay Guida returns to Spike TV to fight former WEC champion Anthony Pettis.

Guida vs. Pettis has the potential to be one of the most exciting fights in 2011. Guida rarely disappoints on Spike and has participated in some classics on free television including his war against Diego Sanchez in 2010. Pettis has been chomping at the bit to fight in the UFC, risking a title fight against Frankie Edgar to take the fight with Guida. I predict a standup war and if sitting through one of the dullest seasons of TUF in history to get to Guida vs. Pettis is the price to pay, I’d do it all over again.

The TUF 13 fight card…
TUF 13 Welterweight Finals
Anthony Pettis vs. Clay Guida
Jonathan Brookins vs. Jeremy Stephens
Ed Herman vs. Tim Credeur
Josh Grispi vs. George Roop
Scott Jorgensen vs. Ken Stone

UFC 131: Dos Santos vs. Carwin, June 11, Vancouver, British Columbia - The first real hit of the summer came when Brock Lesnar had to withdraw from his scheduled fight at UFC 131 against Junior Dos Santos. In my opinion, the UFC came up with the best case alternative offering up Shane Carwin as a replacement. Carwin vs. Dos Santos pits two of the heaviest hitters in the UFC against each other in a battle to determine the number one contender to champion Cain Velasquez. It won’t be as big of a spectacle as seeing Brock Lesnar fight but it has the potential to provide the kind of excitements that MMA fans expect from the heavyweight division.

Kenny Florian returns to the UFC after a lengthy absence at UFC 131. The former TUF 1 competitor will make his UFC debut at featherweight. There is certainly the intrigue of seeing Florian in faster division, but other than that the undercard doesn’t have a whole lot to offer. Also, former ADCC Submission Wrestling World champion Jon Olav Einemo makes his UFC debut against Dave Herman. The debut of Einemo gives the aging heavyweight division a badly needed fresh face and potentially a tough challenge for Cain Velasquez in the future.

The UFC 131: Dos Santos vs. Carwin fight card…
Junior dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin
Kenny Florian vs. Diego Nunes
Jon Olav Einemo vs. Dave Herman
Demian Maia vs. Mark Munoz
Donald Cerrone vs. Vagner Rocha
Sam Stout vs. Yves Edwards
Jesse Bongfeldt vs. Chris Weidman
Nick Ring vs. James Head
Dustin Poirier vs. Jason Young
Michihiro Omigawa vs. Darren Elkins
Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Igor Pokrajac
Joey Beltran vs. Aaron Rosa

UFC on Versus 4: Marquardt vs. Johnson June 25, Pittsburgh, PA - The UFC completes their over saturated June schedule (and I am not even counting the Memorial Day weekend show on May 28) with its fourth show in five weeks. The UFC saves its best for last with what I think is a fairly loaded lineup for a free television broadcast.

Perennial UFC middleweight Nate Marquardt makes his UFC welterweight debut in the headliner against Anthony Johnson. Marquardt has never been the most exciting fighter so the idea of selling an event on his debut in another weight class is going to be tough, especially with so much going on in June. Am I really supposed to get excited about Marquardt working towards a potential snoozer with GSP? Although to be fair, I think Johnson is good enough to push the fight and get Marquardt out of his comfort zone.

Cheick Kongo returns to competition after a lengthy layoff. Kongo is one of those guys that I look at on paper who should be a top contender yet can never seem to get past that hump of mid-great competition. I think the same of Pat Barry who really should be on to bigger things if not for the Cro Cop upset. This fight has the potential to be just as boring as it could be exciting. I am hoping that Barry pushes the pace here but my gut tells me that Barry tries to ground Kongo who is practically defenseless off of his feet to a three round decision.

Martin Kampmann and Matt Mitrione also fight on the undercard. Both of those guys are generally exciting fighters so at least on paper, this show has enormous potential. Of course when it comes to the main-event fights it has the same potential to hit the crapper as well.

The UFC on Versus 4 fight card…
Nate Marquardt vs. Anthony Johnson
Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry
Martin Kampmann vs. John Howard
Matt Mitrione vs. Christian Morecraft
Tyson Griffin vs. Manvel Gamburyan
Joe Stevenson vs. Javier Vazquez
Joe Lauzon vs. Curt Warburton
Matt Brown vs. Rich Attonito
Nik Lentz vs. Charles Oliveira
Ricardo Lamas vs. Matt Grice
Michael Johnson vs. Edward Faaloloto

UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber 2, July 2, Las Vegas, NV - The good news here is that the UFC finally hits fans with a main-event worth paying for. The bad news is that this main-event comes after an onslaught of five shows in six weeks. The burnout factor may be too much for even Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz to overcome but both guys are doing their best promotional jobs to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Cruz vs. Faber 2 will be a real test here for the UFC to see if the large spectrum of MMA fans will pay $50 to watch the smaller guys headline a pay per view. I think there are enough hardcore MMA fans excited about this fight that it will do better than people think. Add in the promos Cruz and Faber have been cutting on each other with highlights from both fighter s and you just may be able to get enough attention to turn this into a successful pay per view.

As for the fight itself, I couldn’t think of a better fight all summer to spend my $50 on. These two guys have the potential to throw down and give the UFC fans a war. UFC fan favorites Wanderlei Silva and Chris Leben will also go toe to toe in a fight that fans have been demanding for years. Throw in Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader and you have a fairly solid card here.

The UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber 2 card…
Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber
Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben
Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader
Carlos Condit vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Dennis Siver vs. Matt Wian
Melvin Guillard vs. Shane Roller
George Sotiropoulos vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Brian Bowles vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Jason Miller vs. Aaron Simpson
Nigeria Anthony Njokuani vs. Andre Winner
Erik Koch vs. Cub Swanson

UFC 133: Evans vs. Davis, August 6, Philadelphia, PA - The UFC finally gives their live event crew a few weeks off with a five week break following UFC 132. The UFC returns to Philadelphia with a show lacking a star-studded main-event, yet supported by one of the best fight cards of the summer.

In addition to UFC 131, 133 was the other summer casualty thanks to the injury bug. UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones pulled out of a title defense with Rashad Evans due to questionable circumstances. The UFC scrambled and signed Phil Davis to take Jones’ place pitting two of the best light heavyweights in the division against one another. As great as this fight sounds on paper I have no confidence that I will see an exciting fight out of Rashad Evans. It has been a long time since he has given the UFC fans a fun fight so why expect it now?

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Fans may not get a great fight in the main-event, but two undercard matchups have enormous potential to be great fights. Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin returns to action to take on Antônio Rogério Nogueira. Nogueira really needs a win here to keep his UFC contract so anything less than a maximum effort would surprise me. Vitor Belfort also returns to action to take on Yoshihiro Akiyama. After suffering an embarrassing loss to Anderson Silva, Belfort needs an exciting win here if he expects to remain in the championship mix.

Jorge Rivera, Vladimir Matyushenko, Nam Phan, and Mike Brown always bring the potential to have exciting fights and all will be featured on the UFC 133 undercard. UFC 133 is a far cry from the UFC’s last Philadelphia effort which featured Forrest Griffin vs. Anderson Silva and a B.J. Penn lightweight title defense. Yet with a break in events and a show sprinkled with familiar names, I’d be surprised if this one disappointed.

The UFC 133: Evans vs. Davis fight card…
Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis
Vitor Belfort vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Rich Franklin vs. Antônio Rogério Nogueira
Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara
Dennis Hallman vs. Brian Ebersole
Johny Hendricks vs. Mike Pierce
Riki Fukuda vs. Rafael Natal
Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Alexander Gustafsson
Mike Brown vs. Nam Phan
Ivan Menjivar vs. Nick Pace
Mike Pyle vs. Rory MacDonald

UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami, August 23, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - The UFC saves arguably the best for last this summer with its long awaited return to the home of BJJ. The UFC will celebrate its return to Brazil with a star-studded fight card featuring three of the biggest MMA fighters ever to call Brazil home.

I don’t think it gets any bigger than Anderson Silva defending the UFC middleweight championship against the last man to beat him in his home country. Silva’s notoriety is at an all time high in Brazil following his win over Vitor Belfort in the battle of Brazilian UFC stars. The home town atmosphere combined with a rematch against the last man to defeat the unbeatable Silva promises to be the biggest spectacle of the summer.

Silva will be joined by two fellow Brazilian MMA heroes at UFC 134. Former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio Shogun Rua returns to action after his devastating loss to Jon Jones. Rua takes on fellow former champion Forrest Griffin in a rematch of Rua’s debut. Griffin defeated Rua with a rear naked choke in a classic four years prior so the storyline combined with the homecoming should provide a great atmosphere for this long awaited rematch.

Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira also returns home to fight up and comer Brendan Schaub. The BJJ God will be fighting his first professional fight in Brazil at UFC 134. The intensity for this one should be off the charts and will make for an exciting fight whether it goes to the ground or the two stay on their feet. Talk about throwing Schaub into the lion’s den. Like his brother, Nogueira desperately needs a win here, although I can’t imagine he’d be cut with a loss. The former UFC interim champion has gone 3-2 in the UFC, 1-2 in his last fights. Nogueira is hanging on by a thread right now in the mix of top UFC heavyweights so a loss here likely takes him out of the running for any potential championship match in the near future or ever.

The UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami fight card…
Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami
Mauricio Rua vs. Forrest Griffin
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Brendan Schaub
Ross Pearson vs. Edson Barboza
Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov
Thiago Tavares vs. Spencer Fisher
Paulo Thiago vs. David Mitchell

 

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The MMA community was stunned when the UFC announced that Shane Carwin would replace Brock Lesnar at UFC 131. Well, everyone except Roy Nelson. the rotund UFC heavyweight predicted this exact same UFC 131 scenario back in January.

Roy Nelson either got incredibly lucky or is truly one of the most astute men in all of MMA. Funny thing is, I don’t necessarily see Nelson as this MMA genius yet a prediction he made back in January has made him look like the smartest guy in the room. Nelson predicted almost the identical scenario that has unraveled involving Brock Lesnar and his fight with Junior Dos Santos.

“I think Brock Lesnar is done,” Nelson said. “I think Brock doing TUF is one way to basically take a situation and make it win-win for him. I think Lesnar doing the show is a way to introduce Junior Dos Santos to the American fan base in the way the show does. TUF introduces “stars in the making” to the casual UFC fan and while JDS is the number one contender he still needs some help with the American fan base. So the conspiracy basically comes down to the fact that Shane Carwin has no one to fight in June. I think Brock Lesnar will walk off the TUF set and then Carwin will take his spot or Frank Mir will come in to “save the day” and fight JDS for title contention. The reason I believe Frank would be the guy is because Mir is coming off a win and I was already supposed to fight Shane so fans were already hyped to see it. Or Carwin could move in to face JDS and I could still face Frank but it doesn’t really matter to me as to who fights who because all that really matters is the fans want to see me fight somebody. A lot of things could happen over the next six weeks but it seems a bit off that Carwin doesn’t have an opponent right now and all of the top heavyweights are spoken for.”

Roy Nelson brings up a lot of interesting points. Nelson points to Carwin not having an opponent at the time. This changed when Carwin vs. Jon Olav Einemo was signed to UFC 131. I remember thinking at the time what an odd fight that was. You had Carwin fresh off a championship match and now a UFC superstar fighting someone on his first UFC fight? I can’t remember the UFC ever making a match like that. Well if you follow Roy Nelson’s line of thinking, it actually makes sense.

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Did the UFC know all along that Shane Carwin was going to fight Lesnar? Maybe they did and maybe they made this match knowing that fans wouldn’t care if Carwin was pulled from a fight against someone who hasn’t even fought in the UFC. Remember, Carwin was originally supposed to fight Roy Nelson. Maybe the UFC never rescheduled the fight is because they knew canceling the fight would leave a name fighter in Nelson without an opponent and off the show, disappointing fans as opposed to canceling a fight nobody really cared to see except hardcore MMA fans? The plot thickens.

Honestly, I am playing around with the whole conspiracy and don’t believe that one bit. However, it is almost eerie how exact Roy Nelson was with his prediction back in January. Maybe he was trying to stir the pot for a potential Nelson vs. Lesnar fight, or he heard something from someone close to Lesnar? Nelson’s whole theory was based on the idea that the UFC announced a fight for Carwin without an opponent. Either way, it is definitely something to think about.

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The highly anticipated The Ultimate Fighter season 13 has finally arrived. If you were expecting to see fireworks between TUF coaches Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos you are going to have to wait until UFC 131. Otherwise it was a fairly average show.

Brock Lesnar isn’t there to play. Brock Lesnar had a snarl for most of the show. For a guy that understands sports entertainment it doesn’t appear Brock is going to go out of his way to sell his UFC 131 fight against Junior much this season. There weren’t any confrontations tonight nor were there any teased in the season preview.

Junior Dos Santos was very happy to be there. At times it looked like JDS was just downright giddy. At one point my wife (who got dragged into watching) remarked to me, “I’d rather train with Brock. He is much more serious.”

The TUF 13 coaches had time to evaluate the fighters before they picked. Brock Lesnar based his evaluation on the guys’ cardio while Junior appeared to base his on technique and had them working out in the octagon. I think that speaks volumes of what to expect out of Lesnar’s team. Even before the first fight it appeared Lesnar spent more time working on his fighter’s cardio as opposed to Santos who had his guy sparring.

Dana White eliminated preliminary fights and put everyone in the house immediately. Thank God! I absolutely detest those preliminary fights. Most of these guys are inexperienced as it is. Put more than 12 in there and you have some of least skilled fights you will ever see in MMA. It is also boring. The last few season openers were nothing but fights with no personality. It killed my interest right off the bat in the last two seasons. I think that was a wise move and I hope they don’t return in future seasons.

Both guys got the fighters they wanted with their first draft picks. Brock picked Len Bently who has a pro record of 9-4 with the first overall pick while Junior took Shamar Bailey who has a 10-3 record. I wouldn’t read that much into first draft picks. Bobby Southworth and Kimbo Slice were top draft picks while Roy Nelson and Forrest Griffin were late picks on their respective seasons. It should also be noted that the draft wasn’t live. Dana wound up coming into the room and reading off picks. Nobody seemed happy or disappointed with their teams.

One of the fighters already left due to injury. Myles Jury who came into the show with a 9-0 record tore his ACL during the evaluations. Tough break as Jury was one of the strongest fighters on paper coming into this season.

All of the fighters looked to be in great conditioning in the first episode. There is nothing that kills me more than seeing a kid getting the break of a lifetime show up to The Ultimate Fighter out of shape. Everyone looked good in the cardio and fight workouts which is a positive sign indeed.

Junior got to make the first fight and he made Shamar Bailey vs. Nordin Asrih which was the first pick vs. the last pick. Bailey was just way too big for him and the two looked like they were in different weight classes. Bailey outwrestled him and just grounded and pounded Asrih for two rounds to win. For an opening fight, this one was very disappointing. Brock didn’t seem surprised by the result. Dana White after the fight also noted that the fight sucked which isn’t the ringing endorsement you hope to get from your potential employer.

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One thing that did strike me throughout the first episode is that Junior seemed to bond a bit more with his guys than Brock did. Junior was joking around and heavily involved with his guys while Brock just seemed to be all business. Even during the fight, Junior was constantly yelling as opposed to Brock who barely said two words. Hey, at least his best advice wasn’t “Get up Abe!”

The Ultimate Fighter usually has a rowdy member or two of the bunch that try to walk in the shoes of Chris Leben. I didn’t find any of these fighters to be particularly undisciplined but there were a few clips of chaos during the season preview at the end of the show. For the most part most of the guys seemed to be level headed and focused on the task at hand.

The biggest disappointment in the first episode was Brock Lesnar. I think a lot of people expected Brock to come into the show all crazy and loud when for the most part, Brock was pretty quiet. Brock and Junior have both been quite complimentary to one another in media interviews over the last week or two. The closest we got to any kind of madness was Brock offering a handshake to Junior after they made the first fight and Junior opting for a pat on the back instead. Not exactly what I’d call the makings of a great grudge match.

If there is one danger here that I saw tonight it is that TUF may expose Brock Lesnar as an MMA fighter who isn’t particularly skilled. I have written about this before but tonight, Brock looked like he was way out of his league. The obvious differences in the way the coaches ran their training camps have the potential to make this a very one sided show. I can’t imagine how Brock Lesnar will handle this is if he is made to look like a fool by the end of the season.

All in all if there was anything I took out of tonight’s episode and the season preview at the end, it is that this season is going to be rather tame. There was one clip of Brock calling his team out but that was it, just one clip of any controversy involving the former UFC heavyweight champion. There were a few skirmishes in the house shown in the preview but nothing of legendary proportion. By the time this season’s over I think fans will see a lot of fights, some good, some bad, and not much more.

I just hope they get a little more exciting than the fight that closed the show tonight.

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The Ultimate Fighter season 13 fighter cast has officially been announced. A TUF 13 video introducing the cast was released today by Spike TV. Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos will coach 14 welterweights who will compete for a UFC contract.

The video is a great introduction to all 14 fighters who will be competing on TUF 13. Yes TUF will be more than about Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos, although the coaches will be the focus and the ratings draw. At first glance, it looks like the UFC has done a tremendous job of assembling 14 very talented welterweights, most of which have quite a bit of experience.

Five of the welterweights have at least ten professional MMA fights a piece. Nordin Asrih, Shamar Bailey, Myles Jury, Anthony Furguson, and Charlie Rader may be familiar names to hardcore MMA fans. Nordin Asrih of Germany is the oldest cast member at 32 years old. Asrih also has the most experience with a record of 16-5-1.

There are two competitors with undefeated MMA records. Javier Torres of Las Vegas, Nevada is 3-0 and aged 25 years old. Myles Jury of San Diego, CA is the youngest competitor this season at age 22. Don’t be fooled by Jury’s age as he has a total of nine professional MMA fights and is 9-0. In the promo video Jury says he is an 8-0, yet Sherdog has him listed at 9-0. Jury has huge potential at his age and early development to be a major player in the UFC. He was also one of the few guys that showed a little bit of charisma in the introduction video.

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Off the top I’d say Clay Harvison and Anthony Furguson probably came off with the most charisma of anyone in the videos. Furguson is 10-2 and 26 years old. Harvison probably got the most face time of anyone in the video so take that for what it’s worth. “Heavy Metal” Harvison is 6-1 and 30 years old.

The entire The Ultimate Fighter Team Lesnar vs. Team Dos Santos cast…
Nordin Asrih 16-5-1
Shamar Bailey 10-3
Len Bentley 9-4
Michael “Mick” Bowman 7-2
Keon Caldwell 8-1
Chris Cope 4-1
Zachary Davis 4-1
Anthony Ferguson 10-2
Clay Harvison 6-1
Myles Jury 9-0
Ryan McGillivray 11-4-1
Ramsey Nijem 4-1
Charlie Rader 16-5
Javier Torres 3-0

The Ultimate Fighter Team Lesnar vs. Team Dos Santos premieres on Spike TV at 9 PM/EST on Wednesday March 30. Brock Lesnar vs. Junior Dos Santos takes place at UFC 131.

Note: Video coming soon. I didn’t include the video as of this time because of player issues.

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Brock Lesnar will be returning to MMA training shortly but this time he will have a few cameras with him. Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos will coach opposite one another on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. The news ends any doubt about Brock Lesnar’s commitment to the UFC.

The news came out of nowhere via UFC.com on Tuesday afternoon. The news also ends the weeks of speculation about Brock Lesnar’s UFC future. It was rumored as recently as this week that Brock Lesnar and Dana White were at an impasse regarding Brock Lesnar’s next fight. The announcement also ends weeks of speculation about head coaches for season 13 of TUF.

Junior Dos Santos is the number one contender to the UFC heavyweight title. Santos’s match against champion Cain Velasquez was recently canceled due to an injury Velasquez suffered in his title winning fight against Lesnar. Santos is taking a big gamble here signing for the season and a fight against Brock Lesnar while waiting for Velasquez. A loss would surely cost JDS his title shot.

I am fairly surprised that Brock Lesnar agreed to do the show. Lesnar is a reclusive athlete who has turned down numerous Countdown specials due to privacy. I am also surprised the UFC would put Lesnar in this position. As a rather inexperienced MMA fighter the show has the potential to greatly expose Lesnar. Other than wrestling, what is Lesnar going to be able to teach these kids? I can’t imagine any kid on the show choosing to work with Lesnar over someone as well rounded as Santos.

I wrote earlier this month that Brock Lesnar could leverage The Ultimate Fighter for an opportunity to return to the WWE and wrestle at WrestleMania 27. Lesnar has been reportedly offered $2 million to wrestle the Undertaker at WrestleMania 27. UFC president Dana White has Lesnar under contract and has repeatedly said he would not let his fighter wrestle. My guess is that White will allow Lesnar to wrestle at WrestleMania in exchange for coaching TUF 13. This isn’t confirmed but I think at the end of the day that is how it will play out. Vince McMahon couldn’t be happier because The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar is exactly what he needs to inject some life into WrestleMania 27.

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It is also interesting that they went with Santos here and not Frank Mir. Dana White had been reportedly after Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar to coach on The Ultimate Fighter 13. The fireworks and natural dislike between the two made the rivalry a natural for the television show. Additionally, Frank Mir seems like a much easier opponent for Brock Lesnar coming off a loss than JDS.

No announcement was made regarding the UFC heavyweight championship. The only announcement of a fight was that of Brock Lesnar vs. Junior Dos Santos following The Ultimate Fighter 13. There was nothing mentioned regarding the fight being for a UFC interim heavyweight title. If Lesnar is going to wrestle at WrestleMania 27 in April my guess is that this fight will probably take place in July which seems to be Lesnar’s favorite month to fight in the UFC. Dave Meltzer reports that there are tentative plans to schedule the fight on June 11 which would be UFC 131.

The fighters will be coaching an all welterweight class. The UFC and Spike TV do not have a contract for any future The Ultimate Fighter shows past this one. It was assumed that the delay in announcing coaches was that Dana White wanted some heavy hitters to drive ratings and earn the UFC a big renewal. Kudos to him because at the end of the day he got exactly what he wanted.

In an interesting twist as of press time the story has since been pulled from UFC.com.

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