The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 10: Episode 4 recap and discussion

i lost interest in watching boxing years ago when lennox lewis “lost” that decision to holyfield. that doesnt mean i dont love it as a sport, i accually train in it and wnat to try a few amateur fights, but i will rarely watch it will never pay for it.

WAR VADIM FINKLESTEIN!!!!! Fedor vs. Brock is happening boys (kind of):*

The big question of who the best heavyweight in MMA will be answered by the end of this month – or so says Vadim Finkelstein, Fedor’s manager.

"Fedor just recently saw the fight between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar at UFC 100 and made it clear to me that he wants to pursue a fight with Brock Lesnar," Finkelstein told 5thRound.com. "But of course an official MMA fight cannot be set up between the two – however, we have decided to pursue Death Clutch (Brock Lesnar’s camp) and we are currently trying to work out an unsanctioned MMA fight that would be passed off as a sparring session."

"We do not want this to happen to prove Fedor isn’t scared like many say but because Fedor [Emelianenko] wants this fight more than any other fight and knows the fans want to see it also."

When asking Finkelstein if this would get in the way of preparing for the bout with Brett Rogers, who is set to take on the Sambo Champion on November 7, 2009, Vadim replied, "Absolutely not. Fedor never overlooks his opponent. He is ready for Brett Rogers. If they changed the date of the fight for tomorrow, Fedor will be ready. No fighter, except for Fedor, is ever 100% prepared when they enter a fight."

Vadim states that the ’sparring session’, if it could be worked out, would be recorded and streamed on Fedor Emelianenko’s official website, efedor.ru. The official date would be announced before hand.

doubt Dana will let this Happen, I would love it if it did happen but how would the sparring session work? they would just say its a sparring session and then got all at it like a actual mma fight thats crazy

yeah dana white will let that happen, what a crock of shit! rampage must be the most self centered trainer in the history of mma! the differences between him and rashad are astounding, both want to beat each other but at least rashad shows compassion and leadership towards his fighters, and i am not a fan of his, as for rampage, been late for a fighters fight, then complaining about how he lost, he is a child who has no business guiding young fighters! i mean for a man who complained about his old coaches and training team in japan, pot kettle black!

Big Zino – it’s fn texas. It was expected. Pauli said it in the pre fight banter that he was gonna have to finish him if he wanted to win. Fn scumbag judge Van Hoy didn’t even try to make it look like he was watching the fight. That guy is the lowest kind of shi!t that needs to be taken to the back of the arena and shot. But they’ll keep using him. Disgusting robbery – i hope to god that kickboxing or MMA don’t ever turn into that. I don’t know how these fighters keep going after bs like this goes down. Good thing that Paulie went off on the mic though. But won’t change anything- in a couple of months we’ll have another one.

oh yea rampage sucks.

Paulie got robbed he’ll be alright. Pavlik vs Williams is what im waitin for !!!!

John G. Never gonna happen! And it just proves what a-holes Finklestein and Co are. Fedor is begging for Lesnar and they still won’t let him fight in the UFC unless they co-promote. They’d rather have him fight unsanctioned where Fedor doesn’t make a dime than let him fight with the UFC if they dont’ get half the take. That’s some major BS management there! I hope it’ll be enough to piss Fedor off so he’ll drop those bums.

TRUTH, Rampage isn’t being inconsistent, he’s perpetuating the cycle. He’s never had a real team or good coaches so he doesn’t know how to be a good coach or build a team. It’s just like kids who get beat by their dads and hate them for it but then grow up and beat their own kids. Rashad is a great example of what good modelling and teamwork can do for a fighter’s self esteem. I hate Rashad, but he loves himself. I love Rampage, but he hates himself. He’s always had to go it alone and take his licks the hard way, so that’s how he treats his guys. He’s never known a better way. It’s sad really. I wish Couture would take him under his wing!

JOHN G. it’s a hoax! i can’t believe you posted this like you thought it was real. 5th rnd(sounds like mma bay)is saying that someone hacked into their system and posted it. and you thought it was real? LMAO! an unsanctioned sparring session between brock and fedor? give me a break. leave the news to the real writers. thanks. ;)

Great assesment Shonuff on Rampage. I myself am not a fan of Rashad in the least, but he is definitely winning me over as a competent coach, leader, and mentor. Funny that you talk about the repeating of cycles. Rampage trains with Wolfs Lair, Bispings team. Bisping also though it was also ok to go to lunch and come back super late to his fighters chance at UFC glory. Demico was let down on all sides of that fight before he even had a chance to warm up he had to listen to Team Rashad warming up and suppoerting their fighter. That type of unity and solidarity has to play into your head. I think he was beat mentally before he even got into the ring.

I assumed something was up with that, there is no way that its possible for them to do a sparring session and pass it off as a real MMA match. If its posted on the internet and its full go they are breaking tons of rules. An unsactioned MMA bout not to mention it’d be considered a street fight, breaking UFC contract they probably own likeness rights so having another company stream feed of Brock also isn’t possible without the approval of the UFC. Pretty ridiculous that Fedor would have only now watched Brock fight, and it only makes me hate him and his company more. Fedor is the best fighter in the world but quickly losing fans due to his flip flopping ways and M1.

Rampage is the worst coach I’ve ever seen on this show, he’s even worse than Shamrock and has acted more unprofessionally than Bisping. Him and Tiki couldn’t give a toss about their team and only care about getting camera time, whether that’s by focusing on Kimbo or bashing Rashad. The lack of respect he showed Demico is astounding and it’s unfair on his team to have to be coached by someone as self centred as Rampage.

On the other hand, Rashad has been the perfect coach this year, giving sound advice, making smart match-ups and being there for his team. He was even there to commiserate Demico when his team and coaches let him down. He could have easily gloated but Rashad isn’t here for TV time, he genuinely wants to help all of the fighters fulfil their potential and he has done a superb job so far, best coach since Big Nog. I’ve become a much bigger fan of him as a person from this series.

Thought that Vadim quote was too daft to be true, even he isn’t that dumb.

HAHAHAHAHA! I was focking joking dude! Do you really think
I would think that 2 of the highest paid fighters in the world would fight for free? Do you really think Fedor would fight Lesnar for free, by the end of the month when he was a mega fighht for millions on CBS in about 4 weeks?

Just passing the hoax aong cause I thought it was a fun read!

Sorry!

On a serious note…say 2 fighters really wanted to fight each other and did it in an unsanctioned match abeled as a sparring session….I dont think Dana would have any contractual jurisdiction from keeping it from happening.

Of course it was just a hoax, but does anyone know if hypethetically, Dana would even be able to stop such a thing from happening? I doubt he could!

Yeah he does, its in the contract. He couldn’t stop the fight but he can stop it from being streamed. He owns fighter likeness. btw the hoax was funny but your not allowed to complain when all the john haters come on here and say you didn’t think it was a hoax and make fun of you ect. You definetly brought it on yourself this time holmes

good point about the likeness, you may be right!! FYI: THe John haters stopped bothering me a long time ago. dont mind getting bashed, I get pissed when people take my name and write some stupid crap! but if ANYONE actually believed it, I would have a good laugh!

Actually, though, john G, I DO think Fedor would do such a thing! I think if it wasn’t for M-1 he’d fight Brock or anybody else and wouldn’t care one bit whether it was in the Superdome for $10 million or for free in a basement with no cameras or anything. All you guys that hate on Fedor and think he’s ducking don’t understand the man at all. I believe he honestly doesn’t give a sh1t about the money or the fame or who he’s fighting. He doesn’t seem to train for specific opponents or pay any attention to the rankings. I think tragically he cares more about loyalty to his M-1 buddies than he does about his career or his legacy or his paycheck. I don’t know if Vladim saved his life in a war, or if they’re mafia and are holding his family hostage, but for whatever reason, he feels duty-bound to them and lets them leech off of him and does whatever they say.

Of course Fedor cares about the money, he is just as greedy as M-1. He has a 20% stake in the company so he wants them to be successful, he is just as much to blame for all of the unpopular decisions made by the group as Vadim. Don’t let Fedor’s talent and aura cloud your judgement, he’s not Vadim’s puppet and is more than happy with their arrangement, he is making millions without having to fight the best competition, living off a past legacy when he did fight and beat the best.

…Anyone that thinks that all top fighters arent about the money are kidding themselves…only top fighters that we can argue are not greedy are ighter weights like Migue and Urijah, who defend there title for peanuts, instead of going to Japan and getting PAID!!!

 Vadim has gotten Fedor the best deals in all of mma. Who else owns there own fight footage? Combine that with the fact that Fedor owns 20% of m1, it makes it hard for me to not agree with the business decisions that Fedor has made. Not ideal situation for a die hard Fedor fan like myself, but hard to argue with the business side of the Fedor situation. Its good business if you ask me.

“WAR VADIM FINKLESTIEN!” you believed it, but now that you have been proven wrong, you try and say “just joking”. puhleeeze! your like ron burgandy, but instead of reading anything off of a teleprompter, you “report” anything fedor related. no hate here, ya just got busted! LOL!

Hey! BACK ON TOPIC!

Rampage = LOSER.

Shonuff, I don’t buy this “the guy never had the right team around him stuff”. What a lame ass excuse, please grow up! What he did to his guy last night is totally unacceptable, period.

I don’t care what someone’s childhood was like, you control your own destiny, stop blaming others for your f-ups.

I really wish Kimbo had gotten Rashad as a coach. Rampage is a terrible coach and has a terrible personality. I’m actually happy he’s starting a career in the movie business. I’m going to get incredibly high and watch the train wreck that is the A Team. All fighters who got Rampage here are at a complete disadvanatage and don’t blame them for looking green. I’m not sure if that statement about less people going to Wolfslair is true but I wouldn’t go there after watching what a terrible coach and person Rampage is, not to mention I hate Bispings personality to so it’d make me want to stab my ear drums

I live very close to Wolfslair, it’s based in Widnes which is next to my home town of Warrington and I’d rather find a basic BJJ training centre than go there, none of them seem to have a clue how to coach people properly and I wouldn’t waste my money learning the basics from people who couldn’t give a toss about their trainees.

I do agree with Page that coaching lost Demico his fight last night. He was dropping some nice elbows..had dominant side control but ost it, listening to his coaches, trying to get the mount!

Agreed, he should have just stayed where he was comfy and fought a slow boring fight. I don’t blame fighters for having lackluster fights on TUF, its more important to win. I don’t know if its editing or what but Jackson is definitely the worst coach ever on TUF. They should give me a picture in picture of the fight with Jackson in the top corner coaching as his fighter is in the ring. All we would see Rampage do is yell “Get up, no not that! Move over there! Pat your belly and your head at the same time!” He’s making his fighters look terrible, not training them well, looking like a giant jack and then passing the blame off on his students and assistance coaches, that’s just disgusting. Rashad is a generally hated fighter so it should be really easy to look good standing next to him on this show but Jackson some how pulls off the impossible and makes himself look like a little sally. Definitely becoming a fan of Rashad and his coaching skills. Also thanks for the inside David on Wolfslair.

How can I say this tactfully? Rampage sucks donkey balls as a coach! Going even further, when you combine his “stealing” whatever money he was paid to do the show with the fact that he bailed on the Rashad fight, it is very clear the man has zero integrity. I feel sorry for the fighters on his team. The only time Rampage shows any life or enthusiasm is when he’s interacting with his mancrush Kimbo.

I agree Schaub looked fairly average in the fight, but so far he’s the only one I see with actual potential as a HW. I saw some diversity of skills, heart, and a good athletic frame capable of carrying 250 pds of fit weight.

So the question for me is, since Rampage and Dana are having this little fued, do you believe Dana has the wherewithall to modify the show to slant it in a much more negative way towards Rampage? I do believe Rampage is a douche in the way of coaching, however, these shows can be creatively edited to make things look worse. It’s interesting nonetheless. I do believe Rampage just is his own worst enemy. This is his 2nd stint as a coach, same results. he’s really bad, and not a great influence on his fighters whatsoever. definately just in it for the payday.

how big is Shaub? I was impressed. 1st time I recall seeing a fight end via anaconda choke on tUF, and thats one of my favorite submissions!

Jason Dent john. Did one in the Finale and on the show.

Shcaub has been my pick from the beginning, especially after seeing McSweeney fight since they are the two fighters that regularly train at Team Jackson so Rampage will have their best interests in mind at all times. He was +500. I wonder if his odds dropped at all after that win, havent checked yet.

NOW, onto Rampage.

I used to always be a fan of Rampage. However, over the past year or so since he first appeared on TUF before losing his title to FOrrest, I have been becoming less and less of a fan of Rampage. And after this ducking Machida and Rashad craw and thinking playing Mr T is more important than fighting, and seeing AGAIN how much of an IDIOT he is while on TUF – I have been starting to HATE Rampage. In fact, after last nights episode, I now officially HATE Rampage. How quickly he slid in my eyes.

I hope Rampage does continue to pursue his movie career after he comes back to the UFC for 1 more fight and has Rashad teach him a lesson on how to act like a decent human being. Going out for lunch prior a TUF fight with all the coaches. “Maybe one of us should have stayed here. Maybe I should have”. NO F’ING SH*T!!!!!!!! I want Rashad to KTFO of Rampage and send him packing for straight-to-DVD-movie-land and I straight to Cinemax movies. OR, if he still wants one more fight, let Machida completely embaras him as well.

He certainly has looked like shit physically on both TUF shows he’s been in. Worse on this one. I don’t quite understand how he cannot continue to at least maintain some training regiment in between fights and stay in shape. I doubt he could beat Rashad at this point anyway. I thought about this since last nite, and he has drastically changed since he first came to the UFC and was intent on capturing the belt, now he’s just in it to cruise and fuck off. Good gig if you can get it, I guess.

Same here VM, I used to be a Rampage fan but since the Forrest fight his horrible attitude and stupid decisions have put me off him, whilst at the same time I used to hate Rashad and now he’s becoming one of my favourites. Shows how your opinion changes when you learn more about a fighters personality.

slim473, you asked if Dana could/would “creatively edit” the show to make Rampage look worse because of their present conflict. The answer is a resounding YES! Yes he definitely could, and Yes he most definitely would. Have you seen the DVD, “UFC Best of 2007” that was the year that Randy came out of retirement to beat Tim Sylvia for the HW title, not only is that fight not included, but as Goldy chronicles events of the year, no mention whatsoever is made of Couture or his 2 title fights! They completely erased him from existence. They did the same thing to Frank Shamrock on the “100 Best Fights Coutdown”. How do you NOT exclude Frank’s tromping of the then invincible Tito Ortiz or the fact that Frank was the first MW champ and the only champ to retire from the UFC undefeated. Frank/Tito was considered the biggest fight in the UFC’s history up to that point. So YES, Dana definitely WOULD edit the show to make Rampage look like an ass. As for whether he could, all the people who’ve been on those reality shows like Survivor say that what we see at home isn’t what they experienced IRL and that the editors use their comments completely out of context and rearrange the chronology of events and statements to make real people into characters that viewers will love or hate. I’m not saying Rampage is doing a good job coaching, but those guys are there 24/7 and we’re only seeing about 45 minutes of their week. That leaves a LOT of room for creative editing.

Never seen the fight but saw Paulie’s reaction, shame that boxing has to suffer because of lousy judging. Same thing happened in an English HW title fight when the supposed next English HW prospect Tyson Fury was gifted a decision over John McDermott, after being outboxed throughout. Awful decision by the ref (very dated scoring system allowing the ref to judge the fight) and it was clear favouritsm, giving the supposed future draw the belt, thankfully the 2 are set to rematch for the belt this year. These decisions are killing the credibility of boxing and make the Bisping-Hamill decision seem fair.

I agree. Too be honest I think either one of the 2 could of won but Schaub was a tad bit more technical in this fight.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt this bad for a fighter losing since TUF started. Nothing to do with me wanting him to lose, but the way they had him hanging out there alone, so disrespectful. Rampage & his coaches & the rest of his team are freakin a$$holes.

I know what you mean, it left a lasting impression and I couldn’t believe it. It reminded me of a kid that has sh!tty parents and goes over to his friends house where those parents hug him and give him attention. It was really sad. BTW I doubt this is edited against Rampage, he was just as dumb in the TUF with Forrest. “Get UP. GET UP!!” Nice coaching, douche.

Good analogy, Rick! But like I said, Rampage is just perpetuating the cycle of “bad parenting” that he grew up in. He’s never had a team or coaches who cared about him. He doesn’t know how to be that kind of supportive person cause he’s never had anyone like that in his own life/career. He’s always been on his own and had to get where he is by himself. When he won, strangers patted him on the back and when he lost, he went home alone. He doesn’t know what a “team” is. He’s an MMA orphan and just as pitiable as Demico. Conversely, Rashad has been surrounded by his “Band of Brothers” and is emulating the environment he came from.

Sims is definitely a tool!

That’s ok, Team Rampage seems to be missing a “W” as well.

hhahahaha nice

Oh well, someone made me smile today. Well done shonuff.

Guru Epic Burn!

True, that’s probabaly why they won so easily as it was Team Serra v 8 individuals, though that sort of environment helped a lazy but talented git like Lutter win the show.

The 8 preliminary winners advance. Then the coaches and Dana (or just Rashad and Dana, if Rampage’s team never manages to win a fight) sit down with each fighter individually and ask who they want to fight and why. They take that into consideration, then determine the 4 QF fights and then the 2 SF fights.

Cool, thanks for the info, David and PW!